Chapter 8

Shepard had never been as grateful for anything in his life as he was for the large cup of coffee Trainer handed him as he entered the Normandy's war room. It was exactly what he needed at that moment and he didn't care if it burnt his mouth, he took a giant sip from the cup. He let the warmth and the caffeine wash over him and he felt his mind finally come into focus. He didn't feel completely awake at that moment, but it was close enough for him to do what he had to do.

Shepard looked around the room and saw that everyone was there, Tali had arrived a few minutes before him and the rest of his old team was gathering around the large round three dimensional holographic display table. As Shepard glanced around the room he smiled to himself, the people in that room may not have been his team or crew any more but they were something better, his friends. It was strange the turns life could take but Shepard didn't have time to dwell on that thought at that moment, there was business to take care of. Shepard then took his place at the front of the table and started to call everyone to order.

"Well I guess you are wondering why I asked you to come here." But that was as far as he got before the door to the room hissed open and a bomb went off. A bomb in the form of a very angry human woman.

"YOU MONSTERS ,I KNOW YOU DID IT!" The gray haired human woman yelled her face was the brightest red that could be imagined and she was pointing at Urdnat Wrex and Grunt. The two Krogan were standing beside each other but they didn't dare interrupt Chalkwas outburst.

"SEE IF I EVER PATCH YOU UP AGAIN, WHAT KIND OF MONSTERS WOULD DO SUCH A THING?!" She demanded as she closed the distance and to everyone's surprise the two Krogan started to back up. It was at about that point that Shepard got over his initial shock and decided to find out just what was going on. He stepped in between the doctor and the Krogan but that didn't seem to calm her down one bit.

"What are you saying they did?" Shepard asked puzzled.

"Those two things completely destroyed my med lab!" Chalkwas yelled calming down only a little.

"What?!" Shepard said shocked. He then turned to the Krogan. "Wrex is this true?" He demanded.

"Sort of." Wrex tried to explain sheepishly. "It's not as bad as she is making it sound."

"Not as bad?!" Chalkwas yelled out in shock and she lounged at the Krogan only to have Shepard stop her. "They dashed the window to atoms, they demolished every shelf, and they completely destroyed the biobeds. IT IS THAT BAD!"

To say that Shepard was shocked would be an understatement, still he had solved his share of crew squabbles in the past so he kept his cool. He turned to Wrex and Grunt for answers. "Why would you do something like that?" He asked.

It was Grunt who spoke up this time. "It's not like we did it on purpose. The medbay just got in the way of our talk that we had early this morning."

"How could my medbay get in the way of anything, it's a room on this ship that is always in the same place?!" Chalkwas demanded.

Wrex answered this one. "Well early this morning Grunt and I went up to the crew deck to look for something to eat and while we were eating we started chatting."

"How does a chat end with a destroyed med bay?" Shepard asked and he shot both of the Krogan a hard look that told them the explanation had better be very good. Chalkwas was too enraged to speak at that moment.

"Well you see our chat was about which of us had been on the more suicidal missions and thus was better under fire." Grunt explained to his battle master. "Any way it got heated and the medbay got in the way."

Wrex then piped in. "Honestly Shepard it wasn't that bad and on a Krogan ship no one would have made a big deal about it."

"WE ARE NOT ON A KROGAN SHIP IN CASE YOU DIDN'T NOTICE SHITBRAINS!" Chalkwas yelled and then brought up a video feed from the medbay on her Omni-Tool. It showed a room that Shepard had to admit looked like it had be at the heart of a large battle. Chalkwas was about to try and have a go at both Krogan at once when Shepard grabbed her by the shoulders and looked her in the eyes. He needed her to calm down.

"Look I will take care of this okay, please just let me handle it." He said and he gave her a look that left no room for argument.

"Alright." The older woman said at last and calmed down and Shepard let go of her. Chalkwas then took a few steps back before continuing in a much calmer manner. "But if you want my advice you will space those two, they can't be trusted."

"Noted." Shepard said and then turned to the two Krogan. "You two will pay for all the damage." He said in a calm commanding tone.

"Alright that is fair." Wrex said and was about to walk away before Shepard continued. 'After this meeting you will also go down to the medbay and clean up the mess." Shepard said forcefully.

"What?" Both Krogan responded in shock.

"This is still my ship and I make the rules, you make a mess you clean it up." Shepard said matter of factly.

"But I am Urdnot Wrex the chief of chiefs, that kind of work is below me." Wrex protested.

"Well maybe you will remember that the next time you and Grunt decide to have a talk." Shepard replied and he turned away to indicate he was done explaining himself.

"Fine." both Krogan said with a sigh. Chalkwas didn't say anything she just left the room. Tali and Kasumi who was standing beside her were both trying and failing to contain a case of the giggles. The two Krogan sheepishly returned to the table much subdued. Shepard just wished that the next few minutes would go smoother then the last two.

"Well I guess I should just come out and tell you why I called you all here before we are interrupted again." Shepard said and shot one last look at the two Krogan. "Before we get to Rannoch we are going to be stopping at Omega so all of you can get off and catch rides from there to wherever you are going."

"Why would you do that can't we get on ships leaving Rannoch?" Jacob Taylor asked.

"Well the fact is we have just found out that Harbinger and the last of the Reapers are headed to Rannoch. They will arrive about eight hours after the Normandy. It's clear he knows I am going to be there and is coming after me. I can't run from him for the rest of my life so the final battle of the Reaper war is going to be fought on Rannoch. There is a good chance I will not be walking away from this one. The Reapers will be throwing everything they have at me." After Shepard finished explaining this a hush fell over the room. A pin could have been heard dropping and it was Garrus who broke the silence.

"Well there has never been a Shepard with out Vakarian and that is not going to change now." He said and Shepard knew his old friend long enough to know that arguing with him was pointless so instead he just gave him a grateful smile.

Grunt was the next to speak. "I can't let my battle master go into battle with out me, I would be disgraced I am coming too."

"It will beat doing more corporate paper work." Miranda said.

"I am about to have a son that is something that could not have happened without you." Wrex said taking a few steps closer to Shepard.

Shepard then held up his hands and spoke. "I am grateful to all of you and I am very lucky to have friends like you but before you sign up for this I want you to know that you have already gone above and beyond the call and I don't know how this will turn out. Tali and I have to do this the rest of you do not."

"Shepard you are wasting time." Jacob said. "We are all in this and we will win it."

Shepard didn't say anything he just nodded and the room began to empty. At last the only person left in the room was a very worried looking Kasumi Goto who could only speak to the empty room. "You are all idiots and I didn't sign up for another suicide mission." She didn't notice that Garrus who was the last to leave the room could hear her. "That is because you are coward who only cares about money, don't worry we will find you somewhere to hide until the danger passes." The Turrian said rather harshly and then he walked out the door.

Shepard was still very worried not just about himself but about Tali. Shepard wished that he could think of some way to talk her into staying behind and not getting involved in his fight but he knew it was useless. Still despite that worry he felt a little better about his chances, his whole team was going with him and some how they always managed to make it out. Shepard didn't know what the coming battle would bring but at that moment he at least had some hope that they would make it. He wasn't sure what he had every done to deserve such good friends but at times like the one he was facing at that moment he was glad he had them.