*HUMAN COLONY - FREEDOM'S PROGRESS*
"Fan out, and find cover!" Shepard barked to his companions as they burst into what remained of a courtyard the YMIR mech was in the process of defending. He was keenly aware of the danger this adversary posed and, while his eyes didn't waver from the enemy at hand, his focus was anywhere but.
His mind was still having a hard time wrapping itself around his predicament of being returned to the land of the living by a terrorist organization. Not to mention agreeing to a tenuous alliance with said organization in order to save colonists that were presumably being abducted by the Reapers. All this information had been dumped on him mere days after coming-to in an unfamiliar medical facility and finding out that he had been nothing but "meat and tubes" for the better part of two years. Then, to make matters worse, he had been informed that his crew had scattered to the four corners of the galaxy with no means of locating them. Adding to that loss and confusion was his efforts to figure out the new body his jailers had grown for him with the various upgrades they'd deemed necessary to install.
It had taken some time being back in a combat scenario again to really drive it home, but he was definitely starting to notice how much sharper his senses had become, and how much faster he was moving with less effort. His quickened reflexes and stronger muscles meant he had to completely relearn how to use his own body and regain the old rhythm he'd been operating in for the bulk of his professional career. Constantly tripping over his own feet coupled with the gradually growing ache behind his eyes told him the massive influx of new sensory information was beginning to overwhelm his already racing gray matter.
Then, as if to compound on his already overtaxed brain, a chance reunion with one of his most beloved crew mates now dominated his thinking space. Even discounting his considerable attachment to the friendly faces of his team, whom he thought of as his "family"; this one in particular occupied an incredibly valuable place in his heart. One that he still didn't exactly know how to quantify and would be utterly lost without. Even just hearing the initial disbelief and hurt in her voice had nearly broken his new ticker. That tone still echoed through his beleaguered psyche even after the pain it represented seemed to have been replaced by a euphoric embrace he would have given anything to prolong.
He was a hot mess of swirling emotions, barely controlled limbs, and utter confusion. Fortunately for him, the mechs his Cerberus team had encountered thus far hadn't posed much of a threat. That said, YMIRs were something else entirely. In his N7 days he'd had to endure tactics and battlefield awareness exams that centered around less lethal variants of the walking tanks. He wasn't keen on squaring off against them then, and he sure as hell wasn't looking forward to dancing with one now. Especially given his current state of mind. He knew all of his uncertainty and revelation without being provided proper time to process it all was a recipe for disaster. But he also knew he didn't really have a choice except to soldier on and seek clarity later.
That feeling only swelled as his new eyes swiftly assimilated every detail of the unfolding scene in front of him. Several Quarians already lay in bloody heaps scattered across the snowy terrain as a mechanical behemoth thundered after those that still lived. Rockets jetted from its launch tubes to blast into the fleeing humanoids to send them flying in all directions while torrents of bullets ground through what little cover still remained to shield them. One brave woman attempted to fire feebly into the monster's "face" to draw its attention while her brethren escaped, but did little more than stall its advance. As she turned to flee herself, she slipped on the icy concrete and tumbled to the ground. With murderous efficiency, the mech planted one massive metallic foot on her back, crushing it completely in the process, and sent a quick stream of slugs into her hood.
In that instant some switch was flipped inside Kraven. He wasn't sure if it was some byproduct of the cybernetics in his neurological system, a holdover of only just waking from the dead, the existential hurricane raging in his thoughts, or a combination of all three, but whatever it was caused his fragile psyche to finally crumble. The unfortunate woman's cry of agony, followed by the pulpy smack of bullets shredding soft tissue, was enough to overwhelm his lucidity. His vision started to tunnel as cold fury welled up from the depths of his soul.
His ears heard Miranda shout something to him and Jacob as she crouched behind a wall of shipping crates, but he didn't comprehend her words. His vision went red as blood pounded through his skull. His fingers released the grip of his rifle before balling into tightly clenched, armored fists. His teeth clenched so hard they almost cracked as an azure inferno blazed around his trembling frame. As the YMIR's sensors detected the sudden spike of energy, and it turned to assess the new threat, he suicidally launched himself toward it.
The robotic titan started to take a step back to brace for the incoming impact, but was still rocked backward by the man-sized mass effect field crashing into it at nearly the speed of sound. It planted its heavy treads on the slick, blood-stained tarmac and hunkered down to keep from being bowled over. Its arms came up seeking a targeting solution on its relatively puny assailant.
With zero conscious thought, and combat training completely cast to the wind, Shepard recklessly threw himself at the giant in front of him again. He lashed out in a blind rage trying to pummel his enemy to dust with only his biotically charged fists. Even a sledgehammer swing from the mech's massive right arm connecting with his shoulder wasn't enough to shake him from his mental blackout. In fact, the pain only served to intensify it. The force of the blow was enough to completely dissipate the Commander's barriers and sent him spiraling into a stack of loading equipment, yet his wrath raged unabated despite the damage he had sustained.
Bullets started to pepper the steel containers around him as he wrenched himself free and once again launched himself at his foe. Rockets sailed past only inches to either side as dark energy propelled him onward into contact with the synthetic engine of destruction. However, this time his trajectory was higher causing him to impact the YMIR's upper chest plate. As it staggered back from the force of his biotic charge he reached out to snag its upper arm.
At first he planted his feet on its chest to rip the arm off, and beat its owner to death with it, but was swung away before he could make good on the action. As his eyes locked with the mech's view screen, a new goal became the priority in his subconscious mind. He wanted its head. Like a crazed animal, he ripped and tore at the reeling construct as it tried to shake him off or crush him with another hammer blow. Somehow he managed to find enough purchase to claw his way up to stand on the YMIR's shoulders, and hooked his fingers under the protective cowling surrounding its "head".
A scream of inarticulate rage tore unbidden from his throat while his tortured body heaved against the resistance that kept the machine's head in place. Just as the muscle fibers in his legs, back, and arms started to tear apart, it came loose. He nearly toppled over with the sudden lack of resistance, but miraculously maintained his footing as his prize went spinning off into the darkness. He looked down into the sparking cavity he'd created as arcs of electricity started to writhe and snake onto his legs and the ground. Before his rage soaked brain could comprehend what was happening, a mass effect field enveloped him before roughly yanking him from his perch to toss him clear of the dying machine and its overloading drive core. He tumbled and rolled end over end before skidding head first into one of the vertical supports under a prefab's front porch. In an instant, his scarlet stained world went dark as the waking unconsciousness he was in gave way to the real thing.
After some time, he finally started to come around to the sounds of someone calling his name. "Shepard? Hey, Shepard. You still with us?"
As he slowly opened his eyes, he recognized the almost amused face looking back at him. "J-Jacob? Guh, what happened?"
The Cerberus operative extended a hand to help him up. "You don't remember?"
Kraven started to reach for the offered help, but his hand immediately went to his throbbing temple as a dagger of pain seared through his skull. "Ngggh… No."
Jacob reached out farther to grasp the Commander by his elbow and extricate him from under the prefab's deck. "Well Commander, let's just say I've heard stories about how crazy, and borderline unstable, you could be but… damn." He looked back toward the lazily rising plume roiling into the ash choked night sky. "If Miranda hadn't pulled you off that thing before it blew, there wouldn't have been enough of you left to fit in a coffee cup. And I doubt she's up for rebuilding you a second time."
"I'll keep that in mind." Shepard scoffed, trying in vain to recall the last several minutes between the time his team entered the courtyard and he woke up under a porch. 'I can remember the days when the only time I ever blacked out was a night drinking with the crew' he thought glumly. As he did, a lithe feminine figure came stalking out of the snowy gloom.
As the woman neared, he noticed she was a Quarian. "Glad to see some of you are…" He started to say trying to inject false levity into his voice before recognition dawned and a long finger stabbed at his face.
"You!" Tali practically shouted. "I told you to be careful! I told you not to do anything crazy! Look at you!" She gestured at his ruined armor and bleeding scalp.
"I-I'm sorry, I… I don't…" He tried in vain to explain despite having zero idea what had actually just happened. "I was just… and then we were… I mean."
She suddenly swept forward to enfold him in her arms. As she held him close trying to understand what was happening, her gaze alighted on the Cerberus agent awkwardly standing nearby. He couldn't see it, but her eyes narrowed to dangerous slits as she imagined what the terrorists had done to her Commander to cause him to become this confused and unhinged. "Can you give us a minute, please?" She asked, trying to keep the icy venom from her voice.
"Um. Yeah sure." Jacob agreed. Gladly excusing himself from the bizarre, and uncomfortable interaction.
Once he was far enough away, Tali pushed the Commander back enough to cup his wrecked face in her hands. She was taken aback to see the utterly helpless expression on his face. "Keelah, Shepard what is going on with you?"
"I- I don't know." He admitted. "I'm just so… I'm lost. I don't know what's real…." He shook his head lightly to clear, but quickly stopped as a fresh wave of pain was the only result. "I'm just so confused. Turned around. I barely know who I am… Where I am…"
Her chest ached to hear her normally unwavering Commander's uncertainty and vulnerability. She gently brushed away the drop of blood trickling down his face and stared directly into his crimson tinged eyes. "You are Commander Kraven Shepard. You led a team of the galaxy's best to kill a rogue Spectre and saved us from the Reapers. You…" She struggled to form the words past a lump growing in her throat. "You died two years ago in an attack that destroyed the Normandy." She could feel his shoulders slump. "But, ancestor's know how, you've been brought back from the dead, and words can't describe how happy I am to see you alive after all this time."
That seemed to breathe a small amount of life back into his exhausted frame. "But… is it really me? Nothing feels right. What if they…"
She stared at him for several seconds before pulling him into another hug. "You're definitely my Shepard." She whispered quietly.
He gathered her up with what little strength his abused body could still muster. "I guess I have to be… this is the only thing that feels right…"
Tears formed in the corners of her eyes as all the chaotic emotions of the last two years finally came to a head. She did her best to control it, but couldn't help the tiny sobs as her grief, despair, and now elation were given form.
They stood there together for many minutes as she eventually cried herself out and stepped back from him. A fresh wave of waterworks nearly overtook her composure again as she saw glittering moisture on his cheeks. In all her time with him, she had never seen him shed a tear. Not once.
As she reached up to wipe away a single, glistening drop from his scarred face, and infuriating voice broke into the surreal moment and smashed it to bits.
"Commander!" The normally alluring Australian cadence was strained by irritation. What the bloody hell were you doing? You nearly got yourself killed. AGAIN! What were you thinking?"
Without even realizing it, Tali had moved to block Miranda's path to Shepard and crossed her arms. "What were YOU thinking? He's obviously traumatized and confused." Miranda opened her mouth to protest, but couldn't say anything before Tali cut her off. "What, you thought you would just casually commit a crime against nature by ripping him back from whatever afterlife he'd gone to and then think he'd be all smiles as he did your bidding like some toy soldier? You didn't think there would be any trauma he needed to work through, or that he wouldn't need any time to come to terms with what you did to him? Nope, just set him straight to work solving your problems like nothing happened. You Bosh'tets make me absolutely sick…"
Miranda's face set into a hard mask as she stared daggers at the livid Quarian. "I know his limits better than anyone. We don't have time to waste while he gets his head on straight." Her eyes narrowed. "And it was because of you and your people that we needed to fight in the first place."
Red hot anger spiked Tali's blood as she started to reach for her firearm.
A hand on her shoulder stopped her short. "That's enough." He said quietly. "Go find Veetor. I need a minute." He ordered Miranda, who looked like she was very carefully considering whether or not to ignore him. "Now…" he growled.
She finally turned crisply on her heel and stalked off leaving Shepard alone with Tali once again.
"I'm sorry." He said. "Trust me, any other time I would have done it myself. But I can't afford to… yet. Not until I figure out what's happening to our colonists, and not until I…" He looked down at his open palms. "Not until I find out what exactly they've done to me."
Tali gradually let her hatred of the Cerberus bitch eb away while she watched Shepard intently. "I understand."
"I don't suppose you'd be able to come with me, could you? Just like old times?"
Her breath caught in her chest as her initial reaction was to blurt out an enthusiastic yes. Especially after seeing the monsters he was now in company with. However, her duty to her people couldn't be so easily cast aside. "I-I would like nothing more, but I'm on a mission for my own people. One I can't ignore."
His shoulders slumped slightly. "I get it. Seems like duty always calls, doesn't it?"
She snaked a slender finger under his chin to lift his gaze and look into his eyes again. "It does. But I'll come join you as soon as my mission is done."
"I'm going to hold you to that." He smiled slightly despite himself.
"Please do." She replied sweetly as her hand dropped from his chin to his outstretched palm. They stood there like that, hand in hand staring at each other, until realization finally dawned what they were doing. Except this time, there was no sheepish awkwardness or quick changes of the subject.
Instead, this time he covered her slender hand with his own and tried to convey with his gaze what his words could not.
Despite wanting the moment never to end, Tali was aware that her people needed her and she wanted to make sure she rescued Veetor from the Cerberus snakes combing the compound for him. She squeezed the Commander's hand before pulling her hand from between both of his.
"We'd better get going. We both have some work to do."
Kraven Shepard genuinely smiled and gestured back the way they'd come. "Then time's a wasting, and I hear it waits for no man."
She shook her head at his comforting use of a baffling idiom. "It's good to have you back, Shepard."
"Good to be back." He said as they both started to walk after Miranda. "Now…" He added under his breath.