At the time of this upload, I have been away from fan-fic writing for quite a long time. It was difficult to get back to the stories I had running, as they had numerous consistency errors and just weren't 'me' enough... so I scrapped them. All of them (aside from a few shorts on FFnet).
This is my new, updated version of Scars/Scars:Novo... re titled to commemorate its rebirth and be more in line with the story theme I going for when telling my version of Shepard's story. I hope previous fans and new ones come to enjoy this new version
"You heard that, right?" Gunnery Chief Williams said as she looked in the direction of the colony.
Commander Cait Shepard had also heard the sharp report of a single shot echo over the still silence that had fallen moments after they had finished a skirmish with more geth troops. She put her M-92 Mantis back in the holster on her back, omni-tool flickering to life over her right wrist.
"SPECTRE Nihilus, report." She said over the comm link, only being met with dead silence. "We better get down there. I don't like this."
Her instincts were right and they found Nihilus sprawled on the ground, the front of his face nearly blown to pieces as he lay in a pool of his own blood. Shepard cursed and immediately hailed the Normandy to report the loss of the SPECTRE to the Captain board and seeking a new plan of action for the fireteam. A loud sound startled all three of them and they turned, guns drawn and raised, as a colonist came scrambling out from behind some of the crates, face pale and slick with sweat.
"Almost blew yer damn head off." Shepard growled, holstering her N7 Eagle and helping the man to his feet.
"I-I thought you were the geth! Or that other turian." He stammered, mildly relieved to see fellow humans.
"Other turian?" Lieutenant Alenko questioned, glancing down at Nihilus's corpse. "What other turian?"
"There was a second turian here, seemed to know this one." He explained, gesturing to the dead SPECTRE. "They got to talking and then he turned his back and that other turian just shot him in the back of the head."
The fire team shared a look but that sounded as strange as the geth being here. After reporting to Captain Anderson that they had lost Nihilus to an unknown assailant, they proceeded through the colony, still focused on their initial objective. The geth tried to erase the evidence of their attack by blowing up the colony but Shepard and her fire team removed the geth threat and disarmed the bombs. There was still no sign of this supposed second turian the colonist saw and Shepard began to doubt the man's accounts of what happened to Nihilus.
They arrived on the loading dock where the payload was located; a Prothean relic. Commander Shepard paid it little mind aside from assuring that the area was clear and the thing hadn't been rigged with a trap.
"Commander to Normandy. We have the payload secured and ready for extraction." She reported up to the waiting ship.
"Roger that Commander. Extraction in five minutes." Joker reported.
"Shepard!" Ashley called in alarm, making the scarred woman spin on her heel, hand going to her service pistol.
To her amazement, it appeared the Prothean relic was active, emitting some kind of green pulse of energy over the spire and what appeared to be a VI interface hovering over one of the panels. However, it seemed something was happening with Alenko as he was struggling against some unseen force that was slowly but steadily dragging him towards the relic. Springing into action, Shepard ran and tackled Kaiden, shoving him free of whatever had a hold of him but getting herself caught in it. Unable to regain her footing, Shepard was dragged right towards the humming spire. She screamed as she was lifted, a heavy pressure on her chest as it felt like hot probes were being driven into her skull and spine.
The air burned with the searing heat, the shrieking sound of some kind of laser-type weapon drowning out the sounds of combat… no, not combat, slaughter. Millions dying across numerous worlds in the galaxy, black ships with long arms raining down from the sky as monstrosities swarmed in impossible numbers; twisted amalgamations of flesh and steel.
"Commander!" Ashley shouted, Kaiden holding her back as she could also get caught in whatever was going on.
The Prothean relic started to crack and glow, the hum it was emitting becoming a shrill keening sound before it shattered, the explosion sending the Commander flying across the dock, unconscious. The pair ran to her, finding blood trickling from a cut on her temple but otherwise alive.
"Joker. Have Dr. Chakwas prep the medbay immediately. The Commander's hurt… not sure how bad." Kaiden radioed in, glancing back at the smoking remains of the payload. "And the payload is gone."