WELCOME BACK!

Welcome all, new and old (only I would really recommend the prequel or you'll be really lost). Thank you for continuing on. Every positive feedback makes it easier to write.

Just one thing before plunging in: no Javik – never played the DLC. But the DLC Citadel will be very much featured - it was hilarious.

1.01 Canticle of Transfigurations

Shepard was leaning over the QEC console. She knew she should be contacting admiral Hackett right now but she was tired. So tired. Ashley was critically injured and the Citadel's doctors were unsure on how things would turn out. Anderson, her old mentor and friend, had decided to stay behind to lead the fight back home. The Council was useless as always. Oh, and the reapers had invaded. Don't forget that.

And now she was to lead the charge?

The red-head chuckled tad bitterly – after six months of being in custody and having her every word questioned, she was back and expected to lead them to victory. What a joke.

After another moment of steeling herself, she pressed the button that would contact the admiral. He had been obviously waiting for her call, or she was just of the highest priority.

"Shepard, what have you got?" the man went to business immediately.

"Like expected," Shepard shook her head, "I presented them with something with a lot of unknowns, so they can't commit to anything. Quite frankly, the Council's out."

"You have a plan" Hackett said confidently, knowing the woman would not back down as easily as that.

"I do. I'm trying to get the turian Primarch for a summit meeting with the asari and salarians, bypassing the Council and appealing directly to the top leadership. We need someone who actually can decide things without bullshit politics weighing them down" the vanguard said in a hard voice.

"I like it. Build alliances, get everything and everybody you can" Hackett said in a similar tone, "You'll be the official human representative with Spectre flavoring. They will listen to you. They must, if we are to win this. Leave the prothean device to me, you find me people who can help build it. And we need soldiers, ships, supplies… whatever you can get. Buy us time to figure out the device."

"Tall order" a corner of Shepard's mouth quirked upwards, giving levity to her words.

Hackett gave her a small smile in reply "It is, but I know you can deliver. Also, I won't be leaving you high and dry. The Normandy's yours, no question. While I can't give you a marine attachment I have contacted two civilian contractors that we have been working with lately, so you can start building a team back up."

"Civilians?" the woman frowned.

"Of sorts" Hackett smirked, "The Normandy still needs supplies, some personnel and even repairs – the two I speak of will find you tomorrow in the Docks. In the meantime, get acquainted with your ship again, I'm told there have been some major upgrades. Also I have transferred you a substantial sum of credits from Alliance funding. Get weapons, armor, anything you need. I know I have placed a great burden on you, but you won't be alone. If it is in my power, I'll get it, you just need to ask."

"Thank you. It… it means a lot" Shepard was damn near moved. After all that Cerberus mess, and Ashley throwing it in her face every two seconds, this was a welcome change.

The admiral nodded understandingly. Then he put his hands behind his back, straightening his posture into the pose he was famous for and smiled tightly "Godspeed, commander."

Shepard saluted and the QEC flickered out.

She sighed. After a beat of silence she looked up "Hey, EDI?"

"Yes, Shepard?"

"I'm back"

"… welcome back. You were missed"

"That's sweet, EDI, thank you" the soldier grinned, leave it to her AI friend to lift her spirits "How've you been? What about the new crew?"

"Hey!" Joker interrupted on the intercom, "Come up here! I want to catch up too!"

"We were having a girl chat, don't butt in" Shepard exclaimed dramatically.

"I'll let you paint my nails" Joker tempted.

"Ooooh! Peach pink would look lovely on you!"

/

Shepard watched the reporter go, wondering if she made the right decision – Diana Allers seemed different then her 'favorite' Khalisah al-Jilani, but a journalist was a journalist. Still, she had allowed the woman aboard her ship, provided she stayed out of the way. If it didn't work out she always could toss her out.

With that thought she nodded to herself and returned to the report she was reading before she had been ambushed by Allers and her floating camera. Usually she would be reading that in her cabin, but since Hackett was feeling dramatic, she was waiting for her two mysterious additions to the crew.

"Deep thoughts?" a voice startled her.

The commander looked up and gaped before a huge smile made its way to her lips.

"Seriously, Shepard. You should be more aware of your surroundings" Miranda chastised but her eyes were tinkling. Trev nodded solemnly from beside her, already having said her piece.

They didn't have time to do much else because Shepard practically lunged at them, nearly tackling them into a hug "God, I missed you."

Trevelyan smiled "Well, you were in prison, so I think that's a given."

Shepard punched the templar lightly on her shoulder and took a step back to look at her two friends. They hadn't changed much in the half year – Miranda was still in her white getup, only this one bore no sigil. Where once the Cerberus logo was proudly displayed, was nothing. The only thing that could be remarked upon was that the former operative looked lighter, even with the reaper invasion going on. And that now she apparently wore her hair in a ponytail.

Trev though had completely changed apparel. It was logical though, her style was most distinctive, not a smart thing if you're trying to avoid detection. Be it Cerberus or anyone else that might want to have a chat. The templar mark was nowhere to be seen, instead Trev wore her family's sigil – a stylized running horse.

"You're back to Lady Trevelyan, now?" Shepard nodded towards the horse and smirked.

The blonde lost her smile and her countenance became grim "Indeed, since I can't be a Ser anymore."

"What?" Shepard frowned and turned serious as well, "Why?"

"I lost my powers" Trev gave a small strained smile, "They have been weakening for a while, I'm actually amazed you didn't notice – during our final push against the Collectors it was noticeable."

"I just thought you were tired"

"Oh I was, but that wasn't it. I knew it would happen eventually – there was something that was needed to maintain them, a potion, but I didn't want Cerberus to get their hands on it so I never asked for it to be reproduced. If it would be even possible"

Miranda bit her lip and nodded "There was trace amount of an unknown element in Trev's blood after she arrived here, but it left over time. As far as I know, Cerberus wasn't able to reproduce it."

"I hope it holds true" the noble sighed.

"I'm sorry about your powers" Shepard said.

"Being a templar meant a lot to me, but I don't need my powers to define me. I got over it" Trev shrugged with a nonchalance that fooled nobody. Miranda turned to the blonde and arched and eyebrow but said nothing.

"Well, templar or not, I'm glad you're going to fight beside me again" the commander smiled.

"Wouldn't miss it" Trev smirked.

"What did you do for Hackett anyway?" Shepard remembered to ask.

Miranda smirked "I contacted him with information about Cerberus almost as soon as we left the Normandy. He was reluctant to believe me at first, but my intel was good. I continued to do so over the time you were away."

Trev nodded "We figured that if the Alliance was cracking down on Cerberus, it would have less time and resources to chase after us."

"Smart" the vanguard commented. Then she frowned "I met TIM on Mars, he's going to be a problem."

"I have ways into Cerberus communications" the former operative nodded, "I think the Illusive Man is indoctrinated. His actions don't make sense otherwise. And he definitely went into the Collector base – he has the remains of the human reaper."

"Some of it survived?" Shepard whistled, "Do you think that did the deed?"

"I don't know. He has many reaper artifacts now. He wants to control them" Miranda shook her head.

"The artefacts?"

"The Reapers"

"The Reapers? Is he insane?" the red-head gaped.

"Quite possibly" Trev shrugged.

"Isn't that just dandy" Shepard pursed her lips. Then she sighed "Well, no use discussing that now. You have your things?"

"Being delivered. Miranda has… quite a lot of stuff" the former templar shrugged.

The woman in question narrowed her eyes "Spying on a secretive organization requires a lot of 'stuff' if you don't want to get pinged or fed false information."

"So you can really reliably spy on Cerberus?" Shepard perked up.

"Not everything" Miranda shook her head, "But just enough to know if they're planning an operation. Unfortunately anything truly big would be heavily encrypted and carefully hidden. I can get it roughly at the same time a regular trooper involved in the mission might. All the juicy information I already gave to the admiral and I'm not likely to get much again. It still helps though."

"That it does" the soldier nodded, "So you are still monitoring them?"

"Yes, but I can do it on the Normandy too"

"Well, Liara has her broker stuff up so you might want to consult with EDI about power consumption. Or processing power. I don't know, I'm hardly an expert" Shepard shrugged.

Miranda smirked "I know. You are a biotic rhino, not a tech expert."

The red-head gasped dramatically "I'm offended. I can fix most of the problems my terminal or omnitool might have."

"Yes, by powering it off and on again"

"See, solution!"

Miranda chuckled and shook her head fondly "You're worse than Trev and she's from another dimension."

"Finally know how to turn on the flashlight on your omnitool?" Shepard winked at the noble.

"Indeed" Trevelyan grinned, "I mastered my omnitool and some of its very useful combat applications."

Seeing a manic twinkle in the blonde's eyes, Shepard turned to Miranda who sighed long-sufferingly "She likes to freeze things."

"It's amazing!"

"Yes, dear"

Shepard chuckled. Then she smirked wickedly "Speaking of dear, I can put you in Port Cargo with your computers. Should I add two bunks or just one?"

Miranda rolled her eyes but replied "One should suffice."

"I'm happy for you" the commander smiled sincerely, "I will want the details of that later for sure, as well as what you have been up to this last six months, but we have to go. Check if your things have arrived because otherwise we are set. We are going to Palaven."

"I heard they got hit, same as Earth" the former Cerberus bit her lip.

"Any news from Garrus?" Trev asked.

"None"

"And you said you have Liara on board?"

"Yes, she did stuff for Hackett too" Shepard nodded as they walked towards the ship, "Thanks to her we have a plan against the reapers. Sort of. Maybe. We'll see. I'll tell you all later. Also the ship's been retrofitted to Alliance specs and we have some upgrades along with new crew, obviously. But all that can wait. Right now I need you armed and ready to go."

The two civilians looked at each other and nodded "We're ready."

AN: Ok... Mass Effect 3. Let's go!