Mass Effect 3: The Hunt for Shepard
Ch 1: Down One Shepard, Up Shit Creek
The ship known as the SR2 Normandy had just landed on an oasis planet called Pritel, a nice tropical planet where people came to unwind after tough missions or life problems.
And the Normandy's crew, just returned from what many labeled a suicide mission. Luckily, the newly reborn Commander Angelique Shepard was leading the party, there were no casualties. She even handed in a very special two week notice to the man who funded the project that brought her back to life.
After destroying a Human Reaper fetus that was created from the liquefied remains of thousands of colonists, the Illusive Man told her to keep the Collector Base saying it was for the good for humanity.
After being sent in as bait to a derelict Reaper, being lied to straight to her face, and countless other infractions, the Illusive Man dared to give her the order to let technology that made such an abomination survive.
Letting her inner Renegade take over, Angel flipped the hologram off, Grunt chuckling at her answer. Garrus handed her the disc she needed to blow the base sky-high and hopefully into one of the many black holes or exploding suns that existed in Collector space.
Everything was a total success. After she gave her final report to the Illusive Asshole, Shepard slinked off and shared a great big glass of Serrice Ice Brandy with her good friend, Dr. Chakwas. Kasumi and Kelly even joined in. And Mess Sergeant Gardner made quite a spectacular feast for everyone. The man knows how to make a scrumptious steak.
Even though she knew the Reapers were closing in, Angel knew, the crew needed a break, they would not perform if they were exhausted mentally and physically. After the break on Pritel, they'd head to Omega for major repairs.
Angel correctly assumed, with Tali and Legion and even Garrus on the job, the major repairs would go smoothly. But for know, it was time for a two week shore leave.
She picked Pritel for its lovely scenery and countless clubs, restaurants and spas. She figured Thane would enjoy seeing the desert oasis.
For now, she wanted to go to her hotel room, and work off her frustrations with a special friend of hers.
Zaeed relaxed in a lounge chair in the residential suite that Shepard had reserved for them. When he arrived, he found a small box wrapped in black paper with a card labeled 'To: Zaeed' he opened it and found 12 pure Cuban cigars, Zaeed's personal favorite. To him, Cubans were the most flavorful, and he told that to her countless times after their trysts. Zaeed and Shepard were not a couple, not to them anyhow.
For one thing, Zaeed wasn't much one for romance. Second, Shepard recently had her heart broken by who she, at the time, assumed was her true love; Kaidan Alenko.
Zaeed was there to see the exchange and wanted to unload a full clip from his Mattock rifle in his pretty boy face. She also brought Garrus as well, and the Turian seemed close to feasting on the human for calling his friend and Commander a traitor.
About a week after the Horizon incident, Shepard showed up in Zaeed's room, a big bottle of whiskey and two shot glasses in her hands. He could tell she was fed up.
What really caught his attention was what she was wearing, it was the dress Kasumi got for her to help with her Hock break-in. He had to admit, Shepard filled it out to a T.
After she helped him with his Vido problem, Zaeed began to relax a little, knowing that little bastard was left to fry.
He noticed Angel had a bit of a buzz going, her blue eyes were clouded over and he knew it was from the booze. "What's on you're mind, Shepard?" the gruff voiced asked, downing another shot.
"Honestly? I just really need to blow off some steam. Jack puts it much more…eloquently though. She says I just need a man to fuck my brains out. Thinking about taking her advice. Know any suitable men that might be up for the job?" she asked in a seductive tone, making Zaeed smirk.
"Look no further, Commander." is all he said, pinning her to the wall, his rough lips claiming her unbelievably soft ones. Zaeed took her against the trash compactor, vowing to screw the memory of the prick out of her mind forever.
The gruff mercenary grinned at the very sweet and steamy memory. Shepard was now taking a shower after their mid-afternoon screw. Zaeed had joined her for a quick bathe and got dressed, they were gonna drink the night away at the Supernova, a popular bar/club that was conjoined in the hotel the entire crew was staying in.
Zaeed wanted to take Angelique all over again just seeing her in her new ensemble. She was wearing tight leather pants with a long sleeved, fishnet shirt with a black tank top. God those pants looked unbelievable on her.
Walking up to her with his confident swagger, Zaeed smacked her hard on the ass. "Let's go get shitfaced, Angel." he growled, nipping her left earlobe as her snaked an arm around her waist and pulled her close to his body.
She just smiled and nibbled his neck as they made their way to the elevator to go to Supernova.
Once everyone knew that her and Zaeed were fuckbuddies, which with someone like Kelly Chambers on board it got around quick, Angelique noticed that Garrus, Thane and Jacob seemed put of about her choice of companionship. Well, she just wanted the comfort of a quick screw and Zaeed was more then happy to oblige.
What shocked her the most was that, after all was said and done, after somehow making it to the elevator and to her quarters, Zaeed stayed with her the whole night and they cuddled. It was a nice way to take her mind off HIM.
She was happy with Zaeed for now, even if they weren't in a real relationship. He made her feel like a woman, after each time she herself wanted to light up one of his post-sex cigarettes. And she loved his stories. She would sometimes compare Zaeed to Wrex, a strong soldier, had her back no matter what. She knew she could count on Massani.
The shore leave went wonderfully, spilling drinks with all the crew, shopping for everything she could with all her gal pals, all on the Illusive Man's tab while they still could. Also relaxing and pampering herself at the spa, she couldn't remember the name, but the massages were well worth the credits. She even broke down and got a manicure and pedicure, making her nails blood red.
And lets not forget her special treatment courtesy of the badass Zaeed Massani. She was screwed senseless every night. 'This type of shore leave is just what I needed.' she thought as she fell asleep after a particularly rough night.
Zaeed woke up the next morning and stretched, all his bones cracking into place as he did so. He moved his head to where Shepard was sleeping and his eyes went wide. "Where the fuck is she?" He bolted up, he always woke up before her.
After practically tearing their room apart, Zaeed, threw on some clothes and banged on every door on what was temporarily called the Normandy floor.
The main squad, the twelve that embarked on the Collector mission were now in the Normandy's meeting room. "She's gone? You lost her?" an angry Turian voice hollered, taloned fists slamming on the giant table, glaring at the human mercenary as everyone else absorbed the information.
"I didn't lose shit, Turian. How she snuck out without any of us plus the hotel's workers noticing is a much better question." Zaeed growled back, returning Garrus' glare.
"This fighting isn't getting us anywhere! Zaeed, Garrus, calm down. Fighting won't solve anything. The real question here is why did she just leave? That doesn't seem like Shepard." Miranda wondered, worry etched across her face.
EDI popped up on the table, "I have found a log from Commander Shepard, dated 3:45 a.m."
"Play it EDI." Jacob commanded, looking exhausted from having just woken up.
Without a word, a hologram of Angelique Shepard replaced EDI, her Collector armor on, helmet off, her brown hair just in a ponytail. "Sorry I left without notice guys, but I think I found something that just might help us against the Reapers! Once I get everything straightened out , I'll send the coordinates. I didn't want to risk losing all of you and the Normandy. Joker wouldn't forgive me if this one went down. While I'm gone, Garrus is in charge, treat him as you would treat me. I'll try to stay in touch as I can. Shepard out."
'Why the hell did she put me in charge?' Garrus panicked in his mind.
"So, any idea what we should do, Commander Vakarian?" Joker asked, adding the Commander bit in as a joke to lighten the mood.
The Turian just deadpanned. "How the hell should I know? Just spitball some ideas around." he sighed, running a hand along his fringe.
"I may have an idea that can help us." Miranda interjected, Garrus just nodded at her.
"Well, about fourteen years ago now, Cerberus began buying people to begin a super soldier project. However, when Commander Shepard died, the Illusive Man choose 11 of the best to fuse with a small strand of Shepard's DNA. But, when the Lazarus Project was looking up, he abandoned Project Phoenix. He didn't like putting all his eggs in one basket." she explained, pulling up her Omni-tool and displaying several Project Phoenix candidates.
"Which one do you recommend we go after?" Garrus asked, trying to look passed the fact that many of these people were just sold to be experimented on. It made his stomach churn.
Pushing another button on her Omni-tool, Miranda displayed what looked like a 6 year old girl. Several people felt nauseous at the thought of Cerberus experimenting on such a young girl, most notably, Thane. "What makes this lil brat so damned special?" Jack asked, her face indifferent.
"Her stats are off the chart, immense strength, intelligence and her biotics are on par with that of your's and Samara's. And, she's actually around twenty years old now. To top it off, her DNA took to Shepard's almost naturally. She was raised to be a Soldier class but gained the valuable skills of the Infiltrator class like that of our dear Commander."
"Cute kid. What's her name?" Kasumi asked, curiously.
"Anastasiya Faustin, mostly Russian on her father's side, Swedish from her mother. So, does this like a good place to start, Garrus?" Miranda asked, looking to her new Commander.
Even though he wanted to save the girl from Cerberus, he didn't see how this would help. "What exactly do you hope to accomplish by having us steal a Shepard clone?" he asked.
"The longer any of these clones are out, the more of Shepard's memories they gain, more then likely to help us maybe see if she can help there. And, if I recall, the Illusive Man had a…program installed in the Shepards that can track, for lack of a better term. After Shepard blew up the Collector base, I assume he would have used one of these to pose as Shepard and attempt to kill us all. If we need one, why not take the strongest?" she explained.
Garrus could tell she was hiding something, this was Miranda after all. "It seems to be our only choice. Give Joker the coordinates. We leave immediately." he announced, walking out to deal with the new role that had been thrown in his lap.