She didn't expect any of this.
Miranda Lawson was brilliant, genetically designed and built to be so. But this woman on the med lab table before her was something else entirely.
She didn't expect rebuilding an entire human from a few scraps of charred meat to be an easy task but the fact that she had almost no information on her was daunting and disturbing to her, especially when you work for an organisation like Cerberus who made it their business to know everything and to wield said knowledge as a weapon.
She knew her reputation, but then again who didn't?
Commander Shepard, The Butcher of Torfan, an insanely powerful biotic with enough power to level cities. There were even stories about her eyes alone, a stare so intimidating it would send Thresher Maws running for the hills.
But she didn't know what else to expect.
Her past was shrouded in more darkness than Cerberus itself; well at least that was what she had been told by The Illusive Man. Her medical records were incomplete and her personal profile was dubious at best.
And yet Operative Lawson had accepted the mission to rebuild her and by all accounts had been successful. But she didn't expect this.
The stories about her had said she was larger than life but that may have had something to do with the fact the Commander stood at just over 6 foot and 3 inches tall. She expected The Butcher of Torfan to be a muscle bound Goliath, not the slim and curvy bombshell that made her wonder at times if she was working on Commander Shepard or a super model who had met a similar end to the commander. Her breast size rivalled that of Miranda herself and she had a flat toned stomach that you could bounce a coin off of and had those legs that made even Miranda slightly envious. Porcelain white skin that shone on the artificial lighting and straight red hair that lay around her unconscious form like a blood soaked halo.
She had scars but nothing like what a battle hardened Spectre/N7 marine should have. A slight scar on her bottom lip coupled with three long jagged scars that ran down her upper left arm were the only testaments to her bloody legacy.
And then her eyes.
She could see why there were stories just about her eyes alone. One was a forest green that spoke of nothing but danger and a promise to fight like the animal they said she was. The other was a crystal blue that seemed to sparkle even when she was unconscious that betrayed her light hearted yet fierce nature.
Miranda herself was drawn to those conflicting irises.
But there was more to her, more which confused and worried the Operative.
Miranda could see genetic modifications from a mile away and Shepherds were extensive. Mostly concerning her biotics but others such as increased bone density and rearranged muscle fibres that showed she had been adapted for combat, possibly forcefully.
There were so many unknowns to this woman. Her first name was unknown, but many people suggested that it embarrassed the Commander. Her age was unknown, but Miranda would guess that the woman was most likely around her age and in her mid to late twenties. Her biological parents were unknown; she was however documented as being Admiral Hannah Shepard's adopted daughter. She had no known romantic affiliations or known residence. She was a mystery. She was a woman who mystified, intrigued and terrified Miranda all at the same time. She was deserving of her nicknames; The Butcher of Torfan for her actions on Torfan against the invading Batarian pirates whom she left in pieces after her biotically empowered rage sent her battering through the enemy horde, she was also known as The Beautiful Storm for the grace in which she danced across the battlefield leaving nothing but a wake of destruction and devastation; and possibly her most frightening nickname... The Monstrous Nightmare for the way she left grown men weeping as their sleep was plagued with images of her and her devastation.
Few things were known about her, she was a spectre, completed the N7 Marine training programme and most worrying of all; she despised Cerberus and had been noted to go out of her way to face off against the organization for reasons unknown.
She'd already bared witness to the woman's unwavering tenacity and willpower as she watched the commander try so intensely to awaken herself prematurely despite being pumped full of enough sedative that it could keep a full grown Krogan warrior in a coma.
She'd seen the Commanders biotics flare up seemingly of their own accord whenever a male touched her even in the simplest most innocent way, the implications of that alone concerned her.
But what worried the Operative the most was the question; why did she care?
Why did she analyse every little aspect about the woman, even the things that should have had no real importance to her?
Yes she had the right to as she was her project, her mission. But some of these thoughts and questions went well beyond the norm for her.
ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME
The sounds of explosions and gunfire were uncomfortably familiar to Shepard, that didn't mean she enjoyed it being the first thing she heard when she woke up. Throw in being in a strange med lab like place that reminded her far too much of her worst memories turned nightmares, couple all of this with the worst aches and pains she had ever experienced and the feeling of searing heat from a nearby fire and you found yourself with one 'disgruntled' woman.
"Shepard? Shepard can you hear me?" The heavily accented disembodied voice floated through the air as the Commander struggled to fight through her agony and sit up with her long legs hanging over the edge of the gurney she was laying on.
Shepard took a moment before replying. Using her supremely advanced biotics she performed a full 'scan' of her body.
Her biotics were in prime working order if a little sluggish and exhausting but what they found startled her. She felt herself tense painfully when she discovered the cybernetic implants holding her bone structure together and all of the new glowing scars spread across her body.
"Where am I? What's going on?" Shepard's voice was light and would obviously usually hold a jovial tone to it, but now that it was serious and threatening; it was damn near terrifying making the Operative flinch even though she was on the opposite side of the station to her.
"I don't have time to explain Shepard, sufficed to say someone has sent a small army of Mech's to kill you. There is a weapon and armour in the storage locker at the far side of the room. Hurry!"
Shepard's movements were slow and calculating. She stood up gracefully, reaching her full height of 6 foot 3 inches despite her shaky legs. She took another moment to visually assess herself. She was only wearing a pair of very small and very tight white cotton shorts and a grey singlet that ended just below her naval for some reason.
Her dark red hair hung loosely around her shoulders as it usually did even though it was a bit longer than she remembered it, it now reached to be between her shoulder blades.
She slowly made her way towards the locker in the corner.
"Hurry Shepard! I can't keep these mech's distracted forever!" The voice sounded again, this time with a lot more agitation.
Shepard rolled her two different coloured eyes at the voice. "Gimme a break, I feel like a zombie or something…" Shepard drawled, her voice a mix between seriousness and playful. The voice remained oddly quiet after that remark.
Shepard eventually reached the locker and pulled it open revealing a clunky looking set of black armour and a rather advanced looking pistol. She moved to examine the armour, picking it up felt wrong to her.
"It's too heavy…" She whined to herself.
"What?" The voice asked in disbelief. "With a body like yours that armour shouldn't be a problem!"
"Oh I don't doubt that." Shepard answered cheekily. "It's just gonna be too heavy for my fighting style." She stated dismissively as she dropped the gauntlet she was examining back onto the floor of the locker.
"That armour cost a fortune…" The accented voice whispered in shock but Shepard still heard it.
Shepard next reached for the pistol. "No thermal clip." She stated as she examined it.
"It's a med bay we'll find you one- Shepard get down!" The female voice roared suddenly.
Shepard didn't waste a second, she scanned the room but didn't move even when she noticed the canisters by the door that looked to explode at any second.
"Shepard!" The voice almost shrieked as she watched the explosion tear through the room sending fire and debris everywhere. She was flabbergasted as she watched Shepard. Her blue eye flared almost beautifully as her biotics formed an impenetrable barrier around herself.
"Hmm, it's getting kinda warm in here." Shepard drawled with a smirk as she made her way out of the med bay, sashaying her scantily clad hips as she did, knowing the woman from before was watching her. She didn't know however that said woman was almost blushing as her eyes became fixated on those mesmerising hips or the perfectly round bum that accompanied them as her silken and almost criminally long legs carried her out of the door and towards the corpse of a fallen doctor, an unused thermal clip by his side.
Shepard crouched down and picked up the thermal clip before sliding it into her own pistol. She looked at the fallen doctor with compassion as she wondered why he had to die? She turned the corpse onto its back as to be respectful but once she had done so her blood ran cold.
ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME
In another room Miranda watched as Shepard's body visibly tensed after she had turned the body onto its back.
Miranda's own eyes widened in shock as she felt the entire station begin to shake violently. Her eyes snapped back to the screen holding Shepard's image as she screeched in anger and rage, her biotics flaring wildly and dangerously around her; they were now obviously the reason as to why the entire station was shaking.
"CERBERUS!" Shepard screamed in pure unadulterated rage.
Shepard stormed off making her way through the station even though she had no idea where she was going. Gone were her graceful fluid like movements, now she walked like a wild animal; a tiger stalking its prey or a cornered rat baring its teeth as it knows it is its only way to make it out alive.
Miranda watched as Shepard never broke her stride as she moved through the station, whenever a mech would foolishly appear before her and try to take her down her biotics would crush, slash, maul, implode or detonate the hapless machines without her even moving a finger. It was a truly breath-taking sight to behold as the red head stormed through the station.
"What the hell is this?" Miranda whispered to herself as she watched on through the computer terminal before someone began jamming her systems and she lost Shepard.
ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME
Shepard continued to massacre her way through the space station. Along her journey she had retrieved several more thermal clips and even a fully loaded grenade launcher much to her pleasure.
She was running on instinct now, the animal inside of her was propelling her along as it fed of her rage.
Eventually she made her way to a room only to witness a full on fire fight under way between a dark skinned man and several mech units on a platform on the other side of the room.
Shepard raised her right left arm towards the group of mechs as her blue began to glow with the fury of her biotics before channelling them down her extended arm. A surge of blue energy rushed from her outstretched arm and blinding speeds before slamming against the mechs and thrusting them into the wall behind them with enough force to cause all of them to self-destruct.
"Shepard?" The dark skinned man asked in shock, he was able to hide his awe from his voice after witnessing her incredible display of biotic power that put his own abilities to shame. "Things must be worse than I thought of Miranda's got you runni-" The man was unable to finish his speech as he found a strong hand wrapped around his throat and a pair of the most intimidating eyes staring him directly in the face.
"Where the fuck am I?" Shepard demanded.
"Space… station." The man wheezed through his constricted larynx.
"What did Cerberus do to me?" She growled.
"Rebuilt… you."
This confused Shepard enough to force her to release her hold on the man's throat. The man immediately clutched his neck as he began wheezing to recapture his breath.
"Explain. Now!"
The man winced at her rage before complying. He explained that Shepard had been killed in action and that Cerberus had spent an exuberant amount of credits to rebuild her. He also introduced himself as Jacob Taylor.
"I… died?" Shepard practically gasped as her eyes widened in recognition. Jacob nodded in affirmation.
Before Shepard could press for anything more she was interrupted by another man, identified as Wilson, who chimed in over Jacob's omni-tool radio. He did not sound all too pleased to hear that Shepard was alive but he tried to hide it well, it did not escape Shepard's attention.
After a few more mech's had been torn apart they eventually found their way to a server room where they found Wilson with a bullet wound in his leg.
"There should be some medigel in that first aid station on the wall." Jacob informed the Commander. Shepard merely cocked an eyebrow in question at the man. "Um… Shepard?"
"I assume you've had some sort of Alliance training Jacob?" Shepard asked, her voice held a slightly lighter tone than before. Jacob nodded, his eyebrow raised questionably. "Then I assume you were taught how to tell if a bullet wound was self-inflicted?" She added.
Jacob instantly looked back down to the injured leg of Wilson. 'How could I have missed that?' He asked in his head. "Wilson… this was you?" Jacob asked ashamedly.
"What?" Wilson tried to lie his way out of it, but it was too late. "Just help me damn it!"
"I'm not helping him…" Shepard said almost casually as she began to make her way towards a door on the other side of the room. Jacob merely shook his head in disappointment before following the commander, leaving a begging and sobbing Wilson to his fate. The sounds of approaching mechs caused the man to bellow even louder before falling silent after some gunfire echoed throughout the room.
Wilson was dead.
ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME
More mechs.
More biotics.
More bullets.
And now only a door stood between Shepard, who was still accompanied by Jacob, and her shuttle out of this hell hole.
Jacob had tried to garner some trust from the almost savage and scantily clad read head by offering up information on his employer only to be told in the nicest possible way to 'shut the fuck up Jacob' as the commander had so eloquently put it.
The shuttle bay door slid open to reveal the confident form of Miranda Lawson.
She may have been Cerberus but Shepard had to try very hard to stop herself from blushing and pouncing on the bombshell of a woman before her.
"Commander." Miranda greeted as formally as possible, her racing heartbeat went unnoticed but Shepard knew it was there.
"Ms Lawson?" Shepard enquired receiving a nod from the operative. Shepard didn't wait for anything else before stepping past her. "Let's get out of here, I've had enough of this damn station." She grumbled.
Miranda smirked. "Or two, in your case."
"Not funny."
ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME
The three survivors were now seated on a shuttle traveling at FTL.
"Before we reach our destination there are some questions that we need to ask to access your condition. We should also introduce ourselves I suppose." Miranda began with an air of authority to her tone.
"I already know what you are." Shepard practically spat. "And I have no intentions of helping Cerberus."
"Ah Jacob. I should have known your conscious would get the better of you." Miranda drawled as she turned to face Jacob.
Jacob shrugged. "Don't look at me, I didn't say anything." He replied whilst subconsciously rubbing the hand shaped bruise that was appearing on his neck.
"Really?" Miranda asked in surprise.
"I can smell Cerberus scum from a mile away." Shepard growled.
Miranda gulped involuntarily. She was powerful but Shepard was terrifying. "Once we reach our destination you will be meeting The Illusive Man, the leader of our organisation. But before then I must ask some questions."
"It won't be necessary." Jacob supplied nervously. Many men would dream of sharing such tight confines with two of the most beautiful women in the galaxy but when said women have as much destructive power as these two coupled with such short fuses it becomes a little more unnerving.
"Regardless, we'll start with something from your past. Your action on Torfan are known throughout the galaxy, what can you tell me about the event."
Shepard's eyes narrowed into dangerous lines. Miranda felt a bead of cold sweat run down her spine and had to stop herself from gasping. Shepard's green eye screamed danger and rage whilst her blue eye held nothing but fear and horror.
"Nothing. If you ask me about it again I will smear the walls with your innards."
That was all it took for Miranda and Jacob to deactivate their omni-tools and shut up.
Shepard looked down at her hands, they were trembling ever so slightly. Torfan was the second worst experience of her life, she hated being reminded about it but the truth was that she regularly went berserk in battle. She fought by using her emotions to empower herself, because of this her emotions always ran close to the surface even those emotions like fear, regret, loneliness etc.
ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME
After docking at yet another space station, the three survivors disembarked from the shuttle. Shepard was finally given some less revealing clothing. All they had to give her was a pair of dark blue cargo trousers which she slipped over the cotton short shorts she was wearing. She was also given a spare bra by Miranda.
Shepard made her way into a communications room which was soon replaced by the image of a middle aged man smoking.
"Shepard." The Illusive man greeted.
Shepard's eyes widened as her breath hitched in her throat. 'No… please not him…' Her mind was racing. She wanted to hide in a corner but stilled herself, the man in front of her obviously did not know that she recognised him.
"The Illusive Man I presume." Shepard growled.
The Illusive man went on to explain the situation and his reasoning behind bringing her back to life. It took some serious work on TIM's part but he finally convinced the N7 marine to head to the colony known as Freedom's Progress. Miranda and Jacob were assigned to escort her.
As soon as she entered the stairwell outside of the communications room she instantly fell to her knee's and grabbed her chest, she was hyperventilating in fear and dread.
'I can't… not him…' Her mind was in overdrive again as tears began to form in her eyes. It took a few minutes for her to regain herself. It wasn't easy but she was finally able to push herself to her feet and struggle up the stairs.
As soon as she entered the room with Jacob and Miranda she instantly turned to Jacob.
"Get me two shotguns and then both of you meet me in the shuttle." She ordered. Jacob didn't waste a second before running off to grab her weapons.
'Did she say two shotguns?' Jacob thought to himself as he scurried off.
As Shepard made her way past Miranda their eyes met for a split second.
Miranda was slightly confused. 'She looks sad…'
ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME
The squad of three disembarked from the shuttle once they had landed on Freedom's Progress. Shepard moved ahead of the other two. She was still clad only in the short grey singlet and baggy blue cargo trousers. On her back were two shotguns, one was where a shotgun should be on a soldiers back but the other was where you would normally find the sniper rifle.
She led the squad through the abandoned colony. Miranda watched the way she breezed throughout the area, if she took her eyes off of the woman for a second she could seemingly disappear and reappear on the other side of the empty battlefield.
Luckily for Miranda her eyes didn't leave Shepard very often, even for a heterosexual like Miranda Shepard's hips were mesmerising. Miranda spent most of the mission with a light dusting of pink spread across her cheeks, which did not go unnoticed by the Commander, she smirked and a little bit more sway for Miranda's eyes.
Eventually the squad ran into Tali and several other Quarians. By working together with the Quarians they were able to retrieve the injured Quarian they had been sent to find. Veetor was sent home with Tali with the promise of sending his omni-tool data Shepard later.
ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME
"If we do this we do it my way." Shepard demanded eventually. She was sick of The Illusive Man giving her the run around, add to that she literally had to stop herself from throwing up whenever she saw him and this wasn't exactly the best moment in her life.
"Fine Shepard. But I'm forwarding you some dossiers for specialists that might come in handy, they're not Cerberus so that should make you feel a bit better. Also I found you a pilot, someone you can trust. Good luck Shepard." TIM said before signing off quickly.
Shepard sighed angrily, she would love to shred that man with her biotics but the bastard was always out of reach.
"Rough day commander?"
Shepard spun around quickly at the sound of a very familiar voice only come to face with a hunched over skinny man.
"Joker!" She cheered in excitement as she made her over quickly to the poorly built man. "I can't believe it's you." She said before shaking his hand, the only male she could touch without trying to flay him.
"You can't believe it? I saw you get spaced so how do you think I feel?" He replied with a chuckle.
Shepard's eyes suddenly lowered in a frown. "What the hell are you doing with Cerberus?"
Joker smirked. "A friend of ours told me what they were doing to you, I was grounded by the Alliance so I was able to sneak off without them noticing. I'm here to help Commander, I'd rather be risking my life at the helm of your ship that anywhere else."
Shepard's frown turned into a soft smile. "You're a true friend Joker."
"I know, but wait there's more!" HE cheered as they approached a glass window overlooking a hangar. "They only showed me last night.
Shepard smirked. "She's gonna need a name."
ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME
"First I suggest heading to Omega to retrieve Mordin Solus." Miranda suggested now aboard the SR2 Normandy.
EDI then introduced herself and agreed with Miranda. By this time Shepard had had a chance to look over the dossiers as well.
"Joker set a heading for the prison ship Purgatory." Shepard ordered causing Miranda to raise an eyebrow. "I need to pick up an old friend." She said before making her way past the others and heading towards the lift which would lead to her knew cabin. Miranda yelped girlishly as Shepard pinched her ass on her way past. Shepard winked playfully as Miranda held her ass cheek with a furious blush spread across her face.
'I'm gonna have some fun with her. Who know's maybe I can convince her to see what Cerberus really is.' Shepard thought to herself as she walked out of the CIC and into the lift. She had one last thought that day. 'I just hope Jack doesn't tear this ship apart as soon as she see's it.'