Mass Effect

Awakening

Prologue

"Journal update, Final Entires, I've been on the run for 48 hours straight, I haven't slept in even longer, I'm being hunted but that's not why my heart is racing feeling like it's going to beat right out of my chest, Something about all this just seems wrong, I feel like I've failed but from what i can remember this is the way we planned it, Everything was working the way I hoped maybe not the way i expected but i guess life has a way of kicking you that way....."

"I've caught a break for the moment, I don't hear the madning footsteps as much as i was before but i know they're there, they're just like me maybe even better and wont stop until I'm a trophy on their wall, I guess that's what happens when you piss off the wrong people, But they wont catch me, The local Varren will tear them apart long before they find me....."

"It's still hard for me to believe what all we accomplished, I was just some dumb kid from a colony no one ever knew existed going nowhere in life and now I'm being hunted by some of the most powerful and dangerous people and aliens in the galaxy, They wouldn't have pissed on me if i was on fire before but i guess screwing with how they make their money made them piss themselves, But I'm not afraid of them and that's not what's bothering me, I've got a thought that keeps coming back to me, I cant seem to get rid of it but maybe that means it's suppose to be there, Whatever the reason I'm glad it keeps coming back, I feel at peace when i think about her....."

"She was Quarian and she was more beautiful than any human, I didn't need to see past her helmet to know that, Most human guys like the Asari, I guess because they resemble us more than other aliens, But the whole Mono-Gendered thing is just weird to me, One of the guys went out with an Asari once and the next mourning he found out she was the guy so to speak in her last relationship, I've never tried to understand alien mating for that reason, But anyway people has always told me that Quarians were nothing but scavengers and thieves but that's like comparing them to those damn Vorcha, It's easy to label others when you know nothing about them or their way of life, Her name was Eli'Zera Vas Ethia Nar Rayya, I've always liked how Quarian names sounded....."

"They found me, I let my guard down for a minute and that was a mistake, I've been shot and I'm bleeding pretty bad, But they wont win, They can't win, To be honest i never thought I'd last even this long but i remembered what's worth fighting for, I guess you could say those thoughts have Awoken me, My vision is starting to blur now, I feel my body going numb but I'm so out of it i don't even know which part of me is, I know what must be done though, The mission must be completed, I know they're thinking that it's almost over, They think they're closing in on the end, But the battle is just beginning....."

"This will be my final entry, No more running at least not right now, After weeks of wandering through this jungle I find myself to be trapped between a cliff with a 100 foot drop and some blood thirsty Mercs, They still don't realize though that they're not the one's I'm really running from, They're getting closer I can hear the rabid sounding Varren, One way or another this will be over soon, In case the worse should happen I am Butterfly I still cant use my real name, I am a Mercenary but not like you would think, I guess you could say this is just another day in the life, If anyone finds this don't look for me I'm long gone, But the next few minutes will determine wether that means I'm alive or dead, Butterfly out."

Covered in blood stains with bullet holes in his armor, half his body numb and the other half throbbing with pain, The young Mercenary Butterfly closes his holo-journal and tossed it to the side in the light brush of the jungle on the cliff top where he stared out across the massive canyon, he turned to hear the trampling of small tree's and shrubs by Krogan Bloodpack Mercs with their Vorcha Scouts and the deafening howls and growling of the Varren following his blood trail through the forest.

"I see him, Straight ahead on the cliff", one of the Vorcha screeched as he pulled his weapon from It's holster, "Nothing that way but a watery grave, Ha stupid human, Did he really think he could out run a Krogan in this element", grunted the Krogan Bloodpack warrior Krill as he lead his Mercs closer to Butterfly to claim their trophy, seeing the Bloodpack moving in fast Butterfly had one last idea, he reached up and took off his helmet then pulled out his last grenade, he dropped it in and placed it carefully on the ground, and he stood motionless as the Mercs confronted him.

"So the infamous Butterfly, you don't look so tough now, Can't fight without your team so you run like a coward, Malfur is paying the biggest bounty any hunter has seen for your head, And he wants you to know that he'll be sure to put your head next to that Quarian bitch when he finds her, and we both know he will find her", Krill growled with full confidence that this was Butterflies final moments, but Butterfly had other plans, he had snuck his hands around to his back while Krill was ranting on where he had two pistols secretly strapped, normally a pistol wouldn't do much to Krogan's with their armor like skin added with their battle armor and shields but at this range it would do little more than tickle and all Butterfly had to do was catch them off guard just for a moment, he gripped the handles tighter as he began to say "Tell Malfur that he, his Dynasty Mercs, his friends in the Blue Suns, Eclipse, Bloodpack and who ever else that sick bastard has on his payroll can all...", he gripped his guns even tighter, closed his eye's and took a deep breath, and in his head he was counting down "Three, two, one", Butterfly then ripped the pistols off his back as he leaped up in the air and back off the cliff "Go To Hell!", He screamed while firing shots taking out the Vorcha's legs while Krill stood virtually unharmed saying to himself "What a waste", he then reached for his shotgun expecting Butterfly to make a counter attack at him, he didn't think that Butterfly would be crazy enough to actually jump off a 100 foot cliff but as he moved slowly over to the edge of the cliff he heard a slight beeping from behind him, he turned around to see Butterflies helmet and noticed faint light flashing rapidly inside it and knew right away what it was, but it was to late, the grenade went off in Krill's face, scorching his skin, burning through his armor, with pieces of the helmet digging into him from the force of the blast, it burned his eye's and he was blinded as he screamed in agony, an instant later the side of the cliff began to break apart and crumble below Krill's feet taking him along with his Bloodpack all the way down to the riverbed 100 feet below.

Several Hours Later

The cliff top and jungle region where Krill had hunted Butterfly and ultimately met his end was now covered for miles with dozens of Dynasty Mercs searching for any clues to Butterfly's location, and on that very cliff side stood a man feared throughout the galaxy, the man responsible for more corruption than all the Merc gangs and politicians combined, James Malfur, the Galaxy's richest, most dangerous, virtually unstoppable Mercenary, his reputation had always kept anyone that would oppose him in fear of him but some low life nobody that crawled from the gutters thought it would be fun to play Mercenary and ended up scarring Malfur for life, and Malfur wasn't going to let this go, he would hunt Butterfly to the end of the universe if he had to.

Malfur had found the holo-journal that Butterfly had been using and was taking his time listening to every entry carefully, one of the Mercs then approached him "Sir, this area is clear, no sign that Butterfly has been here for hours, and we got word from Search Team Alpha, they found what's left of Krill and his Vorcha in the river below, no signs of Butterfly there either Sir", Malfur waited a minute before acknowledging the Merc, finishing what he was listening to, he then turned to him smirking slightly, took his cigarette out of his mouth and dropped it on the ground stepping on it to make sure it was out "Of coarse not, Butterfly is long gone, Tell Alpha to leave Krill where he lays, He failed and that is a worthy end for him, And tell the men to pull out, We're going home", "Is it over sir", said the Merc hesitantly, "Not by far", Malfur finished now grinning.

With his men pulling out and the search over Malfur layed the holo-journal back down on the trail where it could be seen easily, "Your right Butterfly, This is only the beginning, I look forward to your return whenever that might be, I know what your really running from", Malfur stood a minute looking over the horizon and up at the stars and then he pulled out an Omni-Tool and sent an anonymous message to the rest of the Crescent Moons "I'm sure your friends will be glad to hear that your still alive, especially that Quarian, I've always been more of an Asari guy myself ha ha ha", Malfur then stepped into his shuttle and was taken back to his incredible warship "The Crying Prothean".