Chapter Ten.
Across the Sea.
There was a subdued buzz in the mess hall. Those not in seats were perched on tables, or leaning against bulkheads. Jack was one of the latter, standing next to a small knot of turian and human techs, resting her back against the bulkhead, arms crossed, chin on her chest, eyes closed to the low conversation.
The smell of coffee was strong by the time Shepard arrived, immediately sweeping her eyes around the room before handing a pad to the turian shuttle pilot, then walking to the front of the group. As she passed Thane he handed her a coffee and he was rewarded with a heartfelt thank you and a big smile. By the time Shepard had enjoyed a couple of sips of the hot liquid, the room was quiet, and everyone focused on her. Apart from Jack, who didn't look up until Shepard spoke.
"Seems we have a situation. Captain Idella reported seeing what looks like a large merc craft, setting down right on top of the AJ's landing zone. We know there have been groups of salvagers in this system, so I have to assume they're going after the Normandy."
"Yeah," Zaeed, frowned, "bit of a bloody coincidence innit?"
Shepard nodded. "They set down less than an hour ago, so with luck we'll be on the ground before they know what's hit them."
"Unless," Garrus pondered, "that's the idea. The timing is a bit of a coincidence as well, don't you think?"
"Noted," Shepard said. "But, I suspect that really is coincidental. They have no way of knowing we're about to arrive. None the less," she continued before Garrus could protest, "if it is a trap, we'll be ready." Shepard's smile was meant to reassure, but Thane noticed the fire in her eyes. "Obviously we can't land the AJ, and I'm not risking our only shuttle by dropping us in hot. So I'm taking a team in, under the radar, a few clicks south of the merc position." She looked at the shuttle pilot who nodded once. "We'll find out what they're up to, and give them a chance to go quietly."
While Shepard let that hang, Jack pushed herself off the bulkhead. "Hey, can't we just land at the Normandy site and post guards or summin'?"
From a seat at a table Miranda shook her head. "Topography suggests the Normandy is in a cul-de-sac surrounded on three sides by an ocean, mountains and a dense forest. The only place large enough to land the AJ is on the shoreline a few clicks south of the Normandy site."
"Shit!" Jack muttered, sagging back against the bulkhead behind her with a scowl.
Thane had noticed over the last couple of days how no one ever said 'crash site' or 'landing site' it was always just 'the Normandy site', but he barely considered this right now, as he continued to deal with an internal struggle, while he watch his Siha. On the one hand it pained him having to see his warrior-angel running back into danger so soon. There was still a way to go before she was fully fit, despite all the hours she had spent rebuilding her strength, and stamina, in the hospital. Yet barely forty eight hours after being discharged, she should not be facing battle, at all. Having said that, Thane would not suggest she allow him, or someone else, to lead a team in. Once Thane had made the decision to go into that Collector ship all those months ago; he would have forcefully rebelled against anyone trying to stop him, even though he couldn't have known the gods had been leading him to his Siha.
Shepard's face spoke of the tingle, the pre-emptive flicker of excitement that always came before the thrill of the fight; it heightened the senses of a soldier about to do battle with an enemy. They all felt it. Oh how Koylat would worry if he could see them now. Suddenly, Thane felt an even deeper empathy for his son, as he watched his Siha. When she gazed his way, he silently pleaded for her to take him into battle by her side. She must surely understand it would be impossible for him to remain aboard the AJ while she went into battle.
"Ok, tech team," she said to the twenty or so medics and engineers, "you can go and get your gear ready, have breakfast, wake up, etcetera. Miranda will coordinate with you when it's time to drop." Shepard gave them time to file out, and the shuttle pilot gave her another nod, to let her know the shuttle would be ready to go as soon as she was.
Turning her attention back to Miranda, Shepard said, "We'll keep an open comm link with you while we're down there."
"Yes Captain. Our ETA is just short of two hours, so you'll have time to eat something as well before you go."
"Yes, mom," grinned Shepard, though she was aware Miranda was simply making sure she nourished herself adequately, in order to fully utilise her biotics, without becoming exhausted. Finally, she announced, "Garrus, Thane - you're with me."
Though he didn't show it, the relief nearly knocked Thane over, and the look Garrus shot him suggested he felt the same way.
After another sip of coffee Shepard told them, "Dismissed. Doctor?" At that both Liara and Mordin stood, but Shepard was looking at the Salarian, who simply nodded and went into the medical bay to await her, already anticipating her needs. Shepard slowly walked towards the kitchen, while she drank the rest of her coffee, and before putting the empty mug into the dishwasher, she wiggled it in Thane's direction to thank him, which he accepted with a smile and a bow of his head. He left to get his gear, then planned to feed his own biotics. He looked back at Shepard just before he turned the corner, and tried to tell himself not to worry over seeing her heading towards the med bay.
Shepard stood by the shuttle, rolling her shoulders around and getting comfortable in protective gear she hadn't worn in many months, when Thane stepped out of the lift. Striding towards her, the hem of his coat lifting slightly, rifle poking up over his shoulder, his smile was relaxed, despite the circumstances. Garrus was sitting on a crate, one foot up, as he worked on his gun, looking at the floor through his scope, adjusting it slightly, looking again.
"You are always endlessly calibrating something Garrus." Thane smiled as he approached.
"That joke is getting old," Garrus grumbled, switching on the tiny heads up display over one of his eyes.
Thane stopped a few feet in front of them and focused on his Siha. She looked at him, adjusting the waist band of her armour, while Thane blinked his eyes, studying her.
"What?" She asked.
"Is it... black?"
"Dark red," muttered Garrus without looking up.
"Ah," said Thane. He was unable to differentiate between dark red and black, a small price to pay after an operation so he could see the bioluminescent language of the hanar.
Shepard grinned, "Yeah, well, I figured I'd had enough of your whining about me being a bright red beacon on the battlefield. You're green, so should blend in nicely with the trees, I guess Garrus can draw the fire for a change, in his shiny, new armour."
"Hey," muttered Garrus, giving Shepard a sharp look, yet unable to hide his smile. Thane also grinned.
Shepard shook her head, sniggering at the floor, "Trees, hah, Oh hell, now I'm thinking about Christmas trees again..." She took a deep breath and quickly changed the subject, "Having said that," she looked down at her arms, raising them slightly "could maybe do with a bit more colour, maybe some purple?" Shepard missed her bright red armour, but knowing Thane saw dark red as black, she had settled on a compromise when she ordered her new gear, though not for the reasons she had given. She thought Thane's perfect memory of the last time he had seen her in her old armour would be difficult enough, without a reminder every time he looked at her, so she had gone for a slightly different colour scheme this time.
Shepard dropped her arms, and her smile, tilting her head slightly while considering Thane as he stood in front of her, feet apart, hands relaxed by his sides. Not his ready stance, hands clasped behind his back, to fool a potential enemy into believing he was relaxed, when really he was a coiled spring ready to strike, faster than a person could blink. The way he stood now, it was almost as if he wasn't worried about going into battle at all. Taking a few steps towards him Shepard began to slowly pace around Thane, who turned his head to keep his gaze on her as long as possible as she circled him. His crest flushed slightly, but he enjoyed her attentions and offered a small smile.
She marvelled at the sight of this man. On the face of it he hadn't changed one bit, he looked exactly the same as the night they had met in Dantius Towers, just before she fell in love with him. Yet he was a different person to the tragic drell who had lost everything, and had faced his impending early death with much dignity. These days he rarely sought solitude like he used to back on the Normandy. Now, instead of lurking in a corner, passively observing the team, Thane would be in the thick of it, bantering along and giving as good as he got. He was more relaxed, moving through life with an air of genuine enjoyment in what he did, a positive attitude far removed from the burdened man of the past.
Shepard too felt lighter, the weight of the galaxy no longer resting on her shoulder's, and she was able to freely enjoy the love she felt for Thane, without the bitter black cloud of doom hanging over her. Yet she didn't feel she had changed much at all, she just wore different armour now, and her hair was long enough to scrape back into a ponytail. As for Garrus, well, he was still exactly the same, just a bit shinier.
Finishing her walk around, she faced Thane as his half closed outer eye lids told her what was on his mind. She had to stuff her knuckles into her mouth and bite down on them, unable to hide her grin.
"You approve, Siha?"
"Oh yes," she breathed, slowly covering the distance between them.
As she approached him, Thane blinked, staring at a point on the floor somewhere over her shoulder, lost in memory. Shepard paused for many moments before placing a gentle hand on his cheek, her voice barely a whisper, "Thane?"
He blinked again, focusing on her face, "My apologies, Siha, a momentary lapse."
"Where did you go? The Collector ship?" She frowned in concern.
He smiled warmly, cupping her hand at his cheek, and turning to kiss her wrist. "You read me too well."
"I guess it was obvious, really. Neither of us were expecting to see each other in our fighting frocks so soon huh?"
Thane laughed at her turn of phrase. "True, but it was bound to happen, eventually." Despite his painful memory, and the worry over what they may shortly be facing, he couldn't help still feeling the same lightness in his heart he had been carrying from the day she became his Siha, again.
"For what it's worth," she told him, "you look awesome."
"I do?"
"Sexy as hell," she whispered, giving his cheek a quick kiss, conscious of the many eyes potentially watching their Captain. There was relaxed, and there was bordering on insubordination, or encouraging it at least.
"Guys, please, not in front of the turian. Can't you get a room or something?"
"Aww, Garrus," Shepard rolled her eyes, but took a step away from Thane, "can't a girl admire the man she..."
God damn it! No, not here, dumbass!
She froze, searching for a way to finish that sentence.
"Go on, Siha," said Thane, innocently. In that moment he had finally realised what it was she had been trying to say to him, what she had nearly just told him, and it filled his heart to bursting to note how she gave those three little words so much importance.
"Later!" She snapped, pushing down her embarrassment under Thane's amused gaze, and the look of confusion from Garrus. She marched off to check and holster her weapon's before putting on her gloves, really wishing the two men would strike up a conversation or something. Instead, she could feel their eyes burn as deeply into her back as the burn she had received on Earth, which had melted her clothes into her skin, and warped part of her armour. At least that injury was healed by the time she came out of her coma and she had no memory of it, at all.
When the AJ's pilot announced, "Shuttle drop two minutes, Captain Shepard," her heart began to thud. She was barely able to focus on the potential threat of the mercs below now they were so close to discovering the fate of the Normandy and her crew. A part of her was terrified, but mostly she needed to get to them, now!
"Thanks, Bakavil . You and the engineers have done a hell of a job getting us here so quick. Well done." She would thank them all personally when they got back. Shepard wouldn't be surprised if the AJ had set a galactic speed record. Joker would be impressed.
Oh please, let Joker be around so he can feel jealous as hell.
She was going to enjoy writing her reports to the Alliance and Turian Hierarchy about this fine crew. Right now, however, there was another crew to consider.
With a deep breath, Shepard said, "Ok, let's move," and led her team into the shuttle.
Shepard practically let out a war cry as she charged out of the shuttle as soon as the hatch opened. Garrus and Thane looked at each other, the former muttering, "I suppose she's making up for the drab armour."
Thane barely hid his grin as they moved out after her.
Shepard stood on the beach looking around, not so much for mercs, who were still several clicks to the north, but at the scenery. A gentle, lapping ocean to her left, the jungle of smoothly barked trees, limbs twisted around their tall, thick trunk's, all the way up to the green canopy on her right. Shielding her eyes from the warm sunlight, Shepard gave their shuttle pilot a quick wave, pausing to take in the beautiful plunging waterfalls ahead, before moving off in the direction of the rocky mountains in the distance.
Thane looked up at the vast crescents of the two planets dominating the clear sky and set off behind Shepard and Garrus, as the latter complained, "Did you have to charge out of the shuttle like that, Shepard?"
Shepard replied with a mild shrug, pulling ahead and into a low crouch behind a weathered rock. The two men took staggered cover, as she did so, until the expected all clear was given. Moving forward in an easy jog, they repeated the same routine many times over for the next thirty minutes. After steadily moving inland, Shepard signalled the team to join her behind a large tree, the fat roots of which she knelt among.
"Guards." She held two fingers up.
Thane took a look down the wide sandy path cut between grassy dunes and the jungle's tree line. There were two batarian's standing behind some reinforced crates, essentially blocking their path. They didn't appear alert to intruders, but clearly weren't taking any chances.
"Garrus and I can take them out quickly," he suggested.
Garrus nodded, but Shepard shook her head, "It's possible they're just trying to survive and I want to give them a chance. Maybe we can end this without bloodshed."
Thane didn't believe this would be possible, but he and Garrus covered Shepard, as she scuttled across the path to stand in the minimal cover of a curving dune. With each guard in the concealed scope of Garrus' and Thane's rifles, she moved forward, and out of cover. With one eye on his target, and the other on his Siha, Thane had a clear view of the surprised look on the guard's faces. Despite their slow reactions, they had plenty of time to bring their gun's up, as Shepard slowly approached, one palm raised, the other pointing her gun away from the batarian's.
"I'm not here to fight," she told them, stopping a couple of meters away from the crates.
"Shepard? Nooo," rasped a vorcha as he appeared from behind the guards. "Go away. Don't want you here. Go away!"
Thane counted four more vorcha and three batarian's in the compound they had set up.
Shepard raised her voice to tell them all, "The war is over. Together the galaxy defeated the Reapers. We don't need to fight each other, anymore." To push her point home she gently snapped her gun back into its holster.
Siha, no!
She trusted Thane and Garrus to cover her, but both men clenched their teeth as the more jittery of the two guards barked, "What do you want?"
"I just want to get past," she said mildly, nodding ahead of her.
"Oh really? And why is that?"
With a sigh, she said, "Look, let's cut the crap. I'm going back to my ship."
Shepard stood relaxed, hands by her sides, one hovering next to the Hand Cannon strapped to her thigh. "Give me passage and I can arrange to get you out of here, and anywhere you want to go, back to civilisation if you want."
"Lies," hissed the vorcha, "all lies!"
"The relays are being repaired..."
"Then we'll find our own way back," interrupted the other guard with a sneer, "either in our own ship, or maybe in the Normandy. If it's not completely trashed," he goaded.
Thane saw what was coming next. A dozen batarian's and vorcha had slipped into cover and behind them lurked a couple of krogan. A handful of humanoid security LOKI mechs were unfolding themselves further back. Thane's thoughts were taken back to just a few weeks into his stay on the Normandy.
Mess hall, Shepard laughs from her seat on the table, feet on the empty chair next to Jack. "Oh husks go down easily with an elbow to the face," the Commander said, her eyes shining, "but I like getting up close and personal to the LOKIs and just..." she jabs her elbow out with a smirk.
"Fuck, yeah!" Jack bounces enthusiastically in her seat. "Then stomp on their heads," she brings a booted foot down hard against the floor, "to finish them off!"
"Exactly!" Shepard nods rapidly, pointing at Jack, "then... run like hell, before the damn things explode!" Both of them laugh, Jack slaps her thigh. I can't help my smile, listening to these small human warriors.
Thane allowed the brief memory to pass through his mind, and the light smile it brought to his lips, without it affecting his focus. He remained alert, to the quickly gathering storm, as Shepard continued to try resolving this with diplomacy. He wanted to shout a warning, but had to trust she was as aware of the intensifying situation as he and Garrus. Thane's heart leapt into his throat, when he saw the barrel of a sniper rifle slide into view from behind a crate. The sniper was too well hidden for Thane to target, but he was close enough to put a hole in Shepard's head. The look on Garrus' face told Thane he had seen it too; they had just seconds to decide what to do before the sniper pulled the trigger.
Suddenly, Shepard was moving, fast, her biotics shimmering. She threw herself into a forward roll, lifting the two guards in a stasis field as she brought up the Hand Cannon from her thigh. Taking out the vocal vorcha with several rapid and precise shots, she landed in cover behind the crate barrier.
Garrus and Thane sniped the guards, and moved forward, taking out a couple more mercs as they zigzagged the short distance into cover, next to Shepard. She had already swapped the Cannon for her Locust and with a nod she jumped the barrier, shooting on the run. As she reached the next cover, Shepard skidded low as her biotic wave pounded its way towards the enemy, knocking them over. Her head popped up, and she shot them before they could pick themselves up.
Thane was satisfied to see Garrus take out the sniper, while he killed two batarian's, before they hit cover again either side of Shepard.
"I guess some things never change," she grinned, ignoring the fire coming their way for the moment.
"Let's take it easy," Garrus warned, crouching low on her left.
"Agreed," she nodded once, popping up to take out the batarian who thought he was unseen behind the boulder up ahead. "We've got maybe twenty or so, plus a couple of krogan, and a few mechs. Hell I've not seen a LOKI in ages!"
The men nodded in agreement of her assessment, as the arms fire pelted the reinforced crates they paused behind.
Garrus smiled, "Shouldn't be a problem."
Thane leaned out to his right, and took a few shots at the mechs moving towards them. They chattered their warnings in humanised voices, "Rerouting power," informed the two whose legs Thane took out, slowing the rest down, until the fallen mechs exploded and toppled the three nearest.
Dumping their heat sinks as one, the team slapped in fresh ones, and Shepard said, "Move out," before vaulting over the crate, while her team covered her.
They pushed forward, moving and flowing together, three people, one powerful soldier - the turian, the drell and the human; anticipating each other's moves perfectly as they unleashed a formidable display of biotics, explosives, and weapons fire upon their enemy. They moved apart, then together again in twos or threes, forcing their way down their beachfront battlefield.
Garrus skimmed a couple of sticky mines towards one of the krogan ahead, sniping his growling enemy's shields before the explosion finished him.
Thane dived head first over a box as a biotic charge swirled around his body. It was thrown out, slamming a batarian into the ground before Thane had rolled onto his feet, where he was already picking off more targets with his rifle. He ducked for cover momentarily, before leaping up to kill the last vorcha.
Shepard moved low in front of him, ready to break for the next cover. They both spotted the batarian, who was flanking Garrus, at the same time. Thane continued to fire forward, knowing Shepard would trap the batarian in a blue prison. She balanced against his thigh for a moment, and he felt her shots reverberate against his muscles. She killed the batarian, whose body remained pinned in the air for many seconds, until the stasis field winked out.
"My shields are down," Shepard warned calmly, from between Thane's thighs, her voice clear over the comm. Thane moved out of her way, so she could dive back into cover for the precious moments it would take her shields to regenerate.
As Thane and Garrus took out the last krogan, Garrus chuckled over the comm, "Just like old times."
Shepard killed the two remaining batarian's, then shot forward, past her team, and the falling krogan, to barrel straight through three mechs, shooting the fourth in the head almost point blank. She twisted her upper body, bringing her knees up in a full spin, away from the mechs, her gun leading as she brought it around and up to shoot the only LOKI still on its feet. Landing on her feet, Shepard was well away from the small explosions when the damaged LOKI's self destructed.
With a satisfied sigh, she slowly swept the battlefield with her eyes, which was now completely still, apart from the waves lapping the beach and her team moving towards her. Also moving towards her was the torso of a mech, as it dragged itself forward with one arm, in a single-minded attempt to finish its job. The men stood amidst exploded LOKI parts, half looking out for more enemy movement, half watching Shepard.
She stood calmly, grinning down at the mech, allowing it to heave itself ever closer towards her, then closer still, until its hand was in grabbing distance of her boot. Shepard lifted her other foot, waiting for the mech to close the last few inches between them. As its hand reached out to grab her, she drove her boot down, hard, onto its head with a loud grunt, shattering the LOKI's outer casing. The red lights behind its faceplate went out, and its hand fell onto her boot. She kicked it away, and jogged backwards a few paces, waiting a moment. When it exploded Shepard threw her arms out and whooped, having to turn away slightly as some of the pieces flew towards her face.
With a wordless smirk, she looked at her team. Thane looking amused. Garrus was trying and failing not to smirk, as she passed by, and they fanned out to sweep the area.
When they regrouped, Garrus said, "Well, that was kind'a fun. I suppose the galaxy still needs people like us after all. Shame really, but, gives us something to do, I suppose."
Shepard grinned, "I wouldn't worry Garrus, I have a feeling there will be plenty to do as the relays are reopened."
She brought up her omni-tool to feed data to Miranda waiting on the AJ, as Thane approached from the merc's ship. "Their vessel is not in good repair, and their logs indicate the Normandy was indeed their intended goal."
"Aww," she said, waving off her omni-tool, "we spoiled their party." Her grin fell into a scowl, and she looked around at the bodies, hissing, "No way were those bastards getting their hands on my ship!" Turning away from them, she walked a few paces towards the LOKI junk, lifting her gaze to the twin crescents in the sky, as if she could see the AJ. "Miranda?"
"Here, Shepard," came the voice over their comm's straight away. Miranda had been monitoring them constantly, and Thane wondered if the job of listening to your friends in a fire fight was as frustratingly hellish as he imagined it to be.
"Send a team down with the shuttle," Shepard ordered, "Tell them they're on litter duty."
"Oh, they'll like that," Miranda said dryly, the smile in her voice was evident.
Shepard grinned, "Tell them to get the landing site clear asap, and let me know as soon as the AJ is clear to come in."
"Will do, Captain. Team's ready to go."
"Thanks, Miranda. Shepard out," she finished, letting Miranda know the subsequent chatter wouldn't require her attention for now. She turned back to her team with a quick, "C'mon," and headed out at a fast walking pace.
As the two men's feet crunched over the LOKI parts, Garrus asked, quietly, so as not to trigger the comm, "Do you think we're destined to spend the rest of our lives following that woman?" He eyed Shepard's back, before looking at Thane.
"I hope so," smiled Thane, eliciting a 'harrumph' from his friend.
"Well, I'm sure there are worse things in life," Garrus paused, and with a chuckling purr added, "I'll just have to try and think of something later, maybe."
"Hmm," rumbled Thane, almost out of Garrus' hearing range. He had been watching Siha as she walked along the sandy path, between yet more sand dunes and trees, at a steady pace. "Is she limping?"
Garrus watched her a moment, "Hmm, could be. Maybe a little. It's that damned smashed up ankle of hers. She should still be resting it, but... what can you do?"
"I think it might be worse than she admits."
"She's taking care of it," assured Garrus, "Kasumi mentioned something about seeing her with Mordin, in the med bay, last night."
"I see. She didn't mention this to me." Thane couldn't help his smile as he recalled their evening together. "Although, we spoke very little last night."
"Please tell me that was the end of your sentence and particular train of thought!" Garrus muttered quickly, eyes firmly ahead.
"It was," chuckled Thane. Garrus gave him a quick sideways look then admired the scenery, with a little cough.
The two men talked as if conspirators out enjoying a sunshine stroll. But their heads moved around to scan the increasingly grassy dunes above, and their eyes searched the shadows between the tall trees, constantly. Soon they were climbing a wide slope, and lost the path as it merged with the top of a dune.
Suddenly, Shepard stopped dead in her tracks. The two men were already reaching for their rifles, but relaxed when she gave the safe signal without turning around, and their weapons were snapped home before they could be drawn. They quickly strode the last few paces forward and joined her at the edge of a small cliff.
Shepard was gazing down at the Normandy.
Clearly it had crash landed, and pretty hard. Thane wouldn't be surprised to find the shuttle bay crushed, if not entirely forced up into the engineering deck. It was, however, still in one piece, not an un-survivable mess of torn wings, ripped hull, and hundreds of scattered pieces.
Shepard sagged in relief, the unspoken dread they all felt momentarily lifted from her shoulders, as she breathed, "Thank the gods it's not like the SR1."
Garrus sighed, nodding, as Thane studied Siha. Her face spoke the relief of one hurdle crossed, as her body tensed again, giving away the many worries she still faced, while her eyes searched the downed ship from port to starboard, aft to stern. Not for the first time that day, Thane silently asked the gods to guide them to the Normandy's crew, and that they may have all survived. He felt optimistic; he had after all survived, and witnessed the survival, of worse odds than this.
Where the team stood, they weren't much higher than the Normandy itself, and close to where it lay at a very slight angle, but the slope down was steep, marked by a ribbon of loose sand, either side of which grassy tufts somehow grew on the ever shifting surface.
"Come on," she said in a low voice.
Thane opened his mouth to suggest the safest way down, but Shepard leapt off the edge. Her small boots hit the slope into a fast slide. She curled her fingers into the sand behind her, more to steady her rapid decent than act as a useless break. Knees bent, she had to keep lifting one foot after the other, to prevent her boots digging in too far and tripping her into a head first collision with the small boulders edging the bottom of the slope.
It might have looked comical, if it hadn't frozen Thane and Garrus in a surprise which quickly hardened into a fist clenched fear, while they watched. As the cliff spat her away at the bottom, they looked at each other, and almost shrugged, before stepping off the edge, and using the same technique as their gung ho Captain, to make their own rapid descent.
Shepard hit the ground so fast she stumbled forward, and had to put all her weight on her already aching ankle, the pain almost breaking her momentum, as she ran out of the fall. She didn't stop, forcing herself not to limp as she jogged along the hull of the Normandy, before turning in a slow circle to sweep the shadows under her ship, and beyond the tree line opposite.
Thane and Garrus were moving towards her, looking around with a relaxed caution, when Thane noticed how still Siha was, standing stiffly, and staring at something in the jungle. After a moment she slowly walked towards the tree line, entering a clearing in the jungle, before sinking to her knees. As Thane got closer he saw why.
"Oh hell!" Garrus whispered, his mandibles drooping.
Thane counted seventeen graves in the small clearing under the tree canopy. He didn't know exactly how many people had been crewing the Normandy during its final battle, but he suspected there wouldn't be many more souls than the bodies neatly buried in front of him. He crouched beside Shepard to offer his silent support, her tears not quite spilling from angry eyes, under her furrowed brow. She put a hand on his knee, which he covered with his own. Garrus quietly stood beside them.
Eventually, Thane offered, "At least it means some survived."
Both Garrus and Shepard nodded. She took a deep breath, letting it out in a heavy, long, sigh, before pushing against Thane's Knee to stand up.
He stood with her and Shepard asked, "Say a prayer to Kalahira for them would you please, Thane?"
"Of course." As Thane clasped his hands together and bowed his head to speak quietly to the goddess of oceans and the afterlife, Shepard slowly walked away towards the Normandy, with Garrus trailing behind.
They were standing at the bottom of a short rocky slope, which lead up to the Normandy's airlock, when Thane rejoined them. The small path didn't appear to be as well trodden as six months of use might have suggested, and he wondered if the remaining crew had cause to abandon the ship. The reason to do so would have to be extreme however, for the broken ship was still the best source of shelter and supplies, plus he knew Joker wouldn't easily walk away from the Normandy, let alone potential rescue. Thane tried not to wonder who was lying in those unmarked graves.
There was barely a hint of Shepard's emotional storm in her voice when she said, "Well, we know at least one person survived, and they anticipate rescue."
"How do you know that? About the rescue bit?" Garrus asked.
"Temporary graves," she waved a hand towards the site, "still unmarked after all these months. Won't matter how long it takes, they will all be easily identified from the dog tags buried with each of the... bodies."
"Plus," Thane added, "the site is quite free of foliage, it's been looked after."
"Hmm, yes, agreed," Garrus nodded.
With a sigh, Shepard scrambled up to the airlock, pausing outside to take a few calming breaths, and while the men caught up, she refocused on the task of finding the living - assuming they weren't too late, after all.
The team entered the Normandy cautiously, having to traverse a very slight upwards slope as they moved through the open inner airlock door. The gloomy cockpit was intact, but a mess of blown panels and shorted out controls.
"EDI?" Shepard asked, not expecting an answer, as she led them down the CIC. They had to step over a few snaking connections, obviously rigged to keep some minimum power running the emergency lighting along the floor, other wires hung uselessly from the bulkheads above. Most of the terminals were dark, but a couple added their orange glow to the dim lights, and it gave a vague and eerie reminder to Shepard of being on the Collector ship, when she saw Thane and thought he had come to take her across the sea.
As she reached the even gloomier galaxy map, she paused, looking at the green light of her private terminal reflecting back at her in the lift door, as it flashed its incoming message alert. Had that tiny light been continuously pulsing all these months? Shepard shook the question away; there were people to look for first.
She felt the weight of Thane's hand pressing against the armour on her shoulder, and quietly, he asked, "Are you all right, Siha?"
Garrus was watching from the other side of CIC. Realising the lump in her throat made her unable to speak, she offered them a firm nod before moving forward.
They quickly checked the war, comms, and conference room, all so gloomy they had to use their omni-lights, before returning to the lift. Shepard had planned to go back outside and do a walk around before going further into the Normandy, but when the lift door opened as she stepped close, it was an invitation she couldn't pass up.
"Garrus, you stay on watch. Any problems, holler."
"No problem, Shepard."
"We'll, er, yell if we get stuck in this thing," she added, entering the car with Thane, and stabbing a finger on the button to take them to the shuttle bay.
Gently, Thane told her, "I suspect there isn't much of the shuttle bay left, Siha."
"Yeah, ditto," she muttered, trying engineering next, and nearly jumping in surprise when the door closed and the lift slowly descended. It seemed even slower than it used to be. Instead of taking them to engineering, the lift stopped just above the floor of the crew deck, and they had to jump out.
The first thing Shepard noticed was the memorial wall, and her eyes automatically fell upon the last name she'd had to add to it.
Thane Krios.
Even now it made her blood run cold, and she had to fight against the sudden rush of memories, and the urge to shiver.
Thane followed her gaze, and she heard him take a small breath. "You... had my name placed on the wall?"
She could only nod, frowning at the memory of breezing into Liara's office to quickly request Liara deal with it, before departing just as quickly, in case she lost control and cried in front of her crew. Thane's name had been quietly added within days, and Shepard had failed to make herself look away from it, every time she passed by. She hated it.
"Thank you," Thane said, "I am honoured."
Shepard looked at him like he was a crazy person, and blew out a long breath, before plodding into the mess hall.
Aside from the shattered med bay window and slightly twisted bulkheads, it didn't look too bad. The area had been cleaned up, which was another happy sign of life. Port and starboard observation were similar, and the crew quarters looked less tidy, but recently used, as did Liara's old quarters. Shepard had to take another deep breath before opening the door to life support. It was almost as bright inside as the observation lounges, now the blacked out window was so many scattered lumps all over the floor. The table and chairs Shepard had spent long hours at were upended, as if she had thrown them around herself, again. The hole in the bulkhead, where the window once obscured the engine room, revealed scorched walls. Clearly, the Normandy's engines had suffered a catastrophic fire and massive damage. Shepard sagged against the doorframe.
"Are you ok, Siha?" Thane enquired, again.
"I knew this would be hard, but..." she shook her head, looking at the shelves Thane had once stored his guns on, now laying broken on the floor. She stepped back, allowing the door to close on the carnage. "Where are they, Thane?"
"I suggest we return to Garrus and find a way to search the rest of the ship."
"Agreed." Shepard offered him a tight smile, and turned to step up into the lift. "We'll go back out and do a walk around."
As soon as they entered the CIC Garrus came out of the corner he had been lurking in, and Shepard turned away from that blinking light on her terminal, folding her arms while she filled him in on what little they had discovered. Speaking mostly to the floor she failed to notice Thane stiffen, or the low gasp from Garrus. Only slowly did she begin to detect a change in the atmosphere, and the hackles on the back of her neck stirred with a vague sense of something behind her. Finally she heard the approaching footfalls just before a voice spoke its surprise.
"Commander?"
Shepard whirled around at the wonderfully familiar sound, her feet already carrying her forward even before her eyes fell upon her old friend, who stood, open mouthed, at the bottom of the CIC steps.
"Joker!" She cried, barrelling towards him, only slowing down enough so the bear hug she gave him wouldn't break anything.
"Commander?" He repeated, his shock even greater than his three rescuers. Joker quickly laid his sub machine gun on the floor, and wrapped his arms around Shepard, squeezing her as tight as he dare.
"Oh, my god, Joker!" She pulled away to look at him properly, grinning, "Your beard needs a trim, soldier," she laughed.
"Well, y'know," he shrugged, rubbing his cheek, "the caveman look is the look this year around these parts. Sorry Thane," Joker grinned at the drell's hairless biology, before pulling a double take, his smile falling into a slack-jawed shock. "What the shit..?" He stared at Thane before looking at Garrus, then back to Shepard, "Commander?"
Too surprised to make any ghost jokes, Shepard did it for him, "Don't worry, we're not here to haunt you, Joker," she laughed, "It's... a long story, but yeah, Thane's alive. We've come to take you home."
Joker shook his head, and his grin slowly returned as he ambled over to shake Thane's hand. "Shit... Hell, I can't tell you how good it is to see you guys... Shit!" After he shook hands with Garrus, Joker turned back to Shepard, "Good to see you found us before the Reapers did. We only switched on the SOS beacon a couple of weeks back, after a hell of a lot of debating over whether we should risk it or not."
"War's over, Joker," she grinned, leaning against a central operations terminal in an attempt to casually rest her throbbing ankle. "Reapers are gone, as far as we can tell. Relays were damaged, but are being repaired as we speak."
"Shit. I'm sorry we missed it, Commander, we just had this tiny problem of having to outrun some big ass massive ball of... I don't know what, on our tail! Whatever it was it was too big to get out of its way, the damn thing chased us through the relay, and kicked our asses."
Shepard nodded, "Yeah, we figured. I'll fill you in on that later, as well."
"So, I'm guessing the whole broken relay thing is your excuse for not picking us up as sooner, huh?" Joker grinned.
"Something like that," she glanced at Thane, and offered nothing more. There was an awful lot to catch up with, but for now there were more important issues to deal with. "What's the situation here, Joker?"
Joker sighed, leaning on the work station next to Shepard. He gave the two men in front of him a look, before eyeing her, then the floor. "I'm sorry, Commander. It was bad. Not really sure how we stayed in one piece. We... aww shit, we lost a lot of the crew in the initial crash, a couple others not long after."
"We saw the graves," she told him gently, "how many made it?"
"Not enough," he muttered sadly. "Shuttle bay is totalled, decks just... gone. We pulled a couple of people out of engineering, but most of them were too bad..." he huffed. "The only one who made it was Adams."
"Ken and Gabby?" Shepard swallowed hard when Joker shook his head, sadly.
"Allers died trying to help them, Commander. Traynor, Bethany, Sarah, and a handful of techs in the CIC got out ok but..." Joker sighed, "I'm sorry."
"It's not your fault, Joker." She laid a hand on his arm to offer a gentle squeeze.
"Well, anyway, we've been living in the mess. Supplies ran out, shit, ages ago, but this planet is pretty forgiving, and we set up a camp outside. It's, y'know," he shrugged, "been ok."
"What about Doctor Chakwas and EDI?"
"Er, well, EDI took some damage. Let's just say she went above and beyond trying to get people out of the burning engine core, but she's fine, now. The doctor..." Joker shook his head, looking at Shepard only briefly, "Oh shit, I'm sorry, she didn't make it. Happened in the crash."
Shepard looked down at the floor and pursed her lips, frowning. She and the Normandy's Chief Medical Officer had formed a very close bond over the years. Shepard thought of that bottle of Serrice Ice Brandy waiting in the cabin back on the AJ, a gift she wouldn't be able to deliver now, after all. The two women had begun sharing a bottle together annually over the last couple of years, and it was a blow to Shepard knowing this tradition had been nipped in the bud so soon.
"I tried to bring her in smoothly Commander. I, I..." Joker frowned with a huff.
"Hey, Joker," She told him firmly. "No pilot but you could have landed this ship in one piece under those circumstances. You saved lives, and I know damn well you did your best!"
He didn't look convinced and Shepard wished she could find the words to assure him. She wanted to yell expletives, punch something, struggling as she was to still the emotions lurking within her. Relief, shock, joy, grief - it was all there. For Joker's sake, she kept a lid on her feelings, and smiled at him, "I'm damn happy to see you, Jeff!"
He smiled, "Yeah, ditto Commander. Kind'a surprised, too."
"Yeah, I'll bet." Shepard grinned. "I take it no one needs medical attention?"
"Nah, a few walking wounded after the crash. Traynor broke her arm and Adam's had some nasty burns, but they're ok, now. The Doc patched Javik up before the crash so he..."
"Wait, what? Javik is with you?"
Joker looked at her in surprise, "You don't remember?" Clearly she didn't so he explained, "I thought you knew? We evac'ed him and Kaidan..."
"Alenko?" Shepard stared at Joker and quickly added, "anyone else?"
"No, just those two. They got caught in an explosion down on Earth, and we were able to get them back here in a shuttle. Shit, sorry Commander, I thought..." he trailed off.
"Huh, I guess we can take them off the MIA list." She smiled tightly.
"Yeah, I guess." Was all Joker offered.
"Ok," she pushed herself away from the workstation, "I'm going outside to get an update on the landing site then you can take us to the rest of the crew."
Joker nodded and she added, "Oh, you'll never guess what ride they gave us to take you home?" At Joker's raised eyebrow, she continued, "Only Major Kelso's ship."
"What? The AJ? How the hell did you pull that one Commander? Hell..." Joker lowered his voice. "The Major isn't here is she?"
"Hell no, she just let me borrow the AJ."
"No way!" Joker shook his head, but when Shepard nodded slowly, he looked at Thane and Garrus before saying, "What the shit happened to the galaxy while we were away?"
Shepard grinned and left the perplexed Joker to head off towards the airlock.
When Garrus moved to follow, Thane touched his arm with a shake of his head to let Garrus know she needed a few moments alone. Joker watched Shepard go with his head tilted to one side. He asked, "So... does she have a limp? Or is she just taking the piss out of me?"
Shepard thought about the losses first, Ken and Gabby, who she had occasionally played Skyllian Five poker with, Diana Allers who's reputation for reporting nothing but the facts was well deserved, and an asset to the war effort, and of course their exceptional doctor, Shepard's gently outspoken friend who could often be found debating deep issues with Adams in the Normandy's mess hall. They had been good friends too, and she suspected the Doctors loss would have hit the Chief hard, along with losing his two best engineers. Shepard also considered each of the fourteen other souls she had fought with, drank with, and wouldn't see again, while she wandered away from the Normandy to rest against a large boulder, not far from the slope she had practically thrown herself down.
Despite the gut wrenching blow that came with so many to mourn, she was delighted to see Joker, and discover there were survivors, after all. At least some good news came out of this. It could have been so much worse.
Grateful that Miranda had kept her silence over the comm, Shepard finally asked, "You get all that Miranda?"
"Yes, Shepard, I did," returned the soft voice in her ear. "They were good people."
"Yeah," she nodded even though Miranda couldn't see her. "What's the status of the landing site?"
"It's nearly cleared. The first team will be on its way to your location soon. Liara and I will bring the rest as soon as the AJ touches down."
"Good work, thank you. Let the pilot know the AJ is cleared to land on your authority. Make sure he keeps the engines running, just in case he needs to cut and run at the first sign of trouble. I want guards posted outside."
"He's already been briefed, Captain."
Shepard laughed, "Of course, he has. Miranda. We're going to have to get you your own ship one day." Shepard grinned at the scoffing chuckle in her ear, before continuing. "Keep me posted if you need to, otherwise, I'll see you soon. Shepard out."
She had time to enjoy the stunning waterfall ahead, vaguely wondering if there might be a chance to get a closer look over the next couple of days, She made a mental note to ask Joker about the terrain, just as the three men exited the Normandy. Walking back to join them, she smiled and Joker said, "Seems you had some fun on the way here, Commander?"
"The boys been filling you in, huh?" She smiled.
"Yeah, good thing we always carry these around," he held up his gun. "And they called me paranoid! Shit I can't wait to tell the guys about you!" He led them around the back of the Normandy, pointing out some of the damage. "That's where that damn ball of whatever it was slammed into us. Chewed our asses, that's for sure. Looks worst this side," he huffed, pointing to an area of the hull which had been ripped away as the engine core partially exploded. It looked like a giant hand had pulled the side of the ship open, as if to peek inside, partially exposing the blackened twisted guts of the core. "The only reason the explosion didn't set off a chain reaction and blow us all to hell was because Adams and EDI managed to force a shutdown in time." Joker gave them time to study the damage before saying, "C'mon, we're over here," waving them away from the ship. Joker lead them down a well trodden path of grass and sand, towards a comfortable looking camp, complete with a smoking fire.
"This is home… at least, where we hang out on days like this, which is most days," he chuckled. Loping towards the camp, he raised his voice, "Hey guys, you will not believe what I just found on the Normandy!"
The team had to walk quickly to keep up with Joker, and as they got closer, heads popped up from whatever the survivors were doing, the sudden buzz of curiosity turned into a rush of excited voices, as they began to stand, then come to greet their rescuers.
Adams was first to pump Shepard's hand. "Damn good to see you again, Commander!" His grin was as wide as the other's, despite their collective shock. Adams was quickly replaced with another happy survivor, and Shepard was hugged and slapped on the shoulder many times. She could hear Garrus greeting everyone, and Thane introducing himself where appropriate. When people realised this was the drell their Commander had mourned for many months, there was confusion mixed with their excited chatter, and Thane briefly explained what had happened to him. Shepard couldn't help grinning. She knew just how annoying it was having to repeat why you're alive, despite reports to the contrary.
"So Commander," came the sharply accented voice, "you came for us. What of the Reapers?"
She looked at Javik who stood expectantly in front of her, and she burst out laughing. Raising her voice she announced, "The Reapers are dead. The war is over. We kicked their asses!"
The cheer drowned out Javik's next words, but she watched him take a step back in surprise as he studied her face. She simply nodded and was rewarded with an almost disbelieving smile from the prothean. Finally she was able to tell him, "Looks like your gonna have to find a new goal in life, Javik. Maybe write a book on the Prothean's with Liara or something. She said it was something she'd like to do." Shepard sympathised with Javik, all his life he had fought the Reapers in his cycle, and again when he woke to this one. It would take the soldier some adjustment to put his old enemy behind him. She knew how that felt herself.
"Shepard."
She turned to the much softer voice of Kaiden, and simply opened her arms to hug him. They didn't speak; she didn't know what to say to him. The Major appeared too overwhelmed to talk. They broke off when Joker returned and she watched as Kaidan approached Thane, almost cautiously before greeting Garrus, warmly.
"EDI and Sam are out shopping." Joker told her. "Oh man, you gotta try the mini mangoes. They grow in these huge bunches, look just like small apples, and taste like mango. They're awesome! Boy, will they be in for a surprise when they get back to camp!" Joker was almost gleeful. "May as well sit down and wait Commander. C'mon."
While most of the camp settled onto chairs or bedrolls, already beginning the long process of catching up with six months worth of news, Thane stood with Adams who was telling him about life on board the Normandy during the war, as well as a little about his service aboard the SR1.
Thane stiffened when he noticed movement in the tree line, a few yards behind where his Siha sat. He soon relaxed though, after a dark haired woman burst out of the shadows, shouting what sounded like, "Commandah?" through his translator, which left him wondering if this was a glitch, or the woman's accent.
"Samantha!" Shepard yelled, delightedly jumping up to run and meet the Comm Specialist with a hug.
Thane grinned at this reunion as widely as everyone else in the camp, but the pleasure on his face swiftly fell away when he saw another figure walking out from the jungle, in a fast march towards the two embracing women. The mech walked quickly.
In one deft movement Thane pushed Adams out of the way, brought his gun to bear, and stepped to one side for a better line of sight. It was no LOKI, that was certain, but there was no doubt this was a mech. It was a sophisticated one and unlike anything he had seen before; perhaps just the right type of mech for the mercs to send in as a scout, and which had now realised its programmers were in trouble.
It was almost on top of Shepard and her companion when Thane bellowed his warning, "Captain!" With the mech's head in his sights, Thane squeezed the trigger.
His shot suddenly went wide. Thane gasped at Garrus, who had slapped his gun away. When Thane swung it back, Joker stood in front of him, arms wide, teeth clenched, almost wincing as his eyes danced between Thane and the rifle barrel. Thane immediately pointed his gun down, away from Joker, aware of the voices yelling at him to stand down. Shepard and Samantha were rushing towards him, and the mech continued to march forward in their wake.
"Shit, man!" Joker seethed, "What is wrong with you?"
Thane looked around the group in confusion, as they eyed him in suspicion. Only Shepard and Garrus, now either side of him, seemed to wear an understanding look on their faces. They told him in unison, "That's EDI!"
"You can't shoot EDI!" Joker insisted.
"It's not a mech, Thane," Shepard said gently, one hand on his arm. With a glare at Garrus, she asked sharply, "You didn't tell him?"
"Me? I..." Garrus huffed, "I thought you had, or Kasumi, at least. I don't know, it didn't come up!"
"I can't believe someone didn't tell him!"
"Well, don't get pissy with me Shepard. It's not like you thought to tell him either, obviously."
"I'm not getting pissy with you, Garrus, and I was in a damn coma, remember? I wasn't exactly chatty for quite a while."
"Well no, but, even so, there's no need to shout at me."
"I am not shou... Oh hell," she took a breath to calm herself, and lowered her voice while offering Garrus a smile, "Nice save, Vakarian."
"That's more like it. And you're welcome."
Thane re-holstered his rifle, and waited for the two of them to finish bickering. Joker wearily stepped aside and put a protective arm around the Normandy's AI, which had been a simple interface on the ship the last time Thane was aboard.
The mech smiled warmly at him and spoke in EDI's voice, "Thane Krios. I was unaware you were still alive."
Completely taken aback, Thane bowed slightly, "I could perhaps say a similar thing to you, EDI?"
"It would not be strictly true," she shrugged in an impressive human-like gesture. "This platform has provided me with a greater flexibility in the tasks I can now perform."
"Hell yeah!" Joker grinned. At EDI's sharp look, he muttered, "Shit, did I just say that out loud?"
Thane blinked, understanding precisely what Joker alluded to, and fought against his brows which wanted to lift in surprise. He searched for the words to convey his deep regret at nearly shooting EDI, but only managed, "I am... so very sorry, EDI, Joker, I... ask your forgiveness for my... over reaction."
With a wave of her hand, EDI smiled, "That is unnecessary, Thane. It appears," she shot Shepard and Garrus a playful scowl, "someone neglected to tell you about this body."
"Er..." Garrus muttered, looking at his feet.
"Sorry, guys," Shepard shrugged. "Just that, I've been asleep and Garrus still has that stick up his ass!"
With that, the tension was gone, replaced with mirth as people snorted with laughter, even Garrus. Thane watched EDI throw her head back in a laugh, and decided she was clearly more human than robot.
"I'm sorry," Shepard told Thane, and he could only smile at her, in awe at her clever and well timed humour. Somehow she made him feel a little better about his assumptive actions.
The group began to settle down again, and Joker was now fired up to tell turian jokes. Thane told Shepard, "I should perhaps have not reacted so quickly."
"It wasn't your fault, Thane. I would have done the same thing. Thanks. I know you were just trying to protect us, protect me," she gave his arm a squeeze.
"Hey, wait a minute," Joker piped up, "What did you say, Thane? Captain?" He looked at Shepard, but it was Garrus who answered.
"Oh yeah, she got promoted," he grinned.
Amidst the congratulations, Joker put his hand on his heart in mock disappointment, laughing, "Aww, shit did we miss having to sit through a boring ceremony and everything?"
"Nope," Shepard grinned, "no time for anything like that."
"Ah shit, Commander, er Captain, uh whatever. You always manage to time your promotions while the shit's hitting the fan, and everyone's too busy flapping for the ceremonial crap, don't you?"
"Oh no," Garrus huffed, rolling his eyes, "I wonder what state the galaxy will have to be in before they decide to make her an admiral!"
Amidst the laughter, Joker reached behind a crate, "I nearly forgot," he held up a small cage, "here's another survivor, Commander. Didn't know what you called him so we went with 'Admiral'. Figured we needed some leadership in the camp.
"My Space Hamster! Wow, thanks guys! Can't believe the little critter is still going."
Thane smiled remembering one of Siha's hospital visits, when she had told him about spotting the creature in what used to be Jack's lair on the Normandy.
"Oh Thane, you would have laughed. After forty damn frustrating minutes, I got Tali to come and help. But she just squeaked like the damn hamster and refused to go near it, worried its tiny claws might rupture her suit, or something. Oh it was so funny! Then, Adams came down and tried to help, but we just kept bumping into each other, and the damn hamster just kept scuttling by, squeaking as if giving us the finger. We had to give up in the end. I had to try again later, though. I couldn't just leave the little guy running around down there on his own. I got him! After, I dunno, maybe ten minutes... Oh, I'm talking too much, aren't I?"
I don't want her smile to fall away, I want to hear more of her laughter. "No, Siha, not at all. I love to hear the sound of your voice. It is always better in person than in my memories..."
Joker was apologising about the fish which had died while the survivors struggled for days to get some power back to the ship. In the meantime the tank water had cooled down too much for the tropical creatures to survive in.
"Sorry, Commander," Joker offered, again.
"Captain," corrected EDI.
"Whatever," he shrugged.
It might seem strange for some to hear how a few exotic fish were considered worthy of a mention among the Normandy casualty list. But aside from knowing how much Shepard had enjoyed the relaxing sight of her fish, they were living creatures, deserving of respect. Thane approved of this.
"So," asked Garrus, eyeing Javik, "what did you do with the fish? You just flush them down the toilet, or did you eat them..?"
There was another flurry of happy reunions and introductions upon the arrival of Jack, Zaeed, Kasumi, and Mordin, along with half the tech team, just after Miranda's voice reported the AJ had landed, and she would be along soon with Liara and the rest of the techs.
After giving the group time to greet each other, Shepard led two human and two turian techs away to get one job over and done with, as quickly as possible. No words were needed at the gravesite, and Shepard was grateful when the female turian took one look and purred, "We'll take care of them for you, sir."
Shepard squeezed the tech's arm in gratitude and left them to the grim job of bringing her dead crewmates home.
By the time she got back to camp she was hot and sweaty so, ignoring Thane's look of disapproval, she stripped out of her armour, finding a crate to dump it into. She re-holstered her Hand Cannon at her hip, although it was a precaution she felt pretty sure was unnecessary. Shepard noticed the sea had cut in a small bay, a short walk from the camp, and decided to investigate its strip of sandy beach. Strolling down the easy slope to the curving shore she said, "I'm closing my comms link. Raise me if you need to," switching off before anyone could answer.
Across the sea.
She stood at the water's edge looking across the ocean to what looked like a distant shore line opposite.
Maybe it's just my imagination.
Looking down at her boots, firmly planted in the sand just out of reach of the gentle waves, Shepard bent to put her palm in the water.
Holy hell, that's cold!
At least it was to her warm fingers. Certainly, the water wasn't as warm as she had expected under this planets hot sun. It killed her half considered notion of going for a swim before they left. On a sudden whim she sat to pull off her boots, whipping off her socks and stuffing them into a boot, before standing to roll the legs of her uniform up to her knees. Doing what she suddenly realised she needed to do, connect to the sea, Shepard gasped as she stepped into the cold waves. The water quickly covered her ankles, causing the ache in her damaged foot to become almost unbearable. She hissed, standing her ground until the water temperature became tolerable and she could relax her shoulders. She took in the magnificent view of the mountain range to her right, grey jutting peaks sharply contrasting with the vivid green waterfalls they lay behind.
Since joining the alliance Shepard had the privilege of seeing many beautiful planets. Unfortunately, it was rare to have the time to enjoy them, as she had trash to take out, or she was nuking them, before having to rush off somewhere else. It was a shame; she had always enjoyed places like this. Maybe her love of nature came from growing up on a farm, and her particular enjoyment of a beach was due to living so far inland of Mindoir.
These days, a natural shoreline, the sea, had taken on a special significance in her life. Shepard had never really had any religious beliefs, she was a scientist, a soldier, had become a spacer. Her faith was placed on technology to shield her, biotics and weapons to repel attacks, bulkheads to keep her safe from the vacuum of space. Yet, she was no cynic either. Not even after returning from the dead with no memory of an afterlife. She didn't really believe in anything, just hoped there was something. She found theological discussions stimulating, other's beliefs interesting.
You must choose.
It wasn't the voice of a ten year old avatar child, just a memory. Shepard had not been able to confirm if the boy had existed in the first place, or if she had actually seen him die when the Reapers attacked those evacuating shuttles. Unfortunately, it was likely he had been real, and the Reapers had taken his emotive image from her mind to create the avatar that definitely never existed outside of her head. It was hard to admit, even to herself, how close she had come to making the wrong decision. Confused, badly beaten, bones broken, half deaf from an explosion, and badly burned, not to mention, as she discovered later, shot. The Reapers had almost convinced her to sacrifice herself, in order to save the geth and EDI. Synthesis they called it.
What a crock of shit.
Shepard wondered again what might have happened if she had failed to choose Destroy, the one choice which seem most like a red herring, which no doubt the Reapers hoped she would believe, and thus reject. Would controlling the Reapers have given her the opportunity to destroy them? Or would she have simply watched the end of this cycle with maniacal laugher, having been converted into a Reaper or something? Could Synthesis really have seen the geth walking around with biological faces instead of light bulb heads? Or would biotics find themselves sprouting bits of technology along their bodies, half machines with glowing eyes?
She sniggered, shaking her head. Some theorists believed this, but Shepard thought it was all bull. The only war she was fighting at that point was for her own mind. She believed any other choice, than the one she had made, would have opened some kind of protective barrier her psyche had somehow thrown up a mental version of the geth barriers she had seen Liara trapped inside, that first time they met. Had she chosen anything else, the Reapers, or one of them at least, would have lived on inside her. It would probably have turned her into a breathing puppet so she could indoctrinate others until this cycle finally came to an end. Either that, or untill it was time for the new biological Reapers to rise up for the next cycle, if there was anything to rise against by then, which seemed unlikely.
It was Anderson who had pulled the final switch and killed the Reapers, not her. But if she hadn't mentally chosen to destroy them, it may have been all for nothing anyway. They would never know for sure. Among the theorists who believed this to be the most likely scenario, some suggested the explosion she had experienced at the end had actually been Anderson's last moments. Somehow their minds had remained connected right up to the Admiral's death.
Shepard curled her toes into the sand, enjoying the sensation of the tiny grains as they moved lightly across the top of her feet.
Squinting out to sea, she whispered, "Thank you, Kalahira, for not taking Thane, or me, just yet. But... look after the doc for me, please, and all the other heroes who have crossed the sea." It wasn't really a prayer, more an acknowledgement of how her own tentative beliefs had shifted slightly. She hadn't suddenly decided omnipotent gods watched over them, granting prayers or protection, nor had Thane been a particular influence. But something had happened to her in that Collector ship, while she waited to die. A lesson in how hanging onto a belief, however unscientific, or crazy, really could work miracles.
Of all the gods and goddesses of Thane's religion, the names of Amonkira, Arashu, and especially Kalahira, had come to represent the fact there was always hope, no matter what she faced, no matter the odds. Life on this side of the shore was not done with her yet, nor was she done with it, not by a long way.
Even if the gods and goddesses of the universe didn't really exist, and surviving the Collector ship was just another reprieve from her eventual return to simply no longer existing anymore, Shepard found herself comforted by having an occasional chat with the deities of a very old drell religion. It was her secret. Or at least, she assumed it was; you could never tell with Thane. Sometimes he seemed to read her like an omni-tool scan.
Shepard smiled up at the twin planets dominating the clear sky, the sun bathing them in large silver crescents. She could see vast craters on the nearest world, vanishing into its invisible dark side. With a deep soothing breath she closed her eyes, and turned her face towards the sun, listening to the sea gently lapping the shore.
Not wanting to creep up on her, Thane had halted half way down the slope and found himself unable to stop watching her for a few moments. He would forever remember every highlight the sun cast in her hair, every lazy lap of the water around her ankles, one of which was still heavily marked with livid scars.
He smiled when she took off her Alliance tunic, balled it up, and threw it over her shoulder, allowing let it flop into the sand just out of the oceans reach. The sun reflected brightly off her white vest, making Thane blink for a moment as he slowly ambled towards her.
"Does this planet remind you of Virmire?" He asked as he approached, pleased to see the smile on her lips as he walked into the water beside her, still wearing his boots.
Slowly, Shepard lowered her face away from the sun and opened her eyes, squinting at first, before turning towards him.
"It doesn't remind me of Virmire, this place is very different. But it does make me think of Virmire, how did you know?"
"You told me," Thane smiled down at her. "When we were on Zorya for Zaeed and we stopped by that waterfall. You said whenever you saw something naturally beautiful on a planet you visited, it always made you think of Virmire."
"I remember," she nodded, now looking past Thane at the waterfall in the distance. "I was just thinking, whenever I end up in a beautiful place, it usually ends in me blowing the crap out of it. Sometimes I wonder if that waterfall on Zorya survived the refinery going up in flames."
"It did." At her questioning look, Thane explained, "I saw from the shuttle as we lifted off. The waterfall remained untouched."
"Wow," she slid her hand into his and squeezed as she looked out to the sea, "good to know."
"Perhaps you can take me to Virmire one day, and show me the planet you described as... among the most beautiful environments you have ever seen."
Shepard scoffed, "Not much point, got nuked remember? It's just a crater now."
"Only a small area. There are many hundreds of kilometres of similar coastal areas as you described, Siha."
"How do you... Oh! You looked it up."
Thane nodded, "Shortly after we returned to the Normandy, with Zaeed."
She smiled, wrapping her free arm around his and laying her head casually against his shoulder.
Thane also smiled, looking across the sea and enjoying the warmth of both this planet, and of his warrior-angel, who he felt so blessed to be beside.
After a comfortable silence, she asked, "Should I feel at such peace? Such... joy? At least, in some ways... Even though some of my friends are buried close by?"
"Do you believe they would not want you to feel such things, Siha?"
"Well, no..."
"Then surely your feelings would bring them joy and comfort, as much as they do to those of us, still... this side of the sea."
She smiled up at him, then sighed. "I suppose... I didn't really think about it like that. Ah, hell, I'll probably cry later."
"I'll be here if you don't want to cry alone," Thane said gently into her hair.
Suddenly she lifted her head from his shoulder, as if remembering something, and with a small smile turned to him, "Thane," she wrapped an arm around his waist, holding his gaze with a deep love in her eyes.
He wanted to kiss that widening smile on her lips, but he waited, heart
pounding as he recalled that sentence she didn't finish in the shuttle bay.
The tip of her tongue played briefly across her lips, and she took a small breath, "I really want to tell you something."
"Oh? I am listening, Siha." Thane smiled.
"Miranda's here, Shepard," Garrus burst in over the comm.
Her smile fell, "Oh, you have seriously got to be kidding me!" Half annoyed, half laughing, she linked her fingers together on the back of her neck, and put her forehead onto Thane's chest. Before he could wrap his arms around her she pushed herself away to retrieve her boots and tunic, grumbling continuously. She was off in a fast stomp back up the slope, before Thane could offer to unburden her.
He paused to turn back towards the water, to look across the ocean, before Shepard called over her shoulder, "C'mon, I've got something to show you!"
Thane turned to follow his Siha, leaving the sea behind him.