A/N: ME2 starts!
Terms used:
Nara: One who carries a burden (Great burden)
Yakshi: Night winds Taken from Ardat-Yakshi where we assume Ardat is demon
Rebekha: Guardian. Or rather "Guardian of the Night"
Reviews:
RED78910: On a side note before I get to your reviews I'd like to say thank you for reviewing (You're one of my favorite none purely Shepard based writers.) Anyway. Glad you like Ralia. We'll get to Aria's backstory in this part of the story. ME2 will have a lot of Aria doing Aria things. You feel sorry for Aria just wait till you get the what happened 200 years ago... I already wrote it and I'm on the fence about making it less screwed up. Simply because it's just cruel. As for her not having any power in the games... She did have power. I mean in Mass Effect 3 she's the one who gets three mercenary groups to even consider helping with the crucible, also there is that scene when you first meet her in ME3 and she simply calls up Tevos to do her bidding. I mean think about it... Tevos is the Asari councilor.. how many people could just ring her up and get her to do whatever she wants? She'd have to have serious power to do I always felt the tragedy of Liara was that she was destined to lose Shepard (if you romanced her). I mean be it age or the war Shepard has to die.
Chapter 8:
The asari made her way quickly through the skies of Ilium, her sky car raced between lanes of traffic. Her eyes sweep the skyline praying that those chasing her had been lost in the last turn. She sighed a breath of relief as there were no flashing lights behind her. She was home free. A shot rang out through the sky and her car lurched downward as a bullet broke through the glass and impacted squarely between her eyes. Her skycar plummeted to the ground before it was incased in a blue glow. The car was torn apart by the biotics of an Asari standing in the alley the car was plummeting to. As sson as the car was solely a mess of broken parts and blood the Asari threw a singular note at the center of the rubble and turned away.
-On a rooftop-
The Asari sniper stood from her crouched position, the gun in her hands ejected the clip as she slipped it into the holster on her back. Her Mantis painted black the night sky was a stark contrast to the white of her jacket. She raised a single hand to her ear before speaking into the comm.
"Confirmation target is dead. Yakshi is the target disposed off?"
"Target is disposed off, Rebekha. Message is left. Returning home." Yakshi's gruff voice slipped through the comms.
"Good work Yakshi. We'll be in touch next time Nara requires your services." Rebekha responded stepping into the parked sky car behind her
"You better. Nara still owes me dinner from last time."
"Yes well Nara has been busy. I'll pass the message along." Rebekha said her skycar raced off to her home. She took a circular way around so that any cameras watching the area didn't have a direct view to where she was going. She stopped at a small rarely used skycar terminal and dropped the skycar she was using off. The Salarian at the terminal nodded to her as he passed the keys to a new car to her. She extended her own greeting before stepping into the new skycar. She took off calmly into the night sky.
-Rebekha's apartment-
The young Asari stared in shock at the door to her apartment. It was unlocked, both her and Nara slept here and they habitually kept the door locked. If it was unlocked it meant trouble. Her hand shot to the pistol at her waist and she opened the door. She stepped inside her eyes swarming over the room. Furniture was thrown around there was no blood from what she could see. That was a good thing. Her eyes caught a blue glow just as it impacted with her. She felt her limbs freeze her eyes were unaffected. Her vision swam as two fingers pushed against her crests.
"One of the targets is captured, the other was missing." A modulated voice rang out from behind Rebekha. The voice was still feminine, but she was unable to be placed to a specific race.
"Yes of course. I'll get it done Shadow Broker." Rebekha's world began to fade to black as the pressure on her crests increased. A singular thought slipped into her mind as she passed out.
'I'm so sorry Liara.'
-Project Lazarus station-
Commander James Shepard eyes fluttered open. A man who was officially dead opened his eyes. This would be cause for celebration, but his awakening was filled with the somewhat concerned voice of a woman over the intercom. She had yelled at him to get moving, her voice seemed familiar to him, but he was unsure. He shook his head as the bright lights above the operating table burnt at his eyes. He swung his body slowly off the table and felt his legs struggle to support his weight. The ache simply confirmed that he had been unconscious for awhile. His eyes roamed the room with a practiced gaze. Seven tables dotted the room. The tables stood at the walls with his in the middle. Several medical instruments were secured to the walls. His eyes lowered to a locker in the corner. The locker was open and inside was a set of armor. He could see the N-7 upon its chest and a warmth filled his body. His mom had been so proud when he had earned his N-7. She had thrown such a big party for him, had ignored military relegations just to hug him upon that stage in Vancouver. He had to make an effort to talk to her as soon as he could. Maybe she could clarify what exactly happened to him. He closed his eyes as he slid the chest plate onto him.
'I was floating aimlessly. My eyes stared blankly at the wreckage of the Normandy scattering around me. This wasn't supposed to happen. Breathe Calmly I told myself. My suit could hold enough oxygen that so long as a ship came by in a few hours I'd be ok. My back hurt so much, I struggled to breathe, but military doctrine kicked in and I ignored the pain and forced myself to breathe. A loud warning in my ears caught my attention. Oxygen levels were depleting at levels that would be associated with venting, panic settled in and I stretched for the tube that connected the oxygen supply. I struggled to grab it, and as I did I made the situation worse. I was panicing and breathing to fast now. I breathed one final breathe before holding it in. Pain filled me as my lungs burnt. This is going to have to be a closed casket. I thought to myself bitterly as my world went black.'
James shook his head, his breathing was fast and sweat caked his body.
"Shepard? You need to get moving. Someone is hacking security to get to you." The woman's voice rang through the intercom. James shook his head clearing the thoughts from his mind and slipped the greaves over his legs. The greaves stabbed into his legs and he felt something be injected into him.
"What the fuck was that?" James said groggily
"I injected a muscle stimulant, it'll make sure your muscles are able to support your weight. It's not permanent, but it'll get you through till we get out of here." The voice responded.
"How'd you do that?"
"I have remote access to your armor. I'll be overdriving your shield battery if things get rough. Shit, Shepard you need to get down the oxygen cans by the door are about to blow." The voice said and Shepard took off hiding behind one of the larger medical tables. If he had been paying more attention to the datapads on the table he'd have seen plans for a control chip to be implanted in his brain. As it was the explosion by the door sent the datapads flying into the wall behind James. The force actually knocked his weakened body onto the floor.
James picked himself up slowly. His body ached and his muscles were tight. He held his gun in his hand like it was a lifeline. His knuckles whitened as he made his way through the medical room he was in. He bent for a moment at the dead woman in the doorway. He turned her over and saw the logo on her outfit. It was reminiscent of Cerberus, but why would Cerberus be here? Were they the ones hacking the lab?
"That scientist should have a comm unit attached to her ear. Take it from her and I'll talk to you directly through that. It should be impossible for us to lose that connection." The voice said and James bent down. He reached behind the red hair of the freckled woman before him. His fingers traced her ear until he felt the tip of the comm unit. With a delicate pull he removed the comm unit from the dead Cerberus woman. The Comm Unit was a small metal hook that dug around the wearer's ear. It extended a small microphone to the wearer's mouth so that they could communicate. He inserted into his ear and heard the woman's voice directly.
"Perfect. Alright Shepard you're doing fine. Just get moving. I'm going to head to you now. I won't be able to keep a track of any mechs coming your way, so shout to me if you are in trouble." The woman said
"I'd like to know the name of the woman helping me." James said reaching down to close the green eyes of the dead woman. He then folded the woman's arms. Be it terrorist or not someone loved this woman. She deserved to be treated with respect. He stood slowly and turned to face the lab.
"My name is Miranda Lawson."
"You're alive, thank God." He whispered but the comm unit picked it up.
"Well I'm pleased ot have made such an impression the first time we met." Miranda said. A grin came to James face. He could let her know right now how he felt. Sure it had been two years and she'd assume him to be dead, but it was fine. He was alive now and he wasn't going to miss this chance.
"You made quite the impression on me Perfection." He said jumping over a downed crate. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a mech taking aim at him. His gun rose faster then the mechanized arms. He fired his pistol quickly into the optics of the mech. It burst apart unable to sustain such heavy damage to such a sensitive part of its wiring.
"How do you know that name?" Miranda's voice came back at him short and clipped.
"You spoke to me with that name. I enjoyed talking with you about whether or not I'd do a good job as a Spectre."
"You're-"
"And you were right. I was checking you out the first time we met."
"You're HSpacerH? Why didn't you ever tell me?" Miranda's voice was cold, but he could feel the sadness in her words.
"I was going to. I was going to tell you everything, but then I saw your name on the list of the dead and I couldn't tell anything to a dead woman."
"I- Look we can talk about this later. For now just focus on getting out of there." Miranda's voice came through the comm. James nodded despite Miranda's inability to see him. He turned to the long hallway before him and took off running. The muscle stimulant was fully pumping in his system, and he felt as strong as he was before he died.
-Ilium-
Ralia opened her eyes slowly and tried to move her body. Her hands were locked above her. She could faintly see the blue glow that was a indicator that the handcuffs were also biotic suppressant. Her eyes roamed down and she found that she was stripped naked her legs were spread and tied to the bedposts before her. Her eyes turned to an Asari standing beside her. The Asari had its face covered, and was wearing a long black gown. There was a long split in the dress at the legs giving Ralia a view of the blue-pebbled skin.
"Hello Ralia Tevos-T'Loak, so good of you to join me. Maybe you could assist me." The Asari's modulated voice rang out
"Go to hell." Ralia spat.
"Tsk, that's no way to speak to me. I just want to ask you a few questions."
"Fuck you, I'm not telling you anything." Ralia said. The Asari stepped forward the gloved hand was placed upon Ralia's stomach. Her muscles tightened as the hand rose to one of her breasts. She was given a gentle grope from her captor.
"I do not think you understand the full extent of your situation here. You have a choice. You can either make this difficult for you or easy. I'll enjoy it either way." The Asari said and she pulled lightly on Ralia's left nipple.
"You're sick. Mark my words I'll get out of here and then I'm going to fucking kill you bitch." Ralia said. The Asari's hand shot out smacking Ralia's face. The strike wasn't meant to bruise or hurt Ralia, but instead to send a message.
"You should be overjoyed it was me that the Shadow Broker decided to use to get you. I mean there are more twisted individuals under the Broker's employ. You instead got one more to your tastes. So unfortunate the other one wasn't there as well. Ah well, I'm sure the Krogan sent after her will be gentle." Her captor said. She lowered her face to Ralia's and the mouth piece split open to reveal blue lips. Her captor placed a kiss on Ralia's crest.
"Now then. How many people does your dear sweet Liara have under her employ." The Asari said
"Fuck you." Ralia shouted and the Asari rose. Her free hand shot to the mask covering her face. The other hand shot to Ralia's core and caressed the dry folds.
"I'd be pleased if you'd make this easier on me Ralia." The Asari said and lowered the mask. There staring at her was Liara. There was a grin on her lover's face before she winked and replaced the mask.
"Liara?" Ralia asked confused
"Yes your lover. How many are in her organization."
"Fuck you." Ralia said. Now that she knew she wasn't in any real danger the fear was gone and instead was replaced by excitement. She had once done something similar to Liara, and was assured that Liara would get revenge for it. As Liara's fingers began to press against her now wet core she had to fight a sigh of happiness.
Liara grinned behind her mask as she watched Ralia fight to moan from her ministrations. Ralia was always so responsive to her touch that it made her ecstatic to see her like this. In this moment the normally strong woman was under Liara's control. Her eyes drifted to an item she had brought on the desk. It would be the final touch in sending Ralia over the edge. She didn't understand the fascination other species had with the phallic shaped object, but she would not object to offering pleasure to her lover and to herself. For now though she'd focus on making Ralia go crazy under her touch.
