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22 February 2176—Elysium, Skyllian Verge
Corinthia dodged into cover, if you could even call the remains of a concrete wall cover. Her omni-tool was working overtime, intercepting and processing pirate transmissions into mute radio buzz. Her captain stood in front of her, shouting commands that no one could hear.
"Sir!" she interrupted. "Your radio isn't functioning. Here. Let me."
She ran her omni-tool over his and then continued to jam frequencies.
"Ci-Ci, what the hell are you doing?" he demanded, hardly giving her a glance.
"Making sure that the stupid pirates can't communicate!"
"That's not your job! You're supposed to be shooting!"
"Gibson was blasted into bits ten minutes ago! Someone has to do it!" She fixed a sniper's sight—an earpiece with a monocle-like attachment that acted as a scope and could pick out targets and identify their range—over her right eye and took out her rifle. She practically fell onto her belly, went prone, and began squeezing off rounds, her sight tallying kills and shots taken. Her hit-to-kill ratio was 9:8. Not good enough.
"Idiot batarians and their shields…" she muttered.
Batarians were a four-eyed species with pointed teeth, lumpy heads, and humanoid bodies. They were aggressive, isolated, and loved war more than the turians. Batarians were often mercenaries, slavers, or enforcers—anything that would give them a shot at blood.
If it weren't for the battle, the morning might have been beautiful. The sun wasn't quite up and the sky was a purply pink with orange clouds. Smoke billowed on the horizon from the remains of skyscrapers, buildings, and homes. The colonists and militia, under the supervision of the Alliance soldiers there either stationed there or on leave, had retreated to a more defensible location in the ruins of the main banking area. Unlike most colonies, where buildings were modular, Elysium's buildings were built to last and ended up looking like a combination of New York City and Los Angeles. The air was heavy with smoke and the scent of charred flesh.
Corinthia was trying desperately to ignore the fact that her father lived only a few hundred yards away. She'd seen him running around, attending to the wounded, but other than the brief and uncomfortable meeting of eyes, they'd had no communication whatsoever.
"Ci-Ci! Get me Alliance Command!"
"Sir!" She rolled onto her back. Her omni-tool whirred to life, casting an eerie orange glow across her face. "C'mon, you stupid thing. I just programmed you to do this yesterday…"
"CI-CI?"
"I'M WORKING ON IT!" She spun her fingers through her omni-tool, a panel popping up and giving her readouts of all the radio transmissions in the area. She poked at one of them. The other lines faded and she opened another window, this time with a list of all places that would accept a transmission. She scanned it quickly and finally selected the SSV Hong Kong.
"Hello? Anyone there? This is Ensign Corinthia-Imreas of the Fifth Fleet. Is anyone anywhere nearby? Elysium is under attack. Repeat, Elysium is under attack. Any help you could send would be more than wonderful."
She began to set it on repeat, but she received an answer before she could finish the settings.
"Ci-Ci, this is Admiral Hackett. What's the situation?"
Corinthia sent up a prayer of thanks. A grenade exploded in front of her, shaking her senses.
"Corinthia, are you there?" Hackett asked. "Ci-Ci!"
She blinked, trying to clear her sight. "Permission to speak freely, sir?"
"Granted."
She took a deep breath and blurted, "There are batarians and pirates dropping in left and right. We're taking heavy casualties, civilian and non. It was a damn ambush. We are being clustercussed by these bastards. Where the hell's the fleet?"
"Easy there, Corinthia." She was patient and could generally handle herself. Almost as soon as she had completed her basic training, she had been called out for a special mission with the STG. She had even been nominated for the salarian equivalent to the human Star of Terra (formerly called Medal of Honor, among other titles), the Silver Dagger, and was up for an early promotion to lieutenant.
"Sorry, sir, but we're taking heavy casualties," she answered, as calmly as she could. "We were outnumbered ten to one to begin with and that number's rising in their favor as we speak. We don't have the resources to fight back. We might be able to ho—"
Another explosion wracked the barricade, throwing her back twenty feet. She landed on a pile of debris and rolled down into the area below, completely unaware of anything that was happening around her.
"Corinthia?" Hackett demanded. "Corinthia!"
She was concussed. Her head was spinning and her vision was blurred. She couldn't hear anything and, within seconds, her ears were ringing worse than after standing in front of the speakers at a metal concert.
It took nearly two minutes for her regain enough consciousness to slur into her radio, "Get your ass down here, Admiral. We need help."
She let her head fall back, eyes stinging as blood mixed with her tears. She must've been injured in the explosion. "Figures…"
As soon as she raised her head, dizziness kicked in. She put a palm against her throbbing temple, touching something wet and slightly sticky and immediately recognizing it as blood.
"Damn…"
"Ci-Ci? Are you okay?" Hackett continued. "Answer me! That's an order!"
"I'm here, Admiral," she answered groggily. "Just got fragged…"
"Then find a medic. You're the only contact I've got."
She pressed a few buttons on her omni-tool and felt the cool calm of medi-gel—the soldier's panacea and temporary treatment for most injuries—as it washed over her wounds. Though by no means healed, she had enough ability to move about (though her concussion wasn't much better).
"Okay, I'm up and moving." She waited for her vision to un-double before holding up her omni-tool again, scanning the area. There were far fewer Alliance soldiers than when they'd started. That was not good.
"What do you want me to do, Admiral?" she panted weakly.
"Take charge. As far as anyone's concerned, you're Captain Imreas. You answer directly to me, is that clear?"
"Yessir." Praying that she wouldn't be court martialed, she took cover behind a bombed-out Mako—an all-terrain vehicle the size of a dump truck—and continued working on her omni-tool.
The pirates were easily winning the battle. They had five men for every one of Corinthia's, were better equipped, and had the element of surprise. She would have to work hard to push the battle in her favor, but she could do it. She didn't have a choice.
She found the Alliance radio frequencies and opened a channel to all of them. After a deep breath, she began in a voice far more authoritative than her own, "Everyone, this is Captain Imreas. Listen up and listen well. We have to hold this line. I know we're being pounded by these bastards, but we can kick their asses twice as hard as they're kicking ours. I want you to form a perimeter around the colony. If you're an officer, send me a beep. I want to know who you are, where you are, and how many people you have with you."
She received nearly twenty beeps within the next couple of minutes. "Thank you, Lord," she breathed. Despite being raised by scientists, she still managed to believe in God. It made things simpler.
One man actually hailed her.
"Imreas," she answered, coordinating orders on another section of her omni-tool.
"This is Captain Miller. I don't recall any Captain Imreas stationed here," came a growl into her earpiece.
"Admiral Hackett placed me in command here, Captain. I can put you in contact with him, if you like, but he'll just tell you the same thing that I did."
"I'll take your word for it then, Imreas. This whole thing is a mess. What do you want me to do?"
"I'm finishing orders right now. Transmitting." She pressed a button and sent the plans. "Okay, everyone. I want twelve separate divisions along the perimeter. Captain Miller, take the North quadrant. Captain Thompson, the West. Captain Hawkins, the East. Commander Swinn, the South. Organize within those perimeters however you want, just let me know via data transfer. Don't worry about hacking: There's no way in hell that those damned pirates can get through my nets."
"Is anyone there?" someone else asked. "This is Doctor Chakwas at the hospital."
"This is Captain Imreas. Go ahead."
"We have plenty of beds and people willing to help with the wounded. I'll send you our location."
"Thanks, Doctor. I'm sorry to say that we'll need you." Ci-Ci realized who she was talking to and radioed back. "Is there a Dr. Imreas there?"
"Yes, there is. Why?"
"I—Tell him that Ci-Ci's here and that she's sorry for everything. That she loves him."
"I'll convey the message, Ci-Ci. He never stops talking about you."
"I… Thanks, but now's not the time for chatting."
Ci-Ci switched interfaces and opened the pirates' communication channels. She deftly hacked into their system and uploaded several viruses to slow them down and misinform them of Alliance movements.
A group of soldiers dodged into cover beside her.
"I'm Lieutenant Shepard. We're here to cover you, ma'am," the leader told her. He didn't sound at all happy about it, either, as if he had better things he could be doing.
"That's nice. Wanna be an XO?" Ci-Ci asked distractedly. She didn't really care if he'd be a good executive officer or not; she just needed someone. "Wait, did you say 'Shepard'?" She squinted, trying to get a good look at his face.
"Ci-Ci?" he answered, as shocked to see her as he was that he remembered her. She didn't look like a girl anymore. She had hardened and thinned, not to mention that she was covered in soot and blood. Two cuts ran down the right side of her face like a river. Though they were not bleeding, Shepard could tell that they would start again soon. The fading remnants of medi-gel had stopped any burns from forming and a good deal of her hair was matted with blood and debris.
She looked like a Valkyrie.
"How the hell did you become a Captain?" he demanded.
"Admiral Hackett gave me orders." She motioned him closer. "Look, Shepard, I'm not sure that I'm ready for this. Please. I'll need help."
She wasn't trying to look like a sick puppy, but she was succeeding.
"And you're sure as hell going to need it," he replied. "Let me guess your plan: hold the line?"
"Yep, that's about as far as I got. I'm going to sync our omni-tools and ensure that we're on the same page."
"How the hell can you do that?"
"Let's say that I was stuck in a room for ten years with only this for entertainment. I figured out how to do a lot of things that I shouldn't know how to do."
"Like reprogramming an omni-tool to do far more than it should?"
She shrugged. "It's doing its job, isn't it?"
"Report," Hackett radioed.
"I've organized the perimeter. So far things look solid. I've got Lieutenant John Shepard as an XO."
Shepard stared at her, wondering how she could have gone from begging to hardened. She hardly looked the same. She held a finger up to silence him.
"Good. I'm glad you two came into contact, Ci-Ci. He knows what he's doing. We're coming as soon as we can. I do have good news: it looks like there aren't any other enemy ships in your area."
"Thanks, Admiral. Corinthia out." She let out a slow breath. "Shepard, what are your qualifications?"
"What do you mean, ma'am?"
"Ci-Ci, please. I mean, what skills do you have?"
"I'm a biotic and one hell of a good shot with a pistol or assault rifle. I wouldn't suggest getting in my way."
"Are you scared of a bit of gunfire?"
Shepard raised an eyebrow. Had she not seen him? He had enemy blood splattered across his face and armor, his eyes were blazing, and his finger was on the trigger. "No. Why?"
She grinned. "Because we're going in. C'mon."
She leapt over the barricade and sprinted towards the pirate line. With a smirk (and little other choice), Shepard followed.
Chasing Corinthia down was more of a challenge than he expected. She was extremely fast and was doing something to stop any and all shots from hitting her. He caught up with her and pulled her into his biotic barrier.
"You're going to get killed!" he hissed, not looking as he shot a pirate between the eyes.
"No, I'm not. Listen, Shep, I know how to take out most of these guys." She didn't flinch as a volley whizzed by her head. Actually, she didn't seem to have noticed it at all. "I know how to disrupt their communications… All of them. Not just jammed, I mean take them all out for good."
Several more shots flew dangerously close to her head and she still remained oblivious. He dragged her into better cover behind a fallen wall before she got herself killed. He could only hope that she wasn't as oblivious or idiotic at she was acting.
"And just how do we do that?" he demanded.
She turned on her omni-tool and projected a holo-map onto the ground before them. She pointed to a tower. "They set this up. When we take it out, they won't be able to communicate. From there we can pick them off like assassins."
"Assassins?"
She grinned childishly. "Yeah! We could find hoods and everything!"
"...Why hoods?"
"Oh, never mind. Well, the best way to go in is here…"
"No, no. There isn't enough cover. I'm a good biotic, but I can't protect both of us for that long." He indicated a new path. "This way we can minimize exposure and maximize kills."
"Yeah, but they've got turrets stationed and we'd be in range and clear sight. I don't have the equipment to take them out."
"I saw a pirate with a rocket launcher. Steal that and you can use it while I create singularities nearby. I think we can handle it."
Corinthia thought for a moment. "We have enough time to test it out. Can you hit that one over the ridge?"
He checked. "I think so. Now for a rocket launcher… I'll be right back."
Corinthia watched in shock (or, really, awe) as he darted off and returned with a massive gun. "I actually don't know what it is, but I think it'll work," he said, handing it to her.
"Shepard, you've found me a baby. I'm going to name him… Xerxes."
"Xerxes? Like the Persian King?"
"Yep. This is an M-49 Cain. In the wrong hands, it could remake Hiroshima, but without the fallout."
"And in yours?"
She winked. "Several very dead turrets and you getting your way."
She stood, didn't flinch as two bullets embedded themselves into her right shoulder, and created a massive explosion that took out half of the line. She grinned at Shepard and joined him behind the wall. The earth vibrated and a blast of heat surged around them. Corinthia's hair blew out of its tie and fell around her face, showing that the cuts went well back into her hairline.
"You should get someone to see to that," he told her, indicating the wound.
"When this is through."
"You're not any good to me like this."
"I already put medi-gel on it. It isn't stinging like it's burning anymore."
"It doesn't look burned, but…"
Her smile faltered. "How bad is it?"
"You're lucky you can still see. It's only a half-inch from your eye." He barely had enough tact to not tell her people probably wouldn't see her as pretty anymore, unless they found massive and near-disfiguring facial scarring attractive.
She raised a hand as if to touch the wound, thought better, and lowered it. "Let's go. We have pirates to kill."
As they wove their way towards the tower, she seemed overly sober, as if all the fun has suddenly vanished. Normally when soldiers' faces relaxed, they gained lines; hers lost them. Shepard blinked; She really was just a kid.
"Just how old are you?" he blurted before he knew it.
"Old enough."
"That's not an answer."
"And what will it change?" she snapped. Her eyes were on fire with a passion well beyond her age. "So I'm young. Deal with it."
This time, she looked like the ancient Greek goddess Artemis.
He didn't have time to answer. Her omni-tool beeped as several people tried to contact her. She turned away from him and answered, "Imreas."
She deftly coordinated their problems and turned back to Shepard. "Back to business. Let's end this."
He nodded. "Let's."
15 March 2176—Arcturus Station, Themis, Arcturus System
Shepard stood stoically next to Corinthia as Admiral Hackett pinned the Star of Terra on her chest. She had a strange look on her face, like she wanted to be happy but couldn't. She put on a smile for the press as she shook Hackett's hand. Internally, she was still mourning her father. He'd died in an explosion on Elysium and she still wasn't over the shock of finding him. He had been her last tie to humanity, other than the Alliance. Well, and Shepard, too, though he seemed more than reluctant to have her at his side.
Shepard straightened as Hackett pinned the medal on his chest, his mind leaving Corinthia behind. This was his moment. He'd beaten the Reds and was truly worth something. Shepard and Corinthia saluted the Admiral and left the stage.
The moment they were alone, Corinthia leaned against a wall and slid to the ground, pulling her knees against her chest and burying her face into them.
Shepard raised an eyebrow. "I take it you don't like being a hero, Ensign."
She sobbed some kind of muffled reply.
"Didn't catch that."
She brought her head up. "I said that I wished my father had been here, Lieutenant." She shut her eyes tight and pressed her lips together.
Shepard hesitated. There was a very, very large party with his name on it and he didn't want to console a teenager over something trivial like a lost parent.
"So?" he growled. When he saw her take a deep, shuddering breath, he coughed and corrected, "Why do you want to talk to me about it? I'm not good at this sappy shit."
She shook her head. "I mean... Lieutenant... I don't know anyone else..."
He gritted his teeth and sat next to her with a weary sigh. "Fine. Talk to me, kid."
She wiped her eyes. "You don't have to do this..."
"Say that one more time and I'll take you seriously."
She managed a snicker. "It's just... I don't know if my father forgave me or if... if he was proud... And now he's dead..." She inhaled and tried not to start crying again.
"I never knew my dad and my mom left me on a playground when I was three," Shepard put in bluntly. "So suck it up."
Corinthia blinked. "You've never comforted anyone before, have you, Lieutenant?"
"Why the hell would I have?"
She sighed. "Can't you just... hug me or something? Please? I mean, it's totally against protocol, but..." She trailed off and got to her feet. "I'm sorry, LT. I'll leave you to... celebrating. I've got... I've got to go."
Shepard got to his feet. "Wait, Ci-Ci." He stared at her uncertainly as he tried to find words. He'd been with her when she found her father's body. He'd thought that she was just breaking down and had come over to order her back to work, but she'd grabbed onto him and not let go. "Listen, you need to be around someone that actually cares about this."
She hung her head guiltily. "I'm sorry, Lieutenant..."
"You need to pick the people you want as friends better, that's all I'm saying. I'm bad at this shit and there's gotta be some girl that's better."
"But you're the one that's here..." She trailed off uncertainly. "I'm sorry, I just... pounced on you, but you were there and no one else was."
"I'm not offended. Just... uncomfortable."
She toyed with her fingers. "So... friends?"
He looked her up and down for a long moment. He didn't use that term. Ever. The last time he had ended in blood. Still, he recognized the loneliness in her eyes. She probably had no idea what she looked like, either. Regardless, she would be a good ally. She fought like a demon and her hacking skills were unsurpassed. He might be able to use her in the future.
He extended his hand. "Friends."
She shook it, smiling wanly. Though certainly still sad, she looked far more like the girl he'd imagined. "Thank you. For everything. I wouldn't have gotten this without you." She fingered the Star of Terra self-awarely. Quite suddenly, she laughed. "You know, I just realized something that's really kinda sad. I haven't had a human friend. Ever."
"School, right?"
"Yep. As you can guess, I was the only human there. I went to join the Academy right after I finished with everything."
"That... explains a lot."
She blushed. "Yeah. Probably. I hadn't really thought about it." She smoothed her long bangs over her still-developing scars, fully concealing her eye. "Think Hackett will get mad at me for having my hair like this?"
"He did shun all regulation to make you a captain."
"I'm an ensign again, Lieutenant."
"Just call me 'Shepard' like everyone else."
"What about 'Shep'?"
He cringed. "I can tolerate it because you're still at the age when you do things like that. But not often. Please."
"I go by Ci-Ci. I mean, my full name's a mouthful."
"What is it?"
"You didn't hear it when Hackett said it?"
"Wasn't listening." He shifted uncomfortably. "So... are you coming to the party?"
"No. I've got a funeral to arrange. See you around, Shep." She smiled one last time and disappeared around a corner.
Shepard rubbed his eyes. "I know I'm going to regret this."