Disclaimer: I don't own Mass Effect, its characters or plots. I own my OCs and anything original in this. Reoku Maurer belongs to reokumaure
sorry this is a day late I went to a party last night and stayed up watching TV with my mum til 3am and woke up at 2pm (but I had a bunch of lucid dreams so it was awesome~)
All of Reo's history stuff was not from my mind but reokumaruer's
Dawn was just about to leave her room when Reoku entered.
"Hey." She said.
"Oh hey." Dawn said.
"Why are you all suited up?" Reoku asked with an eyebrow raised. "Didn't you get back an hour ago?"
"Uh yeah, I guess I forgot." She forced a laugh. "It get so used to wearing it." She shook her head and walked over to her dresser. "So what's up?" She asked as she started to change. Reoku sat on one of the couches.
"I was just thinking earlier… you told me about your past, on Omega with Garrus, but I haven't told you much… I mean I've told Kolyat already-" Reoku noticed Dawn smiling as she put her armor away. "uh anyways… I thought I'd tell you. I mean we're friends, right?"
"Of course." Dawn said. She suddenly felt weird. She hadn't told anyone her true past, she couldn't. Dawn came over and sat down on the other couch.
"Alright… where to start… I was born into a poor family living on Illium, we lived in some of the worse off areas in the town which most people visiting don't see. I found out at age three I had biotic tendencies." She chuckled. "After using them for the first time it caused my hair to turn white."
"I figured that wasn't your natural colour." Dawn said with a slight chuckle.
"What about yours? There's no way your hair is actually that red." Reoku asked with a smile.
"Sorry but it is naturally this colour." Dawn said with a smirk and a shrug. Reoku rolled her eyes.
"Anyways…" Reoku's smile faded. "My parents knew I wasn't safe living with them on Illium, Merc gangs would try to recruit me at a young age, and people might try to use me against my own parents. So they agreed to send me off Illuim and to the Citadel to stay in someone else's care." Reoku looked up to see Dawn's sad expression.
"Did you ever see them again?" She asked. Reoku shook her head. "I'm sorry."
"I ended up in a place orphaned kids end up in the wards, not much of an upgrade from my old home. I would cry a lot for my parents or when the other kids picked on me. Then when I was six I met Aleria." Reoku paused. "She was already a women by human standards, but in Asari years she was about 50 I think. A group on boys were ganging up on me teasing me about my weird hair colour and called me a freak." Reoku chuckled and shook her head. "They were just jealous that they couldn't use biotics so they wanted me to feel out of place. Aleria saw this and threatened the kids with her biotics to scare them off. Every day after, we'd meet up to hang out at certain times. She already had a job so we had to work around that." Dawn was smiling slightly. "Soon after I turned 7 Aleria could see I still had no clue about how to control my biotics and decided to teach me two times a week during her free time. It ended up taking two years of constant practice but Aleria managed to help me learn some biotics which would take about five years for most humans to learn."
"I would assume Asari are the best teachers of the subject."
"That's probably why your biotics are so good after training with Aria."
"Though I didn't train for two years." Dawn said.
"When I turned 10 Aleria got me out of the orphanage and I stayed with her. She taught me about the hardships of the world and how to defend myself with hand to hand, guns and my biotics. At 12 I felt like I knew enough and insisted on coming on a job with Aleria. She was hesitant at first but only agreed if I stayed quiet and kept up a constant barrier during fire fights. The mission was simple: get in, grab important files, get out. And if necessary kill anyone in our way." Reoku chuckled slightly. "I was practically stuck to Aleria like glue, holding a shaky pistol." Reoku sighed. "I was becoming unsure of myself, and it wasn't until I heard Aleria scream shoot that I did." She paused. "Almost out of blind instinct… I had killed my first man, many children or people may have been scared by this but all I saw was some trying to hurt someone dear to me. Aleria almost screwed the mission up worrying about me." Reoku had a small smile. "Once I was 14 Aleria gave me enough credits to get my own customized gear and weapons and told me it was time for me to go my own way, she wouldn't just leave my life like it was nothing; She promised she would keep in touch and help if ever necessary. From that point on I did jobs whenever they came by but unfortunately didn't get away from them all unscathed, I ended up getting some scars from almost every mission, but got the worst ones from earlier missions from being too sure of myself and soon learned it never hurts to be over cautious." She said using her left hand to point to the scar just above her right eyebrow that curved around to just below her cheek and using her right hand to point to the small scar – only about half an inch long – on the edge of her left wrist. "So what about you, you got any battle scars?"
"Uh well I have a very faded one on my lower calf from when a shot grazed me while training." Dawn said mentally cursing at Grizz. "Then there's one from when I got shot in my upper right thigh while I was working with Garrus." Dawn looked down at herself trying to remember where else she had scars. "Oh I've got one in the middle of my back from when I fell off the playground in 2nd grade." She said before laughing. Reoku chuckled.
"So what about your family?" Reoku asked. Dawn stopped laughing. "If you don't mind me asking? I know we talked about this before but you never said what happened to them."
"It's okay." Dawn said shaking her head. "My mother died when I was younger. She'd gotten sick. My dad was in the service when it happened. He came back later and… I don't really know what happened to him, I mean I know he's dead but… I don't know how."
"Well if you don't know how, how can you be certain he's dead."
"Trust me… I know." Dawn said quietly.
"What about brothers or sisters?"
"I'm an only child." Dawn said. "But I think I have a lot of friends who I call brothers or sisters."
"Like Kolyat?" Reoku asked with a smile.
"Yeah definitely Kay. Maybe Shepard." Dawn said with a chuckle. "And for sisters… well there's you."
"Me?" Reoku asked blinking in surprise. "You… think of me as a sister?" She asked with a growing smile.
"Of course." Dawn said returning the smile. Reoku chuckled slightly.
"Thanks, Dawn." She said. "So you gunna see Thane once we dock?" Reoku asked seeing out the window that they'd arrived at the Citadel." Dawn's smile faded slightly.
"Yeah." She said with a nod.
"Dawn, Reoku, Kolyat, get down to the shuttle bay, now!" Shepard said over the comm. Dawn and Reoku looked at each other before they quickly got up Dawn grabbed her armor while Reoku ran from the room to get hers.
The three ran to the shuttle where Shepard was waiting. They all got in and Cortez took them down to the Citadel. Things were on fire and from the shuttle they could see Cerberus troops shooting at C-Sec officers. The shuttle went around and entered a docking area where there was more fighting.
"Okay, people! Coming in hot! Get to cover!" Shepard shouted.
"Warning." The C-Sec VI said. "Civil unrest has been reported in the Presidium, Zakera Ward, Tayseri Ward, Bachjret Ward, Kithoi Ward, and Aroch Ward. For your own safety, please avoid these areas."
"Thanks for the warning." Dawn said rolling her eyes.
"Watch out, they've sealed the entrance!" Commander Bailey said. He was leaning against the wall.
"Reoku, medigel!" Shepard shouted. Reoku nodded and ran to where Bailey was. After all the Cerberus troops were killed the others ran over to where Reoku and Bailey were.
"Shepard. I saw those Cerberus troops on you. I thought you were done for." He said.
"Bailey? What are you doing here?" Shepard asked.
"Getting my ass shot off trying to retake the headquarters. Cerberus took it in the first push." Bailey said. "We gotta kick them out of here. Everyone in C-Sec's flying blind without the network." Shepard helped him up.
"How bad's the situation?" Kolyat asked. "Do you know if the Councilors are alive?"
"They split up." Bailey said. "I'll know more if I can access a terminal inside."
"Can you get us in?" Shepard asked.
"I'll get the door. If no one interrupts me with a bullet this time." Bailey said as he turned to the door before pressing a few buttons on the panel. They headed up some stairs and Bailey sat down at a computer. "Here we go. C-Sec network access, courtesy of Cerberus."
"How's that going to help?" Shepard asked.
"Cerberus has control of the main channels, but I can set up a new one. Without it our people have no plan and no chance."
"Hello…" Bailey said. Shepard walked over.
"What have you got?" He asked.
"A warning from Councilor Valern. He's supposed to be here, meeting with the executor. 'Be on guard – the likelihood of a betrayal from within is high.' Not a lot else. But if he's inside."
"The councilor's in there, surrounded by Cerberus? Who put together that security detail?"
"Well, until an hour ago, this place was as safe as it got. Nobody expected something on this scale. We need to find the councilor and get him out of here. He has got to know more about who's behind this."
"He could be in the executor's office. It's a fairly defensible position." Kolyat said.
"I'm on it." Shepard said.
"Just a sec…" Bailey said. Shepard stopped and looked back. Bailey brought up his omni tool as did Shepard. "There. Now we can talk by omni-tool. Go!"
"Thane, did you hear all that?" Shepard asked as the group started walking.
"Yes. I'm nearing the building, but running is difficult. I'll try to get to you." The group went through a door and Reoku shot the two Cerberus troops by the door. The group ran in and shot at the one that were up the side stairs of the room.
"Up above!" Reoku called before shooting the Cerberus soldiers on the upper half of the room.
"Troops in the lobby. They were dug in." Shepard said.
"I can see more through the cameras. They're all over the station." Bailey said.
"Dawn." Shepard said. She nodded and ran to a door to hack it open. They went through a small passage and into another room where sprinklers were going off.
"Elevator secure. Starting scramble in ten, nine, eight…" A combat engineer said before Kolyat shot the guy in the head. Dawn vaulted into the room through a broken window and opened the panel the engineer was standing at.
"Reset complete. Access enabled." The Door's VI said. The four entered the elevator and Shepard hit the button and the elevator started to rise.
"Any survivors in there?" Bailey asked.
"None yet."
"Damn it. Keep looking." The elevator stopped and the doors opened to reveal a dead C-Sec officer slumped against a wall that was riddled with bullet holes. Dawn sighed and the four got off the elevator.
"Anyone alive in here?!" Dawn shouted.
"Hey! You mind not alerting the whole station?" Kolyat asked.
"If gunfire doesn't alert them, she sure won't." Reoku said. The ground went through an empty hall and towards the door at the end which was glitching. It would open slightly then close. The group went around through a second door.
"You sure we had to do that?" An assault Trooper asked. "Without him, we'd never have gotten in."
"Direct orders. He stopped being useful." The other one said. Shepard and Kolyat each shot one of them in the head. The group walked down the hall and through a door.
"We've got to be close now."
"Yeah, there's a stairwell further on." Kolyat said. "Executor's office is right above it."
"Let's hope we're not too late." Reoku said. They entered another area and the windows above them blew out as Cerberus jumped down. The group took them all out and headed through a door and up some stairs. Shepard leaned against the door and Kolyat hit the panel for it to open.
"Bailey, looks like they got the executor and two salarian bodyguards." Shepard said when he saw the three bodies.
"Damn. Alright, keep searching. If you don't see the councilor's body, don't count him out yet." Dawn was looking down into another area through a window. Shepard came over and the two saw a chair move then the councilor appear as he stood up.
"Found him. He looks unharmed."
"Get him come where safe!" Bailey said. Suddenly Kai Leng jumped down in front of the councilor. Shepard turned around and saw him. He covered his face and shot the window before jumping down. Kai Leng flipped over the councilor so he was on the other side of him. Kai Leng held up a hand.
"Don't even think about it." Shepard said walking over his gun trained on Kai Leng.
"Shepard he's going to kill us all." The councilor said.
"That remains to be seen." Shepard said.
"I mean Udina. He's staging a coup. He's got the other councilors now- to hand over to Cerberus." Reoku, Dawn and Kolyat entered the room with their guns drawn.
"Four-on-one pal. It's over." Shepard said.
"No. Now it's fun." Kai Leng said. The councilor brought up his arms to block his face. Suddenly Thane had a gun pointed to Kai Leng's head. Kai Leng turned around and hit Thane's arm, Thane punched with his other arm as he put away his gun to punch with both as Kai Leng hit him and they started to fight hand to hand. Shepard pushed the councilor towards the exit. Kai Leng flipped Thane who rolled, stood and drew his gun. He shot but Kai Leng was gone, having used an invisibility cloak. He reappeared and with a sword drawn. Dawn felt her heart skip a beat and both she and Thane shot at Kai Leng as he ran around. Thane and Kai Leng fought for a bit before Thane, using biotics, hit Kai Leng sending him flying back. Thane picked up his gun, which had been knocked out of his hand, as Kai Leng jumped up and grabbed his sword. Dawn ran forward before Thane could.
The world seemed to slow as Kai Leng's sword went through Dawn and out her back. Dawn coughed up blood with a gasp. Kai Leng pushed her off before he started running. Dawn hit the ground. She faintly heard someone scream before seeing Kolyat and Thane running to her. Shepard and Reoku ran after Kai Leng and shot at him. Shepard called for Kolyat who hesitated but ran over. Dawn looked up at Thane. His lips were moving but no sound was coming out. He touched her face, his eyes wide. Her vision started to blur. She tried to speak but started coughing. She tried to say his name but passed out before she could.
Ending the chapter here. Yes I'm evil I know.