I hope everyone is having a good holiday season! The next chapter shouldn't be too far behind this one - and I hope everyone is enjoying the story so far. Thank you for reading!
Shepard stirred awake, taking in a harsh and smothered intake of breath. She felt heavier, her muscles strained, her environment damp. She lifted her head slowly, feeling extremely disoriented as she struggled to support her weight with her arms. Mud coated her entire body, blocking her vision as she hastily tried to wipe it from her eyes. The smell of dirt and earth filled her nose as her breathing labored from near suffocation and pain.
She slowly reached for her M-25 Hornet pistol, straining her sore muscles to position herself further upright so she could escape her nearly mud-covered tomb. Her pistol was completely covered in mud, and wouldn't fire when she tried to shoot off a test round. She knew her other guns would be in the same condition, and hoped her biotics wouldn't fail her if she needed to use them. Her head rattled unpleasantly as she tried to flare blue, making her body convulse back toward the muddy ground.
With a groan, Shepard pushed herself upwards to her feet, swaying sickeningly as she fought to keep her balance. As her eyes started to focus in the near darkness, she could see that she was in a hollow section underground. Small cracks of light shown through from high up Helyme's crust. Rumbles of thunder shook the underground, causing harsh vibrations from where Shepard was standing. She lost her balance, falling back into the mud as the thunder caused the earth to shake violently.
"Hello?" Shepard attempted to call, her voice raspy and throat dry. She tried a few more times to call for help, but over the thunder and constant shifting of the earth, it was no use.
How long was I unconscious? She thought, grabbing her throat and trying to swallow in discomfort.
She felt so thirsty that she knew it had to be for a while. She suspected the deep aching from her muscles was also due to dehydration. Shepard brought up her omni-tool, it flickered and glitched as the orange glow struggled to stay on. Whether it was tectonic or storm interference from being so far underground, or damage, she couldn't tell, but continued to attempt to find her way around.
"Normandy, this is Shepard, I'm trapped underground, do you copy?" Shepard called into her omni-tool.
Only static followed as a response.
"Normandy, this is Shepard! I need immediate extraction, do you copy?" Shepard repeated, but to no avail.
She lowered her omni-tool in defeat, swearing under her breath as she did so. Not knowing what else to do Shepard began to trudge forward into the darkness, hoping to find a way out. The cracks of light overhead were not enough to adequately light her way, so she turned on her flashlight that was attached to her armor. It was cracked, but still shone the way ahead for her to keep moving.
After an unprecedented amount of time, Shepard's knees buckled over, hitting something jutting out from the ground. Shepard lay still for a second, the pain from the fall radiating throughout her body. Her mud soaked face and armor started to feel like a prison. As she stood up in agony, she tried to bring up her glitching omni-tool again but nothing had changed. Shepard craned her neck to look back and see what tripped her. It was a strange, carved stone with an ancient language etched on it. Curious, Shepard moved closer to it, shining her light on it to see it more clearly. Shepard ran her hand over the carvings, noticing how pristine the ancient stone appeared to be.
"Is this arthenn?" Shepard wondered aloud, remembering what Liara and EDI mentioned about the planet's original species.
As Shepard studied the stone, she noticed that several others were sticking out of the ground nearby, all leading in one direction. Shepard started following the stones, noticing how they were getting larger and larger until she came across a wall. The hollow space underground ended with a solid slab of rock. A carved out, low tunnel in the rock.
Shepard crouched to look inside, shining her light to see how long and stretched out it was. Carvings on the walls followed, adding to Shepard's piqued interest. Shepard attempted to bring up her omni-tool again to scan the arthenn carvings, but the flickering didn't subside long enough for her to get an accurate enough reading. Above the tunnel there was a carving of some kind of creature with dozens of tentacles, and a wide opened mouth. The script that surrounded the strange drawing was impossible for her to attempt to decipher without her omni-tool.
I must be going crazy… Shepard thought.
Shepard got on her hands and knees and crawled into the tunnel. At this point she didn't think she had anything to lose, so finding arthenn ruins could lead to a way out. As she crawled through the tunnel, she could feel the narrowness of the tunnel restrict her already tight movement slightly. The feeling of claustrophobia was overwhelming, but Shepard's desperation and near delirium made her continue forward.
More rumbling made Shepard pause in fear as the tunnel and underground thundered around her. She could feel the violent vibrations rattling her bones and ringing in her ears. Her biotic amp throbbed painfully, causing Shepard to drop from her hands and knees, and directly to the ground. The tunnel suddenly sealed shut behind her, encasing her in complete darkness as the world blindly shook before her. Shepard let out a yelp of fear as the rumbling subsided, leaving her with only the sound of her panicked breathing. She got back up on her hands and knees to crawl forward, groping in the pitch blackness, knowing there was no way she could turn back.
"I can't be trapped in here, goddammit - I can't be!" Shepard shrieked.
As Shepard put her hand forward, the ground was gone before her. Shepard tried to back-peddle but it was too late, she slipped down into the unseen hole in the tunnel. As she slid further down, her ears popped uncomfortably with the descent until she came out into a clearing, and out of the tunnel. Stunned, Shepard's eyes adjusted to a dim light. The drop of temperature made her realize how much further she had went into Helyme's underground, making the fear of not being able to escape grow even more.
The echo of footsteps made Shepard sit up too quickly, making her queasy as she held her head in discomfort. As her eyes focused she realized she was in the middle of what remained of an ancient city. The twisted stones and unknown language carved into the stones and ruined walkways. Shepard's eyes landed on the source of the dimly lit ruins: torches.
"Fire?" Shepard wondered aloud, slowly approaching the torch.
Shepard reached toward the fire, hovering her hand close enough to feel the warmth of the flame.
"That's definitely real…" Shepard said to herself as she glanced behind her shoulder, feeling uncomfortable knowing she wasn't alone.
She knew those torches were lit recently, as the oxygen in a sealed underground cave couldn't be enough to keep it going for days. Worries of natural gases causing explosions, or another tectonic movement made her visibly shudder. Shepard tried to bring her omni-tool up again, but the glitching static appeared to be even worse than before. In frustration Shepard kicked a nearby stone, alerting something nearby. The footsteps started to scurry again, making Shepard reach for her mud-logged pistol and flare up blue. Her L3 implant instantly created a horrible headache, causing Shepard to grip her head again and groan.
"Dammit, where are you? I know someone is hiding! Are you an arthenn?" Shepard shouted, whirling around in every direction. "Can you understand me?"
A human man came out from hiding from behind a fallen stone pillar. The man wore old, worn armor came forward. Shepard couldn't make out his features in the dim light, and kept her gun trained on his figure.
"Someone has come at last, He said he would send someone to help me spread His message."
As the man came fully into the light, Shepard let out a gasp in disbelief. Eyes that were familiar and resembled her own stared back at her. She fell to her knees before the man, her senses overwhelming her.
"I knew I shouldn't lose hope, I knew everything would come together. He sent His message years from Star 52," the man rambled on and on.
"Dad…" Shepard whispered, still in disbelief that her father was standing before her for the first time in twenty years. "You-you've been underground this entire time?"
Yuudai Kobayashi studied her in mild interest as he paced around in circles. Shepard knew his mentality after being trapped in isolation for so long. What struck her as eerie was the fact that his hair was short in the same style he had worn it for years, and he hadn't grown a beard at all. In fact, he didn't look like he aged a day.
"Dad, listen to me, what happened to the Munich? Why did it crash?" Shepard gently gripped her father's forearm to get him to focus.
"He should be sending his minion soon. Soon." Yuudai mumbled, his eyes darting back and forth. He seemed eager, light on his feet like he was an excited child.
"Dad, please! What happened to your ship and your crew? Why did you crash on Helyme?" Shepard tried to ask again. After not getting a response, Shepard felt disheartened by his condition. "Do you even recognize me?"
Yuudai paused from his jittering to stare at her. A distant rumble echoed, causing him to smile in glee. He grabbed his daughter's wrist and pulled her further into the ruins. She tried to resist, but his strength was surprising. The rumbles grew louder, making rocks from above fall around them.
"Dad, stop, this place looks like it's going to come down!" Shepard yanked her hand free, stopping in her tracks. "I don't know what's going on, but we need to get back to the surface!"
"He is coming! He is coming! He is coming!" Yuudai began to chant.
"Who is coming? What are you talking about?" Shepard pleaded, but her continuous questions fell on deaf ears.
"Hnarqu."
Her father's voice bellowed, its octave changing at the mention of the name. That awful and familiar feeling washed over Shepard as the ruins around Shepard began to fade as the torch flames went out. Once again Shepard found herself falling to her knees as she did on Helyme's surface. She felt as if the abyss was opening up before her, and the darkness consumed everything that surrounded her. All sounds seemed to be sucked into a vacuum.
Cold. Dark. Hollow.
You are more foolish than we have originally perceived, Shepard. You stumbled into the Darkness, and your own fate, so hastily. Humans are such disappointing creatures, but you surprise Us, Shepard. Nevertheless, you will discover the truth.
Blinding sunlight woke Shepard as she shielded her eyes from the bright sky and canopy overhead. Her body was in worse pain then before as she struggled to roll over on her side. She could see her father lying unconscious on the jungle floor beside her on the jungle floor. She rubbed her eyes in exhaustion, still feeling the dried mud caked to her body. Fear had her heart in a vice grip after hearing the horrid voice again, as she struggled to get a grip back to reality.
"Dad?" Shepard rasped, but he was unresponsive.
Shepard crawled over to him, her muscles aching as she pulled herself forward. Just holding her head up was nearly impossible. She checked her father's pulse, relieved to feel his heart rate is normal, as was his breathing. He looked so peaceful, contrasting heavily with Shepard's nervous shivering and hammering heart. She tried her omni-tool again, struggling to lift and position her arm closer to her face. Her omni-tool appeared less glitchy as she was on the surface, and since the storm was gone.
Shepard let out a shuddering sigh of relief. She felt like she could burst into tears, her resolve crumbled away at the sight of her father, and the sunlight of the surface of Helyme. She didn't know how they made it out from so deep underground, and that the arthenn ruins didn't become their tomb.
"Shepard to Normandy, this is Shepard. I need an immediate extraction. I found the target, I repeat, I found the target…" Shepard rasped again, her voice dry from dehydration.
"Shepard? Oh my God, I thought we lost you!" Joker's shocked voice replied back to her.
She couldn't help but smile and let out an exasperated chuckle at the sound of his voice.
"You have no idea how good it is to hear your voice. Are you able to track my coordinates?"
"Yeah, Shepard, I got you. Headed toward you now!" Joker replied.
Minutes later the Normandy landed nearby. Shepard attempted to lift her father up, but she could barely get up herself. Liara, James, and EDI came running toward them from out of the tree line.
"Shepard! Thank the goddess!" Liara exclaimed as she immediately went to Shepard's side to help lift her up.
"You found your pops!" James pointed out in disbelief.
Their concerned voices began to fade as Shepard found herself losing consciousness again. Even with her arm slung around Liara, she couldn't stand upright on her own. Shepard's head lolled forward as the Normandy's dock drifted into sight.
Shepard awoke with a start. Her eyes slowly adjusted to the all too familiar sight of the Ned bay's ceiling. The muffled hum of the Normandy was almost music to the commander's ears. She sat up, feeling the stinging tug of an IV in her arm. She peered down at her hands, happy to see them clean of any mud.
"Commander Shepard, you're finally awake." Chakwas observed aloud from her desk. "Before you ask, you've been unconscious for nearly seven hours. Garrus and your father have yet to come to."
Shepard turned her head in shock to see her father and Garrus lying on the other hospital beds. Her father still looked peaceful, but Garrus looked horribly beaten.
"What happened to Garrus?" Shepard asked, startled.
"According to Major Alenko they were attacked by an unknown creature. Garrus' lungs and chest cavity were nearly crushed. I'm keeping him in a medically induced coma for his own good, the pain would be unbearable." Chakwas remarked, grimly.
"Garrus… I'm so sorry…" Shepard whispered guiltily, trying to get up from her hospital bed to go to him.
"Don't move, Commander. That IV needs to stay in your arm. You need some fluids in you." Chakwas advised.
"What about my dad? Is he okay?"
"Major Kobayashi is stable. His vitals all were normal. I think his body is just resting from exhaustion."
Shepard laid her head back onto her pillow, her thoughts racing a million miles a minute. Everything that occurred on Helyme seemed to be memories from a bad dream.
"Shepard, what went on down there?" Chawkwas asked, getting up from her desk. "Kaidan submitted his report to Admiral Hackett, and apparently the events he claimed happened are odd enough for him to want me to perform a psych evaluation on him. He was going on and on about a giant, black tentacle and you sinking into the ground like you were possessed, or being pulled under? Sounds very hard to believe."
"I don't remember sinking into the ground. All I remember is feeling cold and dark, like I lost myself in my own head," Shepard explained, closing her eyes as she recalled her memories. " I did wake up underground, very far underground, where I found some arthenn ruins. My dad was hiding there. He kept rambling on about nonsense, I don't even think he knows I'm his daughter…" her voice trailed off.
Dr. Chakwas waited politely for her to continue.
"He didn't tell me anything about what happened to the Munich or his crew. And I don't understand how he isn't malnourished, and he hasn't aged a day. He said some kind of name, something my translator couldn't pick up, it sounded very foreign. After that, everything went cold and dark again, then I woke up on the surface. I know it all sounds crazy. Hearing about a giant tentacle monster doesn't seem that odd considering everything that's going on."
"Admiral Hackett wants a full debrief when you're able. Honestly I told him the major's should've been enough. He needs to focus on finishing the Crucible, and you need to focus on going after Cerberus."
Shepard shot up from her bed, startling the doctor.
"The tracer on Kai Leng, I totally forgot!" Shepard exclaimed, cursing herself for forgetting something so crucial to their mission.
She felt like she had nearly forgotten about the Reapers, and the fact that she was in the middle of a galactic war. Helyme had muddled her mind; the very energy of that planet and the desperation to find her father threw her off. Now that she found him, she felt even more confused than before.
"I need to prepare-" Shepard attempted to get up, but Chakwas gently pushed her back down into the bed.
"The Normandy's already set to head towards Cerberus' Headquarters. Joker was just waiting for you to give the order. You need to wait until that IV bag is empty before you leave. In the meantime, give your mother a call. She deserves to know that Major Kobayashi is alive."
Chakwas started toward the med bay door. "I'll give you some privacy," she announced before leaving."
Shepard was left to collect her jumbled thoughts.