Mass Effect 1. Chapter 1

Note: This is a fan fiction with OCs, there may be spoilers in the contents.

….

Lost Souls Part 1

_Unknown Location_

Standing by a large computer consul, an Asari read a report that had been uploaded to the computer's memory. Endless facts, figures, videos, and other data was gathered and catalogued constantly. Reading a file that caught her attention, her blue eyes widened. She gestured for the only other occupant, a Drell, in the room to see what she had accessed. When he read the file he was as shocked as the Asari.

"Can this be?"

"I do not know. But if so…Shepard needs all the help he can get."

"You already knew that."

The Asari nodded, her head lowered and the beginning of a slight smile stretched on her lips. "I seem to know everything these days, my friend. But we need to help in any way possible."

"Is that not what you have been doing?" The Drell was puzzled, he thought that was why the Asari had dedicated herself to gaining, storing, and utilizing information in order to help the galaxy.

"Yes, but Shepard has an impossible challenge ahead of him. He will be too busy to notice all the small details. He also cannot be everywhere."

"You say his mission is impossible yet look at what he has done, he came back from the dead, challenging the Collectors, and aided in the destruction of Sovereign/Nazara. Not to mention rescuing me and giving you this position of power."

The Asari laughed heartitly, "I contributed to that as well, or did the shocks mess with your brain?"

The Drell winced at the memory.

"Oh, I did not mean to bring up…"

"It is alright."

She returned to the computer and began pulling up files of certain individuals, her eyes scanning the data as the Drell read the data as well.

"These people, how can they help Shepard?"

"I find myself asking that same question, but even I do not know the answer to that."

"So they are just the best suited or easiest to utilize?"

"Yes."

…..

_Omega_

Selling her small ship for a small measly pile of credits was something she hated doing. It badly needed maintenance and fuel, both which cost more credits then she had. She knew the Volus bought the ship for hardly anything, cheating her on the price, but it was a hunk of junk and on Omega, no one cared about your problems, unless your name was Aria T'Loak. Her name was not the Pirate Queen of Omega, but Zara, the exile. Being banished from the Migrant Fleet angered her. The Admirals were fools, she thought to herself. How could they throw away such a talented mind such as herself? Did not all Captains of the ships she served on say she was perhaps the greatest military robotics engineer for generations? Zara shook her head, dwelling on these thoughts would get her nowhere. She needed a job, living on the streets of Omega was asking for trouble. Someone will hire me, she thought, I mean everyone knows Quarians are amazing tech experts. She began to wander towards a crowded bazaar, credit chip stored safely with the few credits on it, and her SMG strapped to her back, ready to be used in case some thief decided to try their luck on the newcomer.

…

_Unknown Location (Bioweapons and Cybernetics Research and Development Laboratory)_

Sitting in the corner of his cell opposite the door, a twitching man by the name of Zaaz was talking to himself, a large smile seemingly covering his entire face. He was a mess, wild long hair tangled in knots, eyes constantly darting from place to place, and skeletally thin. The white coats had him locked up without food or water again as punishment for his actions. Why though, he asked himself? He demonstrated his biotic abilities like they asked. So what if it was not on the targets and instead on the white coats and their security guards themselves? When he was pulled away from the bloody remains of his "demonstration", he was quickly hosed down by a freezing cold jet of painfully pressurized water. He rocked back and forth, hands whittling down something into a makeshift tool. A finger bone of one of the security guards he managed to cling to. His grin grew even wider. "Thought they could do whatever they wanted, hmm? Well Zaaz is going to show them, yes he will. He will kill them, yes he will. Kill, yes, yes. Soon, soon. Zaaz just has to wait now hmm?"

…

_Omega_

Kryak finished giving his lesson on meditation and how to relieve stress in healthy ways. As always, he stood up and answered questions and listened to those who just wished to talk to him. The Drell was thanked by several of his participants before they went back to their lives. He finished gathering his belongings and proceded to walk the streets of Omega, handing out food packages from the large backpack he had strapped to himself to those of poor fortune. A few hours passed and he came across two human children being beaten by a Batarian stall vendor. Kryak stepped foreward as the Batarian readied another blow at the already badly injured children.

"Excuse me, but why are you hurting these young ones to such an extreme?" The Batarian stopped and turned to face Kryak, its four eyes bearing into the Drell's own two eyes.

"These filth decided to steal food from my vendor and make off like vermin. I make a living with this and these filth ruin me."

Kryak studied the shivering children, both badly injured, maybe some bones were broken, and were both deathly thin. "I think these children just wanted to eat, not stop your business."

"Does not matter. When I finish with them, they will learn never to steal from me ever again."

"If you 'finish' with them, they will not be able to move if they live. How about this, I will pay for what they have stolen." The Batarian thought for a moment and nodded grudgingly, hand outstretched for the credit chip. Kryak handed it over and paid double the price to much delight of the Batarian.

"This way your business can continue a little longer." The Batarian ignored the last comment, seeming to have forgotten about the three beings near him. Kryak approached the children and smiled for them.

"I will not cause you harm young ones. Have something to eat." With that he offered them the food the attempted to steal earlier and as they ate, he applied medigel to them from his backpack. When the children finished he asked them questions. They were orphans living on the streets, stealing to survive. Kryak nodded and asked them to follow him. One of the children was injured to the point and could not walk. He carried the child in his arms and proceeded to the nearby clinic.

"Excuse me," The receptionist glanced up, at Kryak, "I know this clinic was established to cure the plague that occurred earlier, but do you think you can take in two injured children?" The Receptionist glanced at the beaten child held gently in the Drell's arms and another clinging to his legs. She nodded and asked them to follow her. When the children were being taken care of, the receptionist turned to face Kryak and asked for him to return with her to the reception desk.

"I will pay for these two young one's safe recovery and their well being. Please treat them with respect, for they are orphans."

"We will not charge you for this clinic was established as a sanctuary for all."

"I insist on offering some form of payment for your services." After a minute of silence, Kryak's credit chip was charged a minimal amount. He returned to the room with the children and asked a doctor if it was alright if he could come back and stay here with the children until they recover. When told he could, Kryak gave his thanks and returned to the streets of Omega, donating food, offering peaceful solutions to disputes, and other charitable acts.

…..

_Unknown Location (Bioweapons and Cybernetics Research and Development Laboratory)_

A stasis pod holding a large figure produced data on nearby terminals for the scientists to read. The subject was stable, for itself at least, any other living organism having these readings would not be in a living for long. The figure was in stasis since the pod was active, but even so, several restraints held it down inside the pod, and backup sedatives stood by at the ready. The scientists knew if this got out; there would be no way to stop it.

…..

_Omega_

Cyrus Fulgrim stepped out of the ship, one of the last passengers on the giant transport ship. Omega, he thought to himself, I never thought I would end up here. The Captain had apologized when due to "equipment problems" the ship was redirected to the space station. Cyrus wondered if Omega was a better place to hide in anyway. As he made his way towards the exit of the hanger, a group of heavily armed Turians and Batarians made their way to him. Cyrus froze, his hand in his shoulder bag, reaching for his heavy pistol just in case.

"You." One of the Batarians said. It was no question as to who they were talking to.

"Yes?" Cyrus knew he might be able to take out half of the squad, but the other two would gun him down easily.

"Aria wants to talk to you. Get to Afterlife. Now." The group turned and walked away leaving Cyrus to find his own way. He had not broken a sweat, remained calm, his heartbeat was normal, his training proved useful in so many situations. In Omega, fear was blood, and there were always sharks, especially if named Aria T'Loak. Cyrus adjusted his shoulder bag and began to follow the signs to Afterlife. He found the entrance with the large pink sign overhead. A human was arguing to the Elcor bouncer claiming he had an invitation.

"Pleased, at last, someone with an actually invitation. Please make your way inside, Aria is waiting to speak with you."

"Hey! How come he can go in but I cannot?"

"Annoyed, because you do not have one. Please leave, you are holding up the line."

Cyrus entered the club and found a staircase which he climbed. A Batarian scanned him and confiscated Cyrus' bag before letting him pass with a head nudge. Aria T'Loak, the Pirate Queen of Omega, was reclined on a couch not bothering to look at Cyrus. Not knowing what to do, Cyrus just stood there until the Batarian shoved him hard onto the couch, near Aria.

"Your arrival has created several annoyances."

"The ship I arrived one was redirected here. I was guessing you did that."

Aria snapped sharply, "If I did that, then I instigated problems for myself. No, I did not redirect your ship. I do not know who did myself, but someone has the balls to screw with me and no one fucks with Aria!"

"I do not wish for trouble."

Aria sneered, "Says the youngest son of one of the largest illegal arms dealer families. Now people will think I am aiding you, sheltering you, buying your goods, and other stories. I was thinking of having you killed when you arrived, to teach your racist family a lesson."

"I do not approve of my family's…extreme xenophobia."

Aria laughed coldly, "Is that what you call the actions they do? I let you live because I know you are not working for them and also because no one else on that transport ship was important. Someone wanted you here, and I want to know who and why."

"I do not know the answer to that."

"If you did, you would tell me or I will rip it out of your skull."

Silence passed between them until Aria spoke calmly, "So what are you going to do?"

Cyrus blinked surprised, "I was planning on finding work, make some credits, then leave, since staying here will cause troubles for you, which means worse trouble for me."

"Smart move. I know someone who could use your skills and will pay a generous deal. I do not need to tell you that generosity is hard to come by on Omega and that I am only offering this information once."

"I will take the offer."

"I will have someone create a meeting for you two." With that Aria turned away from Cyrus and he decided it was time to leave. His shoulder bag was handed back to him and he made his way to the bar to pass the time.

…


	2. Chapter 2

Note: This is a fan fiction with OCs, there may be spoilers in the contents.

….

Lost Souls Part 2

_Unknown Location_

The Asari glanced up from the computer and faced her Drell assistant. "The ship was successfully redirected to Omega, though it did cause issues with Aria T'Loak."

"Will that cause the passenger to be killed?"

"Not that I can tell for now. I must admit, these resources we have, so far been useful."

"Now that three of the individuals are on Omega, you must be working on a way to get the last two to join the other three."

"Yes. It is difficult for there is hardly anything on where they are. It was sheer chance that I came across data related to one of the individuals."

"So originally you only had four selected?"

"Yes, but this one individual," the Asari pointed at one of the profiles, "is located somewhere hidden from even our eyes. Someone tried to delete all evidence of this individual's existence and kidnap them but a few files, most of them ruined, and a few transmissions are we can go on to find this individual and the other one there."

"Send some agents to gather intel regarding this information."

"Already have."

"Of course you have, sometimes I forget that I am talking to a puppet mastermind."

The Asari laughed and returned back to the computer.

…

_Weeks later_

…

_Unknown Location (Bioweapons and Cybernetics Research and Development Laboratory)_

Zaaz checked the improvised tool he made, a knife made of a finger bone, again and again, talking to himself. His cell had no windows so Zaaz did not notice the situation at first. Then the lights died, causing a moment of darkness before the emergency red lights came on. Noticing that his collar stopped humming, Zaaz ripped it off himself with his biotics. Somehow the white coats here had produced a collar that blocked his abilities. He turned to face the seemingly impossibly thick door and cracked his knuckles and neck before gathering energy and smashing through the door with his biotics. Now out of his soundproof room, he could hear the blazing alarms and see white coats running around trying to repair and reboot systems. Well now, Zaaz thought to himself, we cannot have that can we, hmm? He made a pulling gesture with his hand and several white coats were lifted off their feet and speed towards him crashing into the wall nearby. Zaaz stripped them of their clothes, for he had nothing on, and stole an omnitool then proceeded to run down the hall, leaving countless dead bodies in his wake. Time seemed to have no meaning as Zaaz ran. It could have been just a few minutes or even hours since his escape, he could not tell since there were no windows anywhere in this seemingly never-ending labyrinthine facility. Hallways led to hallways which led to even more hallways. Zaaz spun on his heel using his biotics to increase his speed and dashed back around the corner.

Three security guards, guns drawn, where shooting at him. Zaaz wrapped himself in a protective biotic barrier, and ran out of cover, around the corner. He quickly flicked his hands, one a split second after the other. A singularity pulled the guards closer together then the warp field impacted the singularity, which caused a biotic explosion. The guards were thrown across the hallway and as they stumbled to their feet weakly, Zaaz, who had not stopped moving towards them, shoved his hand outwards, which resulted in a biotic shockwave that decimated the already weakened security guards. Zaaz stopped once he was on top of the bodies, and quickly took one of the heavy pistols and SMGs, and filled his pockets with thermal clips.

Zaaz continued to race down the hallways, avoiding the larger scale sounds of confrontation. What is this place? He pondered that constantly along with other things. Zaaz came across a lab that his looted omnitool had to code to unlock. He ducked inside, closing the door behind him. To his delight a computer terminal was in the room, better yet, someone had already logged on. Zaaz scanned the contents of the terminal, mainly maps of the facility, and was surprised to learn he was deep underground in a bioweapons and cybernetics research and development laboratory on a planet somewhere on the outskirts of the Terminus Systems. Much farther than where he was abducted. Someone had power then, hmm? They took Zaaz and brought him here so there must be a ship yes? He downloaded the map to the omnitool and glanced at the terminal one last time, what at first appeared to be data streaming across the bottom of the screen was in fact a message.

_I disabled the primary security systems, which allowed you to escape. You do not know me but my employer wishes for you to escape. There is a certain individual here located at the following coordinates. Find this person then escape this facility. There is a ship waiting for you. If you do not arrive in a few hours, the ship will leave and I will presume you dead._

Zaaz downloaded the message and scanned the map for the coordinates listed. He turned around and speed through the facility, using his newly acquired map as a guide. To save time and to entertain himself, Zaaz crashed through a wall with his biotics in order to get to his destination. He found the bodies of synthetics and biological life strewn across the entire area. He did not recognize several of the scrap heaps and cadavers, but then again he was in a bioweapons and cybernetics research and development laboratory.

"Well well well. Looks like there are more freakier freaks then Zaaz, hmm?"

"Personally, I think all you freaks are the same." As the words were said, Zaaz felt a weapon barrel pressed against deeply into the back of his own skull.

"Oh tricky tricky. You double backed on Zaaz, hmm? Clever clever man, yes?"

"Just shut up and die!" At these words, the security guard began to fire, but Zaaz's biotic barrier held most of the shock from the pistol. Zaaz had put all his power into the barrier and moved it to cover just his head. He was thrown onto his face while the security guard's gun was made useless by the recoil of the point blank shot. "Son of a bitch!" The security guard threw his heavy pistol to the ground and charged at Zaaz. Zaaz pushed himself to his hands and knees and in the last possible second, threw his makeshift finger bone knife using his biotics. It wedged itself through the back of the man's helmet, the vulnerable spot. The blade pierced deeply and the man stopped moving. Once the corpse slopped to the floor, Zaaz looted it of thermal clips and withdrew his knife from it as well.

Zaaz eventually reached the area marked by the coordinates several hours later. He was tired, having spent most of his energy and had not eaten or drank anything for days, but he had felt so alive. He missed the feeling, the smell of blood, the sound of biotics being used and gunfire. He might just not kill his rescuer and hijack the ship as a token of his gratitude. He grinned, 'might' being the keyword. A large sealed door stood before him along with eight security guards in front of it. Zaaz knew there was no way for him to take them on in his current state. He continued to remain hidden, leaning on the corner wall for cover. He breathed deeply, gathered his power, focused on the security guards, and made a gesture. His hands were outstretched, the backs of his hands were touching, fingers curled sharply, and quickly separated his arms from each other. The effect was instantaneous as it was lethal. The security guards dropped as their minds were shredded to bits by pure biotic force. Zaaz almost collapsed from the wave of fatigue that afflicted his body. He was already tired and most of his vision was blurry before he used that ability. He forced himself to shuffle to the door.

Unlocking the door took time since it had to process several different codes to unlock. As the minutes past, Zaaz let his body collapse and rest on the wall, panting heavily. Once the door unlocked, he used the room's wall as a support for him to lean on. Zaaz found what he was sent for. A large stasis tank containing a large figure was the target apparently. Zaaz stumbled and fell, but clung on to the computer terminal and turned it on with the help of the stolen omnitool. Another message scrolled by.

_I downloaded some software onto the omnitool you had at the last terminal, that is the only reason you were able to enter this room. Not even I could of hacked into that door remotely. I have downloaded additional software onto your omnitool. Go to the main control of the stasis chamber and disable it. When he wakes up, I give him the next set of instructions. You are running out of time! Hurry!_

Zaaz did as the message instructed and the tank hissed and sputtered, causing additional alarms to sound. Nothing happened for what seemed to be eternity. This was fine with Zaaz, he needed the rest. Soon the chemical mist cleared up and the lid lifted up slowly. Again, a period of time passed where nothing happened, then a large figure pulled itself out of the chamber, pulling free of its restraints. The mysterious hacker must of disabled the backup sedatives Zaaz thought to himself. The figure was indeed a male, albeit a large one. Taller than two men and also as wide as two, the bulky figure looked like a walking tank of pure bulk. Slabs upon slabs of hard, genetically refined, cyberneticly enhanced muscle. This man was apparently made to be the equivalent of a Krogan, Zaaz guessed. He started to say slightly and the man turned to face him, his face a mass of scar tissue and cybernetics glowed red from underneath his almost transparent skin. The beginnings of white hair covered the top of his head. The man went outside the room, collected a shotgun and assault rifle along with thermal clips. He then juryriged a harness for himself using the dead security guards' belts and ammo pouches. Returning to the room he pointed upwards with a big meaty finger. Zaaz guessed this meant that somehow the mysterious hacker had contacted the man through the neural imprint software or speakers built into the tanks.

"That is where the ship is, hmm?"

The man nodded. "What do I call you, hmm?" The man turned and pointed at the laser-etched plaque welded to the tank. "Project Bane, hmm?" The man nodded again. "Do you not have a real name, hmm?" The man shook his head. "Zaaz will call you Bane then, yes?" Zaaz pointed at himself to let the man know his name. The man, now dubbed Bane, nodded and began to walk out of the room. Zaaz tried to walk, but he was too tired. "Wait." Bane turned and faced Zaaz, thought for a second, then picked Zaaz up in his arms as if he weighed nothing. Even if Zaaz was not thin, he doubted nothing could slow this laboratory grown juggernaut. Zaaz slipped in and out of conscious as Bane made his way through the facility. Perhaps the map was downloaded into his brain, Zaaz thought? Normally he would be disgusting being held as if an infant by a naked man, but this man could squash him like a bug and Zaaz was too tired to do anything about it.

They made it to the surface, and found themselves to be inside a volcanic crater. The facility was built into the walls and tunnels of the crater harnessing geothermal power and being in a place where sensors scanning for anything, would be scrambled due to the strong energy reading. A never-ending source of power that also shields you from prying eyes, Zaaz thought to himself. Clever clever.

A jet black and metallic silver UT-47 Kodiak Drop Shuttle hovered in the air, waiting on Zaaz and Bane. When they approached, the entrance opened, and a female voice called out "Come one, the shields cannot take much more of this. Get in!" Zaaz, via Bane, made his way into the shuttle. Bane strapped Zaaz in so he would not fall. The shuttle door closed and made its way out of the crater.

Soon after breaching the crater, the pilot spoke, "Handing controls over to you, Charon."

"Of course, Doctor." Once the ship AI spoke, the pilot unstrapped herself and made her way to look upon the two men. She was an Asari, with deep, cobalt blue skin. She raised an eyebrow in amusement of at the naked behemoth in front of her and the exhausted skinny wild man. "And there is a sight you do not see every day. I am Seeria Noi'yal, Chief Medical Officer of the ship, Styx. I see your companion is in desperate need of nourishment and you are in need of clothes." Bane nodded. "Well then, when we get onboard we will have that all sorted out. I bet you are full of questions. Bane nodded again. "You do not talk much do you?" Bane shrugged, causing the doctor to snort, not only at his answer, but the giant meat man looked ridiculous shrugging his overly huge shoulders.

….


End file.
