A/N: This chapter has been edited as of 31/08/14.
Disclaimer: not mine
Chapter 2
They had landed on the tiny planet, 'Gaia' apparently.
Edi had spotted some kind of settlements on one of the other landmasses but the co-ordinates led them to nothing more than a desolate wasteland. The forlorn remains of what might have been a great city once could be seen in the distance.
Somewhere in this barren wilderness was a sniper.
Shepard scowled. Not that she had any problems finding snipers usually; being one herself she was better than most at spotting any good sightlines and potential perches. This however, was different. There was no reason to believe their mysterious recruit would be targeting them, or even in the area. The co-ordinates Cerberus had given were not particularly specific, and given where they had led, Shepard wondered if they were inaccurate. How could someone live out here? Why would anyone want to?
Mordin and Garrus had accompanied her to the surface. Miranda had wanted to come along as a Cerberus representative but Shepard trusted the STG operative more than Miranda, and wasn't that a damning assessment.
After landing at a surprisingly well stocked but otherwise empty Cerberus outpost, they had taken the shuttle to where this Valentine was supposed to be.
More empty wilderness. A few crumbling cliffs. Their sensors hadn't picked up on anything, no signs of life, no heat signatures, not even a water source. As much as she resented The Illusive Man's (or TIM as she was starting to call him) intelligence this was not the time she would have picked for him to be misinformed. With the sensors failing them, they would have to search the old fashioned way.
Shepard never thought she would miss the Mako.
There was no cover out here. If their sniper was territorial and the 'shoot first, ask questions later' sort then they might be in trouble. Although, at least if he shot at them they'd know there was actually someone here.
They had trekked around their landing site in a circle a few kilometres across, scrutinizing their surroundings. That the target was of a profession inherently given to blending in did not help matters.
"See Anything?" Shepard asked Garrus.
They knew the air was breathable but with the winds and the caustic dust being blown about they had all opted to keep their helmets on.
"Nothing, Shepard." the dust covered turian shook his head. "I've no idea what kind of lunatic would be out here anyway."
"It doesn't have Omega's charm I guess." She said, the wind not hiding the amusement in her tone.
"At least Omega had a bar." he mumbled.
"Omega had resources." Mordin observed, "Here, little food, no water, almost no cover. Difficult place for anyone to live. Perhaps subject is social pariah?"
"Could be, I can't see anyone living here if there were alternatives." Shepard answered. They were almost back at the shuttle. They would fly over the area with the sensors on one last time. If that produced nothing perhaps she could question whoever lived at the settlements on the next continent.
They rounded the last mound to the shuttle.
Someone was sitting on it.
Shepard's group all had their weapons out and trained on the figure in the blink of an eye.
Blood red eyes peered at them from underneath a red bandana and black hair. The lower half of his face was covered by a red cloak that whipped about in the wind behind him like a live wire. Upon closer inspection they saw he wasn't sitting but rather crouching atop the shuttle, as though ready to launch himself away at any moment. He contrasted the bleak and colourless surroundings so drastically; Shepard was a little embarrassed that they hadn't spotted him.
"You were looking for me." A deep gravelly voice met them.
"You're Valentine?" Shepard asked. She could see a holster at his hip, but this was not what she had envisioned.
He didn't answer.
"I'm Commander Shepard. I need your help."
He narrowed his eyes. She lowered her pistol; she suspected this wasn't going to be an easy sell.
"Entire colonies have been disappearing, kidnapped by the Collectors. I aim to stop them." She approached the shuttle, while taking off her helmet. "I'm putting together a team of the best in the galaxy to stop the attacks and get the colonists back."
His look turned considering. He gracefully stepped off the shuttle, landing so softly on the ground you would think he had floated there. Walking diagonally from Shepard, he stood facing the distant ruins, turned at such an angle that he could still see the Commander and the two aliens.
"Who are these Collectors?" he asked, voice devoid of emotion.
"We know very little about them. They deal with slavers occasionally, trading tech for 'unusual specimens' from different species. Then they retreat beyond the Omega 4 relay."
"Specimens." he said, bitterness leaking into his voice. Shepard assumed it was a question.
"Nobody knows why. Some think they're experimenting on them. Others think they might be working for the Reapers. I'm going to stop them either way."
His expression became blank again. Tough crowd, Shepard thought.
"Why recruit me?" he asked "I know nothing of these Collectors, or your colonists."
"Because I bet you know what to do with the rifle strapped to your leg." Now that she had a better view she could see it wasn't a simple pistol at his hip. "Because I need the very best and reports say that's you. I'm not going to lie to you Valentine; this trip might well be one way. We're going through the relay to confront the Collectors on their home turf because somebody has to."
Getting reactions from this man was like pulling teeth. Eventually he tilted his head towards her.
"One way?" he sounded a little curious.
"Nobody has ever returned from the Omega 4 relay. My ship will be the first." Shepard didn't know if he believed her bravado. She wasn't going to pretend the situation was better than it was, but she had every intention of surviving this mission, she didn't want him to think this was going to kill him.
He raised an eyebrow at her. She kept on her most determined look. There was no telling what this strange red man was thinking or if she was getting through to him in the least.
"I'll do it."
Apparently she was doing something right.
Sitting calmly within the shuttle as it left the ground, Vincent wondered at this turn of fate.
He had already come to terms with his life. He was at peace with the tragedies that had rocked his world and left him rotting in a coffin (or at least he had forgotten the intimate and painful details sufficiently to claim it was peace). Yet when the brash Commander and her alien companions had offered him a place on a suicide mission he had accepted almost immediately. He had put up more resistance even when it was his own planet at stake. He didn't know the Commander; he couldn't even name the species of those that followed her, let alone those he was supposed to fight at her behest. This wasn't his business. It didn't matter.
The truth was Vincent was tired.
It had been so very long. Most of his companions had been unenhanced humans; it hadn't taken long for time to catch up with them. First Barret, then Cid, Reeve, Yuffie, Tifa, one by one each had passed away.
Soon only Vincent, Cloud, and Nanaki were left. Eventually Cloud's enhancements had given out, and even Nanaki's people were not immortal. Vincent wished the same could be said for him. Chaos may have departed after the fight with Omega, but his longevity had remained. No matter how many years passed, Vincent still looked 27.
Even the planet had moved on. Shinra's empire was delegated to the history books, AVALANCHE became a folk legend and Meteor little more than a children's story, an exaggerated parable about hubris. On and on the planet spun. He didn't know what was happening anymore, and he didn't care. It was all the same to him. The more things change, the more they stay the same, after all.
About two decades ago, something unusual had finally happened. The planet had received visitors. Wary of such events, Vincent had observed closely, more active than he had been in centuries. Even if this world had forgotten about Jenova, Vincent had not and he never would. To his well hidden surprise, the visitors had been human.
Arriving in sleek ships, they surveyed the land, set up an outpost, and then left.
Upon closer inspection the outpost appeared to be some sort of emergency supply drop off. Who it could be for Vincent had no idea; the people of Gaia had dwindled into small technologically deficient factions who no longer lived on this continent. On rare occasion over the following years the ships would return, normally one at a time, to check the outpost and then disappear. It was always humans and they never made any attempts to contact Gaia's populations.
Vincent returned to his own life, such as it was. Hunting monsters out of simple habit, remembering back when it had meant something. He yearned for that meaning.
He had never suffered under a twisted hero complex the way Cloud had; heroics went against everything that made a good Turk and Vincent had been one of the best. All he needed was a purpose. Whether fighting for Shinra before all the disasters struck, righting the wrongs he had allowed to occur, or just protecting his friends. With nothing to fight for, life held no more appeal than his old coffin. The only reason he had remained awake over the centuries was that returning to the coffin would be ceding a point to Hojo, even if the mad scientist had died centuries prior.
He knew why he accepted Shepard's offer. He couldn't claim to care about the colonists, or the reapers (whatever they were). But it was an admirable cause, it meant something to someone.
And it would kill him.
He couldn't have asked for better.
"Welcome aboard the Normandy."
Shepard and Miranda were making official introductions in the com room. Vincent, as his first name turned out to be, looked even more out of place in the ship than he did on Gaia. The ragged cloak which had looked so dramatic billowing in the wind looked filthy in the sterilized environments of the brand new cruiser. Under the harsh artificial light Shepard could see how pale and thin he was.
Yet he still carried himself with the air of someone utterly confident in their abilities. He didn't hesitate in his movements or look about with any curiosity. His expression was indifferent despite all the odd looks the crew had sent him as well as Joker's not so subtle exclamation of "Vampires huh? When we start recruiting mermaids let me know."
Shepard listed off basic protocols about how the ship was run and what was expected of him. He took it all in stride with a simple nod. Miranda was starting to fidget under his unflinching gaze. Shepard wished she'd recruited him sooner. It didn't bother her, after staring down Wrex on Virmire she knew she could take much worse than this.
"We don't have specifics on your skillset. I'll need to know your specializations for planning missions." Shepard finished.
"Infiltration, information gathering, and sharp shooting." was his succinct reply.
"Alright. I'll let you settle in."
He silently left, leaving Shepard leaning against the centre table and Miranda standing on the opposite side. The Cerberus operative's brow was drawn down in thought.
"What's the problem Miranda?" Even Shepard, who barely knew the woman, could tell she was bothered.
"Shepard, his home world is undiscovered. This… this is first contact." Miranda sounded baffled by her own words.
"What?" Shepard blinked at her. "That's ridiculous, he's human, his colony world might be remote but there's-
"The planet has been inhabited by humans for at least two thousand years. Probably longer."
That gave Shepard pause. History might not have been her strong suit but even she knew humanity had developed space flight not half a century ago. The oldest human colony was less than thirty years old.
"How is that possible?" She asked slowly.
"We don't know." Miranda sounded bitter at having to admit such a thing. "The Illusive Man sent me everything he had on Gaia while you were there. There are no records of anyone settling in this area. You saw the extranet maps, there isn't even supposed to be a system here, let alone a human world."
This was making less and less sense. "He didn't seem bothered by any of the aliens on board."
"Satellites have picked up images of all manner of strange creatures on Gaia. By comparison Turians are practically mundane. I suspect he has no idea what they are or what it means that we are working together."
Shepard's crew had included humans unused to aliens and aliens unused to humans before, but never had she commanded someone that was actually unaware of aliens. It was an unanticipated hurdle. She wondered what else he wouldn't know.
Hell, he wouldn't know Earth from Tuchunka.
"He's got a lot of homework to do." Shepard said with a sigh.
"I imagine so. As you probably don't have the time to educate him I'll have Edi or one of the crew members explain to him how things work." Miranda seemed to be in full control of herself again and back to giving Shepard suggestions that sounded a lot like orders.
"You heard him, Miranda. He's a spy. We don't need to explain anything to him. Just get him an extranet terminal, drop a couple of key words, and he'll educate himself. We won't win any points by patronizing him."
"Assuming he knows how to use the extranet."
"Fine, you can explain that then. And if it all proves too much for him then we'll know where his limitations lie."
"If you're sure, Shepard."
A/N: Thanks for reading! Reviews are never required but are greatly appreciated :)
Next Time: Purgatory