Here we go guys, the last section of the story. I hope you enjoy it.
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Epilogue:
It had been three days since the evacuation convoy arrived to relocate the colonists to a safer planet. Most of the freighters had been filled with their precious cargo and now awaited the go ahead to proceed to the relay. Standing on one of the ruined landing pads at the spaceport, Jack looked out on the destruction wrought by the Reapers during their invasion. She had just arrived here, from a funeral, to assist Shepard with directing the last of the evacuations. Having asked one of the enlisted personnel to inform him of her arrival, she surveyed the surrounding landscape while awaiting directions.
Not for the first time, the scene brought back memories of one of the toughest decisions she had ever made in her life. It wasn’t the most painful to be sure, that had been when she allowed Shepard to convince her to come here, but she had struggled with this choice none the less. She had stood here, almost in the exact same spot, almost twenty four hours earlier. Standing next to her were Jane and Tabitha, Jane having finished her treatment under the doctor from the Orizaba. It had turned out that Jane’s injuries were far more severe than anyone had originally thought. The young girl had flat lined twice on the table, only to be brought back with the most extreme of measures. Luckily enough for her, the injections of medigell, during the escape, had been enough to keep her going through the damage that her broken rib had wreaked upon her heart and lungs. Once the surgery was over, it was a simple matter of monitoring her until the tissues had repaired. Aided by the periodic injections of medigell Jane had recovered quickly, though it would be some time before she would be able to engage in strenuous activity.
Despite the horror that she had just been through, Tabitha looked no worse for wear. It was kind of scary just how much the young girl was starting to remind Jack of herself when she was that age. Both girls had refused to board the shuttle to the freighter that was awaiting them in orbit. Though the rest of their class had already found their families and gone up, these two were waiting with her. Jane was an orphan, and thus was a ward of the state until she reached the age of majority. Tabitha had yet to find her parents, and it wouldn’t be until after the meeting with Shepard that she would be told they had died while escaping the husks. Mercifully, their bodies had not been impaled on the fields of Dragon’s Teeth that littered the fields around the colonies. She had at least had something human to say good bye to when the funeral had been held.
As she had waited, Shepard walked up to the three of them, this pad having been established as their meeting place, and had taken her hands in his. He already seemed to know what was on her mind. Jack was starting to suspect that Shepard was telepathic, either that or Miranda was right and she sucked at hiding her innermost musings.
“You’re going with them to the safe zone.”
It wasn’t a question.
“I have to… They need someone to look out for them, someone to guide them through all this bull****. Not just Tabitha and Jane, but all of my students. You saw how shaken up most of the staff were after the battle. They were totally useless during the fight. Most of them died because they froze up. I need to be there to make sure that doesn’t happen again.”
So much went unspoken; so much couldn’t be said in front of the students. The safe zone really wasn’t safe; the Reapers could attack it as easily as they could any other colony. The only thing that would dissuade the Reapers was the location near a heavily guarded sector of Citadel space. Once the Reapers finished with Earth, they would be along in their own good time.
Looking into his eyes, she couldn’t stop the moistening of her own.
“I’m sorry.”
She had expected him to push, expected him to tell her that she was needed at the front lines. Instead, he had merely smiled.
“Don’t be.”
Then he had kissed her. There had been no hot flare of passion, no sudden release of pent up emotion, just acceptance. In one gentle motion he had said everything that need to be said and more. In that moment the universe seemed to stop just for them, and she loved him more than she ever had before.
The two girls, of course, had watched the scene with stars in their eyes. The whole thing was playing out like one of their favourite romance vids.
Then the moment was lost as Sara approached them. Jack could see from the look on her friend’s face that she bore ill tidings.
Excusing herself, Jack went over to the mathematics teacher. Her ankle had healed up well, though her mental state was another matter. Sara had the unfortunate task of helping to identify the dead as they were brought in. She had lived at the colony long enough that she knew many of those associated with the Academy and the surrounding area. It had been easy for Jack to see that the task was weighing on her.
“Jack… I’ve got some bad news about Tabitha’s parents.”
That was all it took, the euphoric feelings of just moments earlier were gone; washed away with the icy reality of war.
“Sara, what happened? S**t, don’t tell me they were…”
Looking up Sara quickly shook her head.
“No! Thank god… They weren’t turned, but their bodies were… F**k, Jack… They were ripped to shreds.”
Sara had broke down then, the pent up emotions bursting from her in a flood. She held onto Jack for support, to stop herself from falling to her knees. It wasn’t just Tabitha’s parents, it was every positive ID she had made since she had started. Now it was all rushing out of her.
The moment had been awkward for Jack, having never had to comfort anyone like this before. Looking to Shepard, she could see him gently guiding the children away to give her privacy. When he had looked back to her, Jack was able to meet his eyes. He nodded to her and then continued to escort the children away. It had only been a moment, but it was all she needed. The memory of the night before the Omega 4 relay had come back to her. She remembered how he had held her, allowed her the release she needed.
Now, it was her turn to be there for someone else. Gently, she wrapped her arms around her friend and held her until the tears stopped flowing.
The funeral for Tabitha’s parents was short, but it allowed the little girl to say goodbye. Jack would have still been with her, but she was spirited away by the government officials for a psychiatric evaluation. They had explained that she had to be evaluated to ensure viability as a continued candidate for biotic training. It hadn’t slipped her notice that the person who explained the situation to her was Alliance military.
Now, less than an hour after she had been separated from Tabitha, she had nothing to do but wait to be assigned to a work detail. A hand, gently placed upon her shoulder, brought her back from her musings.
“You look pensive, what are you thinking about?”
Jack cocked her head to the side. Once again, Shepard was using words she didn’t know.
“What the f**k does pensive mean?”
Shepard laughed, a small smile starting to form on his face.
“Never mind, what are you thinking about?”
Looking back upon the ruined vista, she sighed.
“Just remembering the reason why we fight, and what we are fighting for.”
Shepard said nothing, simply nodded. Jack turned to him, her face set and fire in her eyes.
“I may not be going with you right now, but when the time comes I want to be by your side.”
Shepard did not look at all surprised by this.
“Oh?”
Jack nodded.
“My students may need me to watch over them for now, but when it’s time to fight back I need to be with you. I can do more for them destroying the enemy then I can while sitting behind the front lines where it’s safe.”
Jack turned her face away, a sudden heat blooming in her cheeks.
“And… I… I can’t bear to be away from you much longer.”
Looking back, they each gazed into the other’s eyes. Jack moved first, but Shepard was not far behind. They had almost come together when a voice rang out.
“My, my, aren’t you two just adorable.”
Jack’s head snapped around to face the unwanted interruption. Off to the side stood a woman, her graying hair standing out against the blue of her uniform undershirt. Jack could immediately tell that this was an Alliance officer even though her jacket had been taken off. Moving away from Shepard she glared at the woman in annoyance.
“What the f**k do you want wrinkles?”
So intent on the intruder was she that she didn’t notice Shepard stiffen and groan in exasperation beside her.
If the woman was insulted by Jack’s comment, she didn’t show it. In fact, the officer smiled broadly.
“My goodness, my son certainly knows how to pick girls with spunk.”
To say that Jack was shocked by this statement would do her an injustice, it would be better to say she was almost catatonic. A string of curses a mile long marched its way through her head.
Shepard made a move to smooth the situation out, but his mother spoke before he could get a word out.
“I’m a little disappointed that you never showed your girlfriend a picture of your dear old mother.”
It was easy to tell from the tone of her voice that she was enjoying the situation.
“The pictures you sent me of Jack don’t do her justice; she is more colourful in person.”
At that comment, Jack felt a connection form between her brain and her mouth. It was a pity she couldn’t control which connection.
“You got a problem with my ink?”
At least she had got the swearing under control. Jack would have to thank her anger managment instructor.
Hannah Shepard laughed at the comment.
“That would be somewhat hypocritical now wouldn’t it?”
Reaching to the collar of her undershirt, Hannah pulled it aside to show the tattoo of a human skull with the designation R3 carved into the forehead. Jack recognised it as the designation given to those who had served in the rapid strike force units. The Alliance had ditched the program in favour of the Special Forces N program.
An impish smile spread across Hannah’s face.
“My husband’s label is placed somewhere a little more private.”
Shepard spoke up at this, though it was hard to tell if he was horrified or embarrassed.
“Mother!”
Jack couldn’t hold back her laugh, remembering her own N7 tat that she had picked up not long after her arrival at the academy. It too was placed in an area that generally saw little sunlight. Already Jack was warming up to this woman.
Placing his head in his hand, Shepard groaned in exasperation. The antics of the two women were already beginning to get on his nerves. Suddenly his mother spoke up again.
“I must say, I was rather happy when I read about the two of you. It does a mother good to know that someone like you will be watching out for my boy.”
At this Shepard looked back to his mother, confusion evident upon his face. Jack too seemed to be confused. Hannah continued.
“Ever since he joined the Special Forces, he has been putting himself in ever increasing amounts of danger. It’s had me worried to no end, and nothing I said ever seemed to slow him down. Now that the two of you are together, I know he’ll be safer with you keeping a tight hold on the leash.”
The devilish grin had never once left Hannah’s lips and as the meaning of her words sank in, Shepard couldn’t hold back the rush of horrified embarrassment that shot through him. Jack, on the other hand, stepped forward, raising her fist to Hannah and smiling conspiratorially.
“You f**king bet I’ll keep an eye on him.”
As his mother and his girlfriend bumped fists, a sudden dawning realization swept through him.
He was completely, utterly, doomed.
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And there ends the story. I hope you enjoyed it at least half as much as I did writting it. I have to say, this is a first writting fan ficton for me, having stuck to my own creations in the past. I have found that, in writting fan ficton, there was a good deal of initial trepidation before I started. One of the drawbacks when posting here on the forums is the chance that the Bioware writters could see my work. I have always felt that, while imitation is one of the greatest flatteries, if the story isn't done right, a fan ficton could end up insulting the writer. Not that all the great fan stories out there are bad, I would never say that of anyone who would put themselves out there for others to judge, but it's more just a feeling I have towards myself. So I hope you understand when I say I had the beginning of this story writen and ready, but delayed in posting it because I felt it wasn't good enough. I still feel that way infact, and it has only been through your support and encouragement that I have continued to post to the end. For that I wish to thank you all, for if not for you, I never would have finished.
Once again, drop me a line and let me know what you think. I would love to know your thoughts both on this section, and the story as a whole. I can only improve through feed back.
In closing: take it easy, and have a good one.
Modifié par Mr. Tanner, 25 février 2012 - 12:29 .
Its too bad they asked her so many spoiler questions, but I guess that's to be expected given that the game is almost here.
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