Warming to Miranda (Support Thread) 2.0

Chapter 6

Miranda turned as the elevator door hissed open behind her. As she saw the single occupant she raised her voice to the crew and saluted, “Attention on deck!” Everyone in the CIC snapped to attention at their stations as Councillor Anderson exited the elevator. He smiled and raised his hand, “As you were,” he said before turning his attention to Miranda. “Would you mind escorting me to the airlock Miss Lawson?” he said. Miranda stepped down from the command station at the Galaxy Map and smiled, “I’d be happy to Councillor,” she gestured forward, “this way sir.” She stepped into line beside Anderson on the short walk to airlock. He looked to her as they crossed the CIC, “Shepard would like to see you in his cabin when we’re done here Miss Lawson. We had a damned good talk, it’s been a while since I spent a couple of hours just talking and laughing with a friend, but I can only do so much to help him. I convinced him that there are things about him you need to know, things about his past that aren’t documented and are only known by a small handful of people. He’s ready to talk to you about what happened on Elysium, and my advice to you is to simply listen. Let him open up to you, just be there for him when he needs you. Truth be told there isn’t a whole lot else you can do for him except listen and be there for him when he’s finished.” As he finished speaking they reached the entrance to the cockpit. Anderson smiled and threw Miranda a wink before turning to the cockpit and calling to Joker, “Still stroking your console Joker?” Anderson laughed as Joker swung his chair around and glared back at him, “Very funny Councillor,” came the reply as Joker awkwardly got out of his chair and saluted, “It was good to see you again sir.” “Likewise Joker,” Anderson said, offering his hand to Joker and shaking it before turning back to Miranda. “Well Miss Lawson I’d better be getting back to work, can’t have too much fun now can I?” He chuckled briefly, eliciting a smile from Miranda. He offered the formal naval farewell, “Permission to disembark?” “Permission granted sir” Miranda replied, saluting Anderson once more. Anderson returned the salute and entered the airlock, “Take care of him Miss Lawson.” He said as the door sealed behind him. “I will,” she said quietly under her breath, turning to address Joker, “Joker, you have the deck. I’m going up to speak with Shepard.” Joker chuckled, “So that’s what you call it huh?” Miranda tossed him a warning glare before heading back towards the elevator.

Shepard was sat on his couch, leaning forward and looking into the pitcher of water on the table in front of him as though lost in memory. He’d gotten out of bed and managed to find something comfortable in his wardrobe that didn’t irritate his side. He snapped out of his daydream when the chime to his door sounded and he knew exactly who it was going to be. “Come in Miranda” he said. The door hissed open and Miranda walked in, “Anderson said you wanted to talk to me about something” she said, a comforting smile on her face. Shepard looked at her and sighed, “Yes. I haven’t talked to many people about this before, and you’re the first person in years I want to share this with. I want to tell you what happened on Elysium, I want to tell you about Jenny.”

Gunnery Chief Shepard quickly glanced over the low wall he was using as cover, and was rewarded by a hail of rifle fire from the Batarians nearby. Shepard looked around him; most of his men were dead, their bodies lying where they fell. His platoon leader, Second Lieutenant Dieter Weber, lay dead just feet away from him, his grey eyes staring blankly up at the smoke-filled sky, a small blood lined hole in his throat. Private Mitchell was nearby, bleeding from a wound to his abdomen, a wound he wouldn’t survive unless help arrived soon. The few men he had left weren’t even soldiers; they were civilians helping to defend their homes from the Batarian Raiders. The Batarians had landed on the edge of the colony, near the industrial district and so far they’d managed to hold them, giving most of the civilians a chance to get to the shelters near the centre of the colony. A few had volunteered to help the few Marines stationed on Elysium to defend the colony. A single company of Marines trying to defend the capital city simply wasn’t enough. Commander Martinez had sent Shepard’s platoon to the industrial district while the other platoons were spread thinly around the rest of the capital. He felt someone squeeze his hand and he looked to his left, into the eyes of Jennifer Holmes, his fiancée. “It’s ok Shepard, everyone here will do our best for you. You can get us through this, I know you can.” She kissed him lightly on the lips and smiled, until she looked around at the dead bodies around them. “We all knew what we were getting ourselves into when we volunteered to help you.” She sighed heavily until a shout from across the street caught everyone’s attention. Mitchell had seen something in the sky, something coming towards their location at high speed. The Batarians had brought in a fighter to try and force the entrenched defenders out of their positions.

Shepard’s eyes widened at the horror he knew was coming towards them. “Fall back! Everybody fall back! Get into the warehouses!” he shouted, signalling the direction everyone should head for. He turned to Jenny, “Help me get Mitchell out of here. I’m not leaving him to those Batarian bastards. You get him, I’ll cover you.” With that Shepard swung his Lancer up over the wall aimed down the sights and started firing. He kept a close eye on the rifle’s heat monitor, firing in short bursts so that the weapon didn’t overheat. He saw one Batarian pop up to return fire and mangled his head with a few well placed slugs. As the fighter drew perilously close Shepard abandoned his cover and headed backwards towards the warehouses. Seeing their enemy falling back more Batarians advanced, several of them struck down by fire from Shepard’s rifle and another struck by dark energy and hurled back into the wall of a nearby building with a sickening crunch. Shepard knew that charging his body with dark energy would create an aura around his body, an aura that all the Batarians could see and aim for, which was exactly what he wanted. If that fighter saw him then maybe it would concentrate on him and not the fleeing civilians. Most of them were inside the nearest warehouse now; Jenny and Mitchell were almost to the door. Shepard looked back to the fast approaching fighter and realized with horror that the pilot was ignoring him. He was going for the warehouse! “Jenny! Jenny, get back! Get back!” As he screamed for her to stop the fighter launched a pair of missiles that streaked in on the warehouse, exploding on impact. Shepard watched with horror as Jenny, the woman he loved, was blown backwards by the force of the impact, watched as she hit the ground with a sickening thud. He ran over to her, his heart pounding in his chest, terror clawing at him. "No," he said, barely audible, his voice hoarse with emotion. The sight of her lifeless body crumpled in an awkward pose hit him like a biotic slam. "Jenny, no..." he could barely hear himself, as tears welled in his eyes. He fell to his knees beside her, slowly rolling her over. He looked into her vacant eyes and knew that she was gone, her face blackened and burned by the explosion, and her body broken from the impact. His eyes welled up with tears, grief and rage taking hold of him as he began to sob uncontrollably, cradling her in his arms. He kissed her dead lips and let out a scream of rage. The tears stopped as anger and rage flashed into his eyes. He gently lowered her body to the ground, hefted his rifle and was suddenly wreathed in an aura of blue flame.

Shepard looked up and saw that the fighter was swinging around for another pass, just to make sure every last defender was dead. His face twisted with rage and he flexed his muscles, generating a field of dark energy that he sent hurtling towards the incoming fighter. Shepard watched as it pierced the cockpit, killing the pilot almost certainly, and blew right through the back of the fighter. The Batarian fighter began to break apart and exploded, showering debris across the burning area. Gunfire from behind him quickly forced Shepard to refocus. Instead of diving for cover as all his training told him he should do, he stood his ground, ready to die. Everything he loved in the galaxy had been taken from him, everyone he had loved on Mindoir was dead, and now so was his one bright light in the galaxy, Jenny. The Batarians charged and Shepard sighted down his rifle. He squeezed the trigger and held it down, no longer caring if the Lancer overheated or not. He sprayed across the charging Batarians, gunning down half a dozen before the alarm sounded on his rifle and it overheated. He threw the weapon away and flung himself at the Batarians, determined that though he would die, he would not die alone. Several slugs were deflected by his barriers as he charged at the Batarians, his biotic field flaring as he manipulated it to decrease his own mass, increasing his speed. He leapt at the first Batarian, aiming a kick at his ribcage. At the moment his kick connected he inverted his biotic field to increase his mass. The increase in mass combined with his momentum caused his kick to shatter the Batarian’s ribcage, collapsing his chest entirely. As he came out of the manoeuvre, Shepard flung a ball of dark energy at another nearby Batarian who screamed as
the molecules of his body were torn apart.

A metal slug broke through Shepard’s barriers and struck him the left shoulder, the Batarian who fired it quickly found himself being pulled up into the air before falling back to the ground head first and landing sickeningly. The remaining few Batarians paused, fearing the maelstrom of death that stood before them. That maelstrom of death was Shepard, and Shepard was the last thing those few Batarians saw. Shepard used the dark energy in his body to lighten his mass again and leaped high into the air and landed in the middle of the Batarians, lashing out with fast and furious blows, increasing the mass of his body at the moment of impact, shattering bone and tearing flesh with each furious blow. When no more Batarians were left standing, Shepard looked around and the rage began to fade. One of them was still alive, but not for long. “Please, have mercy!” he pleaded. After what he’d seen Shepard was having none of it. He drew his pistol and aimed it at the Batarian’s face, “You mean like the mercy you showed these people?” He pulled the trigger, spattering the ground with blood and brain tissue. As the last of the rage and anger left his weary body, the grief and sorrow took hold of him. He dropped his gun on the ground and walked back to where Jenny still lay. He dropped to his knees and took her body in his arms, cradling her as he wept uncontrollably. He was still holding onto her when reinforcements from the SSV Agincourt arrived half an hour later.

Shepard raised his head from his hands, tears in his eyes. “We were due to get married in six weeks Miranda. The Alliance pinned the Star of Terra on my chest and put me on the N7 training programme and called me a hero. But those people are dead because of me. She’s dead because of me. I killed her Miranda. I failed her, I killed her.” He broke off and lowered his head. When he raised it again he looked deep into Miranda’s eyes. “I haven’t felt about anybody the way I felt about Jenny since she died, until I met you. I don’t know what I’d do if I lost you Miranda.” Miranda smiled and gave him a gentle kiss, “You’re not going to lose anyone, at least not if I have anything to say about it. I’ve made arrangements to take the shuttle to Elysium while the Normandy is in dry-dock. Maybe it’ll do you some good to go back there and see what you saved, not just what you lost. And I’ll be there with you.”

Modifié par DarthReavus, 16 mars 2010 - 06:39 .

#19401
MegWithAMouth

Posté 16 mars 2010 - 06:03

#19402
DarthReavus

Posté 16 mars 2010 - 06:05

#19403
MassAffected

Posté 16 mars 2010 - 06:09

#19404
Ieldra

Posté 16 mars 2010 - 06:11

#19405
ComTrav

Posté 16 mars 2010 - 06:14

#19406
Andysilv

Posté 16 mars 2010 - 06:14

#19407
epoch_

Posté 16 mars 2010 - 06:15

#19408
Ieldra

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#19409
jtav

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#19410
Ieldra

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#19411
ComTrav

Posté 16 mars 2010 - 06:18

#19412
ComTrav

Posté 16 mars 2010 - 06:23

#19413
DarthReavus

Posté 16 mars 2010 - 06:24

#19414
Flashy91

Posté 16 mars 2010 - 06:24

#19415
MassAffected

Posté 16 mars 2010 - 06:24

#19416
Ieldra

Posté 16 mars 2010 - 06:25

#19417
DarthReavus

Posté 16 mars 2010 - 06:28

#19418
shinobi602

Posté 16 mars 2010 - 06:29

#19419
Melra

Posté 16 mars 2010 - 06:33

#19420
shinobi602

Posté 16 mars 2010 - 06:34

#19421
MassAffected

Posté 16 mars 2010 - 06:34

#19422
Andysilv

Posté 16 mars 2010 - 06:36

#19423
Ieldra

Posté 16 mars 2010 - 06:36

#19424
Jediknight120

Posté 16 mars 2010 - 06:37

#19425
MassAffected

Posté 16 mars 2010 - 06:38

Warming to Miranda (Support Thread) 2.0

#19401 MegWithAMouth Posté 16 mars 2010 - 06:03

#19402 DarthReavus Posté 16 mars 2010 - 06:05

#19403 MassAffected Posté 16 mars 2010 - 06:09

#19404 Ieldra Posté 16 mars 2010 - 06:11

#19405 ComTrav Posté 16 mars 2010 - 06:14

#19406 Andysilv Posté 16 mars 2010 - 06:14

#19407 epoch_ Posté 16 mars 2010 - 06:15

#19408 Ieldra Posté 16 mars 2010 - 06:15

#19409 jtav Posté 16 mars 2010 - 06:16

#19410 Ieldra Posté 16 mars 2010 - 06:16

#19411 ComTrav Posté 16 mars 2010 - 06:18

#19412 ComTrav Posté 16 mars 2010 - 06:23

#19413 DarthReavus Posté 16 mars 2010 - 06:24

#19414 Flashy91 Posté 16 mars 2010 - 06:24

#19415 MassAffected Posté 16 mars 2010 - 06:24

#19416 Ieldra Posté 16 mars 2010 - 06:25

#19417 DarthReavus Posté 16 mars 2010 - 06:28

#19418 shinobi602 Posté 16 mars 2010 - 06:29

#19419 Melra Posté 16 mars 2010 - 06:33

#19420 shinobi602 Posté 16 mars 2010 - 06:34

#19421 MassAffected Posté 16 mars 2010 - 06:34

#19422 Andysilv Posté 16 mars 2010 - 06:36

#19423 Ieldra Posté 16 mars 2010 - 06:36

#19424 Jediknight120 Posté 16 mars 2010 - 06:37

#19425 MassAffected Posté 16 mars 2010 - 06:38

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