Sorry for the wait guys! Lots of different reasons, but the main one was procrastination. Well that and I had a lot of issues with the dialogue in this chapter and figuring out where to cut it off. This was my longest chapter to date, too! I was actually gonna make it longer, but I felt like it was good where I left it off.

Looking forward to the next chapter because...well, you'll see ;)

Chapter 9 - Breakthrough

"Ohhhh...what..." groaned Amala as she slowly came out of her unconscious state. Every part of her body felt like it was on fire. Except for her legs. Her legs felt like they were set on fire, had glass run through it and then had a bunch of salt and fire-ants poured over the wound.

Her eyes cracked open and she saw that she was in the Med Bay. Hopefully this wouldn't become a recurring thing. Amala gingerly craned her neck as she looked around the Med Bay. Dr. Chakwas was nowhere to be seen and she appeared to be the only patient.

What happened...? Where is...

The door to the Med Bay opened to reveal a blonde woman holding a datapad, her eyes widened when she met Amala's eyes.

"Carol!" exclaimed Amala, jolting up from her position and then doubling over in pain at the sudden movement. "Oww...okay, not a smart move getting up like that..."

There was the sound of running footsteps coming over towards her bed as a gentle hand eased Amala back onto the pillows. Amala looked over Carol and gave her a wide smile, "You're okay."

Tears started to leak out from her eyes.

"Carol?! What's wrong? Are you hurt somewhere-" Amala's startled questions were cut off as she was folded into an extremely gentle hug. No pressure was placed on her body, but she could feel Carol's warmth radiating from her body to Amala's.

Perhaps it was because of how much Carol had hugged Amala during her stay on the Normandy, but the unique scent she carried had already become a very familiar and relaxing one for her. Different from Julia's which radiated both strength and safety, Carol's scent reminded Amala of her mother.

Safety. Comfort. Warmth. Love.

"Silly." sniffed Carol, "I should be asking you that."

She pulled back and smiled, her complexion was blotchy from the tears that continued to stream down her face. "Do you know how much you scared me? I thought I was going to lose you!"

There was so much fear in her voice as she said these words that Amala wondered how Carol had come to care so much for her. She didn't dare to voice this question however, as Amala was afraid that she'd lose this woman's affection if she did.

Amala quivered and looked down, "I'm sorry..." she said quietly, "I-I-There was a guy and he had a gun and I-"

- couldn't lose you.

Carol leaned forward and kissed Amala on the forehead, "It's okay sweetie. As long as you're safe, it's okay."

With only a slight limp accompanying her step, Amala exited through the glowing doors of the Med Bay and stood triumphantly in the mess with her two hands in a victory pose. "FREEDOM!"

Laughter and sarcastic applause bloomed throughout the ship deck, bringing a faint blush to the still grinning Amala. It was late in the afternoon for the Normandy and there was a sizable amount of crew members in attendance. Julia and Kaidan were particularly prominent, along with Raymond and-

"Heyyy sweetie! I'm so glad you're feeling better!" Amala was lifted up off the ground and spun around a few times in a circle before being tightly embraced by Carol. Amala was once again struck at how calming Carol's scent was for her, almost as if she were back home with her own mother. It was therefore, almost instinctual for her to nuzzle the side of Carol's neck with a contented purr rumbling out of her throat.

Amala blushed hard as soon as she realized what she was doing and pulled back with a bright red face. "Um. That wasn't -"

""AHHH, SO CUTE!"" The women in the mess all squealed at once (even Julia surprisingly) and rushed forward to hug Amala.

"Gah! Wait!" her cries fell on deaf ears as Amala drowned in the girly horde who were alternately planting kisses on her face or stroking her hair or just trying to suffocate her in their bosoms.

After a few minutes of their smothering, Julia clapped her hands and broke up the women with a chuckle, "All right, that's enough ladies." her eyes twinkled mischievously, "At least for now."

Amala was still being held aloft in the air by Carol like an oversized plush doll, so she could only resort to glaring at the sniggering Julia, "Gee. Thanks."

Though the hugs were nice. She thought with a faint blush.

Someone grabbed Amala a meal and they sat down together at a table, while the others left to return to their stations. Amala was surprised to find out that she had been unconscious for two days and that they had long since left Omega. She was glad to know that no one had died, although Rob had already been transferred to an Alliance medical vessel which put her in a sour mood.

Amala dutifully shovelled the military slop down into her gullet, hunger overriding the bland taste that the meal had, as Julia filled her in on everything that had happened.

"Of course. You would not have been in such a state had you listened to my orders and stayed on the ship." said Julia quietly.

The spork holding the last bits of ration froze in mid-air when she heard this. Amala slowly lowered the food back into it's container as she looked at Julia, who had a very stern expression on her face. Sneaking a glance to Carol whose lap she was sitting on and Kaidan who was next to Julia, they both wore similar expressions.

"I had to go. Raymond wanted to stop me, but he knew that I would've come along anyway." said Amala carefully, not wanting to throw anyone under the bus, she wanted to make sure that Julia and everyone else knew that this was her decision.

"I couldn't just stay on the ship wondering if – if someone had died and knowing that I could have done something to save them." Amala clenched her fists and stared hotly at Julia.

"Did you also know that Lantar saw your real form, when we got back to the ship?"

Stunned, Amala opened her mouth to ask before Julia cut her off, "He swore he would keep it a secret, but you have to realize your actions could have cost everyone very dearly."

"Would that cost have been more dear than someone's life?" said Amala quietly.

Julia's face softened, "No. It wouldn't have. But I need you to understand that things could've gone very poorly, even though you were doing things for the right reasons."

Julia's hands slipped over to cover Amala's, "Amala, you are one of the most extraordinary people that I have ever met in my entire life and I'm not referring at all to your looks or your abilities."

Amala was confused by that statement. What else was so good about her? Amala was pretty sure it was only her strength that made her special on Lozen.

Julia and Kaidan laughed at her expression as Carol poked Amala's chest, just over her heart. "She's talking about this right here."

"When we all joined the Alliance, we all swore an oath to defend those who couldn't defend themselves. To protect our people, even at the cost of our own lives. Our entire career as soldiers was built on that foundation; the same going for every crew member on this ship, whether or not they serve on the frontlines." explained Kaidan.

"But that's our job, Amala. We were trained to throw ourselves in the line of fire. To keep going in the face of adversity, even when everything seems to go to hell." said Julia.

Amala wrinkled her nose, "You're selling yourselves short then. I think even without being in the military, you would've done the same things anyway."

Julia's face took on an odd expression, one that seemed to be a mixture of deep sadness or regret and a bitter smile. It was painful to look at and Amala was glad that it only lasted for a brief few moments on the woman's face.

"You weren't in the military though, were you Amala?" asked Kaidan.

Amala rolled her eyes, "Even on Lozen, they didn't let kids join the military."

Though that's probably because most kids hadn't even stepped into the realm of cultivation yet.

Carol squeezed Amala's hand, "That's our point though. You never thought about the consequences of your actions, even if it meant risking your life, if it was to save someone. You weren't trained to do something like that. It was instinct; solid proof of the strength of your heart."

Julia leaned in forward, locking Amala's emerald gaze with her own pools of shimmering green. "It's also your greatest weakness." Julia smiled ruefully, "Cliche, I know. But it doesn't make it any less true."

Amala frowned, "I'm a lot stronger than most people, so I won't be in much danger."

"Who's the one who nearly died in front of me?" asked Carol with a slight tremble in her voice.

Amala hesitated, "Things would have been a lot different if I was there from the start." she looked at Julia who understood the hidden question.

"Amala..." she began.

"It's not like I haven't had my carefree life as a kid, you know?" said Amala quietly, "But if I'm ever going to have a chance to get back home-" Carol tightened her embrace at these words. "I have to take some risks. Saren took Regis. Finding Saren means finding a way home. I'm about to make a breakthrough to the next Rebirth stage, so I'll be even safer than I ever was before!"

For a long minute, Julia just stared at her and Amala did her best to match the intensity in the older woman's eyes. Finally, she opened her mouth: "How much safer?"

"Commander!" cried out an aghast Carol.

"Shepard, you can't really be thinking-"

Julia held out her hand for their silence, of which they quickly complied with. Though Carol was now keeping a death grip on one of Amala's hands.

"The 5th Rebirth Stage is the final step, just before one reaches the Element Stage. The body becomes even stronger than it was before and my top speed even without using Ki can go up to Mach 3."

"Combined with the shielding technology and my own techniques, not including the new one that I had stumbled upon back on Omega-" Carol flinched at the mention of the space station and Amala looked apologetically at her, before continuing. "and the fact that I won't be on the front-lines, I'll be safer than any other member on your squad."

"If I'm on the space ship," continued Amala, making sure to emphasize the 'space' part, "And it gets attacked and goes down, I have no chance of surviving. At least on the ground, I stand a far better chance of living."

She stared deeply into all of their eyes before driving home her final point. "Also...who's to say that Regis isn't working with Saren? Can you honestly tell me that you would be able to stop him? Especially if they're working together? Because I will say this: For all his faults, Regis is incredibly powerful for his age, with a cultivation level at the 3rd Rebirth Stage."

There was an uncomfortable silence before Kaidan gave his own input, "That situation may not be so helpless. We've been working on a new set of shields."

"Which will hold out against a few physical attacks before shattering. In addition, what happens when he tries to use Ki-based techniques?" pointed out Amala.

Kaidan blanched, as did Julia's, who evidently did not consider this aspect either. "See? This is why I should go with you. I can help guard against the things you can't predict or aren't able to deal with. Plus, I-"

"Alright." stated Julia calmly.

"I...what?"

"Alright. You've made your point. And I agree. You would be a large help. But this isn't something obligatory."

"I know. But I want to do this." Amala clenched her fist tightly.

"We would need to set a LOT of ground-rules first that you would need to follow to the letter."

"No problem." assured Amala.

"Yes, there is most CERTAINLY a PROBLEM!" shouted Carol, causing both Amala and Kaidan to flinch. Julia simply regarded the woman with a cool appraisal.

"The one mission I did go down with the rest of the crew, went fine!" Amala saw that the woman was about lapse into her usual argument before she cut her off, "Not every mission will be like the one on Omega, Carol. I'll be fine."

"Amala...I don't want to see you get hurt again. Despite your concerns, it's still a lot safer on the ship than it is on the ground." she whispered. Pleading with her. Begging her.

Amala saw the concern in Carol's eyes and was touched that the woman cared so much about her. Even so...

"You're right, Carol. I might get seriously hurt, down there." Perhaps I might even die. "But honestly? I've faced much worse odds before and I've come out on top, every single time."

Carol pursed her lips and ran her hand gently down Amala's hair, "Can you promise me one thing, at least?" She cupped one of her cheeks, so that Amala would meet her steady gaze. "Promise me that you will look out for your own safety down there. You will make your health a priority."

Amala's eyes widened and she was about to protest when Julia cut in, "That will be Ground Rule Number One, by the way."

"But I-"

"""No, buts.""" chorused all three adults.

"...fine." she said in a small voice.

"Let me hear you say it." said Carol sternly.

"I...promise to make my health and safety-"

"Your number one concern." chimed in Kaidan 'helpfully'.

Amala bit her lip, "...my number one concern."

They all smiled and Carol even leaned in to kiss Amala's forehead, which had her blushing a bit. Julia clapped her hands, "Well then, if you're going to come down with us to Feros. We only have about a day to go over the ground rules, before we dock."

After all of that, this next part is going to be super embarrassing...

"Oh...I...won't be able to go with you to Feros." said Amala.

Garrus was feeling quite hungry after a long day of Shepard-Class maintenance on the MAKO, and he was reasonably sure that the poor old tank would be able to survive the next mission without exploding. They would be landing on Feros, some time before noon and Shepard had everyone doing last minute checks and weapon maintenance.

Garrus was surprised when Kaidan handed him a new set of shield emitters as well as the reasons behind them. After seeing the kind of carnage that Amala could bring, Garrus was in no hurry to face off against someone who was nearly as powerful.

Speaking of the Tiny Terror...

He was treated to the rather amusing sight of Amala carrying a mop, bucket and several towels over to Shepard's quarters. "What's with all the cleaning supplies, little girl? You wet the bed?"

Amala shot him a nasty look and then pouted, "No! I need all of this for my breakthrough!"

"Uh? What?"

"Yeah, that was pretty much the same reaction I had too, Garrus." the sweet voice of his Commander came from behind him. Julia gave a wan smile as they watched Amala haul in various items to her quarters. "All she said was that with every stage of her cultivation, things could get a little messy."

"Messy?"

Julia shrugged, "She was a little vague on that subject and it didn't look like she wanted to talk about it very much."

Odd. But then again, she's a very odd child.

Amala came running out of the room with a strange green block in her hand as she went over to the fridge, paused, and then walked over to Julia with a sheepish expression. "Is it okay if I use some of the juice bottles?"

Julia smiled indulgently at Amala (which sent a weird thrill through Garrus for some reason) as she gently petted her head. "Of course you can. Can I ask why?"

Amala's eyes became shifty and she indicated the green block in her hand. On closer inspection, Garrus realized that there were several indentations on the top and bottom of the item. "What's that?" asked Garrus.

Not meeting either of their eyes, Amala muttered, "...Bite-block."

"Bite-block?" repeated Garrus in confusion. Based on the name he assumed those indentations were for her teeth, but he didn't understand why she had it. Or how it related to juice for that matter.

"It's something used for Rebirth breakthroughs. It stores lots of liquids and releases it slowly so I don't get dehydrated." Garrus didn't know how these breakthroughs worked and while Amala seemed to give a perfectly valid explanation, he sensed that there was something she didn't want either of them to find out.

"You said that this breakthrough would keep you from Feros-" she cut off Garrus' interjection with a silent warning. Garrus knew that meant she would talk about it with him later. "But how long does this last for?"

Amala looked in her eyes at that, so Garrus knew that this was most likely going to be a truthful statement. "I don't know. The longest I've ever been inside was a little over a day."

"A day?!" exclaimed Julia.

"Inside?" asked a much more subdued Garrus.

Amala turned to Garrus with a slight frown on her face. "When I move to the next level...I get wrapped up in this...cocoon-like thing. Kinda like when I transform into my adult appearance. While I'm inside, nothing can get in or out, so I'm stuck in it as my...cultivation improves."

Now it was Garrus' turn to frown, "I thought it was your body that improved?"

Amala flinched and slightly stuttered, "R-Right. It does."

He shared a look with Julia: 'Press the attack?'

She nodded: 'Charge.'

"How...exactly does your body improve during this process?" asked Julia suspiciously.

"Er...a...soft...light...uses...magic? Magic! That's right. There's this weird light that magically makes my body tougher. It's actually pretty boring."

Garrus looked at the girl pointedly, who started to fidget uncomfortably under his silent 'C-Sec' gaze. "Is this breakthrough something dangerous?"

"...No..." she replied in a very small voice.

Spirits, what has she gotten herself into now?

Julia knelt, so that she was eye-level with Amala, "Amala...remember what you promised to me, Kaidan and Carol? Ground Rule Number One?"

Garrus was surprised when Amala's eyes became angry, "I didn't forget!" she snapped back, "This isn't something I can control! I absorb Universal Energy whether I want to or not. The difference is that this way I can control when my breakthrough happens!"

Amala's face became hurtful, "I don't break promises, Julia." She jerked her head so that she wasn't looking at her, "...No matter how much I hate them." she added softly.

Julia looked pained at the hurt and slightly betrayed expression on Amala's face. Garrus put his hand on Julia's shoulder comfortingly and knelt down beside her. "She's just worried about you, Amala. I am too. Can't you talk to us?" said Garrus gently.

Amala bit her lower lip, "If I tell you, you'll be worried. If you're worried, you'll be distracted." She looked at both of them with slightly moist eyes, "And if you're distracted on a mission, you could..."

Garrus wanted to growl in frustration, but he knew he couldn't without sending the wrong message to this obstinate girl. You shouldn't be the one protecting us!

He had a small pang of sympathy for his parents when they raised him and his sister. Spirits know that he himself was a handful. Garrus then felt guilty in that he realized he hadn't contacted his family in quite some time, ever since he went on this manhunt for Saren.

Julia gave a low chuckle as she gently stroked Amala's back, "Hey now. Garrus and I are both tough military vets. You don't have to worry about us, okay?"

Amala nodded, lips trembling, but not saying anything.

"Do you need anything else?" asked Garrus kindly.

She shook her head, still not saying anything and staring at the floor. Julia gave a helpless look towards Garrus, who gave a slight shrug towards her in response. She gave a small sigh, before directing a warm smile towards Amala, "Okay, sweetie. Just know that you can talk to me or Garrus, whenever you want about anything, okay?"

"...okay..." Julia tentatively opened her arms for a hug and – after a brief moment of hesitation – Amala stepped forward into the embrace and hugged the red-haired Commander tightly. They stood there for a good minute, before the pair let go of each other (Garrus noted that Amala had a slight reluctance to do so, before she seemingly made up her mind about something) and Amala darted off towards the fridge.

They quietly watched the girl carefully tip the contents of one bottle onto the bite-block over the sink, with some interest as the instrument absorbed the liquid like a sponge without increasing in size. Julia motioned for Garrus to sit at the table situated as far away as possible from Amala and activated her omni-tool.

Garrus' own omni-tool pinged with a message from Julia: "Best way to talk without being overheard by Amala. Her hearing is as good as yours, after all."

He gave a slight grin towards Julia and replied, "I think you mean 'nearly' as good as mine."

Julia read his reply and rolled her eyes, "I mean what I say, Vakarian."

Garrus chuckled slightly; the both of them kept one eye on Amala who was talking to Liara now and asking what she was doing. "What was all that about Feros and ground rules?"

Julia sighed and typed back, "After a great deal of thought and rather annoyingly convincing points made by Amala, I've decided to let her come on missions that have a chance of leading her back home."

Garrus looked at the little girl who was currently smiling at something Liara said and the two burst into giggles. That's how she should look like normally.

"I see. And these ground rules?"

Julia froze when she read the reply and looked confused when she typed in her response. "You're...taking this a lot better than I thought you would..."

Garrus rolled his eyes, "I trust you, Shepard. You know what you're doing. Whatever you decide, I'll follow you with no objections."

Julia slightly blushed and said to Garrus quietly, "Thank you, Garrus. That means a lot to me."

Garrus felt himself being uncharacteristically flustered at the smile on Julia's face, so much so, that he was very glad he only had to say two words. "You're welcome..."

Julia slightly smirked at him and he groaned inwardly, thinking that she probably knew his current mental state. "Smooth, Vakarian."

"You know me."

"Yeah. I'm glad I do." Garrus was incredibly thankful that turians did not blush, because the warm smile that was being directed towards him would've painted his face blue. Though, Julia's next words were the equivalent of a bucket of cold water being splashed on him.

"What do you think she's hiding from us?"

No need to ask who 'she' was.

"I don't know. But it's probably something quite serious."

"I'm worried, Garrus. I know what I said, but I'm still worried about what exactly she's getting herself into. And it pisses me off that there's nothing I can do to help."

Garrus didn't both to marvel over the slight revelation that Julia would confide in him and simply typed out his thoughts. "I think...being there for her will be enough. Let me ask you something: What was the main reason that you agreed to let Amala come with us groundside?"

"Because...I trust her. She's a smart kid. She knows how to protect herself and she can keep a cool head in dangerous situations." A faint smile grew on Julia's face as she looked over at Amala.

"So trust her. Trust that she knows what she's doing and everything will be okay."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because in a lot of ways she reminds me of yourself."

Amala watched curiously as Julia operated her omni-tool as she set up a recording. A holographic drone was emitted from the device and floated behind the two girls. A white light shot out from the centre and made Amala squint a bit at the intensity as a small red light appeared on the side of the drone.

"Okay." said Julia with a smile, "Let's get this out of the way first, so we don't have to gather everyone else up."

Amala nodded, "What would you like to know?"

"Let's start with the basics. Seeing as we already know about his appearance, what can you tell us about his combat capabilities?"

"Well...the last time I fought him, he was still in the late 3rd Rebirth Stage. In terms of speed, Regis could go around five hundred metres per second without ki. Using as much ki as possible, he could achieve something a little under nine hundred metres per second."

"Strength is a little bit hard to judge, but the typical rule of thumb is that between every Rebirth stage, you're about one point five times stronger than the guy below you."

"When you were on Omega, was it very difficult to throw around those skycars?"

Amala shook her head, "No, it was pretty simple. They weren't too heavy-" Julia's eye twitched at this, but said nothing, "If I were to maybe stack around fifteen of them on one arm, then it'd be pretty heavy..." she trailed off seeing Julia's wide eyes.

"Sorry..." mumbled Amala.

Julia shook her head, "No, no, I'm just a little...amazed that you can pass something like that off so easily."

Amala grinned, "You should see my dad! He's super strong!"

Julia smiled back, "I bet. Do you mind showing me those memories you promised to the rest of the crew of him?"

"Sure!" Amala always loved being able to show off her dad.

Julia winked at her, before getting back on track. "Does your strength increase when you're using ki?"

"Not in the way you would think. I wouldn't be able to lift much more, but my destructive capabilities would go through the roof."

"How does ki affect your speed?"

"Hmm...the best way I could describe it, is like when I use my ki to get around, it's like I'm putting on a...rocket with really fine-control, so that I can make tight turns."

"How about endurance? Does your ki act like our shields do?"

"Kind of. Although what it can block is way more broad. It's not limited by size or speed, it'll just block everything that could harm me. It can be made to be more specialized like shields though if we use techniques." Amala generated her Safe Space technique to demonstrate, "Using ki this way, tires you out way faster though."

"Although in terms of endurance, there's something you should know about Regis. He was known in school by a certain epithet: Regis the Undying."

Julia grimaced, "Is that as bad as it sounds?"

Amala sighed. "When he was still my friend, it was something that I loved."

'A battlefield strewn with the corpses of students from the Hidden Dragon Sect; rent limb by limb by vicious beasts that seek only their destruction. A Great Maw approaches her, feelers sliding across the ground as it hungrily laps up the blood from her fellow students. She has been fighting for what seems like hours on end, and her strength is greatly flagging.'

'A golden-haired young man is putting up a valiant struggle of his own as he contends with the weaker foes. They are the last that have yet to fall, and still the horde of monsters approaches them.

'She survives because of her immense strength.'

'He survives for his sheer durability. With every gash that appears on his body, it is healed a second later. Wounds that would prove to be fatal to many others, he is able to shrug off with ease.'

"Just hold on!" she yells. "We'll make it through this. The both of us! Count on it!"

"Amala?"

"Um...sorry, what did you say?" Amala shakes herself out of her memories. She notices the light on the drone has been turned off and Julia is looking at her with a sympathetic expression.

"You know, if you aren't comfortable with this, we don't have to continue."

"...it's just...hard, talking about all of this. It shouldn't be though. Not after what he did to me." Amala paused, "So...then, why...am I still hesitating?"

"Because he was your friend." said Julia simply.

It was simple too. Amala was hesitating because she was stuck with the old version of Regis in her head. The quiet guy with the shy smile who had the surprising heart of a prankster.

Not the man who drugged her. Not the one who tore off her clothing with a horrifyingly hungry expression. Not the person who put his hand over her mouth so she couldn't scream.

That person wasn't her friend.

Amala barely noticed that Julia was in front of her, a crooked finger gently brushing away the tears that fell down her face. She remained motionless, even when Julia was hugging her, Amala kept staring at the wall, softly murmuring:

"I...thought...he was my friend?" she sniffled slightly, her nose becoming stuffy all of a sudden. "He was supposed to be my...best friend- hic."

Before she even knew it, or had a chance to control herself, Amala was clutching Julia. Desperate to hold onto someone that seemed to truly care about her as she broke down completely in tears. A pain greater than any she would have experienced during a breakthrough, spread out in great waves from her heart and threatened to drown Amala in sorrow and rage.

What had gone wrong?

Why did Regis hurt her like that?

She was ashamed that she was sobbing like a child, but inwardly glad that Julia continued to hold her. The woman holding her was warm and bright and she didn't recoil even when Amala continued to stain her uniform with tears and mucus.

Amala didn't know how long Julia continued to hold her like that in her arms, but she never stopped stroking her hair or ceased her soft soothing reassurances. Despite feeling as if the pain would never stop, her sobs grew quieter and devolved into sniffles.

She still hurt, but her chest felt a lot lighter.

Julia gave a doubtful look at the puffy-eyed girl sitting cross-legged on the floor of her quarters. After crying her heart out, Amala valiantly persisted in telling Julia the rest of Regis' abilities. While the thought of facing someone like Regis scared her, the thought of Amala in such a heartbroken state terrified Julia and she loathed the fact that she couldn't do more for the girl.

Apart from gutting the son of a bitch who did this to her.

"So what happens now?" asked Julia, sitting on her bed with one leg crossed over the other. The corner of Julia's quarters seemed to have turned into a janitor's closet, with numerous cleaning supplies and rags stacked in neat piles next to Amala. A fresh set of clothes (a small shirt and black pants; the only thing the girl seemed to wear and prefer) lay in her cot.

Amala shrugged as she sat down into a meditative pose, "I focus on drawing in as much Universal Energy as I can."

"Don't you have to exercise before doing that?" Normally whenever Amala did her energy absorption thing, she would engage in a series of high-intensity set of exercises that would have most marines screaming. It boggled Julia's mind that a child would be able to persist in doing such things, but it also impressed the hell out of her and the rest of the crew.

Amala nodded, "By exhausting all of my Ki and getting into a physically worn out state, the amount of energy I can absorb is boosted. However, for breakthroughs, one should be in a well-rested condition."

"Is there...something else you want to tell me?" Julia noticed that Amala was hesitating and seemed like she wanted to say something else.

"Just...if you hear anything, just ignore it. Or, or better yet, maybe just wear earplugs when you go to sleep." she said quickly.

Julia's heart pounded as she considered Amala's personality and all of the implications of what that possibly meant. She almost didn't want to ask her anything else, but Julia had to know.

"Is this process...painful?"

Amala flinched and Julia felt like her heart stopped.

"It isn't." denied Amala, staring very hard at the wall.

"What else is that bite-block for?" pressed Julia.

"You don't need to know." rejected Amala.

"I want to know, Amala. Please...just talk to me." begged Julia. God, is it really so terrible?

"...You who would defy the heavens and seek to place themselves amongst the Divines, know that the road you embark upon is one fraught with peril. Only those with a clear heart and an unyielding will, have the chance to escape the shackles that bind them to their mortal coil."

Of all the things she could have said, this was certainly not something she expected. It was an eerie chant that seemed to pierce Julia's very soul and it left a strange echo in the room that distorted and amplified Amala's voice. When the last echo of the chant faded away, Amala whispered:

"You can't help me, Julia. No one can." It was one of the most chilling looks she had ever seen on a person's face and one that she had seen many times before during her time with the Alliance. That was the face of someone who was resigned to their fate, but carried with them an unbreakable determination to see their journey to the end.

Yeah? Well, FUCK that.

"You're wrong." said Julia with conviction, "You are so wrong. I may have no idea how your powers work and I'm still trying to wrap my head around this whole cultivation thing. Even if you told me exactly what was going to happen, you know as well as I do that there's not a thing that I can do about it." Julia fixed a steely glare onto the incredulous Amala, "However-"

"That does NOT mean that I won't try to help you in whatever way I can. And I'm never going to stop trying to help you, no matter how much you try and push me away."

"But-"

"And do you know WHY?" Julia raised her voice over Amala's. "It's the same reason why I would go to any lengths to help every last single person on this ship. My ship. The people onboard, no matter who they are or what they do, are my crew; they are my family!"

"I'm fine! Stop worrying about me!"

"Damn it, Amala! Stop building these walls around yourself! You have people on this ship who care about you! I care about you!" Amala's eyes became watery and Julia lowered her voice so that it was barely louder than a whisper, "Let someone else protect you for a change, Amala. That's how a family works."

Her lips trembled. "You can't protect me from this."

Julia placed her hands on Amala's shoulders, "I can at least comfort you." Amala slightly resisted at first, but then allowed herself to be drawn into Julia's arms.

"Thank you." she whispered.

Don't thank me. What have I done for you?

There were exactly two times in her life that Julia felt completely powerless.

The first was when slavers had come to Mindoir, slaughtering her family and almost succeeding in forcing her and her brother into a life of slavery.

The second time was when Alex had come back from Akuze, broken in so many different ways that even his big sister couldn't draw him out his despair.

Now it was becoming painfully clear that she was in the midst of her third time with Amala. She could give as many fancy speeches as she wanted, hug the girl for all she was worth and give her a shoulder to cry on and it still wouldn't be good enough.

As if to prove her point, Amala broke the hug and while she did admittedly look a little better, there was still some tension in her face; an unseen burden that she flat out refused to share. She gave Julia a weak smile that overlapped with Alex' face in Julia's mind and only served to increase the feeling of her own uselessness.

Amala took a deep breath and settled back into a meditative pose, "Okay. Let's do this." She cracked an eye open and said, "I'm okay now-"

No you're not.

"And this will probably take a while anyway." she finished.

"Okay." said Julia with a small smile, "We'll talk more after you're done with all of this...okay, superchild?"

Amala hesitated for a brief second, before returning the smile. "Of course."

She shut her eyes and presumably started to draw in on this so-called Universal Energy of hers. Julia absently glanced at her omni-tool, checking for any energy readings that would indicate such a process, as she got up and sat at her desk. Nothing popped up, as usual and she sighed and pulled up a report from one of the crew members while keeping an eye on Amala in the corner.

An hour and half or so passed while Julia went through her usual motions without getting any real work done when her omni-tool gave off a sharp ping! Sound. Her eyes widened when she realized it was measuring an unknown form of energy of whose source was immediately identified when Amala's body lit up like a lightbulb.

Shoom! Shoom! Shoom!

A low sound that gave off a faint hum and vibrated through Julia's body appeared within the room, and was increasing in frequency as a violet light matching that of Amala's ki swirled around her. At this point, Amala picked up the bite-block that was on her lap and swiftly placed in her mouth as the violet light oozed around her and started to encase her, while becoming more and more opaque.

True to her words, Amala was certainly becoming encased in what seemed to be a cocoon of light, although Julia could also see that were was...something else that seemed to crawl along the sides of the cocoon. They were fragments of odd symbols and figures that had Julia's head pounding fiercely when she tried to concentrate on them, before quickly vanishing from sight as if they were never there.

The sound soon faded as whatever was occurring seemed to have finished and a large purple ball appeared in Julia's room, whose surface was both completely opaque and had faint tendrils of purple-coloured mist crawling across it. Though there were none of the strange symbols that she had seen before, it seemed as if the cocoon would not be changing any further.

Julia hesitated and slowly got up, making her way towards the cocoon and strained her ears for any odd sort of sound. She turned up her audio implants and was barely able to make out some sort of cracking noise along with a muffled voice that sounded...pained.

Swallowing hard, Julia turned around and very deliberately lowered her audio implants so it was no longer catching those small sounds and sat down on her bed. She gripped the sheets tightly and watched the sphere with sorrowful and slightly horrified eyes.

She licked her lips, her mouth feeling quite dry all of a sudden and whispered. "Please be okay..."

"Commander? I'm reading a lot of geth forces already on ground-er-sky." reported Joker.

"Just geth?" asked Julia.

"No sign of Saren's ship, but it's possible he could be docked in another tower." shrugged Joker.

"Hm. Docking bay for Zhu's Hope clear?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Take us in quietly then and try to set up a hail towards the colony."

"Aye aye."

Julia turned towards her assembled ground crew, who like she was, were already decked out in full combat gear. "Okay people, no idea of what to expect on the ground apart from a large contingent of geth. That means disruptor rounds for everyone and techs at the back with overloads at the ready."

They all nodded seriously, as they filed up next to the airlock while Joker brought them in. While the others were slightly tense, Julia had full confidence in her pilot's skills to bring them in undetected and simply waited at the front of her merry little band with a stoic face. Garrus sent her a worried look, but otherwise didn't comment.

She gave a slight internal groan at his mollycoddling which she felt was a little bit over the top considering that she had only mentioned that she didn't get a good night's rest. Julia had woken up twice in the night when she was sure she had heard what sounded like to be a pained scream coming from Amala, though when she focused on the sound she wasn't able to hear anything else.

Eventually, judging that she would have to be fit for the mission, she had taken Amala's advice and blocked off the sounds coming from the cocoon in order to get some semblance of sleep. Julia stifled a yawn and remarking sarcastically to herself at how well that had worked.

The Normandy pulled in smoothly to the docking bay without the slightest bit of extra jostle and the doors to the airlock slid open with a hiss.

"Got a return hail from the colony, Commander. They're sending someone to meet up with us."

"Got it, thanks Joker."

The door to the ship opened and Julia was treated to her first view of Feros: An ancient prothean outpost that was built in the clouds in the form of large towers connected to each other by skyways. As her foot dropped down onto the ancient metal, Julia noticed the presence of a dark-skinned human at the end of the ramp.

"Hello?" said the man as they approached cautiously, "We got your communication. Fai Dan wants to speak with you immediately."

Frowning slightly at the odd stunted speech the man was talking in, Julia asked: "Who's Fai Dan?"

"He's our leader. He needs your help to prepare for the geth. They're making another push." He pointed back towards the walkway which went deeper into the tower, "Please. Up the stairs, past the freighter."

Julia was about to get some more info out of the guy when the party's omni-tools lit up all at once with multiple enemy targets. The electronic warbling was the next thing to be heard as geth came marching out of the tower; one larger one in particular was already aiming a rocket.

"Geth!" shouted Tali.

"Get down!" barked Ashley.

Julia and Liara threw up barriers as Ashley tackled the civilian to the ground and the geth fired his ordinance.

BOOM!

Julia staggered under the impact as she took cover behind some crates, with her team following suit. A tense firefight was soon quickly engaged as Julia and Kaidan popped out of cover to pepper the geth during a lull in the fire. The dull boom of Garrus' sniper rifle rang out periodically and was followed by the strangled death cry of a geth soon after.

"One's charging!" shouted Kaidan, hitting a larger black geth with an overload.

"Got it!" said Liara, throwing a singularity once the thing's shields were dropped. It floated briefly in mid-air before being blasted out of existence by Wrex, who promptly charged forward; his body being covered by a super-charged shield.

"I AM KROGAN!" Geth that were hidden behind cover were startled out of cover and knocked to the ground as Wrex bashed the side of his shotgun at them, before finishing them off.

"Ash, stay behind and protect the civvie! Rest of you, move up!" barked Julia. Working as a smooth unit, the squishier members of their crew hung back while Garrus, Kaidan and Julia took point, firing indiscriminately to keep the geth in cover behind their portable shields.

The few remaining geth were quickly dispatched of, with Tali claiming the last one as her hacked geth exploded, taking out the one it had been firing upon with it. The HUD cleared up, showing there were no more remaining targets, but Julia was old-fashioned and preferred to rely on more concrete senses. They remained in cover for a bit, until Julia gave the all clear when she didn't hear anything else.

"Form up." said Julia. Ashley regrouped with them, bringing along the colonist. "You okay?" asked Julia kindly.

"Y-yes. Thank you for that. I would have been a goner otherwise." stammered the man.

"You're safe now, we'll take you back to the colony." Julia and Wrex took the lead; everyone still had their weapons drawn on Julia's orders, in case they were hit by another attack. While she kept her eyes peeled open for any hints of trouble, Julia had a small smile on her face, hearing Liara gush about how well the architecture was preserved.

"Tone down the enthusiasm there, Liara." said Ashley with some amusement, "You can geek out later when we're not surrounded by geth."

"O-oh, I'm sorry. It's just that this is my first time on Feros and the stories that I have heard really do not do it justice." replied Liara shyly.

Their HUDs suddenly lit up with a jamming signal and the team was instantly put on alert as they entered a stairwell. The croaking cry was a dead giveaway to what lay beyond as the geth came into view, Tali named it: "Stalker!"

Overloads, biotics and bullets hit the lone geth unit full on; quickly devastating it before it could make use of it's superior agility. The creature fell from the walls and landed onto the floor with a meaty thump, before sliding down the steps to come to a rest at their feet.

"Is that it?" asked Wrex with some disappointment. Their HUDs were clear and there didn't appear to be any more geth incoming.

"Don't worry Wrex, I'm sure we'll find more things for you to shoot." said Julia sweetly.

"Don't patronize me, Shepard." grumbled Wrex, although he did look cheered at the thought; prompting a few snickers amongst the crew. From there it was a relatively quiet walk towards the colony, whereupon they were met with three guns pointed threateningly towards the tunnels.

"Halt! Who goes there?!" shouted one of the guards as they came into view.

"I'm Commander Shepard of the Alliance Military and part of the Special Tactics and Reconnaissance unit of the Citadel!" declared Julia, announcing herself with her weapon holstered.

Relief spread across the faces of the guards, "Good to see more soldiers. God knows we could use it. Fai Dan will want to speak with you."

Nodding, Julia beckoned for the rest of her crew to follow, dropping the colonist they had escorted off with one of the other colonists. Walking through Zhu's Hope, Julia frowned as she saw that the place was in quite dire straits. Ramshackle buildings with scorch marks and bullets along with several injured or sick colonists lying on cheap-looking tarps on the ground.

It was clear that the colonists were making due of what they could as she saw several workers frantically moving a large crate off to the side in the distance and a few others were hard at work repairing the damaged pipes that ran through the area. Finally, after making their way through the entire compound, Julia and company came across a man of Asian descent with tightly cropped hair and dark-skinned woman short black hair.

"Fai Dan?" asked Julia.

"Yeah?" The man turned around and his eyes widened, "Ah, Commander. I'm surprised at how fast you managed to get here in the time our communications were cut."

"I was actually already on my way here, I've been looking for-" Julia paused as her HUD lit up with targets.

"Geth!" shouted the woman, getting into a defensive position. True to her words, geth units came marching out of the open door of another tower and started to lay down portable shields.

"Protect the heart of the colony!" rallied Fai Dan with a roar. A cry that was soon taken up by the rest of the colonists. An odd cry, but one that was certainly effective.

While the colonists were certainly no hardened veterans, they kept the pressure off of Julia and the rest and allowed them to quickly dispatch of the robotic menace with relative ease. Julia herself remained untouched and the worst anyone got hit was the woman next to Fai Dan receiving a slight grazing wound on the shoulder.

Fai Dan sighed and gave an appreciative smile to Julia, "Thanks Commander. The geth haven't been here for very long, but you can see they're already becoming more than we can handle."

"Happy to help. I'm just glad the colony is safe."

"For now." interjected the dark-skinned woman worriedly.

"Well, the geth may not have been the reason I came here, but they will certainly be one of the other problems I intend to fix." promised Julia.

"Ah, yes, you mentioned you were already setting a course for Feros?" prodded Fai Dan.

"I'm tracking a dangerous criminal by the name of Saren Arterius, a turian and a former Spectre to boot. He should have arrived on Feros sometime in the past week aboard an old frigate by the name of 'Warlord's Wrath'." Julia carefully observed their expressions and was gratified to see some slight recognition.

"Well, the only ship that arrived in the past week docked straight at ExoGeni. Their main HQ is located in the opposite tower across the skyway. Don't know if they left though already." recalled Fai Dan.

"Can you tell me how to get there?" asked Julia.

"Wait! What about the geth? They're still in the tower and they could kill us all after you leave!" interrupted the woman.

True enough. But if Saren manages to get away, how many more people might get hurt?

Fucking hell she hated decisions like these. Luckily for her though, Julia had a pretty solid crew behind her.

"If I may, Commander." said Kaidan, "Half of us can stay here and help defend the colony, while you and the rest go after Saren."

Julia smiled, "I'm counting on you LT."

Kaidan gave her a sharp salute, "Yes, ma'am!"

"Ash, Liara. You're with Kaidan. Stick together and keep safe." It was an uneven distribution, but Julia needed the extra manpower as their group would be making the push through hostile ground. Wrex for obvious reasons. Garrus could be counted on to watch her six and Tali because she was their resident expert in geth. Chances were good that ExoGeni would show the highest amount of robot presence and Julia knew Tali would be a great help there.

"We won't let you down, ma'am." assured Ashley.

"We'll be right here, waiting for you Shepard." said Liara with a small smile.

Turning to Fai Dan with a question in her raised brows, he said: "Go up the stairs and take your first right. You'll see an elevator that will take you straight up to the top to the garage where there should be a few vehicles for you to make the journey across."

"Thanks Fai Dan. You'll have your colony back to normal soon enough."

"Thank you, Commander." said Fai Dan sincerely.

Julia turned to her crew with a single command: "Move out."

Twenty-three hours, forty-seven minutes and sixteen seconds so far...!

"Mmmmhhhhh!" Tears poured down Amala's face as she screamed into the bite-block which doubled as a gag.

Crack!

Her femur shattered for what felt like the tenth time and she screamed anew, desperately clinging onto consciousness as her body became reforged. A cool trickle of liquid from the bite-block slipped down her raw throat in between screams and soothed her somewhat.

The first and second stages focused on reforging the skin; making it far tougher than any organic tissue had any right to be. Amala had figured that the pain she experienced in that stage was akin to being flayed alive.

Snick...Snick...

Twenty-three hours, forty-eight minutes flat! STOP! STOP! STOP!

Tendons snapped from the sheer strain they were being put under and Amala felt her body enlarge grotesquely as her muscles alternately hypertrophied and atrophied in rapid succession; blood pooling out from numerous orifices, only to be regenerated a few seconds later from new bone marrow.

The third rebirth stage dealt with strengthening the muscles to a crazy degree. Everything was improved upon a little in the first two stages, but each had their own focus. This is when one's strength, speed and endurance made an exponential leap. That stage wasn't so much painful as it was incredibly nauseating.

"Blegh!" The bite-block was a treasure of it's own and allowed for fluids to exit out of it as Amala threw up the contents of her stomach; bile and blood created a foul-smelling and disgusting mess on the floor.

It hurts! It hurts! IT HURTS! IT HURTS! IT HURTS! Twenty-three hours, forty-eight minutes and forty-four seconds!

The fourth stage dealt with the bones. Every bone, including the cranial ones, were broken to pieces and made to be thicker and stronger than they were before; without drastically increasing the mass or size of Amala by some impossible means. Of course while the mind-numbing pain that accompanied that stage seemed the worst by far, Amala knew there was a reason that everyone on Lozen feared the fifth stage.

Fifth Rebirth stage: Viscera remodelling.

A piercing, stabbing pain that quickly became compressing in nature emanated from her chest, radiating down her arm and becoming slightly numb. Every single organ in Amala's body was being broken down to their core components and becoming stronger; better than they ever were before. On top of all of that, the key components of the past four stages returned with a vengeance as her body went through it's most drastic change yet.

Through it all, Amala had to remain conscious, otherwise she would die.

Would death really be so bad...no! TWENTY-THREE HOURS!

A deep pain within her kidney area sprang to life coupled with a profound sense of nausea as she threw up again. This time, chunks of her stomach could be seen littering the ground.

FORTY-NINE MINUTES!

Counting the time in her head allowed her to keep herself from going insane.

ELEVEN SECONDS!

As bad as the pain was. As much as it terrified her of going through another second of the awful experience. Amala wanted with all of her heart to return back to that warm place that she had found. She sobbed into the bite-block, her tears becoming thick as it mixed with blood that started to pour from her eyes. The organs of the head were the last to be dealt with and Amala was slightly cheered at the prospect of her ordeal finally coming to an end.

One way or another.

*Looks at the reader innocently* What? You thought this was going to be an easy level-up? Pfft. Trust me, the note I would've left it off would have been a much bigger cliffhanger. Whatever you think you know about Feros, throw that shit out the window. I'm going off script next chapter and things are about get much worse for the crew.

Will I pull a Virmire on Feros?

Eh...probably not.

Maybe.

:D