Kennedy Shepard
Kennedy grew up as a Colonist. When she was sixteen, slavers attacked Mindoir. For most, it was over before she knew. She had been out in a large field, on the outskirts of the colony, practicing her Biotics on bottles with her father’s guidance. They’d heard screams, and her father told her to keep safe, while he would see what all the fuss was about.
When he didn’t return after several minutes, she rushed back to their home.
Watching everything she knew being destroyed before her eyes and finding her parents’ and older sister’s lifeless bodies decimated, damaged her more than she’d liked to admit.
It was then, however, that she realized the potential of her Biotics, warding off bullets and throwing the screaming slavers for as long as she could, before being saved by the Alliance. The power it took nearly drained the life from her, holding up a little barrier for hours on end, with rubble from the building coming down on her, but she made it, and it made her more resilient than ever.
After, people would call her Ruthless. She, frankly, didn’t give a damn what people called her. She got the job done and made sure whomever responsible would never get another chance of hurting anyone.
Kaidan is the first she trusts. However, on Virmire, Ash will be the one protecting the bomb. To ensure that goes off, and consequently the building is destroyed, Kennedy has no choice but to let Kaidan die.
It won’t be until ME2, when she is once more faced with her own mortality, that she allows herself to open up to an old friend, Garrus Vakarian.