Authors Note: My apologies that this had taken so long to get out. My laptop failed; the "e" and "s" keys utterly quit working. As you can imagine, most paragraphs utilize many of those letters, particularly when using "Shepard" as a name, making me lag in my goals. I also just got back in town (and am now back out of town), and had to take a week to obtain a new writing implement.
My thanks for your reviews and suggestions. I have some revision for grammar in previous chapters, so do not think anything you notice is too small to bring up. Special thanks to Drussius for his suggestions on subject division.
And so, let it begin!
~o~O~o~
Basic Training: III
The engine of the Mako rumbled contentedly, if such a thing were possible. Makos were the backbone of Alliance infantry ground transport. All civilizations had various versions of it, barring the asari, and maybe the salarians. Asari didn't have the numbers to necessitate specialized transports, and the salarians almost never allowed anyone to catch a glimpse of their own troop transport vehicles. Turians, on the other hand, had something like miniaturized wheeled assault craft; all armor and bristling weaponry. Not as much seating room either; the birds must have enjoyed packing efficiently.
With all the turning and bumping, Shepard had no clue where he was going. By the feel of things, he'd gone up and down a lot, but Makos did that. The belly thrusters encouraged that kind of maneuvering.
So far, however, all Shepard knew was that he'd been traveling for over 15 standard hours for this exercise, over half of which he'd been sleeping. Every experienced soldier he'd met had recommended the benefit of gaining as much slumber as possible, whenever possible. Shepard conceded the wisdom of such a view, and had encouraged his companions to adopt a similar perspective.
This was the Final test for Basic Training. When the choice had been to either excel or accept the standard grade, both Arvid and Karl had volunteered for this opportunity. Success meant honors, glory and more importantly, time off. Failure meant another six months in Basic and a reprimand for overestimating their own capabilities; nothing big for civilian activities, but a black mark on the records of most Alliance soldiers. Time required for remedial training was acceptable, unless it detracted from the end goal of creating a combat-ready soldier within a certain time frame. Delaying by a matter of days was frowned upon; weeks was worthy of mild remonstrance. Months was court-martial material, depending on the circumstances.
At any rate, a full dozen of the Maw platoon had decided to take the advanced option. With all modesty, Shepard felt he and his two companions were best fitted for success, unlike the glowering Mrs Verner on the opposite bench seat. Still, he had to admit that it was up to each individual to determine what was optimal for him or her-self. Within reason; any ideas like going kamikaze in the middle of allies being good for the soul was out. Shepard believed in freedom, and no definition of freedom was complete without that most essential freedom to accept the consequences.
Finally, the Mako ground to a bouncing halt. He could tell by the subtle way all the wheels stayed on the ground at the same time.
As the side hatch slid down, the first breath of fresh air blew into the transport. More accurately, it fell inside, colder than the inside air coiling around their ankles and rising slowly along their armor. Everyone hit the seals on their armor, except for Shepard, Arvid, and a recruit on the far side of the transport who looked half bear.
Outside was just as cold as the wind had promised. But, Shepard had to admit, it wasn't as bad as he'd imagined. The wind was coming over some hills that surrounded the Mako, mountains rising in the distance, cold and majestic. It looked like snow was on the upper third of those mountains, which wasn't much of a surprise. Earth had returned to a more primal weather pattern, thanks to nearly a century of solar fluctuations and a runaway industry. This place, however, reminded him of Mindoir on the north side of town. His home town had been settled near mineral deposits in the hills for easy access, but close enough to the plains for rich farmland, this looked very similar. When Shepard was a child long-term plans had been made to add a smaller colony farther up in the hills in order to develop the mines more quickly. The slaver attack had put paid to the fruition of that particular plan.
The recruits had learned well. Instead of milling around uncertainly, these people examined their surroundings, looking for bolt holes and cover. Some were already adapting their armor to the surrounding vegetation for camouflage purposes. Shepard checked his weapons; a Brawler VII pistol and to his joy, a Volkov IX sniper rifle. The quartermaster had allowed him a limited number of "credits," to purchase weapons. All part of the evaluation process Shepard supposed. The Volkov felt good in his hands, if a little different, like some of the musicians he had watched when he was younger. Their instruments were as much a part of them as their own hands…..or claws now that he thought of it. Whatever.
A new officer was getting out of another Mako. He was tall, almost as tall as Shepard, and dark-skinned. The rank insignia showed him to be a Navy Captain, not unusual for Basic. The Alliance group had grown up as a fringe organization and had accepted the most efficient cross-training methods by the First Contact War. Squids and jarheads still had a healthy rivalry, but when bigger threats loomed, the two branches had dealt with it.
For several minutes Shepard watched the captain wander through the recruits, like a sheepdog checking the flock. After watching for a few minutes, he realized there was a pattern to the captains' path. He rarely encountered the same person twice, yet he managed to speak with nearly everyone present. Even when focusing on one person, he kept his head up, keeping an eye on the others with his peripheral vision. That, Shepard thought, was a useful trick.
Finally the captain made it to Shepard.
"Private Shepard, I'm Captain Anderson. Good to meet you son." He shook hands with the recruit, quick and professional, as if they were equals.
"Sir, it's an honor, sir." Shepard would have saluted if his hand were free.
"No need for that, I'm about to run you through the mill here." Captain Anderson had a quiet smile, mostly in the eyes. "Save it for the brass that cares about formality."
"Sir?"
Anderson stepped back. "Never mind, you'll get the same briefing as everyone else." He nodded in farewell and moved towards one side of the group. Everyone naturally turned in the same direction as he moved, so by the time he reached the edge the whole squad was facing him.
Anderson turned, confronting them, arms behind his back. "Soldiers. I call you soldiers because at this point in time, you have earned it. You have finished all of your training, and achieved equality with any other member of the Alliance military. What you have chosen to undergo is what makes you special, the test you have been waiting for, the challenge to seek honor and fame."
"Today, you will be going where few soldiers dare to go, through a challenge every bit as grueling as anything our ancestors underwent." The captain grinned sardonically, "Maybe even more grueling."
"This will constitute as your final test, and my little speech here will be both your briefing and your deployment orders. When I finish speaking, the clock will be ticking. How you use that time is completely up to you; no help will be given at all, and no transport will be coming to get you, except as an emergency."
Karl and Arvid glanced at Shepard. He gave them a confident half-smile. This was going to be fun!
Anderson hadn't finished speaking. "You are now in Canada, the second largest nation in the world. You have been dropped at a random location in the center of one million square miles of government parkland, known as the NorthWest Forest National Park."
"Your objective is to travel from this point to the west coast, within 164 hours. To liven it up a bit, this will also be a simulation of being behind enemy lines, with no support and no extraction available."
The captain gestured behind himself to a row of armored soldiers that seemingly came from nowhere. Several recruits gasped; Shepard narrowed his eyes, examining the camouflage the soldiers had used. It definitely wasn't standard issue, it looked more like randomly placed shrubbery from the local area, including…wild prairie rose? Something was definitely off here….
"These soldiers are N5's. They have very graciously offered their time and talents to ensure you have something to keep you going." One of the soldiers chuckled. Anderson glanced back at him before adding, "In essence, they will be the enemy troops hunting you, and will start about three hours after the briefing. Please remember that you are to try and not kill any allied combatants. That's frowned upon in any theatre of war. Note also that your weapons have been modified to include a safe-fail system. If you aim at one of these men and women, and especially if you pull the trigger on them, your gun will fire a reduced concussive round, and a report with all of the information your armor possesses to Command. Expulsion is possible if you try to override the safe-fail, so please check your targets."
"I know this is a very non-specific briefing, but the only directions I will give you is this: Go west young man. It should be a walk in the park. Good luck."
Shepard chuckled. This man even gave orders in a classy fashion. He turned, caught the eye of his two friends and motioned towards the mountains. All three pivoted and ran.
They bolted through the other recruits, most of whom were still waiting for more instruction, and found a steady jogging pace they could keep up all day. Shepard had been right, this was going to be fun!
~o~O~o~
10 hours
The three soldiers had been jogging for quite a while. It was a pleasant enough task, rolling hills spread in every direction, fir trees and spruces scattered themselves thickly on the higher portions of the terrain while silver maple and live oak populated the lower regions.
Wildlife was abundant as well. White-tailed deer flagged their tails and faded like ghosts when they noticed the men charging through. Birds scolded them from the safety of the trees; one blue jay in particular followed, screaming at them for almost a mile before finally leaving them alone.
However, helpful armor or no, they needed rest. They found it in a cave hidden in the rocky section of the hills, facing the mountains. Arvid took first watch while the other two went farther in to better judge the safety of their situation.
Karl groaned as he rubbed his hip lightly. "Ooooh, my thighs will be queuing up to speak to me tomorrow. Think I'm gonna have a mild rebellion when we're done here. Is everyone good if I just take a nap for the next few hours?"
Shepard chuckled. He was using the flashlight function of his omni-tool to examine the walls of the subterranean curiosity. "I think we should have about four hours total, we have a schedule to keep and I don't trust those N5's.
"Agreed. Something about them made me feel…twitchy." Karl pulled up his own omni-tool to run a scan. "Nothing around us for a few hundred meters, excluding Arvid."
Nothing had occurred by the time they returned, except Arvid had rigged up one of his EMP charges with a limited detonation. Arvid immediately dropped off while Karl took first watch. Instead of going to sleep, Shepard started working with some wire he'd pulled out of his kit pouch.
He worked in silence as the water from a nearby stream bubbled past. A kingfisher landed near the cave, cocking its head at the intruders. It was a brilliant blue, with russet undertones by the wings, far too flashy to be missed by prospective prey. Then, it dove, plummeting into the stream for a few seconds before powering its way up and out with a small fish.
Shepard looked up, catching Karl looking amused at where the bird had gone.
"Cat got your tongue?" he asked.
Karl looked unusually thoughtful. "Just thinking. No matter how blatant a threat can be, no matter how many times it repeats itself, it will always find prey."
Shepard finished a last knot. "True. That's why we can survive wilderness training without opening highly visible food containers, or finding a place to store them."
Curious, Karl looked at the loops dangling from Shepards hand. "What are those?"
"Snares, for rabbits mostly. I learned how back on Mindoir, everyone has to take survival classes, guess it finally paid off, eh?" Shepard took one of the loops and showed how it tightened. "I added a voltage to it so whatever I catch will have a painless, instant end."
Karl shook his head. "Now I've seen everything, the colony kid that thinks he's Robinson Crusoe."
Shepard bent on his haunches, grinning. "I'm going a bit further than him, I think. Speaking of which, do you still have that data we got back in shop class?"
"No. I got frisked before gearing up, nothing extra."
Shepard swung his fist impotently. "If we had it, maybe we could get an advantage…"
A sleepy voice spoke up; "If it will get you two off the com channel, I grabbed the chip before we left."
The two men swiveled to look at the prone Arvid. "How did you manage that?" Karl asked.
Arvid slapped one of his pouches groggily, "Easy. I swapped it for one of my backup repair chips."
Shepard took the proffered piece of technology and slipped it into his own pouch. "Thanks Arv. I'll get to work on it at our next stop."
Karl was already standing back from the entrance, using his helmet filters to scan the area outside. The sun was setting, which was good, and bad. The N5s would have an easier time finding their infrared profile, but there were a lot more large animals active at night. As he drifted off quickly, he let himself think back to Mindoir. It was a ritual he'd gotten into since the early days of Basic, and the routine helped calm himself.
~o~O~o~
26 Hours
The sun had truly set long before; it was almost dawn now. The sky was tinted with the grey light of pre-dawn, clouds illuminated from behind the horizon. Shepard had an idea that the N5's chasing them were letting them run, letting them waste their energy, but he kept quiet about that. Maybe he was wrong, at any rate, the other two were well acquainted with the situation. They'd been trained alongside him for six months, and unlike him, Arvid had attended a military school. Russian, of course.
Birds were starting to call again, more than just the buzzing nighthawks and chirping robins they'd heard all night. As they jogged tiredly, Shepard realized that he could see without his helmets' filters. If he could….
"Should we stop for a rest?" He asked. "We've covered a lot of ground, and we don't want to meet up with any N5's while we're worn out."
Karl shook his head. "We need as much of a head start as possible. If the other recruits cover less ground than we do, the N5's will probably hunt them instead of us."
Arvid nodded agreement. "The best defense is to not be present when your enemy is." He looked back along their trail.
Shepard refrained from evincing displeasure. He felt as if eyes were watching, waiting for a mistake. He checked his HUD, but nothing registered as a threat. "Fine, but if we're going to keep moving, I'll work on our backup plan."
The chip was passed to him, and he slid it into a slot in his omni-tool. It would have worked more efficiently if he were to insert it directly beneath the fabrication engine housed in the armor, but their continuous motion made it too difficult. Working as well as he could, he used his omni-tool to access the data. Most of the data were still there, despite being exposed to multiple encryption programs and random physical abrasion for several days.
Just as he was getting into a rhythm, he felt a tugging sensation on his right calf. A second later, his leg kicked out of control, and he toppled sideways. That loss of control almost slammed his helmet into the base of an oaks' trunk. As it was, he managed to roll with the fall, and managed to avoid wrapping himself around a boulder.
Arvid was already unlocking his assault rifle. Sparks flew off the boulder beside the trio as their assailant tracked Karl, who was diving off to one side.
Fueled by terror, Shepard elbow-crawled to another tree, this one looked like some kind of maple. Ricochets thumped into the wood near his head, superheated metal cooling with wisps curling past his helmet. The sound…coupled with the scent…stirred in his memory. Something about shots being fired and smoke billowing into the night sky…no. No. NO. He quickly shoved that memory back under the back portion of his mind for later analysis. He slowly unclred from the tight ball he'd been in, but he couldn't stop shaking.
He heard a strange ringing sound, slowly dying below the sound of angry, clattering spitting of Arvids' assault rifle. Dimly, he heard noise on his headset, Karl yelling something about covering fire. The two of them broke off and grabbed Shepard by upper arms and carried him farther down the hillside, feet dragging through the shrubbery. He hung his head in shame. Their first skirmish and all he'd done was hide.
~o~O~o~
27 Hours
They reached a new hiding place after slogging two miles onward. Instead of a cave, this hiding place was a dense copse, with fallen trees making a natural fort.
Karl pulled out the rabbits Shepard had caught on their last rest and prepared them. They wouldn't be able to cook over a fire just yet, but they would be able to bury the offal and put the meat in sealed bags.
Silence reigned over the quiet group. Shepard stared morosely at the scenery, not particularly moving.
Arvid finally broke the silence. "You wanna talk about it?"
Shepard shook his head.
Karl spoke up, "Shepard, you are one of the best shots the sergeants have ever seen. You tested out of every tactical scenario they could cook up. What happened?"
Minutes dragged past. Small insects hummed past any exposed skin; repellent drove them away. Some treated it like salad dressing, but most were repelled.
Just as Arvid was dropping off, Shepard muttered incomprehensibly. He said it again, this time in his usual baritone: "Mindoir."
Karl looked up. "Yeah, you said you were from there, a lot of folks come from that way these days."
Shepard gritted his teeth. "Those are newcomers. People profiting off the back-breaking labor my neighbors did for decades before these 'colonists', he almost spat out the word, "Came swanning in and reaping the rewards of those who were taken."
Arvid looked up. "Taken? By who?"
But Karl knew. "The batarian slaver raid, two-three years ago?"
Shepard nodded once. A tight, birdlike motion. "We had a decent sized colony. Maybe 4,000 or 5,000 people." He let out a breath. "we had less than fifty after the raid."
Someone started to ask a question, but Shepard didn't listen. "My parents and I were on the other side of town. They were planners. Thinkers. Hired by the agricultural board to plan for different scenarios. Nothing like what actually happened."
"We took down a lot of batarians when they came. Slavers. Herders. Medics. Whatever they were, we burned them down where they stood. We met up with a colonist, the head mechanic, he helped. It wasn't enough."
Shepard stared blankly past Karl. "I was in a vantage point, taking down batarians as fast as I could…I missed seeing the group headed for my parents. When I did see them, I couldn't get there in time…."
Arvid sighed. "Nothing you could have done, mate. I read about it, didn't place where it was until you started talking about it. That raid was planned well in advance, must have been watching your colony for months before the attack."
Karl quit cleaning and started packing the rabbit. "Yeah. Besides, you were what, sixteen? The fact that you got any batarians is to your credit."
Shepard snorted. "That's what the survivors said. The Alliance soldiers told 'em that I had killed over two dozen batarians, said I was a natural. The colonists gave me a shiny medal. Kept telling all the newcomers I was some kind of hotshot killing machine, that the safest place in the colony was behind me and my rifle."
A stick popped beyond their locale. All three instinctively turned to focus on the spot. An elk stood looking at them with wide eyes.
Chuckling, Shepard put his rifle down. "Anyway, that's why I froze up. Something made me think of that raid…and how nothing I did made a difference."
Arvid sneered playfully. "I'd say you made a significant amount of difference in the lives of two dozen batarians. They won't be going on any slave raids in this universe."
Shepard reluctantly had to agree. "That's true. I know that, and I know the survivors that made it think I made a difference." He took a deep breath, held it, and let it out. "It'll just take time."
Karl hefted his shotgun. "Time, and sleep. Thank you for not saying 'I told you so,' but you were right. We've gotten over two-hundred miles under our belts, and we need sleep. Shepard, will you take first watch?"
Shepard knew this was not a slam on his capability; rather it was a gesture of trust. "Sure. I'll see what I can get done with the data chip too."
Grunts of acknowledgement met his ears. The other two almost hurled themselves at the ground, desperate for sleep. The fact that they'd kept themselves awake for him was…humbling.
~o~O~o~
37 Hours
The next time the N5's attacked, the trio was ready. Shepard had used the chip with the data mined from all the recruits in their classes and created a program that searched for known identification signals. Using that had allowed them to plot a rough estimate of where the other recruits were located, and the average rate they were traveling. One unexpected benefit was the capacity to get low-level transmissions from the N5s themselves, which served as a form of early warning system.
The squad had heard garbled transmissions and reacted with alacrity. At first, they ran flat out, getting as much distance as possible between themselves and their pursuers. Shepard kept an eye out as they traveled, leaping over obstacles and dodging trees.
"Here!" he shouted as they started passing a rocky slope. It was a perfect ambush site.
The other two didn't stop to ask questions. Both had agreed that when it came to strategic thinking, Shepard had both of them beat. Moving more slowly, they climbed the slope, discovering in the process that it had many loose stones.
"Careful," Karl warned. "We don't want to tip them off too early you know. Switch to hand signals only."
Arvid found a larger boulder still embedded in the hillside and crouched behind it. There was even a scrawny tree wedging the boulder in place for him to use. Below, Karl set up a series of improvised tech mines, manufactured by an overworked omni-tool.
The three had just enough time to settle when two men crashed through the old growth, assault rifles unlocked and held for action.
Shepard took just a moment to identify the targets. Both covered in camouflage and wore full armor, not the recruit version but expensive Alliance issue. Somehow, they realized something was up and before he had a chance to react they were diving for cover.
"Light 'em up!" Shepard bellowed.
The tech mines went off in a cloud of fragments and EMP pulses. One of the N5's yelped and stumbled back, rifle smoking.
Arvid coolly stitched his fire along the surprised mans' armor, shaking him off his feet with the strength of the impacts. As Captain Anderson had explained, any fire within a certain range of the N5's would not be lethal, but even powered down concussive rounds packed a wallop.
A shotgun roared below Shepard. Shepard kept his focus up, he was not going to fail his team again.
Somehow, a faint movement in the background caught his attention. He eased his rifle up to use the scope…it looked like more people. A lot more people. Quickly, Shepard did a rough calculation judging the windspeed and distance, and fired. And fired again.
~o~O~o~
Karl released the last of his mine cluster and swiped the next available disruption from the ejection bay on his omni-tool. Above him he heard Shepards rifle thunder, aimed beyond his own line of sight; just as well. The N5 he was targeting was stubbornly staying behind cover, despite all he and Arvid could do. Alternative methods would be required.
"Tech mine!" he called over his com and tossed the device. Arvid was ready, sweeping his fire from the left while the Karl readied on the right.
The sparks put out by the tech burst fried the N5's shields enabling Karl to curve another freshly manufactured EMP mine over and directly onto the armor. The resultant explosion forced the man to roll out of cover, directly into combined fire.
A rustle of leaves alerted him to another incoming. He was about to lay another mine when Shepard called over the channel. "Hold fire, friendly inbound!"
So he held his fire watching. Mrs Verner bounded through into sight. She wore full armor, but Karl could tell it was her. She had a unique running pattern, like she was trying to avoid too much contact with the ground. The drill sergeant hadn't been able to train it out of her; Karl had been surprised that she had been able to continue Basic. Whatever the reason, she was present and bearing down on his cover.
Karl yelped and rolled…out of cover. He felt concussive rounds impact his shields, and kept rolling. The shots followed; he broke their line of sight by getting behind some brush, but that lasted only for seconds, not enough for his shields to regen.
Arvid above saw his predicament and overcharged his assault rifle. Shots poured out at an increased rate, almost at a shuttle-mounted minigun level. Brush was mown down, revealing forms to Shepards' deadly fire from above.
Getting desperate now, Karl tossed the remainder of his expendable munitions. When that didn't work, he knew he wasn't going to succeed.
Strangely, that information felt liberating, and everything curiously slowed. He could see the entire battlefield clearly, and knew exactly what to do.
Karl shifted his shotgun to his off-hand, and drew his pistol. He'd made the most of his allotted "credits," and "purchased" a top-of-the-line omni-tool, a Savant VIII. That came off, and wrapped around his pistol. His spare weapon care kit and supplies were also attached to the pistol.
He found minimal cover behind a small hummock and tagged his com. "Initiating Light Brigade maneuver, repeat Light Brigade."
Arvids voice immediately followed, "Understood, that's a Light Brigade oh-two, Light Brigade oh-two."
Shepard knew what that meant. Arvid believed himself to be compromised, and would be joining Karl in a last charge into enemy fire, buying time. "Stay down!" he called back. His hands moved without thinking. Decades of practice, honed by solid months of hardened military training kept the rifle moving and firing.
"We can take them, stay down!"
Karl chuckled over the com. "I'm out of expendables, don't have the height to get clear. Got a horse ready for you when you're ready."
From where he was, he saw Shepard become very still. Mrs Verner clambered past him, not even bothering to return fire. "Understood…." The next sentence was uttered slowly, painfully. "Light Brigade…acknowledged…send the horse."
Karl hurled the misshapen ball low and fast, hard to hit. It was fielded by Arvid, who quickly added some gear, then launched higher to Shepard. It was heavier the second time, but closer.
Karl saw Shepard catch the bundle and touched his right ear. "Horse has reached the barn. Light Brigade is open."
An unearthly howl erupted from Karls left. Shepard almost looked like he was going to poke out of cover, but caught himself in time.
Arvid burst out of cover, assault rifle leveled and spitting fury. In response, Karl rose from the ground like an avenging berserker. His shotgun was overloaded, launching concussive rounds at lethal velocities, carnage incarnate.
~o~O~o~
Shepard watched his two friends charge certain doom. Then he pulled the bundle they'd given him and turned his back on their sacrifice. What they were doing would be meaningless if he just sat around watching.
Behind him he could hear more guns opening up. Sharper sounding cracks mixed into the pounding roar that was Arvids' assault. Pistols; the N5's must have grouped up, and been closer than he'd thought.
Ahead was the crest of the hillock. He kept himself low, rolling to one side just before crossing it. Good thing, a long shot ricocheted off a rock he would have crossed.
Safe on the other side, Shepard picked up the pace. He soon passed Mrs Verner. She quickened her pace, keeping up with him. He snarled internally; she must have led that larger group to his squad. He did not feel kindly towards her at all.
~o~O~o~
62 Hours
Shepard jogged easily. The terrain was rough, mountainous, but he'd finally hacked the onboard computer of the last N5 to try bringing him down, and obtained her map. Deer snares were apparently well within the N5 repertoire, but her unforeseen surprise had been Mrs Verner with a thick tree branch. Alliance helmets were designed to mitigate most small arms fire, but nothing about a four-inch thick piece of live oak was small.
He checked the map again. Corporal Nehru had possessed a master copy of the training omni-tools. As Shepard and Karl had hoped, the N5s were using omni-tools from the Alliance training camp. That allowed him to compromise not only the maps, but the comm frequencies and encryptions.
Shepard heard a double tap on the com; that must be an N5 notifying someone that his target was located. Very few targets were left on the playing field by now, of the original dozen, only three were still in action. He knew where two were, but the third was off the radar, a Mr Leng.
The trees slanted backwards, as he was traveling mostly downhill now. The spine of the mountain range was behind him, and Mrs Verner he had t grudgingly admit. Her lack of remorse bothered him a bit, but he refused to look back at her. Nothing would stop his efforts.
Another double click hit the com, and he froze behind a bush. Mrs Verner blundered past him, missing the hand signal he'd given.
Shepard switched to Swedish, under his breath fluently describing the various activities he wished his incompetent comrade would undertake. As he did so, he grabbed a pinecone and underhanded it into the back of her retreating helmet.
Mrs Verner reacted, whipping out her pistol and snapping multiple shots at Shepard. Shepard tiredly fell back, letting the concussive rounds push him back into the leaves.
Seconds later, he heard multiple clicks on the N5 channel. Instantly lethargy left him and he lunged up and started running again. With one arm he slammed Mrs Verners' shoulder around pointing her in the right direction.
"Hey! Wha' are you-"
Shepard switched on his external speaker. "Saving your score, idiot. You just sent up a signal for anyone within five miles."
They kept running.
~o~O~o~
86 Hours
Lieutenant Zapleta observed Shepard from his shuttle. The shuttle was hovering over two miles up and forty miles south, but the sensors were able to pick out the suit-mounted sensors easily.
Zapleta smiled slightly. He had to hand it to the boy, he had talent. Of course he'd known that since Mindoir...
Dark thoughts swirled in his mind, the casualties, the frustration evident on all the soldiers faces. Shepard had been the only thing that kept many of them sane. All by himself, the young man had successfully defended his family for hours against an entire invading horde, with nothing more than a sports rifle and his own determination. That young man had inspired the rest of the soldiers, carried them out of their despair at losing so many.
And now, Shepard was being tested by the best, wielding only the most basic of gear against specialists that had been rated in the upper levels of the best humanity had to offer. And was winning. Never in the history of the Alliance military program had a recruit gotten so far.
Lieutenant Zapleta turned to his fellow passenger, an unnamed captain. "I told you, he is one of the best I've ever seen. He's a natural at improvisation, better than most N3s."
The captain stroked his chin thoughtfully. "I wonder what he could do, trained up a bit." He rumbled.
Zapleta smiled inwardly. Focusing on the colonist survivor had granted him purpose, helped him ignore the terrible scenes from that unmentionable day. He just hoped he could help Shepard as much as the boy had unknowingly aided himself.
~o~O~o~
96 Hours
Shepard woke up, a slight noise had alerted him. Mrs Verner had fallen asleep…again…and something was outside. Rather, someone. The moonlight outside cast shadows, and unless trees commonly had bipedal trunks, a person was leaning next to the entrance.
Silently, Shepard elbow-crawled nearer. From what he could see, the figure was being very still. That in and of itself was not suspicious; however, the armor looked as though it belonged to a recruit, not an N5. N5 armor was a tad more bulky, thicker and angled more slightly. This armor had the recruit grade thickness without the same bulk.
"Leng?" Shepard whispered.
The figure jerked, putting one finger towards the head. A second later, the figure flattened itself and rolled under the cover Shepard was using.
"Shepard, that you?"
Shepard snorted. "No, it's the Easter bunny. Sorry I forgot my extra set of ears."
Soft chuckling came from the prone figure. "All right?"
Shepard sighed. "I'm alive, and still moving. Three days left, hey?"
Leng nodded silently. "I've been traveling at night. Figure they have the advantage, but I can spend more time waiting than they can.
"Hmmm, since they're hunting you, the N5s could just stake out a spot and wait for a week."
"Not if they want to catch everybody."
"True."
"Is it true what happened?"
Shepard sighed. "Yeah, they got Karl and Arvid."
"No, I mean what they did? Took out almost a dozen N5s to clear your way?"
Shepard looked up. "There were only a dozen to start with, if we're still being chased, how could they have taken out a full doen?"
Leng pondered that point. "They don't follow our rules. We are done if shot once, they can come back in if they're shot."
Sarcasm filled Shepards response "Great."
Leng looked over at Mrs Verner. "You can come with me, you know. I watched her during training, she's hopeless. You and I are the best."
"You mean, leave her and take off?"
Seriously, Leng stared Shepard in the eye. "Between your sniping and my stealth, we could dominate what's left of the N5's."
Shepard cautiously parsed what Leng had said. "What do you mean, 'dominate?'"
Now impatience filled Lengs' voice. "Exactly what it sounded like. I took down an N5 with a leg twist, damaged the Achilles. There's no way he'll be coming back into the field which improves our odds, and there's no way I'd go onto a battlefield without an advantage. With your skill, you can keep their heads down while I go in and do some damage."
"But these are N5's, they're on our side." Shepard pointed out.
"Really? Could've fooled me. Last I saw, these guys are trying to take me down any way possible, and not following the same rules I have to in order to do it. I'm staying alive, not kowtowing to a misguided sense of responsibility."
Shepard had to think for a moment, but he knew his answer. "I'm not exactly going to follow the rules, but any rules I break will be for minimal harm. Plus, I can't leave my colleague. She'd go down for sure."
Neither man noticed the "sleeping" figure twitch slightly.
Kai Lengs' gaze grew cold. "So be it, I'm going on. You are going to regret your decision, though."
He moved back, barely detectable in the darkness and scuttled sideways out of sight.
Shepard waited for a count of five minutes, then shook Mrs Verners shoulder. "We have to go."
She jerked, "Huh? What?"
Shepard lied shamelessly. "I hear some chatter, we're going to get some visitors soon."
"It's all right Shepard. I heard what went on."
Shepard froze. "What?"
"I heard you turn down Kai Leng in order to stay with me. I may not like you Shepard, but…thanks."
"Thank me when we get home free."
~o~O~o~
110 Hours
Shepard and Verner scrambled over yet another ridge. The sky loomed heavy and dark, even though it was barely three in the afternoon.
"They're gonna get us, they're gonna get us!" babbled Verner.
Shepard wished he had a volume control for individual allied frequencies. "Not yet they're not."
"It's going to rain, it's thundering, which means lightning is coming, and I don't know about you but this armor isn't rated for direct lightning strikes. You could power New York City for two months with a regular lightning strike, not to mention one of those BIG ones from the top of the—"
"We're going to be fine!" Shepard shouted, losing his patience. "Now shut up and get the hell down this mountain!"
The two moved in near silence after that. Thunder was indeed rolling overhead, and the wind was picking up. But the end of the mountains was within sight, Shepard could see a wide plains ahead, far wider than any valley, and wanted to get on the level by the time the storm hit.
The next time she spoke they were just reaching the level ground, and the subject was..odd. "Shepard, have you considered getting married?"
Shepard exhaled sharply through his nose. "No."
"Why not?"
"The idea of being pinned down has never appealed to me. I need elbow room to be at my best."
Verner smirked. "That's what Conrad said."
Shepard turned an exasperated gaze upon her. "Look, if some day, some how, I meet a woman who not only can keep up with me, but would actually want to keep up with me without either of us slowing the other down, I'd think about it. Until then, I will get married when the grass grows red, the sun goes out, and the oceans turn to yogurt."
Verner thought for a second. "Not in this lifetime then?"
"Pretty much."
The combination of strange subject matter and thunder was why he nearly missed the report of a sniper rifle. Since sound was moving more slowly than a supersonic pellet, only a stumble put Verners' head out of the way. Sparks flew from where she had been leaning, making soft clicking noises against her armor.
"How do they keep finding us?" she shouted angrily.
Shepard kept his body moving, but felt his mind suddenly race. Several memories clicked into place.
"These soldiers are N5' have very graciously offered their time and talents to ensure you have something to keep you going."
"They don't follow our rules…they can come back if they're shot."
"…there's no way I'd go onto a battlefield without an advantage."
"Verner, have you checked your gear recently?"
"Of course!"
"How recently? Within the last 14 hours?"
"Of course not! We've been running ever since you woke me up last night!"
Shepard employed more Swedish under his breath. It really was a descriptive language. He wasn't aware of it, but his normally warm baritone sank to a frozen bass. "Kai Leng."
"What?"
"Just, never mind. We'll get to a safe point and…."
Five N5 soldiers rose out of the terrain some distance ahead.
Shepard instantly dropped and rolled aside, knocking Verner off her feet again.
"Change of plan, make for that group of trees, now!"
~o~O~o~
111 Hours
Shepard was braced against an oak tree. He was aware of the irony, protecting himself from lightning by using a tree thought to be sacred to Zeus by the ancient Greeks. What further stretched the irony was the fact he was field-stripping his assault rifle, a cheap model to be sure, but filled with super-conducting wire. Karls' pistol was being dismantled by a feverish Verner, while both of them traded shots with the N5's gathering outside their cover.
"You sure this will work?" Verner asked for the tenth time.
Shepard decided to wax rhetorical. "To what is lightning attracted?
She responded slowly. "Um, trees. Like the ones we're sitting under…."
"Wrong. Lightning occurs when the presence of electrons build to a great enough intensity so that energy can be connected. Clouds are positive, ground is negative. Build up enough of a charge, and a spark is able to ionize a portion of the atmosphere."
"And what does that fascinating fact have to do with our being trapped by superior firepower?"
Shepard turned a feral grin on his compatriot. "What else does a rifle do, but send charged particles into the air? And if we add the wires from a pistol so the rifle is better grounded…."
Mrs Verner kept a stoic visage, ducking a little as another series of rounds went off.
Shepard sighed. "The rifle makes a channel from the ground to the cloud, sparking lightning."
"Oh." She said. "Why not use the overload function on the omni-tools? That works the same way."
Shepard didn't bother looking at her as he carefully placed the wire. "Because you have to be attached to the omni-tool in order to activate that function, and I prefer to avoid being fried on Wednesdays."
~o~O~o~
112 Hours
It was a successful ambush, Shepard had to admit. On both parts.
He and Mrs Verner had departed the copse with considerable alacrity. The N5's had charged into and through the trees almost as quickly. Unfortunately for them, Arvids omni-tool had a motion detector function, and was connected to the sky-facing assault rifle. The experiment worked as Shepard had envisioned, with a bolt of pure electricity falling from the sky. The wires from Karls' pistol worked twice, in this case. Once as a sink for the energy exchange, and again as a guide for the return stroke of electricity.
N5 armor was among the best in the galaxy, but even the best in shielding tech was not enough for infantry grade armor. The men lived without difficulty, but their tech attachments were crisped to a turn.
Unfortunately for Shepard, the N5's had figured on their bolting. They had been waiting behind the copse, and grabbed Shepard first. He struggled, using his weight to advantage with the smaller men, but was bulled down by a fairly upset N5 with a scorch mark on her pauldron.
Behind him, Shepard could see Mrs Verner running like a scared rabbit, two N5s close behind her. He tried, but couldn't manage to send a message; the N5's pulled off his helmet with extreme prejudice.
He couldn't help it. He grinned up at them. "Okay, you got me. Ready for round two?"
The scorched pauldron N5 slapped his bare face with her gauntlet. Her filtered voice was buzzing through the speaker, "You busted my friends' leg, did you think you could get away with that?"
Shepard narrowed his eyes. "Check my omni-tools GPS. You'll find I was never near that officer."
She slapped his face again, from the other direction this time. "Don't lie to me, I got the ID on that recruit, and I've been following him since day before yesterday."
Shepard looked at the silent group of N5's around him. None looked willing to intervene. "Where's Kai Leng?"
Scorched reared back. "What?"
Shepard nodded at the others. "You heard me, where is he? If you have my signature, where is his? I know he was free not too long ago, but why haven't you gotten him yet?"
"Liar." Scorched let fly again.
"EVERYONE STAND DOWN!" boomed an unknown voice.
Shepard turned to see another N5…no, an N7 walking in his direction, led…at gunpoint… by Mrs Verner.
The N5's saluted, so Shepard did likewise. When in Rome….
The N7 returned the salutes with precision. "Operative Keller, N7 Marine Corps. I am declaring this exercise finished."
Shepard drooped as the N5s began departure preparations. He'd tried his best, but he'd finished with over two days left.
~o~O~o~
Returning to Base
The shuttle ride back was quiet. The N5's and the N7 had their helmets on. Their body posture indicated disagreement, and an occasional gesture showed some kind of conversation was going on under the silence of their armor.
Mrs Verner was uncharacteristically quiet. Previously, the only way to make her be silent was to either make her so mad she couldn't speak for rage, or let her believe she won and maintain a smug silence. This was different…more of a contemplative silence. Hopefully it wasn't anything too serious.
The silence continued for the duration of the trip. Wind shoving around the craft made it buck once in a while, but overall it was a smooth ride. From the body language Shepard was observing, the N7 was arguing with the N5s, pointing occasionally to Shepard, and then at the floor of the shuttle.
When the shuttle landed, Shepard could hear a dull roar through the metal. He looked up at the N7. The soldiers' helmet blocked all hints from being seen, but Shepard could see a dull glow reflecting off the eyes. The N7 tapped the door to open it, and motioned Shepard to precede him.
There was a hushed crowd waiting outside the shuttle. Shepard hopped down the step, head held high. After his failure was announced, he was determined to find Kai Leng, and beat him within an inch of his life.
The N7 stepped out and paused, flanked by the N5s. Something clicked, and the public address function indicator lit up on the helmet.
"I wanted to thank all of you for trying out for this award. Many of you showed promise, and many of you proved it this week."
Shepard found Arvid, Karl and the other members of the Maw squad waiting for him and took his place at their side. Arvid winked at him while Karl gave him a silent thumbs up.
"Not all of you were able to take the strain of this test, and some of you were able to fully recognize your limitations. Most of you that were able to recognize this will have a reduced training schedule; around a week of extra training if my sources are correct."
Cheers split the air as the recruits who hadn't gotten very far pumped the air. Shepard saw Arvid tense.
The N7 waved for quiet. "I would also like to congratulate two outstanding recruits. These two made it farther than any other in the history of the Alliance. They showed resourcefulness, cunning and courage. Exactly the traits looked for in Alliance Officers. Shepard and Leng, please step forward!"
He stumbled out, almost brought down by the applause and backslapping.
"You did it Shepard!" Arvid was apparently under the impression that Shepard was in danger of deafness; he was bellowing so loudly.
Shepard winced a little, only to be pounded on his other side by Karl. Karl was yelling something as well, but in a language he didn't understand.
Shepard managed to stand a little farther out, and met Kai Lengs gaze. Leng had a smirking look in his eyes; Shepard returned the look with a perfect smile and steady gaze. He deliberately looked over at Scorched armor, then back to Kai Leng, facial expression not changing one iota. Kai Lengs' expression twitched slightly.
The N7 stepped between the two and raised their arms like prizefighters. "These two will have their names entered in the records as an inspiration to future soldiers."
He lowered their hands and beckoned to more of the recruits. "Karl Valdez, Arvid Tchiesvel, Kassie Oppenheimer, Eloise Verner and Dmitri Kaiser, step forward."
They stepped forwards; Karl shot Shepard a proud look.
The N7 raised his hands as if in a benediction. "All of you went above and beyond the call of duty, whether it was to sacrifice yourselves that others could escape, " he indicated Karl and Arvid, "Or shared your supplies so more could survive. Other traits were determined, tested and forged in this, and you were chosen because of them. You have passed, and shall gain the honors promised."
"But now, it's been a long week, and everyone is exhausted. Get some rack time and square away your gear. Expect to hear from someone within the week. DISMISSED!"
~o~O~o~
Karl and Arvid helped Shepard get to the armory. He needed the assistance, his muscles felt like rigid bowls of chowder.
"How did you two do?" Shepard asked. There was a muddy patch on his plastron he was trying to wipe off.
Karl shrugged. "Arvid and I managed to get a few of them, not as many as we'd hoped, but a few."
Arvid rubbed a cleaning cloth over the contacts inside one of the greaves. "Is it true what they said? You managed to call down lightning on your foes?"
Snorting with laughter, Shepard shook his head. "It was more like I sent a coordinate and hoped it was right."
"Still, it was impressive. I heard Kai Leng got caught trying to steal a concussed N5s' armor. Boy was he surprised."
Shepard was intrigued. "How so?"
Arvid grinned. "Leng forgot to check for booby traps, almost got his hands fried. By the time he managed to shake off the electro-gel, the other N5s caught him."
Shepard shook his head. "That guy is bad news. He's the one that got Mrs Verner and I caught."
He looked up at their shocked expressions. "Seriously. I found a relay for his tracking signal stuck to my boot." He held out the piece of gear, "He must have put an adhesive on the relay, then guided me into stepping on it."
Arvid offered up a rich curse in Cyrillic. "May he be devoured by little teeth. Why didn't you turn him in?"
Shepard shrugged. "It was a valid tactic, a way to make him practically invisible. Besides, all he'd have to do is claim I offered to help him, and then it would be his word against mine."
His expression darkened, like a thunderhead rising. "But I'm going to be watching him in the future. Any funny business, and he's going to get my boot up his—"
"Shepard?" a new voice, softer, more feminine came into their awareness.
Shepard turned, "Mrs Verner. I didn't expect to see you."
She shrugged half-heartedly. "I suppose not…I'm not exactly the best at this kind of thing…."
Karl and Arvid kept their faces as stoic as the Sphinx.
Mrs Verner took a deep breath. "I'm….um…..boy this is awkward….I…"
Shepard took pity on her. "No worries, we'll do better next time."
Mrs Verner looked close to tears. "No, that's just it! I'm not going to do better!"
Shepard took a step back. Mrs Verner took another step closer, brown eyes flashing. "You…you are so good at this! It's like you're not even trying! You take all the extra courses-"
Shepard tried to interrupt "Actually, it's remedial-"
"Don't give me that! All those courses you took were extra, unnecessary! And you got top marks in all of them! I had to give everything I had just to pass the minimum requirements!"
Her voice dropped to a whisper. "And even when you had me pulling you back, you still made it to the top the final scoreboard."
Shepard gaped. 'What are you talking about?"
Arvid was checking his omnitool. "She's right Shepard. You've made the top score of the class overall. Even got an honorary Rifleman award."
Karl whooped and knocked Shepard over with an overly enthusiastic backslap. "Way to go! Suma cum laude! Or…er…Valedectorian? Whatever! Congrats man!"
Mrs Verner had unusually bright eyes, "You didn't know?" she asked.
Shepard looked at her for a long moment. Then he sighed and sat down. "No." he said simply. "I didn't."
Karl looked up from the last piece of armor. "Wait, you mean you didn't actually volunteer for Edible Plant Life 104?"
Shepard shook his head.
"Or Vehicle Repairs?"
Another headshake.
"Wilderness cooking?"
Shepard glared. "There is no such class."
Karl tilted his head more appraisingly. "Maybe not, but if there were, I'd bet you would have taken it."
Mrs Verner hung her head. "It's just as well. I figured you were doing it on purpose. Now that I know you didn't…it makes it easier for me."
Shepard let her words work their way into his subconscious. "What do you-" he started to ask.
"I'm quitting." She interjected.
Shepard just stared.
She nodded insistently. "I got a job offer a few weeks ago, working as an artist at a replica company. I will never be that good at soldiering, so I may as well get paid for what I can do well."
Karl and Arvid moved back a bit and joined Shepard in staring.
"After all this work, after all you've pushed yourself to do…why?" Shepard asked. "You just spent over six months going through the worst the Alliance could dish out!"
Mrs Verner shook her head. "Always so naïve. This isn't the worst. That comes later. I barely passed here, I'd never pass the tougher tests."
Crickets played gently in the background. In other rooms recruits, now soldiers, were gathering their equipment and packing it away. Farther out the rumbling sound of heavy vehicles underlined the grim purpose of their training. It was for war, not just personal fitness.
Shepard nodded once. "Very well Mrs Verner. You should know yourself best. Give my regards to Mr Verner, would you?"
She smiled lightly. "Surely. He already thinks you're some kind of hotshot, so it will make his day."
Shepard laughed. "I'm hardly that, but I appreciate the vote of confidence."
The two parted with a handshake. Which was more than Shepard had expected at the beginning of the training.
The end of the day came rolling around. All his armor was carefully cleaned and put away. The weapons were stripped and replaced in their hangings.
Shepard himself was re-reading a letter on his omni-tool when Karl caught up with him.
"Hey Shepard," Karl called out. "I just found out about a new HUD display that makes an observer redundant for sniping! Isn't that wild? Now you can go chargin' off solo while I get to stay home and watch the Food Network…what'cha got there?"
Shepard didn't look up. "It's an invitation to enter training with the N7 program."
Karl sat down quickly. He missed the rock. "Oof."
Shepards eyebrows were furrowed. "I'd thought about entering, but never expected to get an invite so early. What do you think?"
Karl was sprawled out on his back. "Honestly? Go for it. You nailed the basic final, and that was with deadweight. What do you think you could do with the best in the Alliance teaching you?"
One heartbeat. Two. Three.
"Good point. I'll think about it.: Shepard muttered. "It definitely couldn't hurt."