En route to Thessia

Another week, another planet. With their business done on Palaven, they expected another quick jaunt to Thessia, which had been hit harder than most of the other homeworlds, save for Earth, and then eventually to Sur'Kesh.

"Jilani," Ashley said as she strode up to Khalisah and Varicia.

"Yes, Commander?" she said as she looked up from her notes.

"Change in plans. After we're done on Thessia, we're going to be heading straight back to Earth. I know you've wanted to find Shepard, and I've been putting inquires for you at every stop, but nothing has come back."

Khalisah's mood dampened and the prospect of returning to square one seemed more and more like a reality. At every planet, they had made inquiries and had questioned as much as they could with the contacts of their guests, however, it seemed as though Nora Shepard had completely vanished from the face of the galaxy.

"Well, thanks anyway for letting us come along. I know it must not have been easy to let a civvie on the Normandy," she said in hopes of showcasing her gratitude.

"Don't worry about it. You've behaved and from what I've been able to tell, you're on the level. I don't see any reason to put you in the brig."

"That's a relief."

"Though, you may want to reconsider. When I made a general inquiry about Shepard, I got a message back from someone well connected to her."

"Who?"

"Her biotics teacher. The meanest, most foul-tempered asari this side of the galactic core."

"Oh, you mean Maleia N'Kona? Oh no."

The infamous asari Master Commando had proven herself repeatedly during the war, as she, along with a several others like herself, had been responsible for saving a good portion of Thessia's population from the Reapers when they had hit.

"What did she say?"

"She wants to talk to you. Didn't say anything about what. She just said, 'I want to talk to her'. I met her once during the war, if you have a bad opinion of her now, it'll only get worse."

"Of course," Khalisah groaned. She wouldn't able to avoid this interview, if it was going to be one. Worried for her beloved, Varicia held Khalisah close. Even though she stood no real chance against a Master Commando, she would do all she could to ensure Khalisah's safety.

Thessia

Through the rubble and wreckage of Armali, Khalisah and Varicia had made their way through several refugee camps, each one slowly building themselves up from the wreckage into self-sustaining groups. Most of them were in the remains of towns and cities and foraging had enabled them to survive long enough before offworld assistance would have arrived.

Looking through the dishelved, dirtied, and in some cases, scarred faces of the asari, Varicia recognized a face at last.

"Madam Aethyta!" Varicia exclaimed as they entered the thoroughfare.

The Matriarch in question looked up from a data pad she was reading and gave her acolyte a small smile. "How are you, babe?"

"Wonderful. Khalisah and I have been going through a lot on a project she's been working on. It's been an amazing experience!" she responded excitedly.

Aethyta turned from Varicia to Khalisah and gave her a half-hearted wave. "Hey. How ya been?"

Khalisah, grateful that Aethyta was in a better mood when last they met, nodded cordially. "Fine. Not doing too bad, all things considered."

She nodded, took a glance at Varicia and said, "Say, could you check with Aleria, Nuseen, and Xylis in the central square? I need to find out what else we need and they're in charge of getting stuff for us at the moment."

The matron nodded eagerly, then went on her way. With Varicia gone, Aethyta turned to Khalisah and said, "I wanted her gone because I didn't want to her to hear what I'm about to say to you; Jilani."

"What's that?" she asked in response, unsure where this was going.

"I overreacted to what your friend did back in the day and I'm sorry," she said quickly and with noticeable difficulty.

Khalisah was taken aback at the apology that came out of nowhere. Matriarchs, even ones as notorious as Aethyta, never apologized.

"Don't let it go to your head, kid. I only did it here and now because Vari," she inclined her head towards the direction where Varicia had left, "would have loved to hear me say it out loud and would never let me hear the end of it, but that's not going to happen. Not yet anyway. So, don't go telling her I did it, I'll deny it!"

As much as Khalisah loved Varicia, she couldn't help but understand the reason why as she nodded. "Not a word. Besides, I want to see what happens when you confess it yourself."

"Not gonna happen."

K: Being one of the surviving Matriarchs of Thessia and being the asari liaison for the Grand Allied Fleet against the Reapers, surely you must have had some opinion about Shepard.

A: *Sighs* I'll be honest with ya. I didn't like her at first. That deal about Torfan? Sure, it was nice to hear her kicking ass and everything, but the more I heard about her, the more worried I got. Was almost ready to kill her myself when I heard what happened to Nezzie if she hadn't gotten killed herself.

K: Nezzie?

A: *Sighs again* Matriarch Benezia. If any of the Matriarchs from High Command were still around, they'd deny that Nezzie and I were together for a while. For 'Political Reasons'.

K: But what about the Indoctrination?

A: I didn't find out about that until after the first of those nasty machines attacked the Citadel. It was hard for me to swallow at first, however, after seeing what Liara had to go through, I couldn't go through with it. Was a real kick in the quad when I got into the details about the Reapers. Shepard was an easy thing to hate because she was there and just a human.

K: Did that ever change?

A: Yeah. It was in the early part of the war we had a chance to talk.

"You're Shepard, right?" the older asari said as she poured a shot of a concoction with colors that did not exist in nature.

"Hello, Matriarch," Nora said as she leaned on the top of the table. "Been a while since we talked last. Last time I saw you, you were working in a bar on Illium."

The Matriarch nodded and placed the drink on the counter in front of Shepard. "Yeah. However, with the Reapers making all the noise they have been, decided to hit the road and go somewhere safe. Took as much booze with me as I could and opened up a little shop here."

Nora took a glance at the drink, then back to the bartender. "That'd be quite a coincidence if that were true. Nowhere's safe. In case you didn't know, the Reapers are going to wipe the entire galaxy clean and make sure that nothing's left. No, I got a hunch that your reasons for coming here are a bit more personal."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, may have something to do with another asari here on the Citadel. And not just any asari," Nora said as she inclined her head to the café just across the way, "it has to do with a certain maiden you were watching on Illium for two years when she set up shop there."

Aethyta frowned and she folded her arms. "It's none of your business what I do, kid."

"It's my business when you're spying on my friend," Nora shot back in a subdued voice.

The Matriarch smirked with the kind of smile that enjoyed, and found, a challenge. "You're not the only one with sources, kid. I have it on good authority that your XO is in a relationship with a certain someone on your ship." Her gaze turned hard as she stared directly into Nora's eyes and dared her to blink, "a certain someone who used to work for Cerberus."

Nora twitched; however, she did nothing more and instead matched the glare Aethyta gave her as she slowly pushed back the drink. "Sometimes, employers and their employees don't see eye to eye. Or, maybe theirs was an agreement that came to a quick and less than cordial end."

At this point in time, she had been hunting the Illusive Man, who had been searching for a mysterious device that could, if the rumors were true, control the Reapers. Shepard was going to make sure they failed.

Aethyta's frown grew when she saw the glass pushed back. However, her tone didn't lose the intensity, nor did her glare lose its potency.

"I know. And consider yourself lucky you aren't," she said as she started to lean forward, "because if you still were, you wouldn't be standing here talking. You'd be dead again before you even think about getting within a light year of Liara."

"Is that a threat?" Nora growled at the back of her throat.

"I'm no Commando, kid. However, when you've lived as long as I have, you learn every dirty trick in the book to survive and off people," she leaned in closer, "even human marines. Bottom line; *no one* hurts my little girl and gets away with it."

K: Wait, wait, wait! You're Liara T'Soni's other parent?

A: Yeah. And?

K: …nevermind. Continue please.

Shepard leaned on top of the counter, her eyes steady and her posture aggressive. "Funny. If you wanted to off me, you'd have taken me to the back where no one would have seen it happen. I know how you asari work. You're far more subtle when it comes to killing people than the Salarians are. You're good at keeping the veneer of civility when you're just as nasty as the rest of us."

The glare faded and a smirk took its place. "Good to see N'Kona's pride and joy hasn't lost her edge."

Nora paused at the mention of her biotics teacher. "What?"

"The girl's one of the best Commandos on Thessia because I taught her everything both my parents taught me about fighting. The rest of them are too tied to the 'ancient traditions' or some other shit to even think about the possibility that people wouldn't think twice about fighting dirty," the Matriarch noted with a hint of pride.

"Anyway," she continued as she placed the drink away and started to wipe the counter down, "there's a reason why I had to be there on Illium. If I didn't, then..." she took a deep breath, uncomfortable with the very thought of what she was to say next, "for all I know, when you take into account Benezia, that whole business with the Reapers, and the fact she's a notorious info broker... there's a chance High Command would have ordered a hit-"

Shepard's hand shot out and grabbed the scruff of Aethyta's collar and almost yanked her over the counter as she snarled in the Matriarch's face, "if they dared do that, I would make them wish the Reapers hit Thessia first and hardest! No one messes with my girl!"

Aethyta, in retaliation, grabbed the scruff of Shepard's uniform, and both had their biotics flaring and doubled the intensity of Nora's anger as she matched Nora's snarl. For a moment, it looked like there was going to be a brawl with Aethyta smearing Nora across the ground, however, Aethyta snorted amusedly and gently let go of her.

In surprise, Nora followed suit and took a step back.

"Good. Looks like I was wrong and you do have a quad. Maybe I can worry a bit less now."

Nora adjusted her uniform and nodded. "Glad to hear."

"Though, there is one more thing," she said with her arms folded.

"What's that?"

Before Nora could react, Aethyta had tripped her in a singularity field, picked her up, and dumped her on the ground when the field dissipated. As Shepard attempted to get up, the Matriarch put her boot on Nora's back. "Don't touch the dress again, kid. It's vintage."

Nora tossed one last glare back at the Matriarch. Now she understood where Maleia got some of her more 'charming' qualities from.

K: Well, it's good to know that you were able to get along.

A: Babe, you don't know the half of it.

Aethyta felt like a maiden again. In fact, she threw her arms up and screamed as loudly as she could as she and Nora tumbled down the chute and into the armory.

Just as planned. According to Aethyta.

The infiltration to that Cerberus Outpost had gone off without a hitch and now, Aethyta felt the time for subtlety was over and it was time to, to quote her father (after the translations), fuck their shit up.

Nora, who was more keen to the idea of simply placing the charges in the reactor core after obtaining the the vital data for Reaper movements in that part of the galaxy, and getting out of there like a bat out of hell, wanted to convince the Matriarch that considering it was just them two, and dear Grunt was enjoying himself too much with his newly formed Aralakh company to provide both a distraction and extraction for them.

"Come on, babe! There's no point to fighting if you're not having fun!" she said as she tore through the crates as though she were a Maiden on her fiftieth birthday. That was usually the occasion when their mothers would prepare them a care package, get some recommendations ready, then kick them out the door until they were at least 'two cents'.

For Aethyta, however, hers was a Maidenhood that was shut cut shorter than she would have liked. She loved her parents dearly, but she still felt slightly bitter over the fact they left her orphaned at the tender age of thirty seven. So, she made the best of it by causing as much trouble as she could for every merc group she could find, since they were often a source of consternation for more stable colonies.

The prospect of using an enemy's weapon against them never seemed to lose its charm. Especially for a well-funded and developed group like Cerberus.

Her eyes widened when her eyes fell upon the most beautiful gatling gun she had ever laid eyes on.

It was the latest from Haribon Military Industries and they were just as xenophobic and prejudiced as Cerberus was. They made sure that the weapons they produced would cause as much damage as quickly, as painfully, and as mercilessly as possible. Especially against aliens.

Despite weighing one-hundred and fifty kilograms, she sported two hundred credit, custom-tooled miniature barrels which fired munitions at ten thousand rounds per minute. It cost over four hundred thousand credits to fire this weapon... for twelve seconds. At least, before a Heat Sink Clip needed to be applied.

Simply designed, but sleek, it was meant for specific, Cerberus aligned Colonies in the Terminus to use against hostile invaders and especially aliens. Too bad for them, Aethyta yanked that baby out of it crate and had to stop smiling for a moment because of how much her face began to hurt from the grin.

"You serious?" Nora asked with a cocked eyebrow. She herself preferred close ranged combat and use of her biotics. If pressured, she'd use a sniper rifle, but would have rather let the sharp shooters take that honor.

Aethyta gave her a smile that was nothing short of jovial as she hefted the gun as though it weighed a fraction of her weight over her shoulder, then picked up some heat sinks for the inevitable fight to escape.

"Babe, you've got to know me long enough to know when I am and when I'm not," she said before jamming a heat sink in the empty slot.

Knowing she would be unable to talk her out of it, Nora resigned herself to the fact she was going to be taking point and providing cover.

The Matriarch strode over to the large doorway, which led to the hangar, and hit the switch. "Incoming, you little piles of shit!"

Shepard jammed a few calorie caps in her mouth, no doubt this was going to drain her like nothing else, and quickly took her place beside the Matriarch. She swung her arms around her torso, then flung them out, creating a barrier that would give them some protection as they hit them from behind. Or at least, Nora hoped.

When the doors lifted, a squad of Cerberus soldiers, with their guns raised and ready to fire, paused at the grinning Aethyta, with her gun spinning and opening up with a unstoppable stream of shots that mowed them down. The Matriarch whooped and hollered as she could only described living and fighting the kind of fights during her Maiden days. What she would give to relive them again with the kind of toys she had now.

At the front of the hangar, the rest of the Cerberus troops paused and turned as they suddenly found themselves surrounded and out-gunned. However, due to their newly enhanced 'training' they would rather die than surrender.

Neither Aethyta nor Aralakh Company had a problem with that.

With the last of the Cerberus troops routed, Grunt strode forward to Nora and Aethyta with a smile on his face to rival Aethyta.

"Battlemaster! Victory is ours!" he said as if he was ready to bounce off the walls. He and his Company had proven themselves repeatedly and news of their exploits that seemed to defy death on a daily basis only seemed to spread.

Shepard found it hard to resist the enthusiasm he displayed as she smiled herself. "Well done, Grunt. I'm very proud of you."

Grunt chuckled deeply, then punched his open palm. "Thank you, Battlemaster."

"So, this is your boy, huh?" Aethyta said with an appraising look up and down the leader of their extraction.

"And who are you?" Grunt said, only told that Shepard and an accomplice would need their help. There was nothing said about it being an asari Matriarch.

The asari said nothing as she looked from him to Nora and back to him again. That was until a smirk crossed her face. "Your grandma."

Grunt was surprised and caught off gurad. Nora was not and frowned in response. "Stop that!"

"Don't see why I'm not. I mean, after all the times I heard you and Liara-" she said before she went into detail about hers and her daughter personal lives, Nora raised her hand.

"Fine! Just let me tell him about it! He's my boy, after all." While Nora was not expecting to become a surrogate parent so soon, she did her best to be a good example for the tank-bred Krogan.

Grunt, while aware of the technical aspects of what his newly appointed Grandmother was speaking of, was still excited at the prospect of being taught by his Battlemaster.

For a long moment, the asari and the krogan locked gazes for a long moment, as if judging the other was ready to fight them as is. "You got good eyes, kid," Aethyta said as she started to move past him, "don't lose them."

"I won't," Grunt said with a grin. He could tell. There was krogan blood in this one. She had the strength to be admired. She was beaten, but never broken. A part of him was in awe as the rest of Aralakh made way for the asari that carried a gatling gun almost her size as if it were nothing.

"Battlemaster, I hope we fight alongside her again."

"Don't worry, Grunt. You'll get your chance," she said with a sigh and a pat on her boy's shoulder.

A: She and I may not have been the best of friends, however, when things went tits up, you could count on her. That's why I'm glad she was around. It's why I'm glad she's with my little girl. Now, I'm torn as to whether Liara's ready to give me those grandkids to spoil or have her wait until she's a matron. Either way, I hope I live long enough to see them.

K: Thank you for your time, Matriarch Aethyta.