Mysterious Figureby Fiddlove EnfemmeChaptersPreludeEscapeEncounterAgreementAssignmentPreludeAuthor's Note Skip this chapter if you don't want to read boring summaries. It gets real in about two chapters. Prelude Prelude In which there is much exposition My name is Commander Shepard, and I'm not the real Commander Shepard. I had everything planned out perfectly. I had the muscle, the brains, everything Shepard had. But I couldn't get rid of him. I suppose I must explain. Commander Shepard is a Council Spectre, the first human Spectre in history. He was supposed to be Humanity's greatest achievement, but he failed. He stopped the rogue turian Spectre Saren Arterius' plot to bring the Reapers - a race of huge sentient machines that come to the galaxy in cycles of over 100,000 years to wipe out all space faring life - to the galaxy after their "Cycle" was interrupted. And then he died in an attack by the servants of those Reapers, a genetically altered ancient race called the Collectors. The organisation that created me - Cerberus - searched for his body. When they eventually recovered it, the damage was too great. There was no way to revive him, but they funded a project to rebuild him in any way possible, the Lazarus Project. That project cloned him, and created me to use "for spare parts". Spare parts! Does this seem like a box of spare parts to you? No? That's because an operative of theirs went rogue, stole me away to some barren mining facility. There I grew under her tutelage. As it happens, the damage she did to the facilities where I was cloned forced the real Shepard to flee before his procedures had finished. And you know the worst part? He assembled a team and destroyed the Collectors in their own hideout! He didn't do it alone, the way he should have. Oh no, he did it all with the help of the aliens. The enemy! Humanity was supposed to show how great it was! And our greatest decided to take a bunch of aliens with him as he saved the galaxy! Not once, but twice! It didn't end there. He was brought back to Earth to face a trial for destroying an entire star system in his quest to stop the Reapers. And you know the best part? The Reapers attacked Earth while he was in the trial. He escaped while Earth burned behind him. I know why he had to leave Earth, it was the best solution that let him combat the Reapers. The rogue operative brought me to the Citadel, the giant space station that is the center of galactic power, to lay our trap. Shepard was ordered to take some shore leave on the Citadel while his ship, The SSV Normandy Sr2, got some much needed refits. I hired a mercenary group called CAT6 to kill Shepard so I could take his place, so I could be the Shepard that should have been. We had it all perfectly planned out, the operative and I. We had Shepard and his pilot meet at a sushi restaurant. The operative entered to give some "valuable" intel to Shepard, that his identity was being stolen! Then the mercs attacked the restaurant. Somehow he got a weapon, and started to fight back. The mercs managed to force him to fall to his demise, but he survived. He was found far below the restaurant, in an area that was the sort of de-facto "Slums" place. The mercs pursued him, but he killed every last one of them that crossed his path. The operative even used his Medi-Gel reserves to soften him up for the fight, and they still couldn't kill the bastard! Eventually, the "squad"(aliens) that "helped"(allowed) him to defeat Saren showed up to rescue him from his doom. They unraveled where the guns I had supplied the mercs came from. I had the operative kill the supplier and wipe all trace of me from his data. They eventually found the supplier, dead, with all his data wiped. Somehow Shepard's asari prostitute pieced together enough data to find out my ultimate goal. While the operative was keeping Shepard occupied, I was planning an assault on the Citadel Archives, specifically the section where the data on Spectres were kept. My handprint wasn't the same as his. Cloning uses the same genes, but nothing quite develops the same way. I needed to change the registered handprint to mine using his Spectre authorization. I had the CAT6 mercs protect the entrance, but Shepard fought his way deep into the archives. I made a new plan on the fly, and resolved to trap him in there. I pretended to hold the operative hostage, for the operative had his confidence. He realised his mistake when he got himself imprisoned in one of the iridium vaults while he tried to save her. It wasn't quite killing him, but he'd die there all the same. The final stage was to take the SSV Normandy Sr2 from the refitting docks. It was simple enough, all I had to do was lock down the pesky onboard AI and eject his communications officer, but he got there right after I threw the comms officer off the ship. I ignored the takeoff protocol, citing an unspecified emergency matter. That bastard managed to break in using some maintenance passageway. I ordered the remaining CAT6 mercs to hold him off while I prepared myself in the cargo bay. When he got down there I had barely prepared myself to fight. The CAT6 pilot flew the Normandy along the space station while he tried to get around a shuttle that was blocking our escape path. Shepard's alien thugs fought me and the operative for quite a while. Eventually, the cargo bay doors were opened and Shepard tumbled down the doors with me to the edge. We dangled off the edge while Shepard's goons rescued him. The operative just looked at me and walked away. Shepard came to my aid, despite the differences between us, tried to pull me up. I had nothing to live for anymore. I had failed to replace Shepard. He told me to take his hand. I asked, "And then what?" He said to me "You'll live" I could have taken his hand then; two heads are better than one. But I shook my head and said "Live for what?" I let go. Let go of everything that bound me to life. My hopes, dreams, ambitions all went away as I experienced free fall. The feeling of falling is unmistakeable, going down, fast, nothing to stop you but the cold hard ground. I made peace with myself, reasoned that I couldn't have totally replaced him, he had been too free with his help. He helped everyone where he should only have helped humans. He made himself so intertwined with the galaxy that he would never untangle himself again. I was free from the longing, free from the desire. And then it hit me. No, literally, I hit the side of a building. Hard. EscapeAuthor's Note Skip this if you want to get to the real story Escape Escape In which Shepard's Clone leaves the Citadel I was swimming in a sea of pain. Not dead, because death has no pain, or so they say. No lacerations, my kinetic shields and hardsuit had done their jobs well enough, but I think I'm covered in one giant bruise. Throw in a bad concussion for good measure too. A lucid thought broke through to the surface of the sea. I need to figure out where I am. I opened my eyes. I was on the floor of a strange apartment. It was a nice apartment, a large living room with two sofas orbiting a coffee table and a big screen with surround sound on the closest wall, a well tended kitchen visible through an opening, the pots and pans gleaming in the light, a balcony above it leading to a games room, a spacious stairwell leading to the upper level, and finally a bedroom visible behind the stairway. It was a very nice apartment, other than the fact that someone had broken a window and scattered glass everywhere. Who am I? Why did I break that window? When did I get a hardsuit? How did I get hurt? Where am I? I struggled, I do something involving sheep. I herd sheep. I'm a sheppard. That sounded right. Some sort of Shepard. I think I was falling earlier, falling from what? Norman? I fell from Norman D. That fall could have been why I broke the window, and why I'm hurt all over. What's my job, some sort of spirit, maybe? Ghost? Ghostbuster? Banshee? A witch? A Spectre? Special Tactics and Reconnaissance, it's an acronym, I think. The hardsuit is my armor, I was in a fight, a battle. A battle with another Shepard. That's it, I was in a fight with Shepard on the Norman D. And it all came back to me. Everything from my awakening 6 months ago to my fall from the Normandy. I'm a clone, an imperfect one. I couldn't replace Shepard, I couldn't save Earth from the Reapers the way I was supposed to. But who decided that was my future? Brooks? That bitch left me to die alone. She was like a mother to me, the only mother I'd ever have. She taught me everything I needed to know; how to fight, how to deceive, how to barter and bargain, how to sneak, how to maneuver through a conversation to learn information. Everything I needed to be Shepard, under her guidance. But she left me. Whatever she taught me is useless without her help, there was always that nuance, that tidbit that she never taught; so she could have an edge over me in everything. Wait, was that the sound of a door opening? "What the fuck happened? My new appartment! It's ruined," said a voice in the same direction as the door. "What did you do to it you bastard?" I immediately leaped up from the ground. "None of your business," I stated "Spectre authority, this is strictly on a need to know basis. You're lucky sir, this could have been worse." The voice belonged to a human male of about 60 years of age, blondish grey hair, hazel eyes, of Asian ancestry. Obviously a man of wealth, well dressed, with an upper class apartment. Just a little below average height too. "Sir, if you could provide me with funds, I will repay you when I can." The man stared at me skeptically "And what if I don't give you the credits?" "Then I confiscate them immediately. And I won't be so nice as to refund you." I threatened, and added "And you get bragging rights that you helped the great Commander Shepard stop the Reapers." Maybe Brooks' training wasn't entirely useless without her. The man was taken aback "You're Commander Shepard? Oh my god, this can't be happening to me. Take these credits and go. Just leave me with my broken window" I quickly knocked out the man, he would probably write the experience off as a hallucination due to lack of sleep. Probably. I left the apartment through the door the man had entered. No one seemed to have heard the earlier commotion of me falling through a window. If they had, they might've reported it to C-Sec. I walked over to an elevator and selected the ground floor. I needed a plan, and fast. My current armor was too iconic; everyone's seen Commander Shepard posed in N7 style armor for Alliance promotional material. The easiest way to find new armor was to strip it off of some dead merc, I'd find that in the lower Wards. A ship to get me as far away as possible from the Citadel, that's what I'd need before long. I'll need to bide my time, build my strength, find more lackeys to use. Not just ordinary mercs, Shepard plowed right through those CAT6 types like a hot knife through butter. Goddamn, won't this crate go any faster? Now I know why the original Shepard hates elevators so much. Weapons are also a problem. Brooks managed that part of the operation. Not only that, but she even killed the contact we used. Nothing fancy, just the bottom of the barrel guns. Stuff you can get for cheap. I checked the amount of credits that man had sent me. 430,000 credits? I must have scared the poor bastard! That's enough to buy me a squad's worth of decent weapons. This elevator couldn't possibly go any slower than this! I activated my omni-tool and ran a hacking program on the elevator's controls. Take this, you stupid hunk of metal! I turned up the speed of descent. I could feel the elevator moving ever so slightly faster. Whoever designed this building must hate everything and everyone. I maxed out the elevator speed controls. Maybe now I'll make some headway in this piece of shit. The elevator ground to a halt. Stupid machine! GO DOWN DAMN YOU! I felt a shudder resonate through the box. What now? There was no other warning; the elevator suddenly fell. The feeling of weightlessness is a feeling to be savoured, but there was no time, only me hitting the roof of the elevator. Crash! I was thrown to the floor as the elevator hit the bottom floor. That's going to leave a mark. Now I'm never messing with elevators again. I peeked my head out of the elevator. No one in sight, good. All the better to sneak around. I crept through the foyer in front of the elevator door. The only living soul here was a bored looking security guard. I suck up behind him and gave him a knock-out blow. I stripped the armour he wore from him, and appropriated his pistol. Now I was disguised and armed. I took off my own hardsuit and put the guard's in its place. I looked around for a locker room, thinking that I'd find a place to stash my N7 armor. The only thing I found was an outdated duffle bag, so I put the suit right inside. Quickly, I dashed out the door and into the streets. I picked a direction and followed it for an hour or so. When I passed through a market area, I stopped for some purchases. A personal V.I. I compressed and stored to my omni tool, never know when that comes in handy. One of every type of weapon I would conceivably need. Specialised armour colourings, so I could change the armor colour when I needed to. When I had finished, I made my way to a noodle stand. I don't know why, but I wanted noodles, spicy ones. I ordered something called Ramen. It was good, but not something I could eat often. Finally, I made it to a shuttle port. I booked passage on a freighter that was leaving soon. Toting my purchases, I made my way to the cargo bay. I slipped the cargo handlers some extra credits to not mention me to the ship's captain. I made myself an area to sit in and look over what I had. The armour I had stolen from the guard was a classic adaptive Predator/Mantis/Scorpion/Ursa camouflage pattern produced by Hahne-Kedar, fifth class heavy armour. The guns I had purchased were also produced by Hahne-Kedar, standard issue in most mercenary companies. Not to mention the expensive VI suite I ordered and downloaded to my omni-tool, thanks to some data banks that were linked to it. Remembering the VI, I set to work unpacking and installing the intricate computer. The VI stands for Virtual Intelligence. A Virtual Intelligence is basically an advanced computer in that it handles multiple software processes to reach a conclusion. That conclusion could be anything from discovering the results of an extranet search, to optimizing performance during the rigours of battle, to even managing the details of a scientific laboratory. All VIs lack the traits that allow an AI to become "self-aware". This is mostly the correct software or other processes, as the VI only appears to be an intelligent being, a result of some particularly clever programming. This VI I set to work scanning for suitable hide-out locations that I could go to. Now, come to think about it, I need a ship to use. I'd also need more credits, an exploration vehicle, and some subordinates. Mercenaries are often the easiest subordinates, but get expensive over time. Criminals are another choice, but they aren't particularly reliable or durable. Free-lancers will often sign up for work where ever they can, but aren't very consistent. Maybe I'll cobble together a band of mercenaries, old cops, scientists, criminals, social rejects, priests, and military veterans to solve crimes and do good deeds for money and sex. Because that always works. The best solution would be freelancers. The sort of people that no one would miss while they were gone. That way, the minions are expendable, have low upkeep, and have no reason to leave my service. Well, good thing there's a large database that contains the information for many of the galaxy's freelance mercenaries. I also assigned the database crawling task to the VI, and directed it to flag any mercenaries that met my needs. And now, a ship. Like I said, I need a small ship. I I might be able to use a frigate, but it will need storage space. Maybe I could buy a freighter? Yes, that's the solution. Buy a freighter, tack on some illegal weapon systems, some shuttles, maybe a Mako or two, make it self-sufficient...that's the dream. Too bad I don't have enough credits. But that hasn't stopped me before, right? I tasked the VI with locating a suitable freighter, and finding extranet offers for the other things. It didn't take long for the freighter to get to its destination. I quickly searched for appropriate lodgings, a nice hotel room wouldn't hurt anybody while I planned for the future. My Future. This was a terrible idea. I ordered all of the equipment, and had everything loaded onto the freighter. And then I stole it. I knew all along I couldn't pay them all, but bought it all anyway on the promise that "I will pay when I get my purchases". They're going to regret agreeing to my demands. I'm currently on the run to the hideout I found in the stolen freighter, jumping from Mass Relay to Mass Relay in an attempt to lose the pursuit. Speaking of which, I checked the local scanner. They're certainly slowing down the chase, it's been an hour since I last had contact. Stolen equipment in tow, I made it to a refueling station to top up my reserves. The station operators didn't seem to care if they refueled a stolen ship. I had at least twenty freelancers hired and at a rendezvous point, hired through the VI system. I directed the ship through one last Mass Relay, and to the Star system I would be traveling from. When I brought the freighter up to dock with the rendezvous point - also a refueling station - the freelancers were brought aboard and told to settle into their quarters, and be ready to report to me near the bridge. Waiting a decent amount of time, I summoned them over the ship wide announcement speaker. "All freelancers report to the Bridge, all freelancers report to the Bridge." I examined my armour. I had taken time to paint my own pattern on it, a series of abstract designs that both make me look intimidating, and recognisable anywhere. Well, time to see how the crew feels about me. I watched as the freelancers entered one by one, to stand in four different lines. I examined each at lightning fast speed, assessing, without remorse. Seven - more than I would have liked - are Turians, tall bird-like aliens famed for their military prowess. Three, no, four Salarians, short-lived reptilian aliens, known for their scientific ability and tactical thinking. Three Quarians, a nomadic race that is forced to wear environmental suits all the time; They have no homeworld-but are masters of fixing what many thought was unfixable. There was also a Krogan, another reptilian race; tough, resilient, deadly, and capable of going into a blood rage at almost a moment's notice. The final twelve1 were humans. All freelancers were wearing some form of full-body armour, so they would survive more than a few minutes in a firefight at least. I addressed them "Welcome aboard freelancers. You may be used playing by your own rules, but by signing on with me, you have made the conscious decision to play by my rules. You will address me as 'Sir', and by no other name! You will follow every order I give to the letter, and I'll know if you get it wrong. THAT MEANS YOU! MIDDLE ROW, THIRD FROM THE LEFT! GET OVER HERE!" I gave the speech my best "I am the leader" tone. The mercenary I had picked at random sheepishly walked up to where I had indicated. The hapless recruit was a human freelancer, green and inexperienced. "GET DOWN AND GIVE ME 20 PUSH-UPS!" The recruit balked, and dropped to the ground and flawlessly performed 20 pushups. "Good. This is the level of dedication I expect from all of you. No insubordination will be tolerated with me! Dismissed!" The assembled freelancers left the bridge. All of them except for the Krogan. "I said, dismissed!" The Krogan laughed "I get it, human. You're trying to play the tough guy. In most mercenary companies, the tough guy is the one who his 'friends' let get killed. I can do that job for you, human. I can drill these pyjak into shape in no time. You aliens are all so squishy, you'd never last in a Krogan training camp." "And who are you to tell me how to do my job?" I snidely replied. "I'm just a burnt out old Krogan Battlemaster with more than a couple-a centuries under his belt. You should have seen me in my prime, I'd be able to take down any of these so called "freelancers" with just my fists. I can at least deal with troublesome recruits, nothing like what a human'd do." "Tell you what. I don't have time to deal with training these fools. I have plans for that garden world in this star system. It shouldn't exist, so it's the perfect world to hide on." I stated. The Krogan remained unconvinced. "So you're some sort-a criminal? Am I supposed to be impressed with this?" I shook my head "I'm not really a criminal, just looking to lie low. Maybe this whole Reaper thing will blow over." The bridge door closed as the Krogan walked out. I quickly tasked the shipboard VI to prepare a landing vector. There was no time for fancy scouting probes and landing parties, now was the time for action. I signaled the mercenaries to prepare for a landing, and started the descent. EncounterEncounter In which Ponies are first encountered As the descent to my new home started, I reflected on past events. Like I said, I'm a clone. I'm a clone who for all intents and purposes, should not exist. Only because one Maya Brooks saved me from the Cerberus labs. Maya groomed me to replace the original Shepard, and make everything the way it should have been: Humans before Aliens. Only the plan to - ahem - remove - the first Shepard didn't work so well. It was executed perfectly, even if he killed all of the CAT6 mercenaries assigned to kill him. But enough about that. There's never much time to think when you're in an adrenaline filled situation; every choice or decision must be made in a split second and then followed through by the related action. I hadn't realised it, but the entirety of what happened after I fell from the Normandy was like that. The threat of Citadel Security discovering me was too damn high! The only time I had relaxed was after I left the Citadel, if only for a split second. I activated my Omni-tool and accessed the ship's autopilot. A quick scan for suitable landing locations showed that there was one close to where I was descending. The site was a clearing in the middle of a large, overgrown forest. It also contained some ruins, perhaps leftover from some indigenous species that wiped itself out, like we humans almost did, oh so many times before. The turbulence you would expect from diving into the atmosphere of a planet was mostly blocked by the freighter's built-in motion dampers, and protected from the flames of high speed reentry by the limited kinetic barriers. The ship carefully set down near a sort of keep, a large castle if you will. The place was in quite the state of disrepair, but I would have liked to see it in its prime. The remaining architecture was beautiful by modern standards, quite a lot like the Roman era of architecture too. Whoever built it had an astounding knowledge of mathematics, it must have been perfect down to the milimetre. The landing of the freighter dislodged some of the stone work, collapsing some sections of the keep. Well, I can't worry about old hunks of rock now, there's work to be done! With the ship set down, I'd need to disguise it, find a good place to build a hideout, and...I stopped myself. I keep getting worked up over what I'm going to do, setting plans that hinge on certain aspects that just don't work that way. I keep building on an unstable foundation, going higher and higher, regardless of any other way to build it, following one diagram the whole way, and CRASH! The whole thing comes toppling down like a tower of building blocks! Actually, a lot like the dislodged parts of that well-crafted castle. I put the ship into a state of grounding, disabling engines, lowering kinetic barriers, reducing the signals that would be a give away to any passerby. Now if the Normandy comes along, I won't be hidden much longer. The original me has an uncanny knack for ferreting out "secret" operations. Speaking of him, why is he so special? If it's biological we should be equals. If it's a matter of augmentations, I have those as well. If it's a matter of forces, he should be dead! I had hundreds of mercs at my disposal and he killed every last one of them. Maybe it's who he has at his disposal. Krogan? Check. Turian...Check. Quarian? Yep. Humans? Plenty. Salarians? More than enough. Robots? No, but unnecessary. Artificial lifeforms are inferior to regular life. No way I'd get a Drell. I moved out of command room and into one of the airlocks. I opened it and closed it behind me. I went walking through the ruin. I fought him one on one, mano a mano, with plenty of little distractions to keep him from being too fancy. I got him into hand-to-hand combat. I almost had him beaten until his lackeys backed him up. I even used the same tactics as he did. Hell, I used my medigel at the right time too. My CAT6 mercs were the best of the best, top of their classes, they should have been more than a match for his ragtag band of misfits. But the three little teams destroyed what was effectively a small army by 21st century Earth standards. Maybe it was the Prothean he picked up on Eden Prime? I should get a Prothean too. Now, where am I? The forest? There was a small hut nearby, almost one of those old Teepees you'd see in the Western B movies, because I assume those are still B rated. A small squat little hut, with a door barely tall enough for me to squeeze through. Inside, I found the stereotypical evil witch dwelling style house, complete with double bubble, boil and trouble, middle of the room, suspended over the fire pit, cauldron. The walls were lined with books and scrolls of untold arcane knowledge. Half finished potions littered the room, I had even stepped in one on the way inside. Well, it was fun and all, but I'm going back to the ship. And then I was hit by a tree. Coming too, I saw stone work on a ceiling. This stone work was not unlike the old castle the freighter had landed in, but in an obviously better condition. I heard the clip clopping of little horse feet on stone. I looked down. My armor was scarred with the marks of various attempts to pierce it. Crap, I'd just painted that! My helmet was still on, and I suspected I had a concussion. A tree trunk had been swung from the trees just as I had left the hut. I think I managed to catch a glimpse of pink hair-ribbon before the tree hit my face. Did I mention that I was on an operating table? Whatever hit me with the tree must've thought I'd died, and took me in for testing. I checked the hardsuit logs. Gah, scrambled! The clip clopping ended and I froze stock still. Whatever had me captured thought I was dead, there was no reason for me to give my survival away. I picked up a strange language, almost like the neighing of a horse? that couldn't be right. Regardless, I filed away the language snippet for future reference. The creature came over to me and began moving the operating table out of the room. I heard more horse noises as I was carted down a hallway. We entered another room. This one had a few more horse-noise-creatures. If anything, they were discussing me. One of them looked over me. Surprise, surprise, this thing looked a lot like a horse. It shined a flashlight into my helmet to try and elicit a reaction. My optical enhancements rendered me immune to the sudden flash of light, so I still didn't move. The horse-creature made more noises, and I detected a pattern. Could I translate this thing's noises into words? My questions went unanswered as the creature lowered a large device over me. A few levers were pulled and the device began to chip away at my armor. I delivered an overload charge to the device before it cut too deep. The chipping machine blew up in front of me. The horse things went into a panic as I sat up and looked around. Computer stations were set up to monitor me and the machine. I reached for one of my guns...nothing. My guns were gone, and I had spent all of the old guy's hard earned money on them! I rolled off the table and to my feet. A horse scientist tried to block me, but a swift knee to the face took it down a notch. The other horse scientists started trampling one another to get away from me. A biotic shockwave sent them flying off of their feet, and out of the way. I walked out of the open doorway. This was indeed a science lab, in nearby rooms I saw science horses experimenting on various creatures. One room held a chitinous horse-like insect, one a large scorpion tailed cat-esque creature, in one there was a piece of Prothean technology, and in another one was pieces of my armor and weapons. Well, judging by that room, I'm not going to get my guns back any time soon. A troop of horses armed with Corinthian style helmets and spears came into the room opposite me. Some of the horses had horns, others had wings. Technically I could call them unicorns and pegasi. One unicorn coloured white and blue stood in the front of them. It made more horse noises at me, did it sound angry? Poor thing, it thought it could stop me. I put it into a biotic stasis field, stopping it in its tracks. The other unicorn horses began to shoot some sort of biotic field out of their horns, while the pegasi horses charged me with their spears. I charged the pegasi myself and plowed right through them, sending more than one of them flying. God, I haven't tried using biotics since I fought Shepard, I forgot how much effort I needed! I paused to catch my breath, and the white and blue unicorn came out of the stasis field. It was visibly frightened, as it saw how much more powerful my biotics were over the unicorns. Nonetheless, it put aside its fear and charged me too. I mustered my strength and jumped; I jumped right onto the horse's back! The unicorn madea distressed noise, and I exerted my dominance over it. I rode out of the room. I came out into a room out of a fairytale, a huge throne room. With no time to lose, I steered the hapless unicorn by the horn to the massive doors at one end of the room. Author's Note Well, that wasn't so hard, was it? Take a guess at where Shepard is. Really, take a good guess. AgreementAgreement In which Shepard's clone makes a deal Just as I was about to ride out of the lavish throne room, something spoke into my mind. "And what do you think you're doing? Are you...riding him? You are forcing Shining Armor to carry you out of the palace! How despicable." A dark, brooding, horned AND winged horse walked out of a side passage and into my path. "Hmm, interesting. A natural resistance to the mind melding. Could another project have survived? Perhaps a-" "Cut the crap and let me out of here, you freak." I rallied under the strange being's power "Your mind tricks don't work on me!" I brought all the power my mind could muster to bear against this new foe. I felt the easing of a migraine that I never knew that I had, as the pressure from the dark horse abated. "Oh, it can actually resist my will? Wonderful, a new challenge. Maybe I'll get a chance to play with you before I kill you I always loved the ones that-" "Luna! What are you...Oh, is that the new test subject?" A new wing/horn horse, this one with white fur and a rainbow mane. How many colours of these are there? The dark horse, Luna replied "Don't worry, Tia. I've got it under control-" "Oh the poor thing! You've nearly smothered it with your will! There, there little one. Celestia has you now." A warm, almost motherly presence registered in my mind, a sharp contrast to the previous cold and alien one. "Oh, is it..?" "Riding poor Shining Armor? Yes. Yes it is, dear sister. Judging by the commotion in the labs, this...this thing put up a fight." My new friend Luna looked disgusted with the very thought of me. "One of the Apple family, erm, the one with a bow in her mane, she contacted me through that student of yours that there was a strange creature she had killed in the Everfree Forest. Evidently, it had gone romping around the zebra immigrant's house. She then fashioned a trap out of some vines and a fallen tree to ambush the creature when it left. According to her, the creature was dead when she came back to it hours later. Judging by this, it wasn't dead." "That's quite the story. Now, I have never seen something like this lost soul before on this world, so it's obviously extraterrestrial. Did you think to search for a crash site? Or maybe a landing site?" Tia asked. Luna answered without hesitation "I dispatched a platoon of my personal guard to comb the Everfree Forest right after I received the message. The Apple was hesitant to hand over the creature to the force sent to retrieve it, but she was persuaded otherwise." "This is all very touching, but I'm right here you know. I've got places to be, and things to do." I deadpanned. "Don't be so sure of that. Why are you on this planet? Why did you choose to land in the Everfree Forest? Are there more of your kind with you? Do you intend harm towards this planet or its denizens? What is your-" "I think that's quite enough Luna. Let it speak rather than interrogate it." Tia interrupted. "I don't know if I can really trust either of you, but I'll tell you something. I am a human, a member of a marsupial species that is native to the Sol system. Humans are adaptive, can conform to nearly any situation, are a recent addition to the galactic community, but have quickly risen to a position of power. The Council, a governmental body whose central embodiment is the massive space station known as the Citadel, has recently allowed a human to join their ranks. The other Council species are as follows: Turian, an avian species famed for their military prowess; Salarian, an amphibious species at the forefront of scientific know-how; and Asari, a monogendered species that are the most influential and respected sentient species in the galaxy. I have come here seeking refuge from the Reaper War. A race of gigantic, sentient machines has descended upon the galaxy in an attempt to wipe out all life. I was hoping to be able to stay here for the duration of it." "Do you remember the Reapers, Celestia?" The dark horse asked. Celestia frowned, and intoned "You should not have mentioned them. The Reapers are a serious threat to the well-being of all space-faring life. Fortunately, Atlas is populated by the species that will not be culled in this cycle." "I can stay, right?" I questioned. "The technology you bring will ensure our rise to power, so therefore, you must also stay," Luna nodded. "Allow me to touch minds and grant you a boon." Begrudgingly, I obliged. "We grant you mastery of this planet's language. Use this gift well, alien, and do not scruple it like so many others have." With that, the two contrasts left my awareness, allowing my mind to recover. "CELESTIA! Get this monster off of me! It's going to crush me!" The aforementioned Shining Armor whined. Evidently, he had been struggling to escape the weight of my body. "Be glad I didn't crush you, little horse." I growled. "THE MONSTER SPEAKS!" I eased off of the pony and let it run away. I addressed the two 'alicorns' "So no more negotiations? That's it, that's all folks?" Celestia spoke to me using her real voice. "Yes. What is your name, human?" A large object crashed through the doors of the throne room. The shuttle that I had stolen whirled and bashed into the narrow room. A large contingent of guard horses chased after it, shooting their horns and wielding their spears menacingly. The shuttle rolled, and avoided the horn blasts. The shuttle took a long pass and CRASH! It streaked across the floor and knocked over the throne. The shuttle bounced and flipped upside down, then one of the side doors opened. "SHEPAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRD!" Author's Note Oh boy, super OOC time! My favourite part of the book. AssignmentAssignment In which Shepard receives a task The krogan who had usurped my power back at the freighter popped his head out of the crashed shuttle. "SHEPAAAAARD! Hurry and get in the shuttle before these things get vicious!" he shouted. With no real options, I ran to confront him. That bastard had the nerve to not only order me around, but discover and use the original name? I'm gonna kill him! A straight sprint through the disorganised ranks of horse-land militants and I made it to the upturned shuttle. The krogan closed the door behind me as I leaped the last few metres inside. "You bastard! using your smooth talking to get on my good side, undermining my command, and then stealing my shuttle?" "To be fair Shepard, you stole it first." "That's not the point! AND STOP CALLING ME SHEPARD!" "Oh, you're not Shepard? Then where'd you get that N7 armor in the captain's quarters? How about your tactical log? You even have Spectre authorisation." he pointed out. "You broke into my captain's quarters? And read my personal files?" I questioned. "It's not like you locked any of them Shepard. The password to your room is 'password', and the private terminal code is 1234. Not exactly the most subtle solutions." I really did that? I must be more distracted than I thought. "And undermining my command?" "Really Shepard, there was no command over them to begin with. The only thing most of those pyjak will answer to is their paycheck. Name's Yargot Brill, by the way. Hear something?" Brill turned to the door of the shuttle, activated the exterior cameras, and looked at the main console. "Looks like these horses are trying to get in the shuttle. They're stabbing at the hull, and shooting it with biotic attacks." I looked at him and said "Those things are using biotics? I didn't notice that." "When you've been around as long as I have, you learn to recognise different styles of attack. These creatures resemble the Earth creatures known as horses or ponies, but some features are exaggerated. Some appear to have a natural conduit of biotic energy, in a form of the mythical Unicorn, while others have feathered wings, similar to the classical Pegasus. And then there are some without either appendage type. Oh, look at that!" "What is it? And why do you think I trust you?" "There's two larger horses with horns and wings moving towards us, why do you think these things hate us so much?" "Maybe it has something to do with you flying into the heart of their civilization, and crashing through their centre of government?" "Eh, that might be it. Oh look, the big ones are trying to communicate. I'll put them through to you." "No! Don't-" But it was too late to protest, as Luna's voice echoed through the shuttle's narrow confines. "HUMAN! EXIT THE VEHICLE OR WE WILL KILL BOTH YOU AND THE LIZARD!" I shot a mean look at Brill for doing this to me, but he didn't notice. "We're coming out Luna, just don't expect us to cooperate with your demands!" I shouted to it. Brill shrugged and popped open the shuttle door, nailing Luna in the chin on the way up. The pony looked furious, barely containing its anger. Stepping out of the shuttle, I made sure to kick its shins on the way out, just to spite it. "Human, for crimes against our kingdom, I sentence you and your crew member permanent service to my student Twilight Sparkle, until you learn the better of your ways." Celestia said matter-of-factly. Luna looked aghast "Are you out of your mind? These things are dangerous, and a threat to the security of the entire planet! If left unchecked, they could destroy us all" "I have considered that. If you two, or any who came here with you exhibit any form of harm towards the integrity of Equestria, you will be marked for extermination by me personally. In that event, our prior and future agreements will be null and void, counteracting any protections, boons or rewards granted to you." Celestia rebuked. "The present members of the Royal Guard will escort you to my student for further orders." "I guess that will have to suffice. I'll be watching you, Shepard. I'll know your every move, when and where it happens." Luna threatened. "You'll be dead before you get the chance to come for me." I retaliated. Brill looked back and forth between Luna, Celestia, and me."So are you following this, Shepard? Because I don't speak space pony." Author's Note Would you look at that. 5 chapters in already! Where will this adventure take us next?
PreludeAuthor's Note Skip this chapter if you don't want to read boring summaries. It gets real in about two chapters. Prelude Prelude In which there is much exposition My name is Commander Shepard, and I'm not the real Commander Shepard. I had everything planned out perfectly. I had the muscle, the brains, everything Shepard had. But I couldn't get rid of him. I suppose I must explain. Commander Shepard is a Council Spectre, the first human Spectre in history. He was supposed to be Humanity's greatest achievement, but he failed. He stopped the rogue turian Spectre Saren Arterius' plot to bring the Reapers - a race of huge sentient machines that come to the galaxy in cycles of over 100,000 years to wipe out all space faring life - to the galaxy after their "Cycle" was interrupted. And then he died in an attack by the servants of those Reapers, a genetically altered ancient race called the Collectors. The organisation that created me - Cerberus - searched for his body. When they eventually recovered it, the damage was too great. There was no way to revive him, but they funded a project to rebuild him in any way possible, the Lazarus Project. That project cloned him, and created me to use "for spare parts". Spare parts! Does this seem like a box of spare parts to you? No? That's because an operative of theirs went rogue, stole me away to some barren mining facility. There I grew under her tutelage. As it happens, the damage she did to the facilities where I was cloned forced the real Shepard to flee before his procedures had finished. And you know the worst part? He assembled a team and destroyed the Collectors in their own hideout! He didn't do it alone, the way he should have. Oh no, he did it all with the help of the aliens. The enemy! Humanity was supposed to show how great it was! And our greatest decided to take a bunch of aliens with him as he saved the galaxy! Not once, but twice! It didn't end there. He was brought back to Earth to face a trial for destroying an entire star system in his quest to stop the Reapers. And you know the best part? The Reapers attacked Earth while he was in the trial. He escaped while Earth burned behind him. I know why he had to leave Earth, it was the best solution that let him combat the Reapers. The rogue operative brought me to the Citadel, the giant space station that is the center of galactic power, to lay our trap. Shepard was ordered to take some shore leave on the Citadel while his ship, The SSV Normandy Sr2, got some much needed refits. I hired a mercenary group called CAT6 to kill Shepard so I could take his place, so I could be the Shepard that should have been. We had it all perfectly planned out, the operative and I. We had Shepard and his pilot meet at a sushi restaurant. The operative entered to give some "valuable" intel to Shepard, that his identity was being stolen! Then the mercs attacked the restaurant. Somehow he got a weapon, and started to fight back. The mercs managed to force him to fall to his demise, but he survived. He was found far below the restaurant, in an area that was the sort of de-facto "Slums" place. The mercs pursued him, but he killed every last one of them that crossed his path. The operative even used his Medi-Gel reserves to soften him up for the fight, and they still couldn't kill the bastard! Eventually, the "squad"(aliens) that "helped"(allowed) him to defeat Saren showed up to rescue him from his doom. They unraveled where the guns I had supplied the mercs came from. I had the operative kill the supplier and wipe all trace of me from his data. They eventually found the supplier, dead, with all his data wiped. Somehow Shepard's asari prostitute pieced together enough data to find out my ultimate goal. While the operative was keeping Shepard occupied, I was planning an assault on the Citadel Archives, specifically the section where the data on Spectres were kept. My handprint wasn't the same as his. Cloning uses the same genes, but nothing quite develops the same way. I needed to change the registered handprint to mine using his Spectre authorization. I had the CAT6 mercs protect the entrance, but Shepard fought his way deep into the archives. I made a new plan on the fly, and resolved to trap him in there. I pretended to hold the operative hostage, for the operative had his confidence. He realised his mistake when he got himself imprisoned in one of the iridium vaults while he tried to save her. It wasn't quite killing him, but he'd die there all the same. The final stage was to take the SSV Normandy Sr2 from the refitting docks. It was simple enough, all I had to do was lock down the pesky onboard AI and eject his communications officer, but he got there right after I threw the comms officer off the ship. I ignored the takeoff protocol, citing an unspecified emergency matter. That bastard managed to break in using some maintenance passageway. I ordered the remaining CAT6 mercs to hold him off while I prepared myself in the cargo bay. When he got down there I had barely prepared myself to fight. The CAT6 pilot flew the Normandy along the space station while he tried to get around a shuttle that was blocking our escape path. Shepard's alien thugs fought me and the operative for quite a while. Eventually, the cargo bay doors were opened and Shepard tumbled down the doors with me to the edge. We dangled off the edge while Shepard's goons rescued him. The operative just looked at me and walked away. Shepard came to my aid, despite the differences between us, tried to pull me up. I had nothing to live for anymore. I had failed to replace Shepard. He told me to take his hand. I asked, "And then what?" He said to me "You'll live" I could have taken his hand then; two heads are better than one. But I shook my head and said "Live for what?" I let go. Let go of everything that bound me to life. My hopes, dreams, ambitions all went away as I experienced free fall. The feeling of falling is unmistakeable, going down, fast, nothing to stop you but the cold hard ground. I made peace with myself, reasoned that I couldn't have totally replaced him, he had been too free with his help. He helped everyone where he should only have helped humans. He made himself so intertwined with the galaxy that he would never untangle himself again. I was free from the longing, free from the desire. And then it hit me. No, literally, I hit the side of a building. Hard.
EscapeAuthor's Note Skip this if you want to get to the real story Escape Escape In which Shepard's Clone leaves the Citadel I was swimming in a sea of pain. Not dead, because death has no pain, or so they say. No lacerations, my kinetic shields and hardsuit had done their jobs well enough, but I think I'm covered in one giant bruise. Throw in a bad concussion for good measure too. A lucid thought broke through to the surface of the sea. I need to figure out where I am. I opened my eyes. I was on the floor of a strange apartment. It was a nice apartment, a large living room with two sofas orbiting a coffee table and a big screen with surround sound on the closest wall, a well tended kitchen visible through an opening, the pots and pans gleaming in the light, a balcony above it leading to a games room, a spacious stairwell leading to the upper level, and finally a bedroom visible behind the stairway. It was a very nice apartment, other than the fact that someone had broken a window and scattered glass everywhere. Who am I? Why did I break that window? When did I get a hardsuit? How did I get hurt? Where am I? I struggled, I do something involving sheep. I herd sheep. I'm a sheppard. That sounded right. Some sort of Shepard. I think I was falling earlier, falling from what? Norman? I fell from Norman D. That fall could have been why I broke the window, and why I'm hurt all over. What's my job, some sort of spirit, maybe? Ghost? Ghostbuster? Banshee? A witch? A Spectre? Special Tactics and Reconnaissance, it's an acronym, I think. The hardsuit is my armor, I was in a fight, a battle. A battle with another Shepard. That's it, I was in a fight with Shepard on the Norman D. And it all came back to me. Everything from my awakening 6 months ago to my fall from the Normandy. I'm a clone, an imperfect one. I couldn't replace Shepard, I couldn't save Earth from the Reapers the way I was supposed to. But who decided that was my future? Brooks? That bitch left me to die alone. She was like a mother to me, the only mother I'd ever have. She taught me everything I needed to know; how to fight, how to deceive, how to barter and bargain, how to sneak, how to maneuver through a conversation to learn information. Everything I needed to be Shepard, under her guidance. But she left me. Whatever she taught me is useless without her help, there was always that nuance, that tidbit that she never taught; so she could have an edge over me in everything. Wait, was that the sound of a door opening? "What the fuck happened? My new appartment! It's ruined," said a voice in the same direction as the door. "What did you do to it you bastard?" I immediately leaped up from the ground. "None of your business," I stated "Spectre authority, this is strictly on a need to know basis. You're lucky sir, this could have been worse." The voice belonged to a human male of about 60 years of age, blondish grey hair, hazel eyes, of Asian ancestry. Obviously a man of wealth, well dressed, with an upper class apartment. Just a little below average height too. "Sir, if you could provide me with funds, I will repay you when I can." The man stared at me skeptically "And what if I don't give you the credits?" "Then I confiscate them immediately. And I won't be so nice as to refund you." I threatened, and added "And you get bragging rights that you helped the great Commander Shepard stop the Reapers." Maybe Brooks' training wasn't entirely useless without her. The man was taken aback "You're Commander Shepard? Oh my god, this can't be happening to me. Take these credits and go. Just leave me with my broken window" I quickly knocked out the man, he would probably write the experience off as a hallucination due to lack of sleep. Probably. I left the apartment through the door the man had entered. No one seemed to have heard the earlier commotion of me falling through a window. If they had, they might've reported it to C-Sec. I walked over to an elevator and selected the ground floor. I needed a plan, and fast. My current armor was too iconic; everyone's seen Commander Shepard posed in N7 style armor for Alliance promotional material. The easiest way to find new armor was to strip it off of some dead merc, I'd find that in the lower Wards. A ship to get me as far away as possible from the Citadel, that's what I'd need before long. I'll need to bide my time, build my strength, find more lackeys to use. Not just ordinary mercs, Shepard plowed right through those CAT6 types like a hot knife through butter. Goddamn, won't this crate go any faster? Now I know why the original Shepard hates elevators so much. Weapons are also a problem. Brooks managed that part of the operation. Not only that, but she even killed the contact we used. Nothing fancy, just the bottom of the barrel guns. Stuff you can get for cheap. I checked the amount of credits that man had sent me. 430,000 credits? I must have scared the poor bastard! That's enough to buy me a squad's worth of decent weapons. This elevator couldn't possibly go any slower than this! I activated my omni-tool and ran a hacking program on the elevator's controls. Take this, you stupid hunk of metal! I turned up the speed of descent. I could feel the elevator moving ever so slightly faster. Whoever designed this building must hate everything and everyone. I maxed out the elevator speed controls. Maybe now I'll make some headway in this piece of shit. The elevator ground to a halt. Stupid machine! GO DOWN DAMN YOU! I felt a shudder resonate through the box. What now? There was no other warning; the elevator suddenly fell. The feeling of weightlessness is a feeling to be savoured, but there was no time, only me hitting the roof of the elevator. Crash! I was thrown to the floor as the elevator hit the bottom floor. That's going to leave a mark. Now I'm never messing with elevators again. I peeked my head out of the elevator. No one in sight, good. All the better to sneak around. I crept through the foyer in front of the elevator door. The only living soul here was a bored looking security guard. I suck up behind him and gave him a knock-out blow. I stripped the armour he wore from him, and appropriated his pistol. Now I was disguised and armed. I took off my own hardsuit and put the guard's in its place. I looked around for a locker room, thinking that I'd find a place to stash my N7 armor. The only thing I found was an outdated duffle bag, so I put the suit right inside. Quickly, I dashed out the door and into the streets. I picked a direction and followed it for an hour or so. When I passed through a market area, I stopped for some purchases. A personal V.I. I compressed and stored to my omni tool, never know when that comes in handy. One of every type of weapon I would conceivably need. Specialised armour colourings, so I could change the armor colour when I needed to. When I had finished, I made my way to a noodle stand. I don't know why, but I wanted noodles, spicy ones. I ordered something called Ramen. It was good, but not something I could eat often. Finally, I made it to a shuttle port. I booked passage on a freighter that was leaving soon. Toting my purchases, I made my way to the cargo bay. I slipped the cargo handlers some extra credits to not mention me to the ship's captain. I made myself an area to sit in and look over what I had. The armour I had stolen from the guard was a classic adaptive Predator/Mantis/Scorpion/Ursa camouflage pattern produced by Hahne-Kedar, fifth class heavy armour. The guns I had purchased were also produced by Hahne-Kedar, standard issue in most mercenary companies. Not to mention the expensive VI suite I ordered and downloaded to my omni-tool, thanks to some data banks that were linked to it. Remembering the VI, I set to work unpacking and installing the intricate computer. The VI stands for Virtual Intelligence. A Virtual Intelligence is basically an advanced computer in that it handles multiple software processes to reach a conclusion. That conclusion could be anything from discovering the results of an extranet search, to optimizing performance during the rigours of battle, to even managing the details of a scientific laboratory. All VIs lack the traits that allow an AI to become "self-aware". This is mostly the correct software or other processes, as the VI only appears to be an intelligent being, a result of some particularly clever programming. This VI I set to work scanning for suitable hide-out locations that I could go to. Now, come to think about it, I need a ship to use. I'd also need more credits, an exploration vehicle, and some subordinates. Mercenaries are often the easiest subordinates, but get expensive over time. Criminals are another choice, but they aren't particularly reliable or durable. Free-lancers will often sign up for work where ever they can, but aren't very consistent. Maybe I'll cobble together a band of mercenaries, old cops, scientists, criminals, social rejects, priests, and military veterans to solve crimes and do good deeds for money and sex. Because that always works. The best solution would be freelancers. The sort of people that no one would miss while they were gone. That way, the minions are expendable, have low upkeep, and have no reason to leave my service. Well, good thing there's a large database that contains the information for many of the galaxy's freelance mercenaries. I also assigned the database crawling task to the VI, and directed it to flag any mercenaries that met my needs. And now, a ship. Like I said, I need a small ship. I I might be able to use a frigate, but it will need storage space. Maybe I could buy a freighter? Yes, that's the solution. Buy a freighter, tack on some illegal weapon systems, some shuttles, maybe a Mako or two, make it self-sufficient...that's the dream. Too bad I don't have enough credits. But that hasn't stopped me before, right? I tasked the VI with locating a suitable freighter, and finding extranet offers for the other things. It didn't take long for the freighter to get to its destination. I quickly searched for appropriate lodgings, a nice hotel room wouldn't hurt anybody while I planned for the future. My Future. This was a terrible idea. I ordered all of the equipment, and had everything loaded onto the freighter. And then I stole it. I knew all along I couldn't pay them all, but bought it all anyway on the promise that "I will pay when I get my purchases". They're going to regret agreeing to my demands. I'm currently on the run to the hideout I found in the stolen freighter, jumping from Mass Relay to Mass Relay in an attempt to lose the pursuit. Speaking of which, I checked the local scanner. They're certainly slowing down the chase, it's been an hour since I last had contact. Stolen equipment in tow, I made it to a refueling station to top up my reserves. The station operators didn't seem to care if they refueled a stolen ship. I had at least twenty freelancers hired and at a rendezvous point, hired through the VI system. I directed the ship through one last Mass Relay, and to the Star system I would be traveling from. When I brought the freighter up to dock with the rendezvous point - also a refueling station - the freelancers were brought aboard and told to settle into their quarters, and be ready to report to me near the bridge. Waiting a decent amount of time, I summoned them over the ship wide announcement speaker. "All freelancers report to the Bridge, all freelancers report to the Bridge." I examined my armour. I had taken time to paint my own pattern on it, a series of abstract designs that both make me look intimidating, and recognisable anywhere. Well, time to see how the crew feels about me. I watched as the freelancers entered one by one, to stand in four different lines. I examined each at lightning fast speed, assessing, without remorse. Seven - more than I would have liked - are Turians, tall bird-like aliens famed for their military prowess. Three, no, four Salarians, short-lived reptilian aliens, known for their scientific ability and tactical thinking. Three Quarians, a nomadic race that is forced to wear environmental suits all the time; They have no homeworld-but are masters of fixing what many thought was unfixable. There was also a Krogan, another reptilian race; tough, resilient, deadly, and capable of going into a blood rage at almost a moment's notice. The final twelve1 were humans. All freelancers were wearing some form of full-body armour, so they would survive more than a few minutes in a firefight at least. I addressed them "Welcome aboard freelancers. You may be used playing by your own rules, but by signing on with me, you have made the conscious decision to play by my rules. You will address me as 'Sir', and by no other name! You will follow every order I give to the letter, and I'll know if you get it wrong. THAT MEANS YOU! MIDDLE ROW, THIRD FROM THE LEFT! GET OVER HERE!" I gave the speech my best "I am the leader" tone. The mercenary I had picked at random sheepishly walked up to where I had indicated. The hapless recruit was a human freelancer, green and inexperienced. "GET DOWN AND GIVE ME 20 PUSH-UPS!" The recruit balked, and dropped to the ground and flawlessly performed 20 pushups. "Good. This is the level of dedication I expect from all of you. No insubordination will be tolerated with me! Dismissed!" The assembled freelancers left the bridge. All of them except for the Krogan. "I said, dismissed!" The Krogan laughed "I get it, human. You're trying to play the tough guy. In most mercenary companies, the tough guy is the one who his 'friends' let get killed. I can do that job for you, human. I can drill these pyjak into shape in no time. You aliens are all so squishy, you'd never last in a Krogan training camp." "And who are you to tell me how to do my job?" I snidely replied. "I'm just a burnt out old Krogan Battlemaster with more than a couple-a centuries under his belt. You should have seen me in my prime, I'd be able to take down any of these so called "freelancers" with just my fists. I can at least deal with troublesome recruits, nothing like what a human'd do." "Tell you what. I don't have time to deal with training these fools. I have plans for that garden world in this star system. It shouldn't exist, so it's the perfect world to hide on." I stated. The Krogan remained unconvinced. "So you're some sort-a criminal? Am I supposed to be impressed with this?" I shook my head "I'm not really a criminal, just looking to lie low. Maybe this whole Reaper thing will blow over." The bridge door closed as the Krogan walked out. I quickly tasked the shipboard VI to prepare a landing vector. There was no time for fancy scouting probes and landing parties, now was the time for action. I signaled the mercenaries to prepare for a landing, and started the descent.
EncounterEncounter In which Ponies are first encountered As the descent to my new home started, I reflected on past events. Like I said, I'm a clone. I'm a clone who for all intents and purposes, should not exist. Only because one Maya Brooks saved me from the Cerberus labs. Maya groomed me to replace the original Shepard, and make everything the way it should have been: Humans before Aliens. Only the plan to - ahem - remove - the first Shepard didn't work so well. It was executed perfectly, even if he killed all of the CAT6 mercenaries assigned to kill him. But enough about that. There's never much time to think when you're in an adrenaline filled situation; every choice or decision must be made in a split second and then followed through by the related action. I hadn't realised it, but the entirety of what happened after I fell from the Normandy was like that. The threat of Citadel Security discovering me was too damn high! The only time I had relaxed was after I left the Citadel, if only for a split second. I activated my Omni-tool and accessed the ship's autopilot. A quick scan for suitable landing locations showed that there was one close to where I was descending. The site was a clearing in the middle of a large, overgrown forest. It also contained some ruins, perhaps leftover from some indigenous species that wiped itself out, like we humans almost did, oh so many times before. The turbulence you would expect from diving into the atmosphere of a planet was mostly blocked by the freighter's built-in motion dampers, and protected from the flames of high speed reentry by the limited kinetic barriers. The ship carefully set down near a sort of keep, a large castle if you will. The place was in quite the state of disrepair, but I would have liked to see it in its prime. The remaining architecture was beautiful by modern standards, quite a lot like the Roman era of architecture too. Whoever built it had an astounding knowledge of mathematics, it must have been perfect down to the milimetre. The landing of the freighter dislodged some of the stone work, collapsing some sections of the keep. Well, I can't worry about old hunks of rock now, there's work to be done! With the ship set down, I'd need to disguise it, find a good place to build a hideout, and...I stopped myself. I keep getting worked up over what I'm going to do, setting plans that hinge on certain aspects that just don't work that way. I keep building on an unstable foundation, going higher and higher, regardless of any other way to build it, following one diagram the whole way, and CRASH! The whole thing comes toppling down like a tower of building blocks! Actually, a lot like the dislodged parts of that well-crafted castle. I put the ship into a state of grounding, disabling engines, lowering kinetic barriers, reducing the signals that would be a give away to any passerby. Now if the Normandy comes along, I won't be hidden much longer. The original me has an uncanny knack for ferreting out "secret" operations. Speaking of him, why is he so special? If it's biological we should be equals. If it's a matter of augmentations, I have those as well. If it's a matter of forces, he should be dead! I had hundreds of mercs at my disposal and he killed every last one of them. Maybe it's who he has at his disposal. Krogan? Check. Turian...Check. Quarian? Yep. Humans? Plenty. Salarians? More than enough. Robots? No, but unnecessary. Artificial lifeforms are inferior to regular life. No way I'd get a Drell. I moved out of command room and into one of the airlocks. I opened it and closed it behind me. I went walking through the ruin. I fought him one on one, mano a mano, with plenty of little distractions to keep him from being too fancy. I got him into hand-to-hand combat. I almost had him beaten until his lackeys backed him up. I even used the same tactics as he did. Hell, I used my medigel at the right time too. My CAT6 mercs were the best of the best, top of their classes, they should have been more than a match for his ragtag band of misfits. But the three little teams destroyed what was effectively a small army by 21st century Earth standards. Maybe it was the Prothean he picked up on Eden Prime? I should get a Prothean too. Now, where am I? The forest? There was a small hut nearby, almost one of those old Teepees you'd see in the Western B movies, because I assume those are still B rated. A small squat little hut, with a door barely tall enough for me to squeeze through. Inside, I found the stereotypical evil witch dwelling style house, complete with double bubble, boil and trouble, middle of the room, suspended over the fire pit, cauldron. The walls were lined with books and scrolls of untold arcane knowledge. Half finished potions littered the room, I had even stepped in one on the way inside. Well, it was fun and all, but I'm going back to the ship. And then I was hit by a tree. Coming too, I saw stone work on a ceiling. This stone work was not unlike the old castle the freighter had landed in, but in an obviously better condition. I heard the clip clopping of little horse feet on stone. I looked down. My armor was scarred with the marks of various attempts to pierce it. Crap, I'd just painted that! My helmet was still on, and I suspected I had a concussion. A tree trunk had been swung from the trees just as I had left the hut. I think I managed to catch a glimpse of pink hair-ribbon before the tree hit my face. Did I mention that I was on an operating table? Whatever hit me with the tree must've thought I'd died, and took me in for testing. I checked the hardsuit logs. Gah, scrambled! The clip clopping ended and I froze stock still. Whatever had me captured thought I was dead, there was no reason for me to give my survival away. I picked up a strange language, almost like the neighing of a horse? that couldn't be right. Regardless, I filed away the language snippet for future reference. The creature came over to me and began moving the operating table out of the room. I heard more horse noises as I was carted down a hallway. We entered another room. This one had a few more horse-noise-creatures. If anything, they were discussing me. One of them looked over me. Surprise, surprise, this thing looked a lot like a horse. It shined a flashlight into my helmet to try and elicit a reaction. My optical enhancements rendered me immune to the sudden flash of light, so I still didn't move. The horse-creature made more noises, and I detected a pattern. Could I translate this thing's noises into words? My questions went unanswered as the creature lowered a large device over me. A few levers were pulled and the device began to chip away at my armor. I delivered an overload charge to the device before it cut too deep. The chipping machine blew up in front of me. The horse things went into a panic as I sat up and looked around. Computer stations were set up to monitor me and the machine. I reached for one of my guns...nothing. My guns were gone, and I had spent all of the old guy's hard earned money on them! I rolled off the table and to my feet. A horse scientist tried to block me, but a swift knee to the face took it down a notch. The other horse scientists started trampling one another to get away from me. A biotic shockwave sent them flying off of their feet, and out of the way. I walked out of the open doorway. This was indeed a science lab, in nearby rooms I saw science horses experimenting on various creatures. One room held a chitinous horse-like insect, one a large scorpion tailed cat-esque creature, in one there was a piece of Prothean technology, and in another one was pieces of my armor and weapons. Well, judging by that room, I'm not going to get my guns back any time soon. A troop of horses armed with Corinthian style helmets and spears came into the room opposite me. Some of the horses had horns, others had wings. Technically I could call them unicorns and pegasi. One unicorn coloured white and blue stood in the front of them. It made more horse noises at me, did it sound angry? Poor thing, it thought it could stop me. I put it into a biotic stasis field, stopping it in its tracks. The other unicorn horses began to shoot some sort of biotic field out of their horns, while the pegasi horses charged me with their spears. I charged the pegasi myself and plowed right through them, sending more than one of them flying. God, I haven't tried using biotics since I fought Shepard, I forgot how much effort I needed! I paused to catch my breath, and the white and blue unicorn came out of the stasis field. It was visibly frightened, as it saw how much more powerful my biotics were over the unicorns. Nonetheless, it put aside its fear and charged me too. I mustered my strength and jumped; I jumped right onto the horse's back! The unicorn madea distressed noise, and I exerted my dominance over it. I rode out of the room. I came out into a room out of a fairytale, a huge throne room. With no time to lose, I steered the hapless unicorn by the horn to the massive doors at one end of the room. Author's Note Well, that wasn't so hard, was it? Take a guess at where Shepard is. Really, take a good guess.
AgreementAgreement In which Shepard's clone makes a deal Just as I was about to ride out of the lavish throne room, something spoke into my mind. "And what do you think you're doing? Are you...riding him? You are forcing Shining Armor to carry you out of the palace! How despicable." A dark, brooding, horned AND winged horse walked out of a side passage and into my path. "Hmm, interesting. A natural resistance to the mind melding. Could another project have survived? Perhaps a-" "Cut the crap and let me out of here, you freak." I rallied under the strange being's power "Your mind tricks don't work on me!" I brought all the power my mind could muster to bear against this new foe. I felt the easing of a migraine that I never knew that I had, as the pressure from the dark horse abated. "Oh, it can actually resist my will? Wonderful, a new challenge. Maybe I'll get a chance to play with you before I kill you I always loved the ones that-" "Luna! What are you...Oh, is that the new test subject?" A new wing/horn horse, this one with white fur and a rainbow mane. How many colours of these are there? The dark horse, Luna replied "Don't worry, Tia. I've got it under control-" "Oh the poor thing! You've nearly smothered it with your will! There, there little one. Celestia has you now." A warm, almost motherly presence registered in my mind, a sharp contrast to the previous cold and alien one. "Oh, is it..?" "Riding poor Shining Armor? Yes. Yes it is, dear sister. Judging by the commotion in the labs, this...this thing put up a fight." My new friend Luna looked disgusted with the very thought of me. "One of the Apple family, erm, the one with a bow in her mane, she contacted me through that student of yours that there was a strange creature she had killed in the Everfree Forest. Evidently, it had gone romping around the zebra immigrant's house. She then fashioned a trap out of some vines and a fallen tree to ambush the creature when it left. According to her, the creature was dead when she came back to it hours later. Judging by this, it wasn't dead." "That's quite the story. Now, I have never seen something like this lost soul before on this world, so it's obviously extraterrestrial. Did you think to search for a crash site? Or maybe a landing site?" Tia asked. Luna answered without hesitation "I dispatched a platoon of my personal guard to comb the Everfree Forest right after I received the message. The Apple was hesitant to hand over the creature to the force sent to retrieve it, but she was persuaded otherwise." "This is all very touching, but I'm right here you know. I've got places to be, and things to do." I deadpanned. "Don't be so sure of that. Why are you on this planet? Why did you choose to land in the Everfree Forest? Are there more of your kind with you? Do you intend harm towards this planet or its denizens? What is your-" "I think that's quite enough Luna. Let it speak rather than interrogate it." Tia interrupted. "I don't know if I can really trust either of you, but I'll tell you something. I am a human, a member of a marsupial species that is native to the Sol system. Humans are adaptive, can conform to nearly any situation, are a recent addition to the galactic community, but have quickly risen to a position of power. The Council, a governmental body whose central embodiment is the massive space station known as the Citadel, has recently allowed a human to join their ranks. The other Council species are as follows: Turian, an avian species famed for their military prowess; Salarian, an amphibious species at the forefront of scientific know-how; and Asari, a monogendered species that are the most influential and respected sentient species in the galaxy. I have come here seeking refuge from the Reaper War. A race of gigantic, sentient machines has descended upon the galaxy in an attempt to wipe out all life. I was hoping to be able to stay here for the duration of it." "Do you remember the Reapers, Celestia?" The dark horse asked. Celestia frowned, and intoned "You should not have mentioned them. The Reapers are a serious threat to the well-being of all space-faring life. Fortunately, Atlas is populated by the species that will not be culled in this cycle." "I can stay, right?" I questioned. "The technology you bring will ensure our rise to power, so therefore, you must also stay," Luna nodded. "Allow me to touch minds and grant you a boon." Begrudgingly, I obliged. "We grant you mastery of this planet's language. Use this gift well, alien, and do not scruple it like so many others have." With that, the two contrasts left my awareness, allowing my mind to recover. "CELESTIA! Get this monster off of me! It's going to crush me!" The aforementioned Shining Armor whined. Evidently, he had been struggling to escape the weight of my body. "Be glad I didn't crush you, little horse." I growled. "THE MONSTER SPEAKS!" I eased off of the pony and let it run away. I addressed the two 'alicorns' "So no more negotiations? That's it, that's all folks?" Celestia spoke to me using her real voice. "Yes. What is your name, human?" A large object crashed through the doors of the throne room. The shuttle that I had stolen whirled and bashed into the narrow room. A large contingent of guard horses chased after it, shooting their horns and wielding their spears menacingly. The shuttle rolled, and avoided the horn blasts. The shuttle took a long pass and CRASH! It streaked across the floor and knocked over the throne. The shuttle bounced and flipped upside down, then one of the side doors opened. "SHEPAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRD!" Author's Note Oh boy, super OOC time! My favourite part of the book.
AssignmentAssignment In which Shepard receives a task The krogan who had usurped my power back at the freighter popped his head out of the crashed shuttle. "SHEPAAAAARD! Hurry and get in the shuttle before these things get vicious!" he shouted. With no real options, I ran to confront him. That bastard had the nerve to not only order me around, but discover and use the original name? I'm gonna kill him! A straight sprint through the disorganised ranks of horse-land militants and I made it to the upturned shuttle. The krogan closed the door behind me as I leaped the last few metres inside. "You bastard! using your smooth talking to get on my good side, undermining my command, and then stealing my shuttle?" "To be fair Shepard, you stole it first." "That's not the point! AND STOP CALLING ME SHEPARD!" "Oh, you're not Shepard? Then where'd you get that N7 armor in the captain's quarters? How about your tactical log? You even have Spectre authorisation." he pointed out. "You broke into my captain's quarters? And read my personal files?" I questioned. "It's not like you locked any of them Shepard. The password to your room is 'password', and the private terminal code is 1234. Not exactly the most subtle solutions." I really did that? I must be more distracted than I thought. "And undermining my command?" "Really Shepard, there was no command over them to begin with. The only thing most of those pyjak will answer to is their paycheck. Name's Yargot Brill, by the way. Hear something?" Brill turned to the door of the shuttle, activated the exterior cameras, and looked at the main console. "Looks like these horses are trying to get in the shuttle. They're stabbing at the hull, and shooting it with biotic attacks." I looked at him and said "Those things are using biotics? I didn't notice that." "When you've been around as long as I have, you learn to recognise different styles of attack. These creatures resemble the Earth creatures known as horses or ponies, but some features are exaggerated. Some appear to have a natural conduit of biotic energy, in a form of the mythical Unicorn, while others have feathered wings, similar to the classical Pegasus. And then there are some without either appendage type. Oh, look at that!" "What is it? And why do you think I trust you?" "There's two larger horses with horns and wings moving towards us, why do you think these things hate us so much?" "Maybe it has something to do with you flying into the heart of their civilization, and crashing through their centre of government?" "Eh, that might be it. Oh look, the big ones are trying to communicate. I'll put them through to you." "No! Don't-" But it was too late to protest, as Luna's voice echoed through the shuttle's narrow confines. "HUMAN! EXIT THE VEHICLE OR WE WILL KILL BOTH YOU AND THE LIZARD!" I shot a mean look at Brill for doing this to me, but he didn't notice. "We're coming out Luna, just don't expect us to cooperate with your demands!" I shouted to it. Brill shrugged and popped open the shuttle door, nailing Luna in the chin on the way up. The pony looked furious, barely containing its anger. Stepping out of the shuttle, I made sure to kick its shins on the way out, just to spite it. "Human, for crimes against our kingdom, I sentence you and your crew member permanent service to my student Twilight Sparkle, until you learn the better of your ways." Celestia said matter-of-factly. Luna looked aghast "Are you out of your mind? These things are dangerous, and a threat to the security of the entire planet! If left unchecked, they could destroy us all" "I have considered that. If you two, or any who came here with you exhibit any form of harm towards the integrity of Equestria, you will be marked for extermination by me personally. In that event, our prior and future agreements will be null and void, counteracting any protections, boons or rewards granted to you." Celestia rebuked. "The present members of the Royal Guard will escort you to my student for further orders." "I guess that will have to suffice. I'll be watching you, Shepard. I'll know your every move, when and where it happens." Luna threatened. "You'll be dead before you get the chance to come for me." I retaliated. Brill looked back and forth between Luna, Celestia, and me."So are you following this, Shepard? Because I don't speak space pony." Author's Note Would you look at that. 5 chapters in already! Where will this adventure take us next?
