If It Meant Living: Mass Effect 1

7: Sins

The distress call had come in just as they were returning from a little side trip to retrieve Wrex’s ancestral family armor.  If such a thing were possible, Wrex could possibly be considered giddy.  Shepard was grinning and shaking her head at Wrex when Joker broke in over the comm.  An asteroid was being artificially propelled straight into humanity’s largest extra-solar colony and they were the only ship with a hope of reaching it in time.  So they turned around, put their armor back on, and landed the Mako on an asteroid – to Joker’s gleeful delight.

Shepard jumped out of the Mako to turn on a transmitter at the crest of a “hill” and stopped in her tracks.  Terra Nova dominated the sky, looming impossibly large over the asteroid.  She swore she could almost reach out and touch it.  It was stunning.  She had seen many beautiful places in her life; that fact in no way detracted from the fact that the vista in front of her was absolutely stunning.

“Anyone got a camera?”

“Sorry Commander, left it on the Normandy with the backpacks and picnic basket.”  Shepard shot Ashley a mildly dirty look.  If she didn’t want to appreciate the spectacular sight above, that was just fine.  Shepard would stand there and gawk as long as she wanted, dammit. 

Her gawking was promptly interrupted by a squawk on the radio.  A woman’s voice started speaking in what seemed a hushed whisper.  “I don’t know who you are, but I hope you’re here to help.  There are three propulsion torches around the asteroid you need to shut off.“ 

“Who is this?” 

“My name’s Kate Bowman, an engineer on the project – I need to go; they’re holding us hostage in the— ”  She broke off in static.

Shepard wistfully took one last look of wonder at the view before her.  “Time to go to work.” 

The first torch was just down the hill, the “off” switch presumably in the adjoining building.  A vehicle was parked outside.  They went in with weapons drawn.

A Batarian mercenary team met them inside the door.  Goddamn Batarians. 

The room exploded in mass effect fields and bullets.  After appropriately dealing with the mercenaries, they quickly located the conveniently-labeled “off” switch.  One down, two to go. 

On the way back out, however, they were met by a human.  Did he seriously just shoot at her?  She sighed.  Her rule about trying to kill someone who was shooting at her was really become more of a “guideline,” wasn’t it?  Chief engineer on the project, turned out.  He explained in excruciating detail just how much worse the situation was than she had thought.  He also had some helpful information on the Batarian terrorists running this operation.

Shepard responded to the information with disdain.  “The Batarian government is a rogue state.  They don’t abide by the Citadel’s rules, regulations or treaties.  And…if even they can’t keep their own crazies in line, well, we’ll do it for them.”

As they left the building Kaidan remarked, “Commander…I’ve never heard you talk about aliens that way before.”

“Then you’ve never heard me talk about Batarians before.  I’ve never met one who was worth one goddamn.”

Kaidan frowned.  “Well, neither have I, I suppose, but I don’t doubt they exist.”

“I do.  Slavers, thieves, killers.  Every one of them.”  Shepard quickened her pace and strode off towards the Mako.

Unwilling to let it go, Kaidan jogged up to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. 

“Shepard, stop.  What’s going on?  I’ve never seen you like this before.”