Mass Effect: Tecumseh's Uprising, a mass effect fanfic

Authors note: This story is rated T for Teen. It contains abrasive language and some sexual references. Violence is also to be expected in later chapters, but it shouldn't be too bad. Mass Effect is property of BioWare, as are the characters which I decided to include among my original ones.

I would like to know what my readers think of this story, so please read and review.

What a miserable existence this was. The harsh afternoon sun and humid air and dust-caked sweat now covered the sixteen year-old's face, neck and arms. And to make matters worse, the shower on the ranch was broken because the brainless maintenance staff decided not to check it on their last visit. The fields of Mindoir were never easy pickings, but this was ridiculous.

Kicking the door that had the 'out of service' sign taped to it, the teenage boy reached into his pocket and angrily fumbled for his cigarette box and lighter. He put one in his mouth and felt almost instant relief as soon as the smoke filled his lungs. He may have been on probation, dirty and pissed with his life but a good smoke was all young Tecumseh Shepard really needed.

Smoke blew out his mouth and nostrils. "Well," he sighed "Back to the fucking halfway house."

He meant, of course, another night at home alone with his perfect older sister. Ever since he was arrested and sentenced she had become like his de facto probation officer. At least she had the decency to leave him alone while he locked himself in his room and wished for an uninhibited girl to fall through his ceiling.

Tecumseh made his way to the bus station home and waited with the other workers. As he sat and smoked, he noticed the looks he attracted everywhere he went. While most of the other working-class colonists were black, white or hispanic, Tecumseh and his family were the only Native Americans on Mindoir.

The bus arrived and the workers started piling on. Completely ignoring Mindoir's anti-litter laws, Tecumseh flicked his cigarette aside and got on with them.

On the ride home, Tecumseh just sat back and thought about the chain of events which had brought him to this place, which could only be described as an accident.

Sixteen years ago, as if his parents weren't poor enough, they had decided to screw and squeeze him out after his parents came home too drunk to wear protection. His too-religious-for-abortion mother knew it would be financially impossible to stay where they were with two children, even with the fraternal environment of the reservation.

One afternoon, Tecumseh's father came home with a brochure for human colonial expansion. Not only did it talk about how beautiful and mysterious the colony worlds were, it also described the amount of cheap land there was available for people who agreed to sign on as permanent residents. The only thing that was true about that brochure was the land and how permanent their residency was, the scenery left much to be desired.

Shortly after their arrival, Tecumseh was born and, the way he saw it, his life began to go downhill. All throughout life, he was wild and restless. When he was a child, his father wrote it off as the restless spirit of the famous Indian warrior they had named him after. He said that it was in his blood, that soon he would be humble and disciplined. But when he turned twelve, it got much worse.

One afternoon, Tecumseh was in class listening to a lecture his teacher was giving about alien species. When the class ended, she assigned the class a huge assignment over their spring break about the reproductive systems of the council races.

Tecumseh commented that it wasn't fair. When he was told that life wasn't fair, he responded by calling his teacher a "Turian-loving, asari-tasting whore." After being sent to the principal's office and being forced to apologize, Tecumseh snuck around to his teacher's car and put a rock through the wind shield. He was grounded for spring break and a month after.

The offenses only got worse from there. He fell in with the wrong crowd, started smoking and drinking and for some reason this only made girls crazier for him. That was until he got in trouble for slapping one of his girlfriends when she wouldn't put out after the party. That pretty much did it.

And now here he was. Being forced to work in a cornfield for a whopping five credits an hour. Just two more years and he would be on the first shuttle out of this colony. Where, he honestly didn't care.

The ride home passed without event as it always did. A few miles of dusty terrain and a short walk back to the suburbs had legally become Tecumseh's routine.

Tecumseh finally reached home and noticed his sister's car in the driveway. "Great." He told himself out loud "She better not have a date or I'm never going to shower."

Luckily for him, she was sitting at the kitchen table reading a copy of some sappy love story, maybe Pride and Prejudice, when he walked in. Even though her brother was a juvenile delinquent, Patricia was nice to her brother and smiled as he walked by. If only to rub off some kindness onto him.

"How was work, Joseph?" she asked, calling him by his Anglo name.

"It was crap and the showers broke, so I gotta use the bathroom. You don't got a date tonight, right?" he responded as he crossed the room to the bathroom.

"No, but I wanted to tell you." She put down her holo-novel and turned around "I'm babysitting the Roses' daughter tonight so I'll need you to keep your music down, okay?"

Tecumseh called from the shower while he disrobed "Yeah, no prob. What's that Rose girl's name again? She ain't that brat you had over last time right?"

"No, Joseph. That was Candace. The Roses' daughter is Talitha, she's a sweet girl."

Well that was a relief, at least one thing was going right about his day. That Candace had been a little terror. Running around the house, screaming her head off and making his life a living hell until she finally passed out on the floor. He had been tempted to write obscenities on her arm in childish letters to get her in trouble but it would have been too obvious with his sister around.

After washing all the dirt off and soothing his sore muscles, Tecumseh slipped on some fresh clothes and retired to his room. He collapsed onto his bed and closed his eyes.

He awoke a couple hours later, hearing voices faintly from behind his door. Tecumseh drifted in and out for a few more minutes before he completely came to and recognized one of the voices as his sister. It sounded like they were playing some girl's game or something, Talitha's little hands clapped while she had a rather large giggling fit.

Tecumseh got up and sat back against the wall and banged his head a couple times with a groan. He couldn't stop thinking about how bad he'd screwed up with that girl.

God damn that booze! Not only did it reinforce the stereotype about Native Americans not being able to carry their liquor, it completely ruined his chances with any other girl in the entire colony. And he hadn't even bruised her or anything; it was just a light slap.

"Or… Was it?" Tecumseh's head ached slightly from the bumps and his mind began to wander. What had happened that night? The only way he knew what had happened in the first place was because of the court transcripts and witnesses. Those pigs and that drunken hack of a judge better not have been trying to trump up charges against him, or they'd be getting Mindoirian rock worm pus in their morning coffee.

Tecumseh sat up and tried to recall the details of that night.

That night he had held back on drinking initially to get a chance to talk her up. She had arrived late so he didn't want to be smashed when she finally got there. When she did, though, it was on. He grabbed a beer for each of them, swigged his half-empty and started talking her up like a pro.

Incredibly, they were into only a few of the same things and got along moderately at first. But for some reason, Tecumseh vaguely remembered only focusing on her that night when he could have cut his losses and moved on.

His persistence did pay off, however, and soon they were on the dance floor. His long black hair mingled with her blonde hair as they twisted and turned, spurred on by the happy juice in their bloodstream.

And then, just as soon as it began, it seemed, it ended. WHAP!

Tecumseh pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. "Yeah. That is how it happened." He told himself while leaning forward slightly and reaching over to his night stand with his free hand. He grabbed his cell phone and looked through the directory for a familiar name, hoping that the girl had given him her number before he did a krogan number on her face.

He ran down the all female list of names in his 'Hit 'em ups' contact file and contemplated them individually:

Andi… No.

Brianna… No.

Brandi… Cute laugh, cuter ass. But no.

Becca… Strong country girl, too rough and hardy to be subdued with a slap.

Emily… Nope.

Gianna… Bookish girl, has a curfew. No parties, but "study breaks" oh yes.

Jenny… Rich father who is connected up the wahzoo, would probably have me assassinated if I ever hurt her.

Mary… Quite contrary. Not her.

Raquel… Has a boyfriend, but that didn't stop her from coming over for "consolation" when they hit a rough patch that one week.

Sam… Nice normal girl. Could go down with a well-placed slap. But since the school rumor questioning her sexuality, very minimal public appearance. Pity.

One by one, he moved down the list of girls in the colony. Some filled his mind with fond memories while others just made him shake his head. But of these memories, none of the ones he managed to turn up seemed to be the right ones. Tecumseh was just about to give up when one final name crossed his eye, stopping him from almost putting down his phone.

Veronica, the girl who came from Earth in Tecumseh's middle school years to join his class. They always saw each other around the colony, but never had any interaction more than a quick glance. Then one week in high school she got her courage up with help from her posse of friends to talk to Tecumseh at school.

Now it all rushed back like a flood gate being released. After talking to her, Tecumseh had been interested in her as well and decided then and there that he had to have her. That's why he wasn't focused on anyone else that evening, he had invited her.

For the longest time Tecumseh's finger just hovered over the call button. Do I call her? Will she even talk to me? I ain't going to have to apologize for being rough, right?

He had always had a big issue with apologizing to people. Even if they were clearly in the right, Tecumseh had huge issues with admitting guilt. If they were so right, he always reasoned, they shouldn't need me to tell them.

But this was a little bit different. He had messed up big time with this girl and everyone knew about it. Not only did he have a reputation to protect but he had a public to face. If he didn't do something soon, he'd never get any more play until he finally moved off world. Two years for him was too long a period to go without, so he just did not want to risk it.

Well. Maybe I can just spin things a little and save the apology. He pressed the button and held it up to his ear.

Ring…

The phone picked up and a familiar high-pitched voice said tiredly "Hello?" It was her!

Being faced with the actual prospect of facing his accuser suddenly made Tecumseh speechless, he sat there quietly unable to think of the right words. "Hello?" the voice repeated.

It suddenly dawned on him that if she had his number, her caller ID might be showing it was him. If she wanted, she could probably get away with adding stalking charges to the list.

But if she did know who it was, she wouldn't have answered if she wasn't interested. Or she didn't know, in which case talking may or may not cause more damage. These and more floated around, forcing a tug-of-war for the decision to rage in Tecumseh's head.

Mustering up all the effort he could, Tecumseh dully uttered a single syllable "Uh…" and hesitated a few seconds.