Hello. This is here a new test story I wanted to try.
Setting- Start of ME2 Prologue, Mass Effect AU.
Summary- What happens when Shepard instead of being found by Cerberus, he is found by an unknown civilization, one that will give him all that he has lost. The only thing he had to lose was his memory. Now what happens when his past comes up to him. Will he return to his past or will he stay in his new life?
There is an important author's note at the end of the chapter. I decided to put it at the end instead of the beginning following a suggestion of my old English teacher, to allow you to read my story first to get your attention.
Disclaimer- I do not own anything except my own OCs.
Publish Date= 1-12-2013
Update Date= 2-24-2013
Location: Space around the planet Alchera, Milky Way Galaxy
Floating in the middle of space without wearing any environmental suit was a being wearing a black cloak that carried a large scythe with him. The being in question was only known as Carl.
Carl was currently in that area because he watching a very important moment in this galaxy's history, the destruction of the Normandy ship, along with the death of its commanding officer, Commander John Shepard, the first Human Spectre and Hero of the Battle of the Citadel.
But that was just his cover; Shepard had a secret identity, one that Carl knew perfectly well. His real identity was that of Jol'an Shardan Prince of Tibera, whose species, the Tiberians, while they looked human, they were not. Although, in the case of the Shardan or Shepard, he was only half Tiberian, the other half of his DNA belongs to a race called Ranzan, who appear human or Tiberian but they look like transparent, whose powers are great but limited in the mortal realm. Carl was also aware of the Tiberian curse, where once a member of the Tiberian royal family finds his or her soul mate, he or she will forever be bound to that person and if one of person of the bond gets hurt, the other will feel it, and if one dies, well, the result would be obvious. Carl was fully aware that Shepard was bonded to his squad mate, Ashley Williams, who was fully in love with Shepard and vice versa.
Now, Carl knew very well what was happening. John was going to die so that years later, he will go through his final trial, the Trial of Rebirth, where he will literally die and then he will be reborn due to the efforts of the terrorist group called Cerberus, where he would then infiltrate them and then take them down permanently. Afterwards, he would rally the forces of his galaxy and the Milky Way Galaxy in order to battle the ancient beings currently known as the Reapers.
Now normally, Carl would leave things alone, but since these events where taking place in the same galaxy the civilization that he helped create, the Lost Systems Alliance, was located, he decided to intervene. There was also the fact that he wanted to utterly shock the Citadel and JFU civilizations and he also wanted to make one his mom's favorite romance novels come true.
Carl thoughts stopped as he saw the Normandy blow up and sees perfectly well Shepard being thrown into the planet's orbit, sensing his life slowly going away.
"It's time." Carl said as he waved his right arm as he made the area a 'dead zone' to the eyes and ears of the Ranzan. He then appeared right next to Shepard, who he put in a temporal stasis, completely freezing him in terms of space and time.
"Now let's see what to do first before I sent you to your new life. Um, ah yes your memories. Sorry about this Shepard, but I promise you will get a better life in exchange for this. First, completely seal off your memories to the point that not even Adam or Lothia would be able to find a trace of them. But do not worry; I will however leave your name John Shepard, the name of your species but nothing of its history, as well about your powers and how to use them, except those that involve memories; the image of your previous ship, the Normandy, just in case you want to rebuild it later on. Your original memories will start to return once you made contact with people from your past life, but it will be slow depending on your level of trust between them." Carl said as he placed the tip of his scythe on Shepard's forehead, illuminating him in a green glow, then the glow turned purple and after a few moments, the glow stopped. After that Carl removed his scythe. He then spoke.
"There done. I also took care of your curse. I have blocked the bond between you and Ashley. This will allow you to form a new bond with another woman or if you're really lucky, with several women." he sniggered at the thought. "The bond you had with Ashley might reinstate itself depending on both you and her. Your mother will not be able to find you until you encounter at least one person who knows you. Good luck Shepard, you will not remember anything what I am saying." Carl said as he then opened a green portal next to him. He then made Shepard's paralyzed body move slowly toward it. Then Carl chucked to himself as he spoke aloud.
"Well, Kareena, you said your son was to take the trial of Rebirth, but unfortunately, you did not specify what type of Rebirth. Let's see how you and your people handle a whole new different Shepard." Carl said into the unknown as he deposited Shepard into the portal, which leads to the past in a different part of the galaxy, which by some irony, Shepard until a few moments ago, was literally in two places at the same time.
With that completed, Carl disappeared back into The Between, waiting to see was his intervention will cause to this dimension. But just before leaving, he left an interactive message to Kareena. Said message will be delivered to her when she gathers all the people who know about Shepard. It will be quite the shocker and a very well place prank.
At that same moment with Kareena…
Kareena watched as the Normandy was destroyed. It was painful to watch as her son was dying the the wastes of space. She wanted to help but couldn't. It was the rules of being the Spirits' Champion. These trials where there to test the strength and will of the champion.
But just as she was watching the event, she lost complete sight of Shepard. She started to panic. She had never lost sight of him before. Her senses then stretched to both galaxy's to find him. She found nothing.
"No, no, no, no, John!" Kareena starts to panic in maternal worry mode of the worst degree.
"I got to warn the others." Kareena said as she started to concentrate on getting everyone to talk to her as a group.
A few minutes later in a different realm….
In a white looking realm, a group of eleven people suddenly appeared, all of them confused at what was happening.
"Where are we?" Tali asked.
"I don't know; last thing I remember was being in the escape pod with you three minutes after the Normandy exploded." Doctor Chawkas said.
"What the Normandy was destroyed?" Kaiden said in a shocked tone.
"Yes, Kaiden, the Normandy was just destroyed. If you were…." Ashley was saying when she realized who she was talking too. The other members of the Normandy crew also realize what happened.
"KAIDEN." All four members scream, realizing that their friend was somehow alive.
"How are you alive? Last time we saw you was when we were on Virmire." Garrus asked.
"Long story short, just before the bomb went off, Shepard's father," Kaiden pointed his thumb at the man, who just waved at the stunned group. "Saved me. I am now working to for him and Kareena to help out Shepard. By the way, Ashley, I don't blame you for Shepard choosing you in that moment." Kaiden said.
"Well I wouldn't blame you if you did. But the important thing is that you are still alive. Now, does anybody know where we are or why we are here?" Ashley said.
"We are just as confused as you are Sentinel Williams." Hal'yon, the Tiberian minister, said.
The group from the Milky Way Galaxy then realizes that the five ministers of the JFU were also in the room.
"Ministers, we are so sorry, we did not see you there." Tali said.
"It's alright Sentinel Zora. We are just as surprised as you that we are here." Talgoran, the Exocron minister, said.
"Do you know why we are sir?" Kaiden asked Shepard's father.
"No idea, except for the fact that the only one who could do this is Kareena herself." Shepard's father said.
Just then, in a white flash, Kareena appeared with her face showing that she was panicking.
"What happened? Why did you call us here?" Shepard's father asked.
"The reason why I called you here is that I lost John." She said in a distressed tone.
"WHAT?" Everyone yelled.
"What do you mean you lost John? I thought you said that even after his death, you would be able to keep an eye on his body." Ashley said.
"That is what worries me. One moment, I was seeing him just about to die after the Normandy exploded, but then all of a sudden, I lost sight of him, like something is blocking my view. I checked my senses across both galaxies but he is not in neither ones." Kareena said hanging her head as tears started to fall.
"You mean to tell us that somehow John cannot be found, even by your powers?" Ashley asked in an annoyed and upset tone.
"That is what I just said. I don't understand what or who could be blocking my sight." Kareena said.
"That would be me." A dark cold voice said across the realm, sending shivers across everyone in the room.
"Who there? Show yourself." Garrus demanded.
"Gladly." The voice said as Carl appeared in the center of the group, shocking and scaring everyone, especially Ashley, since upon seeing Carl's form, she recognized him for whom he was, this mostly due to the fact that she read a lot of classical literature.
"Who are you?" Kareena said clenching her fists.
"I go by many names, but I am known by one single title, one that every human knows. Why don't you tell them who I am, Miss Williams?" Carl said.
"You're the Grim Reaper aren't you?" Ashley said in a nervous tone. Her answer shocked everyone in the room, especially those that were human.
"And she got in one. Congratulations. Now, I have little time to waste, so I will get right to the point. The one you call John Shepard is now under my control." Carl said.
"What have you done with my son?" Kareena asked with anger in her tone.
"If you know who bloody hell I am, then you should know that any human who dies gets sent to me." Carl said.
"What do you mean human? Shepard was not human, he was a Tiberian." Tali said.
"Sorry, but you see, when he called himself a human and more importantly, when he saved humanity, his soul became mine to take upon death if he were to die while in the Milky Way Galaxy. That's not even counting the fact that he was going to break my laws of rebirth." Carl said.
"What are you going to do with him? We need him back here. The Reapers are coming and only he can lead us to victory." Kaiden said.
The group then felt a cold chill encompass them all. They see that even though Carl was wearing a cloak that covered his face, they could somehow tell he was pissed.
"First of all, don't you dare call those abominations Reapers in front of me! They are not related to me in anyway. But just to tell you, there are things out there that make the Reapers look like puppies in comparison. There are some secrets in this galaxy that should never see the light of day." Carl said in a deep tone that made it sound like thunder was in the background.
"We are sorry, we are sorry. We will not call them the R-word in front you." Kaiden said as he felt he might wet his pants at what he and everyone else is feeling from Carl. The group saw that Carl relaxed and the air around them became normal again.
"Apology accepted. Now, anything you might want to know?" Carl said in his previous normal tone.
"What are you planning on doing with Shepard?" Ashley asked.
"Normally I would sent him to hell for what he was planning on doing, but since his soul is a pure one and that I am forced by the ancient laws to make the blasted prophecy come true, he will be allowed to be brought back to life, but under my terms." Carl said with a smirk on his face, one that the group could not see under his cloak.
"What do you mean your terms? What will happen to my son?" Kareena asked.
"Well, Kareena, you said your son was to take the trial of Rebirth, but unfortunately for you and everyone else, you did not specify what type of Rebirth. You will see him again in two years, but let's see how you and your people handle a whole new different Shepard. Farewell." Carl said as he then disappeared into nothing while he laughed out loud.
Everyone in the group stood still for a few moments after Carl disappeared, contemplating what they just heard. The first one to snap out of it was Kaiden.
"This can't be happening." Kaiden said.
"It just did." Kareena said gritting her teeth in anger.
"We have to find him now." Tali said.
"You do realize that we just had face to face meeting with the bloody Grim Reaper of all beings. If he said that we have to wait two years until we meet up with Shepard, I don't think it will be easy to find him." Ashley said.
"We will do everything we can to find him, even if it's futile." Garrus said.
"We will have our operatives look across both galaxies for any signs of Shepard while preparing for the arrival of the Reapers." Talgoran said, acting as the voice to the ministers.
"Alk'drn and I will keep an eye on things from our realm. The minute we find our son, we will alert you. Kaiden will also help out." Kareena said.
Garrus sees right next to him that Ashley does not look good.
"What's the matter Ashley?" Garrus asked, worried about her.
"I am afraid. You remember what the Grim Reaper said; the Shepard we will meet in two years will not be the same." Ashley said in a sad tone.
"Don't worry, even if Shepard is different, we will just make him remember us. One kiss from you and he will remember in an instant." Garrus joked, trying to better the mood around the group.
Ashley chucked a bit at what he said. "Thanks for that Garrus." Ashley said.
"No problem." Garrus said.
"Does everyone know what they are going to do?" Kareena said. Everyone in the group nods. "Good, while we will tell our operatives that John is missing, we will not tell anybody about the Grim Reaper. Understood?" Kareena said. Everyone nods again.
"Good, until we meet again." Kareena said as everyone in the realm started to disappear. Just as Ashley was about to disappear, she said something in a low whisper.
Kareena and Alk'drn stood in the realm alone together. Shepard's mother was too upset about what had happened she could not get herself out. She broke down into tears. She had lost her son now he may never be the same again. As she cried Shepard's father came up to her and embraced her.
Now more than ever she needed comfort.
"How could I not see this happen?" she asked.
"We maybe powerful but in the end we are not gods. There are some things we can't change." he said in a soft calm tone.
"I know but he's our son. The last of our children." She said.
"He'll make it don't worry." He said.
Kareena then looked up at the man she loved over the ages.
"I love you."
"And I you."
Their lips then met as they stayed in each others company.
Asuran Federation controlled planet, Chase; year 2412 (Allied Nations Time)
In the middle of one of the public parks in the planet, where people from all the nations were enjoying themselves, a human size portal appears in the middle of the park. This causes the people in the park to go in alert. The non trained civilians stared to evacuate the area, while off-duty military personnel in the area, from Shinobis, Space Marines, Dark Templars, to trained civilians; approached the portal with caution. Their weapons, ranging from slug throwers to energy weapons; were trained on the portal.
All of a sudden, out of the portal a person is thrown out and lands in the ground. The portal then closes. The people there see stay still for a moment, eyeing the body that came through. A High Templar takes the initiative and approaches the body with caution. Upon reaching it, he examines the body. Moments after examining the body, he speaks.
"This one is gravely injured. We need to get him to a medical center now." The High Templar ordered. Immediately, the injured person is taken to the nearest medical center, while the park was put into quarantine to examine what happened.
Location- AF Hospital, 6 hours later
Inside the hospital, where the new arrival was recuperating, a small guard unit was there to make sure nothing bad happened. Then coming towards the doctor in charge of the arrival was the Asuran admiral in charge of Chase's military forces.
"Greetings, Doctor." The admiral said.
"Greetings, Admiral. I suppose you're here due to our new arrival right?" The doctor said.
"Yes. It's not every day that an unknown person comes out of a portal in the middle of a public place." The admiral said.
"Yeah, normally, it's in the middle of nowhere and every two decades or so." The doctor joked due to the fact that it was how the AF met its allies through the years.
"Yeah you're right about that." The admiral smiled at that joke and then turned serious. "So what can you tell me about our arrival?" The admiral asked.
"Well sir, after finishing scans on him. I can say that whoever he is, he is lucky to be alive." The doctor said.
"How come?" The admiral asked.
"Well, sir, first, all of his bones were literally shattered, like someone used him as a rag doll. He also had massive internal bleeding, signs that he was also losing oxygen and last but not least, burns on his armor and some parts of his body that match that of someone falling through orbit." The doctor said.
"Ouch, I guess he really is lucky to be alive. So what treatments have you giving him?" The admiral said.
"We had to give him a full treatment. We injected him with our nanites, who at first had trouble modifying his DNA, but in the end they managed to bond with him, turning him into a hybrid. We then placed him into a TD rooms where he is currently recuperating. While it has been 5 hours here, it's been 5 days for him." The doctor said.
"Good, hopefully we will get answers from him. But what do you mean the nanites had problems with bonding with him? The nanites shouldn't have any problems doing that, I mean he is a human." The admiral said.
"That's the thing sir, he looks human, but he is not. We have examined his DNA and its not human or any other type of humanoid that we have on our databases. But that's not the best bit, as soon as he was brought here, his dead skin started to peeled off, he then started healing himself slowly. Also his DNA also shows that he might also be a psyker as well." The doctor said to the admiral.
"Great, a potential psyker. Better contact a Union representative just in case. Also, you said he had an armor with him, what have you done with it?" The admiral asked.
"The armor he had on has been sent our closest R & D facility. From initial scans it shows that it has a database of information in it, but due to the damaged it had, it's a huge possibility that the data might be corrupted." The doctor said.
"Any data recovered can be useful. So when can we meet him?" The admiral asked.
"Actually sir, we just received confirmation that he is starting to wake up. Just before you arrived here, we deactivate the TD Field around the room. If you would follow me." The doctor said as he and the admiral approached and entered the room where the arrival was. Upon entering the room, they see the person, who was wearing a medical gown, starting to get up.
"Where am I?" The new arrival asked while rubbing his eyes.
"Take it easy, you were in a terrible accident. You have been in recovery for the last few days. Can you tell us how you got here?" The doctor asked.
"I don't know, the last thing I remember is being what looked like a space ship, which I think was called Normandy, being destroyed around me. Then I felt being thrown against the walls of the ship and debris, when my suit started to lose air. The last thing I saw was falling into a planet, after that I think I blacked out." The man said.
"Sounds like you were on board a spaceship when something happened to it and you apparently got flung around it and then you were about to be sent into the orbit of a planet. If that is the case, then you are lucky to be alive. Do you remember anything else?" The admiral said.
"My name is John, John Shepard, but for some reason, I can't remember anything else, other than my species name and how to use these powers I have." Shepard said as he made his right arm glow white and made a nearby table float and move it near him. After he placed the table near him, he stopped the glow on his arm and the table landed on the floor softly.
"Nice powers, and you probably have amnesia. If the wounds you had were any indication, then it's possible you are suffering from it." The doctor said. "If you want we can have one of our experts come and check your mind, we have mind readers in our forces." The doctor said.
"Wait, you're not surprised by my powers, and also you said you have mind readers?" Shepard asked.
"Oh sorry, I forgot that you are not from around here. Well, Mr. Shepard, let's just say that you are not in Kansas any more. We are not that surprised at your powers since we know people who have somewhat similar and yet more different powers. By the way, could you tell us the name of your species if you by any chance remember that?" The doctor said.
"Well, from what I can remember my species name was Tiberian, but I can't remember anything else." Shepard said.
"Tiberian? Never heard of them. We will have to check the old databases to see if we can find anything about them." The admiral said.
"So Shepard, if you like we can help you out. If you want our help of course." The admiral said.
"I guess I have no choice. I guess I am here to stay for the time being." Shepard said.
"Well, then Shepard, let me be the first to welcome you to the Asuran Federation." The admiral said with a smile on his face.
There we go, that was the opening test chapter.
Here is what I wanted to put up in the opening notes:
VERY IMPORTANT. When I wrote this story, I used the story of fellow author EclipsePheniox as the background story, so if you want to understand this, read his story "From another world", which is currently still ongoing and it's awesome. He just finished the ME1 Arc and is going into the ME2 Arc. My story is basically my own version of ME2 and ME3 using his ME1 version.
He gave me permission to write this and he checked this test chapter as well and he said it was okay to post.
Also, in this story I used the civilization I wrote in my profile, so if you want to understand, read their first.
If you have any question, just ask. For now I will follow EclipsePheniox story elements but in some cases I will develop my own elements.
Please review.
Here is a preview to a possible upcoming chapter:
"What are you Cerberus dogs doing here?" Prazza said, while he and the rest of the Quarians were pointing their guns toward Miranda Lawson and Jacob Taylor, who were also pointing their guns at the Quarians.
"We are here to investigate the disappearance of the people who were in this colony. What are you doing here?" Miranda said.
"That is none of your concern Cerberus." Prazza said with some anger in his tone.
Their discussion would have continue but at that moment, from the other door in the building, a new group appeared, and this one took both previously mentioned groups attention.
The new group had three people in it. One was a tall being that was an unknown species that neither Cerberus or the Quarians had ever seen. He wore a yellow armor that looked almost ceremonial and had what appeared to be blue energy blades in each of his wrists. His blue eyes were glowing right at both groups. (Protoss Zealot)
The second person was a human female but this one really had both groups shocked, at least that was the initial reaction, then the females were horrified while the males were blushing up a storm. The human female was wearing what could be described as a red and yellow dominatrix armor that showed more sexuality than an Asari stripper. That is not even counting the red cape she was also wearing. The human female could literally be described as a sight of eternal beauty. She had short white hair that seemed to glow a bit, and sapphire colored eyes that also glowed a bit. She was carrying a long silver medieval sword that glowed blue around it. (Battle Sister wearing a combined ancient sacred armor with a Witchblade)
The third and final person was wearing a black colored with some red colored parts advanced armor. This one seemed to be the leader by the way the other two followed him. He was carrying a weird black chrome weapon in his hands. (Section 8 armor with a Z-130 Suppressor)
"All of you, calm down. We are not here to fight. We came because we got an SOS signal." The man in black armor spoke as he and his group had their weapons trained on both groups.
"Wait!" a feminine voice said. She lowered her shotgun.
"Prazza, stand down!" She ordered.
"What?" Prazza said.
"Stand down!" Tali ordered. Meanwhile Miranda and Jacob took a moment but complied with the order, but keep their weapons ready. The new group and the Quarians, minus Prazza, did the same.
"Prazza, put your weapon down, now!" the female quarian commanded.
"What are you talking about Tali? Look! They're Cerberus! And this other group we don't know if they are friendly or hostile." Prazza argued.
"If the new group was hostile, they would have shot us already." Tali said.
"She is right about that." The being in yellow armor said in perfect English, shocking the native groups. Prazza reluctantly lower his gun. "Fine."
Tali then turned toward the new group and spoke directly to the one wearing the black armor.
"Sorry about that, we have been on edge for some days." Tali said.
"It's alright. I can understand." The man said in a voice that Tali swears that she had heard somewhere before.
The man in black armor then made his helmet retract, revealing his face. "My name is Captain John Shepard from the Lost Systems Alliance Navy, pleasure to meet you." Shepard said while smirking a bit. To say everybody else in the room (minus Shepard's teammates) were shocked to the core at who they were seeing. The most surprised was none other then Tali, who couldn't believe what she was seeing.
"Shepard? Is that… you're alive?" Tali said.