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fandomweekly2017-02-17 10:54 pm
toffeecat) wrote in fandomweekly2017-02-17 10:54 pm
Entry tags:
[#033] Status Pending (Mass Effect)
Theme Prompt: #033 – Jury’s Out
Title: Status Pending
Fandom: Mass Effect
Rating/Warnings: G / None
Bonus: Yes
Word Count: 1000
Summary: She might as well be in an actual prison. It would not feel much different, not to her.
Her cell is sparsly furnished. It is not so much a cell, as it is a waiting room, or so she has been told on her arrival, but that does not change much. Not with her Spectre priviliges revoked, and not with the Normandy grounded. She might as well be in an actual prison. The Alliance does not dare to incarcerate her, humanity's first Spectre, but it would not make a difference, not to her.
Huh. The reward for saving the galaxy...
She can hardly be bitter about that, though. It is bad enough that she has botched that mission, big time. Worse, she is treated as if she has ignored the consequences! Shepard paces through the room, glaring at the door. As if her thoughts have not circled around her latest mission every waking moment since she has turned herself in.
And while her mind is working overtime, she is exhausted. Hindsight is always twenty twenty... Right? She stops, leaning against a wall, before her legs give away under her, and she slides down onto the floor. Absent-mindedly, she tries to remember how long it has been since she has had a break, a vacation longer than shore leave. The two years she has been dead, probably.
She lets her head fall back against the wall. It has been days since she has handed over her ship and herself for the investigantion the Alliance is conducting on her mission. It is more than necessary, and she knows it; her decision has broken several intergalactic laws, and if it has been someone else, she would have been the first to hunt them down. They need to prevent the tense batarian-human relationship from escalating any more than it already has. Otherwise, they will not stand united, and that is what they have to be.
If she has to stand trial to satisfy politics, she will.
Does not help to make waiting easier, though. The defence comittee takes it sweet time to come up with a decision...
If she had had days to decide, she would not have been forced to stay put in the first place! If she had had days to decide, she would not have sacrificed the Bahak system, with hundreds of thousands people living in it. If she had seen another way to destroy the Alpha Relay-
With a groan, she buries her head on her knees and under her arms. Damn. How is she supposed to convince an Alliance comittee, if, no, when she is tried, if she cannot convince herself to believe what she has done was the right thing to do? No-one could possibly evacuate a whole system within an hour, and still... She feels like she has not even tried. And now, they are all dead. The triumph of having delayed the Reapers' arrival rings hollow compared to that.
Everything would be easier, or at least more endurable, if she was able to talk to anyone; her crew, Anderson, her mother; Garrus... But, even disregarding that all of them are most likely too engrossed in their own preparations to respond to her calls, she is not allowed to contact anyone outside of the little space she is in. Even the grunts who bring her meals do not talk to her; they are starstruck and rendered speechless, sure, more or less staring at the woman who has saved the galaxy twice so far, who is kept from attempting it for the third, and hopefully final, time.
But they do not utter a word, nor do they react to her questions. Because she is also the woman who has just obliterated a whole system to buy the others a few, precious moments to prepare themselves; something those batarians have not had the chance to.
She would be surprised if her warnings were heeded this time. The Council has a history of ignoring her after all, only to demand her help when almost all is lost already.
Shepard jumps back to her feet. She has never been one to sit anything out, anyway. It just makes her think, and reflect, and she wants to do neither. She wants to be back in action, in the heat of the fight. Instead, she is wasting days with waiting, now, when the last thing she has to spare is time.
Granted, everything appears to be calm outside. She steps closer to the window front. Everyone is going on on their daily business; shuttles flying between skyscrapers, people carrying their groceries home, children playing in parks... It seems to be just another ordinary day.
Like Earth is not in immediate danger. Why is she the only one not lying to herself? She is the one not lying to herself, is she not?
Shepard watches a child play with one of those spaceship toys. It almost looks like the Normandy, but it might be because he is so far down. Or, because she misses being on her ship like nothing else.
He stumbles, and falls; though he twists himself around and clutches the ship to his chest, to shield it from his fall. Moments later, he is back on his feet, pretending to be on a crucial mission, or maybe just a sight-seeing trip. So carefree... What does she know about children, really?
Her lips tug up into a soft smile despite herself. The people deserve to have a break, they really do. Just because she has barely seen anything but violence and war does not mean everyone else should, too. In times like these, every peaceful second is something to hold dear.
The doors glide open behind her with that familiar signature swoosh, and she turns around. This time, though, it is no rookie to bring her her rations. When Vega motions her to follow him, she does, without question.
Time for her to get this over with. She squares her shoulders and salutes as she sees Anderson. There is a whole bunch of Reapers she needs to take care of.
Title: Status Pending
Fandom: Mass Effect
Rating/Warnings: G / None
Bonus: Yes
Word Count: 1000
Summary: She might as well be in an actual prison. It would not feel much different, not to her.
Her cell is sparsly furnished. It is not so much a cell, as it is a waiting room, or so she has been told on her arrival, but that does not change much. Not with her Spectre priviliges revoked, and not with the Normandy grounded. She might as well be in an actual prison. The Alliance does not dare to incarcerate her, humanity's first Spectre, but it would not make a difference, not to her.
Huh. The reward for saving the galaxy...
She can hardly be bitter about that, though. It is bad enough that she has botched that mission, big time. Worse, she is treated as if she has ignored the consequences! Shepard paces through the room, glaring at the door. As if her thoughts have not circled around her latest mission every waking moment since she has turned herself in.
And while her mind is working overtime, she is exhausted. Hindsight is always twenty twenty... Right? She stops, leaning against a wall, before her legs give away under her, and she slides down onto the floor. Absent-mindedly, she tries to remember how long it has been since she has had a break, a vacation longer than shore leave. The two years she has been dead, probably.
She lets her head fall back against the wall. It has been days since she has handed over her ship and herself for the investigantion the Alliance is conducting on her mission. It is more than necessary, and she knows it; her decision has broken several intergalactic laws, and if it has been someone else, she would have been the first to hunt them down. They need to prevent the tense batarian-human relationship from escalating any more than it already has. Otherwise, they will not stand united, and that is what they have to be.
If she has to stand trial to satisfy politics, she will.
Does not help to make waiting easier, though. The defence comittee takes it sweet time to come up with a decision...
If she had had days to decide, she would not have been forced to stay put in the first place! If she had had days to decide, she would not have sacrificed the Bahak system, with hundreds of thousands people living in it. If she had seen another way to destroy the Alpha Relay-
With a groan, she buries her head on her knees and under her arms. Damn. How is she supposed to convince an Alliance comittee, if, no, when she is tried, if she cannot convince herself to believe what she has done was the right thing to do? No-one could possibly evacuate a whole system within an hour, and still... She feels like she has not even tried. And now, they are all dead. The triumph of having delayed the Reapers' arrival rings hollow compared to that.
Everything would be easier, or at least more endurable, if she was able to talk to anyone; her crew, Anderson, her mother; Garrus... But, even disregarding that all of them are most likely too engrossed in their own preparations to respond to her calls, she is not allowed to contact anyone outside of the little space she is in. Even the grunts who bring her meals do not talk to her; they are starstruck and rendered speechless, sure, more or less staring at the woman who has saved the galaxy twice so far, who is kept from attempting it for the third, and hopefully final, time.
But they do not utter a word, nor do they react to her questions. Because she is also the woman who has just obliterated a whole system to buy the others a few, precious moments to prepare themselves; something those batarians have not had the chance to.
She would be surprised if her warnings were heeded this time. The Council has a history of ignoring her after all, only to demand her help when almost all is lost already.
Shepard jumps back to her feet. She has never been one to sit anything out, anyway. It just makes her think, and reflect, and she wants to do neither. She wants to be back in action, in the heat of the fight. Instead, she is wasting days with waiting, now, when the last thing she has to spare is time.
Granted, everything appears to be calm outside. She steps closer to the window front. Everyone is going on on their daily business; shuttles flying between skyscrapers, people carrying their groceries home, children playing in parks... It seems to be just another ordinary day.
Like Earth is not in immediate danger. Why is she the only one not lying to herself? She is the one not lying to herself, is she not?
Shepard watches a child play with one of those spaceship toys. It almost looks like the Normandy, but it might be because he is so far down. Or, because she misses being on her ship like nothing else.
He stumbles, and falls; though he twists himself around and clutches the ship to his chest, to shield it from his fall. Moments later, he is back on his feet, pretending to be on a crucial mission, or maybe just a sight-seeing trip. So carefree... What does she know about children, really?
Her lips tug up into a soft smile despite herself. The people deserve to have a break, they really do. Just because she has barely seen anything but violence and war does not mean everyone else should, too. In times like these, every peaceful second is something to hold dear.
The doors glide open behind her with that familiar signature swoosh, and she turns around. This time, though, it is no rookie to bring her her rations. When Vega motions her to follow him, she does, without question.
Time for her to get this over with. She squares her shoulders and salutes as she sees Anderson. There is a whole bunch of Reapers she needs to take care of.
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