MASS EFFECTIVE 2: A Hero Returns
The Collectors are preparing the galaxy for the Reapers. Shadow wars, dark alliances, and backroom dealings abound throughout Terminus Space. And Cerberus is the only one planning to stop them all. When plans begin to go off the rail, and one loses hope, wouldn't literally anything other than a Suicide Mission be recommended? Probably. Rated T for Profanity.
She finds herself gradually waking up, trying to adjust to the lights around her, before she quickly panics, realizing she can't breathe. Banging on the glass, a purple aura soon envelops her before blasting the prison apart. She floods out of it along with its contents, wheezing for air on the ground, before she looks around in shock as the ground shakes. She has a moment to catch her breath and gather her surroundings before a soldier opens the door and forces her to dive for cover as they start blasting. Enveloped by purple once again, she unleashes it in their direction, shockwave tossing them like a ragdoll. As she's amazed by the move, two more soldiers come onto the scene.
However, they quickly make it known they're not her enemies as they lower their weapons. And they're relieved she's safe. It's a little early for her awakening, but they're glad Operative Khali got her up in time regardless. They then tell her they have to get out of here, as the whole place is coming down. She asks where she is. The two reply that they'll be time for questions later. She asks to at least tell her who they are, and both immediately stop dead in their tracks. "Shepard...you don't recognize us?"
Ashley and Shield are floored as she shakes her head.
"Should I?"
Cue Mass Effect 1 OST - Victory
In the year 2185, a grizzled traveler from the 21st century continues their journey through the realm of a famed franchise originally set in the Milky Way. In the time that followed, their subsequent adventures led said traveler to eventually find their raison d'ĂȘtre, enabling them to survive countless more scenarios of peril that followed them throughout the stars. This is their story. The basis for their impossible existence is unknown, contradictory to the very fabric of space and time.
The traveler called it utter BS.
The readers of this story call it...
MASS EFFECTIVE: A HERO RETURNS!
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Prologue: The Dawn
As they make their way through the station, they attempt to find out how much she remembers. And it soon becomes clear it's barely anything. Shield asks if she feels like this is a dream, if events around them seem impossible or from another world, weirding Ashley out. But it's made clear that she's from the 22nd century. She knows about biotics and the Alliance. Of aliens and space-travel. But nothing of Shield or Ashley, or even their Hunt for Saren. She also doesn't show the killer instinct she once had, with Shield and Ashley taking point most of the mission. After reaching the mess hall, they panic as it really hits them, wondering how they'll fix this. Ashley is at a loss, and Shield is freaking out. It's at this point she asks if they can start over, formally introducing herself. This weirds Ash and Shield out even more as she prefers them to call her by her first name. Jane.
They decide to introduce themselves too, as Shield is somewhat happy that he's finally heard Shepard's name from her own mouth. After giving a short summary of how they all first met, Operative Khali comes on over the intercoms, instructing them to get to the rendez-vous. They fight their way through the rest of the base killing the soldiers attacking, and upon asking, they let Jane know that the people who want her dead work for the Shadow Broker, as this was his personal army sent to stop her. After Ashley and Shield show off some amazing teamwork taking down a hacked YMIR, they reach the emergency hangar. There, they meet up with Operative Khali who leads them all onto the shuttle to escape.
In the shuttle, Shield asks how they were found, with Khali unable to answer. Shield had ratted out Wilson before the project had even begun after-all. Ashley then asks how many made it off, with Khali responding about half the team, who'll meet them at Minuteman after shaking their pursuers. Khali then asks Jane how much she remembers, going over her service history. Jane remembers growing up on Mindoir, being a ward of Anderson, and becoming an N7. But there's a lot of fuzzy memories past her early life. The rest of the team is obviously not pleased to hear this. Khali then briefs Jane on the nature of their project, and that it was her fault her memories were lost as Lazarus' director. Jane is then told of Lazarus' purpose, and why it exists. She finds it all hard to swallow, as coming back to life to fight bugs kidnapping humans by the thousands along with giant starships wanting to harvest all life sounded a little crazy. Khali opts to show her videos of Sovereign, and news reports of her death that slightly convince her.
Anyways, once they arrive at Minuteman Station, they're all briefed by the Illusive Man. Khali updates him on Shepard's status, and we learn Shield is not on amiable terms with him, referring to him disrespectfully as 'Timmy'. It takes Jane a moment to catch on to the nickname. 'The Illusive Man - TIM - Timmy'. She finds it funny, scaring Ashley and Shield more. Shepard laughing? Ashley asks what's going to happen, and if it's possible to get her memories back. Khali is optimistic they'll return, though they'll need more time and additional procedures. TIM opines though that if she still has the abilities and integrity that she once had, it won't matter.
As a test of her abilities, he deems to send them to Cyrene. The Collectors had hit the colony recently, and he had already sent a team to gather recon and prevent its abduction altogether if at all possible. The Lazarus Cell would head straight away to provide additional support. After some brief deliberation, they'd set sail. Jane would remark that this obviously wasn't an Alliance OP. Khali clarifies that indeed, it was not. It was Cerberus'. And that name means nothing to Jane. So they have the fortunate opportunity to give her a watered-down version of the organization's goals as they head to the colony.
Assignment: The Colony
They get there, and as always, the place is a ghost town. And conspicuously, the Cerberus team sent is also missing. The four of them sift through the colony, looking for clues. Where they then run into an Alliance squad. Their leader, Captain Vamshi, is immediately suspicious of them. Shield states they were there on Council business, sent by a Spectre. What Spectre would send a team of humans to investigate this the Captain would ask. Shield would then reveal the only human Spectre, Commander Shepard, standing right behind him. After the initial shock, and Jane clarifying her death was vastly overstated, Vamshi would acquiesce, agreeing to conduct his investigation alongside them. Though he would order half his men to 'accompany' them. He'd investigate the colony's town hall, and the Lazarus team could investigate the residential. As they reluctantly split into two teams, Khali would commend Shield on his quick thinking, though she'd prefer him to let her do the talking next time. This would be the first instance of the two struggling over the direction the Lazarus Cell would take. While Khali is a lot less combative and stuck-up than Miranda (according to Ash), she's also a lot harder to read. She doesn't share what she's thinking, and does not like for her abstract plans to be derailed (which will mainly be due to Shield's own agenda).
After searching several houses, Ash would eventually find signs of a struggle, where they'd then uncover a group of corpses, all belonging to the missing Cerberus team. After going over their bodies, Khali finds a canister hidden on one of them, which she keeps hidden from the Alliance. Who they're relieved to find not responsible, as the soldiers accompanying them call the find in to the Captain. After reporting in, they then hear gunfire erupting over the comms. The group hikes it back to Vamshi, where he runs out of the colony's town hall to meet them, only covered in blood. Most of his soldiers surround him, asking what happened, and he explains they found someone trying to scrub the colony's security cams. They ask who. He then replies 'us'. He detonates his sentinel tech armor, killing/incapacitating most of his own squad, with the Lazarus Cell knocked off their feet as well by the explosion's close vicinity. Vamshi immediately tries to kill Jane afterwards, his disruptor rounds ripping right through her shields. Her barrier erected at the last second being the only thing that prevents him from finishing the job to Shield's horror. With Vamshi distracted, Shield instantly closes the gap between them while Ashley and Khali are forced to fire on the Shadow Broker agents coming out of the woodwork.
Shield immediately activates his omni-shield and omni-blade once he's up close and personal, but is shocked to find Vamshi unveiling his own. Unlike Shield's conventional model however, Vamshi's omni-shield is circular, resembling Captain America's. After forcing Shield back, he even emulates said hero when he chucks it, his orange omni-shield quickly turning into an orange ball of fire. Vamshi's shield becomes an incinerate skill that combusts upon Shield's shield, sending flames everywhere. Jane then uses her biotics to pull Shield back to safety as the Broker's agents close in. As the team waits for orders from Jane that never come, Khali takes charge herself, telling Jane to provide biotic support while Ashley draws their attention. Shield and her would loop back around and flank them. Khali then goes invisible with a tactical cloak.
Vamshi quickly falls back as the tables turn, with the dozen or so Shadow Broker agents cut down by the Lazarus Cell and handful of Alliance marines left alive. As they give chase, there are pockets of agents that slow them down, killing the few Alliance mooks remaining, and due to their efforts, Vamshi makes it to their shuttle safely. As the shuttle doors close upon take-off, Shield sees someone behind Vamshi. And he realizes that it is none other than Cadus, aka Agent Gellix, aka the guy who tried to hand off Shepard, aka that insane turian asshole who dismembered his hand. And hoes get mad. The Shadow Broker and his minions have got to go. Heading back to the Town Hall, they found the camera records wiped just like Vamshi had said. But they now know that the Shadow Broker is aiding the Collectors in their efforts, covering up what they left behind. Khali takes pictures of the carnage before having the group head back to their own ride.
Minuteman Station
Shield remarks as they're flying back it's probably Cadus that led the attack on Lazarus Station too. Khali responds that if he did, she didn't see him over the cameras. Jane then asks who that is, and Shield fills her in on his vendetta with him. And how they were both involved with retrieving her dead body. Mentions of Garrus and Liara helping too lead Ash and Shield to begin to fill her in on the Eclectic Eight, and then the rest of the Normandy Crew. Once they return to Minuteman, TIM debriefs them, and expresses shock that Vamshi is an agent of the Broker's. It finally hits Ash where she heard his name before, as Captain Vamshi is a famed Alliance officer, war-hero, and most well-known for his role on Elysium. He also comes from a long line of Alliance soldiers like Ash, which is why TIM finds it suspect that he's betraying the Alliance. TIM theorizes that the Broker didn't even plan on Vamshi being there, as it was TIM's tip that led the Alliance to investigate Cyrene in the first place. An Alliance patrol might have succeeded where a small Cerberus team would fail. But obviously not the case. The Broker likely forced Vamshi to expose himself since Cerberus and the Alliance had arrived too early for them to finish scrubbing the colony's records. Shield asserts that despite the lack of evidence, the Collectors are to blame, and that their seeker swarms are what cause them to harvest every human without a trace.
Khali reveals they actually do have some evidence, as the canister she collected contains one crucial clue. A bug. Which Shield clarifies to be actual Collector Tech. A previously mentioned Seeker Swarm apparently left behind after being damaged. Something the Shadow Broker would have likely wanted to clean up. TIM wants even more evidence (since Shield has yet to show his), and orders Lazarus to go find it. This leads to Khali showing them to the new and improved Normandy SR-2 nearby. And all the old crew members that had joined up for the opportunity to work with Shepard again. The helm-crew returning: Joker, Harvey J. Gladstone, Marcus 'Harry' Greico, and the Draven sisters. The marines: Fredericks, Emerson, Felawa, and Tanaka. And the misc. crew: Chakwas, Pressly, Fantum, and Carlton 'Tony' Tucks. Shield and Ash are shocked by the amount of friendly faces, and as they make their rounds on the new ship catching up, it seems a majority of the Normandy's crew agreed to join Cerberus if it meant helping Shepard in her mission. It was also clear that most had transferred off the Normandy awhile ago, as its new Captain Elli Zander was an incompetent narcissist. Joker having some choice words for her. Jane however is visibly uncomfortable during the entire tour, as seeing all the new faces, all these strangers who consider her a friend, is really overwhelming. Makes her feel like she was the stranger herself. That she was disappointing everyone by not remembering who they were.
As Ash escorts her to her new Captain's Quarters to comfort her, Khali goes to (what should be) Miranda's office, and remarks that Project Lazarus is a joke. Shield asks her to clarify, having followed her. She remarks how Operative Lawson was assigned to a better gig (she has a chip on her shoulder about this), as TIM knew this project was a failure from the start. Shield replies that Khali always says this. She never believed in it from the start. She follows up, replying 4 billion credits were wasted to revive one person, and they even failed to do that correctly. Shield remarks that he's disappointed too, but as long as Shepard's alive, that's all that matters. She can return to her former self. He'll make sure of it. Khali then remarks with all the aliens they plan to recruit, why even fly anywhere, they might as well just go to a zoo to find what they're looking for. Shield tells her to not be a racist/speciest, and that if she stays on the Normandy long enough, she might even learn a thing or two. He leaves, and Khali is left wondering how the hell they were going to pull this off, ending the Prologue.
Author's Notes:
As you've probably noticed, two new OC's are introduced in the Prologue. Captain Vamshi and Operative Khali. A little long-winded, but there's a elaborate backstory for the first. You might have picked up that Commander Shepard is a Ruthless Colonist Vanguard. Surviving Mindoir and being the Butcher of Torfan. Shield's original alias, Lieutenant Comm. Alexei Leonov, is an Earthborn Sole Survivor Infiltrator. Grew up in Russia with the 10th Street Reds, and survived Akuze. And so you might realize that there's one last pair of backgrounds and advanced class available. A War-Hero Spacer Sentinel. Which is where Captain Vamshi comes in. He stood his ground on Elysium during the Blitz, earning him system-wide recognition, and came from a long line of well-established heroes in the Alliance. His great grandmother was the first human to set foot on Mars, his grandfather was the first officer to make contact with the Hierarchy, etc etc.
In the Armstrong Nebula, there are 5 systems. Gagarin, which is named after the first human to orbit Earth. Grissom, named after the 2nd American to be in space, and/or after Jon Grissom, who was the first to travel through a Mass Relay in the game's history (Grissom Academy is also named after him specifically). Tereshkova, named after the first woman to be in space. Hong, likely named after the first satellite launched by China. Then we have Vamshi. Which has no reference to anything. Since the first four (as well as the Nebula) are all named after pioneers in space, it's likely that so was Vamshi. So I'm head-canoning that a Vamshi was one of humanity's first colonists, or was the first leader of the Alliance, or first officer to come into contact with aliens or whatever. The name has apparent significance. Vamshi's defection from the Alliance is big news, and will present an interesting foil to Jane and Shield going forward. Thematically, and as a worthy adversary during upcoming missions. Operative Khali is someone we'll learn more about as the story goes on. And is tied to the juicy secret of what Miranda (and Jacob) are working on since they were moved from Project Lazarus awhile back.
Though I decided in the end not to include them, there would also be an adjacent Mass Effective lore piece for every chapter. A Hero Made gave us its codex entries: all those reports to the Broker and results of Shield's googling. A Hero Lost gave us the news: daily reports on what was going on in the galaxy to set up ME3. And A Hero Returns would give us EDI's recordings. Looks into how the crew members and squad mates interacted with each other in their daily lives. Would have added a lot to the group dynamic as characters interacted. I opted not to include them just because they weren't really fleshed out. Or even existed in the first place. Most of these extra things were just things I waste time on when I'd get stuck writing the main story. Fun, but not really necessary to the plot. Most of the time.
