Shepard froze, staring at the strange being that now held her at gunpoint.
It looked human; two legs, two arms, a head resting on a pair of shoulders. An overall human shape. In fact, maybe even female, judging from the widened hips and narrow waist. However, the armor was a different design than she'd ever seen before. This armor was a brilliant green in color, with yellow accents, hardly camouflage or military grade. It was a combination of armored plates and what appeared to be armored cloth covering the midriff, and joints. A faded yellow cape like cloak with blue outlines wrapped around its neck and descended down its back, reaching to its knees. The cloak also had a hood, which was pulled up over the fully armored head. The helmet seemed to have a breath mask attached to it, and had no distinct visor, at least not one Shepard could see through.
The weapon it held seemed more human, but was still far different than anything she'd seen before. Looked like rifle of some sort, with its scope and long barrel. Another weapon, most likely a sniper rifle, was slung across its back, and a knife sheathe was attached both to the bottom left of its breast plate as well as its right thigh. Strange indeed. It then lowered its weapon, and appeared to look her over. If she wasn't mistaken, it seemed almost as confused as she was. But she kept her arms up. No point in angering it.
"What the hell is someone like you doing out here?"
Shepard blinked, caught off guard. Did it just speak to her? In English? The thing's head was tilted sideways, waiting. Shepard licked her lips, lowering her arms. She had to be certain.
"Beg Pardon?"
The thing looked over her again as it placed a hand on its hip.
"I said, what the hell is someone like you doing out here? I mean, I've heard of non-guardians exploring the wastes before, but they usually have a weapon with them at the very least, if not an escort."
Ok, it was definitely speaking English, fluently, and it thought she was normal, so this thing was either an armored human, or something that had worked with humans in the past. Maybe it was one of those guardians it spoke of.
She cleared her throat, ignoring the burning that had returned to her sore legs.
"I…I don't know what you're talking about. I'm not sure how I got here. I don't remember anything. I just, woke up out there." She paused. What if this was the one who brought her here.
The figure sighed. "Don't remember anything huh? Well that's just brilliant."
"Maybe she fell and hit her head."
The second voice came from a small robotic drone which suddenly appeared from behind the figure, surprising Shepard. It had a green body that seemed to be made of eight pieces of pointed green metal stuck around a yellow eye. Yellow butterfly wings were painted on the pieces that flanked the eye, almost giving it the appearance of a children's toy.
The figure turned its head to face the drone, then nodded. "That's true. A good knock on the head would make anyone forget things. Think she's a guardian then?"
The drone flew towards Shepard, getting right in her face, its eye narrowing. She didn't flinch or move, but simply raised an eyebrow at the drone hovering inches from her face. It then circled her, almost as if it was scanning her. This was all too confusing.
"I don't think so. I mean, I'm not seeing any light in her. But there's no darkness either. It's almost as if she has light, but it's locked away inside her."
"Way to be cryptic Buggy. You've been talking with Eris again haven't you?"
The drone, which was apparently named Buggy, turned and faced the figure, almost as if it was annoyed. Was this thing an AI?
"I have not. You know she freaks me out." The figure waved her hand at the drone.
"Oh please. I've seen you. You always want to try and talk to that orb of hers." Buggy flew towards the figure and got right in its face, its eye narrowed.
"Well Amber, at least I don't flirt with the Vanguard to earn reputation points."
The figure, now known as Amber, placed a hand on her chest and gasped, taking a step back as if she (Shepard was guessing it was a she based on her voice and the conversation at hand) had been offended.
"Well. See if I ever spend my glimmer on your calibration sessions again."
The drone Buggy lept backwards, eye wide and plates spinning, as if offended. Why were these two fighting? This was just too much for Shepard's hurting and confused head.
The drone moved closer again, eye narrowed. "How dare yo…"
She couldn't take it anymore. "Excuse me."
The drone and figure turned and faced her, their close proximity making the scene slightly humorous.
"Yeah, sorry to interrupt but, I have a few questions here." She began pointing from the drone to the figure. "Who are you, what is that, were the hell am I, what the hell happened and can someone place tell me what the hell is going on." She placed a hand on her head, steading herself, sudden nausea and weakness washing over her. She sat down, groaning.
Ambers kneeled down next to her, placing hand on her shoulder. "Whoa, easy there. Guess you're more injured then I thought." She glanced at the drone.
"Buggy. Keep watch. I need to explain some things to her."
The drone nodded, then flew out of the room. Shepard placed a hand on Amber's, removing it from her shoulder.
"I'm alright. I just want some answers." She glanced at Amber, who nodded before sitting down.
"Well. For starters, my name is Amber Frostwing. I am a human hunter, and a member of Saber Squad. That little robot back there." She gestured to where the drone had flown off too. "That's Buggy. My ghost. She can be annoying at times, but she helps tremendously, so I can't complain. You are currently on earth, Old Russia to be precise, in a place called the Casadrome, a grave yard of space ports and highways buried in rust and snow. As for what happened." She awkwardly shrugged. "I'm not the best person to ask that." She then chuckled. "And what was going on? Buggy and I were having a spat, quite normal for us actually. I apologize that you had to hear all that."
Shepard blinked, taking in all the information, none of which made complete sense. She raked her brain, trying again to remember what happened to her and how she could have wound up here. But, once again, she failed to remember. She glanced at her hands, and a thought came to her.
She glanced back up at Amber. "What year is it?"
The… hunter, as she had called herself, seemed caught off guard by the question. She remained still for several second, before she shrugged.
"That is also an excellent question. Once again, I am not the one to ask such a thing as that. That's more of a warlock question. They're the ones that spend hours with their noses buried in dusty books." She seemed to have some resentment in her tone.
Shepard rose a brow. How can they not know what year it was? However, before she could ask, a sonic boom erupted through the air, shaking the building they were in, causing Amber to jump to her feet. The drone then suddenly spoke in a much more serious voice.
"Fallen Skiff inbound."
Amber nodded, pulling out her rifle as the ghost vanished in a flash of light.
Confused, Shepard stood up, glancing at Amber. "What's happening?"
Amber glanced at her. "Fallen. Ill tempered, scavenging aliens that would like nothing more than to see every human dead."
Shepard nodded. So, there was an enemy here.
Amber turned to the doorway. "Stay here. I'll return once I've dealt with them."
Shepard clenched her fist, and began pushing the pain from her mind. She was Commander Shepard, she wasn't going to simple sit and wait. If there was a fight, she was going to help.
"I want to help. I've had experience fighting before."
Amber glanced back at her, and Shepard gave her a hard stare. She wouldn't take no as an answer.
"You sure? You seem injured to me."
Shepard nodded. "I've fought through worse. Show me who to fight, and I'll help." Hopefully this human wasn't lying about the Fallen being the enemy, she wasn't keen on killing innocents.
Amber shrugged before extending a hand, a second rifle appearing in it. "I assume you know how to shoot then, right?"
Shepard took the rifle in her hands, then aimed it. Felt and weighed like she'd expected. She lowered it, glancing at Amber. "Of course."
Chuckling, Amber held out a small black box to Shepard. "Well then, I guess you know all about tapping this to get more ammo then." She then tossed it, forcing Shepard to catch it.
She looked at the small box, confused on how something so small could hold ammo.
"Wait what do you mean I tap this to get ammo?"
However, when she looked back up, Amber had ran out of the building, forcing Shepard to painfully try and catch up, her question unanswered. Clipping the box to her belt, Shepard ran outside, and looked around. Amber was crouched behind a rock, watching as several aliens Shepard had never seen before were moving amongst the rocks and wreckage below, all armed to the teeth and quite savage looking. They even had small dog like creatures with them, which snarled and clawed at the ground, rummaging through the wreckage as if they were searching for something.
Quickly crouching down next to Amber to avoid being seen, Shepard moved in close so she could whisper. "Are those the Fallen?"
Amber glanced at her before nodding. "Yeah. The small ones with two arms are called dregs. Nasty boogers who like to hide behind rocks, blasting at you with poor aim till they can get close enough to slit your throat. More annoying than anything else, but still be careful."
She pointed to the dregs. There were about 5 of them, scrambling over the debris, hissing and shoving each other as they dug into the cars, yanking out pieces of machinery.
"The bigger ones with four arms are Vandals. They're really annoying. They either stay at range, shooting you with tracking shots, stay at really far range, sniping you with their wire rifles, or they sprint at you while invisible, ready to cut your head off with their twin swords. Keep them visible at all times, and they won't be too terrible to deal with."
Shepard glanced over the rock, spotting about three Vandals, one with an assault rifle like weapon in its hands and two that seemed to be holding snipers of some kind. They seemed to be acting as guards, heads scanning the area for threats.
"The even bigger one is a Captain, and they're usually the leader. They either carry a shrapnel launcher or twin swords, both relatively short range, but don't underestimate them. They have shields and can teleport to avoid damage. I recommend you leave him to me."
She pointed to the largest of the aliens, who stood near the rear, his large helmet and cape definitely giving him a commanding arura. He held a gun that looked like some sort of shotgun, but Shepard could make out twin swords fastened to his belt.
"Finally, the little dog things are Shivs, nasty blood hound like beasts with sharp eyes, fangs and claws. They hunt you down wherever you're hiding and then ambush you. Not too terrible to kill though, just avoid their quills and fangs and you'll be fine." She gestured to the 3 dog like aliens.
They each had six eyes, three on each side of their fanged jaws, and their clawed limbs rummaged through the debris. Each one had a leash attached to its neck, which were held by the dregs, keeping them from running to far from their masters.
Suddenly, one of Shivs froze, and began sniffing the air. It turned, its six eyes locking on Shepard and Amber, who were both peaking over the edge. It then let out a baying snarl, signaling the Fallen. Amber grabbed Shepard's shoulder, pulling her back behind the rock just as a wire rifle shot zipped by right were her head used to be.
Locking eyes with Shepard, she challenged her. "Try to keep up, and please don't die."
Amber then dove to the side behind another rock before rising to a knee, gun extended. Shepard made face of mock offense before chuckling and rising up as well, gun raised. At the same time, both fired.
Shepard watched with surprise and interest as Amber's round slammed into a Dreg's head, causing it to implode into a geyser of some white gaseous substance that erupted from its torso. She then lined up her own shot and fired. However, the gun's kick was unexpectedly hard on her, resulting in her shot striking the shoulder of a Dreg instead of its head. It screeched in pain, stumbling back from the impact before it dove behind cover, the other Fallen doing the same. The only one who didn't move was the Captain, who rose a fist into the air, snarling in defiance before firing off his weapon. Shepard ducked as motel shards of metal whizzed by her head, surprising her.
"Thought that thing was a short-range shotgun. Guess I was wrong."
Sitting back up, she opened fired again upon the Fallen again, firing at a slower rate so she wouldn't destroy her shoulder. Her shots peppered any dreg or Vandal that stayed out of cover for too long. However, she had to take cover as she felt a bolt strike her abdomen. Despite the armor, the shot still burned some, her lack of shields becoming prevalent. She steadied her breathing, focusing.
"Come on Shepard. Just like popping Geth back home."
She stood back up, aimed, then fired, taking the head off a Dreg, the gas erupting upwards. She smirked, then fired at a Vandal, resulting in it stumbling as she struck its shoulder. She then fired again, the bullet burying itself into the alien's neck. It dropped its rifle, gripping its throat with its two upper hands as purple blood ran out from between its fingers, a faint white gas emitting from it. With a gurgling cry, it dropped to its knees, then on its back, dead. Shepard turned again and fired, causing two dregs to dive for cover and the Captains shields to break. However, as she fired the killing shot, he vanished in a flash of light, small trails showing that he teleported behind a rock before the shot connected. Surprised, Shepard paused for only a second before she turned and fired at a Vandal that was trying to get into a sniping position. However, when she pulled the trigger, she only heard a click.
She glanced down at her gun, then swore silently when she saw her ammo counter on 0. She glanced back up, her eyes widening when she saw the Vandal's gun, pointed straight at her, beginning to rapidly glow blue. She ducked just in time to dodge a bolt which flew right through the point her head was moments before. She glanced down at the box on her hip. How in the world could ammo be in that?
With a shrug, she tapped the side of the box. Instantly, a fresh ammo clip materialized, and since she wasn't ready for it, it clattered to the ground unceremoniously. Shepard crouched down quickly, swearing to herself as she scrambled to grab the clip.
Finally, she got it. Yanking out the old clip, she tossed it aside as she slapped the new one home. However, as she was pulling back on the pin, she was knocked to the ground by something smashing into her back. She fell over, pain from her sore muscles shooting up her back.
She grunted, and rolled over just in time for her arm to block the claws of a Shiv which had lept onto her, now straddling her chest. It snarled at her, its eyes gleaming as it lunged forward. Shepard shot up an arm, gagging the beast with the armored surface. It snarled again, gnawing on the metal as salvia poured from its mouth. She lifted her second hand to support the first, keeping the creatures mouth and claws away from her unarmored head. However, she could feel the metal on her arm bending, pinching her flesh as the beast gnawed on her.
"I really wish I had my omni-tool right now", she said through gritted teeth.
Finally, she got a foot under the thing's belly and kicked it off, sending the Shiv flying some distance before it smashed into a rock with a thud. She stood up as quickly as she could, but had only just risen when the Shiv lept at her again. This time she caught it, one hand grabbing a flailing limb while the other grabbed its throat, keeping it back. She took a step back, her muscles screaming as she struggled to stay standing. Its arm slipped from her grip, and a claw slashed her cheek, but she ignored it, yelling at it as she reached behind it and snapped off one of its sharp quills. It howled in pain before she drove the quill into its mouth, shutting up its cry as it was replaced by a pained gurgle. Slowly, it stopped flailing and went limp, blood running over Shepard's hand as she threw the body away.
She dropped back to the ground, out of breath and coughing. Punching the ground, she scolded herself.
"Come on! Your better than this! Your Commander Shepard! Get up and fight!"
She grabbed her rifle, which lay a few feet from her, and stood back up. She was greeted with a Dreg, squatting on the rock in front of her, knife in hand as it snarled at her. This time, she shot at it before it could leap on her. However, the shot only grazed its arm as it lept forward, knocking her back to the ground. Luckily, Shepard held onto her rifle, and used it to block the dregs dagger as it sat on top of her, trying to run her through. Drawing forth energy she hadn't had since she'd arrived, she let out a roar, then shoved her rifle back, bashing the Dreg in the face with it, knocking it off of her. It scrambled back, screeching in pain before it shook its head and lept at her again, snarling. Shepard sat up, raised her rifle, and with a roar of fury, fired.
Amber pulled her knife out of the Captain's neck, resulting in him going ridged, his shrapnel launched falling from his hands before he dropped to the ground, dead. She scanned her work. Not too shabby. Then, she remembered her companion.
"Oh crap!"
She turned and ran back up to the rock where she had left her, praying to the traveler that she was alright. She had just started to like that spunky woman. She rounded the rock just in time to see her companion lying on the ground, breathing heavy as she shoved the headless body of a Dreg off of herself, ether and blood covering her face and chest. She glanced up at Amber, and their eyes met. For a moment, neither moved. Then, simultaneously, they both burst into laughter.
The laughed for a good ten seconds. Why? Traveler knows why, but they did laugh, and they laughed good. Finally, after she had slowed down, she stepped towards the still chuckling redhead, extending a hand.
"I'm glad to see that you survived." The woman smiled, accepting her hand. "Never seen a civi fight quite like that before."
The woman laughed again. "I told you, I'm no civilian. I've been a soldier my entire legal life."
Amber placed a hand on her hip. "Is that so. Well I'll be sure to remember it."
She turned, glancing back over her shoulder. "By the way, you have a little bit of ether on you."
The woman stared back with a confused face before raising a hand and touching the fluid that covered her face. She examined her hand, then grimaced slightly before wiping the rest of it off. She clearly hadn't dealt with ether mixed blood before, which was slimier than normal blood.
Hearing footsteps, Amber glanced back around her shoulder to see the woman standing behind her, scout rifle in hand. "So, what now?"
Amber turned, thinking for a minute before she answered. "Well, I guess since you're a more fragile cargo then what I'm used to guarding." The woman gave her an evil glare for one. "I guess I'll take you back to the City, see what the Vanguard have to say about you."
The woman rose a brow. "What's the Vanguard?"
"My superiors. They handle all guardian affairs. I'm sure they'll think of something to do with you in no time. With luck, you might even get to stick with me."
Despite her cheery tone, the woman rolled her eyes at the comment. "Joy."
Amber huffed. "Well, if you're going to insult me, will you at least tell me your name?"
The woman glanced at her before straightening into a military like stance, extending a hand for a shake.
"Commander Jane Shepard. But most people just call me Shepard."
Amber smiles, then shook her hand.
"Well Shepard, it is an honor to meet you." She released her hand, then turned, opening a hand so Buggy could appear above it. She glanced back at Shepard.
"Ever transmatted before?" Shepard gave her a blank stare, answering the question. Amber smirked again.
"Well then you're in for a surprise." The redhead rose a brow before looking up, Amber's Phaeton Class v2 yellow and red ship appeared overhead. As the tingling of the transmate began, Amber glanced back, catching the look of shock and confusion on Shepard's face as she vanished in a flash of light. Seconds later, they were both on board, Amber in the pilot's seat, and Shepard in the passenger seat behind her. Grabbing the control sticks, Amber pushed them forward with a smirk.
"Off to the City."
Divrek, a Fallen Captain of the House of Devils, walked into the small room, passing the two Thugs who guarded the entrance. Thugs were ex Captains, who had shamed themselves and were punished in a similar manner to Dregs. However, they were treated better then Dregs, but only slightly. They still got the same amount of ether as a Captain, resulting in them having a towering physic. However, unlike Captains, they were denied shielding tech, along with the honor have having their lower arms. They wore basically the same armor as a Dreg, but with a few differences. They had shoulder pads that resembled a Captain's, and their helmets looked like that of a Captain's, save the two large fins on the side. They also had a piece of cloth running down their right shoulder, acting as a sort of, half cape. Two shock swords were fastened to their belts, and a shrapnel launcher was slung over their backs. Their arms were crossed, and they refused to look Divrek in the eyes, most likely out of shame. He could care less honestly. His focus was what was in the room.
The room was full of boxes and crates, a storage room, but this didn't concern the Captain. He was concerned with what was happening on and around the table in the middle of the room. The room was full of Bio-techs, Fallen medics who were feverishly training to identify the figure that lay on the table in the middle of the room
Exactly what, the Devils didn't know. It resembled a human female, except that it had blue flesh, and instead of fur, it had short, stiff, backwards facing tentacles on its head. Its body was covered in form fitting white and blue body armor, leaving only its head exposed.
They had found it in the waste, unconscious and unarmed. Shortly after that, they brought it here and attempted to communicate with their Kell so they could know what to do. That had been 4 hours ago, and still no reply. Despite the their attempts, the bio-techs had been unable to identify the creature, or successfully get any information from it.
"Found anything?" Divrek's voice came out harsh and clipped. Ever since a wretched She'lot had damaged his throat, he'd preferred to keep his speech short and direct.
The head bio-tech, a High Vandel sporting a silver cuff on their upper arm, turned to face him.
"Nothing definitive Captain. We've deduced that this is no human. Nor is it one of the Mystics from the stars. It's morphology closely resembles the soft skins however, so it's possible it's another sub-breed."
"Does it have Light?"
The vandal pauses, glancing down at the creature.
"I detect no marks of this thing being a Wraith Thief or Blood Brute. But it's difficult to know for sure."
Divrek nodded in satisfaction at that. The fewer She'lots that existed, the better.
"Continue study. Contacting Kell underway. Will inform when ready."
The vandals nodded, then continued with their work. Despite the reassurance that this thing wasn't a Wraith or Brute, Divrek couldn't shake this uneasy feeling. The arrival of this creature had meaning. It had been chosen. By what and for what purpose, he couldn't say, but he doubted it was mere accident. Change lay on the horizon for them all, and he wasn't sure if the Fallen would be able to meet it.
Author's Note: The changes are more noticeable now. As I said, my effort here is to simplify the story to hopefully make it more easily digestible and enjoyable. Kill your darlings, as they say.
At any rate!! I wish you readers an awesome day. Please comment and review. I hope you enjoyed it. ZOMAN out!