The midday sun shone down, scorching his shaved head, but First Lieutenant John Shepard refused to let it bother him. Standing at attention with the rest of the N7 trainees was not a place for complaining, not with the bane of their existence this close by. Colonel Attila was already pissed off with the day's events. He'd had a full day of training, otherwise known as refined torture, planned out for the trainees and boy was it gonna be fun.
Then a miracle happened.
Admiral freakin' Hackett himself was stopping by for a visit. That of course entitled full dress uniform and standing at parade attention in the training yard.
But this was Attila, and he never did anything halfway. The Admiral was showing up around 1000 hours, so they'd been standing here since 0600 hours this morning. But no one dared breathe a word of complaint.
It was an impressive sight to be sure. The 74 N7 recruits standing in perfect formation with the trainers and Attila at their head. There was only one thing out of place: The single empty spot in Alpha Squad. There were supposed to be 75 of them, but the last trainee hadn't been there for initiation, nor for the long month that followed. Shepard really hoped this visit would shed some light on their missing teammate. He hated only having a four man squad.
Finally, the Admiral's shuttle flew overhead, landing in a cloud of dust before the assembly.
The entire parade yard saluted sharply as he strode out, followed by a woman in a black uniform. Definitely Alliance Intelligence. She was just shy of six feet in height, thin, but toned. Her face was surprisingly youthful, and she couldn't have been more than twenty. Her short black hair turned red near the tips, perfectly framing her face. Silver eyes took in the assembly like a hawk. She also had a long gun case strapped across her back.
Strange. Now what was a good looking gal like that doing with Intelligence?
"Admiral," said Attila respectfully, pulling Shepard out of his thoughts. His raspy voice sent shivers down his back. It was the same voice that almost killed them on a daily basis, after all.
"Colonel," Admiral Hackett replied curtly, stopping before him. He gestured to the woman beside him. "This is Corporal Ruby Rose."
She snapped to attention, giving Attila a crisp salute. "Sir!"
Attila gave her a long look, clearly not impressed. "I take it this is number 200 then?"
Hackett nodded. "You are correct. Rose was withheld from the initiation due to her... particular abilities."
Well that answered that question, but opened up another. Was she a biotic? Why would that make a difference? Oh well, at least their squad was full now.
"I don't give a damn," Attila growled. "I run this program, and I take only the best. I don't care if she can pull a rabbit out of a fucking hat; if she can't fight up to my standards then she doesn't belong here."
To Shepard's surprise, Hackett gave a small smirk. "Let me assure you, Colonel, Rose can fight beyond what any of us first believed. Alliance Intelligence has been training her personally in the use of her abilities. They're asking you to take her to the next step."
The Colonel gave Rose a dubious glare. She visibly blanched, clearly not used to the vicious nature directed at her. "Don't tell me she's a fucking super biotic. I have enough of those freaks to deal with."
"Even better."
"Fucking perfect," the Colonel spat, stepping back and gesturing down the yard to where a number of dummies were stuck in the ground, half a kilometer away. "Alright, maggot, let's see what you got. Make it fast. We're wasting daylight because of you."
Rose swallowed, glancing questioningly at Admiral Hackett. He nodded slowly. Rose visibly brightened as she dropped the case, ripped it open and pulled out one of the strangest weapons Shepard had ever seen. It looked like an overly large red and black sniper rifle, but it seemed too big even for that. She held it ready in her hands, almost caressing the metal. Then to Shepard's astonishment, the whole thing unfolded, hidden mechanisms working in tandem until she held a giant, mechanical scythe in her hands. Even Attila seemed surprised by the transformation.
She twirled the massive weapon with practiced ease. How that was possible he had no idea. The thing was twice her size!
Then she was gone, vanishing in a burst of rose petals. It was almost hilarious how every head in the yard snapped to the side, following the crimson blur as it descended on the dummies. The scythe flashed in the light, cutting them to ribbons. Before anyone could blink, there was a thunderous boom of a sniper as the monstrous weapon fired, the recoil launching Rose back toward them. She stopped dead before the Admiral, posed more like a dancer than a soldier with the scythe elegantly held behind her back. Then the slipstream caught up with her, showering them with drifting rose petals.
And it had all taken less than five seconds.
Shepard fought to keep the amazed grin off his face. Attila, for the first time in forever, looked dumbfounded. Finally, after a minute of staring he slowly pointed to Rose, then over to Shepard. "You. Form up with Alpha." Then he turned to Hackett. "And you can explain just what the fuck you gave me."
Hackett nodded, and then addressed the whole group. "You are dismissed until further notice. Alpha, stand by."
"She's hot."
Shepard rolled his eyes as the assembly scattered, relishing in the free time the Admiral had given them. Behind him, Monica, Alpha's assault specialist grinned lecherously, jumping on the spot as she tried to get the blood flowing to her legs again.
"Ah, give it a rest. You'll scare her off." Vincent, the third member of their merry band rumbled in his deep baritone beside her. The last member of Alpha, Jayson, fell into place beside him.
"Settle down, people," said Shepard, watching as Rose folded up her scythe and made her way over. "Let's set a good impression here."
"Good impression? Us?" Jayson scoffed. "Don't make me laugh."
"Shut up, Jay."
Thus, Alpha team stood ready to greet the new arrival as she stopped before them, giving a textbook salute. "Sir, Second Lieutenant Rose reporting for duty."
"Actually that line goes to the Colonel," Shepard replied with a smirk. "He owns your ass now. Get used to it."
"I-uh," she floundered for a moment, then steadied herself. "Understood sir."
"And cut it out with the 'sirs.' Again, it goes to the Colonel."
"So what do I call you then? 'Team leader'?" Rose asked hesitantly.
"Fucking asshole, more like it," Jayson muttered. Vincent causally slapped him upside the head. "Oi!"
"Shepard will do just fine," he replied, ignoring the brawl brewing behind him. "We're a team. Rank doesn't matter with us. We're one unit, with one goal and one purpose. The big trouble is fitting you in. So, what sort of hell has Intelligence put you through to get here? And just what the hell did you pull off back there?"
"Classified," Rose replied instantly. She leaned to the side and looked past him, wincing. "Are they gonna be alright?"
Shepard sighed, hearing the grunts and curses, the usual sounds of Jayson caught in a headlock. "They should be fine."
"He's turning blue."
"He'll live." Shepard extended a hand for shaking. When she took it, he gripped her hard, pulling her in close. Rudy tensed, but otherwise didn't fight it as he growled in her ear. "I won't lie to you, Rose, this isn't gonna be easy. But one thing I want you to remember is that we're a team. I don't care what kind of skill set you have with that cleaver of yours, we stick together. None of this lone wolf business with us, or I guaranty no one will even look for your body. That being said; we stick together. We take care of each other. Family in everything but blood. Trust is everything to us, and we're willing to offer you a chance. You break that trust, and there won't be enough of you left to bury. Understood?"
Silver eyes met his gaze evenly without a hint of fear. "I understand... sir."
Shepard gave her a genuine smile, ignoring the small breach in his protocol and released her, only to drag her into the team huddle. "Ruby Rose, welcome to Alpha team."
-ooo000ooo-
-Years later-
Shouts and cheers drifted out into the open street, warding off many a potential customer. But the staff of the 'Duncan Punkin' already had their hands full.
Glasses were raised into the air as the fully minted N7s toasted each other with wild cheers. They had made it through hell together, and now was the time to celebrate. The beer flowed like water, shots were passed out without tab and no one even dared mention Attila for fear his ghost would somehow ruin their party. Not that he was dead, but that man seemed to have eyes everywhere.
It was late into the night when the golden boy of the program vaulted onto the bar, scattering drinks everywhere as he raised his glass high. His steadiness gave testament to his powerful liver.
"Ladies and gentlemen!" Shepard shouted, his grin reaching from ear to ear. "Friends, comrades, killers and assholes alike! Today marks a most special time in our lives. Today, we are free from the dreaded Attila the hun-hun!"
The crowd cheered.
"But it was not without sacrifice," he said, growing suddenly somber. "We started out seventy five strong. Look around. There's only half of us left. Some dropped out, others were kicked... and still others died in the line of duty. Even though they are not here with us today, I know they celebrate with us because we are finally FUCKING N7s!"
More wild cheers met his proclamation. Still grinning, Shepard took a long swig from his glass before calming the crowd with a raised hand. "It wasn't easy, but here we are. And for some, it's a damn miracle they made it. I'm thinking of one person in particular: Raise your glasses for Ruby Rose!"
The shouts grew in volume as the attention shifted to the silver eyed woman in the middle of the congregation. Her eyes widened in surprise, but she was bundled off by her friends before she could protest and quickly found herself standing next to Shepard on the bar. Feeling every eye in the place on her, she waved wildly, grinning all the while.
"Out of all of us, our little Rosebud is something else," Shepard continued proudly, throwing an arm around her shoulders and laughing as she blushed at the old nickname. "If you remember when we first started, Attila promised us all that he would break us. Mold us into his unstoppable killing machines, merciless and deadly. I dare say he broke just about all of us. But not our little Ruby. Sure, she bent at her first kill, but she held on. Throughout all our training, all the live missions, I never once saw her break. The only one with a shred of mercy among us. Never once did I see her pull the trigger on a surrendering enemy, and she offered them so many chances that we cursed her name." He looked down at her, smiling proudly. "But right now, I know that she's the strongest one here. She held onto her convictions no matter what, even through Attila. And sure he punished all of us for it... But personally, I never minded the extra laps or drills. Strength like that should never be ignored."
"If only she had the strength to fess up already!" Monica yelled from the back. The crowd roared in laughter.
"For the last time!" Ruby screeched, face burning with embarrassment. "I'm not gay!"
"She's right," Vincent piped up. "It's Shepard she lusts for!" He deftly dodged the glass thrown at him with a laugh.
"Shut up!" Ruby screamed, her murderous glare undermined by her furious blush.
"She's blushing! It's true!"
Snarling, she tried to grab Shepard's glass, but he raised it again, far out of her reach. "I know most of you ship off tonight, so we have to cut this short," he continued. "But I just want you all to know, I couldn't ask for a better team... a better family. And that's what we are: Brothers and sisters in everything but blood. It has been a great honor to know each and every single one of you. Heartless assholes you may be, you're the best family anyone could ask for."
He raised his glass and everyone followed suit in toast, then downed the last drops.
"Alpha team, we get our grad tattoos tomorrow, so say your goodbyes. We might not see each other again for a very long time," Shepard called over the noise, hoping down from the bar, pulling Ruby along with him.
Ruby mingled with the people she had come to care about these past few years, laughing and cheering along with them. For the first time in long time she was happy. They'd gone through hell and back together. She'd changed over that time, but for the better. After years of hard training she could proudly say that she was a soldier now, and a damn good one at that. That was something worth celebrating.
When at last the party was over, she and the rest of Alpha headed off to their hotel, happy with each others company. They talked and laughed, wondering what adventures might await them. Of course, with the Crimson Reaper with them, anything could happen.
It was a night Ruby remembered with perfectly clarity.
Shepard had been right. Only it would be the last time they saw each other again. Their last night together, never knowing what awaited them in the morning.