Me? Break? What break?
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Chapter 16
Infiltration
"When you put it that way, there's no reason why they wouldn't like you."
Staff Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko was not one to openly marvel at… just about anything. He was the type to hold his opinions to himself and keep his mouth shut, one of the very first lessons he learnt from Brain Camp. So perhaps he should chalk it up to the breath-taking view of the Citadel, having never been here before… Or maybe it was the distracting presence of the beautiful blond to his far right, but his own words didn't register in his head until seconds later, "I mean us. Humans. Ma'am." He quickly corrected himself, but the damage was already done.
What the-? He kicked himself as he 'casually' averted his gaze, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. Great job Alenko, way to go on making a fool of yourself.
"You don't take much shore leave do you, LT?" Ashley asked, amusement clearly laced through her voice.
He expected some form of reprimand from the Commander, he had seen the way she worked on Eden Prime: fast, furious and deadly. During their short time on the Normandy he assumed that all the rumors about their famous War Hero were wrong. Their conversations flowed easily and he saw no hint of the 'fearless bitch' reputation that he had heard so much about. In fact, she had an alarmingly unconventional sense of humor and had the ability to set anyone's mind at ease with a few simple words. The true nature of her reputation only became glaringly obvious during their time on Eden Prime. Kaidan was an L2, so he knew how important it was to maintain control at all times during a fight, but he didn't think it was possible for someone to be that wildly powerful yet so impressively accurate at the same time. The blonde fought with skills beyond anyone else he ever had a pleasure to be in combat with. He couldn't help but feel a deep admiration and respect for the Commander, even more so after she pulled him out of harms way from that Prothean beacon. Hence why he was surprised when the blonde just smiled knowingly and replied. "Alright, laugh it up Chief. I appreciate the thought Alenko, but we're on duty here."
Stumbling over his words, "aye, aye ma'am" was the best response he could come up with.
"I'll walk drag ma'am." The brunette quipped up, obviously still finding the whole situation hilarious. Kaidan just wanted to smack himself, he couldn't exactly blame her, he was sure if the positions were reversed he would be highly amused as well.
Damn mouth.
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Damn stupid Council and their Spectres. Jane growled as she stalked out of the Citadel tower. Slowed slightly only by the scenic landscape around them as they exited into open air.
How long had it been since she had last been here? Ten years? Eleven? Eventually coming to a stop at the edge leaning out over the vast water feature that snaked through the Presidium, she took the time to breathe deeply, trying to calm her frazzled nerves. It would not bode well for the Chief and Lieutenant to see her act so out of character.
Who knew the Council would be so damn blind?
Previously, they were so hurried for time that they had only taken a short moment to admire the Citadel's incredible view of the wards, and as amusing was her Lieutenant's slip up, the Presidium was different. Jane herself had never been to Earth before but she could imagine that the Presidium to Citadel was how New York City was to Manhattan. Overall, the entire station was gorgeous, but this central hub was the most aesthetic of them all.
Indeed the Presidium hadn't changed much since she enlisted in the military. It was still every bit as opulent, grand, and elegant as before. She remembered spending a fair bit of her teenage days here, seeking thrills and adventure between every nook and cranny with her best friend by her side. Despite the attempts of… just about everybody to maintain the Presidium's pristine reputation, there was always some sort of trouble that a couple of kids could get into, always something they would find to taint the apparent perfection that was the Citadel's pride. She could still feel it now, amongst the many species that walk on the immaculately polished white tiles, there was an undercurrent of something: secrets to unfold, areas to unlock, treasures to unearth. She was vaguely surprised by how much she missed those days of endless freedom.
Bringing her mind back the present she dully noted that her companions did nothing but stand calmly by her side. Perhaps they understood her frustrations, Williams having vocalizing hers more than their LT, and probably knew she needed a breather. Whatever it was, she was quite surprised by how fast she had gotten used to their constant presence. A good thing, since they probably would be stuck with each other for a while by the looks of it.
"So where are we heading next Commander?" Alenko asked when the blonde took a step back from the railing she was leaning on and stood straight.
Jane was just about to reply when a silhouette of a strangely dressed woman caught her eye. From where they were standing, she could only make out the figure's long dark hair and khaki-colored outfit. In comparison to the blue armor wearing C-Sec agents, the lavishly dressed asari and humans, the odd salarian and elcor here and there garmented equally as fashionably, the dark-haired woman looked almost as out of place as the three fully armed soldiers. Could it be…? Frowning, Jane walked towards her.
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Ten years and ten months… That was how long since she last met her sister face to face. Shuffling through her memories now, she couldn't believe it had been so long. She could still remember, with startling clarity, how they commemorated her last day on the Citadel. Ironically enough, they chose to commit their largest 'crime' by diving into the large lake that she was now overlooking. Chuckling at the thought, she was pretty sure they were still 'wanted' by C-Sec officers, having escaped before they were caught. Ah the endless wonders of being a teenager.
Also, the thought of meeting Ashley Williams and Kaidan Alenko… Well, they sent shivers down her spine. Strangely enough, despite spending years on the Citadel, she had yet to meet any of the Normany crewmembers. Then again, this was a big Universe with trillions of people, so maybe it wasn't so strange after all. She was quick to put a halt to her thoughts as they traveled to the events of Virmire. She didn't need to think about that right now. As the famous Ted Mosby once said: Let future Skylar deal with it.
"…Sky?"
At the sound of her name the dark-haired girl looked up, only to be greeted by the very welcomed sight of a familiar lightly tanned face. "Jane." She breathed out, almost in awe. The holograms and vid calls did not do justice to how much her sister had changed over the last ten years.
Standing up to get a better look at the fully equipped blonde, she allowed herself a moment to drink in the sight before her. Jane had altered her hairstyle, opting for a high bun with escaped tendrils of hair framing her angular face instead of her old crop. The bulky black and white armor hid much of her body shape, but she could tell that her sister had grown, now almost a good four inches taller than Sky herself. To her surprise she was even wearing makeup, the simple black liner and mascara did magic to intensify her alluring purple eyes. Even the new, small angular scar that dragged down the bridge of her nose did nothing but add to her beauty
Gosh, gorgeous couldn't even come close to describe her.
"You look… amazing." For once in her life, Sky was actually speechless.
Her sister smiled radiantly, before reaching over and pulling her into a tight hug. She let out a sigh of relief and returned the hug with equal ferocity. After a moment, Jane pulled away grinning. "I cannot believe I haven't seen you in so long." She openly looked her up and down and Sky resisted the urge to fidget. She hated being scrutinized at. "I'm not the only one who has grown up I see."
Rolling her eyes the dark-haired woman smacked Jane in the shoulder. "Oh hush. Who are your friends? What are you doing here?" She asked, feigning ignorance. "Not that I'm complaining."
Turning her attention to the two humans flanking Jane she couldn't stop herself from giving them a quick one-over, doing her best not to gape. They looked exactly like their characters in the game that it was slightly unnerving. Sure you could argue that Sky had 13 years to prepare for this moment, and she had been in the company of Shepard all that while. But the difference was, she knew Shepard as a teenager, she had a lot of time to acclimatize to that awe, but these two… Dayumn, this was going to take some getting used to. Jane shifted to introduce her teammates. "Staff Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko." As they shook hands it took all of Sky's willpower to not squeal like a schoolgirl. Kaidan wasn't exactly her favourite character in ME2 as she believed the way he handled things on Horizon were super weak, but it didn't change the fact that she had always thought he was incredibly good-looking. Up close and real, even his five-o'clock shadow was way too appealing to ignore. "And Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams." Sky hadn't paid much attention to Ashley in the games, having chosen Kaidan over her in Virmire. She winced inwardly at that thought, right… She still wasn't sure how she was going to deal with that. "Team, this is Dr Skylar." She suppressed a grin at the title before her name.
"Nice to meet you two." Sky said charmingly.
"Likewise."
"Same here."
With the formalities done Jane continued, "We're here on Alliance business."
"Damn. I was hoping we could catch up." The doctor leaned back, crossing her arms. "Anything I can do to help?"
"Not really." Jane replied guiltily. "I'm afraid we're a little short on time. I'll try to come find you later when all this is done?"
Sky shook her head. "No need. I'm coming with you." There. She said it. Here's to hoping that her sister would-
"What? No." Right, she knew it wouldn't be that easy. The blonde frowned down at her, looking extremely incredulous. "Official military affair Sky. No offense."
Liar. If you really believed that to be true you wouldn't have accepted Garrus and Wrex on your team. But she knew Jane well enough to expect this. "I'm not saying that I'm going to get involved with 'official Alliance affairs'" She added air quotes for emphasis, telling her sister that she didn't think that was the real reason Jane wasn't allowing her to tag along. "But you have to agree. You haven't been on the Citadel for what? Ten years? I know where things are, I know where to go. If you're in a hurry, I can help you get to wherever you need to faster." And before she could have time to think about it. "Plus, I haven't seen you in forever. I'm sure you won't mind an extra hand."
Judging by the inner conflict that she could see in her purple eyes, Sky knew that she was conceding. She felt a little bad at using the guilt card, but she needed to be onboard with this whole exposing Saren mission so that her sister could see how much she had improved. It was the only way.
She had been planning this for ages, assessing and churning over what would be the best entrance plan into the Normandy. Knowing Jane, she was not going to welcome her with open arms. The blonde was just fiercely protective that way. But she was intelligent and levelheaded; she would be able to see an asset as long as it was presented correctly, which was what Sky intended to do.
Jane sighed, finally relenting. "Fine. But you are only to act purely as a guide and nothing more."
Not going to happen, but she would take what she could get. Nodding, Sky just grinned. "Alright. Where are we heading?"
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Jane wasn't sure what Sky was playing at, but she knew there was something up. Thirteen years of knowing someone tended to give an insight on what they were thinking, and she was itching to find out exactly what.
Either way she had to admit, Sky had grown a lot in the past ten years... More than she had expected. The Chinese woman grew out her hair and it was now tied up into a neat ponytail. She was dressed rather oddly too; it wasn't that she didn't approve of the outfit. It was just… she looked more like a fighter than a psychologist, and Jane wasn't sure if she enjoyed the change. She couldn't help but notice the military grade pistol harnessed around Sky's thigh and the scars running down the little exposed skin on her arms... And it got to her. The dark-haired woman was often cryptic about what she did during her spare time and it didn't help that overall, she emitted a certain aura that screamed strength. What exactly had her mischievous sister been up to all these years? Did she know her as well as she thought she did?
As they followed her to the financial district she could sense the uncertainty between her two teammates. She couldn't exactly blame them, especially since Sky was a total stranger to both, but she didn't have time to explain. They had larger things to worry about at the moment.
"Here we are. Barla Von's office." The group of four stopped outside one of the many doors. Jane briefly wondered how she had once learnt to navigate around this place, especially since the offices had no mark to indicate who was inside which room. Maybe it was a good idea to bring Sky along after all. A very small maybe.
"Alright. Wait right here." She ordered as they walked into the office. Sky rolled her eyes, but chose to do as she was told, much to the blonde's surprise. She would have loved to spend more time grilling the dark-haired Asian, but she needed to deal with this first. Stepping into the volus' office she was caught unaware when he looked up and greeted her by her name, as though he was already expecting her.
There were just too many questions and no time to find answers. She didn't like that one bit.
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Right. So that worked out quite well. Sky thought to herself as she watched the trio enter Barla Von's office. She knew they would take a moment to grill him on information about Wrex, so she took the opportunity to run through the events that would be coming up.
She was pretty sure what they were going to do next: head to C-Sec to pick up Wrex, and then deal with Fist. So how was she going to divert them to the Clinic? Since she knew where Garrus was, there was no real need to deal with Harkin. Right, so it had to be in the time slot between Wrex and Fist. So how exactly was she going to get them there?
She was pulled out of her musing when the double doors swished open and the Golden Trio stepped out. Sky smiled at her sister innocently as though to say 'see? I did what you asked me to.' She knew that Jane was seriously suspicious at what she was up to. There was no way that she could completely hide her intentions from the woman. But she didn't really mind, the sooner Jane realized that she was going to be on the Normandy with her, whether she approved or not, the better. She was not giving up until her ass was on board, even if she had to fight tooth and nail to get there.
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Alot of cutscenes this chapter. I know. Skylar finally meets Shepard! Yayy. And we're off! Don't worry, more details coming in the next few chapters. Expect ALOT of resistance from Jane about letting Sky on board. I'm looking forward to writing about that actually. I might even fit in a few fights here and there.
I realize that there is not much elaboration on how exactly each of them feels about meeting each other after 10 years, aside from highlighting a little change in their appearances. Don't worry, it will come soon when they all have some downtime. This is just because in reality, Shepard is probably trying to expose Saren as fast as possible and hence cannot spend too much time roaming the Citadel and talking to everyone and etc. That will happen later. =]
Also, I was wondering to all you writers out there, how on earth do y'all remember all the details about ME1? Did you play through the game while writing? I'm trying to recall some of the conversations and stuff and well, its so hard. =S How did you do it?
Lastly, I might be trying to incorporate a fight scene in my next chapter. So any tips and hints on how to do that?
Thank you so much CuHnadian, greed11, Helljumper 1337, Liege Lord, PlutoAn, Nanobot5770 and S058 for reviewing the previous chapter. Again, you guys are the sole reason I still write. Thank you for your words of advice and support.
PlutoAn - I don't know if I can categorize Sky's fighting style, she is utterly hopeless at any tech so I can't say infiltrator per say. But imagine how Thane or Kasumi fights, something sort of like that minus Overload. She is a close-ranged silent fighter. No biotics, no tech.
As for all the other questions, worry not! They will be answered in time. What kind of author would I be if I revealed everything at once? ;] No. Suspense is a must. *Evil grin*
Thank you, everyone else, who reads, subscribes and favourites my story. Much, much love.
Fee
xx
ps. Changed the summary, again. I was bored with the old one. =P