A Mother's Gift.
Saturday 11th February 2186.
The women on-board the Broker's ship didn't know how the fight for Earth was going until the end, when multiple events happened in rapid succession. First Kasumi lost contact with the holo-net, which was not a good sign for starters, but then they received a warped message from EDI, that none of them could comprehend. As Kasumi did her best to hack it and decipher the message, Miranda made the accurate observation that they should leave the star's orbit before something happened to them.
The move turned out to be wiser than she initially realised; just as they were clear of the star's orbit, something buffeted them hard, and everyone blacked out when they hit the walls. When they woke, they found the ship at an angle, and to make matters more urgent; Kasumi, Kelly and Oriana's waters had broken from the shock, and Miranda had broken her arm.
"What the hell happened?" Jack grumbled, she had protected herself and her baby in a biotic bubble. "One minute you're babbling about communication problems, the next we all get thrown around like ragdolls."
"Something must have happened..." Emily Wong commented, before hurrying to help Chloe with the three women in labour.
"No shit!" Jack snarled. "Wait... why's it so quiet?"
"The engines aren't running!" Gianna said panicked. "We've crashed!"
Everyone hurried to the main chamber; where Chloe, Emily, Falare and Rila were helping with the labours, while Sha'ira tended to Miranda's broken arm.
"We'd know if we'd crashed on Hagalaz, so we've not crashed there, and it's clear we're not drifting as we've got gravity..." Miranda said flatly.
"We've definitely crashed Miri, the entire ship is at a slight angle," Oriana commented. "The question is... where?"
Suddenly EDI's familiar holographic chess-piece appeared over the Broker's terminal, surprising everyone.
"EDI? You're still connected to this ship?" Miranda asked.
"There was a brief moment where I was disconnected, but the close proximity has allowed me to re-establish my..."
"Close proximity?" they all exclaimed.
"How close? Can you tell where we are?" Samantha asked excitedly.
"Without access to the holonet I am unable to ascertain our galactic location," EDI stated. "However I have learnt that not only is the atmosphere breathable, but that both the Normandy and this ship are relatively intact, and have crashed within close proximity to each other."
"That's not possible," Kasumi breathed between contractions.
"Is everyone okay?" Falare asked.
"Shiala and Liara are injured, but Tali and Ash are unharmed." EDI reported.
"Where are the others?" Rila immediately asked.
"Javik, James and Garrus remained on Earth before the retreat from the Sol system, and Joker was requested by Admiral Hackett before the battle." EDI replied. "I must however inform you that Cassie is not on the Normandy, she..."
"She's dead," Samara said grimly, only now entering the main room. "We all felt that pain in our hearts, and we all know she would sacrifice herself to save the galaxy... If the war is over and the Reapers are gone, and our fellow lovers have returned without her, it is clear she paid the ultimate price for what she promised."
"She promised to be with us!" Samantha sobbed, the first to openly show her distraught feelings.
Everyone fell silent, the only sounds being the heavy breathing of Kasumi, Oriana and Kelly.
"Ash, Tali, Liara, Shiala and I are on our way to your position," EDI stated after two minutes of silence. "It would be prudent to assess our current situation, what supplies we have, and when we should consider attempting to contact the Council for assistance."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Three days passed before the women could consider themselves 'settled' into life on the crashed ships. Kelly, Kasumi both gave birth to baby girls, and Orianna was blessed with twin daughters; Miranda also gave birth to two daughters, which the Lawsons found a rather unusual parralel. Jack, meanwhile, remained resilient that she'd give birth when she damn well wanted to, and her unborn child shared her sentiment. Samara, however, shut herself off from everyone, and spent most of the time meditating in front of the impromptu grave marker they'd created for their dearly departed lover.
Their crash site was a small, grassy peninsula; jutting out from a vast woodland, with a sheer cliffs to the east and west, but a beach to the south. The two ships were roughly one hundred metres apart, and at the midway point the women placed a symbolic gravestone for their fallen lover, made from pieces of the Normandy and Broker ship.
On the third day Samara walked out of the Normandy to an unwelcome sight, a stranger was knelt before Cassie's gravestone.
"EDI, get the others now, we have an unwelcome visitor," Samara said through gritted teeth.
"I have not detected any ships approaching our current position," EDI queried. "And Jack is currently in labour."
"Then they're especially unwelcome!" Samara said, her biotics flaring to life around her body.
Samara stormed, or as close as she could to storming in her pregnant state, towards the kneeling figure; but as she got closer, her unborn child seemed to sense danger and began to kick.
"I was wondering when you would come," the woman said softly, caressing the engraved name on the impromptu-gravestone. "Enough time has passed for this to happen..."
"What are you doing here?" Samara snapped, standing her ground as she ignored the relentless thrashing of her unborn child. "How did you find us?"
"I have always been watching you," the woman said as she got to her feet. "And I am here to pay respects to my..."
"Do not claim to be a part of her life!" Samara interrupted, as the others hurried to join her.
"Karin's helping Jack as best she can," Chloe said quickly, explaining the absence of the mature doctor.
"I regret that I was not a big part of her life, not as big as I would have liked, but I never abandoned her!" the woman said, staring at Samara through her veil.
"I do not recognise your face from Cassie's memories, and she shared everything with us!" Samara said, making several of her other lovers shift uncomfortably.
"Not everything..." Liara corrected her. "She admitted she hid something from us."
"She hid more than you know," the woman said, kneeling down and extending a finger towards the grave marker. "You called her 'Cassie'; you claim to know her, yet you never knew her real name."
"What?" the women all exclaimed.
The woman slowly scratched the metal with her nail, carving a new name on top of the engraved 'Cassie Shepard', before adding apostrophes either side of the original forename.
Casanova 'Cassie' Shepard.
"Her name was really Casanova? How did no one know that?" Ash was the first to voice an exclamation.
"Hackett," EDI stated simply. "It seems his hand in hiding her true past was far greater than we initially assumed."
"Explains why she was such a sex-goddess!" Kasumi said brightly, before getting stared down by everyone else. "I'm just saying what we're all thinking."
"Her dual species origins were also a contributing factor young one," the woman explained as she stood up again. "But genetics are only partially behind why she was... the way she was."
"What are you talking about? What else did my beloved hide from us?" Samara said, her anger building inside her.
"Doctor T'Soni, what became of your mother?" the woman asked after a slight pause.
"Cassie killed her," Liara instantly replied, but she could almost see the woman smiling beneath her black veil. "She freed her of Sovereign's control, but she couldn't save her."
"Matriarch Benezia still lives," the woman said softly. "She purged your mother's mind of Sovereign's control, but it did not kill her; Commander Shepard let her escape Noveria to start a new life."
"Why would she hide that?" Liara snapped, her emotions now getting the better of her too.
"So Benezia could truly start over," Sha'ira answered.
"And you young Justicar, do you believe you have only two living daughters?" the woman asked, turning her attention back to Samara.
"She wouldn't... Couldn't... Didn't..." Samara stammered. "She told me Morinth was..."
"Dead?" Aria spoke up. "She knocked your psycho daughter out, then had me lock her away in the depths of Omega."
"What?" Samara yelled, wheeling on Aria. "Morinth lives? You let an Ardat-Yakshi live?"
"She's not conscious," the veiled woman explained. "Mechs keep her sedated, within a cage designed to survive a bombardment."
"Who are you? How do you know so much about her?" Samara said bitterly, turning back to the stranger.
"I am the one who loves her more than any of you," the woman explained. "I love her as any mother loves her only child."
"You're her mother? But you..." Tali stammered, the sudden reveal keeping the crowd of women in a stunned silence.
"Died? In a sense I did," the woman said softly. "My mortal form passed away, I knew I could not be a normal mother to her, it would have been too dangerous for her, and for my bondmate."
"Mortal form? Wait..." Sha'ira said perplexed, before the truth dawned on her.
"Yes, young one," the woman nodded, before her pale hands lifted up and removed her veil. "I am the goddess of the Asari people, I am Athame."
Most of the women immediately dropped to their knees and bowed their heads in respect; Aria and Samara couldn't because of their heavily pregnant conditions. Suddenly Samara almost doubled over in pain, and Athame was the first to step closer.
"Enough time has been wasted," she said sternly. "If you wish to see my daughter again, do exactly as I say!"
"What the fuck are you talking about?" Aria snarled. "Cassie's dead, there is no secret military operation, led by a genetically perfect arse, that can bring her back from being space dust!"
"You forget who you're speaking to," Liara said dryly. "Can you bring her back?"
"My dear child," Athame smiled, as she carefully helped Samara to sit with her back resting on the grave marker. "I needn't bother, my daughter laid the groundwork many months ago."
"What?" Samara breathed, the life inside her womb seemed to be swirling like a tempest.
"When she made love with you for the first time, she poured her heart and soul into not only wooing you; but in an unconscious way, ensuring she would not leave those she loved again."
"You're not making much sense," EDI sighed.
"Love doesn't have to make sense," Athame smiled, before making eye contact with Samara. "Focus on your love for my daughter, on the connection you made with her on a deep emotional and physical level; use it as a tether to bring her back."
"I don't..." Samara said bewildered.
"Just do it," Athame said in a soft tone. "It will all make sense soon."
Samara did as she was told, feeling a strange, yet intense, warmth growing within her womb. Unbeknownst to her, yet visible to the onlookers, Samara's body began to glow with a faint golden light; to which most gawked, but Athame simply smiled. The light grew brighter, until even Samara was blinded by its intense glare, forcing everyone to close their eyes and look away. As the glow faded, one thing became abundantly apparent above anything else.
"You're not pregnant!" Falare squeaked.
Samara's eyes shot down, and seeing her that toned stomach had returned so suddenly, made her feel like part of her was missing.
"What... Where..." She almost wept, before the ground beneath her shook.
"It's done," Athame breathed. "Behold the return of your beloved."
Before any of them could speak, a fist punched up through the grass, making everyone jump. Slowly the ground broke between Samara's splayed legs, and Cassie climbed up and out of the hole, naked as the day she was born, but just how everyone knew her.
"Cassie!" the women all cried with excitement, before surging forward to hug and try to kiss their resurrected lover.
Cassie managed to give each of her lovers a kiss, before turning to look at Samara, still reclined against her now redundant gravestone. The hole in the ground quickly vanished, the gravestone being swallowed up as if to compensate for losing its hold on Cassie.
"How?" Samara breathed, suddenly tired from whatever ritual she'd unknowingly partook in.
Cassie grabbed Samara by the right arm, pulled her to her feet, and straight into a tight embrace and passionate kiss.
"When you two made love for the first time, Cassie gave everything she had in an effort to truly make you feel for her how she felt for you," Athame explained softly. "But in the back of her mind she feared the worst for your mission to the Collector base, and when she gave everything to you, a part of her lingered within."
"So she left an insurance policy inside her? A means of returning from the grave again?" Ash asked, slightly confused.
"Not intentionally," Athame giggled. "While she could have returned with a little help from any of you, the strongest remnant lay within Samara."
"My beloved returned... at the cost of our child?" Samara said in despair.
"My dear, what once grew within your womb was not the beginning of a new life, but a piece of Cassie that would ensure she'd never leave you." Athame said softly, comforting Samara.
"What if Cassie didn't die?" Liara asked, curious about the possibility.
"I always suspected that I'd have to sacrifice myself to end the war, even before the Collector base," Cassie replied. "But that doesn't matter now, I'm here, and I'm never leaving any of you again."
"Cassie... Your mother... She said several things that..." Liara said uncertainly. "Are any of them... true?"
"Yes Liara, now my secrets are laid bare... all of them." Cassie smiled. "I'm what you could call a demigod, the daughter of Athame and a female Alliance Admiral. I lied about Benezia, and Morinth, but all I want is for those I love to be happy."
"And so do I," Athame said proudly, as a shuttle broke the atmosphere above them, flying straight towards the two crashed ships.
As the ship landed, Athame waved her hand and Cassie found herself clothed in the armour Samara had got her for Christmas. The shuttle landed, and when the doors opened, Councillor Tevos was the first to step out, followed by four mechs escorting a crate that was slightly bigger than Tevos.
"Goddess be praised, you're alive," Tevos breathed, hugging Cassie tightly.
"Thank the goddess indeed," Cassie whispered in Tevos' ear, glancing at her mother. "How did you find us? Wait... Where are we?"