"Thinking"
"Talking"
"Impactful word"
Location: Attican Beta Cluster - Theseus System - Feros - SSV Normandy SR-1
She awoke within two days, just in time for another mission, after some convincing. Shepard wasn't pleased by her choice, funny thing was that Akane shared her displeasure. Rather wanting a day off to rest her strained joints but alas, she wouldn't want to pass up the opportunity of visiting an old prothean megatropolis.
She was eager to unlock the foreign section of her memory that had been locked away for her safety. And if that required for her to be present on the following mission, then bye-bye rest! Joker failed to notice her as she gazed silently over his shoulder at the magnificent view of the infrastructure above the clouds.
It was harder than she thought to turn her back at the scenery.
Location: Attican Beta Cluster - Theseus System - Feros - Zhu's Hope
To be greeted by some geth became a common occurrence, but...
There was something in the air that troubled her and this time, it wasn't prothean.
The single-mindedness of the colonists on their respective tasks might not seem unnatural at first, but it was a certain response that repeatedly cropped up during their conversations, whenever they had inquired more about the planet or colony, that proved her earlier statement: Ask Fai Dan.
It was almost as if they didn't want to speak out of place, as if they were pressured to avoid speaking about certain subjects. By the pained expression from a woman who at least tried to give them an answer, they were influenced by something.
Not being of chakra-based nature, Akane couldn't put her finger on it through usual means, so she left it at that. The ExoGeni Corporation's headquarters was where Akane was convinced they would find answers, but Shepard had slightly other plans, so they made a detour to restore the colony's supplies. Couldn't have them starving while they went off investigating, right?
At least the rest of the party had their moral compass pointing in the right direction. The same couldn't be said for the shinobi though, who hadn't thought twice about the alarming situation of Zhu's Hope.
Because these weren't your people, right?
She pressed her lips together into a thin line, trying to swallow down the sudden tightness in her chest.
Her brain tried to fight the self-addressed accusation but it was a lost battle... because she knew it was the truth.
Shepard POV
Water supply: Check
Food supply: Check
Energy supply: Check
Things were looking better than when they had first arrived. Zhu's Hope was somewhat self-sufficient, at least for the period Shepard went to investigate ExoGeni's Headquarters. As much as she didn't like that every corner was swarmed with geth, she dreaded the point when they would encounter those ghastly looking creatures from Binthu again.
And from what Ian Newstead had shared with her party, she was justified in her worry. Something was waiting for them and in the face of uncertainty, there was nothing else Shepard could do other than stay alerted.
Regardless of her foreboding, they pushed forward. Through the geth armatures and to a secluded place that they used as a recovery point.
"I forgot to mention it, but there is a weak comm signal nearby. Maybe we should check it out." She heard Kaidan say from behind her seat. Seeing no harm in complying, they exited the Mako and followed the signal.
After meeting Ethan Jeong, she almost regretted it. She gritted her pearly white teeth at his selfish behaviour. His lack of care for anything other than his dear company provoked her nerves and it was difficult for her to contain the strong urge to lash out at him. But that would complicate matters unnecessarily. Thus, it was in her best interest to remove herself from him before things escalated.
"What an asshole!" She heard Ashley grumble once they were enclosed within the protective walls of the Mako. She knew it was improper of her to support such rude claims, but she knew her team wouldn't mind. Now that they'd gotten closer, she didn't seem to need to act all in control anymore.
"To put it mildly." Ashley let out a hearty laugh, pleased at her response.
The next hours that followed were filled with much-needed focus and steady progress. A trail of synthetic corpses was left in their wake. A testament of their advance towards answers they sought after. And answers they were given once they found Baynham's daughter, Lizbeth, who only cemented what Shepard had feared long ago.
Granted, she couldn't have possibly fathomed that they would encounter something as absurd as this. A 50 thousand years old sentient plant capable of mind-controlling and telepathic abilities. And ExoGeni fucking researched it! Like hello? Didn't they see the warnings signs?
And why did Akane didn't look surprised at all? Even more so, there was a small glint of curiosity in her pale pools, almost as if she knew all along? Nah, it was futile to attempt to read her. She never could distinguish what was going on in her head.
Shepard was lenient with the man when she first met him but enough was enough. He crossed the limits of Jane's kindness when he stated that Zhu's Hope needed to be purged! Fucking ExoGeni and their underhanded methods! She wasn't going to let these colonists down just because of some greedy bastard and his profit-hungry company. She felt as if she had done all of them a favour by knocking him out the second he ranted about her unneeded presence here.
Served him right!
The guards reached for their weapons but her team was quicker, "I dare you, assholes!"
She heard Ashley bark at them. Her tone laced with restrained aggressiveness unforgivingly directed at them. There was no denying how pissed she was and the guards did well to hold their hands above their heads in a surrendering gesture.
"So, what should we do about the colonists? You mentioned they were infected?" Jane turned towards the Baynhams.
"There's got to be another way than killing them." Lizbeth paused thoughtfully, "Like a gas grenade!"
"That doesn't sound like a good idea, Commander. Won't we be caught in its steams too?" Kaidan interjected.
The Spectre crossed her arms on her chest, thinking through all the options. Some part of her busied mind expectantly waited for Akane's input, since she noticed that she was always more invested in tactical matters. But the teen stayed awfully quiet during the whole mission, not uttering a single sound. Almost as if her mind was occupied by something else.
Back to the issue at hand, she decided, "I don't see another way. It's a risk we must take."
"If we're going through with this, then at least drop it in a concussion grenade." The male Sentinel suggested, despite his slight discontent.
"Sounds good. We'll do what we can."
"Excellent, thank you for your help, Commander Shepard." Juliana went for the grenades. This was going to be a challenge. And she hoped that her aim was good enough for her to manage to incapacitate all of them, otherwise, this could turn into a blood bath fairly quickly.
They were closing in. The only thing separating them from the colony was a huge gateway, guarded by one of the Kara 2.0. Or should she refer to them as one of the Thorian's minions? Because much to the party's disgust, it was but a foretaste of what awaited them behind the gateway.
"What is that thing? No way this is human, infected or not." Chief Williams exclaimed distastefully.
"You don't seem too surprised by this outcome, Commander," Kaidan stated and both of them eyed Shepard as she frowned upon the corpse.
"I have encountered some on our last mission. Just remember, refrain from harming the civilians at all cost."
All voiced their assent. If Shepard wanted them alive, Akane would try her best to abide by her wish.
Shepard POV
They managed to push through up to the Borealis, but Jane found herself in a dreadful situation when she acknowledged the number of grenades left.
There was not enough left for everyone.
"Shit."
She closed her eyes. Something no soldier should do during a battle and build up her resolve for what needed to be done. God, she hated this feeling, this feeling that she had failed them.
So she fought, taking down one thorian creeper after the other. Not noticing Akane's fixed gaze upon her. She didn't know how, but she managed to save all in the end.
Or so she thought.
Just as the entrance to a tunnel under the Borealis swished open - Fai Dan came into view.
"I tried to fight it, but it gets in your head. You can't imagine the pain." His movements were visibly strained as he approached Shepard's party in short strides.
"I was supposed to be a leader. These people trusted me." Akane watched his face contort in pain, which brought an unpleasant memory up, but she forcefully gulped it down.
"Fai Dan, don't do this. You're stronger than the Thorian." Shepard encouraged although having pointed her gun at him.
"It wants me to stop you... but I... I won't." He drew his gun in one hand, supporting it with the other. The others waited with bated breath what the man would do but for Akane, it was as if time had slowed down.
Looks familiar. Doesn't it?
Yes, it did. It was just like that one time... The pain this particular memory awoke was enough for her heart to clench painfully and her breathing to become heavier. Looking over at Shepard's expression was what broke her inaction, especially when Fai Dan levelled the gun at his head.
Never again will she bear witness to such an act again!
"Hey!" she shouted, enough to catch the attention of the pained man. She channelled her chakra through her eyes and muttered, "Genjutsu: Sharingan!"
And within seconds the man was laying on the ground, unconscious.
Shepard POV
She knew she hadn't been imagining things back on Asteroid X57! This red glint she caught for a second time with her sharp eyes. She frantically turned her head towards Ashley and Kaidan, who she knew had noticed it also. Their reaction was just as she expected; they were gobsmacked about what just had transpired.
Now, Jane possessed certainty that this crazy stunt was part of Akane's arsenal and not just a figment of her imagination. But before she could utter but a single question that rose in her intrigued mind, the young woman turned sharply into the direction of the tunnel and without a word, went down.
Her intent was evident as she reminisced about the Thorian that awaited them under Zhu's Hope. Akane was right; they had more pressing issues at hand. Questions could be resumed later.
She sighed, "Let's move!"
Now that she slowly got the hang out of her heightened senses, she could tell this place was old.
The walls reeked of the Thorian's presence, who had inhabited this region for numbers of years, some of them being covered by its brownish-purplish mesh. She jogged a bit further, navigating her way towards it.
Light shined through the open ceiling as she watched the kidney-shaped creature hanging at its centre. Its movement accompanied by squishing sounds that made the shinobi slightly uncomfortable. She wondered why she hadn't simply looked under herself and not just around!
You can be pretty dense too, sometimes.
There was no point in arguing against that statement. Something like this wouldn't have slipped her notice when she had been still alone.
But you're not alone anymore. The world has changed, and you're changing with it.
She was.
It was a slow process.
As if her throat had been cut and she was bleeding to death but surprisingly she didn't feel pain. Quite the opposite, and that was what frightened her the most. She didn't know where she was going. Didn't know what to expect. To comprehend what was going to happen. And it unsettled her. This... uncertainty.
Shepard and her crew were the main benefactors to this change of which she couldn't yet evaluate the effects. Though if she guessed, it was more of the positive kind. She regained if only a sliver of happiness; something she hadn't thought possible ever since Shirone died, or Haruko.
Yet Shepard was known to achieve the impossible, no?
Her internal monologue was cut short as the Thorian reacted to her presence, though unwelcome, not fully perceived as a threat. A green-skinned asari popped out of the plant's ingestive system, acting as some sort of puppet for the Thorian.
"Invader! Your every step is a transgression. You have come to join your kind as meat at last." The asari said, its voice limited to a monotonous spectrum of tones.
"My kind?" Akane was perplexed by the creature's choice of words.
"The Protheans. The Old Growth watched them, studied them. When they died, they became part of it. As will you."
They both heard the heavy stomping echoing in the hallways as Shepard's party closed in on them. Neither said anything when the redhead approached, "I speak for the Old Growth, as I did for Saren. You are within and before the Thorian: It commands that you be in awe!"
Jane's mask was flawless when she showed nothing of what the plant wanted. "You gave something to Saren. Something I need."
The asari clone gave a brisk speech on Saren's deception and betrayal. It openly displayed its unwillingness to cooperate. Having had enough of it since the ex Spectre's deceit.
The paragon Akane knew Jane to be, barked back with unrivalled ferocity, "I won't let you keep your thralls. Release them. Now!"
There were moments from jumping at each other's throats, if the Thorian even had one, so as per usual, Akane sought out the creature's weak points. Killing its body wasn't going to prove challenging, since it was an unmoving target, however, its minions were a cause of great distress as there were hundreds of them scattered on the different floors.
Still, the most dangerous component of the plant's arsenal were the asari clones which it repeatedly produced because of their biotics capabilities. If one of them got hit by Stasis, things would turn south in no time.
"They're coming from behind us!" Ashley shouted, covering their back. The situation looked grim, being surrounded by tons of acid-spitting juggernauts.
"We can't go on like this! Any ideas?"
Jane looked pleadingly at the young Uchiha at whom she hadn't looked like that for the first time during this mission. She gave her permission to take the reins in this decision.
"I will make a diversion!"
Without letting Shepard even give her assent, she dashed into the crowd of thorian creeper's, blitzing through them quicker than they could explode. She managed to lure more than a half from Shepard but now she was the one in a pinch. Her mind subconsciously searched for other ways to dispose of the Thorian that didn't involve setting this place on fire.
As if on cue, Kaidan lent her a hand by yelling from a floor above, "Shoot those appendages attached to the walls, it should be enough to kill it!"
With a simple nod of thanks, she moved out and tried her best to get closer to her new objective. The floor shuddered as another appendage was released from its holding point. She managed to evade most of the acid though the same couldn't be said about her clothing, which was full of holes by the time the Thorian fell into the abyss.
The complex, thankfully, withstood the final quake and with that, the Thorian was no more.
A pity. For the shinobi at least. She felt a strong connection with the plant. Not necessarily of the emotional kind, but more of its lost value. Akane could have learnt so much if she just had the opportunity to 'connect' with it, but alas, the circumstances were unfortunate.
She was lost in thought as another presence made itself known not so long after their victory. For a moment she mistook it for another asari clone, and rightfully so because of their likeness, but the violet shade of skin colour halted her assumptions. The asari, going by the name of Shiala, engaged in a lengthy conversation with the Commander. Akane gulped down her own curiosity as Shiala spoke of the Thorian's correlations with Saren and most importantly, the Protheans.
Much to her inner satisfaction and relief, Shepard was very throughout with her questioning and it brought much-needed prove to some of Akane's earlier speculations into which she wouldn't dive into right now in fear of losing her train of thought. This was no time for inner musing, they were still out on a mission.
More importantly, she was soon to witness something she hadn't witnessed before. The Melding. Due to asari biology bearing a lot of likeness to human (and therefore herself's), she found deeper research of the species' anatomy unnecessary. Even though she had stumbled upon the therm in some paragraph.
She observed silently as Shiala recited some kind of chant, presumably to help focus the Commander's mind, then waited for a few second with a detained breath. Shiala's eyes popped open, not in their original colour, but somewhat resembling a black Byakugan. It was a peculiar sight, to say the least, if not a tad unsettling actually.
Now she knew experience-wise why people found her eyes as something difficult to look at.
The exchange of the Cipher was brief and the Commander looked a bit shaken up but didn't seem to have any physical issues. Together, they trotted back to the surface. Welcoming the sight of the recovered inhabitants of Zhu's Hope who openly showed their utmost gratitude. Usually, they were directed at the Commander, few actually noticed her and she was content for it to be this way. Until...
"Please wait! There is something I want to tell you!" Akane didn't bother to look at the owner of the voice, assuming it was directed at the Commander. That was until someone from the party nudged her into attention.
Feeling obligated to turn, she turned to see Fai Dan seeking her out, "Yes, Sir?"
His smile was of the genuine sort as he gifted it to her with unabashed ease, "Thank you for saving my life."
In spite of herself, a pleasant wave of satisfaction spread over her chest and unfolded in her stomach, which gave her problems hiding behind her expressionless facade. The party patiently waited for her at the centre of the colony.
"It was nothing," she replied a bit late for her liking, then took a sharp turn back into the direction of her companions.
Companions, huh?
"Can I at least know your name?" he inquired hopefully and Akane couldn't believe that she would separate herself from such a piece of important information so readily, "Akane Uchiha."
She saw Shepard and Kaidan regarding her with a pleased smile while Ashley showed her signature smirk as she closed the distance. Why were they looking at her like that? Did they actually take enjoyment out of her getting praised?
Pff- Don't flatter yourself.
Yeah, she shouldn't probably look too much into it.
Everyone gathered at the comm room as per their customary routine. Though this time, Akane was healthy enough to stay for the whole session. She listened with interest at the debate which eclipsed when Shepard chose to unite her mind with Liara, from what she had heard, for the second time.
The mission, although successful, was a big setback for Akane and her strive for unlocking her prothean memories. The Cipher would have proven useful (even crucial) but since it was Shepard who needed it more, she stepped back and let it happen. Shepard's mission took priority since it was now revealed to be in relation to the Reapers.
The moment the meeting was adjourned, she made a bee-line for her sleeping pot.
"Akane? Care to stay for a minute?"
Or she thought she would.
"Of course, Ma'am. Your desire?" Akane was for a second taken back by the disappointed sigh that had obviously something to do with her. What did she- oh!
"I told you to call me Shepard when we're alone." The redhead shook her head, fixing her hands on her hips. The green in her orbs held a strictness in them that forced Akane to express her contrition. Knowing not where she stood with the Commander.
"I will make sure to refrain from calling you this again." She bowed deeply to emphasize, seriously feeling like she had offended Shepard before the redhead erupted into a fit of laughter.
"I am just messing with you!" She rounded her arm around Akane's neck, to which Akane unintentional stiffened because of her battle instincts, and reached out to ruffle the teen's mane when it happened...
A moment of relapse, the same she had experienced in the prothean ruins once she had touched the console. The present became the past and the past became the present at this very moment. Memories, sensations, everything was shared through touch.
"Is everything all right, Shepard?" The Uchiha inquired in a worried tone, her behaviour akin to fretting as she observed the Commander, the transfer knocked her for a loop. The Uchiha held her upright, fearing another union of the nervous system had proven too much for the weary mind of the redhead.
"What did you say?"
Blaming it on the side-effects of the exchange that Shepard didn't catch what she said, Akane slowly repeated, "I asked if you're feeling well?"
A stagnant pause established between them and Akane was confounded, unknowing of the cause. Shepard's eyes shifted to hers, holding the same amount of disarray as the shinobi's, "I can't understand you."
She sprung back in panic, putting as much distance between them as possible. She felt her mask crumbling, her emotions slipping out of control so she did the next best thing she could think of and... fled.