A/N: Italics indicate internal thought.

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I don't know the rules for Kepesh-Yakshi so I made them up

Rules of the Game

Location: Citadel, Shalta Ward, Silversun Strip

Date: August 25th, 2180

Time: 1900 CST

Shepard was completely overwhelmed by the sheer hustle and bustle of the Silversun strip as he walked behind Tali and Liara. He saw a huge number of stores, with a constant stream of customers, all advertised by bright glowing signs. In the distance was the famous Max Arsenal arena, Tali had told him that it was an extremely popular holographic combat simulator that broadcasted its matches all over the galaxy, he had already become quite a fan after watching a few matches.

Shepard put those thoughts to one side as the three of them entered the Silversun Strip casino, where he would be playing in the Kepesh-Yakshi tournament. Shepard had never been to a casino, there hadn't been any on a farming colony like Mindoir. However, he had seen Vids about Las Vegas a city on earth that was extremely famous for its casinos. He imagined it would have been a lot like this. Everywhere he looked there were people playing on machines, putting in credits and hoping to get a lucky spin on the large holographic screens as well as the gambling game Liara had told him about called Quasar. He also saw tables scattered around the floor of casino with people of all species sitting around them playing what he assumed was poker and other games.

The sheer activity and life of the casino brought a huge smile to his face. Unfortunately, on second glance he noticed a much more undesirable feature of the casino. A considerable number of human slaves were moving around the tables carrying drinks and what he assumed were appetisers. In addition, he saw several of the casino's patrons had their own personal slave attending them, he noticed Batarians and Turians with stunningly beautiful human women standing behind their chairs and serving their drinks, wearing extravagant cocktail dresses. There were also several Asari seated at the tables and walking around the floor of the casino with very muscular male humans on their arms. Shepard tried to read some of their expressions, and while he could see some that seemed genuinely content with their situation a large majority were forcing smiles onto their faces.

Something I can relate to. He mused.

"John the tournament is going to be starting soon, we need to get you checked in before the deadline," Liara exclaimed while trying to pull him along.

Liara was wearing a more formal dress tonight to accede to the casino's dress code. It wasn't as extravagant the one she had worn on her date with Anto, but in Shepard's opinion it still looked like a high-end ballgown.

Tali was obviously still wearing her Enviro-suit but the outer cloth was now a silver colour, she had told him that is what constituted as formal wear with Quarians.

He himself had been forced to wear a formal suit, in his honest opinion it made him feel really uncomfortable, he had never been one to attend high-end functions back home and thus had never been required to wear anything very formal. He wore it though for two reasons, it insured he met the dress code to even enter the casino in the first place and Liara and Tali had paid for it out of their own accounts, Liara and even spent ages combing down is extremely unruly hair to make him more presentable.

The three of them picked up the pace and walked towards a door near the back of the casino's opening floor, there was a desk with a Salarian sitting behind it with a large Krogan standing next to him.

Liara approached the desk and said, "hello my name is Liara T'soni, I am registered for the tournament."

The Salarian looked away from her and checked the screen in front of him before responding, "yes, your entrance fee has been verified Miss T'soni, your entry into this tournament is confirmed."

"Actually, my slave will be participating in the tournament on my behalf," Liara remarked gesturing to Shepard as she did so.

The Salarian paused what he was doing suddenly before looking at Shepard with an unbelieving look, after a moment he turned his gaze back to Liara and asked, "are you certain that is what you want miss? A lot of the contestants tonight are veterans of the game."

Liara returned with a bright smile before responding, "I appreciate your concern, but this is how I wish to proceed thank you."

The Salarian let out a long sigh, "very well, please proceed inside Miss T'soni, the tournament schedule will be announced once all the contestants have been confirmed."

The Salarian gave a small glare towards Tali, "Will your…. companion, also be in attendance?" From the way he said it, it seemed like even calling her that was being more courteous than she deserved.

Liara eyes narrowed slightly, "Yes. Is that a problem?"

"I am afraid we will need to carry out a security check on her, in case she is carrying anything that would provide your representative with an unfair advantage during the tournament." He then gestured to the Krogan, who activated his omni-tool and began to scan Tali then began handling her more roughly than he obviously needed to as he patted her down.

After a painstaking security scan, the Salarian seemed placated and allowed the three of them to enter.

Looking around, Shepard could see that the room was oval in shape, with the holographic board where the game would take place positioned in the centre of the room. Around it were several platform rings, each slightly higher the further out from the center they were. Positioned on these platforms were various tables and chairs, where Shepard assumed the spectators could sit and enjoy drinks as they watched the tournament, he could see there were already a large number of people seated around the room. In the corners he could also see various cameras positioned. Liara had told him that this tournament would be broadcasted, there were several large screens positioned around the room to provide the spectators with a close-up view.

After about twenty minutes the opening schedule of the tournament was displayed on the screens, the tournament was set out in a standard way, there were sixty-four competitors and you had to defeat your opponent to advance to the next round. Shepard looked at the schedule and saw that he was in the third match, so he found his seat with Tali and Liara and made himself comfortable.

It was at that moment that Shepard heard a large commotion coming from the entrance to the tournament hall. He turned his head in the direction of the noise to see that a large crowd of spectators had gathered around, they quickly parted and Shepard got a clear view. It was an Asari wearing a red Thessian dress, from the attention she had attracted Shepard assumed that she was a matriarch. She was accompanied by two commandos as well as a human female wearing a white dress, a woman he recognised. Before he had even registered it, they had made their way over to their table.

"Liara, we do seem to have a habit of running into each other regularly. It's a pleasure to see you again," said Miranda Lawson in a cheerful tone.

"It's wonderful to see you as well Miranda," Liara replied.

The Asari then stepped forward, "so this is the young woman you mentioned Miranda. Matriarch Sha'ira, delighted to make your acquaintance Miss T'soni." Her voice seemed to carry centuries of wisdom behind it, which considering how old she was, it probably did.

Liara's expression turned to one of a deer being caught in headlights at being addressed directly by someone so famous, she hurriedly tried to compose herself.

"It… It is an honour to meet you matriarch, I had no idea that you were going to compete in such event."

Sha'ira gave a small chuckle, "I am merely here as a spectator, this game has been a passion of mine for centuries after all, are you here to compete?"

Liara fidgeted nervously, "no, John is going to compete on my behalf," gesturing to him.

The matriarch turned her gaze to Shepard, who raised his head to meet her stare, for a moment he thought he saw a flash of recognition pass through her eyes.

Sha'ira gave him a warm smile, "a pleasure to make your acquaintance young man, I wish you the best of luck for the upcoming tournament."

Shepard quickly remembered the man his parents had taught him to be, "thank you ma'am, I have heard a lot of people talk about you during my time on the citadel."

"Really, and what kind of things have you heard?" She asked.

Shepard gulped, took a moment to formulate a correct response, he knew that this person was extremely influential, and he had to be extremely careful with what he said to her.

"A lot of people come to you for advice, in truth you sound like some sort of Oracle."

The matriarch gave a small laugh at that statement, "that is quite a flattering notion, but the future is not set in stone and cannot be seen by anybody. We all forge our own destiny."

The PA system then announced the beginning of the first match, so Sha'ira excused herself, and she and her party made their way to, in Shepard's opinion at least, what was probably the best seat in the room.

As the first match started, Shepard made sure to pay close attention to the participants, after all he would end up playing against some of them sooner or later.

He quickly went over the rules in his head as he watched a Turian and an Elcor play against each other.

Each player had three frigates under their control, these ships provided the heavy firepower for the players army. Each player also had nine fighters, they were more manoeuvrable than the frigates but had less offensive capability, and couldn't travel as far, this however could be countered as each frigate could carry two fighters. Then there was the homeworld, this was the piece that the player needed to protect at all costs, as its destruction determined the winner of the match.

Shepard remembered that in terms of battling, players would move their ship towards an enemy ship and engage in combat. The standard fighter could destroy other fighters but not a frigate. While the frigates could destroy fighters and other frigates but couldn't damage the home world. This is where the upgrades came into play, every time a player was victorious in combat they would gain upgrade tokens, one for destroying a fighter and three for destroying a frigate. Either player could equip their upgrade tokens at the start of their turn. They could be used to upgrade the offensive, defensive or manoeuvrability of a ship. Thus, you had to upgrade your ship's to be able to destroy the home world.

As Shepard watched the match, he noticed that when one of the Elcor's frigates was destroyed it sent an electric shock through his console. Shepard gave a questioning glance at Liara who responded, "It's a neurological feedback, it de-incentives a player from sacrificing pieces casually."

That is not the way I played it with any of my family Shepard thought slightly disturbed.

After approximately half an hour it was time for Shepard's first match. He sat down in his chair opposite a Salarian, who gave a nasty smirk in his direction.

The games VI system lit up and spoke, "Engaging starter function," a light began to flash between green and orange to decide who would make the first move. It flashed green signifying Shepard.

"You will need every advantage you can get," the Salarian said snidely. Shepard knew the main purpose of that insult was to get under his skin and throw him off his game, it was a common tactic both his uncles used," I'm sorry do you not have the brain capacity to comprehend what I'm telling you?" Shepard tuned the Salarian out.

He had a quick look over the board, there was a time limit to make your move otherwise you forfeited your turn. He quickly recalled something his mother had told him, occasionally the enemy will be overeager to draw first blood, this can be used to draw them out of formation.

Shepard moved one of his fighter on the right forward slightly, it wasn't in range for any of the enemy ships to declare combat, and if his opponent wanted it to be, he would have to move his frigate the maximum distance.

It took a lot of Shepherd's self-control not to crack a grin as his opponent moved his frigate forward, his opponent didn't engage in combat yet, but the look he gave Shepard, gave the impression that he wasn't taking this primitive human seriously.

The next few moves consisted of both sides advancing their ships forward, always ensuring that if the opponent were to attack with a ship it would be quickly destroyed in the next turn. All the while the Salarian was eyeing Shepard, waiting for him to make a bad move.

The Salarian moved his middle frigate in a left diagonal direction, this was when Shepard saw an opportunity to instigate the next part of his plan. He moved his right frigate in a left diagonal direction, seemingly to meet the Salarian's advancing frigate, and leaving the right side of his field protected only by the fighter he had moved in his first turn.

The Salarian didn't even bother to mask his smile as he moved his left frigate forward and launched its fighters. He didn't attack though he had stopped just out of range of the lone fighter.

He probably expects me to attack first, so then he can destroy my fighter and then he has a clear shot at my homeworld. But he hasn't noticed how I've changed the angle of my middle frigate. Well here goes.

Shepard moved his lone fighter forward and engaged in combat with the fighter on the left side of the frigate. As he was the attacker and both fighters had no upgrades, he proved the victor and destroyed the enemy fighter. A "plus one" icon appeared on his keyboard indicating he had gained an upgrade token.

The Salarian gave a light chuckle and moved his frigate into combat with the fighter, the fighter was completely outmatched and quickly destroyed. "Even a Vorcha would know to leave more than a single fighter to guard a point of attack," the Salarian said in a mocking tone.

Shepard winced as he felt the electric shock travel through his arm, "Yeah, and they also would have recognised when something was bait for a trap," he quickly used his upgrade token to increase the manoeuvrability of his middle frigate. The frigate's new upgrade in combination with its already desirable angle towards the Salarian's frigate meant it was able to engage in combat and with the supporting fighter covering that side destroyed, Shepard had a clear line.

The Salarian's expression quickly turned to one of horror as he saw one of his frigates destroyed, then to pain as he received a much larger shock than Shepard had. "I believe that's called the Bay-Lucien gambit, but of course I probably don't possess the brain function to understand such concepts," Shepard said smugly.

What followed next could simply be called a massacre. The Salarian rapidly tried to pull his ships back and mount an effective defence, even managing to destroy a few of Shepard's fighters and one of his frigates, but at the rate Shepard was destroying his ships and upgrading his own he was woefully unprepared to defend against Shepherd's upgraded fleet.

Soon his last ship was destroyed, and Shepard was able to secure the Salarian's homeworld securing his victory.

Compared to previous shocks, the neural shock the Salarian received from actually losing was enough to knock him off his seat and leave him spasming on the floor.

The entire hall became deathly quiet, it was obvious none of them had expected the human to actually win. Then suddenly a single pair of hands started clapping in applause.

Everyone turned their heads towards the noise, only to realise it was Sha'ira, everyone else then began rapidly applauding as well, although from what Shephard saw it was somewhat reluctant.

As the boards lit up declaring him the winner, Shepard learnt another rule of Kepesh-Yakshi that he was previously unaware of. Unused upgrade tokens were carried over to your next match, meaning your future victories were just as dependent on your past ones.

000

Location: Citadel, Shalta Ward, Silversun Strip

Time: 2100 CST

Shepard released a huge sigh of relief as he saw his Turian opponent collapse from the neural shock. He had just won the semi-final match, however his expression turned slightly grim as he looked at the number of remaining upgrade tokens he had. He needed to use quite a few to increase the defence of his homeworld during this last match, so he wouldn't lose, but now he had only four remaining.

Once again, all the spectators seemed to be completely shocked that he had won his match, and once again it took applause from Sha'ira for the rest of them to start clapping.

John calmly walked towards the table where Tali and Liara were sitting, both barely able to contain their excitement.

"I know you said you had an advantage over many of the players here tonight John, but I never would have thought it would give you such a huge advantage," said Liara.

"I know you've got this entire tournament… What's the human saying, in the sack?" Tali remarked giving her own opinion.

"In the bag, Tali," John corrected.

Liara's gaze turned towards the second semi-final match, where she gritted her teeth and said," Goddess, I was hoping she wouldn't make it this far."

"Who wouldn't get this far?" Shepard asked looking in the same direction as her.

"Selarizia T'nasir," Liara responded pointing towards the Asari currently destroying her Hanar opponent, "She is the daughter of Matriarch Nieziha T'nasir, one of the most powerful matriarchs in Asari space, rivalling my own mother. We occasionally crossed paths while I was at University on Thessia."

Liara's brow gained a deep frown as she recalled those unsavoury memories.

"She was a self-entitled brat, who would always try to use her family name to get what she wanted. However, I have to admit she was a monster at this game, and it would appear she has gotten even better."

Suddenly a loud ringing noise came out of the speakers surrounding the room indicating the current match was over. Selarizia was staring at her fallen opponent with an extremely smug expression on her face.

She beat him in less than 10 minutes Shepard thought completely stunned.

He took a deep breath before he proceeded back down to the game board and sat down opposite Selarizia. With a sadistic grin, she eyed Shepard, "you know if your mistress wanted to advertise how good at tricks her trained monkey was, she succeeded very well. I'm sure there will be many interested parties eager to buy you from her after tonight."

Shepard felt his blood boil at that statement, not because she had insulted him, he expected that. It was the fact that she assumed Liara was only doing this to earn credits.

Liara isn't an immoral bitch like you, he knew saying something like that out loud wouldn't do anything to help them.

"Are you here to talk or play?" John asked through gritted teeth.

"It was compliment primate," she responded in a sickeningly sweet voice," very well I will make this as painless as possible."

The VI lit up to choose who would start, it finished on orange, meaning Selarizia would start. John felt dread fill his body as he saw that she had over twenty upgrade tokens and quickly equipped all of them to her ships before moving one of her frigates forward.

"Try to make this at least mildly entertaining."

John quickly tried to look over his options, none of his ships could handle hers in combat at the moment, so it would be difficult for him to gain more upgrade tokens, and at the moment her ships were in an unbreakable formation.

He tried to lure her into combat to try and bring one of her ships out of formation and create a gap in her defence, but as several turns passed between them, she used her upgraded ships to destroy his advancing ones without breaking her fleets formation, it ended up costing him a frigate and two fighters.

Shepard felt several beads of sweat run down his forehead, he just couldn't see any feasible way to beat her. Suddenly his mind flashed back to a time many years ago.

He was fourteen years old and sitting at the table of his family's dining room with a portable Kepesh-Yakshi board positioned between him and his uncle. The board was no bigger than a simple chessboard with two holographic keypads coming out of either end, nothing like the huge table he was playing on right now.

He was grinning to himself, he had finally destroyed all three of his uncle's frigates and was one move away from seizing the homeworld.

His uncle gave a small chuckle, "well it looks like you've really been improving John. You've backed me into quite the corner."

"I've beat you this time uncle Hector, your fleet can't beat mine now." he replied in an overeager voice.

"But you've still forgotten one thing, it's not about the fleet, it's about the objective." His uncle then advanced one of his fighters through a gap that he had unwittingly created in his formation while advancing his ships and destroyed his homeworld

John screamed in disappointment and gently smacked his head against the table.

"Remember kid, you can lose as many ships as you have to but as long as you can get the objective you can still win. You just got to be willing to take the risk."

Shaking himself out of his stroll down memory lane, John quickly re-evaluated the board and he noticed that Selarizia hadn't added any of her upgrade tokens to her home world. A plan began to form inside Shepard's mind, but it would require a lot of luck.

Shepard began moving his pieces, destroying a few of Selarizia's fighters and while slowly but surely spreading her fleet further apart. Eventually Shephard was left with only one frigate and a single fighter with upgraded speed and he only had four upgrade tokens left. He moved his last frigate forward a bit, and then held his breath.

Selarizia had an almost bored expression on her face as she advanced one of her frigates forward.

Please destroy the frigate, please destroy the frigate. Shepard repeated in his head.

Selarizia gave a dark chuckle, "Given a few more centuries of practice, you might have become marginally challenging, it's sad that humans don't have that kind of time." She then opened fire, "And now it appears you have lost your last frigate."

John ignored the shock from the keyboard before looking Selarizia in the eye and responded, "Traded actually, for your home world."

He used his last remaining upgrade tokens to increase the weapons of his lone fighter, and then had it fly through the gap Selarizia had unwittingly created when she advanced her frigate, and with its upgraded weapons, it was able to destroy her homeworld.

Selarizia screamed in shock as she was electrocuted, and the screens around the room declared him the winner.

Sha'ira immediately started clapping, and soon all the others in attendance joined in. John looked over towards Tali and Liara to see them clapping enthusiastically with bright smiles on their faces.

After the congratulations and award presentation, where in Shepard's opinion, the presenter looked like it was trying to get it over and done with this as soon as possible, Shepard was reunited with Tali and Liara outside the casino, who both enveloped him in a huge hug.

"Keelah, that was incredible John." Tali said excitedly.

Liara flashed up her omni-tool, "And the credits have been transferred successfully, you will be able to buy your sister that bio-amp tomorrow."

"We should go celebrate, let's go get drinks," Tali half shouted as she pumped her fist into the air.

000

Location: Citadel, Shalta Ward, Silversun Strip

Time: 2130 CST

After several rounds of drinks, the three of them made their way to the arcade, where they proceeded to relax by playing several of the games.

Shepard was leaning against a wall while watching Liara and Tali duke it out in a boxing game where each player controlled a holographic fighter and proceeded to gain points by hitting each other.

A smile spread Shepard's face as he saw how much the two were enjoying themselves, being able to let out the stress they had undoubtedly built up from watching him in the tournament.

He quickly glanced around the arcade, until his gaze landed upon a young human male playing on one of the flight simulators, with a twelve year old Turian girl standing behind him. Before he knew what he was doing John was walking over to him.

The man playing the game suddenly cheered and raised his hands in triumph, as the game's screen flashed up showing he had gotten the high score.

"Joker?"

Indeed, the person playing the flight simulation game, was his old friend Jeff Moreau, who quickly spun round at the mention of his name, and his eyes widened in surprise.

"Shepard?" Quickly overcoming his surprise, Joker walked up to Shepard and pulled him into a huge hug, "Damn it is good to see you man."

"You too Joker, I had no idea what happened to you."

"I told you I would land on my feet, ended up getting sold to some Turian couple and their little girl." He said gesturing to the Turian girl who had come up to them. Jeff's expression then turned serious.

"Seriously John, I'm amazed you're alive after hearing about what happened at the clinic."

Shepard grimaced as he recalled the events, "How did you hear about it though? It was covered up pretty well."

"Yeah well her dad is C-sec, and I overheard him mention what actually happened."

"Well I actually got extremely lucky thanks to quite a few people, and ended up getting bought by Liara," Shepard replied.

"Wow there is a God," Joker replied humorously.

"So, what are you doing here playing a flight simulator Joker?" Shepard asked.

"Jeff's teaching me to be a pilot," the girl spoke up.

John looked at her for a moment before looking back at Joker with a disbelieving look.

Joker scratched the back of his head and gave a soft chuckle, "Yeah, Octenea wants to be a pilot when she starts her military training, so she would always play these flight games, one day I tried to give her some pointers, and she replied by saying, 'let's see you do better' she then gave the game to me and I did."

"You never flown a ship in your life Jeff," Shepard said folding his arms.

"Her parents tell me I must have a hell of a natural talent for flying," suddenly Jeff's omni-tool lit up, indicating it received a message.

"Sorry John, I've got to go, it's her bed time, " Octenea pouted as he said that, "we should try and meet up again."

"Yeah that would be great Joker." Shepard replied, slightly sad that his friend was already leaving, he watched as they met up with a stern looking Turian male, presumably Octenea's father and walked out of the arcade.

Then someone grabbed him from behind.

Before he could comprehend what was happening, he had been dragged out an emergency exit and into a back alley, he was then thrown against the side of the wall, and after the impact fell face first onto the ground.

Regaining his senses, he pushed himself up onto his knees before a large foot, pressed down on his head, smashing his face back into the ground.

He could feel the blood began to run down his face, he looked into the corner of his eye and saw that his assailants were two Krogan.

"Not yet boys, I want him conscious for this," he heard the feminine voice coming from a few feet in front of him.

He felt the force alleviate from the back of his head, and he looked up…. right into the face of Selarizia T'nasir. She crouched down, to be eye-level with him.

"What the 'cough' hell is this about," Shepard asked, barely able to get the words out.

Selarizia looked back at him with an expression of absolute rage, she biotically charged her fist, and then back handed him across the face. Ordinarily Shepard would have been able to take an ordinary backhand, but using her biotics, it hit like a sledgehammer, causing him to split up more blood.

"Did you think I would allow the insult you dealt me to go unanswered, you human filth?" She said in a deathly whisper," did you think I would just let the humiliation you made me sufferer slide."

"I just beat you at a game lady." Shepard responded trying to stay conscious.

"There is no way a primate like you could have beaten me in a fair match. Tell me was that suit-rat helping you cheat?" Selarizia shouted.

John felt his blood boil as she insulted Tali, "don't call her that, bitch." He raised his right arm and tried to throw a punch at her, but one of the Krogan pinned his arm under his large foot.

Selarizia looked at him in shock for a minute before she burst out laughing, "did you just try to throw a punch at me? ME. Do you have any idea who I am." She paused for a moment to look him directly in the eye.

"I could just say the word and you would suffer a fate so horrible you would beg for death."

She then turned around and began to walk away, and that is when it started.

The two Krogan began beating his prone form, his body exploded with agony as he felt the impact from their fists and feet. He felt ribs crack as he was kicked. He tried to raise his arms to defend himself, but another blow to the head and he blacked out.

000

Location: Citadel, Shalta Ward, Silversun Strip

Time: 2300 CST

Shepard wasn't sure how long he had been lying in the back allay, he didn't know how long it was since those two Krogan stopped beating him, he had been drifting in and out of consciousness completely losing his sense of time.

Got to get out of here find someone who can help

He heard heavy footsteps coming towards him, he weakly lifted his head and saw a blurred figure. From it's shape John could tell it was a Krogan. Panic set in as he feared that one of them had come back to finish the job.

"Dammit kid, what happened to you?" The Krogan knelt down towards Shepard, at this closer distance Shepard could see the scarred face and red head plate.

Wait I know him… Shepard thought as his consciousness once again began to slip.

The Krogan activated his omni-tool, "Tali, it's Wrex, I found your human, but he's in a pretty bad way."

Shepard heard Tali's voice coming from the omni-tool, "Thank the ancestors, please Wrex bring him home quickly."

"Got it." Wrex deactivated his omni-tool and picked Shepard up, carrying him over his shoulder," come on let's get moving."