Amongst the Pale Starlight: Waking Up
Title: Amongst the Pale Starlight: Waking Up
Rating: PG/E - nothing going on here.
Word Count: 705
Characters: Shepard and Joker
Summary: Shepard wakes up in the Lazarus project and starts trying to figure out her new life.
Spoilers: None. Starts at the beginning of ME2.
A/N: This is the first in a series of scenes spanning ME2, primarily focusing on the relationship between Shepard and Garrus. I don't have a beta so please pardon any typos.
Waking Up
Dossier: Commander Shepard - Alliance Military N7, Spectre
Name: Jane Marie Shepard
DOB: April 11, 2154
Background: Born and raised on Midoir, survived slavers raid and later joined the Alliance. Earned Star of Terra for holding position on Elysium during Skyllian Blitz. Has shown strong dedication to upholding justice and helping others. Model Alliance soldier.
Recent Activities: As first human Spectre saved the Citadel and Council with loss of only one crew member, Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams on Virmire.
Current Status: Commander Shepard’s vessel, the SSV Normandy, destroyed by unknown enemy ship. Shepard not among the survivors in life pods, officially listed as missing in action, assumed dead.
This is no exaggeration
I truly am alone
100 million clicks
and 8 long months from home
The Spirit of Shackleton
-Glen Phillips
Lazarus. The Illusive Man. Freedom’s Progress. They were on their way back to the Cerberus station now. Sitting and waiting was hard, it left time for thinking; pointing and shooting was much easier. Shepard avoided her companions and looked out the window. Tali seemed to doing well. She wished the quarian was in the shuttle with them now. Shepard tried not to let her disappointment show when Tali said no. She felt very alone right now.
They were back at the station, time for another meeting with the Illusive Man.
Put together a team to save the galaxy, sounded familiar. She had a team, a good team, but they moved on after she died. Stop thinking, focus on the task. Fine, she would build another one. The Reapers needed to be stopped. Going to Omega seemed as good a place to start as any, not like she had any leads of her own.
“Hey Commander,” a familiar voice said from behind her.
Joker? They walked upstairs together. Walking upstairs. Joker walking beside her, no crutches or braces, it must have been Cerberus’ doing. Maybe they weren’t all bad.
“They just told me last night.”
She looked into the dark expanse on the other side of the window. First one light, and then another. It couldn’t be. She’d stood in the CIC and looked up into open space. She had watched it explode in her last moments as she struggled to breathe. Shepard blinked hard and shook her head. No, it wasn’t the Normandy, but it was almost identical.
“Feels good to home, doesn’t it?”
Home. Yes the Normandy had been her home, although she hadn’t realized she felt that way at the time. “She’s going to need a name.”
-----***-----
For the first time since leaving the Lazarus Project station, Shepard was alone. She was lying in bed trying to get some sleep before they reached Omega. She stared vacantly at the fish tank that took up most of the wall beside her. She frowned, it reminded her of how she was feeling: New, impressive, and empty.
She listened to the dull thud of her heart. It seemed to echo against the cold metal walls. Then she became aware of a faint whir that pulsed with the same rhythm. Cybernetics. How many strange mechanical objects had they put in her? The face she saw in the mirror seemed mostly the same. The bump on her nose where she had broken it when she was a teenager was gone. The old familiar scars were gone too, replaced by new ones. But inside, how much was still her? Was she just some flesh covered mechanical creation, a shell? A husk?
Shepard turned away from the blue glow of the tank and tried again to get comfortable. She knew she should sleep but her mind and body seemed to be fighting against it. Maybe it was the last of the adrenaline still coursing through her system. Maybe her new body didn’t need as much rest. Or maybe she was just afraid of what would happen when she did fall asleep. Would she dream? Could she still dream? What if something in the project had gone wrong and she simply didn’t wake up again?
She tried to steer her mind away from such thoughts. Instead she focused on the task ahead, trying to remember everything she’d heard about Omega and going over the dossiers in her head.
Rating: PG/E - nothing going on here.
Word Count: 705
Characters: Shepard and Joker
Summary: Shepard wakes up in the Lazarus project and starts trying to figure out her new life.
Spoilers: None. Starts at the beginning of ME2.
A/N: This is the first in a series of scenes spanning ME2, primarily focusing on the relationship between Shepard and Garrus. I don't have a beta so please pardon any typos.
Waking Up
Dossier: Commander Shepard - Alliance Military N7, Spectre
Name: Jane Marie Shepard
DOB: April 11, 2154
Background: Born and raised on Midoir, survived slavers raid and later joined the Alliance. Earned Star of Terra for holding position on Elysium during Skyllian Blitz. Has shown strong dedication to upholding justice and helping others. Model Alliance soldier.
Recent Activities: As first human Spectre saved the Citadel and Council with loss of only one crew member, Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams on Virmire.
Current Status: Commander Shepard’s vessel, the SSV Normandy, destroyed by unknown enemy ship. Shepard not among the survivors in life pods, officially listed as missing in action, assumed dead.
This is no exaggeration
I truly am alone
100 million clicks
and 8 long months from home
The Spirit of Shackleton
-Glen Phillips
Lazarus. The Illusive Man. Freedom’s Progress. They were on their way back to the Cerberus station now. Sitting and waiting was hard, it left time for thinking; pointing and shooting was much easier. Shepard avoided her companions and looked out the window. Tali seemed to doing well. She wished the quarian was in the shuttle with them now. Shepard tried not to let her disappointment show when Tali said no. She felt very alone right now.
They were back at the station, time for another meeting with the Illusive Man.
Put together a team to save the galaxy, sounded familiar. She had a team, a good team, but they moved on after she died. Stop thinking, focus on the task. Fine, she would build another one. The Reapers needed to be stopped. Going to Omega seemed as good a place to start as any, not like she had any leads of her own.
“Hey Commander,” a familiar voice said from behind her.
Joker? They walked upstairs together. Walking upstairs. Joker walking beside her, no crutches or braces, it must have been Cerberus’ doing. Maybe they weren’t all bad.
“They just told me last night.”
She looked into the dark expanse on the other side of the window. First one light, and then another. It couldn’t be. She’d stood in the CIC and looked up into open space. She had watched it explode in her last moments as she struggled to breathe. Shepard blinked hard and shook her head. No, it wasn’t the Normandy, but it was almost identical.
“Feels good to home, doesn’t it?”
Home. Yes the Normandy had been her home, although she hadn’t realized she felt that way at the time. “She’s going to need a name.”
-----***-----
For the first time since leaving the Lazarus Project station, Shepard was alone. She was lying in bed trying to get some sleep before they reached Omega. She stared vacantly at the fish tank that took up most of the wall beside her. She frowned, it reminded her of how she was feeling: New, impressive, and empty.
She listened to the dull thud of her heart. It seemed to echo against the cold metal walls. Then she became aware of a faint whir that pulsed with the same rhythm. Cybernetics. How many strange mechanical objects had they put in her? The face she saw in the mirror seemed mostly the same. The bump on her nose where she had broken it when she was a teenager was gone. The old familiar scars were gone too, replaced by new ones. But inside, how much was still her? Was she just some flesh covered mechanical creation, a shell? A husk?
Shepard turned away from the blue glow of the tank and tried again to get comfortable. She knew she should sleep but her mind and body seemed to be fighting against it. Maybe it was the last of the adrenaline still coursing through her system. Maybe her new body didn’t need as much rest. Or maybe she was just afraid of what would happen when she did fall asleep. Would she dream? Could she still dream? What if something in the project had gone wrong and she simply didn’t wake up again?
She tried to steer her mind away from such thoughts. Instead she focused on the task ahead, trying to remember everything she’d heard about Omega and going over the dossiers in her head.