Chapter One
As soon as the red energy from the Crucible dispersed, Hackett ordered a full SAR mission for Commander Shepard, the Council, and any other survivors on the Citadel. Of course, their priority was the Council first, then Shepard, then any others. The Normandy's shields had somehow protected them from the energy wave's effects, and they were already on their way back towards the Citadel to begin searching for Shepard. Hackett didn't blame them. The Normandy was Shepard's ship, and his crew. In fact, he was glad they were looking for Shepard, because it gave him the time he needed to organize a search team for the Council. He had thought about staying on the Orizaba to overlook the rescue operations, but had decided against it. If Shepard was alive, he wanted to be there when they found him. He signaled his comm. officer to contact the Normandy to have them make a quick stop to allow Hackett to transfer over before they proceeded to the Citadel. Garrus, the Normandy's current Executive Officer, along with Liara, hadn't liked the idea of stopping, but when Hackett explained why, they understood exactly why he was coming. Hackett wanted to help. It was the least he could do. As soon as he boarded, he went straight to the war operations center, where the entire ground team had already assembled.
"Admiral, welcome to the Normandy. I hope security didn't pester you?" Garrus asked.
"Not too much. My personal guards had to stay outside, and I understand that. This is an area of the ship where only people with clearance from either myself, the Council, or Commander Shepard should be admitted, and that's how I wanted it." Hackett replied.
"Good. Joker…erm…Flight Lieutenant Moreau says we're on our way to the Citadel at top speed and should be there any minute now. What's the plan when we get there?" Garrus asked.
"You can call him Joker, it doesn't bother me. I'm not as strict as I look when it comes to protocol. As for what happens when we get to the Citadel, the plan is fairly simple. Find Shepard at all costs. I'd like to lead one of the teams personally, but I have other responsibilities with the fleet, first and foremost is finding the Council, assuming they're still alive. I figured the least I could do was come here and give you your orders in person." Hackett answered.
"I don't want to speak out of turn or anything, but what if we happen to come up against resistance? We don't know whether or not the Reaper ground forces are still active, do we?" Vega asked.
"No, unfortunately. We've had no contact with anyone on Earth yet to see whether the Reaper ground forces are still active, so we'll just have to wait and see. Cleaning them up shouldn't be an issue though." Hackett said.
"I saw the damage to the Citadel. Do you think he could still be alive?" Liara asked. She was extremely concerned and worried about Shepard. She'd been devastated when she lost him nearly three years ago, when the Normandy SR-1 was destroyed by the Collectors. She didn't know if she could go through it again a second time. She needed him to be alive. He'd made her a promise he'd come back to her, marry her, and have lots of little blue children, though she wasn't sure whether he'd made that last part up or not to lighten tensions. If there was any chance that he was alive, she wanted to be there. During Shepard's last mission to destroy the Collectors, she hadn't been there for him. She couldn't go, as much as she had wanted to, having just named herself the next Shadow Broker. Shepard hadn't wanted Liara to be put in that position, but he'd known that she had to. He'd known, as he'd told her weeks after coming back from the Omega 4 relay, that she was the only person alive that could handle the job. Of everything that had taken place since Shepard came back into her life last year, she regretted having argued with him on Illium, up until they defeated the previous Shadow Broker on Hagalaz. She knew she had upset him greatly at the time. After Cerberus found her on Hagalaz, she'd insisted that she be given a spot on the Normandy SR-2. Ashley had backed her up, and they gave her Miranda's old room. She wasn't even given a chance to talk to Shepard, as he was being held incommunicado by Alliance Command. In fact, she didn't get to see him again until Mars. From there, she'd promised herself never to upset him again, and she intended to keep that promise until the day he died. She wasn't ready or willing to give up on him yet, and everyone in the room knew that.
"Come on, Liara, it's Shepard we're talking about here. He's already beat death once, and that was after suffocating in a vacuum. I'm pretty sure a few scrapes, bruises, and bullet wounds won't slow him down. Besides, he knows I'll kill him if he leaves us just when we've finally earned a little peace and quiet." Garrus said. Liara understood the last part. Garrus didn't want to make it seem like he only meant Liara because Hackett was here, so instead he said it in a way that included everyone, but enough for Liara to see what he wanted to say but couldn't.
"Don't worry, we'll find him. Joker, how far are we from the Citadel?" Ashley asked.
"That's what I was about to tell everyone. We're here." Joker replied from the cockpit. He didn't exactly sound happy, and everyone in the room knew why, except for Hackett of course. The Geth and EDI had gone offline as the Crucible fired. Tali was down in the AI core trying to find a way to bring her back, but so far was having little luck. As soon as the intercom went off, Liara all but bolted out of the war operations center and headed for the elevator, not bothering to wait for everyone else, and not exactly caring either.
"Alright then. Everyone, get your teams ready. It's time we saved the galaxy's hero for once." Hackett said, and they all filed out of the room and headed for the shuttle bay. Liara and EDI were already there when they arrived. They split into two different teams and headed for the last known position that Shepard was reported to be in. Hackett, of course, remained on the Normandy so he could continue to coordinate with the various fleets and SAR teams. As soon as Garrus saw the Citadel from his shuttle, he realized just how damaged the Citadel was. Thankfully, it was still mostly intact. The worst damage seemed to be near Zakera Ward, where the Normandy would usually dock.
"That figures. Why is it anytime we go anywhere with Shepard, whenever we come back to refuel from a galactic scale war, the most damaged part of the Citadel is where we happen to dock the Normandy all the time?" Garrus asked. His remark got some amused looks and a few chuckles from everyone else on the shuttle except for Liara, who remained silent. Though she also found Garrus' statement amusing, she was too busy thinking about Shepard. Her Shepard, who was on the Citadel, possibly seriously injured or maybe even dead. Thinking about him was all she could do to keep from going insane.
"Don't worry, Liara, we'll find him. I made the mistake of letting him down by being a complete ass to him on Horizon before he went through the Omega 4 relay. I almost did it again when Udina tried to turn the Council over to Cerberus. I'm not going to let it happen again." Ashley said.
"I know, Ashley. Thank you." Liara replied. They didn't have much time for any further idle conversation, because a few moments later, they were at the landing zone.
"OK, I take that back, Zakera Ward isn't that bad after all." Garrus said after looking around and seeing the mounds of bodies which, curiously enough, the keepers were just starting to clean up. Liara didn't look happy, and Ashley looked ready to puke. That, plus the stench was exceptionally horrid, what with all of the rotting flesh. They began sifting through the bodies, trying to see if anyone was still alive. After about an hour, they realized no one here was. They then decided to continue on, having noticed a passageway that seemed to lead up to a place on the Citadel no one had ever been before. Halfway there, they started receiving the unmistakable repeated beeping on their omni-tools that signaled an emergency beacon was active in the area, except the beacon was too badly damaged to tell who it belonged to. All they knew was it was Alliance made. It could be Anderson, Shepard, or anyone else that may have made it up. As they came up the long ramp to the circular room with the Citadel's arm controls, they found Anderson's body.
"Damn it. By the looks of it he hasn't been dead long, no more than a couple hours." Ashley said.
"There's someone else over here." Garrus said. Liara and Garrus came over to see who it was. The Illusive Man. Or at least what was left of him. He was already half a Husk.
"It's the Illusive Man. Goddess, look what happened to him, though I can't say he didn't deserve it." Liara said.
"Have a good time in hell, you self serving prick." Ashley said.
"Looks like he shot himself in the head. Guess just waiting for us to come all the way here and kill him ourselves was too much of an effort for the bastard." Garrus said jokingly in an attempt to lighten the mood. They then went over to the control panel to check the Citadels systems, or at least what could be checked from there. Everything seemed to be fine, until the flooring under them started ascending.
"What the hell?" Ashley asked out loud in frustration. When they reached the top of wherever they were being taken, they stepped off the platform, only to have it descend on them.
"You can't be serious. Just when you think things are going to start getting easy, the galaxy decides to make life that much harder for you. Shepard, this is your fault, and I'm going to kill you when I find you for making us follow you into this hellhole. By the way, how in the Spirits are we supposed to get out of here?" Garrus asked of no one in particular. Ashley checked her omni-tool to see if the emergency beacon was still broadcasting.
"Guys, that emergency beacon? Wherever it is, it's very close now. Within 50 meters. Garrus, you take the left, and I'll go down the center. Liara, take the right. After nodding, they all split and went down their assigned lanes. Halfway down her side of the complex, she saw him.
"Michael!" Liara cried. Garrus and Ashley came running over as Liara knelt down next to him.
"Spirits…"
"He's still alive, but barely. We need to get an evac, and I mean right now. Normandy, this is Lieutenant Commander Williams, we've found Shepard, but he's in critical condition, we need evac ten minutes ago!" Ashley said.
"Got it Ash, we're locked into your signal, almost there!" came Joker's reply.
"Tell Chakwas to be ready the second you get here. I don't know how much longer he's going to be alive. We had to use all the medi-gel we had, and it's still not enough to stabilize him. Get here faster, damnit!" Ashley said. Garrus had a hand on Liara's shoulder who was crying over Shepard's near dead body.
"You can't die. I need you! You promised me you'd come back!" Liara cried. Liara was too busy being pissed at the Illusive man and the Reapers to do anything. All Garrus could do for Liara was to put his hand on her shoulder and let her know he was there for her if she needed him.
"Your ride's here, ladies and gentleman! Chakwas is ready and waiting!" Joker said as the Normandy came into view and the door to the shuttle bay lowered. They all rushed on, and the Normandy sped off. As expected, Chakwas was already there, and so was Miranda. Also there in the shuttle bay was Hackett.
"Dear God…" Chakwas gasped upon seeing him. Miranda grimaced, but having headed the Lazarus Project, knew for certain that Shepard wouldn't die. Still, it was hard to see him in his current condition.
"Can you save him?" Hackett asked.
"I'm almost certain he'll live, but we won't really know until we get him to the med bay. I promise we'll do everything we can."
"Whatever resources you need, anything at all, no matter what the price, let me know and I'll ensure you get it." Hackett said. Chakwas nodded, then she and Miranda put Shepard on a stretcher and moved to the elevator. Liara went with them. As soon as the elevator doors closed, Hackett turned to Ashley and Garrus and asked for a report.
"The Citadel, or whatever part of it we were in, is a mess. It'll take some doing, but everything is repairable." Ashley said.
"I was told Shepard went up there with Anderson. Did you find him?" Hackett asked.
"We did, but he was dead by the time we got to him." Ashley replied.
"Damnit. Kahlee Sanders has been asking about him since the Crucible fired. She's not going to be happy." Hackett said.
"There is some good news though. We found the Illusive Man, half a husk. Unfortunately, he didn't bother to wait for us to get there so we could have the honor of the last laugh, because he shot himself in the head. Good riddance if you ask me, he was ahead of us at almost every turn." Garrus said.
"I know that. At least now he won't be bothering anyone anymore. I'll send a team to recover their bodies. We'll burn the Illusive Man's. I'll make sure Anderson get a proper burial and funeral, but I'll hold off until Shepard is ready, I know he'll want to be there." Hackett answered.
"Understood. We'll continue helping the SAR teams on the Citadel while they look for the Council and any other survivors." Garrus said.
"Very well. I'm going to return to my ship and coordinate things from there. Keep me updated, Vakarian." Hackett said, then left the shuttle bay.