Shepard ducked behind the wall to give her shields time to recharge while she popped the heat sink. She was so angry her hands were shaking. She had to force herself not to make reckless decisions. Like charging out into the line of fire just so she could pistol whip these bastards.
After spending billions of dollars to bring her back apparently the Illusive Man didn't deem it important enough to warrant meeting her face to face. Not that she could blame him, the entire time they spoke she wanted to do nothing more than smack him in that smug mouth of his. But personal feelings aside, she had to admit that he had a point. If human colonies were being taken, then something had to be done.
Seeing Freedom's Progress made her blood boil. The place was a ghost town. Where was the Alliance? What had they been doing in the two years she had been gone? Shepard had almost been relieved when the mecs showed up and started opening fire. Finally, something to vent her anger on.
Her shields popped into place and Shepard stood up firing at the walking scraps of metal. Two burst apart in a shower of sparks. She shot the next between the eyes when the sound of gunfire alerted that more mecs had come around the building to flank them. Miranda and Jacob were a decent job of holding them off but they seemed unprepared for an attack on multiple fronts.
Shepard finished off the last of the mecs on her side then turned to the new force. Her shields were almost gone again and she needed to reload but her chest burned with fury. Instead of ducking behind cover she activated her biotics with a shout. She wasn't thinking clearly and she didn't know exactly what it was she was trying to accomplish, but suddenly her body erupted in purple light and she shot forward. She hit the mec with enough force to send it flying into the wall. Popping sparks it crumpled to the floor. Shepard closed her eyes against the spots that danced in her vision. When she opened them again, she was fine. She turned to look at Miranda who had come up behind her, her pistol pointed at the floor.
"Was that... a biotic charge?!" Miranda blinked at Shepard's angry tone.
"It certainly looked like it."
"I never used to be able to do a biotic charge." Shepard said trying her hardest to rein in her anger.
"Of course not Commander," Miranda replied evenly while Jacob's eyes flicked back and forth between the two women. "But no expense was spared when we put you back together. We made sure you had the best upgrades." Shepard turned away from her sharply.
Upgrades. Like she was some damn machine.
"Let's keep going." Shepard said slipping back into calm face of the Commander. They made their way between the empty buildings until they found themselves at closed corridor. Shepard pushed the green panel and it slid open with a whoosh.
"Stop where you are!" Someone shouted. Shepard saw the guns pointed at her first before she noticed the quarians behind them. Even then, it was only a familiar voice that stayed the twitch of her finger.
"Prazza, you said you'd let me handle this." Tali scorned stepping forward and pushing the quarian's gun away. She turned towards Shepard and paused. "Shepard? Is that... you're alive?" She sounded hesitant, unsure. Suddenly Shepard was reminded of the first time she had met Tali, in that back alley on the citadel. She had been so young, off on her pilgrimage in search of something to bring back to the flotilla. That didn't stop her from standing up to Fist's mercs though. Shepard's heart jumped at the memory.
"It's me Tali. Cerberus rebuilt me." Shepard smiled and took a step forward, suddenly so relieved to see someone from her old crew but Tali reeled back before she could get close enough to touch her. Shepard felt like she had been punched in the gut and her face fell.
"I'm sorry, Shepard," Tali said quietly not quite looking at her. Instead she took in the stitched into their uniforms. "I just... I don't trust Cerberus."
Me neither. Shepard thought but she didn't say it. Now wasn't the time.
Shepard learned that a quarian named Veetor had come to Freedom's Progress on pilgrimage and was the only survivor. The two teams made plans to get to him but Shepard noticed that Tali didn't look directly at her once during the entire conversation. She always looked over Shepard's shoulder or directed her attention to Miranda or Jacob. Shepard tried not to let it hurt but it was hard. Only years of experience at keeping her face impassive kept the emotion from showing. When they found Veetor he had suffered severe physiological trauma from the stress. Shepard tried to get as much information from him as she could while keeping him calm and assuring him he was safe. It cut her to the core when Tali hesitated before giving Shepard the data from Veetor's omni-tool. Somehow, she had lost her Tali's trust.
Shepard stepped off of the elevator at deck one and crossed the short distance to her cabin. Her cabin. She had an entire floor all to herself. She pressed the green panel to open the door and stepped inside. It was huge. An office area, a sitting area, a queen sized bed, and a fish tank. What was she going to do with a fish tank? It was almost three times the size of her cabin on the old Normandy.
She was still in awe over the fact Cerberus had rebuilt the Normandy. And Joker was here. She couldn't believe it when she heard the Alliance had grounded him, that they grounded the best pilot in the galaxy! But she couldn't deny that she was happy to see him.
He didn't flinch at the sight of her.
"Commander, if there is anything that you need my assistance with, please do not hesitate to let me know." A polite, feminine voice said from the holo at her left.
Shepard glanced at it. "Uh, thanks... EDI."
"My pleasure, Commander." God, there was an AI on board. Shepard realized that the only reason EDI was here was so that Cerberus could keep an eye on here, and that made it all that much more disturbing.
Shepard stripped out of her armor and stored it in her locker. She peeled the under-armor suit from her skin and headed to the bathroom. It was small compared to the rest of the room but Shepard wasn't complaining. The light turned on automatically as she stepped into the room and she paused as she noticed something. Her skin looked different, almost like it was... glowing. She raised her arm and stared at it. It looked like there were thin glowing wires under her skin. She traced one with her finger and felt the slight indent. They were scars? Her scars were glowing?
Shepard frowned and looked at her stomach where a knife wound had left a six inch scar years ago. It was gone. So was the one on her thigh that she had gotten from an incendiary round and the burn on her shoulder. Shepard turned to the mirror to check for the jagged scar along her jaw and gasped. The scar was gone. So was the one that bisected her eyebrow. Instead new deep glowing scars crisscrossed on the right side of her forehead and on her left cheek. There was a faint red glow in her pupils. She looked like some sort of light up jigsaw puzzle.
No wonder Tali had recoiled from her. She didn't look... human.
Shepard raised a slightly shaking hand and touched her cheek. She could feel the sensation, the heat from her own hand, but the skin felt wrong. It was too stiff and too perfect - except for these jagged scars. They had even removed her freckles. Her hair wasn't right either. It was a shade too bright. And not long enough, shouldn't it be longer after two years?
Not if you were dead. A cold voice whispered in the back of her mind. Shepard swallowed and dropped her hand. Was this even her body?
Suddenly, Shepard didn't want to take a shower anymore. She didn't want to look at this foreign body anymore. She pulled on a pair of pants and a loose t-shirt and left the room. She took the elevator down to the CIC and started up towards the helm when a bubbly girl with short red hair stepped into her path, stopping her short.
"I'm Yeoman Kelly Chambers. I've been assigned as your administrative assistant." The girl said with a salute that looked odd paired with her bright smile. "I'll manage your messages and help you monitor the crew. And I must say, it's such an honor to be working under you Commander Shepard."
"Um, thank you Yeoman Chambers." Shepard said, a little thrown by her enthusiasm, "I'm sure we'll get the chance to get to know each other." If possible the girl's smile grew bigger.
"Oh, absolutely!" She agreed eagerly, "And please call me Kelly. If there's anything that I can get for you just let me know."
"I'll do that... Kelly." Shepard rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly. Everyone seemed so eager to please. First EDI and now Kelly. Why the hell did she have an administrative assistant? "Have a good night." Shepard said stepping around her bubble of excitement and moving towards the front of the ship.
"Good night, Commander!" Kelly called after her. Shepard had to fight the urge to shake her head.
"What's up, Commander?" Joker greeted as Shepard stepped up next to him.
"How's it going up here Joker?" Shepard asked glancing around. "Is the Normandy SR-2 living up to her name?"
Joker slid his fingers along the console lovingly. "She's a dream. I know what I said about Cerberus but they certainly know how to build a ship." A holographic sphere appeared on the left side of the console.
"I'm glad you approve Mr. Moreau." The feminine voice sounded pleased.
Joker sighed. "And there's the downside. I liked the Normandy when she was beautiful and quiet. Now she's got this thing I don't want to talk about. It's like ship cancer." Shepard hide a smirk.
"Is it causing any problems?"
"Not yet." Joker admitted grudgingly, "It's just... annoying. So we're heading to Omega, cesspool of the galaxy?"
Shepard nodded. "The Illusive Man suggested we recruit a certain professor there that might be able to help with disrupting the Collector's seeker swarms. I don't have a reason to disagree with him."
"So we're taking orders from the Illusive Man now?" Joker asked carefully not looking at Shepard. Her lips tightened.
"He's sent me dossiers of a couple of people that he thinks would be helpful but I'm making the final decision as to whether or not to include them. I won't let anyone on this ship that I think might endanger the mission." She didn't realize that she had slipped into the cold, hard voice of the Commander until Joker looked at her.
"Anyone in particular you're thinking of Commander?" He asked.
Shepard sighed. "The Illusive Man hired a mercenary that I'm supposed to be picking up at Omega as well. But I don't see how money could possibly command someone's loyalty." Joker snorted and spun his chair around to face her.
"A mercenary huh? Anyone else I should know about?" he asked.
"A convict, a vigilante, and a krogan warlord."
"Geez Commander. You don't do anything halfway, do you?" Shepard grinned.
"I've got to keep you on your toes Joker." She teased.
"Yeah, yeah." He whined, "Just tell me where to go and I'll point the ship in that direction."
"How long until we get to Omega?" She asked standing straighter and slipping into Commander mode. Joker blinked at then spun his chair back and to face forward.
"ETA is six hours." he replied. Shepard nodded then turned and headed back to her cabin.
Her grip on the wall slipped as an explosion sent her hurdling backwards into the nothingness of space. Her first instinct was to panic, but she fought against it. It would be alright. The suit would keep her warm and she had plenty of air, one of the escape pods could come around and pick her up.
Then she heard a soft hissing sound and an alarm beeped in ear. Her chest tightened and she fought against the urge to scream. She reached behind her and tried to find the hole but her suit suddenly seemed too tight. She couldn't reach it! A desperate scream forced itself past her lips as she kicked her legs trying to contort her body to her will. It didn't help.
Metal debris from her ship drifted around her as she spun helplessly, desperately searching for escape. Her lungs began screaming as the air slipped from her suit. Tears slipped down her cheeks as she watched the bright blue planet drift closer. Spots danced in front of her eyes and her muscles spasmed uncontrollably. A deadly calm tried to seep into her but it fought against it. She couldn't go now. She wasn't done.
Not yet.
The dark pressed in on her and she found herself on her knees. The ground was hard and the cold seeped through her suit and into her bones. She expected the air to billow in front of her with the warmth of her breath but there was no breath and there was no air. She pushed herself to her feet and looked around, straining her eyes to see beyond the darkness. At first she saw nothing, then slowly she was able make out the dim shapes of trees. They were thin and spindly, their roots rippled across the ground and their skeletal branches reaching up to scrape the dark sky. She reached out to touch one but pulled her hand back at the last moment suddenly afraid.
She could hear the sound of waves crashing in the sea but could see no water. The sound grew louder and louder until it sounded like it was coming from all around her. She reeled back and looked around wildly but saw nothing. The sound pressed against her and she could hear the whispers in the waves. They slid down her spine and crept into her ear.
Come with us. Your time is done. Come to rest.
She shuddered at the touch of shadows on the back of her neck. It was soft and assuring. A gentle encouragement to go along with the words. She cried out and broke away. She ran from the shadows and the whispers and the part of her that wanted to give in to them.
Shepard jerked awake with a gasp. She skin was covered in a cold sweat and she trembled slightly. The room was dark save for the ambient light from the fish tank. For just a moment, Shepard thought she saw something shift in the shadows. She jumped out of bed and snapped on the light. There was nothing there. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, willing her body to calm. When her heart stopped hammering in her chest, Shepard opened her eyes and slowly made her way to the shower.
It was just a dream. There was no truth to it. She told herself but even as she thought the words she knew that it was a lie. The dark forest, it was real.
It wasn't until Shepard stepped under the spray of warm water that she realized she had been shivering.