A/N: Well this chapter took longer to get out than normal. Rest assured that I still have plenty of interest in this story; it's just a sad truth that the summer holidays are long gone. You may have noticed that the tags for this story have changed slightly. Specifically, I have now added Kasumi Goto and paired her with Shepard. There aren't many Kasumi heavy stories on the site and so I feel like that's something I can rectify. Don't get me wrong, I love Tali, Liara, etc as much as anyone, but I like the idea of doing something a little different than picking one of the series more popular characters. Maybe in the future I'll write one revolving around Tali and Shepard if enough people are interested.
Reviews:
AnarionRising27: I seem to have an addiction. Please send help! Ahem, thank you for your support. We'll have to see about all of those things you mentioned won't we? I won't say any more for now…
deathcornfive: That's great to hear! If people stick around then I will too.
Grreeb: I take it you liked the first chapter? I'm not sure if the squeal was because of that or just because you thought it would be funny. Regardless, thanks for leaving a review.
Chapter 2: Know Your Enemy
Rassen glared expressionlessly at the Mandalorian still lying on the ground as he waited for her to answer his question. He had no doubt that her fear of him and inexperience regarding combat were genuine, but even so he had no intention of taking his eyes off of her for a moment. He somehow doubted that she had chosen to join a society of warriors with a more than chequered past with only good intentions in mind. That and she had just tried to kill him, even if it could be argued that she had been afraid that he would attack her first. After a few moments of silence the Mandalorian finally responded.
"I… I don't know," she answered hesitantly.
She's lying.
Rassen ignored the taunting voice of Zaressh, which only seemed to have grown louder since he had awoken. It wasn't telling him anything he didn't already know; the Mandalorian was obviously lying, judging by her hesitation. He allowed a small amount of his anger to slip through his neutral façade, causing the woman to tremble almost imperceptibly.
"I do not believe you. Where are we?"
"I'm n-not sure."
"So you do have an idea?"
The woman went silent again and Rassen let even more of his anger bleed through. Two years ago he would have tried to remain calm in this kind of situation. This however, was not two years ago. Before he could press her further though, the Mandalorian muttered something so quietly that he almost missed it.
"Say that again," he ordered, gaze never wavering.
The woman seemed to muster enough courage to look directly into his eyes as she answered him. "I-I think… I heard one of the others mention something called Horizon. I don't… maybe that's what this world is called?"
Rassen let out a low growl before allowing one hand to move towards his lightsaber. "Keep talking," he murmured, frustration only growing the longer he was kept waiting for the answer he wanted. "I need more than that. Did you just blindly do as you were told or were you informed of anything actually useful?"
The Mandalorian had begun to scramble away from him again as she started to blurt out whatever came into her mind in an attempt to stem the tide of his anger. "I-I wasn't… I only just joined up and they… something about different species and I think someone mentioned something called a turian and then-"
Turians.
Rassen's experience with members of that species had been mixed to say the least. Some such as the food vendor on Omega who had attacked him and Shaela had proven to be violent, racist and most of all murderous. On the other hand, the receptionist on Querra had been kind towards the two of them and had approved of them being together… even if she had made it very clear that he should look after Shaela as well as she had looked after him.
And you are doing a fantastic job of that aren't you, Rassen?
The Jedi pushed away that particular line of thought, concentrating instead on the knowledge that there was at least some evidence he was closer to Shaela than he had been in just over two years. He needed to be sure though. Just one species name could be a fluke, couldn't it? Humans existed in both his galaxy and Shaela's. Surely then, couldn't turians too exist in his own in some obscure area of space which had remained undiscovered by the Republic?
"Were there any other strange names that you noticed?" He interrupted, causing the Mandalorian to stop mid-sentence, where she had begun rambling about what she thought a turian could possibly be.
Her voice was still hesitant, but now tinged with a little bit of hope. "I think when I walked past two of the officers talking, one of them mentioned something about wanting to see an 'asarti' or a 'saylorian' up close, but I-"
"Did they say that, or did they actually mention that they wanted to see either an asari or a salarian?"
"Um, what you said."
Rassen swallowed slightly, disbelieving. He was back. Whatever the bizarre device had been, somehow it had taken him back. He had hoped of course, but now that it had happened it almost didn't feel real. Shaela was still out there somewhere, but now she seemed reachable, even though Force knew how many lightyears still separated them. A cough tore him out of his thoughts as he saw the Mandalorian, still on her back, looking up at him from where he was crouched across from her.
"So… you'll let me go now right? I answered your questions, a-and I haven't tried anything else."
Rassen grimaced. She was absolutely right and despite Zaressh's voice in his head urging him to kill her, which was beginning to give him a headache at this point; he had no intention of doing so. On the other hand letting a Mandalorian, even one such as this, wonder around a new galaxy on her own with the technology she was carrying could have dire ramifications. He had other questions he needed answering anyway. She had been transported to the same location as him and had woken up at almost the same time, indicating that she had either been a member of the group who had used the device immediately before him, or possibly the one after that. Regardless, there were certainly other Mandalorians in this galaxy, possibly hundreds in total. As much as she was clearly ill-informed, she likely still knew a few things he didn't and Rassen needed as much information as he could get.
"No."
The Mandalorian blanched and finally managed to rise to her feet, only to freeze against her will when he extended a hand. Rassen stood up from where he had been crouching and walked over to her so that only a few inches separated them as he stared down into the blackness of the woman's visor before he continued.
"I have further questions. You will continue to answer them honestly and to the best of your ability. Hold nothing back and do not attempt to lie to me. I will be able to sense if you try. Do as I say and I will let you live as agreed."
After a moment of thought the woman nodded slowly. Rassen nodded once in return, still alert for any signs of aggression.
"You must have been given some orders before you arrived here. What were they?"
The woman opposite him seemed to swallow heavily, though it was hard to tell with the armour she wore. The Mandalorian slowly moved one hand to a pouch on her waist, causing Rassen to follow the movement with his eyes. She withdrew a small datapad from the pouch and switched it on before reading out what was written on the screen, holding it between them so he could see that she wasn't leaving anything out.
"Initial orders were for us to try and find one another once we touched… whatever that thing was. I think the same coordinates were provided for everyone, but I don't know how many have come through."
Rassen frowned at that. He sensed no attempt to deceive him, which meant that woman opposite him was telling the truth, or at least as close to the truth as she could. She obviously had only been told the minimum amount of information possible; her superiors clearly wanted to keep whatever they were planning as secret as they could. If she was right that all of the Mandalorians who had so far made the journey were gathering in one location though, then he couldn't risk going there. Potentially hundreds of soldiers, far better trained than the one he had captured would be there and if noticed he would give up the only major advantage he possessed against such numbers; the element of surprise. The Mandalorians would likely know he had made the trip with them since he had been discovered, but given that he hadn't seen any aside from the one in front of him, they were probably unaware of his current location. Rassen frowned at a sudden realisation. Both he and Zaressh had been transported to roughly the same location; Omega, though to different parts of the station. If the same applied to whatever the object he had touched had been, then the other Mandalorians were probably on the same planet he was on, which explained why the coordinates looked to be not too far from their position. Presumably the Mandalorians were converging on it from every direction.
"When are you all supposed to arrive there?" He asked, continuing to keep an eye on the Mandalorian as he perused the datapad she still held between them.
"I-I think we were supposed to head there immediately. Once we'd regrouped, the plan was to move onto a second location. I don't know why though."
Rassen nodded in response as he examined the second marked point on the datapad. Around ten miles or so away from his current position as far as he could tell, lying around an hour to the west of the first, though the device didn't specify why the point was important. If he headed straight to the second location then perhaps he could beat the Mandalorians there and find whatever it was they were interested in while they were still regrouping. He looked back at the woman's visor. "Do you know anything else?" He asked, a small part of him feeling guilt at the way the woman's body language became more panicked as she tried to think of anything else which could be of use to him. After a moment she seemed to calm herself slightly with a deep breath, swallowing heavily.
"I d-don't Jedi. I'm sorry."
You got what you wanted. She is now a loose end, Rassen. You know what the safest thing to do is.
Rassen ignored Zaressh's goading. The Sith's voice had only rarely filled his mind in the more than two years he had been trying to find a way back, but it seemed like ever since touching the object which had brought him here it had become more frequent.
"Take your helmet off," he demanded, staring straight into the Mandalorian's visor. She hesitated before nodding and then pulled the heavy piece of armour from her head. Despite having his suspicions, Rassen still blinked in surprise at the woman's appearance. Blonde hair cut short caught the rays of Horizon's sun, causing it to glow softly. Green eyes, wide with fear stared into his own, seemingly begging for the mercy he had promised. The woman couldn't be older than twenty. She just looked young for lack of a better expression. He himself wasn't even twenty-four, but with events of the past two years he felt a lot older than he should. As he examined the Mandalorian more closely he doubted she felt the same way. She had probably joined up wanting adventure or some kind of purpose to her life… which begged the question as to why a group of Mandalorians would recruit what was practically a child. Whatever they intended, it required numbers. More than they had readily available.
"I promised that I would let you go."
A tear ran down the woman's face. "You did," she responded hoarsely.
"And I keep my word."
You got what you wanted. Kill her!
Rassen forced the voice from his mind once more, managing to conceal the struggle from the Mandalorian. He then waved a hand and the woman's eyes rolled up into her head before her legs sagged beneath her. Rassen caught her before she fell and gently lowered her to the ground. The Jedi stared down at the woman's now peaceful face with a deep sense of sadness, despite the aggression he had displayed towards her. Hopefully he would be able to find whatever had brought the Mandalorians here before she awoke and re-joined them. It would have been safer to kill her than let her return to the others or even to wipe some of her memories. Rassen had been on the receiving end of the latter though and was not willing to do that to another person. A lot had happened to him in the last two years, but not so much that he was willing to go that far.
You are absolutely right, a lot has happened. What will your precious little alien think when she finds out about that one particularly nasty incident?
Once again, Rassen pushed away Zaressh's barb before turning away from the sleeping Mandalorian and began marching in the direction of the second location from the datapad. Fortunately, it was between him and the first. Unfortunately it was still several hours away, owing to the terrain and distance. It was too far for him to use the Force to augment his speed, particularly when he wasn't sure what he would find on the way. The woman behind him might well not be the only Mandalorian he encountered today and he didn't want to face any exhausted from running the distance, Force or no. Keeping his senses open for any signs of danger, Rassen kept a hand near his lightsaber as he made his way towards whatever lay at the second location from the datapad.
All in all it had been a good day's work, Kasumi reflected, resting her chin on her knees as she did so. She was currently perched on a small sofa in the cargo area of her ship, a gift from her current employer in order to help her carry out her work. With the galaxy still recovering from the Reaper War, the thief had unfortunately not had as many opportunities as she would have liked to test her skills. She was all for stealing from those who deserved it, but with virtually everyone contributing in some way to trying to repair the damage done by the Reapers, she had been far more careful when it came to picking her targets over the last few months than she had been before. She had always restricted herself to stealing from either the very rich or from large establishments such as museums, which had probably been for the best. Even though the Illusive Man had sent Shepard a dossier about her during the latter's mission against the Collectors, she doubted the Commander would have actually recruited her if she got her thrills at the expense of those who had very little wealth. Kasumi pressed her chin more firmly into her knees at the thought of the man who had managed to save them all.
Shepard.
It had been three months since the war had ended but the Commander was still listed as missing in action. The Alliance had yet to declare it, but everyone knew what that designation really meant.
Missing presumed dead.
None of Shepard's former squad mates believed he was gone. In the days immediately following the defeat of the Reapers they had all worked tirelessly to try and find him in the ruins of the Citadel as it floated almost serenely above the birthplace of humanity. One by one though they had all drifted away to try and fix whatever could be fixed. None of them had wanted to abandon the search but the galaxy needed all the help it could get. Worlds were devastated, most every race had been dealt a horrific blow by the Reapers' genocidal campaign, and while none of them had given up hope, they knew Shepard would have never wanted them to prioritise him at the cost of those he had spent so long trying to save.
Hence why she had gone back to what she excelled at.
For all the people who were giving everything to try and pull the galaxy back together, there were some who in spite of everything, were trying to profit out of the situation. Construction firms in particular knew that they could increase their prices because they knew they could get away with it. Planets everywhere desperately needed more housing since the Reapers had flattened whole cities with ease, but still some of those corporations were content to squeeze the survivors wherever they could. That of course was where she came in.
Kasumi felt no guilt at stealing information from the various CEOs and executives who had adopted such a heartless stance, and it felt good to know she was making a difference. Downloading the contents of a private terminal and sending it off to a friend who just so happened to be the most well-connected information broker in the business did wonders for persuading such individuals to reconsider their decisions. It also meant that as much as Kasumi was doing what she was best at, she was also making the galaxy a better place.
Heh. Guess you rubbed off on me the same as you did with everyone else, Shep.
As with everyone who knew Shepard as a person, Kasumi refused to entertain the notion that he was dead. He had already proved death couldn't hold him once, so why would it suddenly be able to now? That air of impossibility had surrounded the Commander the moment she had first laid eyes on him, and had only been confirmed when he had looked up at where she had been hiding in the rafters of Zakera Ward on the Citadel what felt like a lifetime ago. She closed her eyes as she recalled the memory.
The Commander turned to face her, broad frame moving with the kind of fluid grace that could only be honed from years on the battlefield. His eyes moved to bore into hers as he finished turning. Although he couldn't see it, her breath caught slightly as she saw John Shepard's face in person for the first time. Black hair cut short, the same colour as the slight stubble under his jaw and across the lower part of his face. His face had a rugged kind of handsomeness to it, giving the man the appearance of the seasoned veteran he was rather than the vid star version some of the Alliance's recruitment posters had given him. His eyes were a deep blue, contrasting with the glowing orange scars which were present in a few areas of his face. Yet it was Shepard's expression which caused her breath to hitch almost imperceptibly.
An eyebrow was raised and one corner of his mouth upturned in a smirk. The man's eyes seemed to glow slightly as she stared up at her, his expression equal parts impressed and amused. Kasumi felt her usual confidence fade for a moment at the look on the man's face.
Despite the myriad of differences she could spot right off the bat, Shepard's expression reminded her almost of-
No! Don't do that to yourself!
Kasumi spoke before the image of Keiji could consume her thoughts.
"We should probably wrap this up. You look pretty silly standing there talking to an advertisement."
After that initial moment where their eyes had met she had tried everything to take her mind off of whatever it had been. She had spent some time hanging out with the other people Shepard had put together and had attempted to persuade herself that no matter what, she didn't have any interest in Commander Shepard. Whenever he had checked up on her as he did for all of his crew, she had made sure to keep her conversations with him short without appearing rude, hoping he wouldn't engage with her too much if at all possible. She had dropped a line about finding Jacob attractive at some point and hadn't entirely been lying. The former Corsair was certainly good-looking, but she didn't get that same jolt she had felt the first time she had looked into the Commander's eyes.
Despite her usual playful and assured demeanour, Kasumi had been afraid at what she had felt in that moment. It was too soon. Keiji was gone and she was just feeling lonely and more than a little lost right? It was normal to have a crush on Shepard; about half the galaxy did after all. What she felt hadn't meant anything.
But after he had helped her and the feeling grew stronger she had been so afraid that it had.
Shepard had helped her get Keiji's graybox back and then helped her find the strength to destroy it. He had been there when she was at her lowest point, but when she had encountered him on board the Citadel during the war she had failed to do the same. Oh she had agreed to help work on the Crucible, everyone had needed to do their part to try and save the galaxy. But she could have joined him again, been there for the Commander the way he had been for her when she had held Keiji's graybox and not known what to do. Perhaps if she had joined him then he wouldn't be missing right now…
Kasumi swallowed heavily as a lone tear slowly traced down one of her cheeks. She still didn't entirely know what she felt when she thought of the Commander, whether it was just respect tinged with attraction or something more. The only thing she was sure of was that whatever it was, it hadn't gone away. She shook her head and then jumped to her feet, trying to shake herself out of her misery. Another job well done, another step towards the galaxy healing. That was what mattered. Kasumi left the cargo bay of her small ship and entered the cockpit before sitting down at the controls and aiming her vessel at the system's mass relay. Liara probably had more people she needed dirt on. There was no time for worrying about something she still didn't understand.
Rassen had been walking for almost three hours and had still yet to see anything out of the ordinary. The ordinary in this case being gently rolling hills of the same short green grass as where he had first arrived. The terrain was insufficient to conceal him from any prying eyes very easily, since the hills were so gradual, but fortunately that worked both ways. As much as he was easy to spot, so too was anyone else who could be nearby. Rassen had kept his mind open to the Force just to be safe, but had been unable to sense anyone else so far. For the moment at least, he was confident he was alone.
The sun had begun to set by now, its golden rays becoming weaker and weaker as the sky grew darker. The terrain may not have been flat, but it was hardly hazardous either, though the dim light that remained had slightly affected his progress. Even so, Rassen was almost at his target by this point and so was not overly concerned by the growing darkness.
Another ten minutes passed with nothing interesting occurring before a sudden prickling feeling at the back of his mind caused Rassen to freeze mid-step. The Jedi closed his eyes as he focused on the sensation, which grew stronger when he concentrated on it. The Force was trying to tell him something, something important. At the moment though he had no idea what it was. He still didn't think that he was in immediate danger, but he recognised the sensation well enough. Something terrible was about to happen.
A sudden flare of orange light followed by a colossal booming noise caused the Jedi's head to snap up in the direction it had originated from. Rassen easily recognised the sound and sight of an explosion, though the latter had been largely concealed by the hills in front of him, which he noticed were steeper than the ones he had already traversed. The explosion had taken place exactly where he was heading, exactly where the Mandalorians had planned to go once they had regrouped. They must have already managed to gather most if not all of their forces and advanced on whatever their objective was… which was something they wanted to destroy.
He didn't know what they were attacking, but he needed to find out. Despite the unknown number of Mandalorians, if he wanted to know what had brought them here then he needed to get there immediately, element of surprise be damned. Rassen closed his eyes and drew on the Force, its familiar warmth and power suffusing him in moments. His eyes snapped open and he ran, the blades of grass around him becoming indistinguishable from one another as he moved at a speed no non-Force user could hope to match. In less than a minute he had reached the base of the last hill between him and whatever the Mandalorians were attacking. The grass here was longer than before and was an unhealthy shade of yellow. Rassen was quickly shaken from his observation as he suddenly heard the familiar shrill whistle of blaster bolts and the screams which accompanied them. The Mandalorians were attacking a group of people, the occasional sound of a mass accelerator weapon joining the cacophony of blaster fire as someone tried to fight back. Rassen sprinted up the hill to see a scene of absolute carnage.
What looked like a small town lay below him, many of the buildings on one of the edges encased in flame from explosives the Mandalorians had used against them. Smoke had begun to fill the air as a result, thick trails of it twisting free from the damaged constructs. More were subjected to explosions as he watched. The Mandalorians appeared to have hit the colony entirely from one direction and they seemed to be making swift progress from what he could see. At the distance he was from the growing devastation, Rassen couldn't make out any individual figures, but whoever they were fighting it was obvious the Mandalorians were easily winning. The colony was surrounded by a wall constructed of some kind of metal, and he could just about make out what he thought was the wrecked skeleton of an anti-air gun, but even so it was obvious the colony was not military in nature. The Mandalorians were attacking a civilian outpost. The scene was eerily familiar, but Rassen pushed away the memories that attempted to fill his mind, much to the amusement of whatever part of Zaressh seemed to linger within him.
Now this seems familiar. It has been sixth months, so do you think you can save anyone this time, Rassen?
Involuntarily, one of his hands curled into a fist. This time would be different than the last one. He had no idea how many Mandalorians were down there, destroying building after building. He didn't know why there were doing it, or whether there were others doing the same on different worlds. All he knew for sure was that innocent people were dying while he stood back and watched.
One hand closed around the hilt of his lightsaber, drawing it from his belt as he called on the Force once more, the rest of the world seeming to stand still as he hurtled towards the nearest section of wall. He reached it in less than ten seconds, leaping over it effortlessly before landing lightly on the other side, to the surprise of two Mandalorians directly ahead of him. He barely spoke any Mando'a, but even so, Rassen recognised the word that one of them screamed as he ignited his lightsaber, the blue blade hissing to life as he prepared to hurl it at the closest armoured figure.
"Jedi!"
The lightsaber made contact with the mid-section of the nearest Mandalorian a split-second after he had uttered the warning to his companion. The two halves of the body fell to the ground, the bulky armour having proved little match for the sapphire blade which had cleaved through it. Rassen called the lightsaber back to him as he rushed towards the second figure. The other Mandalorian stood his ground, raising his blaster rifle smoothly and squeezing the trigger, bolts of scarlet energy racing straight toward Rassen, each one perfectly aimed.
The Jedi had found the mass accelerator weapons of this galaxy difficult to defend against. Their projectiles were tiny but still absolutely lethal; being completely invisible to the naked eye once they had left the barrel of the gun which had fired them. By comparison the blaster bolts of the Mandalorian seemed slow, sluggish as they made their way towards him as he raced towards the armoured figure who stood a mere ten metres away from him. Rassen spun his blade into the path of the first few attacks, easily deflecting them back in the direction of the sole Mandalorian, who rolled to one side in order to avoid being killed by his own fire. The soldier continued shooting from his position on the ground, but once again calling on the Force, Rassen side-stepped the blaster bolts as they screamed towards him.
The Jedi then gestured at the Mandalorian before drawing his arm towards his chest, causing the blue-armoured figure to rise from the ground and be yanked through the air towards him. Rassen then brought his hand down, slamming the Mandalorian onto the ground with bone-crushing force. As his opponent writhed on the ground, choking noises emanating from his helmet as a result of the damage dealt by the attack, Rassen raised his lightsaber above his head with both hands. The figure below him barely had a chance to look up as the Jedi brought the blade straight down upon him, the tip slicing straight through the thick armour and impaling the Mandalorian directly through the heart. The man died instantly, his choking breaths cut off as his body stilled.
Rassen panted slightly as he withdrew his lightsaber, the blade humming as normal despite the fact he had just used it to kill two men. The Jedi took a deep breath to steady himself. He had a strong suspicion that these would not be the only lives he took tonight and he couldn't afford to waste time waiting around. The Mandalorians had continued to make progress in the few moments he had been occupied and some colonists could still be alive. Even though he tried to supress it, Rassen felt a surge of rage fill his mind. The Mandalorians were slaughtering near-defenceless innocents who from the sound of it only had a few security personnel to protect them. So much for the vaunted warriors of Mandalore.
Two years ago he might have felt guilt at killing two men who for all he knew were just following orders. He had admitted to Shaela that the deaths of the batarians who had attacked her when they had first met were regrettable after all. Now though, all Rassen felt was disgust as he looked down at the corpse of the second Mandalorian. A lot of things could change in two years and it seemed he was one of them. He should have felt unease at how callous he had now become to the taking of sentient life, perhaps even fear at what his utter lack of caring meant. But Rassen felt neither of these things as he began to advance deeper into the colony, the sound of panicked screams and weapons fire filling his ears, the two kinds of noise so loud he didn't hear Zaressh's laughter within his own mind.