Disclaimer: All Characters, lore, and locations of Mass Effect and BioWare belong to BioWare. The story is of my own thought.
Inspired by totallybursar's Stars Fade. Please for the love of all that is beautiful, read this story, Stars Fade is a work of art. The writing is superb!
Chapter Title: Courtesy of Skillet for their awesome inspiration.
"Comatose"
2184CE
As the officers looked upon the two bodies, one horribly burned and the other knocked out by the butt of Bailey's rifle, they just turned to each other, trying to figure out what happened. The brown skinned human name started to speak, looking at the turian below him.
"Damn it Kalo... Why didn't you just cuff him…?"
The blonde haired human stepped over the human's body and began to take his arms, the man still unconscious from the blow, and cuff them behind his back. He then then began to frisk the man, taking off the bag off the man's waist. He lifted his eye brow in question, "why the hell would someone have something like this nowadays? This looks like something you'd find in a flea market on Earth." He then looked towards asari officer in front of him, who was setting up C-Sec tapes and securing the scene. "Korla, I need you to take this into evidence, I need to know where this man came from."
"Don't know why sir. The kid should be slapped with a needle for what he did to Kalo," she replied approaching the man and taking the bag, sealing it in an evidence bag.
"Lieutenant Bailey?"
"What is it Ilias?" Bailey replied to the man behind him, the man who had tried to arrest the young warden, who was now deep in dreamland on the floor of one of Zakera's Wards busiest floors.
"Was this my fault? Did this guy choose me over Kalo? Just because I'm human?"
"Shit, Son. If a racist is a racist then that's problem." Bailey said. Rising up and facing Ilias, "We don't know what set him off, and I'm not having Citadel News all over this, we keep this quiet and low. Now get to work and find out who he is."
"Yes sir…" Ilias said, quickly pulling out his Omni-tool, the tool flickering as the scanner moved over the man's figure. But to the officer, the weirdest thing occurred."
Error. Cannot conclude identification, unregistered entry onto the Citadel. No Omni-tool identified.
"Sir? This guy has no Omni-tool, and there's nothing identifying him."
"Shit…a John Doe," Bailey muttered, "Alright here's the plan: Get your asses in gear and diverge all foot traffic. We can't let anyone see this."
All the officers stood at attention, saluting Bailey with confident, "Yes Sir!" As Bailey took another look over the scene, a medical transport and started to retrieve Kalos' body, taking in great care that the burnt flesh didn't stick and ripped from the floor. Bailey looked over to the wall of the forum they were standing in; the only way to get to this place would be from the hallway they were currently standing in.
"Only way this guy could be walking around and just happen to appear from nowhere is from…the Keeper tunnels! But that's not possible, that entrance is only accessible to the Keepers themselves, no one has a clue to actually get in this sector, let alone getting out of it. Damn ant tunnels more like it." Bailey mentally said.
As he did, the medics started to lift the new prisoner into the transport, right next to the now dead turian. The man was still silent, his stomach facing the stretcher that the medics laid him on and moved into the transport. Bailey approached the one medic and started to say,
"Take the prisoner to Sarawak's Mental Sanatorium, this man's unstable, and we need some actual answers. Tell Dr. Finnegan I expect answers when we get there," he said, glaring at the salarian in front of him.
"Of course sir, right away sir," the salarian said agitatedly. The asari officer quickly came over to the two gave the salarian the bagged . . . bag that was on the man.
"Shit… This is going to be a shit load of paper work," Bailey whispered to himself, "Someone get that fricking camera out of here!"
"Khalisah Bint Sinan al-Jilani, Westerlund News. Lieutenant Bailey!? Is it true you just assaulted a man who was acting in self-defense?! Is it true that you set fire to your own officer in order to cover up your arrest of a human!?"
"Officer, get her out of here!"
"With pleasure, sir!" the asari said, quickly approaching the reporter with great haste. When the asari got in front of Khalisah, the reporter tried to push the officer out of the way of her and her camera pod. The asari responded, a response that happened to involve a kick in the gut.
As the human woman slumped to the ground, gasping for air, holding her sides and abdomen, the asari spoke gruffly, saying;
"Oops, guess you ran into me."
2184CE: Recorded conversation: Asclepius Cell to Cronos Overcell
Operative Finnegan: "Sir, Operative Finnegan reporting."
Illusive Man: "Report Asclepius."
OF: "Sir I received a new patient today."
IM: "Your point Asclepius?"
OF: "Sir this man appeared out of nowhere here on the Citadel, hours after the blackout according to C-Sec?"
IM: "And this man is of importance because?"
OF: "Sir this man may give us more information on the inner working of the Citadel, in fact, that's why I was assigned to this Cell sir, to find information from interesting people."
IM: "And has this man answered any of the 'Important' or 'Interesting' questions that you have no doubt been asking?"
OF: "Unfortunately…the man had to be sedated. He threw several men and broke his restraints…I fear any questioning of him might be slow to actually make out. But there's much more sir, he's being charged with the death of C-Sec officer. I'm telling you sir, I have a hunch."
IM: "Hmm…I'll use my contacts to sever the charges. Udina should be able to get them dropped. Move the patient to one of our more secured areas. But I will be monitoring your actions strictly; I'm not an easy man to be impressed."
OF: "Sir…if I may… C-Sec found footage of him appearing out of a Keeper Tunnel. They also used small drones to scout the tunnels of the sector they found him in; you know of Sector 15, they found the remains of what appears to be a destabilized Keeper. I think they are connected."
IM: "I stand corrected, continue your current orders, and move your operations to Sight Eidyia. Find what you can. I expect results. Illusive Man signing off."
Connection Terminated. . . . .
"Well," the man started to say pressing a key to his Omni-tool, opening a comm link, "All operatives, proceed to the loading bay, Skeleton crew is to be placed on payroll. Operative Keenan, proceed to load Patient Icarus to the transport. We are heading out to Sight Eidyia." The man grinned under his mask, staring at the man inside the small room, restrained in a strait jacket, asleep.
"Oh he'll get results alright, you my fortunate son, will push humanity to greater understanding. I don't know how you got in those tunnels, but trust me, I know how to work a needle," the doctor said, chuckling under his breath as he walked away from the cell. Inside the room, the sound of muffled banging against the padded walls was overfilling the room. In vain the man inside was struggling, eyes wide open, fully aware from awakening from his sedated sleep. In his rage, the man was able to get up, literally sprinting towards the metal door frame, staring outside the clear small window. He tried to shout, but from the outside, no sound would be heard. But several shadows appeared in front of the window and the sound of a lock was faintly heard. As the door started to open, the man backed into the farthest corner of the rectangle room. As the door opened, a man started to speak;
"So it's Nihlus? I hear that's a turia- OOF!" was the sound the man made when Nihlus ran towards the front man, kicking his feet up and pushing, and making contact with the man's chest. As the man fell backwards and landed on the other men and women behind him, Nihlus fell on his back, cursing loudly as one of his healed ribs came undone, the break was new but it still hurt like a dragon's burn. Unlike the walls, the floor wasn't padded; a horrible mistake for a professional sanatorium, the point of such rooms was to pacify violent patients, not to give them a combative advantage.
As Nihlus writhed in pain, the assistants and nurses came quickly to him, holding him down, the nurse opening of medi-gel sedative, in her Omni-tool. As the sedative start to take effect, an orb of swirling energy flew into one of the men, tossing him accordingly against one of the padded wall. But the man soon landed on the hard floor, and the sedative finally took hold, his fighting would cease, and he went limp.
One of the assistants backed off to check the man who was thrown, checking his pulse and his bio-stats on the Omni-tool, and saying;
"Shit, Keenan is dead….this fuck is a biotic!"
"Great," the nurse said, "Now we have a biotic that can kill with a simple throw, Finnegan's ego just got bigger."
"Hah just wait until this guy's interrogation, once Finnegan gets pissed off enough I'm sure he'll just pass it to the other cells, I hear Lazarus needs new biotic test subjects."
"Shut up Cant," another said, "we got to get this psycho to the loading bay. Now everyone, HEAVE!"
2185CE
Shepard always thought of herself as a paragon, a paragon that was willing to do anything to finish the mission. In the end, all of her actions, before Saren, before the Conduit, before Sovereign, made her who she was, and it hurt her. She was a spacer, always in on the move with her mother, always fighting, and always prepared. But after her death, that great void, which felt like it last for two seconds, lit up and she found herself working with one of the most notorious terrorist organizations, Cerberus. She owed them, for her life, for her ship, and for her resolve, the resolve to fight the Reapers once more. But at the moment, she didn't have to like it but she needs someone that was willing to listen, someone that gave her the ability to fight. To her it felt like the Skyllian Blitz and the Raid of Torfan all over again. But was that was all this was? Reliving the glory days? No it wasn't, this was to save the galaxy for God's sake! This was a fight for survival of the human race from the Collectors.
But it was only a week since Horizon, Cerberus and its smoke and shadows. And it was only a couple hours since she went down to Illium, to find more specialists for her crew, she had managed to find the assassin, Thane, but the justicar, Samara was still unknown, it would probably be days before Cerberus tracked her down. But Illium;
"If only we had that night... Why did the mission have to come first, why do I always have to over achieve on everything? I hope…that she knows that I'm truly back and tha-"
"Commander, we have incoming message from the Illusive Man on the QEC channel."
"Fuck. . ." she whispered to herself, "Alright Joker, on my way." Shepard took off her recon hood, tussling her hair through her hands from the uniform shape it took form the hood. Her armor felt battered from the Eclipse gunfire at the Dantius Towers. She stood up and walked towards the elevator, passing her office and the fish tank and towards the elevator.
The elevator ride was long as usual. Passing through the CIC of the new SR2 Normandy, the Commander passed through the armory, where Jacob solemnly saluted her. She dropped off her hood to be repaired, one of the optics had been blown out during the last mission, and luckily she didn't lose an eye over it. While Jacob immediately took to repairing the piece, Shepard departed for the conference room.
Logging you in Shepard, the ship's AI, EDI, said. Shepard strolled into the room as the conference table folded into the flooring, the bright orange circle of the QEC was extending out around her. When the image started to come up, she could clearly see the so called "Illusive Man" in her vision, smoking those same damned cigarettes. Freshly in her mind, she remembered Horizon clearly, and she could only think;
"What the hell do you want?!"
"Shepard…we have a development," the Illusive Man said.
"A development? Is this another Horizon or does he means that Cerberus actually did something useful for once?" she said to herself "The last time we had a 'development' was when we you sent me off to Horizon blindfolded with a knife in my back," she sneered.
"Shepard, I gave you the mission parameters, you knew what the costs were going to be," he replied.
"Bullshit! Next time you hold something back from me, I'll make it my job to make your life a living hell….and to bury you," she said, angrily pointing her finger towards the hologram vision of the Illusive Man. "I need to know I can trust you. Prove it now."
"Very well, Shepard. This 'development' is essential to our presence in the galaxy."
"If I'm correct, a lot would benefit from your 'absence.'" She replied, using the Turian Councilor's famous air quotes.
"Well, you wouldn't," he jokingly replied. It was not unusual for the Illusive Man to get under her skin, she was a shy person when it came to people but she rarely broke out of her skin when talking to those out of her clique, especially higher-ups. The Illusive Man made her skin crawl whenever he spoke with her, it gave her an uneasy untrusting attitude whenever dealing with him.
"So…what do you want?" she said with spite.
"Two days ago, we lost contact with one of our cells, Asclepius."
"Wait a moment! The Greek god of medicine?! What the hell kind of stunt are you pulling now?" she yelled out.
"I'm glad you know your history Shepard, but if you want me to be more transparent, I suggest you listen to what I have to say," he said with a smile. She immediately clammed up, "Bastard loves this…might as well get it over with..it might actually be important…" she sighed to herself.
"Asclepius was formed as a watch group, an analysis team to study unstable subjects on the Citadel. Its cover remains as a legitimate sanatorium, where we do legitimate work. However, persons of interest are…intercepted by an operative we have in place at the sanatorium."
"And what does this have to do with me?" the commander asked.
"Like we said, we lost contact with the cell, but we may have a cause for it. A year ago, there was a blackout across several of the wards on the Citadel. Investigations lead to a small malfunction, no other incidents has been reported. Except for one," he took a small puff of the cigarette, and continued, "A man appeared about of Sector 15 of the Keeper tunnels, tunnels that are only accessible to the Keepers themselves. None of the other species have been able to find the cause of the inaccessibility."
"Again I'm not finding where I come in," Shepard mentioned, obviously irritated from just being called by the Illusive Man."
"Luckily, C-Sec detected an unidentified subject in that Sector; this man has no identity, and no record in the Alliance. Also, C-Sec arrested him for killing an officer, and they sent him directly to the sanatorium," the man said.
"Let me guess, Cerberus intercepted him," Shepard guessed.
"Good guess, we did. No one has ever been in those tunnels, and with the Citadel the Reapers would have blindsided us if Sovereign succeeded. Cerberus and humanity needs to know more about the Citadel, and we thought it was best to proceed if we investigate the matter."
"And what? You think this guy has something to do with the place going dark?"
"We doubt it; our information tells us he was heavily sedated. But we do believe, a Krogan Warlord, Fallik, has decided to march against Cerberus. We believe he is on the Citadel and is responsible for the loss of contact. We would like you to handle the situation. Attempts to recover Icarus would be most fortunate. Good Luck Shepard." And with that, the QEC connection was lost, and the hologram emitter started to shifted move back into the ground.
Logging you out, Shepard.
"Thank you EDI, Joker, set a course for the Citadel, tell Kasumi and Garrus to get their asses in gear. We have a job to do," she said in her headset.
"Maybe I can get a shower in befor-"
"Aye, Commander. Setting course for the Widow System. ETA 20 hours."
"Thank God for the Terminus Systems…" She said, stepping out of the Conference room, heading back to the armory to check on her hood.
2185CE: Citadel, Zakera Ward, Sight Eidyia.
Burning halls, smoke and ash in the air, bangs and pops heard in the distance, nothing could best describe what looked like a battlefield. A door was thrown off its hinges landed and banging against the opposite wall. Several men and women ran through the door's frame. A man stepped out, energy searing off his own body. He stared at the fleeing humans in the hallway and shouted;
"I will show you why Mages are feared!" A red hot ball of flame formed in his hands and quickly launched towards the fleeing group. The fire soon engulfed them, and the man simply stood there, looking down, whispering to himself;
"Magic exists to serve man, and never to rule over him.
Foul and corrupt are they
Who have taken His gift
And turned it against His children.
They shall be named Maleficar, accursed ones.
They shall find no rest in this world
Or beyond."
(A/N: And there is the second chapter everyone hope you enjoy! We'll be getting to the stories actually mixing in the next few chapters. The next chapter will be mostly on Nihlus's side. Remember, reviews are like cookies! Sweet and everyone wants one! But first, here's Shepard's origin! Be warned I did take liberty to mess with her backstory a little. I mean, this is a crossover so its automatically an AU.)
Author's Codex
Lieutenant Commander Celestine "Celest" Shepard
Systems Alliance N7 Operative
Service NO. 5923-AC-2826
Citadel Council Special Tactics and Reconnaissance
2154-2183, 2185-
Lieutenant Commander Celestine Shepard was born in New York City, New York, United North American States on Earth in 2154CE. Shepard was exposed to uncontained element zero at the age of 11 months. However, no medical troubles arise and the young Shepard is determined to be "healthy" Despite an absent father, her mother Hannah Shepard had taken her to raise Shepard abroad multiple starships serving the Alliance Navy. At the age of 14 in 2168, her most recent home, the SSV Trenton was attacked by Batarian slaver ships above the colony Mindoir. During this attack, the young Shepard was interning as an engineer and was immediately exposed to element zero for a second time after a Batarian weapon had penetrated the mass effect drive's containment shields. Despite risking her life, the Shepard was able to reestablish containment of the drive, and the Trenton was able to hold until reinforcements arrived. In 2170, another attack occurred on Mindoir, one which was repelled by Alliance Forces. Hannah Shepard, now serving aboard the SSV Einstein, is decorated for freeing the system once more. Three years after the 2168 attack, Shepard was diagnosed with increasingly manifestation of biotic abilities, and is fitted with L3 Systems Implants. After a year of biotic stabilization, Shepard joins the Alliance military in 2172 on her birthday at the age of 18 years old.
In 2176, Batarian-funded pirates invade the Human colony Elysium, what is now called the Skyllian Blitz. While unaware of the current invasion, the SSV Trenton entered the system and assisted the colony world. Shepard, now a fully trained marine and deployed on the Trenton, helps ground forces repel the slaving forces. Decorated with the Star of Terra for her actions on Elysium, Shepard then leads a raid on a Torfan, a moon with a large pirate bunker. Shepard immediately leads a ground team despite her commanding officer's orders, into the bunker in 2178. Fully utilizing her biotic abilities, Shepard and her team eliminate every pirate and slaver in the base, Shepard, are given the name, "The Wraith of Torfan." After the raid, and being recommended, Shepard enters the Interplanetary Combative Training. Subsequently, Shepard receives N1 designation, and in 2180 receives N7 designation. In 2183CE, Shepard becomes the Executive Officer of the SSV Normandy, a joint engineering project of Turian and Human design, under Captain David Anderson, a fellow N7 graduate.
During its trial run, the crew of the Normandy is assigned for routine shake-down run on the colony world of Eden Prime, to retrieve a Prothean artifact. The colony is seen to be attacked by an unknown large force of mechanical AI known as the Geth. Despite the destruction of the Prothean Beacon, along with the saving of the colony and the death of the SPECTRE Nihlus Kryik the commander returns to the Citadel Council and pins the blame of the attack on another SPECTRE, Saren Arterius. Not impressed with the commander's current evidence, the Council drops the charges on Saren. However, recruiting the help of a Krogan Bounty Hunter, Urdnot Wrex, a C-Sec Detective, Garrus Vakarian, and a quirky engineer on her pilgrimage, Tali'Zorah nar Rayya, the commander finds evidence on Saren's involvement in the attack of Eden Prime and the Eden Prime War officially begins. To hunt down Saren, the Council gives Commander Shepard SPECTRE status, the first human SPECTRE and humanity would give its first SPECTRE its finest marvel of engineering, the Normandy itself, to utilize to find Shepard. However, during the evidence hearing also proved an asari matriarch's involvement, Matriarch Benezia. Along with Gunnery Sergeant Ashley Williams and Staff Lieutenant Kaiden Alenko, the commander leads the team on the volcanic planet Therum to retrieve the matriarch's daughter, Dr. Liara T'Soni. After recovering the doctor, Liara assists Shepard in interpreting the Prothean Vision she had received on Eden Prime, through the use of asari melding.
Leading through the trails of evidence Saren was leaving, the Commander and her crew, stopped and track down Matriarch Benezia on Noveria, and releasing the Rachni Queen on the whims of a promise to stay hidden. On Feros, Shepard saved the colony of Zhu's Hope and met and killed the Thorian. With the aid of the captive Shiala, an acolyte of the now deceased Matriarch Benezia, Shepard was given the Cipher, a codex to the Prothean languages. Still needing more information to the vision, Shepard tracked down Shepard to the krogan cloning facility on Virmire. Avoiding a confrontation with Wrex, Shepard infiltrated the facility and found another beacon. But she was contacted by the sentient starship, or Reaper, who Saren designated Sovereign. During the conversation, Shepard finally learned that Saren planned to bring the Reapers to destroy all life in the galaxy. However, Saran and Sovereign return to Virmire and confront Shepard's team. In a last ditch effort, Shepard and her team implemented a fusion core of Salarian STG ship as a nuclear device. However, in order to protect the nuclear device from Saren, Shepard made the decision to sacrifice Kaiden Alenko, who was protecting a disarmed anti-air tower, and saved Williams. After the death of Kaiden, Shepard vowed to end Saren's life. Returning to the Council with the location of the Conduit on Ilos, the Normandy was grounded by Ambassador Udina, by request of the Council, in order to stray off war with the Terminus Systems. With the help of David Anderson, Shepard reclaims the Normandy and sails off for Ilos. There, Shepard, with the help of the Prothean VI Vigil, follows Saren through the Conduit, a back door mass relay to the Citadel that was invented by the Protheans. Vigil also detailed that the Citadel is actually a giant Mass Relay, originally designed by the Reapers as a trap to harvest the galaxy and that the galaxy is the victim to millions if not billions of years of cycles, harvesting cycles that occur every 50,000 years and the great lengths the Protheans went to prevent it from happening again.
At the Citadel, the Council Defense Fleet and the Council abroad the Destiny Ascension are faced against not only a Geth Fleet, but the power of Sovereign. Scaling the Presidium Tower, Shepard and her team attempt to reach the Council Chambers, but as they do Sovereign takes command of the station, and begins to fulfill his duty as vanguard of the Reaper, closing the Citadel's arms. At the Council Chambers, Shepard comes face to face with Saren. As Saren begins to fall more and more into Sovereign's indoctrination, Shepard finally cracks Sovereign's hold on the Turian SPECTRE. The turian, realizing that he betrayed everything he once fought for, the security of Citadel Space, tries to take his own life, but it is Shepard who takes the final shot, that ends Saren's blight. Soon as Shepard had the arms open, Alliance ships poured through the Widow Relay, saving the Destiny Ascension, at bequest of Shepard, realizing that she had a duty to protect all of the Council races, not just humanity as many would intend her to do. Even if it meant saving the leaders that spited her every step of the way. But still Saren was alive, through the use of Sovereign's implants, and Sovereign assumed control over the dead SPECTRE.
But it would only end with Saren's second death. As the demon laid dead, so too its master, Sovereign, exerting too much control into Saren's corpse, caused its powerful kinetic barriers to falter. And thus, the Reaper was killed by the combined effort of Humanity and the other races. The galaxy was safe, but at what cost, and for how long?
Due to Shepard's actions, the Council awarded humanity its long-sighted goal of obtaining a seat on the Council, and for Shepard, Savior of the Citadel, to decide its Councilor. Shepard chose her once captain, David Anderson to be the councilor. As remnants of the Geth fleet still floated through the Terminus Systems, Shepard was given the task of finding and eliminating any Geth resistance. In 2183CE a few months after the Battle of the Citadel, Commander Shepard was determined to be killed in action in a surprise attack by an unknown ship, Humanity's Sentinel was dead.
In 2185CE, non-confirmed video footage of Commander Shepard on the space station Omega spreads through the extranet.