"Hey, you doing ok?" Alpha turned around to see Garrus standing behind him
"I'm just hungry," Alpha replied. "using that much biotics means I need to eat more."
"I meant are you ok with what happened? Shepard told me it was pretty gruesome." Garrus said sympathetically while taking a seat.
"Ya... I'm just glad I got to see that place blown to hell." Alpha replied bitterly while pushing some peas around on his plate.
"If you ever need to talk to someone, well I'm here, ok?"
"Thanks Garrus but, I just..." Alpha trailed off for a few moments as his biotics started to shimmer lightly around him. "Benezia set the Rachni loose on the civilians in the labs to slow us down. How are we supposed to save people when they kill them like that? Like it doesn't even matter?"
"Some people don't care about the sanctity of life. Back when I was with C-sec there was this one guy, a Salarian called Dr. Saleon. He would cut people up and harvest their organs, then plant cloned organs back in to grow so he could cut them all up again." Garrus clenched his fists as he recalled the horrifying crime scenes he had witnessed.
"He was smart, smart enough to stay ahead of me for months... Dozens of people died while I wasted time tracking down false leads and interrogated brainless cronies. But eventually I caught up to him and after chasing him through half of the wards he managed to get onto his ship to try and make a getaway."
"That was stupid; can't they shoot down anyone trying to leave like that?" Alpha inquired of the reminiscing Turian.
"No, it was a brilliant gamble on his part. He had about half a dozen more patients on board, I wanted to shoot him down anyway but my superiors refused to accept the civilian casualties." Garrus's mandibles flared in rage as he shared his past.
"I told them that the hostages were dead anyways, that Saleon would cut them up and harvest them until their bodies shut down. They weren't willing to be the reason for the hostages death though. So long as they didn't pull the trigger themselves they felt that it wasn't their fault, but they were wrong! Sometimes in order to save people you need to be willing to suffer some collateral damage. We may not be able to stop Saren from killing anyone else before we catch up to him but if we don't keep chasing he'll never stop. We may lose people along the way and have to watch innocents die but it will only get worse if we don't strengthen our resolve and keep fighting" Garrus put his hand on Alphas shoulder for a moment, reassuring the young man.
"We can't give up now Alpha; you can't give up now. I think Shepard needs you to help him finish this." Garrus said.
"Ya, thanks Garrus. One question though, did you ever catch up to that guy?" Alpha asked as he stood up.
"No. Not yet anyways, but I'll never forget him, never stop hunting him." Garrus replied.
"Let me know if you ever find him, I'll back you up." Alpha said as he offered his hand out, that Garrus quickly shook in a spirit of friendship.
"Well hate to bail on you Alpha but the guns won't calibrate themselves." Garrus said as he chuckled at himself and walked away.
Alpha felt much better after talking with Garrus and decided to visit Liara before he started feeling sorry for himself again.
One frustrating elevator ride later Alpha was standing in the med-bay in front of Liara's door, trying to figure out what to say.
"Just knock, it's only going to get more intimidating the longer you stand there." Ashley said from behind Alpha, appearing out of nowhere and causing him to jump in surprise.
"Jumpy are we? Hehe, no worries Alpha, I promise not to tell your little Liara." Ashley teased while Alpha turned a remarkable shade of red and started sputtering his response.
"Sh- She's not mine, I just- we- I mean... Stop laughing at me Ashley!" Alpha's face became a deeper and deeper red as he continued talking and Ashley doubled over laughing until the door opened and Liara poked her head out.
"What is going on out here?" she asked sleepily while she stretched her arms and let out a slow yawn.
"Nothing to worry about." Ashley said before walking away and laughing at the whole awkwardness of the situation.
"Well if it's nothing I'm going back to my room." Liara spoke softly. She started to slide the door shut when Alpha shoved his foot in between the door and its frame.
"Actually I was hoping to talk." He said rapidly. "After everything that happened... Well I don't know if you want to talk to me after all that but I'm here if you ever need me Liara. Alpha said earnestly while staring into Liara's deep blue eyes then taking her hand.
"I, I don't know what to say." Liara looked away from Alpha and pulled her hand away. Alpha looked at his now empty hand and started to turn away when he felt a small pair of hands grasp his arm and pull him back.
"Please don't go." Liara said softly as a single tear slid down her cheek. Alpha quickly drew her into his embrace and squeezed her tightly into his chest. After a few moments like this Liara backed away, with his hand in hers and pulled Alpha into her room, locking the door behind them.
"Alpha, I... Tyler." Liara spoke Alpha's name softly for the first time, trying it out and seeing how it felt on her tongue. "Tyler, Tyler! Can I call you that?" Liara said more confidently with each use of his name.
"You can call me anything you want Liara, anything at all." Alpha brushed her slightly freckled blue cheek with a surprising tenderness and wiped away the trail her tear had left.
Liara cupped his hand in hers and leaned forward, nuzzling into his wide chest to comfort herself. "Can we stay here for a while? Just the two of us, and forget about everything outside this room?"
"Until they kick down the door." Alpha joked, making Liara giggle. She looked up at the tall human that she had allowed herself to feel for and wondered what she was doing, scared at how intense her own feelings were and scared that he might not feel as strongly.
*To hell with it. I'm not denying it any longer, I've lost too much.* Liara stretched up on her toes and wrapped her arms around Alpha as he picked her up and locked their lips in a passionate struggle as he fell back against the locked door with a loud thump. After several minutes Liara led the young human to her bed and snuggled up next to him as her overwhelming emotions swept her into a deep sleep with Alpha's powerful arms encompassing her.
Several hours later Liara started to stir from her sleep and turned her head to see that Alpha had already woken up, or never fallen asleep; it didn't matter to her. "Hello Tyler." She said sleepily while clearing her mental cobwebs from sleeping so soundly.
"Hello Liara." Alpha replied sweetly. He unclasped his hands from Liara's as she started sitting up, then jumping off the bed to her feet and raising her arms in the air to stretch.
"What? Do I look funny?" Liara asked as she took in Alpha's bemused look, a slight smirk and one eyebrow raised above the other.
"Not at all," Alpha replied "but... We need to talk Liara, there are things I need to tell you before we continue this." Alpha said softly as he lowered his head.
"You can tell me anything Tyler, I may not understand why we feel so drawn to each other but whatever we have, I don't want to lose it." Liara told Alpha as she caressed his cheek with her own soft hand.
"I don't either but-" Alpha brushed Liara's hand away and took a step backwards. "I've been lying to everyone Liara. To Shepard, to Kaiden, to you. I've been lying to everyone that I know and I don't know what to do!"
"What do you mean Tyler? What have you been lying about?" Liara backed away from Alpha and hugged herself protectively.
"Everything. My name, my past, or lack thereof. It's all lies!" Alpha exclaimed, his voice breaking.
"I can't tell you the truth even though I want to more than anything because I don't know what the truth is. I woke up on Eden Prime in the middle of a Geth invasion with no memory of anything. I don't know my name, where I learned to fight, or anything about myself. The worst part is that when I had a chance to come clean I just piled on more lies." Alpha vented, letting everything out, knowing that he couldn't lie to this woman any more then he already had.
Liara looked at Alpha, studying him and trying to understand what she was being told. "So this whole time, you haven't known anything about yourself? Did you make up the name?"
"Yes. A sergeant on Eden Prime asked me my name and I just said the first thing that came to mind."
"But you don't remember anything? Anything at all?" Liara asked softly while looking straight at Alpha.
"Not a thing." Alpha replied before allowing a silence to permeate the room for several minutes before Liara walked over and hugged him tightly.
"You must have been so afraid. I can't imagine what it must be like to be all alone like that. But you're not alone anymore, I can help you!" Liara exclaimed excitedly.
"Wait what? You- you want to help me? You're not angry?" Alpha looked at the Asari in his arms in amazement and wonder at how easily she had accepted his secret.
"Asari can meld, remember? I should be able to bring up some memories. Besides, why would I be angry? Everyone has secrets that they don't tell someone until they truly trust that person. I'm just glad that you trust me enough to tell me." Liara smiled up at Alpha and squeezed him tighter. "Are you ready Tyler?"
"Ok, let's do this. Let's do this together Liara." Liara leaned forward, eyes closed and kissed Alpha. When she pulled back her eyes were pitch black, her pupils dilated enough to push out all the color in her eyes.
"Embrace eterni-"
"Alpha! Liara!" The entangled couple jumped at the sound of banging on the door, accompanied by Shepard's voice interrupting the bonding ritual mere moments before its initiation. "I need you both in the comm room for the council debrief."
"I'll uhh, we'll be right out Shepard. Just give us a moment." Alpha said through the door as Liara quickly separated herself from him.
Alpha pressed a button to unlock the door and it slid open to reveal Commander Shepard leaning against the wall with his arms crossed and a slight grin at the young man's obvious embarrassment.
"Come on you two, the council isn't known for their patience."
"Sorry Commander, I- we- um it-" Liara stuttered as she tried to find the words to end her embarrassment as she blushed a deep crimson.
"Don't worry about it Liara. You may want to zip up before joining us though." Shepard teased as he pointed at her perfectly zipped up clothing; laughing as her hands flew to her zipper only to find that she had been tricked, causing her blush to deepen even further.
"Let's go and get this over with." Alpha stated as he stepped in front of Liara. The two followed Shepard into the comm room to be greeted by stares from the entire ground team. Kaiden nodded at Alpha and jerked his thumb towards Garrus and Wrex.
Alpha looked to see Wrex laughing as Garrus slapped a credit chit into his outstretched palm, cursing under his breath. Ashley giggled when she saw how badly the two were blushing and Tali was shaking but no sound came from her modulator, Alpha assumed she had turned it off.
"Joker, patch us through." Shepard ordered as he stood at ease in front of the projectors.
"Shepard." The council acknowledged the human Spectre's presence as their holograms lit up. "Your mission report makes for some... interesting reading." The Asari councillor said a
after exchanging a look with the Salarian councillor.
"Did you truly encounter Rachni on Noveria?" The Turian councillor questioned. "And why is your crew present? Normally we only debrief you Shepard."
"I thought you may have questions for the rest of my ground team for the mission, and decided it would be easier to have them here, and to answer your first question yes. We did encounter Rachni. It seemed as though Benezia was attempting to breed an army of them for Saren."
"This is a serious matter Shepard. It was unwise to allow the Queen to escape, the Rachni once held the entire galaxy by the throat." The Asari councillor stated.
"Yes Shepard, you should have killed her. I just hope that you haven't put the galaxy at risk on a whim" The Salarian councillor spat venomously while glaring at Shepard. "I knew it was too early for humans to join the Spectres! You don't even understand how your actions affect the galaxy."
"Genocide is the goal of Saren and the Reapers! I am not going to make their job any easier Councilmen; I'll call again once I have more information for you. Shepard out." Shepard said angrily as he slammed his fist on the disconnect button. "I really hate those guys." He muttered while turning to face the ground team.
"Umm, weren't we supposed to answer the council's questions?" Alpha asked.
"Well once they learn how to hold a conversation without insulting me with every syllable then I may consider keeping the line open!" Shepard spat. "However the council did forward some Intel before this, the STG lost contact with some operatives on a planet called Virmire. They suspect Saren may be involved and want us to investigate; but there's still the matter of the Geth problem on Feros. After Noveria I don't want to be taking any chances so we will be taking two squads from here on out. Tali, Alpha, Liara, you're with Kaiden. Wrex, Ashley, Garrus, the three of you will be led by me. First squad will lead while second squad will provide support, any questions?"
"What are we expecting here?" Kaiden asked seriously, clasping his hands together under his chin.
"All we know for sure is that the Geth are there. We don't know why exactly but it was a Prothean world once, even if it has been picked clean by now there's a chance they could be looking for something more carefully hidden." Shepard answered.
"So the Geth just happen to show up on some forgotten Prothean ruin world? I smell a setup Shepard." Garrus said darkly. "How do we know that the Geth didn't intentionally allow a distress call get out knowing that you're the first choice to go there?"
"I already considered that... And it doesn't matter! If the Geth want a shot at me so badly then I'll give it to them, I won't let innocent colonists be used to against me."
After a few moments of silence Shepard dismissed everyone, as Alpha was getting up his omni-tool beeped with a message notification. *Poker in the crew deck, room 2 at 2100. Open invite.* Alpha chuckled at Ashley's message wondering just how many regs she was breaking for a few hands of cards.
Alpha walked into the crew deck room ten minutes late hearing someone unfamiliar laughing with most of the ground team. "-and then he turns around and just says 'Oh shit' with the Admiral still on the line!" Everyone in the room started laughing while Alpha just stood there confused.
"Uhh, what's going on guys?" Alpha inquired after he took a seat at the far end of the table beside Garrus and Tali.
"This guy used to serve with the Commander; he was even there on Elysium! You have got to hear these stories Alpha!" Ashley squealed and was practically bouncing in her seat.
"Oh yea? Let's hear what you've got." Alpha challenged the Engineer sitting a few seats down from him and gave him a wolfish grin.
"Ok well I haven't told you guys about Elysium yet have I? Well it goes like this..."
"So there we are, sitting in the comm room, surrounded by dozens of Batarians. Now I'm thinking we're all dead but then Shepard comes flying in, tackling some unlucky Batarian right through the window! He puts an omni-blade into the bastards head, looks up and asks if anyone can get the intercom going for him."
"So I of course ask him why, and do you know what he said? He said he broke the speakers in his helmet and wants a good song for when he kills the rest of the 'spider-eyed fuckers' and laughs like it's just another day! Now I quickly turn the bases speakers on and Shepard synchs his omni-tool then starts playing this old twenty-first century song that no one on that base will ever forget. Fuck her gently by some band called Tenacious D! Now the song has started up and Shepard closes his eyes, starts singing along and as the chorus starts up gets up he suddenly starts screaming the lyrics as loud as he can while charging the rest of the Batarians that surrounded us!"
"Shepard is all like I'M GONNA FUCK YOU SOFTLY and shooting the bastards in the face with an assault rifle and just continues running all over the base shouting along with the song and the Batarians are all standing there like idiots trying to figure out what the hell he's doing and by the time they react he's already put them down."
"After Shepard manages to push the Batarians back and reinforcements show up, he still has that hilariously vulgar song playing on repeat at full blast. Then Admiral Hackett shows up, THE Admiral Hackett, and Shepard is on the roof of the comm tower above me singing along, dancing like a seizing jellyfish and chugging a large bottle of Krogan rum that he pick up off the body of a dead slaver when the Admiral orders the speakers shut off."
"Now Shepard for some drunken reason continues to shout the lyrics for everyone to hear and Admiral Hackett is stuck standing there for a good two minutes trying to get Shepard's attention until he gives up and shoots at his shields! Shepard looks down at the Admiral with this giant ass grin on his face and asks him if he should go pro!" As the engineer finished regaling the room with his stories Shepard walked into the room to see everyone roaring with laughter.
"What's so funny guys?" He asked innocently.
"Nothing, well other than the story of how you danced, sung, and drank the Batarians to death." Alpha joked.
"Good times." Shepard said as he briefly remembered how frustrated Admiral Hackett had looked after he held of the Batarian slavers at Elysium. "Well I hate to interrupt a good story but I need to talk to you privately Alpha." Shepard said with a stern expression. Alpha studied Shepard's face wondering what could have caused Shepard to act like this.
"Sure Shepard." Alpha stood and followed the Commander to the comm room where Shepard immediately locked the doors behind them.
"We need to talk Alpha; or rather YOU need to talk." Shepard said as he leaned against the wall.
A/N
So after getting some questions about Alpha let me clear a few things up, he can still use biotics without training the same way he can shoot fight run or even walk, muscle memory. It is common for soldiers and fighters to repeat a technique over and over until its becomes a natural movement for them, especially in self-defense. As for why he can use biotics the way he can and use powers that humans haven't unlocked yet, everything will be explained eventually as we explore his origin so just accept it for now knowing that there is an explanation for how. Anyway, thanks for the response so far guys.