It was no surprise to Miranda Hume, First Lieutenant of the Humans Systems Alliance, N7 Marine, that the streets of Elysium were still bustling and busy at 3 in the morning. Despite that it was a human colony, the streets were packed with an all manner of species from across the galaxy. From the rotund and wheezing volus, the dinosaurs like krogan to the lithe asari and avian turian. The only species that seemed to be missing where the quarians and the batarians, but for obvious reasons. Soft and brightly coloured fluorescent light spilled out into the full streets as the thrumming deep bass and synth tunes only added to the cacophony that was the tumult of the streets of Elysium. It nearly threatened to confound her senses as she walked down the colony's main and infamous club and bar boulevard.
Despite wearing her fatigues and a pistol strapped to her hip, she didn't feel out of place as she saw not only a patrol of marines march by but also a pair of Elysium's police force on duty. Since the attack on Elysium by batarian pirates and slavers called the Skyllian Blitz, security had tightened on Elysium. It was now one of the best-protected human colonies in the galaxy.
Miranda continued to elbow her way through the crowd, fortunately for her, most saw her uniform and cleared her path. The many varying shades and tones of light in the street threw Miranda's face into obscurity but even in the constantly shifting light, one could tell she was stunningly attractive and young for an N7; a raw recruit. With full lips and an elegant and chiseled face, almond shaped and startling green eyes, she was the envy of many humans: men and women alike. Her skin, a lighter shade of olive, was common among humans due to the interbreeding of many races. It was rare for a human these days to have blonde hair or Caucasian skin, but with skin pigmentation pills and hair dye, many still looked the part.
Pushing a black strand of hair behind her ears and out of her face, Miranda turned and entered the club she was looking for, simply titled "The J Bar". She knew the instant she walked in that it was a dive, from the sticky floors to the smell of cheap and stale alcohol and the scantily clad asari and human dancers. Suppressing a sigh of contempt, Miranda ignored the patrons and the dancers and made her way to the bar in the corner of the room.
Ordering only a mango juice, she sat where she could see the majority of the room without having to turn her head. Taking her juice from the barkeep with a nod, she took a sip and looked around, relishing the sweet flavour in her mouth. One hand resting casually on the stock of her pistol, she waited.
It turns out Miranda didn't have to wait long. Her hand resting casually on her Hahne-Kedar manufactured pistol, she set the drink aside and stood, her keen green eyes set on a seemingly regular man wearing a pair of faded and torn jeans, dulled combat boots and a grimy orange sweater, the hood pulled over a rugged and unshaven face. The man got up from his sitting position across the room and stumbled over toward the dancers, obviously intoxicated, a half empty bottle of whisky in one hand.
He disappeared for a moment as the patrons around the bar blocked him from Miranda's view. Casting a quick eye over her shoulder and around the club, she walked forwards a few paces, pretending to watch the vid screen on the opposite wall showing a game of Professional Poker Championships. Politely asking a pair of turians to move, the man was once more in her line of sight. He had slumped down into a chair by the dancing facilities and pole dancers and was currently getting a lap-dance by a half naked asari.
Miranda had always found the fact that the blue skinned asari where mono-gendered, meaning they could have sexual relations and consequently offspring with any race or gender, both confusing, disturbing and fascinating. After all, to the human eye they looked every bit female and could have been considered human if it weren't for their strange rippling folds of sculpted skin where hair should be on their head that disturbingly resembled tentacles. Miranda pushed her wandering thoughts aside and concentrated on the man who had now retrieved a fist full of credits and was placing them in to the cleavage and bikini of the dancer.
Rolling her eyes she took another step forward. If he kept on making contact with the dancers, she doubted the club management would be too impressed. The last thing she needed was to get involved in a squabble like that; Marines had been busted down a full rank for getting into similar altercations, especially while on a mission. As she had guessed, a krogan bouncer lumbered forward shaking his fist toward the man.
"Hey! No-one touches the dancers!" He roared over the clamor of the club, a stunner on one hip and a pulse baton, or a 'sick-stick' on the other. Upon contact, the baton would send electric pulses through the body inducing vomiting in the victim, effectively stopping them in their tracks. The man appeared not to be listening and gave a quick spank to the dancer, a drunken leer on his face. The krogan waved forward a couple of other bouncers and pointed to him.
"Didn't you hear me, Dan? No-one touches the dancers!" The krogan bellowed again, the two human bouncers taking their place behind the krogan.
The man named Dan held his palms forward in supplication and with a surly grin shouted back, "Isn't that what I'm supposed to do? I mean, I'm just payin' them, buddy." Dan lost his grin and frowned with apparent anger, "And how do you know my name?"
The krogan took another step forward, his hand on the pulse baton on his belt. Miranda wondered why the three bouncers hadn't already pounced on him and thrown him out. The krogan snarled at Dan, "Everyone here knows who you are. Now get out, before this gets ugly."
The man's surly manner returned and took a long gulp from the whiskey bottle. Wiping his mouth with his sleeve, he flashed a churlish smile. "Hey, I'm just havin' a lil fun. Is that against the law or somethin'? Why don't..." the man belched and leant forward drunkenly, "Why don't you join me, huh?"
"You've been warned, human." The krogan snapped, waving the two other bouncers forward. Vice like grips clamped down on his shoulder and another under his armpits and hauled him to his feet. Dan shook back his hood and glowered at the bouncers with startling steel blue eyes, all apparent surliness vanished.
They pushed him toward the door but Dan didn't back down. He turned and marched back straight toward the krogan who grabbed him by the scruff of the hoodie and lifted him into the air. "Get outta here!" the krogan barked and pushed him away, Dan falling straight to the floor. By now a crowd had begun to form around the three humans and the krogan. The dancers had subtly left the dancing area and retreated to the safety of the backrooms while other patrons were either looking on with interest or looking to get furthest away from the coming confrontation.
Miranda took another step forward and was now at the very edge of the crowd, unclipping her pistol. She was the only one in the club with a proper firearm and she would use it if necessary; she needed Commander Dan Waters alive. Although her superiors would have reprimanded her if they were present, she was keen to watch him in action.
Dan was still sitting on the floor, scowling at the krogan. The alien took a menacing step forward, his pulse baton at the ready and held high for a strike. The man stood slowly and exhaled heavily. "Touch me again, krogan...and I'll kill you." He stated simply, barely audible over the din of the club.
The krogan barked harshly with laughter and raised both arms and looked around, finding the thought of this drunken human killing someone like him amusing. "You really think that you scare me, Dan? Yeah, I've heard the stories. They say you're a good fighter. Maybe, for a human. But I'm a Warrior. I'm a krogan!"
"No. Your an overpaid bouncer working in this shithole," snapped Dan, clenching and unclenching his fists. A faint blue aura gathered around Dan's hands and feet. Miranda frowned in momentary confusion but quickly came to the startling realisation; he was a biotic! Biotics could manipulate dark energy and create mass effect fields by using bio-amps and implants in there neurological system. That wasn't on his personnel file.
The krogan growled and raised the pulse baton above his head and brought it down. But Dan was faster. As soon as the krogan's arm began to rise, Dan's elbow dipped and his body twisted and delivered a punishing roundhouse kick infused with biotic power directly to the krogan's face. Miranda and the other patrons of the club openly gasped as the krogan crumpled to the ground in a mess of teeth and orange blood. A human taking a krogan down with one hit was unheard of, near impossible.
The other two bouncers looked at each other, wide-eyed but again, Dan struck. Using a quick burst of Biotics, his hand aimed at the ground, Dan shot himself into the air and brought his elbow down on the man's skull with a wet crack. The man collapsed to the ground, but Miranda couldn't tell if he was dead or just unconscious. Miranda looked to her side and saw three more bouncers come pushing through the crowd and when she looked back, the other human was now down on the ground, arm broken and nose bloody.
Dan laughed as the three other bouncers surrounded him. He squared off and prepared to fight again when Miranda regained her composure and recovered from the shock of what she'd just saw, took her pistol and fired a single round into the roof. Everything stopped and all eyes instantly turned toward her. She took aim at the three bouncers, her finger deliberately resting on the stock and not on the trigger.
"Back away! Miranda Hume, Systems Alliance. I'm here to take this man into custody!" She snapped, moving forward and gesturing with her head for the bouncers toward the crowd.
"What makes you think you can take me anywhere?" said Dan, glaring at the woman, the sudden use of his biotic powers taking its toll as the fatigue set in. His eyes lingered from her green ones and then onto her athletic figure.
"Shut up!" Miranda said sternly, turning her attention toward Dan. "Now, come with me, Commander."
Dan looked the woman up and down and opened his mouth to protest, but admiring the curve of her hips and breasts under her tight fatigues, he changed his mind. "I'm all legs… And so are you."
Miranda rolled her eyes and grabbed his elbow and guided him outside the club. They walked down the street without so much as a word as Dan walked behind her, apparently transfixed by the swaying of her hips. She walked down a deserted alleyway and turned toward around to find Dan measuring her up again. He was handsome enough with chiseled and rugged features, but his face was dirty and covered in a thick and scruffy brown beard. He flashed a quick leer at her before Miranda snapped off a quick salute.
Dan groaned and knelt down, "Don't give me that crap, girl. I'm not in the Alliance anymore. What do you want from me?"
"The Alliance wants only to help. I'm supposed to take you in and shuttle you to Arcturus Station for a debriefing, sir." Miranda said crisply, as if addressing a superior.
Dan laughed and leant back on his haunches. "I'd sure like to give you a debriefing." He said suggestively, raising one eyebrow.
"With all due respect, sir. Cut the crap. I know it's an act. Your psych profile tells me what you were like before the...accident. You are a good man. We know about Cerberus and what they did. The Alliance just wants to help."
"You could never know!" Dan suddenly shouted with such intensity that it made Miranda jump. The air hung with tension as Dan glowered at Miranda. His anger soon turned to anguish. "You don't know me, kid, and you don't want to. Just beat it."
"We want to save you, sir." Miranda replied, pitying the man on the ground before her.
"You can't save me! Do you have any idea what I've been through?" Dan shakily got to his feet and took a step toward Miranda, his face only inches away from hers. He smelt like old stale alcohol, cigarette smoke and garbage. She wrinkled her nose but met his cold blue eyes head on. "Hmm? Do ya? If you had any idea what I've seen, what I've done...? You can't help me. Just…just leave me alone."
Dan collapsed to his knees, a migraine beginning to set in. Miranda stood, hands behind her back, looking at the Commander for a full minute but he just continued to stare at the ground. She nodded briskly once and snapped off another salute, "Very well, sir. The Alliance apologises for any inconvenience caused."
With that Miranda turned and exited the alley and down the street. Dan just held his head in his hands and then felt his gorge rise and vomited all over the already dirty floor of the alley.