Disclaimer: I do not own Mass Effect or the various X-COM games. They belong to their respective copyright owners. This story is not written for profit. I make no money from it. It is not for sale or rent.

Shattered Fate

Prologue: Brand new world

Part 2. Rebirth

12:33 PM, 1 December 2175 AD

X-COM Station "Rome"

High Orbit over Venus

Sol System

I floated in nothingness. Endless void. It was a sweet oblivion and I was at peace. I could stay here forever and be content. No more experiments, pain and nightmares. No more war and loss in a world that was not even my own. There was no sense for time. An endless second? Centuries? Millennia?

"It's been a long time. Besides in here the concept of time is quite subjective." A motherly female voice awoke me from my slumber. I opened my eyes and turned in the direction of the sound. A woman with a soft eyes and beautiful, ageless face floated in the aether. She had striking waist long, black hair. Her tasteful cocktail dress in pastel green matched the color of her eyes.

"What?" That was my eloquent response. I was surprised that someone was here to interrupt my rest. My brain was still slumbering.

She laughed merrily. I couldn't help it. The sound immediately put me at ease. The woman waved her right arm and we were sitting on comfortable armchairs. I had a steaming cup of coffee in my arms. Its aroma was invigorating. I carefully took a sip from the cup and sighed in content. It was the best thing I've ever tasted.

"I've forgotten that some of you flesh and blood folks need something to kick start your system in the morning." Her words implied that she was something else. "Even if it's an illusion of the mind."

I looked at her with curiosity. The lethargy was quickly leaving my body and my brain was starting to work properly. I really looked at her, this time trying to use my psionics.

They didn't respond.

She winked at me with amused smile on her face. "Nope. We don't want you to scramble this mind of yours further. Getting shot in the head was bad enough."

"That I remember. I think..." I trailed off, a flash of green flashing before my eyes.

"Good! So the damage might not be as extensive as we feared!" She beamed at me.

I gave a small sound of agreement. The type a mouse would make when it finds itself in the middle of a convention of hungry tigers. Without my Gift I felt naked, defenseless.

"Hey! I am not that bad!" She huffed in annoyance.

I nodded vigorously.

"Really!" She pouted cutely.

A bucked filled with ice cold water appeared from thin air and splashed into my face. I spluttered and glared at the female with apparently magic powers. She beamed and again waved a hand at me. I was suddenly dry again with a new cup of coffee in my arms. What the hell did I get myself in now?

"That is much better." She beamed at me. "Now lets cut to the chase. I am here to evaluate you."

"Uh, huh." I was watching her warily wondering if I had finally lost it. That is if the whole thing with X-COM wasn't a figment of my imagination in the first place.

She tilted her head as if listening to something and then blushed. "Ops?" She muttered, sounding embraced. "I forgot how this may seem to you." She waved at the void surrounding us.

"Indeed?" It wasn't looking particularly good, at all. I hated feeling helpless.

"Introductions are in order, I guess. I should have started with that." She pouted cutely. "I'm KLD 0941-VC1, but you can call me Katie." The woman was smiling again. "I'm a class six X-COM smart AI!" She chirped.

"Of course you are..." I muttered.

All this being a virtual reality would explain much. Now, it didn't mean that I would just take her words for granted and accept that whatever this was, it was an X-COM run op. Even if it was, well that wouldn't be a guarantee that they had anything approaching my best interests as an agenda.

"What do you want?" I asked and took a sip from my drink. It was safe. Probably. At least it tasted divine.

"To find out if you had all your faculties still intact. All scans indicated some brain damage and possible memory loss. We wouldn't want you to go mental and trash everything in sight when we awake you."

"So I'm dreaming all this?" I waved around. "That's reassuring." I deadpanned.

"In a manner of speaking. You are are submerged in nanite sludge, while the little buggers are finishing your tune up. It's been some after you were shot before we gained the necessary technology to heal such injuries."

"Was it? I was pretty sure that I was shot in the face. How do you fix that?"

"You managed to mitigate the plasma bolt a bit with your psionics. It was further weakened when it hit your helmet. Besides you got lucky, Corporal. The shot hit straight at one of the psi-amps, built in the helmet, further dispersing its force. That was the only reason you lived long enough to be brought back to the EU Headquarters and put into stasis."

"Ah. So that's how you did it."

"Indeed. So you were aware that Doctor Shen was able to make the alien stasis tanks run?"

"I heard such rumors. How long?"

Katie didn't answer and just stared at me. She tilted her head again, before she nodded to herself.

"Today is December first, 2175."

"I see..." I trailed off. Hundred and fifty years. I should be shocked. In denial too.

Yet… there was nothing. Just calm acceptance. Of course, I wasn't taking her on her word, but still…

"I'll want some corroboration for that, you know." I said with a surprisingly calm voice.

"Ah. Denial?" She asked, while looking me in the eyes. "No. Not exactly. You'll have all the proof you want in few hours when the docs de-tank you, Corporal. I won't be asking you about anything classified in before that happens, either."

"That's convenient."

"I'm not going anywhere before you are evaluated, and that can't be reliably done unless you have a reason to be at least marginally cooperative with your answers." She shrugged.

"Your consideration is appreciated."

"Don't be coy. You obviously don't mean that."

"What gave me up?"

"Your sunny disposition?"

=SF=

"It's time. You'll black out for a moment while the docs de-tank you." Katie said.

"There goes nothing..." I muttered.

The world went dark and I drifted once again. It was restful, peaceful. At least for a few moments. Then I felt inertia, as if I was in a moving vehicle. I opened my eyes and immediately slammed shut my eyelids when a blinding white light did its best to blind me. I heard a hiss and felt a the air around me move as some kind of mechanism moved.

"Veil? Corporal Veil? Are you all right?" The now familiar voice of Katie rang in my ears.

"I'm not deaf." I tried to say but it came out as a gurgle.

"He doesn't seem all right." A male voice stated.

"What do you expect? He's been on ice before the war ended." Added another.

"Don't just stare at him! Get him to the gurney and run another scan." There was a concerned note in Katie's voice.

I felt weak. Sleepy.

"Hey! No sleep right now! Stay with us!"

Uhh…

=SF=

09:10 AM, 5 December 2175 AD

SSV TKL-21

En route to Earth

Sol System

"Corporal, we are on final approach to Earth. I believe that you would like to see it." The pilot chirped in, awaking me.

The shuttle wall in front of me sparkled for a moment as static electricity ran over it, before it became transparent. I stared at a beautiful blue sphere, which was becoming bigger by the minute. There were flashing dots above it, ships or distant stations I guess. I noticed them as barely an afterthought.

Because the planet we were approaching had captivated my attention. Seeing Earth from such distance made me giddy. The blue oceans, blue and brown continents on the visible side… The white and orange lights lighting up what little of the night side I could see from this angle… The tower rising from northern Africa straight into space… Wait, what?!

"That's a damn space elevator!" I exclaimed.

"Yep. One of three currently operational." The pilot confirmed what my eyes were seeing.

He banked, changing our approach vector a bit and I was soon able to see the almost transparent silhouette of another, raising from India.

"The fourth is currently under construction. You can barely see its frame from here. It's was already planned by the time Mass Effect was discovered and it began construction before we had really cheap lifting capabilities. Even now, the elevators are a great economic boon, though not as much as when we were dependent only on Elerium powered propulsion." The pilot was all too cheerful to educate me on the realities in this new age.

"Look over there!" He exclaimed. "We are about to pass near SSV Everest, Home Fleet's flagship."

I looked around, searching for said craft. It took me few seconds until I saw a cluster of blinking lights that was becoming bigger and bigger, faster than the others in orbit.

Soon enough we were passing close enough so I could get a nice view of the Everest. She was a flying mountain of guns and armor, looking like a somewhat flattened brick instead of the crafts I've seen during the war.

"Two and half kilometers long, with three spinal mounted Mass Accelerator cannons, Twelve Heavy Fusion Lances..." My driver was droning on and on about her capabilities, most of which frankly flew over my head. Though she sounded almost as awesome as she looked.

I grinned foolishly. This was actually the first time I allowed myself to believe that we actually gained something significant from the war. Despite the power armor and energy weapons I was familiar with from all those years ago, they felt insignificant against the alien onslaught.

Yet, here I was, approaching a strong and proud Earth.

I leaned back in my seat and relaxed. One day I might even believe that all the sacrifices we made was worth it. Seeing the Everest would do that to you.