Chapter 10 - Warrior's Grace
Eternity's Struggle
Eternity's Struggle, the sequel to A Glimpse of Eternity, is a complication of short stories, letters and life-snapshots that are sprinkled throughout the events of Mass Effect 2 following both Commander Kiara Shepard and Kaidan Alenko. While they're in chronological order, its not the complete storyline of the whole of Shepard's missions as she prepares, then faces, the Collectors. There will be SPOILERS. Please read the Eternity Series - Disclaimer for more general information.
Disclaimer: I own only the parts of the individual personality of Commander Kiara Shepard I have developed inspired by the Commander Shepard in the gameplay. I do not own, nor hold any rights, to any of the characters, dialogue, storylines or any part in or of the "Mass Effect" game series. I want to thank Drew Karpyshyn and his staff of amazing writers, animators and voice actors. These are for fan enjoyment only and no money had been made on these stories.
It was a beautiful sight, the way the blue energy collected and swirled around her as she hurled into enemies. They fell to her with ease, a finesse of beauty. An artist on the field of battle. Thane had never seen a warrior as fierce as her. An avatar of the old sihas of legend. She fought with ferocity and held no fear in her heart. He didn't stop to wonder why this warrior-angel was here seeking him out, merely accepted the fact that she was.
Whatever her reasons, she was advancing towards his target. He had lingered long enough, watching from the shadows as she fought her way through the towers. Breaking from his position, Thane kept moving. He had to get there first.
He pushed himself, his skills routinely being challenged as he made his way up the towers. It was a race, though she did not know it, and it made his blood thunder in his breast like he'd not felt in years. This warrior was a worthy opponent to race against. She was graceful but made little show of it, her determination surgical in its execution. Her biotic powers were a tool yet even those she'd harnessed into a fine craft of art. Even the way she wielded her firearm was poetic.
He had to push harder. Be faster. Stronger. He had to get to his target.
In record time, he was in the ducts above Nassana and the voice of Commander Shepard reached his ears. They knew one another, Nassana and the Commander, but it was not a friendly reunion. He canted his head to the side as he listened acutely, curious about the conversation. It helped that their conversation also allowed him to map out their placement in the room.
Closing his eyes, he attuned himself to the room below him. Two guards, heavy shuffles on the floor. Likely male or heavily armored. Another guard near the target, lighter of foot and scared by the sound of her gun rattling subtly in their hands. The target paced near the far side of the room near the windows. Shepard and her team entering on the opposite side, calm and well positioned, he guessed, by the lack of sound coming from them.
"Shepard? But…you're dead" Nassana said in surprise.
"I got better," Shepard responded, her voice holding confidence that reflected her abilities, as he had expected. This could prove to be a rewarding opportunity, he considered as he held position in the ducts, a valuable distraction.
"And now you're here to kill me," the asari said. To his ears, Thane could here the faintest waver of fear in her voice.
"You're really paranoid, aren't you?" Shepard said with a hint of bored amusement.
"Don't patronize me, Shepard!" the asari bit at her.
"Charming as ever."
Thane found the exchange amusing. The Commander was not only confident and fearless but daring. With three armed guards at the target's disposal trained on her, she still dared to taunt Nassana.
"I'm sure you find all this very ironic. First you take care of my sister, and now you're here for me," Nassana said, her voice changing position as she moved around the room. The information itself Thane found it interesting as he filed it away for potential use later. Nassana continued, "Well, you made it this far, now what?"
"You really think I'm here to kill you?" Shepard asked, her tone flat and unimpressed.
"Do you have another reason for destroying my tower? Decimating my security?"
"I'm just looking for someone," the Commander said plainly.
"You expect me to believe that? Is it credits? Is that what you want? Just tell me your price. We can make this problem go away."
Thane could hear the agitation in his targets voice, the fear and uncertainty. She was desperate and he knew his time to complete the contract was coming. She would make a mistake and he would seize the opportunity. They always did. Slowly he began to make his way closer to open vents at the far side of the duct.
the world won't make this problem go away, Nassana," Shepard said. Thane noticed a slight change in her tone. It was slightly amused but reserved, as if she knew something the target didn't. She did, of course, but the fact she let it out so obviously in her tone only added to her daring nature.
"Who the hell gave you the right to play god? I may not be perfect, but look at you. We both kill people for money. What's the difference?" Nassana spat. She was becoming more unstable. Good.
"You kill people because you think they're beneath you; they're in your way." What had been well calculated banter changed at Nassana's word, emotion registering in the Commander's voice. It intrigued him even more. Her voice held a trace of anger and repulsion at the accusation, "I kill people when they leave me no choice."
Thane crept closer, coming to crouch above the vent. He could see two of the guards, both bulky and male as he had predicted. Given he hadn't heard the other move, only Nassana, he could now place the lighter guard with accurate precision. He stilled a moment, letting silence blanket him like a shroud. The time was near.
"You've got a choice. You don't have to do this. I can tell you…" Nassana paused, her voice taking on irritation, "What?"
"I heard something," another Asari voice chimed in from where he placed the third guard.
"Damn it. Check the other entrances," she said, "When I'm finished with this nuisance, you and I are going to…"
Thane took his chance while the guards were in place. Swiftly he dropped down onto the floor through the opening of the vent. It was easy work taking out three guards. A snap of the neck. A punch to the throat. A well aimed shot in the heart between the armor seams on the asari.
With fluid motion of years of training and experience, he reached out and pulled Nassana to him as he batted her weapon out of the way. His pistol came to rest against her stomach and after giving her a moment to realize what was about to happen, he pulled the trigger.
She did not fall though. He made sure of it, catching her body in his arms and laying her back on the console. Carefully, he arranged her body with her hands resting on her stomach then he stepped back. Without a word, he brought his hands to cup each other as he said a silent prayer to Kalahira, Goddess of Oceans and Afterlife.
One of the Commander's companions spoke but he did not register the words, his prayers devout and focused. He had spoken the last words when Shepard finally spoke, "I was hoping to talk to you."
"I apologize," Thane said, "but prayers for the wicked must not be forsaken."
"Do you really think she deserves it?" she asked.
He frowned slightly and gave the barest shakes of his head, his eyes still closed in prayer, "Not for her," he opened them then and looked up to Shepard, "For me." Sheathing his pistol, he attempted to explain, "The measure of an individual can be difficult to discern by actions alone. Take you, for instance. All this destruction…chaos."
He walked around the console where Nassana's body laid as he approached the Commander. He was intrigued by this woman and her purpose for being there, "I was curious to see how far you'd go to find me." He strode in front of her and spread his arms out, "Well…here I am." He hoped her reason for seeking him out was not one that would result in combat.
Her gaze held his unwavering, "How'd you know I was coming at all?"
"I didn't. Not until you marched in the front door and started shooting," he said, moving once again. He walked past her, his hands coming to clasp behind his back, "Nassana had become paranoid. You saw the strength of her guard force. She believed one of her sisters would kill her. You," he glanced at her over his shoulder, "were a valuable distraction."
"Let's cut to the chase. I need you for a mission," Shepard stated plainly and he admired her determination. So she was not there to try to kill him. It was a relief, though he knew if she had been it would have been a good battle. At least now they were getting closer to what she wanted from him.
"Indeed?"
"You're familiar with the Collectors?" she asked and though his back was still turned to her, he knew precisely where she was and that she was looking at him. As were her companions. The Collectors. She grew more fascinating by the minute.
Turning, he walked back towards to console, "By reputation. Collectors were widely regarded as myth, the galaxies boogeyman especially in the Terminus systems."
"They're abducting entire human colonies. Freedom's Progress was their handiwork," she informed him.
He lowered his head. So many innocents gone. It was a grave injustice. "I see," Thane said simply, his soul sad for so many lives taken.
"We're going after them."
He turned to her then, "Attacking the Collectors would require passing through the Omega 4 relay. No ship has ever returned from doing so." Once more she reinforced his observation of her ferocity and daring if she was, indeed, considering such a feat.
"They told me it was impossible to get to Ilos, too," she said. It was matter of fact, no ego or boasting in her words. She knew it was a slim chance of success yet still she desired to face it head on without hesitation.
"A far point. You've built a career on performing the impossible," he observed as she approached him, coming to stand beside him. He looked over the console at the cityscape outside the windows as the setting sun colored the room with a warm bath of luminous hues.
He reflected then, on the steps his life had taken to bring him to the point he found himself in and what the contract's intentions had been. "This was to be my last job," he said softly, then turned his head slightly in her direction, "I'm dying." If she truly wanted him for her mission, she needed to know all the facts. "Low survival odds don't concern me. The abduction of your colonists does."
"You're dying?" Shepard asked, unable to keep the surprise from her voice, "Are you contagious? How long do you have?" All valid questions, especially since she was asking him to serve beside others she had a responsibility to look out for. It was admirable.
"If you're interested, we can discuss it on your ship. The problem isn't contagious and it won't affect my work," Thane stated simply.
"I hadn't heard that. Is there anything I can do?" she asked, concern still present her voice. She genuinely cared and that was a rare trait. Especially given all she only just met him and the extent she likely knew about him was he was an assassin and little else. It intrigued him.
"Giving me this opportunity is enough," Thane said, looking back out over the cityscape, "The universe is a dark place. I'm trying to make it brighter before I die. Many innocents died today. I wasn't fast enough, and they suffered." He turned and looked at her, "I must atone for that." He reached his hand out, "I will work for you, Shepard. No charge."
She took his hand and shook it, her grip firm but not brutish, "Welcome to the crew."
In short order, they made it back to the Normandy and he got settled as they got underway to their next destination. Not long after, he heard the door to his quarters in the Life Support room open. He had been expecting her. The conversation about his disease had been left unfinished on Illium but was restarted promptly. He admired the way she tried to learn all she could about it and offer help where she thought she could. He was a member of her crew, now, and he could see that meant a great deal to her.
Part way through the conversation, he finally looked over to her. He took in the sight of her up close and found his world stilled. Her hair was cropped short to her shoulders flowed loosely around her neck, the darkest shade of black that held a vibrant luster in the lighting of the room. Full lips shaded in a rich natural vermillion set against her sun-kissed skin. She was radiant and yet the way she held herself, there was no question she was a formidable woman.
Her eyes were what drew him in and held him suspended in their luminance. They were a silvery alabaster, framed in heavy lashes that matched her eyes, giving her gaze an almost ethereal glow. He wondered what had happened to make her eyes that color for he had never a human with eyes naturally that shade.
Thane realized she had fallen silent and was looking at him with an odd expression. He had been caught staring and he bowed his head in apology, "Forgive me, Shepard, but I have never seen eyes as yours. Were you born with them as such?" he asked boldly.
For the briefest of moments, she look startled by the inquiry but she quickly regained her composure. "No, I wasn't," she said, regaining herself. She moved to sit across from him at the table where he sat. He enjoyed the tranquil view of the reactor of the ship behind her that helped with his meditations.
"Two years ago, I died when a ship attacked and destroyed the original Normandy," she started, folding her hands on the surface of the table. She was matter of fact in the way she spoke about it but there was something with the way she said it that made him wonder how many people she'd really talked to about the subject. "Cerberus found me and put me back together. Miranda Lawson was the head of the project. They called it 'Project Lazarus'."
"A fitting name for the resurrection of one such as you," Thane said as he bowed his head in indication of her as she continued.
"When I woke, an effect of the process or, maybe it was the result of dying, left me with the gaze you see now. No pigmentation in my irises. The green I'd carried my whole life had been bleached as it were," Shepard smirked, shaking her head, "It was disconcerting to say the least when I caught my reflection in the mirror."
Shepard shrugged, "Its still an adjustment. You look at yourself in a mirror your whole life then all of a sudden the image staring back doesn't look like you remembered it looking." Her tone, and gaze, became momentarily heavier as she said that, leaving Thane to wonder if her words held a deeper meaning. "So now I have these eyes. Miranda has never heard of something like this happening, but then again its not like its common place to resurrect the dead. I figure worse things could have happened when I came back." "A very interesting take on the situation, Shepard. Thank you for sharing it with me," he bowed his head in thanks.
"You asked. No one has asked me that before," she said simply then rose to stand up from the table. "Thank you for sharing information with me about your condition. I would still recommend speaking with Dr. Chakwas in the infirmary to do a general check up on you and see if there is anything she can do to help, at the very least, with your symptoms."
"Thank you, Commander Shepard, I will consider what you have said," Thane gave her a low nod of respect and then she departed.
Soon after she left his attention was pulled in by the hypnotic pulsing of the ship's engines as he slipped into his meditations, reflecting on the events of the day and the warrior-angel whom he had sworn his service to.