#ellen’s gonna hate what’s coming next LOL some of the reaper troops from the third game are sheer nightmare fuel

[akuzeisms]

To say she was worried about Ellen was an understatement. Kat could clearly understand how terrifying what she’d experienced was; all she could think about was the fear she’d felt on Mindoir, when the slavers had come to try and take her. The way she’d watched friends and family kidnapped, killed, watched houses get levelled by shots from orbit as the people inside them tried to escape. Hell, even remembering the first time she’d ever used her biotics—in a fight-or-flight situation—was forever vivid in her memory.

There was no way Ellen was going to forget what she experienced. Ever.

“I do know, actually. More than you think… I mean.” It was more than just Mindoir when it came to how she could understand exactly what Ellen was going through. Crossing her arms, Kat leaned against the wall as she spoke. “I grew up on Mindoir… and then there was Akuze… and when the old Normandy was attacked, I… didn’t make it to the escape pod. I went to save our pilot, got him in the pod, but the explosion knocked me away from the hatch. Last thing I managed to do was hit the eject to launch it. Explosion tore the line on my hardsuit, and… well, there’s no oxygen to breathe in space.” She wouldn’t go any further into the details; she was still trying to wrap her head around it.

Pushing off the wall with a sigh, she rolled her neck and shoulders to loosen them. “Our next step is to at least get you settled. I won’t take you groundside until Dr. Chakwas clears you, but until then, you can talk to Yeoman Chambers and she’ll get you situated.” For once, Kelly’s psychology skills ought to come in useful; she’d have to talk to Chambers later about anything that she picked up on. “As for what we need to know… Don’t worry about that too much. I think Mordin collected enough data for us to safely say it was the Collectors. Not sure what the hell kind of Collector that was, though. It was… something else.” Worse than any horror she’d seen as of yet, and she’d seen a lot.

“…and before you start dreading it… no, I’m not going to ask you if you’re okay. Because I know how… exhausting of a question that can be.” Okay was relative; at least physically, Ellen was fine aside from a few minor injuries, but psychologically… that was undoubtedly going to be a different story. A story Kat knew all too well, from far too much experience.

Ripley's gaze moves from her hands in her lap to meet Kat's when the other woman said she understood. The empathy was enough to help her perk up slightly, knowing she had support and a listening ear who wouldn't doubt or ignore her. It was ridiculous, the amount of people who didn't listen to her. All it did was cost them their lives, something they could never get back. They went out terribly, painfully, and even if it wasn't her fault, she felt guilty as though her warnings hadn't been enough.

She nods at Kat's words, almost as if she was in a daze, but her strength kept Ellen grounded, or as much as she could be in the moment. "I'll try not to," she responds, slowly, carefully. It was always difficult for her to ask for help, wanting to do things on her own, but she had to cooperate now. For the good of everyone. "I won't complain. I'm just glad somebody found me and actually saved me. This is better than...you know," her words trail off, but the point is there. It was better than dying, than being alone in the vastness of space.

"I'll work with you. Tell you everything I know." She's almost desperate in the way she wants to help others, wants to prevent more deaths. Whatever that alien was, it wasn't getting past her a second time if it ever dared show its face again. "I hope we can," she corroborates, "how do we start? What all do you want to know?" She was a strong-willed woman, but she just hoped she could hold it together when recounting the events. The trauma hadn't yet settled in, but the shock was still there. Even so, she was ready to jump into it, to solve the problem.