Chapter 10: N8 – part 3

Tevos shuffles discreetly in the I5 suit that was gifted to her. Stoically standing to her right is the turian Councillor Spartatus in his own suit. On her left is… an anomaly. An asari by the name of Beinra T'mosir, according to her omni-tool she was last seen on Mindor before accepting Alliance citizenship after the slave raid. However, this Beinra looks nothing like the image they have on record. Her skin colour is a pale, almost bleached, lilac instead of the vibrant purple it used to be. She also carries herself like a matriarch despite looking like a maiden. The final oddity is that she is standing next to her dressed only in a flowing robe.

As if reading her thoughts, Beinra asks, "Are you alright councillor?"

Tevos's crest quivers in her helmet as she wonders just that, shaking her head she replies, "No, the suit is just uncomfortable."

Beinra nods, "That is to be expected, you've not even worn it for 24 hours, as we came to the rendezvous point on a Citadel ship. However, I do not think that's what's bothering you."

"Why aren't you wearing a suit?"

Beinra smiles, "You are a carrier of Prothean Syndrome, while I am now immune. If it helps, I could wear my own armour. Though it's somewhat bulky and would set the humans around us on edge."

Tevos frowns, "Why on Thessia would it do that?"

Beinra takes a step to her left and starts to float in the air as a toy floats out of the pouch beside her. As Tevos starts to feel pins and needles all over, the toy expands to almost touch the ceiling of the bridge of the ship they're standing in and closes around Beinra. Looking down at Tevos, she asks, "Is that better?"

Spartatus barks out, "No, not at all. It was vastly preferable when you weren't quite so intimidating."

Tevos can only nod in agreement and starts to scratch her arm as the pins and needles turns into an itch as Beinra puts her armour away. An itch that subsides almost as soon as it began once Beinra stands next to her again.

Apologetically, Beinra shrugs, "I'm sorry about the itching, it was rather impulsive of me to show off like that. Especially when I'm here to protect you from the environment on ship."

Tevos looks at her sharply, "Protect me?"

Beinra nods, "You'd have died minutes into the voyage as we entered the aether sea if I weren't here. You do remember that eezo evaporates in the presence of magic."

Tevos nods, and shudders as her mind puts together the association between biotics and eezo. "Is that why you're so pale?"

Beinra nods, "It's also why I wouldn't allow you to join with me. We're about to start descending from the aether sea, so you may want to watch out of the viewing window."

Tevos turns to the window and watches as the swirling aether seems to be pulled together into rivers of light revealing the gas giant that Torfan orbits. As they continue, the gas giant seems to shrink, while staying the same size, and suddenly Torfan is there and covered in life. Raising her omni-tool she activates the zoom function to be sure, and just catches the tail end as physics takes over from magic, and the plants and animals disappear.

Moments later Beinra says, "We're here."

Tevos looks out at the distant moon, "So, what, are you going to launch an all out assault on the moon?"

Beinra looks out, "No, they're sending in The Triplets."

Tevos looks at Beinra, "The who?"

Beinra just continues looking out the window, "One of our, their gods and goddesses. Depending on the moment. They helped train me and acclimatise to my new culture."

Indignantly, Tevos asks, "Why would you need to adapt to their culture? They haven't even had spaceflight for 200 of their years."

Beinra turns to look at Tevos with ancient eyes, at the same time Spartatus takes a couple of discrete paces away from them. "Councillor, do not show yourself to be a fool by speaking of things you have no understanding of. It is true that the lives of humans are like mayflies, only overshadowed by that of salarians. However the sidhe, and those that join their clans willingly, count their lives in millennia. Those above them long enough that none has ever died of old age. I myself have learnt the ways of the Magi, though I am not of their order. Today, you have been invited to watch the Systems Alliance retribution for enslaving Alliance citizens. Not to ensure that the rules of war are followed, but to see why they don't concern themselves with the day to day politics of mortals. We could do so much to rid the galaxy of evil, but they love life too much to walk the galactic stage. And so we limit ourselves to mortal capabilities."

Tevos shakes her head, "You can't be talking about the farcical stories the turian command made about this Selene person pulling a dreadnaught out of space."

Beinra looks back out of the window, "I'm sure the salarian science teams on the other ships will be willing to reconsider that notion after today. It's beginning. Once the end begins, I will be going down to the shuttle bay to talk to the rescued asari. For the moment, Selene and Hela are there to ensure that the magic levels remain low enough for them to recover from the transport. Captain! Please bring up the views of each of The Triplets."

Three sets of view screens appear on the large window, and over the next hour Tevos watches as Harry, Hermione, and Daphne each take a separate approach to reaching the inner complex.

Harry seems to dance with a primitive bronze sword, cutting through armour as easily as flesh. His, or her, movements always seeming to take her out of the line of fire of the next group of defenders.

Hermione waves her hands, as though conducting a symphony, as she turns every bullet sent against her into a different animal, that turns around and runs back to attack the defenders. At one point she stops to look at the ground where one bullet formed a strange sort of worm, that is struggling to move more than a few cm at a go. A snap of her fingers has it turn into a small fire breathing dragon.

Finally, Daphne just strolls down her shaft with her hands in her pockets. In a bubble around her, everything is broken down into harmless dust. Even those defenders stupid enough to attack her. When the occasional slave is sent on a suicide run against her, their collars, implants, and clothes are all disintegrated, leaving the slave naked but free as she talks to them briefly before they disappear.

As the minutes become an hour, Tevos turns to Beinra, "How? Surely this isn't possible."

Beinra has a grim smile on her face as she watches the feed, "Hela and Selene are both considered to be battle groups on their own. Simply because of the area of space they can control on their own. Individually, The Triplets are the same, but they are inextricably bound to each other. So where you find one, the other two will be somewhere nearby. Well, nearby for us, not for you."

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As The Triplets breach the inner complex, their displays of magic are reduced, but no less effective, as they start freeing slaves and sending them to different ships. As the first asari is discovered, a view of the shuttle bay opens up to show the maiden being comforted by one of the humans, while another one works to remove her implants and collar.

Tevos tries to turn away, saying, "I think you've made your point."

Beinra grabs Tevos' arm and turns her back to the view screen, "Not yet. This is just the rescue. The demonstration is going to come after this."

Tevos turns to stare at Beinra, "What?"

"The Systems Alliance is getting fed up with the nascent Human Republic of Independent Planets doctoring our histories without any push back from the Council. Even going so far as to starting to demand that the turians change their own First Contact histories. Once all of the slaves have been recovered, we are going to see first hand what they faced in the Sleeper Wars."

Tevos scoffs, "Don't tell me you believe in the 'Monsters in the darkness' stories. They've been popping up for thousands of years, and we have never seen proof that they exist."

Beinra just continues to watch the goings on, "What I believe is my own business. What you believe is your business, and I won't pry unless you attempt to force that belief on others. Once it begins, Selene will be heading to the salarian team to ensure their equipment continues working. It's estimated that we'll be here for a few days, as the life shield will only conceal us while the ship uses minimal aether systems."

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A few hours later, and theirs is the only ship left in the system. As she's staring aimlessly out at the stars, Tevos blinks as a shadow seems to pass across the gas giant. Bringing her attention back to the centre of the view screen, her mouth drops open in horror as another shadow passes across the gas giant.

"What in goddess name is that?"

The quiet and shaky voice of the captain answers her question, "Sleeper. Comms, status of the relays."

In an almost whisper, the comms officer replies, "Both relays have just gone offline sir. We have 130 eezo ships that have just gone dark."

The captain nods, and responds in the same quiet voice, "Send the Triplets the telemetry, they'll want to rescue any slaves on board."

"Yes sir."

Over the next two weeks, Tevos finds herself drawn by horrid fascination as what she can only call a feeding frenzy occurs around first Torfan, and then the gas giant it orbits, as what's left of Torfan's iron core is claimed.

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Jane wakes up on a bed in the Agincourt sickbay, her faceplate showing that she's been unconscious for the last 20 hours. Not even a minute after she opened her eyes, a healer walks over with a severe expression on her face.

"You young lady, are lucky to be alive. If it wasn't for the fact that Charlies Angels portkeyed to your position just after you collapsed, their healer would have been too late to portkey you up here."

Before Jane can say anything, the healers finger comes up to wag in her face, "What went through that pea sized thing you call a brain that made you drink two pepper-up potions in 24 hours?"

Jane smiles weakly, "I needed to coordinate the defence, as no one else stepped up."

The healer shakes her head, "Bloody Gryffindors."

Jane frowns, "Huh?"

"One of the four houses at Hogwarts, where I did my apprenticeship. They changed the names for the books if you've read them." With a long suffering huff, the healer shakes her head, "Well, good news, you're going to live. Bad news, you're on mandatory sick leave for the next 6 months while your heart finishes healing. Good news, the Agincourt is heading back to Shaanxi early. Bad news, you've overstayed your welcome in my sick bay. Now off you go, and don't let me catch you doing stupid stuff again."

Jane doesn't even have time to say 'Yes ma'am!' before the healer has returned to her other duties. After pushing herself into a seating position, Jane pauses to catch her breath as her omni-tool pings and a list medically recommended restrictions starts scrolling in her HUD. No exercise, no alcohol, no heavy meals, no horror or thriller films. No sex!

Shaking her head, she pushes herself off the bed and walks briskly towards the door. She's only made it three paces before she has to lean against another bed for support as a shooting pain goes straight through her chest and down her left arm.

"Right, NO Exercise. Brilliant. What next, a walking stick?"

Once her pain has returned to a bearable level, Jane pushes off the bed once more, and gingerly walks to the door at a sedate pace. As she leans against the sickbay door, she mutters, "Oh come on, that was as slow as they walk in the shopping district on Shaanxi:3."

Even slower, and using the wall for support, Jane makes her way to the bunk room for the Dogs.

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Once she makes it into the bunk room, Jane carefully sits down on the closest bunk. As the door closes Ferman looks up and then zeroes in on her.

"Hey guys! It's the LT."

Jane gives a sad little wave, "Hi, where's the others?"

Ferman shakes his head, "We lost Sarge, Shaw, and Clark in the last push. Rodrigues and Toots are keeping each other company in the cabinet. I think everyone else is in the bar."

Jane looks down at her hands and turns them over, "I'm sorry. I-I should have done better."

Ferman stands up and walks over to sit down next to her, "Better my arse, you were the only one giving orders worth a damn. The Fists and Angels had their own shit outside the city, so they don't count. Lt Calker died when they breached the back door, but he held them off till reinforcements arrived."

Jane shakes her head, "See, that's what I mean, I don't think I noticed that, if I had I'd have sent reinforcements faster."

"Permission to speak freely Sir, Ma'am."

Jane waves her hand, "Granted."

"Shepherd, that's bullshit, you're the one that sent the reinforcements. You're a bloody hero, you were there at the front, with the rest of us, and still had time to direct the battle. I have no fucking idea how you managed that, as it was all I could do to keep track of the enemies in front of me."

Jane shakes her head, "You could have done the same if you'd gone through officer training."

"Bullshit. Lt Calker, may he rest in peace, couldn't do it while you were rescuing the civilians. He was great at the big picture stuff, but keeping track of the small shit, the stuff that kept us alive. That was all you."

Jane shakes her head in denial, and changes the subject, "How's everyone doing?"

Ferman stares at the opposite wall, "We've all got two weeks mandatory mind healing once we get back to shore. I for one need it, I can't close my eyes without seeing Shaw take an autocannon to the face. Did you know that the runes on the face plate keep working as long as they're still connected to the rest of the suit somehow? Neither did I until Shaw's head was ripped clean off his body by the impacts and hung limply down his back for a few seconds before his body collapsed. Everyone else has their own horror stories. Hell, what's left of The Sloths have, to a man, moved into I5 suits and they keep bugging us for help with the features. What about you?"

It's Jane's turn to stare at the wall, "I…I don't remember much of the final stand, there was a kid, saved my life and got me water. The last thing I clearly remember is green dots on my HUD. Then I woke up in sickbay. They've signed me off for 6 months mandatory medical leave after my heart almost exploded when the second pepper-up potion ran out."

Ferman shakes his head, "Damn, no wonder you were going like a machine down there. You've got balls Shepherd, great big brass ones. I've got some scuttlebutt if you're interested."

Jane nods, "Beats comparing trauma, hit me."

"First thing, you're a Hero, and they're going to reward you once we get back to Shaanxi."

Jane laughs bitterly, "Great, a bit of tin to stick in a drawer. Maybe I should buy myself a cabinet to keep that shit in."

Ferman nods, "I'm considering it myself, so that there's somewhere safe to sleep and shit if I'm ever caught like that again. Second thing. All of us are going to be promoted to PS-N2, and we're going to get some specialist training. I've heard that your fire team is being considered for PS-N3 after their performance as sharpshooters and spotters on the field."

Jane smiles, "They deserve it, hell, you all deserve it. But I'm sure we'd all be dead if they weren't tagging heavy weapons."

Ferman once again nods, "I know. Last thing is that apparently, they captured some of the leaders, and found out where they came from. The fleet is heading to Torfan with The Triplets."

Jane laughs, then clutches her chest, "Right, need to add No laughing to my list. Is the fleet even needed if those three are there?"

Ferman shrugs, "Apparently they have Council observers tagging along, and they're also there to transport any slaves that are rescued."

As she's sitting there processing that news, Jane can't help yawning widely, "Sorry, I think I need to get some kip. I'll be in my quarters if anyone needs me."

Ferman stands up to give her a hand when she fails to stand up the first time, "Sleep well Lt."

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Once she wakes up, Jane pushes herself out of bed and immediately grabs on to the back of the desk chair to steady herself.

Sitting down in the chair, Jane grumbles to herself, "Right, NO Exercise includes getting out of bed too fast. I bet it also includes waking up too fast too."

Shaking her head, she takes the pouch off her belt, "Well, I might as well sort through this and find out what I need to requisition from the quarter master when I get back."

15 minutes later, her desk and bunk are both covered with years of accumulated gifts, gizmos, and souvenirs, as well as a few useful items like her old datapad.

Jane looks at everything that's laid out and shakes her head, "I guess I'll need that cabinet for more than just bits of tin." She picks up a copy of the photo her mum had, the one with the bear and the broomstick, "I've got enough money saved, I could afford a decent home to put things like this up in."

Picking up another photo, this one of herself and Juvetana on Shaanxi:2 while her nest mother was waiting for transport back to Hierarchy space. Blinking back tears, she says, "Definitely a proper home."

Putting the photo down again, she reaches into her pouch and pulls out an unfamiliar device. Turning it over in her hands, she frowns, "What's this?... A relay communication device? Scratch that, a dead relay communication device. Why would I buy a dead… Oh that's right. I promised to keep in touch with Juvetana."

Putting the device on the bed, Jane opens up the messaging app on her omni-tool and quickly writes a letter to her nest mother, updating her on what's happened recently. Sitting back in her chair, Jane taps her faceplate thoughtfully before adding an explanation about her medical leave, and asking if she wants Jane to visit once she's able to walk down the road again.

Once she's sent the message, Jane writes another one to her mother to let her know she's alive.

With the letters sent, she starts going through the last few bits of her bag. There, right at the bottom, she finds three spare standard rifle magazines.

"Right, I definitely need that cabinet. Better write it down before I forget."

With a sigh, Jane transfers everything on the desk to the bed before starting to repack her bag, with kit items going on the desk and everything else going into the bag. As the military kit gets laid out on the desk Jane looks at it critically.

"There's something missing, what is it that's missing?"

Shaking her head she continues packing until she comes across the relay communication device again. Her hand comes up to her face, "That's it. Emergency beacon. That's the other thing this was for."

While she remembers, Jane fills out a requisition form for an emergency beacon and sends it off. She just finished putting the defunct RCD in her bag when her omni-tool pings with an authorisation. Shaking her head in surprise Jane clears the notification after a few seconds of staring at it.

Slowly more things get added to the desk as she puts photos and keepsakes like the jumper her aunt gave her, the camping supplies she bought with mum one year, and her skis. Things like her spare omni-tool and her Alliance datapad go on the desk with other kit.

The bed is almost empty when she picks up a photo of Shepherd's Dogs in the cabinet the day they'd earned their callsign. As she holds it in her hands, unbidden, tears start to streak down her cheeks.

"Why? Why did you have to die?"

She's not sure how long she's been crying when she becomes aware of someone gently rubbing circles on her back. But the tears are starting to dry up as she turns to look at the ships captain.

When she tries to stand up, the captain gently restrains her.

"No need to stand captain. You're on medical leave."

Jane gives the captain a wan smile, "Thank you sir."

The captain glances down at the photo, "It's always hard when we lose people under our command. Especially when you have as close a relationship with them as a captain and their crew, or a lieutenant and their troop. I've got a photo album in a pouch just like yours, and there's a photo of every crewman I've ever lost. I think most decent officers have the same thing."

Jane swallows hard, "I should have done more though sir."

The captain spins her chair to face him as he shakes his head, "You did the right things down there, and you handled a situation that many officers with years of experience would have folded under. You even took the calculated risk to overdose on pepper-up so that your people wouldn't be left leaderless." He raises his hand, "Yes, at that point they were all your people. Even the militia. I took a calculated risk when I gave you the field commission, and I'm happy to say it's now official."

Jane looks down at the photo, "Thank you sir, but…"

The captain nods, "I know, it's never worth the lives lost. But we can't bring them back, not even Hela can do that, so the best we can do is reward people for doing a good job. As an example, once we get back to Shaanxi, you're going to be awarded the Star of Terra by an Admiral. Technically, you've already got it as the paperwork has already been processed." Jane opens her mouth to protest as the captain continues, "I know what you're going to say. It's the same thing nearly every recipient of the star has ever said. 'I don't deserve it as I was only doing my duty. Give it to someone more deserving.' Does that sound about right?"

Jane nods minutely, "Yes Sir."

The captain nods, "I thought so, and it's one of the reasons we know you actually deserve the award. On a related note, I spoke to your mother a few years ago, and she told me about your dream of becoming an N8 so that you could hug her in person again." He sighs, "While I can't do that, I have written a recommendation to the N7 based on your performance in going well beyond the call of duty, showing initiative and inventiveness on the field, and doing anything it took to get the job done without unnecessarily endangering lives. You should get your answer in the next six months."

Startled, Jane looks up at the captain, "Why? I don't have enough experience to apply."

The captain shakes his head, "Being an N7 isn't about experience, you can't get there by sitting behind a desk directing troops. It's all about seeing the right potential in someone and putting them forward. The requirements you see on the aethernet, they're for people that want to put themselves forward. Hence the recommendation."

As he reaches into a pouch Jane softly says, "Thank you sir."

Handing over a sheaf of parchment, the captain chuckles, "Don't mention it. Here's the parchment work, if you accept you'll be tested and trained at Sandhurst on Earth. On a personal note, thank you for showing that PS-N troops can fit in the Alliance forces. They're already looking at your troop, and your decisions, and making changes to both the N and PS-N rules and procedures. Privately, I think that's why your troop are all being promoted to N2's, as it gives the eggheads an excuse to see how they behave in controlled conditions. Anyway, I've taken up enough of your time."

As the captain reaches the door, Jane calls out, "Sir!"

Turning around the captain asks, "Yes captain?"

"If I could make a suggestion. Each troop should have its own cabinet for R & R, with a de-con chamber inside the door."

The captain nods, "I'll pass it up the chain."

"Thank you sir."

Once the captain's gone, Jane looks down at the parchment she's been given.

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A week later, the Agincourt arrives at Shaanxi to an unwelcome level of fanfare, at least in Jane's opinion. As soon as they reach orbit, a team of nurses docked with the ship and forced her into a wheelchair. Which leads to her current situation.

"...After suffering a personal tragedy on Mindor, Captain Shepherd returned to Shaanxi with her mother Navy Captain Shepherd, of the Oedipus. Almost immediately she joined the N-cadets here on Shaanxi:2 and quickly rose to the position of troop leader. After scoring in the top 10% of her age group, Captain Shepherd was accepted into the officer corps, where she impressed her instructors with her dedication, intelligence, and willingness to help others. A little under four months ago the captain was given her first command and assigned to the SAAS Agincourt, where she again showed her ability to lead, not only by word, but also example. There they showed that the PS-N corps isn't just a sop towards those who have contracted Prothean Syndrome, but they are in fact a valuable part of our armed forces. Many of the things her troop pioneered are now going to be rolled out to all shipboard troops."

Jane sighs as the Admiral finishes glossing over her life, and closes the game of patience she's been playing with her eyes and brief finger twitches.

"Eight days ago, she not only saved lives with her units readiness, as the Agincourt came out of the aether sea at Elysium to find the planet under attack by pirates. Despite being off duty, her unit managed to hit the ground running only 142 seconds after the alarm sounded. From there they proceeded to the largest shelter, under City Hall, to relive the militia..."

Jane tunes the Admiral out again as he seems to be determined to give a blow by blow account of her time on the surface.

As her wheel chair starts to move forward to the sound of applause, Jane zones back in, and quickly restores her visor to full transparency rather than the 90% she is accustomed to.

As the cameras go off, the brass buttons on her dress uniform catch the light, and highlight the gold sash she's wearing over one shoulder.

As the wheelchair comes to a stop beside the Admiral, Jane is able to see the rest of her troop, and the survivors of the Sloths standing in ranks behind where she'd been sat.

As she leans forward to lift the foot rests, the Admiral chuckles, "Stay seated Captain. Not even I go against healers orders. I'm surprised you're still wearing your faceplate though."

Jane smiles and says softly, "I'm going to move into my mothers apartment, as it doesn't have stairs. But that's on Shaanxi:3."

The Admiral nods before speaking louder so that the crowd can hear, "Captain Jane Shepherd of the PS-N, you are hereby awarded the Star of Terra for going above and beyond the call of duty. Your actions on the surface of Elysium saved the lives of thousands of civilians and you held your position long past any reasonable projections could have expected."

Jane sits up as straight as she can as the Admiral leans over to pin the medal on her. As soon as it's done, and the photographers have had their moment, Jane is wheeled back to the head of the formation, and the rest of her troops are called forward one by one to receive their own medals.

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Later that day, Jane's wheelchair is swapped out for a wheelchair that's had its wheels removed and is now mounted on a broom. At the same time, she's given a citizenship stone so that she can control the chair.

As Jane's fiddling with the fob for the entrance to the apartment block, Mrs Fizzlepop pokes her head out of her house next door. "Jane! I thought you were on a tour of duty."

Jane turns her chair towards the older lady, and does a couple of full circles before she recovers and barely nudges the broom to the side to look at her. "Woah, headrush. Sorry about that, I'm on mandatory medical leave for the next six months. Healers orders. So I figured I'd live here as there's no stairs."

Mrs Fizzlepop nods understandingly as she walks over, "Oh you poor dear. Here, let me help you with that."

Jane watches as she puts the fob clear against the reader and nothing happens. With a shrug Mrs Fizzlepop presses the call button for the superintendent of the building. "Don't worry dear, I've heard of this sort of thing happening to people that work in Shaanxi:4. There should be a simple solution."

Five minutes later, the door opens to reveal the building's superintendent, "Good afternoon, how can I help you?"

Jane opens her mouth to speak, but Mrs Fizzlepop says, "This young lady has just returned from a tour of duty, and her fob doesn't work anymore."

The superintendent looks at Jane, then at the stone on her chair. "Can I see some ID please Miss."

Jane smiles politely as she pulls out her warrant card and hands it over. The superintendent looks at the card carefully before nodding and touching something inside the door, "Please place your stone over the sensor."

Jane's eyebrows raise as she does so, and the panel flashes gold. As in the steel turns into gold for a fraction of a second.

"There you go. You can now use your stone to come and go. It will also work at the broom landing door on the roof."

Jane smiles in pleased surprise, "Thank you."

The superintendent nods, "Just doing my job Ma'am."

Mrs Fizzlepop catches the door as the superintendent walks back inside, "Come on deary, let's get you upstairs and make sure you've got enough food."

Jane shakes her head, "I don't want to put you out."

"It's no trouble whatsoever, the children are all asleep, and the food is taking care of itself."

"No really, I was just going to drop my bag, and then go shopping."

Mrs Fizzlepop looks at Jane doubtfully, "Are you sure?"

Jane nods, "Thank you for the offer though, it's most appreciated."

When the older lady just holds the door for her, and then returns to her own house, Jane breathes a sigh of relief. She doesn't need that sort of social attention after everything else that's happened today.

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Over the next couple of months, Jane commissions her new cabinet with a modest four bedroom house inside, along with a study lounge and entertainment room. Unfortunately she is unable to get the dual garden's she wants, and so she settles on half an acre of ground with a running track to go with the fitness room she commissions. On it's own that nearly wipes our her savings, and stocking the kitchen, and buying the wrist holster takes the rest.

At one month since landfall, Jane is called in for a check-up with a doctor rather than a healer. While she's there they program her suit and omni-tool with her recovery regime, so it will alert her if she's exerting herself too hard.

As she slowly regains her ability to walk places without aid, Jane starts to enquire about passage to the planet that Juvetana now lives on. Something that is becoming increasingly difficult, as her award ceremony has been shown on the news repeatedly, and her face is on promotional posters for the PS-N corps on Shaanxi:2.

Eventually, Jane throws a cloak over her shoulders and tints her faceplate violet, before heading for the docks to talk to the Citadel races about purchasing passage. There she meets up with Bruccia, a down on his luck turian merchant that's going to the same colony.