Shepard Stories II - Chapter 21: Blood Moon

Main Characters: Shepard

Armali, Thessia - Summer of 2215CE

Annabelle was the eldest daughter of Shepard and Liara. She was currently on Blood Mountain enjoying her yearly outdoor adventure with her father and other family members.

Anna looked up at the starlight sky as she listened to the wildlife all around her and breathed in the cool fresh air. "Dad, I love it out here in the wilderness." Said Anna

Shepard nodded as he replied "I know. It's always so peaceful. It's nice to get away from the world and technology. To get out and learn the ways of survival. Besides, I love spending it with my two favorite girls."

Benezia, one of his younger girls laughed, "Yea, don't let Gwyn or Ry hear you say that dad."

He smiled as he gave a quick shrug then said. "Eh everyone knows those are mommas' girls." He looked over at Milizkia who was his brother's asari daughter "What about you Mil? You doing, ok?"

Milizkia nodded as she replied "Oh, yes, sir. This is nice. I'm enjoying it. It's weird though with all the silence..." then she laughed "...and the strange noises. This is all a new experience but yea, I'm lovin it."

Shepard nodded as he said "Good." Then looked at his commando Kirre "What about you Kay? Are you ok with these trips? I know it's part of the job, but I always hate forcing you all to do something you don't want to do."

Kirre looked at him with a confused face, "Sir? you and Lady Liara care for all of us. Most of us enjoy everything you both do. The fact that you both give us the freedom to be part of your family is plenty. No other family would have even asked us how we feel. So, thank you and yes being out here is lovely."

Shepard smiled as he nodded.

Anna looked up and pointed to the moon. "Hey Dad, take a look, there's just a smidge left until it's a full moon."

Kirre also known as LT nodded as she said, "Tonight is supposed to be the year of the blood moon. It comes out every ten thousand years."

Shepard pinched his eyebrows "Any significance to that? I've seen orange ones before on earth, but they were just another full moon, and the color was caused by the atmosphere. They certainly didn't happen every ten thousand years."

Kirre leaned into the group as she began to tell her story "We've always heard stories—"

Alex interrupted her as he eerily said "Oooo like werewolves?" then laughed.

"Something like that. Not werewolves but certainly dangerous animals on Blood Mountain. Which we're on by the way." Said Kirre

"Ooo LT are you going to tell a scary story?" said Benezia as she wiggled her fingers and made a face.

LT slowly looked around then began her story and used her hands to emphasize the dramatics of her story telling "Well, the story goes that the animals with biotics on blood mountain are affected by the blood moon. Their biotics become specially charged by the blood of the moon. Once the moon is complete, it lasts three days and three nights. Within these days the animal's glow with the power of blood moon. The reason for this is because the king of the mountain awakens for those three days to feast among the animals. Once the moon is whole, no one shall leave, and no one shall enter until the feast is complete."

"Who's the king of the mountain? Why can't anyone leave or enter?" asked Mili

Kirre turned to Milizkia and said "They say that the mountain forbids The Great Onikuma to leave; therefore, he cannot pass the boundary at the edge of the mountain. That goes for entering as well."

"What is it? Has anyone ever seen this Onikuma?" asked Benezia.

LT looked over at Benezia then said "They say that the Great Onikuma is a like a massive bear as the humans would call it. But we call them Ru'rak. So, imagine a bear, but with stone-like armor on its back, with two crystal spikes near its shoulders and a long thick tail with a spiked mace on the end. He has fur on his chest and under the belly. The face has a solid white shield covering it almost like an armored ballistic face mask. The mask flares out from its face to jagged spikes and wraps around the front part of its head and forms two large, curved horns at the top of the head."

"How do you know what they look like?" asked Mili

"Well, like I said we have the Ru'rak or bears here, and they do look like what I described but without the spikes and no face mask. About the same size as human bears but the Onikuma is twice as big they say, and with the spikes and the mask that's how you know it's the King."

Shepard nodded "She isn't lying there. I've seen the Ru'rak on Blood Mountain. They normally stay near the peak or the opposite side and never venture this far down on this side. The same goes for the lion type Tingra and the larger wolf like Jaikun.

"Wait, we've dealt with cats and wolves before Dad" mentioned Anna.

Shepard shook his head "Not the big ones, Bella. That's why we never go to the top of the peak or the other side of this mountain. I'm not sure why they don't venture on this side. Let's just say all the big biggins stay up there and on the other side, but the smaller ones stay down here and on this side. Those are the ones we can handle. We leave them alone, and they leave us alone."

Everyone jumped when they heard a loud horrendous roar and a deafening rumble.

"Holy Hell Dad, what was that?" asked Mili

LT looked up at the moon "The blood moon is complete. It must be midnight."

Benezia looked at her with wide eyes "I thought this was just a story!"

Alex laughed "It is Bene—"

Anna pointed to the peak of the mountain "Then what the fuck is that?"

Shepard snapped, "Anna your mouth—" His head tilted as he looked over at the peak of the mountain and saw a large glow quickly making its way down. "Holy shit!"

Anna looked down at her hands as her eyes followed the streaks up her arms "Dad…. What the hell is happening?" she said frantically as her body lit up in a blaze. Her biotics didn't blaze around her in an aura, but instead, it was almost as if her skin split in streaks throughout her body and her biotics showed through.

Shepard looked at her then touched her arm as he said with concern "Does it hurt?"

"No, but you all have the same." Said Anna as she watched everyone look at their arms then each other. "Umm LT I don't think this is a story…" She said as she began to take several pictures.

Benezia quickly covered her auxiliary cavities when she heard a harrowing sound. "Oh, my gawd Dad, what is that noise?"

Shepard scrunched his face as he said "Sounds like an animal dying very badly, sweetie" He looked at his brother as he dug in his pocket and pulled out his cloaked dome. "Alright everyone let's huddle up under this dome. We should be good until the morning." He leaned into his brother as he whispered, "How long do you think these last?"

Alex scratched the back of his neck as he replied "I don't know, but I brought mine as well. I'm assuming if it's like my cloak, three to four hours max. We'll take turns sleeping, at the three-hour mark I'll replace yours with mine."

Shepard tapped at the tiny module in his hand then tossed it on the ground. The moment it touched the ground a protective bubble formed around them then cloaked them. "We'll be fine under this. We're safe, so get some sleep."

"Dad, there's no way we can sleep through this noise—" Benezia said. Her eyes widened as she felt the ground shake then nervously said "What— is that?"

Shepard looked at his brother "Is that—"

Alex shook his head as he quickly replied, "I don't know—stampede maybe."

Kirre closed her eyes then said, "If the story is true, then that was the sealing of the mountain, and the light has hit the bottom. There is no leaving until the end of the blood moon."

Just as the shaking began it suddenly ceased, and they heard several animals howling and calling out into the night.

"Everyone, omni tools on. I don't know what the hell is going on, but let's get out of here." Shepard quickly released his mental block to his wife. (Liara?) When she didn't respond through their telepathy, he turned his chat frequency to his wife "Liara!" When she didn't respond he looked down at his omni no and it read no signal. His eyebrows pinched as he said "What the hell? No signal? How can that be?"

—/

Liara and the girls were standing on the back patio looking at the Blood Moon when several of their omni tools went off with nothing but static. Liara felt the block release from her mind and felt a flood of emotions faintly drifting through then barely heard her name (Liara…) The noise in her mind was staticky and distant, just as her omni tool was. She looked at Miranda, "Something is wrong. Shepard released the block early. He never does that." She concentrated for a moment then sent a telepathy response to her bondmate (Jon?)

They all turned and looked at Gwyn when they heard Benezia's communication come through garbled. She quickly hit the button on her omni tool as she stuttered "Na na Nezzie? I…I ca…ca…can barely hear you. Sa…sa…say again?"

Liara's heart began to race. She pointed to her daughter, and she quickly said "Gwyn, can you clear that up?" She turned to Shandri and snapped, "I thought Blood Moon was just a story?" then frantically tried to reply to her bondmate again (Jon, answer me!)

Gwyn tapped at her omni tool, "I'm ta…ta…trying mom."

Shandri quickly shrugged as she looked at Liara and said, "It is! I think…"

"Then what the hell is happening?" snapped Liara.

Benezia's garbled communication came through again and they could hear the nervousness in her voice even through the static. After a short pause they heard a frantic garbled communication come through.

Gwyn's eyes began to tear up after hearing the distress in her sister's voice and her voice cracked when she frantically replied "Na na Nezzie!"

Liara and Miranda ran inside then toward her husband's office to the armory "Shay I want a shuttle in the air looking for them now and another on standby for us!" She looked back "Gwyndolyn get your butt over here! The rest of you stay here." Liara pointed to one of her commando's named Teyr. "Stay here with them."

—/

Benezia hit her omni tool, "Gwyn, we need a pickup." She released the button and waited for a response but heard nothing but static. She looked at everyone else, and they all received the same.

Shepard looked at his daughter Benezia and said, "Nez keep trying Gwyn. If anyone is going to have a modified omni tool, it's going to be her. She's always fine-tuning it."

Shepard felt his brother nudge him. He turned to him and said, "What?" Alex pointed up.

Shepard looked up at the sky and saw a green light blanketing the mountain. He closed his eyes, "Fuck! Even if they could come get us, it's not going to let them in. Is it?"

Alex shook his head as he lowered it then said "I don't think so. I bet that's what's disrupting our signals too because we should clearly reach them. Hell, this signal reaches beyond the atmosphere."

LT sighed "If this is the case, Sir, then I think we should stay in the middle of the mountain and not at the bottom. I believe most of the animals are going to want to head down and off the mountain, but we don't want to get trapped down there."

Shepard nodded "True. If I was the Onikuma, I would head directly to the bottom for easy pickings." His head darted over when he heard his daughter frantically yell "Oh my gawd dad! What the hell is that?"

LT looked at her then quickly looked over at the animal and said, "A Jaikun!"

They all stared at a very large wolf-like creature standing outside their dome. From the top of his head down his back, he had a mane of green spikes with larger ones at the hump of his back. His eyes were glowing yellow, his fangs were massive, and he was salivating. He let out a ferocious howl and in the midst of it, his head turned as it spotted a varren family out of the corner of its eye. There were two large varren and several little pups hitting it with biotics.

Shepard hugged his youngest as he tried to comfort her "Nez get it together. Breathe. We're all going to have to stay calm out here."

Benezia held on to her dad as her lip quivered then said "Sorry Dad… it's going to shred all of those varren isn't it?"

Shepard sighed, "Probably Nez."

Shepard and the others turned their heads when they heard rustling behind them and whining. Anna bent down to look, "Dad, it's just two injured pups." She looked back at her dad as she said, "Dad, you can't let that thing eat these little pups."

Shepard looked at her "What do you want me to do Anna? That's just the way of the wild. There's going to be several injured or dead animals in the next few days. We can't save them all."

She looked down and away "No, but these are just babies. Scared injured babies."

He sighed, "Ugh fine. Everyone, back up. If they're injured and scared, they may lash out." He touched the bottom of the wall and said, "Exiting Jonathan Shepard." He looked at the two shaking varren pups and gently said, "Hey…" The light colored varren quickly flared its spikes and shot a biotic pulse at him. He swiftly dodged it then carefully reached for them as he calmly said, "It's ok I'm not going to hurt you."

Benezia looked to the left beyond the dome then back at her dad, "Dad, that thing is coming this way!"

He quickly replied, "Ok, ok, I'm trying to get them." He looked at the pups and said "Come on. It's safe. I won't hurt you." The brave animal smelled him then licked his finger. He smiled then said "See, I won't hurt you."

The little varren grabbed ahold of the injured one and pulled it toward Shepard. He scooped them both up and pulled them in. He looked at his eldest "Ok, Anna give me a light here." Shepard pulled out a med kit and some medi-gel. He took a look at the pup's injuries "Well, these injuries definitely didn't come from that Jaikun. One swipe from that and these would have been dead. Some sort of smaller animal got to these guys with much smaller claws." He looked at the injured one, splashed a little water on the cuts and dabbed it away then placed bits of medi-gel on it. "There you go, little guy, that should feel better soon."

Shepard turned to the light colored brave little varren and said "What about you little one? You injured?" He carefully looked him over, "Well, it looks like you have a little cut here." He splashed water on him then tried to dab it away, but the varren moved "I know it hurts but just let me…" the varren kept moving away. "Well, you're just stubborn, aren't you?" It made a noise at him "If you don't let me put this medicine on it, then it's just going to keep bleeding. So, hold still."

Benezia looked at the difficult one then said, "Dad, that's not a boy."

Shepard laughed, "I see." He looked at the small pup "I'll be super gentle I promise. I'll even give you something to eat." He motioned at Benezia, "Nez give the other one some of that jerky and hand me a small piece for her."

Shepard held out a small piece of jerky for her. He waited there until she finally took it. While she ate, he fixed up her wound. He looked at her, then said, "Stubborn little one isn't she."

LT smiled at him, "Smart one, actually. Cautious as to what you were doing."

Shepard looked over toward the young girls eyeballing the little varren pups "Ladies; I would suggest keeping your gloves on when handling them. We don't know what kind of parasites they may have, ok?"

They turned and said, "Yes, sir."

He noticed that the female wanted nothing to do with them, but the male was loving their gentle attention. Shepard was actually grateful the little pups came along because now the girls' minds were currently on a small pup and not so much the madness going on outside.

Benezia turned toward her dad, "What's wrong with her?"

He smiled, "Nothing I don't think. She's just scared. Just leave her be. You all need to get some sleep." He looked at his younger daughter Benezia then said, "Nez, you still haven't heard anything from Gwyn, have you?"

She frowned, "No, just static."

He sighed, "Ok, let's just shut them down until the morning so we can get some sleep."

Shepard stayed watch as the others slept. He glanced over at the male pup who was fast asleep next to his eldest. Then he looked over at the female who was trying to stay awake. He smirked then patted the ground next to him. "Come here." She looked at him with tired eyes then walked over. She curled into a ball as she laid down next to him. She let out a deep breath as he pet her head then he saw her drift off to sleep. He smiled then softly said "It's ok. I'll keep watch for you."

—/

"Lady Liara this is Tango Sierra Echo two come in. Can you hear us?" Said one of her commandos.

"Yes, loud and clear. What do you have?" responded Liara?

"We're just checking radio frequency since you were having issues, ma'am. We're about ten minutes out. There is one thing, though. It looks like there's some sort of green film or barrier covering the mountain. It's strange." replied the commando.

Liara pinched her eyebrow markings as she looked at Miranda. "Maybe that's what's causing the interference?

Miranda shrugged as she replied "Yea, could be."

Liara tried her bondmate again (Jon? Answer me, baby) When he didn't answer she turned to Miranda and said "I don't like this."

"Me either Liara. Me either…"replied Miranda

Liara turned toward her daughter, "Gwyn, Anything?"

She shook her head, "No, just static."

"Keep trying." She said then took a breath, "Shay tell me more about this story…"

Shay tapped at her omni tool and read from a site.

"No one shall enter, and no one shall flee when the blood moon is in the sky for all to see. If you are not here when the blood moon appears; then you may gaze from afar but not near because a mist appears. The great beast shall have his feast until the dust of day three; then he will return to his dormancy. Upon the end of the dawn of day four is when the closed door is no more."

"Lady Liara?" Said her commando from Tango Sierra Echo two.

"Yes? Go ahead?" Said Liara

"We can't touch down within the mountain. This green barrier isn't allowing us. We're going to touch down at the nearest location."

"Copy that" She replied then took a deep breath as she ran her hands down her face "They're in there for three days? Oh, goddess." She said as she began to cry, "If I lose him and my children. I don't know what I'll do."

Miranda wrapped her arms around her and rubbed her back "It's going to be alright; Alex and Kay are in there with them…." She closed her eyes as she grunted then said, "Mili is in there as well. Bloody hell if anything happens to her."

Liara leaned her forehead on her shoulder, "Ugh Goddess, Aria will kill us all."

"Ummm Mom… All the signals just turned off." said Gwyn.

Liara eyes widened as she replied "What!" then quickly tapped at her omni tool "Jon?" She received nothing, no static, just a dead signal. Her eyes darted from side to side as she looked out the window, then her heart began to race.

Miranda quickly tapped at her omni tool as well "Alex?" She received the same. She took a deep breath then said "Ok, if all the signals are dead then he must have had them turn them off for a reason. Maybe they're just trying to sleep."

Liara nodded then said, "I hope you're right."

-/

Liara and her team touched down, and the door lifted. As she walked down the ramp, she looked at the darkened green dome surrounding the mountain. She walked up to the dome then placed her hand on it as she said. (Jon?) When she tried to look through the dome, she saw nothing but a white mist. "Well, that clears up that part of the story. When we were in the air, we could see down into the mountain from afar, but now that we're close, we see nothing." She looked down at her omni tool. It showed a full signal. She tapped at her omni tool to send him a message.

Message to My Lovey: Babe?

She groaned when it failed to send, "Miri; this is going to be a very long three days. Knowing something is wrong, and I can't do anything about it or get a hold of him. We can see nothing from the ground, not even at a distance because the barrier is too dark, then when we get closer, there's a mist. The only way to see in is near the top from afar."

"I know exactly how you feel, it's all very strange." Said Miranda

"Lady Liara, this is Bravo Mike one… There's some crazy stuff happening down there. Lots of lights. Looks like a damn light show."

"What do you mean?" Said Liara

"You'll have to get back up here and look." Replied the pilot in Bravo Mike one.

Liara and her team got back on the shuttle and headed back up into the air. "What the Bloody hell is going on down there? They're everywhere." said Miranda then tapped the pilot, "Do we have night vision eyes in here?"

"Yes! There's a scope in the small armory over there." Replied the pilot.

Liara pointed to Gwyn "Gwynne stay buckled in." Liara and Miranda safety clip themselves to the side rail then open the door latch. Miranda leaned out and looked through the scope then zoomed in. "Well, the rules apparently don't apply to scopes because I can see down there. It's like all the animals have a glow of some sort." She leaned back in and handed the scope to Liara.

Liara leaned out and took a look then leaned back in. "What the hell?... Take us down." As soon as they landed, she walked over to Shay, "Shay what's our best sniper scope that we have?"

Shay thought for a moment then replied "I believe the strongest we have are 5x-25x scopes. Why?"

"There's nothing we can do tonight. So, let's head on back home. I want to rise early tomorrow and come back here with camp. I want every sniper rifle we have and the best scopes. If we don't have the best, then I want someone at the closest shop that has the best tomorrow. I want every round possible for whatever sniper rifle we have tomorrow as well. I want to see if those rounds can pierce through whatever that barrier is. If I can't go in there and get them then we sure as hell are going to provide them all the coverage, we can give to them if we can. If I can do something to help them, then that's what I'm going to do. I also want some strong binoculars, night vision; I want all their gear loaded and boxed. I want gear that would fit my girls and Mili in that box as well. If we can make a drop down in there, then that's what I want to do." She turned to Shay, "Shay, where did we drop them? Mark that on the map. That's the area of the mountain we want to start the search for tomorrow."

"Copy that ma'am. I have it marked already. They've been up there for three days already. So, I have a basic idea of where they may be."

"Good. Let's get back and get some rest. Morning will be here soon."

—/

It's early into the morning, and Shepard is sending non-sendable messages to his wife. Mostly because he's tired and trying to stay awake until his shift ends.

(Liara?)

Message to Liara: I don't know if you're aware, but I have a feeling you do. I don't know how I know, but I know you're already working on something.

Message to Liara: I don't know what's happening, but the biotics on here are all overly flared. I've never seen anything like it. We have all been affected. It's almost like it's "ripped" through our skin. We have streaks of them throughout our bodies. I don't know what it means. All the animals that we've seen are the same way. I don't know if it's just a night thing. I guess I'll find out in the morning. I don't know if it's a sign of being marked for a hunt. I just don't know.

Message to Liara: Crazy madness going on in here. We saw a Jaikun tonight. It tore apart a varren family next to us and several other animals. Through the madness, our eldest opened her heart and had the need to help two innocents that were hiding near our dome. It was heartfelt, and you'd be proud of her.

Message to Liara: I'm nervous about what may be in the next three days, but I want you to know that I'll do everything in my power to protect our children. I will sacrifice myself to save them. I know that's something you'd expect me to do but at the same time don't want to hear me tell you that. I know you never want me to go, but when it comes to them or you, I will never think twice before doing it. I love you.

-/

Liara rose early before the crack of dawn at 0450. She barely slept with the racing of what if running through her mind. The thoughts of her lover and her children stuck on a mountain with some monstrous beast. Unable to speak to them, unable to hold them, unable to do much of anything at this point and she felt helpless. She stood in the shower under the steaming stream leaning on her forearm against the tile as the water just rolled down her back.

Her omni tool was sitting on the bathroom counter as she took a shower, then she heard it. Bling bling bling bling bling bling bling bling. Her head popped up, and she quickly opened the door as she darted for the counter; then she slipped slightly on the wet floor. "Shiiiiittt." She grabbed the counter tightly, then tapped at her omni tool. She saw several messages from her husband and her daughters.

She checked her link to her bondmate.

(Jon?)

(Lia?)

She placed her hands on her face and let out a breath (Oh, by the Goddess I was so worried. Are you all ok?)

(Yes, We're fine.)

(Thank the goddess. I love you)

She waited for a response, and nothing came through. (Lovey?) She paused again (Babe!) she looked at the time 0531. She grimaced as she knew their link was getting weaker every day and it would soon be gone until their next meld. She read all the messages and wiped the tears that trickled down her face at the last one her husband wrote her.I know you would, my love. She quickly toweled off and finished getting ready for the day. As she walked out of her room, she saw Miranda walking downstairs and several commandos already moving about the house. Liara walked up to Miranda and grabbed her hand "Miri, I heard from Jon and received several messages."

"I received a few messages from Alex and Mil this morning too! When I sent a message back, they failed to send though."

Liara looked at the time stamp "Did yours come through at 0530?"

"Yes! How'd you know?" she replied

"So, did mine. My link opened up for a brief moment then closed. But look at these pictures Anna sent." Said Liara

"What the hell? Is that her hand and arm? It's like the biotics have flared through her skin." Said Miranda

"I know. Jon's message said they're all that way even the animals. Here look. She sent a picture of them all huddled in the dome."

"That's so strange. Look at Alex; his dragon isn't flared. I don't know what this is but hopefully this isn't permanent." Said Miranda

"I don't know; it has something to do with the mountain and the blood moon. They saw a Jaikun and Anna sent a picture of it. Look how close it was! Goddess…"

Shay looked at her "A Jaikun. Goddess! Those are vicious beasts. They rarely ever come down off the peak. Whatever this phenomenon is has stirred everything out of sorts." She paused for a moment "If they're down, then so are the Tingra and the Ru'rak."

Liara looked over at her "I'm afraid to even ask Shay. Do I want to know what those are?"

Shandri just shook her head then mumbled "Goddess watch over them."

Liara didn't care what the time was, but she rang her father.

"Liara, this better be a damn emergency for ringing me this early in the morning!" said her father in irritation.

"It is Dad; I need you to get ahold of the best snipers in the area and over to Blood Mountain right now!"

"Liara what's going on?"

"Shepard, the girls, Alex, Mili, and Kay are on Blood Mountain. Apparently, it's the year on the Blood moon, and they're trapped in there with some crazy ass beasts."

"What? You're talking nonsense. That's just a story Liara." Smirked Thyta

"It's not a story. We went down there last night, and we couldn't touch down on the mountain. I just sent you pictures of some strange effect the mountain has done to them."

Thyta pulled up the pictures she had just received from her daughter. Her brow markings pinched as she looked them over then said "What the hell is that on her skin? Is that a Jaikun? How the hell did she get such a close-up? It looks like it's right in her face."

"Dad, just get someone down there! We're on our way down there."

"Ok, ok sorry. I'll call someone right now." She said then ended the call.

"Shay, where are we on packing up a crate for them?" asked Liara

"We've packed their crates with all their gear, guns, a collection of assorted ammo, etc. We also packed water, food, and medical kits just in case." Replied Shay

"Fantastic. I want every shuttle we have ready to head over there and every experienced sniper on that shuttle. Let's go ladies. He's already up and on the move." Said Liara

—/

Shepard smiled at hearing his wife in his head (I love you too.) He waited for her to say more and when she didn't, he called out for her (Liara?)

"Dad, did you get ahold of mom? It said my messages sent but I can't send anymore." Said Anna

"Yes, Anna, she was just talking to me, but I can't hear her anymore." He said then looked down at his omni tool. "It looks like my messages went through at 0530. But I didn't receive a response from her which is not like her."

Alex said, "My messages sent at 0530 too." The others responded with the same answer.

"Hmm, there seems to be a small window of disruption." Said Shepard.

"Maybe it's at the three points during the day. Daybreak, noon, and night?" Said Kirre

"Possibly, Let's all check again at noon. Since we're not receiving time in here. We'll need to keep an eye on the sun. This barrier is disrupting everything." mentioned Shepard.

Message to Liara: We think there might be some sort of disruption during the three points of the day. Break of dawn, noon, and setting of the sun maybe? I don't know. Our time and compasses aren't working either. We're going to keep an eye on the sun and stars to move throughout the land. I love you.

Shepard looked at the varren pup then over at his girls as he said "Ok, so what are we doing with these little pups?"

Anna and Benezia looked at their dad "Can we keep them? They're orphans now…"

He smiled as he nodded slightly then said "We'll see and I knew you two were going to say that." He looked around then said. "Alex, do you see an all clear?"

"As far as I can tell. Yes." replied Alex

"Alright, ladies. You know the rules stay together and stay alert. Go with Kay and do your business. We'll be close by." He watched them walk away behind some trees and bushes then let out a breath, "Fuck man. What the shit is going on in here?"

Alex shrugged then said, "Hundred credits says Liara and Miranda will be here with a mob of commandos or military people this morning."

Shepard laughed as he leaned against a tree to relieve himself "I'm not taking that bet bro. I know my wife and can guarantee you she'll be here this morning. Her mind is already working ninety to nothing to figure something out. Hell, I bet you she was here last night too."

After he relieved himself, he walked over to the two pups. "Ok, what am I going to do with you two?" He reached in his backpack and pulled out a shirt and looked down at them "What do you think? Huh? A sling for you to sit in as we walk, huh Gimpy. You won't be getting far with those injuries." He cut his shirt open to make some sort of sling for him to sit in. The boy varren was a light grey with orange stripes down his back. He looked over at the other one. He smiled at her; she was all white and had light blue stripes. "What about you, Blue? You want to walk, or you want a sling?" She huffed at him, and he laughed, "Suit yourself. Let's see how long you last until you change your mind. You know, you remind me of someone." He said then waited for the girls to come back. He waved them over. "Alright, we need to remain quiet. Stealth mission until we're in the dome at night. We need to know our surroundings at all times. Ok?"

"Yes, sir." They replied.

"Stay alert and have your biotics ready and let's not get jumpy with our weapons either, ok? Not everything in here is bad."

They nodded, then said, "Yes, sir."

"Ok, Let's head further down the mountain. Remember to keep an eye on your six. Anna, continue to document as you've been doing with your video and picture taking. I'm sure you scared the hell out of your mom with that video and pictures you sent last night." Said Shepard

She laughed, "Hey, I always send her our videos and pictures from our trip."

Alex laughed, "Oh Anna, if you showed your mom, that means Miri has seen them. I can hear her now. Bloody hell I hope that's not permanent." He continued to laugh, "You know I would like to know if our powers are enhanced or something."

Shepard pointed to his dragon "I did notice that your dragon isn't flaring. I'm not really sure what these are."

—/

Shepard and his crew had been walking for a few hours when he heard Blue make a noise, he looked down then noticed that it stopped. He watched as she arched her back then shot out a biotic pulse. He quickly looked up and spotted a massive animalthat had its focus on his daughter."Nezzie!"

Benezia turned her head toward her dad and not toward the immediate danger.

Shepard quickly jolted toward the massive cat just as it snagged his daughter's arm with its claw. Benezia cried out in pain and clutched at her arm. He pulled his pistol and put several shots into the side of it. The tingra got up quickly and swiped its claw at him and dragged its sharp nails across his chest. Shepard cried out in pain and grabbed his chest.

The rest of the group instantly pulled out their weapons and blazed their biotics. Anna quickly checked her sister. "You're bleeding. Are you ok?"

Benezia clutched at her arm and nodded, "I don't know. I think so." she turned to her dad, "Dad?"

"Nezzie! You ok?" said her father as he put himself between the tingra and the rest of his family.

"I'll be fine." She said

Anna turned in anger toward the tingra and shot toward the animal.

Alex yelled, "Careful you might hit your dad!"

Shepard had his back to them as he strafed in front of the tingra. He yelled "Alex, get to the crate! Girls go with him and keep your eyes open. Go Now!"

"Jon, we can help you take it down together," replied his brother.

"Go, Alex! You too LT."

"I will not!" Said Kirre

"Yes, you will! Out here, your priority are those girls, not me! Now go!" He kept his distance from the huge cat. He watched it as it eyed his family. Shepard clapped his hands "Hey, you ugly fuck. Over here. That's right… look at me." He pointed at his chest, "You smell this … huh? Come get it." Shepard noticed his little friend stayed with him, but it was faced another direction. He looked at the tingra then said "Where's your friend at, huh?" He quickly scanned the area and mumbled "She's got eyes on you." Then quickly glanced to the right.

—/

GNN: Breaking News

"Hello, this is Kathy Ferrington with Galaxy Network News. Our current Breaking News is on Armali in Thessia at Blood Mountain. The Year of the Blood Moon and the Myth of the Great Onikuma are real! You heard that right. We all thought it was just a story, but it is in fact, real."

"The Great Commander Shepard and several of his family members went for a hike down Blood Mountain, are now trapped and unable to leave apparently. This was sent into us anonymously, a picture that Dr. Liara T'Soni-Shepard's eldest child took of a Jaikun they encountered last night. How terrifying and look how close it is to them. Another image she took but of her arm, caused by the Blood Moon while on the mountain, goddess that looks painful. Let's go ahead and head over to Adrian, who is live on site. Adrian?"

"Hi, Kathy. We are currently on the ground on site; let's take a look at some footage of Dr. Liara T'Soni-Shepard's people at work. They have an entire camp set up, several shuttles on standby and several in the air searching for her family. Liara herself is up in one of those shuttles. It has come to our attention that several shuttles are on their way here from the surrounding republic militaries to help with the current situation. She literally has a small army here." The camera shifts "It looks like someone is trying to enter down into the mountain… Let's shift over to Louis, who is in the air. Louis?"

"Yes, Adrian. It looks like someone is attempting to drop down on the ground, but there seems to be a green barrier that is preventing her from going any further than she is now." The camera zooms down to the ground "There's her family now, looks to be six of them. Oh, one seems to be injured possibly. She has a sling or a bandage around her chest. Goodness, I hope she's ok. Oh, Liara's team just dropped a crate onto the mountain. I'm assuming some sort of care package down to her family." The camera shifts over to the shuttles in the air. "Look at that Kathy, every single door on those shuttles are open with dual sniper's hoisted out. She is prepared to do anything she can to help her family." The camera shifts over to another shuttle. "Oh, there's Dr. Liara T'Soni-Shepard now, and sister-in-law Miranda Shepard, whose husband is stuck on the mountain as well from my understanding. What's Liara pointing at?" The camera shifts back toward the ground "Oh my good lord, what is the world is that?"

—/

The massive cat shifted its eyes toward his family as they left. The tingra started running toward them, Shepard shot at it with his pistol. "No, you fuckin don't." The cat turned toward him, and an aura blazed around it. "That's right. Stay on me. Attack me!" Shepard watched all of its five eyes carefully, then saw them shift slightly. "Ahh so your over there." He quickly shot the remaining few bullets in the general direction it looked then dropped his pistol and pulled out his fire knife. Then he heard what sounded like a loud crack of thunder ripple through the air. He heard another crack of thunder and then another.

He saw the fierce anger in the tingra's eyes. The biotics that blazed around it looked like a blue fire. He gripped his fire knife with the blade facing out as his own aura blazed, he charged it and made a quick swipe into its side then another. He gouged open the side of its body, and it let out a loud bellowing noise. Shepard quickly looked around for the other one and heard movement in the grass. He and the tingra circled each other. "Come on!" he yelled. Shepard charged at it again and gouged another two wounds into its side.

Shepard looked around and saw the other one running towards him. He charged the second one, swiped at it twice with his blade then hit it with a nova. He felt a biotic blast hit him from behind and he flew forward to the ground then stood quickly. He heard a loud crack of thunder when he felt the weight of the lion hit his back. He screamed out in agony when it slashed his back then he felt its teeth pierce him. He groaned out in pain as he heard several clacks of thunder then the weight of a still animal on his back.

—/

You are seeing it here ladies and gentlemen live on Galaxy Network News. One of the younger asari was attacked and injured and now the Great Commander Shepard in the battle of his life with not one but two huge cats of some sort. With the help of his wife's team, they took down one, but we can't tell what's happening. He seems to be injured very severely. Liara is very frantic right now as she just screamed out her husband's name. We don't know if he's alive or not. The other one is getting up and heading toward him. That beast just won't stay down!" The camera adjusts its zoom "Oh my goodness is that a large chunk of meat in its mouth?" The camera quickly shifts over toward Liara "Liara just fainted! Oh, my lord was that—" The camera shifts back to the ground "Is it eating Commander Shepard? Good lord, I'm going to be sick."

"Oh, goddess if that was Commander Shepard our hearts go out to his family. We'll have more news on the story as it comes. This is Kathy Ferrington with Galaxy Network News."