Horizon Colony, the Terminus Systems, Saturday Evening
The fight had been grueling. Shepard could barely feel his arms, and he was bleeding from at least two separate wounds. Nothing fatal, though. He took a moment to catch his breath, then peered up over the edge of the crate he'd been using for cover. Were there any other Collectors inbound--?
But he caught no hostiles. Instead, the giant Collector ship that had practically embedded itself in the planet pulled itself free from the ground, blasting scorching fire down onto its landing site as it propelled itself into the atmosphere.
His earpiece took that as a perfect time to come alive. "They're pulling out!" Miranda bellowed across the comms. Another blast from the ship's engines sent him wincing, ducking and grabbing for his ears as the noise drowned out everything else. Shit. Shit. Shit shit shit.
The defense towers flared to life, twisting over and firing repeated volleys into the enormous ship. It was futile: like flinging rocks at a tank. "They wanted the colonists and they got them," Miranda reported.
Shepard
"No! Don't let them get away!" An angry civilian burst across the field, running and reaching pointlessly for the Collector ship as it blasted back into the sky.
"There's nothing we can do," Shepard said, watching the poor guy go. "They're gone."
"Half the colony's in there!" the civilian shouted. He came to a stop, panting, but he couldn't stop moving - kept walking from one side to the other, staring up at the sky. "They took Egan and Sam and-- and Lilith-- damn it, do something!"
"I didn't want it to end this way," Shepard said. A tragedy. Again. His fault-- no, he couldn't think like that. "I did what it could."
Garrus
"More than most, Shepard," Garrus said, granting him a worried look.
Strangely, it was that which finally made the man stop in his tracks. His body stilled. "Shepard," he said. "I know that name... Sure, I remember you. You're some kind of big Alliance hero."
Kaidan
Months of rumors. Alliance reports. Kaidan hadn't wanted to believe it. But that voice-- yeah, that voice was unmistakable.
He sped up his feet as much as he could considering how still his own body felt, ignoring Allie and Specialist Traynor and even the sight of Jack and Dean.
"Commander Shepard," he said, astounded by how eerily calm his voice came out. "Captain of the Normandy. The first human Spectre. Savior of the Citadel."
It was his face, too. And the rest of him. Shepard. Fuck. He didn't... how. Didn't. How should he feel? He just felt numb. Should he-- fuck. "You're in the presence of a legend," he said, still steady. His eyes trained on Shepard's with pointed intensity. "And a ghost."
Delann - the civilian - shook his head. "All the people we lost, and you get left behind," he said. "Screw this and screw you Alliance types. I'm out of here."
Jack
"I don't blame you," Jack said, almost under his breath.
Kaidan's confused mash of emotions rose from him like a fog; Jack briefly wondered if werewolves had a word for this kind of olfactory eavesdropping.
It was, perhaps, a question for Derek, and for another time.
More loudly, he added, "Look, not to interrupt, but is it safe to have a touching reunion right now?"
Allie
Allie made her way over towards Jack, keeping one eye on Kaidan and the reunion in progress.
"There is no way this is going to end well," she observed quietly.
Dean
Well, at least Kaidan didn't go and get addicted to demon blood in the meantime. Sam.
"Yeah, as great as this isn't, how about we move the soap opera away from the mass kidnapping site."
Thanks, Dean. Thanks.
Shepard
"There's no need," Shepard said, his eyes darting away from Kaidan's confusingly angry expression. "We checked. Ran the scanners from orbit. They're gone."
He'd been hoping to see Kaidan ever since the Illusive Man told him he'd be here. He'd just thought he'd get a welcome that was a little... well, friendlier.
Kaidan
Funny. For a brief moment, the anger lost ground on that mixture of remaining emotions, and Kaidan stepped forward to shake Shepard's hand.
"I thought you were dead," he said. "We all did."
He was not going to pay attention to any of the snark. This was more important.
Shepard
Oh, good. Shepard relaxed a bit. "It's been too long, Kaidan," he said. "How've you been?"
Kaidan
... and with that insanely flippant reaction (though really, had he expected any more of Shepard? Really? This was the man who finished most of his conversations with 'I should go') the anger came flooding back.
"Really? That's all you've got to say? You show up after two years and you just act like nothing happened?"
... Yeah, Allie was right. This was going nowhere good.
"I would've followed you anywhere, Commander," he added, jabbing his finger in Shepard's face before he even realized he was leaning forward. "Thinking you were gone--" That realization made it to the forefront, and he backed down. "... it was like losing a limb. Why didn't you try to contact me? Why didn't you let me know you were alive?"
Shepard
"Not my choice." Jesus, did Kaidan really think that-- Ugh. "I spent the last two years in some kind of coma while Cerberus rebuilt me."
Kaidan
Cerberus.
Cerberus rebuilt him.
Cerberus. The same organization that experimented on people like they were lab rats - turned them into husks and unleashed them on isolated science stations - blew up civilians from other species, and...
Kaidan backed up a few steps.
"You're with Cerberus now." His eyes darted to the familiar Turian face by Shepard's side. "Garrus, too."
He came to a stop, his muscles tensing. "I can't believe the reports were right."
Garrus
"Reports?"
If Garrus had eyebrows, he would've raised them. "You mean you already knew?"
Kaidan
"Alliance intel thought Cerberus might be behind the missing human colonies." So much for keeping this classified for Jack and Allie and Dean, but Kaidan didn't think they'd be kicking up a fuss anywhere public. "I got a tip this colony might be the next one to get hit."
He set his jaw. "Anderson stonewalled me, but there were rumors that you weren't dead... that you were working for the enemy."
Shepard
So Kaidan was working off incomplete information. Surely he had to understand Shepard was doing this for a reason? "Our colonies are disappearing. The Alliance turned its back on them," Shepard said. "Cerberus is the only group willing to do something about it."
Kaidan
"You can't really believe that."
How far had they gotten their claws in Shepard? Had they done something to his mind? Or was he really this stupid?
"We both know what Cerberus is like," he said, stepping forward again. "What they're capable of! I wanted to believe the rumors that you were alive, but I never expected anything like this! You turned your back on everything we stood for!"
His volume increased as he spoke, right along with his anger.
Shepard
Funny. Shepard was starting to get agitated, too. "Kaidan, you know me," he said. "You know I'd only do this for the right reason. The Collectors are targeting human colonies and they're working with the Reapers."
Kaidan
"I want to believe you, Shepard, but I don't trust Cerberus."
To put it lightly. You couldn't have seen the things Kaidan had seen these past two years and not distrust them.
"They could be using the threat of a Reaper to manipulate you. What if they're behind it? What if they're working with the Collectors?"
Garrus
"Dammit, Kaidan," Garrus snapped. "You're so focused on Cerberus that you're ignoring the real threat."
Shepard
"You're letting how you feel about their history get in the way of the facts," Shepard agreed.
Kaidan
"Maybe," Kaidan said. Funny. He didn't sound convinced. "Or maybe you feel like you owe Cerberus because they saved you. Maybe you're the one who's not thinking straight."
He set his jaw into a firm line. "You've changed. But I still know where my loyalties lay. I'm an Alliance soldier. Always will be." He shook his head. "I need to take the others back to the Citadel. The Alliance can decide whether they believe your story or not."
He turned away and began to walk back towards his friends.
Shepard
Shit. This wasn't how this was supposed to go.
"I could use someone like you on my crew, Kaidan," Shepard called after him. "It'll be just like old times."
Kaidan
Kaidan stilled.
"No, it won't."
He glanced over his shoulder. "Goodbye, Shepard. And good luck."
He gestured for the others to follow him.
Shepard
As Kaidan walked away from him, Shepard took a step back. Then he reached for his earpiece. "Joker, send the shuttle."
He looked up towards the sky. "I've had enough of this colony."
Dean
"I can deck him," Dean offered. "Furball and leechy can take the others."
Dean was trying to be helpful in his own emotionally fucked up way. It was adorable.
Jack
"Gee, thanks," Jack said, in his terrible American accent.
In his regular voice and to Kaidan, he added, "Sorry. That looked rough."
Allie
Sadly no one ever died from being on the receiving end of epic bitch-face. Of course that didn't stop Allie from shooting one last glare in Shepard's direction before turning back to the others.
"So, where to next?"
Kaidan
Regardless of how adorable Dean's offer had or hadn't been, and certainly regardless of Allie's bitch-face, the only question Kaidan bothered to answer was Jack's.
"Yeah," he said.
His expression had darkened uncharacteristically; he kept going.
He had a shuttle out here somewhere. They could use it to get out of here. He just didn't feel like talking.
Dean
A man after Dean's own deeply repressed heart. He nodded, turning to walk backward to give a sarcastic salute to the crew behind them. "I think we deserve a bottle of Jack or Jim for this."
[[ aaand done! nfb, nfi, ooc-okay, based on the mass effect 2 mission 'horizon'. preplayed with the gorgeous 6buckstohisname, allie_vamp and bitten_notshy, who deserve medals for dealing with me rambling about this plot for two years. takes place after this and this. ]]
But he caught no hostiles. Instead, the giant Collector ship that had practically embedded itself in the planet pulled itself free from the ground, blasting scorching fire down onto its landing site as it propelled itself into the atmosphere.
His earpiece took that as a perfect time to come alive. "They're pulling out!" Miranda bellowed across the comms. Another blast from the ship's engines sent him wincing, ducking and grabbing for his ears as the noise drowned out everything else. Shit. Shit. Shit shit shit.
The defense towers flared to life, twisting over and firing repeated volleys into the enormous ship. It was futile: like flinging rocks at a tank. "They wanted the colonists and they got them," Miranda reported.
Shepard
"No! Don't let them get away!" An angry civilian burst across the field, running and reaching pointlessly for the Collector ship as it blasted back into the sky.
"There's nothing we can do," Shepard said, watching the poor guy go. "They're gone."
"Half the colony's in there!" the civilian shouted. He came to a stop, panting, but he couldn't stop moving - kept walking from one side to the other, staring up at the sky. "They took Egan and Sam and-- and Lilith-- damn it, do something!"
"I didn't want it to end this way," Shepard said. A tragedy. Again. His fault-- no, he couldn't think like that. "I did what it could."
Garrus
"More than most, Shepard," Garrus said, granting him a worried look.
Strangely, it was that which finally made the man stop in his tracks. His body stilled. "Shepard," he said. "I know that name... Sure, I remember you. You're some kind of big Alliance hero."
Kaidan
Months of rumors. Alliance reports. Kaidan hadn't wanted to believe it. But that voice-- yeah, that voice was unmistakable.
He sped up his feet as much as he could considering how still his own body felt, ignoring Allie and Specialist Traynor and even the sight of Jack and Dean.
"Commander Shepard," he said, astounded by how eerily calm his voice came out. "Captain of the Normandy. The first human Spectre. Savior of the Citadel."
It was his face, too. And the rest of him. Shepard. Fuck. He didn't... how. Didn't. How should he feel? He just felt numb. Should he-- fuck. "You're in the presence of a legend," he said, still steady. His eyes trained on Shepard's with pointed intensity. "And a ghost."
Delann - the civilian - shook his head. "All the people we lost, and you get left behind," he said. "Screw this and screw you Alliance types. I'm out of here."
Jack
"I don't blame you," Jack said, almost under his breath.
Kaidan's confused mash of emotions rose from him like a fog; Jack briefly wondered if werewolves had a word for this kind of olfactory eavesdropping.
It was, perhaps, a question for Derek, and for another time.
More loudly, he added, "Look, not to interrupt, but is it safe to have a touching reunion right now?"
Allie
Allie made her way over towards Jack, keeping one eye on Kaidan and the reunion in progress.
"There is no way this is going to end well," she observed quietly.
Dean
Well, at least Kaidan didn't go and get addicted to demon blood in the meantime. Sam.
"Yeah, as great as this isn't, how about we move the soap opera away from the mass kidnapping site."
Thanks, Dean. Thanks.
Shepard
"There's no need," Shepard said, his eyes darting away from Kaidan's confusingly angry expression. "We checked. Ran the scanners from orbit. They're gone."
He'd been hoping to see Kaidan ever since the Illusive Man told him he'd be here. He'd just thought he'd get a welcome that was a little... well, friendlier.
Kaidan
Funny. For a brief moment, the anger lost ground on that mixture of remaining emotions, and Kaidan stepped forward to shake Shepard's hand.
"I thought you were dead," he said. "We all did."
He was not going to pay attention to any of the snark. This was more important.
Shepard
Oh, good. Shepard relaxed a bit. "It's been too long, Kaidan," he said. "How've you been?"
Kaidan
... and with that insanely flippant reaction (though really, had he expected any more of Shepard? Really? This was the man who finished most of his conversations with 'I should go') the anger came flooding back.
"Really? That's all you've got to say? You show up after two years and you just act like nothing happened?"
... Yeah, Allie was right. This was going nowhere good.
"I would've followed you anywhere, Commander," he added, jabbing his finger in Shepard's face before he even realized he was leaning forward. "Thinking you were gone--" That realization made it to the forefront, and he backed down. "... it was like losing a limb. Why didn't you try to contact me? Why didn't you let me know you were alive?"
Shepard
"Not my choice." Jesus, did Kaidan really think that-- Ugh. "I spent the last two years in some kind of coma while Cerberus rebuilt me."
Kaidan
Cerberus.
Cerberus rebuilt him.
Cerberus. The same organization that experimented on people like they were lab rats - turned them into husks and unleashed them on isolated science stations - blew up civilians from other species, and...
Kaidan backed up a few steps.
"You're with Cerberus now." His eyes darted to the familiar Turian face by Shepard's side. "Garrus, too."
He came to a stop, his muscles tensing. "I can't believe the reports were right."
Garrus
"Reports?"
If Garrus had eyebrows, he would've raised them. "You mean you already knew?"
Kaidan
"Alliance intel thought Cerberus might be behind the missing human colonies." So much for keeping this classified for Jack and Allie and Dean, but Kaidan didn't think they'd be kicking up a fuss anywhere public. "I got a tip this colony might be the next one to get hit."
He set his jaw. "Anderson stonewalled me, but there were rumors that you weren't dead... that you were working for the enemy."
Shepard
So Kaidan was working off incomplete information. Surely he had to understand Shepard was doing this for a reason? "Our colonies are disappearing. The Alliance turned its back on them," Shepard said. "Cerberus is the only group willing to do something about it."
Kaidan
"You can't really believe that."
How far had they gotten their claws in Shepard? Had they done something to his mind? Or was he really this stupid?
"We both know what Cerberus is like," he said, stepping forward again. "What they're capable of! I wanted to believe the rumors that you were alive, but I never expected anything like this! You turned your back on everything we stood for!"
His volume increased as he spoke, right along with his anger.
Shepard
Funny. Shepard was starting to get agitated, too. "Kaidan, you know me," he said. "You know I'd only do this for the right reason. The Collectors are targeting human colonies and they're working with the Reapers."
Kaidan
"I want to believe you, Shepard, but I don't trust Cerberus."
To put it lightly. You couldn't have seen the things Kaidan had seen these past two years and not distrust them.
"They could be using the threat of a Reaper to manipulate you. What if they're behind it? What if they're working with the Collectors?"
Garrus
"Dammit, Kaidan," Garrus snapped. "You're so focused on Cerberus that you're ignoring the real threat."
Shepard
"You're letting how you feel about their history get in the way of the facts," Shepard agreed.
Kaidan
"Maybe," Kaidan said. Funny. He didn't sound convinced. "Or maybe you feel like you owe Cerberus because they saved you. Maybe you're the one who's not thinking straight."
He set his jaw into a firm line. "You've changed. But I still know where my loyalties lay. I'm an Alliance soldier. Always will be." He shook his head. "I need to take the others back to the Citadel. The Alliance can decide whether they believe your story or not."
He turned away and began to walk back towards his friends.
Shepard
Shit. This wasn't how this was supposed to go.
"I could use someone like you on my crew, Kaidan," Shepard called after him. "It'll be just like old times."
Kaidan
Kaidan stilled.
"No, it won't."
He glanced over his shoulder. "Goodbye, Shepard. And good luck."
He gestured for the others to follow him.
Shepard
As Kaidan walked away from him, Shepard took a step back. Then he reached for his earpiece. "Joker, send the shuttle."
He looked up towards the sky. "I've had enough of this colony."
Dean
"I can deck him," Dean offered. "Furball and leechy can take the others."
Dean was trying to be helpful in his own emotionally fucked up way. It was adorable.
Jack
"Gee, thanks," Jack said, in his terrible American accent.
In his regular voice and to Kaidan, he added, "Sorry. That looked rough."
Allie
Sadly no one ever died from being on the receiving end of epic bitch-face. Of course that didn't stop Allie from shooting one last glare in Shepard's direction before turning back to the others.
"So, where to next?"
Kaidan
Regardless of how adorable Dean's offer had or hadn't been, and certainly regardless of Allie's bitch-face, the only question Kaidan bothered to answer was Jack's.
"Yeah," he said.
His expression had darkened uncharacteristically; he kept going.
He had a shuttle out here somewhere. They could use it to get out of here. He just didn't feel like talking.
Dean
A man after Dean's own deeply repressed heart. He nodded, turning to walk backward to give a sarcastic salute to the crew behind them. "I think we deserve a bottle of Jack or Jim for this."
[[ aaand done! nfb, nfi, ooc-okay, based on the mass effect 2 mission 'horizon'. preplayed with the gorgeous 6buckstohisname, allie_vamp and bitten_notshy, who deserve medals for dealing with me rambling about this plot for two years. takes place after this and this. ]]