RP: John Shepard

[maebyrutherford]

Cullen could scarcely believe what was happening, even after everything he had seen from their battle with Corypheus. He peered down from atop the battlements next to his office, and saw the world drop off into nothingness beyond the bridge, the mountains in the distance replaced by a sickly green mist. He was reminded of the Inquisitor's description of the fade; could it truly be? Were they somehow sucked into the sky, some sort of elaborate demon takeover of Skyhold? He needed to get outside of the keep immediately, there must be enemies afoot.

He unsheathed his sword and ran down the steps - where were his soldiers? Where was anyone? Must be a trick, an illusion, he thought to himself. If he was here, others must be as well. He didn't want to think of the alternative; that they were all dead, and he was the only one left. Even so, he wouldn't go down without a fight.

Cullen reached the bridge and looked wildly around, hearing nothing but otherwordly creaks and groans. He saw nothing. Perhaps he should return to the castle and continue to search for others.

When he turned around, a figure was standing in the entrance to Skyhold.

"Identify yourself!" Cullen shouted, his sword at the ready.

Comments

[cmdr_shepard]

(OOC: Heya! Did you mean this for me? Or are you waiting on another John Shepard?)

[maebyrutherford]

(OOC: Yep, it's for you!)

[cmdr_shepard]

Shepard was used to charging into battle. That was his MO. He was a vanguard after all. But the man standing on the bridge was human and carried a sword. Shepard had lost his gun at some point and his omni-tool was a burned bit of scrap on the floor in Normandy's medbay, along with the rest of his charred armor, but he still had his biotics. He'd at least be able to get away if the man turned hostile.

The man looked military. Sounded military too when he turned and shouted at Shepard to identify himself. "Commander John Shepard of the Alliance Navy. I don't know where the hell I am and I'd appreciate the same courtesy. Who are you?"

[maebyrutherford]

Another military man. Alliance Navy? Cullen wracked his brain; he'd never heard of such an organization. Was this man Rivaini, perhaps? Or Nevarran? He didn't appear armed, but Cullen sensed some kind of energy as he slowly moved toward the stranger. Perhaps a visiting mage who had suffered memory loss after - whatever just occurred here. But mages weren't made Commanders, at least not in Thedas, and any visiting military surely would have had to been cleared by him first. This Shepard's clothing was unlike anything he'd ever seen.

Cullen lowered his sword and raised his free hand to show he wasn't a threat.

"I'm Commander Cullen of the Inquisition's forces. This is Skyhold, our stronghold. It's - was - in the Frostback Mountains between Orlais and Thedas. It appears we've been sucked into the Fade; how, I do not know. From where do you hail, Commander?"

[cmdr_shepard]

Shepard stared at him for a long moment. "I... What?" he said. "I've never heard of Orlais or Thedas. And I'm telling you, commander, I've been all over this galaxy. I've heard of a lot of places. What do you mean we've been sucked into the Fade? What's the Fade?" He took a deep breath and laced his fingers together behind the back of his head, trying to get a fix on what was going on here.

"I'm from... Well, I'm technically from Earth but the most accurate thing to say is The Normandy. She's my ship and I'm on her more than I am anywhere else. It's... complicated. Folks were in the military, grew up on Alliance ships."

Shepard huffed, exasperated with himself. He hated that question and never knew how to answer it. "Anyway. Skyhold, you said? Me and some of my crew crash-landed in your backyard, I guess. I don't really remember it. They're still on the ship. Well, they're supposed to still be on the ship." He jerked his head back in the direction of the Normandy, hidden behind the castle. "We have no idea how we got here or where here is. Right now, we can't even get Normandy off the ground. She's not meant to be out of the air and most of her systems have shut down."

[maebyrutherford]

Cullen tried to process what he was saying. Galaxy, a ship "out of the air" crashing into the garden, not knowing what the Fade was...this Shepard must be from a far off land, indeed.

He closed the distance between them, sheathing his sword. "I'll try to explain best I can. The Fade is where everyone goes when they die, a spirit realm. It's also where mages - I don't know if there are any where you come from - get their ability to cast spells, and where our minds go when we dream. It is possible to rip holes in the fade and enter it physically, using a very rare power, but this," he looked around him, "I've never seen anything like this. This was a castle perched on a mountain, teeming with Inquistion soldiers and horses and people, there was an explosion and now we're floating in this realm and there's not a soul to be found." He paused. "Except you."

Before Shepard could reply, Cullen began to walk into Skyhold. It was time to get to the bottom of this, and he was worried for the others. "Commander, take me to this ship of yours, if you would. Perhaps it will help me find out what in Andraste's name is going on here."

[cmdr_shepard]

"No problem," Shepard said and took off after him. "I kind of meandered my way in this direction, so I'm not sure what way would be best to get back. But it was in a kind of garden? Or courtyard?" Do you know where that is?"

As they walked together, Shepard shook his head at the idea of the Fade. "That's absolutely crazy, your Fade thing. When we dream, we just... dream. We don't go anywhere. And we don't have spells. You're talking about magic, right? There's nothing like that where I'm from. But it looks like your world is more primative that ours. We have computers and electricity and machines. Ships that can just from one end of the galaxy to the other in a handful of days or hours. Different species that all come from very different worlds, but work together in the center of civilization, the Citadel. Or... they used to, anyway. We've been at war. The Citadel was destroyed, I think."

"We do have Biotics though, see?" Shepard reached up and Pulled gently at a tapestry on the wall. It was surrounded by a blue light and tugged away from the wall a little before Shepard let it drop. He didn't want to ruin it, after all. "Humans don't get it naturally. My mom was exposed to Element Zero when she was pregnant. It's a kind of ... metal, energy source thing? Anyway, it mutated me as a fetus and now I have Biotics." Shepard was quickly realizing their words were very different. This was going to take a lot of explaination.

[maebyrutherford]

Cullen stared at the tapestry and pinched the bridge of his nose, his mind reeling at the deluge of foreign information. He decided it wasn't important who or what this man was, or where he was from, at least not at the moment. What was important was that they shared a common goal.

"Shepard is it? As fellow military I'm sure you'd agree that our time would be better spent focusing on recon and recovery. Follow me, there's a shortcut through here to the rear grounds."

The emptiness of the keep was deeply unsettling to Cullen, his mind going to horrible thoughts of what might have happened to the others, but he had to brush it off, stay focused, it was the only way to get through this.

They entered the rear grounds of the castle, and the sight that greeted Cullen truly floored him.

A large structure of some sort lay in the center colored in white and black and blue, charred and badly damaged. Shepard had referred to it as a ship, but it was unlike any he had ever seen. It was almost shaped like a bird - for flight, he realized with a start, the man had said it was meant to be in the air. There was no wood, only metal, and the entire vessel was completely enclosed.

Cullen momentarily forgot their mission and marveled at the implication that something such as this existed. It was clearly a machine, built by someone, not magical.

"Normandy," he read from the side of the hull as he followed Shepard to the ship.

[cmdr_shepard]

"Shepard, yes," he said, "And you're right. I'll depend on your knowledge of this... Fade. It's completely unfamiliar to me or my crew. We'll be happy to share what we have, but I imagine we'll be quiet dependent on you and the others from this... world?"

When they reached the Normandy, Shepard all but preened at the awe in Cullen's face. "SSV Normandy SR-2, to be exact," he said, sounding like a proud parent. "She's a stealth fighter. Can drop a ground team into hostile territory without anyone ever knowing she was there. And she's fast. Real damn fast. We've been through a whole hell of a lot together. She's home."

[maebyrutherford]

(OOC - sorry I've been preoccupied and kind of stumped what to do next. will reply soon!)

[maebyrutherford]

Cullen found his curiosity was getting the best of him, and who knew when he'd get another chance such as this? This man and his ship were from another world entirely.

"We don't have anything like this here, in Thedas. Our ships sail the seas, certainly not the sky. Fascinating. Shepard, would you mind if I took a look inside? Is it safe?" He cleared his throat. "As quickly as possible, of course; we must continue our search for the others."

[cmdr_shepard]

"Of course," Shepard gave Cullen a bit of a grin, always happy to show off his Normandy. "I know a few of my crew, as well as..." his mind went to Ashley, but not his Ash, "...another are still wandering around. But I can give you a quick tour. It's perfectly safe."

Shepard led him up the ramp and through the ship. Tali had managed to get some of the auxiliary systems running, so the elevator worked and there was enough light to see by. Who knew how long that would last, but Shepard was going to take advantage while they were still working.

He showed Cullen crew's quarters and then the CIC. "She's much more impressive when everything is running but, you get the idea."