A/N: Right, the next chapter is here! One more prologue chapter to go after this, and then it's onto the main plot! And for those still confused about the extents of the crossover, I have (hopefully) good news for you; things will start to become clearer in the next chapter!
Also, I would like to thank everyone who's read; commented; reviewed; PM'd et al on this (especially Achronus again)!
In another note, I lost all my plot notes (and most of my chapters) from my other story when my laptop went insane. Plus my virus scan decided that some of it was harmful and deleted it… I'm currently working on the plot (again) for that, it's not dead, just dormant for now.
Oh, and there is a time jump in this chapter, events within that jump are going to be explored at a later date.
All stuff is owned by their respective companies, I gain nothing from this!
Prologue Part 3
Three weeks had past since Nihlus had sent his report to the Council; three weeks in which she heard nothing; which left her quite nervous most of the time. Sometimes to the point of watching everyone with gun – and not all of them were guards, thanks to this being an Alliance military facility – very closely for signs that they're coming to get her. This was crazy, Karin kept telling her; not that she could stop thinking about it that way.
In fact, it took Nihlus coming to see her again – personally – to drive these thoughts, mostly, away.
They'd had a long talk – partly about what she wanted for her future; which she had no idea – and she'd also had a short conversation with the Council themselves (though this was on a tiny, projected from omni-tool, secured line). They seemed surprised at her willingness to talk but then she was defending her future.
She'd also managed to gain a few plus points with the Alliance brass; she had gone to them with an idea that she could – potentially – either join up to fight, or, if they didn't like that idea, be there as an adviser. Her knowledge of the Zerg was something that they wanted to get their hands on, she knew, and having her toss this idea out made them step back and re-think their positions on her. Several of the ones who wanted to, whilst not dissect her, use her as an experiment, stepped back from this (at least to her knowledge).
Though a few things still bothered her.
Like the talk that Hannah was going to be assigned as her guardian over Karin. Though she liked Hannah, the human was getting to be a good friend in fact; she just… just wasn't Karin.
Maybe she should try taking to Karin, or someone higher up. If she could get permission to talk to them that is.
Things for her were, however, more stable than they'd ever been. Mia now had people she could call friends; a name; things to try to aim for. It was still a shock to her, not to mention things about her own body still confused her, but things were slowly getting better.
Of course she was still alert at all times; she never wanted to be forced into anything like her previous situation. She would die before letting that happen. At least dead she wouldn't feel the pain from the experiments.
On the plus side, Admiral Hackett had gotten her clearance for a terminal that wasn't locked down, or edited; which was what she was reading now. The headline made for sombre reading.
Human Colonies Under Attack! Where Next?
Six colonies hit in just as many months, first Mindoir – an event which rocked the galaxy – now rumours of a bigger attack planed for core human worlds!
She flicked off the main news channel landing on a cooking programme. The meat looked good, very good. Slightly perturbed she flicked to yet another channel, a music video was playing. The music was really fast, heavy and pounding, the female singer sounded very angry; screaming her guts up. Mia liked it, it had energy.
She was so engrossed in the video she didn't notice Karin enter the room, and sit next to her. "Find something you like?"
Mia practically jumped into the air, hair tendrils flaring, claws coming up as she looked around in surprise. "Karin!"
Who laughed heartily. "Sorry my dear, you look like you've found something that has taken your interest; you were staring that the vid-screen so intently!"
Mia smiled and lowered her hand sheepishly. "Yeah, sorry, I'm just very distracted at the moment."
Karin just put an arm around her, pulling her in tight. "Not to worry Mia, I'm expecting you'll not be getting much sleep tonight!" Her other hand pointed at the vid-screen.
The laugh that bubbled out was very warm. "That is probably quite accurate!" She pointed at the video, which she'd muted and was just ending. "What is this, it's amazing!"
"The music you mean? I think the genre is called death metal but you'd have to check that." Karin looked at her, her tone serious. "You know it's quite violent music right?"
"How can music be violent?"
"Well, it's more the lyrics…" Karin knew more than she was letting on, that much was clear.
"Are you teasing me again?"
"Sorry, you're so much like a child sometimes, I cannot help it!" Karin's face split into a massive grin.
"Oh, you're going to get it!" Mia spun around and tickled Karin's side (mindful of her claws); Karin jerked away with laugh.
"Mind your claws!" She gasped out as Mia continued her tickle assault.
About an hour later, Mia placed a blanket over Karin, who'd fallen asleep on the sofa. She smiled to herself; she finally understood the feeling she felt towards Karin.
It was love.
She loved Karin. Not in the way love was portrayed in those movies she'd seen, but it was love all the same.
And it terrified her.
Oh, she liked the feeling, the way it seemed to warm her insides; even though she knew this was not a real warming (though it did take her a long time to grasp this). It was still so… so alien to her.
And their conversation about death metal had revealed something to Mia that she didn't know about Karin. Karin liked extreme music. Not just death metal but anything… odd. She had a large collection of music that was centuries old; Frank Zappa; Captain Beefheart; Pink Floyd; Grateful Dead.
It was nice to see this other side of her, Mia thought, less one dimensional. Of herself, she'd made a note of the band that had been playing – and others Karin mentioned – with the intention of looking them up later.
Right now though, she needed to get ready for meeting with Admiral Hackett. Leaving Karin on the sofa, she moved into the bathroom and removed her clothes; she paused to look at herself.
Her body had changed in the past few weeks; she'd been experimenting with her Zerg ability to alter her body. Not trying to get massive changes mind you, just to see if she could alter her appearance more than anything.
It wasn't that she disliked the way she looked – in fact she liked it – she just wanted to see what she could potentially achieve. In front of the mirror now, she knew that she had the potential to make some pretty large changes.
Without telling anyone Mia had, over a week, been slowly trying to make her stomach grow a layer of armour. It had worked – to an extent at least. She now had a layer of tough, Zerg-like, skin over most of her stomach. It wasn't quite carapace, unlike her hands, feet and parts of her arms and legs; it was however a start.
If she could figure out how to control it… well, she wanted to control it; the urge to adapt – to evolve – was so strong at times she needed to find a way to control it.
Shaking herself out of her chain of thought, she stepped into the shower after stuffing a towel on the outer rail.
The warm water felt so good, the way it ran down even between the gaps in her carapace. Sometimes she went to the gym just for the purpose of getting dirty and showering after. Though she didn't sweat like humans, she did get hot and the way she dealt with it had caused a few people to give her odd looks. On her back, between her shoulder blades, she had a patch of carapace that – somehow, she didn't know exactly how it worked yet – was able to vent heat.
It had altered slightly in the time she'd been out of the lab, grown in fact, not massively (in fact only about half a centimetre) but it was something she – and not to mention Karin and the other doctors – was keeping an eye on; just in case.
Finally stepping out of the shower, she towelled herself off – making some nicks in the towel as she did so – dressing quickly she was ready to go in moments. Her "hair" was impossible to dry properly though. And she also never wore shoes, she might be able to wear them if they were bespoke for her, but she didn't need to; the bottoms of her (clawed) feet were plenty thick enough to handle everything. She hand noticed that her feet were similar to Karin's - to humans – in shape; she had five toes as well.
That was where it ended though, she had another claw on her heel with was flexible and she could grip the ground with it needed. Her feet also were covered in a light carapace that matched the blue-ish/purple of her hands and eyes.
This meant that she would likely never be able to wear normal shoes – not that she minded – unless they were bespoke; or she changed her feet.
Snorting to herself, she left a note for Karin to explain where she'd gone and then left the room; claws clacking on the metal floors.
The meeting with Admiral Hackett was a resounding success in Mia's (glowing) eyes. He had gone through a variety of different options with about what she might do in the future. She wanted to remain close to Karin, had even voiced her desire for her to be her adoptive guardian.
Which the older male thought was a good idea; though not likely to happen thanks to Udina. The "snake" – as the Admiral had called him – had managed to worm that idea out of the picture. Udina had used his political knowhow to make so Karin could not be her guardian.
He'd tried to get someone chosen by him as her guardian but people above him had stepped in; Hannah Shepard was chosen as her legal guardian. Hackett had been very apologetic about this; he had wanted Karin to be there; to give her a person she truly trusted.
That said, when Karin had been excluded from the list by Udina, Hackett had made sure that the Captain had been chosen – he knew that Mia liked her.
Mia herself would've been lying if she had said she wasn't upset by this. That said it wasn't as bad as she feared (as at least she knew the person that was being assigned as her guardian). And as a major plus side, Karin had been appointed as her personal medical officer; Karin and Hannah would find out later today.
Finally they'd discussed her offer to join the Alliance. The Admiral asked if she'd talked to Karin about this – which she had – and if this went ahead (which still wasn't guaranteed) her postings would have to be arranged carefully; not a lot of people knew that she even existed.
Her natural combat skills and endurance meant that, with proper training, she could easily become one of the best soldiers Hackett had ever seen; at least, that was what he told her.
The last thing he mentioned was that all the paperwork confirming Captain Shepard's guardianship of her would be with her within a few days.
She now had a last name! It surprised her how much this pleased her – even if it wasn't Chakwas like she wanted.
Now though, before the Alliance would consider anything, she would have to go through – potentially – several years of education. Though the imprints from when she grown were good; they had gaps. Karin had explained that this was likely to the technology being very new. It had been used before but the results varied between hyper-smart (which caused the subject to fry their own brain in information overload) and simply unable to learn anything new at all.
Mia knew that this would be dull at times but still; she was going to be given an education. For some reason this pleased her to the point she was almost skipping down the corridors (getting some very odd looks whilst doing so).
Almost 3 years later…
In one day it would three years since she'd been rescued from that place.
Mia sat in one of the artificial gardens that had recently been constructed in The Prospect. She was lying back on a long metal bench – Karin was next to her, Hannah was yet to arrive for their monthly picnics – watching the stars.
Her education had been a difficult one; she knew lots of things but some (if not most, if she was honest) had no context. The education had helped that – it allowed her to understand.
"Are you alright Mia?" Karin looked at her; she could see a faint smile out of the corner of her eye.
"Hmm… yeah. Just wondering what it's like out there." She waved a hand in the general direction of the stars.
"You want to find out, I take it?"
"If possible."
"I see, thinking of your offer to Hackett again are you?" Karin asked her tone serious; Mia sat up properly, brushing stray tendrils out of her eyes.
"Honestly? I never stopped."
This clearly wasn't a surprise. "Well, with the progress that's been made…"
Mia chuckled. "I'm still the same angry person!"
"Well, some things never change." Karin snorted a laugh. "Request to speak to Hackett but only if it's what you really want."
She tilted her head. "I do need to think about it properly, been so engrossed in learning; evolving."
Mia spotted Hannah heading their way, basket in hand. She waved making Karin look around and break out into a full, wide smile; over past few years they'd all become fast friends.
She stood and met Hannah with a hug. "Hannah!" Calling her mum didn't feel right even if she was her legal guardian. Karin had her take the basket while she also provided a hug.
The three of them quickly settled down into the picnic – which was only missing the blanket – eating slowly while they caught up on things since they'd last seen each other. The humans drunk a couple of glasses of wine, Mia stuck with water. Though she could drink it without any problems, she didn't like the taste (whiskey was more her thing, the strong flavour tickled her throat just the right way).
Mia took a break from eating to look around the park. It had grass – which was synthetic, it must be said – and a scattering of – real – trees. They got just enough sunlight (were fed every so often, whatever that meant) and they helped recycle the air. It was quite a wide space, with an area for sports built in; holographic borders could projected from beneath the fake grass. Her clawed feet meant that she was not supposed to run on the grass; it might damage it!
Overhead was a glazed roof – really a transparent alloy – that showed the stars and, on some days, you could catch glimpses of other planets.
Her day today was a lazy one so far, she'd gotten up, eaten, gone to the gym (she was so regular there that Hannah joked she should have a bed there), and then – after showering – she'd met Karin her for lunch. After this picnic she had nothing planned, was likely to just watch a film or something. Or go to the gym again.
The gym sounded like the best option to her actually.
They separated about an hour later – and lots of talking later – though the two humans made promise to be ready for food at 7, and not a minute later.
Hannah left to see her husband, who was still gravely injured after Mindoir; his legs shattered to the point that he still needed therapy and surgery.
Karin had to change, decon, and then was going to busy – with Hannah's husband, Josh's – surgery.
She took the remains of their picnic to the closest recycle bin; everything that could be re-used would be. Then, slinging the basket over one shoulder, she took a slow walk back her room, passing a few new faces (who gave her odd looks, though whether it was her appearance or the swinging picnic basket, she could not say) on the way.
Upon entering her room she slid the basket next to the sofa and started, claws coming up, when a she noticed a figure in the room; sitting on her bed! Her snarl was truly inhuman; her hackles rose at the intrusion – even if it was not truly her own place.
"Who are you!?" She snapped, retaining enough sense not to simply attack; as much as her body demanded it.
The man looked up at her almost languidly, his motions seemed… off. "Finishing my work."
A gun.
She tensed to raise a barrier, but it was too late.
Her stomach exploded into pain.
The shot resounded throughout the area outside Mia's room.
Several guards not far away reacted to the shot, drawing their own weapons and running in the direction pointed by omni-tool.
Two more shots rang out.
It was easy to find the room.
A worrisome sight greeted them.
Mia was on her knees, holding her stomach with one hand, her purple blood seeping between her fingers.
Crumpled in the corner, on the shattered bed, was the body of a man.
Karin Chakwas was a mess.
She was pacing outside the clean room where Mia was being operated on.
The hybrid might have killed her attacker but she'd been shot three times.
At point-blank range.
Even her tough, semi-armoured, skin wasn't strong enough to resist that.
Hannah had heard and was now sitting, despondent, off to one side with her husband, who was still in a wheelchair.
Their plans for a surprise "birthday" party for Mia had been put on hold whilst she fought for her life.
She knew the room well, was probably the best surgeon in The Prospect even, but her connection to Mia made it hard to maintain her composure; operating on her would be a grave mistake. Remaining in the next room was the best she could do; if they needed her they would call her.
Mia was strong, 3 shots and she'd still been strong enough to crush the man; she would pull through.
She just had to!
Whilst the surgery was successful, and the hybrid was out of danger, Hannah knew that it was going to be a while before she was up and about again.
Now questions had to answered; like how did an unknown even gain access to The Prospect? Let alone with a weapon; let alone get near Mia – who was still being observed, though Nihlus was currently away due to a family emergency.
She shook her head, thinking too much was hurting her head.
All she'd wanted was for the surprise party to off without and hitch; and for Josh to – finally – spend more than a few minutes with Mia.
Josh did seem to like the hybrid, but he also seemed quite thrown by her, and Hannah stepping in to defend her so venomously.
In fact, when he voiced that, she began to wonder about it as well.
She wasn't that surprised to learn that others thought this as well; nor was it surprise that this was being looked into.
Mia herself hadn't done anything wrong, they'd surmised, it was being suggested that it could be something to do with pheromones; or something similar that she could not control.
The hybrid had yet to do anything deliberately to hurt anyone and, if she did by accident, she was always very apologetic and tried to make up for it. Of course, she knew full that Mia had no problems with killing someone that hurt her; or those she considered friends.
This had led to an interesting conversation with Karin; who had been having talks with the asari Doctor L'Sar, on things that might occur with Mia's personality, as well as medically; as to why Mia was so protective of those who earned her trust.
Mia considered them part of her "brood".
Though Hannah, and others, had no connection to Zerg themselves; Mia "connected" this way to them. She would likely die to protect them.
Explaining this to Josh got a few odd looks, he understood what she meant but was still a bit thrown by it all – even more so since he was also one of her legal guardians.
Karin had also – finally – gone to bed; though it had taken quite a bit of insisting on her, and several others, parts. Hannah had promised to wake her when Mia awoke and was well enough to have visitors.
This brought her chain of thought back to this strange – and very sudden – attack. Not many people knew of Mia's existence; even less that she was here in The Prospect. Which meant that they might have a leak; which Hannah knew would lead – most likely – to months of internal reviews and checks. No matter what; security had to be improved – what if the gunman had gone on a spree? He might've killed dozens of people before what few guards there were reacted.
She shook her head, no point in worrying too much about this now; she was tired as well and not only that but she'd promised to stay with Josh tonight.
A sigh came from her as she stood, catching a nurse and asking to be notified when Mia was awake – and to get someone to Karin if she was asleep – and then took a slow, sleepy, walk to her own – temporary – room.
The first thing she felt when she woke up was rage. Not against the people trying to help her but those fuckers that made her.
She knew enough about her own temperament to know that if she didn't calm down soon… well, someone might end up dead.
And, if she was honest, she didn't really want that.
Plus her stomach felt like she'd, well, been shot less than 24 hours ago; which she had.
At least the man had told her who he worked for before he died.
Cerberus.
The same pieces of shit that created her, treated her like a piece of meat, and were going to throw her away as she was nearing the end of her "usefulness".
Fuckers.
Mia could feel the subtle push of a mass effect generator on her, keeping her still; a doctor had tried to explain why – something about tearing some stitches, she wasn't really listening – she was being held down for her own safety and health was the general message.
After about an hour, maybe a little less, she was awake enough for the bed to inclined so she could sit up; she still had to be careful – she knew she was tougher than the average human, but she was not invincible – to limit her movements for a few days to avoid causing herself harm. She'd asked for Karin and Hannah, the nurse said she'd contact them and get them here when they could.
It seemed that there was a meeting going on about her attack; the nurse was – genuinely it seemed – worried about any more potential attempts on her life. So it seemed was "The Brass". The same nurse, who she didn't know beyond that her name was Carol, mentioned that security had been stepped up through The Prospect. In fact several N7's had been transferred to help secure the station.
Mia knew about N7's and would normally relish a chance to spar with one; though based on the pulls her stomach had when she shifted, she was a little while away from that; even with her advanced healing and a the cell regenerator that had been strapped around her.
That cell regenerator amazed her, it was a fairly new addition to the medical arsenal – after being prototyped for a few years, and now rolled out galaxy wide – on Prospect. Whilst she didn't know exactly how it worked, she knew the basics. It worked by flash-cloning cells and medi-gel applications to speed up cell-growth for healing. It basically sped up the normal cell-regeneration by keeping the area knit and healing with medi-gel; whilst it flash-cloned (hyper speed cell-cloning, similar to the techniques used to make her) cells around the wounded area to blend the skin in to reduce scarring.
It was all very… flashy. She was glad of it though; it would reduce – her – normal healing time down significantly. With normal medi-gel and time she would be out of action, bed-ridden even, for about a week; only then could she start to work back up to her previous strength. With the cell-regenerator the extra flash-cloned cells would cut that back to about 4 days.
Then, once they cleared her of course, she could return to her day-to-day routine.
That said, she could already guess that they, meaning the higher-ups, would want to talk to her about this incident; her anger problems had been noted, it must be said.
Wincing as she shook her head at herself, Mia knew that she would need to try to stay calm in this. Raging around Prospect was not the way to go; even if she did want to go find Cerberus and tear them to pieces.
That, she decided, would have to wait.
"Surprised you're not tearing the place apart."
Mia was snapped back to the world Anderson from beside her; she would never admit it but she did jump slightly, though covered it with a groan of pain.
"Easy child." He spoke with a smile; though she could see a hint of something – pain? – in his eyes for a moment. "No need to rush."
She smiled at him, one hand brushing her tendrils behind her ear (not that it would stay there long, she knew). "Anderson! I didn't know you were here!"
"I was coming to see you anyway, got a bit of leave so thought I'd say hi; need a break from my recent activities… lets say." He sounded quite tired, his voice was laced with hurt at something; he must've seen her looking at her oddly as his tone – and posture – changed. "Oh, it's nothing. Just work getting to me is all. I'm more concerned about you. How are you feeling?"
"Sore but nothing I can't handle." She gestured at the odd metal and plastic machine strapped to her. "This thing is helping take the edge off at any rate."
"Yes, they're getting praise from everywhere; but most people won't know that the tech for it came from that station."
Mia winced, knowing exactly what he meant. "At least something good came from those fuckers."
Anderson winced this time. "Your language has improved I see." A wry smile came to his face.
It was infectious after being shot; she smiled back. "What can I say? I'm trying to branch out!"
A chuckle greeted that. "Well, I'd watch that around Karin – and Hannah – you're still not old enough to swear!" He waggled a finger at her; making her snort with laughter, only to stop with a gasp as it hurt her stomach.
"Bloody hell… David!" It was Hannah announcing her arrival; she hugged the older human with a broad smile. "How have you been?" Mia caught a change in tone and wondered just what the hell she'd missed.
She didn't say anything just yet though; even she knew that there was a time and place for such things.
"It's nothing Hannah, I'll be alright." He glanced at Mia. "Did you bring it?"
That got her attention.
"Yep!" Hannah nodded, looking around as a tired looking Karin came into view.
"Karin!" She couldn't help the exclamation. "You look tired, are you okay?" She looked at them all, wondering what the hell was going on.
Karin nodded. "Yes, just didn't sleep that well." She lifted a bag into view. "As for what we brought, well it's the anniversary of your escape – which as you know, we've kind of adopted into being your birthday – well, we wanted to give you a surprise party but that'll have to wait. Instead we got you a few small things; until you're well enough to have an actual party."
Her mouth dropped. They'd had small gatherings before, it'd started because her memories started to well up and she'd gotten quite distraught around the first anniversary of her escape. Now it'd been adopted into a make-shift birthday. This was the first time with presents and a potential party though. "Presents? For me?"
The surprise that filled her voice – and mind – was so much that she had to stop talking.
"Of course my dear!" Karin laughed lightly. "We wanted to do something last year but other things, including your education, got in the way." She placed the bag on the bed beside her. "Go on, have a look."
Excitement swelled up and she moved too quick to start, her stomach complaining enough that she forced herself to calm a bit, and lifted the bag to peek inside. It contained to small packages, one (slightly larger) on the bottom; she reached in took up the smaller of the two.
It was wrapped, she almost giggled with delight as she pulled the paper away; mindful of her claws, as always. She blinked in surprise at the thin metal band, and tiny chip, that was revealed, it took her a moment to figure out what she was looking at – an omni-tool!
For her!
This time she did giggle, dropping the wrapping paper to the bed she wrapped it around her wrist, clasping the ends together with a grin that felt like it would split her face in two. It didn't matter she couldn't activate it yet – the chip needed to be implanted to allow her to do so – because it was her omni-tool!
Mia looked up at the three humans around her bed, she was so grateful that she didn't know what to say; it was clear as the all chuckled and Hannah urged her to take a look at the other package. She placed the small chip on the side – the surrounding plastic bag and tag was quite visible compared to the tiny size of the chip – then tilted the bag to get at the other package – also wrapped.
She tore at the paper, loving this simple act more than she probably should, to reveal two packages in one.
Wrapped around a third – slightly hidden – package, was an Alliance uniform! It had no rank bars, and had clearly been modified in places for her – including her name, M. Shepard. She looked at them in clear confusion – though still extremely grateful – wondering what this gift meant.
Karin gestured at the last package, so she dropped the uniform and opened it carefully.
I was a piece of paper on top of a holo-picture of the four of them from a couple of years ago. She smiled at the picture, and then unfolded the paper.
She dropped it in surprise; she was being allowed to train with the N7's!
After her excitement had finally passed – which, it must be said, took quite a long time; if she could've she would've jumped for joy – Hannah and Anderson explained the "conditions" of her training.
She was not being inducted to the military, at least not yet, as this was simply going to be a trail run to see how she got on. If she could cope with the interactions and what was needed. If she passed, so to speak, and the admiralty agreed then, and only then, would she be granted a chance to join the SAMC – or Systems Alliance Marine Corps.
This training she was told could take a while, anything up to a year, maybe longer.
Mia was also told that the reason N7's had been chosen was due to her own speed and strength – which was known to be a fair bit more than normal humans. This way the best of the best could be tested against her, and vice versa; everyone was going to be learning from this.
Of course she had to recover from being shot, and the investigation into her shooting had to take place.
Plus the marines themselves had to be briefed on her.
During the training she would also be monitored quite heavily; for her and others safety. She also knew that her body could change during the training; she could evolve to meet the demands being made of her. This occurred to her and she mentioned it to them; they'd already thought of this. Admiral Hackett – who was sorting this out and was in charge – had made a note of this, that way the N7's – which were being vetted at as they spoke about it – would know (roughly) what to expect.
She also asked about Nihlus, since he was assigned by The Council to keep an eye on her, and was told that he would be involved in some of the training. Though to what extent he would be involved was still being worked out.
A few days later and all arrangements had been made. The N7's would be arriving in a few months, after construction of a training ground extension had been completed. It was being constructed anyway, in the next phase of improvements to The Prospect; which being groomed into a zero-g training ground – Luna, the moon, was also a training ground but they were turning Prospect into an N7 only ground – with other training facilities being added for both the N7's and recovering marines.
Mia was going to enter the first stages of her training – supervised by Nihlus, as well as the Alliance – by spending a while with a group of N7 hopefuls. Karin had to be there as she was her medical officer and Hannah had also been assigned there as her guardian (it also helped that her injured husband was a short distance away, in the specialist rehabilitation centre, due to his mental and physical scars from Mindoir).
The group of N7 hopefuls had been told that a VIP and Spectre would be there during the first part of training; but they had yet to be briefed about her unique history, at least as far as she was aware. When she raised a question about this, she was told that they would be told but the group had yet to be filled out.
Hannah and Karin were getting on well – which was a bonus, Mia thought – even with Karin fussing over various things.
Of course Mia had to sit through a plethora of tests before she was granted this "assignment"; they didn't want her to be carrying anything that adversely affect the training; which included the people that she'd be training with.
She was actually very excited and scared about it all at once. On one hand she felt that she starting to have a life; even if it was still much monitored. On the other, she was unsure what reception she would get; would the marines like her?
Her room in Prospect was nice enough. But, in the long run, she could not stay here forever; not when her blood called for action!
Right now she was packing what things she had been given – she still technically didn't own anything, even her omni-tool was a gift – into a few small bags. One for clothes; one for her hygiene stuff and one other for her personal effects (this was, sadly, very empty and she moved the contents into the gym bag, which held her hygiene stuff as well). She'd be staying with Hannah in the training block for the first few days, and mixed into a squad by the N7 trainer.
She looked around the room, the terminal she'd been given was to be left here – her omni-tool was to fulfil this purpose now – along with all other things. It was oddly upsetting; this room was the closest thing she'd ever had to home. Plus she'd been told that it would be held for her; just in case (which was very comforting to her, if she was honest).
All packed and ready, she picked up bags in one hand and - after taking one last look around – left the room and knocked on Karin's (Hannah had already moved, with Mia's help, earlier in the day).
Karin opened the door with a smile. "Hey Mia, are you ready already?" She stepped back to let the hybrid in.
"Yeah but I don't have much." Lifting the bags up to illustrate her point.
"True; that'll change soon my dear!" Karin let the door shut behind as Mia looked around.
The room was the same as hers – if a little bigger, actually – the bed had six bags on it, all looked to be overflowing. Even more bags littered the floor; though some of these contained medical things – which she still didn't understand – that she knew were to help her. Though being so close to the rest of the medical facility, she was only packing what she had called her essentials. Mia also knew that she would be staying the training block med-bay, taking over there for a while.
"Can I help at all?" Mia placed her bags by the door; Karin was off arranging things already.
"Not really Mia, sorry but I have an order I do things." Karin smiled at her again. "I need to get ready faster though; the shuttle with the marines will be here in an hour!"
Mia laughed lightly. "Well, I can help you by carrying some of this at least!"
Karin paused and laughed as well, shaking her head slightly. "Just watch the claws!"
Mia guffawed; that had become a person joke between them. "I'm getting better!" Her voice was laced with mock-indignation, which cause Karin to laugh some more.
"Please, sit! I'll be ready soon!" Karin waved her hands and resumed packing, leaving Mia perch on the arm of the sofa.
She watched for a while as the human packed some things rapidly – dropping a few things in her haste – a few curses being uttered. Mia looked out the window – which unlike her room had a view of the surface of Mars outside the facility – and lost a few moments staring at the red surface.
A hand was waved in front of her eyes, making her start. "Earth to Mia!" Karin teased.
"Sorry, was just lost in thought."
"Anything life-changing?" The tone was light, Karin wasn't serious.
"Ha! No, just wondering how things are going to go."
"You can back out of this you know…"
Mia shook her head. "No, I need to do this. I need to find myself but to do that I need to be able to control myself; what better way than to get military training?"
Whilst Karin didn't quite agree with this sentiment, which she'd expressed before, she was willing to help her. "You know I don't quite agree with that… but I'm going to be there for; no matter what."
She nodded. "I know and thank you." A hand trailed through her tendrils. "If this doesn't work out… then, at least I tried."
Karin was about to reply when the door buzzed, she answered the door and greeted the two marines assigned to assist them to the block across the way; solely for the reason that part of it was still a building site, so they were to guide them in. They both knew – and had sparred with – Mia; though she wasn't sure of their names (she really needed to get better at that!).
"You ladies ready?" One of the asked, a corporal going by his tags, the other – a female sergeant – just rolled her eyes at her fellows playful tone.
Karin chuckled at it however. "Yes, I think we are; well, I know Mia is ready at any rate!"
The sergeant clicked her tongue. "You sure about this Mia, it's not going to be easy?"
Mia nodded. "I'm sure – really nervous – but sure."
The woman nodded back. "Well, you've got until they actually land to back out; after that…"
Mia cut in lightly. "I know… I'm expecting a bit of… resistance to be honest. I hope to prove myself to them though."
"You'll do fine; now let's get you to The Block." A warm smile came to the woman's face; which Mia returned.
The shuttle, or it might be shuttles she wasn't certain, containing the marines had arrived about 2o minutes ago, and she could hear them milling about across the way – a dirt path had been constructed between the barracks and officers block – her nerves coming out again.
Nihlus was there as well, he was currently being introduced to the N7's, and she'd been introduced in the morning; a delay had occurred though nothing had been explained to her yet.
The Block, as it was becoming known, was a massive zero-g arena, split into five rooms. Each room was huge, with holographic training layouts could be altered within minutes. When in action the walls that were projected sent out signals that stopped "bullets" and sensors in the specially designed hard-suits meant that they had the illusion of being real. Mia had yet to try it out to know quite how real it actually felt. It was clear that a massive investment had been made though.
Outside this massive building, they'd constructed an artificial jungle environment, complete with tents (which she'd be moving into soon) like on earth but minus the wildlife. It was intended for combat training, though wildlife would make it more real, they'd have to make do; after all, it was not the main purpose of The Block.
The same female sergeant from before appears and gestures for her to follow.
Rushing past the trees and tents, as well as a group of people celebrating something in the distance, Mia follows the woman to a large tent; Hannah waves hello, Karin is nowhere to be seen.
The inside of the tent has this area, a living room type, with a divide behind Hannah. Several makeshift chairs and a sofa fill the area, surrounding a small table and weapons table.
Suddenly she finds Nihlus pulling her, quite harshly, to one side. "Put this on." He holds out a metal wrist band, akin to her omni-tool but the surface is different, glossy.
She takes it but doesn't put it on. "What is it?"
"It does two things. It enables us to track you and it also allows us to monitor your vitals." Nihlus explains.
Mia blinks, everyone has been so nice to her up to now, that this tracking device and behaviour (not even saying hello) seems very odd to her. She holds it up to the light, looking at it closely.
"Is there a problem?" Nihlus crosses his arms; she's confused by his aggression.
"Just…" She stops and shakes her head, slipping on.
"Karin will be here soon." Nihlus heads away, she frowns as his sudden exit.
"Nihlus…" She starts but he's gone, she looks to Hannah who sighs. "What is going on?"
"The Zerg attacked several Turian colonies a few hours ago…" Hannah starts.
"What!?"
"They came out of nowhere by all reports, smashed the defences aside without any real problem." The human woman gestures to a seat, which she takes. "He has – had – family members…"
"Oh shit…" Mia gasps out, Hannah looks at her sharply. "I've been learning. My Zerg brain helps me take things in quickly."
"Like the imprints when they… when they made you?" Hannah was being careful.
"I guess… I don't know why they gave me such imprints…" She stopped and shook her head, going back to first part of their conversation. "I thought that the Zerg had been forced into a few systems?" Why didn't she know how strong they were? She had been avoiding contact – so to speak – with them though.
"That is what we believed. They seem to be far more..." The human broke off. "I'm sorry; I should stop talking now…" Mia didn't like not being told the full story but let it drop. "How advanced were the imprints they gave you?"
"Prototype; I think." Mia also didn't like the shift back to her but knew that she'd have to face her past with the marines she was going to meet. "Karin could tell you more."
"They haven't told you?"
"I don't understand what they told me; lots of long words that I didn't have context for." Mia frowns, Hannah had been told this, surely?
"I see…" Hannah sat across from her. "Forgive me but I must ask; why did you volunteer for this?"
"I want to have a life." She looked away for a moment, listening to the noises of the camp and the surrounding jungle (though simulated for the jungle). "This way I get a life that suits my nature, and those afraid of me get to keep tabs on me." She swallows. "Best of both worlds."
"You don't sound too convinced."
"I'm just fucking terrified." She winces. "Sorry, should stop listening to drunken soldiers…"
Hannah laughs but remains serious. "Look, I like you Mia but for this to work you must be honest about things…"
"I'm trying to be!" She growls. "But people still keep things from me! How am I meant to know about things like…" She gestured in the direction Nihlus went.
"This is going to be hard for everyone. Some people don't trust you; you seem to have made too many friends too quickly."
"What do you mean?"
"Some people think that you're able to influence people with your abilities, a sort of… make them like you thing." Hannah gestures with one hand clearly trying not to offend her.
"I understand. I don't know what to say about it but I understand." Mia stands and walks to the other side of the room; she really doesn't know what to say.
"This is going to be very difficult, for everyone." Hannah doesn't follow, giving her space. "I wouldn't be surprised if the marines give you a hard time; they might try to piss you off, get you angry." Her voice is still serious. "We trust you but not everyone will feel the way we do. Especially N7 marines. They train really hard and for you to just turn up…"
"I know this Hannah; I've thought about this for ages." Mia looks around at the human, her eyes glowing brightly as her emotions run wild.
"You might think you know what to expect but believe me; with marines like these a sad story won't mean much to them."
Mia snorts. "Then I'll just have to work hard to gain their trust."
Hannah nods. "Look, I'm not trying to upset you. But you need to know that in The Prospect people are nice; the real world isn't…"
"I was grown in a lab remember?" Mia snaps, not harshly, just frustrated. "I know that people – humans – can be complete…" She grasps for a word but is unable to find one.
"I'm just trying to warn you." Hannah shakes her head. "Let's not argue."
Mia sighs and runs a claw through her tendrils. "I'm still a child in some ways Hannah. But I'm not that young; the imprints and what I endured saw to that."
Mia didn't sleep that well – or eat really – that night. It had been a long night, with nerves and her argument with Hannah fresh in the mind. In the morning she was woken not by an alarm but the sound of animals.
It was… new, even if the sounds weren't actually real animals.
In fact she lay on her cot, sheet pulled up over her naked form, listening. The marines were so damn noisy!
She was so distracted it took the steady beeping of the alarm the Hannah had made her set to bring her out of her reverie. Groaning she slapped the alarm off; though not too hard, otherwise she might break it; she had the implant for her omni-tool but nothing for haptic displays yet, her claws made that hard, since they grew and she had to file them down every so often. Sliding out from under the covers she dressed carefully, mindful of her claws, and having to hold her feet's rear claw in to get the trousers on.
A small mirror on a makeshift side table was all she had to view herself. The uniform looked slightly ill-fitting; why it looked – and felt – odd she didn't know.
Hannah poked her head in at that moment. "Wow, it suits you." She let the dividing flap fall and moved closer. "Allow me." Mia turned to face her and Hannah fiddled with the buttons, tugging the uniform a bit. "There."
Mia glanced at the mirror; she'd gotten the buttons wrong again. "Thanks."
"You need to learn this…" Hannah's hand dragged over the buttons. "You've learnt so much really quickly; yet buttons are difficult?"
She waved a clawed hand at the human. "Claws…"
Hannah nodded. "Right, buttons would be harder with those." A smirk was in her tone but not on her face. "Come on, well need to get you to the briefing room – well tent – sharpish, so we can…"
"Hide me until my big reveal?" Mia was serious and a nod was returned. "Let's go."
The briefing tent was divided into three areas, a small side room (where she now sat on fold-out stool), the CO's "office" and large open space where the briefings took place; complete with holographic projectors. She could hear the voices of the marines through the thin tarp of the tent. They were laughing and joking about who this VIP was; some thought it odd that a Spectre was around as protection (which it was really, she had to admit when looking at it from their side). They didn't seem to know about her… uniqueness.
Had they not been told about her? She'd been told that they had…
"Officer on deck!" Some shouted from the other "room".
"At ease." It was Hackett – which was a bonus. "I'm sure your all wondering what is going on; why there's a Spectre breathing down your necks. I wish we could've told you sooner but we had a leak that we needed to deal with." He paused and she heard the projectors fire up. "The VIP your about to meet is quite… unique." Mia smirked to herself at his words echoing her own thoughts. She also heard a few murmurs but not what was said. "The woman who I'll introduce in a moment is not entirely human; she's the result of a failed – and terrible – science experiment." There's some gasps; some protests. "I understand your concern marines…"
"An experiment Sir; however dangerous is this?"
"I shall let Captain Shephard and Doctor Chakwas explain." Hackett spoke loudly – where was Anderson? Her thoughts ran away from her for a moment, being drawn in again when…
"She's part Zerg." It was Karin's voice and the statement got some shouting, mostly of disbelief. "The files I'm about to send each of you detail her past and some of what she's been through." A series of beeps, likely from omni-tools. "Please read this carefully."
A long silence followed – punctuated by several 'fuck me's' and other curses. Mia swore to herself, this could go very badly.
"Any questions?" Karin asked after a long while.
"Why the fuck do you trust it?" A male voice called.
"Because we've spent time with her, years with her." Karin replied. "She's been through a lot and is trying her best to fit into a world she is still learning about."
"How did the scientists get her to actually live? This level of DNA bonding is incredible." Another male voice – someone coughed 'geek' in the background.
"In all honesty… we don't know. We think it was a fluke; a lucky try." Karin's voice faltered slightly. "They had some very advanced equipment – experimental even – it was likely they didn't know what they'd be able to make."
That made her eye twitch, Karin was explaining things she knew but it was still hard to hear.
A flurry of questions followed; she was unable to follow all of them. It was clear that trust was going to be issue however.
"Mia, please come out now." Karin called and she started – hearing gasps of shock; the marines didn't know she was there.
This could go very badly.
Swallowing, she stepped around the divide of the tent; the group of marines stared at her in clear shock – no fear, she noted – one woman whistled. Her eyes were glowing, she knew, as she looked at the source of the whistle. Nihlus nodded to her from the other side of the tent.
It was black woman who was sitting not that far from her, she was beautiful even though she was very well built, almost pure muscle. "Damn…" The woman cocked her chin at her. "Those claws look like they could cause some damage." The tone was so neutral she didn't know what to make of it.
So she held up her hands for them all to see. "Yeah, they can…"
A snort came from the group and she lowered her hands quickly.
"Why the fuck she here?" The woman spoke again, looking back at Karin.
"Because I'm here to learn." Mia didn't let Karin speak for her.
"Why?"
"Cause I want a life."
An eyebrow was raised but nothing was said; Hackett stepped back into view.
"Everyone will get a chance to talk to her one-to-one." His authority was clear; all eyes snapped back to him. "She will join you in some of your activities here. Major Kalin, you will keep an eye on her." He looked at the beautiful black woman. "She's strong but wild; keep her reined in. Mia; learn but watch yourself." He gestured at Mia. "She can take all you throw at her physically; mentally – watch yourselves."
The long pause that settled was quite unnerving for Mia, she decided (after a moment of soul searching) to make the first move. "Well, does anyone have any questions for me? I mean… we do have to work together after all."
She saw Hackett give a small smile but the male voice that called out earlier – and was called a geek – spoke up. "The obvious fucking question: are you linked to The Swarm?"
Here we go. "Yes, these tendrils that are my hair act as a kind of receiver; however, I'm far enough from being full Zerg that I have my own mind." This seemed to placate them, for the moment.
"This report is quite… explicit in detailing what you went through." It was Major Kalin now. "Given this, you're within your rights to hate humans." It was a question within a statement – Nihlus' mandibles twitched – honesty was the best thing for these marines.
"The truth, Major, is that part of me does hate humans for what I went through." She gestured at Karin and Hannah. "Though I have learnt not all humans are like them; it can be hard but I'm trying to let my rage control me."
This answer seemed to please the woman. "Well, that's quite… admirable." She rubbed her chin. "You will get insulted here, once they get to know you, I hope you're ready for that."
A bold statement, Mia thought, but the change in subject was most jarring, though she didn't mind that much. "I know, it might be hard for me to adjust to at first." She shrugged. "But I want to find a life, get away from my past and all that." It was clear that she didn't need to go into detail, you didn't get to be an N7 if you were stupid; that much she did know.
"I get that. I won't pretend to understand what you've been through but I won't go any easier on you; you better be ready for this." Major Kalin had stood and crossed her arms, a glance going to Hackett.
"I'm ready and I can adapt to things as we go; my Zerg nature means that I can actually improve myself to meet demands." Mia paused, thinking about how to word it. "I can evolve – though I guess mutate is actually the right word – my body, to what extents I don't know. It's doesn't happen right away, big changes take days – maybe weeks – to happen; but I…"
The major waves a hand and cuts her off. "Details aren't really needed." She's curt but not impolite. "If you fuck up, if you fall behind, you're on your own. These guys have worked their asses off to get here; you've just turned up."
The hybrid knows this already. "I understand."
Kalin just nods, and looks at Hackett. "I'll keep an eye on her, but they're my main reason for being here." A hand is waved at the rest of the soldiers; Hackett smiles.
"I wanted to have more time to prepare for this, but circumstances changed beyond my control." He signalled for Mia to follow him. "I'll give her to you soon Major, I just need a word. Afterwards you can all approach her whenever you are free." He looked at Mia as he spoke; she simply nodded and started to follow him out of the tent.
Mia followed Hackett out of the tent until they stood a few metres out in the open, under the vast transparent metal dome.
The older man turned to look at her. "Mia, listen carefully because this will only get said once." He paused for a moment, one hand twitching at his side. "We have keep things quiet because the people who made you… tried to kill you." Going by the look in his eye, the admiral was gauging her reaction.
She was surprisingly calm herself. "I know."
This caused him to blink but he said nothing.
"I figured that out myself. After that attacker shot me, he ranted about correcting their mistake." She gestured at the air; Hackett's face was neutral – though his eyes gave away his surprise. "I didn't say anything as I wanted to see if another one would try for me; I was hoping to get the drop on them. Try to figure things out for myself."
She could see anger on the humans face but his reply was calm. "I see. Well, after we investigated we discovered another breach in our security. It turns out that a guard here was feeding information to someone, a broker of some kind, we are unsure as to whom; they covered their tracks too well." His hand came to her shoulder. "Keep an eye out, we've sealed our leak but if they got someone else in place…"
Mia smiled. "Oh, don't worry Sir; I plan on keeping an eye out." A flare of power passed over her eyes. "A few shots put me out of action for a while but I'm getting tougher; my body is evolving to meet the demands I place on it."
"That's… both good news and worrying – don't push too hard." Hackett removed his hand. "Also, I wanted to talk to you about that signal – if that's the right word – you were putting out…"
"The one affecting peoples minds around me?"
"Yes, how did you stop it?" He nodded towards the tent. "They seemed more hostile than most towards you."
"I… I don't really know if I'm honest. I just somehow… turned it off." She shrugged. "It was an unconscious thing but I seem to have got it under control. I think it was because I was so afraid my body was reacting to…"
Hackett cut her off lightly. "No need to explain it to me, I've already had this conversation with Karin. I was going to warn that you that it was mentioned within the reports that the marines will be reviewing."
Mia looked away and gulped; that could be bad… "Still, better they know now than find out at a later date." She looks back at him. "Gets all the bad shit out of the way to start, and then I don't have to worry about it biting me in the head later."
"Biting you in the ass, I think you mean." A smile with this statement.
"Ha! Yeah, still got some stuff to figure out!"
A/N2: And we're getting there! I've got a few things to clear up before ME starts but some plot threads will be left open – some things will come to close (some of them much) later…
I have a plan that I'm trying to follow, so if things don't seem to resolving (or seem to have disappeared), don't fret too much as (unless I'm being a nutty forgetful person) some things are being left open deliberately…
And in other news…
I plan on starting the next chapter very shortly, though it's going to be a few weeks off posting yet; busy as hell at work and I'm on holiday for a week soon (with no access to my laptop). And I'm working out plot notes for a something I might be working on for a friend. News on that (might) be forthcoming with the next chapter of this…
Any-who… I'm sure I made some stupid grammatical errors in this that I missed, even with proof-reading it several times, so please let me know if I messed up big time and I'll try to fix it!