Shepard stood in her room, the music blared and she shed her armour. The mission to Purgatory had been more than she expected. Warden Kurils' betrayal had just strengthened Shepard's resolve. She had never trusted the Blue Suns, and she loathed any one who worked for the highest bidder. Still ,it was stupid on his behalf to attack her and her friends. The Illusive Man was keeping her busy, so from Purgatory it was straight on to Horizon. Nothing had hurt more than Kaidan's words, as she thought about it she felt ill. She had been shot, beaten, suffocated and had burned through atmospheric re-entry, but nothing had hurt like what he had said to her that day.
Shepard was tired, she was angry and lonely. The Normandy was different now, new crew; new tech. This Subject Zero character was the newest addition to the crew, picked up just before Horizon – it was obvious the Cerberus loyalist Miranda didn't like her. Subject Zero, Jack, had demanded Cerberus top secret files, Shepard had reluctantly agreed at the time, using it to get to know the troubled young lady. This had caused animosity between the commander and her second, and though the cat fight was over and Miranda's temper cooled, Shepard thought it best to try to help Jack see reason.
The hold was warm, dark. Jack was right, there was no through traffic, only two crew members were stationed down here and they stayed with the engine. The quiet hum of the ships core was soothing to Shepard. Everything was different, the crew, the missions, but the ship still sounded the same. The soul of the Normandy was in tact. The thought comforted Shepard.
It had only been a few months since she had woken from the Lazarus project. Her life had just been expected to continue from where it had left off, there was still the fighting and the blood shed, but people were missing. Ashley, a fellow female, soldier and friend. Liara, a young asari intellectual. Wrex, noble and strong, and of course Kaidan. Her heart was heavy thinking about her old friends. Having Joker, Garrus and Tali aboard eased the pain, but Ashley was dead, and Kaidan was lost to her while she was working for Cerberus.
"What do you want," came the rough voice from the cot in the corner of the hold. She was snarky, strong willed. Shepard could almost feel the emotional armour the young woman protected herself with. She reminded her of her sister, the strength of character, the determination. Jack had a sharp tongue though. It had been a long time since thoughts of Svenja had formed in her mind.
Shepard sighed "I get it. You play the bitch card; you're scared, you wanna push me away. I'm only here to help." Jack stood up, face to face with Shepard. "I don't play the bitch card, I AM the bitch." Shepard didn't budge, her hands interlinked behind her back, she stared stony eyed. Jack paced back and forward. "I'm grateful that you gave me those files but don't think this makes me want to be your friend."
Shepard smiled internally, outwardly she shrugged. "Its up to you, I'm here if you want to talk." Jacks temper flared again. "If I want to talk? What the hell do I want to talk to you for? You think you can help my problems? You think you can relate to me? You don't know me!"
"You're right." Shepard relaxed her position. "I just thought," she hesitated. "No, no; never mind." She turned for the stairs, her hand lingered on the banister the vibrations running through the metal in into her body. She shook her head and headed up.
"Why are you doing all this? People usually walk by now," Jack's voice called to her. "If you want something just go ahead and fucking say it."
Shepard turned slowly. "What would I want from you, Jack? Biotics? I've got my own."
"Every one wants something Shepard." She said darkly.
"Oh, you're thinking sex." Shepard laughed, "no thank you, I can't really say you're my type." She looked the girl in the eye, dark brown irises meeting cold blue ones. "You're messed up kid; I just thought I could give you a hand."
"Me a hand." Jack cackled. "If any one needs help its you Shepard. I was on Horizon, I heard what that jackoff Alenko said to you, and you just stood there and took it."
"You're in a territory you know nothing about." Shepard's voice wavered, she hadn't talked to any one about what had happened on Horizon. Jack and Miranda were both there, so they were the only ones that knew what was said. No doubt every one would have heard by now, it's a small ship and the comm systems are good. These days no one confronted her about her feelings. Shepard internalized everything, mulled everything over. When she was younger she could scream and yell and beat against the wall and Svenja would shout back. They both had so much anger and frustration at their situation. The arguments that they had...two fiery red heads having a shouting match, it didn't matter where or when, in the middle of battle or alone late at night. The military didn't work like that. Shepard had learned to hold her tongue, to listen, and how to speak quietly. It always got your point across, but it didn't feel as satisfying.
"Seriously, if that were me I would have torn him a new one. You just backed down like a coward. What was he to you, a quick fuck?"
"Seriously, you should stop there." Shepard's face looked calm but the rage underneath was brewing. She knew the girl was pushing her into a fight. Like Svenja would, she could tell when she needed a good fight, blow the pressure.
"Well to you anyway, I could tell by the tone he cared a little more. Tell me Shepard, do you have any feelings under there? Or you just a Cerberus puppet?" Jack tapped Shepard's forehead sharply.
Shepard smacked her hand out of the way. " I said SHUT UP SVENJA".
Both women grew silent. Shepard sighed she sat down on the metal steps. "God damn it," she whispered, rubbing her face with her hand. Jack was taken aback. In the few conversations she'd had with Shepard, she had never yelled. "Who is Svenja?" she asked quietly.
Shepard looked up. For once the cold steel eyes looked soft, and Shepard looked vulnerable.
"Svenja Shepard is," she paused, "or was, my sister. Jack if I tell you about her, I'm telling you something I haven't told anyone. Ever."
Jack sat down on the table across from her. "What, two little rich kids getting up to mischief?"
Shepard smiled a small knowing smile. "If only," She said finally. "Svenja and I grew up on earth. It was a crazy place, over populated, over farmed, one great big melting pot of scum and derelict ideas."
"Sounds like my kind of place."
Shepard laughed, "it would have been. We were like you are. The world was our oyster, we were known as the Crimson Storm. When we struck a place, no one knew what hit them. We took what we wanted, did what we wanted. We were young and thought we were untouchable."
"Your parents supported this?" Jack asked, genuinely curious. Her own lack of adult guidance had led to her eventual down fall as a decent human being. She'd assumed every one but her had some.
"What parents? I don't know if they worked, or just didn't like us; we barely saw them in the day to day and then they just disappeared. I was 14, Svenja 12 almost 13. From there we found the Reds."
"This explains the Crimson Storm," Jack smiled. "Shepard, you should have told me you were a gang babe."
Shepard rolled her eyes. "The Tenth Street Reds aren't exactly the group of choice for teaching the first human spectre how to live. In fact my entire career, I've been forcefully reminded NOT to let that little fact slip. Drugs, gang fights, child prostitution...no one wants to hear about that. So as far as the alliance Navy is concerned, we didn't have a life until we joined the service." Shepard rested her elbows on her knees. "And it was a life."
"Tak?" Svenja called out from her small bed room. "Tak, are you here?"
She had come home to a quiet, empty house. Tak's jacket lay on the table, she knew she was home. Svenja had to get ready for work. She picked up a couple of the model ships that Tak collected and put them back on the table. She didn't mind picking up after her sister, she wasn't that bad normally. Lately she had become forgetful, distracted even. Getting half way through something and losing interest. Svenja herself was more focused, probably the more mature out of the two. Her hobby corner was neat and organised, her furniture tidy and clean. If Tak had her way she would have had a cardboard box on the floor and a shelf for her ships. "Minimalist" was an understatement when it came to her sister. She took her smokes out of her pocket and lay them on the table, next to a ship of her sister's.
Tak quickly put the Hellex tab on her tongue. The last of her red hair fell into the sink. The short spiky crew cut felt good against her fingers. Her lip hurt, it was beginning to swell around the cut.
"Tailyka Shepard!"
"Yeah I'm here, don't get your panties twisted," she called back, dusting the hair off her body and joining her sister. "What do you need?"
"I need help with this dress." Svenja pulled her hair up and out of the way of the zip. The soft fabric clung to her body. It clung even more when the zip was done up.
"Do you have a job tonight?"
Svenja looked at herself in the mirror. She finished her make up, and positioned the ringlets of flame red hair over her shoulders. 'Smouldering temptress' was the look she was going for, and she thought she achieved the effect. "Some one has to earn the money," she said finally.
"I'm the oldest. It should be me. I could go back."
Svenja laughed. "With your bedside manner? No, thank you."
Tak looked at the image of her sister in the mirror. She didn't look like the child Tak always thought she was. She looked so grown up with make up on.
"Svenja, how are you comfortable with this?" she asked. "You're 15."
"You've killed three people, how are you comfortable with that?" Came the clipped response.
Svenja turned to her older sister, finally looked at her. "What's all this then?" She said, pulling at the short tufts of cut hair. "You've cut it again. And look at your face." Every day Tak got a little bit worse, another cut here a bruise there; then there was this new compulsion to keep her hair very short.
Tak pulled away. "Alright, I was a little slow. But that Asari bitch cheated. Shockwave is not allowed."
"Fighting?" Svenja exclaimed. "If I could stop you doing anything..."
Her sentence trailed as Tak cut her off. "It was fine, I got her. Just caught a brick to the face from the shockwave. God, I got sloppy." She shook her head. She appeared to be talking to herself more than her sister. "Two rounds, Ja. Two rounds, she was a commando and I beat her. I guess you gotta be good at something right?"
Svenja was saddened by what she saw. Tak was strong, both of them were, but their past was starting to eat away at her.
"You used to be such a pretty girl."
Tak stopped. "Don't say that," she said. "Don't ever say that. I'm not." She knocked Svenja's hand away from her hair. The room went quiet, you could cut the tension with a knife.
Tak sighed and poked at the big split in her lip, looking at herself in the mirror. Another scar to add to the collection, that was three on the face. Svenja took a swing at lightening the mood. "By the way dear sister. I'm 16 now."
Tak laughed. "In my mind you will forever be ten." She smiled. "Little sister."
Svenja stood up, lording her height over her elder sister. The heels helped. "Yes, big sister."
Tak rolled her eyes and shoved her playfully, "Just take care of yourself 'right?" She ran her hands back through her hair then chewed on her thumb nail.
"But that's what you're for." They both laughed. It was good to.
Tak sat in the lounge of their small but overly furnished apartment. The hellex had taken effect, she felt like if she tried she could listen to the wind breathe. Sadly she couldn't hear it over the shouting of some of the other tenants, or the gun fire, the sirens or the general sounds of Earth. She spun her gun around in her fingers occasionally holding it to her head, squeezing the trigger and hearing the click of an empty barrel. Bored was the word floating back and forward through her brain.
She got a call, moving as soon as the first note sung out across the room.
"Tak?"
"Yes?"
"I've got a job." The voice was deep, gruff; it was their boss. She hesitated for a minute, the sadness in Svenja's eyes lingered in her, this was no doubt not something that she would approve of.
"It pays two thousand credits," he said, his voice breaking her thought patterns.
"No shit?" She gasped, "That's enough to get a girl excited. Meet you at the hub?"
"You know the drill, kid."
He disconnected. Tak grabbed her keys, jacket and some ammo. What Ja doesn't know wont hurt her. The door shut behind her with a loud clunk as the lock slid into place. She didn't take a second look at the place, she should have. She should have memorised exactly where everything was, how everything was. Her mind was on the money, the thought of having enough to book a ship out of there. To join some colony, go to school, get a job, have a life - more importantly, have a life both sisters could enjoy. She zipped up her coat and stuck her hands in her pockets, the Tenth Street Reds insignia blazing on her back meant that through this part of town she could move freely. No on pissed off a red on their own turf.
She walked through the bar that was known as the Hub. It was gang owned, every one knew it, no one did anything about it. She moved through the front and out to the back through the kitchen and into the den of wolves. Her boss sat there. Like a fat cat who got all the cream, plus the canary, he was a player, a pimp, a merc, a business man. This was his life, this was his world. Tak shut the door behind her as she entered.
"I have a hand off I want you to help with." He knocked the girl off his lap and pointed to an envelope to give to her. "I think you could go places in this business. You and your sister are very talented young women."
Tak held her hand up, "You don't have to grease the wheel, I'm already going to do it." She scratched her hand.
"But I want you to be warned, I'm going to have the shipment counted, so don't get any ideas."
"What do you mean?" She said, still scratching her hand. It had become raw and bloody without her noticing.
"It's Hellex." He said flatly. "We're making a trade with the Suns and I don't want anything going square."
Tak stopped her eyes grew wide. "The Blue Suns?" She suddenly felt the urge to be some where far away, and quickly. "Why the hell are they dealing on earth? Don't they like the terminus system? Skyllian verge?"
Her boss smiled. "You know your stuff."
"Unlike a lot of your staff, I can actually read."
He laughed heartily "they have had a change in leadership recently, broadening their horizons."
Tak swallowed the lump in her throat. "Ok I'll do it. But I want three, not two," The room went silent. "and I want you to pay me now."
Tak stood at the dock, she couldn't believe big boss went for it. She watched as three thousand credits transfused into her bank account. She watched the mostly batarian force in their shining blue armour unload their cargo. A cold wind blew; her heart was beating a million miles a minute. No one else seemed nervous save her. She just had a bad feeling in her gut. The night was quiet, everyone was friendly, she was suspicious. Sure her Hellex addiction could have gotten to the point of paranoia, but that didn't mean she wasn't wrong. After the job was completed, product changed hands, she shook the hand of the batarian who lead the crew. She even smiled and thanked him for doing business with her. After all, she was getting paid three grand for the job.
The Reds began to leave, the Suns lingered. She pretended to walk away, but shimmied up a drain pipe and onto a nearby balcony. She listened in, laying in wait just out of view.
"So, any good bars around here?" One Sun said to the other.
"Don't ask me, I hate this place." The other scoffed, "the sooner we're off here and away from those humans the better. Can't stand them. Did you smell them?"
The first laughed. "Well you were the slaver, I guess you saw the worst of them."
"And once we hit the Scarlet Hotel you'll know all about them."
The other laughed. "Oh, I am looking forward to that, a good bit of rape and pillaging. And the Reds think they have made it into the big time."
Tak rolled onto her back "Jesus Mary and Joseph." She whispered. The Scarlet was the Reds' biggest business, the brothel was at least ten stories high, with a casino in the middle. Every one who wasn't at the Hub was there. Svenja was there.
Her roll had dislodged a piece of brick work from the balcony she was lying on, and as the small piece fell to the ground at the two Sun mercenary's feet they looked up.
"Someone's up there."
Tak froze. "Fuck it," she swore.
"Get down now."
There was no way out but down or up. Up the side of the building left her vulnerable for attack. She stood, hands in the air. "There's no need to be too rash about this," she began as she perched herself on the edge, making a clear shot between her and the two Suns.
"It's that kid from before."
Tak rolled her eyes, there was no use arguing. "Yes, it is. But now I'm sorry, 'cos I really have to run."
She leapt from the balcony and landed feet first, her favourite combat boots square in the face of the first batarian, forcing him to the ground with her weight. She sprinted, one sun was left, but that wasn't the problem at hand. She heard him radio his team, she heard him push forward the raid. As she ran away from the scene she knew how this was going to go down, but there was only one thought on her mind. Get to Svenja.
Behind her they were mounting an attack, every where she looked she swore she saw blue and not red. Through side streets, behind and over buildings, she didn't just run she sprinted. Then she saw it, the front door. Her heart burned as she looked at the bouncer.
"Gill, let me in!" She panted, "We need… to get…" she just couldn't get the words out. "everyone out. I need to get Svenja out."
The bouncer Gill looked worried for the girl, "Catch your breath, Tak."
She shook her head, "No time. The suns, they're coming."
At that he laughed. "We just did a deal with them, their leader was talking to boss about more trade. You're paranoid again, kid."
She pushed forward. " I just need to get Svenja then."
He put his arm in the way. "She's in a job and boss man says you're not allowed in after last time."
Tak bellowed and pushed against the large bouncer one more time before she was tossed out on her ass. She stood up, the adrenaline surging through her body, instantly sobering her up. She rounded the side of the building to the fire exit. More than one way up.
If Tak knew anything, with that dress, Svenja was seeing a high paying client. That meant penthouse. Good, because it was the only one on that level; bad, because that level was at the top and she had to shimmy her way up the fire exits and across the building to get up there.
She was nearing the top and she looked down, she could make out a fight, she didn't know if it had made it inside yet or not. She prayed that it hadn't gotten too far.
She peered inside the penthouse window. "Svenja?" she called out.
Her sister gasped and pulled open the window. "Tak! What the fuck, you cant be here, get…"
Tak shook her head, grabbed her sister's hand and headed for the door.
"Tak! Talk to me!" Her sister yelled, pulling her hand out of her grip, "What the hell is this?"
"Shit is going down, Ja. There is a full scale assault happening on the Scarlet right now."
For a moment it was hard to read her sister's face, Tak pulled open the door. "So we have to go, right now."
The door to the penthouse bathroom opened. Svenja's client walked out, the middle aged man looked confused. Tak saw an opportunity. "You're some kind of politician, right?" she said, recognising his face from broadcasts. "Udina, right?" Her brow furrowed and she licked her teeth. "Give me all your credits. every last one that you have on you."
"Tak?" Svenja questioned, not disturbed by the fact her sister had an idea about robbing a john.
"Well, when he finds out that you're only sixteen I doubt he's going to go to the cops." She turned back to Udina in his next to nothings and pulled the gun out of her pants. "I said NOW."
The two girls sprinted down the hall with a fist full of credits each. "What's your plan, Tak."
Tak laughed a little, "I was thinking of just winging it."
The lights were flickering on and off, shadows of mercenaries were flitting down the halls.
"If the power goes out we go into lock down," Svenja said, "we won't get anywhere."
The lifts were out of order anyway, so the stairs were the only option. Svenja grabbed Tak's hand, " do you have another one of those?" she asked, nodding at Tak's pistol.
Tak saw the shadow of the merc as they were talking, he was coming up the hall that joined to theirs, rifle to the front, she paused for a minute then grabbed the barrel, pulling it forward and pulling him off balance. With her left hand she pistol whipped him in the face, he fell to the ground a mix of shock and concussion stunning him for a moment. "I do now," she said, handing the rifle to her sister.
Svenja kicked off her heels and tore the bottom off of her dress so she could run if need be. "Pass me your knife."
With the blade was in hand, she took to the alarm console nearest them. "Lock down will be a pain in the ass, but I figure," she said, now putting the knife in her mouth as she fiddled with some wires, "if I block off only some of the levels we won't have to deal with anyone." She put the cover back on and looked at her sister. "You don't plan to hang around after this, do you?"
Tak sheathed her knife and put it back in her pocket. She wriggled out of her jacket and checked the clip on her gun. "I've got three grand in the bank about one and a half in hand. We're out of this place and gone."
Svenja smiled. "So we can burn a few bridges?"
"Sister, I suggest we burn them all."
The girls took to the stairs, taking out mercs as they went. The reds left them alone, so out of courtesy, they left them alone.
Tak took point - she was a heavy hitter, a front woman, where Svenja with the rifle and the evening dress was better suited to picking them off from a distance. Her eye was sharp and her aim true.
Tak jumped a flight of stairs to slam a merc against a wall, the turian spat insults at her all the while she beat him. Svenja peered down, she caught a glimpse of blue, and another sun was coming up behind Tak. In a heartbeat her rifle was to her side, the shot aimed and taken. Tak turned around to see the head of the sneaking merc explode before her.
A crimson storm blew through the scarlet hotel that night. No one stood a chance. They made it to the kitchen - it was on the first level, the car park being the ground floor. Suns had the area well controlled, both girls took cover. They waited for an opening. Their way down safely was blocked, but there was always the window. Big boss had been taken from the hub, brought here for negotiations. The leader of the suns was shouting - neither Shepard was paying too close attention. Tak spied the gas tank for the ovens. She signalled her sister to them and then motioned to her to stand by the window.
She stood up, Svenja joining her. "Hey BOSS!" she yelled overtop of the suns leader. "I would just like you to know, I never liked working for you."
The sisters smiled. "See you in hell, fucknuts!" Svenja crowed, and then shot and pierced the gas tank. Tak struck her lighter, tossed it toward the seeping gas and they both leapt out the window. The final leap of faith as both sisters fell the final storey into the dumpster. The building exploded around them. They could hear the sirens, but they couldn't care less. That part of their life was over, literally in pieces behind them. The sisters laughed in relief.
"What the hell do we do now?" Svenja asked, trying to pull herself up from the cardboard and packaging that had enveloped her.
Tak looked up, hauling herself up on the side of the dumpster to a seated position, thankful that the dumpster wasn't full of anything more disgusting. Literally in the lowest place they had ever been, she looked up and saw a sign. It read, "The sword is drawn, the navy upholds it."
"Alliance navy?" she turned to her sister. "After all, we do kick ass."