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spectres-n-knights · 7 years ago

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Starborn Saviour - Chapter 1

The Wrath of Heaven Galactic Year: 2204CE 4 years and 11 months earlier Location: Unknown Pain was what drew Shepard back to the land of the living, the aches and pains his body was feeling rousing him to wakefulness. Slowly he pushed off of the ground and put himself into a kneeling position. Shaking his head to clear out the cobwebs, he focused his mind to recall what had happened to him. He vaguely remembered the Kodiak's crash, how his kenetic shields and hastily constructed Barrier had mitigated most of the damage he could have received as he'd struggled to evacuate the burning shuttle, though his armour showed a few scorch marks from the initial explosions. He also vaguely recalled seeing some sort of building in the distance and how he had begun to make his way towards it, hoping to find some way of getting in touch with the Normandy to arrange a pick-up. But after that? Nothing but blackness and shadow. After a moments rest, he slowly got to his feet - though he swayed slightly once upright until he got his bearings back. Once his equilibrium had returned, the marine checked his HUD to make sure that his hardsuit was in working order before turning his attention to his surroundings. Where in the Void am I? The environment around him was like none he'd ever seen before: the sky was a hazy green and the ground beneath his feet was blackened and sickly. Unsure if the air was breathable, he chose to leave is helmet on and double checked that his hardsuit was properly sealed. After confirming that it was, he raised his eyes to the horizon to see if there was anything of note in his environs. A ramp in the distance caught his attention. A good a place as any to try and figure out where the heck I am, he thought to himself, drawing his HMWA and holding it loosely across his body as he set out at a sedate pace. <::::::::{}==[] ~ o ~ O ~ o ~ []=={}::::::::> Reaching the base of the rocky outcropping, Shepard paused a moment before he began to climb it. He was about halfway up when ghastly moans started to fill the air behind him and the marine's heart skipped a beat. He hadn't heard the sound for some time, not since the end of the Reaper War, but he knew what was responsible for it. Husks. Risking a glance over his shoulder, the marine cursed as he saw the particular type that were chasing after him; Abominations. Shepard stopped running immediately and turned to face the Reaper ground forces, opening fire with his assault rifle, expertly hitting some of the kamikaze zombie-like creatures. He stood his ground for about half an hour, his stock of thermal clips slowly dwindling, as wave upon wave of Abominations tried to reach him and overrun his position, but they fell from the soldier-turned-vanguard's incredible accuracy with his rifle and erupted in a visceral explosion of gore and taking scores of their brethren with them, which in turn set off more explosions of the volatile units behind. Realising that the waves were unending, the marine started to slowly walk backwards, retreating to the higher ground and slowing his shooting to the occasional three-shot burst. I can draw them up to the top and then use Charge to haul ass and get away. As he was shuffling backwards, he glanced behind him to judge the distance to the top. Movement at the top of the outcropping caught his eye. What is that? Someone else stuck here? Arming several of his HE grenades before swapping his HMWA for his HMWP, Shepard dropped his deadly payload before disappearing with a crack of displaced air. Reappearing at the top of the ramp, he saw a wispy, almost angelic, golden figure - a woman's figure - waiting for him, an arm outstretched and hand extended. Without thinking, the marine reached for the proffered limb. Two things happen in rapid succession following that action; the nerves in his left arm suddenly coursed with a surge of indescribable pain that soon ran through the rest of his body and then the world around him erupted into a barrage of iridescent green energy. When the latter faded, Shepard's darkening mind just barely registered that he was no longer where he had been before. Then he collapsed foreword, his HMWP slipping from slackening fingers and clattering away from him as the darkness claimed him. <::::::::{}==[] ~ o ~ O ~ o ~ []=={}::::::::> Location: Haven Summerday, 1st of Bloomingtide, 9:41 Dragon Cassandra had been baffled when some of the Inquisition's soldiers had brought in a warrior wearing the most unusual set of armour that she'd ever seen, with bizarre objects attached - somehow - to said armour. The man also had numerous injuries that should have been fatal, as if he had survived an explosion he had been in the centre of. Although he was out cold and therefore not a threat, she had searched him for any weapons and had found and removed two knives - one on his left thigh and the other on his right boot - before putting him in a stock and posting a dozen guards to keep an eye on their prisoner. Shortly after, Leliana had brought an apostate named Solas before her. The elf had witnessed the creation of the Breach and had sought out the fledgling Inquisition in order to join it. According to the Inqusition's Spymaster, knowing that his unique knowledge of the Fade would be of use, the mage had entered the Inquisition's camp voluntarily and surrendered his staff to Chantry forces without protest. He had been granted permission to study the lone survivor of the Divine Conclave's explosion and one of the smaller rifts, in hopes of finding a way to seal the Breach and helping the prisoner. Using healing magic and minor wards, Solas had also managed to prevent the mark on their prisoner's hand from growing and save the stranger's life. Cassandra had been shocked days later when Solas and Adan had both reported that the man was recovering from his wounds faster than what should have been possible, and she, believing that the apostate was responsible for the stranger's speedy recovery, had threatened to have him tried and executed. <::::::::{}==[] ~ o ~ O ~ o ~ []=={}::::::::> 2nd of Bloomingtide "His advanced healing is not of my doing, Seeker," the hedge mage responded to her threats when she'd had him hauled before her, "nor is it your alchemist's. Whoever this man is, he clearly possesses some sort of ability to recover quickly from any wound or injury that he receives." <::::::::{}==[] ~ o ~ O ~ o ~ []=={}::::::::> 4th of Bloomingtide A day and a half had passed since that meeting. Some in Haven had grown restless at the lack of retribution for what the outsider had done and had attempted to take justice into their own hands. Thankfully, Varric had been with Solas at the time and had used his crossbow to dissuade the dissidents from their course of action and leave the stranger be. Hours ago Solas had reported that the man had finally woken and that she would be able to talk to - interrogate - him before the elf and Varric had left the village to seek out one of the smaller rifts to study. Stepping into the room, Cassandra nodded her head at half of the guards. The men sheathed their swords and stepped back allowing her to pass, though they remained tense and ready to spring back into action if needed. The stranger watched her as she came to a stop before him, a guarded and wary look in his eyes but his face betrayed nothing else. So this is the man responsible for the destruction of the Conclave, Cassandra thought to herself as she locked eyes with him. This is Most Holy's murderer. This is Galyan's murderer. At that last thought, Cassandra's mind drifted back to the immediate aftermath of the explosion. <::::::::{}==[] ~ o ~ O ~ o ~ []=={}::::::::> 3 days earlier A hoarse scream rips its way out of her throat as she falls to her knees at the sight of the levelled Temple, the immensity of what’s happened crushing her. Galyan, oh, Galyan! Maker no, Maker why?! All around her the people of Haven have come out of their homes to stare up at the thing that has appeared in the sky in the explosion's wake but she pays them no heed lost as she is in her grief. Never again would she hear his voice. Never again would she see his goofy face The only man she'd ever loved, his life snuffed out long before it should have been. Gone, he's gone. She screams out again, tears streaming down her face, as horror and rage begin to boil inside of her as she watches the explosion dissipate. All the lives lost, not just Galyan's and Justinia's. She will have answers, will find and punish the one responsible for this unspeakable act. Then maybe she can join Galyan at the Maker's side. Suddenly Leliana is at her side, pulling her to her feet, saying something that Cassandra doesn't hear and begins leading the way to the Temple. They're almost at the Temple, have received reports that someone has survived the blast - a stranger suited in an even stranger set of armour - when another explosion rocks what remains of the Temple taking more lives of the men that were trying to get the stranger out of the ruins. <::::::::{}==[] ~ o ~ O ~ o ~ []=={}::::::::> "Tell me why I shouldn't kill you now?" Cassandra growled at the stranger, the grief she was feeling over Galyan's loss fuelling her fury. "The Conclave is destroyed! Everyone who attended is dead! Except for you." "You think I'm responsible." The man stated gravely. "I'm not." "Then explain this!" Cassandra reefed the man's left arm up to reveal the mark on his palm. "Or the fact that you killed more of the Inquisition's soldiers as they tried to move your body?!" The man's brow furrowed at her words before he looked down at his hip. "Shit. My heavy pistol..." He looked back up at her. "Your men touched it, I assume? Only Spectres can handle HMW gear safely." "What do spirits have to do with what you did?!" Cassandra snapped back. "Toto, I'm not in Kansas anymore," the man muttered to himself, confusing Cassandra even more - which in turn only made her angrier. Knowing that if she stayed she would likely do something that she would later come to regret, she decided that she needed to leave in order to cool down. "When I return, I expect you to start talking sense," she told her prisoner curtly as she let his arm drop before turning and leaving the room. <::::::::{}==[] ~ o ~ O ~ o ~ []=={}::::::::> Leliana was in the main part of the Chantry, speaking with Josephine when Cassandra stormed out of the jail. The Spymaster turned her head to regard Cassandra as she approached. "No luck?" She questioned the Left Hand as she came to a stop near her. Cassandra made a sound of disgust. "He speaks in riddles." "Riddles?" Josephine repeated. Cassandra sighed as she tried to shake off some of her frustration. "He's making no sense with the answers he gives me. Perhaps you might have better luck with him, Leliana." Their conversation paused as a group of soldiers strode past the three woman and out of the Chantry to join their brothers and sisters in the fight against the demons. Cassandra caught a brief glimpse of the Breach before one of the men closed the doors, which focused her mind on why she was talking to the prisoner in the first place. Turning back to Leliana, she asked, "Anything from Solas?" "His last report said that he is still no closer to discovering how to close the Breach." Leliana reported. "And the fighting?" "Getting worse as more demons pour through. We need to find a way to seal the Breach. And soon." Feeling suitably calmed enough to try and talk to their prisoner again, Cassandra said her goodbyes to Josephine and departed. Leliana fell into step with her as she returned to the prison. <::::::::{}==[] ~ o ~ O ~ o ~ []=={}::::::::> Stepping into the cell behind Cassandra, Leliana finally got a good look at their prisoner. The man looked to be in his late forties, perhaps early fifties. He was handsome, though Leliana doubted he was the sort of man who knew or cared for such things. His face had a stern stillness to it, a serious look clouding his cobalt eyes as his captors entered the room. He had a strong jaw dusted with stubble, his hair - possibly sable in colour, though in the prison’s low light it was hard to be sure - was cropped short against his head. "Are you going to be sensible now?" Cassandra barked at the man. The sound of the Seeker's voice snapped Leliana out of her study of their prisoner and back to the situation at hand. "I was being sensible, you simply don't understand what I'm saying," the stranger responded. "Do you have anymore of those things on you?" Cassandra demanded. "Yes." "Where?" "Shoulders. Back. Back of my waist." The blocky objects, Leliana realised. "Remove them, Sergeant!" Cassandra barked at one of the guards. "No!" The stranger tensed at the order immediately, drawing back a little as his body began to give off a hazy blue glow. "You're not in the best position to resist here, mage!" The soldier growled as he advanced. "I'm only doing so because I know what will happen if anyone else but myself does so. Please, don't do this! I'm begging you! ! What happened at the Temple will happen again if you do! ! !" The desperation in their prisoner's tone of voice as well as his rising volume as he spoke caught Leliana's attention. "Hold a moment, soldier," she spoke for the first time since entering the room and the soldier paused at her command. "And what happened at the Temple?" The spymaster asked the stranger. "The security protocols activated." He explained, his volume dropping once he was sure that the objects weren't going to be touched. "My HMWP only showed you a small taste of the destruction these things are capable of. The larger armaments could do a lot more damage. Possibly even level this building." "Is that a threat?!" Cassandra snarled as she strode foreword and placed the tip of her blade to the man's throat. "No. It's a matter of fact. I know my gear and what it's capable of in the wrong hands," The man stated, not at all fazed by the steel that was biting into his skin and drawing blood. "Look, if I had really wanted that to happen, why would I bother about saying anything? Why not just let your men remove my guns and then high-tail it out of here once the dust had settled?" "This is assuming that you survive the blast as well." Leliana pointed out. The prisoner said nothing in response, but there was a confident look in his gaze that silently said that he would indeed be able to survive such events if they occurred, which again piqued Leliana's interest. Like Cassandra, she had recognised that this man was different. "Who are you, stranger?" Leliana asked the man. "The name's Shepard," the man responded automatically. "Captain Jon Shepard. Alliance N7 marine, agent of the Citadel Council's Special Tactics and Reconnaissance branch and commanding officer of the SSV Normandy SR-2." "'Reconnaissance'?" Leliana repeated, latching onto the one word in the litany that didn't make her head spin. "A spy?" The man tensed. He'd not meant to reveal that particular tidbit given his situation, it seemed - or hadn't thought the implications through before he'd said it - but the introduction was clearly something he'd said to others before. Others that understood the entirety and meaning of it all. "In a sense, I am," the stranger admitted, unable to take it back. "Who sent you?!" Cassandra cut in angrily. "Why did you blow up the Conclave!?!" "What?!" The man recoiled, utter horror in his eyes at the accusation. "NO! I would never! !" Leliana noted that a brief look of guilt crossed the man's face despite his protests before his impassive mask fell back into place. He has done something like this before. Leliana realised. But given Cassandra's rage and grief over Regaylan's death, the spymaster chose not to bring her observation to the Seeker's attention. She'd likely kill him on the spot if she knew. "You're lying!!" Cassandra surged foreword, dropping her sword so that she could grip the collar of the man's armour, raising a hand as if to strike him. "We need him, Cassandra." Leliana reminded the Seeker as she put a restraining hand on the Nevarran's shoulder and pulled her back. Though clearly angry, Cassandra obeyed the command, both verbal and physical, and allowed Leliana to continue questioning the stranger without further outbursts since Leliana was getting more answers - answers that, for the most part, made sense - out of him then Cassandra had. "Do you remember anything? How this happened?" The Right Hand asked their prisoner once she'd turned back to face him. "I'm just as in the dark as you two are," the man responded, his face open and earnest. "The last thing I remember is heading out in one of the Normandy's shuttles to check out a strange energy signature that had appeared in the Widow System. The Kodiak's instruments went haywire and I was blinded by a flash of light. Next thing I know, I wake up here - so to speak - running from Abominations that were chasing me. And then… a woman?” “A woman?” Leliana repeated. “She reached out to me, but then…” The prisoner shook his head, clearly frustrated at his lack of memory. "Everything goes black after that." Cassandra stepped between their captive and Leliana, breaking the spymaster's gaze with the man. "Go to the foreword camp, Leliana. I will take him to the rift." With a nod of her head, Leliana turned on her heel and left the building. <::::::::{}==[] ~ o ~ O ~ o ~ []=={}::::::::> Once Leliana had left, Cassandra turned back to the prisoner and began to remove the stock. "What did happen?" He asked, his tone of voice plaintive, once his hands were free. "It is better if I show you," Cassandra responded as she gestured him to stand. She had to pause to stare at him for a moment when he did so - he was easily a head and a half taller then her - before directing him to go first. The stranger didn't move. "Before we go, you got a large-ish chest that I can use?" He asked. "For what?" Cassandra furrowed her brow at the request. "My weapons. I want to remove them." Cassandra narrowed her eyes. "You refused to do so before. Why now?" "I didn't refuse, I simply didn't want anybody else to do it." He pointed out. "Answer my question!" She snapped, not in the mood for his games. "Because they'll be useless soon enough," the stranger replied patiently. "And I'd rather not be the cause of any further grief so I want to lock them up to make sure that that doesn't happen as a sign of good faith." "Very well," Cassandra relented before turning to one of the soldiers still in the room. "Sergeant, find an empty chest and bring it here." "Right away, Lady Cassandra." The soldier responded, though he glowered at the prisoner as he passed him. <::::::::{}==[] ~ o ~ O ~ o ~ []=={}::::::::> The soldier return fifteen minutes later - with another man in tow, aiding him with his appointed task - with the requested chest and set it down at the prisoner's feet. "Thank you." The soldier said nothing in response to the prisoner's gratitude as he returned to his post. "Try anything and I will strike you down," Cassandra warned her prisoner, her hand resting warningly on the pommel of her sword - which she had retrieved and sheathed whilst waiting for the soldier to return - as he reached for one of the blocks. With his height, solid build and magic he could easily try to escape if he wanted to, which put her on her guard. "Noted." The man nodded, solemnly pausing for a moment and making eye contact with her to show that he had heard her before returning to his task. With practiced ease the man - Shepard. His name is Shepard - removed his strange armaments and placed them in the provided container. He also placed a pouch full of what looked to be spherical objects on top of the blackish-grey blocks before stepping back with a nod of his head to indicate that he was done. The chest was then locked and moved out of sight and Cassandra gestured at the door. Shepard moved off without hesitation this time. He walked only a few steps in front of her, his pace steady and he made no sudden movements that would alarm her, as she led him out of the Chantry, a few of those inside stopping to stare at the oddly armoured man. When the doors of the building were opened and the pair stepped through, Shepard paused, flinching as the brightness hit his unprepared eyes and he raised his still rope-bound hands to cover them until they adjusted. Cassandra stepped to the side, her eyes on the Breach as she began to speak. “We call it the Breach," she told him. "It’s a massive rift into the world of demons that grows larger with each passing hour. It’s not the only such rift, just the largest. All were caused by the explosion at the conclave.” “An explosion can do that?” Shepard questioned. Something in his tone of voice made Cassandra turn to look at him. He was watching the Breach with rapt attention, though his face showed a myriad of emotions; shock, horror, curiosity and rage to name a few. “This one did. Unless we act, the breach may grow until it swallows the world.” Behind her, though unseen to her with her back to it, the Breach surged and grew. At the same time, Shepard tensed, suddenly crying out in pain as he fell to his knees, cradling his left arm with his right. "And here I thought the Prothean beacon was bad..." Shepard muttered to himself as he recovered from the pain as best he could. Cassandra knelt at his side. “Each time the Breach expands, your mark spreads… and it is killing you. It may be the key to stopping this but there isn’t much time.” “You say it may be the key. To doing what?” He asked. “Closing the Breach. Whether that’s possible is something we shall discover shortly. It is our only chance, however. And yours.” “You still think I did this?" He scoffed, an incredulous look overtaking his features. "To myself?” “Not intentionally. Something clearly went wrong.” “And if I’m not responsible?” He demanded. “Someone is, and you are our only suspect. You wish to prove your innocence? This is the only way.” Taking a breath, he seemed to come to a decision. “I understand.” “Then…?” “I’ll do what I can to help." He stated. "Whatever it takes to prove that I didn't do this.” Cassandra helped Shepard to his feet and began to escort him through the village. Like in the Chantry, the people of Haven watched her lead the warrior through the buildings, but their stares were mistrustful and accusatory. Some jeered and leered at him while others shouted for his execution. “They have decided your guilt. They need it. The people of Haven mourn our Most Holy, Divine Justinia, head of the Chantry. The Conclave was hers. It was a chance for peace between mages and templars. She brought their leaders together. Now, they are dead.” At the far side of the settlement, soldiers opened a set of gates leading to the outside at their approach. "We lash out, like the sky. But we must think beyond ourselves, as she did. Until the breach is sealed." Cassandra drew a dagger from her belt before she stepped in front of Shepard, grabbing his hands so that she could cut the rope. "There will be a trial. I can promise no more. Come. It is not far." “Where are you taking me?” He asked while rubbing his now freed wrists. “Your mark must be tested on something smaller than the Breach.” she informed him as she sheathed her dagger and began to walk towards the far end of the bridge, trusting that Shepard was following her. <::::::::{}==[] ~ o ~ O ~ o ~ []=={}::::::::> Location: en route to the Temple of Sacred Ashes “Open the gate! We are headed into the valley!” The woman - Cassandra - called to the soldiers that were manning the gates. Shepard felt bereft and vulnerable without any sort of weapon on him as he followed her, but he still had his biotics if push came to shove. Plus with all the fighting going on, I should be able to pick up a sword and shield somewhere along the way. Here's hoping my old training is still buried in me somewhere. As a young man, he'd gone to a number of renaissance fairs and medieval reenactments with his adoptive mother, brother and sister. Never thought that that set of skills would come in handy again, but if they can keep me alive long enough to make contact with the Normandy, I'm not complaining. Passing through the opened gates, Cassandra began to lead them up a slope. As they moved up the path, Shepard took the time to study the Breach off in the distance. To the marine, it looked like the center of a storm, turbulent and churning like a tornado wanting to take shape yet never extending down to the ground. He was also reminded of the permanent, giant storms that marked the atmosphere of Jupiter and Neptune - especially after they stabilised. It was neither growing nor diminishing, but staying fixed like a constant swirling mass of energy. Ahead of them, several soldiers were coming down the slope, heading back to the village. "Maker, it’s the end of the world!" Shepard heard one of them shout as they passed by each other, drawing the Spectre's attention back to the path that they were traversing. Suddenly another surge of excruciating pain erupted in his left hand as the Breach once again expanded and Shepard fell to his knees, his breaths turning shallow from the agony he was feeling. Goddamned, motherfucking, cheap-ass, son-of-a-bitch! He cursed a litany of less then Christian words in his mind as he tried to work through the hurt. Eventually the pain began to recede and he began to recover. Cerberus implants or no, I'm not going to last if this keeps up, he dimly thought. When he became aware of his surroundings again, he saw that Cassandra was at his side, offering a hand to help him up. "Thanks," he offered her his gratitude once he was back on his feet - albeit a little shakily. "The pulses are coming faster now." Cassandra informed him as she kept a hand on one of his arms, offering herself as a support until he was able to stand on his own. "The larger the Breach grows, the more rifts appear, the more demons we face.” "How did I survive the blast?" He asked once he was steady, though he was holding his still tingling hand. "They said you… stepped out of a rift, then fell unconscious. They say a woman was in the rift behind you. No one knows who she was. Everything farther in the valley was laid waste, including the Temple of Sacred Ashes. I suppose you’ll see soon enough." Once Shepard was up to walking again, the pair set off once more. <::::::::{}==[] ~ o ~ O ~ o ~ []=={}::::::::> "What is this? 'Everything go wrong for Shepard' day?" Shepard grumbled to himself as he slowly picked himself up off the ground. A minute ago, they'd been crossing another bridge that would take them further into the valley when the bridge had been hit by some sort of meteor and had collapsed, sending himself and Cassandra tumbling down onto the frozen river below. Others on the stone crossing had not been so lucky and a now-dead soldier had landed on top of the marine as he'd been trying to get back on his feet the first time. Pushing the unfortunate man's body off of him, Shepard stood up only to see the Breach spit out another meteor. It hit the frozen river a short distance in front of where Cassandra was standing and something, something grotesquely ugly, rose - Formed? - from the pool of green light. Cassandra instantly drew her sword and shield before moving to engage the monster. “Stay behind me!” She shouted to him as she moved. Shepard allowed his biotic corona to flare as he looked for an opening to attack the beast without hitting Cassandra. But his attention was suddenly diverted when another of the creatures popped up right in front of him. Shit! Acting on instinct, the vanguard thrust out his right arm and used Throw to send the monster flying. He then turned back to the dead soldier and drew the man's sword from it's scabbard. Though it had been years - over two decades - since he had last wielded such a weapon, Shepard felt at home with the blade's weight in his hand almost immediately. Guess it's just like riding a bike; you never really forget how. Suitably armed for the time being, Shepard moved to help his companion finish off the beasts, running one through as it tried to ambush Cassandra from behind. “All clear,” the marine reported a minute later, making sure to glance around their surroundings to be sure, allowing his biotics to dissipate as he did so. He immediately manifested them again seconds later when Cassandra turned her sword on him. “Drop your weapon." She growled. "Now!” Shepard sighed. “All right. Have it your way," the marine responded as he let go of the sword and it clattered to the ground. "But you do know that if you’re going to lead me through a monster-infested valley, you’ll have to trust me eventually,” he pointed out as he kicked the blade away in a further show of good faith on his part. “Give me one reason to trust you.” Cassandra shot back. “Because my life is on the line.” He returned evenly. Cassandra let out a sigh of her own at his words. “You’re right. I cannot protect you, and I cannot expect you to be defenceless." She agreed and gestured for him to reclaim his sword, which Shepard bent to retrieve in an instant. "I should remember that you agreed to come willingly.” Sure that she wasn't going to do anything more to threaten him, Shepard turned on his heel and strode back to his sword's previous owner. When he reached the body, the marine knelt down and gently closed the man's eyes before he made the sign of the cross on himself. "May you find peace at God's side. In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Amen." Shepard murmured to the man. His respects paid, Shepard moved to remove the man's sword belt before turning the body over to retrieve his shield. "What kind of mage needs a sword and shield?" Cassandra questioned him as the marine stood and secured the belt to his waist before cleaning and sheathing the sword in it's scabbard. "I'm not a mage," the marine responded without looking up, instead reaching for the shield. Realising that his left Hahne-Kedar gauntlet was going to prevent him from using the shield comfortably, he removed it before sliding the shield into place on his arm. Modern armour; good for Milky Way weaponry, not so much for medieval. "Then what do you call what you did? What you're still doing?" Cassandra questioned and Shepard looked back up at her to see her warily watching the purple-blueish haze that blanketed his entire body. Realising that his corona was still on show, he let it fade. "My attacks and abilities may look like magic but they're not. Where I come from, what I do - what I am - are known as biotics." "Biotics?" Cassandra repeated the strange word, sounding it out syllable by syllable as if that would somehow allow her to understand what it meant. Shepard sighed. "I'll explain it all later, I promise. For now, though, shouldn't we be focusing on the whole 'end of the world' thing?" "Very well," the woman relented. "But I intend to hold you to that promise, just so you know." "Understood." He responded before he looked to where the creatures had popped up. "What were those things, anyway? Other then mean and nasty?" "A demon. A Shade to be exact." Mages.. demons... magic... Just where the heck was I sent by the anomaly? "Where I'm from, demons are things of stories. Definitely not real enough to tear into you," He mused. "And just where are you from?" "Even longer story. Not sure you'd believe it either. Where to now?" Shepard asked, hoping to get them back on track. "This way." Cassandra took the lead. They ran along the frozen river for a time before they turned to the right and traversed a small hill. Near the top there were two corpses garbed in the same armour like the man that Shepard had taken his sword and shield from. It made him realise that, other then the unfortunate souls that had perished on the stone bridge, they'd seen no other sign of anyone else. “Where are all your soldiers?” he asked Cassandra as they drew closer to the crest of the hill. “At the forward camp, or fighting. We are on our own, for now.” She responded, reaching the top of the hill first and Shepard saw her tense at what she was seeing below. "Company?" "Shades. Four of them," she reported to him. "If we flank them, we may gain an advantage." "You head down. I can wreak havoc from up here with my biotics. Hopefully I can take out a couple before you engage." Though she looked doubtful at his words, she followed his orders. Shepard watched her go for a moment before cresting the hill himself and used Lift to levitate two of the demons into the air, well away from Cassandra so that his next technique wouldn't harm her. Flare obliterated them. But something caught Shepard's eye regarding the eezo cloud as it dissipated; the blast radius of the technique was much smaller than normal. I'm not that out of practice with the technique. Shaking his head, he cleared his thoughts as he moved to join and help his companion deal with the remaining Shades. <::::::::{}==[] ~ o ~ O ~ o ~ []=={}::::::::> They continued on their way to the Temple, stopping to deal with two more smallish groups of Shades along the way. Currently, they were fighting the largest group they'd yet encountered at the bottom of some stone stairs. Just as they'd finished dealing with the Shades, a new threat arose; three green transparent humanoid figures was all that Shepard noted about it/them before they raised a limb each and sent several projectiles streaking towards him. He raised his shield to protect himself and when the attacks struck the cover, they scorched the metal a little. Energy based. Won't stand a chance against Warp. "Up on the hill! It attacks from a distance!" "Yeah? Well so can I!" Shepard growled. Without hesitation he constructed a Barrier to protect himself from another attack, though he furrowed his brow when it took him a couple of tries to do so - Again odd, I can usually create Barrier on the first try - before he retaliated with his own attack. The unstable energies of Warp tore the spirit up and it faded from view shortly after. "You okay?" Shepard asked Cassandra, she'd been hit by one of the Shades as she'd been finishing it off. "Fine," she replied, shaking off any discomfort she felt. "This way." Shepard followed the female warrior up the stairs and as they drew closer to the top, the marine's trained ears picked up the sounds of combat on the higher ground. "We're getting close." He stated to Cassandra. She turned her head to regard him as they continued upwards. "Oh?" "I can hear fighting.” He responded simply. Cassandra nodded, seemingly impressed by his observation. "We must help them.” "Lead the way." They quickly climbed the rest of the stairs before turning right at the top of the steps. As he stepped onto the level ground, Shepard got his first look at the smaller tear. If the Breach looked like a storm, the rift before him looked like a wound in the sky and it was 'bleeding' green light into the air around it. Movement at his side drew him out of his thoughts as Cassandra jumped down from the top of the stone wall, and approached the rift amidst the burning rubble, joining those who were already fighting the beasts. Shepard joined them seconds later, though he held back on his more destructive biotic techniques for fear of friendly fire and dealt with the threat the old fashion way. It didn't take long for the demons to be felled by the group. As Shepard made to step back, one of the group that they'd just joined - an elf - grabbed the marine's left hand and held it up to the rift. “Quickly, before more come through!” The elf shouted. Before the marine could do anything in response - namely yank his arm back - the mark pulsed and Shepard gritted his teeth at the sudden surge of pain. To his surprise, a stream of energy erupted from his palm and streaked towards the rift before connecting with it. Before his very eyes, and all of those around him, the stream began to shrink the rift until it disappeared entirely. When the elf let go of his hand, Shepard pulled it back to look at the iridescent green mark that ran horizontally across his palm. “What did you do?” “I did nothing." The elf responded. "The credit is yours.” “I closed that thing?" Shepard asked in shock, still looking at the mark, which shone brightly enough that it could be seen even through his black bodysuit. "How?” “Whatever magic opened the Breach in the sky also placed that mark upon your hand." The elf responded. "I theorized the mark might be able to close the rifts that have opened in the Breach’s wake – and it seems I was correct.” Cassandra approached the two men. “Meaning it could also close the Breach itself.” The elf turned his head to regard the human woman. “Possibly.” He stated before turning back to Shepard. “It seems you hold the key to our salvation.” “Good to know! Here I thought we’d be ass-deep in demons forever.” A dwarf approached Shepard now, the warm smile on his features putting the marine at ease. “Varric Tethras: rogue, storyteller, and occasionally unwelcome tagalong.” The stout man introduced himself before winking at Cassandra, who scowled in response. Shepard had to pause to allow his mind to catch up with everything that had happened in the last few minutes. Dwarves? Elves? What's next? Dragons!? Determined to not look like a fool, Shepard blurted the first thing that came to mind. “Are you with the church, or…?” And then immediately wanted to slap himself. He'd only seen humans in the building when Cassandra had escorted him out, so that answer should have been obvious - painfully so - to him. The elf chuckled in response. “Was that a serious question?” The dwarf - Varric - answered straight after his companion. “Technically I’m a prisoner, just like you.” Cassandra broke into Varric's statement. “I brought you here to tell your story to the Divine. Clearly that is no longer necessary.“ “Yet, here I am." Varric smoothly responded. "Lucky for you, considering current events.” Head still spinning, Shepard at least tried to remember his manners. “It’s good to meet you, Varric.” “You may reconsider that stance, in time.” The elf wryly responded. “Aww. I’m sure we’ll become great friends in the valley, Chuckles.” Chuckles? Hello James Vega junior. “Absolutely not." Cassandra cut in once again. "Your help is appreciated, Varric, but…” Varric turned to look at her. “Have you been in the valley lately, Seeker? Your soldiers aren’t in control anymore. You need me.” Cassandra made a noise of disgust before moving past the three men. The elf regarded Shepard. “My name is Solas, if there are to be introductions." He informed the marine. "I’m pleased to see you still live.” “He means, ‘I kept that mark from killing you while you slept.'” Varric translated. At that revelation, Shepard looked to his caretaker. “You seem to know a great deal about it all.” He half mused, half noted. “Solas is an apostate, well-versed in such matters.” Cassandra informed Shepard. "Apostate?" Shepard repeated the unrecognisable term, hoping for an explanation. "Apostates are mages who are not part of the Circle of Magi and are thus considered 'rebel mages.'" She responded, reading his expression of mild confusion correctly. “Technically, all mages are now apostates, Cassandra." Solas returned. "My travels have allowed me to learn much of the Fade, far beyond the experience of any Circle mage. I came to offer whatever help I can give with the Breach. If it is not closed, we are all doomed regardless of origin.” “Then I owe you my thanks.” Shepard offered the elf his gratitude. “Thank me if we manage to close the Breach without killing you in the process.” Solas returned. “And what will you do once this is all over?” Shepard asked. “One hopes that those in power will remember who helped, and who did not.” “That’s a commendable attitude.” Shepard noted. Solas shook his head. “Merely a sensible one, although sense seems to be in short supply right now.” "On that we agree." Shepard said, though more to himself than the elf. Solas turned to regard Cassandra. “Cassandra, you should know: the magic involved here is unlike any I have ever seen. Your prisoner is no mage. Indeed, I find it difficult to imagine any mage having such power.” “Understood." Cassandra nodded her head. "We must get to the forward camp quickly.” She stated as she started to move off with Solas hot on her heels. Varric lingered by Shepard's side for a minute before he, too, moved off. “Well, Bianca’s excited!” "Bianca?" Shepard half repeated, half asked the dwarf as they followed the others. Varric gestured to the crossbow on his back. Shepard chuckled. "You named your crossbow?" Any further conversation between the dwarf and human was stopped by Cassandra's call of “This way, down the bank. The road ahead is blocked.” “We must move quickly.” Solas added. Heeding the Seeker's - Have to find out what that means - instructions, the unlikely party jumped over some loose wooden railing and onto a narrow path below before continuing on their way. <::::::::{}==[] ~ o ~ O ~ o ~ []=={}::::::::> “Demons ahead!” Solas alerted the group once they were safely past the ravine that their chosen path was the lip of. “Glad you brought me now, Seeker?” Varric asked as he drew one of his crossbow bolts from the quiver on the back of his waist and loaded it. Cassandra said nothing as she and Shepard each drew their sword and shield in preparation to meet their opposition. Four Shades and three of those energy ghosts, Shepard noted as he flared his biotics around his right arm. Cassandra and Varric could deal with the Shades for the time being while he focused on the long range threat first. His priorities decided, Shepard hit two of the ghosts that were close together with Warp. As he moved to target the third, it was suddenly struck by a barrage of energy bolts that zipped by the Spectre first. Shepard turned his head to see that Solas was just turning his own focus to the Shades. Shaking his own head, Shepard turned to help as well, using Pull to yank a much larger Shade away from Cassandra before crossing the distance to finish it off. When their enemies were down, Shepard wiped his blade clean on the arm of his bodysuit before sheathing it. “So, I take it that you’re not from around here?" Shepard turned his head to see Varric regarding him as the dwarf collapsed his crossbow and stowed it on his back. "What's your name, anyway?” "Shepard." The marine supplied. "Captain Jon Shepard, at your service. And what gave me away?" He asked wryly. “Other than you being dressed in the strangest set of armour that I've ever seen and what you just did to those Wraiths, you mean?” Varric responded. “Is this another kind of interrogation?” Shepard asked, suddenly feeling a little cagey. “Oh, I’m sure Cassandra has done plenty of that." Varric replied with an unreadable look. "So no, no threats of violence if you don't answer. Just curious is all.” Shepard could see that, despite the dwarf's words, he wasn't going to let the question go until he got an answer. He also realised from the archer's words - and Cassandra's - that Varric must have also been on the Seeker's bad side at some point. “I brought you here to tell your story to the Divine. Clearly that is no longer necessary.“ Turning his thoughts back to his own dilemma, Shepard sighed. This might not go over well, but if I'm stuck here for the time being, better to get it out in the open sooner rather than later. "Ever look up at the stars at night? That's where I'm from." "What?!" His words were met with the expected reaction. Exclamations of shock. Incredulous expressions. Cassandra stared at him, eyes narrowing as she studied his features, clearly unconvinced. And there goes any trust I'd earned up until this point. Smart move, JJ, Shepard thought, inwardly shaking his head at himself and cursing his honesty policy. She's likely going to think that I take her for a fool from now on. Before anything else could be said to somehow recover the situation, the Breach - and his mark - surged again. Shepard groaned - The pain is getting worse with each burst now, he vaguely thought - but somehow managed to stay on his feet, though he still swayed dangerously on the spot. Varric and Solas were broken from their stupors at his previous announcement by his pain. “Shit, are you alright?” Varric was the first to reach him. Solas looked to Cassandra. “We must hurry, before the mark consumes him.” Cassandra said nothing. Her narrowed gaze was still locked on Shepard. Seeing this, the marine tried to offer an olive branch so that they could at least work together to see the mission through. "Look, I know you must be thinking that I must think that you're a gullible fool for me to say what I just did, but it's the truth. I know that it might sound far-fetched, but this world and it's system? They're just a tiny part of something that's much, much bigger then you can possibly imagine." Cassandra only made a sound of disgust before turning on her heel and heading up a set of stairs. "This way." Ten feet past six feet under now. Great. Shepard thought sarcastically as he wordlessly followed. They were about halfway up the steps when Varric spoke up again. “So… are you innocent?” Shepard regarded the dwarf who was walking at his side. “I don’t remember what happened,” he admitted freely. “Starborn, if you're able to spin a story about where you're from, you should probably be spinning one about not killing the Divine.” “Do not encourage him, Varric.” Cassandra snapped back over her shoulder before Shepard could say anything of the same effect. Though his lips formed a small smile at his newest moniker - What's another to the pile? - Shepard said nothing more. His attention soon shifted from his personal predicament to what was going on around them when he saw Cassandra draw her sword. "Contacts." The marine announced to Solas and Varric before preparing himself for battle before joining the fray. The fight was over as quickly as it began and the quartet were soon continuing along the path up the hill. “I hope Leliana made it through all this,” Cassandra worriedly stated as they moved, her eyes on the ruin and destruction that lay all around them. “She’s resourceful, Seeker.” Varric consoled the human woman. “We will see for ourselves at the forward camp." Solas chimed in. "We’re almost there.” At the top of the hill they turned left and climbed some more stone steps but before they reached the top, Shepard's mark began to crackle and spark. The marine instantly turned to address Solas. "Does this mean what I think it means?" "That there is another rift just ahead? I believe so." The mage confirmed Shepard's silent question. Cassandra affirmed their thoughts when she reached the top first. “Another rift!” Shepard heard a shout of “They keep coming! Help us!” from the top following Cassandra's announcement. Reaching the top of the stairs and entering the fray, Shepard had just begun to draw his sword when he was suddenly pounced on by a Shade that had popped up behind him and knocked to the ground. The demon then started to pummel it's prey's unprotected head but it was only able to score a couple of hits before Shepard's Omni-blade cleanly sliced off its head and ended the struggle. Using Throw he tossed the lifeless body off of him and quickly got to his feet before properly joining the fight. Once the last Wraith faded away, Shepard turned to the rift. “Hurry! Use the mark! We must seal it, quickly!” Solas called. As before, an energy beam lanced out from the mark and began to shrink the rift. Shepard had to steady his left arm with his right when the marked arm began to spasm in reaction to the pain as he did so. When the rift was sealed, Shepard fell to his knees, taking in greedy gulps of air to try and recover. “The rift is gone! Open the gate!” Cassandra said to one of the men guarding the gate. “Right away, Lady Cassandra!” Came the man's prompt response. Once his head had stopped spinning, Shepard took stock of his injuries. The Shade had managed to break his skin and now a thin trail of blood was winding its way down his forehead. Shepard touched two fingers to the wound and came back with a fresh coating of his lifeblood. Still bleeding? Okay now I know something is up. Using the tip of his sword, Shepard sliced open the left palm of his bodysuit. Exposing his thumb, he used his blade again to nick the skin and draw blood. "You okay, Starborn?" "Fine," Shepard responded, slightly distracted, as he licked the wound clean and then watched the fresh blood pool intently. "Is something wrong?" Solas asked the marine from somewhere behind him, watching Shepard as the human watched his thumb. Shepard said nothing for another minute. Blood's not clotting as quickly as it should, he mused. Getting to his feet before he met Solas' curious stare. "This thing," Shepard gestured at the now visible mark, "is affecting my implants." "Implants?" The elf repeated. "Devices implanted under my skin. They alter my body's natural functions." The marine explained. "If you were watching over me while I was out, I'm sure that you noticed that I somehow managed to recover quicker than what should have been possible?" Shepard asked. Solas glanced briefly at Cassandra before meeting Shepard's eyes. "I noticed it." Solas responded. She must have given him grief thinking he was responsible, the marine realised. "Under normal circumstances this," Shepard wiggled his cut thumb at the mage, "would be congealed and healing already. And if those implants are being affected, then the rest probably are as well. Which means I likely won't be able to use my synthetic adrenaline and I'll have to be careful with my biotics." Shepard felt a little more at ease now that he'd worked out what gremlins were causing him trouble. Picking up his dropped sword, he cleaned and sheathed the blade as he strode into the foreword camp. At the far end of the bridge he spotted Leliana with a man that was dressed in a red and white outfit - Must be a cleric - locked in a heated exchange that grew louder the closer he and his group got to them. “We must prepare the soldiers!” Leliana argued “We will do no such thing.” The cleric responded coldly. “The prisoner must get to the Temple of Sacred Ashes. It is our only chance!” Leliana insisted. “You have already caused enough trouble without resorting to this exercise in futility.” The cleric replied, clearly not having a bar of it. “I have caused trouble?” Leliana repeated, her tone incredulous. “You, Cassandra, the Most Holy – haven’t you all done enough already?” Roderick asked in exasperation. “You are not in command here!” Leliana snapped back. “Enough! I will not have it!” Roderick said in finality, ending the argument. Once Shepard was a few steps away from them, the cleric turned his gaze on the taller man. “Ah, here they come.” Leliana turned to see Shepard. “You made it." She said with undisguised relief before turning back to the cleric. "Chancellor Roderick, this is–” “I know who he is," Roderick turned to look at Shepard briefly before turning his gaze on Cassandra. "As Grand Chancellor of the Chantry, I hereby order you to take this criminal to Val Royeaux to face execution.” “'Order me’?" Cassandra repeated, clearly not one bit impressed by the command. "You are a glorified clerk. A bureaucrat!” “And you are a thug," Roderick retorted, "but a thug who supposedly serves the Chantry!” “We serve the Most Holy, Chancellor," Leliana cut in before looking away and quickly finishing, "as you well know.” “Justinia is dead!" Roderick exclaimed. "We must elect her replacement, and obey her orders on the matter.” Shepard narrowed his eyes at the man, though Roderick missed it as he was looking at Cassandra This was why the marine wasn't one bit fond of politics, though he did understand that they were a necessary evil of the world. His years as a Spectre had taught him that quite well. But seeing people suffer because of the higher ups refusal to take action never failed to get his blood boiling and the marine broke his silence to address the Grand Chancellor. “Isn’t closing the Breach the more pressing issue?” Shepard asked, his tone incredulous at the man's refusal to take action while men were dying all around him. Roderick whirled on Shepard. “You brought this on us in the first place!” He snapped back. Shepard had to bite his tongue to stop himself from firing something right back at the man as Roderick turned back to talk to Cassandra. “Call a retreat, Seeker. Our position here is hopeless.” “We can stop this before it’s too late.” Cassandra said as she came to a stop at Shepard's side “How?" Roderick replied wearily. "You won’t survive long enough to reach the temple, even with all your soldiers.” “We must get to the temple. It’s the quickest route.” Cassandra insisted. “But not the safest." Leliana pointed out, raising a hand to point out one of the nearby mountains. "Our forces can charge as a distraction while we go through the mountains.” “We lost contact with an entire squad on that path. It’s too risky.” Cassandra argued. “Listen to me. Abandon this now, before more lives are lost.” Roderick pleaded with the two woman. Beyond them the now much larger Breach expanded once more and the mark echoed the surge. Shepard felt his knees buckle as the pain crippled him as a result. I can't keep this up. If we don't seal this thing soon, my body is going to fail, he thought as he fought to regain control of his limbs and faculties. "You okay, Starborn?" "Just peachy," Shepard replied shortly as he - yet again - pushed off of the stone and got back on his feet. Cassandra was looking at him once he was upright and sturdy. “How do you think we should proceed?” “Now you’re asking me what I think?” Shepard questioned, a tone of scepticism in his voice. Cassandra had barely said two words to him since his revelation - and Varric's nickname and curiosity hadn't helped matters either - and had been calling the shots from the beginning. “You have the mark.” Solas stated. “And you are the one we must keep alive." Cassandra concluded. "Since we cannot agree on our own…” She's trying to put the whole 'man from the stars' thing on the back-burner for now. Shepard realised after Cassandra trailed off before he turned his thoughts to carefully ponder the choices presented to him, weighing the pros and cons of each course of action. After a minute of deliberation, he spoke, “I say we charge. I won’t survive long enough for your trial if we don't get this thing sealed shortly. Whatever happens, happens now.” Cassandra nodded her head, appearing to be happy with his choice, before she addressed Leliana. “Leliana. Bring everyone left in the valley. Everyone.” With a nod of her head, Leliana departed back the way that Shepard's group had come from to gather the needed reinforcements as the aforementioned party started for the gates. “On your head be the consequences, Seeker,” were Roderick's final words as the group marched past him and onto the chosen path. <::::::::{}==[] ~ o ~ O ~ o ~ []=={}::::::::> The first part of the path was heavy going, the thick snow and Shepard's collapses when the Breach expanded slowing them considerably. Varric's questions to Shepard about the Milky Way had also threatened to enact Cassandra's temper on more than one occasion. "So, Starborn, what else can you tell us about this 'big thing' that we're apart of?" "I told you before Varric; do not encourage him! !" "Can't help it, Seeker. It's too good not to." Cassandra's response was to stomp on ahead of the men. "I think you made her mad," Shepard dryly noted. But they pushed on and soon the snow began to thin as a result of the soldier's movements in the area and were at their destination shortly after, much to everyone's relief. <::::::::{}==[] ~ o ~ O ~ o ~ []=={}::::::::> The soldiers had set up an advance camp on the mountain and Shepard was currently paying his respects to the lost men in the morgue before he moved on to meet up with the others at the edge of the camp. "Ready?" They all nodded their assent. "Move out." <::::::::{}==[] ~ o ~ O ~ o ~ []=={}::::::::> The party were heading up a second set of stone stairs to an open stone doorway when the mark began to spark. Seeing that, Solas moved ahead to see the battlefield. “Be wary – another Fade rift. We must seal it if we are to get past!” He called back in warning to the others. “Quickly, then!” Cassandra ordered “How many rifts are there?” Varric asked in exasperation from behind Shepard. Movement just beyond the elf caught Shepard's eye then. "Solas, look out!" The marine shouted as a meteor streaked toward the stone doorframe where the elf was standing. Without questioning the human's warning, the mage used what was obviously the magic equivalent of biotic Charge - though Solas left a trail of something wispy looking behind him as he moved, and it was cold if Varric's shiver when he went by the dwarf was anything to go by - and dashed to safety before the meteor smashed into the door, killing an unfortunate soldier that was just crossing the threshold to join the battle. "My thanks." Solas offered his gratitude to Shepard. "Don't mention it. Shall we?" The protagonists respectively skirted around the deceased soldier before joining the fight beyond the doorway. There were four soldiers already engaging the demons. Shepard's eye was instantly drawn to one of them. While he wore armour similar to those around him, he also wore a surcoat over the top with what appeared to be a fur mane topping it. The man's helmet was fashioned to look like a lions head. He was also giving orders to the men around him about how to engage their enemies. Looks like I've just found the CO of this army. Stowing those thoughts for later, Shepard joined the fight, stunning the Shade that had moved to attack him with a strike to the head with the pommel of his sword before running it through. The remaining Wraiths and Shades followed shortly after. "Get ready! Here comes the next wave!" Solas said to the group. Shepard tensed in preparation as a pool of green energy formed near his feet as a new demon took shape before him. "SCREEEEE" Shepard instantly froze at the sound. A Banshee!? Here! ? ! Just like that, he was back on Earth during the final hours of the Reaper War, one of the hideously twisted asari units looming over him after he'd come to a faltering Liara's side. One second he was trying to get his longtime friend to shake out of her own fear, the next he'd been snatched up and the monster had shrieked in his face as it had lined up it's nail-like fingernails with his unprotected abdomen... "Starborn! Move! !" Varric's shout snapped Shepard out of his fear induced stupor to see one of the spindly demon's clawed hands streaking towards him. Without even hesitating, the vanguard vanished from sight. He reappeared at the far side of the battlefield. Once he'd got his heart under control, he rejoined the fight, though he caught a dark look from Cassandra as he did so. Going to catch hell for that later, no doubt. This new demon seemed to be an ambush specialist. If allowed, it buried under the earth and came back up under an unsuspecting victim and then swiped at them to finished them off. With several of them on the field, Shepard's instinct to Charge to safety was tested and fought many times, but he managed to not use the technique and use old fashion rolling and running to get out of harms way before striking back by hacking off it's limbs to make it less of a threat. When the last demon fell, Shepard instantly moved to close the rift. Once done, Shepard took a moment to catch his breath before looking for Cassandra. “Lady Cassandra," the CO started to say to her, but Cassandra ignored him in favour of storming up to Shepard. And here we go... Out of the frying pan and into the fire as they say... Cassandra's blade was at his throat before he'd even finished the thought. "Where were you going!?" She snarled. "I wasn't trying to escape. I gave you my word, remember? And what a Shepard starts, a Shepard finishes." He quoted his family's motto. "Then what was that?!" "A knee-jerk reaction. The last time I heard that scream that close to me, the thing responsible nearly ran me through." Shepard explained. "I only used Charge to get to safety. That's it. I wasn't leaving the battlefield. That's not my style." "And what is your 'style'?" She asked shortly, clearly annoyed that he was - in her eyes - not talking sense. "That I follow my people into any danger. That I don't expect them to do something that I wouldn't do myself first." He saw that Cassandra's anger began to relent as he continued to speak and slowly, ever so slowly, the tip of her blade left his skin. "I can't promise that I won't react the same way if we encounter anymore of that particular demon and I'll try to work on it." He told her honestly. "But if I do it's only because of that bad experience at the end of the Reaper War." "Reaper War?" Cassandra repeated. Shepard chuckled. "At the risk of sounding like a broken record; long story." "Broken record?" She parroted him again, looking decidedly more perplexed at his strange words than before. Shepard laughed fully this time. "Later. I'll tell you later." Solas approached the two humans as Cassandra cleaned her sword and sheathed it before turning to address the CO, though not before shooting Shepard an unsure look. Which he completely missed wrapped up in his laughter as he was. “Sealed, as before. You are becoming quite proficient at this,” the elf praised the marine as he calmed down from his mirth. “Let’s hope it works on the big one,” Varric said. "No arguments from me there." Shepard agreed before turning his attention to Cassandra's conversation. "-the rift? Well done.” Shepard caught the last of the CO's sentence. “Do not congratulate me, Commander. This is the prisoner’s doing.” Cassandra turn to look at Shepard as the marine approached them. “Is it?" The man turned to look at Shepard, removing his helmet as he did so. "I hope they’re right about you. We’ve lost a lot of people getting you here.” “You’re not the only one hoping that.” Shepard muttered in return, half to himself and half to the man. “We’ll see soon enough, won’t we?” The man returned evenly. “I can’t promise anything, but I’ll try my best.” Shepard said, trying to sound more confident in his ability to succeed in the task that he'd been given. “That’s all we can ask.” The man responded before turning back to Cassandra. “The way to the temple should be clear. Leliana will try to meet you there.” Cassandra nodded her head. “Then we’d best move quickly. Give us time, Commander.” “Maker watch over you – for all our sakes,” the Commander returned before he turned and headed towards the soldiers camp, stopping to help an injured soldier that was hobbling away. "This way," Cassandra said to Shepard. Taking the lead she led them towards the ruined building in the distance. <::::::::{}==[] ~ o ~ O ~ o ~ []=={}::::::::> Location: Temple of Sacred Ashes “The Temple of Sacred Ashes.” Solas murmured as the group picked their way through the charred and scorched environs. “What’s left of it.” Varric muttered. Shepard stopped to take in the damage all around him. He'd been at ground zero of a few explosions over his career with the Alliance and unbidden the images of the immediate aftermath of the Dracon Trade Center bombing on Illium eighteen years prior sprang to Shepard's mind as he observed his surroundings. The damage done here was a hundred times worse than anything he'd seen before. More than half of the ancient structure was gone. Broken pillars and tons of rubble littered the ground and a layer of ash and soot covered them all like a blanket. There were also lots of charred remains of those who had been caught in the blast, some of them frozen in their last acts before death had claimed them. Strangest of all were red crystals that were growing out of the ground like glowing spikes. “That is where you walked out of the Fade and our soldiers found you." Cassandra informed Shepard, breaking him out of his study of what remained of the temple. "They said a woman was in the rift behind you. No one knows who she was.” There were several relatively fresher bodies around the area Cassandra was showing him. The victims of my HMWP's security protocols. Shepard realised. "I'm sorry," he apologised to the men he'd unintentionally massacred as he knelt by their bodies. "If I'd known what I was coming to - where I was coming to - I would've holstered my pistol." Shepard lamented. "You could not have known." Solas consoled the Spectre. "All Spectres know about the security measures built into HMW gear, we know what they can do." Shepard refuted, turning his head to look at Solas. "That's why we keep an eagle eye on them when we're out in the field and actively using them. Even in an unknown environment, enemies closing in on me or no, I should've exercised more caution. These men paid the price for my rookie mistake." The marine turned back to the bodies. "A fate that they didn't deserve." I'll make sure that you didn't die in vain. Even if it kills me, I will close the Breach. This I swear. he silently vowed before he rose from the ground and moved to join the others. Cassandra led them through a mostly intact hallway that lead to their destination. The Breach loomed over them once it was visible again, looking even more imposing and menacing at point blank range. “The breach is a long way up.” Varric murmured, craning his head upwards to take in the thing that they'd come here to close. Shepard couldn't help but agree. No getting around it. This is going to be an absolute bitch to seal. Wrapped up in his thoughts and mental preparations for the task ahead, Shepard didn't see Leliana enter the ruins behind them with some soldiers in tow until she spoke up from right behind him. “You’re here! Thank the Maker.” “Leliana, have your men take up positions around the temple.” Cassandra ordered. Leliana nodded her head before she walked back to her people to give them their orders. Cassandra looked to Shepard next. “This is your chance to end this. Are you ready?” She asked. Shepard turned back to the Breach. Using Charge he could get to the upper parts of the temple, putting him a little higher, but still too far from the green maelstrom above them. If ever there was a time to be like that ant with the rubber tree plant... “I’ll try, but I don’t know if I can reach that, much less close it." “No. You need only focus on the rift." Solas informed Shepard. "This rift was the first and is the key. Seal it, and perhaps we seal the Breach.” “Then let’s find a way down. And be careful.” Cassandra advised. Shepard looked over the stone railing he was standing by to judge the distance to the ground. Not that far compared to some of the jumps I've made over the years. Under normal circumstances, he would have jumped already and used his biotics to slow his descent. But with the mark disrupting the tech in his body, he wasn't sure if he could do it safely. Old fashion way it is, then. Following Cassandra, who seemed to know her way around the ruins, the group slowly made their way down. They had only gone a little ways when a voice - low and deep - suddenly emanated from the rift. “Now is the hour of our victory. Bring forth the sacrifice.” The group paused at the sound. “What are we hearing?” Cassandra asked as she turned to look at Solas. Shepard also turned to look at the elf. “At a guess: The person who created the Breach.” Solas responded. Uneasy with what was going on, but knowing that they needed to get to the bottom, Shepard was the first to move. The others followed his lead as he passed two archers that were in position overlooking the rift. A little further along there were more of the strange crystals jutting out of the ground and floor. Intrigued, the marine walked in close to have a closer look, one hand slowly reaching out. "I wouldn't do that if I were you, Starborn!" Varric called out before Shepard's fingers could touch one of the growths. Shepard turned his head. "What are they?" "Red lyrium. I don't know what it's doing here-" “Magic could have drawn on lyrium beneath the temple, corrupted it.” Solas theorised, breaking into Varric's sentence. "-but don't touch the stuff. It’s evil!” The dwarf all but spat out his last few words. Sounds like he learned that from personal experience. "And lyrium is?" Shepard queried, but he took a step back from the crystals while he waited for an answer "It is a substance that, in its processed form, restores a mage's powers when they are drained and aids those without the gift to restrict magic's use." Solas supplied. "But contact with it in its raw form can, at best, drive you mad and at worst, kill you. " Any further questions on Shepard's part were stopped when the voice they'd heard before spoke again from the rift. “Keep the sacrifice still.” Straight after, a new voice was heard, this time feminine. “Someone help me!” From her place just ahead of him, Shepard saw Cassandra freeze. “That is Divine Justinia’s voice!” She exclaimed. Now determined to get to the bottom of what was going on, Shepard continued along the path they were on until he found an area where he could safely jump down into the pit. The Divine's voice rang out again as he recovered from the jump. “Someone help me!” “What’s going on here?” Shepard's head snapped up to the rift at the sound of his own voice. So I made it to the Temple at least, but why don't I remember anything else?! His thoughts were broken by Cassandra, who had turned to look at him upon hearing the marine's voice coming from the rift. “That was your voice. Most Holy called out to you. But…” A flash of white from the rift blinded them all for a few moments. When the brightness faded they were suddenly surrounded by ghostly images. To his left he saw an elderly woman dressed in the same red and white garb that he'd seen Roderick dressed in - though Justinia's were a little more ornate then the Grand Chancellor's, befitting her status as the head of the church - being held by red energy streams that wrapped around her arms. A large dark figure with glowing red eyes loomed over her menacingly. Straight ahead of him, Shepard saw his own ghostly form run into the room. “What’s going on here?” “Run while you can! Warn them!” Ghost-Justinia called out to Ghost-Shepard. The monstrous figure pointed a finger at Ghost-Shepard. “We have an intruder. Kill him. Now.” A second flash of white light occurred and when it faded the figures were gone. What the hell!?! “You were there! Who attacked? And the Divine, is she…? Was this vision true? What are we seeing?” Cassandra whirled on him, the look on her face demanded answers from him. “I told you; I don’t remember!” Shepard snapped back, his patients threadbare with all he'd seen and heard in the past few minutes. He could make neither head nor tail of it all and it left him feeling unsettled and confused. “Echoes of what happened here. The Fade bleeds into this place.” The elf cut in to explain to the two humans what it was that they'd just witnessed. “This rift is not sealed, but it is closed… albeit temporarily. I believe that with the mark, the rift can be opened and then sealed properly and safely. However, opening the rift will likely attract attention from the other side.” “That means demons. Stand ready!” Cassandra signalled to the archers, including Leliana, that were posted around the higher levels of the room. They responded by stringing their bows and making sure that their quivers were close at hand for the fight to come. Once done, Leliana nodded back to Cassandra who in turn looked to Shepard, who was looking at the rift. Shepard's eyes took in the rift that he had to close. Unlike the rifts they'd encountered on the way to the Temple thus far, this one was easily double in size. Lord, give me the strength to see this through to the end, Shepard said a silent prayer to his maker as he prepared himself for what was to come. And should I fail, may I find myself at Your side in Heaven. His peace made, he extended his arm to begin the process. The moment his energy beam hit the rift, it sprang open and something was spat out. Holy Mother! was all the marine could think as their next foe took shape before them and Shepard had to crane his head to see it in it's entirety. The thing was massive, easily rivalling a Brute in size. And like the turian/krogan hybrid, it was covered in thick armoured skin and seemed to be slow in it's movements. "Now!" The archers loosed a volley of arrows at Cassandra's shout, some of them penetrating the beast's skin but the majority bounced harmlessly off of it's tough exterior. It'll be dangerous at CQB if you get too close to it. Those arms look like they could tear a krogan apart easily. Work in it's blind spot, attack from behind. Reave and Flare would work best against it to bring it down quickly. In hopes of learning this particular demons name, Shepard glanced at Solas with his head tilted in a curious manner. "Pride demon." Solas said in answer to Shepard's silent question. Makes sense I suppose, pride is the most common transgression of the seven deadly sins, after all. Even he wasn't innocent of that particular emotion, such as when he had graduated from the ICT program with top honours and top of his class. This thing is a physical representation of that. His observations complete and seeing that the archers were no longer firing, Shepard moved in to engage. “We must strip its defenses! Wear it down! Quickly! Disrupt the rift!” Cassandra called to him. Reaching his arm out, he used the mark once more. But he was surprised this time to see that when the energy beam made contact with the rift, the rift surged with the energy before redirecting it towards the demon. The beast roared in pain when it was struck and fell to its knees “The demon is vulnerable – now!” Following Cassandra, Shepard skirted around to the demon's back while Cassandra focused on its head and eyes, hoping to blind it before it could get its bearings back. Several more of Leliana's people - warriors - joined in. Working together they managed to hack off sections of the demon's hard skin and get to the softer flesh beneath. Every time the beast was on the verge of recovering, Shepard disrupted the rift and brought it back to it's knees. But then the status quo changed. Behind him the Breach - and by extension the rift - surged again and several more demons, Shades, were spat out and joined the fray. “More are coming through the rift!” Cassandra alerted all the combatants on the battlefield. Shepard turned to deal with the smaller threats, and the Pride demon started to recover without the marine constantly disrupting the rift to keep it off balance. His inattention to the larger threat's regained equilibrium cost him; the Pride demon seized it's opportunity and closed in on him before it backhanded him and sent him flying back across the length of the ruin. His impromptu flight was halted - violently - when he hit a rocky outcropping on the far side of the room and his visioned dimmed for a moment as he slid down the wall painfully. "Shit, Starborn!" Shepard vaguely heard Varric shout out as stars danced in and out of the marine's vision. Without synthetic adrenaline to help him recover, it would be a while before he was back on his feet and back in the fight. Another rookie mistake. You never take your eye off of the top priority target until it's dealt with! Idiot! ! Stupid, stupid, stupid! ! ! "Solas, help him!" Cassandra called out to the elf as she and another shield carrying warrior dealt with the Shades. Shepard saw Solas use his magic Charge to cross majority of the distance between them before running the rest of the way. "Are you all right, Captain?" He asked as he knelt by the marine's side. "Been better." Shepard bit out as he pushed himself into a sitting position. Solas handed him a flask that was filled with some sort of liquid. "Here." Shepard took it. "What is this?" "A healing potion. Drink." Solas instructed. While he was sceptic, Shepard had to remind himself that the elf had watched over him while he was recovering. If I'm the only one that can close this thing, I doubt that they'd try to poison me before I'd finished my task. After a minute of debating and hesitation he took a breath, took off the lid and then downed the contents. Instantly he began to feel better, the pain he was feeling beginning to ebb and his mind began to sharpen. When the pain in his body had faded enough he started to try and get to his feet. Solas offered him a hand when he faltered. "Thanks." "You are welcome." Once he was sturdy, Shepard recalculated and changed his method of attack, focusing his mind on what he needed to do. Seeing that Cassandra would be in danger from his next attack he called out to her, "Seeker, move!" Cassandra heeded his warning and moved to the beast's other side as Shepard sent out a sliver of biotic energy aimed at the creature's shoulder. The resulting explosion as the technique detonated inside the Pride demon blew its right arm completely off. Even though he knew that it was petty and beneath him Shepard couldn't help but shout, "That's payback, motherfucker!!" The demon roared in agony and turned it's focus from the warriors surrounding it to Shepard as it began lumbering towards him. "Do it again, Starborn! Whatever you did, do it again!" Varric frantically shouted from somewhere in the room. It was then that Shepard saw that many of the warriors that had been fighting the demon were now staring at him wide-eyed, fear present in their eyes at the sight of what he'd done to their enemy before they returned to the fight with renewed vigour. Heeding Varric's request, Shepard used Reave again, this time targeting the demon's chest. The explosion removed a sizeable chunk of the behemoth's front. The Pride demon roared out again in pain and rage as it stopped moving in favour of covering it's newest injury with it's remaining arm. Now the endgame! Shepard focused all his energy to power his biotics for his next attack before shouting, "Clear the area!" His orders were heeded and everyone left the immediate area around the wounded demon. Once his biotics were as powerful as he could make them, the vanguard thrust out an arm and sent Flare on its way. "Checkmate, beastie." Shepard growled just before the attack hit. When the biotic explosion faded there were only a few chunks of the Pride demon left, scattered about the ruins. Then a wave of exhaustion hit the marine. And there's the drawback. Shepard used Flare sparingly in fights because of the exhaustion period following its use. In an active evolving firefight, that rest period of not being able to use their biotics could be fatal for a vanguard unless their squad was close at hand to cover their retreat to safety. Solas regarded the suddenly ragged looking human. "I take it that your attacks have a cost, not unlike magic?" "Depends on the technique used. And how do you know that I'm not a mage?" After being labeled as magic user despite his own protests that he wasn't, Shepard found himself curious as to how Solas was able to definitively say otherwise. "You do not draw from the Fade when you use your abilities as mages do." Solas said simply. "From what I have observed, it seems that your..." the elf trailed off, unsure of what word to use. "Biotics." Shepard supplied. "Biotics," Solas repeated, nodding his head in thanks for the correct term before continuing, "are generated from within your body." "And you'd be right." Shepard told him, impressed by the mage's observations. "But now's not the time for further conversation." "Indeed. The Breach is our top priority." Leaving Solas at the edge of the ruins, Shepard strode to where Cassandra was waiting for him. Nodding to her, he stepped past her and looked up at the rift and the Breach above it. Here we go. “Now! Seal the rift!” Cassandra called as he extended his arm and raised his palm to the rift. The second that the energy beam connected with the rift Shepard knew that it would be a struggle for him to get this done without passing out. But he'd be damned if he didn't give it his all like he always did before that moment in time. When his left arm began to spasm, he steadied it with his right. When his legs started to give way, he dropped to his knees. When his heart began to race, he focused his mind to calm himself down. When his vision began to dim, he closed his eyes and used his ears to listen to what was happening around him. After what felt like an hour, but in reality was only a few minutes, Shepard felt the rift surge before it snapped shut, a thin line of green the only proof that it was still there. Beneath his closed eyelids, Shepard's eyes rolled as his body began to shut down and he fell to his side. In a last act of Herculean effort, the marine opened his eyes - squinting at first in reaction to the light streaming in - to see Solas kneeling at his side and talking to Cassandra and Varric, though he couldn't make out any words, who were approaching them. Mordin, Thane, Kaidan, if this is the end, hope you've got a heroes welcome ready for me... Then, as before, he saw nothing as the darkness rose up to greet him like an old friend. <::::::::{}==[] ~ o ~ O ~ o ~ []=={}::::::::> "Chuckles, is he...?" Varric asked, sounding hesitant about voicing his question aloud in case the worse case scenario had occurred, as Solas knelt by the prisoner's body and gently rolled him over. Cassandra watched as the mage cast a spell on the human before focusing on his patient. There were a few moments of silence before Solas spoke. "He is fine, Master Tethras. Unconscious, but alive." "And the Breach?" Cassandra asked the apostate. Solas turned to look at her. "It is not sealed, but it is now stable. With more power behind the mark, I believe that a second attempt will succeed in sealing it completely." "You're sure Starborn's okay, though?" Varric asked again and Cassandra fought the urge to round on him. She was sure that the only reason the dwarf insisted on calling the prisoner by the ridiculous nickname he'd given him was to irritate her further. "With the Breach stable, the mark should no longer threaten Captain Shepard's life and his implants should start to function normally again." Solas assured the dwarf. "I suspect that he may be back on his feet for you to question in a few days." "Cassandra?" Leliana called out to the Seeker from her vantage point and Cassandra heard her silent questions. "He is fine, Leliana, and the Breach is stable. Not sealed, but stable." She saw Leliana relax in relief. The prisoner would be no good to them dead if they needed him for another attempt at the Breach. And while she believed that he was lying - delusional even - with weaving his ridiculous stories about being from another world, she no longer believed that he was at fault for the Conclave. "I would advise that we get the Captain back to Haven as soon as possible, Seeker." Solas spoke, bringing Cassandra's attention back to the mage and the man his was caring for. "We should fashion a stretcher." "Understood. Leliana?" "Consider it done." Leliana turned away from the railing to locate the needed materials. In short order Leliana and her people had fashioned a litter and brought it down to Cassandra. Carefully they transferred the prisoner onto it and lifted him out of the pit, though not without a fair amount of struggle in order to do so, and then out of the Temple completely. Once out back in the snow, the procession slowly made it's way back to Haven. Acronym Index: HUD; Heads Up Display HMWA; Spectre - Master Gear Assault Rifle HMWP; Spectre - Master Gear Heavy Pistol HE; High Explosive HMW; Spectre - Master Gear CO; Commanding Officer CQB; Close Quarters Battle Authors Notes: The security protocols on Spectre weaponry and the different take on Reave are both from LuxDragon's writings. Used with permission Now I'm sure all that have just read this are saying 'A vanguard can't do (insert biotic technique)!' or 'A vanguard doesn't have adrenaline implants!' or 'A vanguard only carries shotguns and pistols!' Let me explain; I may have said JJ is a vanguard and he thinks and refers to himself as one, but in reality he's multi-class as he's picked up different skills over the years of his career. When he enlisted in the Alliance he trained as a soldier so he uses all weapon types and got his adrenaline implants. When he was rebuilt by Cerberus Miranda noticed his eezo nodes and cultivated them, turning him into a biotic and his time with Miranda, Jacob, Jack and Samara meant he learned their different techniques during the suicide mission. His time while under house arrest after Bahak was spent learning Nova, Javik teaches him Dark Channel and Aria taught him Flare while they were taking Omega back from Cerberus. And given that Starborn is set after the end of Mass Effect 3, he's had a fair amount of time to hone those techniques to be quiet powerful. I also need to give a HUGE HUGE shout out to the wonderfull geeky-jez. Most Sollaven fans will know her for fanfiction works such as Bread Wolf, Bake You and Tranquility as well as her cannon Inquisitor; Isii. Not only did she do JJ's tarot 'The Emperor' that is my poster for Starborn and some illustrations for the story (once I make up my mind) which I will link to for those who want to see them. She has also been a wonderful sounding board for my various questions about how to make Starborn's premise work smoothly and believably that people will want to read it and recommend it to others. Indeed I owe even deciding to post Starborn in the first place to something she said on her tumblr blog when I was unsure if anyone would want to read my story. Starborn is as much your baby as it is mine, Jez. I can't thank you enough, my friend.

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