Crystal Tears
19th August 2011, 12:20 AM
Haven't actually wrote any true fanfiction for a while, so it was nice that the contest let me dabble. o: Now I can't stop writing, damn you all.
Word Count (including title): 999
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Pride Unbound--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
She had lied when Doctor Chakwas had questioned her about the dreams. Normally, Shepard would’ve told the Doc the truth and revealed that still some fragments of being exposed to a reaper artifact were floating around in her brain in the form of strange, lucid dreams. However, things were quickly spiralling out of control, and the last thing she needed was to be locked up in the medical bay, trying to convince the Doc, and most probably by extension; Mordin, that she was actually, perfectly capable of functioning.
It was far easier, and convenient, to lie about everything.
Besides, she was Commander Shepard: Hero of the Citadel, Savoir of the Council and exquisite example of what any human should strive to be. A few creepy dreams weren’t going to keep her down, even if they had been caused by a relic built by a race of sentient machines hell-bent on the destruction of the galaxy… again.
She could handle it.
“Shepard,” the rough voice of Grunt; a massive, ‘perfected’ Krogan broke her train of thought. She looked up, one ocular implant flickering red through the disintegrating blue iris and pupil. Her look was dark, gazing up at the hulking reptile through her crimson locks. “You can’t fool me Shepard; you haven’t been right since you came back from that space-rock.”
Of course, the only person brave enough to confront her on her demeanour was a towering armored lizard with four balls and a head strong enough to crack bulletproof glass. She smirked, her attention going back to her desk and the colourful liquid in the bottle she had been working on. “Grunt, you’re far too perceptive for a krogan.”
“Heh,” he took that as an invitation to move closer. “What’s goin’ on Shepard? We run into trouble, you’re a lot more… violent, then before.”
“Should I kill the collectors nicely?” She answered with another question, hoping to cut the conversation there.
“Nah,” Grunt smiled as best he could, though it looked far more sinister then it was probably intended. “Just,” he glanced around her quarters, seeing bullet holes in various objects, and the picture of her friends on the original Normandy had been smashed. “Just, well… What about that Eclipse woman? You nearly tore her head off.”
“I needed answers.” Irritation was beginning to show in her voice.
“I’d expect that from Jack,” he didn’t seem overly bothered by Shepard’s violence, not openly anyways. However if he was making such a point about it now, her decisions must’ve concerned him more than he was willing to let on. “Not from you.”
She stood then, not nearly as tall as Grunt, but Shepard had a presence. She was a survivor and a ruthless one at that. Shepard was known for beating the odds, and getting the job done, no matter the costs. The Collectors were just pawns for the Reapers, nothing to be concerned about in the moral department. Husks were even less than their insect commanders, mimics of whatever organic life had been literally thrown on a skewer and transformed into simple, zombie-machines.
When it came to other species; real species that were capable of individual thought and had the power to control their own destiny..
‘Do not think them any better than the rest. All are shells, hollow carapaces of sentience that are nothing without unification.’
“I’ll do as I please.” She snarled suddenly, trying to ignore the resounding voice that was coming from the recesses of her mind. She could almost feel something moving in her skull, trying to wrap around her brain and take control. “If you don’t like it,” her flickering eye almost seemed to glow brighter with her foreboding voice. “Then get the fuck off my ship.”
Grunt had little emotion on his face as the words slipped off the Commander’s tongue. He smirked a second or two later, nodding. “If you want to tear the enemy limb from limb, don’t let me stop you.” He turned, stomping back to the elevator. The alien paused as the doors hissed opened though. “Just don’t see your friends as expendable Shepard, if you start treatin’ us like tools instead of allies, I’ll tell the Doc exactly what’s goin’ on with you.”
He left after that.
The bottle went flying across the room, crashing into wall.
“Son of a bitch!” She cried, clenching her fists as she watched the booze run down the wall just next to her bed. “I’m fine.”
Flashes of the mercenary’s agonized expressions suddenly erupted in her mind. Shepard’s eyes closed tight, and a hand rose to touch her forehead. Every flash showed different details of the interrogation, something that she knew she wouldn’t have approved of before being exposed to the object.
‘She was nothing.’
“Oh shut up.” She slumped back down in her chair, looking back at the smashed picture of her friends.
‘They are all nothing; do not try to convince yourself otherwise.’
“They’re my friends.” She noted, shaking her head, trying to free herself from the strange, alien thoughts.
‘They are tools, a means to an end. We are not so different Shepard. You hold yourself over them and others, you consume them and resources in a relentless pursuit of perfection.’
“I am not after perfection.” She snarled, staring at the rare ship model of Sovereign, the first Reaper she had ever seen, and the first she had killed. She remembered how it had trumped anything the Citadel or Alliance fleets had. With massive, mechanical tendrils that each fired lasers capable blowing apart a Turian dreadnought, and an overall body shape resembling a squid; Sovereign had been terrifying.. “I’m after you, all of you.”
‘We are perfection Shepard, we are the unification all species desire, we are billions of voices yet one, and we will purify the galaxy..’ There was an eerie pause, before vivid images of Earth’s destruction, before ending in her own corpse, being lost in a sea of bodies.
‘And we will end you.’
Word Count (including title): 999
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pride Unbound--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
She had lied when Doctor Chakwas had questioned her about the dreams. Normally, Shepard would’ve told the Doc the truth and revealed that still some fragments of being exposed to a reaper artifact were floating around in her brain in the form of strange, lucid dreams. However, things were quickly spiralling out of control, and the last thing she needed was to be locked up in the medical bay, trying to convince the Doc, and most probably by extension; Mordin, that she was actually, perfectly capable of functioning.
It was far easier, and convenient, to lie about everything.
Besides, she was Commander Shepard: Hero of the Citadel, Savoir of the Council and exquisite example of what any human should strive to be. A few creepy dreams weren’t going to keep her down, even if they had been caused by a relic built by a race of sentient machines hell-bent on the destruction of the galaxy… again.
She could handle it.
“Shepard,” the rough voice of Grunt; a massive, ‘perfected’ Krogan broke her train of thought. She looked up, one ocular implant flickering red through the disintegrating blue iris and pupil. Her look was dark, gazing up at the hulking reptile through her crimson locks. “You can’t fool me Shepard; you haven’t been right since you came back from that space-rock.”
Of course, the only person brave enough to confront her on her demeanour was a towering armored lizard with four balls and a head strong enough to crack bulletproof glass. She smirked, her attention going back to her desk and the colourful liquid in the bottle she had been working on. “Grunt, you’re far too perceptive for a krogan.”
“Heh,” he took that as an invitation to move closer. “What’s goin’ on Shepard? We run into trouble, you’re a lot more… violent, then before.”
“Should I kill the collectors nicely?” She answered with another question, hoping to cut the conversation there.
“Nah,” Grunt smiled as best he could, though it looked far more sinister then it was probably intended. “Just,” he glanced around her quarters, seeing bullet holes in various objects, and the picture of her friends on the original Normandy had been smashed. “Just, well… What about that Eclipse woman? You nearly tore her head off.”
“I needed answers.” Irritation was beginning to show in her voice.
“I’d expect that from Jack,” he didn’t seem overly bothered by Shepard’s violence, not openly anyways. However if he was making such a point about it now, her decisions must’ve concerned him more than he was willing to let on. “Not from you.”
She stood then, not nearly as tall as Grunt, but Shepard had a presence. She was a survivor and a ruthless one at that. Shepard was known for beating the odds, and getting the job done, no matter the costs. The Collectors were just pawns for the Reapers, nothing to be concerned about in the moral department. Husks were even less than their insect commanders, mimics of whatever organic life had been literally thrown on a skewer and transformed into simple, zombie-machines.
When it came to other species; real species that were capable of individual thought and had the power to control their own destiny..
‘Do not think them any better than the rest. All are shells, hollow carapaces of sentience that are nothing without unification.’
“I’ll do as I please.” She snarled suddenly, trying to ignore the resounding voice that was coming from the recesses of her mind. She could almost feel something moving in her skull, trying to wrap around her brain and take control. “If you don’t like it,” her flickering eye almost seemed to glow brighter with her foreboding voice. “Then get the fuck off my ship.”
Grunt had little emotion on his face as the words slipped off the Commander’s tongue. He smirked a second or two later, nodding. “If you want to tear the enemy limb from limb, don’t let me stop you.” He turned, stomping back to the elevator. The alien paused as the doors hissed opened though. “Just don’t see your friends as expendable Shepard, if you start treatin’ us like tools instead of allies, I’ll tell the Doc exactly what’s goin’ on with you.”
He left after that.
The bottle went flying across the room, crashing into wall.
“Son of a bitch!” She cried, clenching her fists as she watched the booze run down the wall just next to her bed. “I’m fine.”
Flashes of the mercenary’s agonized expressions suddenly erupted in her mind. Shepard’s eyes closed tight, and a hand rose to touch her forehead. Every flash showed different details of the interrogation, something that she knew she wouldn’t have approved of before being exposed to the object.
‘She was nothing.’
“Oh shut up.” She slumped back down in her chair, looking back at the smashed picture of her friends.
‘They are all nothing; do not try to convince yourself otherwise.’
“They’re my friends.” She noted, shaking her head, trying to free herself from the strange, alien thoughts.
‘They are tools, a means to an end. We are not so different Shepard. You hold yourself over them and others, you consume them and resources in a relentless pursuit of perfection.’
“I am not after perfection.” She snarled, staring at the rare ship model of Sovereign, the first Reaper she had ever seen, and the first she had killed. She remembered how it had trumped anything the Citadel or Alliance fleets had. With massive, mechanical tendrils that each fired lasers capable blowing apart a Turian dreadnought, and an overall body shape resembling a squid; Sovereign had been terrifying.. “I’m after you, all of you.”
‘We are perfection Shepard, we are the unification all species desire, we are billions of voices yet one, and we will purify the galaxy..’ There was an eerie pause, before vivid images of Earth’s destruction, before ending in her own corpse, being lost in a sea of bodies.
‘And we will end you.’