Eta

Based on N7 Fury (Adept)

"Back so soon?" Iota asked.
Eta sat down quickly in the chair in front of the Turian, "It h-hurts," she complained.
"I'm not surprised, there's still a lot of damage left untouched," he got out of his seat and walked over to her, lifting her chin up with his hands, "you're leaking biotic residue again by the looks of it."
Iota, the Turian doctor who helped her get through this mess, grabbed a clipboard from the desk and started flicking through the pages, checking things with a pen. He picked up a hologram and snapped a picture of her face, still hidden by the hood.
"The hood's gonna have to come off for a bit, do you want a pain killer before we start?" he asked.
"Y-yes," she replied.
"Stutter's not getting any better, how's you sense of smell doing?"
"S-still smells like b-burning."
"Everywhere?"
She nodded.
He sighed and injected her arm, she almost went limp immediately, but not before he could lead her to the bed and lay her down.
Iota began the usual procedure, first wiping away the slimy biotic residue and then carefully removing the hood and mask that guarded the remains of Eta's face. She screamed a few times, loud and anguished, but once it was off, he could begin clearing things up further.
"Tell me the story again whilst I do this, I'll see if I've missed anything."

Five years ago…
"Morning sweetie," said a shy voice.
Eta opened her eyes to see Phi hovering over her bed, breakfast in his hands.
"See? Even in an experimental biotic reactor, one can get breakfast in bed," Phi said, smiling.
"You shouldn't have," Eta replied, she stretched, "What's the occasion?"
"No occasion, we've been assigned to this reactor for three years now, and I've never once made you breakfast in bed. I was also scared you were losing interest in me," he added.
"Losing interest? Never," she giggled, "what time is it?"
He flushed, "Ah yes, I had to wake you earlier so you could eat it, sorry."
He handed her the tray, "It's two hours before shift starts."
"Three years," she mumbled, spooning some porridge into her mouth, "Never thought I'd spend three years of my life working on something as big as this."
Phi sat at the foot of the bed, "I know, and who knows how much longer we'll be here! Just think though, when we're done, we'll have perfected a whole new energy source!"
"I love your enthusiasm," she said, "Don't you want to get off this place though? We've been here since… forever."
Something flashed across his eyes, "I… would. A lot actually. We could go home, finally get married. Maybe even start a family."
"You've been thinking about this," she noticed.
He just smiled at her, and she resumed eating.
"Dr Farse, please report to section C3, thank you," said a voice over the built-in speaker.
Phi laughed, "Typical, better go. Enjoy your food."
Eta watched her soon-to-be-husband leave; smiling at the thoughts he had placed in her mind.
Of course, she couldn't think of them yet, there were still months of work to do before they got any closer to perfecting biotic energy sources. She shrugged the thoughts out of her head for the present, and prepared for the day ahead.
Eta was not one of the scientists; she was a guard, hired by the company along with many others. In the past Eta had been working with the Alliance on biotic weaponry, and in between jobs, she was a freelance guardian.
This was an Alliance funded project as well; biotic energy would hopefully be the future for new systems of humans. The idea was you could charge up a device, what they were working on, which then could store or release amounts of this energy throughout the day. One could charge it up in the morning, and it would stay active through the night till the next morning, to be recharged again. Or something akin to that.
As she wandered down the corridors, doing her rounds, her mind wandered to just when the scientists would complete the project, and she'd be free to return home with Phi.
Looking outside the windows, the world beyond the reactor was quiet and tranquil, despite its stormy nature. For most of every day they were battered by high winds, flashes and cracks of lightning, and hail the size of footballs. Today was an eerily calm day, where the forever black mass of cloud was still. Patient.
It was from this point she saw a ship break through the layer of cloud. It wasn't an Alliance ship; it was larger, bulkier, and more 'mechanical'.
Before she could react, the alarms started flashing, and life in the reactor jumped into existence. Corridors filled up with soldiers, the doors went into automatic lock-down. Eta calculated where the ship was headed, and began running through the corridors.
The ship thundered just over her head, above the corridor she was in; it was heading for the main docking bay.
Shouts were coming from everywhere, as men took their weapons and loaded them up. She joined her fellow hired guards as they ran to the landing zone.
The guards were comprised of many classes and specialities. Eta was the main Adept of the group; she packed lightly, holding only one pistol. She barely knew any of the other guards by name, as it was always best to keep things like that a secret. However she did know Theta, an Asari adept, who was practically her subordinate.
They looked at each other, and she saw Theta's eyes contained a notion of fear. When they were stood waiting, Eta placed her hand to steady her Asari friend.
"It'll be fine, any trouble, you get out of here," she said.
"I fight to the death, like you do," Theta replied.
"Remember the shock tactic, run in, get your sphere up early and run out before they have chance to realise you're there," Eta said.
Theta nodded. They worked well together as Adepts, able to utilize each other's powers better than any other of the biotics in the group.
Whatever was outside was causing a commotion, as the sounds of battle rattled through the walls. The biotic reactors first line of defence slowly fell, and Eta felt herself get nervous. Whatever was coming through would be tough; they had soldiers and vanguards positioned outside, as well as a few infiltrators.
Loud bangs clashed with the solid metal door that protected them from the outside world. Each one felt like it was being attacked with a nuke.
"I know that sound," said an Engineer, "That's a siege pulse! It's the Geth!"
Murmurs of alarm and confusion spread throughout the group, but it was soon stopped when the door blasted open.
At once Theta was gone, sprinting outside, and a large blue biotic bubble flashed into existence. Eta began throwing pulses of power into the sphere, hoping to catch something before the smoke and rubble cleared.
Others were now climbing out to join the fight. But the Geth were also climbing in.
A few rockets hit and took out members of the guard. Eta just jumped out of the way of one. She sent a shockwave forward, and felt it explode on contact with Geth affected by Theta's Biotic Sphere.
So far, Theta had not returned.
The smoke cleared somewhat, and she saw the outside filled with a small army of the robots.
Cursing, she looked around for her Asari friend, whilst still throwing biotics.
She was distracted, and was hit square in the chest by a Prime's canon, her shields shattering like they were paper, and she fell to the ground.

The world slowly stopped spinning, and she saw a blue hand above her head.
"Come on, Eta!" Theta shouted.
"How long have I been out?" she asked.
"Long enough, they've breached the facility, a retreat's been ordered, but there's something we need to do, hurry!"
She got up painfully, and applied a medi-gel to herself. Her hand was burning, but that was from using the biotics.
"What are we doing?" she asked.
"The general wants to see us," Theta replied. They wound their way around the corridors again, running into a room where the noise of battle could still be heard.
"Oh thank goodness, you found her," the general said.
"What's going on general?" Eta asked.
"We need you to retrieve an object and get it out. This is a priority," she said.
"What's the object?" Theta asked.
"That's… top secret. All I can tell you is that, there's more going on here than experimental biotics. The object's in D2, you'll know it when you find it. Please hurry, if this object falls into Geth hands… I don't want to think of how they'd use it," the general finished.
"General, have you heard from Phi Farse at all? He's an engineer," Eta asked.
"We've had two escape ships leave, but no names. A group of people are stranded on C3, we're trying to get them out," she replied.
Eta's heart flipped. That was where Phi was stationed.
"I have to go help them," she said.
The general shook her head, "There's no time, this object, at this time, is the most important thing in the galaxy, it has to be kept safe and evacuated."
"What's it doing here then?" Theta asked.
The general gave up, "We were hiding it. I'm not saying anything else, you have your orders."
They couldn't argue, not at a time like this. Eta and Theta nodded and started running towards the main stairwell, but found it guarded by Geth.
"What do we do?" Theta asked.
"There's a ladder system in the pipelines that can go between places, we'll use that, there's a vent close by," Eta replied.
They silently made their way past more Geth guards, and found the vent.
"They really don't want us to go in there," Theta observed.
"Why are the Geth interested in a biotic reactor anyway?" Eta wondered.
"Maybe they're after this object," Theta suggested.
Shrugging, Eta jumped down into the first sub-level of the facility, Theta close on her heels.
They found the ladder and began climbing down, avoiding pipes and vents along the way. Eta stopped above a vent which led to C3.
"Eta, we have orders," Theta said.
Eta started to move, but stopped again, "Sorry Theta, I have to. He's the only life I've got outside of this place. Get to the object, I'll meet you halfway."
"What if you d-"
But Eta already kicked through the vent and fell into the corridor on the other side.
Theta swore, but she did not follow. She resumed the journey down to D3; alone.

The corridor contained a few Geth soldiers and rocket troopers. Eta had taken them by surprise, and she was quick to use this to her advantage. Sending a shockwave in one direction, she buffeted the other with a hail of biotic rain.
The Geth from behind began shooting at her, and she dodged behind a large crate whilst still focussing on the ones before her. Sending another shockwave to them, they all exploded. She ran out of the crate, and lashed at the remaining troopers, finishing them easily, her hands burning again.
She ran towards where Phi would be, in the main biotic reactor; trying not to think about Theta. There was strangely little opposition, but most Geth were in the reactor, doing something to the computers. She felt like she should stop them, but her heart pushed her forwards.
Almost too far, around another bend she stopped dead, as before her was a Prime; the Prime that had knocked her out earlier. It was surrounded by bodies, all dead. The Geth had made their way into the reactor.
In the Prime's hand, being held above the ground was Phi. Both turned to look at her.
"Eta! Get out of here!" Phi said, though struggled.
But she couldn't move, couldn't run, couldn't attack. All her training hadn't prepared her for this.
"Strong biotic detected," the Prime said in a mechanical voice.
It sent a blue bolt straight through Phi, killing him instantly, and dropped him to the floor, like he was nothing.
Eta could only watch as Phi, the man she would marry, dropped silently to the ground. His eyes open but dead. Her heart fell with him, slowly, and as his skull cracked on the hard floor surface, so did her heart. Eta became furious.
Her biotics overcame her thoughts and instincts; she filled herself up, glowing, glaring blue, feeling the heat course and burn through her very body, ripping open her flesh. Before she could cry, she exploded.
A force that sent the prime to the ground, flying away, and she struck harder, throwing everything she had at it, biotics exploding everywhere on its body. She felt its shield's break, its armour crack, but she continued. The Prime slowly staggered to its feet, and tried to fire at her, but she moved through space faster than its machinery could comprehend. Within seconds, it was a smoking black corpse of rusted metal and ash.
She used the biotics to sense around her, like long tendrils that touched every corner and crack in the wall, feeling for some hint of life, but there was nothing. She could only stand, burning, trying to regain control of the biotic power ripping through her arms and legs. Her hair was scorched dry and stood on end, black biotics lapping from it like it was antenna.
Eta finally fell to the ground, on top of Phi's body, which had suffered under the heat of her biotics. She tried to look into his charred face, to see his eyes, but they had been burned away.
Her hands hurriedly traced the unfamiliar features, trying to see him one more time, trying to picture his face under the blackened skin, but her mind was dazed and she couldn't recall it.
"I have to see it," she said quietly, with a horse voice, "I need to see you!"
Her body, though stable again, felt like it was on fire. Every trace she made with her finger took lumps of flesh off Phi's face, she was ruining it, but she couldn't help herself. She had to find the outline; she just wanted one more look.
But she couldn't. She couldn't know if he'd died happy to see her, or in pain from the pulse siege that had burned quickly through his stomach. She regained control of the biotic mess inside of her, and cried. No tears fell, they only evaporated; she just sat, weeping.
It wasn't long before noises interrupted her.
"Excuse me, are you alright?" a voice said.
Eta looked up slowly to see five scared looking people eyeing her.
"Do you know how we can get out?" another said.
They must be the remains of the trapped engineers, Eta thought.
"Eta!" a new voice broke the solitude, and Eta recognised Theta running towards her.
"I have the object from D3, I came here to see if you were alright, you never showed up, what's that smell?" Theta asked, then she took in the scene, and realised what had happened.
"Not Phi," Theta murmured.
Her friend came down and hugged her around the shoulders, "I'm so sorry Eta."
They sat there for a while, the crowd of people hanging around, wondering if they'd ever see their escape.
"Come on Eta, we can't stay here," Theta suddenly said, "We have to get these people out."
Eta new she was right, it was her job. It was always her job. No matter what had happened to her, she had to guard others. She got to her feet.
"A cargo ship has just arrived, it'll be in hanger B6, all the rest have gone," she announced.
The people looked hopefully at her.
"Follow us," Theta finished.
Eta looked at the object Theta had retrieved; it was an incredibly large, sealed box, taller than her, and wider.
"Had to carry it with biotics, could really use some help though," Theta joked.
But Eta didn't respond. She didn't feel like she had anymore biotic power left in her.
Theta acquired the help of some of the engineers, and they started moving through the tunnels for one last time.
"There were no Geth down in D3," Theta started, "They must have all been in the biotic labs."
It confused Eta, but she didn't dwell on it. She had left Phi behind; staying any longer would have made it too hard to leave.

The rest of the walk was silent and uninterrupted, the Geth must have been very pre-occupied, until a dreadful thought suddenly hit Eta, and she broke into a run.
"Hurry!" she shouted.
"What's going on?" Theta asked.
"I'll explain when we get there, you'll have to take on any opposition, I haven't the strength in me," Eta said.
Around one corner, they did see a pair of Geth troopers, which Theta quickly silenced. Soon though, they were loading the final cargo ship in B6. The object went on first and was laid across the ground. The cargo ship wasn't from the facility, and had arrived specifically for the purpose of retrieving the object. A Sentinel helped them load up, and followed the passengers on board.
Eta didn't step on.
"What are you doing?" Theta asked.
"The Geth weren't here for the object Theta. They were here for the reactors. They're doing something with biotics," Eta said.
"So?"
"The Geth want that biotic power, Theta, I can't let that happen, I'm going back, I'm going to absorb all the biotic energy, and I'm going to take this place and every Geth in it down with me," Eta said.
"But, you can't die!"
"Fine, then I go with you into a world that has nothing for me anymore. Theta, you're my closest friend, but I'm going no further. Someone has to stop these Geth. This is the last job I have to do. It's always about the job," Eta said.
"We have to go," the Sentinel announced.
"Go Theta; look after these people," Eta said, she grabbed the Asari's wrist, "Have a good life."
"Eta," she started, "Thank you. For everything."
Eta tried to smile, she took one last look at the last organic life form she would see, and turned and ran.

The largest biotic reactor was on C3, where Phi had been working on. It linked to all the others, so she could absorb all the energy this place held. The Geth had moved out of it and were focussing on some other area of the reactor now, all was quiet.
She stepped into the room, and could almost feel the biotic strength vibrating through it. It seemed to wrap around her, envelope itself on her arms and legs, she was almost pulled to the centre. She used a little bit to create a barrier, in case any Geth arrived.
The cargo ship would be gone now, flying through the clouds. She didn't know how big this blast would be, so she counted to ten before she started absorbing.
At first, she felt enlightened, as the biotics flowed into her, healing her body, she felt her strength returning, but soon it became overwhelming. Her capacity overflowed, but she held on tight. As more and more biotics rushed, she emptied the first chamber. Soon she didn't even need to absorb it, it was all just flowing to her, and she felt it leaking through her skin, escaping down her nose, eyes, mouth. Her body was being burned from the inside, but she could no longer stop it, it accelerated, the reactors flashing as the biotics rushed out faster than they could handle. The Geth stopped what they were doing to figure out what was going on.

I screamed, and I s-s-screamed again, my head s-seemed to explode, m-my throat dried up, and as the last tendrils of b-biotics charged into m-me, I-I let it all go.
"W-when I woke up, t-t-they told me the facility h-had been reduced to a-ash," Eta finished.
"Fascinating," Iota said, "I remember hearing the story. So, someone found you, pulled you out and tried to fix you up?"
"Y-yeah," Eta said, "It w-was five m-months till they f-found me. I f-finished the j-job, no G-Geth got out."
"And now, you have extraordinary biotic powers," Iota said, "Well, I can't see anything I missed."
"I d-don't want to b-be healed," Eta said, "The p-pain keeps me strong."
She sat up, and reapplied her mask, wincing as it touched her skin. She put her hood up, and began walking to the door.
"Same time next month," Iota said, "Those biotics fried parts of your brain, so I'd like to look into some psychotherapy for you."
Eta nodded, and walked out of the office door. The world was empty for her. She hadn't thought about the whereabouts of Theta since the incident, or Phi. She tried to carry on in the world as she always had. Taking jobs. Getting paid. It was forever changing for her. But one thing remained constant, the world smelled like burning. It was always burning.