Author's Note: This was inspired by the controversy around the ending of ME3, but is not meant to be a protest. Just a random thought that resulted in a new storyline. I haven't forgotten about Kat from my ME2 attempt, but this one has been poking around and wanted out.
It was the raid that brought her back.
Later, much later, she appreciated the irony, given her history.
When the attack came she was sitting with three of the guys that worked at the spaceport docks, her only concern was how she was going to get through the rest of what was going to be an incredibly long day. Surrounding them were shipping containers of various sizes, scattered in disarray across most of the landing pad, courtesy of a lazy, disorganized cargo hauler who dumped his load and took off as quickly as possible. They'd spent the entire morning, and a large part of the afternoon, cleaning up the mess.
It looked like it was going to continue well on into the evening. Since this was on a good chunk of the small spaceport pad, they couldn't just leave it for the next day.
Now they were finally able to take a much needed food break to rest and catch their breath. As the four got settled in they all took turns cursing out the hauler who left the mess and the lazy slugs that had managed to find a way to avoid doing most of the work. All were doing their level best to ignore the fact that they were only halfway through sorting and moving the cargo to the appropriate holding facilities. They sat at a "table and benches" made of smaller containers that could support their weight and didn't contain anything that was considered important.
A long, resounding belch erupted from the burly man with wild, bushy, grizzled hair and beard that was seated to her right after he finished his bottle of cola in one drawn out gulp. She grinned as the other two men chuckled at the exaggerated sigh of relief. He wiped his mouth off on the back of one grimy sleeve and grinned back, "Ah that was good! Though I wish it were a beer. Or five."
"Aw shit, Mitch. Why'd you go and mention beer when it's gonna be hours 'fore we can get any?," mock whined the small wiry man seated on the opposite side of the makeshift table as he dug into his boxed lunch. With the food successfully extracted, he started to wolf it down.
"That's cause he's a prick, Ben. You should know that already ", the third man commented as he started on his food, eating a bit neater than the other two. He cast a sly look in her direction as she bit into her sandwich, "Ain't that right, Blue?"
She knew they called her Blue instead of her given name because of her eyes being an almost unnatural shade of cobalt blue combined with the way she dyed her shoulder length, shaggy hair an intense shade of electric blue. At least they didn't call her Azure, after being told by a friend in a previous life what that term meant to the Asari. For one, that was a "highfalutin" word, another was that they didn't have much to do with the Asari. Any non-human species really. There was the occasional volus merchant, or quarian pilgrim, but for the most part they mainly dealt with other humans.
The real reason that they'd never dream of using such a term, was that if they used such a derogatory word for her, she'd beat the living shit out of them. Which is what had happened to an idiot that tried to get overly "friendly" with her when she first arrived at Sanctum as a drifter looking for work. The arrival of the tramp freighter she'd worked on as temporary crew had been too late in the local evening to do anything except scrounge up some digs and grub. The digs had been easy enough to obtain, it was when she went seeking a bite to eat that she ran into trouble.
Well, trouble for others at any rate.
She'd entered a local bar and grill that she'd been told had something edible at decent rates. That was also where most of the local dockhands used as a watering hole after their shift was done for the day. Seeing a new, attractive woman (not beautiful though, her mouth was a little too wide and bottom heavy for her heart shaped face, and her nose a little long) entering alone gave some of them the mistaken impression that she'd be easy prey.
Despite being too thin, and not at her former combat readiness, she'd still proven more than a match for the drunken men who'd never had any training, only what they learned in dockside brawls.
Mitch was the one who'd been brave enough to approach her as she wiped the blood from her mouth, where a lucky punch had gotten her, he clapped her on the shoulder and grinned, "Good job, lass, buy ya a beer?"
That memory flashed through her mind as she deliberately took her time to chew and swallow, they were uneducated, rough men, but they'd proven themselves to be good friends in the past six months.
She smirked at them, "Takes one to know one. Or should I say it takes two?"
It was a measure of how tired they all were that they found that quip uproariously hilarious. Aaron's laughter faded as he stared at something over her head, then shaded his eyes against the lowering sun. "Looks like more shuttles, but I thought there weren't anyone else coming in?"
Ben shook his head, "Not that I know of at any rate. Let's check with Sandy, there might be an unscheduled visitor."
He flexed his left hand, causing his omnitool to activate, "Hey Sandy-boy, what gives with the shuttles?"
As he waited for an answer, Blue twisted around and shaded her eyes. And took in their shape. Combat cockroaches, shit. "Those aren't cargo haulers. And you probably won't get an answer from Sandy or any of the others in the comms towers."
Pale with fright, Ben stared at her, "How did you know I wouldn't get a response."
"Because those are combat shuttles, not cargo haulers. Which means they're likely jamming everything."
The shuttles slowly approached, apparently baffled by the lack of easy landing. Hoping that they were as well concealed by the freight as she thought they were, Blue thought over the situation furiously, trying to figure out how to get everyone out of this situation alive. Old instincts and training were waking up and without realizing it her posture and expression shifted slightly, but enough to make her three friends think that a completely different woman sat with them.
Pulling her hair out of her face with a tie, then pulling on her work gloves, she started to bark orders without thinking, "I want the three of you to go the comms tower, I think I might have some old programs that might help with the jamming. See if you can alert the settlements. And those scientists that are studying the icepack."
Now it was her turn to activate her omnitool and passed on the aforementioned programs to Aaron who was the most technically skilled of the three men. He froze, "What the hell are these, Blue?"
"Not now", she snapped. "You three need to get your asses moving."
"What about you?" Ben asked worriedly as he and Aaron scrambled to their feet, sending their meals scattering about. Aaron took one look at her and ran for the tower.
Calmly she got to her feet, "I'm going to see who our unexpected visitors are. Now you two need to get moving."
Ben gave her another frightened look and took off after Aaron, but Mitch just gave her a long look. "You're gonna need someone at yer back, ma'am. Been awhile since I served, but I figure I still know one end of an assault rifle from another."
It may have been three years since she last ordered anyone into combat, but that knowledge still stuck with her. Remembering the old saw about not giving orders that won't be obeyed, she just nodded, eyes watching one of the shuttles attempting to land nearby. It was clearly in disrepair, and filthy, so she couldn't see any identifying symbols, "All right. But you follow my orders, clear?"
"Yes ma'am!" He started to salute then stifled the gesture causing one corner of her mouth to lift up in a brief smile. Then she was all business as she heard the sound of the shuttle landing nearby. He frowned, "So how do you plan on stopping them if they are hostile?"
She clenched her right hand into a fist causing a nimbus of energy to form which quickly dissipated as she opened her hand. He blinked then whispered, "You're a biotic? That...explains a lot."
Blue had always taken pains to hide those abilities, but had used them in rare moments to help her job, usually a gentle pull to shift a stuck crate. Though there'd been a few times where an accident had occurred and fallen cargo would have to be taken off the hapless soul pinned by the heavy weight, she'd been the one to lever the container off her fellow worker. No one was quite sure how someone as thin as she managed to do so, but had attributed the feat to adrenaline. She mentally braced herself for fear, but he simply nodded to himself and gave her a speculative look.
Hearing heavy footfalls approaching, she gestured for him to stay put. Once she got his silent assent, she ghosted along the wall of large shipping container, timing her lighter steps to those of the one she was stalking. She saw the person before they registered her presence and she was grateful for that since surprise froze her momentarily. She recognized the bulky black and white armor with its yellow accent stripes. At least she recognized the lines of the armor, there was so much filth covering it that she was just going by memory of the actual colors. Then the person shifted and she saw the distinctive helmet with its red slits and knew her instincts were correct. Only the eye slits lacked their normal glow, instead flickering on and off as if they were damaged and never properly repaired.
Seeing that armor stirred up old, unpleasant memories. And even if the armor had been taken by someone else, she knew that anyone who was using it, and didn't properly care for their gear, was not going to be friendly. Especially with the comms being jammed.
Before the person in the Cerberus assault trooper armor could react, she lunged out from cover to drag him down then put her fist, its strength augmented by her biotic powers, through the helmet. Another flare of power and she shifted the body further back so they could grab the weapons. Seeing the revolting state of the M-25 Hornet SMG, she was grateful for her work gloves, and that she didn't necessarily need a gun to fight.
Unless of course there were mechs, something she wasn't going to think about.
Before he would accept the gun, Mitch pulled on his own gloves. When he checked its readiness, his face contorted in extreme disgust and muttered, "I guess it'll work for now."
She nodded her agreement to his unspoken comment about the state of the equipment. For all of the horrors they had perpetrated on humans and aliens, Cerberus agents were known for their military precision and care for their gear. It took a moment to locate the electrified baton an assault trooper normally carried, then she shuddered at the sight. If it even worked would amaze her and she wasn't about to trust her life to something like that. More than likely it'd probably fry her instead.
A crackle of static drew her attention, it sounded like the transceiver in the helmet. Gritting her teeth, she slid the faceplate open. They both gasped in revulsion as the stench of rotting flesh wafted out. Mitch gagged and walked away when he saw the state of the corpse within. She'd known Cerberus used Reapertech on their troops, so she'd been expecting something akin to a husk. But this... it looked more like a zombie out of a really bad horror vid, rather than the technological nightmare that a husk looked like. Or what she'd seen of Cerberus troopers back during the invasion.
Another burst of static reminded her of purpose. With a grimace she reached in and yanked out the transmitter, ignoring Mitch's gagging at her actions. This time there were some words in the crackle of static, but nothing that made sense.
Gruffly she spoke into the transmitter, "Too much interference."
"Cop-", the rest devolved into static.
"That should buy us a few minutes at least. Let's see if I can patch this into my omnitool."
Though he didn't say anything, Blue could feel him staring at her and she mentally cursed herself at falling into old habits so easily. Three years should have been enough to dull them, but then again she'd never been able to ignore her instincts. And most of her training had turned her skills into instinct.
It was far too easy to patch the frequency into the omnitool. They were still using the old Cerberus freqs which was troubling in a way. They were either a rogue unit, or some part of the true organization still existed, but as a shadow of itself. Though it seemed odd that the jamming would affect their communications also. She'd leave that mystery for later. If there was one.
Blue hoped that it was the former, but was prepared for the later, though she didn't know how she would deal with them. Damn those instincts. It was up to the Alliance, or the Council if it still existed, to deal with Cerberus. If they could be bothered. She regretted her bitterness as soon as she realized where her thoughts were going. By the few reports she bothered to listen to, the Alliance was still rebuilding Earth, like the Turians were rebuilding Palaven. What the Asari were doing with Thessia, she didn't know, since she didn't know if there was even enough left of Thessia to rebuild.
Heavy footsteps of multiple people drew her attention away from her momentary contemplation. She gestured for Mitch to remain where he was as she creeped forward. There were three more figures in the Cerberus trooper armor, they'd clumped together discussing the possible location of the one she killed.
Blue's lips pulled away from her teeth in a feral snarl as she clenched her hand causing a curtain of writhing, violet colored, biotic energy to collapse on them. It choked the life out of their bodies and their shields, the energy feeding her own defenses. They collapsed, no longer having the energy to remain standing. After scanning the area to make sure that there weren't anymore nearby, she nimbly leaped over the box.
Two of the troopers were still, her biotic attack had drained them of all life, though if they were in similar shape to the first one, there wasn't much life to drain. The third though...it was still squirming a bit. Picking up an SMG that had fallen from one of the dead troopers, Blue planted a foot on the chest of the still living one and shoved the muzzle into the face in an unspoken threat. Yes, her powers were deadly, but she knew that looking down the barrel of a gun was much more effective for intimidation.
"You", it gasped, "you're dead. Have been for three years."
Impatient, Blue exerted some pressure on the fallen trooper's chest, "I'm asking the questions here. What are you doing here?"
It writhed under the weight and gasped, "Need...blood."
It was a bad horror vid, thought not your typical one. Didn't zombies normally need brains or at least fresh human flesh? It was vampires that wanted blood. "What do you mean?"
There was a rattling wheeze then the figure stilled under her foot. She cursed softly under her breath, but not wanting to push her luck, she hurried back to Mitch after making sure to grab their spare thermal clips. "Let's get out of here."
"Thank god. Meeting up with the others?"
"Yeah, let's get moving before the rest of their buddies show up. Any word from Aaron or Ben?"
He shook his head, "It might take them a bit though."
She nodded grimly as the two ghosted their way through the fading light towards the comms tower. Seeing how Mitch moved told Blue a good bit, and she suspected her movements did the same for him. She'd suspected he was a former soldier, but had no proof until now. Her musing was broken by an incoming message via her omnitool. "Blue, ya there?"
A relieved smile broke across her features as she heard Aaron's voice and saw a similar one from Mitch, "We're here. On our way to you and the others."
"Good. We think we got warning out to folks, but there hasn't been any answers. There's also lots more of 'em shuttles and they ain't going to the port."
Great, just what she needed to hear, but she'd already figured that they wouldn't have limited themselves just to the spaceport. They may have been rotting Reapertech-zombies, but they still retained enough intelligence on how to conduct a raid. "Is there a secure location everyone can get to?"
She continued to keep alert as she approached the tower, Mitch off to the side helping sweep the area.
Over the comms she could hear Aaron scratch his head, "Well... them's researchers got their own hidey hole. Same with what miners are out there. And the settlement's got The Vault of course."
Right, how could she have forgotten? Anyone who spent any length of time at the settlement was told about the Vault in case of emergencies. Usually it was in case of severe weather since Sanctum was not exactly the friendliest garden world in the galaxy. But it was also just in case a raid occurred. Much like this one in fact.. A massive bunker that housed the sensitive generators and other machinery needed to run this little outpost of civilization, it also contained a section large enough to comfortably house the population long enough for help to arrive.
At least in theory.
It also stirred up other old memories of other colonies that were best forgotten.
"All right, we're just outside, let's meet at the motor pool so we can get out together."
"Yes'm!"
She could feel Mitch staring at her again. The ragged tail of her bright blue hair swayed as she shook her head, "This isn't the time or place."
"I didn't say anything."
"Uh huh, but I could feel your thinking."
There was a flash of a grin out of the corner of her eye. Slowly, carefully they made their way to the rear of the tower where the vehicles were kept. That there weren't any further hostiles appearing made her nervous. Usually the spaceport was the first place to be taken over under firm control. Despite the landing pad being a mess, there was still sufficient room for multiple shuttles to land, even if there wasn't enough room for an atmosphere-capable ship to land.
Finally they arrived at the motor pool where the other two were waiting for them nervously by a truck. Blue frowned, there should have been more people at the tower, though Ben and Aaron looked pale and scared. More so than before they headed off to free up the jamming. Before either could say anything she asked abruptly, "Where's everyone else?"
Ben shook his head, "Dunno, but it looks like they left in a hurry."
She and Mitch exchanged glances, but nothing else, not wanting to upset either of the other men. "Any word from the settlement?"
"Nope, but got word from an Alliance vessel, they should be here in a day."
Blue's forehead creased as she thought that over, what was an Alliance ship doing out here in the Terminus systems? Then shook her head, that'd be for later. If there was one. "Let's get going before more trouble than we can handle shows up."
She ignored the looks the men exchanged as she hopped up into the rear of the truck. In unspoken agreement, Aaron and Ben got into the cab while Mitch got into the rear with Blue. They were silent at first, tensely watching for trouble. Then Mitch cleared his throat awkwardly, "I won't say it. Though I've been thinking it. That goon recognized you too. Probably won't be long before some of the boys figure it out also..."
"And your point is?", she asked sharply.
"Not sure if there is one. Just guessing some of those rumors are true then."
"Depends on the rumor."
"That a certain war hero shows up to save some sorry butts when they least expect it then vanishes again."
A slight shrug was the only answer she gave. He nodded to himself, "And how long do you plan on running?"
"As long as I have to."
He grunted, "You never struck me as the sort who ran from something."
"I was in the habit of running toward trouble, figured I'd give a shot at running from it for once."
"Don't seem like you're doing too good at that."
"Yeah", she said sourly, "You'd think after three years I'd get the hang of it, but guess I need some more work on it."
Mitch gave her another thoughtful look, "I don't think you can run from yourself, ma'am."
She gave him an odd sidelong look, shrugged and didn't say anything further for most of the ride.