Location: Arcturus Station

February, 2183

Sebastian Shepard, newly minted First Lieutenant of the Systems Alliance Marine Corps, grinned as the beautiful blonde backed into him, seductively grinding her hips to the rhythm of the beat as she wrapped her hands around her waist.

She tilted her head back and guided him to her neck muttering softly in what sounded like Russian. The whole dance floor, heck the entire bar for that matter, had all but disappeared as he inhaled her scent. Lilacs? Yes! Definitely lilacs. For Sebastian, in this moment, Heaven smelled like lilacs.

Taking him by the hand she led him off the dance floor, several of his friends hooted and whistled as she all but hauled him towards the booths lining the back wall. Things were definitely looking up!

She threw herself into a booth, pulling him down with her, and kissed him passionately. Their hands roved over each other before he finally broke the kiss, almost gasping for air.

"Sebastian," she managed.

"Dariya." came the equally breathless reply.

Her hand travelled slowly down his chest onto his thighs as he moved his towards the zipper at her neckline. Her eyes smoldered as she straddled him, all but ramming him back against the cushions.

"Atten-shun!"

The music stopped abruptly and the lights came on as Sebastian became dimly aware of a rather heavily gold braided uniform standing in front of them, at roughly the same time Dariya did, a Gunnery Sergeant, Flag Lieutenant and rather amused looking Corporal flanking him.

"Papa!" She shrieked, jumping up and attempting to both zip up her uniform and come to attention at the same time.

"PAPA!?" Sebastian's voice seemed almost as high-pitched to him as hers as he surged to his feet.

"Yes. Her father." The shorter man glared up at him with open hostility. Even if the shoulder epaulets didn't identify him as a Rear Admiral, Boris Mikhailovich was well-known in the ranks, and not necessarily for pleasant reasons.

"Name and Rank, Marine!"

"First Lieutenant Sebastian Shepard. Sir!" He rigidly held his salute. Eyes planted firmly forwards, focusing anywhere but on Dariya or her father.

His thoughts were going a mile a minute as the Admiral continued to stare at him, mostly alternating between "Seriously?" "Oh my God," "What the hell?" and the ever-popular "I'm so screwed."

"Well First Lieutenant." He drew the rank out, making it sound almost like a curse word.

"Would you care to explain why you were groping my daughter like a horny teenager?"

The entire bar was deathly quiet. Sebastian could feel the eyes of every other person in the bar on him. Man, was it really hot or just him?

"Well...Sir...she...I" He stuttered before lapsing into silence. Really, there was no way he could positively spin this.

"For God's sake Papa!" Dariya exploded. "Just back off and let me breathe for once!"

She grabbed Sebastian by the neck and kissed him savagely before he had time to manage more than a startled squawk. She then pushed him back and stormed out of the bar.

"This is not over, First Lieutenant Shepard!" The admiral said harshly before stalking after his daughter, his entourage falling in behind him.

All eyes followed them out before swiveling back to Sebastian as he sagged back onto the couch, head in his hands.

"Mom's going to kill me," he groaned.

Location: Nos Astra, Illium

February 12, 2183

Heffi'Vorol nar Neekor tried to stop wringing her hands and appear confident as she sat before the Asari administrator. She appeared to be taking a rather long time to read the Quarian girls resume and, so far, Heffi was unsure whether that was a good thing or not.

After another near endless few minutes the administrator finally looked up from her screen, pressing her fingers into a steeple before studying the Quarian in front of her.

"Ms. Nar Neekor," she began in a conciliatory tone. "Baria Frontiers Exploration Division takes great pride in its species equality hiring programs and you definitely have the required qualifications." She paused to collect herself.

Here comes the 'but,' Heffi thought sadly.

"But there is a problem I'm afraid. We thoroughly check the references and backgrounds of each prospective hire and, I'm sorry to say, given the lack of...communication with the Quarian Migrant Fleet through normal channels and no other verification to go on," she sighed with feigned resignation and spread her hands.

"I'm afraid we must decline."

Heffi stood and stiffly bowed her head before leaving the office. There was no reason to say anything and the administrator wouldn't care anyways.

Still, at least she came up with an original excuse for the rejection. Always could have been worse. Heffi smiled sadly, that sentiment seemed to be a common theme since she had left the Flotilla.

She leaned against the railing and stared out of the vista of Nos Astra. The sun was just beginning to set and the glittering of light reflecting off thousands of high rise windows was almost breath taking. It was a beautiful city but she didn't see any future here. The only real alternative she could see was to become an Indentured Worker and that was definitely not going to happen.

"Are you tired of the pace of life on Illium and looking for a change? Do you want to see the center of Galactic Civilization?"

The chipper voice of the maiden on the Holo-Pillar penetrated her melancholy mood.

"Well book passage now to the Citadel! Come see the wonder and legend that is the greatest station in the known galaxy! Special rates on now!"

Heffi shrugged, strengthening her resolve now that she had at least a plan. It couldn't be any worse than Illium.

Could it?

Location: Citadel Upper Wards

February, 2183

Jahla Korl slowed her stride as she saw the youths lounging against the wall beside the Elevator. Three Earth-clans and two Palavan-clans, all male and all teenagers which, usually, equaled dumb and hormonal. With a sigh of resignation, she resumed walking towards them, her hand resting firmly and affectionately on the shoulder of the Fenris mech padding along beside her.

"Oh wow guys! Check this thing out!" One of the Earth-clan pointed at her at laughed. Jahla immediately designated him as Mouthy.

Mouthy pushed away from the wall and planted himself in the middle of the corridor, blocking her progress.

"It's a bowling ball with legs!"

His companions, now mentally-designated "Ginjak One" through "Grinjak Four," dutifully guffawed. Jahla held her hands up in a conciliatory gesture.

"I want no trouble Earth-clan," she said as sincerely as possible.

"Please let me pass." Her right hand once again dropped to the mech's shoulder and began to tap a soft and steady rhythm. The Fenris beeped quietly as its head began to swivel back and forth, focusing on each boy in turn.

"I *khish* want no trouble *khish* Earth-clan," Mouthy mocked.

Oldest insult in the book. Like really? Jahla sighed and shook her head. Always with the breather jokes.

"Ha, very funny," she deadpanned. "Now please step aside and let me be."

Her tone had become much lower and she saw a certain flicker of trepidation in Mouthy's eyes. But he was backed up by his friends and, with all the confidence those with a rather limited intellect seemed to possess, found security in their numbers.

"Nah. I don't think so, bowling ball." He grinned evilly and started towards her, hands raising and curling into fists. "Let's see you roll, Vol!"

Jahla rocked backwards, her arm extending as the violet light of her omni-tool flared to life.

"Katiya! Venji Mok Two!"

The Fenris surged between her and the boys, it's central orb glowing as a surge built up. Mouthy howled as a bolt hit him in the chest and he collapsed in a heap. The mech's digitized voice roared as it leapt over him and focused on his companions.

Three of them shrieked and scattered but the fourth, a Palavan-clan, actually attempted to stand his ground and suffered a similar fate as Mouthy when the electrical surge sent him flying as well.

The Volus girl crossed her arms as Katiya hunched menacingly, head swiveling between the two boys.

"You have ten seconds to start running before my little friend here gets really frisky."

Both boys scrambled to their feet and beat a hasty retreat. Shaking her head in a combination of mirth and pity, Jahla continued on to the elevator.

Two pairs of eyes, one set red and the other a brilliant cybernetic blue, watched her go.

"Now there's a girl with spunk!" Raik Holdrek laughed as he slapped his companion on the back. She moved forwards with the blow but didn't stumble as she was rather used to the Krogan's exuberance by now.

"Quite," Manda agreed dryly.

"But how do you know it's a girl? All Volus look the same to me when in their suits."

The massive Krogan grinned. "All in the movements. Quicker, lighter on their feet, more elegant in their moves. That and their scent. Scent is, uhm, totally different."

Manda's raised eyebrow, crossed arms and rather amused smirk indicated she definitely did not believe the explanation. He was getting better at reading Human body language.

"Well that and the description her father gave me," he consented. "But I totally would have known she was female!"

"Of course you would have," Manda assured him as she patted his arm. "I never had any doubt of your excellent deductive powers oh great and honorable Battlemaster." She turned and once again began heading down the corridor, giving him a twitch of her head to follow.

Holdrek smiled as he followed her but it slowly turned into a frown as realization dawned on him.

Wait a minute...was that sarcasm? She's totally being sarcastic! He grunted. Damn Humans and their nuances.

Location: Attican Traverse

February, 2183

Lasiira closed her eyes and wished the pain would stop. The pain killers that the ship's doctor had pressed into her palm after she had been dragged, gasping and sobbing into the med bay did little to help.

Gingerly, she ran a finger along the ragged gash across her throat. Given the horrifically crude nature of the wound and the rather sad lack of decent medical equipment on the slaver ship, it would be a miracle if she was ever able to speak again.

Still, she had almost made it! If they hadn't managed to clamp down the landing struts on the shuttle she would have gotten away. Brekkit wasn't exactly the most law-abiding system, but even they thought poorly of ships firing on each other in orbit.

Captain Ghro had been furious. The massive Batarian grabbing her by her head crest and slashing her throat with his dagger before kicking her repeatedly.

"Fix this filth if you can," he's snarled to the guards.

"And throw her in the slave hold. If she survives, we sell her when we get to Omega. If not," he shrugged, "she gets thrown in the food processor."

But Lasiira had survived. Barley. And now here she was lying here. Chained and naked. Listening to the moans and pleas for mercy from the cells around her.

Please, blessed Athame, she closed her eyes in silent prayer, please protect and watch over your wayward daughter.

Definitions:

Ginjak - A small rodent like creature on Irune that blindly follows the leader of it's pack. Even if the leader runs into certain harm or death. Closest Human analogy would be a Lemming.

Venji Mok- Basically translates as 'Stun Protocol'. So Venji Mok Two would be Stun Protocol Two

And so it begins...

A little story background first. It begins a couple weeks before the events of Eden Prime. Sebastian Shepard is not THE Shepard but his younger stepbrother. This story is going to focus on Sebastian and his exploits running parallel to the main story line with occasional merges.

As far as THE Shep goes, I have played through the game many times and tried pretty much every combination available but, for this story, I decided to go with one of my first playthroughs:

Marcus Shepard

Soldier

Male (obviously)

Colonist with some AU exceptions. Father was killed in action shortly after he was born. When the slavers attacked Mindoir Hannah, his mother, survived as did his stepbrother but his stepfather was killed

War Hero

Paragade personality. Mostly Paragon with a couple exceptions that will probably be revealed as the story progresses

Thank you for reading and hope you like it so far! A big thank you to Tusken1602 for agreeing to edit for me. I highly recommend you check his stories out especially Beacon's Effect as some of the characters may end up making an appearance *cough*spoilers*cough*.

Reviews and comments welcome!