Mass Effect: The Civil War
Prologue
He never expected all this shit.
A man: tall, fair skinned, wearing a black and dark-green battle suit ran into the many explosions of war. Grenades flew to his right side, so with amazing panic, he dropped to the floor and prepared for the worst. Unfortunately, death escaped him once more as he felt only a slight shock wave cross his body. As he stood up, he raised his arm to his closest nearby enemy. The turian he was facing down simply began to laugh at the sight of his human opponent forming a false gun with his hand. The laughter turned to confusion when the human pointed his imaginary gun straight at the turian's torso.
"BOOM" said the human with confidence, and then with a sudden jolt, the turian felt a cold icy spear hit his chest. The human was simply playing with his opponents, shooting them with his chrono-freezer located in his Omni-tool.
With a now completely frozen turian standing before him, the human turned to view the rest of the battle field. He had genetically heightened eye sight due to his training as an army sentinel. This eye sight would only do him good one more time during this battle, because in the distance he saw only one thing, the barrel of a sniper staring him down. He did not feel, hear, or see anything after that. He could only fall to the ground knowing he was shot. Finally his time had come. Finally he and death would have their last battle.
Mass Effect: The Civil War
Chapter 1: Gambling
It was all sunshine and rainbows from here.
Commander R. Shepard of the U.S.S Normandy was finally happy. It had been 20 years since the end of the war with the Reapers (And all the events that will take place in ME3). Shepard hated the war, for it slowly killed his spirit from the inside-out, and it literally killed him once. It also had long term effects on his personality. Pre-Reapers, Shepard was a smart-ass, fun loving, adventure seeking, normal young man. But the second he had decided to try to find his fortune in the army, his whole life changed. He was picked to be a part of the Sentinel program. In this program, soldiers were given Biotic Implants, Omni-tool Implants, artificial adrenaline infusions, and rigorous specialized training. He originally served as a Tank crewman, before he was chosen to become a specter. As a specter he killed thousands, saved millions, and served the galaxies most unforgiving organizations (Citadel Council and Cerberus). He lost more friends on his missions than any one man should lose in a lifetime.
But that time was over, Shepard was almost 50 years old now, and he was a stern, cocky old man. He never married after he drove away the love of his life, and he hasn't spoken to his best friend in years. What would a man like this do for the rest of his life? Join politics of course! Shepard ran for the newly opened position of Council Member on the one and only Citadel Council. His victory was a landslide. Thousands of people could not wait to see the great and powerful Commander Shepard, who once defended the galaxy, become Councilor Shepard, the enforcer of the galaxy's laws. Shepard had few enemies in the galaxy, either because they had come to love him, or they had already been gunned down by his pistol. To celebrate his joining of the galactic council, Shepard was going to reunite with his oldest and best friends in the entire world, at a club on Earth's moon.
"Welcome Councilor Shepard, your friends are waiting for you at the bar," announced the hostess upon seeing him enter the establishment.
"Thanks miss, I hope they will be happy to see me, I haven't talked to some of them in years," replied Shepard.
"Oh I think they will, you are the great Shepard after all," she said with a cute smile, as she eyed him from head to toe. Although Shepard was technically quite over the hill as far as age is concerned, he appeared to look no less than 20. Due to modern medicine, the human physic changed quite abit since 2010. Shepard was never a bad looking man, and the slight graying of his hair and numerous amounts of scars just gave him a touch of the bad-ass factor.
Shepard took caution when walking to his table, for he could now see all of his friends, changed by time, as he looked across the room. Urndot Wrex was holding Krogen Blood Whiskey and a pistol in his hand as always, Kasumi Goto and Samara the asari Justicar spoke about wither or not stealing is "frowned upon", and finally sitting at the end of the table was Garrus Valkerian and Ashley Williams.
"SHEPARD, YOU RETURN AT LAST!" yelled the drunken Wrex when he noticed Shepard.
"Wrex! Come in for the real deal!" yelled Shepard in reply. The others questioned exactly what was about to happen as Wrex ran up to Shepard ready to embrace him. Just as it appeared that two of the toughest men in the galaxy had begun hugging, Wrex then took Shepard down to the ground and the two began wrestling in the middle of the night club.
"Oh my god, this is embarrassing," said Ashley with a look of disgust.
Shepard, as if on cue, performed a ducking role, and got on top of Wrex. Shepard then got to his feet, helped his Krogen friend off the ground, and the two shared a laugh before he turned to look at Ashley.
"I see someone has been having that same period for, oh what has it been? 15 years now?" Shepard said, receiving a small chuckle from Wrex and Kasumi.
"Hey you two, let's keep this civilized. This isn't a time for fighting, we've done enough of that in our lives, and it's time to celebrate! All hail councilor Shepard right! Drinks on me!" yelled Garrus who always knew how to keep the peace on the team.
Shepard gave a sigh of relief, he was finally home. He thought that he would never be able to go out and have fun with his friends ever again, but this turned out to be the best night of life. After an hour of drinking with Wrex and talking politics with Garrus and Samara, Shepard decided to see where his other companions, Kasumi and Ashley, had gone to. With a quick glance around the room, he saw the backs of a black robed figure standing next to a dark-haired woman wearing an elegant yet provocative purple dress near the gambling pits.
"Targets acquired, and engage," Shepard murmured to himself.
"So Ashley, are you having fun yet?" asked the mysterious hooded wonder Kasumi.
"I don't know it's hard to have fun when HE is around." replied Ashley.
"Who? Shepard? How could you break up with him in the first place, he's funny as hell, and does some crazy shit," asked Kasumi now relaxed as can be.
"Shepard was different when the war was going on, he was serious, responsible, and in shape! Now he's annoying, irresponsible, and doesn't know when to be appropriate, not to mention he kinda let himself go… Both Garrus and I agree he needs to grow up if he's going to be on the Council,"
"Hello ladies, trying to win your fortunes?" Said Shepard, trying to creep in on the conversation.
"Well, 'Councilor', I'm trying to get miss solider here to loosen up a bit," Kasumi replied sounding pretty flirtatious, partially to get Ashley to show some emotion, and partially because she was indeed hitting on Shepard.
"Well Kas, I've tried that a million times, and nothing really works… unless this place serves margaritas,"
"Excuse me Shepard, but I know how to have fun," Ashley then looked around the gambling pits to see if anything would support her cause.
"If you're looking to gamble may I suggest a little Bartarian Pirate Poker?" asked Shepard.
"Oh, I love that game! Let's go Ashley!" jumped Kasumi.
Bartarian Pirate Poker was no kid's game. This form of the classic game was created by a bunch of space pirates to pass the time when the only materials that they had were cards, guns, and warm liquor. The basic rules require every participant to have a gun set to "stun" and have five cards, and five shots of whatever drink they choose. It works just like 5-card Draw poker, except instead of betting money, they bet the liquor, or a shot from the low-voltage stun. The loser is the one that goes home drunk and paralyzed. Now Ashley had no desire to play such a disturbing game, but she couldn't back down in front of Kasumi, and refused to look weak to Shepard.
"All right, let's do this," said an eager Ashley.
Twenty minutes later…
Kasumi managed to get out of the game quick because she was disqualified when she got caught cheating by Ashley. Shepard had only had two drinks, and zero tazer shots so far, but Ashley had just used up her last drink. She knew she would lose to Shepard because he had superior gambling skill to her own.
"Well, you're out of booze, want to be done?" Shepard asked Ashley, almost taunting her to continue.
"No way, I've got a pair of nines, how about you?"
"Ha, you got me, I didn't have shit," replied Shepard, he then proceeded to down a shot.
"Hmm, now that I think we've all had enough alcohol I say we do something fun!" said Kasumi
"Alright, a situation like this defiantly calls for us to blow something up!" Replied Shepard excitingly.
"That sounds fun! Ashley are you in?" asked Kasumi, hoping Ash had consumed enough alcohol to loosen up.
"No way, someone is going to get hurt, or in jail, I refuse," Ashley went back to giving Shepard that disgusted look, then walked away, and tried to find Garrus.
"Alright, more fun for us then Shepard, I'll meet you outside and we'll see what fun is to be had," said Kasumi as she walked to the door.
Shepard wasted no time in telling Wrex and the others that he would be stepping outside for a moment, and then he ran off to find Kasumi.
Mass Effect: The Civil War
Chapter 1.5: The Mercenary with no name
Do you know what it takes to be the world's greatest assassin?
Most people don't. The universe has had many assassins. Some are nothing but hired guns, in it for the money, the pride, and the glory. Others master the art of the kill in order to complete a vendetta, bring justice, or murder their hated enemies. A great assassin always has something driving them, but what happens when the thing driving them is one sole cause. On the dying planet of Erred-X one power hungry company discovered a way to create the perfect killer. They take children, unwanted by society, and they teach them the coveted art of killing. But the catch to this company is that they teach every child to only kill one man. After your mission is complete, you die.
As far as any other sentient being was concerned, he had no name, no defining features under his plain black mask, and no records of his existence. The only thing he did have was a body sculpted by 20 years of training to defeat one man, Councilor R. Shepard. He knew everything about Shepard, from his favorite battle techniques, to what he ate for breakfast this morning. The assassin had nothing in his life but his goal to kill Shepard, and of course a secret special weapon that his employers requested he use. And after it's all over, a tiny sensor in his brain will put him to his thoughtless sleep for the last time.
EST: 11:30
Location: Lunar Rest Night Club
Mission Status: START
Mass Effect: The Civil War
Chapter 2: Strike the Heart
It always happened to her.
Ashley Williams could not believe this was happening. Shepard was leaving his own party, filled with all of his friends, to have a little "fun" with Kasumi. The human race must have fallen pretty far to elect Shepard to its coveted Council seat. In moments like this, Ashley always turned to her voice of reason, Garrus. During the Reaper Wars, when she and Garrus first met, she didn't like him very much, but over time Ashley watched as Garrus went from C-Spec failure to a proud Lieutenant serving under Shepard. When the war, and her relationship with Shepard, ended she had turned to Garrus for advice. It turned out he was a great listener, and was a dedicated soldier to his new position, Fleet Admiral of the turian armada. Garrus had become everything Ashley used to think Shepard was, and in truth, she had slightly fallen for him. Of course she would never let him know that, it would ruin everything they currently had going.
"Garrus I strongly suggest you talk to Shepard about his actions," said Ashley
"Ash, I think you are overeating, I know you don't have the greatest memories of Shepard in your head right now, but he really isn't that bad, he is trying to live a happy life, maybe you should do the same," suggested Garrus.
Ashley knew exactly what he was saying, and knew he was right, yet she refused to believe that she was letting Shepard have a good time while she dwelled over him. She decided to go find Wrex and ask him for some of his whiskey.
Like a bird thru a window he watched…
Where the hell could Shepard be? He had examined the room carefully for his target, but Shepard was no-where to be found. In the history of the company this has never happened, everything always went according to plan! The assassin had never felt a single emotion in his life, yet as he stared at the auto-targeting scope on his new biological RPG, courtesy of his mysterious employer, he felt his nerves taking over his body. At that moment he did something he was not trained to do, he freaked out.
"RRAAHHH, Shepard will die! He must be in there! WHY ME!" the assassin then set his targeting scope to find multiple targets, and he fired upon everyone in the room. It would only be moments until everyone was dead, and his mission would be complete, As Shepard fell dead, he would as well.
The pieces fall into place, only to be shattered once more…
Garrus looked out of the corner of his eye to see Ashley humiliate herself in front of a drunken Krogen. Garrus new first hand that if you value your life, never ask a Krogen for some of his drink. Things would be going just the way Garrus wanted them to, if only he could get over this strange feeling that something terrible was about to happen. Maybe it was the fact that he had felt pain so many times that he now had a sense that told him it was coming, but just as he felt a shiver down his turian spine, the sound of broken glass filled his ears. Two shrieks later Garrus decided that this wasn't just some loser on an alcohol induced rampage. They were all in danger.
"Ashley get everyone out of here now!" yelled Garrus while pulling out a SMG from his oriental Sergeant uniform.
"What's going on?" asked Ashley in confusion. Chaos ensued as three steel canisters dropped in from the now broken window. The sound of gas leaking into the air from these dreaded canisters informed Garrus that it was already too late for the people of this room. They were all doomed.
A weapon with a vendetta…
Everyone in the club fell to the floor coughing in anguish. Garrus was far enough away from the canisters that he did not feel the effects of the invisible gas right away. He knew that someone had to put those canisters in that room. Garrus ran towards the window with the speed of a raptor searching for its prey. Without getting in sight of the window Garrus pointed the barrel of his SMG at the correct geometrical angle in which the assassin would have had to be at to launch those canisters. He fired a round of bullets into the air and only stopped after hearing the cry of pain from a male, presumably human around age 20, but because of the lack of octave in his voice Garrus could not be sure.
Damn, he loved being a turian. His heightened intelligence and senses made it almost unfair to fight him. But being over confident got Garrus nowhere because within seconds he had joined the others in a deep dark sleep.
A life wasted…
How had it all failed so miserably? Nothing the company ever did failed, yet here he was. Wounded by gun fire, but not dead. Why didn't he die? Surely Shepard must have been killed! None the less, emotions of all kinds filled the assassin's head. He had to run from this place. If he was going to be a failure for the rest of his life, he would do it by his own choice. He was free from the company, now only a slave to his emotions. But his original programming still remained. He would kill Shepard.
Mass Effect: The Civil War
Chapter 2.5: Saving Grace
Hours had passed, and it had only begun.
Kasumi and Shepard sure did know how to have fun and abuse their abilities. After hours of using stealth generators to vandalize statues, chrono-freezing fire hydrants to watch them explode, and watching explosions as they combined plasma bullets with alcohol. Now as the night grew quiet, the two adventurers laid down to watch the stars.
"Councilor? "
"What's up Kasumi?" responded Shepard.
"You must understand that I have not enjoyed myself this much with a man since my partner died all those years ago… and I don't want this to end, and I happen to have a safe house on this planet, I was wondering if…" Kasumi didn't want to continue talking, and luckily she didn't have to.
"If you are sure we aren't, you know, taking this too fast then… I don't see why not. But why leave when we can stay right here. On the countryside… It's so crazy, on Earth stars are nothing but, little lights in the sky. Just little glimmers of hope that something or someone else is out there in the galaxy, but here, they all feel so close, so reachable. It's like…" Shepard didn't get the chance to finish his sentence. Kasumi's lips were upon him within seconds and they never pulled away. As if for only a split second, everything in the universe was at peace.
But unfortunately for the distraught lovers, only the opposite was true.
Mass Effect: The Civil War
Chapter 3: Jury Duty
Nobody could really understand what his job was like.
Shepard stood in the council room, alert and ready for what would be the hardest day of his life. He had awoken that morning on the lunar countryside, half-naked and alone. He wondered what the galactic agents sent to find him thought of their new boss, finding him in the state he was in. But Shepard's worry became anger when these same agents informed him of a tragic attack that hospitalized everyone in the club last night. He should have been there to stop it, but instead he was out being an idiot.
"This Galactic Citadel Council calls forth Garrus Valkerian to the witness stand, "the room fell silent as Shepard looked to his side to view who was talking. There were three other members on the Citadel Council, all representing Council races: The Asari, Turians, and the Salarians. When a galactic court case such as this takes place, the Turian rep, Sion Dregeden, becomes supreme judge.
"Your honor, I already presented everything I know. We were attacked with a biological weapon, which disintegrated upon firing, leaving no evidence. I managed to wound the assassin n before he escaped, but his blood at the scene of the crime matches no known being in Citadel space," Garrus was nothing but serious when speaking of the events of that night. He took his final moments in his presentation to glare at Shepard. The two ex-teammates shared a link through this glance that nobody else would ever understand. A feeling of regret filled both of their minds.
Shepard knew he had to further this case, "Dregeden, I think we have picked Mr. Valkerian's brain thoroughly. I suggest we call forward Dr. Liara T'sione to hear what she found in the bodies of the victims,"
Liara was an old friend of Shepards, but unfortunately their different life-styles made their friendship dissolve over the course of time.
"The gas in the canisters was unlike anything I had ever seen, it is odorless and lacks and form of pigment. It is basically oxygen except with one added component. An unknown parasite that given the correct amount of time will drain its host of its life-force…"
Liara was suddenly interrupted by sounds of distress from the courtroom, it was normal considering half of the people in the room were present for the attack. Everyone fell silent as Liara continued her announcement.
"This parasite has a two-staged life cycle similar to that of the human parasite causes malaria. It tends to life and grow on species with low immune systems, such as the genophage affected Krogen, or the naturally weak Quarians. Bartarians, vorcha, and elcor also have a skin type that attracts the parasite. In its secondary stage, it wants to life in high water, energy producing beings, such as humans or asari, and possibly turians. The parasite is only found to be lethal in its secondary stage,"
The asari doctor's last words sent the crowd into uproar. Chairs were literally thrown from one side of the room to the other as the chaos ensued. Shepard knew it was no coincident that this parasite was used to attack him and his friends. Shepard removed his concealed pistol from his jacket, and fired it towards the ceiling several times, instantly silencing the room.
With all eyes on him, Shepard spoke, "Everyone calm down! The council will adjourn and find out what is the best plan of action for dealing with this epidemic,"
"There is no need for us to adjourn Shepard, this council already came to a decision this morning when you were found drunken and face down in a cornfield, we decided that, with every races best interest at heart, All races in which the parasite lives during its first life-cycle will be quarantined and cut off from citadel space. This plan goes into action immediately! "Yelled Dregeden, almost proud that he had just doomed millions to die.
Shepard had turned red-faced at the betrayal of his fellow council members. "This is an outrage! You can't do this Dregeden!" yelled Shepard.
"Shepard, let me handle this," said Wrex from the now silent crowd, "If you try to cut the Krogen from our food supply, you should know that we will do everything within our power to cut your head from you turian body!" as Wrex spoke he brought a feeling of adrenaline to the other now officially quarantined races.
Dregeden had only this in reply, "We thought of our decision greatly before putting it into place, if war is what it must come to, then we will gladly oblige,"
"So be it," said Wrex, now taking his posse of Krogen out of the courtroom, although he never said were he was going, Shepard knew he would return to Tuchanka, and rally the krogens for battle.
"Excuse me for saying this Dregeden, but you're an asshole, and personally if you do intend to murder almost half of the sentient being in this galaxy just to save your own turian ass then you've made an enemy more dangerous than any angry Krogen or hungry vorcha… you've made an enemy of me!" said Shepard as he stepped down from his councilor seat, and left the building, walking away like a total bad-ass.
Shepard didn't stop to talk to Garrus, Ashley or Samara on his way out, he knew they would remain loyal to the citadel and their respective races. He knew there was only one place he could go to and not feel betrayed, Shepard would go to Tuchanka.
Mass Effect: The Civil War
Chapter 3.5: Corruption Spreads Deep
The room was filled with nothing but darkness.
And it would have remained that way too, if the sole turian in it hadn't turned on his communicator. Now a red light illuminated the darkness, but still didn't bring anymore hope or jot to the room. Then the turian began to speak.
"Master, everything went according to plan in the courtroom today," said the turian with nerves running thru his body.
The red light of the communicator responded to his words. Soon a deep voice with a hint of menace filled the turians ears. Just the sound of the voice filled his soul with an inescapable feeling of evil. "So everything went as fate determined eh? If so, then how do you explain the fact that Shepard still lives huh? THAT WE HAVE ONE OF OUR ASSASINS STILL RUNING ROUGE! As far as the company is concerned, our plan has taken a major detour, and the only way to bring it back on course, is to kill Shepard,"
"Yes my lord, I will not fail you," and with his sentence finished he shut off the communicator, leaving the room with darkness once more. Now Dregeden was all alone.
Mass Effect: The Civil War
Chapter 4: A Commander Once More
The exhilarating feeling of war rushed over him once more.
For all the years that Shepard told himself that the war had ruined his life, and that he never wanted to see battle ever again, he sure was excited to be back in his battle armor. The room was literally filled with men in battle armor as for the first time, the battle masters once again met in the war room of Tuchanka.
"Shepard it's good to see you dressed and ready for combat once again, but I'm sorry to see that it had to be in this way…"
"It's alright Wrex, whatever the council is gonna get, is something they've had coming for a long time. Now, I personally believe the determination and battle skills of our Vorcha and bartarian companions is far superior to that of the citadels' infantry, I fear for our lack of technology," remarked Shepard.
Suddenly a bartarian in the room spoke in response to Shepard's worries. "Don't worry Commander, we bartarians are far ahead on any other race in the galaxy when it comes to weapons of war!" the bartarian said this with outstanding pride, for the bartarians have always been proud of their ability to think of ways to mass murder humans. "But unfortunately Commander, our head scientist is a little bit on the racist side, and he told my Lieutenant this morning that he refuses to serve under you,"
Wrex completely understood the feeling of the bartarian scientist, because for a long time Wrex also felt a great amount of bigotry towards humans. He thought them to be weak, there puny bodies not built for battle. He thought that within a few years they would all die out. Then he met Shepard and everything changed. Shepard was a greater fighter than any krogan battlemaster Wrex had ever met. Now the feels that once clouded Wrex's mind no longer exist.
"You tell this "scientist" of yours that if he doesn't want to take orders from Shepard that he will have to deal with me," Wrex said making a fist with his hand.
"No Wrex, if I'm going to lead this hoarde I'm going to have to follow the customs of the hoarde. Bring me to the head scientist's chambers,"
One Hour later
A bartarian's anger is something to fear, and Romat Bar 'Sap was one angry bartarian.
"I told you Urndot, I refuse to work for this Watersack excuse for a life form. I would rather die than serve a human!" said Romat, the greatest mind in weapons since the age of the Protheans.
Shepard had been around Wrex long enough that he knew how the chain of command worked on Tuchanka. " Alright then Romat, I challenge you to an honor dual, if I beat you, you build my weapons as instructed, if you beat me, I will step down as Commander and go back to the citadel with my tail between my legs," replied Shepard
"Hahaha, fine Shepard I accept your challenge, and because you challenged me I get to chose my weapon first, and I choose this!" Romat reached under his desk and pulled out what resembled a small rocket launcher. What it really was, was a Sonic Mass Shredder, in other words, a gun that travels via air waves, and can slice through anything that takes up space. Shepard simply smirked after seeing the bartarians weapon choice.
"Fine, then I chose this," Shepard then reached for his ammunition belt, and pulled out a one foot baton. At the push of a button, the baton soon grew a 4 foot steel blade, producing a finely crafted vibrosword. This time it was the bartarian's turn to laugh, because he felt sure he had this battle won.
Hoarde Honor duals on Tuchanka were always held the Bloodmaster arena, just outside of the war room. This arena was 30 feet by 30 feet, giving it participants just enough room for strategy, but not to run from their opponents. Shepard and Ramat now stood on opposite sides of this arena, facing each other, staring each other down.
"Welcome everyone to the Bloodmaster arena, it is not often these days that we have the opportunity to watch such a heated battle as the one we are going to see today! Riley Shepard, Captain of TWO Normandys, and ex-Specter of the citadel council, against Ramat, the greatest scientist this side of the galaxy! Each participant has chosen his own weapon and what he has placed on the line! And now! Let the dual begin!" yelled Wrex completely overjoyed, because for the Krogen honor duals are a #1 pass-time.
The battle seemed to be going in fast-motion for the rusty commander Shepard. He looked as Romat unhiltered his fancy new weapon and aimed it directly at Shepard. In a matter of milliseconds the bartarian had already pulled the trigger and hit his target. Dust from the ground of the arena had been swept into the air as the sonic waves traveled through the air. All of the arena's spectators were in awe at what they thought was the quick loss of Commander Shepard. But, when the dust cleared Shepard was simply standing up, like he had been hit by merely a BB gun. Romat couldn't believe his eyes, his almighty Matter destroying weapon that he had spent years perfecting should have instantly killed Shepard, yet he shrugged off the blow like it was nothing.
Shepard let a crooked smile come across his face, because he had a secret that nobody else in the arena knew. At the beginning of every battle Shepard had fought since the day he became a sentinel he had always had a secret weapon. His Power Shield. The Power Shield was a holographic projection emitted from his Omni-tool, which protected his entire body from harm. This was the key to much of Shepard's success on the battle field. In his current situation, Shepard had luck on his side, because the SMS could only destroy things that have mass, and a hologram doesn't have mass, thus deflecting the attack altogether.
Romat braced himself for the wild human running at him, Vibroblade gleaming in the light. Fear is not something a bartarian felt often, but once Shepard held the blade to his neck he knew he was done. He had lost his honor dual.
Shepard had few words to say to his opponent, " Its over Romat, now the time for games is over, you have some weapons to make," and that was the last time any bartarian complained about serving a human.
