Sean's POV
We slowly made our way through the hallways of the Geth ship, checking every corner before moving on. I had a slight advantage over John and Tali, because of the night vision built into my helmet. Everything was shown in a sickly green glow, becoming very bright when one of their flashlights were visible.
"Does anyone know where the hell we're going?" John asked, breathing heavily.
"Are you alright?" I asked, noticing his elevated breathing.
"I...I have Nyctophobia...a fear of the dark..." He admitted, bending over and leaning on his knees. "I'll...be alright. Don't worry."
"Are you sure?" I asked, slightly worried. "You don't sound too good."
"I haven't come this far..." He replied, pausing. "...to stop. Let's keep moving."
Eventually we reached the rendezvous point, a cargo hold with a hole just big enough for the shuttle to fit through. Weigman, Sydney and the researcher walked in shortly later, looking visually relieved.
"Good job, Weigman." I said as he approached. "Is that everyone?"
"Everyone that survived the initial assault." Weigman replied in a dour done. "What's ne-"
Weigman was interrupted as John vomited loudly inside his helmet.
"Aw, FUCK!" John yelled, holding his head in vain.
"Well... who's the one in charge here?" I asked, looking at the researchers and ignoring John.
"That would be me." A woman answered, walking over and holding out her hand. I shook it. "Dr. Mary Franklin. I'm guessing we have you to thank for this rescue?"
"I suppose you could say that." I replied, shrugging. "I just thought you all needed help."
"Well, me and my associates thank you for your assistance." She thanked, as the door on the other side of the hold suddenly exploded open, and six heavily-armored C-Sec officers rushed in with weapons drawn.
"Everybody freeze!" The leader, a sergeant from the looks of him, shouted as they closed in on us. All of us took cover, taking out our weapons and taking aim at the officers. "You are all under arrest!"
"We're not going anywhere!" I shouted in my amplified voice, looking over the crate. It was a regular Mexican standoff in here.
"Drop your weapons and get down on the ground, or we'll be forced to open fire!" The sergeant shouted, sounding completely dead serious.
"WAIT!" The doctor shouted, running out into the open and holding out her hands to both sides. "We're all on the same side here! Don't shoot!"
"Doc, who the hell are these people?" The sarge asked, still aiming his gun directly at me.
"There just hear to help! There not here to kill us or anything, just to help!" The doctor said in a reasoning tone. "Don't shoot them!"
"Are you sure?" The sarge questioned, still trained on me. "They could easily shoot us as soon as we lower our weapons."
"Listen, if me and my team wanted to kill you, we would have done it by now!" I shouted, trying to support her. "This can work out for all of us!"
There was a long, drawn out silence for a minute, when the sarge's men started getting nervous.
"Uh...sir?" One of the younger officers asked, glancing at the sergeant.
"Listen, my father is an officer back on Earth." I reasoned calmly. "I don't want to shoot a police officer, but I will defend myself if I have to."
The pause persisted a little longer, when finally the sergeant lowered his firearm, sighing.
"Fine, your free to go." The sarge replied, holstering his gun.
"We can leave?" I asked, walking out of cover.
"Yeah, your free to go." He replied, holding out his hand, which I shook. "Name's Patterson. It's the least I can do since you practically did our job for us. Besides, I would never kill a fellow officer's son."
"Glad we're all at an agreement." Weigman commented, walking out of cover. "So, what happens now?"
"Now, we'll send the researchers back to their superiors, and then we'll all have to fill out a shitload of paperwork." The sarge answered, smiling. "I suppose you'll be heading back to your ship?"
"Yes, can we please leave now, man?" John asked, walking over. "I would like to take this helmet off before my face dissolves."
"Good point." I replied, looking back at the sergeant. "Well, so long Patterson. Perhaps we'll meet again."
"Perhaps I'll buy you a beer next time." He agreed, smacking me on the back of the shoulder. "Let's hope next time we won't be pointing guns at each other."
As the sergeant turned to tend to the researchers and his own men, I hailed the Endar Spire.
"What's up, Sean?" Allen asked, answering.
"Send the shuttle back over, we're done here." I said, sighing.
"Saved the researchers?" Allen asked curiously.
"Yeah..." I replied quietly. "Just send the shuttle over."
I killed the line as I walked over to the gaping hole in the hull, staring back out into space. The lanes started moving again a few seconds later, making me smile.
"At least we accomplished something coming over here." I thought, holding the Juggernaut's rocket launcher with a smile.
The shuttle flickered into view, flying over and opening up it's hatch for all of us to step in.
Thomas's POV
I stood in the hanger, waiting for the shuttle to return with our conquering heroes on board. After a short wait, the shuttle finally returned, flying through the force field and landing.
"So, did you all have fun?" I asked as the hatch opened, revealing my scuffed-up friends.
"Get the fuck out of my way!" John yelled, running past me and inside the ship.
"Uh...what's wrong with John?" I asked, perplexed.
"He kinda...vomited inside his helmet." Sean replied, taking his own helmet off as the others, except for Tali, walked back to their rooms.
"OK..." I said, not having a reply. "So...Allen is docking the ship. I guess we'll be heading out to gather supplies?"
"That's the plan." He replied, looking around. "Allen didn't activate any self-destruct or anything, right?"
"Nah, he was busy looking up ways to improve his armor." I answered, folding my arms. "I'll see you later."
I started walking away, when I remembered something.
"Oh Sean, I forgot!" I said, jogging back over. "Shepard left a message for you in the Comm room. You should check it."
"What did it say?" Sean asked, flexing his neck.
"I don't know, I didn't open it." I replied, stretching. "It was addressed to you."
Tali's POV
"What do you think it's about?" I asked Sean as we walked briskly towards the Comm room.
"I honestly don't know." He replied, looking at me. "I hope it's not something bad."
We walked into the room, where I loaded the message. A ghostly hologram of Shepard appeared in the middle of the room.
"Hello Sean." The hologram greeted. "I'm sorry It's taken so long for this message to reach you, but you nearly disappeared after you left the Citadel. There's two things I have to tell you."
Sean and I both shot each other looks, causing me to shift nervously in Sean jacket.
"First things first. Shortly after you, Tali, and your friends left, the Council commissioned for a statue of all of us to be made and displayed in the Presidium." Shepard said with a smile. I could tell already that Sean was excited just by glancing at him.
"Wow..." Sean said with a smile.
"The second thing is, Hackett told me he has given you a mission concerning the Reapers. He couldn't tell me much more than that, but I agreed with him that you and your team are the perfect choices for the job. If I had the choice, I would be coming with you, but the Council is sending me on a mission to destroy a few pockets of Geth resistance out near the Terminus."
After Shepard said that, I saw Sean shake his head back and forth.
"Why is he doing that?" I thought, looking back at the hologram.
"Anyway, the others hope you're all doing well. Good luck in your mission, Sean." Shepard finished as the hologram faded away.
"Sean, are you alright?" I asked, walking over to him.
"Huh?" He exclaimed, sounding surprised. "Why, what's wrong?"
"You looked upset over something earlier." I said, rubbing his shoulder. "Is something wrong?"
He was quiet for a few seconds, until speaking up.
"I miss doing things with Shepard. I miss Garrus and the others, too." He replied, turning around. "Things were fun back when we were with Shepard."
"I miss them too." I agreed, hugging him. "Perhaps we'll get a chance to see them after Shepard returns from her mission."
"Yeah." He replied, smiling back at me. "Well, I guess after we're done gathering supplies we'll have to take the gang down to see it."
"Sounds like a plan, hotshot." I agreed in a playful tone, hugging him slightly harder.
A vibration rocked the ship, similar to that of the Normandy docking.
"Sound's like we're docked." I said, looking at Sean.
"Well...ladies first!" Sean replied in the same playful tone, as he scooped me up in both arms.
"Hey!" I yelped in surprise, as he carried me through the door, laughing. "What are you doing?"
"You make me happy, you make me feel so fine..." Sean sung with a smile.
Allen's POV
30 Minutes Later
"No, no, I want FOUR, not THREE sheets of armor." I corrected the Salarian salesman.
"Oh, sorry sir!" He apologized in a rushed tone, quickly changing the order.
"And remember, I want that delivered to Docking Bay 6, Port 17, got it?" I instructed, tapping the counter with my index finger for emphasis.
"Yes sir!" He replied, finishing the requisition. "There you go, sir. The materials you requested will be sent to your ship as soon as possible."
"Thank you." I replied, giving him an extra chit and leaving the store.
Once outside, I took a good look around. Considering this was the most busy time of the day, I was mildly surprised to see there weren't nearly as many people walking around, shopping or doing whatever.
I realized that in the game, you never really get a sense of how many people died ON the Citadel, not just in the space battle. Now that I was here, I could really tell how hard the population had been hit during the attack itself.
I let out a sad sigh, as my Omni-tool started beeping.
"Yeah Sean?" I answered, slightly annoyed.
"Where are you?" He asked, sounding even more annoyed than I did. "We're all here at the entrance to the Presidium, waiting on you! Finish whatever you're doing, and get your ass down here!"
"Fine, sorry!" I replied, remembering the time frame we had agreed on. "I'll be there in a bit."
Greed's POV
I was browsing one of the shops, searching for a new pistol to replace the one I had lost during the failed mission, when I saw something I couldn't believe.
I saw the fat one running across the marketplace, towards the elevator hub.
"No fucking way." I thought out loud, leaving the store and following him.
He returned to his group with the other two targets, along with a few others, including the petri dish. They were piling into the elevator that went to the Presidium.
I decided it would be a better idea to wait for them and see if they came back. Then maybe he could follow them.
Sean's POV
"So what's this big "surprise" you've been teasing us about, Sean?" Weigman asked, holding a satchel filled with flashbangs over his shoulder.
"You'll see in a moment." I answered with a smile.
"Yeah Sean, what's so special about this thing that it would also be located in the most boring part of the Citadel? John asked in a mocking tone, smiling.
"I told you you'll see in a moment." I replied, becoming annoyed. "Be patient, acid face."
"Hey, you never told me all the lights were going to turn off!" John protested in defense.
"Oh hush, you two." Sydney told us, making us shut up. "We have better things to argue about. For example, what do we do if some news reporter spots us and asks about our little stunt earlier?"
"We'll tell them to mind their own fucking business." Allen replied before I could.
"What he said." I answered as the elevator finally reached the Presidium.
We all plied out into the familiar setting of the Presidium, as I took in the refined air, a welcome change from the last time I was here.
I looked around, seeing that all the damage was repaired. I also noticed that there was a new statue in the middle of the lake.
"This way." I said with a smile, as everyone else followed.
"Whoa, it that..." Allen asked as we got closer.
"Yep." I replied with the same big smile.
We walked down to the statue, a scene where Shepard is in front, with the ground team, including Thomas, Allen, and me, behind her.
"Holy crap, is that me?" Thomas asked, looking closely at the statue resembling himself.
I looked at mine. I was in an epic pose, holding my BFG and wearing my NCR helmet. I was surprised, seeing myself super-imposed with everyone. They even added my prosthetic arm.
"What did you guys do to deserve statues?" John asked, sounding jealous.
"We killed a Reaper." Allen replied, shooting the stick-eye at John. "That's what we did."
"Man, that's so cool. We have a place in history now." Thomas said, rubbing his finger along the plaque that had all of our names carved on it.
"That could be any Quarian." Tali commented, walking over to her statue and examining it. "How are people supposed to know that's me?"
"I can tell it's you." I complimented with a smile, causing John to groan in annoyance.
"John, shut your goddamn mouth before I punch you in the face." Allen threatened, balling up his fist.
After Allen shut John up, we decided, after taking some pictures, to head back to the ship.
On our way through the hub to our ship, we were stopped by something I absolutely didn't expect.
"Excuse me!" A woman shouted, running to catch up with us. "Are you the people involved in the space battle today?"
I turned around to see the bain of all journalism, Khalisah al-Jilani, running up to us with that annoying little camera/drone thing of hers.
"Told you." Sydney whispered behind me, making a vein on my neck pulse.
"Out of all the people who survived the attack..." Allen commented, folding his arms.
"Yes..." I confirmed as she caught up with us.
"Khalisah al-Jilani, Westerlund News." She greeted, holding out her hand for me to shake. After I didn't shake it, a few seconds later she put it down.
"I was wondering if you could answer a few questions for our viewers today." She asked, taking out a datapad.
Me, knowing that this was going to turn out negatively for me no matter how I handled it, decided to do the damn interview. Besides, no one could see my face anyway.
"Stand back, guys." I told everyone else as I stepped forward. "What kind of questions?"
"People have heard wild stories about you're team's involvement with the Spectre Commander Shepard, and more recently you're assistance with C-Sec's Geth ship crisis earlier today. Now's your team's chance to set the record straight." She said, sounding slightly snide.
"I'll speak for my crew, thank you very much." I said, folding my arms.
"Very well, then." She replied, unfazed by my anti-social attitude towards her, as she stared down at her datapad. "According to reports, you're team, Mortyr, as you call it, was part of Commander Shepard's crew during the hunt for the rouge Spectre Saren. How did you come to be part of the first human Spectre's crew?"
"We became part of the Commander's crew because we helped her retrieve data that proved Saren was a traitor. We also displayed exceptional combat prowess during the retrieval of said data." I replied in the most professional tone I could muster considering who I was dealing with.
"But how do soldiers of fortune like yourselves come to be accepted on a advance Alliance warship? That could be a huge, careless security risk for the Alliance." Khalisah al-Jilani scrutinized, eyebrows cocked in fake suspicion.
"The Commander allowed us on her ship because she trusted us well enough to do so. The very concept of betraying the Alliance, let alone the Commander herself, is extremely insulting to me and my crew. Also, we didn't help her because of money. We helped her because I was the right thing to do." I answered in a tone that got progressively more angry. I could tell that I had an impression, because Jilani backed-up slightly as I neared the end of my statement.
"Must be the helmet." I thought, smiling.
"You and your team members have been super-imposed on a new statue in the Presidium, celebrating Shepard's role in the defeat of Saren. How do you feel about becoming part of the Citadel's history?" She asked, sounding slightly less snide this time.
"It's an incredible honor to be part of something like that, but It will never beat actually being on Shepard's team itself." I replied in a more relaxed tone.
"Ah yes, her "team". Khalisah al-Jilani repeated, returning to her snide tone again. She looked real hard at her datapad this time, making me suspicions as to what was coming next. "Shepard's team was composed not only of humans, but several other species as well. How did it feel to work along side a militaristic Turain, a violent Krogan, and a deceitful-"
At that point, I couldn't keep my composure as I unfolded my arms, stepping towards the reporter, which cut her off.
"I'm sorry, what were you going to say?" I questioned as she started backing up as I got closer. "I hope you weren't going to say Quarian, Ms. Al-Jilani."
"I...uh..." She stammered as she tripped, falling backwards right onto her ass.
"...and for the record..." I said, looking directly at the camera drone, and back to her. "Why don't you try calling them by their actual names, and WITHOUT the petty insults? Garrus Vakarian, Urdnot Wrex, Liara T'Soni, and Tali Zorah nar Rayya." I named off, looking over at Tali as I spoke her name. "All of these individuals are and always will be members of Shepard's crew. What does it matter that they belong to different races?"
Al-Jilani didn't reply as she sat on the floor, giving me the stink eye. There was now a small crowd around us, watching. I continued on my rant.
"If all your going to do is try to appeal to the so-called "popular" human opinion, then why don't you try talking to Terra Firma or Cerberus? I'm sure the people dumb enough to believe your interviews would agree with their biased views." I yelled, making her stink eye disappear, replacing it with a look of fear.
I turned around, looking back at my teammates, seeing them give me approving looks. I then tuned back to Al-Jilani.
"This so-called "interview" is over." I announced, tuning around and signaling for us to head back to the ship. We made it as far as three meters before Al-Jilani had to stand up to make another fucking comment.
"Your all in the pocket of the Council!" She shouted with all the courage she could muster.
That was it for me. I turned around, dashing towards her with my fist balled up. Since I knew punching her with my prosthetic arm could possibly crack her skull, I instead punched her with my normal arm so I wouldn't go to jail. Despite the fact that my left arm was weaker than my right, I still knocked her straight to the ground with the single punch.
"Agh!" She yelled in pain as she collided with the ground with a loud thud. "You son of a bitch!" She yelled, clutching her face. "You can't assault the press!"
"Tell that to the many people you've insulted today." I replied, waving my hand casually at the crowd that had gathered. "See if there so sympathetic."
At the end of that statement, everyone in the crowd started cheering and clapping their hands.
"Can't wait to see you air that." I told the reporter, who now had a black eye and a bloody nose, as I turned around as returned to my ship with a feeling of satisfaction in my heart.
Greed's POV
Through all the commotion caused by the bumbling reporter, I managed to sneak by and plant a tracking device on their ship. Once I was rearmed and stocked, I would come back and finish the job.
"Nobody fucks with Greed and lives to tell about it." I said ask I slipped back into the crowd with a devious smile plastered on my face.
Sydney's POV
"Well...that was certainly an...interesting way to respond to the press." I commented as we all piled back into the ship. "Not sure if it was the right way, though."
"Oh come off it, that was fucking awesome." Allen told me with a big smile, holding a large box on his shoulder. "Gotta go work on my project. See ya."
Allen left, leaving me, Sean, Tali, and Thomas left.
"That woman makes me sick." Sean replied, waving his hand in the air. "She's an absolute shit stain on the world of journalism."
"Well hopefully we won't be seeing her again anytime soon." Thomas commented as he and Sean both high-fived. "See you guys later."
We were all left, awkwardly standing around.
"Um...I'll get us out of here, then I'll prepare for the mission, alright?" I told Sean, pointing to the bridge.
"Sounds good." He agreed, walking off to his quarters with Tali following.
A/N: Well, there you go everyone! It's been a while since I've made a chapter this long, and I'm very happy with it. Hope you enjoy!