Post by Duncan Ryder on Sept 14, 2021 13:21:10 GMT -5
During Devil May Cry
Duncan was holding a bundle of gauze to the middle of his face, applying pressure in the hopes of stemming the bleeding from the deep laceration that had been torn into his face. He was backstage in the TopGolf Las Vegas sitting outside a room that had been commandeered for Level Up Wrestling's inevitable medical requirements for the night. While he waited to be seen a familiar voice called out down the hall.
“There you are.”
Duncan looked up, taking the gauze away from his face so that it wasn't impeding his vision and looked for the source of the voice. Hurriedly walking towards him was Emily Simms, a friend Duncan had made in his time competing at California Grapplers. She was dressed in a white tank top and blue jeans that were riddled with holes and the pink high top converse all-stars she never seemed to be without. Her expression was one of shock and concern.
“Oh god, look at you,” she said as she got close. She touched his head as she looked at the deep cut. “That looks deep.”
“You should see the other guy,” Duncan joked as he reapplied the gauze.
“I did. I watched the whole thing. Honestly, you might look worse.”
“Gee, thanks.”
“Aside from his hand of course,” Emily added through a pained wince.
“Yeeeah,” Duncan replied evidently nursing a guilty conscience as well as a head injury, “well, maybe it's his own fault for being such a hard bastard. Anyway, I'm glad you came, but you should head back out there. You're missing the Wisdom title match.”
“It's OK. I came to see your match and I did and after that I wouldn't feel right just sitting there knowing you were hurt.”
“I'm fine. I've had worse.”
“Really?”
Duncan considered the simple question for a moment, “Well, maybe not worse but as bad at least.”
“Well, even so,” said Emily as she claimed the seat next to him, “I'll be waiting back here with you if it's all the same.”
“By all means.”
The two were quiet for a little white until Emily spoke again. “So, are you still wanting to go on that vacation?”
Duncan gave her a side eyed look, “Yeah, I think so.”
Emily smiled broadly, “Good, because I've got it all sorted out.”
“Really?”
“Yup.”
“Where am I going?”
“It's a surprise. Just be at the airport by ten o'clock Thursday morning.”
“Airport?”
Emily nodded enthusiastically, clearly proud of herself. Duncan look at her expectantly. “That's all I'm saying.”
“Well then how do I know what to pack?” Duncan asked.
“Pack? Don't pretend like you own any more than a backpack's worth of stuff. Just bring your normal clothes and you'll be fine.”
Just as she finished talking one of the medical team stuck his head out of the room and looked around to him. “OK Shepard, get in here, let's see how bad that is.”
Duncan got up, “Go and enjoy the show.”
“I'll enjoy whatever's left when you're done. I'll be right here.”
“OK,” said Duncan with a nod, “thanks.” He smiled despite the pain as he entered the treatment room.
Shepard was on a beach. It had been many years since he had been anywhere like this. He had all but forgotten the feeling of soft sand against bare feet and the welcome warmth of a temperate sun against his skin. He wasn't sure where the beach was though, nor how he had come to be there. Both things were swiftly rendered uninteresting as someone came to join him.
Shepard.
She was an asari with skin that matched the rich blue sky. She wore a sheer white dress that draped off her and fluttered in the cool sea breeze. She brought drinks, liquids of colours Shepard couldn't quite describe in glasses that's forms he would have believed impossible were he not looking at them with his own eyes. She passed one of the drinks to him. It tasted of fruits that could only grow in alien soil. One sip awakened every one of his taste buds and left him feeling relaxed and content. When the asari laid down beside him, resting her head against his chest Shepard felt like he could stay here forever and-
SHEPARD!
Commander Shepard was startled awake and was once again in the familiar surroundings of his cabin aboard the Normandy. He rubbed his eyes as he threw the sheets back and swung his legs off the side of the bed.
“Commander Shepard, can you hear me?” the voice asked over the intercom.
“I can hear you Miranda, what is it?” Shepard replied wearily.
“We need you down in the briefing room. We have a...situation.”
“What kind of situation?”
“I think it's best you come down and see for yourself commander.”
“On my way,” Shepard replied then cut the link. He sighed deeply as he stood up and muttered to himself, “back to work I guess.”
We open up on a familiar scene of Duncan Shepard alone in front of the camera. The backdrop behind him shows a beach on an alien world with three moons visible even in the daylight sky.
“At Devil May Cry I went through hell. No part of me expected anything less, Don Tirri is a hell of a competitor and a more than worthy challenger but in the end I came through it, bloody, beaten and bruised but victorious and still the Level Up Power Champion.”
“A part of me thought with that win I was home free for Triforce Heroes, but I should have known it wouldn't be that simple and in truth I welcome it. For the Power title, or Wisdom or Courage, even the greatest reigns come with an expiry date. The key to forging a reign that people will remember is not in longevity but it making the most of the time you have. So I'll welcome whoever earns the next shot at my title and I'll add their name to the list of successful defences made by the first ever Power Champion.”
“Before that though, we wait. While a challenger is decided I get to once again stretch out the old multiplayer muscles, once again standing shoulder to shoulder with the Final Boss.”
“I may joke about breathing down Magdalena Lockheart's neck and it's no secret that my goal this year is to unseat her at the top of this company, but all of that comes from a place of respect. It's always hard to claim a World title but it's even harder to keep one. In a match like The Last Of Us Gauntlet so much can happen and anyone can win. Whoever that person may be might fold when the madness of that match is swept away and they're forced to look one opponent in the eye and defend what they've won. The first ever Level Up Final Boss could have been nothing but some volus merchant that got lucky, but it wasn't. The first Level Up Final Boss was and still is Magdalena Lockheart, a woman who has taken down all comers and put the Final Boss title on the map.”
“One day soon I'm going to take great pride in sharing a ring with her as a challenger and in being the one to end her reign. Before that though, I'm going to be just as proud to share the ring with her as an ally and show the world that we two are the best Level Up has to offer.”
The doors slid open to allow Shepard to enter the briefing room. Inside Miranda was waiting for him along with two women he didn't recognise. More importantly than that he was certain that they were not on the ship when they last left dock. They weren't dressed in the uniforms of the crew. Their clothes were unusual, they were in many ways no different to the typical human fashions Shepard had seen mostly in frontier colonies on the edge of the Terminus Systems but these looked more heavy duty and hard wearing and looked like they had been modified several times from their original design. Shepard would have thought they were stowaways, refugees perhaps were it not for a symbol displayed on the chest of each of the strangers, a black A.I set against a white background beside a blue triangle. He had seen that symbol before but only in reports, not in person and he wasn't able to conceive of a reason that he would be seeing it now.
“What's going on here?” he asked.
Miranda had kept her eyes fixed on the two strangers even as Shepard had entered the room and she spared him only a passing look as he spoke. “I could say but I think it will be best if our guests explained it to you themselves.”
Expectant silence hung in the air as Miranda and Shepard looked on. The two newcomers looked to one another and whispered in quiet conference. A moment later one of them took a step forwards. She was short, in fact they both were but between the two she was the shorter. She was young too, by Shepard's estimations she was barely into what anyone would consider adulthood. When she spoke though she did so clearly and with confidence.
“Commander Shepard, my name is Ciela,” she said then gestured to the two other woman beside her, “this is my friend Makayla. We are with the Andromeda Initiative.”
“I deduced as much from the sigil on your clothes. What that doesn't explain though is what the Initiative wants with me or how it is you came to be aboard my ship. My understanding is that the arks all left years ago.”
The two members of the Initiative looked between each other and whispered more, earnestness and urgency etched on their faces. The one who had identified herself as Ciela turned back to Shepard and Miranda. “They did,” she sighed gently, “Commander Shepard I understand that this will seem, outlandish, indeed your first officer has been vociferous in voicing her own doubts but I assure you that it is the truth. The two of us, we are from the future.”
Miranda looked back at Shepard over her shoulder, giving him a look that transmitted every drop of her scepticism without her having to say a word. At the same time the doors to the briefing room opened again.
“Hey I went up to his cabin but Commander Lazy Ass isn't up- oh hey Shepard.”
“Jack,” Shepard acknowledged her, glossing past the insult.
“You figure out who the stowaways are yet?” asked Jack.
“They're from the Andromeda Initiative,” said Miranda, “and the future.”
Jack let out a burst of harsh laughter, “good one Cheerleader but really.”
“Really,” said Shepard, “that's their story.”
The duo from the Initiative had been waiting patiently while the newcomer was brought up to speed but as Jack's gaze turned upon them they each flinched slightly.
“Crock of shit,” said Jack bluntly.
“We understand your doubts, truly,” said Makayla, stepping forward, “but much has changed since our ancestors first fled your galaxy. Many years have passed and things that seem impossible now are much less so in our time.”
“If that's so, tell me, do we defeat the Reapers?” asked Shepard.
Ciela shook her head, “we do not know.”
“It's something you'd think they'd put in the history books don't ya think?” said Jack.
“Of course,” Ciela conceded, “but you see the inevitable war with the Reapers had not begun when our ancestors first set out upon the arks. They spent centuries in stasis before they reached their new home. No word of what became of the Milky Way ever reached Andromeda. We were forced to assume the worst. Now, our jump through time has brought us directly to you. We have no way of seeing what has happened in the interceding years.”
“You've still not explained how you're on my ship,” said Shepard.
“It is simply where the time jump brought us. We rematerialised within your lower decks. We swiftly surrendered ourselves to your security personnel and told them that we needed to speak to you. They brought us here,” said Ciela.
Shepard looked to Miranda who nodded to confirm the story as it had been told.
“Assume that I believe any of this. Why have you come?” asked Shepard.
“We have come to bring you a warning.”
“A warning? About what?”
“About the artefact currently held on this ship.”
Shepard stepped forward and planted his hands firmly on the counter that surrounded the rooms central holographic display, “how do you know about the artefact?”
“It is not important how we know. What is important is what it will one day do and the effects that will have across both space and time. Please, take us to it commander.”
“Horseshit,” spat Jack, “throw these assholes out of an airlock Shepard, or even better, let me do it.”
“All records and reports regarding the study and movement of the artefact have been highly classified. It is highly unlikely they could have learned of it through conventional methods,” said Miranda though even she didn't seem to fully believe what she was saying.
Shepard considered the words of his crew, “very well, I'll allow you to see it,” he turned to Miranda, “have a security detail meet us down in the AI Core. We'll get to the bottom of this soon enough.”
We come back to Shepard alone before the camera though now the background shows him somewhere dark surrounded by cargo boxes and a military cot.
“My other partner is, more of a concern. Queenie, I was happy to see you come away from Devil May Cry as the Courage Champion, if for no other reason than that, with a belt of your own you'll be less likely to try to steal mine like you did Sidroy's. But as a partner I don't know what to think. You've got a rep that you can't be trusted. Sidroy learned that the hard way but I intend to learn the easy way and not make the same mistakes he did. Now me? I've been known to hold a grudge, but I've got no reason to hold one against you right now, so how about we keep it that way? No-one stabs anyone in the back, no-one steals anyone's belt and maybe we can meet up at Triforce Heroes and have our fun then? Sound good? Good.”
Shepard led Ciela and Makayla down a level with Miranda and Jack following behind them. Outside the med-bay stood four more Normandy crew members armed with Avenger assault rifles. They saluted Commander Shepard as he approached.
“At ease,” said Shepard. The security detail lowered their salutes and took ready grips of their weapons. Two of them led the way into the med-bay and through it to the AI core that lay beyond. When they approached the second set of doors slid open and the group passed from the bright sterile white of the med-bay into the low lighting of the AI core.
In the back of the room was the Reaper Artefact. It wasn't as well concealed as it had been on Excelsis, the Normandy simply didn't have the same kind of facilities as the station did, but it was secure.
“EDI, give me a status report on the artefact,” said Shepard.
“The artefact is currently dormant and has been for the past two days, seventeen hours, forty-seven minutes and thirty-eight seconds. Containment field is operating at maximum efficiency. The artefact is secure.”
Shepard turned to Ciela and Makayla, “there, you've seen it. Now care to explain yourselves any further?”
The two women stepped past Shepard and approached the artefact. They gazed upon it with what seemed like awe. Ciela stepped closer still. Shepard moved to hold her back but before he could Makayla blocked his path.
“Allow me to explain commander. It is like this-” she said.
Before she could say any more though the ship shook and everyone lurched forward, thrown off balance by sudden and extreme deceleration.
“What the-?” said Miranda.
“Engineer Adams, what happened?” said Shepard through the ships internal comms.
“We have an intruder down here commander. We have her in custody but she was able to shut down the FTL drive. It'll take time to get it started again.”
“It seems mother was successful,” said Ciela, hidden behind Makayla's larger frame, “and now, so are we.”
Shepard opened his mouth to respond but was cut off by another voice on the comms.
“Commander.”
“What is it Joker?” Shepard asked of the ship's pilot.
“We're got hostile ships incoming. You're not going to believe who it is.” said Joker.
“No,” said Shepard, eyes fixed on the saboteurs in front of him, “I don't expect I will.”
We return to Duncan Shepard one final time. The background as changed to another low lit room, this one filled with data servers.
“That brings me to our opponents, The Time Jumpers. I've said it before, multiplayer wrestling is where I came up. While those days were in many ways bleak, and though even the brightest parts of them have become jaded with time there is one thing I can always remember fondly. It's that feeling you get when you step into the ring with someone you know and who knows you. When your trust is implicit. When you know what your partner will do before they even know themselves, when you're in the zone and you just flow, like one mind controlling two bodies. I haven't felt that way in a long time, but I see some of that in you and I'm excited to feel that again even if it is second hand.”
“But understand this, you may be a strong team but you're stepping in the ring with the best this company has to offer, and as good of a team as you may be you don't have the experience yet to overcome the kind of adversity you're going to face at EXP 13.”
“Bring the very best you have though. Make it a fight, make it a show, make it a good distraction because lets cut to the core right now that's what this match is, a distraction. People always tell you not to look past an opponent but I can't help but do that because no matter what happens outside the world renowned Grauman's Chinese Theatre, EXP 14 will still be more important. So I'm going to take this for what it is, a night with the pressure off. A night to wrestle for the joy of wrestling and a night to let the next generation show what they've got but make no mistake, it's not a night to let you make your names off the back of mine. When all is said and done, it's going to be Power, Courage and the Final Boss with their hands held high.”
Duncan was holding a bundle of gauze to the middle of his face, applying pressure in the hopes of stemming the bleeding from the deep laceration that had been torn into his face. He was backstage in the TopGolf Las Vegas sitting outside a room that had been commandeered for Level Up Wrestling's inevitable medical requirements for the night. While he waited to be seen a familiar voice called out down the hall.
“There you are.”
Duncan looked up, taking the gauze away from his face so that it wasn't impeding his vision and looked for the source of the voice. Hurriedly walking towards him was Emily Simms, a friend Duncan had made in his time competing at California Grapplers. She was dressed in a white tank top and blue jeans that were riddled with holes and the pink high top converse all-stars she never seemed to be without. Her expression was one of shock and concern.
“Oh god, look at you,” she said as she got close. She touched his head as she looked at the deep cut. “That looks deep.”
“You should see the other guy,” Duncan joked as he reapplied the gauze.
“I did. I watched the whole thing. Honestly, you might look worse.”
“Gee, thanks.”
“Aside from his hand of course,” Emily added through a pained wince.
“Yeeeah,” Duncan replied evidently nursing a guilty conscience as well as a head injury, “well, maybe it's his own fault for being such a hard bastard. Anyway, I'm glad you came, but you should head back out there. You're missing the Wisdom title match.”
“It's OK. I came to see your match and I did and after that I wouldn't feel right just sitting there knowing you were hurt.”
“I'm fine. I've had worse.”
“Really?”
Duncan considered the simple question for a moment, “Well, maybe not worse but as bad at least.”
“Well, even so,” said Emily as she claimed the seat next to him, “I'll be waiting back here with you if it's all the same.”
“By all means.”
The two were quiet for a little white until Emily spoke again. “So, are you still wanting to go on that vacation?”
Duncan gave her a side eyed look, “Yeah, I think so.”
Emily smiled broadly, “Good, because I've got it all sorted out.”
“Really?”
“Yup.”
“Where am I going?”
“It's a surprise. Just be at the airport by ten o'clock Thursday morning.”
“Airport?”
Emily nodded enthusiastically, clearly proud of herself. Duncan look at her expectantly. “That's all I'm saying.”
“Well then how do I know what to pack?” Duncan asked.
“Pack? Don't pretend like you own any more than a backpack's worth of stuff. Just bring your normal clothes and you'll be fine.”
Just as she finished talking one of the medical team stuck his head out of the room and looked around to him. “OK Shepard, get in here, let's see how bad that is.”
Duncan got up, “Go and enjoy the show.”
“I'll enjoy whatever's left when you're done. I'll be right here.”
“OK,” said Duncan with a nod, “thanks.” He smiled despite the pain as he entered the treatment room.
Shepard was on a beach. It had been many years since he had been anywhere like this. He had all but forgotten the feeling of soft sand against bare feet and the welcome warmth of a temperate sun against his skin. He wasn't sure where the beach was though, nor how he had come to be there. Both things were swiftly rendered uninteresting as someone came to join him.
Shepard.
She was an asari with skin that matched the rich blue sky. She wore a sheer white dress that draped off her and fluttered in the cool sea breeze. She brought drinks, liquids of colours Shepard couldn't quite describe in glasses that's forms he would have believed impossible were he not looking at them with his own eyes. She passed one of the drinks to him. It tasted of fruits that could only grow in alien soil. One sip awakened every one of his taste buds and left him feeling relaxed and content. When the asari laid down beside him, resting her head against his chest Shepard felt like he could stay here forever and-
SHEPARD!
Commander Shepard was startled awake and was once again in the familiar surroundings of his cabin aboard the Normandy. He rubbed his eyes as he threw the sheets back and swung his legs off the side of the bed.
“Commander Shepard, can you hear me?” the voice asked over the intercom.
“I can hear you Miranda, what is it?” Shepard replied wearily.
“We need you down in the briefing room. We have a...situation.”
“What kind of situation?”
“I think it's best you come down and see for yourself commander.”
“On my way,” Shepard replied then cut the link. He sighed deeply as he stood up and muttered to himself, “back to work I guess.”
We open up on a familiar scene of Duncan Shepard alone in front of the camera. The backdrop behind him shows a beach on an alien world with three moons visible even in the daylight sky.
“At Devil May Cry I went through hell. No part of me expected anything less, Don Tirri is a hell of a competitor and a more than worthy challenger but in the end I came through it, bloody, beaten and bruised but victorious and still the Level Up Power Champion.”
“A part of me thought with that win I was home free for Triforce Heroes, but I should have known it wouldn't be that simple and in truth I welcome it. For the Power title, or Wisdom or Courage, even the greatest reigns come with an expiry date. The key to forging a reign that people will remember is not in longevity but it making the most of the time you have. So I'll welcome whoever earns the next shot at my title and I'll add their name to the list of successful defences made by the first ever Power Champion.”
“Before that though, we wait. While a challenger is decided I get to once again stretch out the old multiplayer muscles, once again standing shoulder to shoulder with the Final Boss.”
“I may joke about breathing down Magdalena Lockheart's neck and it's no secret that my goal this year is to unseat her at the top of this company, but all of that comes from a place of respect. It's always hard to claim a World title but it's even harder to keep one. In a match like The Last Of Us Gauntlet so much can happen and anyone can win. Whoever that person may be might fold when the madness of that match is swept away and they're forced to look one opponent in the eye and defend what they've won. The first ever Level Up Final Boss could have been nothing but some volus merchant that got lucky, but it wasn't. The first Level Up Final Boss was and still is Magdalena Lockheart, a woman who has taken down all comers and put the Final Boss title on the map.”
“One day soon I'm going to take great pride in sharing a ring with her as a challenger and in being the one to end her reign. Before that though, I'm going to be just as proud to share the ring with her as an ally and show the world that we two are the best Level Up has to offer.”
The doors slid open to allow Shepard to enter the briefing room. Inside Miranda was waiting for him along with two women he didn't recognise. More importantly than that he was certain that they were not on the ship when they last left dock. They weren't dressed in the uniforms of the crew. Their clothes were unusual, they were in many ways no different to the typical human fashions Shepard had seen mostly in frontier colonies on the edge of the Terminus Systems but these looked more heavy duty and hard wearing and looked like they had been modified several times from their original design. Shepard would have thought they were stowaways, refugees perhaps were it not for a symbol displayed on the chest of each of the strangers, a black A.I set against a white background beside a blue triangle. He had seen that symbol before but only in reports, not in person and he wasn't able to conceive of a reason that he would be seeing it now.
“What's going on here?” he asked.
Miranda had kept her eyes fixed on the two strangers even as Shepard had entered the room and she spared him only a passing look as he spoke. “I could say but I think it will be best if our guests explained it to you themselves.”
Expectant silence hung in the air as Miranda and Shepard looked on. The two newcomers looked to one another and whispered in quiet conference. A moment later one of them took a step forwards. She was short, in fact they both were but between the two she was the shorter. She was young too, by Shepard's estimations she was barely into what anyone would consider adulthood. When she spoke though she did so clearly and with confidence.
“Commander Shepard, my name is Ciela,” she said then gestured to the two other woman beside her, “this is my friend Makayla. We are with the Andromeda Initiative.”
“I deduced as much from the sigil on your clothes. What that doesn't explain though is what the Initiative wants with me or how it is you came to be aboard my ship. My understanding is that the arks all left years ago.”
The two members of the Initiative looked between each other and whispered more, earnestness and urgency etched on their faces. The one who had identified herself as Ciela turned back to Shepard and Miranda. “They did,” she sighed gently, “Commander Shepard I understand that this will seem, outlandish, indeed your first officer has been vociferous in voicing her own doubts but I assure you that it is the truth. The two of us, we are from the future.”
Miranda looked back at Shepard over her shoulder, giving him a look that transmitted every drop of her scepticism without her having to say a word. At the same time the doors to the briefing room opened again.
“Hey I went up to his cabin but Commander Lazy Ass isn't up- oh hey Shepard.”
“Jack,” Shepard acknowledged her, glossing past the insult.
“You figure out who the stowaways are yet?” asked Jack.
“They're from the Andromeda Initiative,” said Miranda, “and the future.”
Jack let out a burst of harsh laughter, “good one Cheerleader but really.”
“Really,” said Shepard, “that's their story.”
The duo from the Initiative had been waiting patiently while the newcomer was brought up to speed but as Jack's gaze turned upon them they each flinched slightly.
“Crock of shit,” said Jack bluntly.
“We understand your doubts, truly,” said Makayla, stepping forward, “but much has changed since our ancestors first fled your galaxy. Many years have passed and things that seem impossible now are much less so in our time.”
“If that's so, tell me, do we defeat the Reapers?” asked Shepard.
Ciela shook her head, “we do not know.”
“It's something you'd think they'd put in the history books don't ya think?” said Jack.
“Of course,” Ciela conceded, “but you see the inevitable war with the Reapers had not begun when our ancestors first set out upon the arks. They spent centuries in stasis before they reached their new home. No word of what became of the Milky Way ever reached Andromeda. We were forced to assume the worst. Now, our jump through time has brought us directly to you. We have no way of seeing what has happened in the interceding years.”
“You've still not explained how you're on my ship,” said Shepard.
“It is simply where the time jump brought us. We rematerialised within your lower decks. We swiftly surrendered ourselves to your security personnel and told them that we needed to speak to you. They brought us here,” said Ciela.
Shepard looked to Miranda who nodded to confirm the story as it had been told.
“Assume that I believe any of this. Why have you come?” asked Shepard.
“We have come to bring you a warning.”
“A warning? About what?”
“About the artefact currently held on this ship.”
Shepard stepped forward and planted his hands firmly on the counter that surrounded the rooms central holographic display, “how do you know about the artefact?”
“It is not important how we know. What is important is what it will one day do and the effects that will have across both space and time. Please, take us to it commander.”
“Horseshit,” spat Jack, “throw these assholes out of an airlock Shepard, or even better, let me do it.”
“All records and reports regarding the study and movement of the artefact have been highly classified. It is highly unlikely they could have learned of it through conventional methods,” said Miranda though even she didn't seem to fully believe what she was saying.
Shepard considered the words of his crew, “very well, I'll allow you to see it,” he turned to Miranda, “have a security detail meet us down in the AI Core. We'll get to the bottom of this soon enough.”
We come back to Shepard alone before the camera though now the background shows him somewhere dark surrounded by cargo boxes and a military cot.
“My other partner is, more of a concern. Queenie, I was happy to see you come away from Devil May Cry as the Courage Champion, if for no other reason than that, with a belt of your own you'll be less likely to try to steal mine like you did Sidroy's. But as a partner I don't know what to think. You've got a rep that you can't be trusted. Sidroy learned that the hard way but I intend to learn the easy way and not make the same mistakes he did. Now me? I've been known to hold a grudge, but I've got no reason to hold one against you right now, so how about we keep it that way? No-one stabs anyone in the back, no-one steals anyone's belt and maybe we can meet up at Triforce Heroes and have our fun then? Sound good? Good.”
Shepard led Ciela and Makayla down a level with Miranda and Jack following behind them. Outside the med-bay stood four more Normandy crew members armed with Avenger assault rifles. They saluted Commander Shepard as he approached.
“At ease,” said Shepard. The security detail lowered their salutes and took ready grips of their weapons. Two of them led the way into the med-bay and through it to the AI core that lay beyond. When they approached the second set of doors slid open and the group passed from the bright sterile white of the med-bay into the low lighting of the AI core.
In the back of the room was the Reaper Artefact. It wasn't as well concealed as it had been on Excelsis, the Normandy simply didn't have the same kind of facilities as the station did, but it was secure.
“EDI, give me a status report on the artefact,” said Shepard.
“The artefact is currently dormant and has been for the past two days, seventeen hours, forty-seven minutes and thirty-eight seconds. Containment field is operating at maximum efficiency. The artefact is secure.”
Shepard turned to Ciela and Makayla, “there, you've seen it. Now care to explain yourselves any further?”
The two women stepped past Shepard and approached the artefact. They gazed upon it with what seemed like awe. Ciela stepped closer still. Shepard moved to hold her back but before he could Makayla blocked his path.
“Allow me to explain commander. It is like this-” she said.
Before she could say any more though the ship shook and everyone lurched forward, thrown off balance by sudden and extreme deceleration.
“What the-?” said Miranda.
“Engineer Adams, what happened?” said Shepard through the ships internal comms.
“We have an intruder down here commander. We have her in custody but she was able to shut down the FTL drive. It'll take time to get it started again.”
“It seems mother was successful,” said Ciela, hidden behind Makayla's larger frame, “and now, so are we.”
Shepard opened his mouth to respond but was cut off by another voice on the comms.
“Commander.”
“What is it Joker?” Shepard asked of the ship's pilot.
“We're got hostile ships incoming. You're not going to believe who it is.” said Joker.
“No,” said Shepard, eyes fixed on the saboteurs in front of him, “I don't expect I will.”
We return to Duncan Shepard one final time. The background as changed to another low lit room, this one filled with data servers.
“That brings me to our opponents, The Time Jumpers. I've said it before, multiplayer wrestling is where I came up. While those days were in many ways bleak, and though even the brightest parts of them have become jaded with time there is one thing I can always remember fondly. It's that feeling you get when you step into the ring with someone you know and who knows you. When your trust is implicit. When you know what your partner will do before they even know themselves, when you're in the zone and you just flow, like one mind controlling two bodies. I haven't felt that way in a long time, but I see some of that in you and I'm excited to feel that again even if it is second hand.”
“But understand this, you may be a strong team but you're stepping in the ring with the best this company has to offer, and as good of a team as you may be you don't have the experience yet to overcome the kind of adversity you're going to face at EXP 13.”
“Bring the very best you have though. Make it a fight, make it a show, make it a good distraction because lets cut to the core right now that's what this match is, a distraction. People always tell you not to look past an opponent but I can't help but do that because no matter what happens outside the world renowned Grauman's Chinese Theatre, EXP 14 will still be more important. So I'm going to take this for what it is, a night with the pressure off. A night to wrestle for the joy of wrestling and a night to let the next generation show what they've got but make no mistake, it's not a night to let you make your names off the back of mine. When all is said and done, it's going to be Power, Courage and the Final Boss with their hands held high.”