Within the vast expanse of the traverse, the Reaper Sovereign traveled between the star systems. Onboard, Saren Arterius sat in deep contemplation as a nearby door opened and Matriarch Benezia made herself known.
"Well?" asked the disgraced Spectre.
The elder Asari sighed, "The Geth failed to retrieve my daughter. She is with Commander Shepard now."
The Turian growled almost feral at yet another inconvenience caused by Anderson's protege. "She is beginning to become a thorn in our side." Saren said, his voice taking on a deeper, machine-like tone toward the end.
"There is something else." Benezia continued calmly. "Although Liara is with Shepard, she wasn't the one to keep her from our allies. There was another within the Prothean ruins that saved her."
Saren looked at the Matriarch as she produced an OSD that he snatched out of her hand and inserted into a nearby terminal;
The footage that played was a compilation of points of view from different Geth platforms. In each one a large human in green armor could be seen slaughtering the synthetics in his path with various weapons and even his bare hands.
Watching the footage a second time, Saren paused to allow a clear image of the human to be displayed. "What do we know about this human?" he asked, not taking his eyes off the image.
"Nothing. His armor and weapons are unlike anything we've seen. And the Geth were unable to gather much information before he destroyed them." said Benezia, her own gaze on the human that had kept her daughter out of their grasp.
"Have our spies keep a close eye on both him and Shepard. The last thing we need is any more delays." said the former Spectre.
The Matriarch gave a short bow before leaving the room, she had preparations to make before heading to planet Noveria.
Saren continued to look at the image of the human that interfered with their plans. His glowing eyes noticed something on their helmet and zoomed in to get a better look. Once it came into focus, he was able to make out a strange marking just above the visor.
Red in color and resembling an ancient lettering he'd never seen before.
As soon as the symbol came into focus, the room around Saren flashed a deep red and a rumbling baritone echoed all around him. Sending the Turian to his knees clutching his head.
"W-What?! What do you mean-" another deafening blare echoed causing Saren to hiss. "Mas-Master Sovereign, he is just one human! Why-" Red electricity crackled through the room and the Turian roared in agony.
"YES! YES I UNDERSTAND!" he shouted as the light and sounds finally stopped. Saren breathed heavily for a few moments before looking back at the frozen image.
He would follow the Reaper Vanguard's commands, but he couldn't help but wonder what it was about this particular human that would cause the ancient machine such trepidation.
What did Sovereign know that it wasn't telling him?
X
In the briefing room of the Normandy, Jane looked around as everyone gathered in the eight chairs around her. Her green eyes focusing on their newest additions who sat on her left between Wrex and Tali.
Liara looked anxious. After what she had been through on Therum the Commander wasn't surprised that she was a bundle of nerves...but her friend was another story.
The armored giant had made a big impact when he first came aboard. The crew all but scrambled out of his way as they headed for the briefing room when they got back from the mission. Not that she couldn't blame them, the guy was easily seven feet tall. Not to mention he resembled a walking tank on steroids.
And how he dealt with the Geth planetside? Jane kept a calm poker face, but mentally she was counting her lucky stars that he wasn't hostile. She was still trying to figure out where he stored such an impressive arsenal of weaponry and didn't want to run the risk of pulling something out of limbo if someone pissed him off.
Or worse…
"I must thank you again for getting us out of there, Commander." said Liara. "With how desperate the Geth were in capturing me, I shudder to think what they would have done if they had succeeded." As she said this, she sent a sideways glance at Flynn who was leaning back in his seat, arms crossed over his broad chest as his eyes flickered around the room behind his visor.
Even though she was grateful that he had been there to protect her, she was also glad to be away from Therum. Not only from the Geth, but the memory of watching her colleagues dying around her.
"Do you know why they were after you?" asked Kaiden who was across from her, "Do you know something about the Conduit?"
"Only that it had something to do with the Protheans' extinction." replied the young Asari, "That is my real area of expertise. I have spent the last fifty years studying about what had happened to them."
Jane raised an eyebrow, " 'Fifty years'? How old are you exactly?"
Liara blushed a light purple, "I...hate to admit it. But I am only one hundred and six." she admitted shyly.
" 'Only'? I wish I would look that good over a century from now." Ashley couldn't help but say.
"A century may seem like a long time for a short-lived species like yours. But among the Asari, I am barely considered more than a child." Liara explained, "That is why my research has not been given the attention it deserves. Because of my youth, older Asari scholars dismiss my theories on what happened to the Protheans."
The slayer fought back a snort at the 'short-lived species' comment. He was 99.9% sure that he was the oldest thing in this entire universe. Though it was both a gift and a curse with how long he'd been around.
"I've got my own theory about how the Protheans disappeared." Shepard said.
"With all due respect Commander. I've heard every theory out there. The problem is finding evidence to support them. The Protheans left remarkably little behind." replied the Asari. "It is like someone didn't want the mystery to be solved. Like someone came along after the Protheans were gone and wiped the galaxy clean of their existence. But the incredible part. According to my findings, the Protheans were not the first galactic civilization to vanish. This cycle began long before them."
Flynn half listened as Liara and Shepard went back and forth about what the former knew about the Protheans, and the cycle of extinction that occurred every 50,000 years along with what the Commander knew of the Reapers from the vision she received from the beacon on Eden Prime.
His mind going back to his last moments on Earth fighting the Icon of Sin and trying to figure out exactly how he got here.
He remembered the portal opening clearly. At first he thought Hayden had opened a way back to the fortress only to discover that wasn't the case. Another part of him wondered if this was the cyborg's way of getting rid of him again, he never forgot how the SOB had chained him with the tether system he put in his old Praetor suit so he could take the demonic Crucible before sending him to the fortress in the first place.
No matter the doc's intentions, the slayer was still pissed from that metaphorical knife in the back. He'd dealt with enough betrayal in the past.
He'd think more on that later, going back to his earlier train of thought he tried to figure out what had happened. Did the Icon's meltdown fuck with the portal in some way...or did something else send him here. There were too many questions and not enough answers.
For now, Flynn would just go with the flow. He knew enough about this universe to get by. And there were no shortage of enemies for him to let his frustrations out on.
"I don't know why Saren wanted you out of the picture." said Jane, bringing the slayer back to the conversation fully. "But I think we'll be better off if we bring you along."
Liara nodded, "Thank you, Commander. Saren might come after me again. I cannot think of anywhere safer than here on your ship. And my knowledge of the Protheans could help you later on."
"And her biotics could be useful when the fighting starts." Wrex grunted before turning his red eyes to the slayer, "And her friend here already showed us he can do some damage."
Everyone else looked his way, "Almost forgot about that." the Commander said with her attention on their other guest. "I take it you're okay with coming onboard as well?"
Flynn gave her a nod.
"How is this going to work if the guy can't speak?" asked Ashley. "We don't even know what to call him."
"His name is Flynn Taggart." said Liara, catching everyone's attention again. "He carved his name out in the stone after he saved me. And other than his rather...brutal style of fighting, I don't think he means us any harm."
"He wouldn't be the first person I worked with who couldn't speak." said Jane. "Do you know sign language? Something that might help you communicate with the rest of the team?"
The slayer sat motionless for a few moments, thinking. He uncrossed his arms and started making signs with his hands and hoping the language was still universal here as well;
This good?
"Yeah, that'll work." said Garrus, having learned human sign language back at C-Sec when humans started getting recruited at the precinct.
Jane saw Liara and Tali look confused at the interaction while Wrex looked bored, promising herself to send them information on understanding the language to read up on.
"What about his weapons?" asked Ashley before pausing, "Speaking of which, where are they?"
Everyone looked him over, but saw no sign of any of the armaments that he had used on Therum. The slayer shrugged and signed; Stored away.
"Where?" asked the Gunnery Chief, not liking the idea of him walking around with an arsenal unchecked.
Flynn gave her a sharp look. None of your business.
Ashley grit her teeth, "It is my business if you decide you want to be on this ship! You need to hand them ov-" the slayer was on his feet and looming over her in the blink of an eye. The others were stunned silent that someone that big could move across the room so fast without any of them even seeing it.
His eyes burned into Ashley's like laser beams, cutting straight through to her very soul with his hands clenched into fists. A second passed before he unclenched them slowly and began to sign again;
Go ahead. Take them from me.
The not so subtle threat was very heavy. Ashley swallowed thickly, her throat dry with her head tilted so far back to meet his piercing gaze her neck started to hurt. The tension in the air now very thick.
"Enough. Both of you." the Commander ordered, putting herself between them. "Ash, it's fine. Like I said on Therum, if he was a threat he would have done something long before now." she turned to Flynn, "And you, relax. No one's taking your guns. Just make sure not to shoot a hole through my ship. Alright?"
The slayer met her look, impressed that she had the balls to stand up to him. He nodded before going back to his chair and sitting down like nothing had happened.
"Alright then. I'm having Joker fly back to the Citadel so we can restock a bit more for the mission. We'll be making a few stops on the way there to handle some business that was passed to me by Admiral Hackett, so be ready to move out when the time calls for it." Shepard went on. "Dismissed."
Everyone got up and started to head out when the Commander called after their newest additions, "Liara, Flynn, head to the medical bay and meet with Doctor Chakwas. All new crew need to be checked out before they can be assigned to duty."
"Yes, Commander." said Liara while Flynn nodded. The two of them leaving the room just as Joker informed Jane about the Council contacting her. They followed the corridor toward the medical bay in silence for a few seconds before Liara turned to the large human beside her.
"Flynn, I wanted to thank you again for saving me. If you hadn't, there's no telling what Saren would have done." she said gratefully.
The slayer nodded before he saw the Asari sway on her feet. In an instant he was beside her, catching her before she could collapse. "S-Sorry...I just feel...very light headed. I don't know how long I was trapped in the ruins." she admitted while holding her head.
Tilting his head to the side, Flynn scooped Liara up with one arm and began to carry her the rest of the way.
Yelping at the sudden change, the Asari Maiden blushed a deep purple as she was held as though she were an infant in the slayer's powerful grip. "Th-This is unnecessary. I can still walk." she stuttered.
Flynn shrugged, smirking behind his visor at Liara's embarrassment of her current situation. The door to the medical bay opened when they got close enough and stepped inside, the older woman sitting at the desk with silver hair and wearing a labcoat looked up at their arrival.
"Ah, you two must be the new additions the Commander brought on board from Therum. I'm Medical Officer Karin Chakwas." introduced the good doctor.
The slayer nodded in greeting as he brought his passenger over to the nearest bed and sat her down. "It's nice to meet you, I am Liara T'Soni. And this is Flynn Taggart." said Liara, introducing them both.
Chakwas brought up her omni-tool and began typing on it. "Yes, I heard about Mr. Taggart's mutism. Though I've handled similar situations with patients in the past. But first let us check you over first Miss. T'Soni."
The medical officer ran a few tests and asked a few questions on the Asari. The process taking only fifteen minutes at best before she was finished. "Save for a bit of dehydration and fatigue, you are in good health. I recommend getting plenty of rest and a few meals in you for the next couple of days."
Chakwas turned her attention to Flynn who was looking out the viewport, giving Liara privacy for her examination even though she remained clothed. "Alright, Mr. Taggart. I just need to run a couple of quick scans."
Sure doc. The slayer signed as she brought out her omni-tool and started running up and down his seven-foot frame.
The device beeped a few times and flashed red, making the doctor frown. "Strange. I'm getting interference, originating from your armor. Would you mind removing it?"
Flynn froze. He hadn't removed his upgraded Praetor suit since he first put it on, it was just as much a part of him as any of his limbs. But he needed to at the very least go along with things for the time being.
Liara went to stand up, "I can leave if you need any-"
Pssssss. She was cut off by the sound of air pressure being released. Flynn with his helmet in both hands twisted it to the side, disengaging the locks before pulling it from his head.
The face that was revealed was hardened and angular. A head of crew-cut brown hair connected with a light stubble along a powerful jawline. Skin naturally tanned adding a more ruggedness to the slayer's look, in addition to the half dozen scars that were clearly visible.
One ran the length of his face from his temple to his jaw on the left side. Another cut through his right eyebrow and another on his chin on the same side. Two smaller ones marred his forehead and the last one went across the bridge of his nose.
Despite the scarring and the sharp look in the piercing greys eyes he possessed, from Chakwas' point of view, Flynn didn't look older than his mid-twenties.
Setting his helmet on a nearby table. The slayer removed his gauntlets and set them beside his helmet before unlatching his chest armor, setting all the pieces on the floor beside the table where the other components sat.
Liara was frozen in place, her blue eyes glued to the large human as more of his skin was exposed. Flynn's whole body looked as though it was sculpted from pure muscle. Each one clearly defined and showed that he was a man of pure strength from his powerful arms to the eight-pack on his stomach...but the scars were what held her attention the most.
His whole upper body was a literal road atlas of scars. Carved into his flesh at various angles, lengths and depths like he had been mauled by several vicious animals. There were also strange symbols marked on his palms and biceps. Lettering in a language she couldn't even begin to understand.
Chakwas was similarly stunned. She had seen and treated a list of injuries and ailments longer than an Alliance dreadnought. Been there when soldiers and civilians died from wounds. But in her many years as a medical doctor, she had never seen someone with so many scars. Let alone one who looked as young as Flynn did.
The medical bay door opened and Jane walked in at that exact moment, "Hey Karin, how are…" the Commander trailed off when she got an eyeful of the slayer without his armor. Even the events in her own military career couldn't prepare her for what she was now seeing.
Flynn raised an eyebrow at the three women in the room. Smirking at their shocked looks whether they were aimed at his build or the scars he had earned fighting demons not mattering in the slightest.
"Yes...well." Chakwas broke out of her stupor first and scanned the slayer. Getting a reading now that he was bare from the waist up. Her omni-tool beeped and produced a readout that had her narrowing her eyes at, "Odd." she muttered while running another scan.
"What's wrong, Karin?" asked Shepard, coming back to the present as well.
"The reading's I'm getting are inconclusive. I might need to do this the old fashioned way." the doctor turned to Jane and Liara, "If you both wouldn't mind leaving the room."
The Commander and the Asari nodded and left the medical bay, the door sealing and locking behind them. "Liara...did you know about…" Jane trailed off, hinting at the scars they had seen on the slayer.
Liara shook her head, unable to get the image out of her mind.
X
Roughly an hour later Flynn left the medical bay with his armor back on. After getting poked, prodded, scanned and questioned the entire time, Chakwas finally let him go.
Rolling his shoulders, he saw that Liara and Shepard were sitting in the mess hall, more than likely waiting for him after they both got an eyeful.
"I take it the doc gave you a clean bill?" asked Jane.
The slayer shrugged and signed; For the most part. She said she might have more questions for me later.
"Can't say I don't have a few of my own." said the Commander, "But I'll let you get settled in first before that. Anything you need specifically?"
A quiet place is enough. Flynn replied, nodding to Liara before making his way toward the elevator and riding it down to the lowest level of the ship. The door opening up and letting him off in the cargo hold.
Everyone already situated down there looked up at his arrival. Ashley from the quartermaster bench in the far corner, Garrus from the console by the mako and Wrex from a stack of crates to the left of the elevator itself.
Glancing around for a moment before making his way to the farthest corner on the right, in front of the mako. Finding another crate big enough to hold his weight, he jumped up and sat on the top before reaching into one of his pouches and pulled out a slightly worn whetstone.
Extending his Doom-blade, the slayer began to slowly and methodically sharpen the edge. The metallic ring of stone on metal echoing through the cargo hold with each pass.
Several minutes ticked by before he finished, examining his blade as it glinted in the light from above him before retracting it back into his gauntlet.
"You certainly made an impression." Flynn looked up and saw Wrex standing there with his arms crossed. "Figured there'd be mostly wimpy princesses on this little trip, never thought we'd run into someone who'd give a lot of the Krogan I know from Clan Urdnot a run for their money. And a human no less."
The slayer snorted as he brought out his double-barrel, taking out the shells and started to check his favorite weapon over. The Krogan mercenary gave a nod, "I look forward to seeing what you do when the fighting really starts. Maybe see who can rip up the most Geth."
Flynn sent Wrex a look that clearly said 'challenge accepted'. The Krogan chuckled before going back to his own corner of the cargo hold.
Watching the mercenary walk away, the slayer shook his head before going back to the small maintenance he was doing on his weapons.
X
Jane entered the medical bay the second time that day. It was close to the end of the day when she had gotten a message from Chakwas that she needed to see her as soon as possible.
When her shift ended she paid the doctor a visit to see what was going on. Finding her at her desk going over some datapads and her personal terminal. "I got your message, Karin. What's going on?"
Chakwas rubbed her eyes before turning to the Commander, "Yes, it's about the readings I got from Mr. Taggart's examination."
"Is something wrong?" asked Jane, wondering about the state of one of her new recruits.
"It's...hard to say." the doctor said hesitantly before showing Shepard one of the datapads she was going over. The Commander read the information infront of her, her brows furrowing as she looked over what seemed to be blood work.
"Sorry doc, but I never went to medical school." Jane stated.
Chakwas took the datapad back and started to explain, "I ran extensive tests on Mr. Taggart's blood. At first nothing seemed out of the ordinary, his blood type is AB positive and for all intents and purposes he is in perfect health."
"So what's the problem?" asked the Commander.
"I ran a few more tests...and found something I have never seen before." Chakwas brought up another screen, "What you're seeing are the genetic markers of a human being. Each and everyone of us as a species possess 23 distinctive chromosomes. Now, let me show you the same readouts I received on Mr. Taggart."
Another window appeared beside the readouts of the human genome. Shepard blinked as she looked between the two. "Karin...what am I looking at?" she asked when she saw a distinct difference between the two.
"Mr. Taggart's sample showed the 23 chromosomes that all humans have...with the addition of a 24th unknown chromosome." the doctor explained.
"24 chromosomes…" Jane muttered, her mind turning over what she had just learned, "And you're sure about this."
Chakwas nodded seriously, "I ran the test multiple times. It's 100% accurate, Commander. But there's more." she turned to her terminal and brought an image of a human body, "I also ran extensive scans on Flynn's body. Other than finding him beyond what could be considered peak condition for any human, I discovered a strange energy signature coursing through every vein and muscle fiber within him."
"Biotics?" asked the Commander, looking over her shoulder at the display.
"No. This energy doesn't match any of the recorded readings found in any biotic, human or otherwise." the doctor explained, "Whatever it is, it is a completely unknown element."
The two women sat in silence, the revelations that had just been unveiled heavy in the air between them.
Chakwas turned to the Commander with a serious expression she had rarely seen on the older woman's face. "Commander...Jane...whatever you brought back from Therum with Dr. T'Soni. He is more than human...a lot more. Infact, if I wasn't so sure of my findings, I would have assumed we'd discovered a new species."
Shepard leaned back, her head spinning as she tried to make sense of what she had just learned. And if this was as legit as the good doctor said it was, it left only one question that stood out among the countless others.
Just what the hell had they brought back from Therum?
A/N: Can honestly say I'm on a good roll here. But now that all the pre-made chapters are posted I'm gonna take a step back and update a little more slowly to ensure the quality remains good for my readers.
Before anyone questions about Flynn getting exposed for his 'uniqueness' this early in the story, it's pretty hard to keep something as obvious as divine energy, Argent energy, an advanced arsenal and suit of armor, and overall brutal super-human strength under wraps. So it was better to get this out of the way now. But for now the slayer will be keeping his secrets to himself until the time is right to reveal them.
However, as you may have already read, his presence is already known in some circles. The two main questions is how and why, both of which will be answered at a later date as well.
For now, thanks for all the reviews and support. Keep them coming and I'll update as soon as it is ready. Till then folks!