11Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or the Mass Effect Trilogy.
Non-consensual drug use/addiction by minors, touching of a drugged person in future chapter
Based off the final chapter of Death Steps in.
Went looking for transcripts of the ME games, good luck with that. Have only played the trilogy and read fics like Harry Potter Geth. I've seen Huntress and Commando used interchangeably and separately, so I've used them separately, with Commando ranked higher. Lots of use of various wiki websites for timelines and things.
Chapter 1
Liara watched from the doorway as her little sister packed her bag. She'd barely turned forty and was leaving home for a life of danger.
"Mother called you, didn't she?" Sora sighed, and Liara entered her room fully.
"There was something about this being what she gets for melding with a Turian and stubborn children," Liara admitted with a laugh, perching on the edge of the bed. She put her hand over Sora's, making her stop her packing, and her little sister looked up at her. "Are you sure?"
Sora sighed and sat beside her. "I'm not like you and Mother, science and philosophy don't interest me at all." She bent one knee up, resting her arms on it, looking more out the window then at Liara. "All our lives we've been told we have powerful biotics, so why not a path where I can use them to protect our people?"
"There are many ways to help and protect Thessia without becoming a Huntress," Liara pointed out, though she doubted it would work.
"Did Mother really call you back from your dig over this?" Sora sighed. "You're only twenty years older than me," she grumbled, and Liara laughed.
"No matter how old you get, you'll always be the baby of the family," she teased, but it was true. Their Mother was a Matriarch now, they would not have any more siblings. "Did you talk to your Father about this?"
Sora nodded, shifting to lean back against the wall. "She's all for it of course, though she'd prefer I join the Turian Military," they both laughed at that. "She is quite proud of me following the family tradition of military service, but she didn't push me to."
Liara had met Orinia only a handful of times, usually when the Turian was returning Sora to Thessia after a visit. It was an unusual arrangement since children usually remained with their Mothers if their parents were not a permanent pairing. The Turian had even given her a gift the last time because Sora had mentioned her birthday was coming up and it had felt nice that she'd tried to include her. Liara thought seeing her Father occasionally was good for Sora, it gave her more insight into other species than many Asari her age. Though the visits were infrequent due to Orinia serving in the military.
"With both of you choosing military service, you may not see her very much at all," she warned. The discipline of military life, even the looser version of their city, could be good for Sora, she'd always had issues settling, too much energy.
"I know, Father said the same thing, but we can always call each other. I suppose I could point out to Mother that better the Military than shaking my Azure in some club somewhere," Sora grinned.
Liara stared at her in shock. "You are way too young, I'm too young, for that language!" she moaned, and Sora laughed at her. "Please don't tell her that, she's too young to die from the shock."
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Benezia watched as her daughters left home, Liara to return to her University dig site and Sora off to learn to be a Huntress. Not the lives she would have wished them to live but she could not force them to follow the paths she wished them to. She had spoken with Sora's Father herself to be sure the Turian hadn't pushed their daughter towards that life, but she swore she hadn't. She loved both her daughters dearly, she just did not understand them very well. Still, she had done what she could to support their interests, ensuring Liara had books on archaeology to get her to stop digging up public parks and helping Sora develop her biotic potential from a young age, getting her tutors in martial arts to give her a way to burn off excess energy and teach discipline.
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Sora carefully cleaned her equipment along with all the other recruits. They weren't Huntresses, not yet, and they likely wouldn't be for another decade at least but they had just successfully concluded their first mission. It had been…an eye opener. She found that while she was good at the work…she wasn't entirely sure that she liked it, at least, not when it came to lethal force.
There'd been some issues on and off thanks to her Mother. Apparently, most people didn't actually realise she had two daughters and so assumed Sora was the Pureblood, mocking her for it, keeping their distance as if she might secretly be the creature of their nightmares…it was all so silly. Liara was not an Ardat-Yakshi, the majority of Purebloods weren't, but that didn't stop the stigma. Her records listed her as having an older sibling so she didn't have trouble from any of their trainers or anyone else who would have seen it. Everyone else, she either ignored or pointed out they couldn't count or recall names very well. Not everyone appreciated that.
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Liara smiled as she watched the recorded message from Sora, congratulating her on graduating top of her class. Apparently her sister had never doubted that would happen. She looked a little tired but healthy in the message which helped sooth Liara's worries for her. The galaxy was at peace, there was no safer time to have joined the military, and yet she couldn't help worrying about Sora. She'd always been such a happy child, bright and bubbly, it was hard to imagine her on a battlefield or tracking down slavers.
She missed her sister a lot, they'd barely seen each other in the years since Sora had left home. And now they would be even less likely to see each other since she was leaving Thessia to pursue her work on the Protheans.
Liara tried to contact Sora directly, not all that surprised when she couldn't, so she recorded a message, letting her know she was leaving in three days and to keep safe. It was possible Sora would be able to see her in that time, but she refused to hope.
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"Liara!" She called, waving her hand to catch her attention when Liara turned, seeing her smile as she realised who had yelled across the spaceport. Sora dodged and weaved amongst the crowd to reach her, happily hugging her sister. "You didn't give much warning you'd be home," she chided playfully, taking one of Liara's bags.
"I didn't think you would be here," her sister admitted as they began walking.
"I've been here a week since I'm awaiting official assignment to a team," she answered. Her training was done and she was officially a Huntress. She had no plans to aim higher for the position as Commando though, that would mean a very long-term commitment and she was beginning to think she would only serve the minimum.
"That's wonderful! Congratulations. We must celebrate," Liara told her as they made it to the waiting skycar.
"I made a lunch reservation for tomorrow on the way here. We can celebrate your birthday at the same time. Seventy-five, so old," Sora teased.
"I'm not even one hundred yet!" Liara laughed.
"So, how goes the dig?" Sora asked as she got in to fly. She listened to Liara happily speak on her work, she really didn't get her fascination with the Protheans but it made her sister happy and that was what mattered.
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Hannah Shepard fell back against the bed, her hair plastered to her face as she panted for air.
"Congratulations Commander Shepard, you have a son," the Doctor announced, carefully handing over the squalling bundle.
Hannah stared down at her son, taking in the brown hair already thick on his head, the tiny fingers waving in the air. "He's perfect," she whispered, feeling his fingers curl around her own. "John," she decided, for his grandfather. She only whished his father was there to see him but he'd been posted shipboard three months ago, John just had to be premature with Mark due back on leave in two weeks.
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She looked up as the door to her office opened, only a few code enter like that, and to her surprise her youngest walked in. Sora was in her huntress uniform so likely not on leave, and she appeared troubled.
"I'm sorry for intruding Mother," Sora offered, and Benezia smiled at her.
"Come little bird, what is troubling you?" she stood form her desk and moved to the seats by the window, Sora following her.
"It's Father," she admitted, "I called her a few days ago and something strange is going on. It seems like the Turians are preparing for war, but with who? She was very careful with what she said, but it feels too big to just be dealing with pirates or even Batarians."
Benezia frowned, that did not sound good. Who could the Turians possibly go to war with? "I have heard nothing from the other Matriarchs about a war and if we were preparing then surely as a Huntress you would have heard something. Which would likely rule out this being a Council initiative. I do have contacts within the Hierarchy, I shall make discreet enquiries." War was never good, especially when one of her daughters was in the military and the other was far from home and too exposed to danger.
"Thank you Mother, I don't like asking for things like this," Sora admitted.
"You are worried about your Father and the state of the galaxy, both of those are things everyone should be concerned with. I will see what I can do."
Sora never knew, but by asking her Mother to see what she could find out, the Relay 314 Incident as the Turians called it was brought under Council scrutiny sooner than it would have been thus shortening the conflict and sparing dozens of lives.
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The first time Sora stepped foot onto the Citadel, it awed her, but there was also a sense of….foreboding. It wasn't a 'now' feeling so she pushed it aside, following her squad to the Presidium for orders, apparently their Councillor wanted something investigated. Sora would keep that feeling at the back of her mind though, she knew better than to dismiss it, even as she heard whispers about a new Spectre, the youngest Turian ever appointed apparently, though no name was given.
She didn't know how or why, though she knew it wasn't connected to her biotics, but sometimes she just felt things others didn't. When she ignored the warnings, bad things tended to happen, like surprise pirate attacks that nearly killed them all. Her squad had decided she was some sort of good luck charm and while she didn't like it, she could put up with it.
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Akimitsu smiled at the tiny bundle in his wife's arms. They had a son! Riku was perfect, with wispy light hair inherited from Amelia's side of the family. Maybe now wasn't the best time to be starting a family but at the moment he didn't care. The baby's eyes opened, revealing cyan coloured eyes, another trait from the Clarke side of the family tree. Honestly, he hadn't inherited much of the Yamada looks, but maybe as he grew they would become more obvious?
It had only been four years since the First Contact War and humanity was still adjusting to the massive changes it had brought, and it wasn't always adjusting well. He wished he could show off his son to their families, but he'd lost an older brother and his father in the war while Amelia's family had died in the occupation of Shanxi. The war had been why they met, but he was determined their son would not know war. His family had a long and proud military history but he didn't want that for their son, even if they had never made it very high in the ranks. He wanted Riku to know peace.
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Sora sighed as she sat up, running a hand over her face. She'd been having such strange dreams lately. They were all jumbled, flashes of images too fast to decipher, all she could make out was a voice calling her name, but she didn't recognise the voice at all. It didn't sound like an Asari or Turian either.
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Mark sighed as his son was found curled up fast asleep in one of the maintenance tubes, just relieved he'd been found at all. The kid was fascinated by everything and prone to getting into places he shouldn't. Thankfully, the base staff found it amusing, and security thought he was a wonderful training tool for the recruits. Mark just wished John would stop trying to give him grey hairs, he was seven, he had studies to do…but there were so few children around and none the same age as him which made things difficult. Maybe it would be easier if one of them retired or asked for permanent transfer to Earth, let John grow up in a proper home rather than being passed between them like a parcel depending on which of them had the more child friendly posting at the moment.
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Sora stared at the body before her before crouching to get a closer look, removing the helmet of its armour. She'd never seen a human before, images and recordings on the extranet didn't count, and she wished this one hadn't had to die. His presence did give them the confirmation the Council had wanted though, the various mercenary bands had begun hiring humans as well.
She could see why others said that humans and Asari shared similar traits, their body builds seemed very similar to her, although even with armour she thought this human had a very flat chest. Was it a male of the species? And on top of his head was what they called 'hair'. She wondered if it was as soft as it looked but she was hardly going to touch it.
She scanned the body with her Omni-tool before standing up to continue the search for the missing cargo they were actually there for. Someone had actually been dumb enough to steal from a Matriarch, they were her response.
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Amelia felt Riku cling to her skirt as the Alliance officer took off his cap. She could think of only one reason for his presence and she fought to remain calm. She would not upset her son; the coming months would be difficult enough. The Turian invasion of Shanxi had been the death of her family and now the Alliance had killed all of Akimitsu's. Riku was all that was left and the Alliance would not kill her baby. No, she would make sure he moved towards something far safer. He was smart for a four-year-old, perhaps academia would suit him, if she could find the funds somehow.
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She watched the two much younger Asari as they sat at a table, their heads together as they went over something, the younger laughing brightly. It was good to see them so happy. She was proud of them both for choosing their own paths while avoiding the pitfalls so many of their maidens fell into. She was as proud of Sora as she would be if the girl was hers for choosing to become a Huntress.
She wished she could be a part of their lives, but it was better for them this way. Besides, if she and Benezia had remained together then Sora wouldn't exist, they never would have risked a second child. She knew Benezia loved both children and was proud of them, even when frustrated at their actions. Just Benezia's luck to have two daughters so different to her.
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Liara sighed as the message popped up, Orinia wishing her a happy birthday and also letting her know that Sora had looked well when her squad had passed through the Citadel a week before. Sora had been pleased when her Father became a diplomat on the Citadel, far safer for someone of such advancing years than the military. Sora was all too aware of how much shorter a Turians' life was then their own. When the time came, Liara was determined to be there for her sister, no matter how fascinating the work she was doing at the time.
It was good to have word of Sora, she was almost always on a mission of some kind now. things were…unsettled, had been ever since the First Contact War as the humans called it. Many of the other races were wary of the humans, she personally had no opinion as she'd never met any. They had an embassy on the Citadel now, perhaps on the way to her next dig she could arrange to stop by for supplies and see if she could meet a human. Sora hadn't had much to say beyond having run into several working for mercenary bands and the like, there hadn't been any conversation between them. There'd even been talk of a human Spectre about two years ago, but nothing had come of it.
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Kaiden was nervous, scared really. Brain surgery wasn't exactly risk free, even these days. He was sixteen and the idea of a surgeon cutting into his brain all so he could control his biotic abilities…yep, he was scared. Once he'd recovered he'd be shipped off to BAaT, unable to even contact his family. His Mother hadn't taken that well, it was bad enough his Dad was often posted off world and could be out of contact for weeks or months depending on the mission, now he was being shipped off to Jump Zero. He didn't get why they wouldn't be able to contact their families, maybe to keep them fully focused on the training or something? He'd get through it and then go home, that was all he had to do.
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Hannah sat by her sons bedside; she'd been terrified when she'd been informed of his exposure to eezo. The doctors had assured her that he'd be fine though, but did they really know for sure? There was still a lot unknown about how the human body reacted to it. exposure in the womb didn't always been a child with biotic potential, for many it meant death or illness.
Three days later John accidently sent a chair flying…without touching it. She said nothing, not after the rumours going around about BAaT. In the end her silence turned out to be a good things as the program was shut down very quietly, too quietly. Something had obviously gone very wrong.
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Sora was not impressed with what she saw as they moved quietly onto Omega. She glanced at her partner to see the older Asari looked even less impressed, but they were also wary. They'd been warned about the so-called Queen of Omega, she was a powerful Matriarch and held tight control of the station. But for that reason they did not believe she would interfere with their mission, an Ardat-Yakshi was never good for business after all.
Sora felt sorry for the girl they had been sent after; she hadn't asked to be born the way she had. She'd only killed once so far, if they could get to her before she gave in again, then there was a chance of getting her to the Monastery where she could live safely in seclusion with others like her. There'd been too much death lately, for once, she'd like a mission to end without bloodshed.
Of course that was when a Batarian planted himself in front of them, hand on his weapon. Sora didn't visibly tense but she prepared her biotics while Leassa stepped calmly forward, drawing his attention.
"Aria wants to see you both," he grunted at them.
Sora looked to her partner who frowned but then nodded and they followed the Batarian to the club where she did business. She ignored the other Asari dancing for the patrons, it was their choice to do that, well, it better be anyway. She didn't understand the draw to that kind of lifestyle, being leered at and propositioned, it was bad enough every time she left Asari space and she was a Huntress!
"Let me do the talking," Leassa murmured, and Sora nodded.
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Aria leant back on her couch, studying the two Asari as they were led up to her. Both young, the younger she'd guess at under a hundred, the older no more than two. But they both moved with a familiar deadly grace, eyes scanning for danger. Huntresses on her station, now why would that be? She could think of several reasons but it never paid to jump to conclusions. "So, what brings two of Thessia's Huntresses to MY station," she smirked at them, impressed when neither showed any discomfort or fear.
"We are hunting someone you would wish gone Matriarch Aria."
"Would I really?" that was an interesting opening and concerning.
"We tracked an Ardat-Yakshi here," the elder Huntresses' words had Aria scowling.
One of those on her station? If she truly was there, she had yet to kill, that she would have noticed. "If that's true, I want it gone," she snarled.
"That is why we're here."
"Hmph. Garka, get them any intel they need to find it, fast."
"Yes Aria," he agreed, and she waved them away.
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Leassa kept an eye on Sora as they made their way through the station, they'd been partnered for a few years now and while she knew the younger Huntress would never shy from the job, she couldn't say she knew her very well off-duty. She didn't know if it was the way she'd been treated as a trainee by those who thought she was Benezia's only child and therefore the Pureblood, if that was why Sora didn't connect as strongly with them as was normal or if Sora was just naturally very withdrawn. But it could leave her vulnerable to their target depending on how powerful she had become. All Ardat-Yakshi had a natural ability to dominate the minds of others, even other Asari.
She had been to Omega several times, but it was Sora's first time and she was taking it all in as they walked. They'd been given a list of places it was likely their target could be staying and had already checked two with no luck. Sora at least was remaining professionally casual, doing a good job of not being obvious, or looking like a wide-eyed newcomer. They wore their weapons openly like the majority of those on the station, a warning to others not to mess with them.
A scream of horror and grief had them breaking into a run…right towards the next apartment block on their list.
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Kaiden knelt before the toilet, fighting to not throw up again. His head was pounding with another migraine, he'd never gotten them before he'd been fitted with his implant. He hadn't slept well since coming home which probably didn't help, too many memories. He didn't regret standing up to Vyrnnus, but he did regret the Turians' death. He'd been allowed to get away with too much in the name of training them, but that didn't mean Kaiden had wanted him dead.
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Sora let lose a shockwave, the string of concussive mass effect fields homing in to slam the Ardat-Yakshi into the wall behind her. She'd mated three times since arriving on Omega, once before that, increasing her powers and intelligence. It also made it far less likely she'd give in and agree to retire to the Monastery. She ducked as her opponent returned fire with a biotic throw and then watched her jerk as shotgun fire ripped through her shields, her body dropping to the ground. Sora got to her feet and scooped her pistol up, approaching cautiously to check the body. "Dead," she pronounced in relief.
"Are you hurt?" Leassa asked, and Sora shook her head, a few bruises was nothing important. Not even worth wasting medi-gel on them, but they both knew it could have been a lot worse.
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John watched the news in horror as the colony of Mindoir was announced as destroyed. Almost everyone there had been killed or enslaved by Batarians. Two months later another colony, Yandoa, suffered catastrophic dust-form element zero exposure to its atmosphere when an Eldfell-Ashland Energy ship exploded in orbit. He'd been considering his options and he was leaning more and more towards following his parents into the military.
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Amelia watched Riku work hard at his studies at the tiny table in their one room apartment. She'd moved them to Benning for work, except the job didn't pay as well as advertised. Between it and the government money they were surviving at least. She was determined to give him the best life she could, somehow. She still missed Akimitsu, she always would. Their lives would have been so different if he had survived.
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Mark found his son sitting stiffly, face white. "Are you alright?" he asked, and John nodded. That was a relief. Hannah had told him but John hadn't had anything happen since then, they'd thought any effects had worn off but apparently John had just been managing to suppress it all.
They went into the office together, when they left the surgery was arranged. Training him to use his biotic abilities was going to be difficult, with BAaT having been shut down a few years ago. There was a replacement being built but it wasn't ready and wouldn't be for some time, possibly years. They'd figure things out, they always did. He was seventeen, in a year he would be old enough to enlist and the Alliance Military was very eager to have biotics sign on, they'd probably make sure one of the trainers could teach John. At least he wouldn't be receiving one of those L2 implants, not with all the side effects they had.
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Riku stared at the plain box holding his Mother's body, eyes dry. He had no tears left and they wouldn't help anything anyway. He was an orphan; he had no other family…so what was he meant to do now? He was twelve! Too young to work any kind of legal job but too old for any family to really want to adopt him, not that he'd want it either. If he was older, he could always sign on with the Military, but no one would believe he was eighteen, not for a few more years anyway.
His Mum hadn't wanted him to join the military and honestly, he wasn't too keen on it, now with how things were. But it was his best bet at a job with board and food. Maybe he'd find something else before he was old enough, but what?
Benning wasn't the worst colony world to get stuck on, if he had the credits then transport off would be easy. If he had the credits, what little they'd had saved had gone on treatment but his Mum had still died. His Dad's death benefits hadn't gone very far and they were in her name, would they give them to a kid?
He watched as the box began to burn, reduced to ash in just over a minute. He could hear them whispering about him being cold, not crying, but what did they know? They were just the staff and he wouldn't cry in front of them or anyone else. Other comments had him wishing for a weapon as they talked about his exotic looks, how…pretty he was and how young. It was definitely time to leave. He signed the log saying he had watched her burn and was satisfied and then left, heading back to their small apartment where he locked the door.
He curled up in her bed, hugging her pillow. Life with just the two of them hadn't been easy, but he'd loved her and now she was gone.
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Kaiden had taken a long time to decide what to do but now he'd done it, he'd enlisted. He wasn't the oldest recruit but he was older than the majority. His parents had been very understanding ever since he'd come home, they'd gotten him through the trauma and nightmares. He'd undergone counselling eventually for the whole experience.
He looked at himself in the mirror and he'd never looked more like his Dad than he did in his training uniform.
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As she got ready for bed, Sora paused, realising something. For the last few weeks, the strange dreams that had plagued her for just over a decade, had stopped. Why? And why did that make her feel…sad?
TBC….