Smoke wafted up from the ruins of the cafe, blown apart by a gunship from on high, clogging the air with the foul stench of smoke and burned meat. But all of it, the distant gun shots, the pirates, even the whole invasion ceased to exist.
It was peaceful.
Nothing on the outside mattered as Ruby knelt in the ashes, her armor bloodied. Crescent Rose stood abandoned nearby, its blade drenched in crimson next to the broken body of Shepard. He trembled feebly, his breath coming in short, painful gasps. His armor was utterly destroyed, fused to the flesh underneath by the explosion. One of his legs was gone and the other was hanging on by a thread. Miraculously, his face remained untouched, his cold blue eyes staring up into space.
He gasped, stiffening against another wave of agony.
"Just hang on," Ruby whispered, cradling his head in her lap. She wouldn't cry. Not here, not in front of him. "I'm going to get you out of here."
"Hang on?... To what?" he gasped, too weak to even laugh at his own joke. Then he stilled, his eyes coming into focus as he stared at her. "I'm dying."
"No." Ruby shook her head vehemently, eyes beginning to water. "No. No you're not. I'll-"
"Ruby," Shepard said softly, the single word silencing her. He blinked, the action slow and tired. "Please... don't lie to yourself... It doesn't suit you."
Shepard swallowed, mustering what strength was left in his broken body and gently caressed her cheek with a bloody hand. "We're family," he gasped. "In everything but blood... I never had a family back on Earth. Growing up on the streets... you didn't make many friends who wouldn't stab you in the back."
He looked deep into her eyes. "All our years with Alpha... they were the best friends I ever had. We were family... But you?... you're the sister I never had."
A shiver ran down his frame, his breath slowly fading. "Please... don't loose yourself... I'm a heartless bastard... the galaxy could do without me... But you? Our little Rosebud?... Never. Stop. Being. You."
He gently wiped away one of the tears that ran down her cheek. "If there ever was a hero in this galaxy... its you. I... I..."
Shepard gasped weakly, looking up into the sky. The Alliance fleet was landing. Reinforcements were arriving. But too little, too late.
"I'm tired of fighting," he whispered, looking up at Ruby one last time. "Alpha and I will be waiting at the bar... when your time comes... I'm buying..."
Then his eyes closed and his hand dropped from her cheek as he breathed his last, dying breath in her arms.
-ooo000ooo-
The stench of blood hit her nose, making Doctor Karin Chakwas wrinkle her nose in disgust. The aftermath of any battle was never a pleasant place to be. From the smell alone she half expected a bloody massacre, but as she stepped out of the shuttle and into the plaza, the surroundings just didn't match up with the smell.
Men, women, and children filled the area, leaning against the walls with dazed looks on their faces or kneeling beside people laid out on stretchers. Alliance personnel rushed about, carrying medical supplies or carrying in more wounded refugees.
Looking around, she was honestly amazed that so many had survived. Elysium hadn't been ready in the slightest. The attack had come early in the morning, overwhelming the Alliance fleets in orbit and raining down shuttles in the hundreds onto the defenseless planet below.
It had all seemed hopeless. But when the Alliance 3rd Fleet stormed in and drove off the blockade, something incredible came from the surface: The all-clear signal.
The Brass couldn't believe it until they heard the story. Colonists said that a lone N7 had held the line, keeping the enemy at bay long enough to let them flee to safety. They said she was like an angel... or the grim reaper himself. She would appear in a burst of rose petals, rending her enemies apart with a giant scythe and a roar of pure fury before vanishing as quickly as she'd come.
She had been ruthless, purging the colony of all hostiles.
The stories were beginning to circulate around the fleet and speculation ran rampant about who or what this mysterious N7 was. More importantly, her apparent super speed was slowly becoming public knowledge among those who had seen her and people were starting to ask questions.
For the ones who knew of Ruby's existence, this was one giant powder keg ready to blow. Questions need to be answered and leaks sealed before word of their 'super soldier' could spread. Intelligence believed that if they got Ruby off planet they could contain the situation.
If they could find her, that is. Ruby had dropped off the radar shortly after the threat had passed and they hadn't been able to locate her, nor could they get in touch with N7 Alpha Team.
Alliance Intelligence was rushing to contain the situation, but word of Ruby was already leaking out. Everyone seemed to know about the Savior of Elysium and her strange ability, not to mention her massive weapon.
They just needed to find her, which was why Chakwas had been called in. Given Ruby's MIA status, Intelligence was questioning her mental state in light of the attack. It was ridiculous, but they weren't taking any chances. If that was the case, she was best person to get through to Ruby.
But as she was wandered through the cramped streets, Chakwas felt her heart go out to the rows of wounded civilians in the streets. There were just so many, and here she was, a Doctor, walking away. It felt wrong, but she had her orders. Others were already tending to them, which eased her conscience somewhat.
She wandered through the ruined streets for a while, searching where she could. Eventually she stumbled upon a squad of the newly christened N7s, who only just yesterday had been celebrating their achievement. Now they were beaten and bloodied, but victorious, even if their own contribution had been forgotten in the face of Ruby's role in the battle.
They converged upon her, offering looks of sympathy and making Karin fear the worst. "She's not... dead, is she?"
They shook their heads, faces grave, not exactly easing her worries. Without another word they turned away, heading deeper into the ruined city. Chakwas hurried along behind them, struggling to keep up with their powerful strides.
A few minutes later they had left the crowds behind and were moving into the more war torn areas of the city, blocked off by dozens of black armored marines.
Only then did she realize where the smell was coming from. Dozens, if not hundreds of corpses filled the streets, missing limbs or cleanly bisected by a massive blade.
The carnage left her sick and dumbfounded. This couldn't have been Ruby... could it?
They carried on through the mass graveyard, the death toll reaching into the thousands until they finally came to the main plaza. Bodies in the hundreds were scattered around, all in various states of dismemberment.
It was a grizzly scene and she had to fight to keep her lunch down. Unperturbed, the N7s continued on, moving through the carnage with barely a sideways glace, heading towards a burned-out building on the far edge of the plaza. It appeared to have been blown apart from the inside out by a massive explosion, blowing off the roof. Smoke was still rising from the rubble. But through one of the shattered windows, Chakwas could see a lone figure kneeling in the ashes, a massive red and black scythe stuck in the ground beside her. Blood dripped from the handle onto the figure below, her black Onyx armor stained with crimson. She was unnaturally still, appearing to be just another corpse.
Ruby.
Chakwas rushed forward without a second thought, forsaking her escort entirely and hurried inside, falling to her knees beside her charge. Ruby didn't even twitch, staring down at the broken body, cradling his head in her lap. Her silver eyes, once so full of life and energy were as dead as the bodies outside.
"They're gone."
The words sent a chill down Karin's spine. They were cold and emotionless, a far cry from the woman she knew, even in the worst of situations.
Slowly, Ruby looked up.
"They're gone," she repeated, mechanically turning to look at Chakwas. The Doctor couldn't help but shiver as the dead, silver orbs met hers. "They're dead... gone..."
Her lower lip trembled. It was little more than a twitch, but Karin saw it none the less and finally understood.
Ignoring the blood covering her armor, Chakwas reached out and hugged Ruby as tightly as she could, trying to convey all her love for the little girl she knew through the embrace.
Ruby stared blankly at her. Then her lower lip started to tremble and she wrapped her arms around her surrogate mother as a ragged sob racked her frame.
Chakwas felt her own eyes water, but didn't let go, holding the broken N7 as she cried bitterly.
-ooo000ooo-
"Containment has been breached." Colonel Fang paced back and forth, his face tight.
"So I've heard. But I don't see what the issue is," Admiral Hackett said. He had never heard Fang this irritated before. His office aboard his flagship, the dreadnought Everest, was comfortable enough for meeting like this. Only at times like this he wished it was a bit bigger, if only to put distance between himself and the enraged Colonel.
"The issue?" Fang hissed, whirring around to face him. "Need I remind you what Rose represents for us? She is our edge against the other races. Supernatural power aside, she is the one weapon they don't, and possibly never will have! She is-"
"A hero," Hackett interrupted, throwing a datapad on his desk showing the latest news story with blurry picture of Rose in mid-combat. "Yes, your precious secret has been leaked, but I can't think of a better way for it to get out. First impressions are everything, and Rose just saved an entire colony."
"Perhaps," Fang said tightly. "But at what cost? One way or another we've lost her."
He just might be right. Who knew how the Citadel Council would react when they heard the news? "I'm sure a compromise can be reached."
Fang's lips twisted in a snarl. "Really? You really think that?"
"I do," the Admiral said tightly. "You've said it yourself; her power has no trace. If the Council goes looking, they'll find the same thing we did: Nothing."
"It's not the Council I'm worried about."
Hackett paused, the admission catching him off guard before he composed himself. "Then who?"
Fang sighed deeply, stopping and leaning heavily on the desk.
"We don't know," he admitted at length.
The Admiral quirked an eyebrow. "You, Alliance Intelligence, don't know?"
Fang bristled, but didn't rise to the bait. "You should be scared, Admiral. I am, even if I don't show it."
"Why?"
"Because of Verner." Fang pushed off the desk and resumed pacing. "Tell me, Admiral, what do you know about our late Director?"
"Not much," Hackett replied. "He was with the Intelligence Division when it first formed, wasn't he?"
"Close. He made it."
He actually smirked at Hackett's stunned expression before turning grim once again. "I don't know what to tell you, Admiral, but this whole situation has been rigged from the start. Rose appearing on Mindoir was just the start of it."
He stopped suddenly, fixing him with a hard look. "I hope you understand that what I tell you here does not leave this room."
Hackett nodded slowly, agreeing to his terms.
-ooo000ooo-
Numb. That was all she could feel.
Shepard... Vincent... Jayson... even Monica... she couldn't believe they were gone. One moment they were there and the next... blown to bits before her very eyes.
Her friends... gone.
Ruby sidled around a body, noting the place where she'd cloven the unfortunate pirate in half.
The death should have disgusted her. Back when she had started out in the N7 program, killing of any kind had been one of the greatest sins. But over the years she'd come to realize that it was necessary in her line of work.
As a soldier, you had a duty to your nation and your species, but more importantly, to your friends and teammates. They were depending on you to keep them safe and vice-versa. It was a lesson both Attila and Shepard drilled into her. You kill, not for yourself, but for the man standing next to you. If you wanted to die, go off and die alone. Don't drag the other guy down with you.
It had made her first kill somewhat easier. Shooting a man between the eyes to save Shepard from being gutted while assisting the police force during a drug raid for practice. She regarded it as the day her true innocence died, the day she had been willingly taken a life to save another.
The whole concept would have been horrifying to a fifteen year old, but now it barely fazed her. That didn't, however, mean she revelled in it, which made her current feelings all the more understandable.
Hard as it was, she could move past her team dying. They had all accepted that they would most likely die a fiery death in combat. But they were N7s to the core, and things like death didn't faze them anymore, even if it was their own demise. It had to happen sometime. In that light, they had promised each other that if they were killed in the line of duty, the survivors wouldn't let it stop them. They would have their time to mourn, but then they had to move on. They could take comfort in remembering the good times they had while they were still alive... because that's what they would have wanted.
Her long cry with Chakwas was one of the most healing moments of her life. She knew that there was nothing she could have done to save them... and they probably had known that too. Pure bad luck had let that gunship through, not any fault of hers.
But that promise they made, their last untold wish, dried her tears. She wouldn't have wanted them to get caught up over her own death, and she knew they thought the same about theirs...
...but it still hurt, adding to the sick feeling building inside as she wandered the bloody streets. As she took in the carnage, Crescent Rose felt as heavy as lead, as if the blood that stained its blade was dragging her down.
Yes, she could kill. But this... this was slaughter.
Almost nine thousand pirates landed... none survived. The shear amount of blood on her hands staggered her. People were already calling her a hero, the Savior of Elysium. But heroes didn't do this!
She stopped, clenching her fist as a wave of guilt washed over her. Yes, she killed... but she always drew the line. She never killed a prisoner, she never killed a surrendering enemy and she always gave them a chance... except now.
It hurt even more as she remembered Shepard's last request: 'Don't stop being you.' The little Rosebud. The only one with a shred of mercy among them. Now it felt like she was spitting on his grave.
She wasn't a hero... she couldn't even call herself a Huntress...
Ruby blinked, wondering where the strange word had come from. Then she sighed, slowly releasing her clenched fist and felt dried blood glue her fingers together before they snapped apart.
She looked down at herself and winced. She looked like a monster, covered in blood from head to toe. Crescent Rose might have been efficient in its work, but it was still a messy way to die.
Glancing around she noticed a large fountain in the middle of the street a fair distance away. The statue of a man standing proudly was miraculously intact, his outstretched hand pouring water into a pool below.
She dashed forward, covering the distance in less than a second with a burst of rose petals. People already knew about her speed, so she saw no reason to hide it, especially when she needed a wash as soon as possible. She didn't want to scare anyone after all.
She jumped into the pool and stood there, relishing the cold water as it tumbled down onto her body, washing away the crimson stains. After the heat, blood and sweat of battle, it was a little slice of heaven. After scrubbing her armor thoroughly, she raised Crescent Rose to the cleansing stream, gently cleaning the massive blade as if it was her own child. Then she stood there for a long minute, uncaring of the cold that seeped into her bones, deep in though.
Everyone had a line they didn't cross, rules they didn't break. In that regard, she failed miserably.
She couldn't call herself a hero. Not after what she did.
A sudden noise caused her stiffen. Footsteps. Too heavy to be a pet, but too small to be a grown man.
Shifting Crescent Rose to a more ready position, Ruby turned and saw a boy, no older than five, standing at the edge of the pool.
She immediately dropped her guard, afraid that she had scared him. But the boy didn't seem to notice. He was staring at her in open mouthed awe, uncaring or not comprehending the carnage around them.
"Are you an angel?" he asked innocently.
Ruby blinked once, and then smiled softly at him. "No. No I'm not," she said gently.
As the boy's face fell, she stepped out of the pool and knelt before him, coming down to eye level. "Are you lost?"
He nodded slowly, sniffling. "I can't find my mom."
Still smiling, Ruby stood and held out a hand. "Come on then. I'm sure we can find her together."
He took her hand and Ruby led him through the streets, heading towards where the dozens of Alliance shuttles were landing.
Yes. She had saved the colony, and with it tens of thousands of lives. She had won a great victory... but the scars would remain forever.
That was how the galaxy first saw her. With the newest wave of shuttles came reporters and camera crews, eager to capture the story of the lone N7 first hand. But it was one lucky photographer who captured the soon to be famous picture.
It was like a scene taken from fantasy itself.
Ruby, with the midday sun at her back, frozen in mid step, her wet armor glistening in the light. Crescent Rose was propped over one shoulder, its massive blade shining in the sun. One would have expected a heroic look, her face set in a look of confidence, befitting of a war hero. Instead she was looking down, laughing along with the little boy she led by the hand.
First impressions were everything, and the galaxy would remember forever the Savior of Elysium.
-ooo000ooo-
To: Admiral Hackett S.
From: [REDACTED] Alliance Intelligence
I know we didn't much time to talk, so I hope this message will suffice. These resent developments have me worried, and there aren't many people I can share with about this issue. In this, you are my confidant. Since you know of Rose and have personal affections for the girl, I feel that I can trust you with my thoughts.
Attached Files:
[Alliance Military Records: Director Verner, C (Honourably Discharged)]
[File: Alliance Intelligence History]
[AI: Operation Report: Rosarius (Completed)]
You'll notice in the files that Verner helped to form the modern Intelligence Division in 2151. Before that we were nothing more than an organization assigned to only gathering intelligence for the Alliance. When Verner was assigned as Director he took the organization in a different direction. We still focused on gathering intelligence, but our facilities expanded to include research and development. We experiment with the usual: Weapons, Element Zero theories, which would later become Biotics, and stealth technology in space, along with... other projects. All this was done with permission from the Alliance, but the rate of expansion could be considered frightening. Verner was pushing hard for this, saying that we needed to be ready to defend our colonies should the worst come to pass. A noble sentiment, but I feel that he was preparing for something else.
In 2156, around the time that I joined the Intelligence Division, Verner authorized the Rosarius Operation; a carefully organized system of passive scans and screenings of our colonies via [REDACTED] which was designed to track down threats from both within and outside the inhabitant of a colony.
It was effective. We halted dozens of terrorist plots under Rosarius and the Alliance approved of its continual use.
After the First Contact War, Rosarius was still in effect, though it was scheduled to end in 2165. Verner wasn't happy with this and argued for an extension. I thought nothing of it at the time, personal pride on his part, but going off the data, Rosarius wasn't about protecting the colonies.
Rosarius, and by extension, Verner, was looking for Ruby Rose.
I know this sounds ludicrous, but let me argue my case. Looking through his personal files it is apparent that Verner knew of Rose and her power before she even appeared on Mindoir.
I hesitate to call him a traitor, but given his actions leading up to the Mindoir attack... I find that very hard to disprove.
/
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