"Chasing Shadows Pt. I"

//Collab. between LegacyCloud & AnnCarise//

Despite the serene appearance of the island on which the Alliance base was built, the sight of the freighter's plain interior was a welcome sight. Gabe took a minute to stop and breathe in the familiar stale air before proceeding further inside. Leading Mischa through the hall like he had when she first set foot here, Gabe took them to the cargo bay, where using the consoles he shut and locked all the doors.

Proceeding to one of the corners of the rooms, he opened a cubical box and ran his omni-tool over it. As he set his helmet down on a nearby crate, a small sphere, large enough to fit in a palm, began to levitate up from the box. Upon closer examination, the sphere looked to be a drone of some sort, glowing with a grid-like pattern.

"Try not to explode the holoprojector," Gabe smirked as they waited for the Illusive Man to answer.

Mischa took a deep breath to steady her nerves as she watched the holoprojector rise to it's set position and form an image, "Mischa -" He greeted, "- what an unexpected pleasure." His tone clearly speaking to the contrary as though he were expecting this conversation. Mischa shifted uncomfortably, "Illusive Man... I need to know what you have on a Turian broker agent here on Cybele; currently incarcerated by her own people."

"Her name is Kayeen Valorn," the Illusive Man gave the information almost instantly, as if he had a dossier of the turian opened right before his eyes. "She fought in the First Contact War and all accounts say that she was an exemplary soldier. Except, after an...incident on Palaven, she resigned from the military and vanished for six years before returning to train as an officer."

Mischa focused on the hard facts being presented; her favourite form of communication allowing her a more amenable conversation with the man she felt nothing but hatred for, "So she is a known agent of the Shadow Broker then. We need to find evidence of this if we are to avert her attempts at undermining the Human-Turian alliance here. Do you have anything on her that we can use to discredit her claims?"

The Illusive Man shook his head, "I had my suspicions, but I've only just gotten confirmation of her loyalties after recent events. It seems she's covered her tracks quite well. I can compile a list of odd behaviour, but it won't be enough to prove her guilty. You'll have to track her down from before she started working for the Shadow Broker." "The six years she went off the record," Gabe pointed out. "Do we have any idea where she was then?" "We know she did some mercenary work in the Terminus Systems," the Cerberus leader responded. "There's mentions of someone by the name Kayeen living on Omega in 2259, but that's the last anyone hears of her until she returns over three later. That's where I'd start looking."

"Alright" Mischa nodded, "Then that is where we will start, thank you..." The words of gratitude clearly left a sour taste in her mouth as she glared at the Illusive Man's holo a moment before it faded away and she turned to Gabe, "Seems we need to get ourselves to Omega"

Gabe nodded, "It seems to be the most sensible place to start. But Omega is dangerous, many times worse than Cybele can be, or so I've been told. It's out in the Terminus and run by criminals, which means no real laws. Are you sure you want to come along for this?"

Mischa stared blankly back at Gabe a moment as her mind flashed with the wondering if he was actually serious before deciding that he most likely was, "I don't see that I have any real choice in the matter; if I am to prove get Len out of this mess it is what I must do. So unless you have any better ideas - which I am more than open to - I think we have to go." She looked back to Gabe but when no better suggestion came - which she already knew to be the case else it would have come before they contacted the Illusive Man - she nodded once more, "Well then; at least we have some time on the trip for me to practice everything you taught me before." she finished with a slight smile.

Gabe nodded and smiled back, "You have very good initiative. You'll learn quickly." "Our freighter is leaving soon to pick up more supplies for Cybele. I thought we would be on the surface at least until it came back, but I can change plans for Omega. We'll head to the Antaeus system first, where we'll part ways with the ship and take the shuttle through the relay. We'll be picked up in the system when we return." "I'll inform the crew and make preparations," Gabe began to walk off, unlocking one of the cargo bay doors with a swipe of his omni-tool. "See you in the training room."

Mischa watched him leave before making her own way out - the hint of an involuntary smile across her face as she first made her way to the mess hall. Inside she grabbed two cans on the same energy drink they had consumed previously before making her way to the training room. She entered the training room to see she had arrived first - assuming Gabe was still busy seeing to the flight preparations she decided to try and get a head start with a little practice of her own. Retrieving a handful of the small balls they had used in previous training sessions she sat herself cross legged on the central mat with the ball in front of her; closing her eyes in focus briefly before the faint blue glow of a mass effect field enveloped the ball and levitated it off the ground. When Gabe entered a short time later he would find Mischa in this spot with three of balls orbiting her meditative form in opposing arcs much as electrons might orbit around an atom.

Gabe smiled, simply standing in the doorway and watching the balls orbiting around Mischa with an impressed gaze. After a few seconds of quiet observation, he stepped into the room, closing the door behind him, then quickly turning back to Mischa to test her and see whether the sound of the door shutting would disrupt her focus at all.

As the door closed Mischa turned her head back slightly over one shoulder; eyes remaining closed. Following this the three balls completed their orbits before settling into a neat line on the floor in front of her. Once the blue glow faded from around the balls she opened her eyes and stood to greet Gabe, "Sorry, I hope you don't mind; I just thought a little practice of the technique's you taught me to focus would be a fruitful endeavour before starting any more rigorous training"

"Of course not," Gabe responded, still smiling. "You're doing very well. The first time someone interrupted me when I was trying to concentrate, I almost broke my own wrist."

"Oh my!" Mischa said, hiding a small smile behind her faux-shocked hand she placed over her mouth. Straightening her composure she folded her hands behind her back as she took a step closer to Gabe and pulled the two cans of energy drink from her jacket pocket, handing one to him, "So... did you have anything particular in mind for this session?"

Gabe shook his head, "Not really. I think working on your barriers might be a good idea since we'll be visiting Omega. You need to be able to protect yourself from at least a shot or two."

"Right" Mischa nodded, "Let's see if I can remember this now..." she says returning to her seated position in the centre of the mat. Sat cross legged with clenched fists rested on her knees, she concentrated and after a few moments the field began to form. Though with her eyes closed in concentration, she would not know as well as Gabe if she was successful in forming the barrier or not on this early attempt.

The biotic barrier grew brightly around Mischa as she focused. Gabe watched and nodded, satisfied at her progress. He moved in front of Mischa to pick up one of the balls that she had been levitating earlier, then took a few steps back before opening his hand. A mass effect field formed around the ball, giving it a blue glow as it floated into the air onc

Mischa's barrier rippled from the impact of the ball as it bounced off in a random direction and ricocheted off the wall. Whilst it held enough to deflect the ball, it quickly flickered and vanished as Mischa fell backwards to lay on the floor. Staring up at the ceiling she took stock of herself following the unusual sensation she has just experienced, "Well that was different" she scoffed in a flat and analytical tone; just a hint of entertained humour underlying her words.

Gabe nodded, "That's a rough idea of how it feels when your barrier deflects something. The ball was barely a fraction of the strength of a shot from a gun. You'll have to try and keep your barriers up despite enemy fire."

Mischa gulped nervously at the sound of that prospect as she sat back up, "Taking the hit from that ball was enough. How am I supposed to keep that in place if it's someone shooting at me?" As she watched Gabe for instruction, she reached across to her side; stretching towards the side of the mat to retrieve the can of energy drink she had set down for herself.

"Make it a reflex," Gabe advised her. "When you fall, you use your hands to brace yourself. When someone throws a punch at you, you block or dodge. When you hear a gunshot, you put up a barrier. When you're hit, will yourself to resist more. Push back even harder."

Mischa nodded as she listened to his guidance while sipping at the drink, "Right, that makes sense. I suppose the problem there was that I had been focusing on simply sustaining the barrier." She set the drink down to one side again and stood up this time, assuming a somewhat prone stance, "Alright." she says with a determined voice, "Let's give this another go"

Gabe reached out and telekinetically retrieved the ball he had launched earlier at Mischa, catching it in his left hand as it came flying at him. He opened the hand again, idly lifting the ball in the air before sending it hurling, this time a little slower in case Mischa did not put the barrier up in time.

Mischa watched attentively as he prepared his throw; as soon as she saw him preparing to release the throw she hunkered back, thrusting both arms upwards in a rigid form. As she did so, the barrier snapped into existence around in time to deflect the ball away while Mischa's altered approach afforded her the luxury of not getting knocked down again. As the ball rattled across the floor she released her barrier and and stood up into a more relaxed form, rubbing at her forehead some with a slight wince before looking to Gabe for his judgement.

Gabe nodded approvingly, "Much better. Instead of reacting to move out of the way of the ball, react by putting up the barrier." He summoned the ball back into his hand, levitating it once again for another throw.

"You're enjoying this aren't you" she smiled as she hunkered back again in readiness to throw up her barrier as she watched the levitating ball intently. In doing so however, she failed to notice the second ball which Gabe had also levitated behind her; that was until she felt it bounce off the back of her head. Spinning around in surprise to see the ball she turned back to Gabe wearing as much a frown as a chuckling smile, and managed to get her barrier up just before the second ball hit - this one bouncing off again. As she relaxed her posture she looked back to Gabe with a look that said all it needed to as she folded her arms and raised her eyebrows slightly. "Maybe a little" he laughed, "But it is important for you to remember what we first learned regarding awareness of your surroundings; don't allow yourself to become overly focused on one target that you expect to come at you; this is a luxury you will not have in the field." Mischa nodded with understanding, having learned the lesson the hard way as she idly rubbed the back of her head, "Alright, once more" she announced, again returning to her prone position; inviting Gabe to launch any combination of throws at her that he deemed fit. Some considerable practice followed but after a multitude of attempts she was able to react quickly with a barrier of fair enough strength. She would not be able to hold off an armed assault indefinitely at this stage, but was now comfortably capable in her ability to react with it in a time of urgency. Leaning against the wall with her canned drink in hand, Mischa sipped the drink as she and Gabe paused for a break, "So what about you Gabe - how did you learn all this stuff? You seem such a patient and capable instructor I'm almost surprised you are not training at one of these new academies I've heard so much about being in development, or something."

"I did," Gabe corrected her. "Biotic Acclimation and Temperance training. I was part of the first class. One of the first human biotics to be trained. Most of the information is classified now, but it...didn't go well. I was nine when I entered the program, most of the other kids were just as young. It didn't help that biotics was completely new to humanity and none of the original instructors had any idea what they were doing."

Mischa looked to him sympathetically, "I'm sorry Gabe, I didn't realise it was so bad. Now that you mention it, I do recall hearing something about a BAaT program in my early days with Alliance R&D. That must have been rough on you at such a young age?"

Gabe nodded, "It was mostly confusing at first. Then for a while it got very dull and repetitive, and we didn't get much done. This was all before the turians showed up. I don't suppose you know about that? It's one of the things Conatix and the Alliance probably worked hard to cover up."

Mischa nodded as she sipped her drink, "mmm... yes, I do recall things going somewhat quiet. There was an internal Alliance bulletin announcing the arrangement before they arrived with the BAaT - a lot of excitement at the time as I recall. Then however... things went oddly quiet; I can't say I ever gave it much thought to be honest just figuring that the excitement for something new had passed into obscurity along with everything else we seem to do in the Alliance"

"Not passed into obscurity," Gabe shook his head. "Went wrong. Conatix needed people who knew how to use biotics to train us properly, but they didn't want to ask for help publicly; it would make the Alliance look bad. So they searched in the underworld of the galaxy, hired turian mercenaries. The turians were brutal. I don't think any of us came out the same as we were going in. Some of us didn't come out at all."

Mischa face saddened, "I'm sorry Gabe, I had no idea; I have no intention to stir up unpleasant memories for you. Though I think I know better understand why you were so quick to jump to my defense when it became apparent that I was not a willing participant in the Illusive Man's experiment."

"Don't worry about it. It's all in the past now," Gabe replied. "What was done to us wasn't fair, but all we can do now is make the most of what we have. And speaking of the Illusive Man, how do you feel about trying some more offensive biotics?"

Mischa allows herself a small smile, "I like how you use the Illusive Man's name and offensive biotics in the same sentence; I suppose I've not exactly been shy about my feelings towards him for what he did to me. What did you have in mind exactly?"

"The Illusive Man does seem to be good fuel for you," Gabe chuckled. "Since you have the idea of how to sustain a barrier, I thought we could try and see if you can keep your barrier while also using biotics to ward off opponents."

"Sounds intriguing" Mischa nodded, "Would this be like that biotic... explosion thing that kept happening to me when I first woke up, or more like combing that you taught me earlier with the barrier use?"

"That seems to come to you naturally, so it might be easier for you to develop," Gabe explained. "There are a variety of other feats you can perform with biotics. I can teach you more as we go."

"Alright then" Mischa agreed, pushing away from the wall and taking one last sip of her energy drink before setting down on the side and returning to the mat in the centre of the room, "I must admit; this one does kind of frighten me after seeing how devastating it's effects were... and how uncontrolled and impulsive it was to form..."

Gabe stood back, a biotic barrier flickering across his body as he prepared for Mischa's attempt. "If anyone should be frightened, it's those who choose to cross you. Biotics might be new to you, but it is every bit as natural as being able to swim, or climb a tree. Not everyone can do it, but there's plenty in the galaxy who can. Besides, there are far scarier feats that biotics are capable of. I've seen people directly attack someone else's nervous system with biotic abilities, and there are rumours that some asari are capable of completely dominating another's mind."

"Oh my!" Mischa clasped her hand over her mouth, "I had no idea they could work so... finitely!" She positioned herself in the centre of the mat and stood prone; her barrier quickly formed and she looked to Gabe, "Ok so, how exactly is this supposed to work now?"

"Try to get into the state you were in when you did it," Gabe instructed. "It was probably instinctive, so you might have to try and use your imagination or jog your memory to put you back into the same circumstances. This time, though, also focus on your barrier. Try to retain some biotic energy to keep it stable."

Mischa again nodded and closed her eyes as she focused on the memory from before; the sense of fear and panic that she had felt during her escape from the lab. It did not take long before the emotional trigger had the desired effect and with an outward thrust of her arms whilst levitating slightly off the floor; her barrier exploded outwards with a reasonably powerful wave of biotic energy. However she could not hold the barrier and collapsed to the floor again afterwards, falling to her hands and knees whilst wincing in pain as she clutched the side of her head, "That... could have gone better..."

Despite bracing for the shockwave, the blast knocked Gabe backwards, but having chosen to stand against the wall, he was merely pushed against it and avoided any impact trauma. His biotic barrier held as the wave rippled throughout the room, and he kept his eyes focused intently on Mischa. Once she had collapsed, Gabe lowered the barrier, walking up beside her. "Yes, it could have," he nodded. "Take a breath for a few moments. You looked like you expended all your energy doing that. Maybe we should try something more controlled."

After a moment and the pain in her head subsided, she grabbed his hand and pulled herself back to her feet, "Yes I think you may be right; I am not sure if I can control it at all when that happens - everything is a lot more... subconscious." She returned for another sip of her energy drink before trying anything more, "So yes, perhaps something less... raw, would see greater success for now. Could this work with the flare you taught me before - as it would have to pass through the barrier?"

Gabe thought for a moment, "It could work. Just try to refine it even more than you did last time. Don't expend all your energy on the flare. Be angry but hold back a little, keep some of your thought reserved not just for lashing out, but for pushing them away if your opponent strikes back."

Setting her drink back down, Mischa returned to the mat to try again. Taking her position she dropped into the same prone position and the barrier formed. After holding it for a moment and focusing her mind, she stared straight ahead at the single remaining punching back and with one sweeping movement; raised her left hand which had been outstretched down to her side and thruste forwards with it - launching the flare.

The punching bag flew backwards, torn off its rack. As it slammed into the wall it tore open violently, and its contents spilled down onto the ground, though the force of the more controlled flare was not enough to disintegrate it like the last time. Mischa's barrier flickered, the biotic field around her dimming as the flare launched. For a moment it seemed as if the barrier was about to fade entirely, but it held there, a faint glow surrounding her body. "That's it!" Gabe smiled, then looked to the last punching bag, now ruined as well. "Rogan's not going to be happy about this..."

Panting for breath slightly from the focused exertion, Mischa still afforded herself a small proud smile for her accomplishment, "If Rogan is the big guy... he deserves it for ruffling my hair earlier... /right/ after I'd straightened it out!" She stood fully and inspected the damage, "But joking aside... whilst it does require a lot more concentration for me to produce these flares they do appear to work a lot better with the barrier up. I shall have to keep that in mind and try to restrain myself from that... whatever it is you call that explosion; not least of which because it hurts so much"

"What you did there was expend all your energy at once," Gabe explained. "It's very tiring, but it seems to affect you more than usual. The pain could be a side-effect of the implant model. It's meant to be an L3 implant with the power of an L2, but it seems to have still retained some of the negative results of the older model."

Mischa's face betrayed the fear behind her eyes, "...negative results? I'm not certain I like the sounds of that. Is this... is this dangerous to me?"