Damn, it's been a long time since I've been on here. But the creative writing class I've got me back into the swing of things. I'm sorry to those who were following my Halo exploit. It just wasn't coming together. This will be a crossover. I'll let the story tell itself though. Enjoy and please review, so I know it's any good. I'm a bit rusty.
Chapter 1: First contact.
"Shepard, Shepard, Shepard…" thought Miranda sitting at her desk. It had been five days since they'd gone into Hell and back, losing no one. She knew better than anyone that Commander Shepard was good, but damn…
She hadn't had much to do lately, but sit and reflect on what had happened. Her loyalty to Mike Shepard had cost her greatly. The Illusive Man wasn't going to be happy about losing some of his most valuable assets. Miranda actually thought this situation was funny. No matter where they went, someone always knew Mike and always assumed he was gonna blow something up.
He was such a sweet guy…kind, caring, compassionate. Shepard was one of a kind. Around his crew, Mike would be an inspiration, a force of good nature unlike anything she'd ever scene and on the battle field be a brutish fighter that'd throw himself in harm's way for a fellow man. He was one hell of a good soldier and spokesmen though. She'd never seen anyone stir up a combat group like that before. Commander Shepard spoke to them like equals, all of them, even the Quarian.
Miranda reclined in her chair, truly relaxed for the first time in many years. Mike had been the best thing that'd ever happened to her. What was this feeling? Love? She certainly felt a pang on jealousy when she'd seen him talking to that Quarian…Tali.
This was so strange! He was so different! While she was generally cold and calculating, he was soft and playful! You were so comfortable around him. Shepard filled the room with this strange warmth. He radiated a power, but it wasn't violent or forceful.
Since they had gotten together, Miranda had forsaken her quarter's bed and began sleeping with Shepard. It was so comfortable, snuggling close to his bare, hard, warm chest under the loose covering blankets. After a few days though, she had begun noticing he almost never slept peacefully. He would sleep an hour or two, but then he'd talk to himself, silently screaming. She'd asked him and he said it was because of the beacon's effects from two year's prior. Miranda felt a small but terrible pang in her heart. It was the first time in many years this had happened to her.
Commander Mike Shepard, war hero and Good Samaritan to the universe, was up relaxing in his cabin. He could get used to this Normandy and its comforts. Soon enough it was back to the Citadel and the Council. This was…a nice little vacation. But he had to keep in shape, pushing himself and his team. The Reapers were coming and damn it, they were the only ones who knew it!
Miranda…that was another story. Two years ago, he'd have treated her like any other crew member. A nod here, a how ya doing there…Now? He cared about a lot about her… loved her. She was damned nice when you got to know her, which was tough.
He remembered her cold demeanor, the iciness of her voice when they first spoke. When was it, when he first started to care? Was it when they went to save Oriana? He didn't know.
The com. Buzzed and Joker's voice blared out "Um, Commander, you may want to come here. We're getting some strange readings. It doesn't match with any known ships. Not even Sovereign's"
"…Reapers?" he thought, leaping up from his desk and charging into the elevator.
Shepard, in mid elevator ride, paged Miranda on her Com. "Miranda, meet me at the helm. Some things up."
Her voice rang in, cool and collected "Right, Shepard. Know what's up?"
"No, Joker just paged me. An unknown signal, not even matching Reaper ships."
"Damn it, what now?" she muttered. Reapers…Collectors…how much else was out there, gunning for them? "Crap…now I'm starting to think like Garrus. She could really use some RnR with Shepard. Was a little break from all this really that much to ask for?
Shepard and Miranda met up, there was a quick peck on the lips, and headed towards the forward section of the ship.
"Joker, how close are we?" said Shepard, surveying the various monitors around the bridge.
"The vessels or whatever they were, just jumped…without a mass accelerator in the cluster! What the hell? EDI, what were those?" Joker belted out, a mixture of shock and awe written on his face.
"It is unknown, Jeff. Those vessels were of an unknown make and size, but had some serious chatter going on between them."
"Translate any of it? Better question, can they kill us or maim us in anyway?" said Joker, looking at the glowing blue ball of –oh-so-wonderful joy.
"Two words. And one of them matches nothing in my data bases. They are Reapers and…"
"And?" said Mike, looking over at EDI. Miranda crossed her arms impatiently.
"Decepticons?" said the ship, unsure about the word.
"Decepticons? Sounds like some ancient children show villain." Coughed Joker.
"Joker, this is serious. This tech is very advanced, maybe advanced as the Reapers." said Miranda.
"She's right, we've got to find out who they were. How the Reapers and them are connected." He shook his head wearily. Sometimes, saving the galaxy was a real pain in the ass. It was a tiring, nearly (by people that mattered) ignored. But the people of the galaxy really liked it when you when out of your way to help them. That's why he kept going, seeing the smile on the face of friends and strangers, it was totally worth it. Mike smiled to himself. He was going to post this with the Alliance, maybe they had something. But immediately after he mailed them, he was taking his team out somewhere nice. They deserved it after everything and he needed to recharge abit. He also wanted to take Miranda out somewhere, somewhere nice and quiet, so he could spend time with her that didn't involve blasting mercs and crushing intergalactic evil.
Maybe a nice little retreat on Illium. They'd been there several times, but it was always business. A few days to walk around and sight see, get a small breath of fresh air before plunging right back into the thick of it. His team deserved that much.
Since their assault on the Collector base, Samara, Thane and Legion had left the crew. Samara seemed reluctant, but duty called her elsewhere. She left Shepard her ping address, so if he got back into trouble, he could call on her aid. Thane went to visit his son on the Citadel, for Thane's illness had begun to claim its victim. Legion just chattered about returning to the Geth. Mike was sad to see them go. They were his crew, they helped him do the impossible. He would miss them.
Nearby, on a desolate world they waited by their leader's side. The ancient, giant machines stood inside their underground command hub, talking in their electronic language that was faster than light itself.
"It is time."
Okay, I know it wasn't very subtle what I was alluding too, but I have a few twists in mind. Please review, I know I'm abit rusty, so it probably sucks, but I like the input. Thank you.
