79Author's Notes: I'm back!
Finally back full circle and getting my groove back into getting all my projects flowing once again. Had to re-read the entire Shepard of Fire story to get an idea of where I was heading before this story was put on the back burner in favor of Dynasty of Evil.
Well, time to make Sky jealous with the part that is coming up soon. Enjoy!
Shepard of Fire
Chapter 20
Bloom followed behind the others as they all chatted quietly to one another about the events the young commando has regaled them with so far. Some of the Specialists speculating about what was going to happen. Of course, the most popular topic between the girls was Kaiden, much to Sky's dismay.
However, the young commando was lost in her own thoughts. Mostly about her companion that was now left alone with the headmistress. Bloom couldn't really put her finger on it, but something seemed off with the elder woman. Something that she felt she had experienced before, but where? Shaking her head in frustration, she let out a sigh. One way or another it would reveal itself. Bloom just hoped that it wouldn't be too late by then.
Shaking the thoughts from her mind, she proceeded behind the girls as the Specialists separated from the group after bidding their good byes and headed towards the temporary rooms the Headmistress had set up for them, since coming and going back and forth between Red Fountain and Alfea was becoming taxing on the group. Not to mention the equipment.
"See you tomorrow Bloom." Stella commented, before retiring to her room.
Nodding her acknowledgment to the sun fairy, the young commando turned and followed Flora into their dorm room. Closing the door behind her, Bloom began to pull off her shirt so that she could change into her sleepwear. It was then that she heard an audible gasp from Flora behind her.
"You okay?" The young commando asked, not sure what got the nature fairy riled up.
"Your back."
It took Bloom a second to realize what Flora was talking about, casting a glance over her shoulder; not that it actually helped her see what her room mate was talking about.
"Oh." It dawned on the young commando.
Across the red heads back, scars of bullet wounds and various burns marred a small portion of her upper back, around her shoulder blades. Battle scars of the commandos various engagements throughout the galaxy.
"I also have one here as well." She turned to indicate to a scar just above her left breast. "Batarian stabbed me in a bar fight on Omega. And you already know about the one on my shoulder. Souvenir from Therum when we got Liara."
"Do they hurt?" Flora asked, concern in her voice.
"Not anymore, though hurt like hell when it happened." Bloom laughed as she finished getting changed into her sleep wear.
"Don't you want to get them removed?"
"Nah," Bloom replied, knowing full well what the nature fairy was implying. "They are part of who I am now, and a reminder of where I came from and what I have been through."
Flora nodded slowly, not fully understanding why the red head would want to keep such marks on her body, especially since here at Alfea they had the means to remove them.
"Also," Bloom continued with a smile. "A special person back home would be most upset if I removed them."
"Who is it?"
"You'll find out the same time as everyone else, no cheating." The young commando chuckled.
"It wouldn't be this Kaiden fellow, would it?" The nature fairy teased.
Bloom however, only shook her head in response.
Morning After
Bloom had awoken a good two hours ahead of the rest. Mostly due to her body being used to her only needing no more then four hours of rest a night to be fresh and ready for the day ahead. Doing her normal routine of some stretches followed by a light work out to warm up, the red haired commando made her way to the Headmistresses office so that she could continue on with her tale.
First thing she noted when she arrived, aside from the girls and even the Trix Sister's already present, was the significant lack of Faragonda and Griselda in the room. Not to mention, she couldn't detect if Kasumi was there or not, which worried her slightly.
"Faragonda hasn't arrived yet?" She asked, looking to the others in the room.
"She said she would be running a little late." Tecna replied, not really looking up from her diagnostic readings that Bloom had let her run on her omni tool.
Nodding her head in response, the red haired commando took her usual seat. On the outside she remained calm and collected, but inside she was going over every possible scenario her mind could think of. Not to mention the lack of the presence of the master thief also kept her on edge. While she knew Kasumi would not take any unnecessary risks, it still didn't sit well with her.
Granted, she also deduced that there could be a number of other, non suspicious reasons why the Headmistress was late, but years of field work have taught to always suspect everything.
Another twenty minutes later saw the elder white witch entered the large office, looking a bit flustered and distracted.
"I apologize for being delayed." Faragonda began.
"Everything okay?" Bloom asked. Knowing she wasn't going to get a straight answer, or any answer at all; but every little bit of information helps.
"Nothing serious, I assure you." The headmistress smiled. "Just a small project we have been working on."
Bloom only nodded in response, not really trying her luck of pushing for more information. She had partially what she needed. Perhaps Kasumi could shed some more light on this small project of the Headmistress. Speaking of the master thief, a tell tale low hum from her right told her that the thief was safe, alleviating one of her previous fears that she had been discovered.
"I believe you last left off that you and your friends arrived on a planet called Feros."
The red head nodded in acknowledgment, and began to continue on with her tale.
Feros
Having their tasks, the four set off towards the tower. According to the head of the colony, the geth had set up a forward drop point to keep pressure on the colonist. It was their job to secure the tower to prevent the geth from dropping anymore units and give the colonist a much needed reprieve from the onslaught of attacks.
"There should be a beacon the geth are using to get a fix on this position." Shepard explained, giving a layout of the current mission. "Find it, destroy it, and eliminate any geth you see."
"Roger that." Kaiden replied.
Bloom only nodded silently as she readied her assault rifle. Tali, meanwhile, began fiddling with her omni tool, bringing up a small screen that would display geth locations. The downside to this, the closer they got to the beacon, the less reliable it became.
"There is a cluster of geth, just above in the tunnel." Tali voiced.
Saying nothing else, the squad moved forward in silence. No sooner had they rounded a corner, a troop of geth opened fire on their position. Forcing the four to seek shelter where they could find it. Both Shepard and Tali had managed to duck behind a fallen support pillar just ahead, while Kaiden dove behind a second pillar just across from the one the Commander and Tali where behind. Bloom was forced to double back to the corner, barely escaping a barrage of bullets that chipped away the ledge.
"Be ready to give me some cover fire when I give the signal!" Shepard ordered.
"What's the signal?" Tali asked.
Her answer was Shepard to start glowing with a bluish flame around him. In a split second, he was down the corridor, smashing into one of the geth units, destroying it on impact. Without delay, he deployed his weapon and began firing into the fray.
Taking that as the signal, Bloom spun around the corner and began to open fire at the geth around the commander. Catching one in it's flashlight like head before it could land a blow on the solider in the midst of the battle. Both Tali and Kaiden followed suit as the three began to move forward to rejoin Shepard.
After a heart racing couple of minutes, the geth squad had been wiped out.
"Never pegged you as a biotic." Bloom commented after a quick scan of their surroundings.
"Can't give away all my secrets." The commander shot back in a playful tone.
"Another small group ahead, Commander." Tali voiced as she looked up from her screen.
"Alright, keep your guard up." Shepard ordered his squad. "These corridors are tight. Don't want to walk into a pincer move."
"Roger that." Kaiden replied.
Weapons at the ready, the four of them moved swiftly through the labyrinth of corridors. Taking out geth units with little difficulty as Tali's scanner revealed their position ahead of time; taking away any element of surprise the synthetics would have had. As expected though, as they neared the location of the transponder, the scanner began to bug out. Showing various error messages and unreliable readings.
"Scanner is of no use." Tali complained. "Bosh'tet"
"So we move with caution then." Bloom offered, earning a nod from the Commander.
"Bloom, you take point.' Shepard ordered before turning to the other male in the group. "Kaiden, you back her up. Tali and I will cover the rear."
'You're doing this on purpose.' Bloom thought to herself as she eyed the commander. It was no coincidence that Shepard had paired her with Kaiden. Especially after what transpired on the ship earlier.
"On me." The asari trained commando stated as she began to move out. Kaiden quickly after her.
"What are you planning Shepard?" Tali asked in a low voice once the other two got far enough away to be out of ear shot.
"What? I'm innocent." He grinned, gesturing for the Quarian to move ahead.
"Contact!" Bloom called out, as her and Kaiden took cover behind a fallen pillar. Both Shepard and Tali taking refuge behind a second pillar just behind them.
However, this group was different from the other geth units the squad had encountered. With larger Juggernaut units as well as Shock Troopers and other new models the team were not exactly familiar with. Taking quick pot shots from behind the cover when she could. Though, with the onslaught of bullets coming from the synthetics, it wasn't enough.
"Got another trick up your sleeve, Commander?" Kaiden asked, hoping for another powerful biotic display from the human Specter, only getting a negative in response.
"I do." Bloom stated. "Be ready!"
Barely giving the group any time to react, the red head erected a protective barrier around herself just as she bound over the pillar, charging straight for the largest geth unit. To the shock of those behind her, her biotic barrier changed from the normal bluish hue to a dark red. With a mighty yell, Bloom pushed out with her barrier, using enough force to crack the concrete walls, knocking down all of the geth and destroying any of the drones they had out.
"Now!" Shepard shouted, as he began to open fire on the vulnerable units. Snapping Kaiden out of his shock.
With the geth completely vulnerable, it took merely minutes to mop up the synthetic forces.
"That's the last of them." Tali informed them.
"Looks like the geth transponder is just around the corner." Shepard stated, gesturing to a soft glow coming from the next corridor, accompanied by a low hum. Keeping his weapon at the ready, the human specter moved cautiously towards the glow.
"All I know is, that was amazing Bloom." Kaiden exclaimed, clearly still awestruck by Bloom's biotic display. "What the hell was that anyways?"
"An ability I created during my time with my unit on Thesia." She replied.
"But why did it change color?" The young Lieutenant asked, clearly curious.
"That's not the first time it happened either." Tali put in. "I recall your biotic field took on a similar color back on Therum."
Cursing under her breath, Bloom scrambled to think of something. Sure, Shepard accepted that she was a time traveler; but how would these two react to her being a fairy and integrating her magic abilities with her biotic abilities.
"I'm not sure really." She lied. "My only guess is that it's tied to my emotions as my biotic's didn't manifest until only a few years ago. Caused by an eezo accident."
An explosion snapped them out of their conversation as Shepard approached them.
"Transponder is taken care of. Geth won't be able to land anymore troops here any time soon."
"Good, we should notify Fei Dan before we take care of our other tasks." Bloom suggested, eager to shift the attention off of her biotic abilities. "Since he is the closest thing to a chain of command we have currently."
"Right, move out."
Alfea
"Wait, why do these geth need a transponder?" Timmy asked. "Couldn't they visually land using view ports like we do on our aircraft?"
"Simple answer, no." Bloom replied, looking to the specialist in question. "Geth are essentially self aware machines. They view having view ports as a structural weakness, so their ships rely heavily on sensors to see for them."
"That makes sense." Tecna commented.
"Soo," Stella began with a huge smile on her face. "Sounds like this Commander was purposely trying to set you up with the Kaiden guy."
Bloom could only smirk as she could see Sky's face turn red with jealousy at the mere thought of what Stella was implying.
"Maybe he was, maybe he wasn't." Bloom replied, not acknowledging or discrediting what Stella was imagining Figuring she would let the sun fairy have her fun. "Like me, Kaiden was a very adapt as a biotic. So it made tactical sense to have us take point position."
"I bet he was." She giggled, implying the commanders actions. "Wait, what do you mean was?"
"Anyways, we secured the tower for the colony." The red head pressed, completely avoiding the subject.
"Would you like to take a break, Bloom?" Tecna offered, seeing the emotional pain in the fire fairies eyes.
"No, it's okay." She turned down the offer, though thankful for the gesture from the technology fairy. "It's best if we continue."
And so, she did.
Additional Authors Notes: So, I can just imagine Sky sitting there, fuming with jealousy whenever Bloom or any of the girls brings up Kaiden, and it is only going to get worse for him. As it was heavily implied in this chapter. But, I don't wanna give too much away just yet.
Anyways, I hope everyone enjoyed this update. Let me know what you think in the reviews!
