A/N: I was completely blown away to find that the first chapter of False Masks received more than one-hundred views in less than twenty-four hours after publication, as well as a number of favourites and follows. As a result, I couldn't help wanting to get the second chapter ready and published to the site as soon as possible. Please let me know what you think, this is my first real (I don't count my old KOTOR one-shot) fanfic and I'd like to know what's good about it (if anything), as well as what can be improved. Anyway, on with the show!

Chapter 2: Revelations

Shaela made sure to keep looking around for further threats as she and Rassen left the bodies of her attackers behind. She made sure to walk as quickly as her injury would allow, since there could have been any number of other thugs nearby who were spoiling for a fight. The combat between the lone human and the batarian gang had been terrifying in its ferocity and she had no desire to witness any more violence for tonight. Furthermore, the confrontation had been deafeningly loud in the tight confines of the corridor where it had taken place. The shriek of Rassen's bizarre yet devastating rifle in particular still rang in her ears. All of this contributed to her wanting to get back to the relative safety of her apartment as soon as possible.

From time to time she turned to glance at her new companion, who much like her surveyed their surroundings for any further threat, occasionally glancing behind them to ensure that no one caught them off-guard by attacking while their backs were turned. She wondered again what exactly he was. He had called himself a 'Jedi Knight', whatever that was, but the words meant nothing to her. Perhaps that was what the soldiers back at whichever colony he was presumably from called themselves? Regardless, once they got to her apartment it would be a little safer and she could work on getting a proper explanation out of him.

Despite her efforts to observe her surroundings however, Shaela couldn't help but speculate on other aspects of her rescuer. What she found most confusing was the man's lack of familiarity with, well… everything. Not knowing what an omni-tool was wasn't impossible, she supposed, although it was still incredibly unlikely, even if she was right about him being from some kind of backwater colony that didn't have ready access to the technology. His rifle and whatever that laser sword of his had been undermined her theory however. She had never seen anything like the two weapons before and both had proven to be utterly lethal. Those must have been advanced prototypes of some sort, but how would he have acquired those if he was from some backwards colony? Even the design of the armour he wore and the cloak that covered his back and concealed much of his head (she assumed that his mask only covered his face) weren't something that she had seen before. Shaela finally decided that she wasn't going to figure out his origins without more information and so decided to settle on Rassen being from a colony for the moment. The frustrated quarian then turned her mind to something else that had been just as confusing.

When she had rushed to hide behind him, he had shielded her without a complaint.

Shaela had only been away from the Migrant Fleet for a couple of months, but her experience with humans had not been a positive one. Even those that were not outright hostile had still looked at her with a large degree of distrust, even if she had been simply passing them in the street. They were not as bad as many of the other races, probably since they had not been a part of the galactic community long enough for the rumours about her people to have become as universally accepted. Nonetheless, until today she had yet to meet a human that did not have at least some kind of preconceived bias towards quarians.

Rassen Voratt was different to any of the humans that she had encountered. Not just physically, although between his strange equipment and height he certainly stood out, but rather because it seemed as if he had never met a quarian before. In fact, it didn't even seem as if he knew how the other species treated her people.

Perhaps he would be willing to tell me about where he's from if I asked? From what little I know about humans, they are a very diverse species in many ways. If he is from a human colony then maybe it cut itself off from all outside influence. That would explain why he didn't know what to do with an omni-tool, the fact that at first the batarian's omni-tool couldn't translate his language and also his unique armour and weapons. But how did he get to Omega? It's not as if he could have negotiated passage aboard a ship since his language wasn't registered in the omni-tool's translation software and he didn't even have one in the first place.


Rassen had been keeping an eye on a particularly large alien that stood on all fours when he suddenly heard an unfamiliar sound to his left. Upon turning his head to face the source of the noise, he saw that Shaela appeared to be shaking slightly, her thin shoulders vibrating as a result of whatever it was that she was doing. After a moment he realised what exactly the noise was.

She was giggling.

It seemed that the habit was not restricted just to humans, Twi'leks and members of the other races that he had met during his time with the Jedi, since Shaela was certainly giggling. With all that she had seen today, what could the poor woman possibly find funny? Rassen shook his head in amusement, given his unfamiliarity with Omega as well as its technology and inhabitants, he probably wouldn't understand the joke if he asked. He opened his mouth to ask her anyway, but a slight shift in the force caused him to freeze in place, a slight frown overtaking his features behind his ever present mask.

He had felt a new presence leave one of the apartments that he and Shaela had just walked past, which seemed to dominate this area of Omega. The presence halted for a moment before he felt its attention shift to him, his back still turned to it, before it finally focused its attention on Shaela. Whoever it was then hesitantly approached the pair as Rassen stood frozen, sensing the person's desire to speak with him before they could say anything and turning to face them as they walked quickly to meet him.

It was a human woman, who appeared to be middle-aged, but looked more than capable of looking after herself, judging by the bulky pistol that she wore on her right hip. She paused for a moment as the Jedi locked eyes with her through his mask, then shook her head and continued until she stood a few paces away from him.

The newcomer appeared confused at the sight before her and then glanced back at Shaela, before returning her attention to him. She seemed to take a deep breath to collect her thoughts. When she had done so, she decided to opt for the direct approach.

"Um, sir? Are you with that quarian over there?"

Out of the corner of his eye, Rassen noticed Shaela freeze a few steps ahead, since she had not sensed the approach of the stranger and had continued on her way none the wiser. She then quickly turned and walked back a few paces so that she stood next to him again. Rassen grimaced. The unknown woman had asked a question that was… insensitively worded to put it lightly, but it seemed as through Shaela had taken it as a great personal insult. The mirth that had radiated from her a moment earlier had evaporated, replaced by white-hot rage that surprised him in its intensity. It was a complete change from her previous emotional state, which had him puzzled. He was clearly missing something important. The woman had specifically asked if he was with a quarian (he assumed that was the name of Shaela's species) rather than just referring to her as a woman, or person. He then thought back the group of four-eyed aliens that had been after her earlier. Was Shaela often singled out due to her species? If so then why?

Rassen was increasingly looking forward to the conversation that he and Shaela had agreed to have later.


Why was this woman so quick to lump her with the prejudiced view held of her people by most members of the other races? Shaela had never met her before and had always tried to avoid trouble with others regardless of race in the past. She was a proud daughter of the Migrant Fleet and never stolen anything or even broken any laws. In fact the only way that she could see herself doing so was if there was no other choice available and she was truly desperate. She had always tried to live her life by the morals taught to her by her parents and was proud of who she was. Who was this woman to judge her? She wasn't a quarian, how could she possibly know the first thing about her people?

The woman was clearly unnerved by Rassen's appearance, as she kept glancing nervously at the rifle over his back and the mask that concealed his face. She was so occupied with looking warily at him as she waited for an answer to her question that she had temporarily forgotten the now furious quarian as she drew level with Rassen, who from what little she could see of his body language, appeared irritated with the woman for confronting them and stopping them from reaching her apartment. She was about to scream an insult at the woman for her ignorance and racism before Rassen, seemingly sensing her intention, calmly held up a hand and then pointed back the way that they had come before doing the same in the other direction. Shaela swallowed in anger before calming down slightly, understanding his reasoning. Sound travelled easily around this part of Omega. It would be better for both of them if they avoided attracting any more unnecessary attention than they already had.


Rassen slowly crossed his arms as he finally answered the woman's question. "Shaela here helped me out with a difficult situation just a little earlier today. If it had not been for her then we would not be having this conversation." That was true, even if it was in a sense that the woman would never had guessed. Firstly, without having Shaela's help with the… omni-tool as she had called it, Rassen would have been unable to effectively communicate with the woman in front of him. Secondly, even if he had somehow managed to work out that the omni-tool could translate languages, he still would have had nowhere to go to and could have very well wandered the station until one of its inhabitants was fortunate enough to catch him off guard and kill or seriously injure him. At the end of the day Shaela had chosen to help him, even though she could have tried to run immediately after he had put his weapons away and he would have been back at where he was before they had met. She had shown him the only kindness that he had seen so far in this unfamiliar place and he would not let anyone challenge his decision to join up with her, even if it was only temporarily, without a very good reason.

The woman blinked in surprise and then looked over at Shaela, the quarian likewise crossing her arms, anger restrained but clearly present with the obvious tension that manifested itself through her slightly shaking body. "I'm sorry" she began, "I thought perhaps that she was planning to steal from you later. People like her have a reputation, you know."

Rassen opened his mouth to respond, only to be cut off as Shaela quickly pushed past him to stand before the woman. "H-how dare you?" She spat, her anger overpowering her fear of further trouble today. "You don't know me. In fact, I'm willing to bet that you haven't even seen any of my people apart from those that are homeless, who people like you pass without a second thought! How dare you accuse us all of being thieves when you don't know the first thing about us!"

The woman recoiled before looking to Rassen for support. "I meant no offence", she began, looking beseechingly at the hooded man who towered above her, "I just wanted to make sure that you understood that her type have a reputation for stealing from others. You've obviously decided to give her a chance, but please, bear that in mind."

Rassen frowned at the now hopeful looking woman in disgust. Regardless of what the other people in this place thought of Shaela's race, the quarian herself had done nothing that led him to believe that she was anything less than a desperate young woman who had found herself in a terrible situation. The same seven thugs that had chased her had tried to pick a fight with him earlier, despite the fact that he had done nothing to them. He had helped her and in return she had helped him. He barely knew the emaciated quarian, but she deserved some small measure of trust at the very least. She had more than earned a chance after what she had done for him and he fully intended to give it to her.

Rassen turned away from the woman and pointed in the direction that he and Shaela had been travelling before the woman had approached him. "Your apartment was this way wasn't it, Shaela?"

The quarian jumped slightly as he addressed her, having been occupied glaring at the now flabbergasted and still unnamed woman, "Y-yes, it's close now, it shouldn't take us long to get there."

"Let's go then. Standing about on that ankle can't be doing it any favours."

Shaela nodded and the two of them continued walking as the woman spluttered in anger behind them about how she had only been trying to help him, and how people had often done something to deserve the reputations that they had been given. Rassen did not so much as bother to look back at her as he and Shaela continued on their way.


"Thank you for not believing her."

Rassen forced himself out of his thoughts in order to respond to the quarian who limped along next to him. "You helped me Shaela. I don't particularly care what that woman back there thought of your people, and by extension you. You helped me when I didn't have the slightest clue what to do to even acquire a translator on this damn station and I'm grateful for that."

"You helped me first."

"You helped me twice."

"I'm sorry?"

"The… omni-tool did you call it? That was the first. The second is very kindly letting me stay with you until I can get my bearings."

The quarian nodded in understanding, "I suppose that's true, but you've helped me twice as well. The batarians back there obviously, but you also helped me by not listening to her."

"That makes us even then, two for two."

"You did save my life though." At this Shaela shuddered at the memory of how terrified she had felt as the batarians had chased her through the narrow corridors of this level of Omega. She had stupidly left her pistol back at her apartment, not that it would have done her much good. She could have taken down one of the batarians, maybe two if she had been lucky, but seven would have been far too many, even with the training that all pilgrims received before leaving the Flotilla.

"I was glad to be of help. In all honesty though, I met those seven only fifteen minutes or so after I awoke here on Omega. I managed to convince them to leave the first time and could probably have done so when they were after you as well, but I suspected that if I did the same again then they would just have caused further problems for either myself, you, or others."

Shaela stopped to look at the human in surprise. "How could you possibly have convinced them the first time, let alone when they were after me as well? There were seven of them and they were all armed."

Rassen thought for a moment before answering as the two of them turned one of the sharp corners that the architects of the station seemed to have such a fondness for, before replying. "It would take a while to explain as it is linked to some of my other abilities and one of the weapons that I used earlier. Until we get to your apartment and can have a long conversation in peace, suffice to say that people like me can be very persuasive."

"Humans?"

"Jedi."

"You say that word like I should recognise it."

Rassen glanced at her in surprise, "I'm shocked that you don't," he replied, "even if you've never met one, I thought that everyone in the galaxy knows what a Jedi is".

"I'm afraid that I don't. What is a Jedi then? Some kind of elite soldier program the Systems Alliance has developed?"

"What's the Systems Alliance?"

They had just arrived at Shaela's apartment and Rassen's question caused Shaela's fingers to slip as she attempted to unlock her door via her omni-tool. Shaking her head in disbelief, Shaela began re-entering the code, the door then opening with a metallic groan that screamed of poor maintenance and worn-out parts that were long past their prime.

He must be from the most backwards colony that the humans have! Definitely from one here in the Terminus Systems, as I've heard that the humans there don't want anything to do with the Alliance. But to never have heard of the Alliance in the first place? The humans must be even more fractured and diverse than I thought, the idea of a quarian not knowing of the existence of the Migrant Fleet is laughable!

Realising that they were still standing outside of her apartment, Shaela stepped inside, motioning to Rassen to follow her. "Please come in," she said, still reeling from the apparent revelation that her new friend hadn't the slightest idea of what the voice of humanity was. "There's a lot that I need to explain to you and I'd like you to answer a few questions of my own."


The apartment was in many ways in keeping with the rest of the station. The door opened straight into a living/kitchen area, with a faded brown sofa against the wall opposite the entrance, a couple of springs protruding from it at awkward angles. Next to it was a chair of that looked to be made of plasteel or some kind of plasteel equivalent that may once have been white, but was now a filthy grey, sitting just to the left of the sofa in the corner. Rassen noticed that like the sofa, the chair faced the doorway that he and Shaela had just passed through. Cleary Shaela had been on Omega long enough to realise that the station was a very unfortunate place to call home.

The kitchen area was on the left-hand side when you entered through the doorway and consisted of little more than a simple countertop of slate grey and an oven of some description, both like the sofa and chair in that they were pressed up against the wall in order to make the best use of the limited space available. On the right-hand side there was a short hallway that presumably led to the bathroom and also the bedroom, though it would not have surprised Rassen at this point if there was no bedroom, the rest of the apartment being so sparse in furniture that a bed might not be present at all. In short, while everything a person needed did seem to be present, the apartment contained the bare necessities and nothing more. The only major difference with the rest of the level they were on that Rassen had observed so far was that Shaela clearly tried to clean her apartment regularly, with their being no cookware of any kind in the sink and everywhere else being free of dust. Rassen finished his observations just as Shaela began speaking.

"Did you say that your name was Rassen earlier? Keelah I should have tried harder to memorise it, you remembered mine! Would you like to sit down, um, Rassen?" Shaela was clearly uncomfortable, gesturing vaguely with her right-hand to the battered sofa while seemingly desperately wracking her brain to make sure that she had gotten his name right.

He smiled slightly at the sight. "My name is Rassen, Shaela, you remembered it perfectly. I think it may be better however if you sat on the sofa."

The quarian seemed to blink at him in surprise, "What does sofa mean, is it a human word for couch? I've never heard it before."

Rassen tilted his head at her slightly, "Couch then, if you prefer. I think it may be better if you sat there. It looks more comfortable than the chair and your ankle is getting worse."

"I'm sorry? How could you possibly know that? I don't think that I ever mentioned that it was getting worse."

Rassen chuckled slightly, his deep voice seeming to fill the entirety of the apartment, "You've put a brave face on it, but you were limping when we first met and you've put more and more weight on your right leg since we set off together. The sooner someone sees to it, the better."

Shaela was clearly surprised by his deduction, but seemed to quickly brush it off. Despite her obvious physical vulnerability, she clearly adapted quickly, as he had seen from how she had stood up for herself against the middle-aged woman who had approached them. She needed to be so in a place such as this. Rassen wondered briefly if all of Omega was as unpleasant as the level that they currently resided on. His instincts and by extension the Force told him that it probably was.

Shaela walked stiffly over to the sofa (couch for her) and gently sat down. She gasped slightly in relief as the weight was taken off of her left-ankle, which as far as Rassen could deduce from a distance was likely twisted or perhaps had a damaged bone. The quarian then looked up at the tall human who still stood there in the middle of her living room, seeming to fill more than half of it with his large frame.

"Please sit," she gestured to the chair that stood just next to the sofa. "From what little you've told me, I'm not the only one who has had a horrible day."

The Jedi walked to the chair and gently picked it up, then carefully placed it so that it sat in front of her but was at a right-angle to the door. Rassen then gently lowered himself into the chair, flicking his cloak back so that he didn't end up sitting on it. He noted with approval that as he turned his head to face Shaela, he could see the door to the outside out of the corner of his right eye. Experience had taught him that it never hurt to be cautious.

He glanced down towards Shaela's ankle and then back to her eyes, quickly. "I'd like to take a look at your ankle if you don't mind, I may be able to help you."

Shaela nodded and Rassen gently picked up her injured leg and raised it up and onto his knees. Shaela gave out a tiny gasp that might have been either pain or surprise from the action, but Rassen didn't notice, carefully placing his hands on her ankle and reaching out with the Force towards the abused limb. After a moment the cause of Shaela's pain became clear.

Although the quarian's anatomy was unfamiliar to him, he could feel that one of the smaller bones in the back of her left ankle had cracked. It was presumably the result of some kind of heavy blow with a blunt instrument such as a pipe or the back of one of the strange looking blasters that the population here seemed to use. Judging by the fact that it was the ankle that had been damaged and not somewhere more obvious to strike at as such as her head or back, Rassen guessed that one of the four-eyed aliens that had been after her had thrown something at Shaela as she had run from them. That probably ruled out a blaster then, meaning that the object had possibly been a pipe or something else made of metal. Either that or something similar such as a piece of masonry had been thrown, assuming that there any bricks or stone on Omega in the first place.

After lifting and then gently rotating the quarian's limb, Rassen glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. "You suffered an impact to your left-ankle. It was likely a projectile of some sort that was heavy and probably flat." He turned to face her fully, though he still kept a light hold of her ankle, "One of the… batarians as you called them threw a pipe at you when you ran from them?"

Shaela looked at him in amazement, "H-how did you… I mean, that's incredible, to figure all of that out with just the injury to go on! Um, how bad is it"? She had trailed off towards the end, clearly nervous about the extent of the damage the attacker had caused. Rassen turned back to the ankle and double-checked his examination to be safe. Cracked certainly, but only the one bone and there was no other damage as far as he could tell. It would take a few moments but it should be a relatively easy fix.

"One bone in your ankle cracked as a result of the impact. Fortunately, running on it does not seem to have made the damage worse. I can heal this relatively easily."

The quarian's shoulders sagged in relief as the news, "Thank you, it hurts a lot and I was really worried for a while there." She paused for a moment and then continued hopefully, "You have some medi-gel on you then?"

Rassen tilted his head at her in confusion, "Medi-gel? I'm afraid that I don't know what that is. I don't need it to mend the bone however."

"You don't?"

"No. Will you allow me to heal you?"

Shaela felt her nervousness returning, but managed to force it down. Looking the human straight in the eyes, she gave a quick nod. "Please, if you think that you can."

"Then please close your eyes and relax. The sensation may be a little surprising, but I should be done in less than a minute." Rassen watched as Shaela hesitated for a moment, then leaned back fully into the sofa at his encouraging nod. He then turned his attention back to the ankle that he still held lightly in his hands and reached out to the Force.

There is no emotion, there is peace.

The Force rippled slightly as Rassen concentrated on it, letting his body become a conduit for the energy that both bound the galaxy together and to an extent was the galaxy.

There is no ignorance, there is knowledge.

The Force began flowing faster, filling his body with a comforting and familiar warmth as he then concentrated on the wounded ankle that he cradled softly in his hands.

There is no passion, there is serenity.

Rassen allowed the Force to continue to build in his hands, visualising the damage to Shaela's ankle healing. No, he was willing the injury to heal.

There is no chaos, there is harmony.

The Force flowed from his hands, straight through his lightly-armoured gloves and through Shaela's enviro-suit and boot, straight to the source of her discomfort. The quarian gasped as warmth suffused her ankle and began breathing more rapidly, but she did not pull away. The sensation was gentle and soothing, the pain quickly becoming little more than an unpleasant memory.

There is no death, there is the Force.

Rassen then allowed his grip on the Force to slowly fade as Shaela's ankle finished repairing itself. He then gently lowered the quarian's now formally damaged leg back to where it had been on the floor before his examination had begun.

He then turned to face Shaela, whose glowing eyes were wide behind the mask that concealed almost the entirety of her face from view. After a few seconds, her rapidly heaving chest slowed and she blinked rapidly. She then slowly turned to face him as she positioned herself upright and gently squeezed her ankle with her right hand to check it. Looking at the Jedi, who had observed all of this in silence, the shocked quarian blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

"What in the name of the Homeworld was that!"