Aboard the SSV Seattle, Orbiting the Planet Elysium.
Year: 2185.1900 Hours
-/\/7-
Dr. Augustine left the N7's in a storm, leaving the three Marines feeling more than slightly awkward given their circumstances.
After all, it was perfectly normal to be left alone in the middle of a hanger bay by an irate Headmistress and her bulldog of a security chief with no one to show you along. The N7's grabbed their footlockers from beside the area where their shuttle had been and exited the hanger bay. Students and staff moved through the hallways with casual ease. Large open air classrooms were constructed with asymmetrical ceilings, with plenty of glass and steel. Across from the hanger bay exit was a wall, upon which a trim young man in Grissom Uniform was leaning. He was roughly 5'11, with a fit build and a casual stance. Messy black hair framed an average face of olive complexion, all the while grinning at the three.
"Nice cowboy speech, though it won't earn you any favor with Madame Augustine." His accent was a wild drawl that Ward had never heard before. Jason cracked a huge smile however.
"I'm guessing you are the infamous Marquis we keep hearing about?" Ward posed to the young man.
"Spot on, Cher. You must be Miss Mifune's dangerous trio I keep hearing about. Allow me to introduce myself, Warrant Officer Emile Beaumier, 13th Marquis of Saint-Nazaire."
"What exactly is a Cajun doing with a title of French Nobility?"
"Y'all will figure it out eventually, but for now I've got to get you all setup on the situation here."
"How long have you been here Emile?"
"Less than three weeks." A chorus of raised eyebrows forced him to explain.
"Woolf and Madame Augustine have been collaborating on this for a lot longer than you think. I was brought in to scout talent, you three though? You were brought on to polish these diamonds in the rough."
"So you did all of the legwork for these dossiers that I've read and Ward and Jason have been pawing through?"
"Hey! I was reading!" Jason protested.
"At a snail's pace?"
"Abby, enough." Ward growled. If Emile was half of what Woolf implied he was, they were talking to a highly trained Marine with enough political and strategic experience to rival the three of them combined. He would not have some petty bullshit going down between the two of his teammates.
Abby shook out of her teasing state and gave a nod to Ward. All the while Emile's grin nearly touched both of his ears.
"You three are going to be fun to work with." Emile activated his Omni-Tool and began typing. "I've sent each of you Layouts of the school, with all of the rooms marked. I've also tagged all of the candidates for the N7 program. Here at the academy there are five separate common rooms where the students are housed."
Ward took a look at the map. The primary hanger bays were located on the fore part of the station, while the common rooms were spread out in a 180 degree arc on the aft part of the station, all surrounding a gigantic common hall of some kind.
"As you can see, the Adept Common room is on the far left, the Vanguards are on the far right, and the Sentinels take up the centermost room, with the Infiltrators on their left and the Engineers on their right. I'll get your footlockers back to our assigned quarters."
"We can get our own things, thanks." Abby protectively held onto her footlocker.
"I'm not here as Alliance, Cher. I'm a student of Grissom Academy, and if I magically start walking around with the three of you the more perceptive students will put three and three together. So, I'll be a good little student and take your footlockers to your rooms. The Common rooms for the classes have kitchens and lounges, so if you need to take a leak or grab a drink, they won't mind."
"We'll start with the Adepts and work out way around the half-circle. It should only take us a little bit to introduce ourselves."
As the three moved to head off, Emile halted them with an open palm. "A word of advice though: While talented, these kids are… well they're a mixed crowd. You have to be versatile if you want to win them over, so play it as it lays."
"We appreciate it Emile. We'll meet up with you after we make our rounds."
"Pleasure to meet you three. Bonswa." With that Emile grabbed the two nearest footlockers and loaded them onto a dolly.
The three N7's moved through the hallways, seeing fewer and fewer students as they advanced towards the Dormitories.
After what Abby clocked in as thirty minutes of walking, the N7's had finally arrived outside of the Adept Dormitory. A cheerful looking woman in the dark blue robes of the Academy's teaching staff greeted them and allowed them entrance. When the three N7's entered into the Dormitory they found themselves taken aback:
Rich, hardwood floors spread out over a massive common room. Inviting, posh couches and chairs were lazily scattered around the room, sometimes by themselves or in pairs; more often in trios or larger groupings. Soft music played in over the loudspeakers, and many of the students were either talking quietly amongst themselves or doing everything but classwork it seemed: Board games, meditations, puzzles.
Across the back wall were two separate doors marked as the bedrooms for each gender. An ornate kitchen sat to the right of the N7's, and the circular common room had a series of hallways opposite to the kitchen. Ward spotted signs for "Offices" and "Biotic Chambers". Despite the opulence of the room, Ward found himself uncomfortable with the atmosphere. Growing up on an Alliance Military vessel meant living a very stringent life, and living as an N7 afforded even fewer luxuries while on tour.
Putting his nerves at ease, Ward looked to the bright and cheerful instructor who had let them in.
"I'll allow you to mingle among the students. I will be watching for supervision, but clearly you three are not going to cause any trouble here."
The three N7's nodded to the instructor before gathering into a small huddle. "Check your markers and try to focus on the targets, but don't turn anyone away. Jase, you go right and talk to anyone there. Abby, you check out these Biotic chambers. I'll take the main room."
The three N7's went on their separate ways, garnering attention from several students. The majority seemed lost in a trance however. Ward took note of a pair of students huddled up on a couch. The girl was around 17 to 18 years old, while the boy couldn't be older than 15. The girl was sweetly stroking the boy's hair, murmuring something into his ears. Ward expected to see a look of admiration on the boy's face. Instead he saw a look of crippling pain spread over his features.
The girl looked up at Ward, noting his N7 BDU. "Can I help you?" She was pretty in a willowy sort of way, with long brown hair pulled into a loose ponytail. Her eyes were a light brown, and stood out against her small face. The boy she was comforting was small, even against the girl's light frame. He couldn't have stood taller than 5'6, and his red rimmed eyes were bleary from crying.
"Is everything all right, Miss…?"
"Harper Styron-Goodwin and Liam is fine. Hush sweetheart. The migraines will dissipate soon."
Bingo, Ward thought. Harper Styron-Goodwin and Liam Allen III: Two marks on the sheet down. Both came from old money earth families. The Styron's had were originally investors who inherited a Holdings Company out of Nebraska. Over the years they had invested heavily in dozens of companies on Earth, primarily in the Communications trade. Liam meanwhile came from a long line of New England bankers. Ward tried to remember more about the younger student... something about being fitted for implants when he was merely five years old…
"Does Liam have L2 implants?" Ward asked earnestly.
Harper shook her head. "His father outfitted him with the first batch of L3 implants. They still carried the faulty wiring of the L2 line before it was ironed out more than a year later."
"I'm sorry Liam. I can't understand how much pain you are in, but my teammate was also on L3 implants before transferring into the Navy. After several surgeries they were able to get her some different implants."
"No… no more surgery Harper, no please…" The boy shook his head weakly.
In a flash Harper's mood went from placid to acidic. "What do you want from us?"
"The Navy is looking to fast track high performing students for-"
"Not interested. Please leave."
"If you would allow me to-"
"Leave. Now." The faint biotic glow surrounded the willowy girl. Ward had learned through years of experience the strength of a Biotic by their glow. Harper was practically blue.
"At once Miss. Have a good day."
Harper's Biotics flared down, though her face remained as stony as it had been. Ward moved off, hoping his comrades were having better luck.
Jason found one of his marks in the Kitchen. A young redhead was singing softly to herself while flitting around the kitchen.
"Excuse me."
"Greetings! I didn't see you there gracious brother. How may I assist you?" The young girl was still twirling around the room, still not facing Jason. He suppressed the urge to roll his eyes. "Miss, could I talk to you for a moment?"
"Absolutely, I'm just making dinner. It keeps my mind occupied." As she twirled around the room she ignored the every counter space and flat surface. For another minutes she continued to twirl around the room, ignoring both Jason and the physical action of making dinner.
"Are you interested in signing up for the test exams we will be having later on?" Adrienne froze in place, and whirled on Jason. "Military exams? By the will of the Goddess, I cannot bring harm to my fellow child. Why would you ask such a thing, Son of Mars?"
Jason gritted his teeth. "For officer duties Miss…?
"Adrienne Germaine. You may call me Foxglove Sacredheart however. That is the name the Goddess has seen fit to bestow upon me."
Jason willed his hand to stay at his side, as it was coming dangerously close to palming his forehead in frustration.
"Adrienne, you do realize this is a Military school, correct?"
"Grissom isn't a Military academy, it's just a school." The girl's hippy-dippy speech vanished completely, and it it's place was the voice of a very insecure girl.
"Well, I'm afraid to tell you that-"
Jason found himself staring face to face with a stocky, royally pissed off young man who had placed himself between Jason and Adrienne."
"Take a hike thumper, The Devil Dog and I need to have a word."
"Adrienne cowered at the sight of the phase shifted student and practically ran out of the open kitchen space.
"Mr…?"
"You don't need my name. You don't need her name either."
"Pretty hostile environment you are setting here."
"Get out of this kitchen, or I will physically remove you."
Jason was pretty sure he could take this asshole if he tried anything stupid. Biotics tended to fold pretty quickly after their barriers failed.
As if reading his thoughts, the young man's Biotics lit up. 'Well shit, L5 implants? May as well get a goddamned rocket launcher for that kind of Biotic barrier. The young man still didn't flinch. '
Jason moved into a fighting stance.
Abby walked through a long curving hallway, filled with small chambers on either side. Glass doors gave no privacy to a myriad of students, silently meditating with Biotics, or flexing their barriers. None looked out of their doors at Abby, indicating a sound proofed room, or perhaps two way glass. Abby would have to ask Emile about that later.
As she walked through the halls, one of her markers pinged up in a room on her right. Abby turned to see something phenomenal:
A young Asian woman with a black pixie cut was sitting cross legged in her room, a light Biotic glow emanating from her body. She wore a white tank top and a pair of black sweatpants. Tattoos of various colors and designs wove around her arms. Abby saw Asari hieroglyphs, Turian brands and Salarian family crests; there were trees and rivers, Greek letters and other symbols.
The young woman's look wasn't the most important thing about her however: What were truly impressive were her biotic actions. With her eyes closed, the young woman was painting. With biotic maneuvers, the paintbrushes ghosted over the canvas, making slow deliberate marks.
A large canvas was hung across from the girl, paintbrushes slowly swirling around the material, painting several spirals in a trio: A triskelion if Abby remembered her ancient Earth history. Abby knocked on the door.
The girl's eyes remained closed, but her paintbrushes slowly lowered to a terrycloth sheet below the canvas. As they settled, the girl's eyes snapped open and latched onto Abby. She gracefully rose up and pressed a combination next to the door.
"You must be Abby. My name is Tsuruko, but Sue is fine by me." Abby shouldn't have found herself surprised by the girls' non-accented, American voice given her tattoos and apparel.
"I'm not from Japan. Third Generation Citadel settler. And like I said, we need to walk back to the common room."
"I- Wait why?"
Sue was already striding back from where Abby had come from, forcing Abby to jog to catch up with her. "Why are we heading back? Are we interrupting you peers?"
"No, the rooms are isolation chambers, and any other biotic would have heard you if you had set a bomb off outside their door. We need to get back to the common room."
The two strode along, the hum of Biotics emanating from the Kitchen.
Sue's face darkened furiously. "Not this shit again Gideon, how many times do we have to go through this?"
The instructor was herding the students out of the common room and gave an untoward look to Abby. The two reached the kitchen and found Ward trying to talk down a very furious looking redhead brimming with Biotics. Jason was slumped against the counter, getting up after apparently being thrown across the room.
"I need you to calm down Mr. Lewis-"
"Get off of my station you Alliance trash, I won't stand for this!" The Biotic raged, throwing a warp ball at Ward. Ward prepared to duck when Sue leaped at Gideon, throwing up a Biotic bubble around herself and the Marine.
The Warp crashed against the outer shield. Sue, landing on her feet, stood up and gave Gideon the middle finger.
The irate red head glared at her. "Sticking up for the Alliance little miss peacemaker?"
"Damn straight you jackass. You of all people should be thankful for them coming to Grissom."
Abby helped Jason sit up, her own Biotics starting to flare. Despite their teasing, Abby was very protective of her boys, who were equally protective of her.
Gideon glanced between the Marines and Sue before allowing his Biotics to power down. "I'm going to bed. Don't let these fucks near me again Tsuruko, or I won't hesitate to end them." With his threat, he stormed off towards the men's quarters.
The young instructor strode into the kitchen. "I need you three to leave, you've upset my students."
Tsuruko turned to the woman and stared her down. "I'll be in Orion Hall Professor Mason."
"No you won't, you need to observe curfew."
Sue snorted. "So I need to report to HAX that you've been screwing her Captain instead of pulling hall monitoring, right?"
Mason blanched. "You wouldn't…"
"I would, and be thankful Gideon doesn't know, or he'd be even more reckless. I need to have a word with our guests, so I'll be back before 1300 hours. Liam's been having more fits, so make sure to up his medications. Adrienne also needs her antidepressants about now, so make your rounds and leave the adults to their business."
Mason frowned at Tsuruko, but relented and walked off to attend to her students.
Tsuruko turned back to the N7's. "We need to have a long talk, walk with me to the Engineer's dorms. I promise to give you the full rundown."
All right! Now we are moving ahead with meeting Grissom Academy's students, There will be four more chapters similar in layout to this one: The N7's go to a dormitory for a class and you meet the focus characters. If that sounds like too much information to handle, don't worry. I'm already setting up a secondary dossier fic to accompany this so you can keep track of who is who. The visits will also vary wildly in tone, imagery and plot. No two will be the same, and all will have different kinds of entertainment: Intrigue? Check. Dialogue? Check II. Fighting? Check III.
I will have another chapter up for you guys soon enough :D In the meantime, send your PM's to me or leave a review.
Thanks for reading, and until next time, Blue-Jaye out!
AN: Events from ME3 (Leviathan, Omega, Citadel) will be addressed as the fic goes on. Nothing will feel shoehorned, obviously but I don't want canon divugances if Bioware throws some curveballs with any new info. Until then, enjoy and make sure to PM me/Review if you have Canonical questions about this fics setting/characters. As I posted in the summary, there will be cameos from all of the Normandy's Squad and Crew save Shepard. Expect them in this fic and it's sequel ;)
