"Thinking"
"Talking"
"Impactful word"
Shepard POV
The last two days had flown by quicker than she realized, though that always appeared to be the issue with shore leave. It was all too over too soon. It was considerably shorter than her visit to the Citadel after Eden Prime but not less productive. She got to spend some quality time with a certain Admiral, even when it was narrowed on serious discussions rather than friendly banter. But she was content enough with the fact that they talked on an informal basis. She liked the way her name sounded from his thin lips. And spoken with his rough voice sent chills along her spine. Other than that, she had made a few arrangements and that was it.
"Joker! How long until we reach Therum?" She rested her hands on the railing in front of the galaxy map, refocusing her attention on the mission ahead.
"In an hour, give or take a few minutes."
"Good... can you inform Tali, Akane and Wrex to begin preparations?"
"All done, Commander."
She lifted herself off her initial position and stepped off the podium, walking in the direction of her quarters. She decided it was for the best to head out to grab the doc as soon as possible since she was her best shot at finding out what hand Matriarch Benezia was playing in Saren's grand scheme of things.
She briefly stopped by Alenko, before stepping into her quarters and locking the door. Jane swiftly got out of her standard-issue attire and jumped into her bed for a power nap. She had a feeling she would need it, now more than ever.
Location: SSV Normandy SR-1 - Third Deck - Engineer and Storage room
Just like they had agreed, Akane tried to teach Garrus the art of hand-to-hand combat. And what better way to do it than by sparring? It had taken her mind back to the times when she had been in the turian's shoes... or claws... whatever.
Despite being the love of her life, Haruko was first and foremost - her mentor. She had learnt nearly everything from him, and that wasn't her being humble... no, it was a fact. On rare occasions had she been schooled by another veteran, but that was by her mentor's recommendation for a bit of diversity in her techniques, hence came the Raiton Chakura Mōdo and Jūken.
They were at their third round when Joker notified them about the incoming mission.
"Seems like you're up, Akane." The turian straightened from his on-guard position.
Despite knowing she shouldn't, she couldn't help herself but let out a sharp remark, "Jealous?"
"A bit. I hope the Commander isn't picking favourites."
She knew he meant it only as a jest, but she was puzzled as well. Shrugging on her way to the weapon lockers, she went to check on her equipment and search for her breathing mask as she so inconveniently forgot where she had left it. Eventually, she managed to locate it with the support of Chief Williams, though she suspected Ashley's involvement in its disappearance from the barely contained smirk on her face once she found it.
Location: Artemis Tau - Knossos System - Therum
Akane's nails scraped against the metallic contraption that was keeping her pinned to her seat when the Normandy swooped down and dropped the Mako on the planet. It was difficult for her to get used to the impact because she never got the timing right. With the Mako on land, everyone assumed their respective posts - with Shepard at the wheel, Tali and Wrex taking charge of the weapons.
Therum was a volcanically active world. Even without the lack of professional insight, the kunoichi was sure the Mako couldn't survive even brief contact with the molten lava. And with Shepard's driving expertise - or lack thereof - she had all the reason to feel terrified.
It calmed her to hear Joker through the comm to some extent, though were his news less than enjoyable. The ride was a bumpy one, but acceptable in comparison to the rollercoaster on Asteroid X57. Probably because Shepard needn't have to do mountain climbing with a damn infantry fighting vehicle!
At some point, a geth dropship deposited a pair of geth armatures in their path, but Wrex was a quick shot, so it took him, with the combined strength of Tali's machine gun little to no effort to clear the path. The same pattern repeated over the course of their road until they saw something of an outpost in the distance.
Shepard hit the brakes as soon as she saw the turrets at the entrance.
"A frontal attack is suicide."
"Only a fool would walk up on the front gate when it's this heavily guarded, there must be a way around." She heard Wrex affirm Tali's statement.
"So sneaky and stealth, huh? Didn't see that one coming from you, Wrex." There was a smirk dancing under Shepard's helmet.
"Krogan invite battles... doesn't necessarily mean we're suicidal," he remarked dismissively, the merest hint of affront hiding behind his gruff voice.
Luckily for them, there was an alternative that Shepard took without a second guess. They may have cleverly avoided the turrets yet were greeted by a large unit of geth waiting for them on the inside. The situation became tricky when Wrex and Tali didn't manage to shoot down the geth before their weapons overheated.
The Commander couldn't engage in evasive manoeuvres due to the lack of space so they ended up in a tight spot. The systems began flaring dangerously, informing them of the hull's failing integrity, prompting the squad to exit the Mako to divert the geth's shooting elsewhere. Akane barely took cover as a series of rockets came flying her way, the others ducking of their own accord.
Instead of acting on her urge to wrap things up with jutsu, she brought forth her pistol and took aim. It was still nowhere near Shepard's or Tali's level, but her performance was enough to ban any shameful thoughts she might have had after Eden Prime.
They were under heavy fire and were lucky if they could get at least a few shots out in between all the ducking. Carefully, the kunoichi began aiming for that one container that, she had discovered by chance, seemed to possess explosive qualities. It was by her third try that her shot hit its mark and the whole unit was sent flying, the others were set on finishing them.
She earned some well-earned praise from her teammates and there was a small, almost insignificant, feeling of satisfaction washing over her. The shinobi of her generation rarely received praise (especially from Tani) because their service was often taken for granted or rather, there had been set standards that were expected from each individual to be fulfilled.
But it had been of no concern to Akane because she never searched for appreciation in SSA in the first place. Every day Shirone spent alive was gratifying enough.
"Can you help me with getting this compound gate down?" Tali's filtered voice broke her reverie.
"You needn't have asked, Miss nar Rayya." She could have sworn she saw a smile forming behind the quarian's mask, albeit it could have been only her imagination. It proved exponentially more challenging to tell without using her penetrating vision.
"Take the one on the left."
"Be careful." Those words slipped past Akane's lips seemingly on their own. With no concern that she might have shown the tiniest bit of care.
Finally being able to freely use her jutsu in her team's absence. Vision enhanced with the activation of her Byakugan, she instantly became aware of the geth rocket trooper standing guard between her and the objective. It was only one target, so she decided it was safe to be a bit... experimental. And she had all the time she needed with Shepard doing repairs on the Mako.
Silently climbing on the flat metal wall, she approached the geth from above. One thing she noticed almost straight away was a fault in their design, it made it impossible to look up, so she was safe unless there were sensors programmed into their system. She waited - a second, two... when her presence wasn't met with any reaction she descended upon her temporary test subject, sending the crimson-plated geth into the next wall with a charged kick to the back.
It had lost hold onto its rocket launcher from the impact as it bounced off somewhere and Akane turned towards the console, thankful for the simplicity in its usage as she issued the gate to open. She heard the geth stirring from behind her, watchful of its movements with her kekkei genkai. She approached it before it regained steadfast footing and rendered its other guns out of range. It responded with a swing of its synthetic arm which Akane batted away with her sword.
To her wonder, it got stuck halfway into its bicep that she couldn't pull out easily as it lined up for another swing from its available hand. She let go of the trapped chokutō to be able to duck and rather aggressively separated its other arm from the body with a slash of her second sword. One that was this time, channelled with lightning release to enhance its cutting power.
Irked by its persistent resistance, she wrapped things up by pinning it against the wall and cutting off the remaining limbs so it had no other way left to irk her nerves.
Oh, how wrong she was about that - because seconds later, it heated up enough to burn skin in a means to self-destruct and she was too agitated to react effectively. She hissed lowly as it seared the parts of her body that held it pressed against the metallic surface. She promptly backed off yet the damage was done.
"Akane?! Is everything all right? I heard crashing sounds and became worried." The young Uchiha turned her head in the direction of the quarian's voice, seeing her standing at the entrance. She looked genuinely worried and the kunoichi was touched by her concern.
"Minor complications, Miss nar Rayya, nothing too serious." She made a move to hide her injured side but the quarian picked up on it.
"You know I can tell you're lying."
Her filtered voice reproved softly, and she tensed a bit as Tali came closer to see what the kunoichi was deliberately trying to keep from her. When Tali confirmed her suspicion, she muttered something Akane's omni-tool picked up as 'bosh'tet' - most likely meant as an insult.
"You tried to access the geth's memory core?"
What was she talking about? She attempted no such thing, but she could as well indulge her wrath in favour of clarification.
"Yes." That earned her another 'bosh'tet' that she willingly accepted.
Akane watched her search for something inside her suit, standing still like a child that was getting scolded by its parents. She wanted to object when her three-fingered hand resurfaced with a medi-gel before she could argue against it.
"This will have to do for now but expect me to drag you to Chakwas after this and..." The Anbu sighed satisfyingly when the pain slightly subsided with the application of medi-gel.
"... And?"
"And you will come to me frequently to learn about the geth since you appear so curious to the point of endangerment," she answered the question she left hanging open with resolve. And Akane, strangely enough, was rendered speechless by her offer.
"Girls! We're good to go!" They both jolted when they heard the Commander calling for them.
"I am grateful for your aid, Miss nar Rayya." She bowed deeply before the quarian to show her appreciation for tending the wound she had pointlessly afflicted on herself.
"Don't mention it, we are supposed to look out for each other!"
Akane lost count of how many of these geth armatures they had crossed paths with. They arrived at a point where they needed to leave the safe hull of the Mako once again. Proceeding through the alleyways with caution, it didn't help them as they stopped at an open area literally filled with geth. This unit was twice the size of the unit they had fought at the outpost, and this time, they didn't have the Mako to provide sufficient firepower.
This called for a tactical approach.
"Formation 6 would have done the deed."
The former Buntaichō glanced at Commander, pointlessly expecting a myriad of hand signals that would have shown what formation they were about to use. Wrex took out his sniper as they were kneeling down behind a rock and Shepard seemed to get the idea he was non-verbally implying.
"Aim for the rocket troopers first." Shepard's command came out as a whisper.
They slowly but surely propped themselves on the flat surface of the stone as they took aim. The geth had yet not noticed them as the first shot rang in the air. Then, another two followed in quick succession as three geth lay on the ground. The rest got instantly alerted to their presence and so, the skirmish began. It was exhausting in its intensity and when Akane took a glance at what was still ahead of them...
... here they were, panting at the entrance to the mine where they were supposed to find the asari. Each of them looked a little roughed up, their shields were taken down often but nobody sustained any fatal injuries. They could afford to sacrifice a small bit of their time to check on their overall status before descending down into the depths of Therum's underground.
Despite living the longitude of the Reaper Invasion underground, she still wasn't entertaining the prospect of going into the mines with geth lurking at every corner. Just to be clear, it wasn't even the geth she was worried about but the cave itself. She didn't trust its capabilities to withstand the external damage of an inevitable fight - especially if those damn synthetics were equipped with rocket launchers!
Worries or not, they headed down the entrance tunnel, and the shadows grew bigger. It ensured her that she would blend into the darkness seamlessly as they once again were met with resistance. They pressed almost methodically forward whilst the Anbu participated in the same manner as she had done on Asteroid X57.
But something didn't sit well with her.
The further they advanced into the mines the odder the sensations became and it got to the point where it was increasingly distracting.
The scent was most prominent out of all the input she gathered yet one that she struggled to put a name on. A dubious connection had been established between her and this cave, as though it wanted to show her something. Which sounded prosperous as she had never even been in here... but on second thought... Shepard did mention the asari being a prothean archaeologist, so her presence here must be in some way connected to her research, which ultimately led Akane to the conclusion that the likeliness of this cave being of prothean origin was great.
Maybe...
A thought entered her bothered mind, seemingly more ridiculous than her previous one. She was given the impression that... that by happenstance... the prothean part of her was being called out, lured by the familiar. It remembered the creation of their kin, despite how time . The followed interaction with Dr Liara T'Soni only cemented her hypothesis. But it was only that - a hypothesis.
The poor woman had been trapped inside a prothean defence mechanism she had accidentally triggered. Her wish to be freed of this uncomfortable position only equalled by the weariness palpable on her fair features. Liara didn't try to lie her way out of captivity, the kunoichi was adept at identifying treachery since she was an experienced practitioner herself.
At least that was the image she had made the world to see. The face of a traitor to all that was left of the population of her kin. A murder. A madwoman. A-
"Hang in there, Liara! We will come and get you!" The redhead vowed and Akane rolled her eyes at her dry sarcasm. Intended or not.
"It's not like she has anywhere left to go." Tali quipped, voicing the thoughts of every person present.
"Damn it, Shepard. The only time the turian isn't around to sour my mood and you fill his place." He shook his massive head, making Tali mirthful. The Commander, however, tried to hold up her affronted farce provoked by the krogan's demure but failed when an amused smirk lit up her expression.
"Oh, shut up you two!"
They went a floor lower. This time taking a walk on the platforms rather than step into another defective elevator that had given Akane a fright. There weren't many geth guarding this part, which looked suspicious considering how much resistance they had been met with up until now. There was a small camp at the far back of it, which was of no use to the group once Tali found a way to bypass the security field by the means of a mining laser.
She had to give it to Tali, she was resourceful as she ought her people to be.
They were at Liara's side in no time, and Akane felt the connection stronger than ever. It compelled her to reach out towards the interface the Commander had used to get the asari out of containment. And reaching out she did, for her mind unable to successfully block out this festering desire.
And then it hit her like an invisible punch on her mental barriers— No, like a barrage.
Memories of times not belonging to the present - visions of prothean workers who had been working in this mine. It felt indescribable as she occupied the role of a spectator throughout the whole experience in vivid detail. And strangely enough, she understood their language! If she were to try to explain it, it was almost as if she was inside a touch-induced genjutsu... but from where did this ability come from?
Logic would say it certainly belonged among the side-effects of the prothean beacon. Yet if it was the case, why had it not shown itself sooner? At the Citadel or the Normandy? She snapped out of it within a span of seconds. Glad, that her 'little' episode was left unnoticed by the others as she followed them to the elevator. Kami, her head hurt almost as bad as the last time but not enough to leave her incapacitated.
The large tremor that shook the whole mine was definitely not a good sign.
"These ruins aren't stable. The mining laser must have triggered a seismic event. We have to hurry, this whole place is caving in!"
Of course it did.
The Commander took the news at heart and reacted promptly, "Joker! Get the Normandy airborne and lock in on my signal. On the double, mister!"
"If I die here, I'll kill him," Wrex growled threateningly, bordering on the edge of anger.
"That is not only unlogical but also impossible," Akane remarked cooly, despite the throbbing inside her head.
The krogan regarded the smaller human female with an intense look. He waited for her to shrink away, as it was common for humans, yet her gaze didn't even waver in spite of the warnings the aged krogan threw at her. He felt himself cool down slightly as he focused on the intimidating white of her eyes. This human— Akane Uchiha —was something else.
"You have a point, kid."
Just when she thought they were free, they arrived at the top level to a stand-off with a krogan and a pack of geth at his back. Liara mentioned this krogan, Saren's 'gun for hire', was in charge of her retrieval. Shepard gave it a go and tried to reason with him but to no avail, even with the whole 'cave-in-card'. The krogan found it exhilarating... well, she wasn't planning on dying in this ruin.
She picked up a small growl from Wrex but disregarded that as part of his current mood.
They were out in the open, with only the metallic pillars holding the elevator together capable of providing cover. The second the krogan declared battle, the kunoichi swooped Liara up bridal style, and got behind one of the pillars with the Shunshin no Jutsu, eliciting a small surprised yelp from the asari. Her mind wasn't at ease for knowingly abandoning the others in the middle of the room but she undoubtedly believed that they would hold out longer thanks to their shields.
"Miss T'Soni, I ask you-" The Uchiha had to roughly shove the asari aside when a geth sneaked up on them.
Liara cried out in pain as it only managed to hit her foot, which was a miracle on itself at point black range. The Byakugan almost activated out of pure instinct as Akane halved the geth with a precise slash from her chokutō. Damn! She must have overlooked this particular geth. She should have activated it sooner but the pain in her head considerably hindered her quick thinking.
"Here, this will help..." She poured some chakra into her palm in order to lift some of the pain in the asari's foot. She wasn't in the right state of mind to control her chakra delicately enough to fully heal the wound, but she managed to stop the bleeding.
"Thank you." Liara kept her distressed eyes on the shinobi as Akane reached for the geth's gun.
"I will be right back."
She tried to give Liara a reassuring smile before she joined the fight. Shepard and Tali were pinned by a nasty geth sniper whilst keeping the other geth at a distance because their shields were down. Wrex was in a similar situation, albeit on the other side of the room.
There was another violent tremor that made everyone lose their balance and Akane took the opportunity to disarm the krogan of his shotgun. However, he retaliated quicker than estimated and shoulder-rammed Akane full force into the nearby wall, knocking the breath out of her lungs.
She dropped to one knee, trying to get air back into her lungs as the mercenary closed in on her with a vicious battle cry. Her ribs gave off a disapproving ache as she recovered and deactivated her Byakugan in time to activate the Genjutsu: Sharingan - paralysing her target long enough to deliver her most powerful kick that sent him crashing into the wall on the other side of the room. She took out her pistol and rapidly pulled at the trigger in an effort to take down his shields, mindful to revert her eyes back to the Byakugan.
"Ha! A worthy opponent! I like females with fire!" His enthusiastic reaction was met with a sharp glance from the kunoichi.
There were endless possibilities to finish him off. She could have melted him down with a simple Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu but she didn't trust her poor condition to handle the size of the flames so she wouldn't accidentally engulf the whole room in flames, and thus, hurt her allies. The geth sniper kept its eye on Shepard's position, so there was no need to worry about that.
Forced to close-combat, he stormed her way for a tackle which Akane managed to evade in time, taking into account his larger range. When he foolishly attempted it again, she was purposefully standing in front of a pillar and graciously side-stepped for the krogan to hit full force into the mentioned structure. Creating no small dent that, unbeknown to Akane, caused the release of a cloud of steam which further damaged his kinetic barriers.
She showered him with another rain of gunshots until her pistol gave out due to overheating. It was enough to completely leave him vulnerable. Only then did she make use of her chokutō, holding them between the krogan and her body.
"You can't harm a krogan with those kitchen knives," he derided, followed by a dark laugh as if he had her at a disadvantage.
Time pressed on the kunoichi as she thought of a way to get rid of this mercenary sooner than this cave collapsed. He wasn't wrong in his assumption that these swords posed no real threat against his thick hide and body armour, but she was sure he underestimated the sharpness of a sword when enhanced with wind chakra. It was exponentially sharper than lightning.
The krogan must have picked up on the impending danger and stopped with his attacks. That was enough of a delay for an enraged Wrex to send him flying sideways with a kick.
"Fuck off, Grodrak! The kid's with me."
Akane flinched slightly as she heard a barrage of shotgun shots aiming at the disarmed krogan on the ground. Grodrak was dead. With nothing to further block their way, most of the squad made a run for it right after another earthquake dropped down on them. In their frantic race towards the exit, nobody noticed Liara getting left behind with her injured foot.
There was no time to overthink as the Anbu stopped in her tracks and went the opposite direction to scoop the asari up in her arms. And Liara, in return, wound up her elegant arms around her small neck, though not after having released a startled yelp.
She was remarkably light so it was not necessary for Akane to further enhance her strength. Once again making use of the Shunshin no Jutsu to evade all the debris falling down on them. They only stopped once they were out of the ruins, watching the Normandy hovering above them.
"Oh, thank God you made it! I was getting worried!" Shepard let out an exaggerated sigh of relief, her helmet discarded in her hand. Akane nodded to relieve Shepard of her worry, then glanced at the blue-skinned asari in her arms. She expected to be met with fury at her inappropriate behaviour towards the doctor- seeing that she did manhandle her - but it didn't come.
"Are you all right, Miss T'Soni? How is your leg?"
Weren't it for the cold in her voice, she would have sounded more convincing in her worry. Liara had a difficult time keeping eye contact with the shinobi, almost appearing something between precautious and flustered.
"I am tired but otherwise fine. As for my leg, I believe I am capable of walking."
Understanding her clear request, Akane put her gingerly on the ground and stayed by her side for the entirety of their evac to the hovering Normandy nearby.
Location: SSV Normandy SR-1 - First Deck - Comm Room
Joker welcomed Shepard and the squad back to the Normandy with more than a bit of sarcasm. She had nothing against it if it was his way of coping with the stress. Akane occupied the seat on the right of Chief Williams as the whole crew was present for a joint debriefing after Therum. The Commander, now out of her armour, leant casually against the switched off comm link, having a perfect view of everyone in the circular room.
"We almost died out there and your pilot is making jokes?" Liara asked, a bit unbelieving.
Shepard shrugged, being used to her helmsman's antics, "Joker pulled our asses out of there. I think he's earned the right for a few bad jokes."
"I see. It must be a human thing. I don't have a lot of experience dealing with your species, Commander. But I am grateful to you. You saved my life back there. And not just from the volcano. Those geth would have killed me. Or dragged me off to Saren." Only now did Akane perceive the didactic fashion Liara was speaking in, and it sounded nothing like her fellow kin.
Sir Alenko tuned in, "What did Saren want with you? Do you know something about the Conduit?"
The Conduit? Now, where had she heard that name before? She knew it held significant meaning but couldn't remember the relation or did she begin to forget? Wait, actually, no! She was certain she had the information but it felt almost as if it was locked up in some part of her brain and she had no key to open it.
Not yet...
Then, in a fated moment of enlightenment did she understand...
She had been horribly wrong to assume she knew everything that was to know about the protheans. In fact, she knew next to nothing about them. She only presumed to know because she hadn't realized up until this point that it was part of a bigger picture. Now everything she had been going through made sense!
Above all else, the Beacon's main purpose had been to serve as a warning about the Reapers, but also as a means to impart the prothean culture upon the next civilization. However, it was only meant to be received by those of prothean physiology, which was why her mind and body collapsed after the contact.
The Beacon had forcibly transferred its knowledge onto Akane because it found a receptive host. It was a life or death situation for the shinobi as she remembered the chaos the transmission had stirred inside her conscience. Her body had reacted as it deemed fit to ensure her survival by purposefully going into a coma. If it hadn't done so, her death would have been inevitable in the face of such a large amount of sensory and memory input.
Frankly put - she had been overwhelmed.
But even after her body's best efforts, the intrusion felt as if an obstinate infection had taken root in her body. It was a test of the modifiability of her genes. To see if they would adapt to the 'threat' that it posed for the host. The product didn't produce discernible alterations in the observable characteristics of her physique, but she had grasped the change within her almost instantly.
Heightened smell sensitivity, sharper eyesight, keener hearing... all that was part of the package.
Her experience in the ruins had opened her eyes to what was really going on with her body. She thought she had become partly prothean already, but that hadn't been the case, for she was only in the process of becoming prothean. In terms of comparability, the same scenario had happened once she had awakened her Sharingan.
She couldn't access its powers right from the get-go, but only after she had reached the physical ability necessary to actually act on the visual information.
In other words, her body was getting accustomed to the prothean part. That as much she had gathered when she realized she had no control over her 'memory reading' ability. However, the ability strongly resonated with anything inherently prothean, so she should make an effort in getting ahold of this new asset. Preferably as soon as possible if she wanted to unravel the memories imparted by the Protheans.
Nevertheless... it was a lot to take in.
Mutations were not a common thing to happen, moreover for them to turn out to be marginally beneficial was a miracle in itself. Akane didn't believe in a higher power, but damn, that came awfully close to divine intervention.
Against all odds, she lived to see another day.
Even though it felt as much as a blessing as it was a curse.
She clutched at her head as the headache intensified again, she felt sick but she couldn't reveal her weakened condition in front of the whole crew. She had almost succeeded in her endeavour wasn't it for Williams.
"Hey, you're looking rather pale... are you okay there, kiddo?" The worry in her brown eyes was distinguishable.
Why did she even care? Akane did nothing to warrant her solicitude. Only shown blatant coldness. The same could be said of the others when her pale eyes landed on Shepard's crew, them expectantly waiting for some sort of reaction from the young Uchiha.
"I do feel rather unwell, may I have permission for a medical inspection?" Her voice was controlled despite the suppressed shivering under her coat.
This was her only option to get away or she wouldn't hold out much longer before the others noticed. She felt the temperature steadily rising in her body although she felt cold... Yep, definitely signs of a fever. If the Commander approved of her demand, then she would head straight for the bathroom, so she could use her medical ninjutsu to try to damper the symptoms.
"Sure thing, you can go."
Akane bowed, then tried not to appear too hasty in her gait as she made her exit, lengthening her strides once she was out of sight. It got to a point where walking down the stairs became strenuous but she managed to set one foot after the other with a helping hand on the wall. It must have felt like an eternity when she finally found herself in one of the public bathroom's stalls, panting heavily.
She wasn't expecting such a strong reaction from her immune system, though at least she was alone to pull herself together. That is if she could concentrate well-enough through this pain. After a series of deep breaths, she felt a pleasant warmth replacing the pain she had been under for quite some time now. She healed herself as much as her condition allowed without risking disrupting her body's circulation, then left the stall for a much-needed shower.
She left the rest of her treatment to a good few hours of sweating in her sleeping pod.
Only she hadn't realized that her strange behaviour didn't fully go unnoticed.
Words dictionary:
Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu 火遁・豪火球の術 / Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique - The user kneads chakra in their body and turns it into fire, which they then expel from their mouth; the more chakra they use, the more flames that are produced. Sometimes the flames lack a distinct shape, being only a stream, but more often than not they take the form of a giant orb that maintains its shape until hitting a target. Upon impact, the fireball is powerful enough to crater the ground and vaporise the surroundings. Against living targets, the fireball can cause extensive burns.
Author's note: Here is Therum in a nutshell! The mission on Asteroid X57 was longer to emphasize the fact that it was Akane's first mission for a long time and her first time in space in general. Also, I am going to probably do this every time I have something I am not sure how your reaction to it will be but... I just wanted to inform you of some things to avoid possible misunderstandings in the near future.
#1. I am well aware that Therum's surface temperature is 59 °C, therefore Akane shouldn't have been able to move on its surface without proper armour. But! The same should have applied to Liara as well because in the cutscene in ME1 where they sprint towards the exit and make it out of the mines safely, she ran out only in her research robes that offer the same equivalent amount of protection as Akane's attire. Fun fact, there is actually a human colony on Therum but I actually have no idea how they function on such a hot planet, so I am gonna pretend they have some barriers that lower the overall temperature.
#2. I apologize for a mistake I've made in the chapter 'Investigator Shepard On Duty' where Akane stated that she already had the ability to 'read' her environment but I changed that up so she was about to discover it on Therum. For plot purposes and also it seemed to be a bit unfair towards the awesome capabilities of a prothean.
#3. If you wonder how on earth is Akane able to punch a fully grown krogan to the other side of the room at fifteen... remember, it was her full power with chakra augmentation. Akane is nowhere near Sakura or Tsunade in terms of raw power but this is as far as she can go up until this point. Just look at what Sarada had displayed at the end of the Shin arc.