Three Days After the Firing of the Crucible
The Planet Earth
There are men who run away from danger, and men who run towards it.
Alliance Navy Staff Sergeant Atlas Miller was one of the latter. Three days had passed since the apparent victory over the Reapers, their demise punctuated by an impressive display of bright crimson energy ejected from the Crucible. The celebration had yet to come for the people of Earth. For months, the resistance had jumped from foxhole to foxhole, just trying to stay alive. The major cities of their world had been reduced to rubble and ashes, and the shock of it all being over in an instant had made things seem too surreal. The only other group that could relate were the Turians, who were never at ease anyway. Many of the Krogan were honestly disappointed.
Atlas remembered reading a book about World War One at the academy, about how at the end, the same thing happened. People who got used to living in hell didn't recognize what heaven looked like anymore. He was pulling it together, despite the nagging concerns about his family stowed away in the back of his mind, but others...others would have a tough time adjusting. If other problems didn't threaten to shatter the peace again, that was.
Atlas, four other Alliance Marines, one of which had been under his command three days ago during the assault on London, and a Turian by the name of Garrus Vakarian, all sat silently in the shaking hull of a UT-47A Kodiak transport shuttle. Its destination: the Citadel, or, as the men were calling it now, the Crucible, which was still hovering over the planet. Their mission: to retrieve Lieutenant-Commander John Shepard, or failing that, his body.
The Turian had been given command by the brass in this operation. Nobody complained about taking orders from a Turian this time. Everybody knew who he was, and everybody knew his relationship to the LC. Turians were tough sons of bitches, Atlas knew that, but this one was a badass even by their elevated standards. Atlas was a man who couldn't stand not speaking, but he didn't know exactly what to say to the esteemed alien. Didn't know what was appropriate. So instead, he had started tapping his knee to a rhythm of his own.
Eventually, the Turian set his gaze on Atlas, eyes hidden by the face of his spherical helmet. Atlas slowly came to a stop, and awkward silence resumed. Finally, the man to Atlas' right, Private Cooper, a dumb kid from Benning, asked Atlas, "You think he'll be alive, sir?"
Goddamn it boy, Atlas imagined his eyes rolling around a full seven hundred and twenty degrees into his skull and sighed, "Private..."
"There's no knowing what's on there," said Garrus quietly, finger silently tapping the mid-section of his Viper marksman rifle.
Silence reigned again for a moment. Underneath his own helmet, Atlas licked his lips. He leaned inwards, cracking his neck and feeling the sweat pool up in his armor. Damn body bucket, he complained inwardly.
"All the Reapers just went and died," another man, Corporal Shin, commented, "There wouldn't be any up there. I wonder if those creepy...what you call'em, the Bug things? I saw 'em once on a tour..."
"The Keepers," answered Garrus again. Every time he spoke it was like slick oil. Most Turians didn't know how to actually speak English. They used their translators, or used interpreters. But this one did, "The Keepers are a Reaper creation. So they could be gone. But the Collectors are still alive, so we'll see."
"Excuse me, sir," continued Shin, "But didn't you take out the Collectors with Commander Shepard? I'm curious as to why they are still around at all."
"Yes, Shepard and I, and our team, we took out the Collector's base of operations. But there were two other ships still active despite this. Beyond that, I'm not sure what's classified and what's not for you humans."
"Of course, sir."
Suddenly, the pilot, Steve Cortez, announced from the cockpit, "We're about to land on the Citadel, boys. Thirty seconds."
The men all got up, stacking beside the door. The Kodiak shook a bit, before coming to a complete stop. The door slid open, and the five of them exited the craft in a wedge-shaped formation.
"I'll wait here," Cortez informed them. He was a cool, calm guy with a reflective forehead. Atlas knew he was also a member of the Normandy crew as well. But he, as well as Garrus and the other member of Shepard's ground team, Dr. Liara T'soni, had been left behind, the Normandy nowhere to be found. This was a secret that only people on Hackett's ship, like Atlas, knew. That would be the next mystery Atlas would have to solve.
They stepped out onto the loading docks of Citadel Security. Abandoned skycars were everywhere, most upturned and wrecked, but neither human nor Keeper bodies. The station was as silent as a grave, the lights set to a dull and dim red. The walls of the Citadel seemed tighter than ever before, and sparks of some kind rippled between them.
"The Station's changed," observed Cooper.
"Well no shit, genius," replied Shin.
"Stow it, Marines," growled Atlas. "On your order, Vakarian sir." Atlas had no idea what to call the...man?
Garrus nodded and looked around. "No sign of a struggle. Let's get to headquarters. We can run a program through their feeds, find out what's happened here."
"You think there's anybody alive?" asked Atlas.
"Possibly. I'm surprised there's any oxygen here. You think the Reapers would have shut that off, with the gravity, when they took over the place."
"Yeah, sir. I got a bad feeling about this. Your orders should we encounter any civilians, though?"
Garrus paused for a moment, then said, "We deal with them later. Let's focus on our mission first. Stay sharp."
They moved through the loading docks, checking their corners quietly. They moved up a flight of stairs. Only weeks ago, this place had been the scene of a great battle between C-Sec and the Terrorist organization known as Cerberus, who had managed to get on the station through secrecy. When that had happened, Atlas had been on Noveria, taking the fight to the Reapers there. Cerberus had also had a presence but had been rooted out by Commander Shepard himself not soon after they had arrived.
Some of the scorch marks from mass accelerator rounds still remained on the walls and on the furniture. There was no smell in the air, and everything seemed lifeless.
Just remember, Atlas thought to himself, the Citadel is just one big trap. And it worked on us once before. Fool me once, mother used to say, but you can't get fooled again.
No, can't think about Mom and Dad. Not yet. Not until this crap is dealt with. They moved through the headquarters, the officers and the holding cells, still finding no bodies. Maybe the Reapers had them ejected into space when they moved the Citadel across the Mass Relays. That was another question, why had the Reapers taken the Crucible to Earth and not somewhere the Citadel forces couldn't have gotten to, like the middle of a black hole or something? For creatures supposed to be so smart, there were so many blatant errors, or so they seemed. Atlas knew that enemies wanted to make you think they were less competent than they actually were. Maybe the war hadn't ended. Maybe this had all been a trap. If so, it had both worked and failed for the Reapers at least.
"I used to work here," muttered Garrus softly as they cleared another pair of rooms on either side of a long hallway.
"You did? You were a cop?" asked Atlas.
"Yeah. Something like that. Seems like a lifetime ago."
"Yeah, I know what you mean, sir."
They finally reached the Commander of C-Sec's headquarters. It was surprisingly uninspired, just an office with a better view of the petitioner's plaza. Still no bodies, still no sign of the Keepers yet. Yet things were still eerie.
"Here," Garrus gestured to a terminal, "Shin, Doyle, cover the door while we do this."
"Yes, sir!" the two replied.
Garrus activated his omni-tool and began interfacing with the console. Atlas scanned the room. He looked at the overturned furniture, the files on the floor, the picture of an older man, an older woman, and two grown sons, the glass in the frame cracked. Atlas picked it up and examined it. On the back of the frame, in marker was written "July 3rd, 2185." Happier times, obviously.
"Commander Bailey's," said Garrus, not looking up from his work.
"I'm sorry, sir?" asked Atlas.
"The man in the picture. That's Commander Bailey. I knew him, not as well as Shepard, but I knew him. I assume that's his family...ah, here we go. Camera footage. This is what we need."
Atlas looked over at the picture again, then set it down respectfully on a shelf nearby. He walked over to the console to see what he needed to see.
They stood there for nearly an hour, watching samples of video footage. The Reapers had arrived en masse and taken the station. Indeed, as Atlas had thought, the Reapers had ejected the majority of the residents out into space when they had moved it through, though not all. This included most of the Keepers, save those who were guarded by walls and ceilings within the many tunnels running through the station. Then...the real horror started.
Human bodies were getting shipped by the thousands, dumped in areas around the station. Cerberus troops appeared with strange vats, setting them up all over the Presidium, constructing tubes that led beneath the Citadel Tower. So far, they hadn't seen this yet themselves, but they had yet to get outside. Then, the Cerberus troops stopped what they were doing, and Citadel ships began appearing in space nearby.
"They were trying again," said Garrus.
"Trying again to do what?" asked Atlas.
Garrus remained silent, "To build a Reaper."
Atlas stared, unsure of what to say. Garrus went back to scrolling through video feeds until finally, he found one. "There!" he exclaimed, "Shepard!" He held it up for Atlas to see.
"I see him," yes, the man was limping, badly hurt with his body burned and bloody, but alive, stumbling down a dark alley littered with human bodies. They watched as he walked along, until he reached the Citadel's control room. There, he met with the honorable Admiral Anderson, the man that had led the resistance on Earth. It looked like they were ready to close the Crucible arms. But then...
"Illusive Man," hissed Garrus.
"The Cerberus guy?"
"Yes."
In came a man in a jacket, eyes aglow, skin burned black in many places across his face and neck. Between the three of them, there was a confrontation. The Illusive Man had the upper hand at first, revealing some kind of biotic power. But in the end, Shepard managed to take him out. What surprised Atlas though, was how long it took.
After that, Shepard opened up the Citadel arms. He fell to the ground next to Anderson, and there was a pause. After that, the feeds cut.
"We need to get there," Garrus ordered, "Let's move out."
"Sir!" Shin ran into the room, "We got company! Cerberus troops inbound, landing in the plaza."
Garrus nodded, "Defensive positions. I'll take overwatch upstairs. Doyle, come with me. The rest, stay down here."
"Yes, sir." Garrus and Corporal Doyle left, while Atlas and the rest ran down the hallway. They upturned some tables and took cover behind a secretary's desk, just as a trio of Cerberus shuttles arrived, hovering over the plaza. Troops descended from the shuttles and hovered on their jet boots for a moment before setting foot on the ground. Most of them were standard assault troopers, equipped with semi-automatic Mattock assault rifles, but there were also a pair of Centurions, shielded officers who were also equipped with electric stun batons and smoke grenades. It was best to avoid them close up, if not altogether.
Atlas and his men lay down a field of fire, popping rounds out of their Avenger assault rifles. The Cerberus forces were forced to take cover as well, pieces of glass and metal chipped off and sent flying from near misses. The Cerberus troopers fired shots behind their heads, until one of the Centurions threw a smoke grenade that filled the room up with a cloud of thick, white fog.
Atlas called out one that was sneaking around the left flank, trying to move from cover to cover and gain a line of fire on Atlas and his squad. From above, on the second floor, Garrus lined up the shot perfectly within the sights of his rifle, and with the help of explosive rounds, the trooper's head was gone in a spray of brain and bone.
The rest of the Cerberus targets stayed more cautious this time, focusing their fire on Garrus and Doyle above. Atlas saw an opportunity to cause some damage and shouted, "Cooper, throw a frag!"
"On it," Cooper pulled a grenade out and primed it, tossing it high over the battlefield and straight into the ranks of the troops. Like roaches before the light, the Cerberus troops scattered, allowing Garrus to pull another headshot. The explosion of heat and shrapnel took out the shields of the Centurion, as well as the life of another trooper. The other Centurion ordered them to fall back to a group of offices to the north of the plaza, where the old Hanar embassy had been.
"Order to pursue?" Atlas asked Garrus over his helmet's earpiece.
"No, let'em run. We need to get Shepard and ourselves out of here as soon as possible."
Cortez swung around and picked them up at the plaza, taking them as close as possible to the Control room. They landed towards the very top of the Presidium, at the edge of a long, dark hallway. When they left the shuttle again, they were bombarded by a foul odor, the smell of dead, rotting flesh from piles of corpses lining the corridor. All of them were humans. Finally, Atlas saw a Keeper.
"Are they friendly?" asked Shin, "Can you touch one?"
"I wouldn't advise that," remarked Cooper, "You might get indoctrinated."
"Shut up!" barked Atlas, "We're on a mission, remember?"
Garrus said nothing and led them into the darkness. They turned all their flashlights on, walking slowly, listening to the slow grinding of the Citadel's walls scrape against each other, the low hum of electricity. They felt a strange coolness in the air, and Atlas swore he could hear a whisper at the back of his spine.
"There's evil here," whispered Cooper to himself.
"Just your nerves man," said Shin.
To himself, Atlas couldn't help but agree. Especially with all the bodies near his feet. He could barely move without stepping on them. Some were beyond recognizable, their faces torn away to mush. Atlas had seen bodies before, but not like this. Not in the way that they were just...things. Like they were never people.
Finally, they came to a pass. Underneath, moving blocks of metal with cracks that led to an empty abyss. One stray fall and it could be the end, with only a narrow bridge across. One at a time, they crossed it. Atlas tried not to look down. He was afraid of heights.
They came into the same room where the Illusive Man had confronted Shepard and Anderson. The view from the balcony was astounding, especially now with the arms of the Citadel and the planet Earth in full view. If they had time, Atlas would have liked to take a moment to bask in it. Instead, they swept the room, finding no trace of Shepard, but the dead body of Admiral Anderson, the skin icy cold to the touch.
"The Admiral," gasped Cooper. "Admiral Hackett thought he had died in London, vaporized."
"Guess not," Atlas replied solemnly. "We should get his body out of here."
"What about his?" Cooper gestured to the Illusive Man's corpse nearby.
"Just leave it," said Shin dismissively.
"There's got to be some clue where Shepard went," interrupted Garrus, "But what?"
Atlas scanned the room, looking this way and that. Suddenly...
"Hey! What was that?" The other soldiers and Garrus looked at him. Out of the corner of his eye, Atlas had seen a blue light appear and quickly run off.
"You see something Sergeant?" asked Garrus, mandibles touching in confusion.
"Yeah. I don't know what, though. Should we pursue?"
"Go check it out, take Cooper with you."
"Roger that," he replied nervously. The two of them went back into the corridor. This time, both he and Cooper saw it briefly, in the opposite direction. It almost, for a brief second, looked like a person. They continued to follow it, strolling through chest-high piles of bodies stacked in greater density. At one point, Cooper had to shove some out of the way with brute force. But eventually, they came towards a great collapse in the ceiling.
Large pieces of rubble had collapsed inwardly, and a light was shining from above the Presidium. Piles of dust and metal were everywhere.
Atlas walked underneath the hole, looking up through the wreckage. He could see the structure of the Crucible outside.
"What...is this?" he wondered aloud.
"Sir!" shouted Cooper, as he began pulling rubble off and throwing it to the side. "You gotta take a look at this!"
"What is it Private?" Atlas walked over, and looked over Cooper's shoulder. A man groaned in pain, and Atlas said, "Oh my god. It's Shepard. He's alive."