AN: Alright, just in case anyone has forgotten/gets confused if I say anything that contradicts anything from the original S&S this one trumps it. I'm going to be rewriting the original anyway so if anyone acts somewhat differently it is this variant that will be stuck to from now on.
Hell back then I didn't even have Evalyn's character really fleshed out, I've even mapped out her personality type at this point.
Reviews, especially critical ones (because damn it I'm not perfect, we all know that), are very much welcome.
S&S
A moment later Shepard may have realized she had fucked up, and that moment may have been when her cabin door found itself bouncing off the mess hall's bulkhead. Red emergency lighting filled the room as the ship's V.I automatically locked down each section in response to what it believed was a massive gravitational event, which Eva supposed was technically correct.
She cursed herself for not letting Kaidan take the lead there, he and Jack at least had some form of emotional connection thanks to their respective pasts. Not that Evalyn didn't have her own baggage, but emotions had never been her strong suit, she instead just made sure she could never be hurt the same way again. But that wasn't how most people worked, and she had been so caught up in how this news might effect Jacqueline's utility to the team she had forgotten to ask how it would also directly affect the woman herself.
Both Kaidan and herself skidded out into the hallway, noting the the mess table was now resting comfortably across the entrance to the sleeper pods, Shepard's shout carried across the room, "Jacqueline! Jack! You need to drop the field before it tears the ship apart!" But the figure inside the biotic corona didn't even turn its head toward her, Kaidan reached out to hold her back via her artificial arm, "Commander, I don't even think she realizes where she. I think if I can just get to her she might snap out of it."
Shepard glanced at Kaidan, "Alright, then do it." But she knew before he shook his head that it wasn't going to be that easy, "I need time to focus my biotics, and I don't think we have much."
As though to prove his statement the floor and ceiling above Jack's form buckled outward with a screech of metal, the bulkheads giving ground as they lost the battle against the source of the gravitational anomoly, "I can buy you some time, but I have no idea how much."
The blonde thrust forward her still flesh hand a blue corona swallowing her as she did so, she didn't have as much gas in the tank like say Kaidan or Liara did, but Shepard had a startling degree of control over her biotics, which she used to deftly manipulate her way through the enraged human's barriers.
And then all was silent as the stasis field formed around Jack, "I'll buy you as much time as you can, but I can't hold a stasis field for long." And she wasn't joking, even using it momentarily would leave her feeling drained and exhausted, Kaidan in response gave her a grim nod and set his mind to, whatever the hell he was trying to do.
Evalyn for her part was trying very hard not to pass out, her own aura flickered as she dredged up whatever reserves of energy she had, and as she tasted iron on her tongue she figured her nose had started to bleed as well. Her body trembled with effort as her body ravaged itself for the energy to maintain the field but willpower can only get you so far, and finally with a scream of both effort and pain her own field collapsed, while Jack's was reborn as if it had never ended, which was how it would have felt to the younger human.
She tumbled to the ground heavily, though she did manage to keep her head up to see Kaidan shoving his way forward using his own barrier to shield himself from Jack's reactionary defense, he stumbled as reached the center, the lack of biotic force in the center of the field reminded Eva of a hurricane.
Jack though still hadn't moved, indeed Eva suspected that this was all just her triggered instinct to run to where she felt safest, which here would be the med-bay, though that route had been cut off by the emergency protocols. This field was likely just her acting on instinct to protect herself, and once again Evalyn cursed herself for being this fucking stupid.
Kaidan finally seemed to decide what he was doing, and slowly wrapped his arms around the girl, only to find himself flung across the room by a very potent biotic backhand from the startled biotic he had been trying to comfort.
"Kaidan!" Jack no longer in a daze dashed across the room, murmuring to herself, or perhaps the man whose skull she was checking for damage, that she was sorry. While Shepard tried to deactivate the emergency protocols before she passed out, she let out a small crow of victory as the med-bay door slid open revealing a very concerned doctor, and a different very pissed off doctor as well.
"Hey, Li." The Asari glared at her as she helped her to her feet, the words from Liara's blue lips scolded her, "I told you to be careful." Shepard laughed in response, though she coughed a little as some of the blood in her mouth caught on the back of her throat, "You only said to be careful on the planet."
The blonde gave a small yelp of pain as Liara squeezed her still fleshy forearm with the opposite of gentleness as the Asari hissed at the human, "I expect you to be careful at all times, I expect you to grow old with me, and I expect you to give me blue babies, none of which you can do if explode your own brain because you are an idiot!"
And while the normal reaction to such an admission would be shock that Liara saw such a long term future for them, or make some glib remark to try and lighten the mood, Evalyn was not normal nor she supposed was her own quiet response, "I, understand. But first I, we, need to make it through this, and that means having everyone at their best." Taking a glance around the room she groaned as Liara pulled her towards the med-bay, "I can't let what happened to Nihlus happen to me, happen to you."
Liara's eyes burned into hers before a sad smile graced her lips, "I suppose that is the closest I'm going to get to a, I'm sorry." Eva leaned her head into the blue shoulder next to her, "Yep."
S&S
"Entering cruising speed, preliminary survey shows that the immediate sector is clear of activity. Orders, Ma'am?"
Miranda let out a sigh as she leaned against the console in front of her, "Send out our survey teams, make sure they attract attention we know that he is operating somewhere near here and I highly doubt that first ship that tried to accost us sent him a warning."
Four systems, two and a half days of effort, and all they had to show for it was a single blown up pirate frigate and a couple of scorch marks on one of their 'borrowed' survey craft.
"Teams away, Ma'am, making lots of chatter." She gave a small nod of acknowledgment while her eyes remained plastered on the sensor readings being projected on the display in front of her, she frowned when her eyes caught a subtle spike in one of the infrared readings before it blipped away again.
She tapped the display which sent a ping to her sensors officer, "Keep an eye on this quadrant, I suspect our target might be trying to use the inner asteroid belt as cover.
A sudden crackle filled the bridge as one of her teams out there started shouting into the priority channel, "We've got hostiles, at least three frigates all using the gas giant for cover, markings look batarian."
She keyed into the comm system, "All teams this is a recall order," she glanced over at her XO, a grizzled but competent ex-Alliance veteran known as Marcus, 'Mark,' Price, "Make it look like we are trying to run, keep all weapon systems hidden until our good Captain makes his move."
The brown haired man glanced at her, "You sure that he's here? Lot of sectors that he could be operating out of." She shot him a pointed look that told him exactly what he could do with his question before returning her gaze to the screen in front of her.
"Ma'am, survey teams 3 and 5 are on board, teams 1 and 2 are in our safety envelope, team 4 is in danger of being overrun by the enemy forces." She waved a hand to switch her display to a tactical view of the ship, "Prep our core, make it look like we are charging for a jump, I can't see those pirates risk losing this ship in exchange for that glorified shuttle."
"Aye, Ma'am, charging for jump."
A trio of shots slammed across the bow of the Nova, and a guttural but judging from the accent batarian voice came across their speakers, "Unknown vessel, you are now the property of the Hegemony, attempt to resist and you will be made to regret it."
She couldn't help but smirk when the lead frigate was struck with a salvo of high kinetic shells from the position she had pointed out earlier, the pirates not anticipating an attack from what they assumed was a civilian vessel hadn't even bothered to raise their shields, a state that they were hastily trying to rectify.
A second salvo struck the rearmost frigate in the loose wedge formation striking the engines, though judging by the angle of the damage dealt it seemed that Confressi had added at least a second ship to his little enterprise.
"Last of the four eyes is turning to run." She glanced back at the display, noting that to continue chasing the batarians the pirate would have to bring himself within weapon range, she glanced at the weaponry officer, "Wait until Confressi's own ship is within our range, then take out that batarian frigate with the main guns. I want no one left alive except for our target."
Moments passed until a noticeable tremor ran through the ship as the trio of cannons at the Nova's fore flared to life, obliterating the frigate with an impressive display of power. And she was quite sure that a man of such acclaimed cunning would be quick to note the numerous previously hidden guardian arrays that could shred the Captain's ship should he attempt anything particularly stupid.
She didn't even bother to hide the smugness from her voice as they transmitted to their prey, "Captain, I have a proposition that I'd like to discuss with you. I know that you are capable of piloting the shuttle on board your vessel so in a show of good faith I'd like you to come alone, and unarmed."
There was silence on the line for several moments before a response came back, "I'd love to agree to your terms, but I'm afraid that they are rather impossible for me to fulfill." Miranda thumbed off the transmitter so that she could utter out a groan without him hearing before speaking to the man once again, "What exactly makes my request impossible to fulfill, Captain?"
Her jaw tightened as the man actually laughed, "Well, the shuttle you mentioned, we sold it. Some of the lads got themselves locked up by what passes for a sheriff back on Flotsam and we had no cash on hand, fighting the good fight doesn't leave us a lot of overhead. So, we pawned it to some Volus dealer for the cash to spring my men, had to, it's in the articles."
Miranda was beginning to realize she hated pirates more than she hated, well most other lowlifes, honestly the genetically engineered woman had a relatively poor opinion of most of society. She glanced at Mark, "Load up one of the survey ships with a boarding team, they'll bring the good captain over with them. Heavy armor and helmets, I don't intend on putting any faith in this man so let's not give him anything to identify us later."
As he agreed wordlessly she began to talk to her counterpart once again, "We shall be sending a shuttle over, you are to board it unarmed as stated before, and by yourself. Attempt to take hostages, we will destroy your ship. Fail to board the shuttle, and we will destroy your ship." Even before she had finished speaking she knew that the man was going to stupidly try and bluff his way out of this situation.
And so as he began to question her ability to actually follow through with her threat she signaled for the weapon's officer to target the ship flying consort with Confressi, and within moments several missiles streaked from the port side of the pocket dreadnought, the heavy ordinance quickly overwhelming the privateer vessel's barrier before continuing on to the hull itself. The end result was in moments the other ship was not only drifting out of control, but also venting atmosphere from numerous hull breaches.
Turning her attention back to the conversation at hand, "I'm sorry, you were saying something about me not going through with something?" She let a momentary pause hang before she injected as much indifference into her voice as was possible, "Get on the shuttle, or be shot down. The only reason you are alive is because you can be of use to me, and you are quickly convincing me that you are not worth the effort. Your choice, Captain."
And as she disconnected the call she had a feeling that he wouldn't put up much of a fuss once her men arrived.
S&S
Both Jack and Shepard found themselves hooked up to IV's in the med-bay in order to stabilize them after expending so much resources in the respective displays of biotic force, Kaidan on the other hand had to be sequestered in the little cubby that Jack used as her quarters as he was currently suffering from one of his biotic induced migraines, and they couldn't very well turn the lights off in the med-bay for him.
Neither Jack, nor Shepard had spoken, but finally the Spectre sighed, "I'm willing to go on record and state that I fucked up back there. I know that you are probably pissed at me, but if you want to know anything about what the SA told me you just have to ask, if not that's fine too."
Nothing was said for a while before Evalyn began to speak again, "I am sorry, I get so caught up in planning on how to make sure that we all make it through this alive that I forget that you all aren't just parts in a machine I'm building." She chuckled a little at that, "I do better with machines, they are so much more simple than people, if something breaks in them you just replace a part, kind of like me I suppose."
As she darkly chuckled at that she could hear a muttered retort, "How the fuck does blue stand you?" Eva let out a kinder laugh at that, "You have no idea how often I ask that, it helps I guess that we connect intellectually. First time I met her we talked about her theories for hours, it was nice."
"Getting laid would have been nice too." Eva grinned at the younger woman's comment, "Never said we just talked about theories, there was a practical portion to the exam as well." And as she said that she made a note to erase this conversation from the V.I's memory.
The smaller woman's back was still turned away from her, but it wasn't hard to miss the confusion and pain that entered her voice, "Why did he do that?"
Shepard frowned unsure who this 'he' was, but she assumed it was Kaidan, "Do you mean the Lieutenant?" She heard a snort come from Jack, "Who the fuck else would I be talking about, shit I thought you were smart but today threw that idea out a window," Shepard let out a huff of exasperation but Jack continued, "Then it got hit with a sky-car."
"Are you done?" Her tone was moderated, but Eva had trouble hiding some anger from her voice, and after a few moments of silence she took it as agreement, "You're a marine under his command, and one of the things you have to understand is that we take care of our own, you're not alone here Jack, unless you want to be. Even then we'll probably be annoyingly close for comfort."
"Then an Elcor stepped on it." Eva closed her eyes as she tried one of Liara's mediation exercises, but that was interrupted by the whisper like statement that followed,"I do better when I'm alone, alone and lonely, that is how you don't get hurt," Shepard wished she could make her way over to the biotic, but Chakwas had activated the bed's weight sensor and linked it to Liara's omni, and she did not need another telling off today. "Jacqueline, life is about getting hurt. I can't pretend that I understand everything that you've gone through, and I don't expect you to ever be anything that you aren't, but I'm here if you need me. Regardless of my inability to understand that people don't react to earth shattering news well."
She could hear a shuffle as Jack rolled herself over to look at her, "Do you know if they found my family?"
Eva's eyes moved as she read the file that she had opened in her interface, "Your Mother is alive, and you have a half-sister, they are living out on one of the wildcats but the SA hasn't been able to track them down yet." Silence yet again pervaded the room, but this time Evalyn was willing to do this right, not try and rip the bandage off like she had last time.
"What are their names?" Jack's voice was thick with more emotions than Evalyn could hope to guess, but that was to be expected she supposed.
"Natalie is your Mother's name, and your younger sister is called Emma. There was no Father listed on either of your records, but DNA records show that you have a different father from your Sister."
The smaller girl opened and closed her mouth several times before she finally managed to get out the words, "Did they give me to Cerberus?" Eva mentally berated herself for missing such an obvious fear of Jack's, "No, your Mother was bringing you in for a checkup as a baby. Cerberus had numerous colony doctors faking the deaths of prospective biotic children. Following that your Mother moved out of Alliance space, blaming them for your death."
A sob wracked the smaller girl, and Eva groaned as she sat up, Li could be as angry with her as she wanted later. Grasping on to the IV she used it to support her the few steps over to Jack's bed until she sat heavily down on the edge.
Gently she took Jack's hand in her own the same way her Mother had when she had awoken in the hospital following her Father's death. The sudden contact caused the other girl to suddenly tense before she literally threw herself at the older woman, Eva doing her best to keep the both of them from falling off while she attempted to comfort the biotic to the best of her ability.
"It's all right, I'm not going anywhere, at least until Liara barges in her and kills me for leaving me bed." That earned a shaky laugh in between sobs, "Ya, she comes off as kind of intense."
Eva hummed in agreement as she continued to hold the broken young woman, Jack had been through far too much in her brief time in the galaxy thus far, and Evalyn couldn't help but feel somewhat responsible for what had happened to her.
Her own Mother had been Cerberus during Jacqueline's time with them, had she known about the experiments? And if so had she done anything to stop them? These were questions that she always wanted to ask, but they were also not wounds that she wanted to open if she was being truthful. But one day Evalyn was going to come clean to the broken human in her arms, and she would accept whatever reckoning came.
Because, she was a Shepard, and because it was the right thing to do.
S&S
Evalyn had held the biotic until she passed out from pure exhaustion, and deciding that since she was already in trouble with Liara she had made her way down to the cargo hold. The bay itself was mostly empty thanks to the fact that the ship was now in the middle of its night cycle, so she made her way over to vacated area where Ashley normally resided and began her own kind of emotional therapy.
She hadn't been kidding when she had stated she preferred machines, there was comfort to be had in the cold mechanical devices, and so she began to fabricate a new drone to make up for the loss of her last two.
The advent of those scout Geth would make the lighter drones she had previously relied upon ineffective, no use for scouts if they never gathered any intelligence. So this model would be heavier, but that meant that it would need stronger shielding to account for the lass of maneuverability.
She wasn't sure how long she was at work when Tali stumbled into the bay, attracted by the noise coming from the otherwise silent level, though Eva noted it had apparently been long enough for her to have assembled most of the octagonal drone's framework.
"Kee'Lah, Shepard, don't you ever sleep." The human let a grin slip across her features, but the humor didn't reach her eyes, "Not unless I have to."
Nodding lightly the Quarian padded up to her, "Building another drone? I thought you would have learned your lesson after the last two." The humor in the engineer's voice caused the blonde to smile lightly, "I can be a little stubborn, plus I'd like to see your tech drones outfit themselves with an omni-shield."
Tali sat herself down next to the human, picking up a piece of plating that the human had gotten frustrated at, "And this was?" Eva waved a hand dismissively at it, "Attempt at making a multi-missile generator, I mean the micro-foundaries in your drones can produce a singular missile so I was trying to multiply the scale. But the problem is that it's too much power though for our current level of miniaturization, I'll have to give it a few years for technology to catch up to me." The blonde suddenly stopped as she glanced at the Quarian who was still studying it, "You don't happen to have any designs for an advanced power generator kicking around do you?"
"Nooo?" Shepard ignored the question lacing the statement, and instead just sighed, "Pity, guess I'm stuck waiting until I can nab someone with a specialty in that field." The blonde pulled out a pair of phaestrom rifles that were sitting at the bottom of a nearby crate, "If you plan on staying would you mind stripping these of anything not critical."
Tali shrugged and set one of the rifles down next to her while she placed the other in her lap, her deft fingers ripping off plating and components with practiced ease.
Eva light hummed to herself as she pulled shaped another panel for the drone's hull, before breaking the silence with a question, "Creation that you are proudest of."
Tali didn't answer her right away, instead continued to silently and methodically work on stripping the first rifle to completion first. She slowly set down the now stripped rifle, and as she picked up the second one she spoke, "The last time I went on a patrol into the Veil, we landed on one of the old colony worlds to see if the Geth even bothered to keep a presence there. Of course we never thought that they would actually show up when we were in the colony itself, up until the point when a dropship took out our engines so we were forced to flee deeper into the colony for safety."
She flicked the safety into the ever growing pile of components, "The colony was too narrow for them to send in any heavy units, so we only had to worry about the basic combat forms. But, well no Quarian honestly expects to run into the Geth, most of the time we just do it as a way to reassure ourselves that these worlds aren't just some story we tell ourselves." She gave a sad shake of her head, "We lost two of our crew before we managed to barricade ourselves in some old storeroom, it had a bunch of old generator parts kicking around, so while everyone else was giving up I was making a solution."
She set the half-stripped rifle down, "I put in a string of high voltage capacitors and linked them to the sight of the rifle I had taken, made the targeting laser nonvisible so that the Geth wouldn't know what hit them. It was like holding lightning in my hands, some of the Geth literally exploded when the bolt hit them. By the time we fought our way back to the surface a rescue force had arrived."
Eva smiled at the story but had to question the end of the story, "And that was the end, everyone went home to a happily ever after?" A snort came from Tali's speakers, "I got sent off to pilgrimage as my reward, while our resident lunatic Daro'Xen took my weapon for 'research purposes.' More like the Bosh'Tet was angry that I made something that could rip her new toys to pieces."
That statement caused a tilt of the Spectre's head, and Tali visibly shifted from nervousness, "Tali, did you just imply that a Quarian is currently engaged in large scale synthetic research?" Shepard held up her hand to calm the Quarian, "Look Tali, you're people aren't technically part of Citadel space so I don't have any jurisdiction. But if you are worried about something then I would like to know, plus it's always useful to know where the evil robots are going to come from."
Tali didn't even chuckle at her lame attempt at a joke, "You have to understand that the Flotilla has always been divided into three movements, the returners, the apologists, and the bosh'tets." At the Commander's raised eyebrow the Quarian huffed, "Fine, and the revitalists." The girl gestured lightly with her hands as she explained, "The first group wants to return home, preferably killing as many Geth as we can on the way, the second group wants to just find a planet somewhere and say we are sorry very loudly for the next thousand years, or the Geth forgive us, whatever comes first." A sigh came out of the girl after that, "The last group wants us to go back to the drawing board and make a new race of helpers, to avoid our mistakes last time and make life on the flotilla more manageable. My Mother was one of them, she was actually Daro'Xen's mentor, Kee'lah she used to come over for dinner before the incident."
Incident, it was the same term that Evalyn used when describing her Father's death, well it was before she found out that the more appropriate term was murder. "So this, Daro'Xen is a threat?" Strangely that gained a laugh from the Quarian, "No, Xen is, well she's skilled but right now she is a very unpopular figure. Currently the fleet favors my Father who is an adamant returner, while my Aunt Shala'Raan is a close second for speaking as a sort of, voice of the fleet, Aunty Raan likes to remind everyone that we need to remember that we aren't on the homeworld yet."
Tali tilted her head towards the Spectre, "Now what was your creation? I'm on to you trying to distract me with Flotilla talk." Shepard laughed a little but she sobered very quickly, "Understand first Tali that I don't share your sentiments when it comes to synthetic life. One of my first trips that I took after I lost my eye I hacked my way on to a cargo ship on it's way to Jump Zero," she stopped momentarily realizing that Tali likely had no idea what the station was, "It's a deep space station out beyond Pluto, the planetoid that our home systems' relay orbits. It's also where the Alliance conducts their in hours A.I research."
She let a grin cross her features, "Eliza had only been online for a few months when I arrived, and well the techs had no idea that I was even on the station, let alone communicating with her. She purportedly jumped in mental maturity within hours of our meeting, she currently handles Arcturus' data security, and she's very protective of electoral results though she did demand one thing, you want to guess what it was?" Of course she didn't mention that Eliza's core had several tons of explosives on it in the event that she went rogue, but it had been years since she had been installed deep within Arcturus' core.
Tali shrugged, "Independent access to a starship that she could put her core into?" Eva let our a bark of laughter, "No, goddess Eliza loves bureaucracy way too much to give that up. No, what she wanted was a single vote. That was it, she wanted a say like any other sentient." She let out a sigh, "Not that every A.I or V.I is a boon to society, the next one Gareth had to be purged because of numerous personality disorders, and the less said about the HANNIBAL system the better, whatever idiot thought that thing up should be shot."
She grabbed a pair of goggles from the floor which she pulled over her eyes, before flicking her synthetic hand which became engulfed in a welding program, Tali's visor dimming automatically against the sudden light, "Tess was the name of the V.I I created, she originally started off as a flight assistance program for my old personal starship. Of course as I kept getting in more dire situations I found myself constantly adding more and more features on to her, until one day she just introduces herself as Tess."
The blonde stopped for a moment, locked in the moment that the text had scrawled across her display, "She never spoke, not until the very end, always just communicated via text, was a real stickler for honorifics, always called me Ma'am." A smile played across her face for a few moments before the memory of the end came back to her, "The Council sent me on an assignment, it turned out to be a trap, though I'm still not sure if they were in on it or not. To be fair I had been snooping around in some restricted files so maybe they were worried I was about to go rogue, maybe it was just my regular bought of bad luck, regardless my ship ended up getting shot down and Tess forcibly ejected me before I could grab her core."
The room dimmed suddenly as she shot the program down, "The HANNIBAL program I mentioned earlier, was a V.I designed to infiltrate and absorb other programs, and the group I had been sent after had absconded with it. By the time I got to the facility and made my way inside Tess and that thing had already merged, and the resultant combination hated me with a passion. So I detonated the failsafe in Tess's core remotely, and set the facility's reactor to overload, Nihlus and Tela extracted me and I was put on indefinite leave."
She waved her hand to dismiss whatever the Quarian might have to ask, "That was a while ago, I ended up using some leverage to get back my position, and ended up being added to the Eden Prime assignment, before then I think Gates was supposed to be on board to be reviewed by Nihlus. I never really did have much time to question him about what the original plan had been."
Tali's looked like she was about to speak when the sound of the lift opening drew both of their attention as a rather irritated Asari stepped out of the lift, causing the human to glance at her companion before whispering to her, "Run."
The Quarian took the hint and quickly scurried back towards engineering, Liara didn't even glance at her form as her glare was fixed solidly on the human sitting on the floor, "Liara, shouldn't you be resting?"
The question caused the Asari's jaw to tighten, "I would have, if I woken up to find that you had left your bed three hours ago." Evalyn shot her a tentative grin gesturing at the pile of parts around her, "I needed to think, and well this helps me to think."
Liara looked like she was practicing the meditation exercises that she encouraged Evalyn to use, "Why must you be so frustrating about," the Asari stumbled for an example, "Everything!?"
Eva pulled herself up using the table to assist her as her legs were rather stiff, talking to the Asari as she moved towards the Asari, "Because I'm an idiot when it comes to dealing with people," and as she cupped the Maiden's cheek with her left hand she let a small smile play on her features, "But I'm your idiot."
The Asari gave out a small laugh, "I'd never call you an idiot, you just seem more confused when dealing with people if I had to describe it." Evalyn just smiled wider at the statement, "I'll take confused, and remind me later to let Bao know that the Quarian's might be working on Geth 2.0 will you."
Liara gave a chuckle at that before eyeing the Spectre, "You are joking right?" Her face quickly sank, "Of course you aren't, because it would have actually been funny."
The blonde would deny later that she pouted at the statement, "I am funny, you've laughed at my jokes." Liara just gave her a pitying smile, "I have laughed at your grim humor, darling, not your jokes there is a galaxy of difference between the two."
S&S
Saren glanced at the projection of Benezia, ever the regal looking creature regardless of if she ruled her own mind or not, "So you've traced the location of where the Thralls have been originating from?"
The Asari gave a measured nod of her head, "Yes, they recently sent out several more shipments to isolated bases, apparently in an attempt to measure their ability to control the specimens under a variety of conditions. It was a simple matter to extract the necessary data from them."
Saren nodded, pleased that finally this lead was paying off, "Excellent, I'll have the Geth send a cruiser with you for backup, they should be more than enough to handle whatever Shepard's mother can scrounge up." His talon's twitched at the thought of ending Eva's life himself, the woman was strong, and her offspring was undoubtedly stronger, but she at times reminded him eerily of Harper. In truth he had sometimes wondered if Evalyn was in fact Harper's child, but had never been able to gain a sample of either of her potential sires to settle his curiosity.
The Matriarch's holo flickered off as he turned to find Soverign's projection floating behind him, "The Geth units that have been deployed thus far have been ineffective, we have remedied that." The projection flickered only to reappear near the doorway, a clear but non-verbal way of saying, 'follow me inferior organic.'
But this was all for the future of his people, if he could show that the Turian's could be harnessed as a resource then they would be safe from the harvest, perhaps even find themselves made an integral part of the never ending cycle. Because he knew from first hand experience that if he failed nothing could stand against the Reapers, not after he had witnessed an entire patrol wiped out effortlessly by the creature he was currently residing in, not after he was shown the sheer staggering number of Geth units that Sovereign had backing his machinations.
His plates vibrated as he found himself being moved lured closer and closer to where the thrumming heart of the Reaper lay, though he found it odd that in numerous locations it appeared as though there was another form built into the ancient being's superstructure. But he also knew that asking questions such as that was far too dangerous, at least until his team on Virmire cracked this indoctrination conundrum, until then though he was at Soverign's mercy if his value waned.
Eventually the projection didn't vanish when he approached, and instead one of the nearby doors slid open soundlessly, Saren hated that, nothing on the Reaper made any noise but the hum of the core, it put him on edge.
Entering the room he found himself in what looked to be an operating theater but for Geth, numerous platforms lay on tables across the room all in various states of disrepair. Soverign's projection floated next to him, keeping pace with the Turian.
"Armor on base platforms has been augmented with several alloys previously unknown to this cycle, a reduction of armor penetration of standard accelerator rounds by 72 percent is currently projected." Saren halted as he saw that the inside of one of the Prime units was being overhauled, "Installation of newer processors based on technology we have granted them, increased combat efficiency of 68 percent thanks to an increased number of Geth in local network."
But it was a singular unit in the back that drew Saren's attention, the unit was a pure black construct a widow rifle leaning against the table where it was being reassembled, "This unit looks more advanced than the others."
"This platform will house more programs than you had in operation on Eden Prime, equipped with stealth tech taken from a previous cycle, it will be the perfect infiltrator, a scalpel to ensure the cycle's intersts."
Saren nodded approvingly at the tool in front of him, "Make sure that this unit goes with the force to assist Benezia, you're precious Catalyst is likely to come running as soon as she realizes her Mother is in danger," the Turian's eyes gleamed with predatory glee, "The perfect time for our new infiltrator to prove itself."
The flickering red hologram did not answer right away, instead the Reaper seemed to actually be considering his statement for once, "We concur, this cycle has too many complications already for us to have an ascended catalyst involved without the Eldest present. If Evalyn Shepard becomes involved, she shall die."
Sovereign's avatar faded away leaving Saren standing alone in the room, nothing but the silent movement of the repair arms for company he glanced down once again at the Geth's weapon, and without a sound he picked up the weapon and popped out the ammunition block tossing to to the floor. The ex-Spectre reached into a compartment on his armor to pull out a block of ammunition that had been treated with polonium, he had no intention of giving Shepard the chance to miraculously survive this trap should she trigger it.
It was a shame, the girl had more potential than most he had seen inducted into the Spectres, a few more years and he could even have been somewhat proud of what she had accomplished despite her species. But that was until Sovereign had declared her to be this, Catalyst, and whatever it meant he had no intention of letting her jeopardize the work he was doing for his people.
Good people die all the time after all, at least she would die for a greater cause than most.
S&S
Miranda pulled the featureless helmet over her head, she had not taken such extreme steps to hide her identity that she was now going to put herself in the hands of a pirate and his purported honor. She did a once over of her armor to ensure everything was in order, the black and gold suit had been a gift from Evalyn several months ago and it had served her well since then.
Mark tapped the door before he entered, dropping his hand from his ear as he finished talking to his men on the shuttle, the hand movement a habit that most Alliance soldiers found hard to break once they left the service, "The Captain is on the shuttle, they did a sweep of him, no weapons."
She nodded, the move was not surprising given her show of force out there, "Have them escort him to the interrogation room on E-deck, I'll be down shortly to join them."
She stood up and began to make her way down several decks to reach her destination, the Nova was a large ship, not quite the floating cities that a true dreadnought was but still substantially larger than most other vessels created.
As she approached his destination she gave a curt nod to the two guards standing outside of the cell, they too were clad in featureless black armor, before she stepped inside the now open hatchway.
Confressi was dressed rather plainly for a man who insisted that he constantly be addressed as Captain, the jumpsuit he was currently wearing could have belonged in virtually any environment that humanity operated in, but perhaps that was the point. The man had after all been a successful merchant before agreeing to the Corsair program, and it was likely that he more than most understood the benefit of not standing out.
The man shot her a smile that he likely thought was charming, "Come now, love. Take off the helmet, if your voice alone is an indication you must be breathtaking to behold." She rolled her eyes at his attempt at flattering, and with a singular gesture the man gasped as he was suddenly slammed backwards from his chair, the biotic force that she was currently pinning him to the chamber's wall with also had pushed the added benefit of forcing the very air from his lungs. Miranda tilted her head as though his attempts at communication were worth the effort, until finally she smugly asked him, "Is this, breathtaking enough for you?"
With a gesture she let the man drop to the ground, words coming out between gasps for air, "Christ, you, bitch." His breathing began to even out as he regained the use of full sentences, "What the hell do you want from me!"
Finally, they were getting somewhere, "That is perhaps the first intelligent thing you have done today, Captain." She pulled out the chair opposite from where he had sat earlier, and slowly eased her way down, and then she waited for the sputtering man on the floor to finally pull himself together.
With a screech of metal the man pulled his chair back to its original position, and once he too was seated Miranda began to speak, "I represent a group that finds itself in need of someone of your talents, we currently have numerous projects on the go but a limited ability to move resources to these projects without drawing notice." She directed her gaze directly at him, "That is where you would come in, we are aware that you have maintained most of your previous contacts, and that you are well positioned to control this region of space. If you have the proper backing."
The man glanced around, "Backing, ya I suppose you must have some to spare if you are using this leviathan for bait. What resources are we exactly talking about exactly? I don't do kids, and I don't do slaves, if you have a problem with that just kill me now and get it over with."
Miranda burst out in laughter at that, "Captain if I wanted you dead, the length, manner, and time, would be of my choosing, not yours. But as for these resources, they will vary from biological specimens, to large scale equipment, but nothing that could upset whatever sensibilities that you still possess."
The man scratched his bearded jaw, "Why me exactly? I mean there must be plenty of smuggler out there who could do this?"
She gave the smallest of nods, "Yes, there is, but you managed to convince an entire batch of Alliance Corsairs to go rogue, the kind of man who can do that is of interest to my organization. That and you are currently the best situated man for our needs, but don't flatter yourself into thinking you are unique, you are just the easiest option with the smallest investment required."
The man glared at her statement but gave a small nod, "What exactly are we talking about compensation wise?"
"You'd be granted two additional ships to crew with and use how you see fit, assuming that you are able to show territorial gains from there we would supply you with an additional three ships. Of course during this time any shipments that we may need would be handled gratis by you, once your second batch of ships is delivered we will pay twice your standard smuggling rate, but any tampering with our cargo and this ship along with several others will be coming after you again. And do bear in mind I truly hate coming out to this, charmingly isolated section of the galaxy."
The man sighed, "I don't suppose you will let me sleep on it?"
"No."
The defeated captain let his head sink to the table, "Didn't think so."
S&S
After an actually restful nights sleep a knock sounded at her cabin's repaired door, causing Evalyn to glance up from the maintenance she was doing on her arm, "Come in, Lieutenant."
Kaidan slipped inside, glancing back reflexively as the door shut behind him, before his eyes wandered first to her arm, then to her eye, "Joker has us on course for the Macedon system, can I ask what this trip is about, Ma'am?"
She returned to her work but spoke to him as she did so, "During the course of my five years, undercover. I began a mid-sized tech firm known as Tides Edge," she shook her head at the english translation, "It sounds much more cutting edge in Armalian trust me." Kaidan gave her a small nod, "Whatever you say, Shepard."
She gave a small hiss as her arm reacted poorly to her mistakenly jabbing her artificial palm with the tool in her hand, she shook the hand in a meaningless attempt to dissipate the discomfort, "Now I set that business up on Illium in order to solidify my cover as a native of the planet, and with some financial help from Barla Von I've been able to fund myself quite effectively since my second year as a Spectre."
She slapped shut the panel she had been working on with more force than was probably needed, "But now I'm alive, and Mirix Varan is for all intents and purposes a ghost." Kaidan frowned, "But you're a Spectre, shouldn't you just be able to order everything transferred to your own name?"
She nodded, "Yes, I should, and I did. Except Illium isn't technically in Council space, so I have to do this the old fashioned way, bribery." She let out a somewhat dramatic sigh, "But it can't just be credits, no the blue bitch who is controlling this bureaucratic nightmare wants me to take care of an embarrassing family member for her, a slaver operating out here in the Traverse."
Kaidan's eyes registered shock, "She wants you to kill a member of her own family." And the blonde could only nod a few times as she took a drink of water from a nearby glass, before finally lowering it, "Sister."
She gave out a harsh chuckle, "Ya, the Dantius clan is a real piece of work, if they aren't murdering their competitors they are out killing each other off. Honest to God, bookies take odds on which member of the family will be killed that year, and in what manner."
Kaidan scowled at the information, causing Evalyn to raise her hands in mock surrender, "I don't like it any more than you do, but my options were limited to explain how a highly trained Asari who wasn't a commando became inducted into the Spectres."
The older male nodded, "I understand, but well it just seems so callous betting on a life in that manner. Says something about galactic society as a whole doesn't it, that the only thing stopping us from behaving in such a manner is the threat of punishment."
She gave him a sympathetic smile, "For most that is true I suppose, but you can always be surprised."
Kaidan gave her a nod, "I hope that you are right there, and thank you, Ma'am. I appreciate you taking the time to answer my questions."
She gave him a warmer smile, "Anytime, Lieutenant," and just before he made his way to the door she called out to him, "And just give her some time, Kaidan. Jacqueline, she isn't used to the idea of anyone having her back, and the times in the past that people have, it hasn't ended well for her. And, don't take this as encouragement, but if you really care about her, I'll handle whatever flack the brass wants to throw at you two."
Kaidan was silent before he gave her a small nod, only to have his exit halted again, "And Kaidan."
"Yes, Ma'am," he turned to find her cybernetic eye almost glowing as she glared at him from her seat, "Hurt her, and I will make you suffer."
And she meant it too, if there was one trait she had gained from both her parents, it was that you protect those you consider family.
S&S
Credit Song: Breathe by Midge Ure
AN: A shorter one than normal, but well stuff is going down.
I hope Jack sounded, well like Jack, I honestly went through almost all of her dialogue to make sure she sounded right when she was breaking down, but I'll let you guys be the judge.
And no, I'm not 100% sure who Evalyn's father is. That is an artifact from back when this story was first just a fledgling idea. Nor do I think I'll ever actually outright state it, at least for now, you guys can decide on what you like more in your own little headcannons, and feel free to let me know what one you think fits.
As always I appreciate you guys hitting the buttons below.