There's a gap in time, I know. It's intentional
The last chapter's present is meant as this chapter's flashback. Think of it this way.
On other news, with the Shadow Broker DLC my story has been proved wrong (See chapters 35,36) but I will continue to take it as if SB is quarian and the DLC never existed :D
Normandy SR2, two months ago
"Is this some kind of sick joke!" Shepard slammed the table, startling Miranda a bit.
"This isn't a joke Shepard, it's as real as it gets."
"The Illusive Man told me about it."
"The Illusive Man can go to hell! He didn't approve of it. I pulled strings to help you Shepard!" Miranda accessed the file of denial by TIM and turned the screen over for Shepard to see. "It was on my initiative, and by mine alone."
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to," Shepard rubbed his temples painfully "Give me some time to think about it. Ask some friends."
"A second chance at life" – Kelly
"You should be happy!" – Garrus
"An opportunity you don't get often." – Thane
"Cherish what you are given now, before you regret later." – Samara
"Hmph. Just accept it." – Grunt
"Heck, be happy for yourself." – Jack
"Interesting concept considering lack of possible DNA" – Mordin
"Don't keep asking 'why' Shepard, just be thankful." – Kasumi
"I don't know, as far as the records I can access there are no hidden strings, personal agendas behind this one." – Jacob
"Endorphin levels will reach 95% if Shepard-Commander takes up the giver offer." – Legion
"Whatever makes you happy. Either way I still fly the ship." – Joker
"Unable to generate appropriate advice." – EDI
"Take it Shepard, trust me. I know it's too good to believe, but I'm sure she did it in good faith. Please, for me, for us!" – Tali
Shepard walked back into Miranda's office and sat down, head in his hands.
"So? I'm guessing you've thought it through?"
"I don't know Miranda, I don't know."
"You'll have to choose." She leaned over and placed a reassuring hand over his shoulder before letting go.
"You accept and we'll carry out procedures immediately. Reject, and I'm sorry but we will immediately terminate the project.
Normandy SR2, Present Day
"I can't believe there was a time when I actually thought Miranda was pulling a prank on us!" Shepard looked out of the window, enjoying the view of the Presidium lake.
"I remember you banging the table and calling it a 'sick joke'." Tali walked up behind him and curled her arms around his, leaning on him slightly.
"Hey, knowing Cerberus anything could be possible at that point of time. Even I thought reviving me was the sickest joke they could ever pull."
Tali's face visibly saddened when Shepard chuckled about that. He noticed it quickly as keeping quiet for Tali meant something wasn't right.
"You alright?" Shepard lifted her chin to face her directly.
"I'm fine. I just, don't want to think about losing you again."
"Okay, touchy subject. Let's move on to something else."
"It was nice of Anderson to let us use this apartment." Tali quickly moved away, taking a nice look around the room, trying to change the subject.
"Yeah, sure is. We'll be staying here for quite a while. With all the reports of reaper sightings they thought it would be better for public morale if we were here when reapers attack the Citadel. Prevents people from thinking I ditched them."
"If they attack the Citadel you mean."
"Huh?" Shepard gave Tali a slightly puzzled look "Don't the reapers always attack the Citadel."
"I don't know… if I were a reaper, I would come after you first." Tali gave a wide grin. "I mean, you do have this knack for making enemies."
"Hey! You take that back!" Shepard laughed while chasing Tali around the room. Eventually Tali was cornered as she fell backwards onto the bed. However, she immediately held up her hand. "Not the best time to play rough. Maybe in two three months time." Tali put on her serious face even thought she knew Shepard couldn't see through the mask.
"Yeah, I almost forgot." Shepard sat down next to her instead. "But Mordin didn't say anything about tickling!" Shepard turned to face her and started tickling her sides, causing her to squirm and laugh at the same time. Well, until Garrus decided to intervene.
"Ugh," Garrus put a hand to his face "Childish much?"
"Garrus, hi." Shepard gave him a funny look. "Sorry, still can't get over the cyborg part of you."
"Council wants a 'round table' talk. Most of the race reps are there already. You better come now."
"Alright," Shepard hopped off the bed and followed Garrus. "I'll see you later." Shepard took one last look at Tali before closing the door behind him.
"So, having a good time with Nala?" Shepard tried to break the awkward silence between them.
"Shepard, please. You sound like joker."
"Hey, can't blame me for making sure my crew's happy. Speaking of which, most of the crew is on shore leave. Jacob and Kasumi are going to the market district-"
"Wait, Jacob and Kasumi?" Garrus threw Shepard a very puzzled look. "Since when does Jacob or Kasumi care about shopping?"
"Well, put it this way, Kasumi was hoping Jacob liked Japanese girls who have penchant for kleptomania."
"Moving on…"
"The rest are scattered around the Citadel but I told them to keep close to the presidium in case something happens. You know anything about the delegates?"
"Only a few. Thane is there representing the drell. Mordin's there too. Our old friend Liara will be there as well. Apparently Liara has been doing her own research about the reapers. Found out some quite interesting things. And, I'm a delegate too."
"You? I didn't think they'll let a Vigilante to this sort of thing."
"Politics were never my interest. But hey, I'm the vigilante who helped saved the galaxy. Anyway, we're here."
Garrus knocked twice before swiping his keycard against the electronic lock. After getting a nice green light, he pushed open the door and led Shepard into the meeting room. Brightly lit, there was a round table in the center. Thane, Urdnot Wreav and Shala'Raan were already at their seats, waiting for the meeting to start. Liara was at a separate desk, sorting through various stacks of notes and experimental reports.
"I'm quite surprised Tali isn't here. Considering her experience with reapers and all."
"Mordin said it's best we not do that. Politics can get ugly, and fast."
Shepard took his seat next to Thane who greeted him with a nod. Liara sat opposite Shepard and gave him a lopsided smile as she continued to organize her notes into separate piles. It was not long before the council, followed by Anderson, walked into the room. Greetings were exchange, so were smiles despite a certain sense of ominous atmosphere. Just as the Council members were taking their seats, Miranda and Legion came into the room.
"Now that we are all here, we can start the discussion." The Salarian started. "Firstly, we have the issue of numerous occurrences of reaper bio-signs. Many of them picked up by long range scanners onboard ships that we deployed at the outer rim. As stated in the report that Miss Lawson has sent us, we are currently investigating as to why the reports were not sent to us directly."
"That aside, it is now time for the regular reports by the delegates of the various races."
"Hah, you will like this." Wreav got up from his chair to better face his 'audience'. "Even though there are those who disapprove, the Krogan clans have decided to put our wars aside to face the reapers. We are now making more weapons of war than ever." He concluded with a wide grin.
"And what of those who disapprove?" The Turian council member asked.
"They have already been executed." Wreav sat down and smiled again.
"Crude and naïve, but at least there won't be any problems later on." Miranda commented.
"Continue," The Salarian spoke again.
"The Drell fleet is at your disposal." Thane said coolly.
"Do you have any further details? Number of ships? Where are they stationed."
"I am currently unaware of the number of ships that we possess. However most of them are Type-F Cruisers and some Type-B Destroyers. A fleet of ten ships are on its way toward the Citadel as we speak."
"Thank you. Now we move on to the next item in our agenda. Cerberus' involvement in this effort." The Asari council member spoke this time. "Miranda, if you could shed some light on this issue?"
"First off I'm not very involved with Cerberus work anymore. After operation Exodus I have severed most of my ties with the Illusive man. He is still set out to stop the reapers however I already do not expect him to defend more than the Citadel and Earth."
"Still the human-defending sort is he?" Wreav leaned forward.
"Yes, I'm afraid he is. Now, would you like to share about your findings Dr. T'Soni and Dr. Solus?" Miranda gestured
Liara got up from her seat and walked over to desk, picking out relevant notes and putting them with the ones she was carrying while Mordin tapped his omnitool, bringing up a holographic model of a reaper.
"Most of the research we did mainly pertained to reaper biology and not so much the military aspect. But I'm sure we'll be able to exploit their weaknesses well once we know them."
"A reaper functions as a whole, and like us, having many 'organs' as we would put it, that do various jobs to keep the reaper running. The mass effect core is somewhat the heart, and without it the reaper would fail to function. Its equivalent of a brain is its intelligence core. Although inbuilt with many codes and signals are sent in the forms of data, a reaper is still able to adapt and think on its own, very much like an AI, but with eons of information."
Mordin tapped more on his omnitool and the hologram zoomed into the lower part of the reaper.
"The reaper has a sort of 'immune system'. It kills foreign individuals, which is usually intruding scientists, by sending husks in place of the human equivalent of white blood cells. The husks are stored in the walls and floors of the inside of the reaper, waiting for orders to strike."
"It is also important to note we have not yet come to the conclusion of how these husks are made and how they function." Mordin pointed out, preventing a raised hand or two.
"Thank you for pointing that out Dr. Solus. The reaper is also armed with shields, which we have found out can only be controlled by the reaper itself. Thus we have to either take it out by force or infiltrate it and take out the mass effect or intelligence core. Interestingly enough, the ratio of a reaper's armour to volume ration is equivalent to that of a Krogan. Meaning that even for something that size it has very thick armour."
"May I know," Miranda clasped her hands and leaned on them, "How did you get all these information."
"Firstly, the protheans left behind a vast database of what information they collected themselves. I managed to decode their information and with help with Doctor Solus, who has experience with reapers firsthand, we managed to put together this current database of information."
"Now I would like to hand the time over to Dr. Solus who has some updates on the impending reaper attack."
"Thank you very much Dr. T'soni. If you were to take a look at the diagram here," Mordin changed the hologram from the reaper to a diagram of the Milky Way "The reaper's estimated position based on the reports, given the time between then and now, would be here." Mordin marked out a spot on the diagram just slightly out of the Milky Way."
"Professor, if I may." The Asari council member interrupted "Are you trying to say that the reapers have almost concluded their journey through dark space and are entering the galaxy?"
"Yes, I am. It is a cause of worry but knowing that much preparation has taken place and much research has been done, we have a fighting chance."
"Commander Shepard, do you have anything to add?" The Asari gestured at Shepard.
"The Normandy and its crew will be there to help, always."
"Alright, if there is nothing else, this meeting is concluded." The Salarian council member spoke up.
Slowly, people started packing up the notes they had taken and left their seats. Shepard was already walking down the hallway when Garrus caught up with him.
"You were quite quiet back there. Everything alright?"
"Garrus, you've been my best friend for so long I can't remember." Shepard stopped walking and looked at Garrus "But have you done anything you later regret. Something you thought was good but shit came up and you know things are gonna get all screwed up."
"Shepard, what are you trying to say?"
"Sometimes I just regret agreeing to project Exodus. What's the point in bringing somebody up in a galaxy that may just implode any moment?"
"I thought you were the one who kept saying you were a fool to even consider turning it down?"
"I don't know!" Shepard turned around and punched the wall hard, resting his forehead against the wall "I just say that to comfort myself, make myself think I'm doing the right thing! I don't know what's right and what's wrong anymore."
Garrus walked up to him and put an arm around his shoulder "Shepard, calm down. How many times have things turned out better than you expected. Sometimes you just don't know what going to happen but you have to make the best out of it."
"I'm afraid. I don't want to let people down. They all expect me to win. But what if I don't? I'm not going to let Tali down again. What am I going to say to my daughter? 'I'm sorry daddy's a failure but I have to go on a fatal mission, don't wait for me.'" Shepard sobbed slightly. "People think I'm a hero just because I do what they don't. And now they expect me to carry the weight of the galaxy on my shoulders."
"You're not doing it alone. The Normandy's here for you. I'm here for you. Tali's here for you."
"I don't know. I'm just, tired of failing, scared of failing. If I fail, the whole galaxy is screwed."
"Calm down. Go to a quiet place alone, think about it. Just remember, you're not doing it alone." Garrus let go of Shepard and walked away, leaving him in the hallway to think things through.
I will continue to let other chars call Shepard 'Shepard' but Tali will call him by his first name. Come to think of it, who calls his/her spouse by the first name? That and Shepard doesn't call Tali 'Zorah' but Tali.