Shepard Stories II – Ch 34: Camilla Tourneau

Main Characters – Milizkia T'Loak and Vilio Edoze

Location: Unknown – 2222CE

Milizkia didn't say a word as she sat with several other girls within a large room. She knew she was on a large transport unit but to where she had no clue. The cries of terror from the other girls were beginning to bother her. She had gone through enough training over the years that she could handle herself if needed, but she didn't want to take that chance until she knew she had an opportunity to get away. She's seen the workings of the merc groups on Omega and she knew one chance would be it.

Her eyes wandered around the room until she noticed a commando she thought she recognized.No way can't be!She was confused and didn't know whether to be excited or hurt. She panicked when their eyes locked and then she quickly looked away.

The commando walked over to Milizkia, grabbed her arm, and yanked her "Get up!" she hissed.

Milizkia complied then the commando shoved her 'Move!" They walked through the large room, down several hallways then up to a door and once it opened, she was pushed into a room. The commando sealed the door, tapped at her omni tool then dropped a small bag on a storage box. She spoke quietly, "Mil?"

Milizkia didn't respond but just stood there.

"Smart but listen I need to get you out of here. All these girls are being sent out to their slow death of being a sex slave or some other horrible job. I watched you grow up, and I can't let this happen to you. I didn't know about you until a few weeks ago before you were taken, and I couldn't do anything to prevent it. I have my own reason as to why I had to do this to the Shepard's." She sighed then took a deep breath "It's not without reason, and I will accept my fate when they catch up to me. I have a uniform for you and a disguise. The facial disguise is the best on the market, and you won't have to worry about failure. You can't soak with it, but you can shower. I would keep them quick, though. Whatever you do in your daily routine, don't overdo it." She looked her over, "Your skin is too pretty, and I need to get rid of these facial markings."

Milizkia fidgeted when the commando placed her hands on her face "What are you doing?" she snipped.

"Just be still, I have to work quickly. While I do this, I need you to come up with a name and stick to it." Said the commando.

Vilio applied a thin layer of goo around her facial markings that were around her eyes and the bridge of her nose. When she was done, she pulled out a small gadget and scanned the area where the goo was placed.

"This a super-ultra-light weight disguise undetectable by the naked eye, by touch and practically every tech gadget out there. A Kasumi design." Vilio showed her the small miniature gadget she held between her fingers "This, adheres it and removes it from your face. Once activated, your own skin color will shine through." She looked at Milizkia, then smiled, "Don't worry, it'll be a perfect transition." She pulled a tiny pen from the gadget and extended it then scanned her face with it. "This is a scar designer. You can make your own design or select one from the loaded designs, and when you're done, you seal it, and that's it. It will look and feel like an actual scar."

Milizkia looked at her long and hard then pinched her brow markings "Vi? Why? Why would you do this to us? Why are you helping me?"

Vilio closed her eyes briefly then let out a breath "I must save my own sister, and this was the only way to do it. I received a message earlier this year about my sister from an unknown source. I don't know how Jona knew I was on Liara's crew and it's not like Liara releases that information. I'm assuming someone else on her crew betrayed her as well… probably one of the new girls she just recently hired. You had already left for the academy, or they would have known who you were, and you haven't been back to the house. Liara doesn't keep pictures of her extended family out for people to see. You know better than to use your last name on social media. I think the biggest mistake they did was when Shepard announced who you were and that you were his niece during orientation, but apparently, no one made a serious note of that."

Vilio paused briefly. "Anyway, Jona demanded that I help capture Jon and Alex or she'd kill my sister or worse put her in the sex slave ring. With me dead that's exactly what she's going to do, but my sister's not here." She quickly wiped the tears from her face. "Betraying my second family that I love very dearly was extremely difficult for me, but that was my only option because I didn't know who else was on Jona's crew." She shook her head as tears streamed down her face, "Stupid, I know that now. I should have just trusted myself to tell my lover and Liara. To betray them was heartbreaking and then the death of your father on top of that is crushing."

Milizkia scrunched her face as she jerked her head back "Wait…What? My dad's dead?"

Vilio hung her head "I'm sorry. Yes, it happened after you were taken to the ship." She paused briefly "Your uncle went into a rage that I've never seen before. He killed so many before they were able to tranq him."

She looked down as she wiped her tears "Good." She said then looked up at her "How'd you get away?"

"They were on the estate in the woods and the Eclipse were waiting for them. They shot them all with tranquilizer darts then I immediately shot Kay and Blue so no one else would... hopefully I didn't kill them. Shepard shot me, but his aim was terrible with the multiple tranquilizer darts they hit him with. I was able to slow down the bleeding, but I used a similar tranq dart on myself but with a concoction that slowed the heart rate down to nothing which made my heart rate unnoticeable by touch. The Eclipse crew left me for dead because why would they care about me? I was counting on Liara's crew not to scan me if I was already dead at the scene. They zipped me up in a bag and sent me off to the estate morgue. I knew I had a day or more before I would be cremated, and with all the chaos, I knew the room would be unoccupied. With the concoction only taking hold for a few hours, I took the first opportune moment and got out of the bag then tossed the bag in the incinerator. I engaged my cloak and made my way onto the ship by listening to their frequencies and blending in with my own disguise. The eclipse gang thought their informer was dead and the Shepard's also thought I was dead."

"What do I do? How does this work?" Asked Milizkia

"You're in a gang now. So, you leave your feelings and your heart right here in this room. Keep your head down and follow directions. If you must shoot someone, just do it and don't hesitate. The initiation to become an Eclipse sister is murdering someone. The more gruesome the kill, the higher the level of sister you are when you enter. There's several tiers within the gang and the more brutal and talented you are the higher up you go. You need to become ice cold and a hard-core bitch. With your intelligence and skills, you could be at least a century old. Hell, you could even pull off a second century from all the shit you've learned over the years." Vilio grabbed the clothes out of her small bag and shoved them in Milizkia's hands "Here put this on but leave the shirt off for now."

Milizkia pointed to her face, "What is this, and how do I get another if this fails?"

She shook her head as she said, "It's sustainable; it'll repair itself, but if you need to remove it, compress it back together then reapply it." She handed her the small gadget. "Don't lose this."

Milizkia looked down at the small gadget, "What is this?"

"It's what adheres it to your scales and helps remove it. Apply it then hover this over the area. I don't know how long you'll have to follow this routine but when you get a chance to bail then you take it."

"Why are you helping me?" she asked.

"Because you're young and you don't deserve this, no one does. Shepard can take care of himself, and your dad was …unfortunate. I didn't think Jona was going to kill anyone. I knew they'd get slapped around, but I thought it was all for obtaining Omega and money, but Jona is unpredictable. I don't know why she would kill you because your mom is just going to hunt her down." She took a deep breath as tears streamed down her face and her voice cracked when she said "The pain in your mother's voice when you died struck my heart with so much force that it took everything, I had to hold back my tears. Not only did your mother see but so did your family. Everyone thinks you're dead."

Milizkia scrunched her face as she held back her tears then took a ragged breath. "Did Nezzie see?"

She shrugged as she said "I don't know. Why do you ask?"

"She's the only one that would know if that death was true or not. All because of the ring. I didn't have it in my possession that girl did." She said as she slipped on her pants then her boots.

"Oh! Hmm. Well, they know Jona will be on Omega. So, if you don't see them raiding it to kill her then they know you're not dead and they're looking for you."

She nodded "What about my uncle?"

Vilio shook her head "I don't know where they took him. There's no way she would keep him on Omega because that would make it too easy to find."

She looked at the door then made a quick head nod as she said, "What about those girls out there?"

"You can't concern yourself with those girls—"

"I knew the girl that got killed, and I know another one in the group. Can we save her?"

Vilio sighed, "I can't save her. Mil, you're hard enough as it is and don't tempt it."

She nodded then said, "It's Camilla Tourneau."

Vilio looked back at her and nodded, "Ok, Camilla. I have a few tattoos for you."

"Tattoos? No, no way." she said as she shook her head.

"Yes, and this is going to hurt but just know that it can be removed and the damage lifted by trained professionals. Be still." She tapped at her omni tool and removed a tool from her small bag. She made quick movements through her omni tool then applied something to the left of her jaw and cheek and above her left eye. She held her omni tool still then it made quick flashes. Vilio ran another tool over her face then grabbed something else out of her small bag. "Ok, don't move."

Milizkia clenched her fists and jaw at the intense pain in her face. "Fuuuck!" she said through her teeth.

"Ok, all done. Now… one more."

Milizkia felt the same application at the curve of her neck.

"Ok, ready?" asked Vilio

"Yep." She clenched her hands again. "Arrgggh!"

Vilio gently patted the back of her neck "This is your initiation tattoo. If they ask for verification, this is where it is. You're a third-tier sister, make sure you play the part."

"Ok, what's that mean exactly?"

Vilio smirked "It means you're sadistic…" she patted her shoulder. "Ok, Camilla all done. Sorry, but you were too pretty to be an Eclipse sister. Now, for those pretty eyes." She stared into them for a moment, "Goddess, you have your dad's eyes. Here, look up and let me put these in. These will be semi-permanent until a professional removes them. I know you're nervous but don't worry; everything I did to you can be removed, and your pretty features will come back. As for now, you're just another ugly Eclipse sister."

Milizkia laughed softly. "I guess..."

"Don't attempt to contact your mom or your family. They'll know, and you'll give yourself away. Don't forget... be ruthless. Here take this omni tool; it has their frequencies and everything you need to learn their ways and their high in command and your tier group." She handed her a submachine gun, "Here's a gun. Play the part. Think of how your mom acts, and you'll blend in well." She pointed to the data on the omni tool "Learn this, then discard it." She took a snapshot of her face then her left arm and her right forearm.

Milizkia nodded. "Thank you." She looked at the picture. "Holy shit! I wouldn't have even recognized myself if I looked in the mirror. Damn!" She saw that her thin green wisps were gone around her eyes and temples. Her left eye area had a nasty scar through it, and her eye was milky white, and her other was now blue grey. She had a scar running down the length of her right cheek and a wicked-looking tattoo creeping around the left side of her face. Her left upper arm had a nasty circular scar on each side of it. Right forearm had a scar slit through each side.

Vilio pointed to her left arm, "Gunshot wound." She pointed to her forearm, "Blade wound." Her cheek "bullet grazed you." Your eye "knife wound that damaged your eye. All badly repaired because you didn't come from a nice rich family that could repair them all."

"Ok... why the wicked face tattoo? What is that? Are those thorns?" Asked Milizkia

"To take your facial features away. Besides, it makes you look like a total badass bitch, and it could be a nickname. Camilla Tourneau aka Thorn. This stuff is the best shit out there. It's paper-thin, and it'll hold up to just about everything and last. I must go." She took a long look at her then patted her shoulder. "You can do this. No more simulations, from now on this is the real deal. Put your all into everything you do as if it's your last stand. Leave your heart, your feelings, and trust in this room. Go fall in line and make rounds. Take care of yourself." She said then tapped her collar and disappeared then left out the door.

Milizkia quickly put on her shirt, and the rest of her Eclipse suit then gathered the small devices and put them in a pocket in her pants. She looked down and read over the material quickly. She took a deep breath as she shook her hands then quietly said"Ok; you can do this just blend in. Be ruthless. Be mom. Just be mom. Got it!" She raised her arms to mock her mother as she mouthed "I'm the Queen of Omega." She laughed softly as she thought of her mother then walked toward the door. She stood in front of it then took quick breaths as she jumped up and down. "I got this." She said repeatedly. She took one last deep breath and put on a stern face then exited the room and walked down the hall.

"Hey, you! What are you doing over here?" yelled a male Eclipse member down the hall.

She froze, and her heart began to beat fast. It's ok. It's ok. It's fine. You're fine. Just be a bitch. She took a breath then growled out, "Am I not allowed to take a fucking break?" She turned and walked toward the Eclipse member.

"Oh, you're one of us! I thought you were someone else." He said.

"And who the fuck would that be?" she snapped.

He shrugged as he shook his head then stumbled over his words "I…I don't know."

She mocked him "I…I don't know." She shook her head "Oh, because we just have random people walking around here, right. What the fuck?" she said as she walked closer to him.

He took a step back when he saw her face "Geezus Christ what the fuck happened to your eye and face? I don't think I've ever seen an asari with an eye like that."

She leaned toward him and pointed to her eye, "Fucker tried to cut out my eye! He clipped it but I got him." she hissed then laughed wickedly. "Blew his fucking dick off then jammed his own knife in his neck."

He scrunched his face "God damn... you're not all there, are you?"

She laughed wickedly then said "I'm not. That's why I'm a tier three." She looked at him for a moment then looked at her hands "Have you ever had the need to strangle someone just for fun?" she said as a smile slowly crept across her face as she looked at him.

He took a step back as he said, "No." then shook his head "You sisters are fucking ruthless, and I can see why Jona selected you. What's your name?"

"Camilla... Camilla Tourneau."