The Huntress

Chapter I: A New Galaxy Far Far Away

"W...rn...g L… ...u...por..Off..n……."

…

"Warni... L..fe S...ppor...Offline. Thre.. Min….."

…

"Warning. Life Support Offline. Two Minutes Until Oxygen Levels Reach Zero Percent."

"Gah!"

"Warning. Life Support Offline. One Minute Until Oxygen Levels Reach Zero Percent. Emergency Action Required."

Blue-Gray eyes widened behind a Y-shaped visor when the monotone words finally registered in her ears. "Shit!" the dark green armored figure shouted, scrambling out of her seat and frantically stumbling down into the main cabin of her ship.

Warning. Life Support Offline. Fourty Five Seconds Until Oxygen Levels Reach Zero Percent. Emergency Action Required."

She could see the sparks, and not just from the life support system. Whatever happened had trashed the main cabin, wires were everywhere, sparks shooting out in just as many places. She moved over the mess of boxes and debris as fast as possible to assess the damage, and what she saw wasn't exactly encouraging. She could fix it, but not in under 25 seconds.

Cursing under her breath she moved back up to the cockpit of her ship, sitting down and flipping a switch to her left. A whirring noise met her ears as the cockpit sealed itself from the cabin. As soon as the door shut she powered the much smaller but much more robust oxygen generator specifically meant for situations like this. She only relaxed when the alarm stopped, taking a minute to thank whatever gods were out there for the durability of her Firespray Patrol Craft, the Firebrand. However as much as she wanted to sit back and enjoy the fact that she wasn't dead, she couldn't do that for too long. Her backup O2 generator would only supply oxygen for an hour or two at most. It was only then did she look outside.

There definitely could've been worse places to end up.

Completely surrounding her ship was a vast and stunningly beautiful nebula mainly comprising of purple and violet gasses. Stars twinkled in the distance, their light just breaking through the gas that surrounded her, and perhaps the most interesting part of the nebula was the space station within sneezing distance of her ship. It must've been at least 40 kilometers, maybe even 50. Five "arms" of the station opened outwards, reminiscent of a hand or a claw of some creature. Perhaps the most interesting and concerning aspect of the station was the fleet surrounding, approaching, and leaving the station. Ships of all sorts and sizes, and none of which she recognized. They didn't look like they belonged to any governing body she recognized.

Some looked like birds of prey, some looked almost organic in nature, some looked like geometric shapes. There were so many different kinds it made her head spin!

Just where had she ended up?!

There was only one explanation that she could think of. Her NAV computer couldn't pinpoint where she was, so the most likely possibility was the Unknown Regions. No real hyperspace lanes, no serious mapping. She was really hoping it wasn't that, to say the least.

There was only one way to find out, she had to get on that station. And it wasn't like she had much of a choice in the matter either. A resigned sigh left her lips. "Nothing ventured," her hand gradually moved the throttle forwards, "nothing gained." In no time at all she was accelerating at about half speed, not wanting to put any more stress on her damaged ship.

She had a plan to get on the station… It just wasn't a very good one. If she could get under one of the larger ships coming in to dock, she could magnetically attach to the underbelly and ride it in until she was over one of the "cities." How well that would work was still up in the air, but Mandalorians enjoyed a good challenge here and there. Now I just need to find a ship… That'll do. It looked like a snake, if that snake had somehow eaten a chunk of metal and somehow swallowed it whole. Here goes nothing…

The crew of the SSV Shropshire went about business as usual, briefly feeling the turbulence of entering Citadel space, and one unusually large lurch, causing some of the crew to stumble or trip.

"The hell was that?"

"Probably just turbulence, you know how it is, entering the Citadel's Mass Effect field and all that."

"Hmm."

Well, she was attached. And she wasn't getting shot at either. Now she just had to look for a good landing spot. Somewhere inconspicuous and out of the way. For now though, all she could do was enjoy the ride and look around.

After maybe 10 minutes she found her spot. It looked like a dump. Old ships and debris were everywhere. It was surrounded on all sides by buildings, and the entire district looked like it was a slum. If slums operated the same as where she came from, no one would bother to pay much attention to her.

It was perfect.

She waited for just the right moment, and about half a kilometer out she pulled the release handle, letting the Firespray drop and perform a flip before engaging maneuvering thrusters, slowing down to a hover. She slowly rotated the ship until she was facing the sky, and gently eased it down until she heard the telltale 'thud' of metal meeting metal. Time to figure where the hell I am.

Before heading out she took stock of what exactly was wrong with her ship. Or to be more precise, how much of it was broken, and what was actually working. Everything except for her engines and the main controls were damaged to some extent. Given enough time and materials she could easily fix some of the issues, but some other very important systems were beyond repair. The life support system had to be scrapped completely. Shield generators were repairable, but wouldn't be an option for the foreseeable future. Essentially, the Firebrand wasn't going anywhere for the time being.

Leaning her head against the Hull of her ship the Mandalorian gave a dejected sigh. How did she; 26 year old Y'mir Triald of clan Eldar, former but proud warrior of Deathwatch, and avid huntress, end up on an unknown space station in the middle of a nebula she had never even heard of? She looked in the mirror she had set up not too far away, cracked and worn, but still usable. A soft and youthful face framed by untamed black hair ending just above her shoulders stared back.. Intense blue-gray stormy eyes met her own. Thin lips pressed into a frown, a small nose, and a few freckles completed the picture.

Her eyes moved to her armor, a mix of Beskar and Durasteel. Matte dark green made up the majority of her armor's coloring, with a few notable exceptions. Her undersuit was entirely black, but her arms, thighs, and shins were a lighter green. The armor covering her shins and her knees was orange, as was one of her gauntlets. Her right shoulder pad was black, and had her clan symbol on it, a lion-like creature's head. She looked over her helmet next, again being primarily a matte dark green. Two orange teardrop shaped Jaig Eyes curved up on each side above her visor, and two talon shaped lines curved inwards along the edges of her visor, stopping just under where her eyes would be. The only other notable color difference was the rangefinder on her helmet, which was black.

Flipping it around Y'mir donned her helmet and grabbed two WESTAR-35 blaster pistols, putting them in the two holsters on her hips. The only thing left was her Jetpack; primarily green with two thin orange lines running down the sides, and a disguise. The Jetpack slotted onto her back with a click, she gave a few stretches to make sure it was secure and moved on. She grabbed and wrapped a brown and tattered body-sized cloak around herself, covering her entirely, and pulled the hood over her helmet. Only the front of her helmet was showing, the rest was completely covered. Perhaps she would just look like a traveler here, that would be preferable. Discretion would be the best option here, Mandalorians tended to stick out a bit when in a crowd.

Y'mir walked to the ramp and hit the release button, and steadily the ramp of her ship dropped and revealed the junk yard she landed in.

It was… there weren't really words to describe the Space Station. Even that term didn't seem apt. It was like a city, vehicles soared overhead like small personal shuttles, buildings towered overhead with multiple mezzanines scattered about for ease of access. Signs were in a language she had never seen before, and then there were the aliens.

There were so many! She didn't recognize any of them. The first one she had noticed looked like a shriek hawk if it suddenly evolved. Some wore regular, heh; regular, clothing. Others wore armor that she had never seen before, and all spoke in chitters and a sort of birdsong. She would call those ones Birds. She saw an alien manning a store that looked like a frog person, only thinner… and with horns. It-he tried to wave her down but she didn't understand the high pitched words he was saying to her. Those she would call Frogs. The next one was downright unnerving, not because of how alien it looked, there was just something… off. It was when she was walking by a railing, she had made it out of the slums by now, and she wasn't paying attention to where she was going.

She had just moved to take a step forward when she collided with the alien who was looking down at some sort of pad. The alien gave her a smile and what seemed like an apology, again she understood none of it, to which Y'mir just nodded and stared. She was blue. She knew it was a she, because it was the most human looking alien she had seen by far; blue skin, complete humanoid form, and soft backwards curving frills. There was just something off about her though, like the alien was trying unintentionally to peer into her mind. It had only happened when they made contact, and perhaps because she was startled. She would write it off as stress, until she got a better grip of things. She would call that species Blues.

There were others of note, massive aliens that looked like Ssi-ruu if mixed with a frog. Dinosaurs. Little creatures that looked like a ball with arms and legs. And a jellyfish. It was a jellyfish, nothing much to note besides the way it flowed when humming. And it was only when she was looking into a shop, trying to look like she belonged there, did she hear the crying. It was coming from a ways behind her, and it sounded like it was coming from something young, a child maybe? Y'mir followed the noise, slowly weaving through the hustle and bustle of the crowd until she saw the source of the noise. It was a child like she thought, but what made her pause was something else entirely.

The child was a human.

A little girl to be exact, with black hair and blue eyes, puffy and red from crying. She wore a yellow sundress and had a stuffed toy that looked like the jellyfish from earlier. She was also alone, and that was concerning.

It's not my business, I should just move on. And she was going to do exactly that. Y'mir was midway in a turn when she turned back to look at the child. The child was looking back with her big and sad eyes, sniffling and still crying. Those blue orbs bore into her visor, reducing her resolve. Not my business, not my business.

…

"...Dank farrik," she muttered under her breath before turning and walking towards the kid. Her cloak billowed slightly, a breeze picking up and briefly revealing her armor before it was quickly covered by a quick movement of her hands.

The child had gone back to staring at her toy, unaware of Y'mir's presence until she spoke. She had crouched in front of the child, close to eye level. "Hey little one," the girl looked up in a mixture of fear and hope, "are you lost?"

A slow nod.

So humans could understand her. Or at least this one could. "Do you know where they might be?" Stupid question.

A miserable shake of the head, accompanied by a sniffle.

"Would… you like help finding them?" What am I doing?

A hopeful nod. Y'mir reached out gently taking hold of the child's hand, so small in her gloved hand. "What's your name little one?"

"...Sophie." Cute.

"Do you remember where you were when you got lost?" She received a small nod, and a pointed finger to the left, into what looked like a market district. She was so busy looking that she almost missed Sophie's question.

"Hm?" She looked back at Sophie. "What's your name?" "Y-" she paused. Using her name, even to a child, might not be the best option right now. "Call me Mando," she said instead. Sophie laughed a bit. "That's a funny name," she said through chuckles. Y'mir would allow that to slide, Mandalorians might not be a thing here.

"Come on, let's go find your parents," Y'mir said as she gently pulled Sophie along, holding her hand and letting Sophie guide her to the market area.

It took them 10 minutes before T'mir heard the shout from behind them.

"Sophie!" The voice was feminine, most likely the mother. Y'mir turned around with Sophie, letting her hand go as the child ran to embrace her mother and father, who were both running for the same reason. The three collided in a hug, crying, "I thought I lost you, don't you ever do something like that again! Do you know how worried we were? Why did you run off alone like that!?" the mother shouted, never loosening her grip for even a second.

Y'mir stood there awkwardly, looking around at the people who had stopped to watch. She had never really done well with family stuff… She turned to walk away, her mission accomplished. "I wasn't alone though, Mando helped me!" Sophie said happily, causing Y'mir to freeze. Shit. She must have been more obvious with the flinch than she thought, because when she half-turned all three were staring at her. Sophie had a smile and the other two had the warmest expressions she had ever seen. She completed her turn, her hand thumbing her holster as a nervous habit, unseen because of her cloak.

They approached her, causing Y'mir to tense up slightly. "Thank you, for keeping our daughter safe," the mother said wholeheartedly. "...Of course, I'm glad we found you so quickly." Y'mir shuffled a bit, growing more uncomfortable by the minute from how many states they were getting. Movement caught her eye, the father reaching in his pocket and bringing out a small blue card. Y'mir only put the pieces together when it was pressed into her hand. "You don't-" she began to protest, only for him to cut her off. "Please, I know it isn't much but you deserve it."

She was left standing there as the family made their goodbyes and gave their thanks one last time before leaving, card still in hand. Slowly she withdrew her hand and put the card in a small pouch on her hip. She had no idea what it was, but it would probably come in handy later. She was still getting looks, but far less than she was when the whole event was going on. She gave a frown as she faded back into the crowd, unaware that someone had recorded the whole thing.

It was probably time to get back to her ship, but there was one thing she wanted to see to before she did. She was in a market area after all, and she was pretty sure this card was a form of currency. She was also pretty sure that her credits wouldn't be worth anything here, Imperial or otherwise. The materials might be though… she'd have to look into it.

It took her longer than she'd care to admit to find a human vendor, and even then she wasn't sure she was looking in the right place. It looked like a tech shop, there were parts for what she assumed to be computers on the walls, electronics on shelves to her left, and odd discs that looked like they would fit over someone's hand. But for all she knew it could've been a confectionery.

She was completely lost.

The human, a middle-aged man who seemed to be of Imperial descent if the accent was anything to go off of, was finishing up a conversation with one of the bird aliens who looked to be purchasing… something. She waited her turn, trying to squash the doubts that were building up. What if her card wasn't money? And if it was, what if she didn't have enough? It was a helluva time for-

"Hullo! Welcome to Saronis Applications! How can I help you?" The cheery voice snapped her out of her thoughts, and she fought down the embarrassment of being caught off guard by a retail worker. It was her turn apparently, the smiling man wasn't looking at anyone else that she could see.

"Do… you sell translators here by chance? Or could you point me to a place that does?" The man beamed at her, reaching underneath the counter and pulling out two small earpieces. "You're in luck young miss, we just got a brand new box of them this morning. Fresh off the production line in fact." Well… that was much easier than she had expected it to be.

"How much will those cost me? I'm not exactly sure how much is left on this," she gingerly slid the blue card onto the counter and watched in fascination as the man's arm glowed orange, a gauntlet seemingly made of orange light covered his arm up to his elbow and rounded out over his fist. He appeared to do a sort of scan of her card, sparing it a glance before addressing her again, "you have about 400 credits left, more than enough for what you're looking for. Say, I'll even throw in a basic Omni-tool as a bundle. It'll run you up about 300." It was the vast majority of her money, but she needed that translator and having an 'omni-tool' didn't sound so bad either. She gave a nod and he made another wave of his arm.

"Alright, you can put those on and I'll have my assistant set you up with a basic 'tool. Thank you for shopping!" She gave him a small goodbye before grabbing the two little buds and moving off to the left where he had gestured. She tilted her head, slipping one of the buds into her ear before doing the same with the other, wincing slightly as static filled her ears before going away. Now just to find-

"Hiya!"

She didn't jump. Nope, not at all.

Cheeks burning, she turned to face the owner of the too-cheery voice. One of the blue aliens, except now she could actually understand what was being said. "Hi," she said in the friendliest voice she could muster, which was comparable to some droids. The blue woman didn't seem phased in the slightest, thank the gods.

"Are you the one with the Omni-tool order?" Her voice was coming through clearly, any static that was left was fading and disappearing completely. "Yes, thank you." The blue alien bent down and reached beneath the counter, coming back up with a small disc connected to a glove-like sleeve. "This is one of the most basic models we have. It won't be able to utilize any combat functions but it has access to the Extranet and has some basic functions like scanning and making transactions automatically. Please, try it on!" Y'mir looked at the small disc before picking it up and slipping it onto her left hand, closing her fist experimentally.

"I like your helmet," Y'mir looked back at the alien, who was still smiling. Didn't her cheeks hurt? "I've never seen anything like it. Is it a custom job by chance?" She gave a small laugh in response. "It is, in a way. Let's just say I'm not exactly from around here." She looked back down at her wrist and flexed it slightly. Immediately her forearm was covered in a semi-translucent orange gauntlet with a type of computer screen on the top. Luckily the script was written in basic, which miraculously was also a basic language here. Another flex of her wrist made the gauntlet go away.

"Thank you, this will be extremely helpful." She nodded and turned to walk out of the shop, now able to hear and understand everything that was being said. There was still a lot of jargon that she didn't understand, but maybe this "Extranet" would have the answers she sought. It was time to leave and head back to the Firebrand.

Y'mir pinched the bridge of her nose and leaned her head back. She was sitting in one of the passenger seats of the Firebrand, one leg crossed over the other and leaning back as far as the seat would allow. She had been reading the "Codex," this galaxy's mega-encyclopedia, and soaking up as much knowledge as she could fit in her brain. The resulting migraine would be well worth it, this information was invaluable. It had everything; species, planets, technology, locations, and most importantly history. She had learned quite a bit in the last few hours, and while helpful, it was very concerning. Y'mir gave a resigned sigh, rubbing her eyes. Maybe she had been reading too long.

To start with, she wasn't in her own galaxy anymore. It was similar, a lot of the stars matched up, but there were too many locations that didn't. Homeworlds from her galaxy simply didn't exist here, while planets like Palaven, Thessia, and Earth did. There wasn't any mention of the Clone Wars, the Galactic Empire, or despite her hopes, Mandalore. She was completely and utterly alone in a foreign galaxy that she knew practically nothing about. For example, it was February 12, 2181 of the Galactic Callender instead of 15 BBY.

The species she knew were gone, with the exception of Humans. Twi-leks, Rodians, and every other race she could think of didn't exist. At least now she had names for the species she had encountered earlier, as well as their history. Asari, the blue aliens, were a mono-gendered species that could live up to a millennia. They were extremely well versed in politics, and had a natural affinity for "biotics," or as she liked to call it, Space Magic. Turians, the birds, were a highly militaristic disciplined race. Well versed in combat and had one of the largest standing navies in the galactic political sphere. Salarians were… interesting. They were the frogs. Salarians loved short lives, were fragile, but were unbelievably intelligent. They were researchers, scientists, and most worryingly, spies. They would probably one of the first to sniff her out if she started gaining notoriety for any reason. Then there were humans. She knew all about humans already, and apparently they were the newest race to the galaxy. There was an incident called the "First Contact War" that she was still reading up on, but suffice it to say, Humans were new to the galaxy, and they were doing their best to make good impressions.

History was its own mess all together, but Y'mir liked to think she got the important bits. The galaxy was supposedly run by a race called the Protheans who suddenly and mysteriously disappeared 50,000 years, leaving behind nothing but their technology which the present species now inherited. Said technology was based off of an element called Element Zero, which is used to literally affect the mass of whatever it is applied to. As such every bit of technology this galaxy had was based around this element. Ships had Mass Effect Drives powered by Eezo, and could only be built to about a kilometer in length. Instead of Hyperspace Lanes the galaxy utilized massive slingshots to get from point A to point B. They were called Mass Effect Relays. She would have to look into those for the future.

The section of the galaxy she found herself in was known as "Council Space," and she was on the "Citadel." The Citadel and all of Council Space was run by a council of three species. One Turian, one Salarian, and one Asari. There were more than three races in Council Space but only those three seemed to have governing seats. It… didn't seem like a good system to her. But then again the Mandalorians historically didn't have the best governing system either. It would take more reading to form a sound opinion.

Y'mir blinked as pressure built behind her eyes, she had been staring at her omni-tool for too long. She would pick up on reading the history of the Quarians and the Morning War at another time, but for now it was probably time to turn in. She had been awake and about for close to 15 hours. It was also coincidentally approaching the night cycle of theWards, her new home for now. She stood up and stretched, arching her back and groaning in satisfaction as her back popped. She walked over to the Firebrand's control panel and made sure the ship was locked. She didn't want any unexpected visitors.

She then walked back to where she was and sat back down in the seat she had just left. This time though she had a thin blanket. She draped it over herself and leaned her head back against the hull, closing her eyes and drifting off. She had fallen asleep like this many times, it didn't bother her. Maybe she would get an apartment or something with an actual bed, but this would do for now. She tried not to worry about her situation, and just listened to the muted noises of the Citadel through the Hull of her ship. Until eventually she drifted off to sleep.

Y'mir had a new goal for today. The Presidium. She had done some more research on the Citadel while eating her breakfast; a ration pack and water. The Presidium was the "gleaming heart of the citadel," and was home to most of the governing body. The social elite lived there, and the Presidium was where the embassies were located as well. None of that mattered to her.

Except for one thing, the office of one Venari Pallin. The Executor was the leader of C-Sec, or Citadel Security, who acted as law enforcement.

Y'mir sniffed as she looked down at the remainder of her stale and tasteless rations, shoveling the remainder of it in her mouth and swallowing it as fast as she could. She grimaced as it went down, but it wasn't anything she wasn't used to by now. Y'mir Triald was originally a member of Deathwatch, but things changed after the Mandalorian Civil War. Clan Eldar broke off and did their best to escape it, especially so when the Galactic Empire formed. When she was able she took on her clan's colors and left to make her own way through the galaxy. She was tracking a bounty with enough supplies for a week before this all happened.

She needed food. A week's worth of ration packs wouldn't cut it. But in order to get that she needed currency. It was only natural that she would take up her old profession. However there was a fine line between a Bounty Hunter and a Vigilante. She did not want to become the latter. Her hopes were that there were certain people C-Sec needed brought in but couldn't make the arrests themselves. Or that there were people who were on the run and needed to be tracked down. Coincidentally that would also get her enough money to repair and register her ship. It was a decent plan, if it wasn't for the fact that she didn't exist. Anyone with a brain would look into her as soon as she did something high profile, and what would happen when nothing came up. Her armor and weapons were already an issue, albeit one she could handle.

She would have to create an identity or have one created for her. Which would cost credits, that she didn't have. She rubbed her temples and groaned, this was already becoming an issue.

Sitting around and whining wouldn't solve anything. At the very least she could scope out the Presidium and see the views. She grabbed her cloak and keyed the ramp release of the Firebrand, walking down once again under the guise of a simple traveler.

It took an hour of walking, the slowest elevator she had ever experienced, and a short public transport ride to reach the Presidium, and she was not disappointed. It was absolutely gorgeous, there was even an artificial lake for Mandalore's sake! She could definitely see why the social elite chose to make this their home rather than the Wards below.

She was on a bridge, leaning over it, just sort of staring out over the lake and letting her mind wander. I wonder if there are any fish in there. It's definitely big enough. It was calm here, peaceful. She would definitely come up here if she needed to clear her mind for any reason, and she wouldn't need to worry about anyone trying anything. No one would, not with how tight under lock C-Sec kept things here. Someone had tried to mug her alarmingly close to her ship. All he got for his troubles were some bruised ribs, a broken wrist, and a sudden loss of his credits. Apparently he was on a spree because she now had another 600 to her name, bringing her total to about 800 in all. Maybe if she got mugged again she could break 1,000. She gave a small humorless laugh at that. A Mandalorian, making money off of being mugged.

She was brought out of her thoughts when her stomach growled in annoyance. Rations were good in a pinch, but they didn't offer nutritional… anything. She had spied a restaurant of some sort on the way here, maybe it would have something good and affordable. She got up from her position and did her best to make her way back to the overlook that held the small cafe, taking in the sights and doing a bit of eavesdropping in case there was anything interesting. On the way she passed a jelly- a Hanar, she passed a Hanar giving praise to something called "Enkindlers." Probably a religion of some sort.

Eventually she made it to the cafe, a human themed shop if she had to guess. It looked like there was a place to order and a pickup line, both leading to a small plaza that overlooked one of the many gardens of the Presidium and the lake. If she had to guess she would say that the restaurant was easily a couple hundred feet from what would be considered the ground, giving an excellent view of the surrounding area.

She made her decision. If she could afford it, she would try and get an apartment in the Presidium. More than likely however she would end up staying in the Wards, which was much more affordable. For now though she would have to be content with her ship, but that wasn't her concern right now. Right now her concern was what to eat. And oh what a choice it was, because she recognized nothing on that menu. Blast it all, I'll just go for a sandwich of some sort. The one she was looking at was simple, the only odd thing about it was the blueish meat. Something from Thessia apparently, when she asked about it. It had only cost her 40 credits as well, far less than she was expecting. She took her meal and found the table and chair that was furthest in the corner and in the shade of the building.

No one would bother looking over here, such was her hope. It seemed that flashy colors and flamboyant clothing was the norm here, a perfect example would be an Asari not too far from her. Long blue dress, red front, and cut-outs at the waist. Flamboyant, colorful, and meant to attract attention. Herself? A dark brown full body cloak that hid her figure well and only had a slight bulge of her back from the jetpack she wore. The only flashy thing was her helmet, and even that was matte in its colors. Even then she didn't take chances. It was a bit difficult, but she tilted her helmet up slightly until just her mouth was showing. She took a singular bite and lowered the helmet back down.

Her eyes widened and she suppressed the noise that threatened to bubble forth from her throat. She hadn't had anything like this before. The meat had a spice to it that she didn't recognize, and the sauce was sweet but faded to a slight tang. It was amazing. She couldn't recall ever having something like this. It was slightly awkward but she repeated the process as fast as she could, eating like a woman starved until the last of the sandwich disappeared. It would be enough to sate her hunger for a few hours, and she would definitely be coming back here at some point. Was all of the food on the citadel this good? She hoped so, it would make her situation a lot better if such was the case.

She continued to people watch, listening in on a conversation here and there in case there was something important, but for the most part it was just idle chit-chat. The only interesting bit of information she gleaned was that an N7 was up for a medal for heroic deeds during a pirate raid. This N7 sounded like a fantastic warrior of the conversation was to be believed, it would be interesting to meet this N7. Maybe someday, some thought to herself.

Her attention drifted up a few stories. The Citadel was always changing in some way, which meant construction was always happening somewhere. In this case it looked to be an extension of what she believed to be an apartment complex. In particular there was an alien she was interested in. It, as she couldn't tell the gender from here, was wearing an environmental suit. Their visor had a green-blue tinge to it and a turquoise shawl covered their head. Actually, turquoise seemed to be the main theme the alien was going for. They were working on a scaffold close to the very edge, above a sheer drop. She knew what it was, a Quarian. A nomadic species that was driven from their homeworld by their own creations. Forced to love their entire lives in environmental suits lest they die of the simplest disease or bacteria. Y'mir hated the Council for their decision. Children should never suffer because of the actions of their ancestors, and yet for generations the Quarians did; forced to live as vagrants and nomads. So that begged a very interesting question.

Why was a Quarian working on a construction site?

One would think that was one of the worst professions a Quarian could work in, with all of the different ways to get injured or killed. And Quarians weren't exactly the strongest of species either, so why-

Something pulled her attention back to that platform, like an innate sense telling her where to look. What was...

She saw it before anyone else noticed, and her blood ran cold when she did see it. Something was wrong, the scaffold close to the edge was trembling, and the workers noticed. A cable of some kind snapped and the platform shuddered again, much stronger this time. Workers stumbled, the ones who didn't have something to grab onto tripped or fell to the ground. At this point the noise had drawn more attention from hers and the surrounding areas. People couldn't look away, this was like a nightmare unfolding before her eyes. The Quarian was holding on for dear life, and she shot to her feet when the scaffold suddenly tilted at a dangerous angle. To their credit, the workers were trying to get to him, or at least get some kind of rope to him, but it wasn't to be.

Another dangerous shudder wracked the scaffold, shaking some parts loose, falling hundreds of feet below. Like clockwork a heavy piece of rebar hit the Quarian, knocking his grip loose and sending him falling below.

Everything slowed down to a crawl. Her morality was fighting with her sense of logic. There was no chance for the Quarian to survive, no soft landing. Everywhere people were gasping and watching in terror, and none of them were looking at her.

A memory played in her mind. A rainy day back home, two kids playing in the wilderness, not horribly far away from home. A sheer drop into an abyss below, one kid desperately holding onto the other as to not fall. It was rainy, and her hand slipped. The kid fell below, screaming and holding her hand out. The other kid went home alone, broken inside.

She was already moving when her mind caught up. Her cloak was on the floor and she was sprinting towards the edge. She heard the familiar whoosh! As her jetpack fired, propelling her through the air and towards the falling Quarian. Startled voices cried out but they didn't register in her mind, she was tunnel-visioned. The Quarian, a woman now that she was close enough, was almost hallways to the ground when Y'mir reached her. Her hands reached out and grabbed the Quarian, holding her close and ignoring the startled yell and sudden flailing. She angled both of them upright and fired her jetpack with as much power as she could, shooting them back towards the cafe and plaza

Flying alone was easy. Flying while carrying a passenger who most definitely did not want to be flying? Marginally more difficult. As such the landing was less than graceful, leading to Y'mir stumbling and falling to one knee before setting the shell-shocked Quarian down. Said Quarian was hyperventilating, understandably in shock, and shaking. "Hey, hey, look at me," she did, still panicked, "you're ok. You're on the Presidium, on solid ground. You're safe." Y'mir had both her hands on the poor girl's shoulders, keeping her steady and focused on her. "I-I don't, t-that was, Keelah." She was still panicking, which was understandable. "Hey, take deep breaths, just focus on my voice. You're ok. You're on solid ground, you're not falling anymore." She repeated the words almost like a mantra until the Quarian finally calmed down. "You… you saved my life. H-how? I-I don't understand." Y'mir just sighed. "You're safe, just focus on that. Rest until you think you can move again." With that said she let her hands go and stood back up, backing away.

It was only then did she hear the voices. Oh no. She looked around, starting to panic herself. Everyone was looking at her, in awe and disbelief. Omni-tools were out and recording, and probably had been since she had flown off in the first place. She was exposed, everyone saw her armor, and she had just performed what could be considered a heroic deed. Said act had been recorded by most people nearby, and who knows how many people had seen her. Her entire plan had hinged on nobody noticing her until she wanted them too. Now she had inadvertently put herself in the spotlight in one of the most populated areas on the Citadel. News was going to spread like wildfire. And even worse it looked like the news had just arrived. That was shockingly fast, but then again, it was the Presidium.

Her heart was pounding, she was sweating, and unconsciously her hand was hovering a bit close to her blaster. Y'mir what have you gotten yourself into this time. Her ears were ringing, she saw the Asari's lips moving, saw what must've been a microphone shoved in her face, but she didn't hear anything. She needed to leave, needed to get as far away from here as possible. Her jetpack fired, she didn't say a word as she shot off and flew between the buildings and into an alley. She didn't care how many people saw her, she flew straight back to the Firebrand. It didn't matter, in minutes or hours her picture would be all over the place.

It was everything she feared and more. Y'mir was slumped over her weapons bench looking through news article after news article. Her helmet was to her right, the non-reflective visor staring back at her. The shock and panic had passed in the last couple hours, and resignation and a general lack of energy had taken its place. Any hope of staying off of the radar was officially crushed. Major and minor news outlets were all talking about her.

Mysterious Armored Figure Saves Construction Worker From Certain Death.

Earlier today a tragic death was narrowly avoided during a construction accident in the Presidium's new apartment complex. While the cause is still unknown; a scaffold connected to the very edge of the site started to collapse. Workers were away at the time, but one was not so lucky, and when the scaffold finally shook itself loose the worker fell with it. The story would have ended there, but eye witness accounts and video evidence describe a green-armored figure flying and catching the worker before flying back to a small plaza. Accounts and the many videos taken show the figure to be feminine suggesting a possible Asari or a human female, and wearing a very unique set of armor with a jetpack attached to the back. As of now we have no knowledge of a possible identity and we only have a general idea of where this person could be, as she was seen flying into the Wards Before we lost sight. Who is this person? Where did she come from? And will we see her again?

Underneath the article was a picture of her consoling the Quarian, and another of her standing up and looking around. There was also a link to a video that showed her landing and talking, but her voice was lost over the noise of the crowd. There were already posts on social media and other platforms about her, and possible sightings beforehand. Perhaps the biggest debate was whether or not she was Human or an Asari. There were also some… unsavory statements about her, but all together it was a mixed bag of praise, suspicion, and curiosity. The results weren't terrible but she would rather have stayed hidden completely.

She sighed as she closed yet another article. She was glad she picked the slums to hide the Firebrand. No one really looked in the slums, and it was a really good place to lay low. The chances of her getting mugged were laughable. Oh, it would happen, but it just resulted in more credits to her name. Speaking of which…

T'mir opened another page on the Extranet, a sort of 'Dark Web' where she was having a conversation with someone who could put together fake identities. She needed one. The only problem was that fake identities were expensive. Well, that wasn't entirely true. Good fake identities were expensive, cheaper ones were shoddy and often had holes in them. She would be able to fill those holes to the best of her ability, but if anyone looked too deep they would find them. The person, known as Spades, wanted about 4,000 credits in return for a semi-competent ID and history. She sent him 500 already as a sort of down payment, and said that she would have the rest to him as soon as she could. He accepted, and sent her updates and small inquiries when he needed them.

In the meantime, and in order to make the money, she started looking into potential work in the area. One was looking promising. A sort of hotel/bar hybrid that was located in lower Zakera Ward. It was a popular place to get a drink and food and drew a lot of attention from the Wards and slums. It was also rowdy and bar fights were common as gangs also tended to be frequent patrons. The job was essentially just a bouncer; would watch out and break up fights, make sure patrons were safe, etc. It was actually really promising, she was already in contact with the owner, and drunk idiots would be easy to deal with. If she did get the job, she could pay for the fake ID in a week. Who knew being a bouncer paid so well. It would also fill the time necessary for her to fade away and for the news to drop her story.

A ping came from her 'tool, a response! The owner said she could work a day and they would go from there.

Y'mir got ready to leave, unfortunately having to leave helmet behind. Too recognizable. Instead she wore a worn out long-coat she found in an alley over her armor and left, and her jetpack over it minus the rocket. Hopefully it wouldn't be too noticeable, since she was in the middle of giving her armor a new paint job. As much as it pained her, being caught flat-footed in the open would mean anyone who saw those colors would recognize her. Now her armor was jet black with grey and blue accents.

She keyed the ramp and holstered a blaster, just in case. Her new life, and hopefully temporary job, awaited

This is one of two new stories I'm going to be starting, mainly having gotten the idea after finishing the Mandalorian. Again. For the third time. I know, another two new stories? If this goes well, I'll keep it going, it might take a back-seat depending on how it's received though

My mind has ideas, and they don't stop. If they're good enough I'll write them down. If they go somewhere, they become stories.

Some good news and bad news for followers of my other stories. Because of the frequency and the number of reviews, The Lost Kingdom Rises is going to be my primary story for the time being, as is A Fallen Spartan's Second Chance. Since those two are my two most popular and most requested, they will receive the most attention, and chapters of my other stories will trickle in. None of them are abandoned.