"Thinking"
"Talking"
"Impactful word"
"If you say so, Boss."
It was enough to satisfy the krogan for now. Akane was left unimpressed, she had anticipated that things would turn out like this. Still, she wasn't expecting the Commander herself to volunteer as her final opponent. It could only mean she wanted to get this done by her own hand. With her biotics, she would prove to be, by far, Akane's most challenging opponent.
The Commander was dressed in a similar way to Chief Williams. The black military attire fitting her muscled frame like second skin as she cramped up the sleeves of her shirt. Her untamed fiery short hair loosely hanging down as she got into position. Akane followed shortly after. She skimmed her Byakugan at the Commander's body, taking in the eezo nodules scattered throughout her nervous system.
"This will be tough. What should I do?"
The young Uchiha tried to come up with a strategy as she saw how strangely dispersed the points were in comparison to the tenketsu she was used to seeing. The tenketsu of every shinobi had the same systematical pattern whereas Shepard's eezo nodules didn't follow any pattern she could relate to. She would have to create an opening of some sort, however, against such a seasoned soldier like Shepard that would prove to be difficult.
In a battle between shinobi, the most important thing is how well you can deceive your enemy with false information.
That was what Haruko once told her after he had won one out of their countless sparring matches. Thinking back she had always lost to him when it came down to a one-on-one fight. His profound usage of the Hiraishin no Jutsu was brilliant. He'd hone ordinary jutsu like the Shunshin no Jutsu to such an extent that every move seemed like a fake because of his fluent execution; like a refined dance. The only way for Akane to keep up with him was with her Raiton: Chakura Mōdo and even then, he was still slightly faster.
However, she needed to consider that this was not a fight between two shinobi; where lives were on the line. This was a normal sparring match between her and the Commander of the Normandy. There was no need to endanger anyone's life. Not hers or Shepard's.
Despite that, there was one thing that she knew for certain: she had to win this, no matter what.
Shepard set out at the smaller woman who had been clad in this long-sleeved black cloak ever since she had met her at Eden Prime. She made sure to put the harsh training of an N7 to good use in this fight. The previous fights were educational enough for Shepard to pick up her fighting style no matter how unusual it seemed at first.
Akane's rhythm was just as Shepard knew it would be, yet she noticed one weak point in her tightened guard as she threw wild punches of raw power in the Uchiha's direction. A blocking habit, perhaps?
Her swings were too wide like Williams', powerful and difficult to read, but unfocused unlike Akane's style, though Shepard's return was fast enough not to allow Akane a chance for a counter.
Shepard's punches didn't connect with one another altogether 'cause of the girl's impressive evasive manoeuvres. Still, there were many ways to tip your opponent off balance at any given second. Shepard applied more variety to her attacks as Akane began adjusting to her attack pattern. Mixing in some kicks and spinning attacks in order to break through her lasting defence.
It wasn't just a one-man show kind of fight, even with the Commander applying insane pressure at the younger female, Akane landed a few solid hits on her own during every exchange, yet nothing Shepard's biotic barrier couldn't block out.
Yes, she did use her biotics when everything else failed to work on the girl.
"Now that's just dirty, Commander. Using biotics against a kid, really?" Garrus teased through the cheers of the crew when Shepard used her swift footing to fall back a little and shot a playful grin at the turian.
"Let her! It's not against the rules anyway, and besides, what good would it do if they didn't go all out?" Wrex barked back at the turian.
She saw her moment when she successfully trapped the wide-eyed Uchiha helplessly in the air with her Lift and charged at her full force with a fake jab from her right, forcing Akane to focus her guard to her left while simultaneously leaving that one weak point she had pointed out earlier wide-open.
"Right there!"
Shepard gathered all her strength and threw a massive biotic round kick to Akane's ribs. The direct impact was evident by the pained, albeit faint, cry that escaped the girl's hidden lips. The girl seemed like she would fall any moment, and the more reasonable part of Jane fretted if she might not have gone too far.
Shepard was certain of her victory, just like everyone else... or so it looked like.
Until they realized it wasn't Akane hitting the ground, but Shepard. It was an unexpected turn of events in such a short amount of time, and it happened so fast that most of the crew, plus Shepard herself, hadn't picked up on it sooner than Jane crashed to the floor.
A round of confusion was heard over the rambunctious storage deck. The Commander struggled to get back up, her face cringing in pain as blood trickled down her side of the face.
"Oh wow, you're still conscious?" The young woman's cool voice reached Shepard's ear even over the havoc and the buzzing in her ears. Picking up what little astonishment there was in her monotone voice.
With a loud grunt, the Commander stood up on shaky legs. Her vision was blurry, putting great effort to see more than just a bunch of colours. Her head hurt as if she got headbutted by a krogan, yet she couldn't evoke a single memory of it. Probably because there were none. One moment, she remembered hitting Akane with her biotic kick. Next, she found herself half-unconscious on the floor.
Beyond that... there was nothing.
An approaching shadow made her hung-down head snap up. Akane had closed the distance between them. The Spectre only now noticed just how quietly the girl moved altogether.
"Did you know that when you kicked me, you raised up your guard arm? It's like your making your own blind spot." It wasn't meant as mockery, more like an analysis.
"Wait! She used my own blind spot to attack?" Shepard mulled over the girl's words. On second thought, it would explain why she hadn't seen her attack coming in the first place. But this could only mean that...
"Hang on, so that means your blocking habit was..." The Commander spoke up after Akane finished her sentence, getting on what Shepard was implying.
"Was a fake to make you kick me with your left leg."
"And when you got hit by my biotics," Shepard pried further, trying to wrap her head around it even when it was throbbing like the day after the mission on Eden Prime.
"It was all an act to make you focus on my 'blocking habit', as you called it," Akane explained smoothly, closing in what little distance there was left between them.
To what reason, Jane didn't know, though she was too distracted from the pain to contemplate about things like that. Later perhaps, she would have to pay a short visit to doctor Chakwas.
"Does this mean I am qualified enough to join your crew, Ma'am?" Akane inquired, getting Shepard back to the main reason she had begun this 'deal' in the first place.
Shepard looked over at Wrex and Garrus, before asking out loud, "What do you guys think!? Is she suited to be a member?"
"You're the Commander, Shepard. A deal is a deal, welcome abroad kid." Wrex reminded her with a shrug of his massive shoulders, ignoring the glare Akane shot at him for not calling her by name before he assumed his place next to the lockers. Shepard chuckled at that, feeling the pain slightly lighten in the back of her head.
"What about you, Garrus?" Shepard called over to the turian who tinkered with his omni-tool near the Mako.
"Huh? Oh, sorry Commander. Besides my wounded pride, I think she has earned her place. Though like Wrex already said, the choice is yours to make," he responded casually, though a faint trace of sourness could be.
"You heard them," Akane watched the Commander straighten up a bit with a genuine smile adorning her lips, "welcome abroad, Akane Uchiha." She offered a handshake which Akane took without hesitating.
"What about the rest, Ma'am?" Akane followed the Commander into the elevator.
"I don't think you have to worry about them that much. They will have their personal opinion, however, they're under my command so they will have to accept whatever decision I make."
They arrived at the second deck, where Shepard showed her the crew's quarters and assigned her her own sleeping pod. They talked a bit about a thing or two before the Commander gave her some privacy.
"I will be in the med-bay if you need anything."
Shepard gave her a thumbs up before disappearing behind a wall. When Akane was sure that nobody would accidentally jump on her, she released a tired sigh she didn't realize she had been holding, got out of her cloak, making her body shiver slightly from the temperature before resting it on the mattress. Soaking up the small comfort a normal bed offered.
"Maybe this time, there will be no nightmares." She felt her eyelids grow heavier the longer they were open until she submitted to exhaustion and fell asleep.
Shepard POV
"Dr Chakwas, do you have a moment?" Jane asked as soon as she entered the med-bay.
"Of course, Commander. What do y-" Her question was cut short when she lifted her eyes off the terminal.
Shepard gave her that apologetic smile she always gave her whenever she got unnecessarily injured. The older woman simply shot a perfectly sculptured brow at her, along with a stern look that rivalled Anderson's in intensity. If Anderson felt like a father to her, then Chakwas was definitely the mother.
"Come and sit down, Commander." Jane did as she was told and sat down on one of the beds inside the med-bay. Dr Chakwas began with some scans, nodding to herself when she found the cause of the Commander's pain.
"I assume we have a new crew member?" Chakwas observed, cleaning off the blood on the Commander's face and neck.
"What gave it away?" Jane's attempt at humour was rewarded with a small chuckle.
"Well, let's start with the tumult your little sparring matches have caused." The greyhead sighed, remembering how excited some crew members went back to work.
"Uhm..." Jane hummed, feeling more relaxed when the doc rubbed the medi-gel gently on the back of the Commander's head.
"There is something I wanted to inform you about... regarding Akane Uchiha." Chakwas' tone grew serious.
"Okay, shoot," Jane replied.
"During her last visit on the Normandy, when she was comatose, my scans revealed more than what I've told you after you've firstly awoken." The doc began explaining.
However, with a building headache that was to no small part due to her injury, Jane grew restless, green eyes pleading humorously at the aged woman to get to the point.
Chakwas seemed to get the hint. "The girl – I mean Akane – isn't human." Jane raised an inquisitive brow at that.
"Her genes are unlike any other species in the galaxy. While humans have a double-stranded DNA structure, Akane seems to have some kind of a mix between quad-strand and double-strand structures. At first glance, the double-stranded DNA resembles a human's, but I detected signs of an extensive genetic rewrite."
By the time she finished her interpretation, she had her arms folded on her chest like she always did while in deep thought.
"Okay..." Jane's head wasn't having it in the thinking department right now, "... a translation might be needed."
"Strengthened muscle tissue, increased muscle density and flexibility, increased bone and muscle growth, increased physical capabilities along with an inner unidentified energy source and the list goes on. In other words, Commander – a super-soldier," she listed off, one by one.
A long-lasting silence overtook them. It took Jane some time to somehow process this.
"Why didn't you warn me sooner?" Jane's commander mask slipped back into place, covering a slight feeling of betrayal she felt ridiculous to have associated with Chakwas. The feelings of embarrassment from having lost to a girl in front of most of her crew must be keeping up with her.
"Honestly, Commander. I had a hard time believing it myself; to a point, I thought my omni-tool had a malfunction. Though after performing an excessive amount of scans over and over again, I saw that the results weren't changing whatsoever. There was no way not to believe it." Chakwas' facial features softened a little.
"And off-the-record, Commander?"
She waited for the Commander to approve. When Jane nodded, she continued, "After all that trauma you went through on Eden Prime, I didn't want to put more trouble onto you than you already had with the Council."
She averted her eyes from the redhead, considering, before focusing them back on Jane's green orbs.
"As the CMO of this ship, I care about the crew's well-being and you, my dear," she pointed a finger at her, intrepid by Jane's act, "are by no means an exception."
The honesty behind the doc's words left Jane with no room to argue and she felt ten times more childish for her spurt of words. Like a child that had accidentally sworn in front of her parents.
"Roger that, doc." Jane gave her a small salute as Chakwas patted her shoulder in a friendly gesture.
"There, off you go, Commander."
She, again, checked her head for reassurance that the medi-gel did its work. The older woman removed herself from the Commander's side and walked over to her terminal. The usual place she inhabited on the ship.
"Thank you, Dr Chakwas." Shepard thanked, already halfway through the med-bay when she was called out one more time by the CMO.
"Commander, before you go, shall I inform the Council or Alliance of our new discovery?"
Shepard stopped in the middle of the entrance, taking the option into careful consideration. Since Eden Prime— no —since meeting the mysterious girl on a geth infested battlefield, Jane had this feeling that there was not only one thing, but everything off about her.
At first glance, any normal person would think she was blind by the way her eyes didn't show any trace of another colour other than white. Then there was the way she was dressed; a simple long-sleeved cloak which kept most of her body hidden, yet with no proper armour whatsoever.
More importantly, who wore sandals these days? Some middle-aged on a scorching day in Phoenix, Arizona perhaps! Definitely not in space! Or used swords when there was mass effect technology. Actual metal swords!
Odd. Simply, odd. And she would lie if she said Akane hasn't Jane intrigued.
In the end, not only Akane should better be prepared because there was going to be a plethora of questions flying at them by the end of this adventure. They decided to be part of her crew after all, and if she was going to trust them with her life, it was for the better to know at least something about them.
"No, not yet." Akane had become a rightful member of her crew. Earnt her place fair and square. Jane wasn't going to hand her out to the Council nor the Alliance until Akane herself wished it.
And if someone did find out, she would use her authority as a Spectre to cover this up somehow. She owed Akane this much for saving Kaidan's life back then on Eden Prime. She honestly couldn't fathom what she would have done if she had lost even Kaidan on that day.
"As you wish, Commander." With that being said, Jane left the med-bay, feet carrying her to her quarters.
"Joker set course to Therum. I am going to take a nap," Jane ordered through the comm while stripping the alliance issue clothing from her taxed body. It was a bit sweaty, so she tossed it into the laundry basket before all but throwing herself onto her bed.
"You better take one, Commander." She heard Joker trying to make a funny comment about her sparring match, but managed to warn him soon enough before she would storm out her quarters with nothing more than a tank top and panties on.
"This is the part where I should probably shut up before you break any of my bones... again," Joker commented.
"Hey, the last time was by accident! I didn't know you were so fragile, Flight Lieutenant," Jane objected with barely contained humour as she closed her eyes. A
"For the record, Commander. It's called Vrolik syndrome or brittle bone disease, and at least I wasn't the one who got his ass kicked by a teenager." The helmsman countered, but his remark fell on deaf ears because Jane had already fallen asleep.
Words dictionary:
Hiraishin no Jutsu 飛雷神の術 / Flying Thunder God Technique - Is a space-time ninjutsu created by Tobirama Senju. By entering a dimensional void, users can instantly teleport to a technique formula's location whenever they please, regardless of distance. Before the Flying Thunder God Technique can be performed, users must first mark a target with their "technique formula" (jutsu-shiki 術式 ). The formula is applied after the merest touch and cannot be removed; it will remain in place even after the user has died.
Shunshin no Jutsu 瞬身の術 = Body Flicker Technique
Tenketsu 点穴 = Chakra Points