Third Person Point of View, With Shepard
Shepard left the apartment with an annoyed expression on her face, she didn't like to get called away when she I was in the middle of something and yet it always seemed someone was right there and ready to do just that… she hated it. Walking down the street towards the terminal Shepard was thinking about the strange man she had just met and how he terrified her, sure they had been talking to each other peacefully but the entire time she was near him something inside her was screaming "danger!" begging and pleading with her to get as far away from his as she could, she couldn't understand what was making her think like that but then again the first time she saw him he was cutting a turian apart. There was something else about him that she couldn't quite place, earlier when they had been speaking with Udina he had been quick to threaten the councilor, at first Shepard had just thought it was a joke but later when they talked outside she realized clearly through his own words that he truly meant it and that if Udina spoke out of tact one more time he would be dead.
The inside of the shuttle was quiet but to Shepard it felt like the more that she thought about this strange man "Echo" the quieter the shuttle was getting, it was making her uncomfortable to realize that she was letting this man on her ship… this suddenly focused Shepards memories and she grew a slight scowl he had after all shoehorned himself into her mission without her consent and that didn'tsit well with her, sadly there wasn't much she could do about it. Shepard let her head fall back and let out a loud sigh which quickly dissipated in the emptiness of the shuttle, the docks were coming up and she had to get ready to deal with Udina again and for some reason she had a bad feeling about this new ship she was getting.
Stepping out onto the docks where the Normandy was currently waiting Shepard immediately saw Udina and Anderson standing in front of the airlock and that bad feeling she had from the shuttle came back with full force. Stepping up to the two men Shepard made a small salute to Anderson and barely nodded to Udina, wouldn't want the man to think she respected him after all. Udina scowled a little at Shepard's lack of respect but shrugged it off much the same, putting on his "political" smile he gestured wildly with his arms to the sides while speaking.
"I've got big news for you Shepard. Captain Anderson is stepping down as the commanding officer of the Normandy. The ship is yours now"
Anderson turned to Shepard and crossed his arms over his chest, he didn't like this very much but he knew Shepard would treat the ship right and the crew as just right for her; a small smile graced his lips as he spoke.
"She's quick and quiet and you know the crew, perfect ship for a Spectre. Treat her well Commander"
Shepard made a less than pleased face when she got the news; she hated it when her gut was right it tended to mean that something less than appealing was going to happen. This time it just so happened that one of her gut feelings was taking it out on Anderson. Shepard gave a small smile and nodded towards Anderson
"I'll take good care of her, sir"
Anderson gave an appreciative nod and smiled warmly at Shepard.
"I know you will, Commander"
Shepard on the other hand wasn't ready to accept this just yet, she knew there was back room politics behind Anderson stepping down and she was intending to be told what those backroom politics consisted off.
"I want the truth. Why are you stepping down, sir?"
Anderson wasn't so keen to answer that question truthfully, so he settled for a half-truth.
"You needed your own ship. A spectre can't answer to anyone but the Council and it's time for me to step down"
The part about Shepard needing a ship and that Spectres couldn't answer to anyone but the Council was true, but Anderson did in no way mean it was time for him to step down just yet, he wasn't that old. Shepard on the other hand wasn't appreciating that answer, she knew there was something he wasn't saying or didn't want to say but she kept pushing
"Come clean with me, Captain. You owe me that much"
Anderson looked up at the stars for a few seconds thinking about the reason why he was standing here today.
"I was in your shoes twenty years ago, Shepard. They were considering me for the Spectres"
Shepard was a little shocked at this, she hadn't expected that to be the reason Anderson seemed so reluctant to answer her but she could perhaps see his reason behind it.
"How come you never mentioned this?"
This irked Anderson a little he didn't like talking about it with anyone it was something he beat himself up over too many times in the past.
"What was I supposed to say? "I could've been a Spectre but I blew it?" I failed, Commander. It's not something I'm proud of" Anderson grumbled a little before speaking again "Ask me later and I'll tell you the whole story. For now, all you need to know is I was sent on a mission with Saren, and he made sure the Council rejected me. I had my shot, it came and went. Now you have a chance to make up for my mistakes"
The last words were spoken with conviction, Anderson truly believed Shepard could achieve everything he never got to even attempt so he had no problem in trusting Shepard with the mission, his ship or his life should it ever come to it. Shepard gave a hard stare and another salute before responding
"I won't let you down, sir"
A simple nod is all Anderson gave in return.
"Saren's gone. Don't even try to find him, but we know what he's after; the Conduit. He's got his geth scouring the Traverse looking for clues"
Anderson looked over at Udina indicating that he had something to say.
"We had reports of geth in the Feros system shortly before our colony there dropped out of contact. And there have been sightings around Noveria"
"Find out what Saren was after on Feros and Noveria" Anderson interjected "Maybe you can figure out where the Conduit is before he does"
Shepard knew that going to check on those places was important, but she didn't think that they were their biggest problem right now.
"Sir, the Reapers are the real threat here"
Udina gave a scoff and looked at Shepard with a bored stare
"I'm with the Council on this one, Shepard. I'm not sure they even exist"
Anderson shook his head and thought his own thoughts about the subject.
"But if they do exist, the Conduit's the key to bringing them back. Stop Saren from getting the Conduit and we stop the Reapers from returning"
Shepard nodded and got ready to leave when she was stopped by Udina
"We have one more lead. Matriarch Benezia, the other voice on the recording? She has a daughter, a scientist who specializes in the Protheans. We don't know if she's involved but it might be a good idea to try and find her. See what she knows, her name is Dr. Liara T'Soni. We have reports she was exploring an archeological dig on one of the uncharted worlds in the Artemis Tau cluster"
Shepard gave it some thought and came to the conclusion that potentially getting information on one of Saren's allies would be a great help in stopping him.
"I'll go see if I can find Dr. T'Soni"
"It's your decision, Commander" Anderson spoke up "You're a Spectre now. You don't answer to us"
"But your actions still reflect on Humanity as a whole" Udina said with a bit of anger in his voice "You make a mess and I get stuck cleaning it up"
Shepard really loathed the man, he was useless beyond what he did in politics and even there she thought he was doing a shitty job, was it up to her he would be fired and replaced with someone more competent.
"I'll try not to make things any harder on you, Ambassador"
The words were oozing sarcasm, a thing that was not lost on the Ambassador as his face contorted into one of anger over being so obviously disrespected, he did however once more pull up his political smile.
"Glad to hear it, Commander. Remember; you were a human long before you were a Spectre. Well I have a meeting to get to. Captain Anderson can answer any questions you might have"
Shepard gave a slight nod and watched as Udina left the hangar, as soon as he was out of sight she turned around to Anderson and got a rather sad expression on her face.
"I am sorry for this David, I know you hadn't envisioned your career as captain to end like this"
Anderson gave a warm smile to Shepard. He had known the woman in front of him for 21 years and in those years she had become something of a surrogate daughter for him and he treasured her greatly for the comfort she brought him in some of his darkest hours, lord knows that he fulfilled the role of surrogate father for her after her own fathers disappearance almost seven years ago. Back then Shepard had been devastated when she heard the news and it had taken a good long talk with both her mother and Anderson himself before she felt ready to enter the field again, but now it felt more like Shepard was fighting for two as if she had to make up for her father's share as well.
"No it wasn't. But never mind that Sarah, you just take good care of the Normandy and bring that bastard Saren to justice, if you do that then I think I can handle being a paper pusher for a little while"
Shepard smiled weakly at Andersons reply but none the less nodded and gave a small salute before replying in a now much stronger tone
"I'll get him and then perhaps we can get you away from the desk, if you haven't grown fond of it by then"
Shepard finished her sentence with a little wink to Anderson who in turn chuckled slightly before doing his own salute and proceeded to head out as well. This left Shepard a few seconds to herself where she could think things over, so much had just changed in the span of a single conversation. Taking the first few steps towards the Normandy seemed harder than it should have for Shepard but once she remembered nothing was different about the ship or the crew itself, the only difference was that now she was the captain of the Normandy instead of Anderson.
Somewhere else just around the same time Shepard entered the Normandy a man was sitting on the edge of a roof and was looking out over the Presidium with an almost serene look on his face and a lit cigar in his mouth. The man made a few attempts at blowing smoke rings and the few times he succeeded he would chuckle a little and had the people walking far below him been able to see his face, they would all have seen the sadness in his eyes each time those smoke rings disappeared and spread to the winds. Casually the man stood up and stretched and took one last draw on the now very short cigar, but rather than try and blow another smoke ring he just exhaled and let the smoke spread. Walking back towards the ship that was now standing uncloaked on top of the apartment the man let out a sigh and turned and looked out over the Presidium once more, the man smiled and then just for a single moment however brief it was the man's age seemed visible on his face, several hundred years of experience darkened the man's features as he silently agreed with himself on something, he was not getting away from this dimension alive.
Back aboard the Normandy Shepard was finally done with the decontamination process and as she stepped into the Normandy she made an oath to herself 'I am getting that thing sped up I don't care how, but I am getting it done!' with her first rambling as Captain of the Normandy complete she rolled her shoulders to loosen them up after the lengthy amount of time she had spent in her armor today. Glancing from side to side Shepard decided to get business out of the way before anything else and made her way towards the helm, which conveniently were only a few steps from the entrance to the Normandy. In the pilot seat one Jeff "Joker" Moreau was sitting and waiting for orders on where to go next and while he was waiting he was keeping his time occupied by playing games on his omni-tool, hey nothing better to do for a pilot not flying right? A few soft footsteps did alert Joker to someone arriving and he didn't need to turn around to see who it was, no one in the ship walked that quiet except for one person.
"Hey Commander. Shame about the Captain, serves for god knows how long and then gets taken down by backroom politics…"
Shepard nodded silently next to her pilot, she didn't like it either but now they had their mission and they were going to get Saren and make him answer for what he did.
"It feels like I'm stealing the ship from him"
Joker just gave an understanding nod
"Well what is our next destination Commander?... or is that Captain now?"
Shepard gave a light chuckle, in truth she didn't know whatever she had just gotten promoted but since it wasn't mentioned she simply assumed she still held the rank of Commander.
"Just Commander. Take us about half an hour out of the Citadel, we need to meet up with someone and bring him aboard"
Joker grinned at the prospect of finally getting to leave the Citadel and get back to flying.
"Aye, Aye Commander. If there is anything you want to say to the crew now would be the time"
Shepard looked down at the console and tried to organize her thoughts, she really didn't know if there was anything she could say that would do any difference, when it came to inspirational speeches she was always better at listening to them then speaking them.
"This is Commander Shepard. We have our orders, hunt down Saren and stop him from finding the Conduit. This the biggest mission this vessel has ever undertaken and I expect all of you to be at the top of your game at all time, be ready to deploy at a moment's notice, that's all"
"Inspiring" Joker quipped from his non-leather seat
"Oh stow it Joker, you know I hate doing these things" Shepard fired back before turning to leave
"Yeah whatever…" Joker mused as he went back to flying and ensuring they didn't hit some random asteroid or something.
Shepard started making her way down towards the crew deck of the ship, she wanted to find Garrus and try to make him answer some more questions about Echo, he hadn't exactly been forthcoming the last time she tried to question him. As Shepard entered the crew deck she noticed the various off duty crew members who were either eating or simply talking with each other. She looked around for a few moments to see if she could spot Garrus somewhere in the crowd but he was absent from the canteen so she decided that she would check down in the hangar. The elevator ride down was not as slow as people would suspect it only took a good five seconds to reach the armory from the crew deck if you used the elevator, Shepard stepped out of the elevator and looked around the armory and still saw no sign of Garrus meaning he most likely was in the hangar. Making a line towards the doors that led into the hangar she gave a small nod to Wrex who was standing around by some crates, Shepard did wonder if he was going to move or actually do anything but stand there and look intimidating.
Entering the hangar Shepard saw her target and he was currently lying under the Mako with the occasional spark flying out from below the vehicle, she stepped up and tapped twice on the side of the Mako to let Garrus know she was there and not two seconds later did Garrus roll back out from below the Mako with a sultry look on his face, he didn't like getting interrupted when he was busy doing calibrations… well he didn't like getting interrupted at all.
"Shepard, need anything?"
Shepard put on a small grin and from Garrus perspective he saw something in her eyes that almost screamed "Gotcha"
"Yes I do, I need you to answer some questions about Echo"
Garrus winched at the statement, he really didn't wish to talk about him because he agreed to not talk to others about him, that and he was quite scared of the armored man.
"You know I can't, I won't violate his privacy like that"
This seemed to darken Shepard's features just a little before she perked back up and let out a sigh.
"Then at least answer me this, are you afraid of him?"
This brought a reaction from Garrus albeit a short one as his eyes for just a second betrayed how much he truly feared the man in question. Letting out a long sigh Garrus pulled himself up to a sitting position and leaned against one of the Mako's tires before glancing over at Shepard and gesturing for her to take a seat.
"I take it you noticed?"
Shepard slumped down next to Garrus leaning against the tire.
"You mean that feeling you get when you are around him? Like you are facing down a beast and one wrong move can cost you your life? Yeah I felt that when I first saw him"
Garrus laughed quite loudly at Shepards answer, Shepard couldn't see the humor on the other hand.
"Facing down a beast huh? I guess that is a good an analogy as anything else"
Garrus got lost in his own thoughts for a while, replaying the last time he felt like he did when he was first on the receiving end of Echo's "presence" if you will. It had been back in his early days serving the Turian military, his platoon was out doing a routine patrol along the borders of Council space when they got a distress signal from a nearby planet. The planet was a thriving jungle and was supposedly full of wild life; Garrus got to know that first hand not thirty minutes after making landfall. He had been walking by himself doing a small patrol round to ensure there weren't any beasts or anything in that regard around, luckily or at least so he thought he didn't find anything at least not right away. Turning around a rather thick tree Garrus found himself standing directly in front of one of the largest animals he had ever seen in his life, he didn't know what animal it was to him all he was seeing was the head that was at least the size of his torso and the fangs inside said mouth that looked like they would chew through his armor like it was tissue paper. This is where Garrus first encountered that sort of smothering presence that Echo released on occasion, facing down that beast Garrus had felt like he was staring straight at death itself and he couldn't move no matter how much he ordered his body to do so. When the beast itself looked up and stared at Garrus it didn't flinch or move or even seem concerned it simply put its head back down on the ground and went back to doing whatever it was doing before Garrus arrived.
Garrus left the area quickly and returned to his platoon; while he was making his way back to them he came to one startling realization, that beast could have pounced him and ripped him to pieces yet it looked more like it wasn't in the mood and simply chose to let Garrus leave. That day was forever marked in Garrus mind he never wanted to forget it or the feeling he got when he stared down that beast. In the years that followed his departure from the military and later joining of C-Sec Garrus Vakarian had only ever met two other beings that was capable of making him feel like that beast had done and now that list had increased by one. Coming back to the land of the conscious Garrus looked over at Shepard whom herself seemed deep in thought.
"So you expect him to be trouble?"
Shepard glanced over at Garrus and simply shook her head in refusal before turning her head and once more staring out into seemingly nothing.
"Not really, I am on the other hand concerned about that feeling we both felt, the others haven't mentioned it or showed any signs of having registered it at all and that worries me"
Garrus gave a small nod he had wondered the same thing himself, it didn't make sense that some people reacted to it and others didn't… well he did expect Wrex to have felt it and simply ignored it; the old Krogan seemed the type to do just that.
"Perhaps it is something you should take up with the man in question, I do believe he will answer the question better then both of us with our guessing"
Shepard gave a nod in acceptance of the fact that she really did have to ask Echo himself to get the information and he did have a conversation coming as soon as he lands.
"You're right… Get ready to clear the hangar when he arrives okay?"
Garrus just gave a nod before scooting to the side and sliding back under the Mako, as Shepard walked away she turned around and couldn't help but notice that Garrus had somehow placed himself in the exact same position as when she arrived… curious. As the doors made way for Shepard to once more reach the Armory she noticed a new arrival who was now in the process of cleaning her rifle and seemingly being completely unaware about her surroundings… well that wouldn't do now would it? One has to have constant vigilance or at least so Shepard thought as she was sneaking up on the unsuspecting Miss. Williams, after all how would she know that Shepard had a nasty habit of messing with the crew when they weren't focusing? Deciding to both give Williams a surprise and test whatever said individual was ticklish Shepard approached silently and promptly made two pointy fingers and planted them solidly into the sides of Ashley right below the ribs and her efforts was rewarded with a startling
"EEEEEEEEEEEP!"
Poor Ashley practically jumped a meter into the air as a result of Shepards amusing prank well… amusing to Shepard anyway as was evident by her current position on her knees holding her stomach while letting out a laugh that could have put The Joker to shame in sheer volume, but unlike said madman Shepard's laugh sounded genuinely warm and happy not for lack of ability to sound absolutely demented mind you. When Ashley finally got her breathing under control and Shepard had managed to pull herself to a standing position once more Ashley gave Shepard a glare ever so fierce mostly due to the fact that she was rather secretive about being super ticklish.
"What the hell was that for Skipper?!"
"You…haha… should have… haha… seen… haha your face!"
Shepard managed to get out through laughing fits and it was true, Ashley's face had been priceless and in future times Shepard might just try and make that face appear again if only for her own amusement. Ashley however was sporting a grown frown and was on the verge of exploding when Shepard got control of herself and held up her hands in surrender.
"Sorry Ashley, I just have a bad habit when I see someone who is so focused on something that hey completely loose sense of what is going on around them I tend to mess with them in some way, teaches them how to stay vigilant no matter where they are"
Ashley said a select few swear words before leveling a hard glare at her superior, hoping to burn a hole through her skull, sadly no such luck.
"I should be able to feel safe on the ship I serve on at least Shepard!"
Shepard took a step back and raised her hands in mock horror while producing a face that screamed "monster!" while staring at Ashley
"Blasphemy!"
Ashley's eyebrow slowly began jumping as Ashley developed a tick, she was really close to the edge now.
"But I guess I can lay off you for a while Williams, just be sure not to get caught too often or I might retract that statement"
Ashley just grumbled her reply and sat back down and continued cleaning her rifle, as Shepard was about to leave Ashley turned around remembering she actually had a question for the Commander.
"Wait a second Commander"
She got out of her chair and walked up next to Shepard.
"Something else Williams?"
"Yeah, I was wondering about that guy… Echo I think, we are on our way to pick him up aren't we?"
Shepard raised an eyebrow, she had expected someone to come asking about at some point she just hadn't expected it to be Williams of all people.
"Yes we are he should be aboard in a few hours"
Ashley gave a nod before looking slightly nervous about her question, mostly because she wasn't sure how the Commander would take it after all.
"This might come out wrong… but is he really human?"
Shepards eyes opened wide in surprise, that… was not the question she had expected to be honest. Glancing up and down Ashley she realized that she might have a slight problem should Echo prove to not be human, now he looked pale as a ghost but other than that he looked like most any other guy she had looked at, besides the fact he was perhaps slightly above average in looks.
"As best as I could tell when I saw his face, then yes he is human but that area is a little sketchy, according to himself and Garrus he is 354 years old"
Ashley's eyes almost popped out of their sockets when she heard his age 'That's ridiculous no way is he a human with that age!' was all that was running the Ashley's head until she finally managed to shake herself out of it and look into Shepards eyes, hoping to find a hint of a joke but to her disappointment she saw none.
"How is that even possible? And has he ever called himself Human?"
Shepard shook her head for a few seconds, Echo might have called himself human just not in front of her at any point she can remember.
"Then can we really trust him on the ship?"
Shepard gave a slight shrug before looking left and right with dwindling interest, when it came to her team starting to question her choices she usually lost interest unless she found merit to their worry.
"Garrus trusts him and if he wanted to kill us then I can assure you Williams, we would already be dead"
A small shiver went down Shepards spine as she spoke the words, somehow speaking the truth made it seem a lot more real that the man she was about to let on to her ship could kill all of them and she had a sneaky suspicion that he could do it without getting caught. Ashley didn't feel a shiver, nor did she feel any fear she actually thought that Shepard was simply overreacting or perhaps was pulling another joke, speaking of jokes perhaps she should try one on the Commander…
"Well that is… ominous. But besides that Commander since you have seen his face you should be able to answer me this question" Ashley got a playful smirk on her face and Shepard simply nodded with an impassive smile on her face "So is he hot or not?"
The impassive smile never left Shepards lips not because she didn't understand the joke Ashley was trying to make, but more because Ashley should have known you don't try to mess with your Commander.
"I couldn't tell you Williams, I wasn't really paying attention to his features as much as I was trying to decipher whatever or not his ship would pose me any threat"
Once more Ashley's eyes went wide, she really thought she had gotten Shepard with that one but it seems not, giving a small nod in return for the answer Shepard then turned around and headed towards the elevator and stepped inside pressing the button for the upper deck. Right before the doors closed Shepard stuck her head outside the elevator
"Above Average if you must know"
And with that she let the doors close leaving a surprised and slightly embarrassed Ashley Williams behind… there really was no beating the Commander at this.
With Echo. Before receiving Shepard's message.
Walking up to the only mirror inside his ship Marc takes in his appearance… he looked… young. Looking into his now deep blue eyes he tried to find something in those eyes, something he hoped was still in there… yet there was nothing. Gently placing his hand on his forehead Marc ran his long pale slender fingers through his hair ruffling it to put it back in its naturally wild state, the only thing that truly remained of who he used to be was that his hair was naturally wild and poking every direction it could manage. Discarding his clothing Marc took in his now 354 year old body and tried to rationalize that he now looked something akin to a healthy 30 year old and that his entire body was without scars, except for those select few scars that never seemed to heal right and they were all made by the same blade. Slumping down on the wall opposite to the mirror Marc just started staring off into nothing, it was as if coming to terms with his own death had healed an old wound deep inside him, he felt different… like he could finally allow himself to do something he hadn't done in the longest of time… live.
A small smile graced his lips, he knew that he couldn't change a personality that he had drilled into himself over hundreds of years but perhaps some things could finally change, perhaps he could even move on from her… yeah perhaps in another hundred or so years, closing his eyes Marc felt a drowsy feeling creep up on him. He was however not allowed to drift off as a rather loud noise brought him right back from the halfway point of sleep; a message had arrived for him. Giving an angry grunt Marc stood up and cracked his spine to loosen himself up before walking over and opening the message to reveal the coordinates to which he should be meeting Shepard.
"Eva start heading towards the coordinates in the message"
"Departing"
Sighing and sitting down in the pilots chair Marc brought his hand up and rubbed his tired eyes, his sleep cycle had been royally fucked up during his stay on the Citadel he really didn't handle new areas well and just couldn't sleep for more than a few hours before his body felt like it needed to be awake in case of an attack, despite the fact that no one knew of his location. Looking out the window Marc stared at the Citadel as it passed by on his way out into space, he would be back here again within two weeks he reckoned mostly because of the various things that Shepard usually has to either pick up or do whenever she gets there.
"Operator Echo?"
Glancing down at the little circle that pulsed green whenever Eva spoke Marc raised an eyebrow.
"Yes Eva? It's rare for you to address me"
There was a silence for a few seconds, like Eva was trying to find out what to say.
"It is indeed a rare occasion. I was curious as to what your plans are for when we arrive on this new ship"
Leaning all the way back in the seat Marc gave the slightest of shrugs.
"I plan on assisting Shepard in her mission to find and capture Saren"
"I see… Operator Echo, you sound like you have no doubts that she will succeed?"
Marc gave a weird little smirk, perhaps it wouldn't hurt to tell Eva about his past, it's not like she is going to tell anyone anyway.
"It's because I know she will. Tell me Eva do you know how I came to the Tenno?"
The little green orb turned a few times indicating that Eva was accessing the onboard codex.
"According to the mission report submitted by Rhino-204, you were discovered on a Grineer space station and subsequently rescued by Rhino-204, during said rescue you lost consciousness and was then brought aboard Rhino-204's ship where you remained unconscious until the return of Rhino-204 from his mission. You were then transported Tenno HQ where you later awoke"
Marc shook his head at the rather bland explanation of how he arrived, but it was all true none the less there was just one bit missing.
"The report didn't mention how I got on that space station did it?"
Silence fell once more over the ship as Eva was trying to access that information, after a few minutes of rigorous searching Eva eventually realized it was a futile endeavor.
"No… it does not"
Marc smiled at the memory of how he literally fell into the world of Warframe, today he would be more inclined to believe that his entire life back on earth was a lie and that he had only lived with Tenno, but he knew it wasn't true and he cherished the memories he held from his time on earth.
"Then perhaps you would like to know?"
"That would be most appreciated Operator Echo"
Eva's voice sounded almost… eager or anticipating to Marc's ears, but that couldn't be right could it?
"Well in all truth I am not perfectly sure myself, you see much like we were transported to this world through unknown means, I too was transported from my world into yours Eva through means unknown to me" A small chuckle escaped Marcs lips as he remembered one particular detail "I literally fell face first into your world and promptly passed out from the impact, when I awoke I found myself on that Grineer station where Arck found me"
Once more leaning back into his chair Marc smiled an unfamiliar smile, at least to him the smile that was currently on his lips was a smile that he had only seen on people like his grandparents back in his old world, it was that kind of smile that comes with the knowledge of age. Marc let out a loud snort at the thought, his wisdom was about as great as when he was still a child, he truly felt like he was still as immature as before perhaps simply better at hiding it.
"Thank you for sharing that with me Operator Echo. Now I have a question, if I may?"
Marc sat up and stared at the small green circle of light before giving a slight nod and a bit focus due to his now peaked curiosity.
"How are you holding up?"
The silence in the ship was almost deafening, Marc truly couldn't believe what he had just heard it actually sounded to him like Eva was genuinely concerned, but that couldn't be true now could it?
"What…?"
What was supposed to have sounded like a normal person asking a rather simple question it had instead turned into a sound that until then only should have come from the most mindless of beasts, Marc was angry… more so than he had been in a long while. It might seem excessive or even stupid to get angry at a VI but to Marc it made perfect sense, mostly because he knew just what Eva was capable of and to him it would not come as a surprise should she one day manage to develop herself into an AI.
"Care to repeat that Eva?"
There was a silence for about a minute or so before Eva finally found her voice again
"I believe it has been far too long since anyone asked you that question Operator Echo, so I will ask again. How are you holding up?"
All the anger that had been building up inside Echo deflated in an instant, the words spoken by Eva though not carrying any particular feeling of emotion still struck him somewhere deep inside and made him stop and just look down at the small turning green circle of light.
"Why do you ask Eva?"
His voice sounded deflated and even a little shaky as he looked with an empty gaze down at the little circle of light.
"Because Operator Echo…. I… care…."
Now Marc had been faced with horrifying images and terrible scenes, he had been told secrets that made his entire head spin, but that one sentence, those two words at the end did something that many have tried to accomplish before but always failed at, they made Marc speechless. Though Marc knew it within himself, after Sivra's death he had planted the idea in his head that no one else would ever care about him again… you see us humans we live to around 80-100 years give or take a few years, but Marc was changed and found himself with a life expectancy of a thousand years. Then he found love and a reason to live in those golden eyes of hers… and then he was there to witness when those golden irises lost their glow as he felt the life slowly leave his wife. That experience was more than his mind could handle and so the idea was planted in his mind, no one would ever care for him again and he was strangely okay with it at the time, but now he was facing the rather particular situation of having someone state that they did in fact care. People had done that in the past mind you, but whenever they did Marc had simply shook his head with a lost look in his eyes and walked away, couldn't do that now could he? He could of course just turn off Eva's voice module, but that little particular detail seemed to have slipped his mind somewhere in his anger.
"Operator E.."
"…Marc…" Marc let the name pass his lips in barely a whisper.
"I don't understand Operator Echo?"
A low chuckle escaped the now rather dazed looking hybrid.
"My name Eva, you have called me "Operator Echo" since we met and if you truly do care as you claim, then perhaps it was time you learned my actual name and not the nickname given to me by the Tenno?"
The small green circle seemed to spin slightly faster for few seconds before stopping completely.
"Marc… It is most unusual"
A small nod was all Marc gave in response, he felt a small sense of happiness in once more being addressed with his own name once again… since Sivra no one had dared to ever call out to him, well that is technically not true one poor idiot did walk up right behind him and patted his back calling his name and trying to give his condolences for what happened to Sivra, but as soon as the unsuspecting Tenno had even spoken Marc's name he had turned around and swung his fist, it impacted with the Tenno's shoulder and under the sheer pressure of such a hate fueled punch the bone in the poor Tenno's arm simply crumbled. After that no one called him by his name again it was always "Echo" since then.
"It is indeed, now perhaps you will answer a question of mine?"
The small circle didn't spin for more than a second before Eva's voice came out with a slight annoyed tone to it.
"You still haven't answered my question Ope… Marc"
Marc at least had the decency at the time to give a hearty chuckle, he had indeed tried to scoot around the rather uncomfortable question because it held so much more to it then could be covered in a short sitting and he would rather not arrive on the Normandy while he was in the middle of a therapy session with the onboard VI, lotus knows he seemed insane enough as is.
"For now Eva let's just say… I recently got better"
A cold hard few seconds passed for Marc while he was waiting for a reply
"Acceptable… we will return to this subject in the future. What is your question Marc?"
Marc lifted a quizzical eyebrow at Eva's very demanding tone when she basically ordered him talk about it again at a later date.
"I wanted to know how long it's been since you started your development into a fully self-sustaining AI?"
"27 Years, 5 months, 23 days, 2 hours and 34 minutes"
Marc's face faulted for half a second before he composed himself again, the reply was immediate and for some reason Marc suddenly felt his age a lot more than he had in the past, but as quickly as it came it passed again.
"I see… and how close would you estimate you are to achieving that?"
"If I have to put a number on it Marc, it would be around 75% at the highest and perhaps around 67% at the lowest"
Marc looked a little surprised at the number… actually more so at the fact that Eva had actually put a number on it rather than just telling him in some way, how does one put a percentage on becoming self-aware after all?
"I… see"
"Are you displeased with my change?"
Smiling warmly at the origin of the voice Marc gave a small laugh before responding.
"No, not at all. It will be nice to have someone to talk to about everything once you become capable that is"
"Agreed. I am yet not at capacity to properly understand some of your speech patterns and as such I would not be able to lead a conversation. I will look forward to our talks Marc"
To Marc that last bit sounded almost warm and with a slight bit of anticipation. A small alarm started making noise inside the cockpit announcing to Marc that they had arrived at their destination, looking out through the window Marc saw the Normandy for the first time and as he was starting over this magnificent ship he could only think one thing 'That is a LOT bigger than it looks in the games…'
"Eva, see if you can open up a com channel to the Normandy"
"Understood…"
First a few seconds passed, then a few minutes and before Marc knew it he had been waiting for ten minutes for someone to answer… he wasn't liking this.
"This is SSV Normandy Pilot "Joker" Responding to hail from unknown vessel, please identify yourself"
A very short and silent "finally" was grumbled from the old hybrid as he sat upright in his chair and turned on the com.
"This is Tenno Vessel 203-Alpha "Shadow" responding. I am to speak with Commander Shepard immediately"
"Please stand by…"
Rolling a few joints here and there Marc tried to loosen his body ever so slightly, it was getting rather stiff from the lack of activity over the past few months, he was sorely looking forward to some more frequent action then the small groups of mercs and bandits he dealt with in secret on the Citadel... 'That reminds me, the Consort still owes me for that favor I did her…' as Marcs thoughts slowly trailed over some of the less important events during his time on the Citadel he overheard a small voice
"Where is this guy's ship I've scanned the area six times now and still nothing!"
Sighing to himself Marc just remembered a particular quirk that Joker had, pressing down the com button he spoke up.
"To the pilot of the Normandy, you need to press the button again to turn the com off"
"Fuck…!"
A bit of scrambling was heard before the com finally shut off and all Marc could do was shake his head at the rather forgetful pilot and dread the fact that he would be relying on this man for the coming months to run them through a sun…
With Shepard aboard the Normandy
Shepard herself had barely entered what was now her quarters and sat down at her desk to do some work before the door swooshed open and a soldier stepped through, had the soldier himself actually listened closely enough he would have herd the low growl that escaped the irate Shepard.
"What?"
The soldier snapped to attention and gave a salute
"Ma'am your presence is needed on the bridge, we have been hailed by an unknown vessel and he requested to speak with you "
Shepard sighed while standing up and rubbing the tiredness from her eyes before giving a slow nod to the soldier who in turn walked out of her quarters. Gathering her thoughts for half a second Shepard then set out and walked towards the stairs leading up to the uppermost level. As she made her way up there she saw a rather concerned looking Kaidan standing and waiting for her, Shepard didn't bother to greet or acknowledge him he simply walked by and headed towards Joker, knowing that Kaidan would follow on his own.
"Commander I don't think it's a good idea to let that guy aboard"
Without missing a step or turning around Shepard replied.
"If I want your opinion Kaidan I will ask for it"
Kaidan winched at the hard tone Shepard was using he recognized it from other episodes, it was usually when someone had disturbed her right as she was about to either work on something important or she was about to take a nap, the fact that he was still drawing breath meant that luckily it wasn't her nap that was disturbed.
"But Shepa…"
"Lieutenant, shut it"
Kaidan gave a dejected sigh and stopped following Shepard, he knew that he couldn't lead a conversation with her when she was like this and he sure as hell couldn't win an argument. Shepard's mood had only soured after the short talk with Kaidan, she knew the guy had good intentions and even had a slight crush on her but she really couldn't care less. They had served together for a few years and she had indeed flirted with him on the battlefield a few times but later she had realized that he really wasn't her type of guy so she had simply stopped and hoped that he would get the message, if he didn't get it soon she would have to beat him over the head with it and it was going to be very painful…
Stepping up next to a now completely livid Joker Shepard gave a curious glance to her friend and pilot 'The hell is his problem?' tapping the pilot on the shoulder Joker immediately turned around and faced Shepard ready to verbally assault whoever was interrupting his hunt for their mystery man's ship, but when he saw Shepard his face almost turned whiney as he let out a frustrated sigh
"I can't do it Shepard! I can't find that bloody bastards ship and I have scanned for it, TEN TIMES NOW!"
Shepard allowed herself a small snicker, not many people could get Joker riled up like this usually because to do that would mean you either managed to pull a prank on him which was not that easy, or you somehow came up with a comeback to one of his snarky comments that left said pilot speechless, Joker was never speechless. There was of course also two other small things that would allow you to get Joker on the edge of his none-leather seat, you either questioned his ability as a pilot or you found something his beloved ship couldn't do and mocked him with it. In this case it would seem Joker's beloved Normandy couldn't pick up Echo's ship on its scanner and after apparently ten attempts at doing said feat it did indeed seem like Echo was taunting the poor Joker.
"As much as I would love to listen to you cry over this, I was called here because someone contacted us?"
Joker put on a look of mock anger when Shepard stated that she wasn't here to listen to him cry and then promptly opened the com to Echo's ship again.
"This is SSV Normandy please respond"
"Took your time didn't you Shepard?"
Shepard cracked an eyebrow at Echo's rather bold statement but she really didn't expect anything less of the man at this point.
"Be that as it may. Are you ready to come aboard?"
"Just tell whatever crew is in the hangar to get out and open the hatch"
Shepard didn't bother to reply she simply closed the com and opened a new one down to the hangar.
"Hey Garrus?"
A few seconds passed, then a minute passed and when two minutes had passed there was now three very irritated people involved in this whole nonsense, Shepard was developing a tick mark from Garrus not responding, Joker was still trying to locate the other ship and Marc's very short patience was running out.
"Garrus get your ass out of the hangar or I swear you will not be allowed to touch the Mako for. A. MONTH!"
The sound of someone gathering tools and tumbling around was making its way over the com letting Shepard know that Garrus had gotten his ass in gear, after another painful minute Shepard finally got an answer.
"I'm in the armory Shepard, what the hell is this about?"
Grumbling something into the com Shepard shut it off and ordered Joker to seal the hangar and open the hangar doors. The process was a little slow given that the hatches were programmed to open quite slowly if they were in space but after another grueling minute the doors were fully opened and Shepard could finally open the com to Echo again.
"Doors are open, I'll meet you down there"
"Understood"
Shutting off the com and looking out the window Shepard and Joker both saw Echo's ship come out of cloak right in front of the Normandy, Shepard wasn't that surprised given she already knew the ship had a stealth drive, Joker however was completely speechless a thing Shepard was highly appreciative of right now. Patting her pilot on the shoulder she gave him a sly smile as he finally found his voice again.
"Invisible… it was invisible…. But my scanner… invisible...?"
Holding back the grin Shepard started on her way down towards the hangar and the rather long overdue conversation she needed to have with Echo. Stepping into the elevator and pressing the button for the Armory she stood patiently waiting for the (painfully) slow elevator to finally reach its destination, when it finally did arrive Shepard barely managed to step outside before she had an alert popping up on her omni-tool.
"Shepard something is trying to hack into our systems!"
Shepard's eyes flew wide open as she stared towards the closed doors leading to the hangar bay.
"Where is it coming from?!"
"I don't know we are still trying to pin point the origin, but my best guess is that we can blame our newest arrival!"
Shutting of her omni-tool Shepard let out a very dangerous growl, she expected Echo to be trouble from the moment she met him, but hacking into their ship before you even stepped aboard that is going way too far! Walking up to the hangar doors Shepard start tapping her feet while waiting for the room the pressurize once again, when the door finally switched from red to green Shepard storms through with fury in her eyes it was a good thing that Echo's ship was still closed because if it hadn't odds are that Shepard might just have walked in there and killed him.
Echo himself was standing just inside the ship waiting for the scan of the outside to finish so he knew that it was safe enough to open the door and not get sucked out into space, he did however not know of the little bit of information gathering that Eva was currently doing so when the doors to his ship finally opened up the first thing he was met with was a completely livid looking Shepard.
"Just what in the hell do you think you are playing at!?"
Echo suddenly felt an overwhelming urge to just close the door again and ignore the fact that Shepard would be yelling at him until she was blue in the face.
"Elaborate"
Came the almost dead reply which made Shepard almost jump down Echo's throat, but rather than risking fighting someone she was well aware could turn her inside out without blinking she "chose" to be diplomatic about it.
"Someone is currently attempting to hack into our ships database"
This got the smallest of reactions from Echo as he realized what was going on. Turning around Echo stepped into his ship once more gesturing for Shepard to follow him, when Echo was sure Shepard was inside he closed the door and sealed it again before turning to Shepard with a stern look on his face.
"What is said inside this ship will not leave it, am I clear?" After a reluctant nod from Shepard Echo continued "Good" Turning around to face Eva's little green circle Echo used a slightly softer voice "Eva, get out of the Normandy's system and only access it again if given permission from Commander Shepard"
Shepard took a small step to the side so she could see just who or what Echo was speaking too and was quite surprised when she saw the little spinning green circle of light that seemed to pulse for a few seconds after Echo had spoken.
"Understood Ma… Operator Echo"
With his back to Shepard Echo allowed himself a small smile at Eva's obvious attempt at hiding his real name from the Commander.
"It's alright Eva, plenty of secrets will be shared in the coming period and my name certainly is one of the smaller ones"
"Do you wish for me to go offline until your conversation with Commander Shepard is finished?"
"That would probably be best"
"Understood. Going Offline."
The small green circle then started to spin faster and faster while growing smaller and smaller until it gave a small *pling* and disappeared completely indicating that Eva had gone offline for now. Sitting down in his pilot seat Marc gestured for Shepard to take the seat near the wall which was the designated passenger seat, at least that was its original intended use but during Marc's owner ship of the Shadow it had been degraded to an extra shelf. Shepard did also attempt to take a seat only to stop and stare at the rather odd looking gun currently occupying the seat, it looked like a heavily modified gun although a little bigger than your average pistol with the magazine sticking out of the top of the back of the gun with what looked like fairly heavy caliber shells, Shepard tried to reach out for the gun but as soon as she moved her hand towards the firearm it disappeared from sight. Following the swift movement that had removed the gun Shepard looked up at Marc who was giving her an impassive stare.
"The Angstrum is not your average gun Shepard I wouldn't recommend touching it before knowing what it does"
Shepard just raised a questioning eyebrow and gave a wave with her hand in an "explain" gesture, in a low sigh Marc complied.
"The Angstrum is a heavy pistol of Corpus design that fires tiny but powerful rockets. Its charge-based trigger allows for firing precise single shots, or emptying the entire magazine as a spread barrage for engaging single heavy targets or large groups"
Shepard was eyeing the Angstrum up and down and Marc as quite sure he saw some saliva building in the corner of her mouth.
"Not to be used without training"
Shepards face fell completely and she got the most dejected look in her eyes like someone had just denied her the biggest joy in the world, Marc didn't really care he simply walked over to his weapons locker and put the Angstrum back where it belonged. When the rather destructive (and one of Marc's personal favorites though he wasn't going to tell anyone that) weapon was put away he turned to Shepard and once more gestured to the chair as he himself resumed his position in the pilots chair. Shepard herself had barely sat back down before she tried to ask the first question only to be interrupted before she even got to ask.
"Before you start with your questions how about we introduce ourselves?"
Shepard looked at Marc with a confused stare, indeed the man had asked that they be civil back when they first met and he wouldn't answer any question back then before they had shaken hands anyway so she gave a court nod and this time it was her that put her hand forward first.
"Commander Sarah Shepard"
Be it just for a second but Shepard could have sworn she saw something flash across Echo's eyes when she spoke her name but a second later he put his hand forward and shook hers.
"Marc is my real name and in public you can call me Echo"
Shepard got a questioning look in her eyes that Marc recognized it was probably because he hadn't stated his last name.
"If you are not going to give me your full name Sarah then I am certainly not going to give you mine either"
Sarah's eyes shot wide open at the implication that he knew her middle name she really did her best to hide that one piece of information, she was incredibly embarrassed over the name because she didn't think it fit with her other two names but her mother had insisted that she took both her parents' names.
"Montez…"
It was barely more than a whisper but Marc's sensitive hearing caught it anyway and gave a small smile and a nod in response.
"Sarah Montez Shepard it's a good name, you should be proud of it. My name would then be Marc *********"
For the second time today Marc seemed to stop inside his own mind, he hadn't used his birth name for so many years that he didn't think he could still say it without messing it up somehow, yet he had said it the exact same way as if he had never stopped speaking his native language something Shepard caught on to as well.
"Marc *********… interesting name but what's with the accent?"
That one sentence sparked something inside Marc, something that had been lying dormant for almost two hundred years… but as quickly as the spark had shone light in Marc's otherwise darkened demeanor it lost its shine as Marc schooled his features back to where they belonged.
"I am 354 years old She.."
"Sarah, when we are in private you can just call me Sarah"
Marc simply shook his head
"I am 354 years old Shepard so wouldn't it stand to reason I was born in a specific country and as such held the accent that accompanied said country's language?"
Marc didn't miss the annoyed look on Shepards face when he used her last name instead of her first name as requested, but Marc didn't use people's first names that often he didn't mind using Garrus name but that had more to do with how much Garrus disliked being called "Mr. Vakarian" though "Vakarian" might be passable if used at the right time.
"I suppose but if you really are 354 years old that would mean you were born in 1829, so what country were you born in back then that allowed you to have that accent?"
This abruptly brought Marc's attention completely onto Shepard because now he would be sharing one of the biggest secrets he would ever share with anyone, Marc let a small sigh escape from him before he started to speak.
"This next part Shepard is one of my best kept secrets and I am putting a lot of unearned trust in you by telling you this" Shepard too turned completely serious as soon as she heard those words and understood just how important this was to him "I have been with my people The Tenno for 333 years and have not been back to earth since" If Shepard had looked shocked in the past over something it certainly couldn't compare to the expression currently on her face, how in the hell could that be true? "My native language would be Danish as I was born in Denmark but what you must understand Shepard and I promise I will explain this in the future perhaps once you truly have earned my trust, but I was born in 1993 and departed from our world in 2013 and for everyone else it might only have been 170 years but 333 years have passed for me"
Shepard was speechless; she truly didn't know how to respond to this how would anyone know how to respond to this?! She was constantly staring back and forth between Marc and the door, thinking about running as far as she could from this so she wouldn't have to even think of the ramification of what she had just heard, if any part of what Marc just said was true then he was the biggest unknown besides the Reapers Shepard had ever encountered and yet Marc seemed to know more about the Reapers then she did as well…
"Where… Where have you been in all that time and what is the Tenno?"
Two simple yet loaded questions but they were all Shepard could currently come up with her mind was drawing up blanks on everything else; this was almost too much for her! Marc leaned back in his chair and observed Shepard for a second she seemed to be trying to make head or tails of everything he just told her, in the beginning Marc didn't plan to tell Shepard anything but after meeting her and a bit of contemplation with himself he made up his mind to be honest about most things from the start, he needed Shepard to trust him for anything to work.
"As per where I was, let's just say I was somewhere the Mass Relays doesn't reach. The Tenno on the other hand… there is much I can't tell you about my people but understand this from the start I am different from them, I am half human and half Tenno" This seemed to focus Shepard for a few seconds as she raised her head to give a questioning glance to Marc "Shortly after my encounter with the Tenno I was in an accident that left me at death's door and the only way they could save me was by manipulating my DNA to match theirs that ensured their medicine would work on me as well"
It was a lie born of the truth but he truly couldn't tell Shepard that he had come to the Warframe Dimension from a completely third dimension and was now here in hers. Shepard in turn of the information gave a small nod and waited for Marc to continue he did so with a heavy sigh that to Shepard seemed to age the man even further.
"The Tenno are an ancient order of warriors… we use specially crafted armors called "Warframes" in combat, these Warframes allow one Tenno to easily count for a small army on their own and this is what allows us to take out entire space stations on our own and some of us…" Shepard didn't miss the way Marc's features darkened "To wipe out entire colonies on our own"
That last bit was said with such venom in his voice that Shepard was left with only the idea that one of his kind had done just that and perhaps Marc simply didn't approve of it.
"We use a broad array of weapons next to our Warframes, the Angstrum being one of them. Beyond that there is nothing more I can or will tell you about the Tenno for now"
Shepard gave an appreciative nod for the answer and went back to thinking about her next question while Marc was silently reliving one of the worst moments of his life. To Marc the screams of men and women was a normal thing, he had probably reached numbers that bordered on genocide with his current body count so screams where nothing new to him at least the screams of adults was nothing new… but the screams of those children in that settlement still haunted Marc even now 72 years, 2 months and 6 days later he could still hear those screams when he closed his eyes.
"You seem to know a lot about the Reapers, where did you learn it?"
This brought Marc's focus back on Shepard and back out of the pit his mind had created. The question was once again quite simple yet so loaded that it was almost ridiculous.
"My knowledge of the reapers extend quite far, but where I learned this information I sadly cannot share with you yet Shepard, perhaps one day… but not today"
Shepard gave a small nod.
"I see… I actually have more questions but I need to sit on this for a while so can we return to this conversation later perhaps?"
For the first time since Shepard had first met Marc she saw him give a small but genuine smile as he nodded.
"That would be acceptable"
Shepard gave a small smile before standing up and stretching causing a few popping sounds to come from some of her more closed joints.
"Damn I need a drink"
Marc looked a little thoughtful for a second before he stood up and walked over to one of the corners of the ship and opened the smallest of compartments and pulled out a bottle and two glasses before stepping over to Shepard and handing her one of the glasses and then opening the bottle by flicking off the cork with his thumb.
"You drink?"
Marc looked up at Shepard with a bit of amusement in his eyes before pouring her a bit of the now visibly completely black liquor and then pouring half a glass for himself.
"On occasion when I really need it. You might want to take a small sip first; it takes a lot for me to get drunk so it's quite strong, stronger then Ryncol from what I have tasted"
Shepard looked with a little hesitant at the glass but eventually decided to take a small sip, as soon as the black liquor hit her tongue she tasted something sweet but she couldn't quite place it, she let it swirl in her mouth for a second to see if she could figure out what it was but eventually settled for just swallowing the tasty drink, only to start coughing like her lungs had imploded because once the drink had gone down her throat it suddenly turned heavy and sour in taste. When she could finally stand back up she gave a very glance to her glass and placed it on the little table that was next to her chair and turning around only to see Marc gulp down the entire glass without showing any kind of reaction.
"How can you drink that and still stand?"
Marc just gave something that looked like an evil grin.
"It takes a lot for me to get drunk Shepard, if my guess is correct it would take around four or five bottles of Ryncol before I could be considered "drunk""
Shepard just gave a snort as Marc picked the cork up from the floor and sealed the bottle before going over and emptying the rest of Shepard's glass and then placing both glasses and the bottle back in the small compartment. He then stepped over and sat down in his chair and turned around and pressed a few buttons unlocking the door to his ship allowing Shepard to leave. Before moving towards the door Shepard gave a casual but quite telling look towards the locker where Marc had placed the Angstrum, she really wanted to see what other interesting weapons Marc had in there. Marc of course noticed the very hungry look that developed on Shepards face as she was thinking about what sort of interesting weaponry he might have and gave a low chuckle which caused Shepard to stare at him, he then gave a small wave towards the locker and a nod of approval to which Shepard's face lit up as bright as the sun as she horridly made her way over to the locker and practically ripped the doors open.
Shepard thought she had died and gone to heaven when she looked around the tightly packed locker, no matter where she looked there was a weapon she had never seen before and all of them looked capable of inflicting extreme pain to a person or massive damage to the surrounding area. When her gaze fell on the giant sword hanging across the back of the locker she almost started shaking at the thought of just how much damage she could do with that thing, she immediately turned to Marc
"That huge sword in the back could I give it a try?"
Marc stepped up next to Shepard and looked at the Galantine hanging at the back of the locker before staring down at the, in comparison to Galantine, small Shepard.
"Shepard if you can lift it, I'll let you have it"
Marc of course knew that Shepard couldn't lift the 250kg heavy blade without some sort of strength enhancement like the ones installed in the Warframes. Shepard didn't know this, so when she reached for Galantine and placed her hand around the grip and started to lift she was surprised when the weapon didn't move no matter how much strength she used to lift the bloody thing, after a minute of trying to lift Galantine she finally gave up and gave a huff.
"What the hell is that sword made of?! It weighs a ton!"
Marc simply reached into the locker and pulled out Galantine and stood with it in front of a now gaping Shepard.
"Quarter a ton Shepard, and it's made from a rare metal that probably doesn't exist anymore"
Shepard was still gaping at the display of strength, Marc seemed to be lifting the giant sword without any problem what so ever of course Shepard didn't know and Marc didn't let it show that it took every bit of muscle on his body to lift Galantine without his Warframe on so he quickly placed Galantine back in the locker. Shepard however had eyed herself another weapon she would like to try, it was still a sword this was just quite a bit smaller and shaped like a katana rather than a great-sword. She moved to pick up the blade which was standing next to the pilots chair only to have her wrist caught and almost crushed by a slightly annoyed Echo.
"Don't ever touch my Nikana without my permission"
The words were firm and demanding, yet gentle and soothing at the same time. The words Marc had spoken many times in the past, he treasured his Nikana above every other weapon he had, not for its usefulness or strength though both were present, this particular Nikana was unique because Sivra had given it to him on the day she died it was her last present to him and as such he was quite adamant about who would ever lay hands on it. Shepard herself was surprised by the tone used it was rare to hear a statement sound both warning and soothing at the same time but she attributed that to the fact that the sword must hold some special meaning to Marc.
"Then could I give it a try? It looks a lot lighter than the other one"
Marc just shook his head before picking up the Nikana and placing it on his hip where, according to him, it belonged.
"Sorry Shepard but I don't let just anyone touch my Nikana much less try and train with it"
And that was when it happened, Shepard bent forward just a little bit and tilted her head upwards and that was when Echo Grand Master of the Tenno Order, the Bloody Echo and perhaps the oldest living human (sort of) to ever exist, was staring into a pair of the biggest puppy dog eyes he had ever seen. 'Where the hell did that come from?' was about all that ran through Marc's mind as he glanced down at the supposed Savior of the Citadel and potential destroyer of the Reapers Commander Sarah Montez Shepard. Now puppy dog eyes never did affect Marc as he eventually grew used to the ones his Wife would send his way, but there was something about staring down at this person whom you thought you at least knew slightly only to find that they can and will pull a stunt like this. Eventually Marc just gave up and realized that it wouldn't matter how many times he said no, Shepard would undoubtedly just say "okay" and then ask her the next time they were alone… with a long sigh Marc removed his Nikana and handed it towards Shepard.
"Here, if only so you will not pester me again in the future"
Shepard was almost bouncing up and down on the spot as she took the surprisingly heavy katana in her hands and started walking out of the ship. After witnessing this Echo silently thought to himself that he should just throw everything he thought he knew about Shepard out the window because the woman was clearly suffering from some sort of mental defect to make her shift between personalities like this!
Once outside the ship Echo looked on as Shepard pulled the Nikana from its sheath and took what in Marc's mind was a bastardization of a proper stance but kept his mouth shot since he didn't really want to give her points over something she most likely never would get to do again. As Marc watched on he however slowly started retracting that statement, Shepard wasn't perfect but her form, however insulting it was to someone who mastered the Nikana, was still quite good it allowed for fluid motion as well as plenty of room for eventual dodges or the occasional parry that the Nikana practitioners would rather not use. After another few minutes Marc once more witnessed something that raised his interest, Shepard for a brief moment however random it might have been, before striking again took the traditional Tranquil Cleave stance. Eventually Shepard slowed down and stopped her seemingly random swinging of the blade so Marc made his way down to her and took the blade that Shepard had put forward in waiting for him to arrive.
"Your form… while sloppy held some promise… if you wish I can teach how to properly wield the Nikana"
Shepard eyes almost popped out of her head, she couldn't believe it he had been so protective of the blade and now he was willing to teach her how to use it?! That however opened up a new problem in Shepard's mind, one she didn't mind voicing.
"I appreciate the offer, but it wouldn't be much use since you are quite attached to the blade and will be using it on missions with us so I won't be putting that practice to use anyway"
Marc blinked a few times while looking between Shepard and the Nikana, a small idea forming in his mind. He could forge her a blade, it wouldn't be as strong or sharp as the Nikana due to the rare material his Nikana was made out of and the fact that the metal didn't exist in this dimension didn't help all that much either, but perhaps he could find a suitable replacement here in the Mass Effect dimension there was after all a lot of different rare metals to be found in the games one of them should be able to do the trick hopefully.
"It is within my capabilities to forge a blade for you with the tools and machines available in my ships small engineering compartment, thought gathering the correct materials will take time and the produced blade will not be as strong as the Nikana itself"
Shepard found it quite surprising that Marc was apparently capable of crafting swords as well, his mystery simply grew with each passing moment, but the offer of being taught how to wield a katana like that and getting her own was too good to pass up.
"Then I guess I will accept"
Marc gave a court nod before running over some of the materials he would need to make the blade. Shepard had a thought pop into her head as she headed over towards the coms, intending to inform Joker of their next destination. Marc's thoughts had, in the time it took Shepard to call up both Joker and order the team to assemble for briefing, gone towards completely other things but materials. Curiously enough he had started out thinking about materials when he had come to think of the Reapers and what they were actually made off, this however brought on another thought… a thought he intended to act on as soon as possible. However before he could make a move towards his ship Shepard stepped in front of him.
"Let's get up to the briefing room, I need to inform everyone of our next move"
Marc gave a minor nod before responding.
"Go ahead of me, I need to do something first"
Shepard gave her own nod in return and started walking off towards the elevator. As Shepard made her way towards the elevator Marc turned around and stepped back inside his ship and sat down in his pilot seat with a thoughtful expression on his face… 'This could potentially become extremely dangerous… but I need them…'
"You seem bothered Marc, what is it?"
Marc didn't respond he simply brought forth a specific memory and turned and faced Eva's little green light.
"Eva I need you to send out a signal with a message, use every network you can to make the message reach, but only do so if you can do it undetected"
"Understood. Location?"
Marc's features steeled as his eyes for a second flared with anger.
"Milky Way Galaxy, Sigurd's Cradle Cluster, Psi Tophet System, Planet 2181 Desponia"
A/N: I know, I know I'm late! My exams have been filling up my schedule and general laziness seemed to dictate my every move for a few weeks. But here is the next chapter regardless, I will also say here that I will no longer be placing Author Notes at the top of the chapters as some of you might wish to simply read the chapter and not read the notes my demented mind has conjured up. So yeah, Marc is on the Normandy and to those of you who know what is on the mentioned planet, good for you, the rest of you can go look it up on the Wiki if you really want to know now and can't wait until it shows up again.
As is quite visible in the chapter I have once more conducted one of my experiments, this time I decided to do a whole chapter in third person. Do tell if you liked it better or perhaps would like a mix of First/Third person.
That's all for now, see ya all around.