As I entered the Kodiak, I turned to bade farewell to Bray.
"Take care of yourself Bray."
"I'll be fine, besides if you killed a fleet of Reapers, you can deal with Cerberus. Who knows maybe this time I will not have to save your ass," after chuckling to himself for a few seconds, Bray then in a less joking tone added, "Keep yourself alive Shepard, the galaxy still needs you."
…
Reaching London, I was escorted by several Alliance soldiers to a nearby bunker. Taking an elevator further into the bunker, I entered the command center. Looking around the room, I was glad as I saw my mother walking towards me.
"John!" after giving me a quick hug she quickly turned all serious, "Good job, a good amount of the ship survived and crash landed in the Sierra desert. The turian blackwatch went to scout and recover any useful data from the wreckage."
"I remember them, does Captain Aetnis still lead the watch?"
"Last I checked he was alive and well…Shepard I would hate to ask this of you but are you physically ready for combat? Seeing you in combat would not only do wonders for moral but your skills will be needed."
"Of course, and I was hoping you would say that."
"Good, you will be working with Captain Aentis. I was hoping to have him here to greet you, but we lost contact with him around thirty minutes ago, probably due to a sandstorm but without any satellites it can not be confirmed. Just in case, two shuttles will be sent to extract them at the previously designated pick up time with battle ready alliance soldiers. I want you on those shuttles."
...
As the shuttle sped towards the Sierra, my fellow alliance comrades introduced themselves to me. There was Sergeant Ivar, Corporal York, and Privates Beckham and Maddison. Ivar was a good leader, also one of the few survivors from the initial assault on Earth, and York was a good sniper. I never talked to the Privates, as they did not say a word the entire flight. Not unusual these days for someone to silent. As the shuttle came closer to the wreckage, the sandstorm theory was confirmed. When we reached the LZ, I was the first one out.
"I can't make out anyone. Stay-" before I could finish my sentence a rocket, which came from seemingly nowhere, hit the shuttle, followed by another two. The shuttle spun out control, smashing into the second one. Taking cover behind a rock, I watched as the shuttles crashed, followed by a fiery explosion. It was impossible for anyone to have survived. The sandstorm had given the enemy the perfect setting for an ambush and they had taken advantage of it.
Peering through my Lancer's scope, I could barely make out the white armor of Cerberus soldiers, supported by several Atlases. Obviously there were many more survivors of the crash than anticipated. More than enough to kill me if I was spotted. Carefully I made my way around the soldiers as they moved to where the shuttles crashed. After reaching the main wreckage of the cruiser, I soon became lost in the ruined corridors of the downed ship. Still, I moved on in hopes of finding the turian team.
After searching, or more wandering, for some time I found a door with several fresh Cerberus corpses around. Hoping to find the turians and maybe a site of important data, I pried open the door and was greeted not only with the sight of what was left of the ships' command center but also several Vindicator rifles aimed at me.
"Shepard!" exclaimed Captain Aentis as he signaled his men to lower their weapons, "How the hell did you get here?"
"I was part of the group sent to extract you. Unfortunately no one else made it, a Cerberus ambush made sure of that. Luckily I was able to sneak off without getting caught."
"Shame. By the time we discovered Cerberus forces the sandstorm had blocked our communications. My sympathies Shepard."
"The best way we can honor their sacrifices is by gathering whatever intel we can from this ship," taking a look at the corpses around the room I continued, "I take it something important is here for there to be so many guards."
"My tech guy just finished downloading their databanks, no time to look at them until we return to base. In fact we were just about to leave. Care to join us?"
"Lead the way."
"Good, earlier we located the main Cerberus camp. My thoughts are; steal a shuttle and leave this shit pile behind."
Silently we traveled through the ship. Soon we encountered sentries as we approached their base camp. Attaching a silencer to my lancer I then fired at one of the two sentries. The shots burned through his armor and killed him before he even knew what hit him. The Captain swiftly took out the other sentry before he could call for reinforcements. Moving down the hallway we stopped at the entrance to the hanger bay. Looking at the hanger, the was a surplus of cover as containers from all over the ship had been moved here but there were also more than a few guards. On the far side of the bay were several shuttles.
"Captain, I'll distract Cerberus while you get a shuttle ready for launch. I'll keep them off you."
"Sounds good Shepard. Arlius and Rutia support Shepard, I will not allow the first human spectre to die on my mission. I'll never live it down. Everyone else, you are with me."
I scanned the area for some weakness to exploit, and soon spotted one. In the middle of the hanger was a dormant Atlas, with several Cerberus soldiers around it. Taking out my grenade launcher I unleashed a volley of grenades at the Atlas. The Atlas, incapable of withstanding the firepower, rocked the surrounding area as it violently exploded. The shrapnel tore through the surrounding Cerberus troops and several were knocked to the ground by the shock of the explosion. Not wasting the temporary advantage; Captain Aentis's group made for the shuttles, and my group took position. Arlius took cover by some crates near the middle, covering the area with his shotgun, while Rutia took cover on the right flank with her assault rifle. I took position on the left flank.
At first, the Cerberus forces were slaughtered. Caught off guard by the sudden attack and caught in the cross hairs of multiple lines of fire, they barely had time to shoot before they fell in puddles of their own blood on the floor. But soon we were running out of ammo and time as the surprise wore off. Well my Lancer did not require ammo, but the turians did. After taking out a combat engineer trying to set up a turret, my attention switched to one of the doors on the far side of the hanger bay. Another Atlas. Barely having enough time to shout out a warning, a missile from the Atlas impacted the crates I was hiding behind. I was shielded from the blast but my cover was destroyed and I was thrown to the floor as a result. I quickly got back on my feet, scrambling towards the nearest cover only to realize I did not have to.
The Captain finally had two shuttles up, and before the Atlas could fire at them it was hit by the guns of both. Needless to say, afterwards the Atlas was unable to return fire. One shuttle landed to pick my group up, the other staying in the air to cover us. Several large explosions rocked the hanger as soon as both shuttles had left.
"Shepard, I figured a few pretty explosions would cheer you up. So I planted a few extra bombs on the other shuttles," the turian Captain could not help grinning as he asked, "Was I right?"
"Aentis," I said with a chuckle despite of everything, "I can not remember a time you were wrong."