Chapter 6
meeting the crew and first mission
So here part six, where Lena became an official part of the crew and embark on her first mission: freeing Jack. How will it end?
As always I am not gaining anything from all of this etcetera etcetera
p.s. thanks to the guest that noticed the grammar mistake in the description. Solved now
Normandy s-r 2. One hour after Lena's liberation
"So this is your ship." commented Lena looking at the deck of the Normandy with Raina next to her. The intern of the ship was in a way similar to Aran's, but even her untrained eyes noticed that it was far more advanced that the smuggler's one. All around her men and women of various age and rank milled and worked near dozens of terminals or simply walked with data-pads in hand searching for someone; one of said person, a redhead with a cheerful expression immediately reached Shepard with the newcomers and greeted them after noticing their presence.
"Welcome back commander! I assume the mission was a success?"
"It was Kelly." answered Shepard with a grin. Mordin and Garrus had already left for their stations so he was alone with Lena and Raina right now. "She is Lena, previously known only as the Ripper. I have to discuss some details with her so could you please show Raina their room?" Kelly noticed only now that Lena had some company and for a second remained mesmerized by Raina's beauty
"What? Who is?" asked the counsellor confused
"She is my daughter." finished Lena curtly "Is this a problem?"
"No no! Just surprised." answered Kelly with a smile and lowering herself to Raina's level.
"Hello princess, what is your name?"
"R-Raina." simply said the child a bit scared by the newcomer's cheerful behavior
"Aaah, you have such a cute voice!" cooed Kelly with a smile and gently grabbed her hand.
"Do not worry for her Lena." Shepard assured Lena "Kelly is unable to even harm an ant. She will treat her as if she is made of porcelain."
Raina for a second tried to avoid her but Lena gently encouraged her with a smile. This convinced the child that finally took Kelly's hand and let her guide her next to an elevator at the end of the room.
They quickly disappeared from Lena's eyes, Kelly cheerfully discussing with Raina and gently guiding her without being too forceful.
"Now, let's discuss about your payment. I have already a sum in my mind but I am open for negotiations. My Co is already inside her office, ready to finish the deal."
"Right, the deal." sighted Lena "Let's get on with it."
One hour later. Miranda's room
"Half a million credits." said a tall brunette with icy eyes seated on a chair near Lena; the girl's name was Miranda Lawson and, apparently, was both some kind of second in command and a warrior; an interesting person surely, but there was something strange about her, some kind of feeling of kinship that the Claymore was unable to understand. It did not helped the fact that said girl looked at her as if she was some kind of challenge of her own existence.
She was holding on her hands a data-pad waiting for Lena to sign it. "This is quite the sum but Shepard assured me that you deserve every single bit. Just sign here" Lena signed the pad, with some difficulty because she was better at reading than writing but no one commented about that if they noticed.
"Now the contract is signed. You will receive the sum tomorrow inside your omni-tool account. Good to have you aboard agent Lena, now if you do not mind I have some paper work to do now so could you please leave my office?" It was an order masqueraded as a request and both of them quickly complied.
"Colder than the ice of the north." commented Lena when they were out of Miranda's office. Shepard simply laughed at this
"Miranda?! Yes she is but I have to admit that she is the best Co I have ever met. Talking about something else: are you sure you want to keep your daughter inside the ship? Now you know what are we fighting. This ship is not a safe place for her."
"And where would that safe place be?" retaliated Lena "She is like me, with the only difference that I can defend myself while she cannot, yet. The only place where she is truly safe is near me." Lena crossed her arms in a definitive manner
"As I said this is not negotiable."
Shepard yielded in defeat.
"Fine, I can recognize a lost cause when I see one. I will tell Kelly to give you a hand; raising a child inside a space ship is not easy, I know this by experience, but with some luck she will fit just fine. Now, my first order as your commander is to go to the infirmary and be checked up by our doctor." Lena stopped moving for a moment.
"Is there some problem Lena." Lena bit her lip, nervous.
"It is just….doctors are the people that made me into what I am today, and not by choice. I do not love them." Shepard looked at her in sympathy but refused to budge.
"I understand your uncertainty but Karin is not some kind of evil-nazi doctor and does not want to open your body as a tin can all while laughing maniacally. She is the best and most compassionate doctor of the entire Alliance and has all my trust." Noticed that the girl's face was still marred with uncertainty he decided to be a bit more forceful.
"This is not negotiable." he said, using her own words
"…. As you wish Shepard." said Lena departing from the commander. After some second she stopped confused
"Eem, where is the infirmary?" she asked. Shepard almost face palmed, he should have expected that.
"EDI, accompany agent Lena to the infirmary." said Shepard to no one and miraculously a floating blue ball appeared near Lena and started talking to her all while creating various arrows pointing somewhere.
"Miss Lena, follow the arrows please. They will bring you to the infirmary." Lena jumped on her place and looked at the floating ball as if was some kind of monster.
"Ah yes, we have an artificial intelligence inside the ship. Lena, she is EDI. EDI, Lena." said Shepard wrongfully believing to understand why she was so surprised and scared.
-A….what?!- thought a flabbergasted Lena. She had some basic knowledge of this strange, new universe thanks to T'Von but this was on a whole new level. A living yet artificial creature?
"Pleasure to meet you agent Lena. I assure you that I will not kill you in your sleep." Said this EDI, maybe trying to break the ice. Lena simply looked at her incredulous for a second, then shrugged.
"You know what Shepard, do not tell me anything. It does not matter at this point. Well, lead the way...miss EDI." Shepard smiled amused by Lena's reaction. That had been an interesting conversation to say the least.
Finding the infirmary in the end proved to be quite easy, it was one of the few doors in the second deck of the ship, just right by the mess hall. Upon entering inside the small white room filled with scanners, beds and medicines an elderly woman on her fifties with silver hairs greeted her with motherly voice, still powerful and strong despite the age. She was dressed with a for-fitting white coat adorned with a strange, golden symbol on her left shoulder and was currently sitting on a chair next to a desk. Lena needed only a glance to see the steel inside her; this woman was not to be trifled with.
"Miss Lena? Greetings, I am Karin Chackwas, chief doctor of the ship. Shepard warned me about your arrival and your….distrust about people like me. I understand your reasons and I will assure that I will only make some superficials scans, just what is necessary to know if you are healthy. I am sure that we will be done in a second."
A bitter smile crept on Lena's face. She doubted about that.
The girl gracefully sit on one of the medical bed, waiting for the doctor.
"Have I to strip?" asked with neutral tone.
"Please yes, dear." Answered the doctor while grabbing some strange devices. "I assure you I have no ill intention. Besides you can kill me with a finger without breaking a sweat if I ever tried."
Lena sighted and stripped from her shirt, revealing the giant scar possessed by all the Claymores. The doctor visibly paled but, on her honor, did not flinched and started to work.
Two hours later
The scans and examinations were finally completed and Lena was already dressing up. In the mean time the good doctor did something completely out of her character, but necessary this time: she took a bottle of Serrice from her personal canteen and gulped a long shot. She never did something like this, something so unprofessional, but what she discovered from Lena, both by scanning her body and speaking with her, left the good doctor's blood frozen.
The girl, Lena, had been infected by some kind of hype-aggressive parasitic creature unknown to any biological records; said parasite had invaded most of Lena's body, concentrating mostly of the girl's brain but leaving in the end no single cell of her untouched.
Besides changing the color of her eyes and hairs, essentially making the girl an albino, the parasite was able to dramatically increase her muscle mass and bone density beyond human limits, essentially temporary transforming Lena in another creature entirely, at the price of terrible physical and mental stress capable of breaking even the most trained people in the galaxy. But what really disgusted Karin was that someone had done this to Lena purposely.
A surgeon, Karin immediately recognized the signs on Lena's chest. A surgeon that performed his disgusting work on tied up children (Lena during the check-in had told her that she had been submitted to this treatment at the age of five and not voluntarily), opened them without anesthesia or proper equipment and even refused to mend them in a decent way! Karin could not still believe at the lack of professionalism and humanity of the surgeon responsible of the operation. He even used iron threads and non-sterilized stitches to close a one meter and half long gash covering all the girl's body!
Whoever was this surgeon, he spitted at every oath and medical law known in the galaxy! The doctor looked at the girl, now dressed up and ready to go; her face showed nothing of the hell she had to have endured but Karin could still see it in her body.
-What have they done to you, Lena?-
"Miss Lena, I am done with the analysis and….God I do not know what to say! Your case is unique in the history of medicine. I would love to tell you that I can do something for you, but the truth is that I do not know what to do. However I am promising you that I will find a way to at least stabilize your peculiar condition; this is one of the most advanced ship in the galaxy and with me there is Mordin Solus, the most brilliant mind even born in Salarian space. Together we will find a way to at least lessen your condition."
Lena did not even commented. Such words were ringed hollow in her ears, because she already knew that the demon inside her was irrevocably linked inside her body, but still decided against telling the good doctor about this.
The bad news for Karin were not over yet, and her mind sighted when thinking at the second most disgusting thing noticed when analyzing the girl's body. This horror was far more familiar and human, in a way, but not less unacceptable.
"Miss Chambers, immediately in the infirmary." ordered the good doctor inside her omni-tool, and after less than a minute the same redhead that greeted Lena and accompanied her daughter inside their new home entered inside the room, curios about the reason of her summoning.
"Miss Lena" began the doctor after waiting for Kelly to sit next to her "Forced genetic manipulation can be a traumatic experience for the human body, but it is not the only one that I have noticed and that is the reason why I have called specialist Chamber; as the ship's counselor she can help you cope with this kind of trauma. Shepard told me that you have been probably forced to accept some sexual partners inside your bed, but I can tell apart a semi-forced affair from a rape and you, three years ago, have been raped by someone, am I right?"
Lena raised an eyebrow in surprise. This doctor was quite good, or the devices she used almost magical! She had almost forgotten that particular day.
Near her the girl, Chamber, paled visibly; for the news or for Lena's utter lack of reaction, the Claymore was not sure.
"Yes you are, doctor."
"Who?" simply asked Karin
"Does it matter?"
"Of course it does!" this time the doctor's voice was akin to a snarl, all her composure gone in a heartbeat.
"This is the worst possible crime that a person can suffer and cannot be left unpunished! You must tell us who is the bastard, or bastards; besides Shepard is a Specter and can arrest even a bloody admiral if necessary!"
"Is a relative? Or a friend? That is why you tried to not talk about it with the doctor?" asked Kelly trying to understand the girl's silence. Lena looked at both of them and deeply sighted. It was clear that they wanted the truth and would not have accepted no as an answer.
"You must know something about me, doctor. In the planet where I come from I am not the only mutated soldier that roam around. There are dozens of us, and until just some years ago we were trained and commanded by a cadre of people that conditioned and brainwashed us for years. They educated, no forced us to never kill a human being no matter the situation while at the same time making sure that the human population looked at us with contempt and disdain and by doing so making sure that we were left alone and without allies. This procedure worked for a long time, but brought with it certain side effects: most of my companions are in fact like me, women on their prime and perfectly fit and when some rowdy boys and girls discover than the hated -silver eyed witches-, this is how they usually call us, cannot fight them back then some ideas start boiling inside their minds."
Both the doctor and the counselor's faces were now warped in disgust. They quickly understood the meaning of Lena's words
"About my personal condition, well….i remember that happened exactly three years ago, as you have noticed. I had just finished dealing with a particular exhausting job and decided to sleep a bit next to a tree placed on the outskirt of the city. I was so tired that I noticed the small group stalking me only when it was too late." Lena took a moment to clearly remember that particular day. The details were unclear at this point, but some things were marked with fire inside her mind.
"They were five, three men and two women. When I finally regained consciousness I was already half-naked and without my sword. I could still have shrugged them off but when I noticed that the attackers were humans my mind simply….shut down because of the training and let them do whatever they wanted. I do not remember how long it lasted because I fainted after the fourth time; what I remember is waking up the day later covered in dirt and bruises and feeling pain all over my body; my uniform was torn in pieces and my handler was next to me, carrying my sword and telling me that rest-time was over and he had another job for me."
"And he did nothing?! Not even searching the culprits?!" cried Kelly in disbelief
"As I said" answered Lena calmly "For them we were less than animals."
A deadly silence pervaded the room, both the doctor and the counsellor incapable to even utter a word. Lena simply straightened up and went for the door;
"Doctor, I appreciate your kind words but I am fine, physically and mentally. Until we meet again." Lena opened the metal door and left the infirmary.
"Wait!" said a voice before she could disappear. It was Kelly's voice "As a counsellor I have the duty of speaking with all the crew of the ship, helping them cope with stress and problems, especially if they are field agents like you. I can free two hours every Monday for you if you wish; I will not force you to speak about something that you do not desire but please, consider it before outright refusing it." it was more a plea than a proposal
"I will consider it." simply said Lena. A second later she was already gone.
5 march. Normandy S-r 2. Quartermaster's office
"So...how does it feel?" asked Jacob. Lena flexed both her arms and legs now encased inside her new armor, checking the flexibility of the metal. A smile crept on her face when she noticed that her movements were not limited in the slightest.
"Now it is perfect Jacob, thanks for the patience!" beamed Lena happily
The armor that she was now wearing was a prototype armor made by one of the many blacksmiths firms that dotted this strange universe. Kassa Fabrication was their names, if Lena recalled correctly. It was a light armor made with a single, massive titanium block and improved with various strata of kevlar and Iridium allowing it to absorb, along with its shields, a deceptively amount of punishment before being destroyed. Apart from that the armor possessed a medical VI, micro-magnets installed on the gloves and servomotors installed on the legs, allowing for better handling and faster movements. But the true marvel was the helmet: small and easy to handle, it did not hampered vision in the slightest but at the same time possessed a peculiar interface that linked it self with the optic nerves of the wielder, allowing the small computer inside it to immediately hit whatever the soldier was looking at. For almost one year this small engineering marvel remained sealed inside a crate, not because it was defective but because there was no creature in the galaxy capable to handle such unique system! The subjects were simply too slow in their reactions times….until now.
Finding this armor had been quite the chore for both Lena and the quartermaster, a young man with dark skin and pleasant face called Jacob that screamed military training every time he moved; for two days both of them scoured the Normandy's armory, searching for something that would have suited Lena's peculiar fighting style. It was clear that medium or heavy armor was a no go for her, too heavy and bulky; at the same time the light armors used by infiltrators and biotics were too flimsy and fragile for her fighting style. Jacob, if he was annoyed by this unexpected problem, showed nothing about it and helped Lena for two days without complaining for even a second, always ready to help, always smiling and treating her as a soldier, not as a monster.
If Shepard's companions were all like him, thought Lena during the search, then it will not be that bad staying here.
After the second day the couple found the experimental armor that Lena was now trying for one last time; the Claymore had literally fallen in love with it and Jacob, amused, simply surrendered. Once assembled and tested Jacob occupied himself by reactivating and preparing it, all while Lena decided to paint it with a bright, silver color in memory of her days as a Claymore. Jacob, instead of being angry, looked at her and nodded with approval, saying something about the newbies being the only ones that do not personalize their stuff.
"No problem Lena, it is my job and besides, I wanted to know you." answered Jacob with a smile
"Oh really?!" said Lena "And why?"
"Because you are a damned legend." said Jacob while working at the armor "A human that can kill a Krogan armed only with a sword? Looks more like a drunken's tale than anything else, but some days ago Shepard let the crew look at the video-feed captured by Garrus's helmet when you fought against those mercenaries. Man that was brutal! And cool!"
The smile in the man's face disappeared a second later, substituted by uncertainty
"There is something that I have to ask you thought: are you capable to follow orders? You are clearly a capable fighter but here we work as a team, and a team must fight together."
If Lena was angry for Jacob's veiled accusation she hid it well, because her answer was looking at the soldier with uncertain eyes for a second before answering him
"Shepard told you to ask me? No matter. I have not been only a gladiator during my life and I fought side by side with squads of others warriors like me." Her mind recoiled back at the first time she participated to an awakened hunt with hers companions.
"And I know that in the midst of a battle the orders of your commander are akin to the one of the Goddesses, unquestionable and always right. I only hope that Shepard will give me the chance to prove it."
"I am sure that it will soon happen, after all we"
"All agents are to immediately report on the briefing room." Announced EDI all of a sudden interrupting them. Jacob smiled at her.
"Speak of the devil!" smiled Jacob. They both quickly dressed and armed themselves; a second later they were already out to the armory.
After less than five minutes all of Shepard's operatives, barring Mordin that had been excused because he was busy with the Collector's countermeasures, were armed and ready next to him; the briefing room was a simple rectangular room empty of any kind of furnitures but a long and luxurious wooden table now surrounded by warriors armed to the teeth. At the head of the table a fully armed Shepard clicked something on his omni-tool and immediately the image of an enormous ship was displayed for all to see.
For Lena this was the first time she met all the agents that would have fought together with her: on her right there were Miranda, Jacob and Garrus and she already knew them; on her left an old mercenary with scarred face called Zaeed and a smirking, hooded girl with the name of Kasumi. They were all armed, although all in different ways according of their roles.
"Boys and girls" began Shepard "Today's mission is quite simple: we must retrieve a prisoner from the prison ship called Purgatory, managed by Blue suns mercenaries. His name is Jack and apparently he is the strongest human biotic in the entire galaxy."
"Sooo" asked Garrus "We have to attack the ship guns blazing and free this Jack fellow and even destroy the ship in the process?" A pair of voices chortled at the jibe; Miranda instead snorted annoyed.
"Nothing like that. Cerberus has already payed for Jack's release. We only have to go and take him, a simple routine mission."
This time the entire room was filled with laugher, either bitter or plain genuine.
"What is the matter now?!" asked Miranda annoyed
"You just said that this shall be a routine mission" answered Zaeed with a gruff "And so now is almost certain than everything will go down to the shitter."
"New Eden shall be a simple mission" said Shepard mimicking her old superior's voice "And look what happened next!"
"My first mission as a Marine" added Jacob "Simple mission, yet I almost died."
Lena was also lost in her own memories, she still remembered the day the organization recalled all Claymores inside their headquarters for a routine check. It was the day Phantom Miria challenged the organization by herself and the world changed for all Claymores.
"Well this time it will be different!" finally snapped Miranda bringing all of them back to reality, clearly annoyed by the lack of gravity showed by the agents and the commander.
"Maybe" conceded Shepard with a smile "But it will be better take some precaution. Lena, Jacob, you are with me. Zaeed, Garrus and Miranda will be ready to repel any boarders. Kasumi, you should not be needed but stand by just in case."
"Yes Shepard!" quipped Kasumi with her mischievous smile. All the agents acted without a word, too professionals to waste time in idle chatters now that the mission was clear. Lena was also quiet, but her mind a raging volcano: it was finally time to show Shepard that she was ready to fight and a trusty warrior. In all due honesty she was simply happy to be able to fight and move once again: these days inside the Normandy had been dull beyond belief; the room was beautiful and comfy but nothing else, Kelly a sweet girl always trying to chat with her but a tad too insistent at times. Lena was not a bloodthirsty murderer but she still was a warrior, idleness did not suited her.
Prison ship Purgatory. Ten minutes after the briefing
The squad had just entered inside the infamous prison ship after finishing the decontamination procedure. The ship itself, judging by the preliminary scans, was nothing incredible: a series of metal corridors followed by dozens of minuscule cells packed to the brim with the filth of the galaxy; at the center of it other more important systems like life support were away from the dangerous convicts.
"Commander Shepard, welcome to the Purgatory." greeted a Blue suns officer; behind him a picket of soldiers were waiting patiently, arms ready but not raised.
"I have to ask you and your agents to leave your weapons to us. You will receive them back once your business here is finished."
Shepard's answer was pointing his shotgun straight into the officer's face, quickly followed by Jacob's gun; Lena simply prepared a grenade without never stop looking at the soldiers.
"I will not relinquish my weapons, and neither will do my agents!"
The blue suns officer, honor where is due, did not lose his composure and tried once again to reach a pacific solution.
"Sir, is the rule: no outsider is allowed to enter inside the complex with any kind of weapon."
"Then you will make an exception for us." curtly answered Shepard.
The situation was a stand still, and for a second Lena thought than the time for speaking was over; the triggers were ready and the mercenaries on the verge of firing. Then, all of a sudden, another blue suns officer, a Turian mercenary with an old, scarred face, stopped the potential bloodbath putting himself between Shepard and the mercs. He was armed with a sniper rifle and missed the traditional markings used by his species. Lena heard Garrus swearing quietly in the intercom while inside the ship.
"A spirit-damned barefaced bastard!"
"Get a hold on yourselves soldiers!" said the officer with authoritarian voice "The board decided that Shepard and his companions have the right of keeping their weapons during the visit. I am sure that we will not have problems in dealing with three people if worse come to worse."
The Turian turned to Shepard and showed him a long, narrow corridor.
"Please follow me commander, your package is almost ready. I am guardian Kurkil and I manage this installation. We are just dealing with the final procedures."
-So they waited.- mused Shepard while following the guardian, his companions behind him -Quite strange and unprofessional. Careful Shepard.-
The walk lasted five minutes, all filled with the images of dozens of minuscule cages and narrow corridors while Kurkil entertained his guests by talking about the noble goal of keeping this enormous space prison running, all for the safety of the people of the galaxy.
Shepard simply let him speak, leaving his thoughts for himself. He personally believed that this space prison was only an elaborate scam used to blackmail various sector in paying exorbitance sums of money unless they wanted to have a dangerous convict free to roam inside their planets.
So much for being guardians and street sweepers of the galaxy! But Shepard was a diplomat as well as a soldier so he simply stayed silent and answered politely; behind him out of the corner of his eyes he noticed the Lena instead was fuming.
Finally the walk ended in a big square room filled with desks and chairs, probably some kind of sorting room used to deal with prisoners exchange. It was empty; Jack was not here, neither were here the people necessary for the transfer. The only thing visible was a small cell placed at the end of the room, still closed. All in all this was the perfect place to pin down a small group of soldier using mass firepower.
"Wait here commander, soon you shall have your convict." Said Kurkil before excusing himself and leaving them alone. Soon the room was filled with a deadly quietness
"Sooo?" asked Shepard sarcastically "A trap?"
"Surely" answered Jacob
"Definitively!" supplied Lena.
The same thing was said by all the others agents inside the ship
"As I suspected, and I am ready to bet that the cell in front of us is just waiting for three new guests." sighted Shepard "Why the galaxy love to give us so many problems?"
"Kurkil!" shouted Shepard near a camera "We know that this is a trap! Reveal yourself."
Kurkil's voice answered almost immediately from the cameras
"Sorry Shepard, but you are more valuable as prisoner than buyer. Drop your weapons and surrender."
"Surely you jest!" said Shepard trying to use diplomacy "What happened to all your discussions about being a guardian of the universe?"
"Activate systems! All soldiers pursue to subdue!" was Kurkil's answer. Shepard in response destroyed the camera with a well placed shotgun shell
"Your funeral idiot! Jacob, ready your biotic! Lena, stay behind cover and use only grenades. Charge only when I tell you to do so!"
"Roger Shepard!" both said in unison. The three of them capsized chairs and tables, creating an improvised barricade to use against the incoming enemies. The scanners were showing at least a dozen of humanoid signs, quickly followed by a couple of mechanical one.
-Mechs and soldiers!- thought Shepard -The bastard is underestimating us, or he does not want to destroy us too much.-
The first group of enemies entered inside the building, five soldiers firing wildly inside the room hoping to hit something with their furious attack or at least force Shepard and his companions to stay down. A futile hope: Shepard and the others were well protected by the barricade and the moment the mercenaries entered Shepard's shotgun blasted a human mercenary to pieces. Two others were killed by Jacob's biotics and the last ones died thanks to a well aimed grenade. The first wave was out of the game but it was clearly not over.
"Lena!" barked Shepard to the girl "Trow a Flash-bang past the door and then, charge!"
"With pleasure Shepard!" grinned Lena. A small cylindrical object flied immediately from her hands, exploding some seconds later outside the door. Cries of pain and surprise followed the small explosion and Lena capitalized the advantage and charged outside the door, sword already in hand and golden eyes hungry for battle. For a single second Shepard felt some regret for the poor wretched that she was about to battle.
"Reform the ranks you maggot!" bellowed a Batarian centurion against his soldiers still dazed by the Flash-bang. Unlike his minion his more advanced armor had managed to absorb the flash without much of a problem, but this was not a valid reason for them to doze off during work.
"Reform them before" her words were cut down by a sudden screeching sound. Curios the centurion turned his head in search of the cause. What he saw left him speechless.
A human girl with golden eyes had just charged them and thrown one dog-type mech against a bunch of humanoids one, effectively destroying all their robotic support in one swing; how she managed to do that the centurion had no idea considering that those mechs weighted hundreds of kilos each. A soldier near her tried to take advantage of the situation and aimed at the girl's neck, but the accursed woman beheaded him in one second using a sword off all weapons! The centurion was a veteran of the Blue suns, a warrior who had fought against rival mercenaries gangs, Quarians, Krogans, even Geth once, but a sword-wielding human? No that was a first even for him!
"Focus fire maggots!" barked the centurion "Bury her with bullets!" his soldiers tried to obey, and a frantic but unsteady hail of bullets grazed the strange armored human, slowing her butchery work but not stopping it. Three other soldiers died because of her blade and of course Shepard used that time to storm the room and attack their position along with the biotic! Bullets and blood now flied freely inside the corridor and the remaining Blue Suns's soldiers started to die like flies. The centurion tried to scramble away in a desperate run but something grabbed his shoulder and slammed him against the wall with so much force than he felt something breaking inside the armor. Dazed, the batarian tried to focus and grab his sidearm but his attacker stopped him by twisting his right arm with one brutal crack making him cry in pain.
"Going somewhere?" asked a deep, bestial voice. It was the girl's one but her eyes, even if partially masked by her helmet, were now yellow and Varren like.
The last thing the centurion saw was the monstrous human slamming him on the ground, breaking the skull and shattering all his four eyes while doing so.
"Good Lord" said in disbelief Jacob while surveying the carnage "I already saw her on the video-tape but seeing in person is….absurd!" Shepard said nothing.
Lena was now covered from head to toe in blood, her calm expression behind the helmet quite unsuitable in Shepard's opinion. Bodies, or part of them, were strewn every where on the corridor; the mechs a pile of junk still sparking and twitching and Shepard noticed that some bodies had their eyes frozen in total fear, as if they had been attacked by a terrifying beast just before dying.
Judging by Lena's actual dreadful appearance maybe they were not wrong.
"Lena, what is going on?" asked Jacob after noticing the yellow eyes. This time Shepard reacted and pointed his shotgun at the girl.
Lena refused to react, instead she simply forced the yoki to recede and looked at both of them with calm eyes.
"It is my yoki Jacob, what allow me to be the Ripper. Do not worry, I can control it without problem."
"Yoki?" said Jacob confused "Is some kind of big bad mojo stuff that transform you in a berserker?!" Lena smiled at the paragon
"Something like that."
"You really need to be thoroughly checked by Karin, Lena." said in the end Shepard just before lowering the shotgun "Come on now, we wasted too much time already."
No one else tried to stop them, if scared by Lena's show or simply waiting for an ambush Shepard didn't cared at the moment, and the group quickly reached a small control station manned by a single individual quickly killed by Jacob with a well placed shot.
"EDI, I am giving you access to a blue suns terminal." said Shepard activating his omni-tool "Use it to awaken Jack and get him out of here!"
"Using this terminal I can only open all the cells inside the ship." answered EDI "Their protection system are too advanced for such a selective procedure."
Shepard cursed loudly: the ship was packed to the brim with assassins, rapist, criminals of every kind all mixed with the few innocents. Opening all the cells would have surely created a riot and killed hundreds of people in the process, but the alternative was attacking the center of this enormous ship and hacking the main computer all while trying to defeat God knows how many Blue suns mercenaries.
Both terrible ideas, but Shepard had to chose one.
"Alright EDI, open them all."
"As you wish Shepard."
And so she did: after three seconds of work all the prisoners were all of a sudden free and the mayhem expected from Shepard began in the earnest. The enemies's comms started getting filled with panicked cries, barking orders and the shouting of the now free prisoners. The ship itself shuddered and groaned when something exploded inside it and red light started blaring everywhere.
In the midst of all this chaos a single, cryostat cell was being opened just below Shepard's position, finally freeing subject 0 from his slumber
"Wait" said Lena surprised "She is Jack?"
Jack was a girl of her mid-twenties with a petite body completely covered in tattoos and strange markings. She was bald and covered only with a strip of leather barely covering her nipples and a pair of pants.
The girl slowly opened her eyes, still weak and dizzy, but when she noticed that she was finally free she snarled and screamed like an animal destroying her manacles in the process. Three heavy mech activated in an instant, their purpose subduing the dangerous subject 0 but the girl, instead of being at least a bit scared by the impending menace simply charged them growling like a mad-woman and recalling her biotics. A second later a powerful tremor shook the ship and all the heavy mechs were a pile of junk on the floor
"Seriously?" asked Jacob in disbelief "Did she just….destroyed three heavy mech in one hit?"
"We would not be here if she was your average biotic." answered Shepard "Let's move before she somehow destroy the ship by herself."
And so they did, following Jack's destructive trail of bodies, junks and rubble for almost twenty minutes, meeting only meagre resistance in the form of weakened guards and raging prisoners. Finally their race ended when they reached one of the main room of the station just before the main staircase from the escape pods, now an enormous battle ground for dozens of guards and prisoners. Cries and gunfires filled the air and the now dented floor was slick with blood; some prisoners were armed and were firing back against their hated jailers now led by Kurkil in person and aided by a heavy mech now busy blasting enemies into oblivion.
In short, a total hellhole.
"Ok boys and girls. Stay low and fire only if necessary. Let them kill themselves."
Said Shepard before jumping without hesitation in the bloody melee. Jacob and Lena promptly followed him.
They did as they intended, avoiding most of the fighting and keeping a low profile; this way they managed to avoid most of the battle and fought only against a couple of blue suns mercs trying to outflank the prisoners and some crazed convicts charging at them armed only with rusted pieces of metal. However when they reached Kurkil the dance changed: the aged guardian was perched on some kind of elevated platform protected by a shimmering shield powered by four energy pillars. From that vantage point he blasted all the convicts that tried to escape past him and immediately redirected his fire against Shepard when he saw him, forcing the commander to take cover
"Damn you Shepard!" he cursed while firing at him and scattering all the team for cover "With your bounty I could have lived for all my life as a king! No matter, you are still valuable even as dead and after killing you I will retake Jack!"
"You should have accepted the bounty, Kurkil!" shouted in response Shepard. He along with Jacob tried to fire against Kurkil but he was too far away and the shield too strong for their weapons. The remaining mercenaries were more an annoyance at this point, so battered and weakened because of the battle against the dozens of convicts, so he simply ordered Jacob of dealing with them.
"Lena, would you be able to sprint all the way up to Kurkil's position in less than five seconds?" asked Shepard to Lena between various gun shots. The girl looked at the distance for some seconds and then simply nodded in Shepard's direction
"Good to know. Charge when the shield is down." Shepard sprinted all of a sudden away from his cover, running as fast as he could and avoiding at least five shots from Kurkil; his shotgun boomed two times and in response both the energy pylons exploded in a shower of blue energy and metal fragment, stunning Kurkil and most of the remaining mercenaries for some precious seconds.
"Now Lena!" cried Shepard while retreating. Lena reacted faster than lightning and charged against Kurkil's position, her sword drawn and ready. She literally flied like an angel, too fast for the mortal eyes and a dazed Kurkil noticed the impending menace only when she was almost on him and raised his sniper rifle for one last time!
The rifle roared, just a second before Lena slashed at him and decapitated the old guardian with a single strike. His body, now lifeless, stumbled down on the floor while the head flied in the air for a time before collapsing next to a terrified blue suns. This broke the back of the mercenaries that fled away in fear, their will to fight exhausted and too scared of the crazed woman now near the staircase.
Shepard didn't even tried to waste time with them and reached Lena with the intention of congratulating with her
"Great Job Lena" he said smiling "That was a flawless attack." The girl didn't answer to him, she instead collapsed on the floor while pressing her now bleeding chest: Kurkil's last attack had hit the mark and pierced her armor.
"Lena! Fuck! Jacob, we need medi-gel!" said Shepard in a hurry but Lena stopped him with a wave of her hand
"I do not need medi-gel Shepard! Just look."
"What are you saying now Lena!? We need to" the words died in his throat when he noticed that Lena's flesh was for some reason churning and moving on her own. With horrified and yet marveled eyes Shepard saw Lena's body mending the hole in the chest, regrowing new meat and rebuilding broken ribs; blood stopped flowing and after some seconds of grueling work new patches of skin started covering the now closed wound. In less than one minute the wound had disappeared, there was not even a scar!
"What?….How?" asked a flabbergasted Jacob after looking at this. In the end he simply shrugged off and accepted it. He was accepting the fact that Lena was beyond his understanding.
"Lena, how?" simply asked Shepard
"Another vantage of the yoki, commander" answered Lena while straightening up "It can mend wound that would kill a grown man."
Shepard opened his mouth to reply, then closed and tried once again, still failing
"Whatever" said in the end "Let's just find Jack."
five minutes later
The bodies were everywhere, a fleshy carpet strewn along the floor covered in blue, destroyed armor. Many people had tried to stop the petite girl, mostly mercenaries but also some convict holding some grudge and trying to take advantage of the situation. Needless to say none of them succeeded, so great was the girl's power and her desire of escaping from this prison. Yet now everything was forgotten; the escape, the need, the desire to survive, all washed away because of a single symbol painted on the side of one docked ship, Cerberus's symbol.
The girl screamed after seeing this, screamed and raged letting her power go wild, smashing metal and bones in equal measure, covering herself in a blue halo of pure energy, detaching her brain for a second from the world.
In that exact moment a surviving member of the blue suns tried to shoot at her, only to be promptly killed by Shepard.
The girl calmed immediately and looked at the newcomers with her small, black eyes: they were not Cerberus apparently despite the symbol used by one of the three, but this still meant nothing for her. She was more than ready to blast them
"Who the fuck are you?" snarled at them
"Do not worry, I am not here to attack you." answered Shepard in diplomatic voice. Jack's reaction was a snarky laugh
"Come on, you are talking like a little bitch! Now, who the fuck are you?"
Clearly diplomacy was useless with her
"Shepard, specter. The ship just out is mine and I want you on my squad."
"In your fucking dreams!" cried back Jack "You are Cerberus and I do not follow those fuckers!"
Shepard opened his word for a reply but right in that moment noticed the Cerberus's logo plasted inside his ship.
-Miranda- he thought furious -You are gonna hear me after this!-
"Listen I am not with Cerberus, they are just paying the bill!" tried Shepard but the girl refused to acknowledge this
"Yeah sure! I do not kill you little shit because I am tired but you can bet your ass that I will not come with you, so go fuck yourself and leave me alone."
Shepard sighted and started going away
"Fine." he simply said "Good luck escaping from this trap. Come on squad!" Both Lena and Jacob looked at Shepard surprised by his compliancy but followed him
"Shepard, are we really leaving her like that?" asked Lena in a whisper.
"Trust me." answered Shepard
Some seconds later a voice called them, it was Jack's voice
"Wait!" she stopped them. Shepard turned and crossed his arms
"I am listening."
"I bet your ship is packed to the brim with Cerberus datas, I want full access to them. Do it and I will follow you!"
"Deal!" said Shepard. Jacob grimaced at this
"The Illusive Man will not be happy about this."
"The Illusive Man gave me full authority on this matter." answered Shepard without breaking a sweat "If this is what she want, this is what she will receive." Jacob did not protested further.
Shepard offered to Jack his hand "So, do we have a deal?"
"You better not fuck with me." answered Jack just before reciprocating
"I will not, now let's go away from this trap."
10 minutes later. Normandy's briefing room
"Welcome Jack, I am Miranda and the Co of the ship. I assume that Shepard already convinced you so let's" Jack snarled at Miranda and Shepard had to resist the urge to not sight
"Shepard, why this fucking Cerberus's cheerleader is here."
"This cheerleader, as you have called her, is my second in command, and she will be the one providing you with the Cerberus's data banks you desire."
Miranda looked at Shepard and frowned, clearly not happy by this
"Shepard what are you talking about."
"Aaah, this annoyed the Cheerleader?!" mocked Jack "Even better!"
"Jack accepted to be part of the crew in exchange of full access of Cerberus's data banks and as my second in command you will be the one responsible for this." answered Shepard
"Hear that?" supplied Jack "We shall be only you and I. You, I and all of Cerberus's most embarrassing secrets! I will find my own spot somewhere in the engine room, tell your people to not fuck with me."
And after saying this she simply decided to pick up and leave, quickly followed by a now very annoyed Miranda. Shepard finally sighted
"Routine mission." he mocked "Yeah. Ok squad. Free day for all of you, you deserved it. Lena, a moment please."
"Commander." saluted Jacob before leaving. Lena simply stat immobile, waiting for Shepard
"Easy Lena, this is a talk, not an execution." Joked Shepard, Lena refused to catch the joke.
"Lena, I will be frank with you. As a soldier your behavior was impeccable: you obeyed my orders without question and performed better than I expected, but as a person I cannot avoid being scared by what is there inside you. I know that you are what you are not by choice, I talked with Karin some days ago, but this does not change the facts: there is a beast inside you Lena, a very dangerous one."
Lena grimaced at this: she could not blame Shepard for this because she herself knew better than every one inside the ship the danger of a silver eyed witch. She had hoped that behaving as best as she could would have avoided this particular topic but it seems that she was wrong.
"So...you want me out?" asked Lena in fear. Shepard looked at her with an indecifrable expression for some seconds, then he answered
"No."
Lena blinked one, two times. Did he just?
"But why?" she asked in disbelief "You just said that I could be a liability?"
"Exactly!" said Shepard "You could be a liability, but you are not right now and you showed too much potential to simply let it go to waste. So here is my proposal: let Karin examine your body, let her find a way to help you with your consent. With some luck she will find a way to lessen your condition and even help your daughter."
Lena could not believe her own ears
"Commander, this mean that….you trust me? Even after seeing me in a real fight? After seeing what I truly am?"
"Yes." said Shepard. Lena almost started to cry in joy
"Commander, you have no idea how happy I am to hear these words. I will do as I say and I promise that I will not disappoint you. I swear upon the goddesses!"
"I am sure about that." answered Shepard taken aback by the reaction "Go to your daughter now, I am ready to bet she missed you." Lena happily complied and sprinted out of the room. Today was a good day for her: a victorious mission, a commander that trusted her and the change of staying with her daughter. Truly the Goddesses had blessed her, maybe in return for the years passed in slavery!
She reached her room after seconds, her frantic fingers digitized the code for opening it and when the door finally let her pass….she found Raina drinking some kind of hot drink with the hooded girl called Kasumi, now unhooded and showing short, bobbed midnight dark hair and a pair of pretty eyes.
"Mum!" cried the child running to greet her, Kasumi instead only looked at her awkwardly.
"Eem...hello Lena. Well child your mum is here so now I can go. If you excuse me." Kasumi made a run for the door but Lena grabbed her shoulder and stopped her dead on her track, a false smile plastered on her face.
"Not so fast miss Kasumi, it would be quite rude from you, especially considering that today you were not in such friendly term with my daughter and I had told Raina to not let strangers enter inside our room. Why are you here?"
Kasumi tried to make her best puppy face and in response Lena flashed her eyes with gold, clearly annoyed by all of this
"Well…."started saying Kasumi "You see, after my leave from the briefing room….
Lena's room. One hour earlier
Raina was annoyed: her mum was not with her, there were no children who could play with her and before leaving Lena had made sure to make it clear that she was not allowed to wander thought the ship all by herself. Raina knew that it was for her own good, especially after the strange tall lady with icy eyes surprised some days ago wandering near her office and curtly reprimanded her saying that this was a warship and not a kindergarten school, but she was a child! How could you say to a child "stay still for more than two hours!" and hope that obeyed? Even for a Claymore child this was almost impossible!
-Well, better sleep for a bit. After all it does not happen every day to have a bed with silken sheets and all these fluffy blankets.-
And so she did, letting the softness of the bed nurturing her, counting the minutes separating from her mum, the minutes before being able to wander and talk happily with mum and discovering another piece of this strange, marvelous ship. Some people were very cute and friendly with her, like the girl called Kelly and many others crew members; others not so much but their behavior nothing compared of what she was used on her home-planet where Claymores were sometimes expelled with rocks!
Then, all of a sudden, Raina's musing was interrupted, her senses flaring. Despite what Lena believed Raina's mutation had not been stopped, just modified: usually a Claymore feel dozens of yoki auras during her life and use said auras to create a peculiar style of combat, just like Galatea's god eye or Miria's phantom. Raina had clearly not been able to continue that trend because of her forced leaving from her planet so her body opted for a second solution: instead of improving her yoki, it improved the body itself, from the senses to the sheer muscle mass. The project was still in motion but what she already possessed allowed her to hear a noise, a minuscule noise that made her jump in surprise. It was an artificial sound, made by someone inside the room with her.
Raina slowly crawled away from her bed, all her senses in motion. There was a knife inside the room, on a shelf near the bed, left by Lena for her just in case. She knew how to use them, Lena had showed her. Raina lunged at the shelf desperately trying to reach the knife but the presence was faster than her, blocking both her wrist in a vice grip and locking her in her place. Raina screamed and struggled but in vain. The grip was too strong.
"By the...calm yourself girl! I do not want to hurt you!" said a voice in the air. Raina looked at the room and all of a sudden a figure materialized herself in the room, all while still blocking Raina's wrist. It was a hooded figure, small and feminine; a worried scowl marred her hooded face and now Raina could clearly see that she was using as less strength as possible.
"Girl, you should not play with knives at your age." aid the girl trying to calm her down and slowly letting her go. Raina in response quickly grabbed the knife and pointed at the intruder, her grip tense. The hooded girl, if she was scared, hid it well and only dropped her hood showing her full face.
"I am Kasumi by the way. Sorry for the jump scare."
"Why are you here?" asked Raina, the knife ready
"I was curios." answered the girl. Raina for a second looked at her as if she was insane
"What?" she simply asked
"I was curios. You see right now your mother is busy with Shepard, dealing with some blue jerks and I thought, let's go and take a look at the cabin of the infamous Ripper and see if there is something interesting! I know that I should not have done it but it was such a juicy idea that I could not resist!"
"You almost gave me a heart attack only to satisfy your curiosity?!" asked Raina now totally lost. Kasumi looked at her with a small grin on her face
"It was just a look, I am sure that a child like you understand me. By the way, what betrayed me? Not to brag but you were not supposed to wake up during my trip and I am quite good at my job."
Raina refused to answer to her and in response Kasumi made a faked scene of sorrow
"Please, do not look at me like that, you are breaking my poor heart. Let's do that way, now we go to the good man in the promenade that make meals for us every day and we buy two cups of hot chocolate, my treat, and we talk a bit about your mother. They will recognize me immediately and you will see that I am not that bad. Deal?"
The chance of getting out of the room was enough for Raina to accept without hesitation; her posture lowered and a small smile crept on her face
"Deal, but walk in front of me." Kasumi bowed in fake submission
"As you command, my lady!"
present time.
"And...now we are here." finished Kasumi hoping that Lena would not react badly about her intrusion. Unfortunately The livid look marring her silver eyes said otherwise.
"So...you cracked the security of my room and scared to death my daughter, only because you wanted to fulfill your base desires?" Asked Lena fuming and tightening the grip on Kasumi's shoulders.
"….Yes?" answered Kasumi
"Raina, dear, can you wait outside the door for a minute? Me and miss Kasumi must speak and do some….adult stuff." said Lena with honey voice laced with venom. The child understood the hidden message and quickly left.
"Sit." ordered Lena when they were finally alone. Kasumi quickly complied
"O-ok! Listen, I know that it was bad on my part entering inside your room without permission but I swear I was only curios. Please do not kill me." Last part was more a squeal than anything else.
"You are a thief Kasumi" replied curtly Lena while taking the knife previously used by Raina "And in my country thieves caught red-handed have their right hand cut from the body."
Kasumi squealed in fear and instinctively hid both her hands behind her back.
"But I will not do such a thing to you. You do not look like a bad person despite everything and I do not want to give Shepard more headaches than he deserve."
Kasumi did not eve tried to hide the relief now washing her face.
"On one condition." quickly added Lena "There is a person that I am looking for. He is a smuggler called Aran; find him, discover her whereabouts, where he live, everything about him. Do it without telling anything to Shepard and I will call it even. And no question about why I want to know about him."
Kasumi accepted the way out without thinking for even a second
"Personal problem eh? Fine, it should not be difficult for me, I have dozens of contacts among smugglers and their like. Deal Lena and sorry for the mess." The girl left the room free to go, her usually cheerful demeanor back on her face.
"Kasumi" said Lena a second before her disappearance (literally in her case) "I am not a hermit, next time you want to speak with me or take a look at my room, ask."
A cheshire smile plastered Kasumi's face
"I will remember that Lena, I feel that is the beginning of a great friendship!"
Part six finished. This took longer than I thought. Hope it is acceptable.
Next time: Korlus, a new friend and a death's door situation. After all a Claymore is strong, not invincible.
P.S. I will probably slightly change part five, more precisely the reason why Lena let T'Von live. A reviewer made me rightly notice that is a bit out of the character that I am creating.
Aguy, thanks for the info and the others please, if you find something that you think is not good or could be better just tell me. As I said I am not perfect and I am trying to learn.
