A Hero's Hope

by The Dark Warden

A freak accident sends Former Sith Lord Revan to another galaxy; one threatened by an insurmountable evil, just like her own galaxy. Being who she is, she can't help but get involved in the conflict. Now she has a whole new mess of issues to deal with, mostly a Red-Headed Commander who drives her up the walls. Rated T for now. Don't like, Don't Read, Don't Complain.

Pain. Pain was an old friend. She was used to it. But this…this pain made her want to die.

Run!

Lightning shot through her nerves.

Take Mission and get her out of here, NOW!

She wanted to scream, but her mouth wouldn't open.

Don't argue with me, Juhani. Just get everyone out of here, that's an order!

The memories of her friends kept slamming against her pain-addled mind, keeping her from focusing enough to pull herself out of the haze of pain.

Commander! We've got a survivor here!

Who was that? She sounded like a Mando.

How's our guest, Karen?

Several broken ribs, a dislocated shoulder, and a cracked skull. She's lucky she was wearing that helmet of hers, otherwise she might've cracked her skull open like a melon.

After what felt like an eternity, the memories receded, the pain fading to a manageable amount as awareness returned to the woman. The first thing she noticed about her body was a sharp pain emanating from her torso every time she took a breath. Her skull was pulsing painfully, a pain that stretched from just over her right eye socket to the back of her neck just over her spine.

Multiple broken ribs on the right side. Best to heal that before I try moving. The former Dark Lord Revan thought to herself. Wouldn't want to poke my lungs full of holes.

Even as she began to focus the Force around her cracked skull and broken ribs, she extended her senses outwards, enveloping her surroundings with her mind as she did. There was only one person near her, and she sensed no hostility from the woman. She was perfectly calm.

The fact that she was capable of using the Force to begin with was a bit confusing. After her exit from the Jedi Order; regardless of the fact that they had brainwashed her into being their slave; the Council had labeled her an enemy of the Republic, to be captured or killed on sight. If she had been captured by the Republic, they would've either slapped a Force Suppression collar on her, or simply shot her in the head.

The fact that she had killed Malak and saved all their worthless hides had been conveniently forgotten.

Continuing her search, Revan mapped out the entirety of the area, finding that she was in fact on a reasonably large vessel, possibly some kind of light frigate. She could sense over a dozen life forms in two rooms on her current level, all either sleeping or on the very edge of sleeping. Must be the crew quarters.

Searching the decks below, she sensed only two people; a male and female; who seemed to be arguing good-naturedly. Good friends who were used to each other's idiosyncrasies. It must've been late enough in the night cycle for only the skeleton crew to be awake.

Taking a shallow breath, Revan nearly yelped in pain as a spike went through her chest. She silently cursed and began channeling her power into her ribs, her skull already healed to the point she had only a minor pulsing up there. As she felt the pain of her injuries begin to fade, Revan reached out once more and continued her search.

As she spread out her senses, Revan's focus latched onto someone; a woman; two levels up. The Force in her was…incredible. While not as powerful as the former Dark Lord herself, the woman's strength was impressive. But it felt…off. Suppressed almost. Revan knew of only a few things that could suppress the Force in such a way. Either an experienced Force Sensative had suppress the woman's power, or she had done it herself sub-consciously after a truly traumatic event that had affected her personally.

Digging a little deeper, Revan was nearly suffocated by the enormous level of fear, pain, grief, and anger the woman kept pushed deep down beneath a mountain of courage, determination, and compassion.

The rest of the ship seemed to have the connection of an average person. It was there, obviously since the Force was present in all living things. But the connection to the all-encompassing ocean of energy that spread throughout the universe wasn't strong enough for the people to be Force Sensative.

She pulled her senses back to herself. While she felt no hostility from the people aboard the frigate, neither did she sense good intentions. Her best bet was to get the kriff out of there as swiftly as possible, seeing as most of the ship was asleep.

Going to sleep and awakening to find one's self injured and in an unfamiliar place did not give the woman warm, fuzzy feelings.

She had sensed what felt like a small shuttle two levels down in what she presumed was the hangar bay, because where else could the expansive room have been. She could use that to get the hell out of here and fly to the nearest planet before allowing herself to be swallowed up by the Void.

Running a final check over her body, Revan stiffened as she felt a slight pressure on her wrists.

How the kriff didn't you notice those before, idiot!? She yelled at herself as she pulled lightly at the restraints. They don't feel very strong at least.

Revan cursed her own stupidity before she took several calming breaths. Once her self-directed anger had faded, she slowly opened her diamond eyes. Finally noticing a slight chill, the Jedi looked down at herself slowly. Her armor was gone, leaving her in only her trousers and bra, leaving the upper half of her muscular body bare. Turning her head slowly, diamond eyes eyed the restraints around her wrists. They seemed to be simple leather straps, so she'd be able to break them easily.

Her head turned to the other occupant in the room; a grey-haired female who was currently sitting at a desk across the room typing away at what appeared to be a holo-terminal.

With a deep breath, Revan channeled the Force into her body, augmenting her strength to the point she could have punched a bull rancor unconscious with a single blow. In a single swift movement, she snapped the restraints and leapt from the bed, landing behind the older woman silently. Before the woman could react, Revan had wrapped a thickly muscled arm around the woman's neck and yanked her to the ground out of view of the large window that filled the entire wall, landing on her back with the woman on top of her thickly muscled form.

Revan wrapped her powerful limbs around the woman's body and slapped her free hand over the older woman's mouth. "Don't do anything stupid, and I won't hurt you. Understand?" Revan spoke into the woman's ear quietly, not wanting to risk someone walking by and hearing her.

The woman nodded quickly. Revan could sense the woman's fear. "I'm going to ask you some questions. You will answer them. Try to call for help and I'll snap your neck before you can make a sound. Lie to me, and we do this the painful way. Understand?"

The woman nodded again, her fear growing slightly. Revan suppressed a wince. She found that while people being afraid of her was useful, she didn't like it. It reminded her far too much of those days.

"First question: where am I?" Revan slowly removed her hand from the woman's mouth.

"You are aboard the SSV Normandy SR2, a stealth frigate currently in transit to Omega." The woman replied quietly, her voice low and hinted with what sounded like a Talravian accent.

Omega? Revan mentally shook herself. Not important.

"Are you with the Republic?" Revan asked. She doubted it. The Republic would've killed her as soon as they saw her.

"Republic?" the woman sounded confused. "No, I am not working for the asari."

She wasn't lying, but the word 'asari' was unfamiliar to her. Perhaps a race she hadn't come across before?

"I—I'm an Alliance Medical Officer."

"Liar," Revan growled in the woman's ear as she picked up the lie through the Force. The woman tensed as she waited for the punishment.

Kriff this. Revan dug into the woman's mind as quickly, but as gently as possible and spoke, the power of the Force reverberating through her words.

"Tell me who you work for." Her command was firm, the tone of a commander.

"I work for Cerberus," she replied calmly as Revan's powers took hold of the woman's mind.

"What is Cerberus?" Revan asked, having never heard the word before. She was getting more and more confused with each question.

"A terrorist organization that seeks to advance the cause of humans in the galaxy."

Of course, I'd get picked up by a bunch of xenophobic sleemos. Just my Kriffing luck. Revan sighed internally. Though it was interesting that the woman had used the word 'terrorist'. Most of those sleemos would've called themselves freedom fighters or some other poodoo.

"But I work for the commander, not the Illusive Man." That last bit of info was offered freely by the Doctor; that was the only thing she could've been since the room looked an awful lot like a med-bay. It sounded as though she was trying to defend herself. No Force persuasion needed.

"Who is this 'commander' and is she part of this…'Cerberus'?" she spat the name like a poison. She hated xenophobes. Bunch of jackasses, the lot of them.

"Commander Sarah Shepard leads us. She was recruited by Cerberus to investigate a series of attacks on human colonies. However, she is not part of Cerberus. She is actually very good friends with several aliens and has no hatred for any of the non-human races barring the Batarians. She has no love for Cerberus and is only working with them because the Council refuses to help and they offered unlimited resources and equipment to find the source of the attacks and stop it."

Using Cerberus for their resources alone? That's better than being a xenophobic fuckhead, Revan thought. It was a smart move.

"Final question: where are my belongings?"

She most certainly wasn't leaving her armor and lightsabers behind. No way in the nine Corellian Hells was she doing that.

"Your armor and clothes are in the container by the door. Your weapons were sent up to the armory in the CIC."

"Thank you, Doctor," Revan responded sincerely, despite having had to force the woman to speak truth. She reached up and tapped the older woman's forehead, causing her to go limp as her mind exited the waking world. Revan carefully moved out from under the woman and lifted her with ease, moving over to the cot she had been strapped to a few minutes before and placed the doctor on it gently, pulling the covers up to the woman's chest to let her rest comfortably.

Just because they had strapped her down, didn't mean she was going to leave the old woman on the cold hard floor. She was ruthless, not an asshole…most days.

Her Force senses told her that no one had been alerted. She nodded to herself and moved to the bin by the door, opening it and pulling out her clothing. Within a minute, she was clad once more in her robes and armor, nearly a decade of experience allowing her to don her attire swiftly. Pulling her hood up enough for her features to be lost in the shadows, she turned to the door.

"Oh, fer fucks sake!" she sighed at the sight of the holo controls. She hated holo controls. Give her a simple, physical button any day. With a shake of her head, she pressed her hand to the glowing button, pleasantly surprised that it was comprised of a type of hard-light rather than being just a standard hologram. Better.

The door opened with a silent hiss and Revan poked her head out into the large room. Nobody. While the Force had told her that the coast was clear, she wanted to be sure just in case there was a Force resistant alien on guard. Could never be too careful.

The former Dark Lord pressed the glowing button to the elevator and stepped inside the instant the door opened a moment later. She looked over the buttons. Her equipment was in the armory which was in the CIC, one floor up. The floor after that was labeled Captain's Cabin.

Why the Armory was in the CIC rather than down in the shuttle bay, she had no idea.

The warrior pressed the button for the CIC and the doors slid shut. Revan waited patiently as the lift began to move. She watched as the display told her that she had reached the CIC. The doors didn't open and instead the lift continued moving up to the Captain's Cabin.

What the hell?

The Jedi glanced around, her silvery-blue eyes catching a small black orb in the top right of the elevator. Her hand slammed into her forehead.

"Kriffing hell…" she grumbled lowly. In her confusion of her situation and the intent to escape, she had actually forgotten about security systems. The scout in her; the persona the Council had programmed into her after her capture; smacked Revan upside the head. Idiot! Constant Vigilance keeps us alive!

Don't remind me, Jaina, the Jedi grumbled to her Alter. Her diamond eyes locked back on the approaching Captain's Cabin. A grin spread across her lips. She wants to hello? Let's make her work for it!

Reaching out with the Force, Revan pulled the lift to a grinding halt before she yanked the door to the CIC open, the door only moments away from vanishing below the lift. There was just barely enough room for her to get through. As the Jedi slid through the narrow opening; her bulky armor just barely getting through; an alarm began blaring throughout the ship, causing Revan to sigh in exasperation.

Guess we're doing this the fun way.

As the armored Je'daii moved toward the door labeled 'Armory', an angry voice came over the intercom.

"Hey, Asshole! If you hurt Chakwas, I'm gonna rip your fucking head off!" the feminine voice snarled, full of protective fury. Revan grinned under her hood, that voice reminding her of a certain sandy-haired Jedi who had joined her in the war against the Mandalorians.

The door to the Armory slid open and immediately Revan heard: "Freeze!"

The speaker was a broad-shouldered man with dark skin, an odd rifle clasped in his hands. She didn't stop moving, instead opting to thrust her hand out at him, the Force surging forward to blast him clear off his feet to collide with the wall about five meters behind him. The man slid down and slumped over, knocked unconscious from the blow.

With a flick of her wrist, her twin lightsabers flew from the table to attach themselves to her hips, the woman reaching over and lifting her helmet off the table. She yanked the cord out of the port that sat behind where her right ear would be, the woman surmising that they had been trying to pull the data.

Pulling back her hood for a moment, Revan slid the helmet over her head. The helmet hissed as the systems came back online, HUD flaring to life and the pressure seals connecting to her armor. Pulling her hood back up over her helmet, the former Dark Lord turned on her heel and strode out of the room, making her way back towards the elevator.

The Jedi was pulled up short as the door slid open, revealing a woman with the most vibrant green eyes she had ever seen. Her hair; a deep crimson color; was cut at shoulder length. She stood just shy of six-feet-tall, her body built like a soldier, her white and black uniform stretched tight against her lean but muscular frame. The woman glared at her, full lips and strong jaw set in a furious snarl that did nothing to detract from her immense beauty. The glowing orange scars that traced her left cheek, jaw and just over her right eyebrow gave the woman a menacing appearance, but only added to her attractiveness. Clasped in her hands was a rather unusual looking blaster pistol, the blocky object colored a deep black with red highlights.

The instant Revan looked into the woman's eyes, she knew this was the Force-Sensative she had sensed earlier, her power swirling inside her like a maelstrom, straining to be released as the woman leveled her blaster at the Jedi. Oddly, there seemed to be another power in her, something Revan had never felt before, but whatever it was, it more than made up for the woman's suppressed Force Sensitivity.

The red-head was a whirlwind of strength, and confidence, the woman's willpower so immense that Revan instantly knew that she wouldn't be able to simply manipulate her into standing aside. Revan could feel the conflicted emotions swirling within the woman—a mix of fury and compassion that was split almost equally. This was a woman that would never slay an innocent or someone who was unarmed and surrendering, but would not hesitate to kill any who posed a threat to her or those she cared about.

And whether she meant to be or not, Revan was a threat.

Kriff.

Now you've done it.

Shut up, Jaina.

"You move, you die," the woman growled menacingly, her finger squeezing the trigger of her blaster. Revan didn't wait and threw her right hand forward while yanking her left hand back, sending the Commander flying across the CIC to slam into the far wall as her blaster was yanked from her grasp. With a flick of her wrist, Revan sent the firearm flying to the opposite end of the room before she sprinted to the elevator, robe flaring behind her as she slipped inside and slammed the button for the Shuttle Bay.

The Force screamed a warning at her, causing the Jedi to duck as a glowing blue fist slammed into the wall where her head had been a moment before, said fist denting the metal before it was retracted. Revan spun and launched her armored fist into the Commander's gut, the appendage slamming into the woman's steel-like abdomen with monstrous force. The breath went whooshing from the woman's lungs as she was forced back against the now closed door with a yelp of pain.

Revan was impressed with how quickly the Commander recovered, the woman immediately pushing herself upright to attack once more. Revan blocked two strikes to her head, only for a knee to slam into her abdomen. The Jedi let the blow land, the Beskar plating of her armor negating the blow with ease as she wrapped her left arm around the Commander's extended right, unleashing a flurry of blows to the Commander's chest and abdomen with her free right hand. A powerful right cross to the face had the Commander slamming back against the wall again.

She could see the pain in the Commander's eyes, but was once again impressed as the woman powered through the pain, her entire body glowing bright blue with power.

DODGE!

I KNOW!

A flurry of blows from the Commander put the Jedi on the back foot, Revan moving swiftly to avoid each punch as the Force screamed for her to avoid getting hit. She couldn't dodge them all.

A glowing fist slammed into her armored chest, followed up by a right hook to the side of her head and a jab to her left kidney. Pain exploded through Revan's body as she was slammed to the side, gritting her teeth as she felt the ribs on her left side snap like dry twigs, stars dancing before her eyes from the force of the blow.

What the kriff was that?! Her Alter cried out.

Whatever it was, we need to avoid it as much as possible. If we're lucky, she can only enhance her physical abilities with whatever power she possesses.

We're never THAT lucky.

Don't remind me.

Despite her comments to her Alter, she couldn't help but grin under her helmet as she pushed herself upright. The Commander was dangerous, and that made Revan's heart beat like a war drum from the excitement. Finally! A fight that might just be worth my time!

You're crazy.

This is true.

This is what the former Dark Lord lived for! The thrill of glorious battle against a worthy foe, someone who could put her on the back foot in an instant without resorting to cheap tricks the way a lot of the Bounty Hunters in the galaxy did. The former Dark Lord surged forward, the power of the Force filling her body and sent her fist flying in blurs of dark red metal. The Commander balked as the blurs of metal screamed towards her, instantly putting her arms up to block the blows.

NOW!

Revan reared her right arm back and; with every iota of strength she possessed; slammed it into the Commander's diaphragm in a monstrous uppercut, the Commander's feet leaving the ground for a moment as the wind gushed from her lungs once again.

Revan didn't give the woman a chance to recover and instead reached out to wrap the Commander in an invisible fist, holding her off the ground in a cocoon of Force power. The red-head's brilliant green eyes were wide in shock, and Revan could see the fury in her eyes as she struggled against the Force, the muscles in her body bulging as she tried to break free.

Revan grinned in relief. As much as she enjoyed the fight; and a small part of her wanted to keep going; the fight was delaying her escape.

The Commander snarled in anger, the blue light from before exploding out of her like a small supernova, the energy slamming into Revan's body. The power broke her concentration and slammed the armored woman into the door behind her. She had no time to react as the commander; once again wreathed in blue light; slammed into her, sending the both of them smashing through the door behind Revan and into the room beyond.

Revan's skull was pounding and her vision was blurred as she tried to stare at the woman who was currently straddling her abdomen, the Commander's powerful legs causing the Jedi to groan as they shifted her broken ribs.

A glowing fist slammed into her face, knocking her head into the metallic floor beneath her skull, her helmet's HUD flickering from the force of the blow. Thankfully, the helmet's padding absorbed a generous amount of the kinetic energy, keeping the Jedi's brain intact. Another blow slammed into her head. For now, anyway.

Revan growled and unleashed her power, a storm of purple lightning exploding from her fingertips as she thrust her right hand towards the Commander, causing the woman to scream as she was blasted away. The Commander slammed into the far wall and fell out of sight behind some crates, her body twitching from the Power that jumped between her nerves.

Revan groaned as she rolled onto her side, hissing in pain as her broken ribs shifted again. She was hurting all over, her skull pounding like she'd just been pummeled by a very angry Gorog. The former Dark Lord carefully pushed herself to her feet, her right arm wrapped around her abdomen as she began focusing her healing abilities on her broken ribs as she looked around the room, scanning for the Commander.

Oh, come on! Jaina yelled in Revan's mind as the Jedi's silvery-blue eyes spotted the Commander jumping to the top of the crates across the room, green eyes alight with fury as she glared at the Jedi. Does she ever give up?

Doubtful…

With a sigh of resignation, she pulled her primary blade from its D-Link, holding it in her hand as she readied herself. Revan had been hoping to avoid killing anyone on the way out, but seeing as even Force Lightning couldn't keep the woman down, her lightsaber would have to do.

Revan was a half-second away from igniting her violet blade when several people leapt down the elevator shaft, weapons raised as they formed a circle around her. Her helmeted head turned left and right as they kept their weapons trained on her, the Commander's glowing blue form radiating fury as she stopped a few yards away.

Revan weighed her options. Given her current state, she wasn't entirely sure she could win this fight, not without killing all of them and taking a decent amount of damage herself. She was aching and exhausted and she didn't know if any of the armored soldiers had similar abilities to the Commander. She counted two others with the same feeling as the Commander. The woman who had just jumped down the elevator shaft who was clad in a skin-tight suit of white and black that hugged her sexy curves and left nothing to the imagination. If the woman hadn't been aiming a weapon at her head, Revan probably would've asked her out on a date. The other was the man from the Armory, his dark-skinned face twisted into a snarl as he aimed some kind of heavy weapon at her. Whether or not there were others that were somehow hiding the abilities was unknown.

We're not going to win this fight, Jaina whispered. Especially with how bad the Commander busted us up.

You want to surrender?! Revan snarled at her Alter.

It's our only option and you know it! the persona snapped. We're hurting, drained, and they have us surrounded. We try to fight and even the Force won't be able to keep us from getting our dumbass killed.

Revan grumbled. She hated surrendering. But as much as she hated to admit it, her Alter was right. Giving up was the best course of action right now. She was wounded, tired and facing abilities she had never even heard of before, much less fought. Caution it is then…

With a sigh, the Jedi very slowly laid her lightsaber on the ground, removing her secondary from her belt to place it with her primary. She backed up slowly, carefully kneeling on the ground and placing her hands behind her head.

There were several long seconds of silence and stillness, the only movement coming from the soldiers who were exchanging slightly confused glances.

"I surrender," she rasped as she suppressed a wince from a spike of pain that went through her ribs and skull.

"Are you fucking serious?" the Commander growled, fury evident in her voice as the blue energy emanating off her pulsed dangerously.

"Yes." Revan rolled her eyes under her helmet. "I'm too injured to escape without further injury, to either myself or to your crew. I can arrange a ransom. If you don't plan to execute me, that is."

Seeing as the Commander wasn't affiliated with anyone who hated her guts, Revan supposed it was possible that they hadn't planned on killing her. But a Ransom to Clan Kryze would buy her time.

Fury disappeared in an instant and was replaced and confusion and indignation. "What the actual FUCK are you talking about?" the Commander snapped. "Nobody is getting executed or ransomed! We were just trying to help. Then you go and attack my crew for our trouble."

Revan blinked under her helmet. An act of Charity? She couldn't remember the last time she had run into such a thing. Throughout her time hunting down Malak and the Star Forge, nobody had helped just because she asked. It was always 'Do this for me and I do that for you'. Even after she had been hailed as the 'Prodigal Knight', both Jedi and Republic alike had refused to lift a finger to help her unless she did something for them first.

Reaching out with the Force, she tried to tell if the woman was lying. Her eyes and expression said she was offended by the very suggestion of execution or ransom, but she had been lied to before. She nearly cursed out loud when her probe was completely rejected by the Commander's strength of will.

"If that is truly the case, then I apologize. I woke up in an unfamiliar place with no memory of how I arrived there, strapped down to a table, and injured. You can't exactly blame me for assuming the worst."

Not to mention she didn't trust most people. After Carth had decided that the woman was a threat to the Republic after she left the Jedi Order, the idiot had gathered an entire fleet with the sole purpose of hunting her down and killing her before she could 'return to the Dark Side and kill them all' as the fool had said. The only people she did trust was her trusty astromech T3-M4, her marvelously malevolent murder machine HK-47; both of whom had been destroyed during a battle with Carth's forces, Bastila and Juhani; both of whom were like sisters to her; Big Z and Canderous, and her adopted daughter Mission. Jolee was tolerated, but his insistence on trying to act like a wise old Jedi Master rather than the mad old hermit he was really put her on edge at times.

Them and Meetra. But Revan couldn't remember the last time she had seen the Jedi Exile face to face.

"We restrained you because Dr. Chakwas was worried you were going to start thrashing in your sleep and hurt yourself," said the Commander slowly as though she were talking to a child. "You could have just talked to us rather than attacking us like a crazy person. We just wanted to help."

"I can't remember the last time anyone had my best interests in mind." Revan said calmly. Technically that wasn't entirely true. The Crew of the Ebon Hawk all cared about her, but most of them had joined because they had no other choice. Bastila join because of the Force Bond between the two of them. Juhani had been ordered to. Canderous had sworn a blood-oath to her. Big Z owed her a life debt and Mission had lost her home to the Sith. HK and T3; as much as she enjoyed their company; were fracking droids.

Something flashed across the commander's face. For a moment, Revan could have sworn she saw something akin to sorrow and pity flash across the red-head's face, but a moment later it was gone and the Commander was stern faced once more.

At least she's not glowing…, Jaina whispered in their shared mind with a nervous chuckle.

"Follow me," the commander snapped sternly. "Keep your hands at your sides. Any sudden moves and we put you down. Understood?"

"Perfectly, Commander." Revan said with a short nod.

---

Shepard

Sarah sighed as Chakwas scanned her wounds once again with her omni-tool. "Seriously Karen, I'm fine," she grumbled. "You're the one who got knocked out."

She had indeed been knocked out, but there was no bruise on the older woman. Not a single mark. Which was very strange.

"Oh, do stop whining. You have several broken ribs, a minor concussion and mild electrical burns along your chest and upper right arm. 'Fine' is the farthest thing from the truth." Chakwas said sternly as she applied an application of medi-gel to a small cut on Shepard's forehead.

The old doctor did have a point. Shepard felt like she had gone a dozen rounds with a Krogan in Blood-Rage and had lost every fight. If the security team hadn't shown up when they had…

Well, the masked bastard would've escaped, something he had seemed pretty desperate to do.

"You will need a week's worth of bed rest before you are cleared for field duty again. The implants Cerberus gave you seem to be accelerating your healing process, but broken bones still take time to repair themselves."

Shepard grumbled under her breath. She had all of eight hours before they arrived at Omega. She sure as hell didn't plan on lying in bed. She had too much to do. She needed to find Dr. Solus and pulled that Archangel guy's ass out of the fire, if T.I.M.'s intel was anything to go on. But first, she needed to deal with a problem located one floor down from her.

"Alright then, I'm done here. Do try and take it easy, lest you break something else. I'm heading down to check on our armored friend. You probably made her wounds worse, though I must admit, I'm rather impress she fought as well as she did with her injuries."

Shepard was only half-listening to Chakwas. Her whole body was pulsing in pain from the fight, her ribs pulsing painfully as she pulled her shirt back on.

"I'm coming with you, doc. I need to have a chat with that masked asshole." Shepard hopped off the table with a hiss as her injured ribs shifted slightly. There was no way in hell she was leaving the Alliance Doctor alone with that maniac.

"Yes, well…just be careful, Shepard," Chakwas said quietly. "She can be rather…persuasive."

Shepard stilled at the woman's tone. "And what does that mean?"

At Karen's silence, Shepard bristled with anger. "What did that bastard do to you?" she growled, taking an angry step towards the door. If he had done anything to Chakwas, Shepard was going to tear his fucking head off.

"She didn't hurt me, Commander. Quite the opposite. It was most unusual. She just asked me questions but…it was like a warm breeze rushed through my mind and suddenly I was completely incapable of lying." The older woman looked both intrigued and guilty. "I tried; I really did. But it was impossible. The next thing I knew, I was waking up on the bed with the alarms blaring."

How the hell is that possible? Sarah wondered. Could he have something that let him force people to tell the truth? Only thing I know of that could do that is… Shepard's face paled considerably and she immediately ran from the room. God-Fucking-Damn-It!

The Biotic N7 bolted to the ruined elevator; which actually still worked, but they had had to remove the door from when the masked man had punched Shepard hard enough to dent the metal under her spine. Chakwas stepped inside the elevator just as Sarah pressed the display. "Commander, what is going on?"

"The only thing that can control people like that is the Reapers."

But didn't Shiala say that indoctrination was like icy hooks in the mind? A rebellious part of Shepard brain whispered. Karen just said it was like a warm breeze that simply prevented her from lying, not that it forced her to do anything.

The paranoid part of her began kicking into overdrive. Was he some kind of advanced Reaper meant to infiltrate the galaxy and somehow ensure the Reapers return? She wasn't going to take that chance.

The lift stopped and Shepard wasted no time in turning right and striding to the garbage compactor room. Two guards stood outside the locked door; rifles held comfortably in their hands. She snatched her Carnifex pistol from her side.

"On me," she barked to the guards, who both nodded and readied their weapons. "EDI, open the door."

The red seal vanished and the door slid open with a silent hiss. She marched right in, the Guards flanking her and Chakwas just a step behind them. The man was in a kneeling position, armor clad hands resting on his thighs and his helmeted and hooded head bowed in what looked almost like meditation.

"Commander," he intoned as he raised his head slowly, voice coming out synthesized, likely to hide his identity more than the helmet did. "Decided to execute me after all?"

The voice sounded almost…resigned, as though he had been expecting such an action. Shepard felt her anger rise for a moment at his lack of faith before she remembered that she was holding a heavy pistol in her hand that was currently leveled at his red-black face plate.

"Who the hell are you?" she demanded, trying to see if he had the accursed purple-blue glow of Reaper tech anywhere on his body. She saw none, but his armor and robes hid everything. Chakwas would've sounded the alarm if he had any Reaper-class implants, that rebellious part of her whispered, urging her to lower her weapon. She ignored the voice.

"My name is Revan Kryze," he said calmly, head turning to each of her companions before landing on Karen. "Doctor, I apologize for earlier. I was rather confused. I hope I did not hurt you."

His head turned back to Sarah. "And you are Commander Sarah Shepard." She didn't bother asking how he know who she was. She was rather famous; or infamous, depending on who you were talking to.

"I'll ask you this once: Are you working for the Reapers?"

"Reapers?" the man's head tilted in what appeared to be confusion. "I am unfamiliar with that term. Are they a rival organization to this…Cerberus?"

Shepard was rather surprised by the amount of venom in the man's synthesized voice at the organization's name. it sounded like he REALLY did not approve of them.

"Do you have a way to prove you don't work for the Reapers?" She wasn't going to bother with an explanation on who they were. It would take too much time and she wasn't feeling particularly patient at the moment.

Revan made a movement with his head that gave her the impression that he had just rolled in eyes in annoyance. "How can I prove that when I don't know what they are?"

She had been right. His voice; synthetic as it was; was laced with annoyance and exasperation. And he had a point. So she tried something else.

"How did you force Dr. Chakwas to tell you the truth?"

The man's head turned to Karen for a moment before responding. "A simple Force technique that requires the wielder fill the subject's mind with their own and gently nudge the lies aside, making it impossible to do anything but speak truth."

"A what technique?" asked Shepard. A shiver ran through her body. The Force…, that voice whispered. You know what it is, Sarah.

She mentally squashed that voice and focused on the armored man before her.

"A Force technique…" She felt the man's eyes searching hers. "You don't know, do you?"

"Know what?" she snapped. This guy was starting to get on her nerves. "You talking about biotics?"

A tilt of his head suggested he didn't know what she was talking about. "You know, abilities created from being exposed to Element Zero that allows people to manipulate mass effect fields through the use of biotic implants?"

She activated her biotics, the blue glow overtaking her body as she reached out and enveloped a crate to the side, the metal box lifting off the ground as it glowed with the shimmering mass effect fields.

The man shook his head. "No. Most certainly not 'biotics.' The Force is an all-encompassing field of energy generated by every living being in the universe. It surrounds us and penetrates us. It binds the universe together. To those with a strong enough connection to the Force, it grants many different abilities. One of which is the simple Mind-Trick I used on Madam Chakwas down in the med bay, both to make her tell me the truth and to put her to sleep after I was done. Harmless, but rather effective. Another is the lightning I used on you during our confrontation."

A moment later, every object in the room; including Sarah, the guards and Chakwas; floated into the air, Shepard's body surrounded by an oddly familiar pressure that made the rebellious voice in her head practically croon as it touched her skin. A moment of levitation later, and they were gently set back down.

She had seen no tell-tale blue glow of mass effect fields around them nor the man.

"The Force does not require implants to use, nor does it require some foreign element in a person's body. The Force is a part of all living things, and as such all living things have the potential to be what is known as Force Sensative. I thought you of all people would know of the Force, Commander."

"Oh, yeah?" Sarah asked sardonically. "And why is that?"

"You yourself are Force Sensative, though I sense your abilities have been suppressed for some time. Possibly by another, more experienced Force Sensative, or from an extremely traumatic experience. Though your Biotics would explain that odd power I sense in you and your two compatriots."

Shepard's brain screeched to a halt. She was 'Force Sensative?' then it kicked back in by locking onto the second half of Revan's statement.

"Wait, sense? You can sense the eezo and this…Force…in me?"

A nod. "Yes. The Force allows for its wielders to sense many different things, your emotions being one such example. Your will is extremely strong, stronger than I've seen in a long time. It hides anything deeper than your strongest emotions from my senses. You companion on the other hand…" his head turned to the guard on her right. "His name is Jackson Jefferson. Born on a colony called New Harmony. He has two younger sisters, twins from the look of it. His father died in an industrial accident at work, his mother—"

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Jefferson screamed as he raised his weapon to his shoulder. Sarah put her hand on the guard's weapon and lowered it. "You're both dismissed." She said to the guards, Jefferson glaring at the armored man as his compatriot dragged him out of the room. Revan showed no signs of fear and simply bobbed his head.

"My apologies. I sometimes forget people find telepathy rather…disconcerting. Though admittedly my abilities are strong enough for me to sense things from a galaxy away. A gift that has gotten me into more trouble than I care to remember." The man chuckled coldly with a shake of his head. Reyna got the sense that that sensory ability of his had hurt people close to the man.

"How the hell did you do that?"

"The Force grants many abilities. It simply a matter of having a strong enough connection to the Force. I'm met people with so weak a connection that they could barely move a pebble without passing out from exhaustion."

How the hell was that possible? Her mind tried to come up with a way it could simply be a trick. But that part of her mind pushed her admittedly half-baked reasons away with a gentle push.

"It's not a trick."

"Stay out of my head!" Sarah snapped. She wasn't about to have someone she'd never met before rooting around in her head.

"I wasn't in your head. Your disbelief is written all over your face." The man slowly pushed himself to his feet, his robe whispering against the bulkhead as he made his way towards her. "If you need more proof…" he reached his hand out.

Her pistol was level with his head in a flash. "Not another step."

"Relax." He said soothingly, incredibly making her grip on her weapon relax for a moment. "If I wanted you dead, you would be dead."

Something in her gut; probably that voice that had been nagging her since Revan's arrival on her ship; told her to trust him, but she wasn't about to let her guard down. She wished she still had her sword. Much better for close quarters combat.

"One wrong move and you're dead."

He nodded slowly. "You'll feel a bit of pain in your ribs. I swear on my honor I'm not hurting you."

The man placed his armored glove on her injured ribs. Shepard yelped as pain erupted in her side, almost pulling the trigger on the man right there. Her mind screamed at her that he was attacking her somehow. Wait, the voice from before whispered. Just…wait.

She listened.

There was a minute of silence as the pain in her side quickly fled, drawing a gasp from the N7 as she looked down at her side, where Revan was removing his hand and taking three steps back. The pain was completely gone, not even a mild pulse. "Your ribs are now healed."

Her left hand released her weapon and shakily moved down to her side, where she hesitantly poked her formerly broken ribs. Nothing. Not even a twinge.

"How…?"

The man chuckled softly. "If you wish for a scientific explanation, there isn't one. Many have tried to make scientific or philosophical sense of the Force over the millennia. Most; myself included; simply accept that the Force is very real. And it is the Ultimate Power in the universe. There is little one cannot do with the Force at their side."

The man rolled his shoulders and cleared his throat, drawing Reyna's eyes from her side. "Now that I've answered your questions, I have one of my own. Just one."

"And that would be?" Shepard asked. She still didn't trust the armored warrior, but he had been rather forthcoming about his abilities. He could've hidden them, used them to his advantage to escape later. But he hadn't, and she respected that at the very least.

"Where in the nine Corellian Hells am I?"

---

Revan

The former Dark Lord of the Sith stared at the galaxy map filling the center of the CIC, the woman towering over the red-headed commander that stood next to her, regarding her armored form with guarded green eyes. Commander Shepard had told her that they were on their way to a space station called Omega in the Sahrabarik system. The names had meant nothing to the Jedi, so the Commander had taken her up to the CIC to show her the galaxy map.

Everything was wrong. Planets were in the wrong coordinates or not there at all. She could not see Coruscant, or Dantooine, or even Mandalore! With each passing moment, Revan's frustration rose, her hands clenching the metal railing before her with enough force to warp the metal under her fingers.

Nononononono! She thought shakily. This is NOT happening!

"I take it somethings not right?" the Commander tested, having heard the groaning of metal under the Jedi's fingers.

"Nothing is where it should be and planets are either missing or mislabeled. Where is Coruscant? Mandalore? And what in the name of the Force is this thing?" snarled Revan as she pulled up the object labeled Mass Effect Relay.

"That's the System Mass Relay." Revan saw Shepard giving her an incredulous look, as though she couldn't believe Revan had no idea what the machine was.

"And that is?"

"We use them to jump almost instantly between star systems."

Revan turned her head to the Soldier, who shifted uncomfortably under her gaze. "You mean to tell me that you need a device that large to make a single Hyperspace jump?" The very notion of it was insane. Every ship from light freighters like the Ebon Hawk to cruisers like that paranoid asshat's ship, the Paragon.

"Hyperspace?" Shepard tilted her head. "You mean FTL?"

"If you are referring to Faster-Than-Light travel, then yes." Revan turned back to the Galaxy Map and shook her head. This was getting ridiculous.

"Well we have FTL drives, but those are mostly used for short jumps. Most take years, decades even to travel between star systems. The drives are used mostly for jumps in-system."

Revan groan. "I'm surrounded by primitives…"

Her head slammed onto the rail.

"The hell's that supposed to mean?" Shepard snapped.

Revan turned her head to look at the Commander's angry green eyes. "Where I'm from, every single ship of sufficient size possesses Hyperdrives capable of jumping from one system to the next in a matter of hours. A few days at the most, depending on the distance between the two planets."

This is impossible. Whatever happened to us, it couldn't have jumped us to some undiscovered corner of the galaxy. The damn map shows the WHOLE galaxy! Jaina cried in Revan's head.

Revan froze as realization hit her like a supernova. That's just it. We're not in OUR galaxy. Think about it. Different levels of technology, different planets, and celestial bodies. Entire civilizations that we've never encountered before now? It all fits!

Oh…Kriffing hell…Mission is back in our galaxy being hunted by Carth and the Jedi…

If we're lucky, Juhani, Bastila, T3 and Big Z will keep her safe…since we no longer can…

"Commander…" Revan sighed as she pushed herself upright, turning to look down at the red-head. "I am not in my galaxy."

The Commander stared at the armored Jedi. "…Huh?"

"This map is completely different than the one on my own ship. No planets are the same. Your technology is fundamentally different. A simple freighter could be outfitted with a standard hyperdrive and get across the galaxy in a few days to a week, maybe more depending how often they had to change course to avoid crashing into planets, stars, and other celestial bodies, whereas your own vessels takes days to get from one galactic sector to another."

Disbelief was evident on Shepard's face. "You expect me to believe that?"

Green eyes stared at Revan intently, seemingly trying to glean any details. It was impossible, of course, thanks to her armor and helmet. It was the reason she wore a full suit of armor to begin with.

"I assume it is an accepted fact that there are other life-bearing galaxies out there, yes?" Revan asked, hoping that it was in fact, common knowledge.

Shepard nodded slowly.

"It is painfully clear that the level of technological advancement in this galaxy is not sufficient to travel between galaxies. The same it true in my galaxy." Revan's hand came up to grasp her chin thoughtfully. "Last I remember, I was working on a prototype hyperdrive engine to take my crew and I away from our galaxy to protect us all from the paranoia of our government. But I hadn't gotten anywhere near the building stage when I awoke in your med-bay. So it begs the question of how I got here…"

The commander was silent, processing Revan's words. A moment later, a synthesized female voice sounded over the intercom.

"Commander, I believe there may be merit to Revan's claims." Revan hadn't even taken into account that an AI might've been onboard the ship. "The power surge I detected earlier was likely the arrival of Revan's vessel."

The galaxy map vanished, replaced by the image of a crashed ship. A Fury-class Interceptor from the looks of it. Revan's silvery-blue eyes narrowed behind her visor. Jaina?

Don't look at me, her Light-Side Alter huffed.

Darth Revan's cold voice cut in, her voice like cold steel through Revan's mind. It is possible we are missing time. Last thing we remember, we had just helped Mission fall asleep after one of her night terrors. Somewhere between then and now, we must have finished the intergalactic Hyperdrive. But unseen circumstances forced us to us it before it was properly tested. Undoubtedly, that fool Carth forced our hand. We should have killed him when we had the chance.

"The level of power registered is far higher than any ever recorded by any of the space faring races of our time. The energy levels recorded are equal to the power of twenty fully functioning Mass Relays working in tandem." The AI continued, oblivious to Revan's internal conversation.

"You really believe him EDI?" the Commander asked, her brilliant green eyes never leaving the armored Jedi.

Revan bit her lip to keep from snorting in amusement. She often forgot that her armor and helmet made it difficult for people to discern her gender. Her size, musculature and her helmet's vocal modulator probably didn't help. And evidently, the Doctor hadn't had the chance to alert the Commander of her gender.

"The theory of cross-galaxy travel is a question of distance. While it would be impossible to reach a neighboring galaxy with our current FTL capabilities, it is possible that a device with enough power and a ship to withstand the speeds could achieve the velocity required to make it across Dark Space within the pilot's lifetime. However, since Revan's vessel was destroyed, I cannot be certain of anything."

While Revan wasn't exactly a fan of being monitored, she was momentarily thankful for the AI's input. Due to her own actions, she doubted the Commander would believe anything that came out of her mouth that easily. If Revan was truly in a different galaxy, then what was she to do now? How was she supposed to get home? By EDI's own words, it would take twenty of those Mass Effect Relays working together to generate enough power to send her home, and that was AFTER she figured out where the kriff home even was.

Suddenly, the life she and her ragtag family had been living didn't seem so bad. True, they were always on the run thanks to the Order and that moron Carth, but at least they had been together. She had had a purpose: protect Mission and find a way to get the Order and the Republic off their backs so they could live in peace. Now? Now she was separated from her family in a galaxy with tech far less advanced than what she had grown up around.

There were possibilities of course. Her powers, her intelligence and cunning, her skills gave her many options. If she wanted to, she probably could've killed everyone on the ship. Or bend most of them to her will and kill the rest. Then probably go conquer this new galaxy. That's what Darth Revan would've done. But what was the point in that? Power for power's sake had never interested Revan, Darth or otherwise. Power always had a purpose and taking over this primitive galaxy just wasn't worth it. From what memories she had recovered, she knew that her whole reason for attacking the Republic in the first place was to make it strong enough to stand against the True Sith Empire that hid beyond the Outer Rim in Dark Space. After she had been dragged back to the Light, her only reason for pulling on the Dark Side of the Force was to have the strength to stand against Malak's madness.

Jaina would've just asked to be dropped off at the nearest space port so she could snatch a ship and get lost in the Big Black. Go on back to the life of a smuggler rather than living the life of some 'hero'.

All Revan had now was power and no reason to use it. She nearly snorted as she stared at the Galaxy Map. Malak and the Sith would not have minded the situation. They would've jumped at the chance to build their own empires in this seemingly primitive galaxy, wreaking havoc across the stars until they had it exactly how they wanted it. But even as Darth Revan, she had never been like them. She had never truly been Sith and she had never fully given in to the Dark Side.

So, what was she now?

Despite herself, despite what she left behind, she felt a weight lift from her shoulders. No longer did she have to fight for a Republic that was so mired in corruption that it would fail within the century. No more would she have to try and open the eyes of a bunch of stuffed robes who were so set in their ways it was the equivalent of trying to get a mountain range to turn into an ocean.

With her gone, Canderous would go to Dxun and claim Mandalore's Mask and Darksaber. With those in hand, he would reunite the Mandalorians and ready them for the coming storm. Her people would be great again. They would be Warriors, not mongrel hounds chomping at the bit to conquer the galaxy.

Bastila, Juhani and Jolee would take Mission and Zaalbar and find some hidden place for them to fade from the minds of the Jedi. The Force Users would wait a few years before they began recruiting and would forge a new Order, one that did not see the Force as two very different sides. They would teach the new order to wield the Force in its entirety.

By all rights, the galaxy was ready for the True Sith, even if that fool Carth was still flying around looking for her.

So why had the weight suddenly gotten even more crushing? Perhaps it was—

"Hey, you okay?"

Revan snapped back to reality at the Commander's voice. She turned to face the crimson-haired woman; the surprise of hearing concern in the woman's voice doubled at the sight of that concern written across her features, softening them from the glare she had been giving her.

"I…Commander, may I have some time alone?" she asked, fighting to keep her voice level as she spoke around the lump in her throat. "There is much for me to consider."

"Only if you promise not to attack everyone again."

Revan almost snorted in spite of herself. "I apologize for that. I promise you I mean no harm. I simply…need time to think."

"You can have the compactor room for now. And EDI will be monitoring you at all times."

Revan bowed her head. "I understand, Commander. Thank you." She didn't blame the Commander for treating her with suspicion. She was more surprised the woman wasn't locking her up. Sarah Shepard was a rather interesting woman.

The former Dark Lord turned on her heel and headed to the elevator, riding it down two levels to the room Shepard had mentioned, EDI thankfully lighting a path for her to follow on the floor.

She had much to consider. She had gone from being the former Dark Lord of the Sith, Empress of her own Sith Empire, a redeemed Jedi Knight who actually wanted to be a Kriffing Jedi, a pseudo parent to a Tarisian street rat, part time smuggler and Force only knew what else she had gotten up to…to no one.

She was just a strange woman with strange powers in a strange galaxy.

Although, this galaxy did have its own strange powers. The biotics the Commander had used in their fight were most interesting, if a bit perplexing. How a mineral that was used for fuel could give people powers was beyond her.

So much of Revan's life had been spent fighting for the Republic, whether as a Jedi fighting against her own people in defense of the civilian's incapable of fighting for themselves, or as a Sith Lord hell bent on conquering the galaxy to protect from a far greater threat. Every thing she had ever done, every choice she had ever made; no matter how evil it had seemed; had been made to protect the Republic from true Evil.

But all that was gone now. Her life's purpose gone, her makeshift family gone, her hope of being there when the Sith returned to the galaxy crushed. Her hope of seeing her people restored to their former glory turned to ash.

While there was a miniscule chance of finding a way home, Revan didn't want to create false hope. She would learn as much as she could about this new galaxy, about its technology. Once she knew if there was any hope of her ever returning home, she would decide on what to do, although for the life of her, she hadn't the foggiest idea what that would be.

---

Shepard

Sarah sat in her cabin, reviewing the new dossier that the Illusive man had just sent her. Zaeed Massani, a mercenary with a pretty fearsome reputation. While normally, she wouldn't even consider having a merc on her team, she recognized that she needed people with extensive combat experience to fight the Collectors.

That, and Wrex had been a mercenary when they had first met, and she trusted the old Krogan with her life. She'd just have to judge this 'Zaeed' herself when they met him. She always had been pretty good at reading people.

Sarah glanced over to her second screen, which displayed the security feed in the compactor room. Revan sat at the table, working on a portable terminal that had brought down for him. According to EDI, he had been researching the Mass Relays, FTL technology and galactic history for the last five hours.

Sarah had dozed off a bit after Revan had moved into the compactor room and had been woken by EDI to grant him permission to use the terminal, the AI promising to alert her the instant the armored warrior began looking into anything suspicious.

She was still having difficulty accepting the fact that he was from a different galaxy. While EDI had claimed that it was technically possible, it didn't help alleviate her skepticism. It was frankly completely insane.

However, her curiosity about the man hadn't abated in the slightest. Especially about the powers he wielded. The display in the compactor room had been impressive. He had lifted everything in the room; herself, Karin and the guards included; without so much as a twitch. He had also healed her; and likely himself; as through it were the easiest thing in the galaxy.

Then his other abilities during their fight. When he had punched her in the elevator, it had felt like…well a punch from a Blood-Raging Krogan hurt less than what Revan had delivered. It had driven the air from her lungs and nearly knocked her flat. She had had to summon every last ounce of her Biotic power to Charge him.

She had always been an extremely gifted Biotic for a human. The Academy itself had had to adjust the scales on their power grading when she had first arrived. The head of the Academy's Biotic division; Matriarch Giselle on loan from the Asari Republic to help the race who was newest to Biotics; had often compared Sarah's Biotic strength with that of a Asari Matriarch at the best of times. While she didn't have the same level of control as a Biotic Adept, no one could challenge her in terms of raw power.

Not even a Biotic Krogan could challenge her. Wrex had extremely surprised when she had knocked him flat during one of their sparring sessions. When she had Charged into Revan during their fight, she had hoped it would've ended the fight then and there. But came the lightning, surging from his freaking fingers to fling her across the hangar. She had slammed into the crates with enough force she had cracked her ribs on the hard metal and had given her one hell of a headache.

If the crew hadn't arrived when they had, she was fairly certain Revan would've beaten her about the room even more. And honestly…Sarah suspected that Revan had been holding back during the fight. She didn't have proof, but the man just oozed power. It was as if it radiated off him and seeped into everything around him. His stride was strong and confident, no arrogance in sight. One look and even with all the armor and cloth hiding his features, Shepard could tell he was a supremely deadly adversary.

A quick glance at the security feed showed Revan still at his seat. What the hell was she going to do about him? He had attacked her crew without provocation, though what he said during her interrogation stuck with her. He had said that no one in his galaxy would have helped him had they found him like she had.

I can't remember the last time anyone had my best interests in mind, Shepard though back on the words. They had surprised her at the time, and despite her anger at Revan attacking her crew, she sympathized with them. That was her life in a nutshell. No one ever cared about Sarah Shepard's best interests, only their own. The crew of the SR1 had come to care about like family, but everyone else were more than happy to send her into hell if it got them what they wanted. That had helped her decision to let him live, that and the fact that while he had attacked her crew, none of them had been killed or even severely injured. He had also surrendered when it was more than obvious that he didn't need to.

She couldn't image what it could feel like to be in his situation, taken away from everything and everyone you know and love. Actually, she could. She had died, leaving everything she knew and loved behind to move on without her. To be thrown into another galaxy out of the blue…well that would suck. That was the only other moment of compassion she had for the man, after he had explained where he was from as he alternated between staring at the Galaxy Map and banging his head on the guard rail. She could only imagine what had been going through his head. She knew for a fact that she would've been a wreck, and for a moment she had felt sorry for him. Then she remembered that he had attacked them.

Honestly, that was the only reason she hesitated to help him. Otherwise, she would have jumped in feet first to at the very least help get him on his feet. But now she was questioning everything about him. If his first instinct was to attack, could she really trust him?

A part of her brain argued that maybe he had a reason to attack. Maybe he was being hunted for whatever reason in his galaxy, which is why he'd rather fight first and ask questions later? She didn't know. The majority of her brain didn't care.

Sarah sighed as she ran her hand down her face. The whole situation was too damned complicated. Maybe she should just dump Revan on Omega and be done with it so she could focus on stopping the Collectors.

"Commander," EDI's voice coming from the speakers above her head made her jolt in her seat. "Revan is requesting to speak with you."

Shepard looked over to the security camera. He wasn't in his seat. She flicked through the feeds until she found him, the man's armored bulk standing in the elevator.

"Let him come up," she answered the AI. Shepard made sure her pistol was within reach on her desk. She was curious as to what the man could want. After their fight, he seemed decent enough, but there was something about him that was just a bit off. Not to mention the way that power of his had made her brain practically dance when he had lifted her off the ground.

"Come in," she said as there was a knock on the door. She spun in her chair as the door slid open with a quiet hiss, Revan entering her quarters with confident strides, his robes whispering like the wind as he came to a stop in front of her.

"Before you say anything," she said quickly, "take off that mask. I won't have another conversation with you unless I can see your eyes."

She didn't like talking to people who hid their faces; the obvious exception being Quarians, seeing as they didn't have a choice in the matter.

The man stilled for a moment before giving a silent nod. Without a word, his hand moved up to flip back his black hood, his armored gloves grasping his helmet on either side of his head. He must've pressed something, because there was a small hiss of pressurized air as he lifted the red-black helm free.

Shepard blinked several times in rapid succession. Oh…

"You're a woman," she blurted, cursing herself silently for sounding like an ass. But in her defense, Revan's armor and robes did make her seem pretty bulky. There was no sign at all to her gender.

Revan however didn't seem to be insulted in the slightest. The corner of her red lips quirked upwards slightly as she raised a dark eyebrow and looked down at herself. "No, really?" she asked, a tinge of amusement in her voice. "I hadn't noticed. Thank the Force you told me before I made a fool of myself."

The woman's voice had a thick Australian-like accent, strong and smoky. And sexy, Sarah thought privately as she forced down a blush.

Sarah took a moment to look over the other woman. Revan had strong features, angular and well defined with smooth bronze skin. Her black hair was a wild mane with several Viking-style braids about the crown of her head. The black tresses were tinged with a deep, almost blood-red towards the ends. Her eyes were like diamonds, a brilliant silvery-blue that held the pain of war behind them. The woman had a thick scar over her right eye; a slash from a thin blade from the look of it; and a narrow slash across her left cheek bone.

"Sorry for the confusion," Sarah apologized. It was understandable. She would've been pissed if someone thought she was a guy.

Revan placed her helmet under her left arm and waved her free right. "Its fine. With the helmet, it's difficult for people to tell I'm a woman."

"Voice modulator doesn't help," Sarah pointed out.

"That's the point of it."

"So, what did you want?" Sarah asked, filing the comment away for later. They might as well get right to the point. She needed to deal with the problem so she could focus on the Collectors.

"Well, I've been looking into your technology. Those…'Mass Relays'… are interesting pieces of engineering. But what I've discovered is that with this galaxy's level of technological advancement, I estimate it would take me about three hundred years to build a hyperdrive strong enough to send me home in a timely fashion." There was levity in her voice, but Revan's eyes were hard as the diamonds they mimicked.

"Are you sure?" Sarah asked carefully.

Revan nodded. "Positive. The FTL drives you currently use are about a hundred times weaker than the ones we had back home." Was Revan's technology really so superior to their own? Shepard filed that away to pass over to the Alliance later on.

"For what its worth, I'm sorry," Sarah said softly. "I can't imagine what its like." Despite getting off to a bad start, she really meant it. No matter her personal issues with the woman, Revan was in a shit situation.

"Thank you. But this leaves me at a loss. I know very little about this galaxy, its inhabitants, its customs. It is very different from my own."

"So…what will you do?"

"That depends on you, Commander."

Sarah stilled, emerald eyes locking with diamond. "Me?" Was Revan really asking what Sarah thought she was asking? Yes, she needed help, but she didn't know if she could trust the warrior-woman.

"When I was…" Revan cleared her throat, cheeks tinged pink in embarrassment, "…asking your doctor questions, she mention that you were investigating attacks on human colonies. I would know the details."

"Why?" Shepard needled.

Suddenly, diamond eyes were intense, focused like that of a predator. "Because for the first time in my life, I have no purpose. I would have one again."

Seems reasonable, Sarah thought to herself. She doesn't even have a job, and just from our little bout earlier, I doubt she'd be content as a bartender on Omega. Should I tell her? Her powers could be useful, but there's still the trust issue. Maybe I should tell her, tell her everything I've got and see how she reacts. Hell, if anything it'll certainly be fun to watch if she decided to join the Council and declare me a lunatic.

"A race called the Collectors is abducting entire human colonies in a section of space call the Terminus Systems. It's outside the jurisdiction of the Alliance and the Council so it isn't being actively investigated." Shepard was surprised to see Revan's diamond eyes harden as she set her helmet on the desk and leaned on the arm of the sofa next to her, crystal eyes thoughtful as her right hand cupped her chin while her left supported her right arm.

"Not even a token force to investigate?" Revan muttered, seemingly to herself. "If that be the case, then could the Council be working with these 'Collectors'?" Shepard was surprised to see the woman's mind go in that direction. She opened her mouth to correct her when— "or they're simply idiots who are ignoring things as politicians do."

Shepard nearly snorted in amusement at the sudden image of Sparatus, Tevos, and Valern wearing old fashioned Dunce Caps.

After a moment to compose herself, Sarah cleared her throat, Revan snapping to attention as the muttering stopped. "Apologies, Commander. I tend to drift off when thinking."

Sarah waved a hand dismissively. "Its fine. But no. They're just a bunch of pain in the ass politicians who ignore having hard evidence shoved in their faces."

"Personal experience?"

Sarah nodded. "Yes. Two years ago, my old team and I stop an invasion of extremely intelligent machines known as the Reapers. They pass through every fifty thousand years to wipe out all technologically advanced sentient life. The council believes that the Reaper that was here was nothing more than a Geth dreadnought, despite constant evidence to the contrary being shoved in their faces by yours truly. That said, I believe the Collectors are working for the Reapers."

The only reaction she got that time was a slight narrowing of the eyes and a feint tilt of the head. Does she actually believe me?

"The Reapers are currently locked out in Dark Space, beyond the Outer Rim." At that, Revan's eyes flickered with what looked like recognition, the diamond orbs darkening at some obscure memory. "I believe the Collectors are working on a way to bring the Reapers through."

Revan remained silent, diamond eyes locked on Sarah's emerald green with an intense gaze. "Are you reading my mind?" Sarah asked carefully after a minute or two of silence.

"Not possible. As I said earlier, your will is extremely strong. It would take a great deal of concentration and no small effort for me to grasp even the loudest of your thoughts. All I can sense from you are your most obvious emotions and intentions. In any case, I believe you." Her voice was completely level, and combined with her intense stare, Shepard laughed.

"Are you serious?" She really didn't know why she was laughing, probably from the stress. Or maybe the idea of believing her crazy story was funny, because it was honestly just a bit cracked.

At her laugh, Revan raised a brow at Sarah. "I have no reason to not believe you. You don't come across as someone who would spin a grand lie. Plus, as far as I know, you gain nothing by lying to me."

That's fair.

"So Commander, I'd like to offer my services. This galaxy is in grave danger and I would do what I can to protect it."

"Why?" It was all Sarah could ask. Why in the hell would someone not only believe her story, but also offer to help her on what was essentially a suicide mission? What the hell could Revan possibly hope to gain by helping her?

"Because I have been where you are now, Commander. Back against the wall with no backup and a seemingly unstoppable army on the verge of returning to bring death and destruction to the galaxy I am sworn to protect. You need help to stop these Reapers from destroying the galaxy you are sworn to protect, and seeing as I'm stuck here, should I not fight to preserve what will be my home for the foreseeable future?"

Revan's eyes had darkened to a stormy gray, and all signs of levity had vanished from her countenance. It was a rather intimidating sight when mixed with both her bulk and the knowledge of the abilities she possessed.

"I don't know if I can trust you," Sarah said flatly. "You've really haven't given me a good reason to. I know almost nothing about you. For all I know, you could be some murdering asshole back in your galaxy."

That was obviously a mistake to say, as Revan's face instantly twisted into an angry snarl and everything in her cabin began to shake dangerously, the hull groaning ominously as an intense pressure began pressing down on Shepard. "Accuse me of such a thing again, Commander, and you will have made yourself a very dangerous enemy. Do I make myself clear?" Revan growled out, diamond eyes burning into her own with the intensity of a raging supernova. "Everyone who fell by my blade, power, or blaster deserved to die a hundred times over. I am sworn to protect those who cannot protect themselves and destroy anyone who dares threaten innocent life."

Sarah gaped silently at the woman as she visibly calmed herself, her face becoming to a more neutral, stoic expression and diamond eyes losing their intensity. In a completely neutral voice, Revan said, "My abilities in the Force, my skill as a warrior, technical expertise and experience as a general in my military would be of tremendous aid to you."

Sarah took several deep breaths to calm her rapidly beating heart from the display of power Revan had just revealed. Once her heart had slowed down a reasonable amount, she spoke. "That doesn't change the face that I don't know you. I won't have a total unknown roaming freely about my ship, nor trust you to watch my back."

"Everyone is a stranger at some point, Commander," the woman intoned. "Even your original crew were strangers at one point. Unless you mean to tell me you knew every last person since the day you were born."

"Most strangers don't attack me and my crew!" Shepard growled out, starting to get annoyed with the woman. It was actually annoying her how Revan had gone from pissed to completely calm in no time at all. "How the hell do you expect me to trust you after that? I know nothing about you, how could I not question your motivations? You attacked my people; for no good reason; and forced Karin to answer your questions by fucking with her head! Why the hell should I trust you?" Shepard was now just shy of yelling at the woman.

"I admitted my mistake, Commander," Revan said, her voice never once wavering from the cool as ice tone. "Even so, I took a non-lethal approach during my mistake. If I had wished you or your crew dead, they would be dead."

"And that's supposed to make me feel better!? Just because you say you're sorry doesn't undo what happened!"

"Actions cannot be undone, Commander." Revan shot back as though she were speaking to a child, her eyes narrowing slightly. "I admitted to my mistake, offered my apologies and now offer my assistance against an enemy that you can't afford to be picky about and you use my mistake as a reason to turn me away?"

Sarah glared at the woman for a minute. If she looked at the situation with pure logic, then Revan was correct. Everything she had done, she had technically fixed. She hadn't even harmed Chakwas, apart from making the woman uneasy.

But Shepard couldn't look at it like that. Even if she hated Cerberus with a passion, the people on the SR2 were her crew, and therefore under her command. She didn't easily forgive and attack on her crew, regardless of the circumstances. Actions spoke louder than words, and Revan's first instinct to attack strangers had sent up massive red flags.

"I don't know," Shepard said flatly. "Even if I could forgive what happened, it still doesn't make me trust you."

"Good," Revan snapped, frustration evident in her tone. "Instant trust is foolish. I'm not asking you to trust me straight off the bat. I admit that I made a mistake by attacking your people. I understand that you do not trust me because of it. So let me EARN your trust by aiding you in your fight against the Reapers. One way or another, I'll end up fighting them. This way, I fight on your terms and no one else's. and if you cannot trust me then don't. Simply use me as a weapon to destroy whatever lay in your path to victory."

"I never work with anyone unless I trust them." She said the words automatically, wincing internally as she realized how false they were. She didn't trust Cerberus in the slightest, and yet she was working with them. Hell, after everything she had seen of their experiments during her hunt for Saren, she hated the former Alliance Black Ops organization. She still didn't trust Miranda and Jacob, and yet she was willing to go out into the field with them.

So why couldn't she bring herself to accept Revan's offer? As Revan had pointed out, it wasn't about trust. The woman had even said that she didn't need to trust her right off the bat to use her as a weapon. Perhaps it was because she was so willing to help when her motivations were completely unknown. At least with Cerberus, Sarah knew that they wanted to stop the Collectors, since they were targeting humans and Cerberus was a pro-human group. She could use that at the very least.

Cerberus had already invested a massive amount of money and resources into helping her. Hell, they had brought Sarah back from the dead for the sole purpose of stopping the Reapers. Those were actions that showed that she could trust them that far at the very least.

Revan, on the other hand, was a total mystery. She came from another galaxy and instantly tries to pledge herself to a war. It didn't make any sense. Anyone else would have liked to get their bearings first at the very least. Maybe she had simply gone far too long with people refusing to believe the Reapers were a real threat, but it still didn't sit well with her. How could she trust someone who attacked total strangers?

Revan

Revan stared at the Commander, trying not to let her annoyance show too much. She was more than aware that the woman didn't trust Cerberus as far as she could see them, yet she would work with them while refusing the aid of someone who was freely offering their extensive combat experience and powers unlike anything this galaxy had ever seen. The woman was starting to come across as a massive hypocrite. Just was exactly was the woman's problem with her?

At that point in time, trust shouldn't have mattered. If the Reapers were truly as dangerous as Shepard claimed, then she didn't have the luxury of being picky about her allies. You didn't need to trust people instantly to work with them.

Trust is foolish anyways, Darth Revan growled. To trust is to leave yourself open to betrayal.

Revan ignored her Dark Side Alter. Was the woman really so foolish? That she would put her need to trust the people around her ahead of saving a galaxy? Perhaps she wasn't worthy of the Jedi's help after all.

Don't tell me she's getting hung up on the attacking the crew thing! Jaina groused in her head. You said you were sorry!

Revan snorted internally at Jaina's grumbling, keeping her face set in a slightly annoyed glare. During her hours of studying the galaxy's technology, she had spent a fair bit of time thinking about the Commander; Jaina and DR offering their thoughts to her internal ramblings whenever they got the chance. There was something strange about the Commander, and the Jedi wasn't just talking about her suppressed Force connection. Something within the Force itself was trying to tell her something about the red-head. If she had been an average person, Revan wouldn't have given her a second thought.

It was at times like this that the former Sith Lord wished the Force was more straight forward in what it wanted from her and just told her its plan so she could stop trying to guess its intentions. It worked in ways no one could understand, and things like this situation infuriated the Mandalorian Jedi to no end.

No matter what the Force may have been trying to tell her, Revan still couldn't get over her own feelings towards the Commander at the moment. If the woman wouldn't accept help when freely offered, could Revan really trust her to save the galaxy?

If Revan wanted to fight against the Reapers and their slaves, then she could strike out on her own. True, this galaxy was foreign to her, but she was smart, resourceful, and had the military cunning to make it work on her own.

Yet here she was, trying to gain the approval of this woman who was driving her up the wall with her stubbornness. It frankly reminded her of Meetra. Why? Why am I trying so hard to convince this woman to take me on? Revan growled to herself, giving her Alters the mental equivalent of a 'shut up' glare. To hell with this! The Commander can find someone else to help her stop a galactic level apocalypse! I'll find my own way!

"Very well," Revan said, keeping her voice level as she stood, scooping her helmet off the desk. "I'll not stay where I'm not wanted. I'll depart at your next stop."

"Fine," Shepard said, her voice devoid of any emotion and her face set in a firm glare.

"Good luck with your war." Revan growled out as she slammed the helmet back on her head, pulling her hood back up over her head as she turned towards the door. Just because the Force is trying to tell me something about her doesn't mean I'm about to bend over backwards to try and please the woman. I'll do what I do best: fight through hell and high water to save the galaxy and not give a damn about what people might believe about her.

---

I LIIIIIIIVE!

Before you all grab the torches an pitchforks, let me explain: MY BRAIN EFFING SUCKS!

I keep picking up where I left off on my other active stories, only for my brain to shut down after a few words. Then; whilst browsing Pintrest; i found the image i'm using for this story and thought: 'Huh, that'll be an AWESOME STORY!' So yeah, now i have this up. Now let me make this perfectly clear: I AM NOT ABANDONING ANY OF THE OTHER STORIES I ALREADY HAVE UP. I'm just now starting to get back into the groove, so please try and be patient with me.

Now then to the inevitable questions.

Q1: Why is Revan an Mando?
A1: I thought it would be an interesting twist for Revan to fight her own people during the Mandalorian War, throw a more personal stake in there.

Q2: What's up with Darth Revan and Jaina?
A2: Simple. The mind is an extremely adaptable thing. it is actually not uncommon for someone to create an alternate personality to protect themselves from extreme trauma, ie: Vitiate screwing with Revan's head to make her Sith or the Jedi reprograming her to essentially make her a slave to their will. AND YES THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT THE COUNCIL DID TO HER! Anyone who says otherwise has obviously never played KOTOR or read anything about Revan to begin with.

Q3: Why is Shepard Force Sensative and will there be others?
A3: Because i thought it would be freaking awesome for Shep to become a Force Using powerhouse to really screw with Cerberus and the Reapers when ME3 comes around. And there will be other Force Users, however I haven't decided who yet. PM me for suggestions!

Now then, that's all i have for today, since it is currently 12:06 in at night right now and i've been working on this ever since i got off work at 1:00 pm. I SHALL SEE YOU ALL IN THE NEXT CHAPTER!