Just a few words before it all begins. A full Mass Effect story is something I've always wanted to do. It's my favourite game series and I've just wanted to do this, and now I've started that. The whole first game is complete and there will be changes to the story so it will be different from what you know. But there are a lot of the same stuff you know.
Please enjoy.
Chapter 1-
"What about Rose? She's a survivor of Mindoir, she was only sixteen when slavers raided the planet killing everyone but that leaves scars behind, she's unstable." One of the men in the meeting room asked to the others.
"Are you sure we're talking about the same woman? Rose and Gelato held off the attack on Elysium, both were awarded for it and are very much stable." The second voice answered back, dismissing the claims.
"But let's not forget about Torfan, you saw what happened when she was separated from Gelato. She got the job done, we knew her history but we still let her go. It's on us, but she wears all those losses personally. But she proves she gets the job done, no matter the cost." A third voice said.
"Are we all in agreement then?" The first voice asked.
"What about Gelato? Surely we could forward her instead." The second voice stated.
"Where one goes, the other follows. We can only put one forward, but I believe it's already out of our hands just exactly who they're looking at." The first voice stated.
"I'll make the call." The third voice stated.
"Another round on me!" Commander Ruby Rose of the Alliance called out to the bar. There wasn't loads of people there but enough, and not even one of them recognised Ruby for who she was. To which she was beyond thankful for.
She had a certain reputation. Thanks to the media her service record and life as it were, was public if not common knowledge among those on Earth. Though the bar she was at, was one she frequented often.
She was born on a colony, raised on the planet Mindoir, which was a small border colony in the Attican Traverse. When she had turned sixteen slavers raided the planet killing her father, sister and all her friends. It was only luck that a passing Alliance patrol saved her. Led by her Uncle, Qrow.
Between her uncle Qrow and her mother, Summer. Who was serving in the Alliance military and was away from home when the attack happened, leading only to fuel Ruby's anger towards the events. Believing if her mother was there, then her sister and father would still be alive.
But between the pair they looked after her, though with both serving in the military she was left alone a lot which was how she met her closest friend to date and aided her in escaping a gang and the life of petty crime.
For two years, the pair were together and enlisted in the Alliance, somehow managing to always serve at the same place and joined the N7's. It was on their leave after graduating, travelling to a planet called Elysium to spend their free time together.
However, it all went to shit on the first day. It was Ruby's one rule that she always carried a weapon, no matter how big or small.
Slavers attacked the planet, and it fell to Ruby and her friend to form a defence, being the most highly trained and highest ranking soldiers on the ground except the PDF leadership but they were hit first.
So, the pair formed a defence against the attacking slavers, but slowly and surely the defenders were widdled down to the point that Ruby ordered them to fall back into protective bunkers while the duo fought on.
Both fought to biotic exhaustion in turns with Ruby charging first and launching throws and warps around the place as she fought until it got to the point where she had to stay back and let Neo take over.
Ruby fought to near biotic exhaustion first, pulling back to cover friend who was next to use her biotics. They worked like this to avoid both becoming exhausted at the same time. And Ruby, being the better shot, went first.
Eventually, after fifty-four hours of fighting the Alliance relief force arrived. Raining hell upon the Slavers fleet as ground troops moved in to rescue anyone still alive down there.
Which was when they found Ruby and her friend leaning against each other at the doors leading to the bunker where they had pistols raised and combat knives in their other hand. Hordes of dead Batarians littering the floor in front of them.
As soon as they realised they were safe in the hands of the Alliance the pair passed out together and were carried to the ship in orbit. Captained by Qrow once more, her mother being too far away and not even having knowledge of the event until Qrow told her.
Once rested, their achievements were spread across the whole of council space, awarded the highest honours for defending the colony.
After this however, the Alliance retaliated against the Batarians, her friend was still in the hospital recovering from the defence, but Ruby had healed much quicker and so requested to lead the mission, much to her mother's displeasure.
That was only time the duo was separated, and that was a turning point for the pair because it created a small rift between the two, though not intentional.
Ruby was known as being cold and calculating, even outright brutal depending on the circumstance but in equal measures she could be kind, compassionate and even loving. But this wasn't one of those times.
Leading her unit, they met far more resistance then intelligence suggested. So much so to the point that she ended up losing almost her entire unit sent with her. So, when the Batarians surrendered to her, and upon learning of their involvement in the raid on her home. She shot each one of them.
The memory of this event haunted her nightly, to the point that she had taken to staying up nightly and visiting bars instead of sleeping. Much to her friend and roommate's annoyance.
They were on Earth, and tomorrow they would be travelling to meet their new Captain alongside the ship they would be serving together on.
"RUBY SUMMER ROSE! YOU GET YOUR ASS HERE RIGHT NOW!" A voice yelled out, stunning several patrons in the bar. Mainly because when they turned to look at the origin of the voice they saw a small woman dressed in black jeans and a t-shirt with a white jacket over the top.
Sighing, Ruby paid the amount she owned and stood up, grabbing her leather jacket and walking towards her friend, Commander Neopolitan Gelato.
She always stood out, her hair much like her name was mirrored after the ice cream. Half pink and half brown, with a line of white through the pink half. Her eyes, a mixture between pink, brown and light blue. Somehow, she could change her eye colour constantly between the three, which was always fun to mess with people.
Her long hair was tied back into a high and loose ponytail and she was glaring angrily towards Ruby who was slowly walking over to her.
"Hi Nea." Ruby said sheepishly sober, even after downing half a bottle of whiskey by herself.
"Don't 'hi Nea' me. We're going home right now!" Neo demanded coldly, grabbing Ruby's hand and pulling her out of the club.
"Sorry guys. The wife calls." Ruby said teasingly to the others in the bar, to roaring laughter in return as she was dragged out of the bar.
Ruby's long hair was handing loose down her back, after not being cut for years and no one ever bothered to question them about it.
Both women were subtly beautiful. They never applied make-up, or really modelled their hair at all. But their faces simply held a subtle beauty to them that made people turn their heads and look.
Neo grabbed Ruby's arm, pulling her roughly out of the bar and almost threw her into a taxi and climbed in next to her. Giving the driver the address, the journey was silent except for the low hum of the car.
They didn't speak much; it was their routine. Neo would let Ruby go out to drink, making her think she got away with it. If there was anything important the next day she would get her, if there wasn't she'd wait until a suitable time in the night to pick Ruby up, making sure she got home safely.
Arriving at their modest, two-bedroom apartment. Once paying the taxi they went inside. Two bags filled with their uniforms and some casual, and even formal clothes were stashed inside.
Walking into their shared bedroom, the second bedroom was used as an office space. Laid out on the bed were two sets of armour alongside weapons.
"What time is the shuttle?" Ruby asked, speaking up for the first time since leaving the bar.
"Two hours. We need to leave in an hour at the latest." Neo replied softly, moving to strip off her clothes.
Ruby followed suit, stripping out of her clothes and putting them to the side to take with her. In silence once more, the pair put on new undergarments, their bare bodies revealing the number of tattoos they each had.
On their backs were a list of names, Ruby's was substantially longer then Neo's. Around their arms, Ruby's right and Neo's left, were a mixture of rose thorns dancing up along their arms leading all the way up to their necks which came out into a rose bush, with several roses underneath their chin and around the front half of their necks.
On Neo's right wrist she had a yin-yang tattoo, half pink and half brown with a little bit of white added in to match her hair. Whereas Ruby just had a single black rose on her left wrist instead.
Once into their new undergarments the pair pulled on their skin tight nanosuits that acted as armour strong enough to protect against most small arms fire.
The special material it was made from was rare, coming from Asari space which could enhance their biotics, which they didn't really need but found wearing an under suit between skin and armour was much more comfortable. And the ones the Alliance provided were not as good.
They had a thin, but strong chest plate that could weather most sniper fire and heavier weapons. Their thighs and lower legs were encased in the thin armour once more alongside their wrists which had vambraces.
All the armour was thin but strong, and very much likened to the N7 Fury armour, however all their armour was hand crafted by Ruby. Who built it for the pair to use as a graduating present.
Where they weren't covered by actual armour pieces there was another layer of the thin material, connecting all the pieces together and offering extra protection.
And each armour piece carried capacitors to enhance their biotics just that little bit further. And to finish the look off, they both had a hood that was attached to their chest piece that covered their heads, easily able to be taken off.
They were black with a blue highlight around the edges, while Ruby went one step further. Attached to her back, over her shoulders she wore a red cloak. It was her mothers, but her father gave it to her so she could hide from the attacking Batarians.
Over both of their left breasts they had the N7 symbol hand painted onto the armour, to show just who they were.
Once both were in their armour, making sure they were comfortable with the chest piece and armoured shoulders from there, and checking hoods were fine they removed their helmets, deciding not to wear them just yet.
Lastly, they put a series of pouches around their waist, with Ruby putting two extra ones on her chest. They contained thermal clips, grenades and medi-gel that they would need. They also put physical first aid, like bandages in a pouch.
Now they could arm themselves. So, unlocking the safe in their room they started to pull out their weapons.
Neo attached a M-6 Carnifex to her waist, which was already deployed and held in a holster, while putting a M-11 Wraith at the small of her back just for those close encounters.
She also wielded a M-12 Locust, modified with a better recoil system and high velocity barrel, alongside a scope for when she was at a slightly longer range.
And to finish the entire look off for Neo, she carried a grenade launcher on her back, for those times enemies liked to be close to each other.
Ruby had her primary pistol, the M-11 Suppressor that she had outfitted with a scope and a high velocity barrel. But her primary weapon was something of her own creation.
It looked like the M-99 Saber, however the barrel was longer and the under-barrel part was completely taken away and replaced with a smoother rail from the M-92 Mantis sniper rifle with a small angled grip for Ruby to use.
There were two thermal clips in the weapon. One for the primary assault rifle mode, which could be semi-automatic or fully automatic depending on the circumstance. The second thermal clip was stored in the butt of the weapon, it's pure purpose for when Ruby used the sniper mode.
When Ruby does this, the weapon changes slightly. Inside, the second thermal clip is powered through allowing Ruby to fire an overcharged shot, an anti-material shot that can break through anything except tank grade armour. But even then, it would leave a large dent in the tank.
It had a standard ammo clip, it could hold thirty rounds before needing to be changed, and if Ruby needed to change the secondary clip the bottom half of the butt would come down allowing Ruby to change the clip inside.
The scope on the top of the weapon was a permanent fixture, although if Ruby was going in close ranges she had the N7 Hurricane as a backup should she need it, or rather when she charged into combat.
And lastly, she had a M-11 Wraith as well, putting the powerful weapon to good use when she charged forward into a group. Several times she had wielded the shotgun and SMG together to wreck the enemy lines.
Once both women were sufficiently armed up, with enough ammo to take on a small army by themselves. They grabbed their backpacks and left their apartment, locking it up and activating the security system.
Sitting in a new taxi heading towards the spaceport Ruby pulled out the files from her bag that provided her information on their ship and crew.
"Hah. We're fucked." Ruby blurted out randomly, looking at the first file.
"What do you mean?" Neo asked, unsure what Ruby was talking about.
"You haven't seen the ships doctor, have you?" Ruby asked, showing the file to Neo, who just groaned.
"Well, not getting away from medicals then. At least it'll avoid the questions we normally get." Neo stated, they both knew the doctor well. She had treated Ruby after losing her family and then both after Elysium.
The journey was spent once more in silence as the pair read through the files on their crew, learning what they could about them. So far it was only a skeleton crew as the full crew had yet to be finalised but they took what they could get.
Arriving at the spaceport, they grabbed their bags and walked through. Drawing stares from the people around them. Seeing two heavily armed people just walking through the spaceport was rare. Even the security there were not as heavily armed as the two women.
"Commander's Rose and Gelato, priority shuttle to Arcturus Station." Ruby said as they approached the desk, and were quickly hurried through the spaceport towards the rather small shuttle that would carry them to the Alliance capital.
They both slept for the trip, they had a feeling they wouldn't be getting much sleep anytime soon and with such a late night for both and the late trip it meant that they wouldn't be sleeping for quite a few more hours, though the pair were used to this.
Several hours later.
"Parade! Atten…Tion!" Ruby barked out loudly and the entire crew snapped to attention, except for the pilot who did a little more slowly than the rest.
Ruby and Neo were both fully armoured and geared up, though they had removed their hoods and helmets were resting at their sides.
The whole crew, only small as it was a skeleton crew for the first run. Were assembled into three ranks in front of a small platform where Ruby and Neo were standing, however both had noticed just off to the side was a Turian leaning against the wall watching the entire event.
They watched slowly as Admiral Ozpin and Captain Qrow walked up onto the platform, slowly turning to the assembled troops and gave a small nod to Ruby.
"Parade, stand at ease!" Neo called out, and everyone relaxed slightly with their legs apart and watched the stage eagerly.
"I'll keep this brief, today will be the first flight of the SSV Normandy. You have all been chosen based on your skill; we have the best of the best. Which is what we need for this new type of ship. Be proud that you've gotten this far. And good luck on your maiden journey." Ozpin said, taking a step back to allow Qrow to step up and speak.
"I'll only echo what the Admiral said. You were all handpicked by the Admiral and myself, you have all earned your place on this ship. I can see a great many things from all of you and I'll be proud to be serving alongside you." Qrow said, once more keeping it brief and then turned to Ruby and Neo.
"XO's, get everyone onto the ship if you please." Qrow said.
"Parade! Fall-out!" Ruby called out and everyone snapped to attention, which was returned by the Captain and Admiral and then they turned on their heels, took a few steps out before beginning to board the ship.
Ruby and Neo followed them on, going around the ship to make sure everyone was in position before going up to the bridge to meet Qrow. "Sir, everyone's in position and ready. Awaiting your command." Neo stated.
"Take us out." Qrow said quietly, standing behind the pilot.
"Pilot, at your discretion." Ruby said, standing next to Neo, who was next to Qrow.
"Yes ma'am. Mass effect drive spinning up, pushing power through to the engines…." The pilot, Joker started to list off all the preparations needed to get them flying.
"I'll be in the briefing room. Once we're through the relay, join me there." Qrow stated, and turned to leave walking down the bridge.
A/N
I can't promise regular updates, especially now as my laptop has broken and I'm debating getting it repaired but that can take up to two weeks and I've no idea when exactly I can get somewhere to do it.
Add in stress from work and the rest of my life, well it'll be a fun experience, won't it?
Anyway, while that all happens I'll be working on other things and wherever that ends up, I've got a few things to work on which I've just got to do.
Anyway, thank you for reading and please review if you feel so inclined.
Until next time.
