Project Phoenix – Chapter 1
A/N: I'm really excited to be posting the first chapter of this fic - and about everything that's coming as well! I hope you enjoy this mirror verse fic with Kaidan as Archangel. I have to admit, during the first time I played ME2, I was hoping (hopelessly, mind you) that Kaidan would be Archangel. When VorchaGirl mentioned having a dream about it, I couldn't get the ideas out of my head (and she said to please go ahead and write it!). Anyways - Enjoy!
The delightfully dissonant music of Igor Stravinsky's The Firebird softly filled the captain's quarters as Commander Lyla Shepard reluctantly read over the dossiers the Illusive Man gave her for potential recruits.
Master Thief. Mercenary. Convict? "Seriously?" Lyla sighed as she pulled her long, thick, flaxen hair out of its bun. It's so nice to let my hair down when I'm not fighting…I guess that's one nice thing about working with Cerberus. Though, it might be the only nice thing. She played with her hair with one hand while scrolling the data pad with the other. Doctor. Vigilante. That's more like it. She stretched her legs outward as she sat at the edge of the bed and pointed her toes. She moved them along with the ballet, her feet dancing lightly in the air.
Something about the vigilante caught her attention. Street name: Archangel. Human. Likely biotic. Sniper. Very resourceful. Has caused trouble for mercenary groups on Omega, Illium, and The Citadel. Current location: Omega. Lyla recoiled her legs the air and crossed them around each other.
Omega. That sounds like the best place to start. I can pick up the doctor that the Illusive Man prioritized, this vigilante Archangel, and the mercenary Zaeed all at the same time.
She tossed the data pad aside and laid supine on the bed. Reading about a biotic human reminded her about the man she cared about more than any other. Kaidan. I have to find Kaidan. She let out a heavy sigh. But I need a squad, and I'm not sure I trust Jacob or Miranda. Damn it. As much as she wanted to drop everything to find Kaidan, she knew that she shouldn't. We're fairly close to Omega now. I'll head to the Citadel to talk to Anderson as soon as I'm done there.
The thought that Kaidan believed she was dead chilled her to her core. Did he move on already? She swallowed the lump in her throat, hoping she wouldn't find him with some other woman.
"Hey Commander, did you decide where we're going yet?" The thankfully familiar sound of Joker's voice filled her cabin and jolted her out of the possibilities she had begun to drown in.
"Set course for Omega," she ordered plainly.
When Shepard heard Archangel had three different mercenary groups out for his blood, she decided that getting the doctor could wait. Lyla, along with Jacob and Zaeed, had infiltrated the mercenary groups hunting down the vigilante. They pushed through the first wave of freelancers, killing Archangel's attackers as a show of good faith that they weren't here to harm him. Other freelancers fell victim to the vigilante's rifle as they ran; it was almost as if Archangel was paving a path for them. Shepard and her squad were able to get to the other side of the compound relatively quickly. Lyla's tall, athletic figure scaled the stairs with ease, each step graceful and elegant. She swiftly crossed the balcony to where Archangel was standing, his back to her. His masculine form was enveloped in a blue aura accompanied by the low hum of biotics. It was all too familiar. His shape, the biotic barrier, the sound – it reminded her too much of Kaidan.
Slowly, Archangel turned and lifted his helmet.
Oh my God. It's him.
"Lyla," Kaidan's husky voice breathed her name, and without hesitation, she holstered her weapon, threw her arms around his neck, and pulled her body against his. Their armor clattered as Kaidan returned her embrace, squeezing ever so slightly.
Shepard pulled back slightly to gaze upon his rugged face, which was worn and dark with stubble. Her amethyst eyes met his glossy amber ones; he looked as though he was about to cry. She placed a gloved hand to his cheek. "I missed you so much, Kaidan."
"Not as much as I missed you," he whispered, planting a kiss on her cheek. "But we'll talk about that after we're out of this mess." Kaidan released his hold on Shepard. "Another wave will be here soon," he stated as he pulled his helmet back over his head.
Shepard readied her assault rifle, aiming over the ledge to where the next group would come from. She ordered Zaeed to watch the back side of the walkway and Jacob the door behind them. A loud crashing sound came from the floor beneath them just as the next wave started its approach.
"That can't be good," Lyla remarked.
Kaidan sniped the head clear off an approaching Eclipse mech. "Sounds like they're finally getting smart…someone is going to need to seal the doors down there or we'll be screwed."
"Zaeed, Jacob, get to it." Shepard ordered.
"Yes m'am!" Jacob shouted, taking point as the pair quickly ran back downstairs.
Lyla's lips tugged upwards as she prepared her weapons. "I guess it's just you and me."
"Yeah…" Kaidan's voice tailed off as the garage door across the bridge opened, revealing a YMIR mech, heading their way. "Shit," the biotic cursed as he readied his overload, but Lyla stopped him.
"Wait – that problem will take care of itself." She smirked, grateful that they had taken the time to snoop around the Eclipse's camp and sabotage the mech's friend-or-foe system. The large machine fired on the smaller robots and mercenaries approaching them, leaving little work for Kaidan and Shepard to do during this wave.
Once the Eclipse wave was a pile of broken machines and dead bodies, Lyla took a moment to check in with Jacob and Zaeed. The two men had one door left to go.
"We've got Bloodpack incoming." Kaidan notified her. The Bloodpack mercenaries were comprised of vorcha and krogan. Both species could regenerate their health and were quick on their feet, which meant trouble. The Bloodpack were too fast for Shepard and Kaidan to take out before their position would be compromised, and were already headed under the walkway.
"I'll meet them at the back stairs. I like things up in person better anyways." Lyla glided to the back stairwell and found 3 vorcha, followed by a Krogan, climbing up them. She groaned as she let her gift from Cerberus whirl down the stairs, making them fly in the air.
Lyla could hear Kaidan shout over the sounds of battle. "Was that a shockwave?"
"Sure was!" she shouted back at him. "Cerberus decided to give me biotics, apparently." Lyla didn't need to hear Kaidan to know that his reaction was somewhere between a chuckle and a sigh. She knew he was intrigued, possibly even amused, with her new powers, but simultaneously worried how much they changed her – as was she.
Lyla sent a carnage flying at the krogan, stunning him long enough to finish the vorcha off with her shotgun. As the krogan stood, Shepard incinerated his armor – evidently pissing him off, because he began to charge at her. She responded by following suit and recklessly biotically charged the Bloodpack mercenary. It was a new and exhilarating feeling for Lyla; time seemed to slow while she flew at her opponent enveloped in biotic energy. She crashed into him, knocked him to the ground again, and finished him off with a shotgun blast to the head. She stopped for a second to catch her breath, feeling dizzy from the unfamiliar rush of biotic energy.
Kaidan's gruff voice shouted in warning. "More krogan on the way! I count four – including Garm!"
Shit. Lyla knew her new biotic abilities would need time to charge, so she withdrew back up the steps and switched her shotgun out for her assault rifle. Shepard began to fire at the krogan who took point; the disparaging sound of the shots being absorbed by his armor added a sense of urgency to Shepard's fighting. "Zaeed, Jacob! Get your asses back in here! We need backup!"
Thankfully, her incinerate finally recharged. Shepard hit the closest krogan to her with it and followed it up with a shower from her assault rifle. This time, the bullets penetrated the krogan's armor, and it struggled under her unrelenting fire. As he collapsed the next came charging at her, springing over his fallen comrade and flying towards Shepard ready for revenge. Fuck.
Suddenly, the raging krogan was lifted into the air, enveloped in a familiar blue hue. "I've got you, Shepard!" She heard Jacob shout from behind. Zaeed's concussive shot punctuated Jacob's call and sent the vulnerably suspended mercenary flying.
Kaidan's husky voice could barely be heard over the action. "We're clear on the other side for now!" Archangel shouted as he appeared at the balcony, and threw biotic energy at Garm's only remaining squad member. The krogan's back slammed into the wall. Garm growled and charged ahead, straight into Jacob and Zaeed. The livid Bloodpack leader steamrolled them as he made a beeline towards Archangel. He'll have to get past me, first. Lyla thought. She drew her shotgun and broke Garm's charge with a carnage.
Kaidan biotically lifted the krogan boss from the ground while he was stunned from the carnage. A blast of orange mingled with the blue biotics as Shepard incinerated his armor. The loud, low crack of her shotgun going off erupted in Lyla's ear as she fired at the vulnerable krogan. A tiny red dot appeared on Garm's head plate, and was quickly replaced with a bullet from Kaidan's sniper rifle. The blue hue of biotics faded away and Garm crashed to the floor. His body didn't move. There was no rise or fall in his chest, nor a grumble as there had been before. He's dead. Relieved, Lyla turned to see Zaeed and Jacob approaching her, finished with the only other remaining krogan.
"Thanks," Kaidan said as he ejected the thermal clip from his sniper rifle. "Garm regenerated faster than any other krogan I've seen. It's a good thing you all were here to help me."
Zaeed's gruff voice was the first to respond. "Seems like you handled things pretty well, kid, Shepard, too."
A smile peeked through the visor of Kaidan's helmet. "Thanks, Massani. I never imagined having you at my back." Lyla was surprised Kaidan knew who Zaeed was. What has he been up to these past 2 years?
"If I know Tarak as well as I think I do, he'll be around any minute now." Zaeed continued. "Would you prefer to stay and fight them here, or should we push our way through?"
Before either Shepard or Kaidan could answer, a gunship appeared level with them and began to fire. Time seemed to slow as a rocket flew towards Kaidan. Shepard ran to push him out of its way, completely unaware that she was charging biotically. With a loud crack, her body collided with his and knocked him to the ground. Why isn't he moving? The blue aura emanating from Kaidan's frozen body and her shaking hands revealed what she had done. Oh no. No no no. Lyla barked orders at Zaeed and Jacob to deal with the gunship as she removed Kaidan's gauntlet and checked for a pulse. His smooth tan wrist pulsed gently on her finger tips. Thank god. She administered some medigel to make sure he was stable. Damn that gunship and its pilot. Lyla's blood boiled as she stood with vengeful resolve and armed her grenade launcher. She focused completely on taking it out. Vague, muffled tones of Zaeed and Jacob's voices called to her, but she did not recognize or respond to them. With determination Lyla alternated between hurling incineration blasts and grenades at the gunship. Finally, electricity crackled all over the ship and the stench and blackness of smoked filled the air. The broken vessel plummeted and rattled the ground beneath. Lyla's knees met the floor in time with the crash. Her hands began to shake as she moved them in a nervous yet categorical manner to check Kaidan's life signs again. The thought that he could have died while she was taking out the gunship left a sickening pain in her stomach. Her clammy hand finally found a faint pulse on Kaidan's cold wrist. A mixture of hope and slight relief joined the grief and terror in her gut as Lyla called Joker for an emergency shuttle extraction.
Please be alright, Kaidan…I'll never forgive myself if you're not.
A/N: Thank you for reading! Please let me know what you think! :)