Chapter 1: Calm before the Storm
The Shepard in my story is a Colonist/War Hero/Sentinel, just so everyone knows. Also, this will end up a Garrus/Femshep fanfic, but there's a lot that will happen before Shepard even meets him, because I always imagined doing a story that encompasses a character's entire life. The rating will also go up as the chapters progress. Being that Jane is only 16 in this chapter, and nothing has really happened, it's fairly tame. It will be interesting to see how this plays out. Leave me a review to let me know how I'm doing!
Mindoir is always incredibly beautiful this time of the year, Jane thought to herself as she lifted her emerald irises from a book. The fields were cleared of crops as the harvesting season came to an end, which lent a beautiful view of the endless hills and the far off mountains. The air was becoming cooler each day, and Jane looked forward to having a rest from working outside all the time. Her mother told her that Earth's seasons were nearly identical to those on Mindoir, and it made Jane yearn to visit the Sol System in the future.
As her eyes were settled on the horizon, she heard a twig snap behind her, and she immediately jumped up, turning around to face whatever had made the sound. She sighed, taking in the silhouette of Chase, her boyfriend. His hands were up, palms facing her, showing her that he wasn't there to scare her.
"Whoa, Jane, I didn't know you had such incredible reflexes," Chase laughed easily, one of his hands going up to his face, running his fingers through his tousled, black hair. She smiled, laughing with him.
"Sorry, Chase. I was just in deep thought, and you startled me," Jane set her book down on the side of the hill, and walked over to him, her green eyes taking in his bright blue ones, a soft smile peeking from her face. "Is the harvesting done on your family's land?" She asked inquisitively.
Jane slipped her hands into Chase's, and he pulled her close, leaning his head against her auburn tresses that fell past her shoulders. "We finished nearly everything today, I'm sure that our shipments from last year will be considered nothing compared to the yield of food that we produced this year. Mindoir seems to have a naturally replenishing soil, and the tech that the Alliance provided has proved incredibly useful," His voice seemed surprised at the outcome of their crops this year, mostly because Mindoir was only recently inhabited by humans, and the crops were only increasing in yield each year, easily providing for over half the colonies in the system. "Let's forget about work for now, what were you reading?"
Jane blushed, "It's nothing, just a tech manual that I found on my father's bookshelf," She picked it up, showing him the cover, it was a picture of an omnitool with multiple names below the picture, signifying it was more of a textbook than anything. They started walking towards her house, stopping at the grove of trees that hid her house from the now-empty fields.
Chase just shook his head, "I don't know how you can stand to read those things. They're so boring; I can't even stay awake during some of the agricultural classes I have,"
Shepard smirked at him; "Well, I'm sorry that this literature may be too advanced for you to understand, but I find it extremely interesting," Her joking tone made Chase feign a shot to his heart, "Oh Jane! That stings," He smirked back at her, and suddenly pulled her close.
Lifting his hand, Chase slid his thumb over the freckles on her cheek, noting how quiet Jane became. Leaning down, he covered her mouth with his, giving her a sweet kiss that only lasted for a second, but Jane felt herself becoming warm. As Chase pulled his face away, Jane became emboldened, dropping her book and reached up with her hands, pulling him back towards her, enveloping him in a longer and much more satisfying kiss.
Her hands ran down his strong shoulders, and stopped at his chest. Jane was taller than most girls, so she was nearly eye-level with Chase, not having to tip-toe to kiss him. Pulling away sooner than she wanted, her voice was soft, "You should come over tomorrow night. My parents will be staying out late to help with some last minute harvesting at the Bedingfield's Farm so the crops will be finished for the year," Her heart pounded at the prospect of Chase coming over.
Chase's expression had changed, his eyes darkening, his voice softer and deeper than before. "Are you sure? You're ready?" Jane nodded her head, and Chase smiled, picking her up easily and pulled her into another long kiss. Jane had a leg on either side of Chase; her back was now leaning against a tree. His tongue sliding across her bottom lip, Jane relented to him, pulling his tongue into her mouth and moving her hands to run through his hair. Chase tasted like spring, new and refreshing, and it made her skin tingle.
Jane felt Chase pull her closer to him, and she moved her face slightly away from his as she felt his need through her pants. They were panting, but Chase wasn't putting her down, he just held her against him, he brushed his cheek against her temple, "I think I need to go home before I lose my self-control," His voice was breathy, but Jane could tell in his voice that he didn't really want to leave. Jane sighed, knowing that they would have to wait until tomorrow, or risk her parents hearing them in the trees. She wasn't even sure if her parents were home or not, they could be making their way home as well.
"I think you're right, my parents are either home or on their way home. If I don't show up soon, they'll start to worry," Her voice was full of regret. Chase just smiled again and set her down on the ground, his hands leaving her hesitantly, and he kissed her on the cheek softly. "Alright, I will see you tomorrow," His voice gave her shivers as he stepped away from her.
"I look forward to it," Jane hadn't realized how breathless she was, and the words were nearly just a breath on the wind. As Chase stepped back, her body ached, but she knew it was for the best. There's always tomorrow, Jane thought to herself.
Chase waved to her, and started walking back the way they had come from, his family's house in the opposite direction of the woods. Jane took a deep breath and made her way through the wooded area, seeing the sun beginning to set on the horizon. Making her way through the trees, light began to fall on the ground around her as she got closer to the house. All the lights were on, meaning that everyone was home, and Jane was glad to be going home, instead of staying out later and worrying her parents.
Walking up to the front door, she opened it to the smell of delicious aromas wafting from the kitchen. Closing the door quietly, Jane made her way to the kitchen, the wonderful smells getting stronger with each step, and her stomach growling in realization that she hadn't eaten for a good portion of the day. Too wrapped up in her book… Jane looked down at her hands, realizing she had left the book back at the edge of the woods. Shrugging to herself, she knew it would be there tomorrow, she would just retrieve it first thing in the morning.
Jane made her way slowly through the house into the kitchen. It wasn't a large home by any means, but it held all of Jane's memories. There were three bedrooms at the back of the house, connected by a small hallway that you could get to through the living room. The living room also shared space with the dining room, and the kitchen was just past that. Her emerald gaze fell upon each item in the home, remembering the moment it entered the house. She noted her brother's toys on the ground, her mother's scientific journals on a side table in the living room, which Jane peeked at occasionally, her father's tools laying against the wall.
Upon entering the kitchen, the red-haired sixteen year old came face to face with her thirty-five year old counterpart, Hannah Shepard was smiling with the same green eyes and fiery tresses. "Where have you been this whole time? I haven't seen you since lunch! I swear Jane Evera Shepard, you only come home to eat!"
Jane smiled in amusement, and hugged her mother. "Sorry Mom, I was wrapped up in an omnitool manual that I borrowed from Dad. Is there anything I can help with?" She offered herself in apology.
"You can set the table. Tonight we're having roast Tochtli with some of the fresh vegetables from the garden," Her mother's tone was one of forgiveness, and Jane kissed her mother on the cheek as she quickly set the table. Tochtli was also one of Jane's favorite, much like a rabbit from Earth, but larger and domesticated like cattle. As she finished with the dining room, her father entered the front of the house, with her six-year-old brother in his arms. Just as Jane was the spitting image of her mother, her brother was the mirror of her father. They both had green-blue eyes, but with dark brown hair, and a slightly darker complexion than the fair skin of the female Shepards in the family.
"Dad!" Jane exclaimed, walking quickly over to her and giving both her father and brother a hug in the same breath. Her father briefly touched his forehead to hers as Jane hugged him, and then set her brother down on the floor.
"Good Evening Jane, why don't you and John go ahead and sit at the table while I wash up?" He kissed her on the cheek, then passed her to go into the kitchen and say hello to his wife. Jane made funny faces at her brother as they sat down and waited. Shortly after hearing her mother and father speak a few sentences; they both brought out a pan of food. One had the roast Tochtli with potatoes and the other held a plethora of vegetables from the harvest that morning.
Conversation was light at the table while they ate dinner, and Jane felt that something was different that night from other nights. Her Dad and Mom were much more at ease than normal, and Jane guessed it was from the great amount of produce they had from the crop yield. Normally, they would be talking over ideas on how to increase production or different techniques that had worked in the past, but the talking consisted of Jane's school, how Chase was doing, and the fact that the harvesting season was coming to an end. As the food was finished, Jane helped her mother clean the table, but her father was still sitting at it after all the dishes were cleaned and her mother sat down at the table as well. Her father now had a black box in his hands and it looked like it could hold book or something of that size. Jane's curiosity was piqued, but she was distracted by her mother's voice.
"Jane, come sit with us for a moment. We have something for you," Bright green eyes shined at Jane while she ran a hand through her long auburn locks nervously. "Okay," Her voice betrayed her nervousness at that moment, but she sat down promptly, looking at both her parents.
"I'm not in trouble am I? I didn't mean to be gone for so long today, I got so intrigued with the Omnitool book and how they're used and exactly what can be done with them…" Her voice stopped as her mother put a hand over hers. Her father's voice was gentle as he spoke, "That's exactly what this is about," He handed her the black box and gestured for her to open it.
Confused, Jane gingerly touched the lid, nearly scared to open the gift. As Jane lifted the lid of the box, a thin, black cloth was revealed. She touched it, it was slick to the touch, but extremely pliable. As Jane examined it closer, she noted small diodes running along the length of it, and when she picked it up, she noticed it was in the shape of a sleeve. A small gasp escaped her mouth as she saw the words Polaris – Kassa Fabrication imprinted on the inside edge. Her parents were beaming at her reaction, happy to have struck Jane Shepard speechless.
Jane slid it over her left hand, the sleeve fitting her forearm comfortably and easily. She felt the diodes react to her skin and immediately an orange hologram system lit up around her left forearm. Jane Shepard, in a rare moment of pure happiness, squealed with delight. "THANK YOU! Mom! Dad! This is the best gift I have ever received!" She jumped up ecstatically and gave her father a hug first, then her mother. She held back tears of happiness while hugging them, her face glued to the orange microframe that was hovering over her arm. She leaned out of her mom's embrace, looking both of them in the face, "Why are you giving me this?"
Her parents smiled and her mother spoke first this time, "Jane, we had an excellent crop yield this year, and we decided that we definitely will need help with moving the crops to the distribution and shipping centers. You know how to use almost every piece of software and program in an omnitool, and your father came up with this idea. Plus, this way you can communicate with more than just the humans that pass through here, but you can also help with the food shipments for some of the Asari colonies nearby as well," Jane nodded her head at all of this, and was excited to be stepping into a new role within the farm. She had been content with just helping cultivating the soil, irrigation and harvesting, but this was a pleasant surprise.
She hugged her mother and father again, before looking at them anxiously. Her father just laughed, "You can go calibrate your Omnitool now, if you wish. Don't stay up all night though, we have a lot of produce to sort and get ready to ship tomorrow," Her father's voice was stern, but he smiled while he said it. Jane quickly ducked out of the room, heading to her bedroom to sit there and see the Omnitool in action.
Jane had been able to calibrate her omnitool within an hour, and had spent the next two configuring everything to her liking. She now had a two-way translator program running for all the common languages within the Milky Way, her personal extranet mail system set-up, a communications link for direct contact to other omnitools, a planetary topographical scanner and even a few tech manuals at the ready for her to read whenever she was bored.
Thoroughly satisfied with her Omnitool's capabilities, she deactivated the orange interface, gazing over at the window. She laid in bed, staring at the stars in the sky, realizing that for the first time in her life, she could communicate with the rest of the galaxy as freely as she wished. A low heat burned in her soul, making Jane yearn to be among the stars, using her omnitool to speaking with Salarians, Asari, or even Turians. She had only seen a few Asari in her entire life, and had never spoken to anyone that wasn't a Human. The sky opened Jane's eyes and made her realize how much was out there to see, to explore. The flame that had ignited within her now became a constant burning fire, and it sent her head spinning.
She had always thought that she would stay on Mindoir with Chase, raise a family with him, and only go and visit other planets on rare vacations. It was a simple life that she had cared for, something safe and familiar. Now that she had her omnitool, there were greater dreams and visions to be had. Jane could own a ship and choose her home, moving whenever she felt, looking for adventure and relief from the known. She could go and see every alien Homeworld, from Illium to Sur'Kesh and perhaps even Palaven.
She could become a great technician for the Citadel, or an Engineer for a vast ship, the galaxy was hers for the taking, now that she had a semblance of technology. In the back of her mind, she knew Chase would never want to leave Mindoir, he was much more of a homebody, but she didn't think she would need to deal with that right away. She had at least two more years of staying with her parents before she needed to decide how to start her own career.
I better stop thinking now, before I decide to give up sleeping tonight, Jane thought as she wistfully stared out her window. She turned over, her back facing the window, and closed her eyes, hoping to dream of stars and planets far away. Quieting her mind, she pushed the thoughts of adventure out of her head to wait for another day. There's always tomorrow, Jane thought to herself.
What did you think! Please let me know in a review, it's been an incredibly long time since I've written anything. I also realize this was kind of a boring chapter, but things had to be set-up so we could journey with FemShep on her life-long adventure! I promise the next few chapters will pick up the pace.
