Commander Shepard looked down at the unconscious alien on the med bay table, her arms crossed over her chest. It had been six hours since the battle against the Blue Suns, and the wrecked fighter had been loaded onto the Normandy. It was a small ship, and the Normandy's engineers were hard at work analyzing it even now. The redhead was far more concerned with the unconscious alien before her, however.
"Tell me what you know, Doctor."
The aging woman took in a deep breath, her head buried in her omni tool, which was overseeing the instruments monitoring the alien.
"Well, she's nearly identical to humans on a genetic level. Her skin pigments are of course different, but nearly all of her internal and external organs are completely identical to a human."
This day was just getting stranger and stranger. Shepard raised an eyebrow and looked over at Chakwas.
"Nearly? What's different?"
The doctor hesitated, pulling something up on her omni tool. Incomprehensible to Shepard, of course.
"There seems to be a number of microorganisms present throughout her bloodstream. At first I thought she may have been infected with some sort of disease, but upon closer examination, these organisms seem to be in a form of symbiotic relationship with this woman. But the answer to your unspoken question is no, there are no traces of element zero in her body nor any biotic implants present in her."
Shepard leaned against the wall, moving her eyes back to the alien.
"Will she be okay? What's wrong with her?"
"From what my instruments are able to determine, she fainted from exhaustion. After some time resting, she should make a full recovery. I would like to keep her here so I may continue to monitor her condition."
Shepard nodded, and moved her attention to the other table, where most of the alien's belongings had been laid out. She hadn't had much, besides what fit on her belt. That laser sword and another metal tube that seemed to be a similar weapon. Some tools that Shepard couldn't identify, and some sort of disc. She picked that one up, examining it. There was a button on the side. What if she-
The moment she touched the button a sort of hologram appeared. It was of a man in a similar cloak to the alien. He appeared human, but seeing as the whole thing was colored blue, she couldn't tell if the man was green like their unconscious friend. She looked at Chakwas as the hologram began speaking in a similar accent to the alien.
"This is Master Obi-Wan Kenobi. I regret to report that both our Jedi Order and the Republic have fallen, with the dark shadow of the Empire rising to take their place. This message is a warning and a reminder for any surviving Jedi. Trust in the Force. Do not return to the temple, that time has passed, and our future is uncertain. We will each be challenged, our trust, our faith, our friendships. But we must persevere. And in time, a new hope will emerge. May the Force be with you."
The hologram went away. A pre-recorded message of some kind. Silence reigned for a moment before the good doctor chimed in.
"Well, Commander, it seems that we have picked up someone fleeing persecution. If I had to guess, our visitor is a member of this 'Jedi Order'."
"It certainly seems that way."
Shepard set the device back on the table, deep in thought.
"Faith. He mentioned faith, and some sort of table. Perhaps these Jedi are some sort of religious order."
Chakwas inclined her head in agreement, looking down at the unconscious alien.
"Then in all likelihood, this empire drove her from her species's home system because of that faith. Seemingly after overthrowing this 'republic'. My word, what a mess we've stumbled into."
Before Shepard could truly respond, the alien began to stir. The doctor immediately went to her side, scanning her with the omni tool.
"She's waking up, Commander."
Shepard stepped to the other side of the table, looking directly down at the alien, watching as those hauntingly blue eyes began to slowly blink open.
"Can you hear us? My name is Commander Shepard, of the Normandy SR-2. We rescued you from that wreck and the Blue Suns."
The alien's green lips parted, her voice raspy and dry.
"Yes. I remember you. My ship, is it still on the planet?"
Shepard shook her head, watching as the doctor helped the alien to a sitting position. The green woman was still clearly weak, but able to sit up on her own, her eyes wandering around the medical bay.
"No, we loaded it into the Normandy's hangar. Our engineers are looking it over. Seems like you sustained a lot of damage coming out of that nebula."
Shepard watched the alien's face very carefully, and took note of a slight twitch of her lips. Otherwise her face remained entirely neutral.
"Yes. That I did." Those blue eyes came to follow Shepard. "I am no doubt indebted to you, Commander, but I am afraid that I must do the injustice of inquiring as to your intentions with me."
Shepard shared a look of wariness with Chakwas, who was still scanning the alien with her omnitool.
"I don't have any intentions beyond making sure you're spaceworthy, miss. . .?"
Another moment of silence as the alien seemed to wrestle with something. Shepard didn't doubt for a moment that she was considering whether to give the former specter her real name.
"Katobi. Kyra Katobi." Another pause. "Jedi Knight."
Judging by the tension present in Kyra's body, Shepard made the guess that the alien assumed that would mean something to the Commander. It didn't.
". . .Right. That doesn't change anything. Do you need an escort back to your home nebula? We would be happy to help with first contact diplomacy."
Kyra blinked, taken aback. She studied Shepard carefully, suddenly looking even more guarded.
"Where am I? What part of the galaxy am I in? Is this some Imperial trap?"
The hostility present in the alien's tone made Shepard hold up her hands, trying to give off a non-threatening air.
"You're in the Terminus Systems, Kyra. Galactic northwest, pretty far from Council space or any real governments. I'm not even sure what an 'Imperial' is. Whatever troubles you're fleeing on your home planet, they won't follow you here."
"The Terminus Systems? Council? That can't be- I was in the Outer Rim, near the Unknown Regions." She looked down at the floor, biting her lower lip. "Commander. Do you have a starmap I can look at?"