A/N - quantumparadigm: Hey guys! Here's the intro chapter for Major Valeria Viridi. She's 326 years old, has been an asari huntress for 259 years, and has a rapier wit. I won't go into many more details than that and let you guys get on with the reading :)

Here is her profile shot, too: quantumparadigm. deviantart. com /#/d4woh15 (remove spaces) Enjoy!

Valeria Viridi

"Hey, shut up!" Valeria shouted down the bar. The drunken turian staggered off his chair, vaulting in her direction, mandibles flared in outrage. Valeria stood up from her stool and scowled at him. He thought twice once the insignia on her lapel was clearly visible and sat back down, grumbling. She turned back to the bartender and resumed her perch. "Can you turn up the sound?"

The human male obliged, and the sound filtered over the room, accompanied by terrible images of the turian fleet being decimated by Reaper forces. She tapped her fingers against the counter impatiently, watching the broadcast. The reporter was talking over the feed, relating the 'relevant' pieces of information. It was all just numbers, in the end. And the numbers weren't in the turians' favor.

The video feed cut out, replaced by -SIGNAL LOSS- and Valeria straightened in her seat. Surely it hadn't been live, had it?

"... unications with the Turian Hierarchy. It's unclear at this point whether the Primarch has been evacuated..."

By the Goddess... it had been. She ran a hand over the soft fringe of her scalp, gripping the ends. Some poor soul, filming to the bitter end just to get the news out there. She swiped her credit across the scanner and paid for her drinks. She'd had enough, now she wanted answers. Why hadn't her huntresses been deployed yet? With the Reapers invading, there were plenty of other things she could be doing. Should be doing. While enjoyable, sitting on the Citadel and drinking fine alcohol wasn't at the top of the list. It wasn't even in the middle.

Her eyes settled on the datapad in her hands as she continued walking through the Presidium to her temporary housing block. The attack on earth had been just as sudden... and just as deadly. The humans were managing to hold out (albeit just barely, and at high cost to their military, which was regrettable considering that their intervention in the Battle of the Citadel had saved the collective asses of the Councilors and everyone aboard the Destiny Ascension, including Valeria herself), and Commander Shepard had escaped the initial attack. His presence on the Citadel just the day before had almost created a scandal with the vicious, pinched-faced human reporter.

She read the contents of the message again, even though she'd memorized the words hours ago.

From: Doctor Lara Moore
To: Major Valeria Viridi
Subj: Still Alive

Val, I'm alive. If I know you, and I'm pretty damn sure I do, you're freaking out about it right now. Even if you won't admit it. Alliance evac shuttles managed to get me and a couple other scientists off the planet before the brunt of the attack. Sorry it's taken so long to get this to you, but everything's been a whirlwind. Commander Shepard and Doctor T'Soni found some blueprints for a device the Protheans were working on. Can't say more right now, mostly because I don't know anything else. I'm being redirected to a research station for the project. I'll try and keep in contact. Please, be safe. -Lara

P.S. I know you won't listen to the advice about being safe, but try anyway.

At least she had survived. No time to think about it, now. The little heart clinch didn't entirely go away, but it lessened with each rereading. Research project meant moderately safe, because it meant Lara wouldn't be on the front lines. Not that she really expected the scientist to wield a gun and fight the 'good fight' as humans were fond of saying. But with her planet falling apart around her... well, Val would understand (certainly not condone, but understand) the desire to join the front ranks and give the enemy hell.

Damn. She wasn't going to think about it.

She rounded the corner into the housing block and spotted two C-Sec agents standing outside her apartment, flanking her door. She didn't slow her progress as she approached them and arched a tattooed eyebrow as they blocked her path into her own home, temporary though it may be. The one on the right stepped closer to her and Val resisted the urge to recoil from him and blast him in the chest for his rudeness.

"Major Valeria Viridi?" She nodded curtly, not trusting herself to say something that would land her in hot water, provided she wasn't already in it to begin with. "Councillor Tevos would like to see you in her chambers."

An audience with the Councillor? About time she got some answers. And her unit could finally do something besides twiddle their thumbs up their collective asses. Her huntresses were getting restless, especially knowing that a galactic war was breaking out around them. Restless huntresses holed up on a space station had a penchant for getting into bar fights.

She turned on her heel to make her way towards the Citadel Embassies... and noticed the C-Sec agents following her. "I know where Councillor Tevos' chambers are, Lieutenant."

"We've been ordered to escort you, Major."

She eyed the Lieutenant sideways. Odd. Her previous visits to the Councillor had not included bodyguards. Or if they had, she was usually the bodyguard in question, not the one requiring the guarding. She shrugged it off, deciding it wasn't important. C-Sec was probably taking extra precautions, which all things considered, she really couldn't blame them. She'd seen panicky civilians in tight situations enough times to know that all it took was one idiot with a gun to turn a crappy situation into a nightmare.

The embassies loomed ahead, and her guards broke off at the hallway branching off to the various Councilman offices. Orders to escort her, but not allowed beyond the door. Curious. She waved her hand in front of the door access, and it beeped and let her in. The Councillor was sitting at her desk, a steaming cup of tea in her hands.

"Please, Major, have a seat." She gestured to the set of soft chairs in the corner of the room favored by asari. Tevos wanted her to be comfortable, which meant that the news was either extraordinarily classified or terrible. She hoped it was the former.

Surely, Thessia was not under attack. There would have been a vidcast about it. The news would have been all over the Citadel.

And the Councillor would not be simply drinking a cup of tea.

So she walked over to the chairs, chose one, and sat down. The Councillor joined her. "Commander Shepard has proposed an interesting idea, backed by Admiral Hackett. A multi-species special ops task force."

"Do you need me to recommend a list of candidates, Councillor?"

"No, I have made my selections."

Ok... Valeria eyed the Councilor. If the Councillor didn't need her recommendations because she'd already made her selections, then she required something else from Valeria, something Valeria was uniquely qualified to give. Considering her extensive service record, that could mean any number of things but in actuality it really boiled down to one very simple thing when she thought about for longer than 5 seconds. "Who from my unit are you taking?"

The Councillor set her cup down on the small table, and picked up a datapad. She examined the contents before handing it over to Val. "You."

Val accepted the datapad and managed to refrain from plastering the shock rolling through her body on her face. Her? While the idea of working with a special ops squad was rather exciting and she'd finally have the opportunity to do something useful, she couldn't just leave her unit behind, abandoning her responsibilities to them. "Excuse me?"

"If we are going to make this work, and we need this to work, we need our best strike team commandos in these groups. That is you, Valeria."

"I appreciate the compliment, Councillor, but what about my unit? I can't just abandon my duty -"

The Councillor forestalled her questions by raising a hand. "I have already made arrangements for that. Captain Anaiya will be taking over. Your unit is being briefed as we speak. Asari high command has something else in mind for the Commandos currently aboard the Citadel."

Well, sounded like they wouldn't miss out on the action, at least. Still, she'd served with some of them for over a hundred years. She'd miss them, miss leading them. Hopefully she'd have time to treat them all to a round of drinks before she, or they, left.

Val scanned the contents of the datapad... looked like they'd be doing infiltration, espionage, evacs... all kinds of dangerous missions in tight places while the front lines held the ranks and kept the pressure off. Nothing about their first mission yet, but a pervading order to remain on standby until further notice. They'd be taking their orders largely from the Alliance, which made her arch an eyebrow, but it wasn't entirely unexpected. While the batarians had taken the first hit in the initial attack, it had been the humans who rallied the banners. They were an impatient species. In the face of attrition, Val was not surprised that the other species were rallying behind them.

She did quirk an eyebrow when she read the name of their squad.

"Your team will be a trial run of four individuals, to see if this joint task force can function. If it is, more like it will be formed."

"No pressure, then."

Councillor Tevos smiled, understanding. "A lot depends on this, Valeria. That is why I selected you for the task force."

Terrific. Every military eye on her and three others, expecting great things or waiting for them to fail. She wanted to shift in her chair, but resisted the urge. "Who else is on the special ops team?"

"The Alliance has already sent Staff Lieutenant Bennett. A turian Lieutenant by the name of Raethus will also be joining the team, as soon as Sparatus speaks with him. I have as of yet received word about the final addition to the crew. The salarians and the krogan have been contacted, but we will not find out until later."

Well, that should be interesting. A human, a turian, an asari... and either a salarian or a krogan. She preferred the krogan for their brute strength. She had the technical expertise necessary to hack into almost any terminal and unlock practically any door and while Salarians were terrific at infiltration and tech stuff, she rather doubted that they'd face something she couldn't hack herself. Lara had helped her upgrade her omni-tool programs to make the hacking algorithms more adaptive. She was smart for one so young.

"I imagine you have much you need to do," the Councillor rose from her seat, and Val did the same. "The SSV Marathon is waiting for you in the docking bay E-16."

Tevos held out her hands and Val accepted them, pressing her forehead against the Councillors as a goodbye. "Make me proud, Valeria."

"I will, Councillor."

It was time to pack, which shouldn't be hard, because she always travelled light. Nearly 300 years as a Commando begged the necessity of few possessions.

-V-

The SSV Marathon was small, smaller than she thought it would be considering this was an Alliance sanctioned operation. But it made sense as a small ship was perfect for getting in under the radar and into tight places. Especially if a quick drop off or pick up was required. Considering the scope of the war, the ability to maneuver almost anywhere would likely be the most useful function of the vessel. The scanners recognized her ID and the airlock opened with a small hiss, granting her access. The pilot swivelled in his chair and nodded at her.

"Name's Resh. You must be Valeria, asari Commando. Another squad member, human female, on deck 2. Is your roommate."

Valeria quirked an eyebrow. Sometimes she forgot just how fast salarians could speak. "Good to meet you," she said and hauled her case over her shoulder. "Where's the elevator to deck 2?"

The salarian waved distractedly to an area just behind her. "Behind you, around corner. Will drop you in cargo hold. Living quarters nearby. Your room first door on left."

She walked through short hallway and saw the elevator and entered after sneaking a quick peek at what appeared to be the mess hall, with the armory and medbay on the other end. For being such a small ship, it certainly felt roomy. It had clearly been designed to house a skeleton crew with a small strike team. A part of her wished she knew more about drive core modifications so she could understand how it fit into a seemingly small vessel. One thing about Alliance engineers, they certainly liked to challenge themselves. She laughed softly to herself, remembering Lara hunched over a computer terminal trying to make some equation or other balance.

The cargo hold was noticeably empty, excepting a few crates of basic supplies. Her footsteps echoed throughout the small hold as she walked towards the living quarters. She could see a drell on the far side in engineering, performing some sort of diagnostic. She briefly contemplated interrupting him before deciding that storing her stuff away was more important. Plenty of time to meet the crew later.

The door to her room was open and she peeked through the entryway, curious about her new roommate. The human female was stretched out on the bed on the far side of the room, listening to music through a headset. Her fingers idly drummed against her chest in rhythm with the beat.

"Aiya!" Val called out and Lieutenant Bennett sat up, pulling off her headset and deactivating the device.

"Excuse me?"

"Asari expression, similar to the human greeting 'hey,'" Val replied. "I'm Valeria, though please, just call me Val. Unless you're into formality." She eyed the Lieutenant, hoping she wasn't.

"Staff Lieutenant Camila Bennet, and you can call me Cami." Cami smiled up at Val from her perch on the bed, and Val slung her case onto the other bed in a smooth motion, opposite Cami's.

Val loved sharing a room, with the ability to talk to someone in the wee hours of the morning. The tours where she'd traveled on human cruisers often resulted in her having her own huge, empty quarters. Humans placed a great deal of value in privacy. She'd slept very little on those missions, preferring to spend most of her time in the mess hall or the bridge where most of the crew could be found.

Val sat down on her bed. It was rather stiff, which would be unpleasant. Nothing she couldn't fix within the next day. "So... Task Force Hydra, huh?"

Cami's blue eyes sparkled as she laughed, "Yeah, that's our name, apparently."

"You hungry?" Val asked. She opened her case and started shoving her things into the small chests beneath her bed.

"Starving," Cami answered, rubbing her stomach. "Wanna go grab a bite?"

Val paused in removing her armor to look at Cami, perplexed by the expression. Grab a bite? Did she mean literally? That didn't make sense. It must be a human expression. She raked her memory for any instance where Lara, or any of the humans from her missions aboard Alliance vessels, might have said something similar, but came up blank. Though considering she had just asked Cami if she was hungry, it was conceivable, and even made sense, that Cami was asking if she wanted to get some food. That was probably it. "I'm going to have to remember that," she smiled. "Sure."

"Sorry, I should've been more clear," Cami said sheepishly. "It's my first time working with a multi-species group, and it's hard to remember you guys probably won't be able to understand human idioms. Had a good laugh when I met Resh. Asked him if he was our flight jockey. Poor guy had no idea what I was talking about, though he successfully deduced I meant 'pilot'...eventually."

Val laughed. Salarians she understood, and she could perfectly picture the expression on Resh's face. "Don't worry about it, just caught me off guard. Besides, I shouted 'aiya' at you when I first entered." Val grinned. "Perhaps we should compile a dictionary and trade phrases. What are you hungry for?"

"Anything. I have a feeling we'll be traveling for a while, and I'd rather enjoy my last meal before we head out."

Val appraised Cami, head cocked to the side. Cami looked nothing like her youngest sister, skin tone aside, but her personality was strikingly similar to Lelia's. "I know this terrific bar, deep down in Teyseri Ward if you don't mind a bit of walk. They serve an amazing human dish a friend introduced me to. Can't get enough of it."

"You had me at 'bar'," Cami said, jumping off the bed. "Maybe we can pick up a few bottles while we're there...you know, for medicinal purposes," she added with a quick wink.

"Don't forget morale," Val replied with a devious smile. She definitely liked Cami. She reached into the bottom of her neatly packed case and pulled out one of three civilian shirts she owned. Her slim, black pants and combat boots would be fine, but her armored vest was unnecessary for a trip to the bar. Probably. "Just let me get changed really fast."

Cami seemed capable. Perhaps this mission really did have a chance at success after all. She hated to admit it to herself, especially considering humanity's involvement in the Battle of the Citadel, but she had wondered whether or not the human representative would be competent. Not that she believed the Alliance would intentionally send someone who'd bring the collective skill of the squad down so far as to actually hinder them, but she hadn't quite managed to convince herself that they'd send someone as qualified as the Lieutenant. Which was just stupid.

She'd caught sight of the N7 stripe on Cami's armor case in the corner of the room. Commander Shepard sported the same decoration, and if she remembered correctly, N7 was something similar to an asari huntress in terms of proficiency. Which meant the Alliance was giving this their all, along with everyone else.

It also meant the stakes were that much higher. But she had confidence they'd succeed.