After effects
What the hell? Oh, I'm probably in some hospital, I'm really tired of waking up like this. I might as well open my eyes and get this over this.
-Chase, can you hear me?-
Cortana? I'm glad to hear you
-I'm glad to hear you as well, but don't open your eyes yet, the doctor's in the room-
Okay, what's up, and where am I?
-I thought you should know the situation, I've been monitoring your visitors for a while, you should know what you're waking up to, and you're on Arcturus-
Monitoring a while? How long have I been out?
-Four weeks and one day-
Damn, recap everything that happened after I passed out
-Alright, any questions before I start?-
Yeah, where's Shepard, and is she okay?
-She's currently staying at her apartment here on Arcturus, and fully healed from all her wounds. She's waiting to pass her psych eval before returning to duty, and will be here soon-
Okay, go ahead and fill me in now
-After you passed out, I focused almost all my local processing power on directing the nanites to keep you stable, along with the medic. Between you and Shepard, you either scared or just demoralized enough to run away, making it an easy feat for her and the remaining soldiers to hold off and repel the remaining slavers. That, and the Alliance forces in orbit were able to fend off the slavers ships, making the attack a complete failure. After the attack, Shepard grabbed you and ran toward the nearest hospital, saving you just in time. And in one week they stabilized you for transport to Arcturus. Between Dr. Chakwas and Mordin, they were able to repair you to full health, except….-
Except?
-Your left leg, below the knee, was amputated. It was irrecoverable, it's been replaced with a cybernetic one, making it more efficient than before, I'm sorry-
Damn, my leg? And did you say Mordin?
-The Alliance doctors have never seen implants like yours, Mordin showed up and told them that he's the one that implanted them, so Chakwas got him clearance. While he was here, he upgraded your existing implants, nothing performance wise, but better safety measures and made them more power efficient, if anything he made them slightly less powerful-
Did they end up making Shepard the Lion of Elysium?
-Yes, and you got yourself a new nickname-
Oh god, what is it?
-Oh no, I'll wait and let Shepard have that pleasure. It beats 'Hero of Akuze'. But let's just say that they got your entire escapade on vid, you're extremely famous-
Whatever, I'm too tired to argue. What's the Alliance saying about my implants?
-They'll question you about it, maybe try and threaten you about giving them information about them, every time they've attempted to scan them I overloaded their equipment, they eventually gave up-
Anything else I should know?
-You've had several visits from Captain Anderson, Alec Ryder, and Shepard of course. Even had one from Admiral Hackett, and Shepard's here now-
Thanks for everything Cortana, go ahead and notify Mordin and Thane, let'em know I'm alright, at least I think I'm alright
I open my eyes and sit up, and see Shep across the room typing away on her omnitool, and the doctor Chakwas just walking out.
"Anything good?" I asked, getting a surprised look from her.
"Chase!" she screamed, jumping up and grabbing me for a hug, and then leaned back and gave me a left hook.
"Fuck" I exclaimed, rubbing the side of my face. She has one hell of a hook.
"What the hell was that? You nearly died, again!" she claimed.
"What was I supposed to do? Watch them take you away into slavery?" I asked, getting a sigh from her
"Well, what's with those implants?" she asked
"I got them after Akuze, only to be used in extreme circumstances. As you can see, they have some extreme side effects, they've never exactly been tested before" I claimed, all technically true.
"No" She said, "Why did you really get them?"
"You" I said getting a confused look. "Look, not you exactly, Biotics. I want an even playing field when I'm in the front lines, I want it where I'm able to go toe to toe with a Krogan and an Asari Cammando, at the same time. Just in case.
"First," she lead on, "You're a long range expert, you don't need to be in the front. Secondly, you went and did things beyond what anyone can do, I don't want you to use it again, it's too dangerous"
"I'm a let you in on a secret" I motioned for her to come closer, "being in the back is really fucking boring sometimes, I plan on changing my combat style. On the other thing, those implants are designed to be used with a special set of armor, and they were at full throttle because of the extreme situation, I won't use it where it puts my life in danger, okay?"
"Fine, who the hell gave you those implants anyways?" She asked reluctantly
"A very good friend, in fact, you met him" I replied
"Dr. Solus?"
"Yup, all him" I said, "So, you still like guys with only one and a half legs?"
"Don't change the subject, how the hell did you afford them? Some alliance scientists were here, said that those implants would've cost tens, if not hundreds of millions of credits to develop. Who gave them to you?" She asked.
"No one gave them to me, you could say I had them commissioned" I responded with a shrug
"Oh, of course. You just had a hundred million credits to throw out, right?" she questioned
"I kinda, you know, took it" I said wincing
"You stole it? From who?" she asked
"Please don't ask that question, I won't lie to you, and I'm too tired to ignore it" I responded
"No, I'm not budging, how'd you get the money"
Cortana, make sure no one's listening
-Done-
"I stole it from the Shadow Broker back a few years ago" I said, "don't push the subject". She went to question me, but I went and put my hand up stopping her. "Look, you'll eventually know everything about me and my secrets, but here and now is not the time, okay?"
"Whatever" she muttered. "How'd you know that I met Dr. Solus if you just woke up?" she asked
Shit -Shit-
"One extremely private fact about me at a time, okay?" I asked
"Fine" she exhaled, with a grin forming on her face
"What?" I asked
"We're equals now, they gave me N7 designation" she said with a smile
"It's just a combat abilities designation, not equal rank" I rebuttled
"Whatever, you know your little 'blood rage' incident was caught on vid by one of the Marines, it's got viewed, a lot" she led on
"Oh god, what is it?"
"Well, they're calling me the 'Lion of Elysium'," she said with a smile
"And me?" I asked
"The Demon of Elysium" she claimed
"Hmm, actually not bad, could've been worse" I said rubbing my chin
"You like it?"
"Yeah, a little. I definately don't hate it, but I'll quit if the Brass tries to get me to interview or anything of the like" I claimed, with Dr. Chakwas and Captain Anderson walking in, with someone else. "Captain?" I asked, pointing at his rank.
"Can't be a dedicated ground pounder forever Jarrett, I'm nearly 40 years old, but don't let that fool you, I can still hold my own, just expanding my horizons" he splurged out, "You know Dr. Chakwas", with a nod from her, "And this is Major Mohammod, Alliance R&D" and with a nod, he stepped forward.
"We'll need all the information on your implants, as well as where you got them" he said, and I just laughed.
Any ideas on who I should say made it?
-Mordin, nothing illegal about them, yet at least, just say it's proprietary and you don't have the right to give them away-
"Yeah, you see this large band on my omnitool?" I asked, pointing towards my new QEC from Mordin, "That's an advanced V.I. to run my tech, because I can barely set my alarm clock, let alone explain highly advanced implants, as you've probably found out, it's not a good idea to try and scan them or anything like that"
"Fine" the now crossed armed Mohammod said, "Who made them?"
"Mordin Solus" I chided back at the guy, he's getting on my nerves.
"We'll need those schematics" he replied smugly
"No" I said, "they're the property of Mordin Solus, take it up with him, and that's the end of this conversation, goodbye and get out"
-You know he out ranks you-
Yes, but this is my hospital room, and I just don't give a damn
"Well, that was quick" Anderson quipped as the Major walked out, fuming I might add.
"Well I had bad news today, I'm missing a damn leg" I said, pointing towards the end of the bed.
"Yes, I can see you're all broke up about it, Lieutenant Commander" Anderson replied sarcastically
"Lieutenant Commander? What, every time I almost get killed they throw me a rank?" I questioned
"Apparently, Commander, I'll see you later with a full debrief, good to see you well" he said, then walking out.
"So, doc, what's with the leg?" I asked, getting her attention
"Yes, well, it was a clean cut below the knee, so that was good. It's an advanced combat grade limb, modified by engineers from the Villa. You'll have some small feelings, but nothing like your real leg. All in all, it'll function like a normal leg, you'll eventually forget about it. As for all your other injuries, I made you a list, but you're all healed up. You can leave at your leisure, let's meet under better circumstances next time, okay?"
"I'm, what? I'm healed. All done?" I asked in a confused tone
"Yes, you have remarkable healing abilities, lucky genes I guess, good bye" she said, walking out the door.
-Nanites, that's why you're not here for a couple of months-
Oh, didn't know they were that effective
-We never had to use them to that extent, but they are-
I get up, grab my duffle bag of clothes, and walk out the door, with Shepard right behind me.
"Where are we going?" she asked
"Red Rocket diner, I'm hungry" I claimed, and we made our way to our booth
"I gotta ask, Shadow Broker?" She asked in a hush tone
Cortana
-Already cleared-
"Listen, I'm a close, personal friend of the Shadow Broker, okay?" I said, looking at my menu
"You stole credits from the guy, now you're his friend" she asked me, confused
"You assume it's the same guy" I said with a wink, "and given the new shadow broker's debt to me, I might have access to certain resources, can we end this conversation?"
"Fine, gotta say I'm impressed. By the way, I want a new omnitool" she said with a grin
"Are you…. my god, you're a gold digger!" I said aloud, getting people to turn to us
"No, I just want, you know, you got the credits and, you know" she said, mumbling, getting me to laugh. She sent me a link to some advanced omnitool, which cost 500,0000-credits, god damn!
-That's an extremely advanced model, and you still have over five million credits in your account-
No, no, no, no, you're supposed to be on my side
-United woman front? And she deserves it, she is your woman now-
Traitor! And you're an A.I., are you even considered a woman?
-Yes-
"You know what they say, happy wife, happy life" Shepard interjected
"We're not married, hell, we've only been together once, and 500,000 Shep" I claimed
"Potato, patahtoh, and we can fix that second to last one" she said with a wink.
June 15, 2176 – 2 months after Elysium, 1 month after being conscious
"Hey Mordin, what's up?" I asked
"Just letting you know that an Agent with your new armor just arrived on Arcturus, it's the Mjolnir Mk. 1, Cortana will fill you in on the details, I have to go, I'm overseeing an operation currently" he said with a nod, closing the call. Talk about not getting a word in. And about two seconds later there was a knock at the door, I open it and Mordin's agent just walks in, drops off the large armor case, nods, and walks out. I open it up, and it looks just like Bucks Spartan armor, a little bit smaller, for practicality reasons, but looks just like it.
-You like it?-
I love it, what can ya tell me
-It has an armor rating higher than heavy suits, but still maintains medium mobility. The shields and small eezo engine in the back harness is unique. The Shield module is a modified Mako shield, it's not nearly as strong, it has a shield rating of a heavy armor, but recharges in 2.5 seconds when not moving, and 4 when moving. That's all thanks to the mini eezo core, which powers the suit. You have 7 hours in the suit, the eezo core powers your implants and armor, which weighs 180kg. It's in a specially made case with an even smaller eezo core, lessening the weight of it, making it able to be carried. If you're not in SAM mode, it'll be just like wearing regular armor, and it'll last 21 hours. But, when powered, you can engage SAM mode, safely, and it'll all be like Elysium, you just won't move three times faster than a normal human, only 1.5x the normal, which was the reason for your time distortion. Its joints are made from an elastic metal Mordin created, giving you better movement than a normal under suit for heavy armor, however it's extremely heavy, making it impractical for anything other than Mjolnir use. Of course, it has sound dampeners and cloaking abilities-
Wow, that's a mouthful, can't wait to try this in combat, too bad it's going to be wasted for the next two years.
"That's impressive" I heard Shep say from over my shoulder
"Too bad it's wasted for the next two years" I said
"What do you mean?" she asked
"The Brass is giving me over to NavInt for two years, they're saying its to foster interdepartmental relations, but they just want me off the radar after Elysium." I claimed. "They're sticking me with spooks!"
"It can't be that bad, at least you'll have a permanent station on the citadel for the next two years, I'll know where to find you when you're not out on mission." She said with a smile
-Chase, your shuttle for the Citadel just arrived-
"Alright, I got to go, I'll see ya around kid?" I asked to Shep
"Love you too, don't call me kid" she said with a kiss, "I'll see ya around, got my final eval in five, message me when you get there", and she left her apartment.
The next two years are going to suck
-Well, lets make the best of it, we can out spook the spooks, that'll be fun, make them get all caught up that we know more than them, and know what they know-
That might just work