Hey everyone, it's your boy Cloaked Protagonist here with another story. I decided to try my hand with a 1stperson story from an OC's view. Where's a better place than the great universe of Mass Effect. So, without further procrastination:
I do not own Mass Effect or anything in the universe that I use other than my OC. If I did, Mass Effect Andromeda would get that quarian arc DLC. Now let's begin
-Location Unknown, Year Unknown-
I'd wipe the blood off my lip where the other enraged prisoner punched me, his fist cloaked in a familiar blue glow. Why don't they just quit? I don't want to have to kill them. I overheard from the batarian that feeds me sometimes that some broker is looking for me. Let him come, I'll break him like the rest. I flick my hand, it glowing red for a moment and my attacker is smashed into the ground. A lifeless corpse. I feel the familiar flowing of the sedative from my collar into my veins then all I see is black.
-Illusive Man POV-
"Miranda, is there anyway we could buy his way out of there? He would be an invaluable asset to Project Phoenix."
"No sir, the reports we have received has said they plan on either breaking him to serve the Shadow Broker, or outright kill him with the amount of red sand in his system."
"Hmm, has our contact told us anything about his current situation involving that?"
"In the course of the last year, he has had enough sand injected into his blood stream to severely drain his natural biotic strength. However, the contact reported that his control is absolute, to the point where he crushed his last opponent's spine. There was no other bodily damage reported."
"And have they managed to find an amp for him yet?"
"No sir, that is what is so peculiar. The only known race to use biotics without an amp interface are the asari. They even chose to use an amp to make their abilities relatively unmatched. He has no known exposure to Element Zero, yet his biotics are unmatched," Miranda noted with a scientific approach.
"I don't see any other way then, prepare a team and infiltrate the facility. I want this as quiet as possible. Understood?" I said.
"Yes sir, I'll leave immediately," and with that, Miranda left to free a prisoner.
-Back to Prisoners POV-
I woke up to alarms going off in the facility. 'Probably another drill,' I thought. I rolled over to go back to sleep when the door to my cell was opened. I ignored it, thinking that some of the guards had come to beat me while the others were busy.
"Major Kyle, there's a prisoner here. What should we do?" asked a feminine voice. "Rodger that, Alenko, get him on his feet." I heard a shuffling and prepared to defend myself at a moment's notice. Who I assume was 'Alenko' placed his hand on my arm and that's when I sprung into action. I threw my elbow back, covered in it's red glow and heard the solid thump of armor. The force was still enough to make him hunch over and I flipped him onto the bed, putting my glowing hand to his neck as I heard the distinctive click of a pistol unfolding.
"Anyone moves, and I break his neck. Now who are you?" I asked, not recognizing their armor.
"I'm Commander Shepard with the Alliance. I suggest you release the lieutenant unless you want a bullet in you head," said the newly dubbed Shepard.
"Forgive me if I'm a bit untrusting, Commander, being a prisoner does that to you. Where are we?" I say, releasing Alenko but keeping a barrier up.
"Torfan. What's the last thing you remember?" she asks, not lowering her pistol.
"I was on Mindoir, we were being attacked and they took me."
"Wait, you were on Mindoir during the attack? That was nearly 8 years ago!" exclaimed the third marine in the room.
"8 years, that's impossible! I've only been here for a year or two," I said panicking.
"Calm down, freaking out isn't going to get you out of here. We're headed to the command center to disable the AA guns then we're blowing this place to hell and back. I suggest you stay close if you want out of here," Shepard said.
"I'll be damned if I'm just gonna sit back and let your team have all the fun. I've got a score to settle with these fuckers, I'll help," I said, lowering my barrier.
"Sorry, but we don't have time to protect someone who looks like they can barely stand. Get out of here and wait at the shuttle,"
'Ouch,' I thought, 'I know they don't feed me often, but I think I'm in pretty good shape. I'm 6 feet 1 inches tall and have fairly broad shoulders and a strong core where I stayed in shape fighting.'
"Well, someone who looks like they barely can stand took down one of your marines pretty easy," I shot back.
"Ha," she smirked, "Point taken. Kaiden, give him a gun and a crash course. We move in 3."
The guy who I had pinned early walked up to me with a cautious look on his face. "You're not gonna shoot me with this, are you?" he asked, holding out a gun for me.
"Probably not, I'd rather have you between me and the bad guys, no offense," I said with what I imagined was a sinister smile.
"Whatever, this is a basic katana shotgun. No mods or anything, it's pretty easy to use. The just point and pull the trigger. The safety is on the left side by the trigger, and the barrel will vent steam when it overheats. It'll fold up for magnetic storage, but you don't have that right now so don't worry about it. Just stay close, keep your head down, and you'll be fine," Kaiden explained.
"Alright, thanks."
"Come on squad. I'm on point. Kaiden, you cover the flanks. Marshall, watch the rear. New guy, you're with me, move out," with that we moved out. Kaiden and the other marine, Marshall, immediately took up their position. I walked beside Shepard, not bothering to raise a barrier. As we rounded the corner, we ran into a batarian that was particularly nasty to me during testing. I motioned to Shephard to let me handle this and began to cloak myself in a barrier. I then sprinted towards him and managed to tackle him just as my barrier fell from his gunfire.
"Remember me buddy? Told you I'd kill you," and I then jerked his knife out of his shoulder holster and stabbed him in his eye. I sat there staring at my tormentor for a moment before I started to break out in giggles, tears streaming down my face. The rest of the raid was a blur for me, one-minute Shephard was asking me if I was okay and the next I'm sitting on a shuttle headed for Alliance command. The strange part was that Shephard was holding onto me and wouldn't let go. As I turned to push her off I realized what was wrong, I was missing a good chunk of my torso and Shephard was trying to apply pressure to stop the bleeding. Kaiden was trying to apply what I assume was medigel, but I was already losing consciousness. Before I passed out I took one look at Shephard and simply said, "I won."
-A few hours later-
"- not sure if that's a good idea Commander. We have no idea what he's been through these years, not to mention his mental stability," said a croaky masculine voice.
"With all due respect, Admiral Hackett, I think the risk outweighs the rewards. If he can live there for that long, he's more than qualified for the training," said Shephard.
"With all due respect, military people, I don't like people talking about me while I'm asleep," I groaned.
"Welcome back to the land of the living, young man. I'm Admiral Hackett. You already know the commander," he formally introduced himself, holding out his hand. I just stared at him blankly.
"You were discussing what to do with me," I deadpanned.
"Ah, yes. Straight to the point then. The commander and I are at some odds on this affair. I want you to get psychiatric help and slowly reintroduce you to the outside world. The commander wants you to be streamlined to N7 training, at the most, or at least be stationed with herself, at the least."
"And do I get any say in this?"
"Of course, you do," Shepard cut in, "I'm just not sure you would be good in civilian life. I know a killer when I see one, and I'd rather you work with us then against us."
"Ah, the truth comes out. You want to know if I'll become some sort of terrorist or serial killer or something."
"Amongst other things, yes," Hackett spoke bluntly for the first time.
"Well, what would this training be? I doubt it'll be a crash course in how to hold a gun if it's as prestigious as you make it out to be."
"Well, everyone's training is different. I had to learn how to handle every type of weapon, then survive in the jungle with only a combat knife, water canteen, and some purification tablets. I'd imagine yours would be quite different with you being a biotic, though," Shephard explained.
"Yeah, I survived with less than that for a while now. What is the date, by the way?"
"It's December 7th by Earth time, the year is 2179."
"Happy birthday to me, I guess," I mumbled.
"Actually, that is another thing I would like to discuss. Shephard mentioned that you had biotics, yet they are also a different color than regular. Upon medical scans, you also haven't been outfitted with an amp. Your body, although severely malnourished, is relatively strong. What I want to really know, is why there was a collar pumping red sand into your bloodstream. What exactly did they do to you in there, son?"
"First of all, call me son and I'll show you how strong this broke down body is, old man. Secondly, what happened in there is something I don't plan on telling anyone, not even my worst enemies. What I will tell you is that almost everyday I was there, they betted on fights between the prisoners. I've killed my fair share of convicts, civilians, elderly, children, whatever I had to for survival. Whenever I won a fight they would pump me with stuff that took away the pain, I'm going to assume that's the red sand, until I passed out. As for the biotics, your guess is as good as mine. I don't think military life will suit me too well, but fighting is all I've known. So how about we make a deal, you keep me healthy, give me some training, and I won't fight against you. I don't plan on taking orders from anyone anymore, so take it or leave it," I gave the ultimatum. Hackett glanced at Shephard and shook his head, causing her to huff angrily and storm out of the room.
"I'm going to have to deny that offer. We'll get you patched up, give you an amp, let you keep your gun, and give you a one-way ride to whatever planet you want. I hoped you would see reason, but your obviously deluded," and with that he left the room, only to be replaced by Shephard a moment later.
"He doesn't have a clue what he's talking about. You don't pass up a soldier that takes on a half a dozen batarians only with biotics, and no amp," she ranted.
"Wait, what are you talking about? I only killed that one batarian," I stated.
"You don't remember?" she asked.
"Obviously not."
"Well, long story short, you ran off after killing that batarian. We caught up with you after fighting reinforcements only to find you repeatedly stabbing a batarian with that knife, half dead. Everyone in the room was dead, some had stab wounds and others were almost cut in half. One corner of the room was on fire, we had figured a grenade had gone off at some point and that's how you were injured."
"Oh, I… how bad were my injuries?"
"Like the Admiral said, you were severely malnourished, and half your body had scar tissue built up on it. The explosion shattered your ribcage and punctured your lung. Part of your stomach was lost also, but the docs fixed you up with cybernetics pretty good. They also gave you the standard gene therapy most soldiers get to fix some of the long-term damage. Your right arm was almost severed, also reconnected with cybernetics, and your left leg was broken. You were put in a medical coma for the last week, so you could heal properly. What did the Admiral decide to do with you?"
"Basically, he's dropping me on whatever planet I want, then getting out of the system."
"Any ideas of where you want to go?" Shephard asked.
"I don't know the galaxy well. There's supposed to be a planet that's basically a wasteland though. I may go there."
"Well, I'm not sure about a wasteland, but Tuchanka is the home world of the krogan. If you're looking to die a painful death, I've heard it's a lovely place," she joked.
"Hmm, never met a krogan, but it sounds good enough to keep me busy. Hey, what do you think an amp would do to my biotics?" I asked.
"Wait, are you really considering going there? It's basically a death wish. And I'm not too sure, biotics isn't my thing. If I had to guess though, you would probably be able to use them easier."
"Hmm, okay. It's settled then, I'm going to get an amp then head to the krogan home world and get into lots of trouble or die. Sounds like a good vacation from the batarians, huh?"
"Was that a joke? Don't answer that. Have someone send me a message when your ready to go. I was just promoted to the XO of a frigate under Captain Anderson. I'm sure he won't mind dropping you off. I've heard good thing about him from my mother."
"Will do, see you Shephard."
-Back with the Illusive Man-
"How could this slip by our information network, Miranda? There was no mention of a raid on any primary or secondary communication channels. Even our mole had no idea it was happening."
"We are looking into it sir, but intel suggests it was an unsanctioned raid in retaliation for the Blitz." Miranda replied.
"Hmm, and where is he now?"
"He's currently being outfitted with an L3 implant then boarding a stealth frigate under the command of Captain David Anderson. There's little information on the ship, other than it's a joint human-turian project. We have no bugs on board so it's likely that we will lose him once he leaves Arcturus Station."
"This is very unfortunate. He will appear soon enough, we have other matters to worry about now. You are dismissed.
So, here's my first attempt at a Mass Effect fanfic. This may be the first chapter I've ever written that feels like it was decently paced. Anyway, make sure to review and tell me what you think of it. I've also got a Harry Potter FF called Identity that you should check out.
This is Cloaked Protagonist,
Signing Off