Maria and Violet Shepard
A pair of fraternial twin girls were born to Marcus and Camila Shepard on April 11, 2154 on the farming colony of Mindoir. Isabel Violet Shepard & Maria Amber Shepard. Born April 11, 2154 to farmers newly arrived on the colony of Mindoir. Notably, the drive core on the ship used to transport Marcus and Camila had a fault that caused it to leak trace amounts of eezo dust back into the engine room, where it was picked up by ship's ventilation.
When the two were fourteen, it was discovered that the soil on Mindoir also contained small amounts of element zero by the Shepard family. Although previous medical scans had indicated that both daughters had some degree of latent biotic potenial, exposure to the Eezo-contaminated soil caused both to develop strengthening biotic abilities.
Isabel was generally considered to have the stronger biotics, drawing even the attention of the Systems Alliance - who ultimately recommended to the girls and their parents that they join the Alliance as adults - however, the Shepard parents were adamant that the girls were needed on the farm. It was at least consented to have the girls outfitted with biotic implants at sixteen - the Alliance knew that the L3 was in development and was hoping to avoid the problems arising with the L2.
Without the use of an implant, Maria's were generally limited to a weak and unstable use of Barrier and a very minor augmentation of her physical strength and agility. Given this, her father elected to train her with weapons - both to protect the farm and homestead as she grew towards an adult. Isabel's pre-implant biotics were somewhat stronger, allowing her some degree of offensive ability - especially when triggered by the endorphins of a crisis situation.
Not surprisingly, Maria was generally seen as the more controlled and reserved of the siblings, while Isabel was generally more impulsive and brash. Between the two sisters, if you wanted to talk out a problem you were usually dealing with Maria; if you wanted to fight out the problem, there would be Isabel - though with Maria ready to jump in.
As the two got older, Isabel began going by her middle name, Violet, as a way to slightly differentiate herself from her sister and parents. Maria was supportive - and about to tell their parents something they wouldn't like at all.
As teenagers, their more practical, conservative, and religious parents were more than a *bit* angered that Maria was only falling for girls (small colony, worried about population) while Isabel's brief flirtations were generally with boys (although unbeknownst to their parents, Violet generally liked both). Given the two teenagers were some of the only biotics on the colony world, they weren't exactly rolling in friends - Maria was somewhat more social than Violet - so in the end dating was more of a 'nice idea' most of the time anyway.
In 2170, the two sisters and their parents traveled off-world to receive their L3s, two of the first people to be implanted with them.
The difference - in control and power - was immediate for Violet - who with only a short amount of training became a very powerful biotic now classified as an 'Adept' by the Alliance, who had increasing interest even as Violet's own interests were in creative pursuits.
For Maria, the effects were more subtle. A stronger and more stable barrier and further augmentations to her agility were the most noticeable impacts. As her sister's primary sparring partner, Maria's own capabilities gradually grew, although always a step behind Violet.
During an attack of wild animals, their parents and the farmhands were thus surprised when it was Maria that charged to the front - heavy pistol in hand - keeping her barrier up while dispatching the animals quickly and cleanly enough to even salvage meat. The next time the Alliance rep came around was the first time the Shepard parents heard the term 'Vanguard.' The rep was also intrigued to hear of Maria's proficiency with rifles from a distance - successfully demonstrating shooting a varren between the eyes from a third of a klick away.
Violet herself also had several tricks as she heard the praise being heaped upon her sister and was determined to impress - managing to lift the nearby Alliance shuttle into the air and moving it around as though playing with a toy. Though the headache lasted for nearly a week, the Alliance knew they had two extremely capable biotics on their hand - and with the continuing stigma against biotics, Marcus and Camila knew their girls' best life was not on Mindoir.
Right as they had planned to encourage both to sign on with the Alliance at 18, the Batarians came. First was a raid - to pick off the biggest and the strongest and to take those suitable for slavery. The girls and their parents managed to fight back, sending the invading aliens fleeing from their land - and for one moment, leaving the Shepards thinking they thought they might be okay. Still, they reach out to their Alliance contact - then-Commander Steven Hackett - to warn them.
Before the Alliance could return, however, the Batarians moved to round 2 and went fully apocalyptic - and bombed the hell out of everything. Including the Shepard homestead.
Maria launched her barrier to try to protect the four of them, but there's only so much any biotic can take, and eventually the barrier fell. Meanwhile, Violet was using her powers to try to keep the rubble from collapsing down on the room - while also knowing that the bombs were still falling so there was no chance to flee.
And here the timeline splits. As the rubble came down, it killed their parents. In one timeline, it kills Violet. In the other, it kills Maria.
Maria Shepard lives.
Maria's barrier shrank as it weakened. As her own biotics gave out and blood emerged from her nose and ears, the barrier had been reduced to a small thin shell around her and her only.
Before it gave out, Violet's uplifting of the rubble snapped off. When the Alliance recovered her sister's body, it was discovered that overworking of her biotics had been what had taken her sister, not the debris field - even if Maria's barrier had been able to keep shielding everyone, Violet wouldn't have survived anyway. That said, Maria was distraught at the loss of her sister - and her parents to the collapsing rubble - for some time to come.
Maria is found in the rubble by the Alliance by a group of ships marshalled together by the aforementioned Commander Hackett, who led the recovery and was promoted to Captain in the aftermath. With the girl no surviving family, the Commander elected to keep the youth aboard his ship in order to prepare her for the Alliance - the best place for a young biotic with her firearms prowess - with trips home to occasionally stay with Hackett's sister and niece, though Shepard quickly found herself preferring life aboard ship.
She signed on with the Alliance on her 18th birthday. Years later, she was on Elysium when the Batarians arrived again, single-handedly saving the colony while driven in part by guilt she hadn't been able to save her family on Mindoir. She was ultimately awarded the Star of Terra for her heroism, and eventually assigned to the Normandy.
Violet Shepard lives.
Violet was trying to hold on, especially as she noticed Maria's barrier shrink to only protect her - and even then, begin to falter. Violet could even see the blood coming out of her sister's ear.
Violet's holding up the rubble gave out at the same time as Maria's barrier. One last burst of instinctual biotic strength slowed, ever so slowly, the large slab of concrete about to come down on her. She would break several bones, but still live. Maria and her parents weren't so lucky.
Violet is found in the rubble by the Alliance by a group of ships marshalled together by the aforementioned Commander Hackett, who led the recovery and was promoted to Captain in the aftermath. Colony records were damaged in the attack, and although the Alliance previously had records of her, post-Mindoir her name was officially recorded as Violet Isabel Shepard thereafter, formally switching her first and middle names.
With the girl having no surviving family, the Commander elected to keep the youth aboard his ship in order to prepare her for the Alliance - besides her formidable biotics, Hackett felt the girl needed strong emotional guidance, her already brash nature not helped by clear survivor's guilt. Violet initially spent several trips to stay with Hackett's sister and niece, though it was quickly determined that her disposition and biotics weren't ideally compatible for a quiet life away from the Alliance.
She signed on with the Alliance two days after her 18th birthday, pretending to need to decide. Her early career was generally distinguished, but marked by a second calamity when she was eventually deployed to Akuze and had to watch her entire unit* slaughtered by a Thresher Maw. Her ability to endure awarded her several commendations, a promotion, and eventually a posting aboard the Normandy.
