#askmatriarchaethyta

Her heart may have stopped when the shuttle did, lurching forward as a hail of gunfire started bouncing of the metal almost immediately upon landing. This was a bad idea. Kasumi wanted to run, hide away from the ensuing battlefield. This wasn't her war. She needed homework, preparation-- to know her enemies before they knew her. She would never be a soldier, not matter how much she wanted to be there for Shepard. A hindrance was the best way to describe her.

Her sister looked at home in the N7 Destroyer armor, and how did she know it was Maiyu. The burns that marred half of her face didn't stop her smile, didn't stop her from being the first to go out of the shuttle, snapping her helmet on before throwing the shuttle door open.

"Stay together, everyone!" Maiyu called out to them, pulling the assault rifle off her back and landing a shot at a nearby cannibal. "A soldier alone is a dead one."

After, it was chaos. Her cloak kept her out of fire for the most part, but it was still the only sound that registered in her mind. She found herself stumbling-- on bodies, on her unfamiliar N7 Shadow armor, on the debris littering the street. The sword felt heavy in her white-knuckled hands, even as it tore through cannibal and marauder alike with ease. It was messy. Blood splattered all over her, the walls, the ground. She felt nauseated by it.

As soon as things finally quieted down, she tore off that helmet, smashing it into the ground in a fit of frustration. Her short hair stuck to her forehead from sweat, shuddering breaths escaping her lips. She hated armor, hated helmets. It was too cumbersome. She overheated so easily with it on her. The helmet was more in the way than actually protecting her. Kasumi sagged against a fallen-- something (possibly part of a building) to try and calm down before the unit moved forward.

The buildings were the first to catch her eye, decrepit, as if humans hadn't touched this city in centuries. Large chunks were taken off the sides, littering the streets, if not completely charred by the reapers. There wasn't a single building or street without some kind of damage. Without overturned cars or fires. The air was thick with the stench of smoke and decaying corpses that weren't repurposed by the reapers. Nothing alive.

There was nothing alive.

"What are we fighting for?" she found herself asking, not really expecting a response. She was exhausted and worried. If it had been her choice, she would be closer to the Normandy or Major, just so she would know that they were alive right now. It would have given her away if she insisted it though, and no telling how Tem would even react to the news that she was out here too. It would be a funny story to tell when this was all over. Now though, there was just nothing. 

Well, before the roar. It shook her as the ground quaked below her feet. The quakes began to pick up intensity and speed. Kasumi knew exactly what it was, but it hadn't fully registered that it was real until the brute had soared right above her cover, landing just a few feet away from where she sat. Her eyes stared dumbly as it turned toward her, illiciting another roar as it began to charge in her direction.

Just before it slammed into her, an arm yanked her out of the brute's path, a curse flying out of the rescuer's mouth. Kasumi was spun around to face blue eyes and purple skin. "What the fuck are you doing?!" she screamed at her. Kasumi couldn't believe it. "Are you seriously daydreaming in the middle of this shit?"

"... Thyta?"

This had stopped the matriarch in her tracks, releasing Kasumi in surprise. "Kas?" Aethyta hesitated for a moment. "What the hell are you doing here?"

She was about to answer, but the brute roared once more, beginning its charge. This time she didn't need any provocation to get out of its path. In a moment, the two separated, rolling out of the way, just as the brute screeched to stop where they were previously. It sweeped around, looking for its targets with mechanical eyes. Kasumi quickly cloaked, trying to find the best spot to target the monster. At least until she felt the metal claw slamming into her stomach. She was quickly knocked off her feet, landing with a hard crunch on the pavement ground.

Aethyta yelling for her dully registered as she tried to regain her barings, rolling over on the ground. She was out of her cloak, and as she tried to restart it once more, Kasumi quickly realized that was where the crunch came from. This would be interesting. After a moment, Kasumi managed to get to her feet, breathing deeply, alive.

Maiyu was staring at her. Recognized her. She was about to say it, but Kasumi stopped her, shaking her head. "Go! We have this!" It spoke more of an order than a statement. Her sister hesitated for just a moment before nodding, disappearing into the ruined concrete jungle.

By the time she turned around, the brute had fallen, crashing onto the asphalt with a rumble. Aethyta stood over it, glowing brightly from her biotics, a predatory smirk on her lips. The matriarch seemed like a natural in the battlefield, reveled in it. Kasumi only wished she could take a piece of that along with her.

She spotted the form too late, rising from the debris. The viscious roar came first, and just as Kasumi began to run toward Aethyta, the second brute already sweeped Aethyta to the ground before grabbing onto a leg, crushing it with its metal claw, and throwing her about, much like a tantruming toddler with a ragdoll. She saw the flare of biotics briefly, but after the first time she crashed into the pavement, Aethyta seemed to be almost limp in its grasp.

This was not good. "Hold on!" Kasumi called out, trying to rush to the matriarch's side. There wasn't any response on her end. The brute turned at her calling, nearly swinging Aethyta's body into her. The thief had quickly rolled to the side. Even with the brute's massive size, it could be very quick on its feet. The one thing the thief could count on though, it was her agility.

It took a bit of circling, mostly in trying to convince herself that this was the quickest way to take care of the beast and just have a little fun with it. The brute's exposed spinal chord was by far it's biggest weakness. She swung the sword out from it's back sheath as soon as she had the monster's back, and with a war cry, she leapt onto the brute's back, driving the sword right into the brute's spine.

The brute fought back. Hard. There may have been some flashbacks of krogans she had taken down over the years as it began to thrash about, throwing Aethyta's body aside in the midst of its death rattle. Or maybe it was just really pissed off. She kept a tight hold onto the sword, but as its thrashing began to get more and more erratic, she felt her hands slipping from the handle. Just as one hand slipped away, Kasumi was blinded by a sudden flare of biotics, knocking both her and the brute to the ground. The beast laid silent, finally dead.

"God damn, Kas. No wonder Shepard likes you."

She found herself laughing, relieved, scared, she wasn't quite sure anymore. With a hardy tug, she pulled the sword out of the brute's spinal chord, eying it warily before placing it back. The plan was to never use it again, but it didn't hurt to keep it around. That was when she heard the thump.

All she saw was Aethyta's crumpled body, finally giving out. Nothing else mattered.

--

The war was still going. That much Kasumi was sure. It wasn't important so long as everything stayed out of their way. It was a wonder that Aethyta had managed long enough to make that last shot. Her chest looked almost caved in, bleeding heavily. Her legs didn't seem capable to carry any weight. Shoulder dislocated, knee dislocated. It made it a struggle to keep them in decent cover, half-dragging her into a nearby building. It was one of the least damaged buildings in the block, but part of her still feared that it would collapse with them inside.

It looked to be an old convenient store by the way the shelves were set up, freezers in the back. What was important though was the small room behind the cash register. It would make for an alright hiding place... for now. She was careful the entire way through the store, not to disturb her friend, not to hurt her anymore than she already was. With a delicate touch, she set Aethyta against the cracked plaster wall.

"Just a sec, okay?" Kasumi assured no one. She tried to make it seem differently. "I'm just going to check the shelves." For what, she wasn't sure. Painkillers, towels, food. Just anything that'd might help Aethyta at the moment. She wasn't surprised that nothing turned up, not even a little bit of canned food or something. There was a reason each soldier had been packed with medi-gel she supposed. .. It just made things a bit difficult with the more complicated injuries. 

She wasn't going home with a dead Aethyta. That wasn't going to happen. Even at the thought though, her hands shook. Just a little bit. There was a twinge of numbness, something she tried to take comfort in as she heard a brief moan from the backroom. In the briefest of moments, Kasumi was at Aethyta's side, trying to offer some sort of smile to her, though she was barely conscious, eyes cracked open, disoriented. "Hey," she began kneeling down next to Aethyta, lighting up her omni-tool. "Don't try to move okay?"

Gurgles escaped Aethyta, incoherent.

Medi-gel, in truth, was more of an extensive band-aid. It was to keep soldiers moving, but for actual surgical purposes, it wasn't much for broken bones or internal bleeding. Still, Kasumi began the process, slowly undressing Aethyta from her armor. The matriarch stiffened considerable, a groan of pain escaping with each piece that feel from her. It was bad. 

The medi-gel seemed to have calmed her down at least, once Kasumi could finally touch bare skin to apply it. She started with her head, touching her forehead tenderly in what Kas hoped to be a soothing gesture. There was a heaviness in seeing Aethyta like this, something unexpected. More than just fear. It brought to mind days with Keiji. How she never really understood what she had to lose. This wasn't much different, a part of her brain realized.

"... Is.. Is this really gonna do shit? I'm fine," Aethyta mumbled drowsily. She almost sounded asleep.

Her heart sank, her eyes straying to the dislocated shoulder. It wasn't going to be a long sleep. A deep breath before she reached for the matriarch's shoulder, one hand to her back, the other to the front. It needed to be one quick movement. Another deep breath, and she shoved her hand forward.

Aethyta screamed. It was the knee next.

--

It wasn't a peaceful sleep after that, and with each moan that illicited from Aethyta's throat, Kasumi grew more and more anxious. Medi-gel wasn't a permanent fix. She needed medical attention, desperately. Experience that she didn't have. There was nothing to distract her, nothing she wanted to distract her, save for the occasional look-out for any reaper forces. She had lost her comm channels with the helmet, still abandoned somewhere in the street. Kasumi wasn't really up to looking for it. 

It may have been hours, or days. No probably not days. Hours at least though with all to listen to were Aethyta's cries and her rapidly descending heartbeat. She was scared. Scared to lose someone important to her. Through the months she had known Aethyta, it was really apparent about how similar they were to each other. There was a source of comfort, but also someone that didn't put up with her shit. They didn't put up with each other just as much as they did themselves. Like losing a part of herself.

The moans were increasing in frequency. A part of her just realized she had been timing them. Not just frequency, but pitch as well, loudness. It was going to attract attention like this, and she couldn't handled a wounded friend and whatever the hell might crawl up at the same time. One of the few times she truly detested being a coward. The thought came up to kill Aethyta, to put her out of her misery. What were the chances anyone would find them anyway?

The thought was squashed as quickly as it came up, sickened her. This wasn't the time to be selfish.

There had to be a way to muffle the sound though. She breathed deeply, covering Aethyta's mouth with both hands, pressing just lightly around her lips. It did little to stop the noise, but it may have been quiet enough. "Shh," Kasumi whispered, desperately, "We can't.. I'm not going to lose you." All she could see was the pain on her face, from her tightly shut eyes, how her hands seemed to clench. "I can't lose you. Please. We have to be quiet." The whispers continued. The moaning didn't stop. Tears slipped down her cheeks as her hands slipped every once and a while, trembling, desperate for anything.

It was then the wave swamped over them, something red. That was all she had remembered from the experience. It was a bright, blinding red. Then there were thunderous sounds of cracks and giants tumbling to the earth. More buildings crumbled. That much she was sure. Kasumi didn't let go until the sounds stopped, the entire time keeping her hands tight around Aethyta's mouth. 

With the last thunder clap, she finally began to move, lifting Aethyta back onto her shoulders. Aethyta yelped sharply in pain. "S-suffocating me, now dragging me," the matriarch seemed to joke. "You're a shitty doctor."

Kasumi tightened her hold around Aethyta as she began to walk, slow and deliberate. She didn't want to say anything to it, maybe afraid of what might come of it. Aethyta had been awake. Conscious enough to understand what she was doing at least.

"Hey," Aethyta choked out after a moment. Kasumi looked back to see the barest hints of a smile. "It's gonna be okay. Just.. relax. Get us out of here."

She returned the smile, shaking her head. "Of course it is," Kasumi replied, trying to relax. At least seem relaxed. "I'm supposed to die first." Aethyta laughed at that, what might've been heartfelt if it hadn't turned into rough coughing, something wetting the back of her armor. She tried not to think about it too hard.

"If you die first, I'm going to kick your ass next time."