Thorn woke dressed in her normal tank top and jeans. She felt weak as though tired, but it wasn't the usual kind of tired. Drugged? Looking around she found herself in a familiar room. The crates had been removed but the window she'd jumped out of remained in pieces letting in a bone chilling gasp of wind. She was sat on the cold floor and panicked; both her arms were chained to a rail above her. The cuffs were made of mass effect energy, very expensive and almost impossible to get out of. She was about to try her hand at ripping it apart at a molecular level though her talent was far below par in that area she could think of nothing else. The door at the opposite end of the room opened.
A group of well armed mercenaries and none of them human walked in. These aliens had four eyes, try as she might she couldn't quite put her finger on the name of them. They all wore similar markings. Some humans filed in behind them, these she recognised as Mire's rival gang. Finally Rael walked in his dark hair shielding his expression from view but she knew it would be a gloating smirk. "You're fast, I'll give you that much."
She snarled "screw you, Rael."
"Now that isn't the best way to greet your new owner, Princess." She ripped and tore at the cuffs to no avail. Rael and the aliens laughed as she struggled. The leader of the apparent mercenaries turned to Rael.
"She'll fetch a nice price. A pretty specimen" the four eyes frowned at the mark on her face no doubt. "Pity about that scar". Rael waved away the concern of the alien.
"Her biotic skills far outstrip any specimen you've seen before, Torshan. Red sand will help control her". Thorns head shot up in shock. Rael grinned cruelly at her from behind his mess of hair. "As I remember correctly, she rather enjoyed it last time." Rage was building with her as well as a sick feeling in her stomach at the memories.
The alien called Torshan looked bemused at Rael. "She is addicted then?"
"Not yet but it won't take long". Rael held out a bag of Red Sand and waved it tauntingly at her. This time Thorn was desperate to get away, pulling at her chains madly. For amusements sake he ripped the bag slightly before covering his mouth and nose with a cloth. He then threw the contents into the air above her. It was like red flour and she knew as soon as she breathed it in she would have very little mental control. She inhaled through both her mouth and nose and the effects were almost instantaneous. A feeling of euphoria came over Thorn, her mind was in a much more relaxed and peaceful place. The chains on her wrists felt weightless as she moved to stand properly.
She opened her eyes to see everything had gone red tinted. She couldn't remember feeling this good, this happy and powerful before. Her entire body began to glow with free biotic energy. Once the sand had settled Rael moved over to her, slowly as to not startle her out of her state. Being highly strung she had the willpower to snap out of it if she pushed herself. "You knew you liked it Princess." His voice sounded like honey as he spoke very close to her ear. "The very first time, you remember?"
Memories flooded Thorn's mind but slowly prolonging her elation. During this time Rael kissed her neck softly and Thorn let him. He was by no means a hideous man, rather the opposite; a charmer with charisma to con a miser out of his last credit just by smiling. She felt his hands move up her body, touching the bare skin of her stomach and moving down, enjoying himself, taking his time with her.
Thorn's memory of the time she was twelve came back. Rael had been so nice to her, offering her piggy back rides when no one was watching in return she would show him how clever she was by lifting heavy things with her biotic powers. That particular day he'd given a hug in greeting and asked her if she knew a way to make her even stronger. She frowned confused, shaking her head.
He drew out a small bag with red stuff in it. It looked like powder. When she asked what it was he held his finger up to his lips, saying it was secret. She may have been young but she wasn't stupid. Mire had taught her more than enough to keep her alive on the streets, when something she didn't know was presented to her, he had taught her to stay away and ask about it later. Through living you learn. She asked again but Rael was reluctant. He was persuasive, he told her all she had to do to test if she didn't like it was to take a bit on her finger and smell it.
This request seemed reasonable. She did as he asked and as soon as she breathed it in it was magical. Her mind almost exploded with the effects. Her body's reaction followed a similar path. Light flowed from her body tossing things hither and thither, Rael looked ecstatic with her; she enjoyed the fact that he was happy.
Things suddenly ground to a halt however when Mire walked around the corner with his two best mercenary body guards to see Rael holding the bag of Red Sand and Thorn tossing old cabs around as if they were paper aeroplanes. He sent his body guards to catch him but Rael was faster with his hand gun. Both were down before they got close enough to apprehend him and he fled with a triumphant laugh. Mire looked down at his ward, the initial euphoria had worn off now she felt ashamed, looking at the mess around her. Her powers had doubled in strength, Rael had told the truth but she was scared. If there had been people around she would have felt no remorse in lifting and throwing them about like ragdolls. She clung to Mire in that moment and cried into his chest; terrified.
The world came swimming back into view as Thorn remembered where she was and who was fondling her possessively. The only warning he got were her eyes. They seemed to set alight with indigo flame before she released her pent up power in an all out explosion, shattering her wrist restraints with the shockwave, sending everyone flying away from her.
Her anger soared to new heights, the drug elevating every emotion as well as her power. She would get answers out of him, one way or another.
"Don't ever touch me Rael" she looked around as the mercenaries and slavers got back up "who the hell sold us out?"
Rael was back on his feet looking furious. She had humiliated him and that stung his pride deeply. "You don't get to speak out of turn in your new line of work Princess" he said coldly. He must have made some kind of signal as even though Thorn was ready for an attack she was not prepared to be leapt upon from behind. A sharp blow to the head with a heavy pistol almost knocked her out completely. She could feel the rage rise like a cobra, its venom seeping into her blood turning her heart to ice. With the extra kick of Red Sand her entire body began to leak violet flame. The desire to hurt, to kill grew inside her until she was unable to suppress it for much longer.
Deep inside she knew it was wrong to kill; she had always questioned herself when she had done it before. Then again it had always been aliens she had targeted and she'd once enjoyed it. Aliens were no different than humans in the way that they had their faults as well as their good sides. The good side was still something she was yet to see, to experience but in her heart she knew it was there. Mire and his gang were all xenophobic towards aliens of any kind. Now that she saw Rael, not the best example, she saw aliens were no different from them.
The once buried desire to kill and cause pain was like an open flame inside her, burning as brightly as a super nova for all in the room to see. She looked up at Rael as she felt the blood trickled down her face. She cast her hand into the air and let loose a shockwave train, ripping up the floor as each strike got larger and more powerful. Watching some of the humans and aliens fly out of the way was amusing at first. The darkness inside her made her smile at their pain but the need to escape was still stronger.
She went to run for the window when Rael pointed at her. He had lost patience, "take the amp out!" some of whom had to get back on their feet after being thrown into the wall. Others never moved. Rael brushed himself down as they barred her path to the window. She would have laughed at Rael's naivety had they not been so quick to grab her. One slammed int her from the side, driving her to the ground while two others bound her hands behind her crushing her to the floor with their own weight. She was determined to make it difficult for them. She writhed in their grasp but couldn't help smile and feel the laugh rise in her chest as they moved her hair out of the way of the base of her skull and found nothing.
"She doesn't even have an implant sir" said one of them. At this point Thorn was laughing until she gave herself a headache. The throb had become almost unbearable but still she laughed. The drug was having weird after affects.
"What are you gabbling about? Of course she has one, she's a biotic." Thorn was slowly building up her biotics, ready for an action that would break Rael if she was successful. The guards moved away, nervous about the strangeness of their prisoner.
"I'm unlike any biotic you've ever seen". Her throat hurt. She looked round and found her vision had gone from red to violet. The entire room glowed with the light of her aura. She got up and threw a pulse so powerful at one of the men it crushed him against the wall. She threw another soon after, this one was closer, making all humans and batarians duck to avoid it. She'd just remembered the name for the aliens; one of the crueller species who hated humans more than any others. Pistols and assault rifles were readied as she continued to ooze power. She stood defiantly in front of them all suddenly grateful for the boost in strength Rael had given her. "I was born as I am, no one knows why and I don't care." With her last words she slammed her fist into the floor driving all the biotic force out of her.
A dangerous thing she would never do again in such a state of anger.
Instead of just blowing everyone against the walls with breakneck force as she had done before, the entire building exploded. The roof disappeared and the walls flew outwards some bodies following them burning with blue flame. The outward blast shielded her from most of the debris but she wasn't concentrating on that any more. When all grew quiet she stumbled through the rubble and found Rael's mangled body, he breathed still.
"Tough son of a bitch" she growled bending down until he could see her. He tried to move but every bone in his body was broken and she had an idea that a few were scattered across the room as well. His legs were gone. "Who was your informant?" she whispered. When he didn't answer she grabbed his shirt and pulled him towards her. "Who is the traitor?" he licked his lips and shivered.
"Rose". Thorn's entire body went cold. She was silent and still for a moment. it shouldn't have been much of a surprise as Rose had doted on Rael for a very long time, it followed that she would be loyal to him. But it was the sting of personal betrayal that hurt most. Rose had been like a sister to her, and now this...
She looked down at Rael's pitiful form and without hesitation, broke his neck. "You've earned yourself quick death." She stood and left the building still burning with biotic power barely held in check as her anger let it flare up like oil spilled on a bonfire. "I can't say the same for her".
Sirens blared soon after she had left the wreckage behind her; sure that no one had seen her she proceeded to hurry to the slums where Mire was surely in danger. It would only be later that she realised she had also inadvertently demolished some of the occupied apartments around the same building. Innocents had been caught in the blast, few survived.
"What do you mean she's gone?" Mire yelled straight into Rose's face. "You were in charge of guarding her". She looked extremely pathetic. Rose had been sure to give it at least a good hour after Thorn was taken to sound the alarm, he would have no chance by then.
"Sir I heard nothing, I only went to look in on her just in case when I saw she was gone". Mire shoved her aside and looked for evidence in his own room, something he was sure he'd never be doing. "The insider" he breathed. "They were the cause of this" he swung round only to find Rose right behind him. Something sharp struck him between his ribs. He looked into the cruel gaze of Rose as she shoved him away.
Her eyes were dark as the blood poured from him. "Sorry about this Mire but Rael has plans for Thorn. After this the Reds will be his". She smiled down at him unaware of the pair of eyes behind her.
Biotic fire exploded into the room licking the walls as Thorn entered. She raised her hand and Rose was lifted off the floor. "You traitorous bitch!" Rose was slammed with hurricane force backwards into the wall cracking her head against the cement lining. She was motionless for a moment then she moved as if to get up but it was clear that several different bones were broken.
She leant against the bedstead looking incredulously at her "but Rael..." she gargled trying to spit out the blood forming her mouth. The blow had knocked a few teeth loose.
Thorn flew to her side and back handed her in fury. She went down again without any trouble. "Dead along with the rest of the guards you sent me off with, the batarian slavers included." Thorn spat on the ground beside her in disgust. "I blew the fuck out of that place and now there is nothing left but meat and shrapnel". Thorn hit her again feeling utter satisfaction. "Why take me back to Mire at all?"
"We needed you...healthy...and strong" she panted. Thorn snorted to herself, she spoke as if she were a prized animal. Without an ounce of mercy left she biotically punched Rose, over and over until her head snapped back and showed no further signs of resistance. Thorn dropped her as her anger diminished, almost ashamed of what she'd done then rushed over to Mire.
She was beginning to feel the weariness common with biotics but it was getting worse. She hadn't eaten properly in such a long period of time and with all she had exerted she was amazed that she was still standing. She held her resolve, determined not to fall without a fight.
"I think she poisoned the blade" he gasped. Thorn ripped some of the sheets off the bed to make a binding. He held her hand "No. Don't, it's too late."
"Shut up Mire, I will not take any more shit today" Thorn snapped before leaving the sheets she'd ripped beside her. She ripped his hand away and rolled up his shirt to reveal his wounded abs. She pressed her lips to the wound and sucked. Turning her head sideways she spat the blood out. She continued, again and again until she was sure there was not enough poison left to kill him, though she thought she may have swallowed some. She wiped her mouth and yelled for help as she bound Mire up. "It'll be fine Mire, John will have some Medi-gel and you'll be fine." She looked him straight in the eyes daring him to disagree.
Mire however was so exhausted he couldn't be bothered to argue. She put his arm over her shoulder and hoisted him up so he lay on his bed instead of the floor. The doctor had flown up the stairs along with several others to find Rose dead and Mire bleeding. They hesitated at first until Thorn yelled at them. "Are you all going to stand there like idiots? John do what you can for him" she turned to the others. "You and you" she pointed at the two bouncer-like men at the door. "Guard the main entrance; send someone to let me know if anyone turns up". A young boy of about twelve stood beside his slightly younger sister of ten. They were the footpads, young and fast, pickpockets that could bump and grab without any trouble. "Finch take your sister and scout out the streets all around and report back here when you've made three checks, I want to know the position of everyone and everything, got it?" they nodded and fled at top speed.
Mire, it turned out, would live but he needed proper medical care, something none of them were able to give. The footpads came back noting that there were authorities all over the building she had destroyed and not only were the police involved, so was the Alliance. What a military group were doing hunting around down in the underbelly was beyond Thorn but she nodded and praised them.
As they were carrying Mire down the hallway a third footpad of about her age this time rushed up to her. "There're Alliance soldiers at the gate. They'll be here in no more than five minutes." She cursed. Thorn passed Mire to the footpad and pointed to the door leading to the cellar.
"Take the back exit and get him somewhere safe, I'll deal with the Alliance". When she went to move Mire grabbed her.
"Don't, they'll kill you". She squeezed his hand and bent down slightly to kiss him one last time.
"I'll be fine. Anyway they have to catch me first" She grinned as she pulled away. He tried to hold onto her but she moved too fast. She hurried to the entrance sending the bouncers with the others down the underground route that would lead to the higher and richer part of the city.
Thorn could hear the Alliance soldiers heading for the small shack where there was another route to the underground escape. She pulled mentally at the biotics inside her, the anger was still there, it blackened her thoughts and made it harder for her to concentrate. Again she was moderately grateful to the Red Sand. The shack collapsed before any could get a foot inside.
Thorn hid in the shadows and pulled again at the shack sending concrete and metal flying at the soldiers. A biotic within the squad deflected most of the more dangerous hits, sealing some of the vulnerable soldiers within a bubble of energy. When everything had stopped falling the biotic turned to what she assumed was the Commanding Officer. "Sir, this is a biotic attack."
"Find them".
The biotic seemed to pause before Thorn got the courage to cause a distraction. She stepped out of her hiding place making the biotic swing round to face her. As he was prepared to attack she brought down more rubble on top of them from an old digger and skip placed in an old dig site just behind them. She wasn't trained well enough to aim it right so most dived out of the way. Thorn was out of her league. This biotic was trained, well rested and fed whereas she had only her last reserves of adrenaline and Red Sand to keep her going. She was tired and unbearably hungry, but she had a will of steel.
The biotic soldier went to put her into stasis which she deflected with a shockwave and counterattacked with a move she had never used before. Feeling power burn within her she believed she could do it. with as much biotic strength she had remaining she biotically charged at the soldier, knocking him down and ploughing her way through the rest like an angry krogan.
Thorn saw her chance and fled as fast as she could. Once the biotic got up he had his eyes locked onto her position as she took to the streets. "After her!" he called and a few members accompanied him as he gave chase.
She ran like a gazelle but was irked by a sudden pain in her stomach. She cursed inwardly as she ducked down tiny alleyways and back out onto a different route. She had indeed swallowed some of the poison within Mire's blood. She paused for a minute her head span and lights flashed behind her eyes. As she leant against an old building made of red brick she vomited. To her horror, blood had also come out. She could hear their voices getting closer. She pushed herself onwards determined not to get caught, especially whilst weak.
Thorn had leapt over piles of rubble and garbage and crawled under broken metal constructs. She was lighter and faster than they were and knew the streets well but the poison would no doubt kill her if she kept up her pace as her heart pumped it through her veins faster. She dropped beside an old car that had been part of a pileup many years ago. Some cars lay next to it others were still partially on top. She lay on her side and tried to breathe.
"I can't do this anymore" she said to herself. The memory of her anger and loss of control frightened her. No one deserved to die like that. She began to regret all she had done over her lifetime as well, all she had killed and hurt. She wanted nothing more to do with it. Mire could live his life without her, though it wounded her deeply. She loved him and always would but she didn't want that life anymore. Helping people was a far better thing but she had only the knowledge and power to hurt.
Become a soldier, a voice said in her head. She frowned at her inner voice. "As long as I can control myself, as long as no others have to die". She grew very tired lying there on the cold, hard gravel. There was a metallic groan that came from above her and by the time she knew what it was, it was too late to do anything.
She had nudged the car next to her and unbalanced the one on top of it. It shook then slid with all haste towards her. Her body slammed hard into the ground as it came down on top of her. Broken metal pierced her skin as she was pinned to the ground unable to move. The only sound that had come from her was a short sharp scream and several sobs of agony. Too weak to move it physically and too oddly angled and tired to move it biotically she lay there still sobbing in pain as she waited for death.
A few minutes had passed and the Alliance squad was upon her. Voices sounded so far away like they were spoken underwater. She looked around her bleary eyed to see the biotic and his men hauling the car off of her. She lay still, tired with hunger and pain. Though she wanted to fight, she couldn't.
"Give me a hand" called one of the men as he pulled the girl out of the wreckage. She was out cold. Once she was free a soldier trained in medicine moved closer to take a look. He was shocked and looked desperately around at the others.
"We need to get her to a medical centre ASAP" he said making sure she was secure in the biotic soldier's arms.
The Commander had caught up with them and looked startled as he turned round with a limp young girl in his arms. "What happened?" The biotic explained the chase and the way they found her when the medic interrupted.
"We have very little time Commander, please we need to go now!" he turned and led the way back to the shuttle that had landed not far from them in the middle of the street. "She's not too badly injured Commander" he explained as they walked. "But her physical health is terrible. She's a biotic and as you know biotics need much more nutrition than others do. Living in the slums has degraded her health over time but it seems the excessive use of her biotics over the last few hours has worsened her condition. I'm surprised she was still standing after all this time. If we don't get her to a medical centre soon..." he looked over his shoulder as she was boarded on the shuttle. Looking back at the Commander he continued solemnly. "We may lose her."
Thorn was exhausted and ravenous when she woke. Looking around to find herself in a clean white room and dressed in clean clothes lying in a soft clean bed. At first her natural reaction was to flee at the sight of something unknown as she had conditioned herself to do over the years but at that moment she felt she didn't want to.
She lay back against the pillows softness and let herself drift off again.
It took over a month to make Thorn healthy again. They had fed her small rations at first then increased it over time until she was taking in the correct amount of calories per day, for a biotic. At the end of her recuperation period Thorn felt much stronger than ever before. The doctors had explained to her the nature of her illness. They had said it would take her longer still to get used to balancing her biotics and her eating habits.
Soon enough the Alliance Commander was brought in to see her. Thorn was nervous at first, not knowing what to expect from him but she hid it behind a veil of confidence. The Commander held out his hand for her to take, she stared at it for a moment before reaching out and shaking it. "I understand you are feeling better."
She nodded and smiled politely though it was strained as she felt there was another reason behind his visit. "I rarely had proper meals and never at such regular intervals. It's strange but I like it." He smiled right back at her in a similar fashion.
He coughed into his fist, "I actually came to ask about your biotics amongst other things". Thorn's expression revealed only dark emotions.
"I see."
He looked awkward but continued. "I was told that when they tried to get to your implant to clean it, they couldn't find it."
"I don't have one" the Commander looked inwardly frustrated as he tried to understand. "I have always been able to create mass effect fields with my mind alone and use them effectively" she told him honestly. "Though control has been...difficult".
"No doubt caused by your lack of real food."
"No doubt."
"I wanted to ask if you knew what happened to the slavers we were tracking. Batarians". Her face remained expressionless but he pressed anyway. "You were seen walking away from an explosion in which we found the bodies of all the slavers, amongst others". Thorn was startled, "several families were also caught in the blast, injured. A few were killed. I have doubts many of the survivors will make it".
Her eyes then dropped thinking about the blood on her hands. "They had me prisoner" she whispered almost to herself. The Commander listened intently, patiently. "I...lost control", she could see herself in the eyes of her victims, burning with violet fire like a demon.
The Commander was about to reach out to her when she flinched away her biotics surrounding her. "You have shown an amazing amount of willpower. Anyone weaker willed would have shattered under the stress your body was under when they brought you in. Would you be interested in joining the Alliance, when you come of age of course?"
Thorn looked up at him and gave it a moment's thought. She slowly nodded "I will have to train though won't I?" he nodded and shook her hand again smiling much more naturally than before.
"Welcome aboard Miss..?"
"Thorn" she said. She thought carefully about her last name though. She had thought about her desire to protect others and guide them along a safer path. The name she came up with was "Thorn Shepard."
He held out his hand to her again and this time she shook it willingly. "Commander Anderson." He seemed to know that she was lying about her name but if she wanted a fresh start, it was her right. "Tomorrow you will be escorted to a ship that will take you to Alliance space. To the Academy where you will train and study to become a soldier." He looked at her directly, her eyes startling him as he finally recognised the colour. "I have a good feeling about you Shepard".