Post by councillorhackett on Jan 30, 2014 5:41:13 GMT 1
A/N
This is my first fanfiction I've ever written, I wrote this the night before Mass Effect 3 was released but just never published it anywhere. It is set in the travel period that the Normandy goes through as they head back home for Shepard's trial, right after he caused the deaths of so many Batarians.
The Return Trip
The utter silence of the Artemis Tao cluster is broken suddenly by the roaring thunder of a mass relay, the system that lay empty since the Battle for the Citadel saw its first warship since then. The SR2 Normandy exits hyperspace, slowing to a drift of 1600K
"EDI check all systems I don’t want anything sneaking up on us like last time" the helmsmen barked at an entity that did no appear to be there.
Within a second the blue AI appeared out of her console
"There are several flaws in your logic Jeff" EDI said with her expected emotionless tone.
He rolled his eyes, "By all means point them out EDI, we can't all be supercomputers inside of an alliance warship, and since when have you called me Jeff instead of Joker?"
It took EDI longer than usual to reply "I am afraid"
Joker laughed "Machines can feel fear? If Shepard never caused the Geth to fear us I'm afraid to ask what has you scared"
"Please do not laugh Jeff, I am afraid that once the alliance get a hold of the ship I will be removed from the computers and destroyed. I am trying to be as formal as possible so that I can impress the ship inspectors"
Joker shook his head "AI or not EDI everyone onboard knows we would have all died at the Collector base without you, they will refuse to have you removed"
EDI took even longer to respond
"Thank you Joker, I will remember you when I enslave the human race"
Joker turned his chair and stared at her
EDI returned the stare
"That was a joke"
Joker turned back around to face the controls
"Yeah sure it was..."
EDI managed to make her image give off a smile before returning to her console
.
The vent ducts lead to life support, mumbling can be heard but nothing is clear, someone is avoiding the ear of others
"Koyiak, how is the community service? Is the Citadel still treating you alright?"
There was a sigh heard on the other end of the call
"Yes Thane, Dad, sorry"
Thane cut him off
"Don’t apologize, it will take getting used to, I..."
"You don't have to say anymore Dad its ok. Its fine, only a month left but I guess you never get used to clearing out the air ducts"
Thane looked down at the table
"I’ve heard the stories from Bailey, have you... Found any?"
Koyiak sounded confused
"Children? Yes they are very nice just like you said, I’ve made a habit of carrying candy around just for them. They make the job ok, it’s not like there are any other Drell crawling around up here"
Thane smiled
"I guess our race is good at doing something other than assassinating people"
There was a laugh on the other end of the call
"Yeah but good luck convincing them to do this, I wouldn’t if I had a choice"
Thane was silent
"It’s good to hear you laugh Koyiak"
"Thanks Dad"
Thane sat in peaceful bliss, but all good things had to come to an end
"Dad I have to ask you something... It’s personal though"
"Go right ahead Koyiak"
"All those people you killed... How did you manage to not constantly dwell on it?"
Thane's eyes shot to pitch black
"The body is not my own, it moves on the command of others, I am a puppet as my soul watches in horror, there is nothing"
His eyes shift back to normal, he shook his head
"Dad? What was that?"
Thane's smile faded
"A memory; the short answer Koyiak is I didn’t, no one can, Its one of many reasons why I had to keep you off that path"
There was silence on both ends but not long before Chief Bailey can be heard on the other end
"I'm sorry dad I need to get back to work"
"I understand, good luck Koyiak"
"Thanks dad"
Thane ended the call and sat back in his chair staring at the wall, he closed his eyes but not before letting one tear roll down his cheek.
The room next door was just as quiet, a Japanese girl is curled up on the couch, her hood cloak shadowing her face as a visor is pulled down over her eyes, it is plugged into a greybox, a device only used by spies and thieves to capture memories
"Kasumi if you find this need to erase everything"
Kasumi walked towards the talking memory "I’ve lost count of how many times you’ve told me this, but I won’t let go Keiji"
"Holding onto memories won’t bring me back, it will only hold you back!"
Kasumi smiled
"Keiji knew me so well if he made that recording..."
She flipped past the recording and began going through the memories they had together, all the different heists and robberies, all the different intimacies
She found herself stopping and playing events over and over, sometimes just to hear his voice
"Kasumi" it would repeat over and over again
She moved forward and wrapped her arms around the image
"You will never be gone"
She removed the visor hours later and gently placed it aside
She looked out the portside window deep in thought but not saying a word, it was obvious her life was now as empty as the vast starless space she looked at now.
Down the hallway the hum of a biotic field echoes through the entire ship, the Asari's meditations are interrupt by a call from her home world
.
"Lilith? Can this call wait I was in the middle of something
The voice on the other end was hysterical and unintelligible
"Lilith calm down!"
The crying finally stopped
"How could you Samara?! She was your daughter and my sister!"
Samara sighed
"Morinth was Ardyt-Yakshi Lilith, it is my job as a justicar to kill those who threaten galactic safety"
"Don't give me your Justicar bullshit mother, you pretend to be a big shot hero but you’re not! You're just a damn monster like her, you brought her into this world!" Lilith snapped
Samara remained calm
"My code gives me strict rules to follow, there is only black and white, no grey"
"Then why do you try to act like you are better than everyone?"
Samara sat down
"I don't, I do my job, I kill the unjust even if they are my own blood, and you know this"
There was silence on the end
"But not like that"
Lilith said before hanging up
Samara sighed again and went back to her meditations
"I know what I did and I condone it"
"No regrets"
She said as she slipped back in a deep undisturbed trance.
Back down the hall towards center of the ship, stood near the empty med bay, the same one inhabitant who is there whenever the crew needs her
.
"Doctor Chawkwas I hope you are aware of the risks I’m taking to offer you this, won’t you reconsider?"
There was the sound of a bottle opening and a deep sigh from the doctor
"For the last time Adams, no, I stand by the Commander no matter what high command might say about him."
"But if you don’t testify then you’ll be looking at the same sentence! What good does that do you?"
She leaned back and poured her drink
"Adams do you remember Jenkins?"
"Yes he died while serving on the Normandy but-"
"Jenkins reminded me why I served, to help protect the people, my patients, who gladly give their lives for us, if Jenkins, Alenko, and Pressly died just so I could lie and get out on a plea bargain, id never be able to live with myself."
There was a long pause on the other end
"I couldn’t join them Doctor, even though I stood by Shepard, Cerberus is a criminal organization and they cannot be forgiven."
"Alenko accidently murdered his teacher during experimental biotic training, is that why you did not attend the funeral?"
"Good bye Doctor"
"Good bye Adams, we should talk again soon"
This is my first fanfiction I've ever written, I wrote this the night before Mass Effect 3 was released but just never published it anywhere. It is set in the travel period that the Normandy goes through as they head back home for Shepard's trial, right after he caused the deaths of so many Batarians.
The Return Trip
The utter silence of the Artemis Tao cluster is broken suddenly by the roaring thunder of a mass relay, the system that lay empty since the Battle for the Citadel saw its first warship since then. The SR2 Normandy exits hyperspace, slowing to a drift of 1600K
"EDI check all systems I don’t want anything sneaking up on us like last time" the helmsmen barked at an entity that did no appear to be there.
Within a second the blue AI appeared out of her console
"There are several flaws in your logic Jeff" EDI said with her expected emotionless tone.
He rolled his eyes, "By all means point them out EDI, we can't all be supercomputers inside of an alliance warship, and since when have you called me Jeff instead of Joker?"
It took EDI longer than usual to reply "I am afraid"
Joker laughed "Machines can feel fear? If Shepard never caused the Geth to fear us I'm afraid to ask what has you scared"
"Please do not laugh Jeff, I am afraid that once the alliance get a hold of the ship I will be removed from the computers and destroyed. I am trying to be as formal as possible so that I can impress the ship inspectors"
Joker shook his head "AI or not EDI everyone onboard knows we would have all died at the Collector base without you, they will refuse to have you removed"
EDI took even longer to respond
"Thank you Joker, I will remember you when I enslave the human race"
Joker turned his chair and stared at her
EDI returned the stare
"That was a joke"
Joker turned back around to face the controls
"Yeah sure it was..."
EDI managed to make her image give off a smile before returning to her console
.
The vent ducts lead to life support, mumbling can be heard but nothing is clear, someone is avoiding the ear of others
"Koyiak, how is the community service? Is the Citadel still treating you alright?"
There was a sigh heard on the other end of the call
"Yes Thane, Dad, sorry"
Thane cut him off
"Don’t apologize, it will take getting used to, I..."
"You don't have to say anymore Dad its ok. Its fine, only a month left but I guess you never get used to clearing out the air ducts"
Thane looked down at the table
"I’ve heard the stories from Bailey, have you... Found any?"
Koyiak sounded confused
"Children? Yes they are very nice just like you said, I’ve made a habit of carrying candy around just for them. They make the job ok, it’s not like there are any other Drell crawling around up here"
Thane smiled
"I guess our race is good at doing something other than assassinating people"
There was a laugh on the other end of the call
"Yeah but good luck convincing them to do this, I wouldn’t if I had a choice"
Thane was silent
"It’s good to hear you laugh Koyiak"
"Thanks Dad"
Thane sat in peaceful bliss, but all good things had to come to an end
"Dad I have to ask you something... It’s personal though"
"Go right ahead Koyiak"
"All those people you killed... How did you manage to not constantly dwell on it?"
Thane's eyes shot to pitch black
"The body is not my own, it moves on the command of others, I am a puppet as my soul watches in horror, there is nothing"
His eyes shift back to normal, he shook his head
"Dad? What was that?"
Thane's smile faded
"A memory; the short answer Koyiak is I didn’t, no one can, Its one of many reasons why I had to keep you off that path"
There was silence on both ends but not long before Chief Bailey can be heard on the other end
"I'm sorry dad I need to get back to work"
"I understand, good luck Koyiak"
"Thanks dad"
Thane ended the call and sat back in his chair staring at the wall, he closed his eyes but not before letting one tear roll down his cheek.
The room next door was just as quiet, a Japanese girl is curled up on the couch, her hood cloak shadowing her face as a visor is pulled down over her eyes, it is plugged into a greybox, a device only used by spies and thieves to capture memories
"Kasumi if you find this need to erase everything"
Kasumi walked towards the talking memory "I’ve lost count of how many times you’ve told me this, but I won’t let go Keiji"
"Holding onto memories won’t bring me back, it will only hold you back!"
Kasumi smiled
"Keiji knew me so well if he made that recording..."
She flipped past the recording and began going through the memories they had together, all the different heists and robberies, all the different intimacies
She found herself stopping and playing events over and over, sometimes just to hear his voice
"Kasumi" it would repeat over and over again
She moved forward and wrapped her arms around the image
"You will never be gone"
She removed the visor hours later and gently placed it aside
She looked out the portside window deep in thought but not saying a word, it was obvious her life was now as empty as the vast starless space she looked at now.
Down the hallway the hum of a biotic field echoes through the entire ship, the Asari's meditations are interrupt by a call from her home world
.
"Lilith? Can this call wait I was in the middle of something
The voice on the other end was hysterical and unintelligible
"Lilith calm down!"
The crying finally stopped
"How could you Samara?! She was your daughter and my sister!"
Samara sighed
"Morinth was Ardyt-Yakshi Lilith, it is my job as a justicar to kill those who threaten galactic safety"
"Don't give me your Justicar bullshit mother, you pretend to be a big shot hero but you’re not! You're just a damn monster like her, you brought her into this world!" Lilith snapped
Samara remained calm
"My code gives me strict rules to follow, there is only black and white, no grey"
"Then why do you try to act like you are better than everyone?"
Samara sat down
"I don't, I do my job, I kill the unjust even if they are my own blood, and you know this"
There was silence on the end
"But not like that"
Lilith said before hanging up
Samara sighed again and went back to her meditations
"I know what I did and I condone it"
"No regrets"
She said as she slipped back in a deep undisturbed trance.
Back down the hall towards center of the ship, stood near the empty med bay, the same one inhabitant who is there whenever the crew needs her
.
"Doctor Chawkwas I hope you are aware of the risks I’m taking to offer you this, won’t you reconsider?"
There was the sound of a bottle opening and a deep sigh from the doctor
"For the last time Adams, no, I stand by the Commander no matter what high command might say about him."
"But if you don’t testify then you’ll be looking at the same sentence! What good does that do you?"
She leaned back and poured her drink
"Adams do you remember Jenkins?"
"Yes he died while serving on the Normandy but-"
"Jenkins reminded me why I served, to help protect the people, my patients, who gladly give their lives for us, if Jenkins, Alenko, and Pressly died just so I could lie and get out on a plea bargain, id never be able to live with myself."
There was a long pause on the other end
"I couldn’t join them Doctor, even though I stood by Shepard, Cerberus is a criminal organization and they cannot be forgiven."
"Alenko accidently murdered his teacher during experimental biotic training, is that why you did not attend the funeral?"
"Good bye Doctor"
"Good bye Adams, we should talk again soon"