The scent of polished steel and antiseptic hangs low in the stale air, giving the small room a stiflingly clinical feel to it even without the range of medical equipment that decorated the nearby walls and tables. Machines fill the space with their haunting melody of chirps and whirring begging for the attention their dreadful purposes deserved.

"Give me a hand with the glass, we have to open it manually due to the power restraints"

Somewhere the sound of shifting parts and a wordless gasp ring out, followed by a long sullen silence.

Cold leathery straps secure her down to the metal table, the pricking of needles lighting up her side. Groggily, eyelids flutter open in time to spy macabre hands pull something red and beating from her chest.

"Jeanne! Jeanne! Calm down! Keelah! What is wrong with her?"

"I don't know there wasn't anything wrong with her vitals!"

"Hold her down!"

An unending length of tiled wall rush by her the immaculate strip broken only occasionally by a door or bench. Dull eyes shift along her naked body only pausing a moment in their insipid examination to register her missing arm. The edges of her eyes burned painfully but tears had long since dried up. Twisting her head away from the wretched sight she looked to the length of glass that stretched out in opposition to the metallic wall she was being carted by. A multitude of black misshapen forms lay suspended within, their silhouettes only discernible by the meager amount of light that her hallway allowed in. Sullenly she pried her eyes from the scene focusing instead on the ceiling above her, chalking up the image of a mangled shadowy arm reaching towards her in pleading desperation to encroaching madness.

"She's not breathing, Jeanne just take a breath!"

Multiple remorseless orbs scanned her marred skin dutifully, typing away on their small tablets as the hunk of meat that was her body was held aloft by various tubes and wires. Disapproving frowns crept slowly onto their faces spreading between like a disease as the sounds of frantic beeping came from the machine to her left. A warm tickling sensation crept from the edge of her cracked lips as her next shuddering breath caught in her throat, liquid ichor sputtered forth as her body tried in vain to clear the blockage. Inwardly shrugging at her lungs inability to fill her eyes retrained onto the figures before her, a slight smile flitting to her bloody lips as she spied the red splatters that they now sported. The grin stubbornly affixed itself to her face even as her flesh was pried apart and the tubes forcefully filled her failing lungs with the much needed air.

A gasp escapes from her as air painfully thrusts its way down into her deprived lungs, sweat glistens against her cool dark skin as a sense of panic floods her senses. Unseeing hazel colored eyes peer out into the darkly lit room blinking fruitlessly int heir attempt to ward away the stubborn dark fog that permeates the edges of her vision. Lurching forward Jeanne, stumbling briefly from the lack of support her left side gives her, manages to slip herself into a sitting position. With a twinge of alarm her right hand whips out and hurriedly checks her left side, gingerly brushing against the fabric running along the stumps of her arm and leg. Vitals climbing in trepidation she tries moving her right foot and finds that it too was missing. Chest heaving, confused half formed thoughts flit erratically around the inside of her skull, adrenaline surging through her nerve endings as her fight or flight response begins to kick in. As if sensing the inward struggle, a pair of hands gently forces her back into a prone position, a calming voice quickly spewing forth words of assurance.

"Jeanne it's alright, you are just coming out of cryo, your prosthetic's are packed in a locker beneath your pod."

Fleetingly she struggled against the gentle firm grip that held her, her mind still shaking off the effects of six hundred years of cryo sleep. Her quickened breaths hitching in her throat for a moment before being replaced by deep shuddering intakes, the situation slowly beginning to make sense to her. Closing her eyes, Jeanne laid back down into the pod trying to calm the erratic thoughts and feelings pumping through her. Expelling a lengthy breath her eyes fluttered open again, scanning the area and its two occupants.

Two quarians stood beside her, one male, one seemingly androgynous. The male stood over her and was holding her down as the other looked on in apparent worry. The hallway they occupied was long and dimly lit by hazard emergency lights, no others seemed to be present. Odd considering there was meant to be a procedure in place for the reawakening of the crew. A creeping morbid thought began to needle it's way at the back of her head. Letting out a sigh she decided to voice the question instead of letting it fester, her voice came out cracked and hoarse from the years of neglect, making her feel insecure at the frailty it brought to her words.

"So, what went wrong?"

Flinching back from her, the male quarian reigned in his arms and settled them on the far side lid of her pod. Shaking his head sluggishly he chose to kneel down and retrieve a large case from somewhere outside her field of vision. The quarian behind him stepped forward their hands wringing in an obviously habitual fashion, insecurity stained words cascading out of them as they hastened to explain their current predicament.

"Some unforeseen complications impeded our original route and left the ark in a precarious state. We are behind schedule by two years, we've awakened most of our leaders and all of our engineers. Which is why we have chosen to awaken you now, we need more assistance if we are to exit dark space and you are the most talented engineer outside of our own race."

Raising an eyebrow at the backhanded compliment, Jeanne digested the alarming situation with growing dread.

Soft fingers brushed airly across her scarred skin, the hand blindingly pale in contrast to the warm chestnut of her own as they traced their invisible patterns on her. A fondness settling in white milky eyes as they leisurely swept along her features.

"Vos!"

Jeanne's eyes widened as her thoughts turned to her lover, her face contorting into a look of pleading as she examined the two.

"Is Vos'Teema awake? Surely you have need for doctors?"

"O-of course we need them, but Vos ranks pretty low on the list due to him being a physical therapist. Perhaps we should head to the bridge so the captain can fill you in on the current situation and direct you to where you will be the most help….."

Pausing in their speech for a moment as their companion placed the large case softly into Jeanne's lap, their gaze slipped over it in consideration. Even with the visor hiding their expression Jeanne could feel the pity emanating from the quarian, already knowing what was soon to follow.

"If you like we could help you with yo-"

Bristling at their words but hesitant to let the topic of her beloved drop Jeanne interrupted them before they could go on, her tone cold and biting.

"No! I'm fine, thank you. I can do it just fine on my own. Why don't the two of you meet me down the hall so you can give me some much needed privacy? We can continue this conversation there."

Confused at the hostility the woman displayed, the quarians turned to each other. A short wordless conversation passing between them before the male shrugs his shoulders and begins to make his way in the apparent direction of the exit. The other, sparing one last anxious glance to her, followed quickly, their head bowed as if they were considering what could of offended the woman. Letting out a sigh of exasperation, Jeanne tore her gaze from the departing quarians and settled it on the metal case that lay before her. Flipping it open she felt the usual feelings of bitter laced pride wash over as she examined her prosthetic's. Sleek, delicately crafted, white metal plates stared back up at her as she traced a hand along the surface of the three pieces which lay securely nestled within their gray foam prison. All three were hand designed by her and while she would most likely never be able to look at them without a measure of loss, she couldn't help but feel a great sense of pride wash over her at the sight of them. Nimble, strong, durable, they matched and may very well exceed even the most successful genetically augmented limbs, or at least that is what she would like to think.

With an embarrassing amount of effort Jeanne began to undress, setting the case aside for the moment as she took off the tightly fitted fabric that barred the prosthetic's access to her limbs. The process was made a lot easier after she got her torso free and snapped the left arm into the metal socket that was grafted onto her shoulder. Gritting her teeth as her nerve endings flared to life, her brain trying desperately to integrate the new sensation of touch and motor controls that had suddenly winked into existence. After the feeling subsides she gives the limb a small habitual rotation to test for any immediate issues before opening her omni-tool and beginning diagnostics. As the diagnostics ran Jeanne went to work taking off the rest of her suit with the new found help that her left arm provided her, eyes lingering only momentarily on the various scars that littered her torso before moving on to the large intricate tattoo that swept along the right side of her body. With a small grin she tracked it's progression up her right arm, it's provocative descent down the side of her stomach and into the waistband of her underclothes, before its eventual decline to the base of her knee where it encircled the bit of tech that was grafted there. Tearing her eyes away from the artwork, she grabbed the longer left leg by the thigh and went about connecting it. After a slight wince at the sensation Jeanne added it to the diagnostic queue and swiftly attached the remaining limb with barely a grimace, sweeping her legs out and over the edge of the pod without a moment's hesitation.

Hopping out of the coffinlike pod that had been her place of rest for the last six centuries, Jeanne ran a hand through her coarse raven hair, tugging lightly at the nots that soon halted its passage. A chime signalling the end of the diagnostics rang out echoing down the halls of the long corridor, satisfied that she was in working order Jeanne slipped back into her jumpsuit and went to meet up with the two quarians. Something bugged her about those two, like they weren't telling her something. There were subtle movements and glances between them that now that she had a moment to consider their actions, she found off putting. If they thought she was going to be denied answers they had another thing coming, even Vos shied away from her when she got heated.

The quarians were less than forthcoming with information regarding anything that had to do with their current predicament. Not only flat out refusing to explain anything more before they had seen the captain but also going out of their way to steer conversation to negligible things like what she had been doing before the Andromeda project. It was so insufferably infuriating she found herself barely able to restrain herself from throttling the both of them. Letting yet another weary sigh escape from her, Jeanne begrudgingly let the topic die resolving to press the captain for the answers when they found their way to the bridge. Turning her attention to the desolate corridor she couldn't help but to feel a growing sense of apprehension at the task that lay ahead of her. Emergency lighting was the only source of light in the surrounding area, with some rooms they passed lacking even that. The normal chatter of machines that usually accompanied an ark this size gave way to an eerie looming silence disturbed infrequently by the far off groaning of metal. If all of that wasn't enough, in the twenty minutes they had been walking Jeanne had failed to see even one other soul. For a ship that housed not just one of the council races but the entirety of the remaining races of their past system, this was deeply concerning. Chewing on her lip in thought as another few minutes slipped by, she finally couldn't take the unpleasant silence that had descended upon them.

"So, big guy, you able to at least tell me what I can expect to see work wise? Like am I gonna be able to rely on some elcor support cause gotta admit they really got that turtle vs. the hare thing down pat."

After a moment of strained silence the male spared a glance back at her, confusion obvious by his body language.

"Excuse me? Why would you pit a turtle against a hare?"

Rolling her eyes at the common miscommunication that seemed to plague her whenever she communicated with one of the other races, she waved off his words with a short hand gesture and attempted the question again.

"Nevermind that, just how many races you got up working on this thing? Couple hundred from each race?"

Meeting her gaze the Quarian gradually shook his head her expression slipping into something that resembled a slack jawed mule with every twist of the head. She barely registered the words that rushed up to meet her ears.

"You are the first person of another race we have woken from cryo, the higher ups believed that since you have worked closely with quarian engineers before we have little to fear in the way of racial disputes."

Her legs ceased their progression forward, her hand stressfully slipping up to her face to rub the building tension from her eyes. Taking in a calming breath she dropped the hand back to her side and looked back up at the man.

"Are you fucking kidding me? I'am the first fucking person you ask because my lover happens to be quarian? That somehow makes me more qualified? Two full years of problems that could of potentially been solved by a different races perspective wasted, because of your obviously misplaced feelings of racial superiority. Great, just fucking great."

Slowing their own progression during her outburst the two seemed to reel at the venomous words she spit out, coming to a stop beside a door before turning to regard her. Before they could try to reason with her however she held up a hand to cut them off.

"No I'm not finished yet! This is the kind of rampant bigotry that I thought we were leaving behind! What right was it of yours to keep this from all the other races? Just because your addled brained captain was put in charge doesn't mean he is the end all be all! This is just shows what kind of pig headed, short sighted, bosh'te-"

Just then a speaker she had previously been unaware of flared to life, the crackling of static halting her words mid speech.

"Miss Hale, if you would to be so kind as to step through the entryway and onto the bridge the captain wishes to speak to you."

Snapping her mouth shut Jeanne's features rapidly evolved from one of shock to a tight thin lipped scowl of frustration. Balling her fists to take her mind off how crass she must of come off she forged ahead pushing the thought away. The door slid open at her approach one of the few she imagined that were still operational considering the dire situation they were in, before it shut a hushed voice rose softly to her ears.

"Many agree with your words, but try not to make waves Jeanne."

The words were uttered so quietly she had trouble believing they had even been said, resolving to question them later she focused on the looming figure that stood on the far side of the room. Her bearing spoke of a militaristic life, which was not too uncommon amongst the leaders of the andromeda initiative, Alec Ryder himself was ex-N7.

Orders screamed to life over a comm, mud and grit seemed to be wedged firmly into every crevice of her being, the weight of another firmly pressed up against her, their legs dragging limply as she pushed herself forward. Another mock artillery shot slammed down a couple meters to her left, way too close for comfort, shields deflecting some of the debri that pelted her side, Ryder's voice flared coming through the static of the comm "You better haul your sorry ass outta there soon S-"

"-o, Miss Hale is it? I see you have been made aware of the fact that you are our trial run in bringing in help from the other races. Must you be in such a hurry to prove me right in this foolish endeavor? One might think you were gunning for the record of shortest time out of Cryo."

Blinking away the memory Jeanne slipped her gaze somewhat appreciatively over the woman in front of her, her posture and tone commanding her respect even as the sultrous undertones tried to appeal to her softer side. Hearing the woman's words finally, a scowl of indignation slipped across Jeanne's face,her arms folding her out in front of her as the fleeting emotions gave way to her building irritation.

"So I'm a trial run huh? A guinea pig thrown into your little maze to show the rest of the crew that you are trying everything you can, so that when the world comes crashing down you can hide behind your desk and pass the blame onto someone else? Don't think for a second you can intimidate me Captain. I've seen your ilk before and I'm going to make sure you won't be the last. Point me to the problem so I can fix your mess"

Stiffening slightly at her response the woman leaned forward the challenge in her tone hanging low in the air as she responded.

"Well then it looks like you have all the information you need to get started, I won't waste my breath on telling you the intricacies of the job before you. By all means go ahead prove me wrong human."

With a wave of her hand the Captain dismissed her and slunk back to her desk, depositing herself in the luxurious chair before turning her back to Jeanne entirely. Biting back the bile that threatened to pour forth from her mouth Jeanne angrily turned on her heel and stomped towards the door.

"Oh, and Miss Hale? Do try to remember that you are a guest on this ark, as your host it would reflect poorly on me if I had to kick you out."

Refusing to turn around and take the obvious bait Jeanne grit her teeth and stalked through the entry way. As soon as the door closed shut her fist slammed into the wall opposite of the door the metal of her fist sinking into it and causing the two quarians to jump from their positions. Turning to the two with barely constrained wrath Jeanne hissed out an acidic remark in her frustration.

"How the hell did someone like that become Captain?"

Fidgeting visibly under the strength of her glare one of them spoke up, their voice barely rising above that of a whisper.

"There have been some….unforeseen complications that have left our chain of command broken….Captain Zaala'dor vas Keelah Si'yah is all that's left."

Clearly still fuming Jeanne's scowl deepened into an almost animalistic snarl, the pressure against the back of her eyes threatening to evolve into a full blown migraine. With a flick of her wrist she brought her omni-tool to life and after a quick macro of keys brought her personal VI to life. The white holographic orb studied the surroundings for a moment before turning to it's master it's questioning tone light despite the contrasting ambiance that had fell over the halls other occupants.

"Miss Hale! However may I be of service?"

"Start mapping out the Ark, primarily focus the damaged areas. If anyone gives you a hard time just patch em to me so I can explain your presence."

Without another word her VI, Cliq as she had taken to calling him, rushed away from them. Turning back to the quarians Jeanne motioned for them to lead the way her gesture exposing the agitation that bubbled beneath the chilling mask of indifference she had slammed into place upon Cliq's arrival.

"Lead the way, I'm already getting tired of being stuck in this hunk of metal."