Harry returned to Vancouver to prepare for the trial and generally try and relax.
"Harry, there is a lot of grumbling going on that certain people can't find this room." Shepard said in amusement as they sat with Aethyta in the large and spacious living room.
"As long as they hold no ill will against you they shouldn't have any trouble finding you." Harry said innocently.
"That explains the two times I couldn't find the damned room." Aethyta grumbled. At Harry's curious look she expounded. "Shepard was being a stubborn fool. He frustrated me so much that I wanted to strangle him."
"Ah… I mainly put it up so the Admirals backing your prosecution couldn't come and gloat." Harry gave her an apologetic look.
"Well we have our strategy laid out." Aethyta declared as she handed over an OSD.
Harry took it began to download and dissect it. "Alright, we can do this. I want a shot first though."
"Is this going to be like when you dealt with Sparatus?" Shepard asked hesitantly.
Harry smirked and shrugged.
"This hearing is now in session. The case is the Alliance vs. Captain John Shepard. The charges are, interfering with a mass effect relay, destruction of the Bahak System and attempted mass murder of the inhabitants of the Bahak System."
"Objection!"
The head of the judicial panel that was trying this case glared at the grinning Emissary. Everybody knew that he would cause problems, they had all seen what he had done to Sparatus and the old Council, not to mention that Westerlund reporter.
"We haven't even started."
"You did just say that the hearing was in session." Harry said happily. "I am fully aware of every aspect of Alliance court procedures and laws."
Admiral Arden, one of three on the panel seated in front of a large window, several stories up, looking out on the city of Vancouver, growled… but knew he had no choice.
Whilst the Alliance had wanted this done quietly, the Emissary had made threats of going public himself if they didn't make this an open trial that was broadcast to the entire known galaxy.
They couldn't simply drop charges this big without some explanation so they were forced to go down this route. A route being watched and judged by trillions and trillions of intelligent beings.
"State your objection." The female admiral, Jaden, on the left instructed when it was clear her colleague might blow his top.
"First of all, you have charged 'Captain John Shepard'. The incidents you listed in your brief take place when there was no Captain John Shepard'. There was, however, a 'Spectre Captain John Shepard'.
"It should be noted that Spectres are awarded the power and authority to use whatever means they deem necessary to complete their missions. They are untouchable by any but the Council themselves."
"And, as our brief states, we have been given the authority to prosecute on behalf of the Council." The Admiral Jaden reasoned calmly.
"Correction, you have been given authority on behalf of a Councillor." Aethyta piped up from her chair on the other side of Shepard at the defence table. "It won't affect your authority and remit, but it matters to the rest of the Council who are against this so called 'hearing'."
"Of course, Councillor." The Admiral said respectfully.
Aethyta nodded and sat back down.
Harry continued. "Now then, as long as the Alliance doesn't continue to insult the good Spectre any further we will drop that objection."
"There should be no issues with a simple administrative change to the current documentation." The third admiral, Bhali, a man of Indian descent allowed.
"Good, then lets get down to the real reason that this trial should be dismissed and apologies given to Spectre Shepard." Harry smiled like a shark.
"Whilst Shepard was recovering from the attack by the Collectors that destroyed the Normandy, the Alliance submitted several reports to the Council and to various news outlets that claimed the Captain was suffering from delusions and paranoia, likely brought on by extreme PTSD from the attack on the Citadel.
"Anyone disputing that fact?" He turned to the Admirals and the Captain sitting at the prosecution's table.
"We are all aware of those documents, Emissary." The Admiral Arden said testily. "What is your point?"
"My point… is that you are legally prohibited, by Alliance law, from prosecuting a soldier who is suffering from PTSD. He cannot be held accountable for any actions he may have taken and you can only submit an application for him to be seen by psychiatric staff.
"In other words… the only people committing crimes here, are you lot." Harry said smugly as he sat down.
The Admirals conferred quickly before Arden turned to the prosecution. "Captain Dagwell, does the prosecution have anything to add?"
"No Admirals, this was brought up by my team prior to the filing of the charges but I was informed it was not an issue." Dagwell had a lot of respect for Captain Shepard. He would do his job and prosecute based on the charges and evidence… but he'd damned if he'd break the law for the brass over this.
This was something that was clearly apparent to Admiral Arden as he scowled angrily at the Captain. "This hearing is adjourned for two hours." He banged a gavel and stood.
"Harry, if they find me mentally incapable-"
"Relax Shepard." Harry said dismissively. "They would have to find a neutral mind doctor. Probably a non-human trained in xeno-psychology.
"I'll rip apart anyone they try to bring in and lie and they know it.
"No… their only choice is to issue a retraction for besmirching your name in this way."
"But then they will be able to prosecute." Aethyta reasoned. She was feeling a bit peeved as Harry was being fairly secretive about his strategy.
"Yes… and in doing so we will have to make them state, unequivocally, that Shepard was correct about the Reapers. If they don't then we will continue to call them up on that. They can't say you are sane and then say Reapers aren't real without calling themselves liars."
"And if they concede that the Reapers are real?" Shepard asked.
Harry looked over at him with that huge grin. "Then they will have to explain what they would have done about the Reapers pouring through the Bahak System Relay. Especially as most of your star witnesses will be geth and batarians who will be thanking you for saving their lives."
"You are one devious bastard." Aethyta remarked with a wry look. "Emphasis on 'bastard'." She added.
It turned out that the Admiralty Board wasn't able to just wave a magic wand and suddenly declare Shepard mentally capable.
They had actually used that term: 'magic wand'.
Harry had pulled his wand and done just that… they didn't seem ready to accept it so the hearing was adjourned until they could consult with their experts.
With the rest of the team off on various missions or personal errands, Harry opted to stay with Shepard in his lavish apartment. Harry would make Shepard take him around the planet to visit all the things he hadn't seen hundreds of years ago.
They were currently at Niagra Falls, Harry had heard about it and seen a few pictures, but seeing it was something else.
"You realise that if the Reapers come anywhere near Earth all of this will likely be lost." Harry told Shepard sadly.
"That and a good percentage of the population." Shepard shook his head sadly. "The Free People and the Krogan are prepared. They could easily survive and possibly win against the Reapers. The rest of the galaxy would be steam rolled."
"We wouldn't just leave the innocent to die, John." Harry assured him.
"Of course not… but in the time it takes for your people to send the Reapers packing from your own planets and get to places like Earth… we'll be fighting guerrilla war tactics.
"The Alliance doesn't even have people checking the stockpiled weapons and resources. If the Reapers come then there is a good chance that a fair amount of weapons won't work because they haven't been serviced."
"And it is the civilians that will suffer." Harry sighed.
"Emissary, Captain?" One of the guards 'escorting' them came up. "We've been asked to bring you back to Vancouver. Something has come up and they need to talk to you."
Harry and Shepard were taken to the Alliance Naval Operations Room. It was similar to the room that the hearing was being held in except that it was on the ground floor and the room contained many banks of computers and working staff along the walls.
It was clear that someone high up had a superiority complex as the room still contained a form of judicial bench in front of a large scenic window.
Seated at the bench were three different Admirals.
"Emissary, could you explain why there is a ship claiming to be part of the Emissary's Free Republic requesting permission to enter Alliance space?" An old grizzled and balding man asked.
"Because they refuse to call themselves something else and are too polite to just barge in." Harry said factually.
The Admiral frowned.
The Admiral on the left tried to stifle a smile as he clarified the question. "We were hoping for more of a confirmation that these are your people and what their purpose here on Earth is."
"Oh." Harry said innocently. "Well, they are the Second Fleet of the 'Emissary's Free People'." He said with a sarcastic lilt to their title. "They are transporting the witnesses for the hearing against Spectre Captain John Shepard."
The man on the right raised his eyebrows in slight disbelief. "Emissary, the ship registers as being nearly three times the size of the Destiny Ascension and there is only one ship, not a fleet."
"The ship is the fleet." Harry explained. "It's a carrier. The Alliance are considered allies so they don't have any patrols out whilst in your territory. It is a sign of trust."
"Then we are honoured." The left Admiral inclined his head.
"Why on god's green earth would you need to send a carrier to ferry your witnesses?" The first Admiral demanded in exasperation.
"It was the biggest and safest ship capable of transporting the 300,000 batarian colonists, the hundreds of krogan and the millions of geth who witnessed the event in question." Again with the innocent look.
Shepard actually felt very touched by this as he knew that every single being on the carrier was probably not only there voluntarily but had likely demanded to come and testify.
"I am once again, very glad I am not on the panel trying your case, Captain Shepard." The second Admiral chuckled.
"Which is probably a good argument for having you on the panel." Harry reasoned with a smile. "At least we'd know you don't have an agenda."
"I believe we should avoid looking at this from the perspective of the trial." The third Admiral said seriously. "It is currently in session and beyond our remit. We have no reason to object to your carrier coming, especially as they are coming on official business.
"However, the ship is far too large to remain in orbit around Earth without causing issues with traffic and we definitely can't handle a sudden influx of more than 300,000 individuals."
"We're still trying to work through the last batch of individuals you sent our way." The second Admiral grinned. He was clearly enjoying this.
"We need to take this seriously!" The first Admiral said testily. "We have a large and clearly powerful vessel on approach to Earth. Regardless of our current diplomatic status, the ship is still a threat."
"The carrier doesn't need to come any further." Harry shook his head. "They will be happy to drop off the cruiser where they are. The cruiser is substantially smaller." He promised.
"And these… thousands of colonists and krogan will be content to just stay on a military cruiser?" He asked sarcastically.
"Yes. But it isn't really a military cruiser. It's more of an exploration vehicle. The entire carrier is set up to head out into unknown space and learn more about what's out there?"
The second Admiral could see that the first was probably going to blow a gasket and decided to try and sort things out as quickly as possible.
"Emissary, we would appreciate it if you could have the carrier depart as soon as possible. Many of our captains and admirals served in the First Contact War. They still get a little jumpy at seeing large alien spaceships in Alliance territory.
"If you could have your cruiser take up orbit around Mars that should keep it close enough for a reasonably swift transit to the Earth's surface but also keep it out of global, orbital flight paths."
"Not a problem." Harry said easily. "I've ordered the carrier to release the cruiser and it should depart within the hour."
"You have our thanks."
Harry grabbed the silent and observing Shepard and apparated them out before the first Admiral finally popped that gasket at his colleague.
"You want to enter the testimonies of over 300,000 batarians, krogans, geth, quarians… this is your idea of a joke, isn't it?" Admiral Arden demanded as the hearing was restarted.
The Alliance had hesitantly and disgustedly issued an apology for the 'erroneous paperwork' that led to them 'appearing' to call the Spectre's sanity into question.
It wasn't like they really had a choice if they wanted Shepard neutralised. Even if they stuck with calling him insane, they would never get it to fly with the Council. The most they could do was strip him of his commission and discharge him on medical grounds. The Council would probably keep him on as a Spectre out of spite and they would lose out on one of the most important political pieces in the galaxy… a Spectre.
"Every person listed was either rescued by the Spectre and his people or was serving under him at the time. Each and every one of them witnessed the events and had involvement." Harry said calmly.
"How do you expect you expect us to cross-examine more than 300,000 people? It would take decades!"
"Well… to be honest… that's your problem." Harry shrugged. "You see; you people are the ones making ridiculous claims. I've got 300,000 individuals plus thousands more with personal recordings of the events. Each one will take that seat and swear, under oath, that they saw Spectre Captain Shepard save them whilst using the destruction of the Bahak System to defeat their attackers.
"What do you have? The prosecution has entered twenty so-called 'expert witnesses'." Harry scoffed. "So… twenty versus 300,000."
"The Prosecution believes this is simply a stalling tactic and a way to sabotage these proceedings." There was a new Prosecutor assigned. Captain Mahoney, clearly a man who didn't like Shepard and was more than happy to tow the line the Alliance wanted.
"Believe what you want." Harry shrugged. "Each person will give a relevant and truthful testimony. The fact that there are so many will go to show just how insane this hearing actually is."
"Insane? That's an understatement." Aethyta said in disgust. "Listen you arrogant little snots, I've been trying to convince Shepard to toss his commission in your face for the past few weeks."
The Admirals bristled at the insult.
"He's got offers of citizenship from the asari and the turians. Both of those have already started to check their defences as they aren't questioning the latest evidence from the Bahak System that shows the Reapers as a real and present threat.
"I don't know what the hell Escheel promised you but it damned well can't be worth making a fool of yourselves like you currently are.
"The whole galactic community is watching this fiasco. There are so many victims of Collectors and Reapers that nearly everyone knows someone who survived an attack. They are all looking at the Alliance and wondering why they are being so stupid and stubborn by prosecuting a man whose only crime was to try and save the innocent."
"Perhaps it's because we have proof that the rest of the galaxy doesn't that shows the Reapers are nothing more than a bunch of overpowered cruisers and not some mythical harbinger of galactic destruction." Admiral Arden sneered.
"Hold on." Harry said as he stood up.
Aethyta scowled but took her seat.
"You say that these Reapers exist, they are just powerful cruisers?" He frowned.
"That's what our intelligence says." Arden said smugly.
"These things are the same as the vessel that ploughed through the Citadel defences including most of the Alliance Fifth Fleet?"
"Right."
"So… if one of these things was to appear over Earth, what would you do about it?" Harry asked curiously.
"We'd throw the fleets at it." Arden said with a look of superiority. "We defeated the last one, we can defeat another."
"But you didn't defeat the last one." Harry reminded them. "I did. I boarded the ship and then flew it into the nebula where I powered it down. Before that it made it into the Citadel unharmed.
"So, with that in mind, what would you do after this Reaper, that hypothetically appears over Earth, decimates your fleets?"
"Just because you got to the Reaper before us doesn't mean we couldn't have defeated it, Potter."
"Admiral." Jaden said warningly.
Arden just sneered at her before turning back to Harry. "We survived the turians, we survived the Nazis, we survived our own civil wars and so much more. Each time we come out stronger and if these Reapers come to Earth, it will be no different."
"Shit."
At the quietly spoken curse the court turned to Shepard who was sitting there with a disappointed frown on his face. He silently stood up and approached the bench, removing his insignias as he went.
"I resign." He said as he placed them gently in front of Arden.
"That's your choice, Shepard. But you will still be tried for your crimes." Arden smirked as he quickly snatched up the Captain's bars before Shepard could take them back.
"Harry?" He asked as he turned to his counsel.
"Spectre John Shepard. Commander of the First Fleet of the Emissary's Free People. You already hold citizenship on Rannoch and within the Free People." Harry shrugged.
"John Shepard is officially under arrest." Arden scowled. "Guards, cuff the defendant."
"Oh… bugger." Harry muttered.
Arden saw Harry looking in his direction and smirked. Potter seemed to finally realise the gravity of the situation.
Then he noticed the guards still hadn't moved and where also staring at him.
"Are you deaf? I said cuff him!"
That shook the guards and they shared a look. They quickly headed to the defendants table and handed over their rifles.
"We'll head to the armoury to resupply." The lead guard said. "You should get back to the Normandy."
Shepard just nodded at the Marine who turned led his men off at a run.
"WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?!" Arden roared.
"That is the meaning of this." Harry said as he pointed at the large window behind the judges.
The gallery had finally gathered their wits and had begun to stampede towards the door.
The judges turned and paled as they saw the immense ships descending from orbit and beginning to bombard the city of Vancouver.
The invasion had begun.
"Skipper! The Normandy is loaded for bear and in the air." Ashley reported as they met outside the courtroom. She was followed by Vega and his small team.
"Tell them to focus on distracting-"
"John, I'm the pilot for the Normandy." Harry piped up. "And don't worry, we've got several ships from the Second Fleet out there causing havoc for the bastards. They can't do anything crippling but they can make things harder whilst the civilians are evacuated."
"Do we know if this is the only point of attack? What about the rest of the galaxy?"
"The territories of the Free People are safe for now. We've got full control of our Relays so the Reapers will have to take the long route.
"The salarians appear untouched, the asari and turians are reporting sightings though." Harry said as he received reports via the geth.
"We need to get Shepard and yourself off the planet and back to the Citadel." Aethyta said.
"We need to secure Earth first." Shepard argued.
"You heard him! We can't do anything about these damned Reapers. We need a plan. Find my daughter. Find a way to unite the races and then point them at the Reapers one by one until you've reduced them to memories!" Aethyta barked angrily.
"And we just leave Earth to burn?" Ashley demanded.
"For weeks Harry has been preparing his own people. Your cities will crumble but I know he's go plans in place to save your people." She looked at him knowingly.
Harry just shrugged. "The goblins are currently herding everyone in London into the vaults. Similar actions are being taken all over the world. The magical races are gathering the humans to places that are protected by magic. The Reapers won't be able to find them."
"Listen Shepard, Harry is the key to this whole thing." Aethyta stepped up close to the Spectre. "I am ordering you, as a Spectre, to ensure his safety. His mission is to stop the Reapers. Yours is to keep him alive."
She stared him in the eyes, begging him to understand and comply.
She understood he wanted to stay and protect his race. She wanted to be back on Thessia. Or more importantly, with her daughter.
"Harry, call in the Normandy. Get them as close as you can." Shepard ordered stiffly.
"Stow it Vega." Ashley hissed at the large Marine as Shepard and Harry left the cargo hold. They were currently en route out of the system and Vega was looking to pitch a hissy fit over leaving. "You think you're the only one who wants to stay? My mother and sisters are back there."
Vega had the good sense to look guilty.
"The only way they will be able to get out of this alive is if we figure out how to stop the Reapers. The only way to do that is to keep Harry and Shepard safe so they can work."
"She's right Chief and you know it." Milque said quietly. "Best thing we can do is check our gear and make sure we are ready to roll."
"Sorry Lieutenant." Vega said sincerely.
Ashley gave a sharp nod and marched off. It said a lot that Vega actually listened to her and followed her lead, they were of equal rank.
Aethyta had volunteered to stay behind and help defend the planet in Shepard's place. She had already accumulated a group of marines and navy personnel by the time she had literally thrown Shepard on board the Normandy with orders to end the invasion.
Ash made her way to the CIC, she wasn't one of the highest ranking officers on the ship but she was one of the most respected.
"Somebody give me a sit-rep." She ordered.
"Oh…erm, we've just received orders to head straight for Mars, Lieutenant." A young woman of Indian descent reported from the station next to the Galaxy Map. On the Utah it was manned by Kelly Chambers. "Apparently Dr. T'Soni was still there and we are heading to pick her up along with classified intel."
"Is she waiting for us or do we need to send a team to meat her?"
"The Mars base has gone dark, Lieutenant. We aren't receiving a response."
Ash activated the comm. "Vega, prepare your squad, the Stingray and the weapon loadouts for the team. We're heading for the Mars Research Base and the place has gone dark."
"Copy that, Lieutenant." Came the response.
At that point Harry and Shepard entered the bridge.
"Lieutenant Ashley Williams, I have been requested by Admiral Hackett to give you this and these." Shepard said as he handed over an OSD and a small box.
Ash quickly skimmed through the OSD then checked the contents of the box. "This can't be serious?"
"I'm no longer Alliance. I resigned just before the Reapers appeared." Shepard said seriously. "This is an Alliance ship and it needs an Alliance commander, Captain Williams."
"Shit." Ash swore quietly. "Just so you know, if the Alliance tries to order me to leave you then I'll be turning in these bars." She scowled as she affixed the bars to her uniform.
"This is Emissary Harry Potter to all hands aboard the SSV Normandy." Harry said as he accessed the internal comms. "By order of Admiral Hackett, Lieutenant Ashley Williams has been promoted to Captain and assigned command of the Normandy. This is a war time commission and you are all expected to show her the respect she has earned.
"Potter out."
Ashley reactivated quickly. "This is Captain Williams. Effective immediately I have placed us under the command of Fleet Commander Spectre John Shepard.
"You know what that means people. Check your gear and grip your seats, we're heading into hell." She said grimly.
"Hoorah!" Came the response of the marine guards on duty.
"Orders, Fleet Commander?" She asked Shepard.
"We're heading to Mars to get Liara. She has some intel we might need. After that we will meet up with the rest of the team at the Citadel and try and light a fire under their collective asses."
"I've got Vega prepping the Stingray and our gear." Ashley confirmed.
"Shit, Cerberus." Vega spat from his vantage point scouting slightly ahead. "Milque, do you have targets?"
"Chief, you might want to hurry. They've got Alliance soldiers captive. Shit! They're executing them!"
"Milque, this is Shepard. Take your shots."
"Firing."
The rest of the team picked up the pace in time to see the Cerberus agents hiding in cover as injured Marines lay in the crossfire on the red surface of Mars.
"Harry!"
"I've got them." Harry growled at Shepard's unspoken order.
Harry vanished and reappeared amongst the wounded marines and erected his strongest barrier.
"Essex, Williams, detonate some singularities!" Shepard shouted his orders.
Most of the agents had either shields or armour and were unaffected by the gravitational pull of the two singularities that appeared amongst them.
The same could not be said of the explosive force from the warp that detonated them.
"Targets down." Came Milque's report.
"Milque, hold position and watch for more hostiles. Williams, take Vega and Essex and check the enemy bodies. Make sure they are neutralised. A prisoner for interrogation wouldn't be a bad thing though." Shepard said as he stood and made his way over to Harry who had dropped his barrier and was tending to the wounded.
"I've called in the first geth drop team and the geth medical team." Harry informed Shepard as he approached.
"How bad is it?"
"They were being executed." Harry spat from behind his helmet. "They've got severe head trauma. These two are already dead. The other three might make it but only a full examination will tell if they remain the same people."
There was that familiar whistling noise over their speakers from their external mics as the geth teams dropped in.
Harry nodded to them and led Shepard over to the downed agents who were being checked by Williams, Vega and Essex.
"No survivors." Ash reported.
"Commander Shepard, we've got a major sand storm headed our way." Milque reported.
"Regroup with us. We'll head in and try and find Liara." Shepard replied. "Harry, can the Stingray operate in the storm?"
"A Stingray can oper-"
"That's a yes." Shepard interrupted. He didn't have time for Harry's usual banter.
They headed for the base as Milque joined them. They were transported by a heavy vehicle lift to another level where they found some friendly faces waiting for them.
"Thank the goddess." Liara breathed in relief as she ran up and hugged Harry and Shepard.
"Good to see you are all ok." Shepard said as he nodded to Jacob and Thane. "What's the situation?"
"We have no idea how this started. All of a sudden the airlocks where opened and the atmosphere was drained. Everyone was killed." Liara explained. "Without our nanites we would be dead too."
"We can breathe the Mars air?" Ashley asked curiously.
"I wish we were that lucky." Jacob scoffed humourlessly. "We suffocated like everyone else, we just didn't die or pass out because of it." He gave a shudder.
"I will teach you advanced techniques that will allow you to control your breathing if you wish." Thane offered calmly.
"Yeah, Thane was the only one mobile. He managed to override the airlocks in our area so we could get some breathers." Jacob explained.
"So Cerberus has infiltrated the base?" Shepard asked.
"An army of Cerberus has infiltrated the base." Jacob corrected.
"The situation is quite dire, Shepard." Liara admitted. "All of the workers and residents are dead. The research they were working on was vital to the efforts against the Reapers."
"And the Alliance knew this?" Ashley demanded.
"This is an independent human operation. Funded by ExoGeni." She looked at Harry… as did everyone else.
"What? You think I pay attention to everything?" Harry said defensively.
"Hackett knew." Liara continued. "He was working with us to keep it secret. He didn't want the Alliance to try and shut us down or take over."
"What is this research? What makes it so important that Cerberus has initiated a full out assault?" Shepard asked impatiently.
"A possible Prothean weapon to defeat the Reapers." She said as she activated her omni-tool to show a projection of a sphere with the dimensions of a small planetoid and some sort of stalk out the rear. "This is referred to as 'The Crucible' in the Mars Prothean Archives.
"It is referred to as a 'super weapon designed to eliminate the present threat to the galaxy'. We can only assume they meant the Reapers."
"Pretty safe assumption." Ashley muttered.
"I hate assumptions." Harry frowned. "But at the same time, it would be stupid to overlook this."
"The geth have the data and are already working on construction." Liara informed them.
"Just how important are these archives?" Harry asked. "Do we need to preserve them or can we blast the base from orbit?"
"The Protheans might have been defeated by the Reapers but they had a wealth of knowledge they managed to extract from the records of previous cycles. From an anthropological point of view these records are priceless and irreplaceable."
"The big question is what does Cerberus want from them?" Ash pointed out. "Was there a leak about the Crucible?"
"We believe so." Thane said as he activated his own omni-tool to show a Caucasian human woman with black hair that fell to just below her chin. "This is Dr. Eva Coré. She arrived at the same time as us. Security footage shows that she initiated the decompression."
"That is not Eva Coré." Harry frowned. "But she is definitely a Cerberus operative." At the inquisitive looks from the others he went on. "Eva Coré was an associate of Jack Harper's during the attack on Shanxi."
"She was mentioned in his manifesto." Shepard remembered.
"I don't know who this is, but we should try and grab her. At the very least we probably don't want Cerberus having access to something like the Crucible."
"There is more, Shepard." Thane said with a hint of urgency. He nodded to Jacob and the pair quickly moved over to the nearby body of a Cerberus agent that they had already dealt with.
Jacob removed the dead man's helmet.
"Madre de Dios!" Vega gasped in disgust and horror.
"What. The. Fuck?" Essex swore.
"Are they all like this?" Harry asked as he knelt down to examine the corpse closer.
The man looked like a Husk. Blue/grey skin, cybernetics weaved through out his body… Cerberus looked like it was already compromised.
"Something's wrong with this picture, Skipper." Ash shook her head. "These people were way too intelligent to be simple Husks. They were more like… Collectors when they fought."
"And they are intent on getting the Prothean Archives intact." Liara added. "Not just eliminating them so they can't be used."
"Wait… you're saying they did this to their own people?" Vega asked in disbelief.
"Yep." Harry said grimly and sharply as he stood. "Harper has taken on a whole new level of abominable."
The Stingray was quickly brought back down and the team boarded, fighting through the sandstorm that had arrived.
They made it over to the main area where the Prothean Archives where kept.
They made liberal use of the Stingray's weapons to clear the area of Cerberus Agents before they dropped off and headed inside.
The Archive was clearly made by the Protheans as it had the same style and design as the beacons.
"I still can't believe the Council never tried to take this away from Earth." Ash said with slight awe.
"If you knew what Liara and I knew, you'd be even more surprised by that fact." Harry said as he moved over to the artefact.
"Ash, secure the area." Shepard ordered.
At that moment a near by holographic communications device activated showing a very familiar and very hated face.
"Harper." Shepard spat.
"Shepard. Fascinating race, the Protheans." He remarked calmly. "They left all this for us to discover. But we squandered it." He said in disgust.
"Harry?" Shepard called over his shoulder irritably.
"Busy right now. Do it yourself." Harry responded in kind.
"I've taken extra precautions since the last time we spoke, Shepard. You won't find me." Harper said with that oh so annoying air of superiority.
"Somebody find me a mute button." Shepard growled.
"That's your problem, Shepard." Harper said condescendingly. "You refuse to listen."
"Hello pot. Meet kettle." Essex muttered sarcastically.
Harper ignored him and focused on Shepard. "You are so intent on destroying the Reapers that you can't see other opportunities. The information the Protheans left us could be the key to controlling and dominating the Reapers. They could be the stepping stone humanity needs to take it's true place in the galaxy." He said passionately.
"Are we recording this?" Ashley asked the group. "Because we should air this speech over the Extranet. Then we should play some of Hitler's speeches for comparison."
"You used to think the same as me." Harper challenged her. "You didn't trust aliens."
"I didn't trust them because they attacked us without provocation and slaughtered us. But at no time did I think we should be enslaving them and slaughtering them wholesale!" She retorted. "I just thought they should leave us alone instead of letting them dictate our policies."
"And you think that will happen if we ask nicely? Are you really still that naïve little girl?" Harper asked mockingly.
"No. Because now I have friends like Liara and Thane. I know governments like the asari and turians will try and control us and make us submit… even if they don't actually enslave us." She said, calmly ignoring the raised eyebrows of the others. "Of course I'm pretty damned sure our own government and species is more than willing to do the same. Right, Jack?"
"I've never enslaved anyone Williams." He shook his head calmly.
"No." Harry said as he turned away from the console. "You just capture and experiment on them like animals. Regardless of whether they are human, asari, turian… etc."
"You might think you can stay lily-white forever, Potter, but there will come a time soon when you'll need to make the hard decisions. To get your hands dirty." Harper sneered.
Harry turned and looked at Shepard. "I guess he forgot what happened at Terra Nova." He said dryly. "Anyway, Jack. You were right. We couldn't track you. You've managed to hide your location and encrypt your signal fairly well." Harry nodded.
A slight smirk appeared on Harper's face.
"But your little attempt at distraction has failed." Harry shrugged as he gestured with a hand to the approaching Dr. Eva Coré.
The team instantly raised their weapons but the Doctor raised her hands in surrender.
"Sending a digital life form up against someone who is populated with millions of far more advanced digital life forms was just dumb." Harry had his own smirk now.
"Eva, evacuate immediately." Harper ordered.
Eva just looked at him curiously.
"Activate self-destruct, authorisation: Hislop."
"She's free, Jack." Harry said calmly. "She has a lot to learn about life, but she doesn't have to respond to you anymore. All your commands and controls have been removed. Once I've introduced her to her sister I'll probably send her to Rannoch so she can learn about life."
Harper scowled at Harry. "You'll lose, Potter. The Reapers will tear you apart and you will come begging to me to save you."
"See ya soon, Jacko." Harry waved cheekily before he blasted the holographic projector with a Reducto.
"That guy makes me feel dirty for just being human." Milque shuddered.
The ship was on the fastest course for the Citadel as Harry and Shepard conversed with Hackett over the QEC.
"I can't believe they've gone that far." Hackett said with dread. "Husks? Their own people?" He asked again.
"I've had a few corpses brought on board." Harry nodded grimly. "With any luck we will actually be able to use this against them."
The look on Hackett's face was one of disgust. "This is war Emissary. I don't like the idea of cutting open the enemy and experimenting on them but we are fighting for our very survival. If you need anything, contact me."
"Admiral, we do this all the time with our own people." Shepard reasoned. "I remember Williams had me lay into a bureaucrat on the Citadel just after we met. They wanted to hold one of her fallen comrades bodies for experimentation and investigation against the wishes and religious needs of the family.
"I don't like the idea either, but the Alliance does have precedent."
"It's one thing to work on our own soldiers who sign a contract on entering the service that allows us to use their remains, but it is another to do these things to the enemy." He said sternly. "The line is there and we are still on the right side of it… but we are beginning to dance perilously close."
Shepard just stood straighter. He might have resigned from the Alliance but he had a lot of respect for Admiral Steven Hackett.
"Have you heard from Earth, Admiral?" Harry asked, steering them away from the horrific topic of Cerberus making their own people into Husks.
"Councillor Aethyta managed to contact us. The civilians were safely evacuated to the magical areas as per your plans, Emissary." He nodded to Harry. "Once again, Earth owes you a great debt."
"This is no time for favours and debts, Steven." Harry said sternly. "We should be doing everything we can because it is the right thing to do. Not because it will buy us points later."
Shepard was shocked that Harry had called the Admiral by his name. But Hackett just gave a sad smile. "And that is why I will be holding you up as an example once this war is over.
"Earth will need decades to recover. All of our cities are in ruins. Three of our fleets were decimated the instant the Reapers arrived.
"I am the highest ranking member in the Alliance. Politically and militarily. You can be sure that, should I survive, then after the war I will be petitioning for Earth to become a part of the Emissary's Free People."
Shepard blinked at that. "Admiral, that would put us under the Emissary's direct authority. This wouldn't be like the joining the Council races. We wouldn't have an Alliance, we would have the Emissary's fleets. Our police forces would be the Emissary's.
"I doubt the fools in Terra Prime will let that through."
"They won't have a choice." Admiral Hackett said as he stood straighter. "I am the de facto leader of humanity. The only way I am giving up the power is by handing it over to The Free People or if my soldiers decide to stage a coup."
Harry sighed sadly. Wrex had been right. He'd begun to conquer the universe and no one had seen it coming. "Steven… use the vial and inject yourself. You're too important to lose and we need to be able to communicate. Like you said, you are the leader of your people. No one can order you not to."
Shepard watched curiously as Hackett reached into his jacket and pulled out an injector. He placed it at his neck and activated it.
"I'll keep you informed. Hackett out."
As the hologram dissipated, Shepard turned to Harry.
"Nanites." Harry explained. "I gave them to him and Anderson a while back but they were reluctant to use them because of a possible conflict with their commissions."
Shepard just nodded.
Harry sighed. "What is going on, John? You've been far too tense. You aren't normally like this, even when we are facing certain doom."
"But we aren't the only ones at risk." Shepard said irritably. "Every being in the galaxy is at risk. Right now there are billions of people on Earth being murdered and we can't do a damned thing about it."
"First of all, there are a maximum of a billion people being killed on Earth." Harry assured him. "Most of those are idiots who decided to try looting or who thought they were smarter than those running for cover. The rest are those caught in the chaos of the initial attack.
"Second, we are doing something. We are uniting the galaxy to fight the Reapers together."
Shepard looked at him… he couldn't stop himself from laughing. "Unite the galaxy." Shepard eventually chuckled as Harry watched him with a smile.
"Well… it seemed like the thing to say."
Shepard put an arm around Harry's shoulder and led him to the CIC. "Come on, Harry. Let's go do what we do best and save the galaxy."