Hey there! We've finally come to the end of the Mass Effect 2 saga in Guns and Poems. I've added some small details to the headcanon that I've been just itching to do so that's a relief so I can start implimenting new ideas. I also added Ashley to the Arrival DLC, the way I thought the VS should have been put into ME2 for their own DLC like Liara got with Lair of the Shadow Broker. Shepard was too much of a Mary sue in Mass Effect 2 ith being able to kick ass after being physcially rebuilt and it's so apparent in arrival with being able to go through an entire base of highly trained operatives alone and come out untouched almost. I've done all I can for Kallen to have that badass mystique and yet still be human along with it, whether it was her being carried through the last part of Virmire by Wrex while recovering from the full beacon vision, or showing her fear and feelings of violation after Overlord. I hope this continues that trend. Anyway here it is, the Virmire Survivor DLC, Arrival.
"Shepard I have the daily report for all ship systems and crewman duties." EDI said in the Captain's cabin. It was a full two weeks since the suicide mission so everyone was pretty much resting on their laurels. There were a few missions of course. Rescuing a crashed Quarian ship, stopping a mech virus from spreading, and of course stopping a Batarian raid on Franklin, where an attack had been stopped a week prior. Kallen was particularly unhappy with the outcome because some of the Batarian slavers got away.
"Thanks EDI, send it to my terminal."
"Acknowledged."
Life was starting to be easy on Kallen Shepard, who had done almost nothing but fight since her resurrection. She could finally relax and spend quality time with Miranda and the rest of the crew. They even had a movie night in her cabin for the new Blasto Movie, which she aquired using her spectre authority. Her relaxation was about to come to an abrupt end however…
Kallen sat at her terminal, reading the report EDI sent her. Suddenly it was forcefully minimized and the communication log opened. "Commander Shepard, this is Alliance Command. Admiral Steven Hackett would like a word with you."
"Son of a…What the fuck does he want?"
"Can't say but I suggest you watch your tone, Commander" the man said, putting emphasis on her rank."
"That's Spectre to you. Patch him through. EDI Call Miranda, Jacob, and Tali up here, now."
"Doing so."
Kallen stood up from her chair and moved over to her armor locker to get some clothes. She put on her Captains Jacket, the only thing of hers on the ship that still had any Cerberus logo's on it. Her ship officers arrived one by one. Miranda the XO, Jacob he armory officer, and Tali the head engineer. Kallen patched the call into her video screen.
"Shepard I…I thought this call would be more…private" Hackett said when he saw the crowd behind Kallen.
"What you have to say can be said in front of the chain of command on my Ship. XO Lawson, Arms Chief Taylor and Engineer Tali'Zorah. What do you want Hackett?"
"I see my liason didn't check to see if you kept your attitude at the door."
"No, he did, I just don't like the Alliance very much right now. It kind of sucks have 29 years of service being disavowed to placate the masses, and having my image ued, then changed, to benefit the Alliance while I rotted on an ice world, then had mercenary bands fight for control of my corps until Cerberus finally got me and revived me. The Alliance was noticeably absent in this process and I could have sworn after being slated for service since birth and being responsible for getting humanity a seat on the council, I'd have been taken care of better than that." Kallen glared into the screen, hoping her anger was coming across loud and clear. "Now state your business because I have half a mind to cut the call right now."
"Alright, I'll get straight to the point and we'll see how long this call lasts. Recently we sent a covert team of scientists into Batarians space, after they discovered evidence of an imminent Reaper invasion." Hackett sent a few things to Kallen's terminal, "The head scientist, Amanda Kenson, was captured by Batarians and brought up on charges of espionage."
"So…you actually believe me now?"
"Shepard I've always believed you. Most of what you're upset about is PR to calm down he population. Can you imagine doomsayers frothing at the mouth for two years, everyone afraid to leave their homes for fear of the armageddon."
"Don't hand me that. I majored in journalism at Arcturus U, I know how to work the media. You could have acknowledged the Reaper without all that. You blew it and now you're sending me and my crew into Batarian space to have plausible deniablilty."
"Not your crew, just you."
"Excuse me?" Miranda said, stepping forward. "What do you mean just her? If she's in Batarian space by herself she could be captured and I don't even want to think about what the Batarians would do if they had the 'Butcher of Torfan' in custody."
"It has to be just her, if the Batarians discover a cruiser with a full squad assaulting a prison they'll kill her. It has to be in and out."
"I have several master infiltrators on my team that I could send in and out."
"She won't trust them. It has to be you Shepard, she'll be able to share alliance secrets with you because of your ties to us." Hackett said sternly.
"But I'm Cerberus remember?"
"Not everyone believe the data leaks the Illusive man sent out." Hackett had a point there. Kallen remembered reading his dossier at the Shadow Broker base where he denied and alliance Major the chance to ambush and capture her for interrogation.
"Alright, I'll do it."
"Thank you Shepard. It means a lot. Good luck." the call ended.
"You're really going into Batarian space alone? Do you remember what you told me when we talked about them?" Miranda asked with fear painting her countenance.
"I have a plan Miranda."
"Is that plan to shoot everything?" Jacob asked jokingly.
"Jacob you now that's plan B."
"So what is it?" Tali inquired.
"I'm going to put my connections and my fully powered AI to good use. EDI!"
"Yes Shepard?"
"Get in touch with Liara, we've got some fear to create."
"Right here is fine Joker, right at the back."
Joker set the shuttle down by a rear entrance near a sewage pipe. "Be safe Commander."
"You know me." She said before hopping out of the shuttle and watching it fly away. Kallen had taken special measures for this stealth assignment. Kallen changed her armor almost completely. She wore the entire set of Kestrel armor she requisitioned after Illium and it was perfect since it carried no N7 marks. The helmet covered her entire face with the exception of her mouth, which was perfect because of the Batarian superstition about her black lipstick. The helmet used high definition micro cameras with several settings to give her the advantage in almost any situation. She also had more black on the armor than Red, just enough to still be noticed when she wanted to be. She also had Mordin create a similar cloaking system to Kasumi's cloak. She was fully equipped physically for this mission, though the majority of the success would be in how she dealt with it mentally.
On the ride through the Viper nebula she had EDI create several fake stories of Kallen's supposed descent into madness after stopping the raid on Franklin and that she was systematically wiping out Batarian mercenaries. Liara's help on that was sending her agents in to do just that and to have one of them dressed in similar gear as Kallen. Naturally other Batarian groups would request information on her and they did. Liara sold them false info of her preparing for an attack in the Hades Gamma cluster to get most of them off her trail while she headed for the Viper Nebula. Even the Batarian Hegemony was starting to prepare Kar'shan in case she set her sights on them.
Kallen entered the prison's lowest level, taking down a Varren that was gnawing on the corpse of a human prisoner. I've got to hurry or I'll be sending Kenson's remains back to Hackett, she thought. After fixing a bridge she worked her way through the halls of the prisons lower level.
"Did you hear? The Butcher of Torfan is taking out our mercenary groups all over the terminus. She wiped out an entire base with just a small team." Kallen looked into the room half way through the hall she was in. Two Batarians were in what looked like a break room. The one that spoke was on an extranet website, it had a big headline at the top that read 'Butcher of Torfan strikes again' in big letters.
"Of course I heard. Even the Hegemony's heard. They're prepping Kar'shan in case she goes after the homeworld." he sat down on the couch across from his buddy, "that bitch scares the shit out of me. I didn't know someone could be as racist as she is and then be so thorough with it in battle."
"Yeah, you'd think Batarians killed her parents or something right? I bet she's got like some secret Batarian fetish or something right?" the other Batarian laughed, his joke however didn't get any laughs. "She's not so scary when you think about it, don't be so uptight." he looked back to see his friend flat on his face, out cold. "What the-"
He was picked up and slammed against the wall a few times, by what he had no idea. as his head cleared up, he let out a fearful groan as the image from the computer came to life a few inches before his eyes. "Am I scary now?" Kallen smirked. Her visor became transparent to reveal her entire head to him.
"You…you're supposed to be in the terminus systems!"
"But I'm not. You've got something I want, you're going to tell me if you want to live." Kallen pressed her armored forearm into his throat a little more. She could feel his panic and it only served her purpose, "Where is Amanda Kenson?"
"I don't know!"
Kallen grabbed him with her free hand , slammed him onto his back then mounted him, "You're out of lies you damn squint, answer me or I start gouging eyes."
"Alright alright! She's in the interrogation room. We got her and a team of scientists from the asteroid belt! That's all I know!"
"Good Batarian, You're done talking now" Kallen hit him in the throat with a hard jab and stood up. Just to be safe she kicked him hard in the head to knock him out. Before she left the room she searched the contents of his computer and found the layout of the building, downloaded it to HUD and made her way to find Kenson.
As she moved through the prison she would take out a few batarians to help her future escape attempt. All melee take downs. They satisfied her the most because they allowed the Batarians to know who it was that took them down. Finally she reached the detention wing of the prison with one guard in the room with Kenson. She was in a torture device and it looked she was stalling until they put it to use on her.
"Why were you in the asteroid belt of a Batarian system?" the guard asked her.
"Go to hell." She replied. Kallen liked her already. She slid through the threshold of the door and put the guard in a headlock, then slammed him down on his temple to finish him off. "Who are you?" Kenson asked.
"Commander Shepard" Kallen said, making her helmet transparent again.
"Oh thank god. If anyone can get me out of a Batarian prison it's you. Do you know why I'm here?"
"Yeah, it's the only reason I'm here, you know something about the Reapers. I'm going to bust you out of here and-"
The alarms of the prison blared through the area. They were onto her. Kallen popped her shoulders and neck. "This is gonna be fun."
I'm saved, Kenson thought as Kallen freed her. I'm getting out of this hell hole and to the Alliance. Kenson picked up the guards pistol and followed her rescuer through the prison. She sparingly had to use her side arm. Kallen was more and adept at fending off the remaining batarians. Kenson had seen footage of Kallen in action years ago when the Alliance was reviewing the footage of the battle of the citadel. It was much more intense in person. She radiated confidence, malice, even hatred. Her shots were incredibly accurate, even when she fired her highly powerful machine gun. The men opposing them fell eventually and they were able to take an elevator to the shuttle bay.
There was only a squad left to defend the bay and Shepard was more than enough to finish them off. She was downright scary. It's no wonder Harbinger wanted her gone…
Kallen hit the thrusters on the shuttle and got it off the ground and out of the prison. She got it into low orbit…then into space without being followed. "Kallen Shepard-1 Batarian Prisons-0" she gloated happily. "Kenson, I need to see this project. Explain it to me."
"Well I'll start with the obvious," she started, "we received intelligence of Reaper artifacts in the cluster and investigated. We found one that seems to be in tune with the Reapers proximity. we studied it as best we could and figured out that the Reapers will arrive in this system because it's relay is the oldest Mass Relay in the collection, the Alpha Relay. We think that the more active the artifact is the closer the Reapers are to this system. With access to the Alpha relay they can attack multiple systems at once and then it's extinction before we can defend ourselves."
"How were you able to learn this on such short notice?"
"The artifact is closely related to the Prothean beacon you encountered on Eden Prime. It gave us visions of the Reapers arriving, so we took action. The project has one purpose, to destroy the Alpha Relay. We've found an asteroid big enough that if propelled at the right speed, a head on collision will destroy it and stall the Reapers for months, even years due to the distance of the next closest relay."
Kallen processed everything Kenson told her. A Reaper artifact that gave visions like the prothean beacon…this set off all possible red flags in her head.
"I need to see this artifact, Kenson." she said. "I need to make sure everything is going alright with the project."
"Will all due respect, Commander, we know what we're up against-"
"All the same I want to see the artifact Kenson. You may think you know, but you don't. I've faced several Reapers, even as recent as a few weeks ago. I need all the information on the project and I need to see it in person. Take me to it."
"Alright." Kenson tapped her omnitool and opened communications with the project. "This is Kenson."
"Good to hear your voice doctor" Kallen could hear. "Are you heading for Arcturus?"
"No, I have Commander Shepard with me. She wants to see the Project." There was a pause in the response but eventually she received an okay. "Tidy up the lab and have the artifact ready." Kenson closed the communications and smiled at Kallen. "When we get there I'll take you directly to the artifact. we'll arrive soon."
Just as planned, Kenson thought, I'll bring her to the project and she'll be held for Harbinger. When he arrives she'll be converted into an Alpha level husk and I'll be rewarded with the secrets of the universe from the masters themselves.
Kenson piloted the shuttle through the asteroid belt like an ace. Some rocks came close to hitting the shuttle but they flew by harmlessly in the end. Finally she found her asteroid. The shuttle declined in altitude from the rock and was on course for the shuttle bay. After landing Kenson watched Shepard carefully. She was already standing at the doors when they opened. Shepard had a mixture of skepticism and urgency radiating from her. Kenson hopped from the shuttle to catch up to her and did once Kallen stopped dead at the sight of the large clock hanging over the entrance to the inner part of the base.
"What's this clock for?" Shepard asked firmly.
"That is the estimated time until the Reapers arrive in this system" Kenson responded with a coolness to her tone. With her answer she took the lead from Kallen and worked her way past her colleagues. She would need them in a few minutes.
"Two days." Kallen said underneath her breath. The Reapers were going to be here in two days. She suddenly felt a sickening chill cover and seemingly penetrate her skin. She destroyed the collector base two weeks ago and remembered that Harbinger was going to find another way into the galaxy. Well the Reapers were two weeks from the outer rim. It felt like she was under a guillotine and knew how long it would take the blade to fall. There'd been no preparations no one had been able to salvage Sovereign 's pieces before the Keepers got their buggy hands on them and did whatever the hell they did with things. no studies on reapers, no analysis, just throwing soldier like herself at the Geth. Maybe they didn't deserve to be fought for, Kallen let herself actually think this. Maybe she would just pick up her family and the families of her crew and some of her other friends and just take the Normandy to an uninhabited system and wait out the invasion, let the blind walk off a cliff. Kallen bit the thought back before it could be fleshed out more. She remembered her words in the collector base, this was personal. She lost her life for two years. The Reapers hurt her, her loved ones and the various species of the galaxy. They were going to be beaten no matter what.
"Here we are." Kenson said suddenly. Kallen hadn't realized that they'd been walking through the base and reached the lab. "Commander Shepard, I give you Object Rho." The doors opened dramatically on her words and revealed an unwelcome sight. The object could easily be a small house made out of metal. At the top were tentacle like beams and the entire object glowed with energy.
"You…You left it out in the open? Kenson are you re-"
Kallen stopped her sentence and stiffed as the barrel of an SMG pressed against the back of her head. "You're indoctrinated. That's why you wanted to go to Arcturus. That's why this asteroid is still in the belt. You're not going through with it are you?"
"No." Kenson replied, the faux kindness all but gone from her voice.
"Vigil said the Reapers used indoctrinated refugees to expose bases and secret facilities. You were going to sell out the Alliance."
"Something we're both adept at if I remember correctly, Cerberus lackey."
"Go on then. Shoot me, or is your boss going greet me personally. I'm sure by now you know I broke one…pardon me, thousands of his toys when I blew up the collectors a few weeks ago." Kallen herself was stalling for time. Members of the project were looking at her and none of them made any moves to help her. That meant they were all indoctrinated. Kallen's eyes darted through the room. There was a spot in the corner of the room to her left that looked fortified enough. There were 13 armed people in the room, not counting Kenson. Her plan was set she just needed the opening to execute.
"You'll be kept here until the arrival, Harbinger will make the you symbol of the invasion. Your loved ones will graciously beg to be ascended when they see you leading the march. the galaxy will be saved once and for all-"
The window was open. Kallen smacked the gun from Kenson's hand and twisted her right wrist enough to dislocate it. She sprinted to her left, dodging the surprised gun fire from the guards in the room.
"Make sure she doesn't get out of here!" Kenson barked while holding her injured wrist. Kallen was in her defensive position, ready to shoot ever member of this damn project, and she had to. Her revenant was turned over her cover and fired into the first group of guards that opposed her. Her shield and minimal biotic barrier were more than enough to stand up to the initial gunfire. Her revenant's large clip prevailed in wiping out the first wave of the opposition.
"SHEPARD, YOU CONTINUE TO BE AN ANNOYANCE."
A familiar voice rang through her head. It was Harbinger. Kallen noticed the artifact was glowing more brilliantly than before. More guards came, this time they were better prepared for her with kinetic barriers and tech attacks.
"Son of a bitch!" Kallen screamed when her shields and revenant were overloaded. Her mid range cushion was now gone and the guards advanced.
"We got her no-" one guard got a little cocky and tried to take her from the air, only to be shot down with a blast from a claymore shotgun. Their back up was stunned by a Reave attack and then drained of their life force. This proved to be a little hasty on Kallen's part, now she was wide open from the sides. Two project guards made their moves, ready to subdue the spectre.
"Not this time!" Kallen dropped her claymore to dodge the melee of an engineer. She picked up the woman by her extended arm and swung her around into her comrade and then held her in a self inflicting sleeper hold like a human shield. The guard's still shot at her even though she had one of their own at her mercy. the forsaken guard absorbed bullet after bullet, dying in Kallen's grasp while squirming to allow bullets to get passed his body. Kallen returned fire with her phalanx until her shields returned hen tossed her meat shield back to his friends, knocking a few of them down which made them easy targets.
"releasing the heavy mech!" Kallen heard over the loud speaker.
"YOU WILL BE THE FACE OF THE INVASION SHEPARD. THE EXAMPLE OF WHAT YOUR SPECIES WILL BECOME."
"Keep talking you Dick! face me and see what happens!" Kallen yelled back while cutting through her enemies with the widow. Her shots would hit one, go through them into another and if she was accurate hit a third person.
"ENOUGH WITH THE CANNON FODDER. WE WILL NOT BE DENIED AGAIN. ASSUMING DIRECT CONTROL."
Object row let out several pulses of energy. They stunned Kallen and did the second worst possible thing to her, they gave her visions.
The Alpha relay was in overdrive. One reaper appeared, the several, then hundreds. They spread through the galaxy, attacking anything in their way to planet. They blocked out the stars as they descended down on organic life ready for them to be ascended to greatness…
No!, Kallen thought as the vision looped in her eyes. You will not…take control…I won't let you…I won't…
Kallen begrudgingly dropped to one knee. Instinctively she propped herself up on her widow but the effects of the visions, and of the indoctrination, began to weigh heavy on her. She blinked and her next view was horizontal as she lie on her face, helpless, defeated and surrounded by members of the project.
Kenson knelt down next to her, her eyes glowing a bright yellow. That's what harbinger meant, Kallen thought at everything around her faded, she was safe from indoctrination…for now…
"Lieutenant Commander Ashley Williams?" an asari said as the door to Ashley's apartment opened.
"Yeah that's me." Ashley replied. she was just back from a meeting on citadel defensive strategies for the Reapers.
"Councilor Anderson has requested your presence at once. Code black. You will be briefed when we arrive."
Ashley tensed up at the mention of code black, saved specifically for high risk missions that were never going to be on the record. "Let's go." Ashley locked up and followed the Asari to the cab station. The entire ride over Ashley wondered what Anderson had in store for her. Ashley stopped herself to realize that she was being called in for a code black Mission. Only N7 operatives had ever been called in for code blacks since it's inception.
The cab landed at the embassy lobby. Ashley followed the asari to Anderson's office where the door interface was red. The asari activated her omnitool to send a message in to Anderson and less than a minute later the interface switched to green the door opened for Ashley. The asari gave her a bow and departed the other way.
"Commander Williams it's good to finally see you in Person." Admiral Hackett said as he stood from his seat in front of Anderson's desk.
"Admiral!" Ashley snapped to attention, "Likewise. What's this all about?"
"36 hours ago I contacted Commander Shepard with a matter I thought was personal. I sent her into Batarian space to retrieve a friend of mine Dr. Amanda Kenson. She was caught and imprisoned by Batarians on espionage charges. What I really sent Dr. Kenson and her team to investigate wasn't Batarians, but a Reaper artifact we found with probes."
"Oh my god, Ka…Shepard's in Batarian space? In a prison? Do you know what they'd do to her?" Ashley asked, trying to curb her anger as much as possible.
"She got Kenson out alive." Hackett replied, "I received an update from the Shadow broker, who helped Shepard make a cover story of attack Batarian mercenary groups out in the Terminus systems to draw attention away from the Prison. Kenson and Shepard escaped on a shuttle, but their trail goes clod after that. No one from the prison followed them and the systems relay hasn't been in use since the Normandy entered. Something went wrong and I want you to investigate."
Ashely paused and finally spoke, "You said Dr. Kenson was investigating a Reaper artifact…you don't think…?"
"I'm not ruling anything out Williams." Hackett said. Your ship has the same capabilities as the Normandy. As a Spectre you can work outside the Alliance Chain of command. Go in get all the information you can and get out. Neutralize anything that could be harmful to the Alliance."
"I won't let you down sir." Ashley saluted once more.
"You and your XO are the only ones allowed on this mission, he's already aboard the Arcturus waiting for you. Good luck Ashley." Anderson said with a faint smile.
"Kallen…Kallen honey wake up."
Kallen's eyes fluttered open to the darkness of her cabin. She was not alone, no anything but. She looked to the side to see Ashley lying next to her, one arm wrapped around her body.
"Hey there Hero." Ashley said softly, placing a kiss on Kallen's forehead.
"Hey." Kallen croaked. Her mouth was half desert, half swamp, and she was pretty certain she'd drank a sewage smoothie the night before. "What…what time is it?"
"It's almost midnight. You've been in bed for days, I figured I'd join you."
"Ashley…I thought you hated me…"
"Hate you? I doubt I'd be married to someone I hate. I love you." Ashley swept Kallen's bangs away from her emerald eyes and smiled.
"Married huh? I missed my own wedding…or I got so wasted I don't remember…"
"We have video don't worry. But that's not why I woke you up dear. Something almost as special is close."
"It's April right? My birthday?" Kallen asked with a yawn.
"Yep. It's the day of your new birth, as our queen."
"Yeah Queen Kallen…wait. Queen? I'm not-AH!"
Kallen turned back to Ashley. Her eyes glowed a deep blue light. Veins under her skin were jet black almost like she'd be stuck on a dragon tooth and been turned into a husk. Kallen fell out of bed and back away from Ashley until her bare back hit cold metal. She turned to come face to face with a reaper.
"IT IS TIME FOR YOUR ASCENSION SHEPARD. YOU. HAVE. LOST."
"NO! NO! NO!"
"Kallen! Kallen, get up we have to go now!" Another familiar voice said. "Get up woman! It's getting dangerous!"
Husk Ashley faded. Harbinger's form moved away until it was nothing and a bright light and warmth filled her body.
The warmth remained. Her hands were full of silky hair, her nose was against soft cheeks and her lips were moving with a passion that had been held back from what seemed like an eternity.
"Come on Ash, get her…oh. I see." Adam sighed. "Okay, sis" Adam pulled Kallen off of Ashley and slapped her lightly a few times. "Sis wake the hell up!"
"What the…"Kallen shook her head, "Adam…Ashley? What are you two doing here?" It hit Kallen, she remembered her stand against the Project, Object Rho, and the visions. She checked her body with her hands, she was in the neoprene bodysuit she wore under her armor that held some spare medigel conduits. She was in no pain, there were no breaks anywhere. She'd have Mordin and Chakwas run tests later. Kallen flipped her legs off the table and regained her bearings.
A guard rushed in and held his assault rifle up at the trio yelling to his friends that he'd caught them. Kallen reared her fist back and punched through the front of his helmet knocking the man out cold. "KENSON!" Kallen roared.
"Sis calm down" Adam put his hands on her shoulders and looked her dead in the eyes. "We're here to rescue you. We know about Kenson and that she's indoctrinated. We're here to get you out."
Kallen tried her best to relax and to focus. "Alright, is there an armor locker around her somewhere?"
"Right here." Ashley replied, she opened it and Kallen's armor and weapons were polished and intact.
"Thanks Ash. Adam see if we're clear."
"Got it."
Kallen armored up in record time she had no idea how much time was left on the countdown. "Did you guys see a huge clock on your way in here?"
"Yeah at the shuttle bay It had about 2 hours on it. Why?" Adam asked.
"that's how long it'll take the Reaper fleet to get to this system and the Alpha relay. This project is launching an asteroid into the Relay to stop them for a while."
Ashley and Adam exchanged worried looks. "Let's destroy a relay then." Adam said, looking for Ashley's answer.
"Why the hell not. We need to do anything we can to stop them and if this buys us more time I'm down. Where's the controls?"
"In the lab" Kallen activated the inferno ammo setting on her Revenant and was locked and loaded. "Follow me." Kallen, Ashley, and Adam ran from the medical bay into the barracks. No one was home. This allowed the trio to destroy weapon and armor lockers to cripple any resistance they would face. The barracks led to the Research lab, the same place where Kallen faced down half to project by herself and found her opposition almost eh way she left it. Bullets rained down her makeshift team.
Adam projected a biotic barrier ahead of them to give them enough time to get into cover, then sent the barrier at the shooters to throw them off.
"Alright, they'll try to take us with overwhelming force. That's all the Reapers do is overwhelm, just like Sovereign at the Citadel. If one does the other's keep going! I used one as a human shield and they just filled her with lead!" Kallen cut her explanation to hit an advancing guard with Reave. We need to use their own tactics against them, Bro, I'll need you at your best."
Adam nodded in acknowledgement.
"Ashley…I'll need you at my back, just the like the old days."
"Gotcha." Ashley reached to her back for her sniper rifle and waited for the team to move.
Adam sprang over their cover and created a singularity in the middle of the guards. They fought to maintain their footing and then to not lose control. Adam shot the ones who still had enough fight in them to resist while Kallen and Ashley took target practice on the ones in orbit around the miniature black hole.
"There! That leads to the controls!" Kallen jogged to a door on the far side of the room, unlocked it, and led Adam and Ashley down a long corridor to a lift. It took them to the control room and provided a magnificent view of the engines that were needed to propel the asteroid into the Alpha Relay.
Kenson was already at the controls when they arrive and drew their guns to stop her. "Kenson. Back away from the controls. You've lost."
"This is your fault Shepard! Why are you such an annoyance?" Kenson shrieked, "Thanks to you I'll never get to see the glory that is the Reapers, and you'll just die!"
"You're indoctrinated you stupid bitch!" Kallen shouted back, firing a round into Kenson's knee. "You failed to do what you were sent out here to do and it's up to me to clean up ANOTHER Alliance mess. You're ruining my second life!" Kallen advanced on Kenson with a predator growl, picked the indoctrinated woman up and slammed her against a beam next to the controls. "You picked the wrong Spectre to double cross Kenson. I hope Harbinger can see through your eyes and he's in your head. I hope that metal bastard can feel the fear in your heart right now!" Kallen's grip tightened around Kenson's throat, "I will kill every Reaper in existence. Every person they indoctrinate will share the same fate. You have stood in my way and therefore you will be added to the road I walk to saving the Galaxy."
Kenson struggled to free herself from Kallen's vice grip. her efforts had less and less effect until finally her movements ceased, Kallen dropped her with a smug look on her face, until she saw a detonator in Kenson's right hand with the button jammed down.
Several beeps later the floor was ripped apart by remote charges. The splash threw Kallen against the beam she held Kenson. She could feel her collarbone break and her right shoulder separate from the joint. "Son of a bitch!" she said through gritted teeth. The pain shot through her , blurring her vision to go along with the ringing in her ears from the explosions.
"Kallen!" Adam called as he made it to his feet. He checked to see if his last second barrier was enough to protect Ashley and it did. Adam walked over to his injured sister to help her to her feet.
"I'm fine! AH!" Kallen groaned when she tried to move her right arm, "I need to set the asteroid on course for the Relay."
"I'll do it. the console is pretty straight forward." Adam replied, butting in front of Kallen and typing in the commands.
"Warning, asteroid collision with the Relay will results in…." the VI paused as numbers flooded across the screen, "304, 347 casulties."
"Holy Hell." Ashley gasped when she saw the number. "That's the entire system."
"That's nothing. VI, lock in on the Relay and set the thrusters to full blast." Kallen ordered.
"Acknowledged" seconds later the thrusters roared to life and the asteroid began to move.
"We need to…Need to…" Kallen tried to move her feet but her body had already gone into shock from the injuries she sustained from the explosion.
"I gotcha!" Adam scooped Kallen into his arms and walked toward the door labeled with directions to the shuttle pad. Ashley moved ahead of the siblings to make sure they weren't fired upon. the only remaining members of the project had fled to the shuttles. The trio watched in horror as the last shuttle lifted off the pad out in space and flew toward the fast approaching relay.
"J-Joker!" Kallen called into her comm.
"Shepard is that you? Where the hell have you been?" the pilot replied.
"Long story, I'm on an asteroid headed for the mass Relay, get to it and pick me up before it collides. Do NOT destroy the asteroid. We're blowing the relay; Ashley and Adam are with me. We'll be the last ones out."
"Aye aye."
"SSV Arcturus, this is Williams, use the Relay to get back to the Citadel and pick up Admiral Hackett, The Shepard's and I are getting a ride out on the Normandy. That's an order!"
Everyone put their helmets on and moved to the landing pad out in space for pick up. Once more a cold chill ran down Kallen's spine, and out of the corner of her eye she saw a large hologram. Harbinger.
"SHEPARD. YOU HAVE ONLY DELAYED THE INEVITABLE." He spoke this time through the comm. tower nearby, not through indoctrination. "ALL THIS AND YOU ARE GRAVELY INJURED AND INCAPABLE OF MOVING WITHOUT AID. YOUR FORM IS FRAGILE LIKE ALL ORGANIC LIFE. YOU WILL FALL EASILY."
"Hey dickwad." Adam snarled at the hologram, "my sister might be injured, but she's not fighting alone. I'm by her side, Ashley here is to. If you think one Shepard's given the Reapers hell, Just wait until you have TWO Shepards coming after your metallic ass."
"IGNORACE BORN FROM FALSE-"
"Shut your punk ass up! When you and your friends get here, you and I are going to have a chat, and by Chat I mean me at the head of a warship that's going to blow your ass to hell and back." Adam let his barrier cover him and his sister, "Because the name Shepard will mean 'one that kills Reapers'. If you don't fear Kallen and I, we will teach you to fear us!"
"WE SHALL SEE." Harbinger's hologram disappeared just as the Normandy arrived. The Arcturus flew passed them and used the relay to leave the system. Adam and Ashley ran as fast as they could into the Normandy's air lock. Joker pushed the Normandy as fast as her engines would allow. The relay accepted their coordinates and hurled the cruiser to her destination, the last ship it would ever help. The Project asteroid collided with the relay and for a second or two, it stayed in place. The relay cracked and then shattered from the forced. The element zero it used to propel ships shrank and then exploded out into the system around it; like a super novae.
"The galaxy map has updated itself to accommodate for the loss of the only system in the Viper Nebula. It is gone." EDI said.
"Mission...accomplished." Kallen passed out in her brother's arms with a smile on her face.
Hours after the incident in the Viper nebula, the Normandy's crew all gathered in the mess to be by the medical bay where their Captain rested. Mordin and Dr. Chakwas attended to her injuries and updated Miranda on her status. Kallen was going to be alright.
Among the Normandy crew was Ashley Williams. She'd finally returned to one of her homes, the Normandy. But even though she knew this was Kallen's ship, it felt wrong. It was brighter than the old girl, something she actually enjoyed, but the Cerberus insignia just ruined it for her. Just like Cerberus had done for Kallen.
"Thank you." A voice said to Ashley. She looked up to see Miranda standing next to her and the both looked into the Medical bay. "If you hadn't shown up…we would have had no idea what was happening…and…"
"I was only following orders" Ashley said. "Hackett followed up a lead from Liara and he sent me in to investigate. The entire team was indoctrinated and they were holding her for the reapers arrival. They were going to turn her into a husk to use as a symbol for their victory. I'm glad Adam and I made it in time."
"Me too…I'm also sorry for…not telling you about project Lazarus."
Ashley turned to look at the Raven haired woman.
"Cerberus made me the project head when the Normandy was reported missing and our scouts located her body. We contacted Liara instead of you, because your deep alliance ties might have…prevented you from assisting us."
"You…were right to think that." Ashley sighed, "You know what happened on Horizon…Even now…this doesn't feel like the Normandy…no offense."
"None taken" Miranda said coolly.
"This crew…this ship…it puts a lot of grey into my view of Cerberus."
"Well…it shouldn't. We aren't part of Cerberus anymore. At the collector base, the Illusive man wanted Kallen to spare the base for his use. She countered and proposed putting her in charge of Cerberus in exchange for her keeping the base. When he refused her offer she blew it to hell and we all quit."
Ashley couldn't help but giggle, "That's Kallen alright…" Ashley looked back in at the injured redhead and then back to Miranda. She sighed, "Take care of her."
Miranda looked back at Ashley, slightly confused until she realized what Ashley meant. "I…I am."
The noise around the women faded, they turned to see why and Ashley snapped to a salute when she saw Admiral Hackett stride confidently through the mess. "At Ease Commander." Hackett said, then he turned to Miranda, "you must Miranda Lawson, the XO from my initial message."
"Yes. Have you Come to see Commander Shepard?"
"I have. Is she doing alright?"
"She's stable. I hope you know this is on your head Admiral."
"Don't, Miss Lawson. I know this happened to her because of what I needed her to do. She's the only woman I trusted enough to get this job done because I knew her drive to prove the Reapers were more than a theory would be enough. I don't enjoy sending my goddaughter into hell."
"The Commander is awake." EDI's avatar said.
"Go on." Miranda said to Hackett and Ashley. They entered to fin Kallen's bed lifted into position so she could sit up.
"Hackett?"
"Hello Commander. I figured I would debrief you in person. I heard it was hell."
"No shit." Kallen spat, "Your friend was indoctrinated almost as bad as Saren. Her entire team was. She tried to get to Arcturus and just let the Reapers come while we debated on her findings. I saw through that. I also got another set of visions that will keep me up at night, and now I've added over 300,000 to my body count as a soldier. That part might actually add some sleep because the colony the prison was on held thousands of slaves from other races so at least I put them out of their misery. I was sedated for two days and I have no idea what they did to me, I had to check myself to make sure nothing hurt and to make sure things hadn't gone where they weren't supposed to…"
"Scans from Dr. Chakwas and Dr. Solus' treatment of you showed only the sedative used on you." EDI chimed in, "No foreign DNA of Any kid was found. Your shoulder was set and your collarbone was fixed."
"Thank you EDI, glad to know I didn't add any partners to my list either…no offense Ash."
"None taken."
"Well even though I know you were right about the Reapers, this looks bad from the outside perspective. You blew up a Batarian relay and destroyed a System Shepard."
"Hey now, sir." Ashley cut in. "Lieutenant Shepard and I were there as well. We aided her in this. You can't just dump this all on her, she's not even with Cerberus anymore, Miranda said they quit after they blew up the Collector's base."
Hackett's eyebrows raised a bit but his face hardened soon after, "I know I can't, but I have no choice, you were sent into the system under Code Black. the Records show the Arcturus is still docked at the Citadel and has been for a week. You had no crew and the assignment is not on the books. Officially you never saved Commander Shepard."
"Son of a bitch!" Ashley growled, slamming her fist on wall.
"It's alright Ashley." Kallen assured her, "I can take it. I told Adam to activate the project. You just made sure I wasn't a husk. Even if you did it from the comfort of the Citadel."
"How can you be okay with this? You'll be made into the biggest war criminal in Alliance history I…I can't have that happen to you."
"Ashley, I'm a Spectre. Until the council declares me rogue, I can do whatever the hell I want. Hell I could kick Steven here- yeah I said your first name, don't give me that look- in the groin and get away with it on Spectre authority. I'm fine. Honest."
Ashley gave a resigning sigh, "Alright…Alright."
"Ashley…Thank you."
"Anytime, Kallen."
"Oh, have you seen Adam?"
"He said he was gonna go mediate with some Asari named Samara while he was here."
Kallen chuckled, "I see."
"Shepard, it pains me to say this, but you'll have to turn yourself in. The Batarians will want blood and as fast as the Normandy is, I doubt she'll out run a Batarian fleet."
"I figured you'd say that." Kallen put her head in her hands and took a deep breath. "I will, on my terms."
"Fair enough. I'll do what I can do slow down the media coverage. You're a damn fine soldier."
"Thanks, You're a damn fine Godfather yourself." Kallen leaned up and opened her arms. Hackett gave a small smile and hugged his goddaughter like she was his own.