zealot24: Thanks! Going to be a sad day if it ever does. Daydreaming while I'm listening to music is my favorite thing to do while I'm driving. Actually that's how I came up with that chapter funnily enough.
The Wandering Reader: Glad to have you! I imagined waking up like that would have been a great deal more chaotic then how it's depicted in the game. Especially since Kraven is his own grouchy brand of complete crazy lol
Guest: Thanks very much! :)
A/N: Got this one out in a reasonable amount of time for once. Hope everyone gets a kick out of some of the off color humor in this one ;P
*SKY ABOVE HUMAN COLONY - FREEDOM'S PROGRESS*
'Would it really be so hard to just kill them, and take their ship?' Kraven Shepard thought to himself for the hundredth time as he eyed the two cutthroats seated across from him. Awkward silence hung heavily in the shuttle's cargo compartment as visions of a daring escape played through what he hoped was still his own mind. The venomous brunette called Miranda stared nonchalantly out the virtual window interface to her right while her counterpart, Jacob, did his best not to notice the unnerving stare from the Commander. Truth be told Shepard somewhat relished the discomfort he was causing the pair. It wasn't every day that one could be utterly obliterated in a space battle only to be brought back from the gates of Hades two years later. After a quick look in the mirror at the angry scars lining his face he'd decided he made for a downright menacing zombie.
And yet he was still not even sure that what he was experiencing was actually real. The story he'd been told of his unnatural resurrection had seemed so utterly ridiculous that he would have laughed it off as a fairy tale had it not happened to him personally. So there he was in a den of vipers being told that the Alliance, which he'd gladly devoted his life to serve, had swept his legacy under the rug almost immediately after his death. No doubt at the behest of the waste of space Citadel Council.
'Should've let em burn.' He thought bitterly remembering the choice he'd been forced to make at the eleventh hour battling Saren. 'As if the Geth would have the tech to make a monster like Sovereign on their own. Damn fools.'
He wouldn't have believed his beloved Alliance had turned it's back on him if he hadn't been shown the news reports from his two year nap. Then as if to rub lemon flavored sand in his eyes he learned that entire Human colonies had been going missing while the Alliance sat back and did nothing. As if all of that wasn't bad enough he was forced to hear all of this uplifting news, and owed his current undead status to a known terrorist organization, Cerberus. The same Cerberus that he'd had numerous encounters with during his game of hide and seek with Saren. Finally, the metaphorical piss in his cereal, was that the bumbling idiots of this organization had gotten their shit together during his absence and were now the only people in the galaxy doing anything about the missing colonists.
And so after being tranq'd and shipped to a new station from Lazarus he'd found himself chatting with a holographic representation of the head honcho, the Illusive Man. Their talk was doomed from the start since the Commander had immediately burst out laughing upon hearing the man's chosen moniker. Given how menacing his appearance was from an unnatural glow shining behind his eyes, the Commander assumed he would have picked something a tad more fear inducing.
"You form an entire organization that's got it's grubby fingers in just about every corner of the galaxy and that's what you went with? I guess someone in the PR department dropped the ball huh?" Shepard had quipped sarcastically wiping a tear of mirth from his eye.
Of course all his levity had instantly evaporated upon seeing the state of the galaxy since his death, and learning that his team had been disbanded to become MIA. That last part had been a particularly vicious dagger the Illusive Man seemed happy to twist. The slippery bastard had also seen fit to use them as a small amount of leverage in convincing Shepard to ally himself with the shadowy group.
"You and I both know the Reapers are the real threat Shepard. We know they're still coming. Right now it's Human colonies being hit, but the entire galaxy will burn if we don't stop them."
As much as it galled Kraven to agree, he couldn't deny that the Illusive Man was correct in his assessment. Sovereign had single handedly taken on multiple fleets before being taken down so any number of his buddies coming to join the party would spell bad news for everyone in the Milky Way. Including the people he considered to be his family. And so, despite his better judgement, the Commander had agreed to accompany the bitchy blow up doll, and her partner the living snore to investigate Freedom's Progress which had been the latest colony to be hit.
As their shuttle pitched, and jostled through the upper reaches of the planet's atmosphere Shepard finally broke the uneasy quiet. "So what are we expecting to find down there?"
Miranda didn't turn from her view outside as she answered. "All of the other colonies were completely empty. No damage, no signs of a struggle. Every man, woman, and child was just gone."
"No sensor logs or recordings that could shed some light on what happened?"
Jacob shook his head. "Our techs think there's some kind of VI bug that's released into the colony's networks to wipe all data during each attack. We've searched almost a dozen colonies, but haven't found a single clue."
Shepard's brows furrowed. "So what makes this one any different?"
Jacob scratched the stubble on his jaw. "We normally don't get this much of a heads up. According to our people this one was hit only a few hours ago."
"Think we'll find anything alive in this one?"
The disgraced Corsair let out a frustrated sigh. "Anything would be better than another ghost town."
"Well you say that now…" Kraven muttered as the shuttle lurched through a pocket of colder air. He had to work to keep his eyes from affixing themselves to Miranda's seductively bobbing cat suit. "So… Call me crazy, but just in case we run into hostiles down there wouldn't it be a good idea to assume they're more interested in shooting than buying us drinks?"
Miranda's eyes visibly rolled as she finally graced the Commander with an irritated scowl. "Meaning?"
"Nothing… I just figured armor would have been a better wardrobe selection for a combat zone. You know, keep your business covered and protected instead of bouncing in the breeze?"
Jacob nervously checked the action on his gun as Miranda casually crossed her legs and speared the Commander with a look of pure ice. "Does my business distract you?"
"Hard not to notice." He openly admitted. "It's no skin off my back if you take one to the tits, and go belly up. But I'd rather not chance our mission because your vanity told you spandex was the way to go."
"I know my duty, and limitations Commander. Keep your mind on the mission and the reason we brought you back." Her words practically dripped with disdain.
He shrugged off her menacing tone and sat back into his uncomfortable seat deciding to let the argument go. Leave it to a terrorist to put her own appearance above the safety of her team. "If you say so."
The last leg of their descent was passed in silence until the shuttle roughly touched down on the outskirts of the colony. Cold air carrying tiny white snowflakes swirled in as their transport's doors cycled open. Dancing flurries of crystallized water fluttered down from overcast nighttime skies to quietly blanket the blocky prefab structures of the colony in a thin layer of white. Once the shuttle's engines wound down an eery, muffled silence settled over their almost surreal surroundings.
"Not looking good so far." Shepard murmured releasing his rifle from the catch at his armor's back.
With a small wave he signaled his "team" to follow him forward toward the nearest cluster of buildings. The only sound that could be heard was the steady crunch of their footsteps grinding snow into the ground. As they neared the first structure Kraven mischievously whispered back to his squad mates.
"Bet you're regretting not wearing armor now. Those things could probably cut glass." He chuckled at his own attempts to needle his "captors" despite having to admit he was only hitting the low hanging fruit. 'Low hanging fruit. Ha. Classic.' He thought to himself.
Jacob seemed completely at a loss for what the Commander meant, while Miranda's face turned a deep shade of red. Had Shepard been looking he would have seen her struggling to keep the muzzle of her SMG from swinging into line with the back of his head. Fortunately for him her professionalism, and the fact that she'd spent two years of her life working tirelessly to resurrect him won out over her anger.
As he reached out to cycle the door open in front of him a noise behind them caused him to whip around with the muzzle of his rifle leading the way. Both Jacob, and Miranda spread out to either side as the sound of whirring actuators, and creaking metal joints pierced the still night air.
"Hostiles detected." A monotone synthetic voice declared as the outline of a Human shaped security mech shuffled into view.
The gun it carried spat bursts of slugs at the Humans as several more mechs walked up to join the first. Shepard and his team ducked behind whatever cover they could find around the prefab, and returned fire although Shepard kept staring at his gun in annoyed confusion.
"What the bloody hell is the matter? Why aren't you shooting back?" Miranda snarled over at him as she deftly sent a stream of bullets into the nearest mech.
"My gun's broken!" He shouted. "Here listen." He pulled the trigger sending a full auto burst of slugs downrange. "See?"
Neither Miranda nor Jacob turned their attention from the mechs to address the Commander's concern as the gunfight continued. He peppered the synthetic security detail with what he feared was a sabotaged weapon although the fact that his squad's weapons also sounded wimpy helped to allay some of his misgivings. The results on impact were what he expected from a normal Avenger automatic rifle. Maybe even a little better than he remembered. However compared to the throaty roar he was used to this firearm sounded more like a dinky pea shooter. He was also perplexed that it seemed to overheat incredibly fast.
Despite this their little skirmish with the colony's security force lasted less than a minute. As the last of the mechs sent to destroy them crumpled to the ground in a sparking heap Shepard stood to present his weapon to his team with contempt.
"Here." He said trying to hand it to Jacob.
"There's nothing wrong with it Commander."
Shepard shook his head. "I beg to differ. I've put enough rounds through an Avenger to know when it's not working right."
Miranda huffed in irritation. "Shepard, while you were gone the Council passed legislation banning all firearms that don't have an internal suppressor built in."
"Bull feces. You're a terrorist group. Why would you abide by Council laws?" He countered crossing his arms.
She popped her thermal clip, and inserted a fresh one. "Because the weapons outfitted with the suppressors also perform better in almost every way."
He shook his head. "Again I have to disagree. This piece of garbage was overheating like a hippo in a sauna."
"It's because these fire at a much higher velocity than the old ones. The mass effect field generators inside generate almost twice as much heat." Jacob interjected.
Shepard eyed his weapon dubiously but still needed some convincing. "… Does that mean better armor penetration?"
Jacob nodded. "Spot on Commander. They don't sound like much, but they've got it where it counts."
After an uncomfortable amount of time Kraven finally popped his gun's glowing thermal clip. "I guess it'll have to do."
"Glad to hear it." Miranda sneered following him back toward the cluster of buildings they had sought to enter before the cop bots showed up.
The Commander bit back a sharp retort to her sarcasm as he cycled open the door leading into what looked like a small housing unit. His eyes swept around the room in tandem with the muzzle of his gun. He was struck by how uneventful the scene looked. Food and drink remained on plates and in cups without even a drop or morsel spilled on the table. No signs of a struggle anywhere or anything that could be used as a clue to determine where the occupants had gone. It was as if they had simply got up in the middle of dinner, and walked out.
"They all look like this?" Shepard asked although he already knew the answer.
"Every one. Like nothing happened at all. Just thousands of people vanishing into thin air." Jacob reaffirmed.
"Keep your eyes peeled th…" He started to say as he keyed open another door, but cut off his order as his brain registered seeing a cluster of hooded Humanoid silhouettes hunched on the far side of the prefab. His gun swung into line as several of the interlopers who he now recognized to be Quarian reacted to the sudden intrusion.
"Stop right there!" One of the men shouted pointing a badly worn Avenger rifle of his own at the trio of Humans.
Just before Shepard could lower his weapon, and tell his team to do the same he stopped cold. "Prazza you said you'd let me handle this." His heart leapt up to do somersaults in his throat as recognition of the speaker's voice lit off a cascade of fireworks that rained unadulterated joy down on his frayed psyche.
His hands and arms went slack as he watched what he could only describe as a shining ray of sunshine in an inescapable nightmare interpose herself between the two parties. His eyes unabashedly drank in every detail of the Quarian woman standing before him. The old dingy suit he'd been afraid would fall apart if a Geth looked at her wrong was gone. In it's place was an intricately woven violet hood with golden clasps, and pristine black ballistic material which hugged her statuesque figure perfectly. Even down to the subtle curves of her elegantly sweeping legs.
It was here that his gaze paused with his mouth agape as the question he'd thought of upon their very first meeting aboard the Citadel played through his mind. 'How does she stand on legs like that?'
As he stood there gawking like an idiot Tali'Zorah finally turned to regard the Human intruders and nearly feinted on the spot. "Wait… Sh-Shepard?" She asked hesitantly as her vision started to tunnel.
Her quavering voice was enough to snap him out of his stupor. "Tali?"
He stood frozen to the spot for several seconds before instinct took over to move him forward. He stowed his weapon and spread his arms wide to wrap her up in a heartfelt embrace. At least that was his unconscious mind's plan until her three fingered fist came sailing through the air to bust him right in the chops. He staggered back slightly in utter shock as blood started to gush from the split in his lip.
"You good for nothing piece of Vorcha barshten!" She took a step forward to shove his shoulder while he was still reeling from the blow to his face. "You selfish bosh'tet! Where the hell have you been? I- We thought you died! And now you just show up years later without so much as a message saying you were alright?" She shook with barely contained fury.
His vision started to clear as his Cerberus handlers stepped up to bring their weapons to bear on the aggressive Quarians, but he raised his hand to stop them. He reflexively touched an armored finger to his busted lip before drawing it away to examine the scarlet liquid covering it's metallic surface. Had anyone else pulled such a brazen stunt he would have ripped their head off and spit down their neck. Yet all he could think about was the gut wrenching pain coloring her voice, and the tears he could just barely see trickling from her faintly glowing eyes.
"Tali I-I did. I only just woke up a few days ago I… I'm sorry." He tried to explain.
She took another step forward making it seem like she was going to take another swing at him. He didn't make any move to avoid it. "How do I know you're even the real Shepard? I mean look at you!" She almost yelled through sobbing gasps.
That hurt more than another fist to the money maker would have as he unconsciously winced at the reference to his appearance. She seemed to deflate somewhat after seeing his reaction and shrank back to hug her arms around her middle.
"I… I don't know if I'm real or not… Everything's been so bat shit crazy since I woke up I'm still not convinced this isn't all just a really bad dream. But if it helps…" He lowered his voice to barely a whisper hoping no one else would hear him. "Do you remember on our way to Ilos? I was in the med bay and you came to visit. You thought I was sleeping so you sang to me."
Her eyes snapped to his in an instant as she lunged forward to punch him again. Although this time with a good deal less strength. "You mean you were awake that whole time?" She hissed at him as his hand once again raised to touch his swelling face.
Before it made it all the way there he was surprised once again by her reaching up to wrap her arms around his neck, and draw him into a warm hug. After several seconds spent processing what was happening he enfolded her in a heartfelt embrace of his own.
"…I missed you." She whispered in his ear. "Don't you ever do that to me again."
He closed his eyes, and rested his cheek against the supple fabric of her hood. "Yes ma'am."
Though secretly they both would have loved nothing more than to stay there like that for a good deal longer, both moved to disentangle themselves fearing the overt display of affection made the other uncomfortable. As they stepped back from one another a range of different emotions played across the gathering of people around them. Jacob looked bored, Miranda looked annoyed, and the Quarians would have looked utterly confused if anyone could have seen their faces.
"What are you doing here?" Tali finally asked with a still slightly trembling voice.
"Investigating Human colonies disappearing."
She motioned to his squad with her chin. "And who are they?"
"Cerberus." He said as if spitting out something that tasted bad. "They're the ones responsible for bringing me back."
Her eyes narrowed as she stared daggers at Miranda and Jacob while the Quarian named Prazza came up beside her. "This is your old Commander? Why is he working with Cerberus?"
"Good question." She responded bringing her attention back to Kraven.
"Not really by choice. I need to find out what's happening to these Human colonies and put a stop to it. I don't know how, but I'm worried the Reapers might have something to do with it." He explained. "What brings all of you here? I can't imagine a bunch of missing Humans is something the Fleet would be concerned with."
"We're here looking for a Quarian, Veetor, that came here on his Pilgrimmage." Tali said before leaning in close. "Shepard, do you really trust Cerberus? You know what they're capable of."
He leaned in close himself despite the disapproving looks he got from his team. "Not in the least. If this whole thing didn't stink of Reaper shenanigans I would have told them to go to hell. As it is though I need to get to the bottom of this and they're the only ones that look ready to help."
"As long as you're sure." She grudgingly agreed and straightened. "We'll split up and try to find Veetor. He may have some idea what happened to the colonists here."
Shepard nodded. "Good idea. Stay in radio contact and holler if you find anything."
"Will do and be careful. He programmed the security mechs here to attack on sight." She warned.
"Likewise. Keep yourself safe."
With one last look at one another the two led their respective groups to pursue their mutual goal. Although their focus was now squarely set on each other rather than the task at hand.