by Colin Cook
My eyes were wide with sheer stupefying horror, my face draining of all colour, and my skin going cold as I gazed at this man, as if I were quite literally seeing a ghost.
"No…" I uttered in disbelief, barely above a whisper. It couldn't be…it couldn't possible be him.
'Axel, he's got Luc! Tell Geordi to take the shot, my brother is down there!'
I was barely breathing as the echo of his words screamed in my ears over and over again, even as this specter from the past raised his hand holding the pistol and trained
it down on the prone Turian's back.
"Thanks for the gun…" he said emotionlessly, his deep voice betraying an almost unnoticeable French-Canadian accent, as his index finger began squeezing the trigger.
Within the blink of an eye a loud crack sliced through the air. This was followed by a sharp pinging sound as a glowing red thermal round sliced into the side of the man's
stolen Kessler, sending it violently flipping through the air out of his hand. I blinked in surprise, requiring an extra second to realize that I was now pointing my smoking
Phalanx out in front of myself, having just automatically aimed and fired the recent shot that had saved the marine's life.
In a flash the man sharply spun around to face me, his right hand dropping to the combat knife on his belt. But after a moment of carefully studying my face with squinting
brown eyes, his features relaxed and a small familiar smirk formed on his face.
"You…" I stated, still too stunned and horrified for words.
"Axel…" he replied softly in recognition, a recognition that was laced with barely concealed malice.
I only leveled a deathly scowl at him in return, keeping the Phalanx aimed directly at his forehead. Right beside me Alec had extended the ends of the Combi-Stick and was
now twirling the spear around his body in a dramatic show of combat readiness.
"Alright Mr. Soldier-Who-Eats-Steroids-For-Breakfast, what universe are you from?" the Guardian asked in a defiant action-movie voice after moving the weapon until it
was placed diagonally behind his back and stepping into an ancient fighting stance.
My steel cold hatred of the man in front of us was now etching onto my face, the man whom I had grown up with since childhood, the one whom I had called friend and
brother for more than half of my entire life, and it spilled easily into my voice as I answered Alec's question with a single short word.
"Ours."
"All nearby agents and marines report they heard a single shot fired from this location. Hover cars are setting down and our remaining forces are moving in as we speak,"
the driver of Bailey and Chellick's patrol car reported as he carefully glided the vehicle over the Docks.
"We're going back across this terrain with barely a tenth of the force we had last time. This had better work or we might as well kiss our careers goodbye," Chellick said
back to Bailey as both lieutenants fervently looked out the side windows of the car for any sign of Axel.
"Hopefully we won't need to…LOOK! There he is!" Bailey began before suddenly announcing his find as he jabbed a finger at the windshield, pointing to an area near
several deserted piers, only one of which was harbouring a small Alliance Corvette. Just a few feet off from this ship's pier were four miniature people, three of which were
Human while the fourth appeared to be an unconscious Turian marine.
"Who's that third man?" Chellick asked out loud as he brought up his omni-tool and activated a small screen, allowing he, Bailey, and the driver to lean over and get a
closer view of the three individuals.
It was Axel and Alec alright, strangely though they appeared to be locked in a tense standoff with the newest addition, one who appeared to be a very large man dressed
in an older style of military field-gear.
"We can see them just fine, but we still can't hear anything they're saying," Bailey remarked on the lack of sound coming from footage. The driver brought the car into a
dead hover before pointing to the screen with his free hand.
"That unconscious marine probably has an omni-tool on him somewhere. If you scan the immediate area with your own you can probably pick up is transponder signal,
after that use your officer by-pass codes to activate it and its recording application to hear what's being said."
Both Chellick and Bailey looked at the driver with cocked brows, clearly stunned but impressed that the nameless man had provided his supposed superior officers with a
plausible alternative. Quickly typing in the needed combination of buttons, everyone began keenly listening to the audible exchange going on between the criminals and the
unknown soldier as the recording device activated.
Down on the platform, none of us noticed the faint glow of the Turian's omni-tool as it sprang to life around the sleeping man's arm all on its own.
'It brought him back. It leeched off my most painful memories and brought this bastard back from the dead!' I thought with a spike of masked anger as I briefly glanced
down to my right hand, feeling a new level of displeasure for the small silver band that had so utterly turned my life upside down.
"Uhhhhhhhh…Axel. I'm drawing a huge blank on this one. Who exactly is this guy?" Alec asked over to me while still keeping his gaze on the man in front of us, his cocky
demeanor now dropping into one of worried seriousness. I gave a small pitiful smirk at that.
'At least Alec wasn't lying about not being able to look into my repressed memories,' I thought, stiffening slightly as the image of a beautiful woman's smiling face flashed
in front of my eyes before disappearing.
"Second-Lieutenant Jarrod François, of the Canadian Royal 22e Régiment, Light Infantry 3rd Battalion out of Valcartier, Quebec. Graduated with honours, participated in
multiple tours-of-duty in the Afghan theatre…" I began listing off, hiding any sign of the sudden memory flash having affected me. Jarrod had remained in a combat ready
pose before us, his hand still resting on the hilt of his knife. However he did deliberately cock one of his eyebrows up high in mock impressment as I named off the
sightings from his military record.
"…Shot and killed by friendly-fire while in the Kandahar Province on September 25, 2010, due to a violent psychological breakdown that turned him against his own unit
and endangered the lives of many surrounding civilians," I finished in a more forceful voice, taking some small satisfaction as that last note of information caused my
former friend to drop his eyebrow and subtly sneer at me in contempt.
"Wow. You recite that as if it were poetry," Jarrod stated in a condescending tone.
"I've burned that final part into my mind every night since I last saw you alive," I fired back in the same manner.
"Oh really? Taking pride in your handy work?"
"Handy work?" Alec asked out loud in confusion as he looked between the two of us. Flicking my thumb against a small button on my pistol, I activated and shone out the
Phalanx's piercing blue laser-sight, targeting my resurrected enemy's chest.
"No, I would never take pride in what I had to do that day. But I'll gladly do it again and trade the 9mm I shot into your forehead for a superheated thermal round," I
retorted viciously, earning another cocked eyebrow from Jarrod as his eyes briefly looked up toward his head, the memory of his sudden violent death still fresh in his
mind. Alec's eyes widened in bewilderment as he turned toward me with a cautioning hand gesture.
"Whoa whoa! Lets not go overboard here!" he began.
"Shut up. Who are you anyway, his long lost twin brother?" Jarrod interrupted while turning his attention to Alec. The Guardian turned and narrowed his eyes.
"I'm his teacher for your information."
"You know Axel, I was actually ju
st there a few moments ago. I can still clearly remember the sound of your pistol going off, remember the brief pain as the bullet split
through my skull, I can even remember the darkness of oblivion as my life was snuffed out…" Jarrod began back to me, ignoring Alec's remark while tenderly rubbing the
center of his forehead where my round had passed through all those weeks ago. Alec was frowning in even further bewilderment as he listened to our exchange.
"Wait, Axel, are you both saying that you were the friendly fire that killed this man?" he asked me tentatively.
"And then I saw a light, a blinding silver glare that obscured my darkened vision. At first I thought it was God, taking me to be with my lost family. But then all of a sudden
I felt life flowing through me again; the silver dissipated and I found myself here in this strange place…reunited with you," Jarrod finished telling his after-death experience
before slowly pointing a menacing finger at me. I kept my scowl as I glanced over to Alec.
"On my last tour-of-duty, shortly after our Company had managed to liberate an Afghan village that was being used as an outpost by the Taliban, Jarrod went insane. He
gunned down an unarmed prisoner in a fit of rage and then began firing on the rest of us, while at the same time deciding to try and take his own life along with the lives
of any innocent villagers around him," I explained, my tone becoming more angry and thick with hatred as I listed off his betrayals. Jarrod gave a low growl at this.
"You can actually call them innocent? After everything we went through during that fight? They were hiding enemy insurgents in their homes, their basements, their very
walls! And when they broke out from those homes and started ambushing us, what did those villagers do? NOTHING! Even when the Taliban started turning their guns on
them and began using the closest ones as shields, killing them off one by one in order to make us retreat to keep the rest alive. They weren't innocent; no one was
innocent in that!" Alec stood in stunned silence after witnessing Jarrod's furious outburst, which was in stark contrast to the cool quiet demeanor he had been displaying
this entire time.
"No wonder I don't have any of these memories…" Alec stated quietly, glancing over at me in silent shock. But I didn't notice this; my own cool was quickly shattering as
my bubbling rage began surfacing to the boiling point, making my eyes widen and my scowl deepen even further.
"Those insurgents were holding those villagers' families hostage, threatening them with promises of rape, torture, and murder if they didn't comply with their demands!
What were they suppose to do?!" I shouted furiously at him, my finger tensing dangerously close to squeezing the Phalanx's trigger.
"They could have fought back. They knew they were going to die, so they could have at least died fighting! It would have saved us the horror of having to see them get
senselessly slaughtered in their own streets, or having to see our men dying around us for a cause they knew was going to be lost in the end anyway!" Jarrod spat back,
breathing heavily as his own burning fury made several blood veins bulge noticeably along his neck.
"So you thought the best way to pay them back afterward was to try blowing up yourself and over a hundred other people with a hand-grenade?!" I viciously posed to
him, my eyes snapping to the empty space next to the two other frag-grenades on his Army belt. Suddenly an angry grin spread across Jarrod's face, followed by him
throwing back his head and letting out a maniacal but sad and pained laugh.
"It must really eat away at you Axel, to know that all of this could have been avoided if you had just listened to me in the first place! If you had only ordered Geordi to
take the shot sooner, Luc would still be alive! Its your fault he's dead, and your fault why I ended up this way!" Jarrod roared, his face livid with hatred and rage, but his
deep brown eyes beginning to tear up and glass over with sorrow at the memory of his brother's demise.
"I tried to save Luc, Jarrod. Have you forgotten that? I was at your side as we near single-handedly stormed an entire enemy camp together to rescue him." Jarrod only
chuckled again as I said this, in that same mad but pained manner.
"For all the good it did. Luc was still gunned down like a chained animal and Captain Cormier was killed in the firefight soon after," he began before letting a sardonic hateful
smirk creep onto his face.
"That must have hurt a lot for you. The great Axel Sorenson; the hard working, educated, natural-born leader and Cormier's unofficial protégé; after his death instead of
handing the reins of command to you, the brass simply passed you over for your pretty…" suddenly Jarrod cut off in mid-speech as he gave a loud gasp of pain and
staggered/jerked sideways, barely being heard over the piercing crack of my Phalanx after having just fired a second round. The resurrected lieutenant clamped a hand
onto his left ear, the thermal round having skinned past and created a bloody gash across its tip!
My breathing was ragged as I kept the smoking barrel leveled on him, my eyes wide and unfocused. My vision became clouded; I was no longer standing on the Docks in
the middle of the Mass Effect universe, but in a richly decorated room lit by deep orange lights. Everything was slightly blurred, as if I were viewing it through a dream. Just
up ahead of me was a wide gridded window, looking out on a black night sky partially lit up by the glowing lights of a beautiful city. Small white snowflakes gently fell
through the air outside the window, joining the sea of white that blanketed the streets and yards that spanned out in front of the tall building I was in. However, the
window wasn't the main focus of my attention, it was what was standing in front of it. Looking out ahead with her back turned to me, was a slim young woman with long
wavy brown hair hanging loosely around her shoulders, wearing a flowing ankle length spaghetti-strap scarlet dress that hugged nicely to her body. The back of the dress
was slit open down to the lower part of her torso, revealing a nice portion of her tanned backside. After taking a moment to admire her, I began crossing over toward the
window. She made no move to indicate that she knew I was there, but she did give a small melodious giggle as I came up behind and gently lay a hand on the back of her
exposed neck and shoulder line, rubbing her smooth skin affectionately.
"So, how do I look?" she asked in a soft but clear voice that made my heart melt, slowly turning around to face me with a playfully cocked eyebrow. Her face was just as
beautiful as her body, not glamourously so like a model, but more like that of the naturally pretty outdoorsy girl you grew up and did daring things with as a kid. She had
one or two freckles here and there but mostly her skin was clear of any noticeable blemishes, save for a small scar going across the side of her right cheek. Hooking a
hand around the small of her back and easily pulling her closer to me, I gave a warm smile before reaching up and cupping her said cheek, gently stroking the scar with my
thumb. This got an affectionate smile from her in return as she placed her hands on my sides and pulled me closer to her.
For a moment we just stayed like that, me holding onto her and looking deep into her beautiful emerald green eyes, the very eyes that had drawn me to her when we
had first met.
"I think every guy at the party is going to be focusing on you rather then their dates," I answered finally, my smile widening as my words caused a slight blush to rise up
across her cheeks. Her eyelids became heavy as she looked down at my lips, her slim but muscular arms slowly rising up and wrapping around the back of my neck,
pulling me even closer until our noses were nearly touching.
"Merry Christmas Axel," she whispered lo
vingly before we both closed our eyes and slowly pressed our lips together, immediately pushing further into a deep kiss.
I gasped with a start, my eyes blinking wildly as the memory faded from view, bringing me back to the Military Docks and the real world. (Well, as real as you can get
inside the Mass Effect universe.)
'It was just a memory…only a memory,' I thought with a cold shudder, looking back up ahead of myself to see my arm was still pointing the Phalanx at a cringing ear
holding Jarrod. The images had barely lasted a second in real time, but they had felt like minutes. Scowling with rage as I remembered what had triggered my emotional
flashback, I straightened my gun arm and trained the pistol's laser-sight directly on Jarrod's head.
"You will never. Mention. Her. Again," I ordered to him in a deadly soft voice, filling it with all the anger, malice, and evil intent a Human being could possible put into words.
On my hand I could see and feel the ring beginning to shine a bright red, my anger and vicious thoughts activating the Rage directly. This time however I didn't care if it
took control of me; Jarrod more than deserved whatever horror it could conjure for him. But suddenly, as the familiar red tinge began to slowly creep into my vision, it
was suddenly dispelled as a black-gloved hand snapped into view from the side, firmly but non-threateningly locking around my extended wrist.
"Axel. Don't do it, not like this," Alec's voice implored soothingly, causing me to look over at him. For a moment I wanted to shove him off, to explain to him everything
that had happened, to use the ring's power to fry Jarrod to a crisp for all the pain he had caused me. But as I thought those things, I suddenly felt a deep pang of guilt run
through me, the smiling face of the woman from my memories briefly appearing in between the Guardian and I like a dying wisp of smoke. I wedged my eyes shut,
slightly cringing with remorse as an old emotional wound ached within me.
I stayed that way for another moment before slowly nodding my head, opening my eyes and nodding again in sad agreement to Alec without saying a word. He gave his
own nod before releasing my wrist, the red light from the ring fading away as the Rage dispersed before it could truly take over.
