Survival Instinct: A Story of Mindoir
A/N: This is the story of Commander Malea Shepard's beginning on the colony world of Mindoir from Mass Effect. Standard disclaimer: Bioware owns all. Please leave a review and let me know what you think. Update: Fixed some typos. Chapter 2 will be up soon.
The sun was getting low in the sky when Malea Shepard finished her chores and headed inside the small modular "house" for supper. It had been a bad day at school and she wasn't in the best of moods.
Malea was lost in thought during dinner and was only vaguely aware of her parents conversation. "Are you going to eat, or just chase the food around your plate, Mal?" Malea looked up at her father and grimaced at the laughter in his blue eyes.
"Sorry," she mumbled.
"What's wrong, dear?" Her mother asked.
Malea sighed and debated about whether to tell them. She loved her parents, but she was closest to her father. They both shared a sarcastic sense of humor that her mother never quite understood.
"Bryan Vantin asked me to go to the Fall Dance with him," Malea said morosely and looked at her parents to see if they understood how dire this event was. They didn't.
"Oh, that's right!" Hannah Shepard cooed. "The high school dance is only a week away."
Malea grimaced at the enthusiasm in her mother's voice.
"You don't want to go with Bryan?" her father asked and she thought she heard laughter behind the question. Her father understood her tom-boyish nature. Her mother was always trying to force Malea to be more feminine.
"I don't want to go to the dance," Malea explained. "I don't care that it was Bryan that asked me."
"Sweetheart!" Malea cringed in her seat. Here comes the "be a girl" speech from mother. "You are sixteen, beautiful and smart. You have to go to the dance; it's a hallmark of growing up."
Malea tossed her long honey-blonde hair behind her shoulder. "I have homework I better get started on," she mumbled as she left the table.
Malea was awakened suddenly by a loud rumble. She blinked and looked at the time display. 0115 in the morning. It took her a few minutes as the rumble grew to a roar to identify the sound as a transport ship landing. Why would it be landing near their house? The town and spaceport were a couple miles away.
Malea jumped up and quickly put on pants and a shirt. She had the feeling something was very wrong. She was reaching in the closet for her shotgun when she heard her father call her. She thought he sounded concerned, as well. "I'm almost ready," she yelled as she put the weapon on the bed and grabbed her boots.
She had just finished lacing up one boot when she heard her father yell and her mother scream. A gun blast sounded in the living room. Malea froze. Who had shot a gun in their house? She heard her father scream her mother's name. Malea had never heard her father sound scared, but this sounded beyond panicked. Another gunshot sounded in the living room.
Malea jumped up, grabbed her shotgun and ran to her door. When the door opened she peeked outside while priming the weapon. There in the living room was an alien with four eyes standing over her father. Why is he laying on the ground? She thought, frozen with fear. The alien turned to look at her and raised its gun. Without thinking Malea took aim and hit the alien in the chest with the shotgun. The alien – Malea remembered learning in school they were called Batarians – went down.
Malea ran to her father's side. Blood was gushing out of the side of his neck and he was feebly trying to get up. "Dad!" She yelled as she knelt beside him.
Daniel Shepard grabbed her arm and looked at her. "Run," he gasped. "Hide..." he went limp.
"Dad!" she yelled again as tears poured down her cheeks. She shook him and put her head to his chest, but she already knew he was gone. Malea sat up and picked up her shotgun. She saw her mother lying motionless in the hallway and stumbled over there. Her mother's glassy eyes stared sightlessly at the ceiling and the bloody mess that had been her chest told Malea her mother was gone.
Malea sobbed as she stood there. Two more aliens entered the front door and Malea ran for the back. Stifling her sobs as she locked the door behind her, Malea ran to the window and looked toward the barn. There were several Batarians wandering around and she realized she would not be able to get to the vehicle and drive to town.
She heard something hit the door and she ran to the window on the other wall. Opening it, she slipped out and cradled her shotgun close. It was dark on this side of the house. No lights from the aliens or the house reached here. Malea didn't waste any time. She began to sprint away from the house hoping to reach the treeline. She heard a shout behind her and light suddenly bathed the area. She ran faster as she gasped and sobbed.
Malea kept running through the trees. She had never laced up her other boot and her foot flopped in the loose leather. She was unaware of it or anything else as she mindlessly kept running. It wasn't until her foot caught on something and she went sprawling on the forest floor that she became aware of her surroundings.
Her chest ached from running so long and her breath came in quick little gasps as she put down her shotgun and tried to lace up her boot. It took several tries as she was shaking too hard to have any dexterity.
She leaned back against a tree and tried to catch her breath. She had no idea where she was or how far she had run. A foot kicked the shotgun away from her and she was knocked to the ground before she had fully risen. Two Batarians and one human man looked down at her.
One of the Batarians babbled something and the other made a sound that might have been a laugh.
"Yep," drawled the human. "She's a fine one. I get first go."
The first Batarian made angry sounds and pushed the human. "Fine," the man said sullenly. "You're the boss. But I get her next."
Malea started to kick backwards and get away, but was grabbed instantly by the Batarian. She became hysterical and kicked, clawed, hit.
Hands fell away from her and she began running again. She ran and ran, never knowing if they were following. After an eternity she saw buildings ahead and took cover behind some crates. Somehow she had made it to town. There was something heavy in her right hand and looking down she realized she had a pistol. She didn't remember how she had gotten it.
Once she had regained her breath she began creeping her way through the buildings. The communications center was also an emergency shelter and she hoped she could find safety there.
As Malea went around the corner of a building she froze. There was someone hunkered down behind the wreckage of a vehicle. Malea inched closer and realized it was her friend, Cassie. Malea hurried over to the girl. "Cassie!" Malea gasped quietly, but the girl just sat there staring straight ahead, making little mewling noises.
"Cass, it's me. Malea," she grabbed the girls shoulder and gave her a shake. "We have to get out of here. Come on!" Malea tried to pull Cassie to her feet, but the petrified girl was dead weight. She gave no indication of realizing Malea was there.
The now familiar chattering of the Batarians could be heard coming from the side of the building. Panic built in Malea as she tried to get her friend moving. She managed to lift Cassie to her feet hissing that the Batarians were coming, but the girl didn't move. Four Batarians turned the corner and saw the two girls.
"Cassie, run!" Malea yelled as she started running away from the aliens. She ran about twenty yards and looked back. Cassie hadn't moved and two of the Batarians were on her. One slung the girl over his shoulder. Almost without thinking, Malea raised the pistol and the second alien's chest exploded. The alien with Cassie slung over his shoulder shouted something and suddenly the other two aliens came at Malea from her left.
A foot kicked her wrist as she started to swing the pistol toward them and the gun skittered out of her numb hand. She was knocked to the ground as one of them came up to her.
Malea kicked out and caught the side of the alien's knee. He howled and went down as the joint made a satisfying crack. Malea jumped to her feet and turned toward the second alien. The alien showed his teeth in what might have been a grin. Malea saw movement out of the corner of her left eye and had just enough time to realize it was a rifle butt before her left temple exploded in pain.