Mass Effect: The Unsung Hero
Prologue
A/N:
I don't own anything even remotely related to Mass Effect, Crysis, Bioware, or Crytek. I am just using their characters and devices to help tell a story I made in my head
Commander John Shepard specs: standard face structure, Paragade, War Hero and Sole Survivor, Spacer, roughly 6' tall, 180 pounds, infiltrator/basic biotics
I'm going to presume that anyone who will read this story already knows all the different alien races and NPC's, so I won't go into detail about them to save time
This is my only my second story I have ever written and the first that will be posted for anyone else to read... tl:dr be gentle
UPDATE! (4/11/2011): This is a new re vamped version of this chapter. Feel free to review it again if you'd like. The second chapter won't be reworked until I get a brand new chapter nine posted
Low Earth Orbit
Captains Quarters
SSV Normandy SR-1
2183
Just outside of low earth orbit, a newly completed frigate exited a space dock. The sleek black and white hull, with "SR-1" and "Normandy" emblazoned on it, began to power up its drive core to start its shakedown run. The SSV Normandy is the first ship of its kind, incorporating design features from the Turian military. Perhaps the most important feature of the Normandy is its experimental stealth system.
"Start up sequence finalized and all boards are green Captain" the voice of Flight Lieutenant Jeff Moreau said over the PA in the Captain's private quarters. Captain David Anderson just nodded his head slowly in acknowledgment.
"Take her out to the Charon Relay, Joker," Anderson told to the pilot "We are taking the Normandy out to Eden Prime"
"Aye-Aye Captain"
"Now then, lets get back to our discussion," Nihlus said "I know you don't like keeping your crew in the dark Captain, but this is all a part of my observation of Commander Shepard. I need to see how well he can adapt to changing circumstances."
While Anderson didn't particularly like surprises, when the Alliance Brass tells you that a Turian Spectre will be joining in on a shakedown run, you can't exactly say no. However when said Spectre tells you about a Prothean Beacon being dug up on an Alliance Colony, AND that your X.O. is under observation to become a Spectre, you learn to just go with the flow. Hell, after all I've been through I should be used to this sort of thing. I am glad though that Admiral Hackett and Ambassador Udina agreed on my recommendation Anderson thought to himself.
"Yes, but eventually we will have to tell Shepard what is going on" Anderson countered.
"Of course, after we make the jump to Eden Prime we can talk to him in the comm room"
"Good, is there anything else I need to know about?"
"No, the Council wants me to observe Shepard for at least 4 different missions of varying circumstances, the first being the pick up of this Prothean Beacon."
"Ok, Nihlus, just try not to be too obvious about it. Shepard is our best infiltrator, combine that with his biotic abilities and he's the best damn soldier there is. Raised in the military, battle hardened by the Blitz, sole survivor of Akuze, you wouldn't be able to find a better soldier, or a better representative of humanity, anywhere. He'll know you are shadowing him"
"Agreed Captain, I'll do my best not to tip him off too early"
Well, this should be interesting to watch play out. I hope Shepard can succeed where I failed Anderson though to himself My only hope is that nothing goes wrong on this shakedown.
Short time later
cockpit
Normandy SR-1
15 minutes into a shakedown run of the finest ship in the galaxy, and we get a radiation spike. Joker thought to himself. "Umm, Captain we are picking up A LOT radiation from all across the board. Even picking up some tachyons and exotic particles."
"What is it Joker?"
"Whatever it is, it's too small for the scanners to get a picture of... Whoa... The radiation suddenly died off and I'm picking up a single life sign."
"WHAT! Get us close to it! And tell the Commander and Alenko to get into hard-suits, we gotta find out whatever the hell that thing is"
Cargo Bay
Normandy SR-1
Commander John Shepard, being in his armor since he boarded the Normandy, only had to put on his helmet and was giving Lieutenant Kaiden Alenko a hard time down on the cargo level. "Come on Alenko, if the ship were under attack you'd need to have your armor and helmet on 5 minutes ago... Not to mention being armed"
"Sorry Commander, the migraine I'm having today is killing me and the meds Doctor Chakwas gave me aren't helping much" Kaiden replied
Shepard just laughed "Just hurry up Lieutenant, whatever that lifesign out there is, it won't wait for much longer"
"Done sir, lets go get us another alien"
"What do you think Nihlus is here for?" Shepard asked while on the elevator up to the crew deck.
"Honestly sir, since this ship was built as a joint project between the Alliance and the Turians, the Council may just want someone to check it over"
"Hmm... sound logic... There is something else to it though... I just can't place my finger on it"
Just as the two got to the combat deck, Nihlus bumped into Shepard.
"Commander, what are you expecting out there?" Nihlus asked with his mandibles twitching.
"Honestly, I don't know... To tell you the truth I'm curious, there are very few things that can produce the kind of radiation that Joker picked up... then all of a sudden the radiation disappears leaving a single life sign?"
"I agree Commander, exercise caution... Whatever this 'thing' may be..." Nihlus advised.
Airlock Entrance
Normandy SR-1
"Joker, can you bring the life sign in line with the airlock?" Shepard asked as he and Kaiden reached the air lock doors which were just aft of the cockpit.
"Commander, if you wanted I could get it inside the airlock for you, but that would likely piss off the Captain, so how does 10 meters sound?"
Shepard just shook his head "Do it Joker"
"Aye aye" with that Shepard and Alenko stepped into the Normandy's airlock, waiting for the room to depressurize. "Life sign is 10 meters from the door Commander, don't forget to attach your tethers, I'd hate to have to write a report about why we lost two of the best in the Alliance on a shakedown run"
"Roger that Joker, attaching tethers now" The Commander, while used to working in a vacuum, never did quite like zero-g. Too late now though, "Opening outer door" Joker's voice came from the comm and the black empty void enveloped his vision. He looked at the area where the life sign should be but spotted nothing"Uh... Joker... are you sure that the life sign is 10 meters away?"
"Roger that Commander"
With the outer door now open, Commander Shepard floated out of the airlock and began to look around where the source of the life sign should be. Yet all he saw was the field of stars that made up the universe. Out of the all the places this guy could show up, he shows up here Shepard thought.
'Turn on the running lights, I can't spot anything" A moment later, with the Normandy's exterior lights on, Shepard and Alenko still couldn't find the source of the lifesign.
"Ok, fuck this, activating personal radar," Shepard swore as he pushed out into space, with the view of Jupiter behind the Normandy. "Got a signal, heading to it now" Using a small maneuvering thruster he had on his back, Shepard finally got close enough to see it. "Oh my god, it looks human, but more mechanical... Kaiden on my six"
"Roger that Commander" as he maneuvered over "No wonder we couldn't spot it, its skin is pitch black"
"Ok, running a scan" As Shepard ran his omni tool over the robot-humanoid, he got some weird readings... "Wait a second... I've got a heart beat! This thing is a human with an advanced exosuit! His vitals aren't that strong, Captain Anderson, I recommend we bring him in to stabilize and question"
"Approved Shepard, bring him in, Doctor Chakwas will be standing by"
"Captain, is this a prudent move?" Nihlus asked via the radio.
"Nihlus, I'm sure you know by now that we don't leave people behind, and judging by the Commander's initial scans, this man is in need of help. If he was at the center of that radiation, he is going to need medical attention. There is also the question of his armor, its unlike anything we have ever seen."
"Understood, Captain" Knowing full well human military doctrine
"Captain, who ever this guy is, he is BIG, I estimate him to be 6'4" and with the armor around 300 pounds. Alenko and I are gonna need help getting him down to the med bay" Shepard radioed once the airlock closed and decontamination began.
"Understood"
Enroute to Med Bay
Normandy SR-1
Even with the help of Shepards and Kaidens biotics, it took ten minutes to get the armored mystery guest to the med bay. As they maneuvered the big man through the ship, they received several stares from the crew. They all knew they had stopped to investigate something but didn't realize what.
"Holy hell, I haven't seen a guy this big outside of vids" Jenkins, one of the marines who helped, commented.
"I'd hate to be on his bad side that's for sure" the Commander agreed after they got him on a bed, "Doctor, what have your scans shown?"
Doctor Chakwas had begun her scans as soon as the group entered the med bay and had finished when the Commander had asked his question. Her scans had her quite perplexed, "Well, despite his being in the middle of all that radiation, he seems to be perfectly healthy. Although he does have evidence of a torn ACL that was replaced with a cadaver hamstring as well as near sightedness. Other than that, I have to wait to get his armor off to do any blood tests." Chakwas stated
"Wait... why does he have a cadaver hamstring in place of his ACL?" Kaiden asked
"Well, before we had medigel and the ability to create synthetic muscles, that was the only way to properly fix a torn ACL. That procedure hasn't been used for atleast 50 years though, and the fact that he is near sighted is also troubling..." It was standard procedure now to use a synthetic tissue that could mimic the ACL's flexibility and strength as well as to have any ocular degeneration corrected as soon as it manifested.
"Ah... I see... I wonder how well he'll take a joke about being a partial zombie..." Kaiden thought out loud though no one else commented on it further.
"The only way we can get any answers is if we can get him out of that suit. Kaiden help me find any thing that would allow us to get it off" stated the Commander.
As the Commander began at the man's feet, Kaiden worked on the helmet even though both had no idea what they were looking for. Finally after a few minutes of searching Kaiden found something, "I think the various marked points of the armor may be deactivation points. The suit is sealed in such a way that nothing could get through it and having normal joints would allow for microfissures to form." Kaiden, while not an engineer was something of techie. He knew basics for hacking and was usually up to date on the latest thing for computer hardware and software.
"Only one way to find out, where are the one for his helmet?" Commander Shepard asked.
"Wait Shepard" Nihlus spoke, having been in the corner the whole time "Shouldn't you wait until he wakes up? That way nothing could go wrong"
"The way I see it Nihlus is that if his armor has allowed him to survive all that radiation, then it may be capable of much more. If he doesn't have the armor on, then its that much less of a risk to us if he panics" Shepard responded forcefully. While Shepard knew the Spectre was here for something, he didn't have any authority on the matter at hand, especially since he was on an Alliance frigate.
A mandible twitch later and Nihlus said "Ok Commander"
"I agree with Shepard, lets get him out of there" Anderson instructed
"Ok... there's the button but there's two on either side of the head..." Kaiden muttered to himself "ah ha, there we go". With that, what appeared to be the man's visor popped up and over while the mouth piece popped out and down...
Unknown...
Ungh... head hurts...
distorted voices in the back ground...
what are they saying...
something about me...
waking up?
Aren't I awake?
Where the hell am I anyway?
Who am I?