Disclaimer: EVE Online is owned by CCP and Mass Effect by Bioware, I claim ownership of nothing except the storyline.

Well the third chapter is live. Not much to say here besides I hope you enjoy it and as always if anyone has a any questions or comments feel free to put them forward.

First Impressions

Shepard had apparently called an end to the meeting shortly after she left for she noted a large amount of people in the elevator through her link. She had chosen to maintain her link to EDI, she had found it comfortable in the absence of a direct link to her ship, and for her part EDI had allowed it. She found EDI an interesting entity. Where she came from no true AI like this had been invented yet. Highly sophisticated programs yes, Rogue Drones for example could be seen as intelligent, but none were truly self aware. Even her on board Aura was not a true AI. Being able to exchange data with someone who could think as fast as she could was somehow comforting. It also allowed her to analyze more of the data she had copied from the Normandy's database. She had indexed it all, but hadn't analyzed most of it. Beyond that she hadn't even started on the extranet yet, but did make sure to copy the access protocols and frequency.

The trade had been acceptable though. She had already theorized that any data she was releasing about her technology would be useless without the proper materials and further details that she had not given out. Going just of what she had given Mordin it would still be several decades until they would able to develop a working stargate on their own. Besides, she had taken certain extra precautions on that end as well. On her end however she had gained data that would be invaluable to her survival in this galaxy and hopefully find either a way back, or at the very least carve out nice piece of it to live in. She would help Shepard though, for now anyway. He was a use full conduit of knowledge and she did not want more people finding out she was here yet. That, after all, could get complicated fast.

In the end she had admit that the threat of the Collectors did relatively little to her, the Reapers slightly more. But somewhere in her head or heart one tiny voice was still calling out for Gallente freedom, told her she should care. For now she would admit that a galaxy cleansed of all organic life by advanced super machines did not seem quite in line with her current goals. Then again the Reapers had never met a capsuleer.

"Such glum thoughts"

Her first stop would be on the crew deck, the port observation room as it was designated. The room was designated as being assigned by Kasumi Goto, file classified, though at the moment she was apparently elsewhere. She didn't quite care either way as long as what it said on the map was true. There should be a bar there and she could definitely use a drink. Absently she noted the Normandy jump to ftl speed and quickly checked to find her ship was keeping up quite nicely. As she entered she noted several surveillance devices similar to the ones she had found in the elevator. She queried EDI, but she would not forward anymore data.

"Odd."

She quickly analyzed the microphones, sensors and camera's and deduced that she would be able to scramble them at will. Not something she needed to pay further attention to then, though she did make a mental note to further research Cerberus when time allowed it.

As she walked to the bar she noted something felt wrong. Capsuleers were not only the best because they had implants and wealth, they spent decades even centuries in full scale war. Experience few mortals in warfare could even come close to matching. You learnt to tell fakes and traps from mistakes and brute force, and to tell when you were being spied upon. She was not as alone in this bar as EDI believed. She walked behind the bar and started to pour a drink, while thoroughly scanning the room with her ocular implant without looking suspicious. There, the couch. Electromagnetic readings, faint, but good enough. Cross reference with the amount of personnel that was accounted for by EDI, only one name came up.

"Would you care for a drink as well Miss Goto or are you simply claiming the couch?" keeping her face as neutral as possible while continuing to pore her drink.

A blink of light and Kasumi appeared on the couch with a slightly surprised look. "Ooh you're good and I'm not sure you want to drink that."

Eve meanwhile had poured herself something, well she didn't really know what it was, but it was green and considerably stronger than most things she had found here. "I'm not sure what it is, but I'll be fine."

Kasumi shrugged, but maintained a smirk. "Suit yourself, I'll take a glass of wine thank you."

Eve slipped her face into its natural smile again and poured Kasumi a glass of wine. Picking up both glasses she headed for the couch and handed Kasumi her drink as she sat down.

"So, do you always spy on your own room?"

Kasumi smiled and returned in kind. "Only when people come in to raid my bar uninvited." She extended her hand at that. "Kasumi Goto, though I gathered you already knew that."

Eve smiled back as she shook it. "You can call me Eve and I'm pretty sure you knew that already as well. Nice view you've got here."

"It's relaxing enough and that's something we can all definitely use on this mission." She giggled and turned back from looking out the viewport. "So you're the latest addition to our illustrious team I assume. Though with a lot more baggage then the usual crazy people Shepard recruits."

Eve shrugged. "You could say that and you do realize you just called yourself crazy."

Kasumi laughed a bit before answering. "We're on a suicide mission to kill a race of aliens with technology advanced beyond our own with only one frigate, and maybe one cruiser now, and all of us signed on voluntarily. I'd say everyone here qualifies as crazy and that includes both of us."

Eve couldn't help but laugh at that. "I suppose, though we'll see how long my deal with Shepard lasts."

Kasumi giggled a bit while focusing on the view again. "Oh, I wouldn't worry about that. Shepard has a funny way of binding people to him, especially the ones you least expect it from."

She pondered that for a bit. She had met hundreds of ship captains and army commanders in her not too short a lifespan. Some would simply rely on their position of commander to give orders. A few however managed to bind their crews to them. Create a bond of loyalty that made them follow the commander into hell itself if asked. Those were always the best. Kasumi seemed to imply that Shepard was the latter, which would confirm her profile of him so far. Quick searching had found the Lazarus files and while most of it was restricted she could gain the project profile. Shepard had died, which she assumed would be somewhat traumatic for a mortal, and had then been brought back to life. Costs, apparently, be damned.

If he was worth that much to an organization with as limited a resources as Cerberus, he and they might warrant further caution and study. She took a sip from her drink and idly wondered how many strings he was attached to.

"I can't believe you just actually drank that. Are you ok?"

Eve blinked and refocused on Kasumi. "Why would I not be?" To be safe she ran a full diagnostic, but apart from the drink needing more filtering than usual and containing trace amounts of metal and for some reason radiation she found nothing wrong. It had already been isolated and too be honest the taste was quite good. Unlike most things this actually packed enough of a punch to make her throat tingle.

Kasumi cocked her head sideways as if to confirm she truly was alright. "You probably don't want an answer to that question. Come see me tomorrow when the hangover hits."

She took a look at her drink again and couldn't help but giggle. "You know I can look up what this is in a second. But I'll let you have one secret for me in return of one of my own." She downed the entire glass while Kasumi stared at it, eyes going wide. "I don't get hangovers."

She was busy pouring another drink when Shepard came over ship wide comms. Apparently the Collectors were currently attacking a colony named Horizon and they were en route to assist. ETA only 3 hours. Enough time for the expected to happen. She did not even bother to look up from her drink when the door opened, she knew who entered. The laugh earlier had given enough away, combined with his race's history and relative youth it was to be expected. She was more curious who had come to watch.

"So you're the best your empire has to offer in combat, don't make me laugh." The voice rumbled. "Inside that ship of yours you may be a pilot, but on foot your nothing." She sighed, expected but still annoying. There would be only one way to deal with him. Well three really, but only one left him alive and her not irritated. She got up, downed her drink again and simply said. "Excuse me Kasumi. You, follow me." He just looked slightly stumped as she walked past him. Apparently not what he had expected, good that would make this easier. She walked into the elevator and tapped her foot as she waited for him to enter, all the while she was analyzing any and all information on Krogan she could get her mind on. "Well come on, I don't have all day."

He stomped into the elevator, but looked at her angry. "What's this about new blood?" She leaned back against the wall of the elevator as she pushed the button for the shuttle bay. "I know what you want Grunt. I'm just cutting the big talk and intimidation part and skipping to the proving part." The doors opened again and she walked out. "Now pick your weapons." He finally got the hint and grunted an approval as he pound his fists together. "I need no weapons to crush you." Idly she noted Garrus and two others standing in the corner, an older human male and a young tattooed woman. She queried EDI and came up with the names Zaeed Massani and Jack. Whether they were invited or just saw this coming as well she didn't know. "Hand to hand it is." She placed herself on the deck between the wall and the shuttle and turned around. "Well then, this is your chance, Vorcha."

She knew the name would enrage him, would make him fight without reason. He let out a battle cry and charged giving her an estimated 3.4 second to analyze. He would be stronger then her, even with her upgrades she judged she would not match a Krogan blow for blow. She had speed and agility on her side though, that and a rational mind and a thorough understanding of Krogan physiology. She rolled to the right dodging his charge and came to stand against the sidewall. He slipped to a standstill, but to his credit didn't hesitate and came at her again. Punch, sidestepped hitting the wall and denting it behind her. Left jab, sidestep the other way, another dent in the wall. More anger from Grunt, unfocused, sloppy. He tries crushing her with both fists, while she's pinned to the wall. Understandable, but useless. She ducks underneath and jumps when he steps back to regain balance. Using his own knee as jump of point she vaults overhead, but lands not on the other side, but the top of his armor. He wobbles a bit but maintains balance. He cries again and attempts to grab her by reaching up with both hands. She steps back of his ridge in front of him while he is still reaching above. Three quick jabs leave dents in his frontal plating and enrage him further. Then duck underneath his blind jab while sidestepping left and behind him. A quick kick to the back of the knee he is attempting to pivot on to face her and he loses balance and falls forward. Instinctively he leans back to salvage his fall and stay upright. Eve makes full use of this and grabs the front ridge of Grunts armor and pulls back. Unprepared he falls fully backwards onto his back.

Enraged Grunt looks back up at Eve, who's staring down at him coolly. "Your tough, but predictable. Strong, but too wild. By all accounts you should have beaten me hand to hand and yet you failed. Your blood rage is at the same time your greatest asset and your greatest weakness. It lets you ignore pain and fight with strength, but it clouds your judgment." She leans a bit close to make sure her point comes across. "I don't need to hurt you, in order to kill you. Learn to focus that anger of yours, or it will get you killed soon."

With that she walks off towards the elevator and nods to the three man crowd watching from the sidelines, as Grunt gets back up behind her. He was apparently not pleased with that being the last word between them as she turns at the sound of another battle cry. No blind charge this time though, as he walks towards her at a quick pace, never taking his eyes of her.

"Good, he's learning."

She backs up two more steps until she is around a meter before the elevator doors. One last lesson for today though, never underestimate your opponent. He pulls back preparing for a blow as she locks her right leg in a 45 degree angle against the wall, locking up her ankle, knee and hip joint in the process. In the half a second it took for Grunt to shift his weight and move the mighty punch forward she had calculated its path and had her own hand on an appropriate intercept trajectory. Fully extended she had her arm in his punch's path .1 of a second before it hit, giving her enough time to also lock her shoulder, elbow and wrist joint into position. Grunt was fully into his punch now, shifting all his weight forward he hit her hand dead on. Eve felt the nanolaced and tritanium infused bones in her joints crack and damage reports noted micro fractures in all major joints. Nanobots were immediately released and started repairs, but she kept her focus on Grunt and his quite surprised look. For all he could see was that she had just taken his punch head on and he felt like he had hit a 2 meter thick steel wall. Eve unlocked her joints when she saw no follow up blow was coming and stood upright. Briefly feeling the dent in the floor and wall where the kinetic energy of his punch had bled out of her body.

His eyes never left her as she punched the elevator button and stepped in. "Never underestimate you're opponent, they may not be what they seem." With that the elevator closed and moved up to the CIC. Admittedly that had been more of a challenge then she had from a mortal in well over a decade. With this over he might learn and if he survived she theorized he would become quite the warrior. For now she started pulling data on whatever these Collectors were, the more info the better after all.


Shepard came to the conclusion that they could have probably better held this meeting in the comm. room, provided there had been seats there. Even with only Miranda, Kelly and himself here, his quarters seemed quite crowded. The topic at hand was of course their new arrival.

"I still have concerns about trusting her. Like Grunt and Jack she's a complete unknown, with the notable exception that she has her own goddamn cruiser." Miranda started.

"Noted, Lawson. She's too valuable a resource to let go though. If even half of what she says is correct then we need her. We need any advantage we can get against the Reapers. So far she has been courteous and seemingly even happy with our exchange of information and has done nothing to provoke any suspicion. So she's to be treated and trusted just as much as any other member of the crew." Shepard took a moment to look all the people here in the eyes before he continued on. "That being said I would like to know the rest of your opinions on her. Any more information about her can be helpful."

"I can supply the deep scans that were performed when she entered the ship via the quarantine chamber." EDI piped up. "They reveal something remarkable."

"Show us EDI." Shepard answered.

"For baseline comparison, this is a deep scan of the commanders body. Which is highly augmented by our standards. Your body mass is made up of around 7% cybernetics, together with the standard genetic modifications you received as part of your military career." Shepard had seen a scan of his body before, the only major implants were around his frontal lobe and the base of his spine. Some more small implants were around key places in his body, but they were nothing more than simple augments of his body's natural abilities.

"This is what the scanner revealed about Eve's body." For a moment everyone just sat stunned in silence.

"That can't be right." Miranda sputtered out.

"I assure you my scans are accurate." EDI replied.

Shepard had to admit that it was hard to believe. Compared to Eve, his modifications were as simplistic as they came. Her scan showed implants everywhere, from her bones to muscles all the way to her brain. He could see more implants in the scan then he could see actual human tissue.

"The scans show over 68% of her body mass is cybernetic and there are several signs that what remains has seen substantial genetic modifications. The organic tissue that is there appears to largely match the known human genome though" EDI continued on. "Most surprisingly, is the scan of her brain. The scan is not full medical grade so I cannot judge brain patterns or implant composition, but from what I can gather her entire Hippocampus, Thalamus and brainstem are cybernetic. The remaining organic part is also laced into several other implants around and below her brain and only one of her eyes is organic. Again I cannot judge the composition or true function of the remaining implants, but her bones seem either metal fused or coated in some way. All her joints have implants around them that are giving off significant power signatures suggesting some kind of servo's to increase strength or mobility. There are numerous other implants and augments that are also giving of power signatures, the function of most of them I cannot ascertain."

"Her brain scan certainly makes sense with how I would profile her so far." Kelly spoke up. "If I didn't know any better I'd almost diagnose her a schizophrenic." Kelly tapped some commands on the holographic interface and a video feed of the conversation in the comm. room popped up. "Look at her from when she came in. She looks as happy and curious as a child and despite the amount of information she's apparently digesting and comprehending. Her first instinct when meeting Mordin is to giggle at his language and later on say that he's fun and that she likes him." She taps a few more commands. "Now look at her face right before she asked you for full access. She looks the same smiling happy person, but then look at her face when EDI informs you of the access request." She taps another command and the video starts to play. "Her eyes never leave your face and in about a second her face and her entire attitude went from bubbly to completely serious and in control. It's like you were talking to a completely different person there. Now I'm not sure how her personality would operate with that many implants, but her reactions make no sense when put together. As far as I can now gather she is stranded here without a way back, being happy doesn't seem like a normal reaction. However she seems in no way concerned about it and only turned serious when she questioned your reliability. All in all she's an enigma and I wouldn't put much faith in my own predictions of how she would behave in any situation."

Shepard just nodded as he thought it all through when EDI come over the comm. again. "Shepard I have some additional information that may be relevant."

"By all means EDI."

"Several minutes ago Grunt approached Eve and questioned her abilities as a combatant. Apparently he does not believe what she told us. She apparently took this as a challenge and has arranged a sparring match. I can route the footage to the screen if you wish."

Shepard nodded. "Let's see it."

Before the screen went up he could hear Kelly quietly mouth "I hope Grunt doesn't accidentally break her arm or something." Somehow Shepard doubted that would be a problem. The screen materialized and began playing the fight between Eve and Grunt. Only when Eve finally took Grunts blow head on did someone finally speak up again. "Pause there EDI, you said something about broken bones Kelly?"

Kelly chuckled. "Evidently I was wrong. I can't believe she just took a hit like that and walked away."

Miranda agreed. "Well she certainly didn't lie about her combat abilities. But that only makes her more dangerous if she becomes hostile."

Shepard sighed. "At some point your going to have to start trusting someone Miranda. For now let's focus on Horizon and the Collectors. She can stay here for this mission, it's too important. I want you, Garrus, Zaeed and Grunt ready to go the moment we hit the system. We'll see how everything else goes after that. Dismissed."