Chapter 2: Distress Signal

"All around me are familar faces,
worn out places.."

It had been two months since the Collector Base was destroyed. Two months since countless human colonies had vanished. Two months since she cut all ties with Cerberus. Four months since she was brought back from the dead...

The last thought made Shepard frown. It still made her uneasy knowing two years of her existence were spent in the afterlife. She always knew that in the life of a soldier, one could die at any given moment. But during the Collector attack on the Normandy SR1, Shepard had been afraid. She could remember being pulled out into space, flipping and turning, gasping for air. Slowly dying...

Shepard shivered and opened her eyes. Those memories were still fresh in her mind as if they happened yesterday. She might have been rebuilt, but her brain still felt like her own. She still had her red hair, green eyes. Same face. "Is it truly me?" Sighing, she leaned down and picked up her data pad that had fallen on the floor when she dozed off.

After defeating the Collectors, the council requested that she would be stripped of her position and sent back to Earth. They called it treason for working with Cerberus.. She called it necessity. Shepard opened the mission files and started to look through them once more. "With is the key word here," she thought. "I never actually worked for them." Now the Normandy was en route to the Citadel to meet one last time with the council. Shepard and the rest of her crew would be debriefed there. After reading the rest of the mission reports, Shepard set her data pad onto her desk and stepped outside and into the elevator.

Arriving on the CIC, Shepard stepped out and walked quietly passed the Galaxy Map. Yeoman Kelly Chambers greeted her cheerfully, and she returned the gesture. "Garrus would like to see you, Commander. He's in the Main Battery." Shepard nodded, "Thanks. I'll go visit him."
Kelly gave the commander a teasing look and returned to her console. Shepard smiled to herself as she walked to the next elevator and activated the button for the Crew's Quarters.

She nodded at the crew on break in the mess and made her way to the Main Battery at the end of the hall. Shepard stopped at the door, her stomach turning with anticipation. Garrus had always been her greatest friend, her strongest ally. There was something about the turian that made her crazy;
and she loved it. Before the final push at the Collector Base, they spent a wonderful night together. It was in that moment that Shepard knew she had strong feelings for him. Stronger feelings than friendship. Shepard took a deep breath, opened the door, and stepped inside.

There he was. His back was turned to her as he, no doubt, was calibrating the Normandy's weapon systems. Shepard cracked a smile. It was Garrus' favorite pastime, whether the weapons needed it or not.

"You wanted to see me?" At the sound of her voice, Garrus turned and smiled, his mandibles moving in a back and forth motion. "Ah, yes. I figured you would want some fresh air from your cabin. Seems like you've been spending the majority of your time in there." Garrus frowned. "I'm worried."

Shepard sighed and walked up beside him. She crossed her arms and leaned back on the railing. "I'm alright. There's just alot to think about, you know?" She paused. "I don't know what will be waiting for me when we get to the Citadel.. or for my crew. People must think I betrayed the Alliance. The last thing I want to be known as is a traitor."

Garrus stepped in front of her. "You know damn well that it was necessary for Cerberus to help you with the mission. Without their resources, it would've been nearly impossible." Shepard nodded. "I know. I don't have any regrets. We destroyed the Collectors.. that's all that matters." Garrus watched her. "I don't have any regrets either."

Shepard smiled and pressed her hands against his armoured chest. "No matter what happens, I want to stay with you." Garrus shifted his feet nervously, clearing still lacking on flirting techniques. "O-of course Shepard. As do I." He shook his head. "Don't worry, I won't let anything happen to you."
"Good. I'm still counting on you to have my back." She smiled wryly at him, "Keep your skills sharp." Garrus chuckled, "For you."

He leaned down and kissed Shepard gently. The feeling was still strange to her, exotic. It had taken time to get used to, but in the end, they found what worked best. As she kissed him back, the intercom clicked on loudly and Joker's voice boomed into the Main Battery. "Commander! There's a distress signal coming in from the Sol System. Some freaky shit is going on in it." Shepard leaned back. "I'll be right there, Joker." She pecked his mouth once more and they departed for the bridge on the CIC deck.

The crew was tense as Shepard and Garrus made their way down the bridge. Miranda Lawson and Jacob Taylor were waiting by the cockpit.
They nodded as Shepard passed them.

"What's the situation Joker?" She put her hands on the back of his chair and looked at the screen. "Not good. Whoever sent the signal is definitely human.. and in a shit load of trouble." He played the transmission once more. Shepard stared at the screen as the grainy footage tried to focus. It was a human, outfited in a highly advanced engineer suit. Male maybe?

"If anyone receives this, please send for help! My name is Isaac Clarke and I'm on Titan Station. There's been another outbreak! I repeat, there has been another outbreak!" The man looked over his shoulder in the direction of a sudden gurgling, growling noise. Shepard noticed blood caked on the wall behind him. "I need reinforcements! There's too many, please! This cannot spread anymore!" From behind him, a repulsive, humanoid monster with claw-like appendages tried to stab him. In a quick, fluid motion, the man turned and took off its limbs with an interesting looking weapon before stomping it's face into the floor. He began to talk again, but the footage cut out.

Shepard remained silent as she stared at the blank screen. Joker turned in his chair and looked at her. "Well?" Shepard looked down at him. "I've heard the name Isaac Clarke before. He was apart of the crew that went to investigate the Ishimura three years ago, remember?" Joker nodded, "The human vessel that went dark in a matter of hours? Yeah, I remember."

Garrus shook his head, "I don't follow." Shepard turned to meet his eyes. "Three years ago in the Cygnus system, a human mining vessel known as the USG Ishimura was exploring the planet known as Aegis Vll. It was supposed to be a search for rare minerals, but the team discovered an alien relic in which they called the "Red Marker." Researchers brought it aboard the ship and in a short amount of time, the entire vessel went dark. A rescue team was sent in order to find out what happened, but they never returned. Isaac was one of them. The failed mission was classified as top secret."

Shepard looked back to Joker. "It is rumored that a strange form of blood-thirsty, alien life was formed, but no one dared to go near the system. I tried to convince the council to let me investigate, but they refused my offer."

Garrus growled, "Like always."

Joker turned back around in his chair and started tracing the signal. "It looks like it's coming from the remainder of Saturn's moon, Titan, at a facility called the Sprawl."

Miranda stepped forward. "We cannot simply ignore this, Commander. This could be huge."

Jacob nodded in agreement. "Despite what orders we have from the council, we have to see what's going on."

All eyes turned to Shepard. Looking from face to face, she nodded. "Agreed. We cannot let this distress signal go unanswered. Joker, get us to those coordinates." Joker chuckled with excitement. "Aye aye ma'am." She turned back to Miranda and Jacob, "I need the crew to be ready ASAP. We don't know what we'll be going up against." Miranda and Jacob departed in order to fill the rest of the crew in.

Garrus laughed quietly beside Shepard. She turned her attention away from the approaching Mass Effect field and looked at him.
"What's so funny?" He shook his head, chuckling. "Oh nothing. It's just a good thing I've been calibrating the guns."