This story has gone through a significant rewrite. I'd recommend a reread as I think this story has found a better direction overall. I would like to thank Bobywhy for poking holes in the story and getting me off my ass.

Reviews and criticism are welcome.

Disclaimer: I do not own Stars Wars or Mass Effect.

Lost in Paradise Ch.1

She never expected to sacrifice herself to save the galaxy. It just sort of happened. The Emperor had to be destroyed and destroyed he was. It was funny really that she, Darth Nox, Dark Council member of the Sith Empire was the Galaxy's savior. It must have left a bad taste in the mouth of the Republic. No doubt Darth Ravage would be happy, but the rest of the Dark Council like Marr, Vorawn and Acina, probably new their chances of defeating the Republic have just dropped even more without her. No amount of Isotope-5 could let them come back from this. Hell, if it wasn't for her they wouldn't have even had the Isotope-5 to begin with.

It was a tiny piece of regret knowing the Empire would probably fall without her. Shame really, she worked so hard to preserve it as well as change it for the better. In the end, she was thrust into a new reality by her sacrifice and would probably never get back.

This new reality seemed worse off in fact. Its technology was comparable to a steaming pile of Reek shit. Although she did fall in love with her Omni-tool as it was much handier. It was like having all her gadgets in one tiny little wristband computer. The lack of instant galaxy wide communication outside simple quantum entanglement was really the only drawback to the fantastic little device. She did manage to upgrade it a bit with some programming from her reality. It ran much more smoothly now. It was funny really, she could barely read or write to save her life, but programming droids or computers was second nature to her.

The rest of the tech was inferior to say the least. This largest ship this galaxy had to boast was bigger than a Harrower-class dreadnought, granted it was still just a giant waste of element zero. It took everything the Asari had to build that ship. It reminded her of the super-dreadnaught, The Star of Coruscant. A massive ship that became a big target during the Galactic Civil War and was brought low by the Sith Empire on Hoth. The Destiny Ascension in the end was merely a big target. They never even sought out an alternative route of technology. Mass Effect fields were great for some things she granted that, but to base every shred of tech in the galaxy on them was foolish and counterproductive.

Another thing was that they didn't even have blasters, just little grains of metal flung at near light speeds. Regardless of how much faster they traveled compared a blaster bolt, it was still frustrating as they didn't deflect off her lightsaber. They just fizzled and sometimes let out a low pop when she tried to deflect them. She did wonder if she could create a mass effect accelerated plasma bolt. It was something to do when she had time she supposed.

While many of these things drove her crazy, the kicker was there were no humans. She was the first and last of her kind. She let out a huff as she walked.

I should have let that annoying Jedi knight do the honors of killing the Emperor. Then I wouldn't be in this mess, she thought as she walked through the streets of some piss hole mining station by the name of Omega.

She turned heads of various alien races as she walked by. Her black armor, hood, and the long cylinder hanging on her hip no doubt made her stand out even without her sinister reputation on the station. The mask might have had something to do with it too. Her ancestor, the Sith Lord Kallig's mask often had that effect. Most of the time she didn't wear it, but it was a Forcesend when she arrived. With it she could pass as one of those Asari women with it on. It was not that she didn't admire the Asari, an entire race of only women sounded like one of her fantasies when she thought about it. If she was into aliens that was. What was truly worth admiring however was their ability to mate with any other race virtually ensuring their long term viability for eons. It sounded almost engineered to be honest in the grand scheme of things. Her deductions brought on memories of a hyperactive archeologist which she was proud to call a servant. She smiled at the memory of Talos, the archeologist's deductive reasoning must have been wearing off on her.

She continued to walk through the streets to the penthouse she "acquired" by literally throwing the former resident out the window about five years ago when she first arrived. She entered the building, despite looking like hell in the outside. The building was built remarkably well. She learned quickly that gang wars in this district were common and buildings needed to be able to resist stray rocket fire from time to time.

She herself had quite the reputation as practically no information on her existed. Even the Shadow Broker had nothing really concrete due to her connection to the Force. It allowed her to sense the thoughts and feelings of others which made it easy to pick out spies. She often loaned herself out as a truth detector among the Merc gangs. She made a killing off their infighting.

Aria, the station's self-styled Queen, seemed to become more wary of her as well. While Nox admired the woman's ruthlessness and pure strength of will. The Asari's bravado and hostility annoyed Nox to no end. Nox may have to deal with the Asari at some point.

She walked into the elevator and waited patiently for it to arrive at her suite. When the door opened to the top level, it revealed a large spacious room colored in various shades of black and white. Her designer from Illium picked out for her about a year ago. Perhaps it was time for a change. She had the funds to redo everything and more after all.

She darkened the windows and pulled her hood and back and unclipped her helm and her fiery red hair fell down to her shoulders. She gave a relieved sigh as she felt real air brush against her pale skin. She always took pride in her attractive features, but there was a time back when she was a slave when they were more of a curse. She was just a common "covert" whore/escort on Dromand Kaas, the capital of the Sith Empire. She would pose as a new handmaiden for a day or two to cater to female nobles who had secret desires. Nox shook her head as she thought of those days even less than her glory days in the Empire, often to the point of repression. She had to or she risked insanity. Especially when her thoughts drifted to… Lana. She wanted to forget the woman who stole her heart, her passions, it was easier than remembering and feeling the awful hollow feeling. It was worst part about her situation. She would never see her lady love again. Never again smell the woman's scent or the feel of her golden locks on Nox's face while they kissed. She tried to hold those memories close, yet it was like trying to grasp water only from them slip between her fingers.

Nox shut these thoughts down quickly as she made her way to the kitchen and pulled a bottle of Thessian Wine from the rack. She poured herself a glass and settled into to her favorite chair in the living room. She sipped her wine lightly from time to time as she pulled up a book on her Omni-tool. It was a Turian War Romance. The Avian like species couldn't publish anything without a simple reference to battle or the like. However, their novels were generally well written if a bit uniform in style. What mattered was that she practiced her reading more. Nox could almost hear her friend Ashara, a Torgruta and former Republic Jedi turned defector to the Empire, nagging her about not keeping up with her studies. Nox rolled her eyes at the mere thought as she read on. She finished a chapter before her eyes started to get sore and leaned back and set her wine glass on the end table.

The tone of her omni being paged drew her from her musings. She lifted her arm to her face and answered without using the view screen.

"Nox here, this better be important," she said with a hint of annoyance.

"Sorry Boss, I called to let you know to turn on your viewscreen. Something big is happening in Citadel space. I won't take up anymore of your time." He hung up shortly. That is what she respected about Forius he was generally straight and to the point no doubt due to his Hierarchy training. He made a good informant and handler from time to time. He always managed to find her work. How he did so, she never really cared to ask, what mattered was that he was karking good at it.

She turned on her screen and saw a batarian news reporter from one of the few of Omega's news stations. Batarians were by far the most repulsive of all species and not due to thier looks either. Their government, the Hegemony, was built on the backs of slaves. Being a former slave herself her disgust for them was immeasurable. Slavery was one of the few things she wished to change about the Empire. A wave of sadness washed over knowing she would never get the chance. The older and less idealistic she got made her realize how inefficient slavery was. It was a crutch that the Empire needed to cast off. Slavery served the Empire well, but it was slowly killing it as well. Not to mention it was terrible for Public Relations.

She looked back to the screen and barely really listened to what the Batarian newscaster said. What she saw surprised her. The images being broadcasted were ships, more blocky and angular at least compared to the standard Turian style. A new race it seemed. That was interesting she supposed, would this one have four eyes, maybe six? Perhaps they would look like a…

A picture came up on screen that stalled her very thoughts. She sat there frozen for a time as she stared at the picture of the new aliens, bi-gendered, asari like with hair atop their heads. Even after picture switched back to the ships, she still couldn't believe it.

They were human.

She stared for a moment longer and leaned back in her chair. She grabbed her wine glass and downed the rest of her wine.

"It is a about kriffing time," she muttered. She used the Force to grab the bottle of wine off the counter. It glided slowly across the room as to not spill and into her waiting hand and she poured herself another drink which she needed, badly. She didn't care right now that she may be having too much to drink. It was just one of those days.

Twenty Five Years after First Contact

The music flowed through Chora's Den like a cancer, slowing inflecting everyone with a sense of depression and an odd sluggishness. The bizarre Techno shit they played here just seemed to have that effect as the dark haired woman casually walked through the bar. She wore jeans and a tank top with a small leather jacket around her shoulders. She seemed out of place as she walked in her combat boots as opposed to her usual heels. The outfit hugged her gracious curves quite well drawing the attention of many as she walked by with a subtle sway in her steps. It was a far cry from the normal skin tight cat suit she normally sported but she needed to watch her target carefully and being conspicuous was a not warranted. The Illusive Man needed someone to keep an eye on the target.

Miranda looked at the woman in question sitting at the booth in the far edge of the nightclub. The red haired woman's sliver eyes watched a graceful young Asari maiden wrap her limber body around the pole in all manner of poses with a gleeful glint. One of the few vices her target possessed other than the glass of brandy or sometimes wine she held in her hand. The woman was dressed in a mere t-shirt and jeans which showed off her delicate yet athletic frame almost a mirror to Miranda's own. She looked in her mid to upper twenties, but Cerberus had known of the woman for the past couple decades. Her unaging appearance having been one of the traits that had drawn Cerberus to her to begin with. So outwardly she didn't look all that dangerous but looks were deceiving. Miranda knew that all too well. It was something the brunette unexploited herself on many occasions.

The most distressing thing about her target was she could pick out a spy in seconds. One look and whoever was watching the mysterious woman and they were made. Miranda found the woman fascinating in a way, what secret could she unlock for Cerberus? It was the reason why she was here, to watch and observe. So she kept out of sight and hoping the woman wouldn't lay eyes on her.

She needed to find out more and she had a strike team of some of Cerberus's best waiting in the alley to attack when Miranda gave the word. Something told her that this woman could handle them, but Miranda needed to observe, her position depended on it in a way.

Of course Miranda had been pretending to drink at the bar this whole time. She politely turned down the drunks who would hit on her from time to time while she was watching her target. She waited an hour before the asari stripper switched shifts. The woman didn't move just sat there sipping her drink until another took over.

Two more dance shifts later, her target still hadn't moved. The bitch just sat there with an annoying smirk as she watched the dancers. Miranda checked her omni-tool to see how much time had gone by. She groaned when she was that four hours had passed. No doubt the strike team was getting restless with all the waiting as well.

Miranda opted to wait another hour before she was going to call off the strike all together. She turned her head and rubbed her temples. The music was finally grating on her. When she turned back to glance at the woman she found herself face to face with her target.

That knowing smirk was plastered on the woman's face. Miranda quickly wondered how she gave herself away. She never once did anything to make her stand out.

"Actually you did an excellent job of spying, but there were things that gave you way." The woman said, her voice like silk, but it carried a certain arrogance to it as well. She ordered a drink from the young human girl who was bartending.

Miranda froze, the woman had just read her thoughts, how did she…

"…Read your mind. Well, that is my little secret now isn't it?" she gave Miranda a wink as the young bartender brought two drinks. The woman took them and payed for them with a wave of her omni. Miranda subtly reached for her gun inside her jacket while her target was distracted, but thought against it. The redhead's smirk morphed into a smile as she looked back at Miranda. She nodded to the Cerberus operative knowing what Miranda intended straight off and seemed glad she didn't.

"I really wish that you Cerberus louts would stop hassling me. I mean I can't even take a kriffing shit without some agent making a call to the Illusive Man." Nox took a sip of her new drink. Miranda bristled a bit at the way she described Cerberus. Ignoring the woman's strange curse, Miranda raised her finger in protest.

"We are merely keeping watch on a…"

"…suspicious yet intriguing individual. One that possibly advance Cerber…" the woman fake coughed, "I mean humanity, in some way. Yes, I know the whole bit about how "Cerberus is Humanity" from the last guy after I tore the information from his brain."

Miranda did her best to not to show fear, but knew it wouldn't work. Agent Forson's encounter was revealed to her prior to the mission. She saw the pictures of the man lying in the hospital bed, drool dripping from the side of his mouth. What was the woman planning to do to her?

The red-haired woman looked up and down Miranda's body, "I can think of many things to do to lovely creature such as yourself." Miranda didn't bother to hide her disgust at the woman who continued regardless, "But first I think introductions are in order. You can call me Nox and you are…" she let the sentence hung in the air.

"Can't you just read my mind?" Miranda asked skeptically.

"Where is the fun in that? When I get to know a girl I really like, I want to be surprised. You can call me Nox by the way." The redhead tipped her glass back and downed the rest of it.

"It seems you enjoy many women, why get to know me?" Miranda shook her head.

"You got more going on than the others, not just physically but in here," Nox tapped the side of her head. "You see things different than most and I find it intriguing."

Miranda frowned. What did she really want? She couldn't just play along. Nox would know if she was trying anything. Miranda knew too well that her thoughts were too well-ordered to not be read. Her line of thinking led to a theory and an idea struck her. Just crazy enough to actually work. She quickly reached out and grasped behind Nox's head and pulled her face in close, her lips smashed against Nox's.

Nox stiffened as she was caught by surprise, but soon melted into the kiss. Miranda guessed that the woman must have been too drunk to keep her own focus. Making chance decisions on the spot seemed to through the woman off while she was intoxicated. The Illusive Man would be pleased with this little bit of information.

Quickly, she activated her Omni and an injector came out. She was about to inject Nox, but her hand froze in place. She realized she couldn't move as a whole as she must have been in some kind of biotic stasis. The worrisome part was the lack of a blue element zero field usually accompanying the use of dark energy. Was she using some form of telekinesis? Troubling

Nox pulled away and looked at Miranda. She didn't look angry or annoyed, if anything the red head looked impressed as her gaze fell upon Miranda's omni-tool.

"See, this is what I mean when I say your different than most. You adapt quicker." she slurred a bit as she gestured at the omnitool as she stood up. Apparently too quickly. She swayed a bit. She grabbed the bar top for support. Miranda felt the strange stasis fall away. She looked back at Nox to see she had recovered. Her eyes were closed as if she was trying to concentrate. Miranda wanted to drug her and get her to the team outside, but Nox could still be tracking her thoughts. Even in the Nox's inebriated state she could still be far too dangerous. Miranda made a call and instead sent a message to the strike team to standby.

"I should go," Nox half muttered as she tried to stumble away from the bar.

Nox swayed again, looking like she was about to fall over. Miranda found it odd that now of all times Nox would suddenly appear to be wasted. She reached out and caught the red head as the she fell over.

"Well, aren't you just my Angel of Ie... go…" Nox passed out before she could finish. Miranda looked at the glass Nox had. She took a sip of what was left and licked her lips with the brandy. She waited for symptoms and sure enough, Nox was drugged. Miranda didn't believe in mere luck and that meant someone else was watching Nox, waiting to catch her. That meant right now Nox was the priority. Getting the woman away from any of Cerberus' rivals like the Shadow Broker or the STG was paramount at the moment.

She sent a ping to her team to make their move, but her omni-tool's connection was severed. Someone was jamming the bar and probably the surrounding area. Hopefully her team would get the hint and take that as cue to move in. Miranda hauled Nox on to her shoulder and made to look like she was carrying a drunken friend out of the bar. Most of the patrons didn't spare a second glance, but she saw a couple patrons, and Turian man and a human woman in different sections of the bars that seemed to be watching her and Nox. Miranda let out an annoyed growl as a drunken Turian stumbled into her as she pushed on through the entrance.

Things were quiet for a time until she cleared the street outside the bar. The alley was where they were ambushed, but Miranda was ready for them. She threw a grenade back behind her catching the thugs who had followed her from the bar. They were caught unawares and killed in the blast. Miranda strafed to the side, albeit slowly while carrying the unconscious woman, trying to find to place to whole up while she fought off the attackers. She managed to find a dumpster to take cover behind. She set down Nox in the corner where the dumpster met the wall. Miranda then injected Nox with a stimulant to help wake the passed out woman up faster.

Miranda pulled out her pistol and and leaned out from behind the dumpster to fire at the some of the goons that were after her and Nox. They scattered as they approached to avoid her fire. She ducked as a sharpshooter took a pot shot at her, narrowly missing her. Miranda popped out and fired in the direction of the shooter, hopefully forcing the shooter to duck into cover. Another round barely missed her head and made a "ping" sound as it deflected off the crate next to her. Miranda shook her head as she fired at the closest attacker, putting two rounds in the Salarian's chest as he moved up. She ducked again as more troops poured in and opened fire.

Nox let a moan as she began to wake up. Miranda popped up again to fire and took a closer look at the armor while she did. It was a mixture of red, white and black. That meant they were the personal strike team of the Shadow Broker, the galaxy's most successful and dangerous information broker.

"Mmmm, what is going on?" The redhead looked around, her eyes adjusting to the alley. She made to get up only for Miranda to push her down.

"Stay down," Miranda ordered.

The red head jumped at a stray shot hit the wall above the dumpster.

"Kark! What in the nine Corellian hells is going on?!" Nox blurted out as she rubbed her temples, "Why do I feel like I got hit by a gundark?"

Again ignoring the woman's strange curse and terminology, Miranda replied.

"You were drugged by agents of the Shadow Broker," Miranda quickly leaned out and shot a Turian with three shots to the torso while he was reloading. The first two shots downing his barriers and the third striking him in the heart.

Nox looked over the crates briefly let out small curse and ducked back down as that damn sniper took another shot.

"They beat you to it, huh." Nox chuckled at the annoyed glance Miranda gave her.

Nox sighed.

"Kriff, they are almost as annoying as you lot." Nox commented as she began lifting her pant legs to reveal a pair of steel colored cylinders.

Miranda wanted to watch as the woman began assembling some sort of weapon, but the fire from the Shadow Broker's men kept her busy. While she focused on the commandos in front of her, she failed to notice two men, one human and the other Batarian stalk up the opposite side of the alley.

"Look out!" Nox cried out. Miranda turned but was winged in the shoulder blade. Nox cast out her hand and an unseen force sent the mercs flying end over end into the wall opposite the alley. Miranda eyes widened in shock as she saw no eezo field nor did she feel any biotics radiating from the woman. Again Miranda found herself asking who was this woman?

Nox smiled as she looked back a Miranda, "I can get us out of here, but I have one condition."

Miranda glared at the red head.

"What would that be?"

"Oh nothing much, your name is all I ask."

"What! I am not telling you that!" Miranda yelled, having no time for such games. A shot whizzed past Miranda's head as reinforcements arrived for the mercs. There at least another ten more at her last count. One was a krogan with a mini-gun causing her eyes to widen slightly as the tall humped lizard man stomped forward. Miranda leaned out to fire still holding her wounded left shoulder. She pulled the trigger and heat sink alarm went off. The system not allowing her to fire anymore shots until the gun cooled. The Krogan's gun began to speed up and let loose chewing away at the dumpster.

Nox let out a bored yawn.

"Offer is still open."

Miranda pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed.

"Alright, if it gets us out of here! My name is… Miranda Lawson."

Nox smiled and mouthed the name to herself. She then frowned and looked back at Miranda.

"You really don't look like a Miranda." she stated

"Just do something already!" Miranda shouted as she shot another merc and used her biotics to slam a human woman with a rocket launcher into the krogan. The massive merc shrugged the attack off and kept firing, not even really noticing.

Nox rolled her eyes and stood up with a cruel smile on her face. The firing stopped as their objective was to probably to capture Nox.

"Stay down." Nox whispered to Miranda in a serious and surprisingly authoritative tone. Miranda watched as Nox held out the long cylinder giving the mercs sent forward to retrieve her pause while the others still stood back. Nox activated the weapon and two long violet blades hissed out from both ends. Nox's smile widened a little more as she looked on at the mercs who now gazed upon the weapon in curiosity like Miranda.

She let out a small chuckle.

"Murder and mayhem await." Her sultry tone breaking the mercs out of their trance. They hefted their weapons and pointed them at Nox. She spun the weapon her hand once. The blade made a whirring sound as it did so. She then charged the group of mercenaries with an unnatural speed.

A/N: There was a big time skip but the first part was mostly to see how Nox was adjusting to the Mass Effect verse. She is an alcoholic too, stress from being stuck by herself somewhere completely foreign. Yes, tech in the Mass Effect verse is far outmatched compared to the Galactic Cold War era that Nox comes from in Star wars. I do wonder how the Reapers would fare against Nox's Silencer superweapons if she could create a working prototype.