2286
Chapter 25
Two days had passed and there was still no word back from Ivy. She hadn't said what exactly she was up to, but it looked like she may have had a way to steal the Normandy back. Liara had confirmed that the ship's pilot and the bounty hunter had left the system, so there was no telling what she was planning. It took the entire team to hold Kota back once she woken up from the shock. She attempted to leave off the Citadel and throw herself into the fire as well. Luckily, that's when Miranda reported into them.
"She's still alive."
Those had been Lawson's words. It was a good thing that the Illusive Man had placed Miranda in the same cell as Damian. Any other cell, and she wouldn't have been able to report such findings. However, everyone would still have to appear to be distraught over the discovery of the former commander's death. Cerberus could be lurking around any corner. Everything had to be believable. Unfortunately, Miranda had not yet been able to find out exactly where the organization had taken Rex. She believed it was Cerberus' main base, but even she could not locate it. The Illusive Man still hadn't regained that amount of trust for his once right hand woman.
Upon hearing this new update, they decided to hold a private, closed door, high security meeting with the Council. It was imperative that Cerberus not know that word had gotten out that Rex was alive. Such information could get both she and Miranda killed.
"There has to be something you can do," Liara pleaded with them.
"An attack out in the Terminus systems will cause a war," Tevos said, "Everyone has known this for ages."
"So we just let one, maybe two, of our Spectres die?" Sparatus asked. It was shocking, but he was all in favor of sending fleets against Cerberus, Council Space or not. He was getting tired of hearing their name every time he turned around.
"No," Kota said, sounding annoyed, "You don't have to send in fleets. Goddess, just give us the Normandy back."
Nixon shook his head. "The Normandy is half Council, half Alliance. If she doesn't have an Alliance commanding officer, she is docked," he said.
"Then find another officer, damnit!" Kota was becoming agitated, "You have an Alliance soldier held hostage out there! If she dies, her blood is on your hands, you idiot!" Liara pulled Kota back by her arm.
"This is ridiculous," Han groaned, "Nothing gets done in time because you morons are always squabbling over stupid things!"
Bakara glanced down the line of her fellow Councilors, narrowing her red eyes. "I couldn't have said it better myself."
"The Normandy is an advanced warship," Nixon snarled back, "It's not like we can just pull another Commander Shepard out of our asses to command it! Rex was the next best thing we had to Shepard! This is going to take time!"
At that time, a C-Sec officer who was standing guard outside, stepped through the door, it closed behind him. "Councilors," he said, "The Normandy's pilot has arrived for the meeting. She has an unidentified person with her, but she assures the subject is no harm to anyone. The subject checks out for no weapons nor any known omnitool encryptions of the Cerberus type. She says that the subject could be of great use to the said mission."
The councilors all shared a curious glance or two with each other before giving a hesitant nod. "Let them in," Valern said. The C-Sec officer nodded and stepped back out, allowing the two humans to walk in.
Ivy waltzed in looking all accomplished, a hooded figure standing next to her. It was human, it was female. The hood was pulled so far forward, no one could see her face. She held her head down as well. Kota and Liara glanced at each other and then to Ivy and the newcomer. Liara knew it wasn't Kasumi. Kasumi held herself in a different manner, and the thief would not have put herself within twenty feet of the Council uncloaked.
"So, what did we miss?" Ivy asked casually as if she weren't even acknowledging her new friend.
"They won't release the Normandy until we have a new commander," Han replied, sounding irritated.
"Oh! Well, I've solved your problem then," the redhead said with a big grin before turning to the hooded woman.
The woman lifted her hands to the hood to pull it back while saying, "I can command the ship." Everyone in the room, including the Council, let out a startled gasp before going completely silent. Kota broke the silence when she produced her pistol, aiming it at Shepard's head.
"Ivy!" Kota growled, "What are you doing bringing a clone here?!"
"Whoa! Whoa!" Ivy tried to pull the gun away to no avail, "It's not a clone! Well, it is, but it isn't!"
Shepard didn't flinch, staring coldly at her daughter. "Go ahead," she said, "Pull the trigger."
"Kill her! Before Cerberus finds out we know!" Nixon shouted. He waved his guards to take down what he thought was a clone.
"Oh Christ," the redhead groaned, "It's really Shepard!"
Only a few guards moved in quickly to set up aim at Shepard. The others who disobeyed orders couldn't bear to fire upon the Savior of the Galaxy. Liara quickly waved her arm, pulling up a biotic barrier over Shepard. She didn't know what to believe, but if it was indeed Shepard, she couldn't allow C-Sec to eliminate her. "Kota, we don't know if it's not her," she pleaded.
The guards who did follow orders pulled their triggers. Nothing but clicks could be heard. No gunshots. Clicks. The officers looked down at their weapons, confused as to why they were not firing. Kota dropped her arm and aimed for the floor, pulling the trigger. Nothing.
Shepard stepped forward and put a hand on Kota's shoulder. "It's really me," she said before looking over to Liara, giving her nod.
The older asari moved toward Shepard and her eyes went black as she initiated a short meld to confirm that it was indeed the Savior. Liara took a step back after the meld, not knowing what to think. Suddenly, she clung to Shepard, hugging her tightly. Tears streamed down her face once again. The barrier around them fell. Liara knew that Shepard was controlling every weapon in the room. No harm would come to them.
'Finally.'
Shepard's arms wrapped around the mother of her child to hug back. She planted a small kiss on the asari's forehead. "I'm came back."
"How?"
A day earlier…
Joker was following EDI and Ivy as they pushed a heavy tank towards the giant sky scraping Reaper that called itself Guardian. "You two know you are crazy, right?" he argued, "This…this thing probably isn't even Shepard."
"Dad, it is Shepard," Ivy replied, "I don't know how, I don't know why, but Liara, Vega, and hell, even Ashley were convinced it was her. Not to mention Kota, the daughter who never met her, believed it is really Shepard." Ivy had gotten Kacie to give her coordinates of a Cerberus cloning facility with low security. They had managed to infiltrate the place and sneak out with a clone without a scratch on them by posing as Cerberus guards who need a fresh clone for the Illusive Man. Cerberus could be so stupid.
Jeff pinched the bridge of his nose before looking up at the Reaper. Its giant red eye looked back at him. He noticed that the massive death machine did have a different hue that the others, though, he still couldn't wrap his head around it.
"You might not have glass bones anymore, Joker," Guardian said, "But don't forget healthy bones can break, too." He gave a surprised look, cocking an eyebrow. "That's a joke," the Reaper replied.
"Yeah, that's Shepard."
"Jeff, would you make yourself useful?" EDI asked as she and her daughter struggled to roll the tank forward. Joker moved forward and tried to help them push it closer to the Reaper, grunting all the way. "Perhaps you should visit the gym more often," his wife nagged. Joker made faces to Ivy, mocking EDI.
After having finally getting the tank close enough, EDI walked around to the front of it, opening up a console. "So, are you sure this will work, EDI?" Guardian asked.
"No," EDI replied, "After my…programming became my mind, brain, whatever, certain things can be more difficult and/or impossible to calculate. However, I can connect with you and walk you through this. I must warn you, Shepard, it could be painful."
"Thanks, Commander. You made my girl dumber," the ex-pilot joked. A partially metallic hand slammed into his upper arm. "Ow! I was just kidding!"
Guardian let out a strange Reaper like snicker. Shepard thought EDI had become a bit more emotional. She liked this side of the former AI. She was…alive. "Ok, EDI. I'm ready. It's now or nothing," Guardian said as mechanical tentacles ejected from the Reaper, connecting to the tank.
Ivy, with a towel over her shoulder, took a step back with her father. This clone was only wearing basic undergarments. It was one of the newly grown ones and probably didn't even have any memories imprinted within her brain. She wanted to be prepared to dry Shepard off and warm her up if she needed it. EDI and Guardian both connected with the tank and began the transferring process. EDI was attempting to help Shepard transfer her consciousness into the clone's body, much like she had done with herself and the Normandy. In theory, with everyone being partially synthetic, it should work. They would soon find out if Shepard could really be brought back to life in human form.
It took about a half hour before the process was finally complete. The Reaper's tentacles disconnected and EDI backed away from the console after hitting a button to release the body from the tank. The fluids drained out from the container and the glass door flipped open. Shepard fell from the tank to her knees, much like how Grunt did when she had released him. She coughed and vomited up the fluid that was in her throat and lungs. Ivy rushed over with the towel draping it over Shepard's back.
"It's done," EDI said, "However, it seems as though you cannot be completely disconnected from the Reaper in the same way how I could not become completely disconnected from the Normandy before the Crucible was fired."
Shepard gained her balance and held the towel around her body. "So, where ever I go, Guardian goes," she said. EDI just gave her a nod. "Ok, I guess I can deal with that. Thank you, EDI."
The Present…
This time the room was dark. Her hands were above her head once again. All the lights suddenly lit up, the sudden brightness hurting her eyes. Rex felt a haze in her head, drugs apparently, and her stomach was turning, her throat felt dry. Boots clunked against the floor as Damian Brent, her father, entered the room. She didn't have enough strength to hold her head up. His voice made her head throb.
"Everyone thinks you're dead kid," Damian spoke, "Mommy dearest must be so proud."
Rex attempted to form words, but only a pained groan seeped from her lips.
Brent let out a sick chuckle, the sides of his lips turning up in an arrogant grin. "Hehe, wouldn't it be so great if they tried to come for your corpse? Even if they did find this place, we are armed with Reaper weapons. Everyone would be completely wiped out."
"Bastard," she managed to stutter out.
"Aw," he said sarcastically, "Are you upset that Cerberus is finally about to ascend to be the higher judgment of this world?" He suddenly landed a fist into Rex's side. She yelped out in pain, feeling her already bruised ribs beginning to crack. "Should have given us what we wanted," he said, "Now, not even Commander Shepard could save you." Damian laughed as he exited the room.
Liara was in the middle of walking Shepard around the SR-3, the two of them hand in hand. "Are you listening to anything I am saying, Shepard?" she asked.
The Commander blinked and snapped out of a sort of trance, "Um, I'm sorry, what?" She had been staring at the asari's every movement, her eyes, her lips. All sounds had been muffled by her mind.
"Shepard," Liara said with a sigh, "This is all too soon for you. You just miraculously came back…and here you are about to throw yourself into the flames again."
"No, no," the human pressed her palm to Liara's cheek, the asari laying her hand over Shepard's, "I'm sorry. I, um, was just admiring you. It has been a century since I got to."
A faint smirk crossed Liara's face along with a blush. "There will be plenty of time for that later," she said. She didn't want to say it because she didn't want to sound like she had before the war ended. "So, how are we going to save the world this time, Commander?"
"Commander is it?" Shepard asked with a grin, "Well…the same way we always save it. We're going to need to find out where their home base is first. That's what Miranda is for. Then we save Rex and hopefully end Cerberus for good this time. The problem with that is…the way the Illusive Man brought himself back…"
"What about it?"
"If he managed to do that once, who's to say he doesn't have more clones of himself waiting around to resurrect himself again?"
"Apparently Kacie already thought about that," Liara replied, "After she and Ivy got your clone, she took off to eliminate the rest of the cloning facilities. Even if we miss something, when we get to the main base, we could possibly find the location of the rest."
"I agree, but we're dealing with the Illusive Man," Shepard said, "He always has a back up plan unless his arrogance has gotten the better of him."
"Then we should hope for the latter. Oh, and Shepard, if you go to the engineering deck and you see a husk, please don't kill it."
"I already know," the Commander replied, looking down, "Another product of my choice…" Shepard felt guilty for the fate of those who were turned into husks.
Liara grabbed Shepard's shoulder and looked her in the eye. "You did what you had to do…you did what you thought was right."
"Did I? For all I know…I could be indoctrinated right now…this could all be a dream," Shepard replied, the asari suddenly pressing her lips to the human's to hush her.
"If this is a dream, then I want it to never end."