Chapter 1: Introduction

The sky was clear and seemingly sparkled a rich blue. Odd for Cyrene, for it seemed that raining was the natural state on this colony. Not a cloud in sight, and the stone-like tree line in the distance had taken a break in its seemingly endless dance. The mud had even dried up and ceased to pocket the paths between the pods and the colony center. Eva could see kids playing in the field that bisected the colony and divided residential pods from the commercial district. She imagined they were playing soldier or king of the hill, given the general mob filled with children shoving and tumbling with whoever was closest to them.

She almost wished she could go out there and play soldier too, but that was after all why she was stuck in this office pod, so she didn't have to just play soldier one day. She has been working for almost a year now, as an office clerk in the local security office. Bored and without work to be done, Eva sighed at the thought of straightening all the pens and papers on her desk for the hundredth time since she had something productive to do. Maybe she would shift there orientation to horizontal in front of her instead of vertical and left abreast. The effort would consume all of 30 seconds and then another 30 to ensure they were all parallel.

A minute later, she decided to read through her emails which were open on the terminal, nothing important. A bit of office chatter, a few notices, but at the bottom she had received another message from the Alliance. She had been corresponding with the Alliance since she finished schooling, but she couldn't join without reporting to a recruiting station. Unfortunately the closest station was half a galaxy away. Her brief excitement was extinguished, as she was denied, again, an application for special consideration.

"Eva," a familiar voice called from behind her, "Could you go fetch me another cup of coffee?" Her father said, leaning halfway outside his office. "Is the Alliance hounding you still?" Her father asked having noticed the open email though unable to read the text but able to see the large Alliance logo at the top. "They are only trying to fill a quota."

"I know." She responded sharply. She hadn't told him she wanted to join. She hadn't even told him she wanted to leave. They wouldn't understand. Her parents were very protective of their daughter. She was lucky to be working, and even then it was by her father's side. She loved her parents, and they were very happy on Cyrene. This colony was their paradise, it just wasn't hers. She dreamed of seeing the stars, visiting Earth her species home planet, and seeing aliens up close.

"I'll go get your coffee." She said remembering her father's original request and avoiding this conversation until later. She got up from her desk, and her father retreated back into his office.

The office was about as busy as she had been. She wondered if the security officers were also daydreaming about playing soldier with the children on hill. She was sure that the kids wouldn't mind and half the men here were as immature as twelve year old children. Three of the seven officers were present, with the others out making rounds no doubt. Phil, the oldest of the officers smiled at her as she walked past his desk. His face was beginning to show signs of the toll age takes as his short black hair is fade around the temples and permanent bags formed under his green eyes, but he had a kind, gentle face. She returned the smile as she passed him.

In the break room, the deep aroma of crushed coffee beans invaded her nostrils. It smelled like that around the clock, for there was never any shortage of brewed coffee even late into the afternoon. Michael leaned against the counter sipping from a small white mug that read in white lettering inside a red heart "I love mom". He looked up as she walked in the room and nodded to acknowledge her presence. Michael was the youngest, 21, a year older than she was, and yet had very soft unpronounced facial structure that made him look younger than her. A smooth jaw coupled with a bright face masked his age. The deep blue security uniform was a bit big for him as well. He had a small frame and long lanky arms.

"Busy day at the office?" Michael sarcastically smirked as he got out of the way of Eva and the half empty pot. Michael was a good friend, and a friendly face in the office. They grew up together, and in a small colony, it's hard not to live parallel lives with friends.

"Haha very funny" She replied as she poured fresh coffee into a mug. "At least my shift is about done. Annie will be here to keep you company through the night." Eva smirked as Michael rolled his eyes. She had caught them making out last week late at night in a supply closet, and it brought her pleasure to remind them.

"Shame, it's such a beautiful day, and I am stuck here." Michael changed the subject, dodging her comment.

"Yes, stuck here." Eva reinforced. "Say hi to Annie for me," Eva asked as she left the kitchen with coffee in hand.

"Wait." Michael called out as she got to the door.

"What?" Eva replied.

"Could you do the thing? Please." Michael begged. She knew right away what he was asking. She wished she had never told him. He was the one of two people that knew, and he only knew because he walked in unannounced onetime.

"I really shouldn't. My dad could walk in." She replied trying to convince him but more herself otherwise. She hated that she had to keep this part of herself a secret. Michael starred back, wide eyed begging. She sighed. There was no one except them, nobody could find out.

In an instance, she channel all of her attention to her hands, and in a purple glow her father's mug began levitate above her cupped hands. She held it for a few seconds before she stopped, and grabbed the cup out of the air. Michael clapped in approval. It was called biotics according to the extranet. Powers granted to few due to prenatal exposure to element zero, but beyond making light objects float, she couldn't say what she could do.

"I have to go." She said opening the door back into the main room. "Have fun with the rest of your shift." A fleeting remark as she didn't give him a chance to respond as the door shut behind her.

She actually was looking forward to the afternoon. A trader was coming in today with goods, but she was more interested in the trader himself. She was hoping to negotiate travel off world, she has been working all year, but tickets off this rock are expensive and far between. She has been waiting for the next ship to take her away, hopefully to human controlled space, but a ride to the galactic capital, the Citadel, would be preferred. She knew her parents wouldn't like it, leaving and joining the Alliance, but they would hate the idea more than they would a set plan, she hoped.

She knocked on the office door as a voice promptly summoned her from inside. Her father sat at his desk tending to something on the computer. At least someone was busy. He didn't look up as she sat the mug down, attentive to the screen. He, like Phil was on the other side of the hump in life. Harder to tell, but his face was sharp and his short blonde hair hid it well. She noticed a picture he kept on his desk, of Eva and her family hiking in the woods. Their straight blonde hair contrasting Eva's jet black waves. He wasn't really her father. She was adopted, her parents died in an accident, but he was as much a father as any of the other dads.

"Are you about ready to go down to the pad?" He asked looking up from the now blank screen. She smiled and replied. "But it isn't scheduled for another two hours?" Half asking, unsure of her statement. "It will be here soon. A quicker journey than expected." He replied. "And since I am going, you are welcome to clock out early." She smiled a reluctant smile. She hadn't expect for him to come, and more pressingly, she hasn't told him about her desire to leave. She had hoped to tell him in a more opportune setting, for she feared he wouldn't take it well.

Sipping from his mug he said, "Go log off and we will go." She nodded silently, turning and heading back to her desk. Everything was in order for Annie to take over, she just turned the computer console off and she was finished. Her father soon followed, walking out in the blue uniform and black trousers. She was happy to not have to wear a uniform. She was only a clerk after all. She was only asked to be presentable.

"Ready?"

"Let's go." She replied as they set off out of the pod and down toward the center of town.

The sound of blood pumping was pounding in Tacitus ears like a violent war drum. He stood cradling his throbbing arms behind a rugged column that scratched at his back through the rough shirt. Pulling away his hand away revealed a blue stained hand, and the smell of iron. He was in trouble. On the other side of pillar stood two white scaly varren flanking any escape. Their dog-like form stood daunting as they paced between two imaginary points in the arena, standing light on their four paws. Their eyes glowed an ominous rich purple almost empty, for he couldn't make out a pupil in the depth of darkness. This was unlike other varren he had faced in the past. These were no lap dogs. Four dagger-like, glossy fangs hung outside their jaws, likely to rip him into ribbons. They had already gotten a piece of him. He thought wincing as he touched the gash in his arm.

Tacitus forced two deep breaths. "Calm down," a phrase he repeated so often they might as well be tattooed on the inside of his eyelids. He knew he would be in trouble if he stood there for much longer. One, because the four legged killers weren't going to wait forever, and two, cowardice is grounds for punishment in this pit, and he feared the later far more.

He stepped out from the column and put his body between it and the beasts. The clamor that surrounded him grew. At least they haven't turned on me yet, Tacitus thought to himself with a bit of relief. He starred at the two varren, preventing one from escaping his sight for long. Varren were pack hunters, he could count on a coordinated attack. Both pale creatures paced waiting for him to give them an opening. The rattle of their chains rang endlessly as the varren pulled at their restraints. They had plenty of chain to reach him, it was more for clearing the pit, assuming he was a shredded corpse.

This was it. He took a deep breath. Calm down.

He dashed for the center of the arena, splitting the beasts. He saw them running at him, in his peripheral, and he dropped into a slide as the two beasts leaped for his throat. Sliding out of harm, the two collided in midair dropping in a bundle signaling a rise in the surrounding roar. He took the nearest chain in his hands. Preparing for the next attack, he pulled lengths for reserve. Dazed for but a second, the two white varren recovered and gave chase, fighting each other for the kill. Tacitus lashed a chain in their direction hitting one hard in mouth, breaking one of the four protruding fangs while the other leaped to attack again.

Tacitus rolled on his back, and the varren followed; it moved to tear his face off. He held the chain taught in the beasts jaw. It was the only thing keeping the fangs from tearing a mandible. He kicked at the back legs, breaking the beasts balance as the mass fell on top of Tacitus. It was much heavier than he thought as he shoved his body up and over, rolling with the hound. The other was on the move, and out of sight. He couldn't tangle for much longer or he would be torn apart from behind. He dropped the chains and grab the varren by the throat. He squeezed as hard as he could as the beast thrashed against him, and with one violent pull, life left the hound, and again the pit resonated like thunder.

He had no time for celebration as Tacitus cried out. Sharp pain shot up his leg as he was dragged away from the lifeless white hound. The other beast had his ankle in his jaw. Tacitus kicked violently at the beast throat, and the vice relented. He scrambled away to his knees. His foot was mangled in a horrific angle. The sand around him was dyed a deep blue by the steady flow of blood from both his arm and his ankle. Fear overwhelmed him as his heart began to race. He wasn't walking out of here. He looked back at the varren. It, only a few meters in front of him, was ready to end his miserable life.

Tacitus dropped in the sand looking at the approaching beast. His arms went lifeless to his sides in defeat. Amidst the warm sand, he felt a rock hard, but smooth protrusion against his limp hands. He suddenly realized that the broken fangs of the beast laid in his hands.

The beast leaped viciously at him, and it was over. Both Tacitus and the varren laid motionless in a heap. A deep ruby red pool dyed the sands in the pile. Violent spurts protruded from the fangs gash in the varren throat. Tacitus sighed in relief. He would live to fight another day.

He looked up at the crowd around him still held down by both pain and the lifeless mass. They hooted and hollered. His pain, and the varren's death was their pleasure. He remember once resenting them, back when he felt like a prisoner at their mercy, but now he couldn't feel anything at all. He had died long before this battle.

"Get up, Turian." A massive hulking Krogan stood over him. It much taller than he was, and was supported by large tree trunk thighs. A heavy square torso with shoulders that protruded above his head which sat forward of his body. His head featured a wide set sand colored eyes. His forehead featured a red bone-like plate, thick, likely to stop a blade. This was his captor. His deep blood red armor featured much wear and tear, from more than a few battles. "I won't ask again." His deep lumbering voice warned.

"I can't." Tacitus replied. "My foot is broken." The Krogan growled with hostility before he called over another slave who pushed the beast off of Tacitus and pulled him to his feet. Supported by the help, Tacitus limped out of the pit leaving two lifeless varren, soaking the sands with their blood, and the thundering roar of the crowd.