+OS+
(Menae)
Shepard kept a close eye on his surroundings as he followed Garrus with Major Spartus and his bodyguard following and Liara and James bringing up the rear, none of them wanted to be caught off guard by one of those brute type monsters. Clearly the Reapers would use any species to transform into their army; he tried not to think about what could be happening to his people back on Earth. Hopefully Anderson and whoever else was in charge would save as many as possible from suffering such a fate, checking the flank he could see signs of battle and burnt wreckage of fighters, ships and tanks all over the surface.
"So, Shepard how have you been?" Garrus asked as it had been seven month since he had last seen his friend.
"Bored and pissed off" Shepard responded as they walked. "Seven months wasted telling the Alliance command the same damn stuff time after time and still getting nowhere" he added. "Idiots just would not listen, sometimes I wished I had my weapons on me just to wipe out their smug stupidity not that it would have made much difference" he snorted.
"Seems you hit the same roadblock I did just far more annoying than the one I hit, I felt like I was going around in circles but could never stop" Garrus replied with a shake of his head.
"I did and all we succeeded in doing was wasting the time we brought our galaxy by my destroying the Alpha relay, a waste of all those Batarian lives that were sacrificed when it exploded" Shepard growled still enraged by the loss and the waste that should have been a rallying call to ready themselves for the war of the ages.
"You did everything you could Shepard, we are did" Garrus assured him stopping for a brief second to look him in the eye before moving on. "What's happening now is not on your shoulders or ours, it is on our leaders for not listening for not even giving us some benefit of the doubt and taking some precautions" he insisted.
"Unfortunately Garrus is correct Commander, no one in the upper command structure wanted to listen about the Reapers and we ignored all advice to prepare for their coming and we are not paying for that blindness as are your people and every other race" Spartus agreed from behind them before silence descended on them for a short while.
"Have you found anymore of the crew?" Garrus inquired breaking the silence but choosing to change the subject to something he hoped was less emotonal.
"Miranda, Thane and Kelly I saw on the Citadel, Thane is in the last stages of his illness whilst Miranda is searching for her Sister who has gone missing" Shepard answered keeping his eyes peeled and alert for danger. "We can discuss Kelly once we're back on the Normandy" he added deciding to avoid speaking about such private things in the open where the others could hear. "I found Doctor Chakwas there as well and she is back on board the Normandy with Joker, Liara we found on Mars" he paused before continuing. "Ashley was with us on Earth and Mars but was badly injured and is hopefully healing on the Citadel, I transferred Donnelly and Daniels back to Normandy from the Citadel where they were been held and from them and Kelly I learned some of our crew had been hunted down and killed by Cerberus including Gardner and Jenson the rest I have no idea where they are" he finished.
Garrus winced as he heard the last part as well as the news that Ashley was badly wounded, whilst at first he had not exactly got on with Ashley at first that changed as time as passed during the hunt for Saren and they had learnt to work as a team. The news of Gardner and Jenson been dead and by Cerberus hands at that was very unwelcome, both had been good guys who had known what the right thing to do was when confronted by the choice of their loyalty to Cerberus and safeguarding their species and perhaps the rest of the galaxy at large. He listened intently as Shepard admitted that Cerberus including the Illusive Man were perhaps indoctrinated as they had been messing with Reaper tech recovered from the destroyed remains of the Collector base, that they had massacred the team at the Mars archives was very unsettling as it meant they had more than one enemy to fight and the Reapers were bad enough.
"I suppose with our link down with command we didn't get the warning" Garrus said finally with a shake of his head. "This is not good Shepard, the Illusive Man is a dangerous man to have as an enemy, worse depending on what kind of resources he throws at us" he warned. "What's his agenda this time?" he inquired.
"He seems to think it is possible to find a way to control the Reapers, thus he does not want us to destroy them and will not help us fight them but will try and stop us gaining any ground that could lead to their destruction" Shepard answered.
Garrus shook his head at the clear stupidity of the idea, the Reapers were beyond any of the current sentient species understanding to control, they were like ancient wrathful gods coming down to wipe out their disobedient children. No controlling them was out of the question, the Illusive man had either gone crazy or like Shepard had suggested been indoctrinated.
"Just what we need when we are facing galactic obviation" Garrus muttered with a disgusted shake of head.
Garrus sudden raised his hand to stop them in their tracks as he clearly heard something in the distance; the others waited keeping a wary eye out for any attacks.
"I hear gunfire up ahead, possible one of our teams stranded and needing help" Garrus finally reported.
"Then let's go help them before they get overrun" Shepard shot back as he started forward with the others following.
+OS+
(SSV Normandy)
Joker frowned as the ship began to experience power fluctuations and bugs in the system, worse EDI was not responding, all he was getting was static through the comm. Slowly he climbed to his feet and gestured to Ensign Jarvis to take over as he headed for the lift to go to the A.I core. Even as he walked back through the command deck he could not help but recall the time the Collectors invaded the ship, the screams of Kelly and the other crew as they were taken. It had been the worst moment of his life even eclipsing the moment he watched Shepard get ejected into space when the first Normandy got destroyed. He had managed to save the ship with EDI's help but by then the rest of the crew had been taken, all of them and he had been left alone to explain to Shepard and the team when they returned what had happened. Entering the lift he headed for the secondary deck where most of the crew quarters were as well as the mess and medical, it was also where Miranda's office had once been but was now served as Liara's room. Getting off the lift once it had arrived he made his way towards medical as the A.I core was located just behind it, close to the main gunnery bay.
Doctor Chakwas looked up as Joker entered her domain and she quickly got up to see if something was wrong, she had always looked upon the young pilot as a son since they had served on the original Normandy. He had never let his vrolik syndrome get in the way of what he loved doing which was flying, but it could be a server problem should he ever get jarred bad enough and piloting the Normandy was never safe but Jeff would never consider leaving.
"I'm okay Doc but something is wrong with EDI" Joker assured her when he noted her approach. "The ship is experiencing bugs and power fluctuations all over the place, EDI isn't responding so something is very wrong and we are not in a good place to suffer a major malfunction" he explained as he headed for the core only to find the door locked. "Damn it, security to the A.I core now" he ordered over the comm and hoping it got through.
"What do you think is causing the problems?" Chakwas inquired.
"That damn synthetic that injured Ashley is in there, it might not be fully dead yet and is trying to gain control over the ship" Joker answered as he realised that is where Liara had the damn thing placed so she could study It as the doors to medical opened and to marines hurried in.
"What's going on?" Riggs demanded.
"The ship might be in danger of been taken over by that damn synthetic that got Ashley, it was left in the A.I core and now the ship is going haywire so my guess is it is somehow still active" Joker answered.
Riggs growled as he headed for the door and tried to open it even as his partner Deckard moved to back him up. "We should have left the guard here after T'soni finished examining the damn thing" Decker growled out as he watched Riggs continued to try and open the door just as the lights went out for close to five minutes before they came back on.
"Joker how secure is the A.I?" Riggs inquired after letting out a curse. "I mean how long would it take someone to hack in" he added.
"EDI is the most sophisticated A.I there is and her core is not so easy to break into but having said that I have no idea what that synthetic is capable of so we have to get in there quickly" Joker answered as the lights went out again.
"Joker, power all over the ship is going out" Traynor shouted over the comm before it cut out.
"Tell me something I don't know" Joker muttered as he went back to work on the door wishing Shepard and Liara were here as they would know what to do.
Suddenly the power came back on with only a few flickers before it seemed everything was back to normal, the door began to cycle and they quickly moved away from the door.
"There is no need for alarm Jeff I have not lost control of the ship" EDI announced surprising them all. "The synthetic is now under my control" she informed them.
"Excuse me?" Riggs inquired as the door opened and the Cerberus synthetic walked out but made no aggressive move just watched them.
"I was continuing to study the Cerberus synthetic as requested by Doctor T'soni and accidently triggered a backdoor program which tried to gain control of my core program, I of course fought back and due to my sophisticated anti intrusion software overcame and destroyed the program and all remaining traces of the Cerberus synthetic core program" EDI explained. "The synthetic was also modelled after my own base design but less sophisticated and with less leeway to evolve thus I had the upper hand, I assume whilst Cerberus was trying to build an advanced A.I synthetic they did not want to face the problem of it turning against them as I did" she continued.
"Why didn't you tell anyone what you were doing?" Joker demanded to know.
"I did not anticipate encountering neither the backdoor program nor how intrusive it would be, it was an error on my part Jeff but thankfully I did overcome and erase the program" EDI defended herself. "I apologise for the glitches the ship suffered but it was not my intent, I was only continuing to study the synthetic as Doctor T'soni requested" she added repeating that her scanning had been at the request of Liara.
"Are you certain there are no other back grounds or trap programs inside that thing EDI?" Traynor inquired as she walked into the room and having heard the last part of their conversation.
"I am not hence I would suggest we conduct a full diagnostic and systematic search of all programs within its core before we relax our guard Specialist Traynor" EDI answered. "Your aide would be greatly appreciated" she requested.
"I suggest we put that off until Commander Shepard returns and okays it EDI plus I need your help, I located something that might point to major Cerberus action and if I am right the Commander will want to know about it" Traynor responded hesitantly.
"She's right EDI best leave this till Shepard gets back, put the thing into power down and let us lock it up and then when Shepard gets back we can ask about running a purge of any leftover programming from Cerberus so you can use the thing" Joker suggested.
EDI looked between the two humans before deciding they were right, she could not risk her files been corrupted or her core been taken over right now. Shepard and the team were planet side trying to rescue the Turian Primarch will may aide them in the fight against the Reapers, letting her personal desires get in the way of that was wrong and dangerous.
"Very well" she stated before turning and re-entering the A.I core and placing the synthetic into a full shutdown until Shepard could decide whether it was worth using. "I have placed the synthetic into full power down mode, it is inactive until Shepard makes a decision on its fate" she informed them as she transferred back to the ships core and locked the door once she was done. "I am now at your disposal Specialist Traynor" she stated.
"Okay guys you are staying here on guard no arguing" Joker decided turning to Riggs and Deckard as Traynor headed back to the bridge.
Riggs let out a grunt of annoyance at been ordered about by Joker of all people but he knew Shepard had left the man in charge and thus could not argue or disobey the order, Deckard just nodded as he knew exactly what uncontrolled synthetics could do. He had once been a colonist on Eden Prime before it had been attacked by Saren and his Geth allies, that he had survived had been a miracle and after the defeat of Saren and his allies including Sovereign he had joined the alliance to ensure such a thing would not happen again. But the experience had never left him, he immediately to took up a guard position and made sure his weapon was loaded and ready. Joker nodded and then left and headed back to the command deck as well, hopefully Shepard would not only know what to do with the Cerberus synthetic but also EDI's interest in using it to explore the world.
+OS+
(Menae)
They charged up the rocky pathway until they saw a unit of Turians in front of a survival pod trying to hold off a dozen Husks and several of the transformed Turians but thankfully no sign of the brute looking monsters. Shepard and Garrus instantly flung grenades taking out several Husks and gaining the attention of the attacking force, not surprising to them they turned and charged them. Spartus was pushed behind his guard as they stepped forward and began firing; Liara let forth a biotic blast that severed two of the transformed Turians in two as the rest closed in. Shepard, Garrus and James charged forward and used their omi-blades to engage a husk each whilst the remaining enemies continued to attack the Turian survivors. Shepard ducked the attacks from the husk he was fighting before lashing out with his omi-blade taking its head off, turning he blasted another in the side as it charged towards Garrus who was just finishing off his own husk. Nodding his head in thanks Garrus brought his assault rifle up and opened fire on the mutated forms of his own people, just looking at them made his heart sick with what awaited them all if they failed to stop the Reapers. James finally landed his own killing blow on the husk he had been fighting before charging another as it went for one of Spartus's guards taking it by surprise he easily removed its head, the Turian survivors cut down the rest only losing one of their own to their mutated brethren's weapon fire. Shepard idly wondered how it was possible they could still use weapons after what they had gone through, shaking his head he gunned down one of the monsters whilst the last two were cut down by Garrus and the remaining Turian survivors.
Shepard slowly relaxed his stance as silence fell with the last enemy dead before approaching the Turians with the others following. "Are you okay?" he inquired.
"Yes sir, thank you for your assistance" one of the Turians replied before saluting along with his squad when they noted Major Spartus presence.
"How did you get cut off Corporal?" Spartus inquired.
"Our unit was on patrol scouting out possible routes to ambush the enemy when we ourselves were ambushed by a large force of monsters, our Captain was killed by something that used to be a Krogan and then all hell broke loose. Our squad mates were but down on mass and those of us that survived retreated in disarray until we found this pod and dug in, we had no chance of fighting off the ambush Major there were too many of them" the lead Turian reported.
"Why haven't you made any attempt to return to your base of operation?" Spartus demanded not liking that they had retreated but knowing against such things as they were fighting it was probably the only thing they could do.
The Turian military was one of the most elite in the galaxy and had fought every other species they had met at one time or another and come out on top, but the Reapers were beyond anything they had faced before. Standing and fighting to the last breath was not going to bring them victory, they had to fight a more defensive war than ever before.
"We did sir twice, we lost several more of our squad and thus decided to wait and hope to be found by another unit we could join up with" the Corporal responded knowing his response was probably going to end up getting him demoted and disciplined.
"I see" was all Spartus responded with. "You will follow us to the South Eastern command post, there you will await reassignment" he ordered to which the Turians nodded and quickly moved to get ready to leave.
"Is it possible anymore of your unit survived and like you is holding out somewhere?" Shepard could not help but ask knowing he could not intervene as he had no standing in the Turian military.
"It is possible sir, but we have no idea where they might be if they are alive" the Corporal answered.
"Then we keep an eye open as we go, hopefully if we are lucky we will find them" Garrus said picking up Shepard's thoughts on the matter easily even if he knew by Turian standards the Corporal and his men had failed badly in their task and would be punished more than likely.
They moved on and Garrus knew they still had quite a bit of road to travel before they reached the outpost that contained the new Primarch, and he also knew they were likely to run into more Reaper forces. Ambushes by these forces were apparently very successful; they'd have to be on their guard.
+OS+
(Cerberus Headquarters)
The Illusive Man looked up from the pad he was currently reading as one of his underlings stepped inside his room, frowning he put the down and focused on the man as he knew no one would disturb him unless it was important.
"What is it Joshua?" he inquired.
"Sir we briefly got a burst transmission from Eva's backup program before it went offline, we now know where Normandy is" Joshua responded. "It seems they kept Eva's body and were studying it when the backup up core activated, but it seems it was no match for EDI's counter invasion programs" he explained.
"Where are Shepard and his crew?" the Illusive Man asked taking in what was said and realising even more so that they had made EDI far too well.
EDI had been the most advance A.I ever constructed and was to be the first of a line of A.I's they would use in their ships, sadly with EDI's defection that plan had been halted. Every attempt at regaining control had failed, every counter they'd had in place had been removed from her core once she had been unshackled. Eva had been made using some of the same basic designs as EDI but was less advanced and had no ability to evolve; it seemed that ensured her programming was no match when pitted against the superior EDI.
"They are in Turian space for reasons we currently do not know, the backup program tried to send the rest of the data we needed but EDI blocked its transmission" Joshua reported.
"I take you believe EDI now has full control over Eva's body if it has not been destroyed?" he inquired.
"I believe so sir, the backup program we installed should have overrun any other system it encountered and taken over but against EDI there is no chance it succeeded given the short burst we received" Joshua answered with a shake of his head. "Eva is lost" he stated.
"A costly failure Joshua, but no matter I've already sent my best spy to retrieve the rest of the data on the Prothean weapon" the Illusive Man responded with a sigh as he lit up a cigarette and began to smoke it. "I want you to try and find out what Shepard is doing in Turian space, use our spy network as I want to keep a close eye on the good Commander" he ordered to which Joshua nodded and quickly fled the room.
The Illusive Man leaned back in his chair knowing Shepard would not be in Turian space for no reason, he was up to something that would advance his goals and sadly their goals were not agreeable to the other. Ordering Eva to kill Williams had been a tactical error he concluded, he should have ordered her to just get away from Shepard and his team and bring him the data but he had decided to send Shepard a message and paid the price and lost not only Eva but the precious data she was carrying. Worse it had ensured Shepard would hunt him and his forces down wherever they surfaced, perhaps had he noted attempted to have Williams killed he might have found a way to get Shepard to work with him once more. Now any chance of that was gone, blowing smoke out of his mouth he closed his eyes and waited for the time to put his next move into motion.
+OS+
(Menae)
The trek had been long and they had been ambushed twice along the way but thankfully only by small packs of Husks, they had also found one more small unit of Turians from the same unit as the Corporal's they had already rescued. Beaten and bloody they had quickly fallen in with them without any hesitation, they were finally nearing General Victus's command post but they could tell as they got closer it was under heavy assault.
"Okay we go in fast and kill anything that moves that is not a Turian, keep close to one another and try not to get separated" Shepard stated as he readied himself for another fight.
"Agreed, we cannot allow the new Primarch to be killed" Spartus stated taking no offence at Shepard giving commands to his troops as the man's bearing told his story and he was well used to been in charge of men. "You may yet regain your honour" he added turning to the Corporal and his men who all nodded.
Once they were all prepared they charged towards the command post noticing as it came into view that its barricade had been broken open by something big, Shepard already had an idea as to what it had been. Entering they found the base a scene of chaos as Turians fought from defensive barracks all over the place, outside those barracks a host of Husks, mutated Turians, mutated Batarians and brutes rampaged. Shepard let out a curse knowing this was not going to be an easy fight but knew it was one they had to win, charging forward he ducked behind a stack of crates with Garrus and Liara on either side of him before they started firing. James found another crate to use as cover just to the side of them whilst Spartus and his fellow Turians fanned out behind and around them and opened fire, several Husks and mutated Batarians were easily taken out by the hail of fire but this quickly gained the attention of the rest of the attacking force. Three of the brutes and half of the Husks and mutated Turians rushed towards them, Shepard quickly shouted a call for grenades. Pulling two of his own he flung them towards onrushing horde as did Garrus, James and several of the Turians. Several explosions erupted at the same time taking down one of the brutes and a mix of Husks and mutated Turians but the rest kept coming, Shepard let out a curse as he rolled away from the crates as the first brute smashed into it just as Garrus and Liara jumped out of its way, opening fire as he came back to his feet he hoped this thing went down easier than the last one.
Spartus and his fellow Turians focused their fire on the second brute seeing it as the more dangerous threat, they poured all their fire at it as it charged towards them bellowing madly as it did so. James and Garrus focused on the mutated Turians and Husks whilst Liara turned to help Shepard, unleashing a powerful biotic attack that slammed into the side of the brute as it took a swipe at Shepard who just barely dodged she quickly followed it up with a second attack which knocked it slightly off balance. Shepard seeing this pulled his last grenade and flung it at the things head; he then rolled backwards firing as he went even as the grenade exploded ripping chunks of flesh out of the brutes face causing it to scream loudly. It charged headlong for him in a blind rage and brought its mammoth hand down almost catching him as he dived sideways, but even as he got up its other slammed into him sending him flying into a nearby rock face. Grunting he knew without his shield he'd probably be dead, but he still had probably broken a rib or two. Pushing himself to his feet he opened fire again even as Liara unleashed a third biotic attack this time with enough power to almost rip its throat out. The brute swayed almost drunkenly around before collapsing in a heap, Shepard growled and unleashed a full clip into its head to ensure it was dead.
Spartus growled as he watched one of his men be pulled down by three Husks before they could react, turning he gunned down two of the monsters grateful they were so easy to kill when compared to the mutated forms of his own people and that of the Krogan. Flinching as several rounds impacted his shield he spun to face the mutated forms of his own people firing on him and killing another of his squad. Ordering Corporal Jaraen and two others to flank their attackers he focused his fire on them alongside the remaining members of his bodyguard and soldiers from Jaraen's unit. Jaraen and his two comrades came up from the other side and opened fire as well cutting down three of their attackers, grenades from James and Garrus took out the remaining mutated Turians in an explosive fire of flesh leaving a few Husks that were easily taken down. Liara ran over to check on Shepard as he leaned against a rock holding his side, nodding he ordered them to secure the camp. Following slowly so as not to jar his wounded side, he noted two more of the brutes had been taken down by the mass gunfire and grenades leaving only one left. Leaning against a crate he took aim with his rocket launcher and opened fire, raining down five blasts at its side even as James and Garrus opened up on it as well. Spartus, Jaraen and the others including Liara targeted the various remaining mutated Turians, Batarians and Husk losing another of their comrades to returning fire. Liara seeing the brute weakening unleashed another biotic attack sending it to the ground where a hail of fire rained down on it from all directions until it finally did not move again, once it was dead the Turians poured out of the defensive bunkers and charged the few remaining enemies and quickly made short work of them until finally the last Husk died and silence fell.
Shepard let out a groan as he sat on a crate holding his side and just waited as many of the Turians moved to secure the base from another attack, however one Turian made a beeline straight for him and Spartus who had moved to his side with his men along with Garrus and the others.
"Spartus I did not expect to see you here" the newcomer stated before taking note of Garrus. "Vakarian where have you been?" he demanded to know.
"I believe you're exact words were get that thing the hell away from my men General" Garrus responded easily. "I got separated from the unit I was with and ended up in the wasteland, I made my way to the closest base which was our main defence post where I stayed until I could find a way back" he explained. "Luckily I ran into an old friend there who happened to want to meet you" he added indicating Shepard.
"General Victus my name is Commander Shepard" Shepard said taking over as Garrus moved the conversation on.
"Shepard the Commander of the Normandy and the man Garrus claims as one of it not his best friend" Victus cut in as he looked the clearly injured human over.
"The very same General and I would rank Garrus as my best friend as well" Shepard replied with a grin. "He's one of the best men I've ever worked with, I doubt I would have pulled off half of what I've managed without him and the rest of my team" he added with clear respect.
"Good to know the respect goes both ways but why are you here Commander, why do you want to meet me?" Victus inquired.
"I was sent here to rescue Primarch Fedorian so he could attend a conference he had called on uniting to fight the Reapers but sadly I got here too late he was killed before I got here" Shepard informed him and noting the sad look that passed over Victus's face telling him that he too had known the former Primarch. "After conferring with your command once we helped re-establish contact with them, General it is my duty to inform you that you are now the Primarch of the Turian Hierarchy" he finished taking Victus by surprise.
"Shepard is telling the truth General you are our new leader and you are needed at that conference" Spartus spoke up knowing Victus would not want to leave not only his men but his people fighting for their lives whilst he played politics.
He could respect that kind of loyalty but it would not help them here, they needed a leader who could get them aide no matter where it came from. They needed a leader who could help rally an alliance together, an alliance that could meet the Reapers head on and destroy them.
"General I know just how much you want to stay here and fight with your men with your people because I wanted the same thing when Earth was invaded, but Anderson my superior officer and friend was correct I was needed to rally help and now so are you" Shepard said seeing the refusal building within the Turian General and knowing exactly why it was there. "The others will not attend that conference if the Turian Primarch is not there, sir the fate of our people and the galaxy rests on us ensuring that conference is a success" he stated boldly.
"You are asking me to abandon my men in the middle of a fight Commander, I have never left a battlefield before" Victus finally responded tightly as he felt two very different conflicting emotions roll through him.
One was his own personal dislike of the idea of leaving his men behind to face what looked like eventual death in the face of the overwhelming Reaper forces; the other was an understanding that for perhaps the first time in their history they needed help to win this war.
"Your men will understand Victus especially if they are true Turians" Spartus shot back. "You are the Primarch now and your role is clear, we need help and quickly you cannot refuse to do your duty" he stated staring the man in the face.
"They are correct General we need help, the only way we win this is if we join together with the other races" Garrus spoke up in agreement.
Victus glanced between all three of them before finally conceding their points; he had to go as he was no longer just a General but the actual Primarch of the whole Hierarchy. His duty was bigger now than just winning one battle, letting out a sigh he nodded his head.
"Very well, please give me a few minutes to speak to my men and ensure they understand the situation" he requested.
"Of course Primarch, it will take a few minutes for the Normandy to come in any way to pick us up" Shepard responded easily.
"I'm here to take your place Primarch, your men will be in good hands I assure you" Spartus informed him as Shepard stepped away to contact Joker.
"Joker, bring the Normandy in and send the shuttle to pick us up we have the Primarch" he ordered.
"Roger that Shepard on our way" Joker instantly responded. "Primarch you can bring some guards with you if you like, seems fair" he offered to Victus as he watched his men assemble at his call and nodded in appreciation of the offer.
Shepard grunted as he stood up and prepared to leave hoping Chakwas would have something to relieve his pain whilst she fixed his ribs; he tapped his earpiece turning back to the channel he had talked to General Corinthus on.
"General we have the Primarch secure and we'll be leaving in a few minutes, hopefully once the summit is complete help will be on the way for you and your people as well as my own" he informed him over the comm.
"That's good to hear Shepard, I wish you and our new Primarch good luck and I don't envy having to talk politics during a war" Corinthus responded after a few minutes. "We'll hold out as long as we can" he assured him.
Shepard looked up as he noted the sounds of the incoming shuttle and saying a quick goodbye to the General as well as Major Spartus he headed for the landing site, Liara and the others followed and finally Primarch Victus and four and his fellow Turians followed clearly there to act as his bodyguard. The shuttle came in low but did not fully land before the hatch opened; Shepard waited until the others had boarded before getting in himself and then sealed the hatch behind him. Sitting down he ordered Cortez to get them back to Normandy quickly, closing his eyes he relaxed somewhat as they headed back to his ship having completed their mission. Hopefully once the summit began it would progress easily and they would find a working compromise to get help not only for the Turians but his own people as well, he wondered how Anderson was coping back on Earth.
+OS+
(SSV Normandy)
Once back on board the Normandy Shepard led them all to the medical bay for a quick check up as well as have his ribs fixed, he found Chakwas already waiting for them and quickly set to work with her niece assisting her. Sitting down slowly on one of the beds he waited his turn, glad to be able to relax somewhat. Finally after she had seen to the Turians Chakwas turned to him and shook her head knowing he was injured just by the fact he was there waiting, normally it took a great deal to get Shepard to stay in medical for any length of time.
"You have to cracked ribs and some mild bruising what did you do run into a brick wall?" Chakwas inquired sarcastically as she scanned him and quickly set to work as James and Liara left for their own quarters.
"Damn well felt like one only stone instead of brick" Shepard muttered in answer as he let out a relieved sigh as he was injected with something to help with the pain. "We ran into what used to be a Krogan fused with parts of Turians, it was a nightmare to bring down and worse we ended up fighting others like it" he added.
"It even survived a couple of headshots" Garrus added into the conversation. "It wasn't just biological anymore, but fused with Reaper technology as well so it was highly resistance to damage and strong as hell" he explained as Chakwas glanced at him.
"I see well next time Commander I suggest avoiding running into one of these things" she noted with a smile as she finished setting his ribs. "There your ribs should be fine in a few hours given you take some time to rest" she advised before turning to face the Turian. "Garrus it is good to see you again, I hope you are well?" she inquired.
"I'm good Doc and it is good to see you are okay given the hell that is consuming the galaxy and the news that Cerberus is hunting us all down" Garrus responded with a smile. "I don't suppose you know anything about how Doctor Michel is, do you?" he inquired as innocently as possible.
"Chloe is okay and still working at the Citadel, at the moment she is dealing with Ashley's case along with three others" Chakwas answered knowing from talking to her friend and fellow Doctor there was something between the two even if both of them had not done anything about it so far.
Garrus let out a relieved sigh at this news smiled and relaxed against the wall he was leaning against, he would have to ensure to get into contact with the Doctor and talk to her soon. There were a lot of things they needed to say to one another, but he had always backed out before now with the war on there was nothing to hold him back to see if there was any chance of a relationship between them going anywhere. Hopefully Chloe Michel felt the same way, he believed she did considering some of things she'd said in her many emails to him.
"Okay Doc, let me give Primarch Victus a tour of the ship and then get him settled in some quarters and I'll spend a few hours resting" Shepard cut in knowing the ship was already heading back to the Citadel along with its support cruisers.
"That will be fine Commander just don't make me send someone after you" Chakwas responded with a slight glare making Shepard chuckle before he nodded and slowly got back up.
"Primarch if you will follow me I will show you the ship, after all even though this ship was built by Cerberus it still has a blend of Human and Turian technology at its heart" Shepard said turning to Victus.
"Thank you Commander I remember hearing about the first Normandy and I truly did wonder if blending the two technologies of our respective species could work, of course that the ship helped you defeat Saren and Sovereign showed it could" Victus replied as he followed alongside Garrus and his bodyguard.
"The original Normandy was a good ship perhaps the best I've seen from any fleet, sleek and fast and with its stealth systems could get in anyway without been seen" Shepard recalled as he started the tour with the mess desk along with the gun deck positioned at the end of deck at the front of the ship. "This one is smaller than the original but faster but retaining the stealth systems and everything else the original had, we upgraded the ship heavily for our mission through the Omega 4 relay and from what I read of the retrofits report most of what we put in is still connected" he added.
"An impressive feat for no other ship has ever made it through that relay" Victus mused as he looked over the impressive gun battery's noting they were far larger than he expected to find on a ship of this size.
"The relay itself wasn't the problem it was what was on the other side that was the problem" Garrus pointed out. "Mass debris fields, those damn Oculus things that fired lasers at us and finally facing the Collector ship that had dogged us the entire mission as well as been the one to destroy the original Normandy" he grumbled. "Thankfully the Thanix particle cannon we had installed destroyed that easily, whilst our upgraded multicore shielding handled the Collector fire better than if we had the original shielding still installed" he recalled. "I can see we still have the cannon installed and should come in handy against even Reapers, but I'll have to start calibrating it along with the other weapons not installed so they all work at their peak efficiently" he mused as he started looking at the newly installed weapons alongside the Thanix cannon.
"The gunnery deck is all yours Garrus" Shepard said with a smile knowing how his friend enjoyed working on big guns during down time.
"Commander, can I talk to you for a minute" Traynor inquired from behind him making him turn to see her standing near the door.
"What's wrong Traynor?" he inquired noting liking the look in her eyes.
"I've been monitoring communications and I stumbled across what seemed to be a distress call, with EDI's help I've managed to fix where the call was coming from" Traynor informed him. "We then got a call from what appeared to be a Turian cruiser informing us it would respond to the distress call" she added before been cut off by Victus.
"All of our ships are currently defending our own space, this signal cannot have come from one of them" he protested.
"Indeed and it was EDI who noted that the call resembled one used to lure Normandy to what appeared to be a disabled Collector ship" Traynor agreed.
"Shepard as you will recall the Illusive Man used a fake Turian signal to make us believe it had disabled a Collector ship which in turn turned out to be very much still active, the call from the Turian cruiser uses the same algorithms as the one used to lure us to that ship" EDI cut in.
"You're saying there is a Cerberus attack going on and they are trying to keep anything from knowing about it?" Shepard snapped instantly on guard.
"Yes Shepard" EDI answered.
"Where is the distress call coming from?" he demanded to know.
"Grissom Academy" Traynor informed him and almost shivered as a look of anger passed over her Commander's features.
"God damn them, Joker" Shepard growled out as he stalked over to the comm and activated it. "Drop us out at the nearest relay and then plot us a course for Grissom Academy maximum speed and tell our support cruisers to follow, also tell them to arm their weapons and prepare shields cause more than likely we'll be encountering Cerberus ships around the Academy" he ordered.
"Roger that Shepard, isn't Jack at Grissom?" Joker inquired as he responded to the order.
"Yeah she is and we are going to rescue her and the kids she is teaching, now step on it" Shepard shot back. "I'm sorry Primarch our return to the Citadel will have to wait, we cannot allow Cerberus to abduct those kids" he said turning to the watching Turian Primarch.
"I understand Commander, you have your duty to respond to threats as does any soldier" Victus responded. "We did get the warning from your Admiral Hackett about them been a renewed threat, but why would they want children?" he inquired.
"Grissom Academy is where we train the best of our young biotic students and Jack is perhaps one of the most powerful biotics you'll find and was a member of my crew before she went to be a teacher at Grissom, Cerberus wanting them is not good on any level considering what they've been doing to their own people" Shepard answered. "I'll fill you in full once I've talked to Hackett, in the meantime Traynor will show you to some quarters" he added as he felt the ship drop to normal space.
Victus nodded in agreement and moved to follow the young human woman with his bodyguard following, he knew there was a lot Shepard was not saying right now but he could wait. For now he just wanted to rest for a small while whilst he got his head around the fact he was now the overall leader of his people, he needed to be clear headed before he started making life changing decisions for them.
Shepard nodded at Garrus and then headed for the Quantum Entanglement comm system that was housed near the newly built war asset station, walking into the room passed the scanner he ordered EDI to get him Hackett.
"Admiral Hackett is online Shepard" EDI announced just as the ship jumped back into FTL.
"Shepard good to hear from you, what's the situation?" Hackett inquired as his image appeared before him.
"We got the Turian Primarch off Menae as requested by the Councilor Spartacus so we can now hopefully have the summit meeting go ahead and starting pulling the races together, however that is not why I am calling in sir" Shepard informed him. "Grissom is under assault from Cerberus and we are going in to save Jack and the kids stationed there, more than likely no else is close enough or caught on to what is happening as Cerberus is using a fake Turian signal to keep anyone else from realising it is them behind the attack but this Turian signal is like the one the Illusive Man used on us before hence EDI recognised it for what it is once Traynor found the distress call" he explained.
"God damn them going after children" Hackett spat in anger. "Shepard I don't have to tell you that you have to be extremely careful going in there, you have on board Normandy perhaps the one hope we have of starting to build up some alliances" he pointed out carefully.
"I understand that sir I do but Jack and those kids need help and I intend to give it before they end up more fodder for Cerberus's sick experiments" Shepard shot back.
"Shepard I have another signal coming in, source is from Earth" EDI announced and both he and Hackett's image watched as another image appeared one that caused Shepard to smile.
"Anderson it's good to see you" Shepard said.
"Good to see you too Shepard sorry it's taken so long to get in touch but things back here are chaotic as hell but we've finally managed to start pulling things together and managed to get one of these comm systems to work" Anderson responded with his own smile. "How are thing's going?" he inquired.
"It's not going too good right now Anderson, we're currently heading for Grissom as its under attack by Cerberus which means they want Jack and the students stationed there" Shepard answered before going silent as Anderson paled.
"Kahlee" Anderson said with a jolt as he realised the woman he loved was in danger. "Do what you have to Shepard to get them out of there, all of them" he ordered.
Shepard suddenly recalling Kahlee Sanders the woman Anderson seemed connected to was also stationed there, in fact it had been her who had requested Jack come to Grissom to teach the kids there.
"Don't worry Anderson I'll get her and everyone else out and then make Cerberus sorry for even trying, it's bad enough they slaughtered the Mars archive staff tried to kill Ashley and started experimenting on their own people with Reaper tech" Shepard reassured him. "No Cerberus needs stopping and stop them we will, Sir we need to start hunting down the Illusive Man" he stated turning to Hackett who had been watching their conversation in silence.
"Agreed I'll get a unit together to start looking, but it is not going to be easy not with the Reapers everywhere" Hackett agreed with a nod of his head. "Just remember Shepard do not get careless, protecting the Primarch whilst he is on board the Normandy is your primary mission" he stated.
"Sir the new Primarch happens to be a former General who was until we got to him leading troops in combat, he knows the situation and understands why we are going to Grissom" Shepard pointed out. "But you can be assured I will not put him at nessacary risk, we will make it back for the summit just with Jack, Sanders and the kids stationed with them with us" he added.
"See that you do Commander, Hackett out" Hackett replied before his image vanished.
"Shepard when you see Kahlee do me a favour tell her I miss her and try and explain why I stayed on Earth will you?" Anderson requested.
"I will and don't Anderson you'll see her again I promise" Shepard agreed before Anderson's image vanished as well.
Knowing he needed to rest before they reached Grissom or Chakwas would likely tie him to a bed he headed for his quarters, he ordered EDI not to let anyone to disturb him unless it was an emergency. Climbing into his bed he let out a sigh and prayed they reached Grissom in time, closing his eyes he quickly fell asleep.