Thwack.
Sev's head snapped back as a Sarah's fist connected with his nose, sending a trail of blood arcing through the air. The commando scrambled back, raising his arms as he turtled behind his guard. He took a quick peek behind him and saw that he was pressed up against the edge of the battle circle. Sarah, knowing she had the advantage, slowly inched towards the clone commando. While Sarah had more skill in hand to hand combat, she knew better than to blindly rush an expert ambusher like Sev.
Shepard stood amongst most of the Legion as they watched the duel. Pyrrha had previously explained to her that whenever possible, the Legion would meet up in the morning for these sparring matches to keep their skills sharp. She thought it was a smart idea, as the Legionnaires would be exposed to different fighting styles they had never seen before.
Both fighters kept their guards raised high, maintaining an even distance. Their stances were very typical for military or mixed martial arts fighters, slightly crouched with a forward facing posture, allowing them to shift from striking to grappling in a heartbeat. Through with waiting around, Sarah sprang forward. Sev was obviously waiting to pull off some kind of trap, and Sarah decided to spring it and deal with it as it comes.
Sarah unleashed a flurry of quick, hard hitting strikes. She threw jabs and right straights at Sev's face, forcing him to keep his guard up. The moment his arms raised too high, Sarah moved to attack his body. First she crushed his liver with a devastating left hook followed by a right uppercut into his diaphragm. The air was driven from Sev's lungs, the pain causing his guard to drop.
Sarah smirked as she saw her victory in sight, as she threw a wide right cross straight for Sev's face. It was a slower, more powerful punch meant to knock Sev right out, and it was also the opportunity the clone was waiting for. Sev glared up at the sister of steel, his eyes still alive with fury, barely slipping his head as he parried the knockout punch. Stepping to the side he delivered his own counterpunch, a swift and precise jab that embedded itself into Sarah's face.
Sarah's momentum stopped completely as she was momentarily taken off kilter by the counter. Sev pounced upon her, not letting the opportunity go to waste. He fired off a one-two combo, focusing on her unprotected head. By the time Sarah snapped back to reality and raised her own guard, Sev crouched low and shot for her legs, aiming to drop her to the ground with a takedown.
But Sarah was not out of the fight yet. As she felt Sev try to grab onto her leg, she threw her legs back, sprawling and preventing Sev from taking her off balance. Raising her right arm up high, she then drove her elbow into Sev's back. Sev cried out in pain as his grip failed, causing him to stumble downward instead. Her leg free, Sarah then pivoted around to Sev's back, wrapping her arms around his waist. With a savage roar she then lifted Sev into the air, bending backwards, and smashed his head on the dirt with a beautiful suplex.
A chorus of oohs could be heard from the Legion as the final blow was delivered. Stepping forward, Shepard separated the two fighters and gave a quick check up on Sev. He was still conscious, but heavily disoriented. Regardless, Sev was out for this fight as Shepard raised her hand to Sarah.
"And that's the match. The winner is Sarah Lyons!" Shepard declared as she helped Sev to his feet. "You let yourself take too many hits Sev. You need to keep moving, hit and run against an opponent with greater strength and endurance." Sev only gave a pained groan in response.
Shepard then looked to Sarah, who also moved to help up Sev. "As for you Lyons. You did well but you only won because you were able to overpower Sev. If you're fighting someone that's stronger than you, or far more skilled, you'll need to come up with a different strategy."
Sarah gave a thoughtful nod to the advice as she put Sev's arm around her shoulders and helped him limp out of the arena. Now standing alone in the battle circle, Shepard looked to what members of the Legion were in attendance and frowned. Snake was off planning the next mission, meanwhile Pyrrha was still nowhere to be seen. The young huntress had made herself scarce ever since they had returned from the raid against the Covenant war camp.
Shaking her head, Shepard looked at the rest of her fellow heroes and said, "Alright, that's good enough for now. Get yourselves cleaned up and back to your duties." The Legionnaires gave some scattered nods before dispersing.
Shepard let out a long groan as she stretched her arms, surrounded by steam as she exited her bathroom. She had spent all day in running drills with Sarah and Six, and was looking forward to relaxing. If there was anything she was grateful for, it was the fact that the Legion somehow had hot water. Of course Shepard could go weeks without a nice shower if need be, God knows how quickly personal hygiene falls off the priority list when you're fighting a war. Throwing on a pair of black cargo pants and her N7 Hoodie, which she was surprised to have found amongst the piles of looted gear, Shepard decided to go for a walk.
Stepping out of the barracks and into the inner courtyard, Shepard's eyes had to adjust to the deep blackness of night. Because they would be the only artificial light source within all of Kabul, the Legion had a blackout policy as soon as the Sun goes down. Shepard chose to walk the walls of the castle, activating a tactical visor to allow her to traverse the ramparts without issue.
Admiring the desert night landscape, Shepard soon came across a peculiar sight. Upon the nearby watchtower, Shepard could make out a figure. A feminine silhouette sitting on top of the tower, arms wrapped around her knees, looking up at the sky. With a toned profile and long ponytail, it didn't take long for Shepard to identify the figure as the absent huntress in training.
Pyrrha must have truly been deep in thought as she did not seem to notice the spectre walking up behind her. Shepard sighed. The last mission has been really affecting the teenager, and Shepard knew she needed to get this under control. If Pyrrha wasn't in a good place mentally, it could possibly put her and others in danger in the field.
"This seat taken?" Shepard asked, moving beside the huntress.
Pyrrha gave a small jump as she turned to see she was no longer alone. "Oh Shepard! Uh, no not at all. Please help yourself." She said, sliding over to give Shepard some room.
Shepard gave a small nod and sat down as Pyrrha continued to look up in silence. A few seconds of awkward silence passed, and it became clear to Shepard that the teenager wasn't going to start the conversation. Shepard inwardly cursed. Right, teenagers. All angst and hormones. Just pretend you're talking to Jack. She thought to herself.
"So, Thane tells me that you're some kind of tournament champion." Shepard started, trying to break the ice.
Pyrrha's eyebrows raised, surprised at the statement, but quickly shifted back to her usual smile.
"Yes well, I'm actually the four time champion of the Mistral Regional Tournament." It was a correction, but not one filled with pride and confidence. "In fact I was undefeated!" Pyrrha gave the fakest smile Shepard had ever seen.
Shepard frowned. "That must've been hard. Being in the limelight like that, especially for someone so young."
Pyrrha forced another smile to her face. "Well it wasn't all bad I suppose. I even got to be on a cereal box called Pumpkin Petes."
It was Shepard's turn to raise an eyebrow. With a laugh she asked, "Wait, really?"
Pyrrha gave a nod. "Indeed. Unfortunately, they're not very good for you."
An idea suddenly popped into Shepard's head. "Wait I have something similar."
Activating her omnitool, Shepard pressed a button and a diminutive, orange holographic VI of Shepard appeared. The VI leaned forward and said, "My name is Commander Shepard and this is my favorite shop on the Citadel."
Pyrrha gave Shepard a confused look, and she responded with a small shrug. "I got a ten percent discount at most stores if I endorsed them like this." Shepard explained.
Pyrrha covered her mouth with her hand, unable to contain the chuckle. Shepard smiled as well, glad to see the young woman genuinely smiling and laughing. Pyrrha recomposed herself, outburst relieving some of her tension.
"It did get hard, I suppose." Pyrrha began. "I was blessed with great talents and opportunities, always surrounded with admiration and praise. But I was placed on a pedestal, separated from the ones who put me there. Everyone always assumed I was too good for them, that I was on a level they couldn't reach. People treated me as if I was an object to be admired, or a goal to be surpassed. For a long time, no one wanted to have any real kind of relationship with me." Pyrrha felt the pull of a sad smile as she remembered those who became close to her in spite of her fame.
Pyrrha felt herself clutching her knees once again, holding them tighter. She continued on, "Eventually, it didn't even matter what I wanted to do. I did what I had to do for all of those who put their faith in me. All of those that only I could protect."
Shepard grimaced. She really felt for the teenager. She knew what it was like to live under the expectations and scrutiny of others. Everyone always talks about wanting to become a hero, but not many realize the pressure and responsibility that comes with the title.
"Believe me, I understand." Shepard gave her a sympathetic look. "Back when I was a Spectre, everyone and their mother would come out of the woodworks to ask for my help. Some were important, like finding missing marines or investigating distress signals. Others were just asinine, like this one salarian that asked me to scan the keepers of the Citadel. God they were a pain in the ass to find."
"Why specifically you? Weren't there more of these Spectres?" Pyrrha asked, tilting her head.
"Well one thing you need to understand is that Spectres weren't just any normal soldiers. Only the greatest soldiers and agents of galaxy could join. And in my world, humanity were newcomers to the galactic stage. We wanted to prove that we could stand amongst the other great races, while others thought we were growing too much too fast.
"When I became the first human Spectre, I was essentially turned into a symbol of humanity's progress. The Alliance gave me every assignment they could so I could keep making humanity look good, while others wanted to give me chances to fail and prove humanity wasn't ready for more power." Shepard explained.
Pyrrha was agape. "How did you deal with that? Knowing that everything you did, every action you took, reflected on billions of others. To know that millions would hate and despise you for what you represented, not who you are?"
Shepard gave a smug smile. "Easy, I didn't care."
"What?" Pyrrha was visibly stunned.
"The politics. The glory. The propaganda. None of that mattered to me because I had a job to do. Sure I would make nice for the press and the politicians, but I wasn't there to make humanity look good. I was there to stop the monsters of the galaxy from tearing down everything I loved. It didn't matter that I was a Spectre, or a symbol of peace, or the Hero of Elysium. Hell, I even went rogue and worked with terrorists to stop the Collectors. The galaxy painted me a traitor for some of the things I did, but I didn't stop because if I did people would die. And I wasn't going to let that stand. Remember Pyrrha, you can't let anyone or anything compromise who you are. Not politics, not society, and especially not fear."
Pyrrha's winced with the last statement as her grip tightened for a split second. She gave a sad sigh, "I wish I had your strength of character, Shepard."
Shepard gave her a worried look. "Pyr, what's wrong?"
"What? Oh nothing. I'm sorry for making you worry, but really I'm fine." Pyrrha tried to hold her usual poker face.
"Really? Because you don't look fine." The Commander channeled her inner Hannah Shepard and gave the best disapproving mom glare she could.
Pyrrha only smirked. "Hm, I guess… I'm still getting used to this." She shook her head. "Back home, in Remnant, we would fight grimm, creatures of pure malice and hate that weren't even really alive. But here, all we've been doing is killing other people, or killing sentient creatures. And regardless of how violent or savage they are, just killing them like they're... nothing, it's something I'm having trouble with."
Shepard leaned in and made sure Pyrrha looked her right in the eyes. "Pyrrha, that's a good thing. You should never be so callous as to not care about ending a life. Sometimes killing is necessary, but it should never be easy." This time it was Shepard's turn to sigh and shake her head. "Hell, you shouldn't even be here. You shouldn't have been training to fight some war against the forces of darkness, that's what soldiers are for. You should've been focused on getting your homework done, or finding a boyfriend, not saving the world."
Pyrrha couldn't help but let out a small chuckle. "Heh, you know Snake said something very similar when we first met. He actually offered me a choice. He said I could join and fight with them in a war with an unclear objective against a far numerically superior foe, or I could stay in the base and learn to live a life that's not behind a gun. Suffice to say, it was one of the easier choices I've had to make."
Shepard nodded. She could tell Snake was a complicated man. She didn't even know his real name. But Pyrrha's admission only helped cement Shepard's respect for the man.
"Regardless, if you are truly so upset with my upbringing, you probably shouldn't hear Six's or Sev's stories." Pyrrha added on.
Shepard scowled, "Yeah. I don't know if I want to learn what happened for them to have numbers, not names."
Silence once again reared its socially awkward head as the conversation petered out. Shepard still felt like Pyrrha was holding back, but she couldn't push too hard lest the teenager get withdrawn and defensive. So for several uncomfortable beats, the two redheads simply sat in silence, looking up at the sky.
Luckily for the Commander, Pyrrha saw fit to start the conversation up once again.
"Jane…" Pyrrha paused, biting her lower lip, unsure of how to go on. "Do you… believe in destiny?"
Shepard was taken off guard by the question, as well as the unusual usage of her first name. She scowled and pondered the question. "All honesty, no I don't." The commander started. "I believe in choice and consequence. And everything else that happens is just a result of everyone just trying to make their way in the universe. Or universes, I suppose."
Still looking up, Pyrrha continued. "I always saw destiny as more of a goal, not a predetermined fate. And I believed it was my destiny to become a huntress, to protect the world. It was something I worked for my whole life. My skills as a fighter, the power of my semblance, everything I had done from childhood was in pursuit of this destiny." Pyrrha's hands curled into fists as she felt tears forming at the corners of her eyes.
"I was given an offer." She choked out. "I was chosen to become the next Fall Maiden, a being of extraordinary power. I thought that this was the culmination of my destiny, that I could save the world and protect my friends. But in the end… I failed." Pyrrha's cheeks became wet as tears streamed down her face. "I failed to stop Cinder Fall from stealing the Maiden's power, I failed to stop her from destroying Beacon, and I failed to be the hero that was needed. It wasn't my destiny to save anyone. Instead I just died on top of that tower."
Pyrrha's head sunk between her knees as she sobbed. Raising her hand up, Shepard gently placed her palm on Pyrrha's head, patting it and ruffling her hair. Pyrrha felt a little confused at the action, but made no motion to stop the older woman.
"It's not fair to have gone through all of that. To have those expectations placed on you. But regardless Pyrrha, I think you made the right choice." Shepard comforted. "You know that war I fought, against the Reapers? It was a terrible war. Thousands died every day, and everyone looked to me save them, to lead them. I could ignore the voices of billions when they wanted to judge me or use me. But when they believed in me? When they prayed that I would come and save them from the Reapers? To save their loved ones, their homeworlds, or even their fortunes. I did what I could, saved who I could, but it was never enough. It became a game of ruthless calculus. Sacrifice ten billion over here so twenty billion over there could live. Living with those choices, doing what I had to do to win. I tried to hide it from my crew, but it ground me down and spit me out. Everything I did seemed hopeless and meaningless, and it was hard to keep going. For a while, I thought death would've been better than dealing with all of that… suffering."
Pyrrha looked at Shepard, teary eyes wide with shock. Shepard actually smiled. Ever since she got to this land, she hadn't had any nightmares. None about the Reapers, or the boy she left to die on Earth.
"But that's the thing Pyrrha. When everything seemed hopeless, I kept pushing forward, just like you did. Between giving up and letting evil triumph, or fighting and dying to save those I love, I would choose dying every time. And it's what you chose to do."
"But I didn't win! I wasn't strong enough to stop my enemies like you did Shepard! I was just too weak." Pyrrha hung her head in shame.
Quickly Shepard put her arms around the young Spartan. "No Pyrrha, you're not weak, and you're not a failure. If you were weak you would've given up. Run away to hide while this Cinder did God knows what with her power. Being here doesn't mean you're a failure, but a hero. And you may not know what happened after your sacrifice, but you need to have faith that those you left behind will succeed without you."
Wrapping her arms around the older woman, Pyrrha quietly sobbed into her shoulder. "I miss my friends," she admitted.
"I know kid, I know." Shepard comforted, stroking the huntress' head.
Somewhere in the depths of Korriban…
A figure, shrouded in darkness, sat upon his chair watching the same video over and over. The video starts off as he would suspect. Two armored figures blitzkrieging their way through the defensive lines of the stormtroopers. He had seen these two before, one male and one female, powered super soldiers from futures far from his own time. While powerful in their own right, they were not what concerned him.
Changing the view to another of the probe droid's many cameras, the figure focused on a new combatant. This one was unknown to him. A female soldier, with scarlet red hair and black armor. He watched her give commands over battlefield, supporting her allies while fighting like a mad dog herself. Her skills were most impressive, and she would make a powerful ally to his enemies.
The figure heard the door slide open behind him as light footsteps entered the room. A grim smirk found its way to his face, very few would have the courage to enter his room unannounced. He stood, straightening his clothes as he did. He considered his attire relatively normal, a well fitted two piece suit, a long black leather duster, and a matching ten-gallon hat. What truly stood out the most was not the clothes but the man, a man whose entire body was covered with grey burn scars, and most notable glasgow smile that ran up the corners of his cheeks. The man had no name, no past. Only a cruel epithet that mocked his very existence, Skull Face.
"There is a new player in our little game." Skull Face gestured to the video turning to his guest.
Skull Face couldn't help but smile as he watched his guest's face contorted with anger. The guest had long black hair, clad in form-fitting black body armor with yellow accents. The most chilling thing about him though was his eyes, or lack thereof. His eyes and sides of his jaw were covered with advanced cybernetics, affixing a permanent scowl on his face.
"Is everything alright Leng?" Skull Face questioned.
Kai Leng, the once greatest assassin of Cerberus, snapped his head towards Skull Face, glaring at him. Kai Leng snapped his fingers, and soon a green mist that Skull Face was all to familiar with filled the room. Flanking the assassin, two 8-foot tall, grey skinned, mutated monstrosities of the Skulls Parasite Unit materialized.
"Don't worry." Kai Leng growled out. "I'll handle her."
10/8/19 Edit: Just fixing up some grammar mistakes that slipped passed me. New chapter coming soon!