The Life and Times of Commander Shepard
My good friend Liara T'Soni somehow convinced me to let her write a biography about my life, as a means to alleviate my boredom while recuperating. Don't ask me how she did it; just know it involved a lot of brandy. Needless to say, she asked me to tell her everything. So I've started this at the beginning, though I'm sure you'll probably want to skip straight to the exciting parts like taking down the rogue Spectre, Saren, or my involvement in the Reaper War. Just give an old war hero her due and hear me out, okay?
DATAPAD LOG 1
Alright, so from the top. My name is Jane Elizabeth Shepard, and I was born on Earth, Sol System. Like many biotics, I was first exposed to element zero in the womb, a few months before my birth. My parents were greatly relieved to discover I was normal, unlike many of the other children born after Eezo exposure. No cancer, just a happy bouncing baby girl.
When the Mindoir colony was established a few months after my birth, my parents were on the first ship of colonists. The Alliance promised support and resources for any family willing to uproot themselves and settle down on another planet.
Life on Mindoir was peaceful, like an old English county in those classic vids. My father, along with many of the other colonists, was an agriculturalist, otherwise known as a farmer. He helped to develop the farmland around the colony. He seemed to know a lot more about farming than the others; "It's in our blood," he would tell me when I asked. My mother was an engineer, she oversaw the equipment used to cultivate the land.
When I was fourteen, a small cargo ship crashed on the outskirts of the colony. The Systems Alliance sent in investigators who declared the area unsafe, and the soldiers posted to our colony concealed it behind barricades, away from prying eyes. Of course, that only served to encourage me and the curious teens I hung out with. We organised to sneak out one night and check out the crash site.
I looked at my clock; 11pm. My parents would be in bed already. I threw on a jacket and snuck out my bedroom window. The ladder was still where I had left it, and I climbed down to the ground with ease. The four of us had decided to meet up behind the sheds housing the farming machinery on the outskirts of the colony, so I headed there, tramping across the wet grass as quietly as I could.
Tom and Cady were already there, rubbing their hands together in an effort to keep warm. Cady smiled at me as I approached. She was the same age as me, while Tom was a year and a half older.
"Janey, where have you been?" Tom asked with a frown. "We've been waiting since 10."
"Dad and ma took forever to go to sleep," I replied, looking around for Cady's older brother. "Where's Jo?"
"That wimp chickened out, told Cady he had homework. Worst excuse ever. C'mon, let's go."
Cady and I followed a little behind Tom to the crash site. "He's not a wimp," she whispered to me. "He really wants to join the Alliance when he's old enough, so he's been studying real hard so he'll be ready."
"I know, Cady," I replied, shoving my hands in my pockets to keep them warm. "Tom's just grumpy because without Jo he's the only boy. He's afraid we'll strap him down and force him to wear makeup." Cady giggled. Out of the two of us she was the prettier one, with long blonde hair plaited into twin braids, green eyes and a smattering of freckles. She was always wearing skirts and dresses, whereas I opted for more convenient cargo pants and shirts unless forced to wear dresses by Cady or my mother. My black hair was just long enough to tie into a ponytail.
When we arrived at the crash site, Tom climbed over the barricade. I gave Cady a boost up, and Tom caught her on the other side. Then I went over. After that, we made our way through the shadows to the entrance of the crashed ship. The cargo bay doors were open; we clambered inside.
The ship was a complete wreck. Cargo crates lay strewn about, left untouched until the authorities could handle them appropriately. We spread out, searching for anything cool to investigate. Tom wanted to see if the engines were still intact. Cady just followed me as I looked for any clues as to the ship's intended destination.
We were looking around for maybe fifteen minutes when we heard a loud clattering sound from the area near the engine. I rushed through the ship, frantically looking for Tom. He was sprawled on the floor of the engine room, and a large panel had fallen on top of him.
"Cady, help me pull him out!" I cried as I struggled to lift up the panel. Cady grabbed Tom's hands and pulled with all her might. Tom wriggled out quickly, and I dropped the panel back into place. As I bent over to catch my breath, Tom stepped forward to stare at the engine parts that had been revealed when the panel fell.
"Wow, look at this tech, Janey!" He gasped. I looked up at the engine. It was like nothing any of us had seen before.
"I don't think this was just a cargo ship," I murmured. Tom began to rummage through the exposed wiring. "Tom, I don't think you should-"
Suddenly there was a loud explosion. A billow of dust spewed out from the engine, filling the room in seconds. Cady ran from the room, but Tom just stood, transfixed by something in his hands. I gripped his shirt by the back and tried to drag him from the room, holding my breath all the while. Tom was stubborn though, he struggled against me, trying to get back to the engine.
"Move, damn it!" I shouted, giving one final pull. He tumbled out of the room, a little shocked at my reaction. My lungs burned, I had to breathe again. I inhaled a large breath, tasting the acrid dust as it burned down my throat. I tried to cough the dust back up, but it only worsened the pain. I stumbled away from the engine with tears streaming down my cheeks. My blood felt like it was on fire as it coursed through my body.
Cady and Tom threw my arms over their shoulders and helped me through the cargo hold and outside. There, we were met by an Alliance patrol who had heard the commotion.
"What the hell are you kids doing here?" One of the soldiers demanded.
"Please officer," Cady begged, "Janey's hurt. You have to help her!"
My head was spinning, and I could feel my blood fizzing through my veins, burning hotter with every second. There was a roar growing louder and louder in my ears until finally my eyes rolled back and I blacked out.
"-She's just a kid, Hannah. What do you want me to do?"
Someone was arguing about me. I slowly cracked an eye open, and saw that I was tucked into a bed that wasn't mine. My parents were over in a corner of the dimly lit room, quietly... discussing me.
"I don't know, set some boundaries! She shouldn't be hanging around with boys like Tom who constantly get her into trouble. What if she dies next time? Hm?"
"It wasn't Tom's fault," I grumbled, trying to get up. Ma rushed over to help me.
"What in the world were you thinking Jane?" She cried as she rearranged my pillows so I could sit. "You could have been killed!"
"It's fine ma, I'm okay." I told her. "We just wanted to see what all the fuss was about."
"You are not okay young lady. You put yourself and your friends in serious danger, don't you understand?"
Dad put his hand on her shoulder. Ma glared at him, then stalked from the room, muttering something under her breath. Dad sat on the edge of the bed.
"You gave your mother a scare," he commented, brushing a lock of my hair to the side and tucking it behind my ear. "You passed out when the soldiers found you, Tom and Cady. Do you remember?"
I nodded.
"That was the day before yesterday. The doctor has been running some tests, and believes that you were exposed to Eezo dust."
"I had to get Tom out before the engine gave out," I told him. "A panel fell on him, it was an accident! Are- are they okay?"
"They're fine." His smile was encouraging. "Cady said she will visit after school."
I frowned. They were at school, not sick like I was?
Dad read my thoughts exactly, and continued to explain. "You were accidentally exposed to Element Zero in-utero: when your mother was pregnant with you. We were relieved when the doctors said you were fine, because there are rumours that in-utero Eezo exposure can lead to cancer and other complications. The doctor thinks this has made you more sensitive to Eezo exposure than others."
"Oh."
"They want to keep you here for a few days, to make sure you're okay."
"Ma is really mad, isn't she?" I asked softly.
"You know what your mother is like," dad replied.
"I guess I'm grounded..."
"Oh yeah you are, honey. Big time."
I was fine, at least according to the doctor. No cancer or lesions developed as a result of my exposure, and after two more days at the medical centre I was sent home. My mother grounded me for a month for sneaking out to the ship. I took my punishment in stride, knowing it could have been worse.
Over the next two years I found myself zapping metal I touched with static electricity more often than before. I didn't realise what this could mean, so I never told anyone. I just dismissed it as the weather, or my clothes, or something else.
Cady's brother Jo and I grew closer as we got older. He asked me out on the eve of Earth's New Year, 2169, telling me it was something their family used to celebrate when they lived on Earth. He took me out to a hill overlooking the colony and the surrounding forest. We stayed there until late, gazing at the stars and talking about our dreams. Jo had big plans: he wanted to command his own ship in the Alliance Navy. I had no idea what I wanted, I only knew I wanted to get off Mindoir, to see what was out there. At midnight he kissed me, and told me we could do it together.
After that, Jo and I became an item, much to his sister's pleasure, and Tom's dislike. He wasn't jealous of Jo, rather of me for 'monopolising all of Jo's free time', as he once put it. I told him he sounded like had feelings for Jo, and he tried to punch me. I earned myself a black eye in the resulting brawl, but I still managed to bring Tom down. I wasn't about to let him start winning after all this time. It wasn't long after our fight that everything changed for the colonists of Mindoir. It was a summer afternoon, and the sun was blazing down as hot as ever.
After classes were finished, I met Jo in the park near the school. He was sitting under a tree, reading a datapad.
"What's news?" I asked, sitting down next to him.
He tucked the datapad away and replied, "Just a letter from my father. He's away on a mission again."
"Yeah, Cady told me that. How'd your meeting with the Alliance go?"
He looked at me and smiled. "Good, I think. It helps having a father in the brass. I'll know by the weekend if they'll accept me."
It was good news, Jo wanted to be an Alliance officer. But my heart still hurt when I thought of him leaving me behind on Mindoir, even if it was just for a little while. He noticed my pout, and was leaning in to kiss me when an explosion rocked the ground below us. We both turned to stare at the cause: ships were suddenly descending down from the sky, firing blasts upon the colony as they went. Where they had come from no one knew.
Men and women around the park began crying out and running to the nearby buildings. We scrambled to our feet. Jo grabbed my arms and stared into my eyes. "Listen, I want you to go and find Cady and my mother, and take them to your farm. The underground storage is the most defensible position in the colony. Anyone else you find, take them too, got it?"
"What about you, where are you going?" I asked, refusing to let go of him.
"I need to go, offer my assistance! The Alliance only has a token garrison placed here, they'll need all the help they can get. Those ships look like batarian slavers, I won't let them take my home. Please, go! Find my sister and mother, and get them safe."
He planted a kiss on my lips, then pushed me in the opposite direction of the attacks. Nothing I could say would change his mind, so I ran toward the housing estates his family lived in. As I got closer, a shuttle descended on the estate, spewing forth batarian raiders. I hid myself in an alcove and watched as the raiders spread out amongst the houses, taking women and children captive and killing anyone who resisted.
One of the raiders must have spotted me; he approached my hideout, weapon drawn. "Come out, little girl," he grunted. "I know you're in here."
I waited until he stepped into the shadows of the alcove, before leaping onto the batarian and wrapping my arm around his throat, grateful that I'd learned how to fight. I held fast as he struggled, until the raider slowly collapsed to the ground. I picked up his pistol. Dad had taught me how to shoot the year before, so I wasn't afraid. I crouched in the alcove and waited for the raiders to disperse further.
At the first chance I got, I sprinted for Jo and Cady's house. Inside, I was confronted by the disturbing image of blood splattered across the walls. I searched frantically for Cady and her mother; following a trail of blood, I found them upstairs, their bodies huddled together in Cady's bedroom, a gun in her mother's hand. Tears fell from my eyes as I checked for signs of life, but I was too late. I fought the urge to throw up, and left the house. I had to find my parents.
I headed out towards the farms. With any luck parents would still be at the labs, working. But on my way, I noticed smoke coming from the horizon in the direction of the farms. I ran.
The machinery sheds were on fire. I ignored them and raced to the office building. I opened the locked door with my access code and went inside. The lights had been cut, and it was deadly silent. I quietly moved through the rooms, searching for anyone. But there was no one alive left.
I found dad's body in his office chair, riddled with bullets. My mother's was sprawled across a workbench in the lab. The sight made my stomach heave; I managed to make it to the sink in time to vomit up everything I had eaten earlier that day. When my body became suitably numb from the sight, I went back to my father's office. I clipped my pistol to my belt and took dad's shotgun from his cold hands. He must have tried to defend them, but it had been a pointless endeavour.
I used my ma's omnitool to hack the lab door closed, and holed up in the reception area to wait out any raiders, too afraid to leave in case they were waiting outside.
I think I waited two days before I heard any signs of life beyond the door, it was hard to tell with the lighting gone. When I finally did hear something, I was too tired and hungry to be able to distinguish between raiders and help.
"Hey, over here," a voice said from outside the jammed front door. "More signs of fighting."
I scrambled to my feet and aimed the shotgun with shaking hands. The door was being overridden; it screeched loudly as its halves were heaved open. Sunlight filtered into the room, blinding my eyes. I tried to steady my hands, but I couldn't.
"That's close enough!" I shouted as someone moved through the doorway. I couldn't see their face, only their dark silhouette against the light. They held up an empty hand.
"Whoa, calm down." More shadows appeared behind him. "Miss, we're with the Alliance. I need you to put your gun down."
"What if you're lying?" I asked. It didn't make sense, but nothing was just then.
The man took a step closer. One of the shadows behind him pressed their hand to their head. "Patrol to Alpha, come in," she seemed to be waiting for a response. "Sir, we have a situation out on one of the farmsteads." She paused. "An armed civilian, can't be older than sixteen. How should we handle this?" Another pause. "Understood, sir. Patrol out."
The first man took another step toward me. I backed up, feeling a low table at the back of my legs. "I'm Corporal Peters," he told me. "If you lower your weapon, I'll take you to my superiors."
For a brief moment I hesitated, and in that instant the corporal leaped forward, yanked the shotgun from my hands and passed it to his comrade. I panicked, reaching for the pistol clipped to my belt when the corporal grabbed a hold of my wrists. I sat heavily on the table as the other soldier stepped into the room. She bound my hands together with omnicuffs and disarmed me of my pistol. When that was done she asked, "What's your name, kid?"
I swallowed the lump in my throat. My eyes were finally beginning to adjust to the light; I could now clearly see their uniforms. They were indeed Alliance military. "Jane Shepard," I mumbled.
"Alright, Jane. I'm Gunnery Chief Mika Lewis. We're going to take you back to our commanding officer now, okay?"
I nodded, and they led me outside. It was the last time I would see that place.