Chapter 14

3.5 years ago

"He has been out there for six months."

"Persistent, isn't he?" The other asari nodded her head. The two of them looked out over a balcony at a small makeshift camp. Next to the dwindling fire pit was a sleek, black fighter vessel. The camp site was small, circular around the fire pit.

The two asari looked over the camp, but did not see the man that had been living there for the past six months. In the dead silence of the night, the pair could barely hear the grunts and exclamations of the man. At night he went away from the temple perimeter and trained in the plains. Whispers through the temple rumored that he went out there to do flips and fight with imaginary foes. He scared some of the sisters in the temple, being the first human to arrive at the forgotten asari outpost.

"Perhaps his intentions are pure, had that crossed your mind Justicar?"

The asari wearing light armor folded her arms over her chest, "Even if they are, we cannot trust him around the other maidens."

The asari in white robes smiled gracefully under the light of the two orbiting moons, "It will be good for them all to mingle."

"You are too trusting, Matriarch."

"Perhaps, Enalda" replied the wise asari.

It was day now; Casey had finished his daily calisthenics and was now sitting in front of the burnt out fire pit. His eyes were closed as he sat with his legs crossed and hands folded in front of him. Casey had learned the importance of mediation over his sixteen years of training. He slowed his breathing and heart rate down, sensing everything around him. Casey slightly tilted his head as he felt something enter his area.

"Reconsider my proposal?" calmly asked Casey without ever opening his eyes or moving from his sitting position. The Justicar stopped in her tracks, standing fifteen feet from where Casey was sitting. Casey could hear her sigh and then walk through his camp, taking a seat across from where he sat.

"As I told you before, I am not worried about the sisters' safety if you were allowed in, I would be worried about yours" the Justicar stated.

Casey opened his eyes and looked at the Justicar, "And as I have told you before, I can handle myself just fine, but part of the reason I am here is to defend against such…advances."

The Justicar looked down at the ground and then around at the open scenery, "It is my duty to watch over and protect all those within this temple. But by the Code, were one of these maidens to be 'let loose' upon anyone, it would be my duty to kill them. The Matriarch of this temple believes your intentions are pure and will allow you to stay. Now know this; if I sense even the slightest bit of trouble, I will have no choice but to uphold my Code and eliminate you, understood?" Casey had come to admire Justicars, an ancient order of warriors honor-bound to uphold a code. He respected their resolve, even if he didn't fully approve of their methods.

"Yes and thank you Justicar Enalda" Casey said as he stood up and politely bowed his head.

"Do not thank me yet, for you are still the first human to set foot into this Ardat-Yakshi temple and chances are you won't be stepping out." Enalda stood up and gestured to the main entrance of the temple, "They have prepared a room for you separate from the sisters. I will lead you there when you are ready."

Casey had few personal items with him he had to grab from the fighter as he followed the armored Justicar into the temple. He started reminding himself why he had come to a forgotten asari colony planet. He wanted to learn from the asari and more about natural biotics. Casey had learned some defense against biotics from the drell, but he needed more. He had heard from outlying fuel depots of a shrouded Ardat-Yakshi temple and knew it was the perfect place. Here he could learn all about biotics, asari and about the rare genetic mutation resulting in Ardat-Yakshi. What better way to learn about a species than to study their demons?

The Justicar led him through the inner chamber, passing by statues of asari along the walls. Other asari had come to the main hall to see what was going on and began whispering amongst themselves. Casey watched every person carefully, keeping up with the Justicar. She turned a corner and led him into a medium sized room that had been prepared for him.

"The Matriarch would like you to make yourself comfortable and join her and the maidens for dinner" the Justicar said without looking at Casey. She then turned and walked away down the large hallway.

Casey stepped into the room and laid his military duffle bag on the ground. He walked around the room, noting the nice view it had of the surrounding plains and lake. He returned to his bag and unpacked his one decent set of clothing and prepared for dinner.

The dinner was awkward; Casey strode into the large dining hall with all eyes on him. Total the temple held nearly 150 asari, all struck with the rare genetic abnormality. Casey was invited to sit with the Matriarch of the temple at the front of the hall. He sat across from her, "Thank you Matriarch for allowing me to stay here, it is a great honor."

"The honor is all ours, young man; it is not often we get visitors here, let alone a human." The Matriarch smiled gently at Casey. The Justicar stood at the end of the table watching stoically over everyone. Other asari sat at the table around the Matriarch, senior sisters Casey assumed. Before a short prayer was led by the Matriarch, she announced to the hall that the human Casey Kane would be staying among them for some time and should be treated as a guest. Quiet conversations could be heard throughout the hall as the sisters began their meals. Casey was surveying the room, when he was interrupted by one of the asari sitting next to him.

"If you do not mind me asking, what has brought you here Sir Kane?" asked the fair asari in a quiet voice. The Matriarch smiled again as she looked to Casey. He swallowed the food he had in his mouth and cleared his throat.

"I am here to learn; learn all I can about your way of life, learn new skills and maybe show you things that I have learned while travelling." Casey noticed in the corner of his eye the Justicar fold her arms over her chest. He looked around and saw that for the most part, the asari seemed happy for his arrival.

The first few days at the temple were uneventful. Some of the Matriarch's maidens gave him the tour of the temple grounds, under the watchful eye of Justicar Enalda. They showed him the areas where the asari exercise, do crafts and study. Casey was impressed by the size of the temple, being much bigger than he thought.

After a week had passed, everyone was a little more comfortable with Casey there. On one night after the sisters had gone to their rooms, Casey remained up. He walked around the dark halls, admiring the statues and portraits. He made his way to area where the asari exercised and trained their bodies. Casey recognized a few training machines, but was completely baffled by others. He slipped off his shirt and began using the equipment, slow at first but building up to an intense workout. The room was sealed as to not disturb others, leaving Casey to train in silence, until he heard the door open and close. He was in the middle of doing 200 pull-ups when he heard the noise.

Instinctively he leapt down and assumed a crouching position. Casey had purposefully left the lights off, being more comfortable in the dark. He crept silently through the gym, surveying every nook and cranny around him. Then a glowing blue orb manifested from across the room and streaked towards him. Casey rolled his left shoulder backwards, flipping himself over as the biotic orb struck the wall behind him. His sharp eyes peered through the darkness, searching for his attacker, but instead he heard the sound of clapping.

Casey took a more relaxed stance as the lights in the room flickered on. On the other side of the room, Justicar Enalda strode towards Casey with a half-smile on her face. She stopped in front of Casey, ceasing her clapping slightly, "Very impressive."

Casey wiped sweat from his brow, "Glad you approve."

"I just needed to be sure" smirked Enalda. "When you came to us all those months ago, claiming you wanted to learn skills to punish the wicked and defend the innocent, I was not sure what to believe. You said that you had travelled all across the galaxy, acquiring skills and techniques to battle injustice. Now I believe you." Casey studied the Justicar as he put his black shirt back on. "And as long as you remain true to your word, I feel it is my duty within the Code to help you achieve these goals."

Casey put out a hand, "Thank you."

The Justicar looked at the hand for a moment and then shook it, "You are welcome."

Months go by; Casey's days are filled following the sisters in their day to day chores. He studied with them, ate with them and trained with them. Among the maidens were scientific minds who explained how asari biotics worked. He worked day and night understanding all there was to know.

Being in close quarters with the blue beauties did sometimes cause Casey's mind to wander, but he always reminded himself why these asari were here. Enalda made it clear the day he arrived on the planet, these asari are cursed with a natural desire to crush the mind of beings through sexual exploitation. However hard he it may be for him to ignore those feelings, the asari here were working twice as hard. Casey realized that is why the Matriarch allowed him there, to strengthen not only his will, but the sisters as well.

These thoughts were suppressed by constant activity. He trained relentlessly, in both the classroom and gym. Occasionally he would ask some of the maidens to attack him with their biotics; he needed to know what it felt like to have the wind knocked out of him by the biotic power first hand.

A year had passed. Casey had started a daily running regime around the large temple. He was finishing up his run, walking up the stairs to the main entrance where a group of asari were waiting for him. He knew most them, having made several new friends in his year staying there.

"Casey, we have a surprise for you" giggled one of the asari.

"Hhhmm…do we need to inform Enalda first?" teased Casey as he followed the group into the main hall.

The asari laughed, "No no, come on." The group led him to the area where the temple maidens conducted crafts and sowing to create wonderful art pieces. They stopped him in the middle of the room and directed his attention to where another group of asari waited. "Okay, now!" the asari exclaimed.

Then the second group of asari turned around and grabbed something off the table behind them and held it in front of them. It was a thick black cloth that was about five feet long. Casey slowly walked up to the cloth and ran his hand along it. It was cold to the touch and made from a very thick material, that almost shimmered with a dark blue.

"You didn't have to do this" said Casey as he looked around at the group of asari.

"We thought it would help you on your secret mission" laughed one of the maidens. Casey figured that word was getting around of his real intention for learning so much about biotics and hanging around a Justicar.

Another asari to Casey's left chimed in, "It's a knit from cloth on Thessia. The entire weave is imbued with biotic energy, able to absorb and disperse other biotic power. We want it to protect you while you are fighting the bad guys."

Casey thought to himself how that could be useful; the ability to block all incoming biotic attacks. "Thank you, this will certainly come in handy in whatever secret mission you guys are talking about" joked Casey.

The next day he returned to his personal fighter to gather his gear to train in full garb. Casey grabbed his old recon hood and body armor as well as utility belt. He returned to his room in the temple and put on the familiar armor. It had been a while since he wore the full armor, it felt nostalgic. He folded the recon hood over his face and then walked to the bed with the black cape laid out upon it. He used advanced magnetics to pin the cape to his shoulders, letting it fall down behind him.

Standing in the mirror, he draped the black weave around him and studied himself. Casey nodded and strode through the halls in the armor. Some of the maidens stood in the hall, stricken by Casey's appearance; a reaction he was not against.

For months he trained using the new cape against biotic assailants. In time it became an extension of his own body, able to thwart any biotic attack against him. After one session with a group of maidens 'attacking' him, he noticed it had a tear in it. He removed his recon hood and made his way to the crafting area. He greeted the sisters there and asked them for a favor.

"This cape is amazing; I cannot thank you all enough, but I have a request."

The maidens looked up from their work and saw the tear in the weave, "You need another cape?"

"Actually, I need 5,000," replied Casey, "on your own time, of course, and I will pay for each. If you could, send them to this address." He gave them an address to an abandoned warehouse on the Citadel owned by Kane Charity. The maidens were happy to fill the order for Casey.

Casey had now spent two years at the Ardat-Yakshi sanctuary; he felt he had almost learned everything there was to know from the asari, except one. After changing his clothes, he went to visit the Matriarch. It had taken him some time to figure out that the Matriarch was herself an Ardat-Yakshi, staying in the sanctuary just like the others. He knocked on the elegant doors, and noticed they were open. He peeked inside and saw the Matriarch meditating.

"Come in, Kane" she said with a smile on her face. Casey walked in and took a seat in front of the old asari.

"I wanted to ask you something"

"You want to know how to defend against Ardat-Yakshis" the Matriarch said with a smile without opening her eyes.

Casey was partially taken back by the comment, "Yes, is there a way to?"

The Matriarch slowly opened her eyes, "Only by the most willful of beings." The asari smiled as Casey gazed deep into her jet black eyes.