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Miranda stumbled forward, still reeling from Wrex’s casual slaying of two of her fellow new arrivals. “Not scared of a little blood, I hope,” asked the heavily tattooed young woman beside her with a feral grin.
“You wish,” she replied, forcing back bile. It was even true. She’d been prepared to do anything to get out from under her father’s thumb, but she’d done her best to avoid fatally harming anyone in her escape. Was this sort of wholesale slaughter common in the world outside her father’s estate? Or just on Soliton?
“Time to meet the Shepard,” Wrex announced. ‘Lucky for you, she takes an interest in fresh little lambs like you.” His mouth formed an uncannily broad grin; the effect, combined with his red eyes, gave the krogan a demonic look.
A muscular human woman with a shock of red hair greeted them; a slightly built asari stood behind her. A ring formed around them - presumably her crew. Miranda noted a dark-skinned human man, a lean drell man, an older asari with a tranquil mien, and – this was interesting – a female turian in a hooded cloak. Turian biotics were relatively rare. Before she could think about it further, the frowning redhead called out. “Only two this time? They better be worth it.”
“The other two would just have been trouble. Did you a favor, Shepard.”
“Thanks for looking out for me, Wrex.” She dismissed him with a wave. “Alright, lambs, I’m Shepard. This is my clade. Liara, Jacob, Thane, Samara, Nyreen. Who the hell are you?” She nodded to Miranda first.
“Miranda.” Just Miranda, she decided. “Ran away from home, wound up here.”
“Musta been some home, those duds are anything to go by.” The tattooed woman again, this time leering at her expensive robe. “Name’s Jack.”
“I see you’ve invested your clothing budget in other forms of self-adornment,” Miranda countered.
“Play nice,” Shepard cautioned them. “You want to join my clade, you fall in line.”
“Or else what?” Jack snarled, fists glowing blue.
“We’re all biotics here,” Miranda reminded her. “You want to pick a fight, five on one, it doesn’t sound very clever, Jack. Still, my belligerent comrade has a point: is there anything in it for us?”
Shepard’s grin widened. “Most of the clades, they’re just trying to survive. Me, I take the best - Wrex helps with that. And we’re going to take over this place.” Miranda saw Jack’s eyes flare a little at that.
“So what, you want to use me, too?”
Against her better judgment, Miranda placed a calming hand on the younger woman’s shoulder before she got herself killed. “I don’t know what your plans are, either for inside this place or outside of it. But I expect they’ll go better if you get to the top of the heap.”
“Okay, sure,” Jack replied, half-sulking.
“Well, since you seem to have a knack for reining her in, the two of you will be paired up on missions.” Shepard smiled. “You see, in my clade, we take care of each other. Look after each other. Make sure we come back from hunts alive, and mostly in one piece. Keeps us loyal, keeps us strong. And someday, it’s going to keep us at the top. So, you in?”
A quick glance linked her eyes with Jack’s. Blazing passion, but ultimately acquiescence. “Sure,” the tattooed woman said at last. “I’m in, girl scout.”
Perhaps, Miranda considered, a quick death might be preferable to having to babysit the walking ball of rage next to her. Oriana. “I’ll do it.”
“Didn’t figure you’d need much of an excuse to keep your eyes glued to my ass,” Jack said with a salacious wink.
“I’ll get you a cape or something,” Miranda muttered.
“Now that that’s settled,” Shepard said, clapping her hands together, “I’ll show you to our quarters. This way.”