Necessary Monsters

Chapter 1

Unknown Place, Unknown Time...

Where am I? And why does it look like a rainbow vomited on everything?

These were the first thoughts of Jane Shepard as she found herself in a place she could not recognize, or even remember getting too.

She was floating, of that Shepard was certain. Her body was weightless, levitating in what was by far one of the strangest, but most beautiful, places she had ever seen.

Surrounding her on all sides was a swirling, chaotic storm of color. All around her, more shades and tinges than she thought existed in the universe mixed and split and moved, in a strange dance that was at the same time beautiful and, strangely, painful to watch.

A strand of color, a bright violet, snaked out towards her in her little bubble of calm amongst the maelstrom. On a whim, Shepard reached out and touched the strand. Suddenly, her mind was filled with feelings of love, hundreds of voices filling her head with their thoughts. She pulled her hand away on impulse, and the voices ceased. The tendril, unconcerned with her contact, continued through the calm and merged with the surrounding colors.

What the hell was that? She thought. What is this place?

"Commander"

She turned as a voice sounded behind her, soft and gravelly. Floating there, slightly above her, was a man. He was older, looking to be in his late fifties. His hair was silver-grey in color and cropped close to his head. His face was weathered, with a scar that ran across his right eye. His eyes were a vibrant shade of green, and seemed to speak of secrets old and terrible.

Besides his head, she could see very little of the man's body, as he wore a long black coat that concealed most of his form. His arms were held behind his back as he appraised the woman before him.

"Who are you?" Shepard asked. "Do you know where we are?"

The man ignored her question and looked out into the maelstrom around them. "Look, Commander." he said, gesturing to the storm.

She turned to the swirling colors and saw that there were now hundreds-no thousands-of black specks moving though maelstrom.

And where these specks moved, the colors died, replaced by a monotonous, dead grey.

And as the specks continued to destroy the storm, two sounds reached Shepherd's ears.

The first was a deep, reverberating synthetic roar.

The second sound was of countless voices, screaming and shouting and crying; in terror, in defiance, in agony, in rage. Occasionally she would pick out individual voices from the throng...

The flanged voice of a Turian: "I need an airstrike on my position right now...no, directly on my position, Husks are swarming us. Lock onto my com signal…"

The deep bellowing voice of a Krogan which was underlaid by a wet gurgling: "Come on then you wet sacks of pyjack shit, let's see what you've got! GRAAAAAAAA!"

The electronic, panicking voice of a quarian: "Captain, the last shot severed the coolant lines. The reactor is threatening to overload! Attempting to compensate!"

The pleading, feminine voice of an asari: "Oh goddess, please...if you can hear me, please don't let them find me...oh no...please, PLEASE!"

Soon, the black dots had reduced the vibrant maelstrom of color to a few scattered clusters, weakly pulsing and spinning in the vast expanse of grey. The specks then retreated beyond her vision, leaving her alone in the grey.

Shepard turned back to the man, to find that he was no longer alone. Floating along side him was a young woman with an angular face, hazel eyes, and light brown hair. She was attractive, but her eyes were hard, and she observed Shepard with a look of cold contempt. Like the older man, she wore a long black coat and held her arms behind her back.

Before the two coated observers were a pair of what appeared to be prisoners, a man and a woman, in orange, form-fitting clothing. The pair wore execution hoods, and their hands were bound behind their backs.

"What is this?"Shepard asked, confused. "Where did they come from?" She gestured at the newcomers.

Again, the man ignored her question and spoke.

"Commander, there is a darkness coming. An evil the likes of which this galaxy has not seen for tens of thousands of years. If you are to face it and succeed, sacrifices must be made." On that, both of the watchers moved in unison and pulled the execution hoods off of the prisoners before them.

The hoods removed, Jane saw that the female prisoner had short raven hair, brown eyes, and a familiar ovular face. The man had short-shaved black hair, brown eyes, and and a blocky, well- kept face.

Ashley Williams and Kaiden Alenko looked down at her, bound and gagged, with a pleading fear naked in their eyes.

"What?" Shepard was shocked. "What are you doing with them? Let them go immediately!" Her voice began to get louder as her anger grew.

The green eyed man paid no heed to her rising anger, and spoke again as if she had not interrupted, "You must be willing to make these sacrifices, or else all may be lost to the coming darkness." With that, he reached beneath his large coat, his female companion doing the same.

As one, the pair drew bulky, unfamiliar black pistols and pressed them against the backs of Kaiden and Ashley's heads.

"No!" Shepard cried, reaching out towards the group. "Stop!"

The green eyed man looked back to her, his face an impassive mask.

"Choose, Commander," he said, "which one shall die?"

"Wha...are you kidding me? I'm not going to choose one of them to die! They're my teammates, my friends!"

The man's eyes narrowed. "You do not have a choice in the matter, Commander. One of them must die, and you must decide who. Otherwise, both shall die, and you soon after. A sacrifice must be made for the greater good of all."

Shepard looked between her two friends helplessly, and the unknown woman snorted derisively at her indecision. "She cannot make the sacrifice, master. She is too weak-hearted. Let us just end them and be done with it."

"Be silent!" The man snapped, then looked back to Jane, his eyes now hard and a look of annoyance on his face. "Choose, Comander. The Soldier or the Sentinel? Which shall perish?"

"I...no...I can't…" Shepard felt the helplessness of the situation begin to overwhelm her. She could not move in this place; she had no weapons, no omni-tool, no way to stop the murder of her friends. All she could do was make a choice, and it was an impossible decision to make.

"Choose, Commander." The man said again, displeasure evident in his voice.

"Shepard?"

Jane heard a voice calling her name, quiet and muffled. She looked for the source of the sound, but could see nothing but the grey.

"Choose, Commander!" The man said, more sharply now, and she saw his grip tighten on his pistol.

"Please, don't do this. If you have to kill anyone, kill me. Just leave them alone!" She pleaded.

The man snorted in annoyance. "That would be incredibly counter-productive, Commander. You are needed for what is to come. They are not. Now, choose! Time runs short!"

"Shepard!"

The other voice was louder now, less echo-y. She could now tell that the voice was distinctly feminine, and rather familiar.

"Commander!" The green-eyed man was almost shouting now. He glared at her, annoyance and anger glaring on his face. "Time has run out. You must choose NOW or they both shall die!"

"I can't! I can't choose between the lives of two of my oldest friends! Why are you doing this?!" Shepard practically screamed at the older man.

The man looked...disappointed at her outburst. She could see that she had failed some kind of test in his eyes, and that he had been hoping for her to succeed. But then his face once again grew determined and he flicked off the safety on his pistol.

"Very well then, Commander. Then, by your actions, they both die."

Shepard could only watch as the pair's fingers tightened on the trigger's of their pistols.

And with a paired bang, Ashley and Kaiden's heads exploded into fine red mist.

"NO!" She screamed as the bodies of her friends slumped lifelessly. Her eyes welled with tears of sadness and rage, but then, the corpses began to fade, slowly becoming more immaterial until they vanished all together. Shepard could only stare dumbfounded at the two cloaked figures who remained, unable to conceive a rational explanation for what had just occurred.

The pair in black holstered their pistols and looked at her. They spoke again, in total synchronisation, but their voices were different now. The man's voice was deeper, clearer, and sounded...noble, as much as a voice can sound 'noble'. The woman's voice was no longer scornful, but soft and melodious, as if she were about to burst into song.

"Unfortunate. We had hoped for more...conviction. We dearly hope you perform better in the future, Commander Shepard. Now go; you are needed elsewhere."

"Jane!"

The voice was everywhere now, echoing and reverberating around her. Such was it's volume that Jane felt her ears might rupture.

She looked once more at her tormentors, and for a brief moment they were overlaid with another ethereal form, like the afterimage in a photograph.

The man, for a moment, was twice his current height; clad in armor of brightest gold, with a burning blade at his side, and a corona of light behind his head.

The woman, for an instant, was clad in a blowing, beautiful dress; her hair raven black, her features angular and perfect, and her cheeks stained with tears.

Together, they spoke.

"Awaken."

…

Year 2183, onboard the SSV Normandy...

Shepard jolted awake in her bed on the Normandy, sitting up rapidly.

And cracking her forehead on the blue-skinned alien who was leaning worriedly over her.

"Ah!" They both cried out, more from surprise than anything else.

Jane recovered faster, wincing as she brought a hand to her sore forehead. She looked over at the source of her pain, and her annoyance turned to worry as her groggy brain finally realized who it was.

"Oh my god, Liara! Are you ok?"

The Asari straightened from her bent-over posture, one hand holding her nose, which was dribbling a small amount of blue blood.

"Yes, Shepard, I'm fine."

"Crap, you're bleeding!" Jane cried, jumping out of her bed. "Hold on, I'll go get Dr. Chakwas…" she turned to leave the room, her sleep-addled mind running on automatic.

"Jane, wait!" Liara said, grabbing the woman by the arm before she could barge out of the room. She turned Jane around and grabbed ahold of her shoulders. "Shepard, I'm fine. It's just a little nosebleed, and my fault in any case."

Shepard's mind cleared as she listened to Liara's soothing voice. She shook her head to clear the last few cobwebs and looked into Liara's beautiful blue eyes. A sense of calm she hadn't felt for months fell over her as she lost herself in those eyes.

At that point both women realized just how close they were to each other and quickly backed away, their cheeks flushed; red for Jane, purple for Liara. Their embarrassment was not helped by Shepard's attire; she wore only a thin white t-shirt and a very short pair of shorts when she slept.

"So, uh…" Shepard began awkwardly. "Was there something you wanted to talk about, Liara?"

"Ah, I was just coming to tell you that we're a few hours out from Virmire, and the others wanted to discuss the plan of attack. I…" she paused for a moment, "I didn't intend to come in, but I heard you cry out and I worried that there might be something wrong. I called your name twice, but you didn't respond. I got worried, so I overrode the lock and came in. You were thrashing around on your bed, and I had just come over to try and wake you when you woke up." Her blush got a little bit darker. "Sorry about breaking in."

"No, no, it's fine." Shepard assured her. "I appreciate your concern. I was just having a…" She paused, for she could not really remember what had happened in her dream. Most of it had faded, and all she could remember were colors, then greyness, and a pair of piercing green eyes.

"A nightmare, I guess." She said. Liara still looked somewhat concerned, but accepted her explanation.

"Well, considering everything is fine, and you aren't being murdered, I should head to the briefing room and let you...get dressed." She said, her cheeks flushing slightly again.

"Right, probably the best plan." Shepard replied as the Asari turned and left. "See you in a bit!" She called as the door slid shut behind Liara.

Shepard's shoulders slumped slightly as the door slid shut. "Real smooth, Jane. Sleep-headbutting someone is definitely a great way to show affection." She paused. "Actually, if Liara was a Krogan, it might be." She sighed heavily as a grim mood fell over her, but shook it off and went to gather up her clothes.

Battle was imminent, and everyone had to be ready.

…

Five minutes after Shepard awoke from her dream, she walked into the briefing room at the rear of the Normandy's crew deck. She walked through the door and saw that all the members of her team were already there.

Garrus and Wrex were standing along the right side of the room, engaged in their usual combination of banter and posturing, although by now it had lost the underlying hostility that punctuated their original interactions.

Tali was seated in the chair closest to the far wall on the right side of the room, fluctuating between tinkering with her omni tool and sneaking glances at a totally oblivious Garrus. Shepard smirked as she noticed this. Hell, everyone on the ship had noticed the looks that the young Quarian often threw the way of the former C-Sec officer. It was getting to the point where Shepard was honestly considering just outright telling the dense turrian to wake the hell up and ask her out the next time they stopped at the Citadel.

Liara was waiting patiently in her seat as well, and looked up as Jane entered, giving her a warm smile of greeting which set Shepard's heart fluttering.

Lastly, her eyes were drawn to Kaiden and Ashley, who were talking to each other quietly in the corner, a happy smile on both of their faces, hands intertwined. Normally, the sight of two of her oldest friends on the Normandy so enamored with the other presence gave her a warm feeling in her stomach; today though, looking at them, she felt nothing but a cold knot of dread that sent a small shiver down her spine, and a quiet, gravely voice in the back of her mind whispering 'Choose'.

She shook her head as all eyes turned to her. She put a smile on her face as she walked over to the holoprojector, using her omni-tool to pull up an image of Virmir on the projector.

Calm down. She thought to herself. It was just a bad dream.

But as she looked over her assembled team, their confident, determined faces regarding her and the planet they would soon be landing on, the knot in her stomach only grew tighter.

Just a dream she thought again, as the sense of dread grew, and she steeled herself to go over the plan of attack on Virmire.

…

M. 40, Y 313, Segmentum Tempestus, unknown system.

"Uhg."

"My lord? Are you alright?"

Lord Inquisitor Marthas Devinir opened his eyes and looked to the source of the voice, an aging man of around sixty in a Navy uniform with many, many medals attached to the breast of the coat.

The Inquisitor nodded in response to the question, removing his hands from the side of his head, where they had been softly massaging his temples for the last twenty minutes or so, attempting to remove the splitting headache that had come upon him suddenly. It had just receded, and that was why he had made the small noise concerning the captain.

He explained as much to Captain Dracov, who furrowed his brow.

"With all due respect Inquisitor, it may be best if you got some rest. We are less than two hours from our target, and it would not due to have you at less than optimal condition when we confront our prey."

Many men would never dream of speaking to a member of His holy Ordos in such a 'disrespectful' manner; but Marthas and Dracov had worked together for nearly a century by now, and the Inquisitor knew when to heed his old friend's advice.

"I think I shall do just that, Captain. The bridge is yours. Notify me when we are withing ten minutes of our destination, and wake me for nothing else short of gelar field failure."

The Captain nodded. "As you wish, my Lord."

As Devinir strode from the bridge of his vessel, His Silent Blade, he again raised a hand to his forehead and closed his eyes, hiding their piercing green coloration from the somewhat painfully bright light of the hallway leading from the bridge.

He could not for the life of him get this image out of his head. It had appeared in a flash just as his headache had subsided, and he had no idea what it meant, though he had detected some kind of Psychic connection when it 'arrived', for lack of a better term.

The image was of an armored, young-looking human woman with vibrant, shoulder-length red hair engaged in hand-to-hand combat with an unfamiliar xeno species with what appeared to be a hard, shell-like skin and frills coming off the back of it's head.

The pair were fighting for control of a blade, a combat knife, and the alien seemed to have the upper hand, with him stradling the woman and pushing the blade down at her with a robotic arm.

However, what was most troubling was what was behind the pair. For it seemed to be Terra, as shown in the most ancient of images, under siege, with large, organic-looking starships decending from the skies onto the world below, and the teltale orange of fires spreading accross the surface of the planet.

Marthas had no idea what this vission meant, but he planned to find out.

He just had one thing to do before he could get started, and that was only a few hours away.

I'm sure this vision can wait until after we deal with Gerakas. He thought as he reached and entered his quarters.

And far off in the warp, three entities smiled at the man's ignorance.

...

A/n

Sorry if this is full of bad spelling and gramar. I don't have a computer atm, so I've uploaded it via mobile device, which is absolute shit to work with.

In any case, I hope you enjoyed the first instalment of Nececary Monsters.

Until next time,

Imperator senatus et populi Romani Dinosaurs!