User:The Cat Master/Raiala Shepard

Raiala Elizabeth Shepard was an officer with the Systems Alliance, and commander of the prototype "deep scout" frigate SSV Normandy. She rose to fame in 2183 CE when she became the first human agent to serve in the Citadel Council's elite Special Tactics and Reconnaissance branch, also known as Spectres. That same year she lead the forces that defeated the Reaper Sovereign when it attacked the Citadel. Shortly afterwords she was "killed in action" during an attack on the Normandy by a mysterious enemy, while on a mission to root out remaining geth resistance. In 2185 CE she was revived by a project called the Lazarus Project run by the human extremist organization Cerberus. In 2186 CE she was instrumental in forging the alliance of several of the galaxy's races in order to defend Earth against the Reapers. She lost her life as she activated the Crucible.

Background
Raiala was born in a run down neighbourhood near the defunct ship channel in Houston, Texas on April 11, 2154 CE. Her mother Hannah died at childbirth due to complications from eezo exposure after a truck transporting it was involved in a serious accident near her home early on during pregnancy. The young Raiala was raised by her grandmother Caterina (aka Grammy Cat) until the age of 6. She was orphaned when Grammy Cat died unexpectedly of a stroke.

After the death of her grandmother, Raiala was put into foster care. She never spent more than a year with any one foster family. Many of them felt she was possessed due to her biotic abilities. She was also a very rebellious child who had issues with authority, which turned off some of her foster parents. At the age of 12, due to the frustration and anger she felt for being shuffled from one family to another, as well as having to endure the abuse of some of the other families, she dropped out of school and ran away. For a while she was living as a street urchin until she joined the notorious street gang known as the Reds. For her initiation, Joey "The King" Shah the leader of the Houston cell of the Reds handed her a gun and asked her to kill a rival gang's boss. It was during that initiation she was given the nickname "The Witch". Instead of using the gun that was handed to her, she used a combination of her biotic skills to kill the rival boss & some of his cronies at once. Raiala's biotics both fascinated and frightened her follow gang members. None of the Reds have ever seen a biotic, and most of them did not even know they existed.

She was mainly involved in petty crime such as dealing drugs, and theft. Sometimes, however, she was tasked with contract killings, since her singularity combined with warp can take out several people at once. Eventually she was able to earn the respect of the gangs leadership, and after a year with the gang, The King invited her to be his personal body guard. That did not go over so well with many of her fellow gang members, as they could not understand how some little red headed girl barely in her teens was given that position.

At the age of 16, she was arrested while making a cocaine sale to an under cover police officer. She was tried and found guilty, and sentenced to 2 years in a juvenile detention centre. It was while serving time there when she decided that she did not want to return to life on the streets. Due to her lack of education, however, she would not have much of future once she got out. She took advantage of the education services provided by the detention centre. Since she only had a 6th grade education, however, she was concerned that she would not be able to catch up to the level of education someone of her age should achieve. Despite her concern, she kept studying diligently. She excelled in the subjects of Math, English, History, and Astronomy.

A few months before she was set to be released, Lt. Omar Salim, an Alliance recruiter came to the detention centre to give a presentation about an outreach program called Brighter Futures. Lt. Salim's presentation impressed her enough to consider enlisting. She was finally presented with the opportunity to put her street life behind her once and for all, and most importantly she got to fulfill a childhood dream of going to outer space. Prior to Lt. Salim's visit she never believed she will get the chance leave earth. in 2172 CE, the year of her her 18th birthday she was released from the detention centre. A few days after her release, she went to the Systems Alliance recruitment office & enlisted.

Personality
Raiala's personality was described as cold and humourless, with a short temper. This was thought to be a result of her difficult childhood. Those who knew her well, however, also described her as caring and compassionate. She was a very private person, who would only divulge information about her troubled past to people she was very close to and trusted.

After her revival she became somewhat emotionally unstable, and increasingly angry. Garrus, Tali, & Liara, became concerned about that, as they thought once she reaches a breaking point, she could go on a rampage. During her time with Cerberus she felt morally sickened, due to their horrors she witnessed in 2183 CE. As a result of the constant pain she felt from the implants she recieved from the Lazarus Project, she developed a drinking habit, which only intensified her anger. Most of her squad mates refused to drink with her because of her drunken outbursts of rage.

Despite only a 6th grade education, she was highly intelligent. She had a passion for classical literature, music, and cinema. She also had a fondness for history, and archaeology. She felt a sense of pride after receiving the cypher in 2183 CE. Some of the Normandy crew nicknamed her "The Crazy Cat Lady" for her love of cats. She had a cat aboard the SSV Normandy she named Chairman Meow, who perished in the collector attack.

She had mixed feelings about the galaxy's other races. She had great respect and admiration for the asari, salarians, turians, and elcor. She didn't care much for volus, krogans, or the hanar. She utterly despised batarians, and vorcha.

Legacy
After she died stopping the reaper threat, Raiala became a legendary figure in the folklore of many of the galaxy's races. In the years and centuries following the defeat of the reapers, she was known simply as "The Shepard".