BTW, screw the prequels for giving the Force a scientific explanation. There are no miniclorians or whatever they're called. No scientific explanation nothing, just the Force.
Chapter 5: Renegade Smuggler
Shepard watched with fascination as the City filled planet drifted slowly away. The Vakarian was very fast, much faster than any Mass Effect ship built. It could take hours to travel from 1 star system to the nearest one with a conventional Mass Effect Drive (An average distance of 5 Light-years) but this could do it in a fraction of the time with their Hyper-drive system. They had no need for Mass Effect Relays and could travel almost anywhere they wanted to.
From what Shepard understood it wasn't that easy. Apparently they had to calculate the correct route so as to avoid things like Supernova's, asteroids and other such bodies and most importantly avoid getting too close to the gravitational influence of stars. In Hyper-drive it takes just a few hours to travel from one end of the Galaxy to the other.
Perhaps this civilization could defeat the Reapers, maybe they could stand against them and rival the technology of the Reapers. Shepard was going to bet the fate of the Galaxy once more on a collection of species that are knee deep in war and their own blood to perceive a threat greater than themselves.
"What are you thinking about?" Adrial came up next to Shepard. Shepard did not look at her but continued to stare out the window at the planet. They were finishing up the coordinates for Hyper-drive so Shepard just stood back, out of the way of a technology far beyond his understanding.
"This Galaxy looks so different... so Alien that it almost reminds me of how Javik felt..." He said more to himself.
"Javik?" Adrial asked.
"A good friend of mine. He was a Prothian, the civilization that existed 50,000 years before mine." Shepard began to smile as he thought of his old friend. "He had a sort of hobby of spacing things out of the air lock when he got angry. Even threatened to space me out the air lock a couple of times. Especially after the whole Blasto accident."
"Blasto?" Adrial asked, assuming that it was something funny that happened to him.
"It was a stupid show from my civilization. A Big stupid Jellyfish that practically plagiarized all my accomplishments." Shepard began to chuckle at the memory.
Adrial could feel his mind being at ease from the memory. It's hard to describe the feeling unless you have an affinity to the force. To go from sad and depressed to a light hearted mood is like unwinding a bad knot.
"Tell me a bit about yourself Adrial. What was your life like?" Shepard asked randomly, hoping to learn a little more about his comrades.
"Kind of a long story." Adrial said, not really wanting to talk about her past.
"You don't have to." Shepard said understandingly. There were a few ghosts in his past that he would like to bury but that's war for you.
"I was raised in the Sith at a young age, during the earlier parts of the war. My Father was abusive and a monster, in nearly every sense of the word and a powerful Force user. My mother was a young Republic agent who was..." Adrial was unable to finish. "I spent most of my time in a Cell with my mother. When I showed the ability to use the Force I was transferred to a Sith training world."
"The Force?" Shepard asked curiously.
"It's hard to describe, I don't even have a very good understanding of it. It's a power that binds all living things together. With a powerful will you can manipulate the force to do your bidding." Shepard was interested but decided not to comment further and let Adrial continue with her story. "I think I was 6 at the time but I don't remember much. I was saved by a Bounty Hunter my first week there and he brought me to Tython, where the Jedi took me in and began training me." Adrial smiled a bit at that.
"I sort of know the feeling." Shepard said.
"How so?" Adrial asked, wanting to know more about Shepard.
"I grew up as an orphan on the slums of Earth, the origin of the human species. Or at least our human civilization. I did some bad things, got in with the wrong crowd but paid my sins in the Alliance Navy. I was later picked for the N7 program, an elite force in our Military and later became the first Human Spectre." Shepard said as his eyes lit up with flashbacks to his youth. "That feeling, of leaving a hellish place for something greater than yourself is something that never goes away. The only difference is I chose my Hell, you were born into it." Adrial looked to the ground in thought.
"Maybe life back then wasn't so different." She commented.
"Keep your friends close, when you find yourself in the trenches take pride in the knowledge that you can always turn to them for aid and assistance." Shepard put his hand on her shoulder, much like a comrade does for a fellow soldier and walked away. The window blinds shut as the ship entered Hyper-space and Shepard made his way to the Holoterminal to discus where to go from here.
Master Dack, LT. Cross and Adrial mad a circle around the Terminal, all eyes turned to Shepard and Dack began.
"Do you have any idea where to begin our search?" Dack asked and everyone else had the same look that Shepard saw throughout most of his adult life. The look of his subordinates staring at him, awaiting their orders and how to proceed. It's a look that can drive new and inexperienced officers to insanity but Shepard is neither of these.
"We should head to 2181 Despoina, where I last met with the Leviathans. If they're still there then maybe they can provide the proof we need." Shepard said logically.
"Do you know the location of this world?" Dack asked.
"Mostly, I still have the data stored on my Omni Tool." Shepard then realized their confused faces. "It's basically a holographic computer around my wrist that can store data." He said, although it's more complicated than that the explanation would have to do for now.
The Omni Tool could not interface with the system but he did write down the data on a piece of paper. Thing is, all galactic charts use the same principle of mathematics, even though the symbols are different Math is a universal language. It was very easy to translate the old Galactic Chart to mirror the new one.
"That's Kamino." Dack said.
"Sorry?" Shepard asked.
"Kamino, it's a planet that has a single massive ocean." He clarified.
"Yea, 2181 Despoina was a world full of water." Shepard said.
"It's inhabited by the Kaminoan's, masters of Cloning technology." Shepard snorted.
"Great, more clones." He muttered.
"How come I never heard of them?" LT. Cross asked.
"The Kaminoan's are an isolated species, very few Jedi even know of them and they prefer it that way." Dack said. "What makes you so sure that these Leviathans are here? The Kaminoan's never mentioned them or know of their existence." Dack asked Shepard.
"The Leviathan's also preferred isolation, they nearly indoctrinated me just to keep their existence a secret. If they haven't been wiped out by the Reapers than they should still be there." Shepard said.
"How do we get down there?" Adrial asked. Shepard also was curios. Dack shook his head.
"The Kaminoan's are a very greedy society, give them a big enough Credit deposit and they'll do anything for you. They should have submersibles that could take us down but it would be very expensive." Dack said.
"I don't care about money, all that matters is stopping the Reapers." Dack became a bit worried of Shepard's declaration. Just how far is he willing to go to win? Such thoughts of Absolution lead to the Dark-side but Shepard showed almost no affinity to the Force. Only Force users can be tempted by the Dark-side, non-force users never can be corrupted though they still have other forms of corruption such as Greed and Vice.
"You fought them Shepard." Cross said. "What were they like?" Cross was a good soldier, always trying to find out the weaknesses in his enemy.
"Though not as massive as you're Battle-Cruisers, they easily scaled with our largest ships. They had Mass Effect shields that could stop a large array of weaponry and were smart. Each Reaper ship was in itself a Reaper. Their ground forces were comprised of twisted mutations of various races. They twisted their enemies to fight for them and were extremely difficult to kill. The more of you they defeat the stronger they get." Shepard said. It's very possible that your ships could outmatch them, but their ground forces would be almost unstoppable. Plus there are the problems of the Cyclical's." Shepard said.
"Cyclical's?" Dack asked.
"Reoccurring Cycles, the Cyclical is an idea that the Prothean's came up with. As they studied previous Cycles before their own, they discovered strange reoccurring themes. Aside from the Reaper cycles happening again and again there were also splinter cell groups in the cycles that broke off from the civilizations and tried to control the Reapers. In our cycle they were called Cerberus, a pro-human terrorist group that tried to control the Reapers and ultimately failed. There are other themes that have continued through the Cycles."
"Were they caused by the Reapers?" Adrial asked. Shepard shook his head.
"We don't know, Vendetta, A Prothean VI I met on the Asari Home-world said that they believed the Reapers to be a servant to the Cycle, not the Masters. To them there was a force behind the Reapers that even controlled them, but it was just speculation. There is nothing suggesting the Reapers were the servants or masters of the Cyclical, but I'm willing to believe just about anything now." Shepard elaborated.
"So we could potentially follow the same pattern as past Cycles?" Adrial asked.
"Possibly, but i don't know. Like I said it was all speculation." Shepard said.
"Can the Cycle be broken?" Dack asked.
"Yes." Shepard said with confidence. "I know it can if we can just prepare for the invasion this time. All we have to do is prepare and with the advanced technology from this world I'm sure that we can win. Perhaps even stop the Reapers from even arriving." Shepard said.
"How can we stop them from arriving?" Dack asked.
"Reapers use what's called Mass Effect technology. Unlike you we can't travel across the galaxy with ease. We use these massive things called Mass Effect Relays, giant space machines that can propel you like a sling to the next star system. The Reapers use them to enter from darkspace and if we can stop the relays we can defeat them." Shepard clarified.
"But there are no Relays that we have found." Adrial said, her years of study in the academy paying off.
"That's because most are hidden. Our own Relay was hidden for thousands of years in a small ice planetoid we called Pluto. They are well hidden and can only be found if you know where it is. Back then there were severe laws that prevented activating them, it lead to entire civilizations meeting for the first time and events like the Rachni Wars and the First Contact war." No one decided to ask more about the wars since it wasn't entirely relevant.
"Shouldn't we be able to find them though?" Adrial asked. Dack laughed at his pupils lack of understanding.
"Even something like a star system is a very big place young one." He said. "It could take centuries to find something that small, unless it gave off some kind of energy there is so much space between words and stars that it would be unrealistic and impractical." He said logically.
"For now I say we go with the Commanders plan." LT. Cross said. "We'll set up the coordinates and we should be there within the next few hours." He said. With that everyone went to their stations.
It was funny, Shepard was used to operating on a frigate with dozens of crew members but this small ship with only these 3 men (And girl) and a small elite squad of troopers was going to be interesting to work with.
The ship seemed so small and alien to him, far past the beauty and elegant nature of the Normandy. It wouldn't be able to hold a lot of men and it was so small he doubted he could take on any of the larger ships, especially considering these ships could literally be miles long. Shepard never doubted the Reapers capabilities but he did wonder if this new civilization could take them. If even a biological creature like a Thresher Maw could take one down than surely these people could.
Of course in war it's never that easy. The weaker an enemy is the more of an advantage he has, especially since the politics in this cycle refuse to recognize the threat. Might sound like a contradiction but history has always proven this true. Looking at Earth's own military history (Which Shepard studied for years because of his officer training) moments like the battles between the Greeks and the Persians, the Romans vs the Gauls, The American Revolution and even the Vietnam conflict history always shows that the weaker almost always triumphs. Almost...
Shepard entered the Captains quarters and began to exercise. He dropped down and began to do push ups. His body burned with hatred and lusted for revenge, his desires fueling his body to work out in order to be even more prepared. After doing over 300 he turned around, began his sit ups and soon his body began to sweat. Shepard's anger was almost palpable, an anger that was felt by the force sensitive Jedi.
Since Shepard had little to no force abilities at all the fear of him falling to the Darkside was very small. Normal men are not enticed as the Jedi are. The Force attracts those who have a natural affinity to it, all Jedi and Sith have a natural attraction to the study of the Force. It's almost as if it's in their DNA, but the Force can also be like a drug. It can become addicting, the kind of power that can be obtained and eventually men can become mad and driven insane.
Shepard is not a Jedi though, Dack sees him as no different than any other man he has met in his life, not being strong enough to be seduced by the Force.
As Shepard finished his basic workouts he continued again, increasing the intensity until his body ached in fatigue and pain but not enough to lose his combat effectiveness if he had to fight within the next few hours.
"We've got a problem Shepard." Adrial said as she walked into Shepard's room. "There is a Sith Dreadnaught hovering over the planet." Adrial blushed and turned her face away from Shepard, who was shirtless and glistening with sweat from his workout.
Shepard quickly dressed into his Armor, which was white and Yellow, not unlike what Cross and the rest of Havoc squad had. He got to the bridge where the rest of the small team was waiting.
"Good to see you Commander." Cross saluted.
"What's the situation?" Shepard asked Dack after he saluted back to Cross.
"A single Sith Dreadnaught, severely damaged by the looks of it." He pointed to the ship that was just within eyesight. Luckily the stealth systems and the small size of the ship kept them hidden for the moment.
"What's it doing out here?" Shepard asked.
"Most likely escaped some kind of conflict, either with a Republic Fleet or possibly some kind of 3RD party like the Hutt cartels." Dack said logically.
"I thought there was a cease fire." Shepard pointed out.
"There is but it's not uncommon for a few ships to clash every now and again." Cross replied for Dack. "Really the treaty just prevents full scale invasions of planets but ships engage each other regularly or forces fight each other on neutral planets."
"Can we go around it?" Shepard asked.
"It's navigation systems would catch us long before we managed to pass them, assuming it's still operational. Personally I don't want to take the risk considering that if we're wrong and it's operational we'd never be able to escape." Adrial said, putting her somewhat good knowledge of mechanical applications to good use.
"Would we be able to disrupt it somehow?" Shepard asked.
"We could try putting a few men inside the ship and disable it from within." Cross said. "I've taken down a few of these things in my day. If we manage to hack into their systems from here and get their authorization codes then we could get into the Hanger under the guise of an Empire ship. At least until they're in visible range at which point they'll realize it's a republic ship." The old veteran suggested.
"Too risky, I don't want to chance a direct approach." Shepard said, knowing that the chances of successfully putting men in the ship was still too small to risk it.
"Wait..." Adrial said, messing with the command console. "We're picking up a communication signal, it's a distress call." The young Jedi Padawan played the message for everyone to hear.
"This is Captain Amelia Armstrong of the Helios IX, I have been taken captive by a Sith Dreadnaught but it's been crazy since then. For some reason the Crew just began killing each other, nearly everyone is insane or dead and I'm trapped in the bridge. The engines are damaged from a firefight in the Engine room and the Navigation's are down. If there are any Republic Star-ships in the area I request immediate help."
"I know that woman." Shepard said.
"You do?" Adrial asked.
"I met here before I attacked you... No offense." Shepard added, Adrial just shrugged.
"We'll launch a rescue attempt as soon as possible." Dack said.
"Agreed." Shepard said. "Dack, Cross and I will secure the ship and rescue her. Adrial and Havoc squad will stay with the ship and keep it safe." Shepard ordered.
"But..." Adrial began. Shepard rounded on her, staring her down like a Military Officer to his subordinate when they became insubordinate.
"That's an order, disobey it and I'll send you right back to Typhoon." Shepard said, ignoring Dack correcting his pronunciation. He knew that she was still young, grew up in a monk like society and was completely new to the Military life but he had to show her that she must follow orders. Adrial became afraid of him in that moment, much how a child is afraid of her Father if she goes out of line. She dropped the issue and nodded in affirmation.
"Dack, you'll take lead to deflect any fire at the group, Cross you stay behind and provide cover fire." Shepard finished. Cross smiled, been a long time since he served under an Officer like Shepard. Call it the Force, fate or simple intuition but Cross got the vibe that he would like Shepard as a leader. Some leaders are so natural in what they do they can command respect and loyalty in just a few moments of being in combat.
As they left the Vakarian Shepard had on a Republic helmet and so did his small team. Dack wore a light Republic armor set that was under his brown Jedi robes and Cross carried a massive 2 handed blaster.
"Can you communicate with Amelia?" Shepard asked Dack.
"No." was his reply.
"Move, 5 Meter spread." Shepard commanded as they inspected the Hanger. The lights were dimmed and the floors were covered in blood. There were Sith Troopers all around, most were torn to pieces and blood leaked out of every opening in their armor. Many were missing limbs and it was hard to tell which limb belonged to who.
"What the hell happened?" Cross asked.
"No clue, what ever rolled through here was bad. Be on your guard." Shepard said as they continued down the corridor.
Dack was glad that Shepard prevented Adrial from leaving the ship, she is still young and innocent in the ways of war and bloodshed. Her idea of a terrible and gruesome wound is a paper cut so she would undoubtedly gag at the sight. Dack could still remember his first time seeing this much blood early in the war.
Cross was indifferent, he doesn't really have the capacity to understand anything outside of war. To him this just meant less Sith to deal with. Men like him have been in war for so long they really forget how to be a compassionate person.
After going through the ship they spotted the entrance of the Bridge. Shepard ordered Dack to enter in, his reflexes and deflecting abilities would be perfect for that type of role. Then he would go in with Cross protecting the rear.
Giving the signal the 3 war veterans charged through door way, moving in near perfect sync even though they've only known each other a few days. Inside the Bridge was again filled with corpses and covered in blood. Amelia was no where to be found.
"Is it just me." The Jedi began, "or does it look like they killed each other?" Shepard couldn't deny the possibility.
Some the corpses had blood and flesh hanging on their nails and teeth, almost as if they were wild animals trying desperately to kill its prey. Shepard opened one of their mouths and found chunks of flesh inside, blood leaking down the throat of the torn up corpse.
"Has this ever happened before?" Shepard asked the Consular.
"I have no knowledge of something like this." Dack said. "I knew the Sith were harsh and always betrayed each other but this is pushing it." Cross voiced his agreement.
"We need to confirm Amelia's status and get out of here as soon as possible. I don't want to stay around for whatever did this." Shepard declared as both men nodded. Suddenly the communicator blared to life.
"This is Captain Amelia Armstrong, do you read me?" Amelia said, finally able to contact someone.
"This is Commander Shepard of the Nor... Vakarian. Do you read me." He said into the communicator.
"I do, I'm in the Medical wing of the ship." She said.
"What happened here?" Shepard asked.
"I have no clue. One minute everything's fine... Well, for me it was bad because I was imprisoned, but it was business as usual. All of a sudden the Captain of the ship kills a Sith that was on bored and then everyone goes crazy and start eating each other like wild dogs. Some turned into cannibals, others just start shooting their Blaster Rifles at random things and more still just dropped dead." Amelia was surprisingly calm for what just happened, most likely she was used to bad sights.
"Did it affect everyone?" Shepard asked.
"There were 3 Sith Warriors on board. One was killed like I said and the other two were unaffected. They thought I did it and have been hunting me on this ship for the past day or two." She said.
"Stay where you are, we'll get there as soon as we can." Shepard said.
"Take your time, it's a very nice view up here and I'd hate to have to leave too soon." She said sarcastically.
"Let's move." Shepard said as the 3 man team headed to the Medical wing of the ship.
When they reached the Medical Wing they found the same blood and guts as before but this time they heard what sounded like a blowtorch on metal. As they rounded the corner they spotted a Sith Warrior, dressed in black armor and cutting through the door to the Med-Bay.
"Who are you?" The Dark force user demanded as he retracted the Lightsaber and activated a second blade on the other side, acting like a staff. Shepard oddly noted the red color of the blades.
"I'm Commander of the Vakarian and your only way out of here." Shepard said with a Blaster aimed at him.
The Sith had heard enough and jumped towards Shepard, intent on cutting him in half. With years of experience under his belt Shepard rolled under the horizontal slash and tried to shoot him as he got up. The Sith's force enhanced reflexes managed to block the bolts as they came at him.
Dack ran up to him and launched a vertical attack but it was blocked by the Sith. The Sith then used a powerful Force push to knock him back, but was then hit by a Throw attack that Shepard used, putting his biotics to good work. The Sith got up but was tackled by Cross who managed to disarm him and throw his Lightsaber to Dack so he couldn't use the force to get it back.
Cross lifted the Sith up by the collar and slammed him into the wall. His hood fell off and it revealed a Teenager, barely 18.
"Look kid." Shepard walked up to him, his Blaster pointed right at him. "I've had a hard week, now we can either rescue you in chains or unconscious, your choice." Shepard threatened.
"Yea, how about my brother comes back, kills you and then we can have some fun with that Smuggler." The kid said evilly. "Once he's done dealing with your friends on that ship we're going to get out of here." He started to chuckle evilly.
"What happened here?" Shepard asked.
"How should I know? My Master never told me anything, just that me and my brother had to do one final test to decide who gets to be a Sith Apprentice." Shepard had the feeling he was already crazy before this. "And the winner also get's that red head as a prize. The things I will do to he..." he was cut off as a Blaster bolt passed by the men and hit him right between the eyes, the hole instantly cauterized by the intense heat.
Shepard turned around with his Blaster aimed, only to point it at the Red haired southern accented woman he met before. She wore skin tight white pants with combat boots going up to her knees. She had on a tight form fitting brown shirt under a black corset that served to hold her equipment and ammo. On her shoulders and arms were light bits of armor to protect her from damage.
"Is not nearly as interesting as the things I'd do to you darling." She said in a polite sounding voice, commenting on what he said before he died.
"You shouldn't have done that." Shepard said, disgusted that the kid died.
"Why not? You heard what he was going to do to little old me." She said innocently and made her eyes big and cute. Then her personality shifted to the look of a seductive predator, ready to pounce on Shepard in a moments notice. "Good to see you again handsome." She smiled seductively.
"He was a prisoner and a kid." Shepard shrugged off the statement.
"Things that grant no such privilege in this war." She said plainly. "Although for me it's been the biggest boom in my career for as long as I can remember." She giggled in an almost erotic way.
Shepard lowered his weapon and told the other two to do the same.
"We need to get back to the ship." He said. Amelia's eyes went from seductive to bloodthirsty in a split second.
"Not without my ship, I swear if those bastards touched my baby." She started to mumble incoherently. Shepard silently wondered if she could turn her expressions and attitude on and off like a switch.
The 4 group of oddly assorted men and woman ran down the interior of the ship and back to the hangar bay.
"Adrial, do you read me?" Dack said into his communicator.
"Yes Master, what's wrong?" She said nervously.
"Prep the ship, we're getting out of here." Dack said as they ran as fast as they could before the other Sith could get there.
Master, there's someone outside of the ship." Adrial said. All of a sudden there was a loud banging noise on the other side of the communicator and a high pitch squeal from the young woman.
"Adrial, stay with Havoc squad and don't leave the ship." Dack ordered.
When they got to the Hanger they saw the Sith warrior hitting the ship with large objects, using the force to push them into the ship while the ship itself was showing little to no damage. Shepard knew they couldn't risk using the turrets on the ship as it might damage the ship even more and space them all.
Shepard fired a few bolts at the Sith but they were blocked and deflected back at him, barely missing him due to the inexperience of the Sith teen. Shepard dropped the Rifle and charged with his Omni blade extended, intent on hitting him. The Sith warrior deflected it but was unprepared for getting tackled by Shepard. Shepard smiled in realization, Jedi and Sith were fencers. Their way of fighting had very little to nothing to do with grappling and take downs, giving him a big advantage.
Using CQC, an art that has been honed and developed for Centuries in the Alliance Military he took the Sith's Saber from him and threw it away.
Shepard got him in an arm bar and held him on the ground.
"Calm down, we're going to help you get out of here." Shepard said.
"Are you crazy?" Amelia asked. "He's a Sith, he'll kill us the second we turn our backs." She said. She aimed her pistol at the youths head and squeezed the trigger.
Shepard let him go and grabbed Amelia's hands, forcing her to aim upwards and miss her target. She glared at him and tried to break free but Shepard was too strong.
"Fine." She said with an annoyed tone. "He's your problem." The woman left them and headed back to her ship, the Helios IX.
Using this opportunity the Sith used the Force to retrieve his Lightsaber, everyone moved to intercept but were too late. Instead of fighting back he stabbed himself in the torso, killing himself almost instantly. He breathed out his last breath and Amelia continued walking away, laughing at the sight.
"Serves you Sith dogs right." She laughed. "That's not the "Penetration" you promised me earlier." She entered her ship.
The others walked back into their own ship and prepared to leave. Shepard had a strange feeling he'd see this woman again in the future. He always ran into people in the strangest times during his adventures against the Reapers.
End Chapter 5
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