Thoughts, Flashbacks and Dream sequences are in Italics
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Chapter 15
The Real Prologue
Sky sat, cross-legged on the floor in the middle of her living room, eyes roaming over the various furniture, decorations and trinkets she had collected over the years of staying on the Citadel. There were few words that could describe the sort of emotions running through her, but nostalgia was the probably the most eminent one. She recalled the excitement when she first got this apartment, almost ten years ago. The apartment building itself was one of the shortest in the vicinity, being only seven stories high and she was lucky enough to get hold of one on the top floor. She remembered walking into the bare, gloomy place, leaving a trail of footprints through the thin layer of dust and breathing in the musty air. The previous owner was a spacer, having bought the apartment but never really living in it. Over the course of the next few months, she designed, bargained over and procured numerous items that she deemed worthy for her first, and only personal living space thus far. At the end of six and a half weeks she stood back to marvel at her art piece, admiring everything from the purple carpeted flooring to the deep velvet blacked out curtains, from the light brown leather couch to the maroon satin sheets that covered her queen sized bed, each hand picked to suit her preferences. She was a comfort-over-style type of person, opting to fill the spaces with bean bags and love seats rather than plastic chairs and metallic shelves. Very hippie-like, and she loved it.
And sure her tastes had changed over the course of ten years, evident through the variation in deco, and the leather and wood were no longer as spotless nor perfect as they once were, but there was no where else she could call home, no where else she felt more at ease.
It was rather... sad to say goodbye.
Gathering her wits together she focused on the task at hand. Before her sat two trusty notebooks, both still in excellent condition, having made sure to handle them with care. She left the yellow one aside for now and picked up the red hardcover. Skipping to the last page, she removed the cap of her pen with her teeth, and scanned through the list of ten items before her. She couldn't help but congratulate herself at the same time for having thought of this ingenious idea, she knew those 9gag posts and day dreams about preparing for the zombie apocalypse would come in handy one day. Meh, zombies, reapers, small difference really.
Eight dates that represented the day she finished each task were carefully imprinted next to the respective items. The first one read:
1) Biotic Resistance: 29th March 2181
"So are you ready for this?"
Sky smiled uncertainly at the pretty doctor as she took her place in front of the offending machine, heart pounding with anticipation. Turning her head towards the brunette she nodded, giving her the go. "As ready as I'll ever be."
It took a moment for the biotic generator to boot up, there was a sound of something being fired and the dark-haired woman found herself being lifted off the ground, pretty purple light surrounding her completely.
Forcing herself to remain calm, she allowed her mind to relax as a slow, tickling sensation began to occur all over. She tried explaining the feeling to Dr Robertson once, but it never stuck. Unlike all that she had ever experienced, this wasn't just skin-deep, no, she felt it all the way down to the very core of her bones, to her soul. She was thankful though, the many years of repeated torture paid off, it had been almost two years since she screamed during one of her sessions, and she could not have been gladder for it. She would never forget the pain of course, that sort of experiences left a scar far larger than the one that caused this whole thing in the first place. Agony changed her, and the memories ensure that she stayed that way.
As she counted down the seconds in her mind the sensation intensified and started to become sharper; not really painful per say but more like little electric shocks that brushed over and inside of her. 'Pins and needles' were the words she was looking for.
Seconds became minutes that seemed to stretch on forever, but the pain never hit. Grinning to herself, she flexed her muscles and stretched her limbs, and still all she felt were static shocks. When her doctor finally stopped the machine she landed on the metal grate on the balls of her feet, before standing up straight and laughing.
"We did it!" She cried in joy as she rushed towards the brunette, hugging the petite woman in her arms. "Thank you thank you thank you." They had come to this point a while back and opted to wait for one year to see if the virus would once again take hold. She knew that they would never manage to get rid of it, but today's session proved that they have at least helped her build some sort of resistance.
The good doctor smiled back, obvious relief playing out across her features. "I know. It's amazing. Wait till Karin hears about this, she will be ecstatic!"
"Thank you so much doc, for your time and efforts and everything."
"It's fine Sky." She replied fondly, pulling out of her arms as she gripped the excitable woman's arm. "I am just glad that we finally got to this point."
Oh how amazing she felt that day, to know that she would no longer have to suffer through the excruciating agony should she have to face a biotic. She spent a bomb celebrating that night on food and drinks for Dr Robertson and herself, thankful that being a psychologist paid very well. Of course she would still have to be careful, since the any damaging biotic power was sure to have an even more devastating effect on her. She made a mental note that if- no, when she joined up with Jane on the Normandy, she would have to take out the biotics first.
Cracking her knuckles, she focused on the next item on the list:
2) Rahan: 28th December 2176
Sky slammed her hands on her desk in frustration. She had sent countless of messages to this stupid Nihlus Kryik over the past eight months and still there was no response. Growling, she was beginning to wonder if she made the wrong call to put Rahan under his care; Lord she was prepared to tear her hair out.
If she wanted to be honest, she knew that anger wasn't the main emotion coursing through her, but worry and guilt. She swallowed thickly as once again the million possible scenarios ran through her head. Was he already dead? If he were, was it due to the mission or was that Spectre the one that pulled the trigger? God she-
Her ranting was cut off by the familiar beeping sound of her omnitool just as she was about the curse the turian halfway to Hell. Scrambling for her discarded arm piece on the sofa she opened the message.
"It's done, he's safe, ten years off. Now stop bothering me with your incessant messages. – Nihlus."
She crumbled onto the couch in relief. Thank the Lords. She quickly composed a reply:
"You better not be lying to me. But thanks."
As an afterthought she added, "Quote of the Day: "Don't turn your back on your friends."" He was going to find her damn weird but that was the best and most she dared to do to warn him. She wasn't sure what she would be able to accomplish by telling him that, but she hoped for a chance that her words would hit him on Eden Prime.
Right, Nihlus. Wow, she really had to work on her memory, having completely forgotten about the Spectre after so long. Thinking about it now she realized that she had really, really changed since then. Guilt used to be her constant companion: for those that will be harmed in the future, for those that were harmed in the past, and for those that she could do nothing to help. Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on how she chose to look at it, the past six years had changed her attitudes significantly. Sure she still did her best to do what she could for the people that needed her help, but she no longer carried around that monster truck of self-condemnation. Even though it was quite a paradox, she couldn't help but feel relieved. Either way, she was glad that she learnt to distance herself from the events that she knew she would not be able to change.
Sky sighed. Poor Nihlus...
3) Quit Job: 7th October 2182
Dahlia walked into her room, shutting the door behind her before dumping a pile of datapads on her desk. Sky looked up and smiled gratefully, "thank you for getting these." Putting down the one she had in her hand, she reached out to pick the first pad off the pile.
Instead of walking back out as Sky had expected, the Caribbean woman sat unceremoniously onto the metal chair opposite her, not saying a word as she stared at her superior of eight years. The fully qualified psychologist raised an eyebrow at her assistant's strange behaviour.
"I know we're not supposed to say anything, but I'm really, really going to miss you." Ah and there was that strong Barbados accent.
Sky smiled kindly, "I'll still be around the Citadel Dahlia, we will definitely meet up and catch up once in a while."
"But still," the poor woman sounded downright miserable, "it won't be the same."
She was right, it wouldn't. In the office Dahlia and herself always had that sort of mentor-trainee relationship. She would always pick up after her mess, chastise her gently for it, before correcting her. But her assistant had grown in leaps and bounds and she could not have been more proud, so she chose to tell her exactly that.
"I know, but you've come so far, you'll do perfectly fine. I have a feeling you're up for a promotion sometime next week."
"But I don't want it! I'll be horrible at it." The dark-skinned woman threw her arms up in horror.
"You will be fine. I'm sure of it. Just be confident in your own abilities." Sky said encouragingly. Turning her attention back to her work, she added a few more details in the datapad she just picked up, before leaning back and letting out a huge sigh. "Done."
Dahlia raised an eyebrow. "So you gonna go tell the Bossman now?"
The psychologist grinned before standing up. "Hell yes. You don't know how long I've been waiting for this moment."
"I'm not surprised. That salarian is certainly something." Despite her exuberant tone of voice, her assistant still looked like she was about to cry.
Sky leaned back slightly in contemplation before an idea came to mind. "How about this, after all this is done, we'll go out for drinks. To celebrate the termination of my contract."
Dahlia's face lit up instantly. "Okay! Go give him hell."
Taking one last look at her office space, she bid an easy farewell to the cramped, yet strangely bare room. This place had been her life for far too long and she grew tired of the same yellow tiled floor and meager furniture. It was a good time to go.
"Oh I will."
Thinking about that moment now it still brought an ear-splitting smile to her face. She could still see, with perfect clarity, the look of shock and indignation in Odra's face when she told him she wanted to quit. Having settled all her obligations before hand he had no choice but to let her go, much to his displeasure. It didn't really matter to her, she always disliked that man.
As for her assistant, she had done a lot in the past six months and really stepped up to the plate. People change when their responsibilities shift, so it didn't surprise her to find out that the Caribbean woman could be highly efficient when she wanted to be. She still kept in touch with Dahlia, meeting up for drinks every once in a while. Being her mentor was possibly one of the best things she had ever done, she was extremely proud of her.
'Paragon points for me then.' She thought cheekily.
Shifting her gaze to the next three on the list:
4) Outfit: August 2178
5) Weapons: November 2182
6) Cloaking: 18th December 2180
In chronological order, she had managed to cross out the label 'outfit' first. While most of her tasks were quite practical, this was the least important of them all, and yet the most fun. She knew that if she was to travel around the universe she had to find at least one suitable uniform that she could kick ass in. Training gear just wouldn't match up to Miranda's sexy catsuit, nor Jack's lack there of. Forgive the vainer parts of her, but she wanted to look equally cool, and well, after so many years of being stuck in that butt-ugly white thing that she wore to work everyday, she needed a change.
Unfortunately, Sky was no fashionista and she had no idea where to start. So she acquired help from Yaz. The end results were… surprisingly pleasing.
She had provided the redhead a criterion for her outfit. She wanted it to convey professionalism, strength, and power all while giving her the ability to move however way she wanted, without making her look like a hooker, together with a 'don't ask, don't say' policy. She was extremely worried when her friend first waltzed through her door, the 'perfect thing' wrapped in layers and layers of plastic, but Yaz delivered, courtesy of the black market, in a way that she never expected.
First there was a layer of thin, black under armor that, don't ask her how, was able to regulate both temperature and moisture. By itself it resembled a playsuit, strapless with a deep v-neck and ending just at her ankles, it also came with a pair of long fingerless black gloves that was made out of the same material. Above this she wore an almost trench-coat resembling piece of beige armor with shoulder guards and long tight dark brown pants with reinforced shields. Strapped to her right thigh was a holster for her trusty weapon. Finally, Yaz wrapped everything up with knee length combat boots and a pair of dark grey gloves with titanium plating on her knuckles. Looking in the mirror, she was startled at how much she resembled one of her favourite characters, Lightning, from Final Fantasy XIII mixed with Liara's doctor mien. After thanking her friend profusely and handing over the (very large) sum of credits over, Yaz just winked and told her to play safe, before heading out.
Oh how much she loved that girl.
With her outfit all planned out she was able to carry through with the next item on her agenda, cloaking.
She originally got this idea from Kasumi in ME2. Sky had always been a silent fighter. Unlike Jane who preferred shotguns and catastrophic biotic powers, she liked to be in and out of danger within seconds: wear down the opponent with enough nimble, quick strikes and they would eventually give out. She admired the thief's shadow strike ability and hoped that she would be able to somehow achieve that same effect. Lucky for her, nanotechnology had vastly improved over the past 150 years.
With enough research, she found a place that would be able to weave the molecular strands through her outfit that provide her with extra protection and the cloaking ability. Unfortunately, the cloak worked by drawing energy normally used to power her shields, leaving her intensely vulnerable. Furthermore, if she were to move too fast, you could still make out a flicker of movement, but as long as she was careful, she would effectively be invisible, still a plus in her opinion. This was what she used during her little 'training session' with the mechs three days ago.
As for the fifth item on the list, 'weapons', Sky already knew she was a pistol person from the start. One thing she realized that the game failed to mention was how the weight of a weapon might affect a soldier's performance and Lord did those shotguns drag her down. She carried a Stiletto Pistol III and that was it. The whole shaving-metal-for-bullets thing was quite a brilliant discovery in her opinion. She still brought an extra block of ammunition just in case, but the almost infinite amount of ammo was amazing. Plus, with the way she fought she never really had to be afraid of her weapon overheating. She could only hope they wouldn't be switching to thermal clips anytime soon.
The seventh item made her all the more ecstatic to be living in Tayseri.
7) Museum of Galactic History: 31st July 2180
The large library connecting to the Museum was an almost never-ending source of information about all the known galactic species that resided within Council space and beyond. There was so much of every race's history, in the form of actual books, to downloadable content. It was rather insane. Needless to say for the better part of whatever time off she had from work was spent in said library, reading and researching all about the other species. After all, the first step to understanding someone is to know their history. Had it just been typical, normal human history, Sky would have given up ages ago. But to learn about the asari, turian, salarian, elcor, batarian and so many more… Well, let's just say she did not really need much extra motivation to hit the books every other day.
Moving along, agenda 8 was somewhat interesting:
8) Diary: 8th April 2176
This was the first task she began. The one thing she probably missed the most was writing during her spare time and so she decided to start a diary. She made an effort to fill it in at least once a week and have been doing so ever since. After all, some details were too important to forget. It woud definitely come in handy sooner or later.
9) Training:
Next to this item she carefully inscribed the date, 4th of February 2183. Three days ago was the day that she officially deemed herself good enough to join the Normandy crew.
Leaning back to rest against the leather sofa she took a deep breath as she welcomed the huge sense of accomplishment.
If someone were to have said to her, 13 years ago, "Sky, you are going to be able to fight for real in the future, including guns, brass knuckles and all that shiz." She would have scoffed and laughed, replying that although she dearly wished for it to come true, it wasn't going to happen. And yet here she was, stronger, faster and deadlier than she had ever thought possible. She loved the feeling.
But it did not come easy, that was for sure. Dr Sarah Robertson was right to describe her training sessions as 'difficult', although perhaps 'insane' and 'bloody stupid' would fit the bill better. She worked out everyday, mostly cardio to increase her stamina and agility. She focused on toning her various muscles, instead of mass since she needed to be quick and lithe rather than strong. She spent years perfecting her marksmanship, noting that she had a gift with accuracy even back on Mindoir. When she was eighteen she used to think, exercise? Are you crazy? But now she understood how her friends were able to go to the gym everyday. There was just something so addictive about listening to your muscles scream in protest while your heart just pushes for more, something great about finding yourself able to run faster, for longer, than ever before. And the thrill of a fight? Oh there was nothing greater.
Yeap, being in this world had officially turned her into an adrenaline junkie.
It wasn't as though she had much choice in the matter anyway. When she first arrived she knew there were two clear options before her: Live a normal life, forget all about being actively involved in the events of the Mass Effect trilogy, and just... well... enjoy herself; or get her ass in gear, ensure that she would be fit and skilled enough so that requesting to board the Normandy wouldn't just be a big fat joke and do everything she could to make her beloved sister's life easier. Unsurprisingly, she chose the latter. Back home she used to imagine, all the time, how amazing would it be if I found myself in that story? In fact, an innumerable amount of time were spent wandering through the halls of Hogwarts, capturing Pokemon and falling in love with Dr House. What could she say? She had an overactive imagination and felt sad at the thought of how none of that would ever, ever happen. Yet here she was now, living in the heart of another Universe. There was no way in Hell she was going to skip out on it, no matter how painful, hard, or dangerous the next few years were going to be.
Last but not least, the final thing she had to do before she could really say she was ready for anything, was to go through all 127 pages of information she had on Mass Effect. Sighing, she moved from her location on the floor to her comfortable sofa and began reading. It was going to be a long night.
There were people screaming in the background. Inhumane, heart-wrenching wails of agony that tore at her heart. Instinctively she tried to move towards the sound, needing to help those in pain, but she found that she couldn't move, she was paralyzed.
There was a flash, and the scene before her melts into focus, there were shadows of people running, crying in helplessness, she couldn't make out what from.
Another flash, but she couldn't understand what she was seeing, pipes and wires and a dark red sky. More images flicker before her eyes, too fast for her to understand. More crying and something that resembled flesh was being ripped into half, more desperation.
A high pitch whistle tore through her head and she felt like her brain was going to split open. She tried to cover her ears but she still couldn't move. The more she struggled, the louder the whistle became.
There wasn't even time to think, to panic before her vision flashed white and-
Sky crashed to the ground, shoulder smacking the floor with a loud thud. She groaned and curled into a ball, cradling her pounding head. What the hell was that?
Blurrily she stumbled into the kitchen and reached blindly for a painkiller before dry swallowing it. Crumbling to the tiled floor, she placed her head between her knees and rested her forehead against the cool surface. Ah the marvels of modern medicine, it only took seconds it to work and the room stopped swaying. In the background, she could hear the beeping of a message coming into her private terminal.
Okay, now what exactly just happened? She shuddered at the memory of the cries of agony- that was rather disturbing.
Thinking back, she must have fallen asleep reading her little information booklet, therefore that little segment must have been a dream. A very weird, very real dream.
Yet, there was a sense of familiarity there, like she had seen those images before, just couldn't remember when and where. Groaning, she hated not being able to understand something fully. Shaking her head she slowly shuffled back to the living room. That wasn't just some ordinary dream.
Reaching her desk she opened the most recent message marked 'urgent'. She had to read the words twice over before it fully took hold in her mind.
From: Jane Shepard
Hey sis, we'll be at the Citadel in 8 hours. Meet us at the Presidium?
Scrambling for her omnitool she quickly flipped to the news, "-we are still unsure of the number of survivors on Eden Prime-"
Woah. Woah. Woah. Why were things happening so fast? She didn't remember- oh screw this.
Dream momentarily forgotten Sky was quick to pack away her things, locking up her notebooks in their respective places before jumping into the shower and equipping herself. She had enough time yesterday to go through everything leading up to Noveria, so she knew with startling clarity that Jane's time on the Citadel was going to be pretty interesting. To be honest, she was most excited about meeting Wrex.
It was show time.
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Emigawd, can I just say, this chapter was SERIOUSLY taxing.
Does the whole timeline thing confuse you? If it does this is what happened chronologically:
Diary
Response from Nihlus about Rahan
Outfit planning with Yaz
Research on Galactic History
Cloaking
Biotic Resistance
Leaving the CCF
Getting her Pistol
Finishing Training
Rereading Events
So anyway, finally the events of ME1 can begin. Honestly I did not know it would take me almost 45K words to get to this point. Do not worry though if you still have questions about Sky's past, FLASHBACKS!
How did you find this chapter? Do let me know what you think please, especially for this chapter because this is after all when things begin. I'm going to take a few days off writing to really think about the coming events and how I am going to write it. Plus, i want to tweak some things to add more detail in the previous chapters.
I am actually quite uncertain with the way I handled this chapter. But what do you think of the whole thing thus far? We've reached a turning point I believe.
Anyway, hope to see y'all soon. =]
Thank you Liege Lord, Helljumper 1337, S058, greed11 and Nanobot5770 for reviewing. I really do appreciate your words.
Helljumper 1337 - Is that sufficient enough in detail? =]
greed11 - Ah, I get it now. I know what you mean. I guess that is also my fault as a reader, I'm someone that when I read a person's story skim through all the minor details and rush to get to the gist of it all. That is my drawback as a reader and writer I suppose. I tried to add more visual details into this chapter, but at the same time I didn't want to do too much to bore you. I hope this is sufficient.
Can I also just say, that I have reached 50K words! That is, insane. I have never written so much before in my life! And the surprising thing is, I'm not even bored yet. I can just keep feeling the juices coming. So in celebration, I just want to thank everyone so so much for your continuous support. It means so much to me, especially for a new writer, especially for someone who did not expect to even get this far, or that anyone would even bother looking twice at my writings.
Thank you thank you thank you.
Love
Fee
xx
ps. Probably the longest chapter ever. Go me!