Foreword,
This is the end of the ME2 storyline. I just couldn't fit ME2 into the chapter title. There's a lot to cover here.
"Okay," Melody sighed rubbing Kelly's back gently as they sat in front of the crew, she was sat on the kitchen island and Kelly was crosslegged next to her. "Everyone on the floor please, or wherever is comfortable, we're all tired I know, but there's no sense in sleeping now."
"I have been," Melody rubbed the back of her neck as people got comfortable. "Slacking on my job...I'd like to come out and formally apologize. Kelly, everyone I'm sorry. I've been scatterbrained and not focused on what everyone been needing."
Kelly poured herself some water from where she sat, and Melody turned to the group out in front of her.
"Soldier's, raise of hands; how many have had sleepless nights lately?" she watched as all if not most raised their hands. "And keep your hands up if you can remember the names of people lost or killed from those sleepless nights."
More hands raised themselves, and she let out a sad sigh as she raised her hand, not wanting to talk about that one she let out a sigh.
"We don't need to share all together," she sat back. "But I will," she ran her hand down her neck and crossed her legs. "When I was a grunt, a rookie in the Alliance Military, I was sent out with my squad to investigate a disturbance off the base of a little town our fortress was near. I won't name it because it doesn't exist now.
"My squad consisted of a gunner; Brook, an engineer; Nico, and a heavy; Ian." she rubbed the bridge of her nose as she saw those grey flickers out of the corner of her eye, she had never seen these before, but she also hadn't thought of her squad in years. "We reached a Blue Suns and Eclipse camp several clicks from the city, Nico called it in, they advised us to advance and find the intel. When we reached the camp there was no one, just one Salarian strapped to a table haphazardly. When we took his gag off the Salarian and he started screaming.
"'Clear out! There's no time!' We tried to calm him down but he kept shouting that there was a nuke. 'They're in the shelter! You guys have no hope! RUN!'"
The room was quiet, Kelly was shaking a little.
"The blast went off," she sighed. "And I ran, yelling for my squad to follow to the bunker. When I turned around no one was there and the cloud of smoke was advancing. I could only bust into the bunker and slam the door behind me to save myself."
She looked around the room in surprise as blue flickers of threads strengthened their bond to her, This made her want to cry.
"As the explosion wavered outside I called it in," she sniffled a little feeling her nose running a little, her cheeks dry however. "They advised I proceed with caution and not engage the hostiles until the coast was clear. When they called back saying the radiation had cleared and they could send a rescue shuttle I agreed and they sent me a nav point. When I exited the bunker and looked for my crew-"
Her voice caught in her throat as she vividly remembered the scene.
Brook had clutched to Nico in their dying moments, and their flesh had melted off, so nothing but some muscle clung to their bones, but Ian was still alive gasping for air. His helmet had cracked open, and he was beating his head in near their dead friends, his exposed skin from his helmet was melted and bubbling still. The sight had made her throw up when she had come across it.
"I found their bodies, Ian had a crack in his helmet," she was shaking. "He wasn't going to make it."
She could hear Ian screaming at her that it was her fault, over and over. She could still hear the shrill shrieks punctuated with a thud of him hitting his helmet, that was everything she heard when she remembered Nico and Brook. Not their laughs, not their voices.
"All I remember when I return to that scene," she took a shaking breath. "Is the bodies, and hearing Ian shouting that I left them behind and that it's my fault that they're dead."
She felt sick again, shaking her head, knowing deep down that something similar could have happened on Virmire. As repressed as the memory was, she still wanted everyone to survive.
She gently rubbed Kelly's back; this was surprisingly calming herself.
"Now," she let out a shaking sigh. "I expect everyone who was on the Collector ship to come to me, as soon as you can. And talk to me about it. I know it's hard to return there, but knowing it happened and that it can't hurt you right now is where we find comfort. I can only aid a bit until we can make it back to the Citadel. Then I request all to submit themselves to evaluation."
Jane cleared her throat on the far side of the room.
"Before the Citadel; we're making a stop at Illium," she mumbled, her voice thick with sleep still. "Then the Bahak system. Only a few will accompany us to Illium, and none are to step foot off the Normandy on the second, these are strict orders from our superiors."
"Now," John's voice was just as heavy and thick. "I suggest that over the next couple of days that everyone occupy their mind as to where they will stay after the Citadel."
Everyone let off a murmur.
"We disobeyed the Illusive Man," he explained. "That's our decision. However, most of you are loyal to Cerberus, and we understand that and can't ask you to change your life for the good of the Normandy. But we still have the Alliance to answer to, and always have. They're going to want to question the crew and us after the mission." he slowly stood. "I'm not asking you to do anything rash, just think about where you might want to go so if the Alliance boots you off the ship that you have a place to stay at the least."
Melody felt a sinking sense of dread. The mission in the Bahak system must be hazardous or the Council threatening, if the twins were suggesting we leave the Normandy afterwards. She had a sinking feeling that they would have to make a tough decision. Melody knew what she would do if she left the Normandy, she'd go to marry Julius. Hopefully, the cosmos didn't have a different plan for her.
Melody sat in the Starboard observation, thoroughly exhausted. She hadn't slept since the early morning when Kelly had woke the ship. The red-head was sleeping soundly in med-bay, and she had spoken to Melody for hours, her and the others that weren't combated veterans. Surprisingly Ken and Gabby hadn't shown, which made sense, they were former Alliance, they'd probably seen losses before.
She was thinking on the crew, and the old Normandy when she saw a flicker on the horizon, grey to the planet below them. She felt a tug in her heart like she had seen the icy world before.
"EDI," she asked. "What planet are we coasting near? Off the Starboard?"
"That would be Alchera," EDI stated, her voice sounding solemn. "The crash site of the Normandy and location where both Shepard's bodies were recovered."
Her heart thudded in her chest, she jumped up and pulled out her omni-tool as she headed to the armoury.
"Shep here, Jane," Jane answered her omni-tool as Melody put on her earphone so only she could hear her.
"Jane, we're passing the Normandy crash site," she said plainly, pulling on her boots.
There was a heavy pregnant pause.
"I'll be down shortly with John," she said simply. "I'll contact the others."
Melody nodded and suited up as she disconnected. She felt a sense of duty to her fallen comrades, she had dwelled over the mission report, and the MIA reports the whole several months post-crash. Thinking about it made her stomach lurch. She thought about how often she and Joker had drunk themselves to vomiting those months; Melody had never drunk as much as she did then.
Within twenty minutes their small group were ready. Jane, John, Tali and Garrus. They asked Chawkwas if she wanted to come, but she said she couldn't bear to leave Kelly or find something she didn't want to.
Melody understood, there were 20 MIA, what if they found a body.
She took a steadying breath and the group shuttled down the surface alone, and in silence.
When they landed, there was nothing but the tundra, and the wreckage, several yards of it. Melody let out a sad sigh as they left the shuttle and saw the remains of the girl's hull. The 'Normandy' splashed as bright as she remembered, the piece of the dead vessel coated in crystal clear ice.
"The Mako," Garrus sighed sadly, the group turned, and there she was, it's wheels caked in ice and snow, on a slant down a hill as if they had just parked it there. The roof and windows caked in frost and snow; it looked beautiful and sad.
They slowly walked around the grey-blue, frozen wasteland, coming across the old cockpit. Melody missed sitting up there, cosy with Joker and Kaiden, making dick jokes and talking about past tours. Tali kneeled down by the escape hatch, picking up a dog tag.
"Draven, Talitha," Tali sighed and slung the dog tag around her wrist. "I remember sharing ship notes with her; she was an ensign."
The group nodded quietly; Melody could vaguely remember her, she would have been in the cockpit helping Joker and Pressly. Thinking of Pressly made her chest clench in guilt. He had been so xenophobic at first to Tali, Liara, Garrus and Wrex (the last she understood well), the old coot.
The continued to walk around; occasionally they would find a glint of silver; a dog tag from whoever they lost. Melody felt a twinge of despair as she saw the enormous outside hull shining Normandy over the Horizon. It was the man part of their baby. Melody could imagine the tear in Joker's eye if he was down here. Thankfully he had refused.
They found their way to the sleeping pods. Melody missed sleeping in them, if just for the quiet, not the comfort. Lots of them were busted open, and the evidence of the fire they were previously consumed in, was coated in frost,
Melody noticed when they exited the sleeping pod area that the twins hadn't followed she looked out and saw the two of them working on fixing something in front of the old Normandy's twisted hull. Tali had a few busted data-pads she was collecting from the wreckage. Garrus had a collection of dog tags hanging from his wrist.
"We'll take these home," Tali nodded to the data-pad and the tags as they made their way to the twins.
Melody's heart broke when she realised what the twins were working on. It was beautiful. A miniature to scale model of the SR-1 was being put together, it was beautiful metallic gold, and it looked like it was basting off elegantly from the base. She read the plaque the twins had already screwed in.
"Here rests the ship and the crew of the Normandy SR-1," Melody read, her voice hitching as she read the following line. "May we rest here among the stars as rays of hope to the next generation and those who r-remember us."
She sniffed as she remembered the scene. Melody had been so focused on both Jane and John, she forgot the rest. Guilt started to weigh her down as they left the planet.
Melody and Tali sat in the mess, emailing Admiral Hackett with the list of KIA. Tali reading off the names as Melody wrote each one. The girl sat back, sipping her tea before reading the email out to Tali.
"Admiral Hackett,
We have collected the tags of the MIA; no bodies were located at the site of the SR-1's crash.
Here-in named are the tags which can be declared KIA; Bakari Jamin, Barrett Germeen, Chase Addison, Crosby Silas, Draven Rosamund, Draven Talitha, Dubyansky Alexei, Emerson Hector, Felawa Robert, Gladstone Harvey J, Grenado Caroline, Grieco Marcus, Laflamme Orden, Lowe Helen M, P-" Melody pasued, guilt weighing heavy on her as she continued. "Pressly Charles, Mandira Rahman, Tanaka Raymond, Tucks Carlon, Waaberi Amin.
May this email find you well, and may the dog tags find the respective families of these proud soliders.
Yours,
Lieutenant-Commander Melody Milan"
Melody let out a sigh she had been holding. Tali patted her back and nodded to her.
"Get some rest, Mel." she nodded to her. "We're off to Illium to visit Liara; we'll wake you when we get to her."
Melody nodded with exhaustion as she headed to her bunk, sending the email off. She fell asleep instantly.
Melody rolled out of bed what must have been hours later to the feeling of the Normandy docking. She jolted up and dressed, so she was in casual uniform, she noticed the room was silent, some people sleeping the shift off.
She shrugged it off and headed out. As she stretched in the hall caught a sight of something stunning out the port window. She blinked in shock and jogged over, bursting into Kasumi's room, the Asian woman not present.
Outside was a raging cosmic storm, lightning shining the sky, the sight was haunting and beautiful. But wasn't the Normandy supposed to be on Illium, this didn't look like the beautiful Asari colony city.
She looked down from the window; a massive base sprawled below them. It looked like an enormous ship, and there were conductor rods grabbing and absorbing the lightning that was shocking the hull.
"Where are we?" she mumbled.
"Welcome to home," came a familiar airy voice. "The liar of the Shadow Broker."
Melody wiped around so fast she probably twisted the muscles wrong in her neck. In the doorway stood Liara T'Soni with a smug shit-eating grin, her arms crossed confidently.
"Liara!" Melody gasped and walked over, pulling her friend into a hug. Which the asari returned.
Suddenly her words struck her, she said home, and then called it the Shadow Brokers'.
"Wanna chat?" Melody asked. "Like since when do you live here?"
Liara laughed and waved her hand to the window.
"We'll talk shortly," she smiled and walked back out of the open doors. "Come along; we'll talk openly on the ship."
"That's a ship?" Melody gasped. "You're joking?"
She shot the huge ship a look over her shoulder before the doors shut behind them. No way that this happened so fast.
"How long was I out?" she snorted.
"Twelve hours," Liara stated. "The twins didn't want to wake you. So surprise; you made it to my new home unscathed."
Melody sighed and nodded in surprise.
"How did we get from Illlium here?" she asked.
"We were very close," Liara said as they made their way onto the ship via docking exit. "I had all the information coming from a good source, and he was gunned down by the time I got there. An asari Broker agent tried to gun us down. We followed the information here."
She smiled at her finally, "You missed quite the fight, Mel." she smirked as they entered a vast, spacious hall, and started walking down it.
Melody noticed a Drell nursing an arm, his eyes heavy.
"Melody," Liara said as they reached the Drell. "This is Feron, he helped me locate and recover Jane and John from Alchera..."
"It is good to meet another of Liara's friend," the drell hummed to her with a small smile, he looked weak, a dark red thread connected him to Liara, and blue back to him, they will continue to be good friends Melody hoped.
Melody smiled at him and extended her hand, "It's good to meet the one who helped Liara through her grief," she said. "You encouraged her to become stronger."
"And I'm the strongest I've been in my whole life," Liara smiled weakly. Melody nodded.
He gave her a genuine grin; Melody nodded to the man as Liara waved and led her away.
Melody sighed at Liara.
"I think the man wants to love you," Melody whispered to Liara.
The asari shook her head.
"I won't take advantage of his gratitude," she sighed sadly. "I care for him, but I cannot love him."
Melody nodded, hoping she understood. This man was a broken soul, but Liara couldn't fix him, and the asari definitely knew that well.
Liara lead her to a console off to the side of the large central looking room. There was a list of their dossiers, including herself and the Cerberus crew.
"Take a look," Liara sighed. "I don't know who the previous Shadow Broker shared this with, so it should be assumed everyone knows now."
Her stomach did a flip as she scanned down to hers and read it to herself.
Lieutenant-Commander Milan, Melody Amelea
Born; Earth, Canada, Ontario, Toronto
To Alexander K Milan and Patricia A Milan (nee)
Unknown connection to Sha'ira, asari Consort.
Old student to Lt. Kahlee Sanders at Grissom Academy.
3rd human Spectre recruited by the council.
Spouse/lover: Laedos, B Julius, C-sec security officer
Current status: ENGAGED TO BE WED
Alliance listed at eighteen, biotic adept, weapon specialist, tech strengths reviling peers.
CORRESPONDANCE
Melody's heart sunk as she looked over her email inbox and outbox, through the eyes of the Shadow Broker console. Everything, even on Spectre channels, had been hacked and obtained.
She closed the console and turned to Liara, who looked apologetic and sad.
"Looked it over, Liara?" she tried to keep her tone light, but the weight of everything in front of her weighed heavily.
"Yes," Liara sighed out. "It's hard to avoid now," she twiddled her thumbs for a moment before her eyes lit up. "I have something for you, by the way!"
"For me?" she asked cautiously.
"Well," she chuckled. "I couldn't ignore the information you sent your parents about the wedding planning."
Melody felt her cheeks burn, of course Liara had seen that. Thank god she was invited. Melody's mother asked what kind of guest list they had in mind, Melody had said Julius' C-sec friends, her crew and their families.
Crew to Melody would always include the original SR-1 team, even if they were off ruling nuclear homeworld or running intel networks.
"What do you have?" Melody mumbled to herself quietly. "I don't need anything ex-"
"Nonsense," Liara waved her hand. "I have unlimited funds, and never-ending thanks to give to the Normandy crew, you included."
Liara pulled them up to a safe, a new looking one like Liara had just purchased it.
"I've been keeping an eye out for this," Liara sighed wistfully. "When I found out I knew you deserved it?"
Liara spun the lock quickly and fluidly, not stopping on any one number long, before swinging the small safe open and reaching in. She kept the door only open enough to squeeze her arm in and grab what she needed.
She closed and locked the safe door behind and let out a heavy sigh.
She gently set the slim black box on the table and opened it. Inside was an exotic tiara, with a massive cluster of intricately woven metal and gems encrusted on the one side. The gemstone reminded her of something Asari, but the design reminded her of something Turian.
"I-" Melody sputtered, stunned. "I don't deserve this. This is something better for Ash, or Jane-"
"No," Liara interrupted. "This crown has way too much historical weight to be left on a mere human to human marriage, I might allow Jane to use it next if she's the marrying type with Garrus.
"This gem," she pointed to it. "Is a rare Asari blue diamond. On Thessia, these are made by the diamonds formed in or around eezo deposits. The crown itself is made by an unnamed compound of the three metals from home worlds of the council. The story behind the crown is that the original Asari councilor wore this crown on her wedding, so it's fought after plenty of asari maidens. I already contacted the current councillor, assuring her it would be returned shortly after two more weddings. The crown is called Sim're, in high Thessian it means 'sister of my sister', it mean's a dear friend's loved one."
Melody's heart sung. This was such a rare and charming gift. Liara was calling her a sister of sorts, which meant a lot to her. Melody never had a sister, and Liara had no sibilings. A deep dark blue thread connected them as Liara held the crown, Sim're, to her.
"I-" Melody took a deep breath, taking everything in. "I couldn't accept this." She let out an airy, nervous laugh waving her hand in refusal. "It's wonderful that this is basically your declaration of our sisterhood, but I don't think I'm worthy of a crazy important gift like this, Liara. The significance-"
"Is just history," Liara explained. "History I would love to share that had an amazing human spectre's name attached to. Please, as a favour to me. I'm sure the in-laws will be stunned at their daughter-in-law."
Melody's heart was in her throat. Liara was pleading to her, to doll up for her future in-laws. Melody racked her brains.
"Umm," Melody blushed. "How many Turian-human marriages have there been?"
"Only three," Liara smiled putting the crown in its box again. "Soon to be four..."
Melody's heart thudded wildly, thinking how rare her relationship was. One of the few human specters was also going to be one of the few in a human-turian marriage.
She nodded to Liara, her body feeling suddenly weak.
"I'll take it then," she nodded again, trying to keep herself from feeling sick with butterflies. She stared at the box, as her hand absentmindedly ran to the ring around her neck. "I still can't believe this is happening..."
Liara placed a hand on her shoulder. "Have you planned far into the wedding?"
Melody blinked, she had thought of invitations, but that was all. She shook her head violently, feeling sick with worry suddenly. Dear god was she a mess.
"I'll think of something," Liara laughed softly and patted her shoulder. "Let's have a cup of tea on the Normandy and talk over some ideas, okay?"
Melody nodded, clutching the box.
"I..." she mumbled as they headed back to the ship. "Thank you, Liara."
"Thank you," Liara threw back at her. "For being there, even when you couldn't help me..."
The blue woman entwined her hand into hers; Melody felt a tinge of confusion before the asari gripped the hand tighter as if she was giving soft reassurance and thanks with the touch.
Melody gripped the asari's hand back and shot her a small grin as they entered the ship.
The Normandy orbited around Aratoht in the Bahak system. We were waiting for word from Jane and John, they had gone down to the planet two days ago, with a single shuttle leaving not long after the twins had been down on the planet.
The twins had kept radio silence and said they would because the covert nature of the mission, but Melody was starting to worry. She walked up to the Normandy cock-pit.
"Oh, good," Joker said. "We've got a problem..."
He pointed out to the distance, the asteroid that a nearby Alliance science base was working off of was moving and fast
"The asteroid is on a collision course with the Mass Relay," EDI explained. "The aftershock of the relay being knocked out-"
"I know," Melody looked it over, weighing her options. "How much time do we have EDI?"
"Thirty minutes," the computer announced. "And fifty seconds-"
"Fuck," Melody glared at the console and then the asteroid.
Could she leave the Shepard twins behind? Hackett would have her head! Not just that but she couldn't forgive herself if she left them behind.
She looked for the threads for the twins and seemed to where they lead. Her heart sunk.
"Are you kidding me..." she whispered.
"What is it?" Joker asked.
"The twins are aboard that death trap!" she glared and tried to open the comms. "And of course the comms are jammed for them!"
She sighed heavily.
"Wait," Joker rose a brow, "How-"
"Pull in close!" she snapped. "I'll explain if we fucking survive, ok?"
She ran to the armoury to suit up, if the twins needed her then she needed to be ready.
"EDI?" she slid her helmet on. "How are the communications to the base going?"
"Poorly," the AI responded. "All attempts are failing, there must be a communication array down on the base. We're out of hope if they don't fix it."
Melody sighed sadly, rechecking the threads. The twins were still alive.
"Have Joker slip close into the gravitational pull of the asteroid," she sighed. "We wait for a nav-point, anything from them, and keep hailing."
Melody paced the cockpit, ready to go, her blood boiling in fear and adrenalin.
Suddenly a blip arrived on their screen. A nav-point not far from where the Normandy was approaching.
"Joker!" Melody pointed to it.
"I see it," he snapped a little.
"EDI?" she asked.
"Comm channels are open, but no response," EDI responded sadly.
"Bullshit," Melody glared at the screen. "They're alive..."
She pulled up the Normandy communications to contact Shepard's radios.
"Commanders," she said. "Normandy inbound. I repeat; Normandy locked on position, prepare for evac."
"Roger that," said a weak Jane from the other side.
"You had the AI scared for a moment," Melody smirked, relieved to hear Jane. "John alive too?"
"More than the redhead," John quipped. "Ready when you are."
She noticed on the landing platform they were rounding to, an N7 propping up a female N7. John was waving his arms frantically to get their attention.
"Chawkwas prep a bed," Melody said over her omni-tool. "Jane looks worse for wear."
"Understood Milan," Chawkas responded.
Melody headed to the docking door and closed it off so they could allow the twins on. Jane collapsed onto the floor, and John closed the door quickly. They quickly decontaminated, and John jogged into the cockpit, leaving Jane behind.
"Get us outta here, Joker!" John shouted, pointing to the relay.
Joker nodded, and they took no time at all to enter the Alpha Relay. Melody stood and lead Jane to the CIC, lifting her to the elevator.
"Kelly," Melody nodded to the woman in question. "A hand please."
The woman helped open the elevator and lead Jane in. As the doors to the elevator closed, Melody could see the black spot of the Bhakh system slowly growing more substantial, as the relay to that system went dark. Her heart sank, thousands of lives probably dead, and why?
She helped Kelly and Chawkwas take Jane's helmet and armor off. Before Kelly excused herself to return to her duties.
"Thank you," Melody smiled softly.
Kelly gave her a small smile back. That told her that Kelly had seen the map go black, which was what she was trying to avoid with bringing the woman down with her.
"She's in good hands," Chawkwas stated, nodding to the napping Jane. "Check on Kelly."
Melody nodded and ran after the woman.
She had exited to the crew quarters, and the room was full of soft sobs.
Melody walked over and wrapped an arm around the woman. She shifted for a moment before leaning into her. Melody patted the woman's back until the tears stopped.
"I'm s-sorry-"
"Don't apologize, Kelly," Melody stroked the redhead's hair. "You didn't-"
"That's n-not what I'm apologizing for," she managed out, before letting out a sniff. Melody was confused, what did she mean. Before Melody could ask however she responded. "I t-think I need t-to leave the Normandy."
"Leave?" Melody asked, surprised, but then it dawned on her. If things were going to get worse, if the Reapers were coming, then this ship couldn't stay a safe place for Kelly. She had been kidnapped from it after all. "I understand Kells..."
They quietly remained there for a while until Kelly fell asleep. Melody gently rested her in bed and wrapped her in a throw blanket before exiting the room. She had some questions for John Shepard.
Jane and John were both in the med-bay when Melody finally had a moment. She walked past Chawkaws, who was having her tea before she pointed it out.
"I wouldn't go in there, if I were you," Chawkwas nodded to it. "Admiral Hackett paid the twins a visit."
"Hackett?" Melody blinked and walked over to the bay quickly, curiosity getting the better of her. Chawkwas shook her head in disapproval.
"-I wasn't expecting to see you here," came John's voice.
"Just snuck in," Hackett seemed to chuckle. "You two went out there as a favor to me; I decided to debrief you in person."
There was a pregnant pause.
"And the Lieutenant-commander if she stops snooping." Hackett added with a throaty laugh.
Melody tensed. Fucking caught. She let out a sigh and entered the room with a salute.
"Admiral, it's an honor to have you aboard," she stood rod stiff.
"Oh drop it," he chuckled. "I should be thanking you for dragging these two out of the muck again and again."
Jane nodded, she and John looked less weak than when she last saw them. Hackett turned to the twins, eyes fiery with purpose.
"What the hell happened out there?" he asked, tone even and threatening all at once.
"Haven't you received intel about the incident?" Jane asked, looking concerned.
"All I know," Hackett crossed his arms. "Is that I sent you two out there to break Amanda Kenson out of prison, and now an entire system is destroyed." he sounded angry and the end of his rope. "I hope you can fill in the leap in logic between those two events."
John got up and handed Hackett a data-pad.
"I confirmed Doctor Kenson's proof," he pointed to the pad in question. "The Reapers were coming, and destroying that relay was the only way to stop them. Kenson sedated us for almost two days. I started the engines with little more than an hour left. We tried to warn the Batarian colony but, time ran out." John stook his head in disappointment.
Melody's heart fell. Sure Batarians weren't the prettiest species, but they had a culture, women and children...and all of it gone in a flash.
"The Batarians report no survivors from our etat," Hackett announced for the room. "At least you tried." Hackett pocketted the data-pad, turning from the group in thought. "And you two believe the Reaper invasion really was a threat?"
"No doubt in my mind," Jane responded, her voice thick. "We literally had minutes to spare."
"I'm sure all the details are in your report," Hackett nodded and let out a defeated sigh. "I won't lie to you Shepard's. The Batarian's will want blood, and there's just enough evidence for a witch hunt. And we don't want war with the Batarians. Not with the Reapers at the galaxies edge."
"What are you implying?" Jane asked, sounding overly bitter.
"You two did what you did for the best of reasons," Hackett explained. "But there were more than three hundred thousand Batarians in that system. All dead."
"They died to save trillions of lives," John rose his voice, his face contorted in anger and confusion. "if I could have saved them you bet your ass I would have."
"'The needs of the many,'" Melody said quietly.
"Sorry," Hackett snapped at her.
"Sorry sir," she stood. "'The needs of the many, outweigh the needs of the few or the one.' It's an old quote, the only problem is. In that situation, however," she turned to the twins, feeling sorry for what Hackett was implying. The twins could be court-martialed and grounded. "That person self-sacrificed against an unstoppable evil, instead of killing others. Again though, from such a loss, I can't imagine the remain Batarains seeing things logically and will see this tragedy emotionally."
"Precisely my concern," Hackett rose a brow at her, as if he was racking his brains at the thought. "You both are preaching to the choir. If it were up to me, the two of you would be receiving a damn metal."
Melody's heart sunk deep into her stomach.
"Unfortunately not everyone will see it that way," Hackett continued, his voice somber.
John sighed and sat in Chawkwas' chair.
"So what do you suggest?" Jane asked, propping herself up more.
"Evidence against you two is shoddy at best," Hackett stated simply. "But when your missions are done, you're going to have to head to Earth and face the music. I can't stop it. But I can and will make them fight for it."
Jane and John shared a look. Jane nodded to her brother.
"We'll gladly stand trial," John said. "But we have two marriages to attend to first, lie and say we have a few more missions left."
"Shepard," Melody's eyes widened in shock. The admiral just shook his head with a deep chuckle.
"Who are the lucky couples?" Hackett asked.
"Milan here," John nodded to her, earning her embarrassed blush. "And our former Gunnery-chief and Lueinenent."
"Williams and Alenko are engaged?" Hackett quirked a brow. "You as well Milan? Who's the lucky officer?"
"Officer Laedos, from C-sec," she nodded.
"Turian boy, huh?" Hackett smirked a little then shook the smile off. "Do what you two have to do, but when Earth calls...You guys make sure you're there with your dress blues on, ready to take the hit. In the meantime..." he handed the datapad back. "Keep this; I don't need to see the report to know you did the right thing."
"Yes sir," Jane and John chorused.
"You've done a hell of a thing, Commanders." Hackett nodded to them, before exiting the room, and leaving the weight of the mission on the three spectres left behind.
Author's note;
I've tied up ME2 now, and if my heavy foreshadowing isn't obvious enough. The next one or two chapters are going to be light-hearted. WEDDINGS!
I NEED to get Ash and Kaiden married, and I can't imagine John and Jane heading to trail without doing these last things with their friends.
Obviously, people who move on fast from the ship probably won't attend, ie, Wrex won't attend either, Miranda won't be able to make it to Melody's, nor Jacob (both are on the run or changing their lives), I'll give fully fleshed out reasons in the Chapter. And Liara will help with Melody's wedding on the Citadel, but Ash will have a simple one on Earth with her family and Kaiden's and the SR-1 crew.
This is obviously so long to tie everything up, thanks for reading everyone and getting this piece to almost ten thousand veiws.
Keelah se'lai,
Melody Milan