Author's note: It seems I made a small chronological mistake at the start of the prologue as september 21st 2185 can't be the date of the Reaper defeat, since ME3 takes place in 2186;)
Chapter 1
Location: Systems Alliance flagship
Date: December 21st 2186 first day of a new era
Mission: Regroup
Priority: Top
The communications room of Admiral Hackett's dreadnought was a buzz of activity. Deck officers and engineers were running around making adjustments to the systems, trying to handle the avalanche of data and chatter from Earth and the fleet and keeping track of the frequent reports on the rescue operation. In the middle of this chaos Admiral himself stood like a pillar of calm resonating his usual stoic presence.
"We need to deal with the communication failure ASAP, Admiral!" the image of Turian primarch on one of the screens in front of Hackett was distorted and half of his speech unintelligible due to static.
With the massive failure of communication systems and most of the mass effect based tech after the shockwave of Citadel's explosion the allied forces were forced to switch to the emergency communication sources that were not designed for and were now under massive strain under the sheer amount of data transmitted trough them.
"Measures are being taken primarch Valerius, but you must understand that our top priority right now is the rescue operation. With the casualties we took and the blackout it may take some time to asses the situation."
The primarch looked as if he was about to say something but the just nodded.
The Asari councilor, as far as Hackett knew the only surviving member of the council was not content with his answer though.
"You do realize that you're making a huge assumption here do you admiral? We have no idea what happened! For all we know, we just lost the citadel, the crucible and our fleet is decimated! What if that explosion was a reaper diversion to lead us in a false sense of security when we are at our weakest so they have time to move reinforcements here for a killing blow?"
"Well considering the mass relay is now a cloud of space dust it will take even them a while.. - the primarch chimed in. And not to disagree, but they Were winning and such a diversion looks like a waste of time and resources. The reapers appear to be dead now, so are their ground forces."
"And communication from the Geth fleet indicates that their network nearly overloaded when the shockwave caught their ships in it and they still can't reestablish connection to the Geth outside solar system." Hackett added.
"Do we have a status on Shepard, Anderson or the Normandy?" the Asari councilor asked.
Hackett fell silent for a moment " No, we lost contact with Shepard and Anderson when The Harbinger landed on top of their position in London. Normandy was last contacted when it tried to reach the Citadel moments before the blast... After that it's all dark."
"We'll have to assume the worst then" the primarch said after a pause.
"Yes, sadly we do. But right now we must make sure that their sacrifice was not in vain, and to do that we must concentrate our efforts on rescue and recovery missions and after that coordinate on bringing the communications online."
"Admiral... Sir there is an urgent message coming to your personal frequency from the search team Lazarus" the bridge comm officer's voice suddenly appeared in his earpiece.
The only outside sign of emotion that Hackett showed on what he knew might either be the best or the worst news in a while was a short blink. "Patch them trough lieutenant."
"Disengaging the magnetic locks, hang in there it's gonna take some maneuvering to get us out of here!" lieutenant Frisk said over his shoulder to the four people who hastily worked on organizing an ad hoc sick bed in the shuttle compartment. The marine corporal with a medic corps insignia on his armor unlocked the container with medi-gel and chirurgic tools.
"Just don't take too long LT. We're looking at every second making a difference here!" Major Coates yelled while strapping a security belt over the body of a man on the bed.
"Life signs are faint and growing weaker! Get us out of here!" Miranda yelled.
"On it ma'am."
The shuttle maneuvered trough the cramped space and dodged the jutting sections of the structure in it's way. With a hiss the atmosphere started to vent from the hole the marines left in the wall along with smaller debris. Right after leaving the inside of the Citadel fragment the shuttle accelerated, the pilot doing his best to dodge the rubble in it's way.
"Pulse fading, breathing weak, he lost a lot of blood ma'am it's a wonder he's even alive."
"He's been trough worse corporal, we need to stabilize him long enough to get him to a proper med bay!"
Major Coates turned to the cockpit "Leutenant, ETA to admiral Hackett's ship?"
"20 minutes sir, there's a lot of shit on the way, and the engines are acting up."
"Make that 10 LT. You're not driving a school bus!"
"Roger that, but better hold on to something."
"Apply medi-gel here! And here, that laceration looks bad, get rid of that piece of armor!And some one get a message trough to Hackett!" Miranda was working her PDA on a speed almost too fast to be humanly possible. The medic was following her instructions as fas as he could, constantly wiping sweat from his brow and swearing under his breath.
"What the hell!" the pilot suddenly exclaimed.
"What's wrong?" Major Coates moved to the cockpit.
"There was a blip on the scanner and I think I just caught a visual of another shuttle craft near that hole we just left trough, but now it's gone." Frisk craned his neck as if it would allow him a better view.
"Probably some large fragment,keep focused."
"No Major, I am positive it was a shuttle signal but not an authorized signature."
A moment later The scanner blinked again and this time Coates saw it himself.
"The hell... We're supposed to be alone in this sector, contact the admiral's ship and mention this along with the good news."
"Aye-aye! This is search team Lazarus reporting to Admiral Hackett, I repeat this is search team Lazarus reporting to admiral Hackett..."
Hackett' took his hand away from his earpiece. He felt his hands shaking something he never felt before as he took a breath before saying what he was about to say.
"Ladies and gentlemen... Commander Shepard has been recovered. Alive"
The comm room fell silent for a moment even the equipment seemingly growing quiet.
What happened next was the loudest and the most genuine cry of collective joy the Admiral has ever heard in his whole life.
To be continued...
