Story: Birthed By Fire (chapter 3)

Chapter 3: Eighteen

April 11, 2172

On her eighteenth birthday, Kira Shepard enlisted in the Alliance military. It was the best day she’d had in over two years – especially since Faith was enlisting right alongside her. The Alliance was willing to keep them together, sending them to the same place to train and promising they’d be in the same unit. That same day they were on a transport heading away from E-3. Faith was looking out the window as it faded, sticking out her tongue. “Hope I never see you again! In fact, I hope you take a meteor!”

Kira smirked, listening to her as she looked out of another window at the open expanse of space. “Think we’ll have any of the same problems at the new place?”

“I hope not.” Faith leaned back and laid her head on Kira’s shoulder. “Military discipline with keep that from happening.”

“You obviously haven’t seen the same vids I have.”

“Pff, we’re biotics – the military needs more of us. The higher-ups will be on our side.”

“Yeah, that kind of attitude will be popular…”

“It’s your attitude.”

“I know, and I’m expecting it to get me in trouble.”

“But you’re not changing it.”

“Nope.”

Faith smiled. “That’s what I was hoping.”

Mass Effect

Military training was hard, tiring and unrelenting, but Kira relished every second of it. Never before had she had such an outlet for her emotions; officers would point her at targets or special training rooms, and she would tear up everything in sight – it was so freeing, she found herself happier than she’d been in a long time. Even more surprising, she found that she got along with soldiers more than any other type of person she’d ever met, even before the incident on Mindoir. Unlike at E-3, she was finding herself on the right side of people for once; fellow soldiers were, for the most part, supporting her and even cheering her on at times.

Today she was about to do one of her favorite exercises: an obstacle course made to train biotics for open combat. She stood at the entrance wearing the lightest-weight clothing that she could – tight shorts and a sleeveless shirt, both black (personal preference). Her crimson hair was slightly longer these days, thanks to regulations being relaxed for biotics. She began stretching in anticipation, smirking at the whistles that came from her girlfriend on the sideline. There was a pretty large group there on certain days like today, since they liked to compete for completion times and ability. Kira wasn’t at the top of the board, not yet – she had the power, but not the precision or experience. She was intending to change her placement today, however.

She moved to the entrance of the course, tensing as it prepared to open. On the sidelines a few bets were placed, and Faith’s voice was rising above the others as it often did; “Show ‘em how it’s done, baby!”’ Kira smirked, shifting her feet and launching forward the moment the gate slid aside. Unwilling to fail – or disappoint her girlfriend – she hit the first target that stepped out – limited-AI robots meant to represent enemies – with such force that it splintered apart and shot pieces into the air that rained down over the rest of the course, eliciting cheers from the onlookers. Kira slid around the corner, spotting two more bots; a quick glance told her the one in front represented a civilian and the one in back an enemy holding them hostage, so she yanked the one in back straight up and down to her feet before jumping over it. Above, the officer overseeing the training marked another check on the screen beside him.

Kira went through at a dead sprint; the only issue was reacting correctly. If a bot stepped out, dropped down or popped up, she had to quickly identify whether it was a hostile, a potential threat or a civilian. “Hostile” ones she destroyed instantly; some she tore in half, running through the shredding pieces. Others, she slammed them into the ceiling above, the walls or the floor, doing a fair bit of damage to the walls in the process – one was even blasted through the wall, forcing her to hold back on sheer power for the rest of the course. If a “potential threat” bot appeared – possibly armed but without clear identifying colors, usually lacking armor – then she had to hold back even more, shoving them to the floor, disarming them or pulling them to the side to neutralize them. “Civilian” bots had to be pulled to safety out of the way or “saved” from the two other types.

The course was crude and simplified, but it was meant to get a biotic used to the quick thinking and faster reactions necessary in an open battle situation. Kira’s power was virtually unmatched among those at the base, but like anyone else she needed practice using that power – and so she ran the course every day that they let her, improving upon her weaknesses. The final obstacle was the most difficult – six bots in entrenched positions, with two “hostages”. Kira didn’t hesitate – she couldn’t risk failing to beat the top time again; one minute fifty-three seconds, she repeated in her mind, having no idea how close she was to it or if she’d gone over already. She continued running straight into the corridor, glancing over the set-up and yanking both “hostage” bots towards herself. Using one hand she guided them down behind her as she raised the other, summoning all she had and raising her voice in a yell as she threw it forward.

The ensuing tornado of force shredded everything – the bots, their cover, the wall behind them – sending a whirlwind of sparks and shrapnel outwards where it collided with the wall in a cacophony of shrieking metal. Kira skidded to a stop outside of the now-missing wall, catching her breath as she turned to look at the clock as the time stopped – twenty-seven seconds. Having never slowed from a dead run, she’d somehow managed to beat the current top time by nearly a minute and a half. One of the guys on the sideline gave a low whistle and the rest cheered, but Kira paid them little attention – she was already occupied as she had to turn and catch the girl that was currently jumping at her.

“Half a minute! Talk about a record!” Faith grinned as Kira set her down. “Any two of us would fail to beat that time!”

Kira smirked. “All you have to do is stop being careful.”

“Indeed,” an instructor said from behind, causing Kira to grimace and look at him over her shoulder. “And you certainly weren’t careful.”

“I didn’t hit any of the civilians…”

“No, but I find that more surprising than anything.”

Faith frowned. “Does that mean she’s going to be punished, or…?”

“No…” The man shrugged. “I still think you should be more careful, Shepard – you’ve got some dangerous power. But, you ran it flawlessly, so I’m not going to complain today.”

Kira grinned. “Thanks.” She looked back to Faith as the man left. “So how much did you make?”

Faith laughed, showing the number she’d won through bets. “Enough to have a pretty good time during the break…”

Mass Effect

Miranda slid the door shut, sealing it with one of the room’s computers. Guards started banging on it, but she knew she had plenty of time. She swept her dark hair out of her face, smiling as she spotted the small case she’d come for. She removed the cables from the rectangular silver case, picking up the reflective metal and sliding it into a small pack on her back. She zipped it up and then hopped on a counter, sliding aside part of the ceiling and climbing up before sliding it back into place behind her. She felt vindication for the time she’d spent memorizing the ventilation system of the research station as she made her way through, hearing the guards break into the room behind her.

She made her way to another room and dropped down, exiting the door and walking down the hallway at a steady pace. Never run unless you’re already picked out, she repeated to herself, smiling and nodding towards a scientist she passed in the hallway. She glanced behind her and spotted guards looking for her. As she made it to a corner she smiled and waved, drawing their attention. After they spotted her she stepped around the corner and slapped a silver disc on the wall without slowing, pressing a button on the disc and then continuing the same pace. She counted out twelve paces and slipped into a side room, placing her finger over a button on her belt as she looked out the doorway. The moment the guards came around the corner she pulled the door closed and pressed the button, detonating the charge she’d placed.

There were a few cries following the explosion and she stepped out into the hall, drawing her pistol and shooting the two survivors in the head. Moving to the bodies she knelt and picked up one of their comm units, then stood and pulled out a second silver disc charge. She tossed it up where it stuck on the ceiling above the bodies and then started walking again, turning another corner. Though it was the first day she’d ever set foot in the station, she knew its layout better than anyone who had spent their years working there; she never slacked on studying for missions. She turned corners and took paths without hesitation, holding the comm to her ear. When she heard guards reporting the bodies she’d recently left, she waited a few more moments before detonating the second charge, burning and bringing down the ceiling on the other guards.

She made it to the exit as two guards called for her to freeze from the end of the hallway behind her, raising their rifles. Without bothering to even slow her movements she swiped the stolen keycard to open the door, turning and shooting both guards in the same smooth movement as she stepped out of the door. Finally she started picking up the pace, paying attention to the voice in her ear. She slid her pistol back into its holster and broke off in a run, lifting another two guards with biotics. The next two she leapt into, taking one out with a kick to the side of his head, and the other with a palm strike to the base of his chin followed up by sweeping his legs and sending him to the ground.

She didn’t bother finishing any of them off; she only needed a clear path. She went into a full-out sprint, raising a biotic barrier around her as the guards behind began shooting. Without a moment’s pause she headed straight for the edge of the station, which dropped off in a steep, tall cliff. Moments before she arrived, a shuttle rose up above the edge with the side door open. Miranda jumped in and slammed the door shut behind her as the shuttle took off, heading for the atmosphere. She had barely taken a seat before the screen in front of her turned on to show the Illusive Man. “You were successful,” he stated.

Miranda smiled, removing the silver case from her pack and holding it up. “It wasn’t exactly a difficult assignment.”

“Nonetheless, it was important,” TIM said around the cigarette he was lighting. “Head back to your base – with luck, I’ll have a more challenging mission ready for you by the time you arrive.”

“That’s what I was hoping for,” she said before the transmission cut out. Working for Cerberus had turned out to be a dream job – it didn’t matter that most of the galaxy seemed to think of them as terrorists. Cerberus’ ideals were about uplifting humanity, improving their position in the galaxy – and they would do what was necessary to make humanity better. The pro-human organization was something Miranda could be proud of, and she was saving a lot of human lives, so she ignored what others thought. In her opinion Cerberus was her savior, her job, and her purpose; nothing else mattered.

Not even when she saw the news about the stolen bioweapon or the murdered scientists. After all… it was all for the greater good.

Mass Effect

It was her first actual mission, and the tension she felt was nearly overwhelming. Shepard was more anxious than nervous, but to her relief – and pride – Faith was doing nearly as well in training as she was, and thus was allowed on the mission as well. Faith had actually surprised her – she went at her training with immense effort and determination, perfecting everything that she could. While her biotics weren’t as powerful as Shepard’s, they were more focused, and she had discovered a couple talents that Shepard didn’t have – she was quite skilled with tech. While Shepard was power, Faith was finesse, and they complimented each other as well in battle as they did elsewhere.

Today, they would learn just how well that was. The top members from their training facility had been chosen to undertake their first active mission. Currently, six of them sat in a transport, clad in military-issue armor and carrying their chosen weapons. Three of them were biotics – that was Shepard, Faith, and a boy around the same age named Garret, who had taken advantage of the relaxed restrictions on biotics (as Faith had, keeping her brown hair long) to keep his dark hair a little longer than a crew cut, allowing him to gel it and leave it slightly spiked. He was one of the trainees that Shepard and Faith had become friends with, and was also the one who had held the top time in the obstacle course prior to Shepard’s victory. He wasn’t the most serious of recruits, which was probably why he worked with them – Shepard’s insults and Faith’s dry sarcasm were simply funny to him.

They had all received their designations, as well; Shepard had been classified as an Adept, specialized in biotics and receiving special training in them, beginning to learn to use abilities that not every biotic could. Faith was classified as a Sentinel, and was being trained to use a marriage of biotics and tech skills, making her extremely versatile. Garret on the other hand was a Vanguard, a specialist in biotic close combat; unlike Faith and Shepard, who were carrying the lightest weapons possible (pistols and small SMGs), instead of an SMG he carried a shotgun for when he got close, and his armor was slightly heavier.

The other three on the team weren’t biotics, but soldiers from the other part of the academy. They had all met a few times during basic or general training that involved things all soldiers needed to learn regardless of ability, and they had all gotten along well enough. Roland was their team’s Infiltrator, a man with a serious look and an even grimmer demeanor; he had a large sniper rifle compacted and resting on his back, and word was he was the most accurate shot in the entire academy. Their Soldier, the member with the heaviest armor and largest weapons, was named John, and he was a large, friendly man, bald and wide of frame but non-threatening outside of combat situations. The final member of the team was an Engineer, specialized entirely in tech and with a lot of unique gadgets, was named Leon; he was a jovial man with brown hair swept to the side, who preferred to joke about things if he could.

The team was perfectly balanced, an intentional decision in order to get every recruit used to working with other specializations. The team leader was John; while Shepard wasn’t sure he was the best choice, she was willing to do what he said. After all, he was in the same position she was. She focused on readying herself for the mission: a terrorist group known as Freedom’s Ring had taken control of a missile base on a planet with civilian colonies, thus giving them easy targets to use as leverage. They had a lot of demands that the military had no plans to answer; instead, Shepard’s team was their answer. They were to go in quietly, neutralize all terrorists in any way possible, stop any launches and secure the base.

Their shuttle went in low, setting down at a side entrance to the base. Their pilot wished them good luck and Shepard stepped off to see a beautiful night sky above rolling hills. “It’s a million times better than E-3,” Faith commented as she moved to stand beside her.

“And we’re here to make sure it stays that way,” Shepard responded, smiling at Faith before turning to the rest of the team.

“We’re going in quiet,” John said, resting his large rifle on his shoulder. “But there’s no telling how long that’ll last. I say we focus on speed above all, only stick to stealth as long as it lasts and then go all-out; these guys are on edge, they might fire those missiles at any time and I’d rather not take chances.”

It wasn’t the way Shepard would have done it, but she kept silent, deferring to their current leader. With no time to lose, the group headed inside immediately. Two guards were near their entrance and Roland activated his stealth cloak, moving behind one to take him out quietly with a knife while Shepard crushed the other before he could make a sound. The group moved forward with all speed at John’s behest, but doing so meant that a few minutes in, they tripped an alarm. Suddenly, stealth was out the window – lights were flashing and sirens were blaring, and before long, gunfire filled the air. The group didn’t slow but continued to push forward, heading for the missile control room.

John unloaded round after round from his heavy rifle, utilizing suppressing fire to pin down enemies. Kira and Garret charged right in to tear apart those that were pinned down, Leon and Faith both played support and guarded the flanks, and Roland took out any enemies that tried to switch positions. The further they went the more resistance they met, as every guard in the place knew exactly where they were so defenses were pulled from elsewhere. Kira wasn’t impressed with the way John’s plan was going, and she considered taking control and switching it up… and she would, if they wouldn’t make it in time. For now she stuck with the group.

As a hostile stood and aimed his rifle, she lifted him into the air before launching herself onto the rail he’d been hiding behind, firing a round from her pistol through his head as he was disabled. Two more took aim and she let herself fall back, watching the fire from John’s rifle rip them apart. A grenade came at her from a back corner and she caught it midair with her biotics, throwing it back where it came from. The explosion forced another man out of hiding and Roland’s rifle pierced his head instantly, splattering his blood against the back wall. Shepard vaulted up over the railing and came down with a large-scale biotic shockwave that suspended several people, and Faith’s warping detonated her effect, shattering most of the bones in the targets’ bodies.

Meanwhile, two soldiers came from behind and attempted to open fire, but Leon fried the systems in their weapons, overheating them and rendering them useless. Their moment of confusion was all Garret needed as he performed a biotic charge, crushing one against the wall and blasting the other with his shotgun. A soldier in heavy armor stepped out of a doorway, raising a grenade launcher and opening fire on them. Faith threw up a barrier, shutting out the explosions until Shepard used her biotics to wrench the barrel of his gun towards the floor, causing his next shot to impact at his feet. That explosion was the last of the room’s combat and the group hurried on without missing a beat.

They tore a path through all resistance regardless of what was being thrown at them. Shepard, for the moment, had no concerns or worries – everything was violence. Finally they arrived at their destination, and they didn’t wait to break in – but the terrorist group’s leader was ready for them.

The room was all sleek metal and screens, nearly brand new aside from a few scorch marks caused by the terrorists’ attack. On a large screen ahead was a view of the colonies, and John was about to rush forward to stop the countdown when Leon stopped him with a hand. “Hold on – that console’s linked to something.”

“Indeed it is,” said a bedraggled man with brown hair and a scruffy beard. He held a rifle and stood near a doorway. They all aimed their weapons, recognizing him from their Intel as the terrorists’ leader, but he chuckled and dropped his rifle, gesturing to the screens. “See that video feed?” He gestured to the screens, indicating one beside the view of the colony – a view of a couple dozen people locked in a room. “That room is located somewhere in this facility – and inside is every survivor of our attack. While you have made it through our forces in mere minutes… you stop here.”

“What’s your game?” John asked, keeping an eye on the missile countdown.

“Simple – if you stop the missile launch, the explosives in that room detonate, killing quite a few innocent civilians and soldiers. The only way to avoid doing so is to allow me to leave – and I will contact you with the code that my officer has, which will allow you to stop the launch without causing the detonation.”

John growled, reluctantly lowering his rifle. “Very well.”

“What?” Shepard stepped forward, turning a glare on John. “You’re letting him go?!”

“We don’t have a choice.”

“Precisely,” the man chuckled, pressing a button to open the door. He didn’t get more than a step through it, however, before Shepard’s biotics yanked him back into the room to the ground at her feet. “This isn’t the deal!”

“Shepard!” John was moving forward, but Kira was ignoring him.

“Keep him here,” she said to Faith, who nodded and held the man on the ground with her own biotics.

“Innocent people are going to die!” John said, his rage growing.

Shepard fixed him with a cold stare. “And if we don’t stop the launch, even more will die. He probably doesn’t even have a code. And even if he does we can’t trust him to send it to us if we let him go. And regardless of all of that, if we let him go, he’ll do something like this again.”

“I’m not sacrificing those people to stop him!”

“That’s the difference between us,” Shepard said as she moved past him towards the console. “Their sacrifice will be remembered,” she said as she looked over the computer before pausing as she heard the click behind her.

“Stand down, Shepard,” John said in a hard voice, his rifle leveled at the back of her head. Everyone else was deadly silent as he spoke slowly, “I’m in command of this mission.”

“Forty-three,” Shepard said, watching the countdown on the screen. “Forty-two… Forty-one…”

“This is my call,” John continued. “And if you don’t follow my orders-“

“Too late,” Shepard interrupted, looking at him over her shoulder with one amber eye as she pressed the button on the computer. Several of the team members’ eyes went wide as the other video feed showed an explosion a moment before it went to static, but Shepard’s expression didn’t change at all.

John’s expression was somewhere between shock and rage. “You killed them…”

“You killed them,” Shepard stated harshly, glancing to her left as she realized he was unstable at the moment; she continued after she saw what she was hoping for. “You decided to rush in,” she said as she turned to face him fully. “You made our entrance loud, you let them know we were coming, you gave them time to set this trap up… You put those people in that room.”

John leveled his rifle again. “On the ground,” he stated in a hard tone. “You’re going to have a lot to answer for.”

Shepard’s eyes narrowed. “I’m not going down for your incompetence. Lower your weapon.”

“I said get on the ground!”

“I said lower your weapon!”

The gunshot was sudden, but Faith’s barrier flashed into view and deflected the shot from Shepard in the same instant, as she’d expected. An unseen wind rose in the room as Kira retaliated, flinging John against the opposite wall and pinning him there. His gun hissed and clicked, disabled by Leon’s quick action, and Roland held a gun to John’s head as Garret began removing his weapons. “And this is just our first mission,” Leon said with a look at the rest of the group. “Not a good sign.”

“The rest of you did well,” Shepard said as she activated her comm. “Our mission was successful – launch disarmed. Yes sir; we captured the terrorists’ leader. Casualties of facility personnel - assumed one-hundred percent. Performance?” Kira turned cold eyes on John. “Team Leader John Ryan turned on us. Yes sir. Yes sir. We’ll head to the pick-up point.” She looked to her team. “They’ll debrief us on the way back.” She moved to stand before John, who looked up at her in anger.

“You’re as bad as they are…”

Kira shook her head, showing no sign of amusement. “It’s soldiers like you that get others killed. I have no idea why they picked you as Team Leader – you have no capacity for hard decisions.”

“You’re a traitor!”

“Is that so?” Kira tilted her head, folding her arms. “Then why is the team on my side?”

John looked around, but he had no argument – not one person was ready to defend him.

Mass Effect

The barracks were dead silent, as was usual in the hours shortly after midnight. Curfew had come and gone, and no one was supposed to be awake – but Shepard was. She sat on the bathroom floor, leaning her head back against the cool tile in the darkness. There was the occasional drip of water – a leaky pipe somewhere in the walls – but aside from that, all was silent. There was a subtle echo whenever she shifted, but she knew she wouldn’t wake anyone in the other room. She just needed to be… away.

Claustrophobia of a sort closed in on her. She didn’t panic of course, but there was an underlying anxiety caused by her knowledge that she couldn’t just get out or escape the place, not easily. Ever since the incident on Mindoir she’d been stuck in one place or another, and it caused a lot of stress. She felt trapped, even though it was her choice to be where she was now. It wasn’t a problem itself, but it compounded other problems, making them worse. With all the outlets she was given through military missions and training, her violent nature was sated and controllable – but that wasn’t her only problem.

She was lucky, though. John was gone – not imprisoned, but dishonorably discharged. She didn’t have anything against him personally, but she didn’t think he had what it took to be in the military, especially not as a leader. Instead, the team had been given over to Shepard herself; due to her performance in both training and on the mission a week earlier, she had been made Team Leader. None of the others seemed to have anything against the decision; in fact, they were all pretty supportive, especially Faith, who was just proud. All of them knew she would be a good leader.

But Shepard worried. John’s words bothered her – not because she thought she had made a wrong decision, but because she didn’t know if she would always remember where the line was. She was willing to sacrifice a few dozen people to save tens of thousands, but how far would she go beyond that? How many terrible acts would she end up committing for the ‘right’ reasons? There was that saying about a road to Hell, and she was pretty sure she was on that road. She knew she was willing to do whatever it took to make things right, but she was afraid – afraid that, in the process, she’d do so much that she’d end up making things wrong.

The people she had sacrificed on the mission – it had been easy, in the moment. Cold logic had dictated her actions, making it perfectly clear what the correct decision was. But late at night everything else dimmed and thoughts and fears rose up unhindered, and she couldn’t silence them with logic. Shepard opened her eyes and stared at the dimly-lit tile floor, feeling a cold chill go through her. It could be her, at some point in the future, deciding that some remote colony didn’t need the resources for such a heavy defense – a colony that would then be invaded by monstrous aliens seeking slaves. She could be the cause behind another Mindoir, or something even worse. It didn’t seem so far-fetched…

“Kira?” She lifted her head, watching Faith sit down next to her. “Nightmares?”

Kira smiled faintly, looking back down. “The real-life version. Like nightmares, but more truthful.”

“Tell me.”

Kira sighed, her eyes unfocused as her fingers picked at the grout between two tiles. “I feel like I’m balancing on the edge of an abyss,” she started softly. “And to my other side is a steep hill, and climbing that hill would be right, and strong, and better… but so, so hard.” She pulled up her knees and wrapped her arms around her legs, staring off at nothing. “But falling into the abyss would be so easy…”

Faith ran her fingers through Kira’s hair, gently resting her head on her girlfriend’s shoulder. “That abyss was created by tragedy,” she replied quietly, “and the hill by pain.” Her fingers toyed with Kira’s hair as she got more comfortable, leaning against her. “Over time you’ll heal, and that path you’re on will widen. That pit will fill up and the hill will level out, and you’ll be able to go in whatever direction you want. It just seems hard right now, but things will get easier.”

“Everything you say always makes so much sense,” Shepard said as she slipped her arm around Faith’s waist. “Without you, I don’t think anything would ever make sense to me…”

Faith smiled and closed her eyes, focusing on the sensation of Kira’s fingers tracing patterns on her back. “You just need another perspective, that’s all… You’re so hard on yourself. I just have to remind you what I see.”

“I don’t think anyone sees me the way you do.”

Faith chuckled softly. “Maybe not. But people here think a lot of you. And they’re impressed with how you handled that hard decision.”

“I’m worried about how I’ll handle future hard decisions…”

“I’ll be your moral compass, Kira – I’ll tell you when you’re about to go too far. You don’t have to worry.”