Reapers and Nova, Paragons and Pandora

by Adrian Tyndall

In 2186, the Reapers invaded. Many worlds fell almost overnight, many races suddenly being driven into exile en masse. Before the end of the year, the war came down to a final battle above the Earth. A choice was made, and the consequences had galactic repercussions. Many men and women went missing. One such man found himself on Earth, but it wasn't the Earth he knew...

[1]

[Sol System, SSV Fort Sullivan, November 2186]

"Commander, Reaper dreadnoughts are breaking away from the formation. They're heading for the Charon relay!" came the report.

Standing in the war room adjacent to the CIC, Lieutenant Commander Simon Bannitryn watched four Reapers break away from the blockade surrounding Earth, and icy fear gripped his chest. After a few seconds, several more began to follow. "Something must be happening," he said, frowning. "Location of SSV Normandy?"

"Anadius system, in the Horse Head Nebula," the ship's virtual intelligence responded.

"So if Shepard's there, why are the Reapers running from Earth?" the commander asked.

"Unknown," the VI answered.

"Commander! Reading massive spatial distortion!" one of the lieutenants on the sensor deck reported.

"Identify," Bannitryn replied immediately.

"Unknown, but it looks like something's moving here. Something huge... My god, it's the Citadel! The Citadel is in orbit of Earth!" the lieutenant said.

"Impossible!" Bannitryn said, his eyes wide with shock. Yet the sensor report showing on the war terminal was unmistakable: the giant, flower-shaped station was now between them and Earth. "Is the Crucible still docked?"

"Aye, sir," the lieutenant answered. "Massive activity from the Charon relay: multiple Alliance ships are coming through."

"It's about to get really cramped," the commander muttered. "Fall back, let's get out of the way and let them all through."

The helmsman answered his orders, and the ship began to slide out of the flight path of the other Council forces heading toward Earth. As they closed with the Reaper dreadnoughts, both sides opened fire, filling the void of space with bright lights and explosions.

All at once, the officers in the CIC began giving reports, and the overlapping voices ran together into a sort of nonsensical melody.

"Reaper forces breaking to starboard-"

"Destiny Ascension on a direct course to Earth-"

"Turian fighters are moving on the lead dreadnought-"

"They're trying to get a lock on us!"

"Evasive maneuvers!" Bannitryn barked above the din. "Reserve power to kinetic barriers, all hands brace for impact."

The frigate pitched underneath him, hurling him to the deck. He gripped the edge of his console and pulled himself back up, frowning as the lights around him flickered. "Damage report," he said.

"Topside kinetic barriers are gone, minor damage to aft quarter. There's a big gash where crew quarters had been. Nobody was in there. Just a grazing shot, but it hurt like hell," the helmsman said.

"Try to pull us away from the main combat," the commander replied. "We've got to hold out until Shepard figures out what the hell we're doing with the Crucible."

"Sir! Another ship coming through the Charon relay!" the sensor officer reported. "It's the Normandy."

"Form up with it. Our priority is to get Shepard to Earth," Bannitryn ordered. "Keep flying evasive. Try to keep up with Moreau if you can."

"Aye aye, Commander," the helmsman responded. Bannitryn felt the ship slip and slide as it glided through the fierce melee raging around it. Small tremors shook the deckplates as small explosions went off to either side. After what seemed like an eternity, the explosions began to subside, and the Fort Sullivan, Normandy, and handful of other ships that had joined them emerged in Earth's orbital space.

Bannitryn watched as the Normandy dove for the planet's surface, and deployed one of its shuttles. The ship began to rise once more, and led the group back into the fray, which had followed them back to Earth.

Once more, explosions rocked the ship. Officers began spouting off reports, chaos once more taking hold. Behind Bannitryn, the lift opened, revealing Thomas Peele, the Fort Sullivan's captain. "Report, Commander," the older man said.

"We're holding our own for now, but we're losing a bit of power keeping an atmosphere shell over the crew quarters," Bannitryn replied, glancing at the systems display on his monitor. "Shepard and his squad have hit planetside. There's a lot of smaller Reaper forces ravaging the planet."

"Understood. What is the status of the fleet?" the captain asked.

"We're still maintaining an offensive, though we're receiving reports of 24 percent losses right now. The Reaper forces have been diminished by only nine percent," the commander answered.

"Sir, some of the Reaper dreadnoughts are reversing course. They're heading for the Citadel!" the sensor officer reported.

"Damn," Bannitryn said. "Set a pursuit course."

"Belay that," Peele interrupted. "We have to stay here and keep the rest of the dreadnoughts tied up.

"Aye aye," the helmsman said. "Maintaining evasive."

"I know you're frustrated being stuck here, Commander," Peele said. "Your skillset is much more useful on the ground, but your command expertise is invaluable aboard ship."

"Understood, Captain," Bannitryn replied with a frown.

The ship rocked violently as if kicked in the side. A console exploded beside Captain Peele, and he was thrown back into the bulkhead. "Report!" Bannitryn shouted.

"Reaper closing with us! Critical damage to lower deck! They're lining up to fire again!" the sensor officer shouted.

Bannitryn was silent as he checked on the fallen captain. Much as he expected, he didn't find a pulse. Dammit! The ship pitched again, hurling the commander back to the deck. "Get us out of here! Head for the Mass Relay!"

The ship turned slowly and accelerated, but he knew they wouldn't be able to make it. The ship was hit once more, and the helmsman reported, "Damage to FTL drive. We won't be able to make a jump through the relay."

Bannitryn sighed, then keyed the shipwide comm. "Attention all hands, this is Commander Simon Bannitryn. Abandon ship. This is not a drill. Repeat, abandon ship."

Below decks, he was sure, crew were leaving their posts and assembling near the escape pods, eager to leave the continually disintegrating frigate. The bridge officers, for the most part, were remaining at their posts until the last possible minute. The helmsman was setting a course to take them away from the combat zone, lest they impede the progress or safety of allied ships. The sensor officer was still gathering reports from the battle, and shouted out from her station, "Reaper forces are in retreat, reading a massive energy buildup from the Citadel!"

"Get to your escape pods, now!" Bannitryn shouted. An explosion burned through the bridge, separating him from the other two officers. The commander retrieved a helmet and sword from a locker in the CIC, and made for the ladder near the lift. I can't get to the escape pods in the cockpit, and all the others have launched. Hope there's still a shuttle down here.

As his booted feet hit the deck in the hangar, he saw one shuttle still docked, a gaping hole in the hangar door venting atmosphere into space. His helmet protected him and gave him an air supply. He staggered toward the shuttle, and pulled himself inside.

To his relief, the engine started immediately, and he roared out of the hangar and away from the ship. On his sensor board, he watched as the transponder marked SSV Fort Sullivan winked out of existence, the sky burning bright behind him as the frigate exploded.

The commander sighed, regretting that he couldn't do more to save the other people on the ship. He knew Captain Peele had died, but he didn't know the fate of the helmsman or sensor officer who'd remained behind. He didn't see any transponders from their escape pods, and knew they must not have made it. Given the explosion on the bridge, though, they probably died then and there.

He checked his position on the sensor board, and noticed he was in range of the Mass Relay. Not that I'll ever make an FTL jump in a shuttle, but maybe I can set down on the sensor outpost on Pluto.

An alarm sounded from the board, and his eyes widened in horror. The impossible seemed to be happening – the Citadel, or more correctly, the Crucible, was firing. An energy beam of deepest red shot from the point of the Crucible, streaking across the entire solar system, and impacted the Mass Relay.

Ahead of him, the Relay's core shifted from a peaceful blue to the same shade of red. The centrifuge surrounding the core began to spin even more rapidly, reaching an almost impossible speed before it stopped suddenly, and the Relay itself fired the same energy beam the Crucible had. Then the Relay exploded, and Bannitryn realized he should've turned back far sooner...

[Final data log recovered from SSV Fort Sullivan]

Destruction event occurred at 2140 hours, shipboard time. Multiple impacts by Reaper forces caused an overexertion of the ship's FTL drive core. Majority of ship's complement evacuated at 2136 hours aboard escape pods. Exceptions listed below:

Captain Thomas Peele – Missing in action

Lieutenant Commander Simon Bannitryn – Evacuated aboard Shuttle 2, missing in action.

Lieutenant Sharon Hale – Missing in action

Ensign Marcus Wright – Missing in action

Yeoman Steven Jacobs – Missing in action

[Log complete, transmission to Alliance Command beginning.]

[Transmission complete.]