CHAPTER 2: THE FIRST TO WITNESS
"Your galaxy is in sight…your final days are at hand."
-Object Rho
From: Alliance News Network Information Partners
March 4, 2186
Flood of batarian traffic brings rumors of war
By Shirin Kazemi
UTOPIA SYSTEM – A massive influx of batarian ships is raising tensions in the Exodus Cluster, putting Alliance forces on high alert. According to Alliance officials, the ships came from the batarian-held Harsa relay with minimal warning, some barreling right through. The Alliance reportedly fired on some of the ships with the intent to disable them.
"It's a miracle any of them are still alive," one human frigate captain said. According to the batarians, they are neither invaders nor defectors, but refugees. They claim a hostile species has attacked the Hegemony's fleet, bombarding Khar'shan and other batarian planets.
With the Harsa comm buoy system crippled, communication is sporadic at best between far-flung batarians and their government on Khar'shan. Some refugees claim the attackers were Council. Others blame the geth or even the rachni. All report that the enemy, in whatever form, is blockading the relay, destroying most spacecraft trying to make it through. The refugees are not solely civilians. Hegemony Commander, Eruz Mathat, who is under guard while his cruiser is inspected, was blunt in his assessment of the situation. "I never thought I would say this to the human navy," he said, "but we need you."
Cronos Station
Location unknown
March 5, 2186
The Illusive Man lit a cigarette as he read over the various reports coming in, both from public news sources and more covert channels his agents had infiltrated. He had known this day was coming for the past thirty years, ever since he was exposed to the Reaper Monolith on Shanxi, and he had been planning for it ever since. Cerberus had come a long way in the past year, thanks in large part to the data uncovered from his scientists' study of the preserved Collector Base. Now it was time to put his plans, and that technology, into action. He punched in a few numbers on his console and hailed the Normandy. After a few minutes his former first officer, Miranda Lawson, appeared as a hologram in his office.
"Miranda, you and your crew dropped out of contact with me after your attack on the Collectors and the incident at Arahtot. EDI may have disabled the Normandy's surveillance devices, but I have continued to monitor the situation through other means. However, your dereliction of duty is not why I'm calling. The Reapers have reached the Milky Way."
"What makes you so certain?" Miranda replied, "found more clues 'buried in the data?'"
"It's hardly a secret that they're here," The Illusive Man answered. "Some of the reports are showing up in public news outlets, not exactly classified intelligence. There's been no direct confirmation yet, but we both know it's them."
"We need to alert the Alliance." Miranda said.
"They're already aware of what's happening. They're just not ready to accept that it's the Reapers," the Illusive Man replied. "But you and I both know the Reapers are targeting humanity...and Harbinger seemed to show particular interest in Commander Shepard when you encountered him. I'm certain the Reapers will hit Earth soon, and it won't be long until they figure out that Shepard is there. The Commander is still our best hope, we can't lose him again. I need you to extract Shepard and get him and the Normandy off-world...by any means necessary."
"The Alliance is already investigating Shepard for working with Cerberus. Breaking him out of prison won't exactly ingratiate him, or Cerberus, to them," Miranda said. Secretly she also feared that if she broke him out, as much as she wanted to, the Alliance would try even harder to keep them apart.
"The political situation may not be ideal, I know Shepard turned himself in to the Alliance to try and improve it, but now that the Reapers are here the time for politics is over. Besides, the benefits of having Shepard alive and leading the war for humanity far outweigh the risk of leaving him where they Reapers can easily find him on Earth."
"Even if that's true, I'm a wanted fugitive. I can't exactly walk in to Alliance Command," Miranda said.
"With the Reapers on the march, I think their attention will be elsewhere soon. I'll send a battalion of Cerberus frigates to keep the Reapers occupied if necessary," the Illusive Man continued.
"Sovereign tore through the whole bloody Citadel fleet on its own," Miranda said, "how is one Cerberus battalion supposed to make a difference?"
"They're prototypes, Miranda," the Illusive Man replied. "Upgraded with Collector and Reaper technology and capable of holding their own, even against a Reaper, you'll see. Now, time is short. Go retrieve the Commander. Humanity needs him." The Illusive Man signed off and focused his attention elsewhere. There was much to do.
Alliance Earth Command
March 6, 2186
Shepard stood by the one window in his quarters, cell really, and looked out across the vast city and overcast sky overhead. After the Collector attack on the original Normandy everything had happened so fast there had not been time to take it all in. He'd been so busy trying to stop the Reapers' plans that he hadn't put much thought into how the galaxy would fight the Reapers themselves if they came in force. Not to mention the whole resurrection business. During the Collector mission he had pushed it to the back of his mind to focus on the task at hand, told himself he was just in a coma for a little while until he finally woke up. Now he was starting to question his humanity, who or what he was after being re-built by Cerberus. And Cerberus...where did they fit in this fight? Could they still be trusted? If so, would the other races trust him if he continued to ally with them? If no one else would do anything until it was too late, did it matter?
In the six months he'd spent stuck on Earth a lot of it had started to sink in, and he felt helpless. With the Collectors dealt with and the Alpha Relay destroyed there was nothing else he personally could do as far he was aware. Now it was just time to wait, and hope the galaxy heeded his warnings enough to prepare for what was coming. He didn't know it yet, but the wait was over.
"Commander." Lieutenant James Vega said as he entered the room and saluted.
"You're not supposed to call me that anymore James," Shepard replied.
"Not supposed to salute you either," James said. "C'mon, we gotta go. The defense committee wants to see you."
"The committee? What's this about?" Shepard asked, following James out of the room.
"Couldn't say." James replied, "they just said they needed you. Now."
Shepard saw Admiral Anderson approaching through a crowd of Alliance officials frantically checking their omni-tools and running off in different directions. "What's going on?" he asked the Admiral, "why is everyone in such a hurry?"
"Admiral Hackett's mobilizing the fleets," Anderson told him. "I'm guessing word's made it back to Alliance command. Something big is headed our way."
"The Reapers?" Shepard asked.
"We don't know yet, not for certain." Anderson said.
"What else could it be?" said Shepard.
"If I knew that..." started Anderson.
"It's the Reapers," said Shepard grimly, "and we're not ready for them. Not by a long shot."
"Tell that to the defense committee," said Anderson
"Unless we're planning to talk the Reapers to death the committee is a waste of time," replied Shepard, thinking back to one of his first conversations with Jacob Taylor about how Cerberus doesn't 'commission a team to write a report to figure out what to do. They take action.'
"They're just scared," Anderson told him. "None of them have seen what you've seen. We've all reviewed your reports and the data you collected but it's all just theory to us. You've been there, in the trenches fighting them. You faced down a Reaper. Hell, you spoke to one then blew the damn thing up. You've seen how they harvest us, what they plan to do to us. You know more about this enemy than anyone."
"Is that why the grounded me, took away my ship?" Shepard asked angrily.
"You know that's not true." Anderson replied firmly. "When you blew up the batarian relay hundreds of thousands of batarians died."
"It was either that or let the Reapers walk through our back door," Shepard said.
"I know that, Shepard," said Anderson. "And so does Admiral Hackett and some more of the higher-ups. But the Alliance needed to put the blame somewhere. The fleets still aren't back to full-strength from the battle with Sovereign; we can't afford to lose any more in a war with the Batarians. I'm sorry everything's fallen on you, but I hope you know I appreciate what you're doing."
Major Kaiden Alenko stepped out of the defense committee boardroom as they approached.
"How'd it go in there, Major?" Anderson asked.
"Hard to know," Kaiden responded. "I'm just waiting for orders now. Shepard?"
"Kaiden?" Shepard replied, as he turned around.
"You didn't know?" Anderson asked him
"No," said Shepard, "I'm a bit out of the loop these days."
"Sorry," said Kaiden. "I didn't mean to cut you out."
An officer opened the door and approached them. "Admiral," she said, "They're expecting you two."
"Good luck in there Shepard, "said James and he shook the Commander's hand.
Shepard and Anderson proceeded into the war room. Kaiden and James waited outside. "You knew the Commander?" James asked.
"I used to," said Kaiden. "I was with him when he hunted down Saren and stopped Sovereign. If anyone can stop the Reapers, it's him...but I watched him die when the Collectors destroyed the original Normandy. I still don't know if the Shepard here now is the same one I remember."
"What does the committee want with him now, Sir?" James asked "That you can tell me, that is. Col. Skinner seemed pretty pissed at him the other day, practically put him in solitary. But when they summoned him today it seemed pretty urgent...and they seemed nervous."
"Don't know. They were pretty tight-lipped-" Kaiden started, and then something through the window caught his eye. "Oh God.." he continued, "they're here."
The cloudy sky appeared to be raining Reapers. Their main guns fired what looked like red lightning in the distance. They leveled entire buildings as they poured through the clouds. Red meteors containing their ground forces crashed down and unleashed Husks and Cannibals on the city. Flaming debris from Alliance ships destroyed as they futilely engaged the Reapers fell from the sky. And a Reaper approached Alliance Earth Command and fired its beam directly at the room Shepard and Anderson had just entered.
