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Predestine 4 - Persistent

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Title: Predestine - Chapter 4: Persistent
Author: xRebel666x
Game: Mass Effect
Characters/Pairing: Commander Maree Shepard (femShep) and (TBA later)

Chapter 4 – Persistent

 Shepard struggled to get out of bed the morning after the match with the turian Spectre, Nihlus Kyrik. The restless night she toiled through barely aided in her recuperation. Her body ached in mysterious places as she staggered towards the door. Her head continued to faintly pound against the confines of her skull, recovering from its blunt impact with the boxing arena floor. The scarce trace of adrenaline lingered within her veins from his quick maneuver. As much as she deemed it an unfair fight, Maree wanted nothing more than a rematch simply to reawaken her favorite desire.

 Knowing she couldn't allow her confrontation with the privileged guest divert her from scheduled agenda, the Commander crawled out of her quarters and wandered towards the mess hall. The soldiers who witnessed her fight came up to discuss what happened but Shepard wasn't in the mood… her prime objective was to put something in her stomach before continuing her training regiment.

 After filling up her tray with what could be vaguely described as "food," she isolated herself deep within the corner of the rustling cafeteria. Although she never discussed it with anyone, the stress of the Blitz secretly left her suffering. She could barely get a good night's rest, fighting every battle in her dreams as she tossed and turned violently throughout what sleep she could manage. During her waking hours, she fought to stomach as much food as she could. Everything tasted bitter… spoiled… and the quality of food on Arcturus Station didn't exactly help. The pride ship of the Alliance sometimes experienced difficulties in receiving things fresh.

 The combination of the lack of sleep and the abundance of nourishment left the Commander slightly aggravated. Excluding herself from the noises of the masses helped alleviate some of the stress and gave her a moment to reclaim her strength. Everyone within the station knew to leave the Commander alone whenever she was eating, even Jenkins allowed her to dine in peace. Shepard would never hurt a fellow soldier permanently… but she had no qualms with shaking them up a bit. The last person who dared to disturb the War Hero during this time spent a week recovering in the medical wing. They described to the nurses that it was safer to enter a starving tiger's pen dangling sausages around their neck.

 Stirring the pile of slump that only appeared as familiar home-style dishes, Maree caught the other soldiers quickly spreading whispers among themselves from the corner of her eye. Their glances reluctantly darted over at the woman discreetly observing their moves as they contemplated who would be brave enough to confront her with the news. Knowing the disaster that awaited their disturbance, no one in the group felt like sacrificing their good health to warn the Commander. Their warning would have fell short… his presence was already made. The entire mess hall fell silent as the individual approached the empty seat sitting at Shepard's table.

 "Is this seat taken?" Nihlus asked with a smug smirk.

 Shepard's icy blue eyes glared at him, warning him to not even dare taking a seat. He dismissed her threat and set his tray in front of her. His plate was virtually empty, minus a few odd wafers and a grey paste she never knew existed in the cafeteria menu. It looked more palatable than the mush she was fighting to keep down. She took a deep sigh before returning to poking her tasteless nutritional nourishment with her fork, waiting for the moment it would begin to squirm in protest.

 He took one of his wafers and dangled it carelessly in his fingers. Acting like he was reading her mind, "You must be curious about what I'm eating."

 She didn't even pleasure him with an acknowledgement.

 "This," he carried on, pointing at the grey meal, "is nutritional paste. Since I cannot eat what you humans consume, I am left with this less-than-appealing mess and these tasteless crackers. Although, it appears to be more appetizing than whatever you're having…" Hunching forward to study the contents of her tray, he grimaced, "Are you sure it's dead? I think I saw it move. Maybe you should poke it a few more times."

 His comment was the final nail in the coffin. She couldn't bear to look at her food without the thought of gagging. She dropped her utensils against the plate. Their loud clang echoed across the quiet room filled with observers. Her cold glare deliberately worked its way from the atrocity on her plate towards her unwelcome dinner guest.

 Watching how the stern woman reacted to every one of his moves, he cupped his hands together as he rested his elbows on the table. "Now that I have your attention," the cocky turian grinned, "Why don't we continue where we left off? How about you start off with telling me your first name?"

 One of her eyebrows rose slightly, curiously pondering how seriously he wanted that little tidbit of information.

 "Come on, it won't kill you to tell me what your first name is," he pursued but received the same silent treatment, "I'll get you to tell me somehow."

 Her azure pupils locked onto him in a deadly glare, subliminally suggesting he leave the table.

 "Are you going to tell me now?"

 She sat completely still, not even blinking.

 "How about now?"

 Nothing.

 Nihlus brushed off her piercing glare without a second thought and hounded further, "If you don't tell me what your first name is, I'll make one up for you…"

 Nothing.

 "So be it," he smirked, "Ice Queen."

 The vein on her forehead twitched. No one called her by that nickname since junior year of high school. She couldn't tell if it was purely coincidental or if the Spectre snooped around her files. Either way, he was finding every available opening to crawl underneath her skin and rile up her unhinged nerves… successfully accomplishing whatever his original intent was.

 Knowing she couldn't take anymore, she pushed the table away and rocked everything on top. She kicked her chair in and snarled, "Listen to me, Spectre, as I will only be telling you this once more."

 "Nihlus, my name is Nihlus," he held up his finger.

 "Whatever," she waved him off, "If you really want to know my name so badly, you can retrieve it from my Alliance file. It should be fairly easy for someone in your position."

 "What would be the fun in that?"

 "I'm warning you…"

 He sat back in his chair and chuckled, "Is that the best you can do? You've seen how ineffective your warnings are against me."

 "Gah!" she growled as she stormed out of the mess hall, leaving her tray and everything that remained behind. Shoving past Jenkins when she burst through the door, he attempted to stop the raging Commander but was too late. She was already gone.

 Shepard brashly walked down the long corridor. She contemplated returning back to her quarters but knew it would only result in her stewing in her aggression towards the overconfident turian. Deciding to make the most of her time, she made her way towards the gun range. Maree knew she would be early for her allotted time frame but she needed to vent out some of this frustration.

 Continuously checking over her shoulder to see if Nihlus was following her, she scrambled to understand why he would go to such lengths to purposely push her buttons. Even more peculiar was the odd sensation growing within. No matter how furiously her blood boiled at the sheer thought of his existence, she desperately wanted him to show up. She couldn't explain why. Was it to "accidentally" shoot him in the foot… or leg… hell, even his stomach would be fine. Was it to have the chance to punch him with all the strength the anger was brewing? Or simply challenge him to another hand-to-hand match? She couldn't decide but was already willing to take full responsibility if things got too ugly… anything to shut him up.

 When Maree yanked on the heavyset steel doors to the gun range, the musky odor of freshly fired rounds wafted out. She peered down the shooting gallery but not a soul was to be found. There was nothing more than a quiet hum… she was going to be the only one using the shooting gallery. This was the perfect opportunity to hone in on her skills.

 Shepard peered over the counter to find the range-master eyeing a beautifully crafted sniper rifle. She immediately had to ask, "What do you have there, Charles?"

 "The HMWSR," the elderly veteran replied as he swiveled around in his chair to greet his guest. Seeing the blonde-haired damsel perched over the counter, he grinned, "Is it Thursday already?"

 "Yes, sorry I'm a bit early. Hopefully that won't be an issue."

 "Oh no, none at all," he worked himself upright and grabbed the datapad near the front counter, "You know the drill."

 Maree signed the datapad, agreeing to exhibit gun safety and control during her training exercise. Her eyes darting over the orange glowing text towards the rifle, "Are you going to tell me where you got that beauty?"

 "This lovely beast was brought in."

 "Who brought that in?"

 "Don't know," he shrugged, running his weathered fingers along the barrel.  

 "Would you mind if I held her?"

 "Of course, Commander," Charles agreed, delicately picking up the rifle like a newborn.

 The weight of the long barrel was harmonically balanced with the density of the stock. The bolt was ideally aligned near the trigger to make a smooth transition for popping out the heat clips, the positioning of the scope lined up perfectly and made peering down the magnified distance feel like second nature. Shepard was in love… "She's a beauty."

 "You can say that again. Want to fire a few rounds?"

 Maree's icy blue pupils lit up, "Really?"

 "As long as you keep this our little secret… not supposed to allow anyone to touch her but you know how good I am at bending the rules a little."

 "Thanks, Charles!"

 "I can guarantee you'll enjoy every moment of it. Had a chance to run her through her paces a moment ago," he leaned forward and whispered, "Another thing you probably shouldn't mention to anybody."

 She crossed her heart, sealing her lips.

 "This rifle is completely flawless… would love to keep her."

 "Why can't you?"

 "She's on loan to us apparently. Whoever dropped it off will be taking her away from me whenever they see fit. Overheard one of the higher ups discussing that this came from some big shot visiting from the Citadel… makes sense since Spectres are the only ones privileged enough to carry around this sexy girl."

 "Great…" she rolled her eyes, "it had to belong to him too."

 "Problem?"

 "It's… nothing… nothing a few rounds won't solve."

 "That's the spirit."

 Shepard wandered to the farthest lane, inputted her desired target, and set it for the greatest distance available. Even though she loathed the fact that this marvelous piece of machinery belonged to the Spectre, she reveled in the idea of using something of his without him knowing. Found it as a way to finally get back at him.

 After putting on the headphones and safety glasses that were located under the range's counter, she peered down the scope and lined up the first shot. She paced her breathing and slowly pulled back on the trigger. The recoil was virtually nonexistent and every piece smoothly glided back into position for the next round. The sheer force of the bullet being projected out of the barrel could still be felt though the stock cushioned tightly against her shoulder. Its power sent a shockwave directly into Maree's veins, awakening every ounce of her being… this sensation was highly addicting.

 Shepard set her sights down the range again, steadied her breathing and pulled the trigger once more. When she saw the direct hit through the magnified glass, a wolfish grin curled from the side of her lip.

 "Having fun?" a voice belted next to her headphones and startled her. She bolted backwards and saw that the presumptuous Spectre was uncomfortably close. His sly emerald eyes studied her every move, "I had a hunch that you would somehow get your hands on my gun."

 "I didn't do anything. Charles granted me permission to fire a few rounds. You can have it back," she attempted to hand him the sniper rifle but he held up his hand and refused.

 "That's fine, I knew this would happen so I brought two," he pointed to the open case on the table behind her, "You really need to be more observant of your surroundings… I snuck around back here without you even flinching."

 "Maybe I was purposely avoiding you?"

 "Then you are doing a horrible job of it."

 "Or you're taking pleasure in tormenting me…" she sighed, trying to drain him out and return her focus to the target at the end of the range.

 "Torment you? I would never dream of it. Think whatever you want but I am enjoying our encounters."

 "I bet you are, Spectre."

 "Please, just call me Nihlus. I wish we could be on a first name basis… provided you give me yours."

 "I don't think so," Shepard took the shot and hit the center of the target a little high.

 Nihlus stood in the range directly next to her and commented, "Looks like you were off to the left there."

 "I can see that!"

 "If you can see that then why did you miss?"

 "Because you're distracting me," she growled.

 "You need to learn to be accurate no matter what is happening around you," he cushion his HMWSR against his shoulder, peered down the scope, and nailed the center of the target, "Just like that. Think you can do better, Ice Queen?"

 "Don't call me that."

 "I'll stop calling you the Ice Queen once I have a name to replace it with."

 "I told you to just call me Shepard."

 "And I told you multiple times to call me Nihlus but you keep addressing me as Spectre."

 "I see your point, turian."

 Nihlus cringed at the way she called him by his species, "Now you're just being plain rude. Do you have something against my species?"

 "Nope… just you."

 "You could try being nice for once."

 "So should you."

 "I have been. I've been going out of my way to have some time with you."

 "So you can recruit me?"

 "Recruit you? I haven't even mentioned it!"

 "Then why are you here?"

 "That's classified."

 "Sure it is," she attempted to block him out and continued to concentrate on the bullseye. Nailing the next three shots, she felt fairly confident about her shooting skill… that was until she saw her rival's target. Maree had to do a double take, she couldn't believe her eyes. He was matching every one of her shots and in the exact same locations. The two targets nearly mimicked each other. She has never seen anyone pull something like this before. Since she was clearly outmatched at her firing ability, Shepard decided to simply use this opportunity to train on the sniper rifle she was quickly growing fond of.

 Closing in on the center of her target, she was about to squeeze on the trigger when she her two shots rapidly fired one right after the other. Suddenly a hole appeared precisely where she was aiming. She glanced over at the other target and noticed it had another hole in the center.

 "Showoff," Shepard grumbled under her breath as she instinctually checked her watch. A hint of panic overcame her when she noticed she was running behind schedule. She returned the safety equipment back under the counter, rushed over to the gun case and gentled placed the rifle inside before making her abrupt exit.

 "Where are you going?" Nihlus questioned but she was already gone. His chocolate colored mandibles twitching at her hasty departure, wondering if he was responsible.  

 "Shit I'm going to be late," Maree quickened her pace to her next destination, completely puzzled at how time flew by at the gun range. She threw open the doors to the main athletic center, ran past the elevators and straight down the stairs. Bolting past the rows of lockers until she made it to her aisle, she fought to open her lock and immediately began undressing as soon as the door was unlatched.

 A few minutes later, she managed to completely change into her running attire and was strapping on her shoes when Corporal Jenkins dropped his duffle bag on the bench near the lockers.

 "You look winded," he commented.

 "I barely made it…" Maree replied with a heavy breath, "lost track of time at the range."

 "It's okay if you were late."

 "No… it's not."

 "Here," Richard pulled out a chocolate bar from the front pocket of his bag and gently tapped the Commander's shoulder with it. "You look like you could use one of these."

 "Marrigans milk chocolate bar! I've been looking everywhere for these since I've been back. The stores around here said they've been out for months," she glowed as she pulled away the wrapper and began enjoying her favorite treat.

 "I managed to get a box from a friend who owes me a favor."

 "You're a life saver. I barely had anything at lunch and I am not exactly feeling very nourished at the moment."

 "I noticed," Jenkins pointed, "You and Nihlus seem to be spending a lot of time together."

 "Not by choice," the thought of that turian caused her to swallow her piece of chocolate too soon, "He keeps following me around."

 "Is he trying to recruit you to the Spectres?"

 "According to him, he hasn't even mentioned it yet. All he's been doing is hounding me for my name."

 "Really? So you mean to tell me that he's been chasing you around the entire station just to get your first name?"

 "Yup," she replied with the bar of chocolate dangling from her teeth so she could finish tightening her laces.

 "It sounds to me that he…" he paused, considering heavily the ramifications for what he was about to say, "Actually, never mind."

 "What?"

 "It's nothing."

 She finished the last piece of her candy bar and eyed her running partner, "Out with it, Jenkins."

 "It sounds like… well," he took a few steps away to make sure he would be at least an arm's length away, "I think he likes you."

 "That's crazy!" her eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets, "He's purposely driving me insane… as for what reason, I have no idea but I will figure it out soon!"

 "I think he's trying to get close to you. All he wants is to know your name…"

 "I cannot believe I'm hearing this."

 "Oh come on, you must enjoy the attention at least a little bit."

 "The only thing I've enjoyed so far was the chance to shoot his precious sniper rifle and even then he found a way to make that unpleasant. No matter what his intentions are, it does not excuse him for pushing me to the limits," she could feel her blood pressure rising, "Let's not discuss this further."

 "Okay," Jenkins agreed, "Come on, we have a track to conquer."

 The two made their way to the large running track in the center of the athletic building. They tossed their duffle bags onto the sidelines and began walking the loop. On the second round, they increased their pace to a healthy jog. Jenkins managed to stay alongside the Commander for two dozen laps. She would slow down when he started becoming a sluggish and encourage him to continue pushing himself. Around the thirtieth loop, he needed a break so he pulled himself away and allowed Maree to keep jogging.

 As he was chugging down some water, he looked around the rim of the track to see who else was on the field. He was bringing his attention back to his running partner when he noticed someone quickly catching up on her heels.

 "I was wondering when you would show up," Maree growled at Nihlus as she continued her training.

 "Why? Did you miss me?" the bold turian teased.

 "Hardly," she rolled her eyes and quickened her pace, hoping to outrun the Spectre.

 "You left in such a hurry," he reminded as he was keeping up.

 "I was late."

 Shepard jogged faster but he still kept in line. In an attempt to leave him in the dust, she began running at full speed. He was finally struggling to keep up. Feeling like this would be her first chance for a victory, she persisted in exerting herself. Nihlus refused to give up and used every bit of energy he had left to sprint past her. As soon as she saw her rival catching up, she dashed over and gave him a nudge with her shoulder. The motion was enough to throw him off balance. Nihlus stumbled sideways and fell onto the rubber mat in the center of the loop.

 Maree stopped dead in her tracks and belted out wails of laughter. Tears crept down her cheek and her sides ached from the chuckling so hard. She strode towards the defeated turian and bragged, "Alas! I get the pleasure of crushing you!"

 Nihlus annoyingly nodded. "Laugh it up. You were playing dirty."

 "I'll do anything to win."

 "Good to know… now would you mind helping me back up?"

 Shepard crossed her arms and sneered, "Can't I relish in this moment just a little longer?"

 His emerald green eyes glared at her direction, begging for her to end this humiliation.

 "Fine," she held out her hand and assisted in pulling him up.

 "That rubber mat does nothing to absorb impacts," he grumbled as he dusted himself off and worked out the aches.

 "No it doesn't, I had my fair share of falls back in the day," she confided, "I guess you finally deserve to know. Maree… my name is Maree Olivier Shepard."

 "I know," he replied without a second thought.

 "Wait, wait, wait… you already knew?" she asked, sternly gazing at the Spectre.

 "Of course, I studied your file extensively before arriving here. How else do you think I found out about your nickname?"

 "Then why did you keep hounding me for it?"

 "I couldn't resist the thrill of the chase."

 "I don't like sharing with my first name with just anybody."

 "So they have to be special?" he hinted with his tone, waiting for any subliminal meaning.

 "No, I prefer to keep things professional," her icy blue eyes releasing their lock on her opponent.

 "Clearly! You were the one who pushed me."

 "So?" her lip snarled to the side, "Here you are giving me a hell of time just to get a name you already knew. And you wouldn't even grant me the pleasure of a fair fight."

 "You're still bitter about that?"

 "Damn straight I am!" she barked, "You don't understand! I love adrenaline rushes and being engaged in a good fight is one of my favorite ways to obtain it. Win or lose, I don't care as long as I can feel that sensation rapidly pumping through my veins. When you accepted my challenge, I was personally hoping for someone to really test my strength against instead of a dancing partner in the ring."

 "Is that was started your hostility towards me?"

 "It certainly didn't help."

 "How about we start over then? What can I do to make things better between us?"

 "Yes, a rematch. One where you don't hold back and you actually fight me instead of testing me."

 "Wouldn't you rather talk things over a quiet meal?"

 "No thanks, you already ruined that for me too. Plus I'm a sucker for someone who can take a punch or two…" she gently pushed him away, "or in your case, a good nudge to the ground."

 "I'll keep that in mind," Nihlus noted, "I guess it's the least I could do."

 "It would be a good start."

 "How about tomorrow afternoon? We'll meet up in the arena and really test our abilities."

 "You're on," Maree smiled.
It has been a VERY long time since I've had the chance to sit down and write. With the holiday season safely behind me, I can concentrate on everything that makes me happy... like writing. I had a lot of fun writing this chapter and cannot wait for everyone to read the chapters I'm working on next.

Please like me on facebook -[link] - ^_^

Chapter 1: [link]
Chapter 3: [link]
Chapter 4: VIEWING
Chapter 5: [link]

Mass Effect belongs to BioWare, I'm just doing this for fun (and to give Nihlus and Jenkins more story)
© 2013 - 2024 RebelATS
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Lillianmax's avatar
It would seem almost all guys (alien or not) like Shepard, Shepard likes turians. Just how it seems. Love it though!