Akuze - 6 Years prior to the Battle of the Citadel
Corporal Shepard looked down the main road of Akuze, any signs of life evading her. They had been here all day searching for clues: datapads, recordings, bullet holes, anything that could tell them where in the world an entire colony could be. Her entire marine unit, 50 people for crying out loud, had been pacing up and down silent roads, investigating building after building, and ultimately the entire colony, every by-way and alley was completely and totally silent for all except the sound of their boots trudging through. There were no bullet holes, scorches, track marks or anything else to suggest a struggle. Every marine on the ground was feeling the same ever present feeling of melancholy and unease. It was their first operation that wasn't just point and shoot, so everyone was feeling jumpy as all hell. Shepard jumped when her omni-tool's comms flared up, the orange glow catching her off-guard.
"Shepard, this is base, get your ass back to camp, we're calling off the search until tomorrow. It's too dark to be of any use anymore."
"Copy that, Shepard out." She hadn't noticed the skies darkening in her thinking, shocked at the beauty of her surroundings. She grew up in New York, and the light pollution of that sprawling metropolis hadn't let her and the rest of the city gaze up at the stars too often. The ever present threat of growing up on the streets didn't help either, but that part of her life was past her. Either way, the way she could look up and see the stars pierce through the clouds was beautiful.
When she got back to camp, she reported back to her commanding officer. After that, she had been told to report to the designated Medical Officer due to a leg injury (she fell down a flight of stairs after being mid-trip in what her squad was already referring to as 'The Shepard Shuffle'). She didn't mind though, she was going there anyway to see her boyfriend, Doctor Adam Kane. That British bastard is never going to let me live this down, I know it, she thought.
]I[
The man was laughing his arse off as he stitched up the small gash on Shepard's leg, being careful to not miss his intended target.
"The Shepard Shuffle!" Said Adam, twirling his legs around his chair and wiping a tear from his eye. Shepard mock-scowled.
"It wasn't that funny," Shepard tried to convince him, unable to conceal a laugh of her own, "I could have been seriously hurt! That flight of stairs was a doozy, y'know?"
"Yet here you are, talking to me while trying not to pull your own stitches laughing at it."
"Well... how could I be mad at that face?" Shepard rose from her bed and tried to steal a kiss.
"No, not now, medical stuff first. Anyway, guess what?"
"What?" Shepard said, looking genuinely peeved at Adam's sudden movement.
"We need to stop off at Arcturus for supplies, so we might be getting some shore leave soon." Upon hearing this, Shepard leapt up, much to Adam's displeasure, and pumped her fist in celebration. Adam couldn't help but smile. They both talked for a while, about what they should do on leave, Adam noting that there was little to do on Arcturus except eat, sleep, shoot or some combination of the three. They kept this up until Adam was asked to come and help another soldier, and they parted ways, each going to bed on opposite ends of the camp; Shepard with her fellow ground-pounders, and Doctor Adam Kane with the officers.
]I[
Shepard awoke to the blaring alarm cutting across the camp, and the sound of shifting earth. She bolted out of her bed and joined her squad at the armor lockers. "What the hell is going on?" She asked, other troops in the room sharing her looks of confusion.
"No clue, but whatever it is, we're gonna shoot it til it stops." Replied Toombs, bravado lacing his voice.
They all got suited and booted in record time (pressure has a way of doing that, Shepard thought), and exited the barracks in uniform fashion.
Nothing could've prepared them for what they saw. A giant worm was carving up the camp like it was paper, wrenching trucks off the ground and melting anything it couldn't grab before tunneling back into the scorched earth. Shepard stood frozen, only being broken out of it by her CO, barking out orders to her and her squad. She gripped her assault rifle harder, and ran alongside her squad to the center of the camp. The beast, named a Thresher Maw, she was told by one of the more experienced members of her squad, was ripping the place apart in a frenzy of destruction. They peppered it with ineffectual rounds after rounds, occasionally firing a grenade at the beast's segmented hide. Nothing worked.
After a while, the officers declared the fight useless and started to evacuate. The squad was no longer fighting to bring down the Maw, but to give everyone else a chance of getting away. The fight had moved to the medical area, where some doctors were still trying to help the wounded from missing limbs or acid burns. Shepard hoped to God that Adam had already got on the first shuttle out of there, but she knew he'd still be in the medical tent. It was down to her and Toombs, and there was only one more shuttle to evacuate in. Shepard wove in and out of cover, dodging acid and tendrils smashing next to her, firing occasional rounds at the beast. She heard a cry of pain, and she turned to see Toombs on the ground, acid covering his torso and eating away at his armor, a look of terror etched on his face. She knew Toombs was done for, so she had to focus on getting Adam, his patients and herself off this godforsaken world. She turned around and started crossing the camp to get to the medical tent, when she heard the noise of shifting earth, a noise that was now etched into her mind. She hoped that marked the end, that it had left, deeming the remaining survivors not worth the effort.
Shepard's hopes were dashed and her heart was crushed when she arrived at the medical tent to see it in tatters, two corpses in pieces strewn about the area, a large hole in the center, damning evidence that whoever were within the tent were done for. It took her seconds to find Adam's body, and even less time for her to break down and just kneel over it, silently sobbing while the camp burned.
]I[
Normandy SR2 - Sol System - Lowell Spacedocks
Shepard broke out of her daze with a start. She hated thinking of that dark time. She thought she had moved past it, and she had, but recently, with everyone on the crew thinking about what unfinished business they had, the memories had come back with a vengeance. Seeing the Dead Man placed on the medical table, Doctor Chakwas going over them with the finest and most accurate of movements, hadn't helped. For some reason, she felt very strongly about him pulling through. She was still lost in thought when the Dr. Chakwas called her over.
"What can I do for you doc?" Shepard said, genuinely wanting to help.
"Well, you can pinch me, for a start." Replied Chakwas, an acerbic edge to her voice.
"What's wrong? Is he okay?"
"Well, I'm just not sure, does this look okay to you?" She handed a data pad over to Shepard, showing the X-ray of anyone on the table. It showed the skeleton of the Dead Man.
"Oh my god, he has a skeleton. Hold the presses, this is unheard of!" Shepard exclaimed, mock-enthusiasm filling her words.
"No, that's not the disturbing part," Chakwas said, no playfulness in her voice. That's odd, Shepard thought, Chakwas normally plays along with my witticisms. "The lack of anything but a skeleton is the bit I'm perplexed by." Shepard was shocked, doing a double take between the X-ray and the body lying on the table. Before Chakwas could intervene, Shepard tore off The Dead Man's chest piece to expose a gray colored rib-cage, with lights lining the central pillar of bone, and various mechanical parts placed inside the chest cavity. Shepard and Chakwas gasped when they saw a small mass effect core in the place of the heart. What was most surprising was that it seemed to be a smaller version of the Tantalus Drive Core MkII, currently used in the very ship they were on, and one of the closest secrets that Cerberus held to their chest.
Shepard, taking advantage of Chakwas' relatively stunned state, took a gamble and gave the core a small jolt of electricity. Chakwas quickly turned to the Commander with a look of horrified surprise. She launched into a veritable tirade of complaints. "What the bloody hell do you think you are doing? This could be very delicate machinery, and you just shocked it with your omni-tool! I could've gotten Daniels, or even Donnelly up here, but nooo! Shepard just had to zap it to see what happens! Christ!" Shepard couldn't help but laugh, angering the doctor even more.
Neither of them saw The Dead Man get up.
"Excuse me, but could I ask who undressed me?" He said pointing towards his torso, that same British voice asking, less of an indignant demand, but amused curiosity. His chest was lit up, with his mass effect core pulsing with Element Zero. Chakwas and Shepard span around to see him grabbing a shirt out of the bag on his armor and buttoning it up, looking non-plussed about the whole affair whilst the two women had differing reactions. Chakwas was looking tired and shocked at the same time somehow, and then paced out of the room muttering something about how now she had seen everything. Shepard on the other hand had the biggest grin on her face, seeing the Dead Man up and walking.
"That would be me. Mind if we had a chat, Dead Man?" She said, offering a chair.
"Of course, Commander. By the way, you wouldn't have a spare pair of trousers, anywhere would you?" Shepard laughed and grabbed a spare pair of uniform trousers out of a nearby cabinet. Simultaneously, both had the same thought.
This should be interesting.
]I[
So, we get a bit of backstory for Shepard, and the Dead Man is revealed! Leave any feedback you may have with a review and be sure to follow to be notified of any new developments, but until next time...
PunchyMcNutkick, OUT!