Hello all! Sorry this one took so long to get up, and I do apologise if this one feels a little rushed, I didn't take the chance to go through it a second time and make last minute corrections. But enough of the excuses, plot shall start to develop here, I promise. Anywho, that's all I need to say for now, don't forget to leave a nice review!
Mass Effect: Duty Calls
Chapter 3 - The Galaxies Final Warning
Vancouver. One of many Alliance Headquarters attacked during the first and only push in which the Reapers took Earth. Though not as bad as London, the proud Canadian city had taken a fair hit from the Reaper forces, most of the buildings and structures remained intact, however some had to be abandoned due to the risk of their imminent collapse. More than half of the population had managed to escape the doomed city, but those that been left behind either sought refuge in many of the hidden, underground shelters, or they joined the Alliance resistance movement. By some miracle of the gods, the resistant movement had managed to keep control over Vancouver as a whole, the reaper forces were relatively easy to deal with, but the large reapers themselves were a different story. That was why they limited their attacks to quick hit and runs and defending key outposts, it was all they could do, but it seemed to keep the large city under their control.
The space port was heavily damaged, to be expected, and was currently full to the brim with surviving ships of the amassed fleets. As the Normandy slowly flew in to dry dock, a large crowd of the many species that had fought for their freedom and human civilians had gathered nearby and watched as the majestic warship docked within the spaceport and erupted into a loud applause when the crew stepped off onto the docks. Why had they? If not for the Normandy and her crew, then the war would still be being fought and they would all be harvested by the Reapers. Ashley had been one of the first to step off the Normandy, when she heard the applause she felt a massive swell in her pride, and couldn't help but smile and wave up at everyone. "Is this what it feels like to be famous? I could get used to this." She thought to herself. But she didn't linger on her thoughts, there had been a reason she was the first off, she wanted to see Shepard.
She immediately continued along her way, pushing through the crowd to where she saw the SSV Orizaba dry docked, it was only a short distance between the two, but with everyone distracting her with congratulations, it made manoeuvring difficult. Eventually, she managed to spill out of the crowd and slowly approached the Orizaba's airlock where two Alliance soldiers stood guard, at the approach of Ashley they both stood to salute the recently promoted Commander.
Ashley returned their salute with one of her own "Commander Ashley Williams, requesting permission to come aboard the..." She began, but was cut off when the airlock opened, and in its wake, stood a middle aged woman wearing Alliance Blues.
"Permission granted, Commander Williams."
Ashley turned her attention to this woman, she had golden coloured hair with signs of greying, steely blue eyes that look incredibly familiar, this was John's mother, Hannah Shepard. "Ma'am. I was hoping to check up on the recovery of Commander Shepard."
"There is no need for such formalities." Hannah said, dropping her Alliance facade "Even though John isn't awake, I know he would have loved a visit from you."
Ashley relaxed and gave the Rear-Admiral a appreciative smile, she made to walk onboard with Hannah, but stopped when she heard a small ruckus behind her. It seems that many of the Normandy crew were fighting their way through the crowds to join Ashley in visiting their old friend.
"Out of our way, humans!" Came the unmistakeable bellowing of the vengeful ancient, Javik. A biotic blast caused many of them to disperse and opened a clear way for them, some screams of fear could be heard amongst the loud applause still going around.
"Javik, that was highly unnecessary." Liara said in a disapproving tone.
Ashley couldn't help but groan and hide her face, embarrassed that this had to happen in front of Shepard's own mother. "Oh god." She couldn't help but mutter to herself.
However it wasn't as bad as she had thought, Hannah Shepard was actually smiling quite amusedly. "So, this is the crew of the Normandy." She said as they all gathered in front of her. All the Alliance personnel stood to attention for their superior officer. "I cannot express how thankful I am that John had all of you to help him along the way." Hannah wasn't speaking to them as their superior officer any longer, but as a mother "If not for any of you, I would have lost my son long ago. I owe you all more than a simple debt, and I simply cannot thank you all enough for what you have done."
Everyone remained silent, everyone had a different look on their faces. James and Traynor still kept their faces still, but a hint of a smile was showing, Javik remained emotionless as usual, while Joker, Ashley, Liara, Garrus and Tali all had big smiles on their faces, they had all been with the John Shepard the longest.
"Now, I'm sure you would all like to pay him a visit, please follow me." Hannah said, turning around and walking back into the Orizaba. The Normandy crew did not hesitate and followed suit, the applause ceasing when they entered and the airlock sealed shut behind them. Hannah continued to lead them through the Alliance cruiser, many of the stationed officers couldn't help but stare at the legendary crew of the Normandy. Passing the stares, they eventually entered the medical wing. "He is down the end there, but don't all rush him at once. The medics don't like overcrowding."
"Of course." Ashley said, speaking for them all.
"I will leave all of you to it, I should resume my duties." Hannah said as she made to leave them alone "If you need anything however, please don't hesitate to ask." She exited the medical wing, leaving them all to do their own thing.
"Go on, Ash." Garrus said from behind them all. "It's fair if you go first."
A murmur of agreement followed Garrus' suggestion, and she couldn't help but smile at them. "Thanks guys, I really appreciate it." Slowly Ashley began to make her way forward, the furtherest rooms drawing ever nearer.
Suddenly she stopped moving, not moving an inch but staring at the frosted glass door that his her from a perfect view of her true love. All she wanted to do right now was burst in there and see him, kiss him, embrace him, but the fear of the unknown kept her rooted to the spot, just how extensive had the damage to his body been? Admiral Hackett never went into too much detail. All she wanted to do now was lift up her hand and open the door, but this silly fear kept it at her side.
Liara had separated from the rest and silently approached Ashley, she gently placed a hand on her shoulder. "Ash, what's wrong?"
"I... I can't go in there." Ashley said, barely managing to find her voice "I mean, I really want to, but I just can't." She could feel herself on the verge of tears, all that separated her from her love was a simple glass door, not light years anymore. It had been so much easier to cope with the longer distance, but know that she was within feet of him, it scared her.
"What are you talking about?" Liara asked, the whole concept being lost on her.
"I... I don't know what to expect." Ashley said, still choking back the tears that see beginning to show signs of falling.
Liara remained silent, she wasn't sure what she could say to help Ashley make that step across the threshold, so she decided action would be the better action. She reached up to the doors holographic interface and activated the door. Ashley looked at her in disbelief, wondering why she had done that, but as the door hissed opened she got a clearer view of John. It immediately reminded her of the description he had given her when he had gone to visit her in Huerta, he lay upon the bed, heavily bruised on his faced and on parts of his exposed chest. She stepped into the room, her fear disappearing when she glanced upon him, she ignored the beeping of the medical equipment around them and moved to his side.
She gently reached out to cup his face, noticing how calm he looked, almost as if he were taking a peaceful nap. As soon as her hand made contact with his skin, she felt a massive wave of emotion flood through her, he was the real thing, she couldn't help as tears flooded her eyes and she began to cry, though they weren't tears of sorrow, but happiness. She heard the door behind her shut, Liara had left her alone and had gone to rejoin the others, she was extremely grateful to the others for allowing her to be alone with him, even though he was not awake. "I can't believe you survived." She breathed, unable to keep her voice straight. "I thought I'd lost you, again." She drew up a seat and sat at Shepard's side, her hand leaving his face and intertwining her hand in his. Even if he didn't squeeze back, their warmth gave her nothing but comfort.
She continued to stare at his face, looking upon the heavy scars that were there, each one wanted to tell a story, but they would have to wait, for now, all Ashley wanted to do was bask in his presence, it was an immense comfort. A smile slowly crept to her face, consisting of both utter happiness and embarrassment, she had let the past two days get to her, always convincing herself that he wasn't coming back, that she had lost him again. But even in a coma, he always found a way to rope her back in she both loved and hated him for it. "Guess what." She said, even though he probably couldn't hear her, it was still a comfort to speak to him "You did it, the Reapers and their forces have been destroyed. You can rest easy now."
"Come back to me Shepard." She said, again knowing he wouldn't hear her "I need you, I love you so damned much. This is an order from your equal, Commander Williams." She couldn't help but chuckle, Ashley couldn't believe she had just said that, thank goodness he didn't have to hear that.
Before she could say anything else, she heard a large commotion coming from the Orziba's CIC, alarms and the sound of many running to their stations. Against all the will she possessed, she let Shepard's hand to and left him inside his room to go see what was going on, it wasn't only her that decided to find out what was going on, the gathered Normandy crew had all gone to the CIC as well. She came out into the CIC to see and hear a mass of panic and the bellowing of orders. "All personnel to their stations! I want this cruiser airborne in sixty seconds people!"
Ashley recognised the tone immediately, it reminded her of John back in the medical wing. She approached Hannah Shepard cautiously "Ma'am, what is going on?"
"We received warnings from the Kilimanjaro, they detected energy signatures that matched that of the reapers." Hannah Shepard said quickly. "And they are headed this way, they have already disabled the remnants of the fifth fleet, who had gone on an intercept course."
"The... But how? We thought they had all been destroyed!" Ashley said in complete disbelief.
"I don't know, Commander, but you and your crew had best return to the Normandy." Shepard said.
"They can go, I'm staying." Ashley said immediately, without a second thought.
Shepard now looked up at her. "Williams. They need a CO on that deck, we cannot lose the Normandy!"
"I can command them from here, they are more than capable without me!" Ashley said, every word she said right now went against everything she believed in, disobeying a superior officer. "Please, I can't leave him, I don't want to leave him. I only just got him back." She pleaded desperately.
Hannah Shepard looked at Ashley, not sure whether she should feel scandalised that her orders were being directly disobeyed, or pride that this woman loved her own son that much she would refuse to leave his side. In the end, her motherly side won her over "Very well Commander, but I want that frigate flying in close quarters."
Ashley sprang to salute "Yes ma'am." She turned and looked to the Normandy crew who were all still together and out of the Orizaba's crews way. "Get back to the Normandy, all of you." She ordered "I need it airborne immediately and providing cover for the Orizaba."
"What's going..."
"Now!"
The Normandy crew sprang to action and ran to the main airlock and left the Orizaba. In no time the Normandy was ready for flight and both ships were ready to leave dry dock and evacuate. However, just as Hannah Shepard gave the order to disengage the magnetic locks holding their ships in place, a large pulse seemingly echoed from nowhere and struck the dry docks, immediately disabling every ship that was docked within.
"Damage report!" Hannah barked at the nearest subordinate.
"All systems have shut down and are unresponsive." They replied "We're dead in the water."
Ashley made to contact the Normandy, but Joker had already beaten her to the punch. "Normandy to Williams, do you copy?" Came his voice over Ashley's personal comm.
"I read you Joker, damage report." Ashley spoke into the comms.
"All systems down. Garrus, Tali and James just ran to do a hard reset on the whole system." Joker said again.
"I have a visual!" Yelled out one if the Orizaba's crew who had been starring out the hull window. With the low cloud now out, it made it difficult to see much of anything, but large silhouettes could be made out as they drew closer to dry dock. Eventually, whatever they were had touched down very close to dry dock, they appeared to be Reapers, though they didn't seem like any reaper Ashley had seen, it looked more like an extremely large squid.
"Weapons check, are our main cannons online!" Shepard barked out once more.
"Affirmative ma'am. But they are locked in the forward position, we can't turn them to fire." An officer called back.
"Dammit!" Shepard cursed loudly.
Ashley hadn't been paying much attention, she had been staring out the hull window with many other officers in the CIC, something felt strangely familiar about it, being in its presence reminded her of the time she, Shepard, EDI and Cortez were stranded on 2181 Desponia after their shuttle was swatted out of the air by a similar pulse that had rendered the Orizaba and Normandy helpless. Even while on the floating wreckage, she felt the constant feeling of cold and darkness, just like she was now. "Could it be... the Leviathan?"
-S-
"Shepard..."
A vaguely familiar and very unpleasant feeling crept up within Shepards unconscious mind. He felt cold and nothing but darkness all around him, dark and rippling water surrounded him and went on as far as the eye could see, he knew what this was. "Leviathan." He said in a cold tone, he wasn't sure why they had sought him out, but he had a feeling it didn't bring good news.
A fake Ann Bryson appeared before Shepard, her mouth moved but it was not her voice. "The Cycle has been broken, the Reapers all across the Galacy are no more."
Shepard couldn't help but smile at this news, he had achieved exactly what he had set out to do all those years ago. But something bugged him, the way in which Leviathan said the Reapers had been destroyed "What do you mean, across the Galaxy."
"The intelligence that created the Reapers, it has contingencies in place should a civilisation rise and defeat the Reapers." The Leviathan Bryson said "It would have not sent its full force from Dark Space."
"How do you know this?" Shepard asked sharply, feeling his heart begin to race light years in a minute. "The Catalyst said all Reapers would be destroyed."
"We know it, because it is what we would do. We built the intelligence, we know how it thinks." Bryson-Leviathan said. "It knows chaos will resume over time, and it will prepare for it." Shepard went silent, he thought back to the words of the Catalyst.
"Soon, your children will create synthetics, and then the chaos will come back."
Shepard felt a massive surge of anger, at both the Catalyst and himself, the Catalyst had lied to him, but it could have easily been avoided if he had chosen a different option. He didn't deny, Controlling the Reapers was a preferred decision, but he didn't want to turn into the Illusive Man and exceed his limit of power, he would have had so much, and Shepard couldn't even trust himself with it. Maybe the Synthesis option would have been a better choice, everyone would still be alive and have freedom, but the Reapers would still be around, but would they have ceased their harvest when they realised that they were all the same being?
"You can easily avoid all this, and succeed where we failed." Bryson-Leviathan said "Keep the Galaxy in peace, and the remaining Reapers will never return. They will remain in Dark Space."
"How?" Shepard asked "You're asking the impossible, conflict and war will always arise, it is just the nature of all Aliens, but it is up to us to bring peace out of it, not sentient machines!"
"This is the final warning we leave to you." Bryson Leviathan said "Should the Reapers ever return, we will not join the conflict again."
Shepard was contemplating too much to listen to the Leviathan any longer, the peace Shepard fought so hard to achieve throughout the war was now just a kick in the balls. Nothing, not even the most advanced machines had the right to play God with the galaxy, every species deserved to live and fend for themselves.
"Do not give the remaining Reapers the chance to come and finish their harvest." Bryson-Leviathan said "The Galaxy will look to you for leadership, and what will you tell them then?"
"The truth." Shepard said without a second thought. "They now know exactly what the Reapers are capable of, there is no way they will ignore me any longer."
Bryson-Leviathan said nothing, almost as if contemplating Shepard's words. "And if they do not believe you?"
"Then they can go to hell. I've seen too many die in this pointless war, if they do not accept that peace is the way forward, then... I'll convince them myself." Shepard said grimly, he hoped it would have to come to anything like that, but he knew how stubborn the Council could be, if they had somehow survived.
"You had better be correct, no other cycle has ever had a second chance at redemption." Bryson-Leviathan said. "Do not waste it."
-S-
"The what?" Hannah Shepard asked Ashely having overheard her muttering.
"I think that is the Leviathan." Ashley said in disbelief that they had come to Earth. "They are the very first race the Reapers harvested."
Hannah looked out the window at the Leviathan, a look of disbelief on her face "But... But how? Why are they here?"
"I don't know, but they seemed adamant to get here for some... reason." Ashley said, slowing her speech as she slipped into thought, they could have gone anywhere in the galaxy but chose to come here after the Reapers had been destroyed. Then it hit her "John!" She said suddenly.
Without a second thought, Ashley broke into a run, knocking several of the crew down as she went, their curses followed her but she didn't care, the Leviathan were here for John, there wouldn't be any other reason for it. She tore back through the medical wing reaching John's door, she punched the holographic interface a little harder than she meant to and the door slid open. It was just as she feared, he no longer had the look of peace on his face, but rather one of anguish, as if he were suffering a horrible nightmare and couldn't wake up, not to mention his nose happened to be bleeding profusely. Ashley grabbed a nearby towel and held it up to his bleeding nose to stop the blood from pouring. "Wake up, John. Please, wake up!"
-S-
"Please, wake up!"
That voice echoed all around them, Shepard recognised it immediately "Ash " he called out in a vain attempt, there was no way she could hear him, but he did it anyway.
"What will you do now, Shepard?" Bryson-Leviathan said, completely ignoring the pleads of Ashley. "Will you bring peace to the Galaxy? Or will you let it slip and invite the Reapers once more for their harvest."
Shepard couldn't help but growl lightly, yes he would prefer the peaceful option, but he knew something like this wouldn't last, somehow and in some way, the peace would be broken again and the galaxy would be doomed to the harvest. "I'll... I'll try." Shepard said lightly.
"See that you do, the intelligence did not reward this second chance lightly, you understand this." Bryson-Leviathan said "The Galaxy will remain as your know it, so long as peace prevails."
-S-
Hannah Shepard had joined Ashley in John's wing. "Just what is going on?" She asked as she spotted the bloody towel in Ashley's hands.
"This is exactly as John explained it." Ashley said in a wavering voice. "The Leviathan is in John's head right now, and I don't know what it is doing."
"Indoctrination?" Hannah asked, grabbing a fresh towel and handing it over to Ashley.
"I don't know, but we need to wake him up." Ashley said, beginning to feel a wave of hysterics coming on. "John! Please, wake up!"
-S-
Shepard heard Ashley's voice once again, she sounded scared. "What is going on?" Shepard asked the Bryson-Leviatahn, but its appearance had changed to the fake Garneau.
"The human female, she tries to wake you." Garneau-Leviathan said.
"Why?" Shepard asked, unaware what was happening outside his unconscious mind.
"She believe we are here for you, she is partly correct." Garneau-Leviathan said "We did come here for you, but only to deliver the warning, nothing else. Now that it is done, we leave you. Do not try to find us again, otherwise you will know the true meaning of darkness."
"Wait, I have to ask." Shepard said, a thought coming to his head. "Where is the intelligence? If you could tell me where it is, I could go and shut it off, so then the Realer threat will never happen again."
"It is a pointless task." Garneau-Leviathan said "For millions of years, we searched for it, tried to destroy it, but it is data, with no point of origin. To try and destroy it would be a fools errand."
Shepard went silent, if they Catalyst could not be destroyed, then it only left the Galaxy with one option, and he would have to be the one to enforce it. "Alright, I get it. I had to ask."
"Remember, Shepard. Keep the peace of all your species, or the Reapers will return." Garneau-Leviathan said "And we will not help you should they."
-S-
In one instant, the connection was severed, the feeling of darkness had lifted. The conversation with the Leviathan within Shepard had unlocked his unconscious mind, allowing him to become aware of his surroundings and wake from his coma. Even though John was now out of his coma, his whole body felt numb and weak, he tried opening his eyes, but even they felt like they weighed a ton.
"Please John, wake up!" Ashley begged. "Listen to my voice, wake up!"
"I'm here Ash." He said weakly, slowly he opened his eyes, the bright light of the outside world slamming into his pupils, but the silhouette of Ashley becoming clearer and clearer until her full beauty came into picture. Gently, he smiled and tried to reach up to her with what he felt was his good arm.
Ashley was utterly speechless, hearing him call her by name sent pleasant ripples throughout her body, he had heard her calling to him. "John... I... I can't believe it!" She reached over and took his hand in her own, the same tears of joy now beginning to fall as they had done before. "I was so worried about you." She said quietly.
"Me too." John said weakly, his intoxicating smile still present.
Ashley couldn't help but smile back also, she hadn't lost him at all, no matter what he would always return to her, she loved him so much and she knew he felt the same way. She left his hand and moved up and placed a kiss on his lips, it was only a short one (She didn't want to give John's mother a wrong impression.) but it lingered. "I love you, John." She whispered with her face so close to his.
"I love you too, Ashley." John replied in the same whisper.
Ashley felt her smile deepen at hearing his confirmation, she always knew he would reply in the same way, but hearing it was the icing in the cake. "I have something I need to go and do, I won't long be long. I have to go and check on the Normandy." She didn't really have to, but she wanted to go back and inform the others that John was now awake.
"Is everyone alright?" John asked as quick as his voice would allow, he wanted to hear so desperately that everyone was safe.
"Everyone is fine." Ashley said, however her smile faded slightly when she realised what she had said. "Except for EDI. She went offline and hasn't come back online yet."
John went quiet, the guilt beginning to swell up within his heavily bruised chest. He knew full well what would happen using the crucible, but he did it anyway, he felt like he had shamed those lost to its influence. "She won't." He said quietly.
Ashley had made to leave the room when she heard John. "What do you mean?"
"I'll explain later." John said, not wanting to get bogged down in details just yet, if he was going to tell anyone what had happened first, it was going to be Joker.
Ashley made to question him about it, but seeing the pained look on his face changed her mind, if whatever it was was eating him up this much, she didn't want to force it out of him, especially after he just woke up. "Alright." She cast Hannah Shepard a quick look "I'll be back soon."
"I'll try not to go anywhere." John replied with a smile.
Ashley couldn't help but roll her eyes and smile, it was good to see John's dry sense of humour remained. Paying him one last look, she exited the room.
"So, that was the Ashley Williams you spoke about in your messages?"
John looked over to who had just spoken, not realising that they were here. He felt his eyes widen when they laid upon Hannah Shepard, his own mother. "Mum?"
Hannah smiled and and approached John's bedside. "Hello son." John felt an immense relief flood through him, deep down inside him, he had been worrying about his mother and if she would survive the Reaper war, and to see her standing at his bedside was the best sight a son could ask for. "It has been a while since we spoke face to face, hasn't it?"
"Five years." John said, a pang of guilt in his voice.
"Try not to let visits go so long next time." Hannah said with a smile "Call's over the comms are one thing, but a meeting in the flesh is by far better."
"Sorry."John quickly apologised "I got so caught up in my duties with the Alliance..." He began.
"No need to explain, you father was the same way." Hannah said, stopping John in his tracks. "You two are both the same, down to the smallest detail. If only he could see you today, he would have been so proud of what you have achieved. Hell, when you get the Star of Terra for your service on Elysium, you were all he could brag about to his Alliance buddies."
John couldn't help but smile, he never really knew his father personally as he was always away on duty, but they both cared for each other immensely. His father had been killed during the assault on Torfan, a small moon that held many pirate strongholds that mostly consisted of Batarian's. John's father was among the first to begin the assault on the pirates stronghold, however he and his squad were killed during the initial assault, the Alliance's intelligence had been off, rather than come up against a band of pirates, they fought against a legion of mercenaries. From what the Alliance had told John and his mother, they fought bravely against all odds and managed to strike a crippling blow for the mercs.
"Something tells me he was watching over you while you performed the impossible." Hannah said with her motherly smile, her eyes were a little watery but she was a strong woman and held back the tears.
"I think you're right." John said as he looked up to the ceiling and thought back to all he had accomplished over the last three years. Chasing Saren all across the Terminus systems and defeating him in the presidium, taking the fight to the Collectors through the Omega 4 relay and surviving the incredibly stacked odds with all his crew and squad. John just felt like some higher power was watching over him and giving him that lasting edge, and he knew it would be his own father. "He was watching over us."
"It would be nice if he were here with us now, I miss him dearly." Hannah said, her smile had faded slightly and had been taken over with a little sorrow.
"Me too." John agreed "But you know how the stubborn bastard is, he wouldn't want us mourning him, just celebrating his decorated career."
Hannah couldn't help but chuckle, she fully agreed with John's words. "Yes, I remember his promotion to Rear-Admiral clearly. He was over the moon, but his stubbornness got him into trouble at times, you know how he is, he would rather be on the battlefield with his own men rather than commanding some Alliance warship."
"I completely understand why, standing up in that CIC while a battle goes on below is a little unnerving." John said "It just makes you think is all, you could be doing so much more down there than away from the battlefield."
Hannah couldn't help but smile "You've grown up, my son. You have come along way from making trouble along the corridors of the stations your father and I served on."
John couldn't help but chuckle as he thought back to his years as a Spacer kid, he remembered this one time when he was on Arcturus Station he accidentally triggered the fire system and most of the station was sprayed with foam. "Yeah, I was a pretty bad kid."
"Of course. Anyway son, I think I will get out of your hair for now, you have a long road of recovery ahead of you." Hannah said, making her way to the door. "Mother's orders, or if that doesn't work for you, I can always pull rank on you."
"Of course you would." John said, managing another smile. Hannah returned his smile with her own and exited the room, leaving John alone with his thoughts. He turned his head and looked out the hull window of the Orizaba, he had a nice view of Vancouver, though much of it was destroyed, it didn't bother John in the slightest, they could rebuild. Now that he was alone with his thoughts, he thought what would be the best way to break the news to everyone that all the Reapers hadn't been destroyed, that some remained in Dark Space, waiting to move in at the hint of trouble.
He couldn't help but sigh loudly, why was anything never easy? Fate seemed to like throwing impossible situations at John and watch him solve them like they were nothing, but many of them weren't a walk in the park. He had to let people die just to give him more time to save the ones that remained, and there was no way in hell he would ever let anything like that happen again. He only hoped the Normandy and her crew would be up for one more tour of the galaxy.