Colonel Louisa Vinberg was a small woman, but seemed made of pure stone. From the bristles of her closely cropped hair to the tread on her boots, she carried herself like a tiny tempest, her booming and unyielding voice as she barked orders seemingly out of place with her little frame.
When Anderson had first spotted her, he had actually thought she was a child dressed in an Alliance uniform. She couldn't stand an inch over five feet, but her command presence more than made up for any diminutiveness. She was efficient, she was direct, and she was born leader.
Anderson liked her immediately.
They had arrived over the mountains and rendezvoused with her battalion only the previous day. The battalion, over eleven hundred men strong, had stationed themselves at a ranch in a wide valley surrounded by foothills that slowly marched toward the Cascades. They had wide visibility as well as a defensive position, though the reported Reaper presence in Eastern Washington was still mostly limited to Spokane.
Not that they were unchallenged or unthreatened, of course. Husks and those batarian abominations that had been widely dubbed as 'cannibals' seemed to patrol wide areas in random waves, though so far none had come close enough or appeared in any number great enough to be a real threat.
The battalion's biggest blessing was its supplies. The two heavy mobile command centers both had QEC stations and could use extranet buoys as piggy-backs for encrypted communications. For the first time since the Reaper attack, Anderson had access to a solid means to talk to and coordinate with the rest of the planet. More, they could finally access newsfeeds and get a first-hand look at what was going on in the rest of the galaxy.
He stepped into one of those command centers now- a slow moving but enormous, low-slung and tread-driven leviathan that was both a portable HQ and an infantry tank of devastating power-with Vinberg at his side. Within, a dozen men and women, some of them civvies, were clustered around the projection pad.
He spotted Tepper, the landscaper who had become sort of the ad hoc civilian leader, lingering near the back of the cluster. Seeing him at the same time, Tepper headed over, giving Vinberg a polite nod.
"We've got a tap in to TNN," he told them. "They're about to show an interview with Captain Shepard."
Clapping him on the shoulder, Anderson moved to the crowd, several of them parting to allow him and Vinberg a closer view.
The rotating holograph was the TNN logo, a voice-over declaring, "ANN reporter Diana Allers was allowed aboard the Normandy SR2 as a war correspondent and has an exclusive interview with Captain Delilah Shepard herself. As ANN's report feeds are still spotty, TNN as well as several non-native news affiliates around the galaxy will be broadcasting this interview all over inhabited space. Unfortunately due to logistics this interview is not live. We take you now to Allers and Captain Shepard."
The logo vanished, replaced by the hologram of Diana Allers standing alone. "This is Diana Allers, officially of the Alliance News Network but reporting now to all stations and affiliations from aboard the Alliance frigate Normandy SR2. With me is Captain Delilah Shepard, a woman who truly needs no introduction, and who has been so gracious as to take the time to address the many growing concerns of the human and galactic communities as a whole. Captain Shepard, thank you so much for joining us."
Shepard appeared on feed and immediately nearly everyone in the command center cheered and clapped and hooted. Anderson couldn't help the small smile at the response. He wished Shepard could actually hear it.
"You're welcome, Ms. Allers," Shepard replied, and the room went deadly silent, all eyes and ears fixed.
"Captain, let me start by asking you a question that has hit the extranet time and time again and seems to be on everyone's mind. You have been declaring for years now that humanity and the galaxy at large are at risk of attack by an overwhelming force called the Reapers, sentient machines that repeat a cycle of wiping out all advanced organic life in the galaxy. This invading force that has struck with overwhelming devastation on both Earth and Palaven…are they in fact these Reapers?"
"They are," Shepard answered firmly. "Unfortunately Earth and Palaven are just the beginning. It will take centuries but left unchecked these machines will eventually scour the entire galaxy."
"If that is true, then it seems hard to imagine there is any hope for our races. If this cycle has repeated countless times, what stands in the way of them succeeding this time?"
"It's a fact, the Reapers have done this before, probably more times than any organic can fathom," Shepard admitted. "I could never name or number the amount of species that have fallen before them, over what is potentially trillions of years, but I do know one thing. They have never gone head to head with us."
A wave of cheers and 'oorah!'s rang through the room, fists shooting up into the air and men clapping each other on the back.
"By us, you mean humanity?" Allers asked.
"By us I mean everyone," Shepard clarified. "Humanity, asari, salarians, krogan, turian, volus, hanar…the list goes on. We are a greater galactic community, each race with its own unconquerable strengths. If we stand together and face this threat head-on, in cooperation, then we will win."
"You sound very convinced of that."
"I am convinced of that," Shepard told her. "Over the years, I have worked with a wide variety of representatives from a wide variety of races. Extremely intelligent and talented individuals, with their own astonishing skills. Without them, the attack at the Citadel would never have been thwarted, and the initial Reaper invasion three years ago would never have been halted. I think if nothing else, our own history has shown us that exclusionistic or segregationist attitudes and behavior lead only to violence, pain, and hatred. No one, no race, is better or lesser than anyone else, and we all have a right to defend ourselves."
"What is it you are trying to do right now?"
"I have been working with the heads of government of several galactic races in organizing a summit, with the goal of mutual aide and cooperation to address the Reaper threat. By uniting our fighting forces, our resources and scientists, we hope to turn the tide at Palaven and Earth and eliminate the Reaper threat before it can spread. I have high hopes that allegiances and treaties will be arranged within the next day or two that will prove the catalyst to driving the enemy threat away from our borders if not destroying them altogether. We will show the Reapers that this cycle is not weak, that we will fight to the last of us…and we will win."
Another round of cheers and hoots of approval filled the air. Beside him, Anderson heard Vinberg bellow out her own oorah, casting a salute toward the holographic image.
"Captain Shepard…a great number of people are extremely upset that you have departed Earth. They consider it abandonment, and wonder why a soldier of your capabilities would leave a home world experiencing a devastating attack instead of remaining to fight."
Shepard looked troubled a moment, her jaw tightening a little. "I understand their feelings," she murmured. "My first choice was not to leave. Everything in me wanted to remain and to fight for my home, for my people. This war, however, cannot be won with mere bullets. Without the backing from the rest of the galaxy, we would remain at a tremendous disadvantage. As a Council Spectre and as someone who has had dealings with top representatives of numerous races I am in a unique position to rally their forces. It was an extremely hard decision to make but a necessary one. Hopefully with the efforts of the good men and women aboard the Normandy, and those around the galaxy working just as hard to gain the edge we need, we will put a stop to what is happening at Earth, rather than just holding it at bay for a short while longer."
"Captain, one final question. If you could speak to those on Earth, both our fighting forces and regular civilians living in fear and uncertainty, what would you say?"
Shepard turned her head, in truth looking at Allers' hover-cam but seeming to look right at the gathered crowd huddled in the command center. "I would tell them to keep fighting, to not give up and never lose hope. I would tell them to hang in there, because they are not forgotten. They will not be forgotten."
She saluted, and more than one person in the room- even civilians- saluted back.
"We'll be coming home for you," she promised. "And the Reapers had better run."
Allers thanked Shepard and gave some parting words, but they were lost in the shouting and cheering that once more echoed through the room.
The Normandy's conference room had probably never been so crowded, and for a short time Shepard was actually worried there would not be room. The stickiest moment had been when the elcor delegate, Count Beduuk Asmir, had come on board.
Fortunately, the doors on the Normandy proved just large enough to allow the massive male elcor entrance, and while his head was only a few inches shy of the ceiling, he was able to stand comfortably at the far end of the table.
Shepard, at the near end, felt a mix of both disappointment and hope as she looked over those gathered. Drell, turian, volus, elcor, salarian, krogan, and herself representing humanity. The fact that Wrex was standing in the same room with the Primarch and the Dalatrass was in itself a huge victory, but she couldn't help but notice also the glaring absences.
No hanar. No asari. No batarian. The quarians and the geth had been pinged the same as the rachni, and had offered the same troubling answer- complete silence. No response came from the Migrant Fleet or the Perseus Veil, not even to decline.
It was the quiet of the quarians that worried her the most. They had recalled their young Pilgrims, they had been questioned about odd weapons and shield technology, and then they had vanished off the face of the galactic map. No one seemed to know what was going on or where they were, and while Shepard cared little for an Admiralty Board who had tried to banish Tali for flimsy political reasons that had nothing to do with her- it remained that Tali was on that Fleet. The girl that Shepard looked on as a part of her family was as ominously silent as the others.
"Earth and Palaven both are under devastating attack," Shepard was saying, her eyes fixed to those of Wrex. "Thousands, if not millions, are dying by the day."
"Earth, I'll help," he responded. "I have no reason to help the turians or the salarians. The last time my people helped them, they slapped us with the genophage."
"Your people were growing out of control," Linron, the salarian Dalatrass, huffed. "If you hadn't been checked you'd have overrun the entire galaxy in a matter of years."
"Checked? What you did was tantamount to genocide," Wrex growled. "Now you're begging for our help again? Ha! That'll be the day. Shepard, I'll send troops to Earth but forget Palaven. As far as I'm concerned they can burn."
"Wrex, ground troops on Earth will help but they won't stop the invasion. We need the turian fleets," Shepard told him. "The turians are willing to work with you, to take any steps you wish to secure a peace and your aid. You fought alongside Garrus, Wrex. I know you consider him a friend. He wouldn't let Tuchanka burn. We need to work this out."
"Shepard is right," Victus said. "Wrex, believe me, the ball is in your court…as the humans say. Whatever you need just ask it."
"Just ask, huh?" he snorted. "There's only one thing you can give me that will change my mind, turian."
"Name it."
"A cure for the genophage."
"Absolutely not!" Linron declared. "We would defeat the Reapers only to have an army of unstoppable krogan tearing down our doors-"
"No cure, no krogan," Wrex glared at her. "I doubt your soft little people are going to be able to stop the Reapers when they get to your door, salarian."
"Wrex, if I could give you the cure right now I would," Victus told him. "However it would take years to develop one and we don't have that kind of time-"
"Not according to my information," he replied. "A salarian doctor worked with Clan Weyrloc and several sterile females to develop a cure. I have a contact in STG that informs me that some of those females were rescued and taken to a facility on Sur'Kesh, and that they are in fact fertile."
There were exclamations all around the table at that, and several sharp eyes turned toward Linron.
"Is this true, Dalatrass?" the volus delegate, a female named Vihn Tross, demanded. "You are holding fertile female krogan prisoner on Sur'Kesh?"
"Disapprovingly: Such an act could be considered a violation of several Council treaties," Count Asmir added.
"We are holding no one prisoner," the Dalatrass protested hotly. "I don't know where you get your supposed information from, krogan, but-"
"It's an extremely reliable source," he growled. "Trust me."
"Dalatrass, if this is true, you need to tell us. Now," Victus said sternly. Linron straightened, glancing at the eyes glaring firmly at her, then cleared her throat with irritation.
"They aren't prisoners," she said at last. "They were found by an STG team in the Tuchankan desert, nearly starved and extremely ill. They were taken to the facility to save their lives."
"They should have been returned to our people," Wrex accused.
"We saved their lives, krogan! You point me to a single krogan doctor worth even a tenth of a salarian one!"
"That's enough," Shepard scowled. "If it's true that these were formerly sterile females who were cured of the genophage, is it possible that a cure could be reverse engineered from that?"
She directed her question to the drell delegate, who happened to be a biochemist with more than one doctorate. The drell thoughtfully touched her lips, then nodded.
"It could theoretically be possible, however even with tissue samples it could also still take years to do so-"
"Again, my contact seems to think differently," Wrex grumped. "You want krogan aide for Palaven? We get a cure for the genophage. A cure for each and every krogan. And we start by getting those females back."
"I will not allow this," Linron retorted.
"Where are the females being held, Dalatrass?" Shepard asked. The salarian's fury turned to her.
"I will not allow this!"
Shepard looked back at her evenly, then at the other delegates. "The rest of you?"
"I do not have STG contacts but I do have several colleagues among the top salarian scientists off of Sur'Kesh," the drell stated. "I am confident that if I asked, they would be more than willing to track down their comrades at this facility."
"Smugly: STG Captain Falkis and Spectre Jondum Bau both owe me favors. Confidently: I am sure I would be able to have the exact location of the facility on Sur'Kesh within the solar day."
"Dalatrass, I suggest for the sake of your people, you cooperate," Vihn Tross stated.
"Is that so?" Linron asked furiously.
"It is, unless you want the collective Volus Merchant's Guild and Banker Cooperative to refuse to do any further business with your entire family House," she replied. "As far as I'm concerned, your people may have rescued these females but if you refuse to return them to their people, you are in fact holding them prisoner."
"I cannot believe you are standing with the krogan!"
"I am standing with Captain Shepard and her allies," Tross retorted. "I am standing with the galactic treaties and with simple, common decency! My people may not be the largest, the strongest, or the most militant. We may be a galactic joke to most other species out there, but Captain Shepard has more than once proven herself a friend to the Vol-clan and an advocate for my people…and we do understand compassion and natural order. If the Tuchanka-clan are strong enough to destroy our people, then shame on our people. The failing stands with us. The same if the Reapers manage to conquer us…it will not be because of their power but because of our weakness. Unlike you, I refuse to be weak, and I refuse to fear."
Shepard lifted her brows, startled and more than a little impressed. The same expression was on the other faces around the table…all save the Dalatrass, who only looked horrified.
"I think the situation stands pretty clear," she said, looking at Linron. "Either you provide us with the location of the facility on Sur'Kesh, or we discover it for ourselves. Regardless, we are getting those females and returning them to the krogan."
"I agree," Victus nodded, his sentiment echoed around the table. Linron looked sick.
"Fine. I will provide the location," she said at last. "The females may be returned to the krogan, but I warn you all. You will regret this to your dying breaths. When this galaxy is overrun by mindless, violent, death-dealing brutes and the rest of our people face obliteration it will be on your heads."
"Our people are already facing obliteration," Shepard reminded her. "Building bridges and not burning them seems a wiser course to me, Dalatrass."
"Bullies get nowhere in this life, Captain. You'd do well to remember that when you look around and wonder where all your allies went."
"Noted," Shepard said dryly. "Vikayl, can we count on drell support?"
"Yes. Our efforts will be limited but we will do all we can to convince the hanar to join the cause," she replied. "In the mean time any resources we have are at your disposal."
Shepard inclined her head in thanks, looking toward the elcor. "Count Asmir?"
"Declarative: So long as we can count on the support of the rest of you should the threat come to Dekuuna, then we will stand with you."
"I appreciate that, Count. Hopefully we can stop the Reapers before they get that far but if they do, you will have our unquestioning aide. Vihn Tross, need I ask?"
"Hardly," the female volus chuckled. "The Vol-clan are with you, Captain. Fighters, bombardment corps, supplies, finances…anything we can offer. We stand with the Earth-clan."
"You honor us," Shepard smiled. "Wrex, we'll secure the females and do everything in our power to get that cure."
"Do that and you've got yourself the krogan, on Palaven as well as on Earth. I swear that to my dying breath."
"If that's done, and the pressure is off Palaven, the Turian fleets will head immediately for Earth, I swear that," Victus echoed.
"Good. Let's get moving then. Dalatrass if you'd be so kind as to provide the facility coordinates the Normandy will head there immediately. The rest of you, Alliance officials will swiftly be in contact with you to coordinate resources and to provide some intel on something that may help us win this war. If any of you need anything of me do not hesitate to ask. I am at your service, and I am thankful to each and every one of you for your help and wisdom in this matter."
Linron glared coldly, the first to abandon the table and head out of the room. The others dispersed more casually, the delegates stopping to thank Shepard or ask her a few questions before departing to head back to their respective ships.
Only Wrex and the Primarch stayed behind, the battered old krogan smirking at his old friend. "I knew I could count on you, Shepard. I meant it. Even without a genophage cure, I will send krogan to Earth and we will fight for you. I know you'd do the same for us."
"Damn right I would," she replied.
"Wrex, I know our people don't get along," Victus told him. "It's good to see a krogan that's willing to work past that and fight for a greater cause."
"Hmm," Wrex grumped reluctantly. "Nice to see a turian not acting like a smug superior bastard. I'm not getting my hopes up too high, though. What your people did to mine isn't going to be easily forgotten, not even by me. You prove you're willing to go all the way to cure the genophage, that'll start changing some minds, but it's not going to be easy."
"Course it won't be," Shepard agreed, then smiled. "Wouldn't be fun if it were easy."
A smile spread over Sydney's face as she ducked her ear in close over Navis's stomach. Of course, this early in the game it was impossible to hear or feel anything in this manner, yet she did it all the same. Her amber eyes were fixed on the small monitor Dr. Solus had set up, the projection of the tiny little embryo slowly rotating in a rainbow of colors.
Smiling herself in affectionate amusement, Deeds had a hand wound in Syd's golden hair, looking at the image as well.
"She is healthy?" she asked.
"Very healthy," Mordin declared. "Cellular division progressing at optimal rate, all genetic sampling showing no sign of any abnormality."
The embryo didn't look yet like anything recognizably asari, or even bipedal. A complicated orb of clustered cells, it had no heartbeat yet, no familiar features. Only a week from conception, it would take several more weeks before these were in evidence.
To Sydney, that little colorful orb was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen.
"Thought of names?" Mordin asked. Deirdre chuckled a little.
"No, not yet, we-"
"Daenys," Sydney declared matter-of-factly. Deeds blinked, laughing in surprise.
"Is that so?"
"Well, I mean…only if you like it," Sydney said, lifting her head and looking at the prone asari.
"It is my mother's name," Navis told her. "Of course I like it."
"Your mother was a nice woman," Sydney said. "And I love the name so…why not?"
"Daenys…" Deirdre tried softly, then nodded. "Yes. That is it. Mother would have liked that. Our little Daenys…"
Sydney grinned at her, then leaned up and planted a light kiss on her lips. A breath later, a sharp buzz suddenly filled the air, and she looked up with a frown. "What's that?"
"Perimeter alarm," Mordin said hastily, and then switched off equipment. "Will have to return you to your cell, find out what is going on."
Concerned, Syd and Deirdre headed back to the cell with Sydney's two guards as Mordin vanished to find out what was causing the commotion.
"It cannot be a raid, can it?" Deeds asked nervously. "This facility is one of the best guarded I have ever seen-"
"Then if it is a raid the salarians will turn it back," Sydney comforted. She felt incredibly helpless. They were trapped in what more or less equaled a big glass box, neither of them armed. Deirdre had her biotics of course but beyond that…
Time seemed to crawl by. The alarms abruptly halted, the silence almost more disconcerting. Then Deirdre's omni-tool lit up. She accessed it and Mordin's voice came over.
{Nothing to fear,} he reassured. {Misunderstanding. Captain Shepard is on premises…}
"Del's here?" Syd blinked, even as Deirdre sighed in relief.
"Good to know, Mordin. Thank you."
{Will like to see you, no doubt. Will keep you updated.}
As she switched off the omni-tool she caught the look on Sydney's face. "Don't," she said gently, sitting next to her. "Shepard does not blame you for the Collector station, you know that."
"I know, but…I blame me. How can I face her again, Deeds? Knowing I almost killed her? I mean, I still can't trust myself, even now. What if I-?"
"You won't. You can face her as a friend, as someone she cares about," Deirdre told her, twining her fingers through her love's. "With me right here next to you, all right? She won't be angry with you, and you won't do anything to threaten or hurt her. Have trust in yourself, Syd."
"That's the problem. I can't trust myself."Lowering her head a little, the former marine finally nodded. "All right," she murmured, unconvinced, but trying. "I mean, I am locked in a box, right? What's the worst that could happen?"