Chapter 18! Finally, I'm actually getting to Akuze now! I'll just get to it, Mass Effect is owned by Bioware so enjoy the chapter!

Ch. 18: Echoes of the Past Part 4

Normandy SR-2

Commander Shepard

Shepard cleared his throat as he continued his story. "Now, let's get back to the story. As I said I stayed in my quarters until we were ready to deploy, and I was NOT in the mood to talk to people. Of course, I still had a job to do, and the one thing I've always done is do my job..."

Flashback

SSV Sitka

"All hands, this is your captain speaking. We will be arriving on Akuze in 10 minutes. Colonial marines prepare for deployment." The captain said over the intercom.

Shepard finished putting on his combat armor and looked at himself in the mirror one more time. He stared for a moment, and then looked at the credit chit in his hand. He still couldn't understand why the Batarian had given it to him; he had lost, she should be gloating. Shepard sighed, pocketed the chit, walked out of his quarters, and put on his commanding face. He had a job to do, and he'd be damned if he let emotion cloud his judgment under fire.

Shepard stood before his squad of marines. They were all fully briefed and ready to be deployed. The cargo bay doors began to open and Shepard began marching out of the ship with his marines behind him. Orbital scans had indicated no life signs in the area of the colony, so to be cautious Shepard's marines had been deployed a kilometer away from the settlement itself. When the marines stopped filing out of the SSV Sitka and the cargo bay doors began to close Shepard turned back to his marines, ready to send in the search and rescue.

He cleared his throat and began speaking. "Ok marines, we have a job to do. We'll go to the settlement, set up camp, and search for survivors. It'd be nice if we could find out what happened to the colony as well." Shepard smirked a little at his joke.

The marines chuckled and he continued. "Alright marines, follow me and we'll be finished in time for dinner."

Shepard and the marines began their short trek to the settlement. He stayed ahead of the rest of the group, watching the settlement slowly come into view. Shepard looked behind him and noticed Red jogging towards him with Toombs at his heel.

Red caught up to him and slowed down to a walk. "Shepard hey, I noticed you missed the rematch game. You should've seen how easily she beat everyone again, she was unstoppable I tell ya. No one stood a chance."

Shepard rolled his eyes. "Can we please focus on the mission? I don't want my mission ruined because of that... thing."

Red shook his head. "You don't seem as mad as you were before, what happened? Did you realize she was a person too?"

Shepard laughed. "I haven't gone insane if that's what you're asking. But I was in my quarters and she came by and..."

Red quickly cut Shepard off. "Holy shit, you did her! Oh man, I did NOT see that coming!"

The disgust on Shepard's face was palpable. "No. NO! NO! What the fuck is wrong with you? There is no way I would do ANY alien woman EVER! As I was saying, she came by and gave me this, you dumbass." He took the credit chit out of his pocket.

Red began laughing. "Oh, so she paid you for it! Now I get it!"

Shepard sighed. "You're completely stupid, you know that right? This is the money I used in the poker game! She gave it back to me for some reason, and it isn't rigged to explode."

Red's eyes lighted up. "So she gave you your money back? I bet you didn't know she actually gave everyone their money back."

They continued to walk and Shepard looked at the chit again. "Why? Why would she give this back when she won it?"

Toombs, who had remained silent until now, spoke up. "Because she's nice Shepard, that's why."

He turned and glared at Toombs. "Corporal, I suggest you stop daydreaming about mating with alien women and focus on the mission."

Toombs shook his head and shut up. The group of marines then arrived at their destination: the colony of Akuze. The colony was just another standard Alliance colony, built out of prefab houses and some old mining equipment. There were a few fields near the edge of the colony where food was grown and the acres of corn, soybeans, and native plants looked recently worked on. One thing Shepard was always able to notice was the crops; crops had once been his life, and he could tell the crops on Akuze had been taken care of up until a day or two ago. The colony itself also looked well taken care of; the only thing wrong with the colony was the lack of people.

Shepard ordered the marines to disperse and search for survivors; the marines then split up into groups of 5. Red, Toombs, O'Neil, and the Batarian followed Shepard as he opened a door to one of the prefabs. It was probably a good idea to keep the Batarian under his supervision in case anything went wrong.

The door to the prefab opened and Shepard peered inside; the inside revealed that the prefab was a home. There were beds on the right side, a couch and TV on the left, and a kitchen in the back. Shepard and his squad walked inside and began investigating. He noticed a picture next to one of the beds and picked it up. The picture had a thin film of dust on it and Shepard wiped it away. He assumed the picture itself was one of the family who had lived there; a man, who Shepard assumed from his clothing was a colonial farmer, was smiling with a young girl in his arms. A woman stood beside him with a happy smile on her face; a young boy stood between them with a cap on his head and a gleam of adventure in his eyes. They looked exactly like his own family... he set the picture back down and continued to search the prefab.

Shepard heard Fegarni gasp. He quickly walked over to the kitchen and looked behind the counter. Shepard's eyes widened at the sight before him; the man he had seen in the picture was lying on the ground with a bullet hole in his head. Blood was pooled underneath him and Shepard turned away. Based on the smell, he had died yesterday.

Shepard opened a comm on his omnitool and told his captain what he had found. He assumed that slavers had attacked and said they should stay for another day in case any stragglers could be found. He then closed his omnitool and turned to Fegarni with a glare.

"Like what you see, Batarian?"

Fegarni shook her head and turned away from the dead man. Shepard continued to speak. "I didn't think so. Just imagine what it's like to see that when you're sixteen! This is what your people do Batarian, they herd us up and kill us, or sell us for cheap labor. They destroy families and entire communities for a quick buck."

Shepard then turned to Red and continued to glare. "Do you still think I'm the one who's wrong?"

Red looked down in defeat. Shepard knew the evidence was irrefutable; the emptiness of the colony, the dead people, and the pristine condition of the colony's buildings. There was only one explanation: slavers had raided the colony while they were sleeping and had dragged every man, woman, and child to slave ships and their doom, and the colony hardly even fought back.

He shook his head and walked out of the prefab. Several other squad leaders eventually reported in, but none of them found any living people. Most said they had found no trace of anyone, but a few squads had discovered a body or two. After an hour of searching Shepard called all of the marines back to the rendezvous point for a quick analysis of the situation.

Shepard stood in front of the gathered marines and began speaking. "Marines, I think we can all agree this colony was attacked by slavers, most likely Batarians. I have suggested that we set up camp for the night so we can investigate further. I will order a few squads to search the perimeter for survivors, but I don't think we'll be finding anyone. If, however, anyone finds a living person please tell me quickly so we can request additional support. Understood?"

The marines nodded and he continued. "Alright, we'll each go out in 3 hour shifts. Hadley, Phillips, and Riley will lead the first group. So that means their 3 squads search the perimeter first. Gomez, Smith, and myself will go second. Fernandez, Cooper, and Moretti will go third. That means Klepin's squad gets guard duty. Understood?"

Dmitri Klepin and his squad shook their heads in disappointment while William Hadley, Emma Phillips, and Jason Riley prepared their squads. The rest of the marines began setting up camp at the edge of the colony; there was a flat expanse of land there and they were able to quickly set up their tents. After the tents were set up Shepard and a few marines started a bonfire, hoping any survivors would see the smoke and look for refuge. No one showed up...

3 hours later

Shepard was sitting quietly next to Red and Toombs. They sat in front of the fire with sad faces. The fire crackled and the wind blew gently; the sun had set over an hour ago, and now darkness surrounded the marines.

Shepard heard rustling and he turned quickly. He calmed down at the sight of William Hadley.

Shepard smiled and got up. "Right on time as always, eh Hadley?"

Hadley returned his smile and saluted. "Of course sir, Phillips and Riley should be here soon."

Shepard nodded and turned to Red. "Alright Red, can you go get O'Neil and the Batarian? I just hope O'Neil isn't sleeping, she's..."

Red rolled his eyes and interrupted him. "I know Shepard, she's a bear when you wake her up."

Red walked off towards the tents. After a few minutes Shepard heard an angry roar from the little tent village. 'Sounds like O'Neil.'

He smiled at the thought. He knew all of his marines well, but his personal squad was like his family. Red was his best friend; sure they teased each other and weren't always on the same page, but Red always backed Shepard up on and off the battlefield. He was the best kind of buddy anyone could ask for. Toombs was quieter, but he was definitely a good friend. He always backed Shepard as well, but he did like following Red too. He stayed true to his values and was always dependable. O'Neil was probably insane, but she was always fun to talk to. Nothing was boring to her, and she loved to flirt with Shepard. Of course she never actually meant anything by it, but it was fun nonetheless. Elroy, however, wasn't meant to be a soldier; he was just a kid and didn't know the horrors of a real war. He wouldn't have stomached Akuze well, so it was probably a good thing he had stayed home. But the kid had heart and he knew how to hack almost anything like a professional.

Fegarni walked up to Shepard and saluted. 'She still thinks she's a marine.' He thought as he continued to think about his squad. Besides Elroy his squad had been with him for nearly a year; on the battlefield they knew each other well and would easily adapt to each other's tactics, and off the battlefield they were great friends who occasionally shared drinks and laughs. Besides Anderson, they were the only family he had.

Red walked up to Shepard with O'Neil behind him. O'Neil pushed past Red and stroked Shepard's arm. "Is there a reason for this wakeup call? I'm guessing you couldn't stand being away from me could you?"

Shepard smiled devilishly. "You know I'm single now O'Neil, if you keep this up I might have to take you seriously."

O'Neil pushed past Shepard and towards Toombs. "You know Toombs, your eyebrows are lovely."

Toombs jerked his head towards O'Neil and stood there awkwardly. "Well... Thanks?"

Shepard rolled his eyes. "Alright, enough. Let's get ready for patrol duty people."

Shepard and his squad began to patrol the perimeter. 'Not a single survivor yet, those slavers are getting better every day.' He shook his head; this mission was easy, but it sure wasn't fun...

1 hour later

Shepard and his squad were walking through a field of crops. There were still no survivors, which worried him immensely. Deep in his thoughts, Shepard almost missed the faint roar that came from the colony...

But he didn't. Shepard and his team all turned towards the colony at the sound of the horrifying roar. They could tell the noise had come from the colony, but the crops were too high for them to see anything. Shepard cursed and began rushing towards the colony, wondering what the roar was. As they got closer they heard more roars; whatever it was, there were now more of them. They were only a half a kilometer away now, and the roars were now much louder; the screams, however, were deafening. His marines were in peril, and Shepard began sprinting.

Shepard burst through the crops and stopped at the sight before him, his eyes filling with fear. Gigantic holes covered the ground, tents were melted away by a strange acid, and a disembodied arm was lying on the ground in front of him. What had once been a little tent village was nothing more than goo, but that wasn't the sight that filled Shepard with fear. Worms the size of semi trucks were tunneling towards the survivors of his squad, destroying the remaining tents and swallowing his marines whole.

The fear in Shepard quickly became anger and his biotics flared up. Hadley was sprinting towards them but tripped on a rock, making him fall to the ground. Shepard reacted quickly, creating a powerful biotic barrier as one of the worms fired acid at Hadley. The acid hit the barrier and deflected off and Hadley got up, again sprinting towards the crops. Shepard didn't retreat, however; he readied his biotics again and charged at one of the worms. The worm roared at the impact, and Shepard grabbed onto its head. He lifted a biotic fist and slammed it into the worm, causing the worm to roar again. Shepard couldn't keep his grip on the worm, however, and soon he was chucked off. Shepard slammed into one of the prefabs; he fell to the ground and lay still. The pain was incredible and he couldn't move. The worm, filled with rage, started tunneling towards him…

Shepard watched the worm storm towards him; he had failed again. Whatever those things were, he was no match for them. His life flashed before his eyes: his childhood on Mindior, the raid, his countless missions and successes, his past girlfriends, Anderson, but what stood out most was the chit, the credit chit Fegarni had given to him. He now understood why Fegarni had given the chit to him; she didn't give it to him to kill him, she gave it to him because she was nice... and she was a person.

Shepard closed his eyes and felt tears well up in them. He had been such a fool; he now knew he had always been wrong. Losing his family wasn't an excuse to hate like he did... He hadn't listened to his father; he hadn't done what was right at all. How could unfiltered hate ever be right? He deserved his fate; HE was the one who didn't deserve the air he breathed...

Shepard heard the worm roar again and he opened his eyes. His eyes were foggy from the tears, but he had to watch his fate unfold. He deserved to see himself get melted down by acid...

Above the worm Shepard saw a blurry blue light. His eyes opened wide as he saw Fegarni slam a biotic fist into the worm. The fist hit the same place Shepard had hit before, and the worm began bleeding out. It fell to the ground and stopped moving. Toombs rushed up to Shepard and helped him up.

The other marines were all dead; only Shepard's squad remained. Out of 50 marines, Shepard could only see 6 still alive. The squads of Gomez and Smith could still be out there, but he didn't know; all he knew was he deserved death for his failure.

Shepard and his squad ran into the fields again. The worms, having eaten the rest of the unit, began tunneling after them. The crops were tall but the worms could smell Shepard and his team; they quickly caught up to them. A worm exploded out of the ground and hit Toombs. Shepard didn't look back at the sound of Toombs' scream; he just kept running, but he knew Toombs was gone. He had failed a friend. He couldn't fail anymore! While running Shepard tried to open his omnitool to call for extraction. The holographic display, however, failed to appear and Shepard cursed. His omnitool was busted.

The survivors continued running and reached the edge of the crops. Ahead of them was a forest, and they all began running through it. Sadly, with the team unable to see each other, they split up. O'Neil and Hadley ran to the left, and were quickly killed by the horrible worms. At least, judging by their screams that's what happened. Only Red, Shepard, and Fegarni remained…

After another 30 seconds of running Fegarni, who was at the back of the group, tripped over a tree root. She howled in pain and Shepard and Red turned around to help. She had her hands on her leg and her foot was bent in the wrong direction; she had twisted her ankle. Shepard moved to pick her up but she stopped him.

"Get out of here, leave me!"

Shepard continued to try and lift her. "No one gets left behind, soldier."

Fegarni tried to push Shepard away. "No, I don't deserve to live! You were right, my people don't deserve to live! We're monsters, and no one would miss us if we all died off. That's what we deserve!"

A loud roar was heard; the worms were getting close. Shepard looked at Red and turned back to Fegarni. "I'm sorry."

Fegarni lifted a grenade and looked at them both. "Don't be, now go!"

Shepard and Red began to run again. Fegarni looked at the grenade one more time, pressed the activate button, and began reciting her favorite prayer…

"Pillars guide us, we give glory to you. Your wisdom's heard, and it rings true. Give us the strength to continue the fight. We will follow you until we see the heavenly light. Pillars of Strength, let us always do our part. Pillars of Strength, teach us to always follow our heart."

Shepard heard the explosion but didn't look back. He continued to run, not knowing what else to do. Everyone was dead now, and he himself wasn't worth saving. Red was still alive though, and he WAS worth saving. But Red had left his omnitool in his tent accidentally, and Shepard's was busted. They were trapped on the planet with no way out...

10 minutes later

Shepard and Red stopped running, exhausted from the continuous sprint. Shepard couldn't hear the worms anymore, but they had to keep moving; who knew when those things could come back!

After Red had stopped panting he collapsed on the ground with his back leaned on a tree. His eyes were wide with terror and he just looked at the ground.

After a minute Red began mumbling. "They're all dead... Everyone is dead, Shepard..."

Shepard turned to Red. "Don't you think I know that Red? It's all my fault, I left them there to die! I should just go back and let myself get eaten."

Red wasn't listening, however, and he began rubbing his face with his hands. "Oh my god, Shepard, everyone is dead! They're all dead! How in the hell can we go on? Toombs, O'Neil, Phillips, Fegarni... I failed them all!"

Shepard laughed once. "YOU failed them? I'm the commanding officer here, and this is all on me, Red. I'M the one who should take the blame for this. I'M the one who will get court-marshaled finally if we get home, and if we don't then the only thing people will remember about me is my failure. Don't you dare take the blame from me!"

Red still wasn't listening. "I'm never going to see Ali again! I asked her to marry me, Shepard, why did I do that? Now I'm going to die and break her heart!"

Shepard walked up to Red and shook him. "Snap out of it Red, you're not dying on me. I can't lose another friend!"

Red looked at Shepard in the eye. "I'm dead, Shepard, I know I'm dead. They're all dead, so why not me?"

Shepard returned his stare. "Because you're my best friend Red, and you're not going to die on me. If anyone deserves to get out of this, it's you."

Shepard looked towards the ground and felt tears in his eyes. "You were right, Red, I'm an asshole. I'm the one who deserves to die, not you. And if you die because of me..."

At that moment the two men heard a noise. Shepard looked up to see the SSV Sitka flying towards the drop zone.

Shepard quickly realized the Sitka was in danger. He grabbed a flare gun out of his bag and fired it. The Sitka noticed the flare and began changing course. He had saved Red, he would be ok...

Ahead of Shepard and Red the forest abruptly stopped; a small, empty cliff replaced it. The cliff overlooked a forest-filled valley; had the sun been up, the view might have been beautiful. Shepard got Red to stand up and they moved towards the cliff; the Sitka began descending towards it, ready to save them. Then a rumble came from below...

Shepard turned around and created a biotic barrier. A worm tunneled out of the ground and fired acid at Shepard, which was deflected by the barrier. The worm then tunneled towards him at an alarming speed. Shepard had no time to adjust and was slammed by the worm. He hit a tree and fell to the ground. He couldn't move again!

The worm lifted itself up and fired acid at Shepard. Everything began moving in slow-motion; Shepard watched in horror as the acid began flying towards him. He deserved this; this was how he needed to die. Red would be able to get out of here while he distracted this beast...

Something then blocked Shepard's vision, and for a moment Shepard was incredibly confused. Had a tree fallen in front of him? He quickly realized, to his horror, that the object before him wasn't a tree. Red had jumped in front of Shepard and the acid hit him. Red screamed in agony and fell to the ground.

Shepard couldn't believe his eyes. "RED NO!"

The worm lifted itself higher and tried to fire more acid. The Sitka, however, began firing its weapons at the worm. After two shots the worm was blasted down, and it fell to the ground with a sickening squish. Shepard, who was nearly unconscious, continued to say no as marines began unloading from the Sitka. Shepard continued to tell his friend no as the marines lifted him up and loaded him onto the ship. He was safe from the worms, but Shepard wasn't safe from his failure. Every marine had died, and he, the one who didn't deserve to live, had survived. How could he be safe from this?

End flashback

Shepard smiled faintly. "I wasn't a hero that day, I was saved. Everyone saved me, and that's why I lived. I didn't even get hit by a drop of acid on Akuze because everyone else took it for me."

Shepard sighed and pulled Tali closer. "Luckily it's all in the past now, but I'll tell ya I wasn't alright after that. I was basically suicidal for almost a year, and Anderson had to keep a close eye on me. The news might have written me off as a hero, but I knew I wasn't one. Eventually Anderson got me assigned with him on every mission and that's why I was assigned to the Normandy."

Tali stroked Shepard's arm. "I'm so sorry, Shepard, I didn't know how bad it was. I hope I didn't reopen old wounds."

Shepard sighed. "No, it actually feels good to get it off of my chest."

Tali lifted her head up. "For what it's worth, it made you into a great man..."

"Thank you, Tali." He smiled. "Hearing that... means a lot to me."

Tali cupped Shepard's cheek in her hand. "And me knowing this doesn't change anything Shepard, I still love you. You deserve to be alive, Shepard. You deserve so much..."

Tali glared at Shepard. "Don't think for a SECOND you deserve to die! If you say it again I'll have to shoot you myself for being a stupid bosh'tet, ok?"

Shepard chuckled. "Yes ma'am. I'm fine with that."

Tali snuggled up to Shepard again. "Good."

In a few minutes Shepard and Tali fell asleep on the couch. Shepard's dreams were no longer haunting memories; they were filled with hope. Because the one thing everyone now had was hope…

Author's endnote: Akuze has occurred! Amazing! What's next? Well, you'll just have to find out won't you? Wow, this was a long chapter wasn't it? Oh well, a lot of stuff happens! See you next chapter everyone!