Chapter 2
"Go Erik, GO"
"Not a chance, Michael, I'm getting your ass out of here, even if it kills me"
"Damn it Erik. Fine, carry me so I can give covering fire to you"
With that, Erik picked Michael up and put him facing towards the enemy. The M416 that Chains was carrying rang shots out at their assailants.
"Stay with me Chains, we're almost to the Humvee"
"I'm gonna make these bastards pay for shooting my legs full of holes" Chains bellowed with rage.
Erik finally arrived at the Humvee, just in time to get the corpsman to stop the bleeding. The vehicle sped off to get to the closest base. Michael was still losing blood, fast.
"Well geez Chains, don't bleed all over the nice Marine's vehicle"
"When we get to a decent port, you're buying me the biggest pint of beer there is"
"Why's that?"
"Cause I only got shot because I was trying to save your sorry ass"
"Alright, that's fair" Erik agreed reluctantly.
Slowly, Erik was staring to be roused from his sleep. He had to take a guess and say that he had been in his slumber for quite some time, but couldn't be certain until he could find the time and date. But now he coveted after one thing alone, and thankfully his wish was granted. Warmth! Sweet warmth. Its touch had not been felt for quite some time. Erik wondered who his savior would be, but was equally as cautious as his savior could also very well be his destroyer.
"Sir, neurological readings are coming online, I think he will be waking up soon" an unfamiliar voice stated.
"Good, keep me posted" This time it was a deep, scruffy voice, one that had seen many years of war.
"Aye, Sir"
Erik heard the click of a door, signaling the older man leaving the room. From where it sounded like, he was in the room with only one other person besides himself. It was now or never. Quick as lightning, Erik bolted straight up, grabbing the man next to him and coming face to face with a very surprised scientist.
"Where the hell am I?! Why am I here?! And give me a good reason to not beat you senseless? Speak quickly, I'm not a very patient man!" Erik shouted out.
"What the… I don't… please don't hurt me" The doctor whimpered out.
"Cut the bullshit, and answer my questions!" Erik screamed with his commanding voice. He shoved the man to the wall with a hard clang as he swung his legs over the metal table he'd been laying on. On the table opposite of him sat his Tac vest, with the familiar hilt of a M1911 sticking out of the sidearm holster. Erik got off of the metal slab, and stuttered when his legs refused to hold his weight for a second. Even after all the sleep he had gotten, his ruthless beating was still fresh, and they had done a number on the poor SEAL's body. Erik quickly recovered and headed to pick up his gear, he swiftly drew the side arm once the vest was secured and aimed the weapon at the doctor.
He heard the door open, and both he and the doctor turned to see who the unfortunate soul coming through the door was. Erik only saw the gun that the guard had though and quickly put one of his .45 Caliber rounds through an outer part of the man's thigh. The guard yelped in pain and fell to the ground, cradling his leg. That shot is sure to have been heard, I need to get out of here, he thought. Too late. A red light suddenly flashed in the room, alerting personnel of the emergency of the situation.
"Please don't hurt me" he whispered loudly.
"Shut up and do as I say!" Erik commanded. He grabbed the doctor and put him in a choke hold, putting the hand with the gun up against his head. "You're going to get me out of this room and to your Commanding Officer, NOW!"
"Ok, ok, through this door and down the hall" The doctor instructed. They both headed towards the door. Erik swiftly put his boot into the face of the downed guard, knocking him out cold. The door slid open and the duo headed out to the hall. They headed to the left and continued down the long corridor for a good five minutes. Everything was new; Erik didn't recognize any of this type of architecture, how long have I been out?
"Freeze right there!" a soldier demanded. Six more soldiers quickly appeared right behind the first. They had planted an ambush for him at the cross of two corridors. Smart. But he still had a gun to the doctor's head, his leverage was still intact. One took a shot at him and hit him in the thigh. The round had disintegrated on contact but just about broke his femur. Holy shit, what the hell did he just shoot me with? Erik moved his pistol to aim at the man who had just shot him and pulled the trigger. The bullet sped towards the soldier, but at the very last second, crunched and bounced off what looked like a force field a few centimeters from the man's left eye.
What the hell was that!?, Erik thought as he shoved both himself and the doctor down a side passage to his right. "You arn't moving, got it?" Erik stated to the doctor as he leaned in and out of cover, firing rounds down range at the 6 guards just down the hall. He switched mags, once, twice, and a third time. He had 6 rounds left and not a single guard had gone down. This has got to be some new type of battle armor or something. Just as quickly as the firefight started, it stopped. Erik was out of bullets.
Erik knew that he could never win with these odds, so he lifted his M1911 in the air, took his finger off the trigger and came out of cover. He then released the doctor very slowly and knelt down to the ground, putting the pistol in front of him, then taking his hands and putting them behind his head. There's no way to kill these guys with a gun, let's hope hand-to-hand works better.All six men rushed towards Erik. Three of them dropped their guns to their side, dropping their guard as well. Erik took quick advantage of this; he jumped up and threw his fist into the first man's jaw, breaking it instantly. He then jammed his elbow back into the sternum of the second man, and following that up with a knee to the man's bent over face. The fourth and fifth man both dropped their weapons to join the fight.
Erik dropped to the ground as the third man's fist came at him. He took this advantage to ram his fist into the soldier's stomach and solar plexus, knocking the wind out of him. Erik jumped up shoving his elbow into the fifth man's jaw, making the man stumble back. He then grabbed the fourth man and rammed both his and the fifth man's heads together, knocking them out. He grabbed one of the guns that was on one of the soldier's hilt and threw it at soldier number six, distracting him long enough for Erik to close the distance. Erik shoved the gun out of the way, it discharged on the way up, but that didn't faze Erik. He took the gun, ripped it out of the soldier's hands, and slammed it into the man's face making him drop to the floor in pain.
Remembering that the third man was still conscious, Erik kicked the back of the man's legs and dropped him to the ground. Raising his fist up, he suddenly heard one word.
"STOP!" the voice was the same as the old one he had heard in his room. Erik turned to face the voice, sliding his spec ops issued KA-BAR out of its sheathe on his tactical vest, putting the cold steel to the fallen soldier's throat.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you son." The man said calmly, as 7 heavily armed men appeared at his sides. "Now you just put down that knife and we'll settle this like grown men."
"I want to talk to your CO, NOW" Erik stated firmly.
"Speaking; drop the knife son." Erik kept the knife at the soldier's throat, he didn't trust these people. Suddenly, the CO nodded his head once, and almost immediately, Erik felt something sharp thrust into his neck, and release fluid into his blood stream. His grip on the knife loosed and a drowsy sleep beckoned him into its sweet grasp. An arm caught him and lightly put him to the ground, his last sight was Commanding Officer walking up to him and telling him everything would be fine.
Light was thrust into Erik's eyes; it harshly blinded him momentarily, making him unable to get his bearing. He tried to raise his hands to get the light out of his face, but found that both his hands and chest were strapped down to the steel chair he was sitting in. His sight finally focused and he saw a steel table and the CO in front of him. Erik was prepared mentally and physically for the torture he was sure he was about to get.
"At ease soldier, I'm not here to hurt you; I just want to ask you some questions"
"American, about 60 years old, military; what branch are you in?" Erik probed.
"We'll get to that, right now just know that I'm on your side" he replied. Erik eased up a little bit, but was still cautious about the man in front of him. "Alright, first things first, what is your name?"
Erik knew that he already knew everything about him, but he was genuinely concerned about the entire situation. "Lt Erik "Mansion" Kyle, United States Navy SEALs, Team 6, 1st squad, Squad Leader"
"Ok, what is the year?"
"2013". The CO faltered a little bit, but quickly caught himself.
"Age and Family?"
"26, and none, never married"
"What was your last memory?" Erik explained the mission to the man.
"Well son, you've been to hell and back, and then asked for seconds. I'm sorry to tell you this, but the world you knew is gone"
"What the hell are you talking about?!" Erik asked urgently.
"The current date is 2182 AD"
"WHAT!? HOW THE HELL IS THAT POSSIBLE!?"
"Our long range scanners found a solid chunk of Element Zero flouting around at the edge of our solar system. We recovered it and found you inside of it. We got you back here on earth for further examination, and got you out of the eezo for tests. Our estimates were off on you, we thought you were just in a permanent coma, but just like that you woke up. Your wounds are still as fresh as the day you got them." The man handed Erik a mirror to look himself over.
Erik's dirty blonde hair was matted with blood. His face had been cleaned off revealing his handsome face and the scar from his left eyebrow down to the bottom of his eyelid. His deep blue eyes were intense as he looked himself over. The purple bruises everywhere on his body caused him to relive how he got all of them. He looked over his arms and found all the cuts along his forearms still fresh and starting to scab over.
"Holy shit" it was all Erik could say.
"I know this is a lot to ta-"
"What happened to my team? And what happened to Chains!?" Erik demanded.
"Your team made it out; here is the mission report and all the data on all of your team"
Erik greedily grabbed the glass pad that the man handed over and looked over the mission report. The mission was a success, one casualty, Shrubs. He was listed MIA. Not missing in action, frozen in action, he thought. Chains went on to receive a Navy Distinguished Service Medal and a Purple Heart while he was shot getting everyone out of the facility. Shrubs was brought home and given a proper burial. Blade when on 5 more missions before being Killed in Action while his team mates got out of the area. Rocker, retired and lived in peace and luxury, living to the ripe old age of 90.
Chain took a pair of Erik's other dog tags and wore them along with his own as he went on countless more missions and became one of them most famous Navy SEALs in all of history. He was killed at age 56 when he ran into a burning Navy command center and pulled all the men out. He died as he lived: a hero.
Lt Erik Kyle was awarded the Medal of Honor for the heroism presented during Operation Crater. His mother and father were given his medals, uniforms, and a flag to for their fallen son.
Erik felt tears unexpectedly run down his face. His world had ended, and he had just read about it. There was only one thing he needed to ask.
"What is your name?"
"Admiral Steven Hackett"
Erik was given an apartment on the base about 50 stories up and given an Alliance uniform to wear while his Multi-Cam was being cleaned. Holy shit, this is really it! This is Mass Effect, Bioware was right.These thoughts rid him of all the mystery he had been trapped in, he knew more about everything in this galaxy than all of the Council. But he couldn't let anybody know what he knew; the galaxy would forever be changed if he just alerted everyone to the terrible truth. He needed to tell someone, carrying the burden of the knowledge of the fate of the entire galaxy is heavy stuff. There was only one man he could trust. Deep in thought, Erik didn't even hear the door open and close.
"Are you just gonna look out that window forever?" He turned around to find Hackett smiling at him. Erik quickly snapped to attention and saluted.
"Good Morning, Sir" Hackett returned the salute and shook his hand.
"How are you adjusting Erik?
"Fine, still a little bit of shock from everything but I'm dealing with it"
"Well good, I came by to tell you that your US Military record was found and transferred over to the Alliance, I'd like to welcome you to the Alliance Lieutenant Kyle"
"Thank you Sir, it's an honor"
"On another note, by the training you've received as a SEAL, and by the way you single handedly took out 6 highly trained soldiers, I'm recommending you to the N7 program"
"You want me to be an N7?"
"Yes, how do you know about them?"
"There is something I need to explain to you"
"Well by all means spit it out"
"Sir, you might want to sit for this"
Erik carefully explained every single thing that he knew about this universe. He detailed Shepard's role in the future to come and the dangers that they would face in just three years. Erik recounted every single event that happened throughout the three games.
"Bullshit" Hackett said with a concerned smile.
"All true Sir, I just woke up from being frozen in Eezo a week ago, I've had no contact with anyone other than you since I've woken up. How else would I know all of this?"
"I believe you son, but damn, you're telling me that a race of sentient machines will obliterate all life in about 4 years?"
"Yes Sir"
"Well, I've got no doubt that IF this all plays out how you've said, we all will need you and John in the days to come"
"Sir, one more thing, you can't tell anybody about this"
"And why not?"
"The damage that could be done by changing anything that happens with Shepard's missions could crucially change the future ahead, I'm not saying YOU can't prepare now for it, but you can't make it a noticeable change"
"Alright, Lieutenant, you've given me a lot to think about, the transport to N7 training will be leaving in a couple of days and you've got a choice to make, I just hope it's the right one"
And with that, Hackett left Erik to be pulled back into his thoughts.
4 days later
The UT-47 Kodiak descended from the sky. Erik shifted slightly, unsure what N7 training would be like. Well if it's anything like SEAL training, this is going to be just peachy, he thought drearily. He heard his name being called from the list and quickly shouted that he was present.
"Kyle, get over here!" the instructor yelled.
"Yes Sir" Erik ran towards the instructor and stopped right in front of him.
"Lt Erik Kyle reporting in Sir"
"You've got someone here to see you" he said. Suddenly Admiral Hackett walked out from the shuttle with case in his hand.
"Lieutenant, I forgot to tell you, the boys in the lab made you a commissioning present, but you have to promise me one thing."
"Anything Sir"
"You can't open it until you've completed your training, I'm giving it to the instructor here to keep it safe for the time being, don't forget about it"
"I won't and thank you Hackett, thank you for everything"
"I expect one hell of a soldier from you now son, make me proud"
"Aye aye Sir"
The instructor butted in and yelled, "Everyone on the shuttle, your thirteen weeks in hell start now"
And with that, Erik left to train to be the best of the best, again.
Graduation day. It had been twenty-four weeks in the making but he finally made it through N7 training, it felt much like his SEAL graduation and he was filled with pride the entire day. Every single one of the other recruits that suffered through with him was considered his brothers now. Two recruits had died during the course of the training and they were honored during the ceremony. One by one, every Marine was stood in front of in formation and pinned with their new designation, all being saluted for making it the end.
A formal dinner was held afterwords with all the loved ones that had come for the ceremony. Most of his brothers had girlfriends on their arms, laughing and enjoying the company of each other. He couldn't help it but he was jealous of them; he had never had a girl of his own, he always had to move around before any real relationships were formed. When will I get a girl to call my own?He thought miserably. He immediately got out of his stupor when he saw Adm Hackett walking towards him. Erik went to attention and saluted the officer.
"Good Evening Sir" Hackett returned the salute and shook Erik's hand.
"Can I steal you away from here for a second, Lieutenant?"
"Absolutely Sir" Hackett Lead Erik to the range that was set up on base and went to the back wall, taking a key from his pocket and putting it into one of the lockers. He reached in and grabbed the case that had been his commissioning/ graduation present.
"Remember this?"
"That I do; do I finally get to open it" Erik probed with curiosity.
"Yes, here's the key". Hackett handed him the key to the case and Erik greedily opened the case to find what loot waited inside. It was the M1911 that Erik had been holding when he was frozen in the eezo.
"It has been modified to work almost exactly like the Mark V Kessler that you've been training with, but had the outside look of the old Colt that we found you with. Go ahead and check it out" Erik shot the familiar pistol at the dummies that were set up and let the heatsinks cooldown during the process.
"Thank you Sir, this is the best thing you could have done for me" Erik said sincerely.
"Well it doesn't stop there, we also came up with a camo pattern for your hard suit taking it after your Multi-cam uniform, you can apply it anytime you want" Hackett said with a smile.
"Thank you for everything, I think you're the best Admiral I've ever had the privilege to know"
"I've also got the ship you're being assigned to right here. Open it tonight though, enjoy the party right now"
"Yes Sir" Erik smiled and walked back to the dinner and chatted the night away with all his friends.
Later that night, Erik arrived back at his new room on base and laid down the envelope that Hackett handed him earlier on the bed. He undressed and put his uniform away, went to take a shower and put on pajama pants as he was about to go to bed. After getting ready to sleep, he finally went to his bed and opened the envelope. And read the contents
Lt Erik Kyle,
You have been called to serve about the Systems Alliance Space Vehicle Normandy Stealth Reconnaissance-1 as a Special Forces Operator. You are to report for duty 3 days from now on December the 30th 2182 to Captain David Anderson.
Fair Winds and Following Seas,
Steven Hackett, Adm, Systems Alliance