Reuploaded because that was way too short
Citadel Archives
One Hour Later…
"Enough!" A voice bellows from above. "Everyone stand down." The mercenary Abby is grappling with knocks her Bladed hand away and kicks her back, causing her to bump into Shepard. She looks up to see her, the Commander, and Ashley completely surrounded by Cat-6. The Assassin looks up further to see Brooks being held by someone at gunpoint.
"You bitch!" The Analyst growls, shortly before being pushed off of the balcony.
"Whatever you think you're getting away with." Shepard begins, as Brooks scrambles to her feet and runs to Ashley's side. "There's nowhere you can hide where I won't find you. I don't take kindly to having my identity stolen."
"Hide?" The feminine figure above asks. "Why?" She steps forward into the light, revealing herself to be an almost exact copy of the Commander.
"I'm Commander Shepard. I never hide."
Abby and Ashley slowly lover their hands down to their sides.
"What the...Hell?" The Marine asks with confusion. The Shepard copy hops down from the ledge and approaches the group. Her armor is that of the many CAT-6 soldiers in the room. Her hair is a different cut, being much shorter than Shepard's, which would nearly reach her waist if it wasn't tied up inside her helmet.
"Who are you?" The Commander asks in disbelief.
"You're not the only Shepard that Cerberus brought back to life." The Impostor explains flatly. "But at least one of us will finally do something with that life."
"How do you even exist?" Ashley asks.
"The same DNA as yours...Jane." The Commander frowns at the blasphemous use of her first name.
"An almost perfect Clone." The Assassin observes, taking a step closer and studying her. The pair of CAT-6 soldiers at the Clone's sides raise their weapons, which Abby ignores. "Fascinating. I'll have to ask Jack about that at some point."
Ashley cocks her head at her sister. "Jack who?"
Abby's response is cut off by the Clone speaking again. "Cerberus spared no expense resurrecting you, Shepard. With me. Made for spare parts, in case you needed any more artificial crap jammed into you." She starts pacing back and forth in front of Shepard's team. "I woke up about six months ago, and while you were explaining the mess you made in Bahak, I was learning how to be human. Amazing what someone can do with enough neural implants, isn't it?"
The Commander stands firm, glaring at her copy. "I don't care who you claim to be. The role of Commander Shepard is already filled."
"By the wrong woman." The Clone retorts. "I'm you, perfected. A Commander Shepard without the wear and tear. The doubts, the failures...and the emotional baggage to hold me back." She looks up to one of the catwalks, eyeing Liara intently. "I'd never fool my supposed 'friends', convincing them to abandon their duties to join the 'Cult of Shepard'." The Clone stops and turns. "Like you, Abigail Williams. The colony girl who abandoned her family to join a group of disillusioned 'Assassins' just as broken as the fan club you're in now."
"Is that right?" Abby asks, drawing a blade. "Try saying that again while I introduce you to what your insides look like."
"Nobody will ever believe you're Shepard." Ashley chimes in.
"They will when I'm flying her ship." The Commander's eyes widen for a moment. "Traynor, this is Shepard!" She calls. "Put Normandy into emergency lockdown! Sending codes now!" She starts typing on her OmniTool, only for the Clone to hold up her own, swiping across and tapping out her own message. "Very admirable. Too bad your signal was blocked." Clone Shepard says with a shrug. "Traynor? Shepard here. Prep the Normandy for emergency departure. We're leaving."
"Really?" Traynor replies in a staticky voice. "I thought I heard something about a lockdown...Very well, Commander. Normandy will be ready when you get here."
"Execute them." The Clone orders. "The Cult of Shepard ends today." The Clone steps back and stalks out of the room. As her men prepare to carry out this order, Abby puts on her best look of terror as she eyes the man aiming his rifle at her. She then makes a show of looking past the soldier at something behind him. He hesitantly follows her gaze, before the Assassin quickly knocks his rifle away while drawing a blade, skewering him in the neck before kicking him backwards. At the same time, Ashley grabs the barrel of another soldier's gun and punches him in his faceplate. The man Abby overpowered falls as Shepard unleashes a Biotic attack on the remaining soldiers, throwing them in different directions.
The chase was on.
SSV Normandy SR2
C.I.C.
A few hours later…
Still dutifully at her station, Specialist Samantha Traynor looked up with confusion as Commander Shepard stalked around the galaxy map towards her. Had Shepard gotten a haircut at some point during the brief Citadel visit? And what kind of armour was that? Even more puzzling was the strange men following her. None of them looked like her usual crewmates. No Ensign Copeland, no Private Westmoreland or Campbell. Patel, Goldstien, Hawthorne, Hadley. None of Shepard's friends, either. Not a single Quarian, Turian, Prothean or Asari in sight. Where was everyone? Who were these people?
"Commander." Traynor says respectfully, which Shepard strangely all but ignores.
"Care to introduce me?" She asks after a moment. The Commander looks at her with narrowed eyes. Yet another red flag signalling something was wrong.
"If you needed to know, I would've told you already." Shepard says coldly, catching Sam off guard. "Plot a course away from the station. We're leaving."
"Plotting courses...isn't my job, Commander." Traynor says hesitantly. "That would be Joker, or EDI."
Shepard eyes the Specialist for a moment. "Is that a refusal, sailor?"
"N-no, ma'am. I'm your...communications officer. You know that. We see each other every day."
"Are you questioning me?" Shepard demands.
Traynor was becoming more frightened and confused by the second. Why was Shepard doing this? If this was some kind of prank, it wasn't funny anymore. Some of the soldiers that had accompanied the Commander had gathered around to eavesdrop on the spectacle, a few even laughing at how Samantha was squirming under this unexpected spotlight.
"No! Not at all, Commander. What is this about? Have I...done something wrong?"
"I would say that disregarding a direct order and asking several questions out of line would count as 'Something wrong'." The Commander growls. "Furthermore, since this ship is equipped with a fully functional AI, that would make your job rather redundant, wouldn't it?"
"W-w-what does that mean, ma'am?" Traynor asks nervously. "What is the meaning of this?"
"It means that you no longer have a job on board this vessel. As commanding officer, I hereby deliver to you a dishonorable discharge for conduct unbecoming." Samantha simply stares at the Commander, mouth slightly agape in shock. "Accordingly, you must vacate this vessel immediately. Any delay will be seen as a deliberate act of aggression and trespassing, and you run the risk of being court martialed. Or shot, depending on the circumstances." She looks to the soldiers at her side. "Please escort her out."
"Wait! Wait!" Traynor pleads frightfully. "What about my personal belongings? This ship is my home, you know?"
Shepard glares at the scared woman in front of her for a moment. "Escort her to the Crew Quarters to gather any belongings. She has five minutes. In the meantime, will someone plot me a damn course?!"
A few minutes later…
"...I don't even...wait...what?!" Confusion escalates further as Traynor sees the Commander who had just kicked her off the ship rounding the corner towards her. "How...who...where did you come from?"
"Sam!" Abby says cheerfully as her sister watches the stairs they had just come from. "Fancy seeing you here."
Samantha's mood improves slightly at the sight of her friend, but sours again when she looks at Shepard.
"You were just...back there! You threw me off the ship! Dishonorable Discharge for Poor Conduct!"
"I did?" Shepard asks, cocking her head. "I haven't seen you all day."
Just from her tone, and the presence of familiar faces, Traynor could tell something was different about this Shepard.
"Yes. You kicked me out with barely enough time to grab my toothbrush." Samantha holds up her beloved, and rather expensive, Mass Effect powered toothbrush.
"That's a Cision-Pro Mk4." Shepard says. "It uses tiny Mass Effect fields to break up plaque and massage the gums."
"Yes...I told you that…"
"And I remember, because I'm the real Shepard."
"The real Shepard?" Traynor asks as Ashley and the Commander step past. "What are you on about?"
"The boss has an evil clone." Abby says. "She tried to kill us and steal Shep's identity, and now she's trying to steal the ship...I'll explain later." A bewildered Traynor watches her friend pass and follow her sister towards the door, which slides open to reveal a sealed airlock hatch.
"Locked." Ashley grumbles. "Fuck!"
"Haven't you ever broken into anything before?" The Assassin asks, stepping back a pace and eyeing the floor. Using one of her blades, she pries open one of the deck plates to reveal an escape hatch.
"No." Her marine sister replied. "But I do know that that one can only be opened from the other side."
"Anyone got any ideas?" Shepard asks. A few moments of silence are broken by a sudden electric whirring sound. The three women look up to see Traynor holding her buzzing toothbrush, its Mass Effect bristle heads glowing bright blue.
Abby, Shepard and Ashley soon find themselves crawling through a tiny subdeck beneath the passageway between the Bridge and the C.I.C.. The thump of boots can be heard overhead from more of the Clone's CAT-6 goons, a few of them chatting indistinctly.
"If you had told me this morning that a toothbrush was going to save the Normany, I would've been a bit skeptical." Shepard says quietly. "Speaking of, remind me to repay Traynor for that."
"The mod kit for my Locust cost less than that thing." Abby comments. "And I bought it directly from Kassa."
"Wouldn't that have contributed to the cost?" Ash asks.
"Maybe, but anyone who buys aftermarket gun parts is asking to be killed."
"Keep quiet!" The Commander hisses. The sisters quickly clam up, with Abby taking the lead towards the exit.
"Why did the boss say to slow her down?" A merc up above asks. "We're allowed to kill Shepard if we have to, right?"
"She said 'slow her down' because she thinks we're cannon fodder." Says another.
"Oh...well...shit…"
The Assassin glances over her shoulder, and at Shepard's nod, she pushes open the exit grate and quickly guns down one of the mercs.
"Oh fuck!" Another calls out. "It's Shepard! The real one!"
Ashley throws a grenade that sails over her sister's head.
"Sorry in advance for the property damage, Skipper!" She shouts as the device explodes.
"It'll just make our shore leave a little longer." Shepard remarks, blind firing over her cover. "No skin off my back."
The ship suddenly moves from its docking point and begins flying away from the Citadel, knocking everyone in the C.I.C. off balance. Abby is the first to regain hers, and she quickly closes in on a CAT-6 Heavy and skewers him in the shoulder, turning him into a human shield. His comrades don't seem to be shocked in the slightest, instead opening fire on their kebab-ified friend and the Assassin behind him.
"Wrong profession!" Abby shouts at the mercs as one falls from a hail of submachine gun fire.
"You're not stopping us!" Her sister follows up.
Shepard opts for a more simple jeering style.
"Get off my ship!"
"All units to the C.I.C.! We're under attack by Shepard! The real one!"
"Just fall back or let her kill you! How fucking useless are you people?!"
"This is bullshit, man! How are we suppo-ACK!"
"Man down! Man dow-OUGH!"
With that, the C.I.C. falls quiet. Ashley stands first and quickly sweeps the elevator area. Abby retrieves her blade and pushes her bullet-riddled shield to the floor.
"All clear." Ash confirms. Shepard stands and heads for the elevator, but stops when she sees several familiar objects in a bin off to the side.
"Those are my models." She says. "And look at this! 'Please send this to an animal shelter for proper disposal as a warship is no place fo-' ohoho...that is not okay."
"Is that a hamster?" The Assassin asks. "And...a Husk head?"
"She better not have messed with my fish." The Commander growls, looking at her hamster. "Sit tight, buddy. And if anyone gives you trouble...go for the eyes."
Ashley rolls her own eyes and steps into the waiting elevator, followed by Abby, and finally Shepard.
"Take us down to the Shuttle Bay." She orders. The Assassin taps the necessary button and the lift begins its descent, but suddenly stops at the Crew Deck. The doors open to reveal over a dozen CAT-6 mercenaries standing in the hallway, all of which look up at the trio in the elevator. The parties stare at each other for a moment.
"Uhh...going down?" Abby asks with a nervous smile. The mercs glance at each other for a moment before raising their weapons.
Shepard steps back and blind fires around the short wall, while Ashley crams her sister behind herself and opens fire as well.
"Sorry! Wrong floor!" The Assassin shouts over the deafening gunfire, frantically mashing the holographic button until the doors close again.
The three sigh with relief when the lift descends again.
