Thought of the Day:A hundred thousand worlds, ten hundred thousand wars. There is no respite, there is nowhere to hide. Across the galaxy there is only war.
Location: Normandy SR2, Captain's Cabin
Shepard's P.O.V
Shepard sighed, splashing water on her face, she looked up at the mirror taking a few seconds to examine her features. Her eyes emerald green, her hair a raven black...as it had been described to her. She missed her red hair, her natural hair color was black, she dyed it red...or was forced too during her N7 training, as a result of finishing last in one of the various physical exams they went through she had to dye her hair red. She could have changed it...but she never could bring herself to do it. Cerberus rebuilt her...but it seemed they couldn't keep her hair the same. She sighed again, grabbing a nearby towel a drying her face off.
"Commander Shepard" Shepard jumped, as EDI's avatar popped up nearby...she was still getting used to EDI just popping up out of nowhere.
"O-Oh...EDI, what is it?"
"We will be arriving at Citadel station in one hour, I am simply reminding you, as you asked me too" Shepard shook her head...
"R-Right, thank you EDI, that'll be all"
"As you wish Commander" EDI's avatar vanished, Shepard let out a relieved sigh when it did. Although EDI seemed harmless, she always felt unnerved when she was around...or at least her avatar was, she knew that EDI was technically always around. She walked out of her bathroom and collapsed onto the bed staring at the ceiling.
"Well, Ol'Girl...looks like it off to see the council...ugh, why am I doing this!"
"You know talking to yourself is the first sign of madness" Shepard rose her head slightly to see Garrus leaning against the doorway, she smiled.
"Well then slap a straightjacket on me and call me batshit crazy"
"Batshit Crazy huh...well can't say I've heard that expression before"
"You gonna just stand there, or are you going to come in?" Garrus Chuckled.
"I'm thinking about both options..." Shepard slumped back down.
"And?"
"And I figure I might as well come in, give us a chance to actually catch up, I mean with all the shooting, me nearly dying and all the various things in between, we haven't really gotten a chance to properly talk have we?" Shepard sat up and looked over to Garrus.
"Well...there isn't much to say on my end...aside from the whole being brought back to life thing...you?"
"Aside from the vigilante thing?...not really" Shepard then gave a wry grin.
"Ww-what you mean, you didn't get a girlfriend in the time I was dead" Although Turians...couldn't really blush, Shepard could tell. Garrus was...even though he wasn't.
"J-Jeez Shepard, way to change the subject...and to answer the question...n-no I didn't" Shepard's grin grew.
"Jeez Garrus, if you keep being so shy you'll never get a girl" Garrus rubbed the back of his neck.
"A-Ahaha,very funny Shepard...can we talk about something else please!" Shepard's face then dropped, going from lighthearted and funny to dead serious in an instant.
"Tell me Garrus...w-what was it like...when the crew broke up after I died?" Garrus, seemed even more off guard when she asked him that question, it took him a second before he spoke again.
"Well...there isn't really much to say...You kept us all together Shepard...without you all of us just sort of, drifted apart, Tali had what she needed to complete her pilgrimage, so she left. Wrex left because 'there wasn't enough action' apparently. Kaidain got reassigned by Alliance brass, so he was out of there...even if he didn't want to leave...I'm not sure why Liara left...she just kinda Vanished..." Shepard lowered her head slightly.
"And what about you?...What did you do?" Garrus paused again. Seeming to take into account every word he was going to say.
"Well...at first, I went hunting. I was mad when the Normandy was destroyed...furious even. I went looking for who...Whatever it was that did it..."
"And..."
"And Eventually I gave up, it was a dead end seemingly...no leads, no hints, not even a god damn crumb of anything...The rest you know" Shepard nodded grimmly.
"W-Why were you..." Shepard paused almost not wanting to say anything.
"huh?...Why was I, What?" Shepard steeled herself.
"Why were you so mad...when I died?" Garrus didn't hesitate when she asked him that question.
"Why?...Because they destroyed everything we'd done, we were the only hope the galaxy had against the reapers, and they just ended it right there...they destroyed the Normandy...killed my best friend...and mentor...why wouldn't I be mad?" Shepard was a little surprised when Garrus finished his little outburst.
"Well...that's very understandable..." Garrus nodded.
"Yeah..." An awkward silence hung between them, and time seemed to stand still as the space between them seemed to only grow. Garrus broke the silence.
"Well...I suppose I should get out of your hair, after all you've gotta face the council soon...not sure about you, but I'd rather face down a horde of Blue suns then have to meet with the council" Garrus quickly left, not allowing Shepard to respond. She fell back, grabbing on of her pillows and hugging it tightly.
"Friend...huh..."
"Commander" Shepard almost jumped off her bed, when EDI appeared before her again.
"GOD DAMN IT EDI! Give some warning next time you just pop up out of nowhere!"
"Technically I am not popping up out of nowhere, since I am everywhere on this ship"
"I know-I know...uh...what is it?"
"We will arrive at the Citadel soon, you may want to get ready" Shepard sighed again, nodding.
"Alright...got it...thanks"
"You are welcome" EDI's avatar vanished, leaving Shepard...technically alone...once again.
Location: Eastern Fringes of Ultima Segmentum, Inquisitorial Cruiser: Mortui lucem
Markus's P.O.V
Markus kneeled and lowering his head slightly as Preacher Valamir quietly blessed him.
"Grand holy emperor I beesech you, bring this faithful child to your light and guide his path" Markus steadied his breath, Such Pre-mission rites were needed, reguardless of how much time they took up. Markus had come for the emperor's blessing for the mission they were about to undertake, Inquistor Forge had been as secertive as most inqisitors usually are when it came to matters of their craft, All he knew was that they were to cleanse a world of a Chaotic taint, said world happened to be under the control of the Tau. Markus could only guess the world, dispite being an Agri world was of great importance to someone high up.
"Provide protection for this everfaithful servent as he does your will...The Emperor protects" Valamir finished his chant and Markus raised his head looking towards the holy symbols that adorned the wall behind Valamir.
"The Emperor Protects" Markus stood gave a silent thank you to Valamir and left to continue preparing for the coming mission. Markus gently closed the shrine doors and went to return to his quarters...it wasn't too uncommon that Inquisitors employed the services of members of the Ecclesiarchy, However Inquisitor Forge was very particular about keeping a well maintained shrine to the emperor on his personal ship. While walking towards his quarters Markus came across Sister Tamra of the Ordo Hospitaller.
"Good Day sister" Markus bowed his head slightly as he approached her.
"No Markus Surelion...it most certainly is not...a good day" Her thick accent had not lessened despite her voice going through the mouth piece of her armor, making her voice sound synthesized as well. She was originally from an Ice world if Markus recalled correctly.
"Oh? What troubles you Sister Tamra, perhaps I can help" Tamra looked at Markus Skeptically.
"The only thing you could do to help, is not get shot at so much! The Ogyrn almost didn't survive the procedure!" Markus caught on quickly as to what she was talking about Vof, an Ogryn Bone 'ead serving in the Inquisitor's reunite. Had been caught in an explosion in their previous mission.
"We do what we must to serve the Emperor, Sister Tamra...if that duty puts us into danger, then so be it" She sighed slightly.
"Yes, I know, we serve his divine will above all else, regardless, try not to take too many risks, I don't want to have you die on my table!" Tamra grumbled slightly as she walked off.
Markus cotuined on towards his quarters, to complete his pre battle rites, He felt...unnerved. It was not uncommon for him, he was an Inquistoral stormtrooper after all, feeling unnerved was as Inquistor Forge put it, Another way of being Viglilent against the mark.
But he could not shake this feeling of...dread?
Location: Citadel station, Presidium, Counciler Anderson's office
Shepard's P.O.V
"Comander...I understand why you might be nervous..." Shepard turned her head slightly glaring at Jacob. Who simply put his hands up and mouthed the words. 'okay' at the moment she stood before Anderson's office door...she was still unsure about this, talking to the council again wasn't excatly on the top of her wish-list...but if they'd help her, she'd have a much eaiser time trying to catch the collectors.
"We can always turn around...if you think you can't handle it..." Shepard turned her head to the left slightly seeing a smirking Garrus standing behind her.
"You wish" Shepard opened the door.
"Listen, I'm sure she'll be here we just have too-" Anderson stopped talking as Shepard walked in.
"Well-Well, speak of the Devil" She smiled, seeing Anderson again.
"It's good to see you, Anderson" Anderson smiled and nodded, shaking Shepard's hand.
"You to commander" Shepard shook her head.
"Please Anderson, it's just Jane now, I'm not a commander anymore" Anderson smirked.
"Sure thing...Commander" There was a cough from nearby as the projections of Councilers Tevos, Valern and Sparatus came into veiw. Sparatus spoke first.
"While I hate to be the one to break up such a...touching reunion, perhaps we could move onto the more pressing matters here" Shepard sighed rolling her eyes.
"Well, your as to the point as ever Sparatus"
"It's nothing personal Shepard, I only wish to see this issue resolved" Valern nodded in agreement.
"I am inclined to argee with Sparatus, Although I am interested to see how you will explain yourself Shepard" Shepard wasn't suprised, she knew they'd do this, make it seem like she'd done some wrong by being rebuilt by Cerberus...like she had a choice in the matter.
"I'm sorry?...Explain myself, Councilers, I want to know, exactly what it is, you think I've been doing?" Tevos, was quick to try and calm shepard down.
"Shepard please, don't take what we say too perosnally, all we've had to go on, is rumors and leaked information...not being the most reliable sources of information I'm sure you understand our skepticsim" Shepard nodded slightly.
"Indeed...Alright go on then, I presume you have questions for me?" Shepard asked crossing her arms and leaning gentlely agaisnt Anderson's desk.
"As perceptive as ever I see..."Sparatus spoke "We've been told that you're now aiding Cerberus, a known terrorist organization...care to clear up your involement with them" Shepard sighed.
"Cerberus rebuilt me...that much is true, but I can assure I'm not under their control...I had an old doctor freind of mine go over me, aside from a few implants used to aid in my physical recovery, there are no differences, no mind altering implants...nothing, I am exactly the same person I was two years ago" Valern responded to Shepard.
"We assumed as much, this Doctor freind of your's? Her name is Dr. Karin Chakwas...correct? A know associate of Cerberus" Shepard grinded her teeth slightly.
"Dr. Chakwas is only working with Cerberus to help putting a stop to the collectors!" Sparatus spoke.
"Collectors?...Why would you be fighting the Collectors?"
"The Collectors are the ones who've been attack Human colonies, The reason I'm working with Cerberus is because I can take greater steps towards stopping them" Tevos placed her hand on her chin.
"The collectors are the ones doing that?...Well they were a possibility...still without proof we-" Shepard activated her Omni-tool.
"Anderson mind if I use this?" She gestured towards his terminal.
"By all means Shepard" Shepard quickly sent the video they'd recovered from Freedom's Progress, to each of them.
"I've just sent you a video from the colony of Freedom's progress, showing the collectors gathering up the human settlers" Although they seemed hesitant at first they each opened it and watched the small clip.
"Well...it's certianly something" Tevos spoke sounding most interguied. Sparatus of course was skeptical at best.
"A video like this could easily be fake..." Valern spoke after him.
"Indeed...however we can't dismiss the possiblity that it's not fake" Shepard clenched her fist, She went to speak however was cut off by Anderson.
"So I get the feeling that none of you will agree to help Shepard...dispite all she's done for the concil...hell she's the reason you three are still alive!" None of the other Councilers seemed suprised by Anderson's sudden outburst. Tevos attempted to calm him.
"Counciler Anderson, None of us have forgotten that, and we're all still greatful for it but-" Shepard had, had enough.
"Okay so I'm guessing you won't help me?...AGAIN! Typical...I'll do this with out your help then!" She began to move towards the door. Stopping to turn and face Anderson.
"I'll see you later old freind, I've got Lives to save" She turned again and made for the door.
"Shepard Wait!" She ingored Tevos and walked out and straight towards the elevator. She lent against the back of the elveator and sighed.
"Well...that went better then expected...Say Shepard, let's get a drink, I'll buy the first round" She looked up at Garrus who seemed to be smiling at her...she could never tell if he was smiling...but he knew what to say, to cheer her up.
"Sure, why not"
Location: Eastern Fringes of Ultima Segmentum, Inquisitorial Cruiser: Mortui Iucem
Markus's P.O.V
Markus sat alone in his quarters his las-rifle layed out before him, unassembled and neatly placed. He took his time to go over the various inner workings of the weapon, and note the various differences that a Hellgun had to a normal Lasgun. He thumbed over the reinforced barrel, feeling the various differences in the texture of the barrel, a few scratches and the like from combat. He then picked up the Thermal cooling cells, cool to the touch he took a few seconds feeling the weight they had before placing them down again. He then turned his attention to the Discharge Generator what could be considered the heart of the weapon, he looked over it, examining it slowly dragging his hands over it. He then set it down and began to clean the various parts that sat before him, a tedious task, but a necessary one.
The regular maintenance and care of his weapons had been drilled into him for all his childhood, in the words of his mother and the various instructors he had. 'If you can't disassemble and reassemble your weapon in under a minute...you were born on the wrong planet...and you will die because of it' He shook his head doing his best to remove the thoughts of the past from his head, he went back to cleaning and maintaining his hellgun. Although a lot of inquisitorial stormtroopers opted for the Umbilical and Backpack, he preferred using the standard Powerpacks, although it meant he had to fumble with reloading his gun, using the powerpack's allowed for more mobility and he could easily drop his weapon and not be hindered by it should he need to fight in Melee. He finished up his work and reassembled his Hellgun.
As he thought about the why he didn't use the umbilical, he recalled that he was meant to get his Powersabre back from the Tech-priests. He went for the door, but was surprised to see it was already open, a Tech-Priest Enginseer standing at the doorway...it seemed like he'd been standing there watching him clean his Hellgun.
"Ack...T-Tech-Priest...how long have you stood there watching?" The Enginseer tilted his head slightly seemingly confused by the question. Although it seemed like the Enginseer disregarded the question altogether in the end.
"You maintain your weapons well Stormtrooper 892-003-219-087...otherwise know as Markus, the Omnissiah is pleased with your devotion and care of it's gifts" The heavily synthesized voice of the Enginseer was jagged and unnatural, but Markus nodded slowly all the same...there were two Enginseer's on the ship, one never left it's designated area...the other seemed to roam the ship on a whim.
"Was...Was there something you wanted...Enginseer?" The Enginseer nodded, seemingly happy...although he didn't have much to go on for a facial expression, most of his face, aside from his eyes were covered..and even then his hood covered his eyes.
"The Omnissiah has granted your powersabre the gift of life once more..." One of the Servitors that always seemed to be following him around stood close by a Markus's powersabre in one of it's mechanical arms. Markus gladly took it, thumbing over the handle and the power switch. He was tempted to flick it on and see the haze the blade gave off...if only for a second. But he restrained himself.
"You are sure it will work, and that it won't simply be a chunk of metal in battle?" The Enginseer seemed almost offended.
"Do you doubt the Omnissiah, Stormtrooper...Do you doubt it's gifts and it's blessings...perhaps you lack faith?"
"No Enginseer, I do not doubt the gifts of the Omnissiah, Nor do I lack faith, I simply wish to have confirmation that it works...and if you would dare test my Faith to the Imperium of man, you succeed only in wasting the time of us both" the Enginseer seemed content with Markus's answer.
"Very Well... it works fully functional thanks to the blessing of the Omnissah...I shall leave you to your maintenance, may the Omnissiah watch over and protect you" The Enginseer turned on his heel and walked away, several servitors behind him. Markus watched and wait for him to be out of sight before closing the door again. He set his powersabre down and went back to his weapon now fully reassembled he aimed the weapon...his finger edged over the trigger and the thought of pulling the trigger entered his mind...not that it'd do anything, he'd removed the powerpack. He sighed and put his weapon down, he then sighed and went to his dataslate. He went through several files and finally found his audio logs. Upon being inducted to Inquisitor Forge's Reunite he was instructed to begin keeping regular audio logs, to as the inquisitor said: 'keep some peace of mind' Although Markus felt it was also to be used as a way to weed out heresy and doubt among those that served him. He slouched in his chair and lent forward slightly.
"Audio log entry 49-06-Theta-74..."
Okay...so it might seem a little weird ending it here. But don't worry things will still happen, I'd also like to apologize for redoing this...AGAIN, I know it might seem a little strange n all, not to mention rather annoying, but I'd hit, for lack of a better word a plasteel wall, and since I lack the proper ordnance to get through it, I had to turn around and try again...oh and one last thing before I go.
To the Anon who left those massive chunks of text in the review section in the previous story, while I suppose I should thank you for going out of your way to write...well so much, I must also say, that I assume you think I'm a novice to the world of 40k with the depth and amount of info you left. Let me assure you I'm no novice, being a fan of 40k for close to about 8 years now, in that time I've read more than my fair share of publications (Ciaphas Cain, and the Horus heresy books to name just two) as well as being a veteran table top player...and having explored much of the lore simply because of how fascinating I found it all to be...so while I thank you for writing so much...I can assure much of it I already knew.
Well that's all for now...Cya later ;)