Disclaimer: Mass Effect is property of BioWare. I do not own anything.

Chapter 1: First Kill

A gust of wind swept through the dark streets of Omega. A small cloud of dust rose from the dirty walkway in a cramped alley far from any of the more populated areas.

The cloud was soon scattered by the bowed-back legs of a passing quarian. It was obvious from the mask's shape that she was a female. She was shaking a bit, as if she was cold, and kept walking faster and faster. She appeared to be rather nervous. A common sight on Omega.

The quarian stopped right before a corner, brought up her omnitool and scanned the area for life signs. The scanner reported only faint signatures. She let out a sigh of relief, dismissing them as rats, and continued walking.

She stopped again at the end of the street and turned around. She was almost certain she'd already heard footsteps coming from somewhere behind her, but this time she was sure. Someone had been following her. She looked around carefully but didn't spot anything.

That's it. I wanted to help Kenn, but I'm not risking my life.

She began to run. Her heart was beating furiously as she turned corners, doing whatever she could to remain unseen. It was probably too late, but she wasn't going to go down easily. The footsteps behind her became louder and louder. Whoever was following her must have been wearing armor and getting worn out. She was slowly becoming rather tired herself, but she couldn't stop. Her legs kept moving, almost as if they had a conscience of their own. She just hoped her envirosuit would register the temperature change soon enough to cool her down. She had always kept herself in a decent physical condition, but training meant next to nothing when her life was in danger, and she knew that.

At first, she aimed for the marketplace and Kenn's stand, but she soon discovered that she went the wrong way. It didn't take her long to realize she'd eventually have to confront the hunter. She still kept running despite the burning in her legs. There was an intersection ahead, and she was ready to lose her pursuer for good.

She turned the corner only to charge right into someone. Dazed by the unexpected impact, the quarian clumsily turned around and tried to try the other way, but the pursuer – a human – had just catched up. She was trapped.

„Going somewhere, lady?" said the turian she bumped into, holding a shotgun in his right arm. Right now, she was glad turians weren't capable of grinning.

„Boss, I caught her snooping near the entrance," the human said, breathing heavily. At least I gave the bastard a good run, she thought with a frown. She had no idea what he was talking about until she noticed the color of his armor.

Blue Suns.

„You can go now," the turian said. She was confused. Was this some kind of joke? She tried to walk away but the turian's claw grabbed her shoulder and forcibly turned her around. „Not you, my dear. Him." The human ran off.

„So," the turian started. „Are you the pesky suit rat that's been stealing our supplies for the past two weeks?"

She decided to play it safe and try everything. Calm down, Kirah, she thought to herself. You've gotten out of worse situations already.

„I... I don't know what you're talking about," she said, trying to sound genuinely confused. She'd been salvaging parts for Kenn when he needed it, but the place she always went to looked more like a giant garbage container rather than a place to store Blue Suns supplies.

„I have to admit, I expected this answer." He began walking around slowly. „That doesn't make it any more believable. You'll tell me what you're doing here now. Don't even think about lying."

„I was just passing by, I swear! Let me go!" She was starting to get scared. This guy obviously wasn't an idiot. Her persuading skills wouldn't help. After all, she was a quarian. Anyone who trusted her must have been either another quarian or living in their own little world.

The turian laughed. He was likely experienced in dealing with „trespassers". She had no idea this was Blue Suns territory, though he didn't soften up.

„Tsk, tsk... too bad it's not allowed," he said. Kirah desperately tried to find some way to escape, but got nothing. The merc had a shotgun. The hall they were in was a dead end. The only means of escape was going back where she came from, but she needed to distract the turian first.

„Tell you what, sweetie." He interrupted her train of thought. She was disgusted but had to look him in the eyes. „If you hand over your credits, I might just look away for a second and fail to catch you when you run... What do you think? A mutually beneficial exchange?"

Now this was just insulting. This person had known her for five minutes, but that was apparently enough for him to start calling her names and shamelessly try to rob her.

„I don't have any credits on me!" she yelled. „Please, just let me go! I wasn't doing anything bad!"

„You're not going anywhere without credits," he said before turning around and dusting off the barrel of his shotgun. She took the opportunity to scour her pockets for anything that might help. Her left hand got stuck on something before she could check the pocket. It was her pistol.

Bingo!

She hastily pulled out the pistol and took aim at the turian.

„Drop that gun!" she screamed. The shotgun fell to the mercenary's feet with a loud noise. „Now turn around slowly!" He let out a sigh and followed her order. Now she was the one with the upper hand, but she really didn't want to kill him.

„You'd make a good merc," he said, looking somewhat disappointed. „If only you didn't panic..."

„Shut up and don't move! I'm leaving, let me go and I won't harm you." Still facing him, Kirah circled around him and started backing into the hall she came from. The turian slowly turned as well, still looking at her.

„Don't move! I.. I'll shoot!" Her face was completely pale, even by quarian standards. Good thing he didn't see past her mask. She didn't want to hear any more of his comments.

Suddenly, the turian jumped to the side and immediately picked up his shotgun.

Keelah se'lai.

She pulled the trigger.

Blue blood splattered over the back wall as the dead turian's body collapsed onto the dusty ground. A perfect headshot. The mercenary never stood a chance without a helmet. Kirah stood there in utter shock, dropping the pistol. She kneeled to pick it up but stopped and took a moment to think about what just happened.

She had just killed a person for the first time in her life. The feeling was too heavy for her to just shake off. Sure, she'd gotten in much trouble already, but she had never harmed anyone until then. Tears ran down her cheeks. This person was a criminal, but even he must have had a friends. Maybe even a family. And now he was dead. She might very well have just ruined a family. Was this really necessary?

Kirah shook her head and picked up her pistol before securing it to its usual spot on her waist. This wasn't the time for dealing with emotions. She had to escape first.