Operation Atlantis
Chapter IV : Apollo
Shepard awoke in the med bay to the sound of many hushed voices. As his eyes adjusted to the bright light, shadowy figures surrounded him, one with a diagnostics pad.
"Make room, the Commander will be slightly disorientated." Said a stern familiar voice, it was Chakwas.
"Ugh… what… happened?" Shepard spoke as he sat up, holding his head in reaction to the throbbing. He glanced around the room, his crew were all here.
"You were attacked… by Liara." Kaidan spoke.
"I remember…" Shepard spoke as the memories flooded back to him. Seeing Liara, it had broken his heart, but above all it had enraged him.
"You can all leave now, the Commander has a lot of work to do." Miranda ordered, as if she had never left.
"Woah, you're not second in command anymore cheerleader!" Jack protested.
"Of course… it's a difficult habit to break." Miranda replied, sitting down on the opposite bed.
"But she's right," Kaidan spoke up, "The Commander has a lot to figure out. If he needs us, he'll call."
"I'll give you some space too Commander," Chakwas spoke up, "Your vitals are fine as are Vegas and Cortezs."
With that Chakwas, Kaidan, Garrus, Tali, Traynor and Javik left. Javik stopped when he reached the door and turned around.
"I'm sorry Commander. The Reapers are a formidable enemy; even your love is not safe. Your asari, Liara, is… what humans would call… a bitch." Shepard nodded as Javik turned and left the med bay. Jack leant next to Miranda and EDI stood beside them, waiting for Shepard to talk. When he didn't she went to speak, but he began talking.
"Do we know what she's taken?" Shepard said, bowing his head as he holds in the pain.
"Mostly the equipment from her office, couple weapons and a Kodiak." Miranda said, placing an inventory list next to him. Shepard glanced at the other two beds and noticed Vega was still sleeping, but Cortez was awake looking at him.
"Commander, it's a long shot, but the Kodiaks have a tracker in them. With some luck Liara may have not disabled them." Cortez spoke softly.
"That's a rookie error, she's too smart to make that mistake." Miranda spoke, as Jack nodded.
"It turns out she has left the tracker online," EDI reported, "I ran a check while you conversed about it."
"It's gotta be a trap." Jack deduced.
"Of course it is." Shepard replied, standing up.
"Shepard?" Miranda questioned.
"We don't know why she left without killing me, my only guess is she reported to the Reapers and they don't want me dead yet. The tracker can only mean one thing… the Kodiak is at the place where the Reapers want me to die."
"That seems illogical Commander, the Reapers are AI they do not 'want' things, they just do what there processes tell them to do." EDI spoke.
"That's true, where is the tracker EDI?" Shepard asked.
"The tracker indicates the Kodiak is in the Amada system in the Omega Nebula." EDI reported.
"Oh so the Reaper's do have a sense of humor after all… that's the system in which the Normandy SR1 was attacked. I bet they're on the planet Alchera." Shepard recalled.
"Makes sense really, take you to the site of the Reapers first victory against you." Miranda deduced.
"They'll want you to feel at your weakest, and then they'll kill you." Cortez spoke.
Shepard, Miranda and Jack all stared at Cortez, stunned by his brutal honestly. Cortez stared back at the group, while EDI just looked around confused.
"Am I missing something?" EDI asked.
"No, EDI," Cortez replied as he looked back at Shepard, "Sorry to sound so morbid but it's a sound strategy."
"Yeah..." Shepard replied, "Right guys, let's suit up and get to that system.
