Commander Shepard, Alliance Navy CH. 2: Squad Power Usage
"I'm not special. I'm just a regular grunt who got lucky. I don't know tech or biotics. I don't know how to hack a mech or levitate an object. I know guns. And women. Human or otherwise."
Shorts from the life of John Shepard. Not in chronological order.
Shepard learns that one must do everything himself.
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-Eclipse Merc Base-
The eclipse mercenary fired her missile launcher at the small, diverse squad. Her mooks followed suite, each spraying their assault rifle in their general direction.
The three-man squad dove for cover from the barrage of bullets and rockets.
"Motherfucker!" Commander John Shepard cursed as he impacted the ground behind a conveniently placed chest-high wall. Next to him landed Grunt, the krogan "tank-bred". Tali, the quarian engineer, followed soon after.
The rockets impacted the opposite side of their cover, a ball of fire erupting from the area.
"Keelah!" exclaimed the quarian, as bits of debris rained down on the mismatched squad.
John took this time to peek over the short wall, taking in the battlefield and assessing the opposition.
' Five mercs, heavily armed. One has a missile launcher, all have biotic barriers.'
John slumped back down next to his squad mates. Grunt was blind-firing his Claymore over the top of the wall, while Tali was using her omni-tool to quick fix his armor.
' What can take down barriers?'
John glanced at Grunt.
' Concussive shot!'
John smiled to himself. They now had a plan. He peeked over the cover once more, locking on to the merc with the launcher.
"Hey, Grunt." John called.
Grunt snorted as he turned to face Shepard.
"Battlemaster."
"Okay, I've got a plan. When Tali and I return fire, I want you to-." He turned to the large krogan to see his body covered in a hexagonal grid.
' Fortification'
John stared blankly at Grunt as his plan shattered before his eyes.
"Grunt." John said in an even tone.
"Yes, battlemaster?" Grunt rumbled in response.
"Did you just turn fortification on?"
"Yes."
"Can you still use concussive shot?"
"No. I must wait to recharge. It might take a while. Sorry, battlemaster." Grunt apologized with rare sincerity.
"Fuck." John exhaled loudly as he pinched the bridge of his nose.
Another rocket impacted the team's cover.
8
-Normandy-
-CIC-
The Normandy dock opened with a loud hiss. Joker didn't bother to look as Shepard, Tali, and Grunt stepped aboard the Normandy's bridge.
"Commander." Joker acknowledged his CO's presence.
John grunted in response. Joker noticed he sounded angrier but thought nothing of it.
John stormed down the bridge, into the CIC, followed closely by his two cohorts.
Kelly Chambers was at her terminal, working on psyche evaluations. She heard John approach and looked up to cheerfully greet him.
"Hello, Commander - _ Oh, my _!" Kelly gasped, bringing one hand up to her mouth.
Joker whirled around in his seat and finally saw exactly why the Commander was angry.
There, stood John Shepard, his armor scorched and all to hell, several pieces missing, sporting a black eye and several bruises, and his left arm in a bloody cast.
Tali fared no better, only able to move on crutches and sporting a neck brace she wore over her suit, forcing her to have to stare up at the ceiling.
Grunt, unsurprisingly, was unscathed. But he did look very ashamed, hanging his head low.
"Commander, are you okay-?" Kelly began, her voice heavy with concern.
John cut her off, holding up his good hand.
"Team meeting. Conference Room. NOW!"
8
-Normandy-
-Conference Room-
The conference room was crowded as the mission specialists piled in. Some, like Jack and Zaeed, looked bored, while others, like Garrus and Jacob, waited intently.
Shepard had his back to them, Legion standing by his side. Many noticed that the gaping hole that was once Legion's chest was now filled, a large box filling the void. No one questioned it, though. Their attention was on Shepard.
Shepard turned to face his crew, revealing his battered face. Everyone winced at the bloody sight.
Shepard sneered at the looks he received.
"The reason I brought you all here is to discuss a problem we've been having." Shepard paused, letting it sink in.
"It has come to my attention, after several missions with each and every one of you," He pointed at his team, his eyes falling on each one, "That none of you know how to use your powers efficiently."
There it was, out on the table. The first emotion to greet the team was confusion, Thane especially.
"I don't understand, Shepard." The drell assassin started, "I am a very skilled assassin, perhaps even the best. I'm pretty confidant I know how to handle my biotics."
Shepard turned to face the drell, his eyes wild. Something inside him had snapped.
"_ Oh, really?" You know how to use your powers, Thane?" _
Thane shifted uncomfortably on his feet, unsure how to answer.
"_ Then why do WARP every guy you see? Every time we walk into a room, what the first thing you feel compelled to do? Why, you go off and fucking WARP the guy closest to you! Even if the guy has shields!" _
"Shepard, I think you need to calm down." Suggested Garrus, as he took a cautious step towards John. John whipped around, Garrus flinching and taking a step back.
"_ Oh, you just shut the fuck up, Vakarian!" _ John snapped, nearly foaming at the mouth.
"Keelah..." Whispered Tali.
John then struck a pose, getting on his tip-toes, sticking his arms out at the elbow, letting his wrists hang loose. He then began to "imitate" Garrus, adding a lisp to his voice.
"_ Oh, look at me! I'm GAWWATH VAKAWIAN! Thee-Thec exthwoadinar! I like to use overload! ALL! THE FUCKING! TIME!" _ John had now abandoned the lisp. He was just raging now.
"_ YOU DON'T USE OVERLOAD ON SOMEONE WITH BIOTIC BARRIERS! THAT'S WHAT YOU FUCKING USE WARP FOR! I'M LOOKING AT YOU, KRIOS!" _
Thane hung his head in embarrassment.
"_ OR MAYBE JUST A LITTLE CONCUSSIVE SHOT, HERE OR THERE! YOU NEVER KNOW! IF ONLY SOMEONE DIDN'T USE FORTIFICATION EVERY CHANCE THEY GOT!" _
Grunt sighed sadly, ashamed at his failure.
John whipped around to face the other side of the room. Tali was now in his sights.
"_ AND YOU, TALI!" _ He bellowed.
Tali jumped in fright, almost dropping her crutches. She stared, wide-eyed, at her raging captain.
"_ WHY, IN THE FLYING FUCK, DO YOU ALWAYS USE THAT DAMNED COMBAT DRONE?" _
Tali glared at Shepard. Gone was the fear, replaced by a motherly instinct over her Chiktikka.
"I'll have you know, Shepard, Chiktikka-!"
John cut her off, erupting like a volcano.
" CHIKTIKKA VAS PAUS DOESN'T DO SHIT! YOU HAVE TWO OTHER, FAR MORE USEFULL POWERS, TALI! AI HACKING AND FUCKING ENERGY DRAIN! BUT _ NOOOOOOOOO _ ! YOU USE A FUCKING _ PINK _ COMBAT DRONE THAT DOES SO LITTLE DAMAGE, IT MIGHT AS WELL GIVE THE ENEMY _ MEDI-GEL _ ! IT DOES FUCKING _ NEGATIVE DAMAGE!" _
When Shepard was done, he was breathing heavily. His chest expanded and collapsed, slowly. The team stared at him, afraid. Even Jack wanted to leave.
Finally, John took a deep breath and exhaled calmly. He turned to Legion, who was still next to him.
"Legion. Chocolate smoothie." It was a simple command. John held out an open hand as Legion's head plates flapped and twitched. A noise came from the box where his hole used to be.
After about a minute, a small chime rang, and the noise stopped. Legion opened the box in his chest and pulled out a tall glass of brownish liquid. Legion placed the glass into Shepard opened hand.
"Shepard-Commander."
"Thank you, Legion."
Shepard took a gulp of the delicious beverage before turning his back to the crew once more.
"Starting now, no one will use their powers in the field unless _ I _ tell them to. Dismissed."
The crew erupted into protest, not pleased with the outcome of the meeting.
Shepard turned to face them, now inexplicably wearing a pair of shades.
"Deal with it."
The protests stopped. The noise died down. Defeated, the team filed out of the conference room until only Legion, Tali, and Shepard remained.
Shepard stood there, sipping his smoothie, Legion right next to him, on standby.
Tali cautiously approached John, struggling with the crutches.
"Shepard, about Chiktikka-."
John silenced her by holding up his hand.
"Tali, unless you can make Chiktikka _ explode , I don't want to see that fruity pink drone, _ever again."
And with that, Shepard left the conference room. Legion attempted to follow, but Tali held him back.
Tali stroked the "chin" part of her helmet as she let the idea soak in.
"Explode, huh? I could make that work." A devious smile spread underneath her mask. She looked to Legion, "C'mon Legion, we've got work to do."
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