Recap: "Finally some action! Headed there now." Joker said as he banked for the nearest mass relay. Shepard smiled as the elevator door opened and went back to his room, thinking he should get some sleep before the fight began.
Now
As Shepard took a nap in his room, he had dreams of the Thorian's hold on him except there was no Thorian. Only a perfect world. The picture of perfection suddenly changed into one of fire and nightmares. He then saw that he was back in his younger, 11-year-old self. He was running to his house where he saw the 2 batarians beating on his mother down. He saw when he had killed them both with his first pistol. It then fast forward to when Zaeed inadvertently saved him. After that, it changed to the training Zaeed put him through in those 5 years of hell.
Memory Sequence Start
A thirteen year old Shepard was crouched behind a boulder, panting harshly, and cradling his sniper rifle. After 2 years of Zaeed's training, Shepard had shaved his somewhat long midnight hair off. The training ground he was in was actually some planet Zaeed landed on that provided rock formations that acted as natural cover. Currently he was doing Assault hit-and-run training/ guerrilla warfare. Now for normal soldiers who had been brought into the military from 16 and over, this was an easy exercise. This however, wasn't. The differences being: normal training offered light combat armor, good weapons, a few safe training drones including aerial and ground, teammates, and finally let's not forget a guarantee that the only injury during training would be a sting. For Shepard, he had none of that. He had no armor. Instead it was just normal clothes with a makeshift shield generator attached to his back. No teammates, obviously. Zaeed wasn't the type to teach more than one person, hell he wasn't the type to teach at all! Instead of modern drones like the militaries had, Zaeed used LOKI mechs and Defense Drones. Now these wouldn't have been so bad if Zaeed hadn't upgraded the mechs' VI protocols. Normal mechs won't dodge or duck. These ones knew how to duck and dodge so Shepard couldn't hit them all fast enough.
In all honesty though, Shepard preferred it this way. He knew the enemies he would be facing later on wouldn't stand around. What made things worse though were the drones. Now Shepard knew fighting these guys would include defenses like these as well as turrents. That was the drones purpose. Oh and did he forget to mention instead of training weapons the were using real weapons? Yep! This wasn't that safe training, it was the lose-a-limb training! Luckily Zaeed gave the mechs the lowest weapons on the market, Hane-Kaedar, low class. Unluckily, Zaeed gave Shepard the same things. The only advantage was that he had was his arsenal including all of the weapons on him. A Lancer Rifle, Storm Shotgun, Kessler Pistol, and an Avenger Sniper. Zaeed had trained Shepard to carry a lot of weight on his body at least as well as exercise to move fast while carrying said weight.
Thinking about his opponents, Shepard chanced a look over the boulder. He barely got a good look at the battlefield before ducking his head back as the drones fired on his position.
'Okay, the drones are serving as long-range fighters while the LOKI's are going to wait for me to get closer seeing how their weapons are only pistols. They're also using cover if the lack of fire was any indication. How am I going to get past those drones though?' As Shepard mulled things over, he thought of something. He looked at the ground and grabbed a rock. He quickly threw it toward one of the boulders near him. When it struck the ground it had also hit the boulder itself. The environment he was training in was a dusty desert-like place so when that rock landed, it made a loud sound that echoed out as well as kick up a little dust. The drones, believing it was Shepard, fired in the rock's direction. Shepard smirked seeing this.
'Okay. They're programmed to fire at anything that moves and makes a sound. I can work with that." Shepard thought as he grabbed another rock. He waited until the drones had stopped firing before repeating his earlier action. As the gunfire roared to life again, Shepard ran in the opposite direction, towards another cover zone. As he ran, he aimed his omni-bow toward the one closes to him and fired. The bolt hit right into the drone's barrel causing it to explode. The second drone sensing the sound turned and fired on Shepard. It was too late as Shepard dove behind his new cover. He picked up another rock and waited for the Drone to stop. Shepard then tossed the rock to his previous cover, causing the drone to shift its attention to it and began firing. Shepard hung out of cover, aimed his sniper rifle and fired at the drone. The next second, it exploded in a shower of sparks and shrapnel. Shepard cautiously moved forward switching, his sniper to his pistol. Holding onto it with both hands, Shepard leaned against a rock arch and looked over to see one more drone on top of the main body with the mechs checking out of cover. Taking his chance he shot one of the mechs in the head and quickly ducked back down. He waited for the postmortem destruct that all mechs had.
*BAM* Shepard heard it go of followed by fire from the drone. Shepard quickly ducked out and fired 5 shots at the drone, finally destroying it. Before getting back into cover he did a quick count of how many were left.
'There are 4 of them. Time to start the show!' Shepard thought, switching from his pistol to his assault rifle. He then ran out of cover to move up the slope that the mechs had been placed on as he fired in their direction. The mechs responded in kind, but Shepard kept ahead of their shots. Eventually he got one of them before doing a drop-n-slide to one of the crags he used for cover. He was about to lean out when he noticed his assault rifle had overheated.
'Awww great! Looks like I got to use the shotgun now.' Shepard thought irritated. It wasn't like he hated the shotgun, he just hated that it was more like a close quarters weapon. That presented more risk than reward for Shepard. Sighing, he switched to his Storm Shotgun and activated his new ability, the Tactical Cloak. He quietly crept up to the mech until he was in the middle of them. All of the sudden, his Tactical Cloak shut off exposing him to the enemy.
'SHIT!' Shepard thought frantically as everything slowed down with the mechs turning to him, their weapons ready to fire. A mile away, Zaeed Massani was watching his protege take on the current course he had devised for him through a sniper scope. Zaeed noticed the flaws that he accidentally made, one of them being the drones firing on anything that moved and made a sound.
"Looks like I still have some bugs to work out." Zaeed muttered to himself. He then noticed that Shepard had disappeared from his hiding spot.
'Where'd you go boy?' Zaeed thought as he searched for Shepard. That was when he saw Shepard suddenly materialize in between his mechs.
"SON OF A BITCH!" Zaeed shouted. He made to hit the kill switch that he had for a situation like this. As he almost pressed the button, Shepard did something that shocked Zaeed.
'Please work!' Shepard thought frantically as he frantically spun his shotgun around his body like a set of nunchucks, firing off in different directions. When he stopped, he surveyed his work to see the had destroyed the last 3 LOKI mechs. Shepard looked on in shock.
'Did I do that?' He thought out. He was jolted out of his thoughts when he heard footsteps coming in his direction. Pointing his gun in the direction before looking, he heard someone shout, "Don't aim that thing at me Shepard!"
He quickly looked to see Zaeed walking towards him with his hands out at his chest. Shepard collapsed his shotgun and put it back into it's holster.
"Sorry. Are you alright?" Shepard asked. Zaeed looked at him surprised.
"I oughta be sayin that to you Shepard. What the hell was that?" Zaeed asked, though it sounded more like a demand. Shepard looked down at his hands in contemplation.
"I-I honestly don't know. Everything just slowed down and I reacted." Shepard said making Zaeed look at him with a raised brow.
'What the hell does he mean by slow down?' Zaeed thought. His eyes widened when a thought popped into his head. 'No he couldn't mean-!'
"Shepard, when everything seemed to slow down for you, did your body feel any different?" Zaeed asked. Shepard looked up at him in confusion before answering, "Umm yeah. For a split second my body felt like it got a lot of energy, like I was on a sugar rush or something."
Zaeed nodded as he stroked his chin in thought. 'So he somehow has the adrenaline rush that soldiers have. What the hell is with this kid? They don't usually get that kind of gene therapy unless it's worth the risk.'
"Oh, hey Zaeed." Shepard said getting his attention.
"What?"
"I've been thinking. While the eye patch looks cool, how would you feel if I made a synthetic eye for you?" Shepard asked. Zaeed was surprised for a split second. On the outside he was stoic, but the inside he couldn't help but feel a happy and irritated. Happy because of Shepard's kindness, irritated at the fact he felt like he was going to depend on Shepard somehow.
'This kid really is strange.' Zaeed thought as he pushed away both feelings. "I think I could use something like that." Shepard just smirked at him. Zaeed began to walk towards the ship. Currently it was a starship that looked similar to a passenger liner but a lot smaller, made for a crew of five maybe. (You want a picture go to either the wikia or google and type in Arcturian Jade)
As they both walked, Shepard noticed the sun was setting. 'Another day of training done, a few more years to go.' He thought as he looked at it.
"Shepard," Zaeed said getting the young boy's attention, "seeing as how you breezed through my little training session today," Shepard rolled his eyes, not that Zaeed noticed.
"I'm going to kick it up a notch." Zaeed finished. Shepard smirked.
"Wouldn't have it any other way." He replied as they entered the ship.
Memory Sequence End
Shepard smiled fondly at that memory. The scene changed to the month after he and Zaeed parted, when he was 16.
Memory Sequence Start
Shepard was typing on a machine in his new house on Omega. It appeared to be some type of computer processor in his living room.
"Damn this is tough. I didn't think making a VI was this difficult." Shepard said just before the power went off. Shepard looked around real fast in the dark.
"Awww dammit. Just what I needed. A fucking power surge!" Shepard said as he turned on his omni-tool flashlight and began to look for the breaker in the backroom. Unknown too him, his genetics allowed him to see in the dark better than most, but he needed his omni-tool light to read the script on the breaker box. After finding it, Shepard checked it when he suddenly heard someone.
"Hello?" The unknown person said. On instinct, Shepard turned off his omni-tool and took out his pistol. He quietly looked towards the front door, but didn't see anybody.
"Hello? Is there anybody here?" The voice asked again. Shepard silently looked for the source of he voice.
'I know my VI isn't able to speak, so who is it?' Shepard thought as his eyes scanned the room again. Then the voice asked itself a question that had Shepard stunned for a second.
"Am I alive?"
'Oh you gotta be kidding me.' Shepard thought as he got up and went back to the breaker. He turned the power back on and then walked towards the processor. Before Shepard could speak the voice beat him to it.
"Oh uh hello!" The voice said. Now that Shepard listened to it closer now he noticed it was a male voice.
"Hey." Shepard stated as he stared at the processor. There was a tense silence before the voice spoke again.
"Who are you?"
"John Shepard. Everyone calls me Shepard." The silence happened again.
"Who am I?" the voice asked. Shepard looked at the plans he had for the supposed VI. The Incredibly Smart Accepting Artificial Companion. I.S.A.A.C!
"I was going to call you Isaac." Shepard answered, not really knowing what to do in this situation. The voice was silent before asking again.
"Isaac, I kind of like that. Hey am I alive?"
"Do you think for yourself and know good from evil?" Shepard asked.
"Yes." The now name Isaac said in a monotone voice.
"Then your alive." Shepard said casually. Isaac was quiet again for a minute.
"So what are you doing?" Isaac asked finally.
"Doing what I believe is right." Shepard responded.
"And that is?"
"To destroy the ones who caused me and many others to suffer, Slavers." Shepard responded.
"Why?"
"Because they wronged and enslaved people, and I don't want them to get away with it."
"So why did you create me?"
"My intention was to create a VI, not an AI. Speaking of which I'd like to make a deal."
"Deal?"
"Yes, I'd like you to help me fix that car." Shepard said as he pointed to the broken car he had found. Isaac could 'see' it and noticed its condition.
"In return?" He asked.
"I give you the option of either joining me in my little crusade or to simply leave. Just remember that most organics fear synthetics." Shepard replied.
"Any reason why?" Isaac asked. Shepard nodded.
"Yes, what organics do not understand, they will begin to fear and hate. I guess synthetics also share some of the blame since they begin to see the flaws organics have." Shepard explained. Isaac became quiet before he finally answered.
"Alright I'll help, but I don't see how much use I'll be since I don't have any limbs." Shepard smirked at his little creation.
"Don't worry. I know where to hook you up." Shepard said as picked up the processor and carried it to the back room. This would eventually lead on to a great friendship between a organic and a synthetic.
Memory Sequence End
Shepard kept smiling as he remembered that day. "That day I created Isaac was a headache, but it was worth it." He said to himself. After that moment, he ended up teaching Isaac a lot of things about organics. When he finally got fed up with the questions he told Isaac that he told him enough and that he needed to observe organics now. Isaac did just that as soon as Shepard let him connect to the extranet. After that Isaac only asked him really tough questions like why do organics wage wars on each other and why do they keep harming each other. Shepard just ended up saying that he didn't really know. All he could get from all of it was that everyone held different beliefs and a lot of them are not easily giving up to change them either. Then the scene changed to where Shepard was training with Aria of all people.
Memory Sequence Start
Ghost was seen in a wide open area platform, suspended high above the normal denizens of Omega with a ceiling and wall of pipes all around since it was at the top. This place was serving as his training ground. Ghost, with the faint glow of his biotics, was struggling to use his biotics on the first thing Aria told him to lift, a freaking truck! Aria was watching him as he struggled. She figured that after teaching him the mechanics, she would see how much he could apply to actual practice. The mechanics she taught him, well Liselle taught him, was Telekinesis, the use of mass-lowering fields to lift or hurl objects; Kinetic Fields, mass-raising fields to immobilize objects in combat, usually enemy projectiles or enemies themselves; and Spatial Distortion, the creation of shifting mass-effect fields which rip apart any objects caught within them.
"Come on Ghost! I can lift that with little trouble!" Aria barked out at him.
"This isn't easy for me dammit!" Ghost struggled out as he tried to lift it.
"Then your just a pussy!" Aria shouted back. Inwardly she was smirking at him. She knew he could probably barely move it. When Ghost heard her say that, his biotic aura grew more intense.
"THE FUCK DID YOU SAY?!" Ghost yelled out as he unconsciously lifted the truck by ten feet. Aria saw it, her eyes wide in shock. Her surprise only grew when Ghost had threw the truck away. As the truck landed, it began to skid toward the edge of the platform they were on. Ghost noticed this and unconsciously used pull on the truck, bringing it to a halt.
"*Huff* *Huff* "Ghost was heaving as he was brought to his knees. His arms felt as if there was small needles poking into his arms. Aria just stood there stunned.
'How could he have done that?!' She thought frantically. Even when she trained at first when she was merely a young maiden, all she could lift was something the size of a car! She noticed Ghost was starting to get back up.
"Well let's start again." Ghost said as he began to generate his biotics again.
"Take a break Ghost. We'll start again in an hour." Aria said shocking him. She then turned and walked away with her arms crossed. 'This is going to be more interesting than I thought.' Planning on making Ghost do more lift and control exercises, she walked towards the elevator thinking of what to do.
A couple months later
Ghost had come back to start his training routine when he noticed something out of the ordinary. His training arena had some type of obstacles added to it.
"What the hell?" Ghost thought ashe looked looked around. The obstacles were old metal doors that were dismantled a long time ago over Aria's reign. The only good thing these doors would good for was to act as a wall or a shield. Ghost saw that the doors were welded with multiple metal beams, making it look similar to the billboards he saw in old pictures as a kid.
"Good to see you noticed your new punching bags." Aria spoke from behind. Ghost wasn't shocked having sensed her approach a few minutes earlier.
"Punching bags?" He asked as he turned to her. What did she mean by that?
"Yes. Today I'm going to teach you how to use your biotics in combination with your body. Basically, your going to learn how to combine biotics and melee combat." Aria said. Ghost started to see what the obstacles were for.
"You want me to try and punch through the doors, don't you?"Ghost stated. Aria smirked at him.
"Sharp as ever." She replied as she approached one of the doors. She stood at arms length before her biotic aura flared out. Ghost watched as the pirate queen curled her right hand into a fist, pulled it back with biotic energy pouring into it and finally striking at the metal. Ghost was in awe at the affect of it. The biotic strike Aria used had dented the door severely.
"That's one, now here is the second one." Aria said as she shuffled over a little away from her previous position. This time instead of a fist, she used the flat of her palm. Like before she used the same stance, but this time when struck the door it was a biotic blast. It dented the door but to the extent that the Biotic Strike did. The Biotic Blast did however leave something resembling a shallow crater in the door. Aria then turned to him.
"Next will be learning to use your biotics to improve your speed and your damage dealing." Aria said with aura still manifested. She threw some quick punches and kicks. Ghost could feel the biotic power flying out each time an attack was fully extended. While not as strong or widespread as the Strike and the Blast, he knew they could still probably break bones. Aria then began to show him how to do so and for the next few hours, Ghost struggled to learn until he finally got it down.
"Impressive. Now that you know how to use your biotics in a particular fighting style, now you have to figure out how to do my earlier attacks." Aria said cheekily as she turned to the elevator and exited the area.
'Bitch.' Ghost thought as he approached one of the undamaged doors and started to focus on doing the Biotic Strike first. He quickly did the same thing Aria did, but instead of making a huge impression into the door, he only hurt his hand not even making a dent in it.
"DAMMIT!" Ghost shouted out as he clutched his hand. After waiting for the pain to subside, he quickly went over to the one Aria used as a demonstration. Taking a closer look, he saw that the Strike's dent had bit a subtle swirl to it. He then thought over what Aria did and compared it to his.
'Wait a minute, I let all of the energy out when I began to extend my arm. Aria on the other hand, released it at the moment of impact. That's it!' Ghost thought happily. He quickly went back to his and tried his theory out. He extended his arm out, reared his fist back and punched the door, this time releasing the pent up energy on contact instead of on the execution. His was met with better results. And his hand didn't hurt at all too.
"Well, that's progress." Ghost said absently as he analyzed the dent he made. It wasn't as big or deep as Aria's was, but it was definitely better than his first try when all he did was hurt his hand.
For the next few days he honed his Biotic Strike until he finally made a dent as big as Aria's now. He had shown Aria when he told her about.
"Great now do the other one." was all she said before she left to go run Omega.
'Should have figured, she wouldn't be impressed.' Ghost thought. Thinking it was going to be a breeze, he did the same thing with the Strike but with the flat of his palm this time. He then struck a new obstacle. What he got was different than what he expected.
"Woah!" Ghost yelled out surprised as he was suddenly blasted through the air, flying nine meters back. After landing on his back and skidding for a couple more feet, he quickly got up and walked back over to the door.
'I didn't even make a dent!' He thought frustrated as he saw no marks on it. He thought over everything he did and what he remembered what Aria did.
"I did it just like the Strike so what's wrong?" He thought. Ghost then remembered how Aria did hers.
'When Aria did it, it looked as if the power was concentrated on the palm itself. Not on the entire arm, it merely looked like it. That might work!' Ghost quickly got back into his stance. This time concentrating on putting the power in the palm of his hand. He then struck the door. When the attack struck the metal, Ghost was once again propelled backwards. Getting up, he gave a frustrated sigh as he walked back to the obstacle. He looked at the results and became pleased. This time he had made a very wide dent in the door, but he was troubled by the fact his own attack had pretty much exploded on him. Aria's hadn't done that so he was missing something, but what? Then he remembered what he did and mentally smacked himself. He was to preoccupied on concentrating on the power and not directing it!
He tried again, this time keeping everything in mind. He executed the Biotic Blast and was not disappointed. The blast worked perfectly. He wasn't flung back this time and he had made a wide dent almost as big as Aria's was. Merely off by about 3 inches considering her's was 3-4 feet in diameter. Ghost then spent the next 2 days honing his Biotic Blast and was suddenly struck by an idea: Why not try and combine the 2 attacks?
Months later
Ghost was now standing with Aria in the middle of the place. Over the past few months Aria taught him Barrier, Singularity, Stasis and Warp. She also helped hone his biotic melee fighting style. Secretly, when Ghost had some free time, he would try and combine the Biotic Blast and the Biotic Strike. It had been difficult to get down considering it was like trying to merge opposites together, but he finally got it!
"You have progressed much faster than I anticipated. Normally it would take years for someone to learn and control all of these abilities. Yet you have done so in a mere 7 months. I have not heard of any one, not even legendary asari, accomplishing this." Aria spoke with a blank look. Although she did not know it, Ghost had a smile on his face, hidden behind the mask. He was proud that he was finally getting some praise from his teacher. That feeling went away when he saw Aria's calm and neutral face turn into visage of murder.
"Having seen this, I have decided that you are too dangerous to leave alive. So you need to die!" Aria said as she lashed out with a throw. Ghost having been momentarily stunned by the declaration, was knocked off his feet and was sent flying back a few meters away. He quickly got back up only to dodge a metal canister flying at him.
'Dammit! I can't believe I let my guard down! Calm down, think. You have no guns and your tech abilities are pretty much useless against her. I guess it's time to see if that training paid off!' Ghost thought as he landed and immediately set off into a sprint using his biotics to speed himself up. He quickly closed the distance with her and the two engaged in biotic death match. Each using their biotics to increase their speed and damage. Ghost aimed a punch to her head, but was blocked by her arm. Aria then attempted to kick him below the belt, but he blocked the attack with his shin having expected it. Following this, both tried to use a point blank biotic blast only for the 2 attacks to collide. The resulting clash was causing small things like old screws and junk to start levitating of the ground, circling the 2.
"I'm curious Aria. Why not have any of your minions do this? Surely they could overwhelm me... eventually." Ghost asked having noticed no one trying to intervene in the fight. The Queen of Omega smirked at the question.
"Isn't it obvious? I would rather not waste my forces on fighting one person, who could massacre them when I can take care of you personally. Besides I may be the only one on this station who can take you on." Aria replied, following with her overpowering Ghost's blast, pushing him back a few yards. Ghost immediately lept into the air with a biotic strike ready. Seeing that she couldn't dodge in time, Aria quickly crouched down into a curl as Ghost rapidly descended toward her. Ghost was confused by the act until his confusion was replaced with shock as biotic energy surrounded Aria. She then uncurled, standing up, releasing the energy in a biotic pulse. The pulse was so powerful that Ghost was sent flying back 7 meters. Ghost, laying on his back, put both hands on the sides of his head and pushed off the ground, landing on his feet.
'I've got to think of something. Aria has all the abilities I know of and probably a few I don't. Come on think! I need something that is somewhat immune to most biotic attacks. Barrier would make most attacks that control people near useless, but Warp could take my Barrier out quick unless..." Ghost planned out as he stood up. Activating his barrier, he became shrouded in a biotic aura that took the form of a shell for his body. Having mastered both Barrier and biotic melee, he started using them in combination with little difficulty. As he ran in a zig-zag pattern, Aria found herself unable to hit Ghost with a warp. She then used some kind of move Ghost hadn't seen before. She threw out her hand and a ball of biotic energy shot toward him. When it hit him, it looked as if it were trying to pull him. His barrier prevented that, but Ghost was unsettled thinking it was some different type of pull considering it was still connected to Aria's hand by a biotic tether of some sort.
'Hmmm, I can't use pull or lash on him since that barrier of his would block it and with running in that pattern at the speed he's going, he has made it where normal tactics wouldn't work. Bravo Ghost, bravo. However, I still have a few tricks up my sleeve!' Aria thought calmly as she followed his pattern. Predicting the spot where he'd run to next, she concentrated all her biotic energy on the spot and as soon as Ghost got close enough she detonated one of her strongest attacks, Flare. The immediate biotic explosion hit Ghost with it's splash affect, causing him to lose his barrier.
'Oh crap.' Was all Ghost thought before Aria used that tether ability on him again. This time it connected and he found himself pulled in a whiplash like fashion as the force of it caused him to slide on the floor, hurling towards Aria's location. Not one to give up, Ghost stuck out his arm and used warp on Aria. The pirate queen's shields were destroyed instantly. Having stopped sliding, Ghost got back up and immediately tried to hit Aria's head with a Biotic Strike. Aria ducked, meaning to hit him in the stomach with a biotic strike of her own when Ghost used his other hand to perform a biotic blast on her at point blank range. It was Aria's turn to be sent flying back and so she was. Skidding to a halt after being blasted back by the unexpected attack Aria stood back up only to be hit by a biotic strike this time. The pirate queen was pushed back again, this time further, along with her anger growing. She tried to get up quicker but as soon as she did she saw Ghost hovering in the air, curled into a ball with biotic energy radiating off of him in waves.
'What the fu-' Was as far as she thought when Ghost unleashed one of his new moves based of her earlier counter-attack, Biotic Repulse. That was the last straw for Aria as she was flung through the air and hit the life support pipes that funneled air into Omega's skyline. Her impact dented the aged pipe causing it and the rest to shake a little.
"You little fu-!" Aria was about to shout out when she saw him coming in for the kill. Ghost jumped at her to close the distance ready to use his experimental melee attack.
"This is what I like to call Biotic Thrash!" Ghost proclaimed as he descended toward her. His melee attack looked as if it were a biotic blast, but instead of his palm being flat or curled into a fist, the fingers had been curled but not completely, resembling the human martial art attack: tiger claw. Biotic energy was flowing around his arm and on the inside of the palm of his hand.
'Dammit, looks like I'm going to have to use that" Aria thought irritated before her whole body glowed. Ghost knew whatever she was planning wouldn't be able to stop him now, not with a good 5 feet of distance. He outstretched his arm, ready to finish things when Aria just... vanished. Completely thrown for a loop, Ghost hit the pipe Aria had leaned against. His attack went completely through it without any effort, showing both its power and his skill with it. The attack's force put a much larger strain on the rusted nuts, bolts and screws. Ghost quickly ripped his arm out of it before sensing where Aria was... behind him! He quickly turned around to see a completely exhausted Aria on her knees breathing heavily 10 meters away from him.
'Shit! He made me use that charge move to dodge his attack. That's an experimental move too. It completely drained me of any stamina I had after our little fight.' Aria thought before she looked behind herself to see Ghost not looking winded at all.
'I'll have to do something about that.' She thought. She then used another of her race's abilities, Reave. Her hand extended out to Ghost who was immediately hit by an orb of energy.
'What the hell is this?!' Ghost thought as he felt a combination of static and hot needle injection all over his body while his fatigue increased rapidly. Aria on the other was glowing and had what appeared to be biotic wisps flowing into her. Her fatigue lessened considerably as she found the strength to stand back up.
"What did you do?" Ghost demanded huffing now from the sudden exhaustion. Aria smirked and merely shook her head no meaning she wasn't telling. They then both heard something dislodge. Ghost turned around to see the pipes he and Aria had hit were about to collapse... on him! Ghost tried to move but he found himself unable to due to the fatigue.
'Fuck! Don't tell me she planned this!' He thought as he saw the falling pipes descend on his location, each one big enough to crush him to death. Ghost suddenly felt something latch onto his back and pulled him back fast. Before he knew it, he was laying on his back 10 meters away from his previous location as the pipes landed on the ground harmlessly. Unable to move, he could see that Aria was standing right next to him.
"I'm guessing you want to make sure I die by your hands." Ghost accused. Aria then began to laugh at him. Seeing him waiting for an answer she quieted herself down before answering.
"Congratulations, Ghost. You passed the test." Aria said as she walked away to the elevator, leaving him there, deadpanning. A test. It was all a damn test! Ghost's fury exploded right there.
"DAMN YOU TO THE DEEPEST, DARKEST PITS OF HELL, ARIA T'LOAK!" Ghost roared out. He could have sworn he heard Aria laughing at him as the elevator descended back down to Omega.
Memory Sequence End
Shepard was still peeved at how that was.
" 'Needed to see how I would use my biotics in a life or death situation' my ass. All she wanted to do was mess with me." Shepard grumbled when he noticed the everything faded away. He suddenly found himself back in his bed. He sat up and yawned.
"Shepard, we entered the system and someone just sent us an urgent message." Joker called over the intercom.
"Who is it?" Shepard asked he got out of bed. He made his way to the CIC as Joker replied, "Admiral Hackett." Shepard merely raised an eyebrow at the name as he climbed the steps.
'Hackett? He and I only talked once. What could he want now?' Shepard silently thought until he realized Joker was waiting for him to say something.
"Uh okay I'll talk to him." Shepard said as he made his way to the galaxy map.
"Okay, I'm here." Shepard said.
"Patching him through." Joker replied. Shepard waited for a second until he heard Hackett's voice. Still military disciplined as ever.
"Ghost it has been some time." the admiral's voice said.
"That it has, Hackett. That it has." Shepard said garnering the CIC crew's attention. Shepard noticed there looks of disbelief. Shepard looked at them in curiosity before Hackett spoke again.
"I see your manners have hardly improved." Hackett responded with some amusement in his voice. Shepard merely chuckled before turning serious.
"Is there a reason as to why you called Hackett?" Shepard asked directly. There was a moment of silence. All of the crew members watching this talk were in shock at Shepard's careless attitude with talking to Admiral Steven Hackett.
"Direct as always Ghost, fine. We've gotten reports on an increase in mark geth activity in the Skyllian Verge. Surveillance drones have identified geth outposts on 4 different planets in the Armstrong Cluster. We need someone to take them out." Hackett explained. Although he couldn't see it, Shepard had a deadpanned expression.
"Hackett... did you know where we were going?" Shepard asked slowly.
"No I do not know where the Normandy is going." Hackett said a little confused by the question.
"Did you know where we are currently?" Shepard asked in the same low tone.
"Not currently, no." Hackett said getting annoyed by the questions.
"We're already in the Armstrong Cluster." Shepard deadpanned. The comm was silent for a minute.
"Really?" Hackett asked as if regretting calling in the first place. Shepard merely smiled.
"Yep." Shepard said. He then added, "At the least you made the job easier for us. Just send the data so we know which planets to go to."
Shepard waited for a moment before Joker said he got the data.
"Thank you." Shepard said.
"Your welcome. Hackett out." with that the comm cut. Shepard then radioed the ground-team to meet in the hanger for the next mission.
At Arcturus Station
Admiral Hackett was a very stern man, but there was some moments in his life that shattered it at times. Not the anyone could see it, he was slightly embarrassed at the fact he called Ghost just when the entered the system the Alliance has monitored for the past few days now. He looked at his terminal and noticed an unmarked email. Opening it up he noticed that the information was for a geth fleet of some sort before he saw the who sent it. Ghost. He was about ready to slam his head on his desk now seeing how Ghost sent him information that could have helped make things far easier. The only reason he wasn't more embarrassed was the fact he had found where the outpost where set up. That would have been bad for him and something funny for Ghost and the rest of the Normandy.
Thinking of Ghost and his identity, he still had a hard time believing who he was.
'Hard to believe that Hannah Shepard's son had become the Ghost of the Terminus.' Hackett thought as he remembered the first time he met Hannah Shepard. It had been just after the First Contact War ended with Hannah as an up and coming genius for Alliance R&D. He could remember how brilliant she was with her inventions and how fast they became friends. He also remembered when they tried to make a super soldier of some sort. That had been disastrous. After the incident she disappeared only to reappear in the casualty list of Mindoir. He tried to find her son after seeing her colonial records, but the boy was nowhere to be found... until now.
'Hannah what would you think of him if you've seen how he's grown? Would you be proud or saddened?' Hackett thought.
Back on the Normandy
"Come on let's go. Joker's almost ready to open up!" Shepard said ushering everyone in. He personally made sure that all of them were using tungsten rounds since they were going up against geth. He then felt as if someone was cheering him on from afar, but shook it off as he jumped into the mako after everyone else.
'Now let's see what we can do.' Shepard thought as he waited for the door to open.
Okay, sorry for the delay!
So I decided to look back on my old story and earlier chapters and noticed I didn't put as much background as I probably should have. Sorry if this isn't what you were hoping for. Also that 12,000 word thing will be a rare occurrence. Don't worry though I'll generally try to keep my chapters between 5,000-9,000 on a general basis.
Now for those of you wondering what the biotic moves were:
1) Biotic Blast: Adept heavy melee
2) Biotic Strike: Vanguard heavy melee
3) Biotic Pulse: Multiplayer Asari heavy melee (not sure what class)
4) Biotic Thrash: My little combination of the first 2 above.
That being said if you have any questions, please post them in the reviews. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Please post your thoughts and any suggestions I will use them later most likely.
Also the winner for the poll: Best looking ME 3 custom N7 armor was The Armax Arsenal Armor! Happy reading.