[OOC] APPLICATION FOR abaxcity.

[bestmakodriver]

player information.

name: Jessie
are you over 18?: REALLY I'M 3. 26.
personal dw: curiositystarts
email/msn/aim/plurk/etc:

e-mail: fallfragile@gmail.com
plurk: curiositystarts
aim: tatertooting

characters in abax: Sarah Williams (sarah_williams)


in character information.

series: Mass Effect
name: Commander Jane Shepard
age: 31
sex: F
race: Human
weight: 160 lbs.
height: 5'8"
[OPTIONAL] cause of death: N/A
canon point: After Priority: Sur'Kesh in Mass Effect 3.
previous cr: N/A

history: As told on Mass Effect Wiki along with the choices from the player.

alternate history:

While the history between John and Jane Shepard are vastly similar, there are key elements that separate the pair into their own individuals besides their obvious difference in gender. Unlike her male counterpart, Jane Shepard was born on Earth and lacked the guidance of parents. This left Shepard to decipher what is right and what is wrong on her own accord with the influence of her surroundings. Undergoing the "survival of the fittest" lifestyle on the streets and being a part of a street gang called the Tenth Street Reds, it had warped her personality and hardened her.

In her younger years it is likely Shepard had experimented with various stimulants such as red sand, a drug known for its briefly-lived euphoria and short-term telekinetic biotic abilities. Her growing dependency to the addictive drug frightened her and she understood she was moving fast to a dead end if she continued to pursue her life with the Reds. Eager to find an escape, she joined the Alliance military the moment she was old enough to sign their papers. It started as an act of desperation rather than the desire to serve, a decision she often regretted in the beginning. She was defiant and impulsive in the face of her superiors. As time went on, like in most cases, their teachings and way of life became a part of her. She realized she could make a difference if she utilized the fire within her accordingly and became the best damn soldier they said she couldn't be.

Most of the choices convey the shorter fuse Shepard has with her patience. The use of her tongue is also sharper while a full-fledged paragon mostly appeal to the better nature of others. The Alliance military taught Shepard restraint with discipline though she only uses it depending on specific circumstances. Solving situations mostly end with her thoughtlessly relinquishing a bullet either verbally or actually. Animals are pushed into place by rough nips and growls - she operates no differently. Sugar-coating the truth might as well be white lies. She believes the brutal reality have a greater impact on a person, or looking into the barrel of a gun.

Be it truth or mere gossip, Jane Shepard is a person with a beating heart and still has a living conscience. She does not kill for fun; guilt has the tendency to pile despite them being necessary actions. Destroying the geth heretics rather than rewriting them was decided upon the belief that the heretics had already chosen their side which indicated, in her mind, that they will always be a risk, for example. Some might consider her decisions and methods bordering to brutal, but she will still get the job done just as well as any paragon. The journey leading there are what seperate the road she takes.

personality:

"I, Jane Shepard, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitutions of Humanity against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the Systems Alliance and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice."

She signed up the moment she came of age. Military service had never been a great aspiration or even a consideration during her younger life as an orphaned streetwise survivalist on Earth. That oath she swore upon entrance into the Alliance military, even to her own surprise, the first of many vows she would adopt which drastically shaped her to be the person she is today. Having been half-raised in the untamed styles of gang life where survival was dependent on how well one could rely on themselves, her early years in the Marines provided her with a standard of values which were centered around others; her team, her squad, her platoon - each line playing its role in success of the mission. The importance of these roles were so ingrained in her that they eventually became part of her personality and, ultimately, her being.

Not to say Shepard dismissed what she learned during her days of living on the great megatropolises covering Earth. It gave her an edge as a soldier. With fifty other Marines Shepard was sent to Akuze on a search-and-rescue mission after contact was lost. When they camped for the night, the unit was unexpectedly ambushed by a set of thresher maws. Through the smoke, the screams, and deafening sound of gunfire Shepard watched as her comrades fell one by one until she was the only survivor. Her training as a soldier from the Alliance combined with the survival instincts taught by an otherwise unsavory lifestyle allowed Shepard to live through that fateful night. She was far from unscathed, however. The event left her scarred both mentally and physically. She lost too many friends and allies that day.

The making of a leader is a carefully crafted sculpture and the events within her military career were the hands molding the clay. There is no one more important to Shepard than her own team-mates. With the lack of a family's presence in her younger years, they are the closest she'd ever have to one. There is only one thing that comes above all of them and that is the mission. Her induction into the Spectres solidified this belief for it had long since been no secret to her that with great power also comes great responsibility. Sacrificing Ashley Williams on Virmire was among the most difficult decisions Shepard had to make in effort to save as many lives as she could. To honor the deaths of those who fall, completing the mission is a must in Shepard's eyes. It was the only conclusion that helped her move past Akuze and Virmire.

Shepard is devoted to the respect and preservation of life, human or otherwise, and woe to anyone who challenges it. Second chances and forgiveness are virtues she does try to remember considering her history from Earthborn rat to a soldier of the Alliance. She will exercise mercy if given the opportunity and if the person is willing to stray from the path that has her pointing a gun at them in the first place. She also will not hesitate to shoot someone in the back when they're not looking if she believes it necessary to complete the mission. In her mind, honor has no place on the battlefield. Easily recalled are the loud words of her senior drill instructor in boot camp, "Come on, princess! You don't fight to live, you fight to win!"

The success of the mission comes paramount to fighting clean. Her time on the streets taught her that sometimes you have to be willing to submit to the dirtiest of tactics to survive. Whatever it takes, she is often told by her superiors, but in her mind violence is not always the answer, it is but one tool in her arsenal to achieve success. Though it took a great deal of patient consideration and training, she realizes that hard negotiation and diplomacy can be equally as effective. However, when those fail, she doesn't hesitate to resort to a gun. She will always strive to do what she believes is right, "Whatever it takes."

At work Shepard can come across as a cold and detached individual. The weight of the guilt and responsibility that comes with her ever-pressing position as a Commander, she feels, cannot be shown. If she crumbles, her team will crumble. If she remains strong then so will they. Every now and then she sheds away her psychological armor and, like everyone else, reveals that she is not a robot (contrary to popular belief). Around friends she has a dry sense of humor and can actually be soft-handed though she still has the tendency to get uncomfortable when her own feelings become the forefront of her reality. Balancing the woman and soldier are something she constantly struggles with when the moment commands it, but she does not mind being an ear for another when they need one.

Callous, removed, and perhaps a little crazy; these are all words that have been used to describe Shepard. While perhaps true to varying degrees, ultimately the complex layers of the Commander's personality equate to a recipe for a hardened, calculating warrior of unprecedented courage, fortitude, and sometimes surprisingly, compassion. Her reputation spans the galaxy for good reason. Few throughout history have had the audacity to look adversity in the eye, then flip it the bird and blow up its car.

If one were to ask her what her favorite quote is, she would likely recite General George S. Patton's famous quote from World War II; "The object of war is not to die for your country but make the other bastard die for his."

abilities/powers:

Shepard is an Infiltrator; a tech and combat specialist with stealth capabilities and a preference for pistols and sniper rifles. Infiltrators are able to win battles by quickly disabling and killing enemies. These soldiers focus on unlocking alternate routes, gaining access to good equipment, and obtaining an advantageous position over enemies in combat. She was also enhanced with cybernetic implants from the Lazarus Project after being spaced, having been made up organically and synthetically. She is slightly stronger, moves faster, and can endure more physical stress than a normal human being. She heals quickly, as well.

Despite her improvements, being mortal and human are still obvious weaknesses. A fatal blow can kill Shepard or if she is beaten down enough. Her training as an Infiltrator is another as most of her abilities are reliant on the presence of an omni-tool. Remove the omni-tool out of the equation and Shepard is left to only the basics of a soldier.

first person sample:

[ The feed switches on after a bit of movement from its owner, the image dark at first. Three times now she had awoken somewhere unfamiliar; first on a operating table and then another medical lab somewhere on an asteroid. Waking up in a morgue is a new one and this time she does not remember ever dying. No pain, either, only fatigue.

Here we go again. Nothing she could think of would have alluded to this situation and the timing could not get any worse. She had a mission. The Reapers were tearing her world apart while she is wasting time trying to figure how she ended up in this place. Worse yet, how long has she been here? She may already be too late. ]

Where is my.. damn it!

[ A series of curses and swear words spill into the audio, accompanied by a loud bang from her fist meeting the metal table. She had since come to the expectation that her guns wouldn't be available, and yet whoever was responsible for her predicament could not spare her the decency to leave some clothes behind. Only a toe tag and an antique communicator device.

What kind of sick joke is this?

The camera lifts from its smothered position beneath the palm of her hand as she aims it directly at her face. A woman in her late twenties or early thirties with a horrifying case of bed hair is staring back. She pulls back her lips to show some teeth and scowls. ]

This is Commander Shepard. Who's on this comm? Does anyone copy?

[ Scratch that. She is making no room for negotiations. ]

You are going to tell me why you brought me here before I find you. Trust me when I say your cooperation will heighten the chance I won't break one of your limbs.

third person sample:

"The bomb is in position. We're all set here."

"Commander! Do you read me?" Kaiden's voice crackled over the radio.

"The nuke is almost ready. Get to the rendezvous point, Lieutenant!"

"Negative, Commander! The geth have us pinned down on the AA tower. We've taken heavy casualties!"

From the edge of the storage crate she'd seated herself, Jane Shepard stared with a weighted gaze down on the cold metal of the empty casket in front of her. The feeling of her hands pressed against her dry lips felt subconsciously symbolic. The pressure they placed on such a soft surface, forcing them to harden and resist the tension. In her ears and through her glassed eyes, the memory of Virmire - the sound of the radio feed in her ear - lived on.

"We'll never make the rendezvous point in time!"

The shock of adrenaline that went through her chest was as real today as it was then. The horror of doubt, and the prospect of defeat, if even for that instant was an unacceptable outcome.

"Hold tight!" She remembered the feeling of her own voice and how she had forced it past the fear so the others wouldn't hear. "We're coming to get you!"

"Just make sure that nuke is set!" Kaiden's voice replied. "We'll hold them off as long as we-" and then the drumming of her heart stopped once the transmission was cut off.

"It's okay, Commander," Ashley told her, "I need a couple of minutes to finish arming the bomb. Go get them and meet me back here."

Shepard closed her eyes. The sting of tears behind the darkened drape of her eyelids was as familiar as the feeling of the cold metal of the closed casket's lid on which she'd let her hand fall. Sight allowed to return, she raised her head and looked across the vacuum-sealed coffin in front of her to the others. All twelve, perfectly aligned, dress-right-dress in the fashion of military standard. The feeling of helplessness she suffered then was as much a nightmare as it was now. She couldn't save them both. She had to choose. It was her responsibility to send one of her teammates - one of her friends - to their deaths. As the sparkle of the coffins' decorative structures twinkled in her eyes she was forced to feel that weight again though this time it wasn't only one companion.

It was twelve.

The ivory white color of the coffins yielded to the black and gold emblem of Cerberus. Shepard felt her eyes narrow with venom at the sight. Her hand still pressed firmly to her lips fashioned into a tight fist. They had brought her back from the blackness of her spacial grave. They had given her a new ship, a crew, resources and means to combat the greatest threat to humanity since Sovereign. They led her to the most hardened criminals and able warriors the galaxy had to offer, and together they'd become inseparable in trust and loyalty. She wanted so badly to hate the Illusive Man for putting her in this situation. How much she wanted to shift the blame onto him and free her soul from the burden she had to face. This was his fault. He brought her back. He put her in this situation and made her mind crave the urge to do the right thing. But she couldn't. Her fist relaxed before the warmth of a sigh's whisper and she closed her eyes again. She knew that this burden was hers to bear. The responsibility and the lives of her friends were already blood staining her hands. What she was asking them to do bore little difference than placing a gun to their heads and pulling the triggers themselves and for what? Humanity? Half of them weren't even human, but they'd follow her into the flames of hell itself.

Eyes lowering, she looked down upon the coffin beneath her unsteady hand. These would remain as empty boxes, she vowed in silence but a moment before her voice whispered, "For you, Ash."

"EDI," she spoke more clearly, pushing herself up from her seat and finally tearing her eyes from the markers of what would be their ultimate fate if she were to waiver for even a moment.

"Yes, Commander?" The ship's vibrating AI voice replied from seemingly nowhere.

"Heat the water tanks," she answered, "I need a shower." As her heavy steps thrummed the steel floor of the ship's cargo deck in the wake of her departure, EDI's voice said in what Shepard might have sworn was a softer tone, "Right away, Shepard."

case no: Randomize me!