The door quietly unlocked, allowing Shepard to step back into his room. He rubbed the back of his head, the skin there was starting to itch, and he walked over to the chair near the window and collapsed upon it.
The morning sun streamed through, bathing his face with a familiar warmth. He didn't even squint as the light hit his eyes for there were no organic process to actually be irritated, metal optics instead filtering automatically.
Breakfast this morning, as always, had been excellent, all things considered. Today was the day of the week that Shepard could actually eat food as it took a while for his ruined body to digest any substance he ingested. The result of his drastically lowered body mass meant that he could get more energy out of the same portions of anyone else and could run off that for about a week without having to eat any more.
It only took the first bite for him to determine that hot food was a luxury he hadn't experienced as much as many other people, cybernetic detriments aside. The mess followed the same routine for each week in what they served but Shepard didn't care. Scrambled eggs and an english muffin were delicious enough than the same stale, microwaved crap that was on the Normandy were akin to hardtack and swill in his eyes. Besides, it had technically been more than a year since he had a proper meal so he intended to take advantage of this situation as best as he could. If only he could dine normally, then he wouldn't have to feel so regretful about stuffing his face.
Still in front of the window, he glanced over to the bed, half expecting to see her there. The sheets were immaculate, one side of the bed unindented. A flash of purple and grey came to mind, a beautiful face, and a hint of laughter as two people became entangled with each other on top of the bed.
Shepard scowled and turned back to the skyline. It had been three days since they last talked. He had to get it through his thick head that Tali wasn't coming back. She probably wouldn't make it to the flotilla until tomorrow, which explained why she hadn't returned his message yet.
Dear Tali, he had written,
I hope your journey goes safely and smoothly. I'd actually rather be traveling with you right now as you have the opportunity to make a difference while I'm still stuck here, in the same old room. Only this time, it's a little more lonely without you. The bed's a lot less comfortable now and the quality of the company I have to draw from is now severely diminished (not to bash on Garrus or James but then again, I'm not really with them at the moment).
But becoming an admiral of the quarian fleet? That's an amazing achievement. I need you to know, that I am extremely proud of you and that I have the utmost confidence in you. If you are able, keep me updated on your status. I'm interested to hear on what responsibilities they managed to saddle you with.
If you are able to have time to talk, tell me and I'll work to set up some time so that we can talk, face-to-face. I'm not going to let the length of the galaxy keep me from caring about you, I hope you know that.
Stay strong, Tali. I love you.
-John
It had been a simple note, personal but at the same time, a tad brief. Even though he had sent the message with hope in his heart, there was some part of him that suggested that Tali might not even get the chance to talk at all, that their duties to their respective people would tear them apart as they fought in their defense. If none of them were killed first, he thought morbidly. But he had to try, right? He just had to try for he had come so far that he couldn't lose her now, not now.
He missed her terribly, six months of them being together and it was all abruptly over. As though it was as much a dream as his frequent nightmare of Harbinger shouting his name in rage.
The Reapers. They certainly had done a thorough job of tearing his life apart as he knew it. If threatening the galaxy hadn't been enough, they had to go and kill him so he could be brought back to face them a second time, and now they peripherally caused the one person he cared most about in the galaxy to be taken away from him. Damn them all.
If he wasn't physically incapable, he would have sauntered over to the bar in the street down below and consumed several drinks in quick succession until he passed out. He was reluctant to enter sleep willingly anymore. His mind was a haven for darkness and his bed was unoccupied for someone other than him to help ward off his internal demons.
He frowned in his solitude. With Tali gone, he was more of a wreck that he had thought. That woman certainly had done wonders to him as he reflected back. She had helped him find peace through that blistering haze of anger that had consumed him in the beginning, which seemed so long ago. She gave herself to him to make him whole. Who else would do such a thing if not her?
As if his loneliness created a silent call, a soft ping of the door buzzer jerked Shepard out of his reflection. His spirits soared for a moment before reality brought them burning down to the ground. It couldn't be Tali. It wouldn't be her at the door, no matter how dearly he wished for it to be so. Her mind had been made up the moment she told Shepard what happened, there was no reason for her to back out now, even though Shepard would not mind in the slightest if she came back for him.
He sighed and activated his omni-tool to let his guests in. Responding to the hail, Garrus and James entered and Shepard stood up to greet them both, relieved at seeing a set of familiar faces, at least.
"Shepard," Garrus began, holding out his hand for the traditional greeting. "Haven't seen you for the past couple days so me and…" he looked behind him towards the tall marine, "And the jarhead just wanted to check up on you."
"Bird's been so uptight about you that you'd think that he was the one in a relationship," Vega smirked, breaking into a salute. "How are you doing, commander?"
Shepard smiled and shook his head, "James, for the last time, you don't have to salute me here. You're not serving on board a ship right now. This is my room and I say let all professional courtesies be disregarded. We're technically not on duty, you know."
The man's arm immediately dropped to his side but rose for a handshake, which Shepard accepted. "Sorry sir," Vega dipped his head. "Won't happen again."
Shepard gritted his teeth for all of the unnecessary apologies he'd had to endure in his life. He pushed his annoyance down as he was grateful for the company at least. He walked over to the small kitchen area, eyeing Garrus as he traveled, "Well, I'm not going to lie there, pal. It's been an awful quiet couple of days."
The turian leaned over the counter, "Yeah, I heard about Tali. But getting to be an admiral at such a young age? That's something the Hierarchy wouldn't stand for in all its history."
"Oho!" Vega laughed, "Developing a little professional jealousy there, buddy?"
"Just pointing out our differing societies, is all," Garrus shrugged. "I'm just not so sure that military positions being given out by popular vote is the best process to begin with. Take the turian's and humanity's militaries. Both of them remain separate from the civilian body, each their own little nation with the chain of command firmly established. One person moves up a rung from one position to the next until they reach the top. There's no elevator to help you skip a level, you have to climb up it like everyone else."
Shepard smiled, "That still doesn't change the fact that when we see her next, she will technically outrank us all."
Garrus groaned and put his head in his hands, "I'll never hear the end of that for as long as I live. As long as the Normandy is still flying around when all hell breaks loose, I'll have no trouble with you leading the charge. No offense, Shepard, but I'm not entirely confident with Tali giving the orders."
"Don't worry, Garrus," Shepard laughed, "She has no jurisdiction over you in the first place and when the both of you will be on my ship, you hold equal rank so you can quit complaining."
Garrus whirled to James as he spoke softly, "You heard that, right? I want you to remember that just in case-"
"I'm staying out of this, man," Vega held up his hands as he slowly backed off. Shepard chuckled in the meantime.
"My god, you damn turian. You're aggravating, you know that?"
"I learned from the best," he replied in an equally snide tone. "But come on, Shepard, you have to allow me a little leeway when I've saved your ass the past couple of-"
"Hold up," Vega interrupted, cocking his head. "Do you hear that?" He frantically turned in all directions as if a fly was orbiting his head, trying to get a bead on it.
Shepard and Garrus immediately stopped talking and quickly found out what had agitated the marine so. There was a low roar that echoed in the air, distant at first but built up in volume, still a little muted. All three of them realized that the noise was coming from outside so they moved over to the windows and glanced downward.
The source of the sound became visible to them as they looked upon the streets. People were desperately running down the avenues, past the rows of cars, shrieking. One continuous mob of people flowed through the concrete canyons as they seemed to be running from something. Shouts and yells reverberated off the solid walls and into the room where the three men were standing, confused as they tried to discern the situation.
Garrus shrugged, "What, is there a parade or something going on down there?"
Vega checked his calendar on his omni-tool, letting loose an extremely confused look, "I wasn't aware that Yom Kippur was a holiday that called for parades. Or any Jewish holiday, for that matter."
"Either my translator crapped out or you just had a stroke because I didn't understand any of your sentences at all," Garrus shook his head. "Am I really supposed to know what the hell a 'Yom Kippur' is?"
"It doesn't matter," Shepard interrupted, "Because that's not what is important at the moment. James, check the news feed, we'd better find out if there is an event or-"
"Oh my fucking god," Vega gasped, head tilted upward as something caught his eye. Shepard and Garrus craned their necks and summarily gasped as the source of the panic and confusion came to light.
Through the cloud cover, a set of blue-black appendages, like fingertips, stretched half a kilometer long. The appendages soon ended as the large form burst through, mist parting on all sides. The enormous monstrosity did not slow as it descended to the ground, sending up a plume of dust as it impacted. The force of the landing shook the area, causing the windows to rattle in their panes. A building on the far side of the harbor could not take the stress and collapsed upon itself, the structure tilting to the side as the metal and concrete disintegrated underneath it.
The Reaper gave an earth-shattering roar as it straightened on its legs, turning towards downtown as more of its brethren hurtled from the sky. Shepard could only stare at the sight, stunned, "It...it can't be…"
It was. The Reapers had made it to Earth.
Red light was starting to glow from the undercarriage of the machine. Shepard saw the telltale sign just as it started and pulled Garrus and Vega away from the window. The entire room suddenly lit up with the bright red light as everything seemed to explode around them. Heat rolled over in a fierce wave and tiny fires bloomed on the carpet.
Coughing, all three of them sat up and brushed off the broken glass and dust on their bodies. Vega was wide eyed and muttered numbly, "We just got shot at by a goddamn Reaper, man."
Garrus groaned, "Trust me, lieutenant, it's something that will become a habit very soon."
Shepard was already up and moving, turning over his mattress to produce three service pistols. He hooked one to his belt before tossing the other two to his squadmates. Garrus fumbled the gun for a bit before standing up, looking shocked.
"Shepard...all my armor and weapons are on the Normandy."
"Mine too," Vega added.
"Where do you think we're going, then?" Shepard lightly snarled. Without waiting for an answer, he headed towards the broken window (the door to the hallway had been fused shut from the initial blast) and hopped down onto the overhang. Vega and Garrus shared a quick glance before following their commander, trying not to cut themselves on the broken panes as they jumped down.
The roar of the wind was especially noticeable from this high up. It tugged at their bodies, not letting up the assault. Vega groaned as he suddenly realized how far above the ground they were. Biting back a curse from his own mouth, Shepard sidled along the building until he found a ladder and clambered up it, reaching the roof of the barracks.
While waiting for Vega and Garrus to join him up top, he glanced around at the startling scenery. Ships of all shapes and sizes were hurtling across the bay. Several skyscrapers were pockmarked by enormous blast holes. And all the while, the deep foreboding render of a Reaper roar echoed all throughout the city.
A whistling noise came up a few seconds later and the three of them ducked as an oculus sped on by, chasing an Alliance Trident. They were unable to see any more as the pair streaked out of sight behind the nearest building but a distant explosion sounded moments later.
Shepard grimaced as they ran across the building which had a large amount of debris strewn on top of it. Several times, they had to climb over collapsed wreckage but in their current shape, this wasn't so much of a problem.
"Any idea where the Normandy is, commander?" Vega asked as his pistol twitched nervously in his grip, scanning the sky simultaneously.
"If Joker had any sense he's left the port by now," he answered grimly. "Best thing we can do is make it to the bay and wait for extraction."
Running through the smog atop the building, they were unceremoniously rocked in place as a Reaper landed a mile away from them in the harbor, sending water flying as the machine's massive legs displaced it. However, its attention was not focused on the three miniscule specks scurrying along the building, but at the cruiser that was busy taking potshots at it from afar.
Torpedoes detonated off the thing's shields, meters away from its body, not a scratch to be caused. The cruiser, to the credit of its crew, did not so much as falter, leveling blast after blast at the Reaper, hoping for blind luck to save them. The machine did not appear to be impressed, or particularly rushed, as it charged up its laser and fired it, the beam gracefully touching the bow of the ship.
The cruiser exploded with a tremendous bang, all sound dissipating around Shepard and his crew as the wave of pressure pushed everything aside. Wind and noise rushed back into everyone's senses as the section of building they were standing on crumbled away, sending them tumbling several stories down.
Shepard hit a piece of rebar on the way down, causing him to grunt as his skin flared. Other than what should have broken a few ribs, the blow had done nothing but bruise his outer layer. After sliding down uncomfortably down the makeshift ramp, the trio picked up their weapons from the ground and soldiered on, still in shock over the whole affair at the moment.
"Christ," Vega mumbled, shaking all over, "How the fuck did they get here so fast? There wasn't any warning or nothing-"
"Get down!" Shepard shouted as he spotted movement in his eyes, yanking the marine behind a fallen pillar as smaller red streaks passed overhead. Garrus swore and threw himself behind a large piece of concrete, checking his pistol to see if it still had a thermal clip in it. Peeking up from their cover, they heard an unearthly scream as several forms rushed to their location.
Their assailants were large and bulbous. Blue light streamed from their mouths and eyes and several tiny pinpricks over their bodies. Their backs were engorged, swollen, and covered in chitin, their heads hunched down. The right arms of these creatures looked like a fusion of flesh and tech, as it ended in the barrel of a large arm cannon. What struck Shepard was that the creatures appeared to have four tiny eyes, much like the eyes one would find on a-.
"Shepard," Garrus breathed, seeing the same thing, "They're batarians."
"I know," Shepard sighed. "They must have been hit weeks ago and didn't even call for help."
"And now they're just more troops for the Reapers," Garrus growled and rose out of cover and began firing away without input. Globules of liquid burst from the pores on one of the creature's back and it fell, letting loose a horrid scream.
Shepard and Vega were shooting earnestly at that point and all of the modified batarians dropped in their own goo, red mixed with black in a disgusting combination, creating a putrid smell on the concrete.
The Reaper towering over them still had yet to notice the miniature combatants, to which the group took advantage of as they climbed down the remnants of a collapsed building. Shepard looked carefully where he stepped, watching for a loose bit of rubble that could send him tumbling into the raging waters below or a sharp edge that could potentially impale his foot.
They were reaching the end of the artificial peninsula where a downed Mantis gunship lay on the far side. Vega was hanging back, trying to deter several husks from sneaking up on them but trying not to unload all of his ammo so callously. They had limited clips so they needed to be conserved.
A quick hop over a ledge followed by a swift kick knocked a husk's head off its body. Black ichor left a dark trail as the screaming skull sailed into the water, the body collapsing on the ground as it twitched. Shepard was now clear to access the cockpit of the gunship after Garrus put a couple holes in the cannibal trying to salvage spare parts from the wreckage.
Shepard stood back a pace before plunging his arm through the reinforced cockpit. Glass cut deep into his arm and he winced but his hand kept searching until it found the manual release. He pulled his arm out just in time to see the canopy open and grant him access.
His skin had several deep, red cuts on it, already starting to ooze blood. In one nasty case, after fishing out a shard of unshatterable glass, he noticed the shiny metal of his body glint underneath the ragged muscle.
Ignoring the pain, he climbed up and hit the homing beacon, transferring his data protocol in the message sent, relaying exactly who was requesting assistance to anyone picking the beacon up. Hopefully, Joker would be nearby and come calling within the next few minutes because it looked like they were going to get swarmed at any second.
"Shepard!" Garrus called. He looked over to see the turian holding up an Avenger assault rifle that must have been thrown from the crash. Giving a nod to him, Garrus tossed the rifle in his direction as Shepard lobbed his pistol. Both caught the other's weapons at the exact same time. Shepard checked the chamber of the rifle. A full set of clips were already in place.
Now holding both pistols, Garrus strafed to the right to see a pair of batarians walk at him from behind the Mantis. Depressing both triggers in a blur, he roared as the incendiary bursts hit and melted the warped flesh from the creatures. Molten skin dripped to the ground as it sloughed off the exterior of the unfortunate host, revealing glimpses of a skeleton supported with blue and black wiring.
Joining the turian, Shepard brought the rifle to his face and used short, controlled bursts to put down the next few enemies that had clambered over the ledge, coming for them. Bloody chunks filled the air as precise aiming blew bits of their heads off but more still came up ahead.
An explosion took five batarians off their feet as three vanished entirely in a red mist. Behind the both of them, Vega whooped as he primed another grenade, hurling it into the center of the mob and watched limbs fly everywhere from the violent force.
"Getting low, Shepard," Garrus yelled as he fired four shots into a husk's chest, causing it to collapse on the ground.
"Same here," he replied as he slowly brought the sights over each enemy, squeezing the trigger once to make every shot count, before setting it down to the ground entirely. "Hang on, I'll be right back."
Garrus did a double-take, "Wait, what? What do you me-"
There was no time to listen to the turian as he had already bolted out of cover by that point, straight at a group of deformed batarians who were taking advantage of the situation to aim and fire at the approaching human. His shields took a dive but did not drop and he roared as he engaged his omni-blade once he got to within a meter of the first enemy. Shepard took a flying leap and swung his arm down, cleaving the cannibal in two and sending the liquefied organs sloshing to the ground.
Its cohorts were apparently surprised by the brazen move and Shepard seized his chance to swipe his arm across the bellies of all three in close proximity. They howled as their fluids gushed out of their bodies but Shepard paid them no mind, grabbing a charging husk and throwing it to the ground before he planted a boot over its face, its soft skull giving completely to the immense force placed on it.
Do you see me now? Do you see what I've become?
Garrus had appropriated Shepard's rifle and was planting single shots in the backs of husks that were trying to surprise his commander. Not that they would have that chance anyway, Shepard was stone-faced as he waded into a sea of blood and bone. His arm shot out and yanked back, taking the arm out of a batarian's socket. His leg kicked out, shattering another's leg and causing the bone of its femur to protrude from the sickly skin.
Shepard was also turning in all directions with his blade, every swing biting into dead flesh. Bodies fell at his feet as he slowly became soaked with whatever passed for blood in these...vessels.
A cannibal's arm rose and a fiery burst of red shot out of it, catching his side as his shields finally dropped. His shirt immediately started to smolder but he didn't even give a grunt of pain. Instead, he leaped to the left as the mutant started to make a charge, slicing his blade upward as the attack missed. The cannibal fell to the ground in two pieces, bluish glow fading from its body.
The sharp snaps of close fire were enough to make him analyze the situation, halting his frenzy. Dozens of the modified creatures were now climbing down the walls to reach him, some swimming across the bay to the jutting point they happened to be perched on. Shepard, furious, backed away until he was beside Garrus and James as they both readied what little ammo they had in their arsenal.
"We're down to a clip each now, Shepard," Garrus informed. "Think that's enough to hold out?"
Shepard glanced upward for a second before a small smile spread across his face. This did not exactly bring assurance to Garrus as his eyes widened for fear that his commander had gone insane.
Shepard motioned a hand towards the sky, "I should think so there, pal."
A brilliant flare of orange and yellow appeared feet away from them seconds after the words had escaped his lips, extinguishing the presence of any Reaper forces in the area. The blast, while danger close, had been so precisely placed that there was no question who could pull off such a daring move like that. As the smoke rose from the missile blast, there was a thunder of approaching engines and a burst of wind cleared the area, revealing the sleek outline of the ship behind the thick soot that had saved their lives many times over.
The Normandy gleamed like a jewel as it hovered mere meters over the bay, positioning itself properly for extraction. Shepard didn't need any telling twice, already starting to sprint to the entrance of the craft as it beckoned, opening the bay doors to allow them sanctuary. All three of them jumped the gap, EDI welcoming them aboard the second they touched down. Apparently Joker had been too lazy to deactivate the AI after all this time.
Now that their commander was back, the ship banked to the left as it began its ascent. The bay doors started to close as Shepard looked one last time on the ruined city. There were at least four Reapers he could see parting the buildings in the background, their red beams, ever accurate, rose high and mighty as they speared ship after ship, dotting the streets with more debris.
Shepard was white-faced, horrified at the extent of the damage, at the swiftness at how the Reapers had cut through humanity's defenses like butter. There were no heroic charges to be had, no one mounting a vengeful stand against the enemy. Just mindless slaughter, just chaos. Screams and cries echoed from down below, pleading for salvation, for mercy.
And the Reapers gave none.
Shepard.
He groaned as the voice now pierced his mind, sinking to a knee. An alarmed Garrus moved over to help him back up but he threw out a hand in refusal as he clutched his head with the other limb.
Now you see what we are capable of. Your efforts have been in vain. You could not stop the arrival.
Get...get out my head, he thought fiercely.
It is pointless to persist in uprising as so many have done before you. Lay down your life and your destiny will be fulfilled.
N-Never...you...fucking machine…
You deny us, but yet you are not dissimilar from us. You will belong to us, Shepard. You...and everyone you hold dear.
NO!
Shepard shut his eyes and bellowed in his mind, overpowering the invading force by drowning it out. The presence left, for now, and Shepard was left breathing heavily on the floor of the shuttle bay, nursing an enormous pain in his head. Garrus was insistently tugging at his arm and he let the turian help stand him back up. Garrus did not say a word but shared a look with him that told Shepard that he knew that something was up. Whether the turian truly understood the situation or not was ambiguous to Shepard, but he didn't want to know if it created a rift between them if the implications came to light. There was too much at stake.
As the last inch of the bay door closed, he straightened and pushed away from Garrus, blood thundering in his ears as he made for the lift on the far side of the bay. He needed to grab something to make this headache stop.
After that, he would need to make a call.
"Things are not looking good, commander," Admiral Hackett's voice broke through the static as his image flickered in and out. "We've lost over sixty percent of operations-capable forces already today and the numbers are still climbing."
Shepard sighed in the cramped space of the comm room, head still faintly throbbing, "Still no word from the Council on sending reinforcements?"
Hackett's voice was grave, "I just got off the horn with Udina moments ago. Seems the Reapers are encroaching on everyone's borders so no one is going to budge at the moment to come to our aid."
Shepard hung his head, "I guess we can't exactly blame them, even though I'd really like to say 'I told you so' to their faces. Anyway, did you get a hold of Anderson yet?"
The elder man nodded, "Yes, he made it out of Vancouver just before the attack. Last I heard, he was gathering all remaining troops to form a resistance, in order to halt the invasion of Earth."
"I should be there with him."
"We'd all like to be there, commander," Hackett assured. "But right now, we need to focus on formulating a strategy so that we can kick these bastards off our turf."
"Do you have any leads on what to do from here?" Shepard was grasping at straws for the tiniest inkling of a way to fight back, a way to keep from sitting idly as he had been for the past six months.
"Yes," the admiral assured as he fiddled with a datapad for a minute before a data packet was transferred to Shepard's omni-tool, "I need you to head to the Prothean archives on Mars. Dr. T'Soni claimed to have made a breakthrough in her research before the Reapers hit."
Shepard blinked, "Liara? What kind of work exactly was she doing?"
"I had her studying the records for any information regarding the last Reaper invasion, specifically if there were any strategies or useful items that could give us an edge over our foe."
"And she found something." It was not a question.
"We don't know what it is, not for certain, but we need to make sure that the information that she managed to recover gets transferred into safe hands. We have to take every opportunity presented to us, Shepard. Using conventional force is suicide at the moment, we don't have the men or the equipment to take on all the Reapers at once. If the past had a method of dealing with these monsters, then we need to utilize it to our advantage right away, before the entire galaxy is extinguished of life as we know it."
Shepard seriously doubted whether the entire combined forces of the galaxy were enough to take on all of the Reapers at once, but he kept that to himself. Each individual Reaper could wipe out ten dreadnoughts in the span of three minutes. His pessimism was striving to burst out but he just couldn't give in to despair when doing so would get him absolutely nowhere. Fighting was the only option at this point as surrender meant death. He was past such foolish thoughts at this point, anyway. His confidence rose above his base instincts, for the moment.
He nodded sagely, "Then I'll be sure to seize this opportunity right now, admiral. We might not have the proper resources yet, but don't count any of us out of the fight. I'll let you know what we find down there."
"I pray you're right, commander. Keep me posted, Hackett out."
The very instant the holographic crystals cooled and the image of the grey-haired man winked out, Shepard was already moving through the briefing room, towards the elevator that would take him to the armory.
"Joker, set a course for the Mars archives and tell James and Garrus to suit up at once."
The pilot dutifully acknowledged and the current ETA was posted on the electronic strip above the door of the elevator.
Five minutes until arrival at FTL speed. The war had officially begun.