Hello, this is my first attempt at writhing a fic so I hope it's at least readable. It will most likely feel a bit generic at the start so apologies for that. But I do plan to make it a bit different from the vast majority of SI fics. However only time will tell if I will succeed.
I do not own anything. Mass Effect belongs to EA/Bioware. I only own the idea of this fic.
Angel Daskalov couldn't help but lament his position.
A week ago he woke up in an alleyway that was totally unfamiliar to him. Now that, in of itself, was setting off alarms in his head. What was worse was that when he stumbled out of it he was met with a sight that left him absolutely gobsmacked. Signs in English, vehicles he was not familiar with and huge, white towers dominating the skyline.
...needless to say he was freaking out.
A few days later he realized where he was. He was in New York... about a century and a half in the future. But from what little information he could pick out, it was oddly familiar, in the way that he was stuck in a universe belonging to a fucking video game of all things.
Now that lead to him trying to punch himself awake.
...sadly that didn't work.
The last thing he remembered was walking home with his friend when he was hit by something and sent flying. He remembered pain, he remembered seeing the unmoving body that belonged to his friend, and then... nothing.
One week later as he was stumbling through another alleyway, trying to deal with starvation and an ongoing mental breakdown, he stumbled onto a gang fight.
Great.
While he managed to stay out of it, the victorious gang found him and picked him up. Apparently they had thought him to be 'recruit' material...
Fuck.
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Kaloyan Katsarov was freaking out.
About a week ago he had woken up to find himself not in a hospital bed but in a warm bed, in a room that seemed equally familiar and unfamiliar to him. He was absolutely shocked to be met by his father, but not him. He was healthy, had no alcohol issues and seemed... happy. He was then met by his mom who also seemed just... happier. They were worried but he brushed off his shock and unease with the excuse of not feeling well.
As the days went on he confirmed he was not dreaming. And that he was in another world, in more ways than one. He was on a planet called Mindoir. Which belonged to the universe of a game series he was quite familiar with.
Of course while he wasn't the biggest of fanboys he knew that this world would be attacked by a pirate fleet, sadly he couldn't remember the date of this happening.
He was going through the motions of life but he was worried. These people were just like his family but when he looked at them he couldn't see anything but happiness. The same went for the rest of his family, most of them were on this planet.
He didn't know when the attack would come but he could try and save them that's for sure. He would spend more time training his body. He would try and convince them to go to another planet.
And he spent what time he had left worrying for his friend.
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Finch.
That was the name of the gang leader. Finch.
And he was now looking at me.
"So," he began. "What do you say kid? Food, family a home. Join up with the Tenth Street Reds and you can have all of em'."
I wouldn't even consider it, not even for a moment.
Under normal circumstances that is. And my circumstances were not normal, I was in an alternate reality with no access to shelter, funds or friends. I had nothing. I had spent the last week sleeping in alleyways and eating whatever I could scavenge. I tried getting a job but no one would even consider hiring some scruffy kid with no ID. And seeing as how this was a crappy ghetto I found myself 'politely asked to leave' by the security of most establishments.
To put it plainly I had no other option.
"Cmon kid. Quit wasting our time." One of the other gang members spoke up. Tall, burly, and excessively tattooed, he didn't seem like the type to resolve his problems with anything other than aggression.
"Cut it out Curt." Finch spoke up. "Cmon kid, I know you're gonna say yes." Seems he had more brains than rest of them.
"...I-I'll join."
Jesus. I must be worse than I thought, my voice sounded extremely weak.
"Good choice kid. You won't regret it for a minute."
I knew Finch was full of shit, but as they started taking me to their hideout, I knew I had made the only choice available to me.
/-/
It had been one month. And I couldn't help but say that my situation had improved.
The Reds called an old apartment block their home. Several of the previous tenants were forced to leave, and the others were paying money for 'protection', so it was a standard extortion plan. The Reds, admittedly, had more members than I had originally expected. Several dozen when all the different groups came together. However only a handful of their members being as hardened as Finch or Curt. Most of the members were just like me, poor fucks who drew a bad hand at life, they were nothing but cannon fodder all things considered. However quantity has a quality of its own, as Stalin used to say.
Luckily for me however not all of the members were assholes, hell I even had an acquaintance whose company I enjoyed. Sara was a nice girl. A few years younger than my twenty. She hung around me, talked to me. She was a curious person.
Interestingly Finch seemed to have an eye for talent, picking up on my above average intelligence and the presence of an actual education fairly quickly. While he was no doubt curious as to how I found myself in such a shit situation, he kept quiet about it, deciding to let it rest.
Anyways unlike other members I found myself doing general 'administration' for the gang, making sure shit was where it was supposed to be, compiled information, acted as the bosses assistant and if necessary I was to lead the cannon fodder in raids (not that I had done that yet).
As such I found myself a owner of a crappy second (at best) hand Omni-tool and a mass produced Predator pistol (admittedly it was in a better shape than some of the others).
That and I had all but picked up Sara as my 'official' helper.
I hoped to pick up enough funds to leave this shitty gang life.
/-/
Three months.
Three fucking months of dealing with stupid gang shit.
But it had worked out for the best, sort of. I had built up a solid stash of credits. So had Sara. Yeah I'd be lying if I said that the girl hadn't grown on me. I could call her a friend even.
And we had a plan. A plan to get ourselves away from this slum. Away from dealing with this stupid gang shit.
We would gather up a solid amount of money. And we would sign up for the military. Now being street orphans meant that we didn't get registered by the government. So we had to use our money to get proper, licensed IDs. When they were ready we would sign up for the military, and finally be free.
Just a few more weeks and we would taste freedom.
"So." Began a voice I didn't expect. "Heard you were trying to join the Alliance, get away from us?"
Shit.
"Kid?"
Shit.
"Oh don't worry. I'm not mad."
SHIT!
"I've got no problem with you, or your little girlfriend, leaving the Reds. But I do want to make use of your skills before that."
...this was bad.
"As in?"
Finch grinned mirthlessly. As if expecting my question.
"The gangs gonna raid the hideout of another group. They supposedly got a big haul of drugs and guns. I want it. And you, my friend, are going to lead the main attack."
"What's the catch?" Unease filled my being.
"No catch. You are going to lead most of the gang members as a distraction, while I lead the rest to sneak in through the back and get the goods. If you manage it, that's it. Your free to go."
He grinned at me.
"..."
"..."
"...as if I have a choice in the matter." I sighted out.
"See. This is why I like you."
/-/
Fuck!
Bullets impacted the wall I had called cover. Luckily Sara and I had chosen a sturdier, load bearing, wall for protection. Unluckily some of the other gang members hadn't made such a good choice.
When Finch said 'make a distraction' he obviously meant 'gather all the cannon fodder and launch a frontal assault'. And I was said cannon fodders leader.
My thoughts were temporarily interrupted by a stray shot whizzing past my ear.
"Sonova' fuck!" Excellently said me.
"You ok?"
I turned to the concerned brown eyes of the bleached blonde girl next to me.
"Fine. But we need to survive till Finch and Curt manage to grab some big guns and hit them from behind."
She nodded in confirmation.
Luckily it seemed that the guys shooting at us weren't very good at managing their fire so, as their weapons overheated, I was given a handful of seconds of reprieve.
...and some asshole was trying to throw a pipe bomb at us.
Yeah no. Not gonna happen buddy.
I raised my pistol and sent half a dozen shots at him, two hit, but they were enough. The pipe bomb fell next to his budies cover and most rushed out to get away, leaving themselves open targets to get gunned down by a mass of questionably accurate fire, however at such a close range and high volume, against unprotected targets, it was enough to at least cripple most of them.
And then the pipe bomb blew up.
...first off disgusting. Second off, at least most of the front group are gone now.
And the smashing down of the front door and the arrival rest of the Reds, armed with cheap assault rifles and SMGs, behind the enemy gang signaled their mass surrender.
And our victory.
As well as freedom.
/-/
Finch had kept his word, surprisingly. He let us go.
With our new IDs we went to the recruitment office and signed up for the Alliance Marine Corps.
A few days later we were loaded into a dark blue Kodiak shuttle and off to boot camp.
Finally, I could make something of this clusterfuck.