Chapter 47: Chapter 47

Alliances

Chapter 47 : Father

Kal had listened to Shepard's speech as he rode the elevator up to deck 3 and when Cerberus was mentioned he unconsciously reached back and touched his assault rifle. He had vowed to never let his inattention to his surroundings ever let a Cerberus agent near Lana again. His anger still rose as he thought how close she had come to death at the hands of one of them.

Moving to the mess decks he took a seat along with the six crewmen he found there, nodding to each one as they all looked at him. Gardner was apparently the one in charge as he could see him checking the emergency gear laid out on the table before him.

"Good to see you with us Kal." Gardner said. "Don't suppose we get to keep you though, soon as Mr. Taylor gets around to assigning you a station and all but as long as you're here might as well listen up. I'll restart so Kal can get the info too."

"Awe, come on Rupert. You already covered most the stuff and we all know it already." complained Hawthorne.

"Can it princess or I'll talk even slower." replied Gardner then said "Before you in the green carryall you will find. 4 Mark VI emergency hull patch kits. Each kit consists of 3, 2 meter square large scale hole patches, 1 canister of emergency sealant and 1 red permanent marker. Instructions for use are..."

As soon as the secure from battle stations was issued the crewmen dispersed taking the gear with them to re-stow as Gardner stood there. Looking at Kal he said "Oh well, back to work," and turning moved back to his galley.

Kal sat there for a moment trying to decide what to do. He wanted to see

Lana again but he knew his first duty now should be to see Lt. Taylor and receive is assignments. Knowing duty must come first he slowly stands and looks once more at the sickbay door before moving once more towards the elevator. Only after he boards it does he realize that he does not know whereabouts of Mr. Taylor.

"Um, Edie?" he asks wondering if she has access to the elevator.

"Yes Kal? How can I be of assistance." replied EDI.

"Where may I find Lt. Taylor?" he asked.

"Deck 2, turn left after exiting the elevator and proceed into the armory. He will be expecting you." answered EDI.

"Thank you." Kal replied and pressed 2.

…

The Normandy's shields were sparkling as the debris from the Thanatos impacted them. Joker applied more vertical thrust to clear as much of it as possible and soon the ship was moving at 50 percent power towards the relay. Behind them, the carcass of the Thanatos shuddered once then blew apart as the damaged fusion plant overloaded sending more debris towards the space dock.

"Joker, why haven't you increased thrust to full?" asked Shepard.

"Talk to your boss, she won't let me use more power until they verify the new thrusters." Joker replied then looking at EDI added "Guess we know who wears the suit in that family."

"Alright Joker, just get us to the relay as fast as you can." he said then looking at Miranda added "Brevaert going to be an problem with that ship exploding so close to them?"

"I'll have a nice chat with them, well, me and our lawyers." she responded and turning joined the non-watch crew as they secured from battle stations. Pausing, she turns back and says "Nice call on that battle stations, nothing gets a crew ready for work than a good old fashioned drill."

Smiling he replies "Hardly a drill but still it was good seeing how fast the crew can respond. Please see to it that Gardner has a good meal planned for tonight and make sure he knows there are 3 quarians aboard."

"Will do Shepard. You know, just now I really did see a Captain. Keep that up and Mr. Moreau will start using your name as a curse word." Miranda said with a huge smile. Turning, she boarded the elevator.

"Joker, make sure you set course for Enoch. Remember, there's a human colony on Joab so we need to stay well clear of the planet. Put us on a heading towards Alpha Draconis but keep it slow, if we're lucky the flotilla will overtake us en-route." Shepard said into the intercom.

"Captain, there in an incoming call from the TSF Tinquare. They are demanding we cut power and await their arrival." stated EDI. "The Tinquare is a turian frigate, slightly older than the Thanatos was."

"Thank you EDI, on speakers please." he said just shook his head as he listened to the announcement.

"This is TSF Tinquare. You will heave to and prepare to be boarded. You and your ship will be held until a duly appointed Tribunal can be convened to award punishment. Do you understand Normandy."

Responding in a casual tone Shepard says "Do you understand that your ship is of the same type that now drifts as wreckage behind the Normandy. Captain, do yourself and your crew a favor." Glancing at the tactical display he adds "You're too far away to catch us and to show I'm not the bad guys here, a Cerberus Cruiser will be coming into this system looking for us as well. You may not want to be between them and us."

"I don't ca...Cruiser? You just destroyed a Cerberus vessel? I believe your race has a saying, 'God speed' Normandy. Tinquare out." came the reply and then the channel cut off.

"Captain, they are reducing velocities and altering course towards the planet." stated EDI. "I find it interesting that you did not use your Spectre status. I am sure they would recognize your authority here."

"He's just doing his job and I didn't see any reason to rub his face with it. Spectres are feared EDI, not respected. That's just one more thing on my list of items to accomplish but not yet. Right now it's getting you ready for battle again and somehow beating sense into the quarian race."

…

Dr. Chakwas felt the slight shudder of the Normandy's main guns firing and with no secondary firing knew the danger had passed. Of course, all this could have just been a ruse to snap the minds of the crew back to the here and now. No better way to wake up the crew after so much time away from the ship. Captain Anderson had loved his surprise drills she thought to herself as she gently laid Lana's leg back onto the bed.

"You can give that back now Lana." Dr. Chakwas said as she reached for the emergency suit. Lana held onto it for a moment before letting her take it from her hands. "Lana, I know you're very uncomfortable right now but until we have your new suit there is not much I can do to help you but remind you that here, you are safe."

"I'm sorry Doctor Chakwas, I..I just can't ignore the fact that I'm trapped here. No matter how nice everyone is, I can't walk out that door when I want." Lana replied.

Smiling at her, Dr. Chakwas says "There is no need to apologize Lana. Anyone stuck in here like this would feel the same way. Now, how's that leg of yours? Is it hurting from the little exercise we gave it or do you want to try putting alittle weight on it? Until you can walk, you're not leaving my sickbay."

"I know but honestly where can I go? Without my suit I'm trapped here and no amount of walking will change that." Lana replied.

"Is that what you intend to tell Kal? I don't know if you noticed or not but that man loves you, whatever you may call it. He sat here the entire time you were burning up with fever talking to you, saying anything he could think of just to let you know he was beside you in your delirium. He never once gave up on you, so why are you giving up on him?" Dr. Chakwas replied sternly.

"I would never give up on Kal! How dare you say something like that, you don't even understand how deep our feelings for each other are!" Lana said getting angry. "I've heard Judy and Ellen talking, making comments about one male or another. You human's don't even know the first thing about true bonding."

"I may not know what you call bonding feels like but I do know when someone is laying in one of my beds feeling sorry for themselves. Now either you decide right now that you want to walk again or I'll just wrap you in that bubble-suit and ship you back to your fleet." Dr. Chakwas stated firmly.

Lana grabbed the blanket that covered her but stopped as she watched Dr. Chakwas. Smiling now she said "You're very good at knowing how to deal with childish patients." Instead of throwing the cover off she gently pulled it across her body, uncovering herself. Seeing how much of her was actually visible she quickly pulled the blanket back over her. "I can't, not like this. What if someone comes in and sees me."

Turning, Dr. Chakwas presses an icon sealing the door. Looking back at Lana she says "There, doors sealed and no one can just walk in on us. Now, shall we try this again?"

…

Hearing the secure from battle stations all three engineers breathed a collective sigh of relief. Tali had seen the massive power draw that must have been the main weapon firing and knew that if the emergency was over the cause of the emergency had been dealt with. Shaking her head to clear her thoughts she turned back to work.

"Gabby, have the diagnostics finished yet?" asked Tali as she scanned her own readouts. So much of the equipment was new that she was unwilling to trust anything until they had firm, hard data on performance and diagnostics. "First run is complete Tali, there is a 2.3 percent difference from original baseline data. Second run should be finished in about another 3 minutes. I expect the baselines to be closer this time as the engines warm and the controls break in." Gabby replied watching the displays before her. Everything was running fine, the ship even felt normal but nothing could replace solid data. "Ken, what's your power feeds look like?"

"Ah, she's in perfect form. Plenty of power where she needs it and responds smoothly to my lightest touch." he replies.

Laughing Tali says "Are you talking about the Normandy or one of its engineers?"

Both Ken and Gabby stared at Tali. Ken turning slightly red in the face and Gabby just standing there with her eyes and mouth wide open.

"T..The Normandy Tali, who else would I be referring to?" he asked glancing at Gabby. Damn that woman! He hadn't blushed like this since the time he walked in on his older brother and his girlfriend.

Recovering from her surprise and shock Gabby says "And to think I stood up for you!" There was no anger in her voice when she said that, what it held were traces of fond memories. Turning back to her console she couldn't help but smile alittle as Tali's comments brought to mind the last three weeks.

"Tali, Captain Shepard is requesting an estimation of time on your final go ahead for full power operations. He is worried the Hunley will arrive in system before we can reach the relay at our present velocity." stated EDI, breaking the relaxed mood of the engineers and refocusing them on their consoles.

"Two more diagnostic runs and about 20 minutes more of data collection EDI then I can make that call. I would rather take the time now and prevent a mishap than push the engines blindly and risk an explosion or shutdown." Tali replied as she brought up the reactor controls to monitor the output levels.

"Thank you Tali. If full thrust can be utilized after your tests then we can make the relay with time to spare." responded EDI.

"You heard EDI, lets keep our focus and make sure we don't miss anything." stated Tali as she herself brought her mind back to work. Something nagged her though and it dawned on her what EDI had said so she asked "EDI, why are you calling Shepard Captain now?"

After a short pause EDI replies "It seems the right thing to do."

…

"Where are my updates? Why hasn't the Thanatos opened communication?" asked the Illusive man. "The captain has had plenty of time to obtain his objective. An objective that even a moron could do."

"We have not received any data from the Tasale system along official channels but we have been receiving standard news feeds from the local news agencies, nothing but updates on the rogue ship that has been attacking unarmed merchants." replied Jackson.

"I've seen those already! Nothing but their own security forces chasing down the Moros. Where is the data on the Thanatos?" the Illusive man asked.

"The time stamps on these new feeds are about 30 minutes behind, it's possible the Thanatos has already taken the Normandy and we're just waiting on the update." Jackson responded.

"Why must you show your incompetence every time you open your mouth? Real time communications have been the norm since before mankind found the relay! I'm willing to give them 10 more minutes but after that I want direct comms opened to that ship." stated the Illusive man.

"Yes sir, 10 minutes sir." replied Jackson.

"Now what's the holdup on our shipments from the Citadel? Usually it's one of the first locations to respond to an acquisition request for test animals." he asked.

"Seems that a few teams there have met with abrupt endings. Other groups there have become...reluctant to fulfill the requests." Jackson said nervous at having to give him more bad news.

"You mean they have been killed. Why is it so hard to find competent help these days? Have our people focus on Illium and Omega for now. We shall ignore the citadel at present but if this trend continues or spreads I want to know about it." the Illusive man said then with a wave of his hand dismissed Jackson.

…

Watching the video feeds coming in from space she smiled as she saw the Normandy exiting the Space Dock safely. Of course not many would have access to this particular data-feed as it was considered military and as such, classified but that had never stopped her before from getting what she needed or wanted.

"See that little wing? That's your fathers ship making bad men pay for their wrong doings." she said to Jossa as the infant nursed. "May the goddess watch over and protect you John, may she grant you and Tali the joy's of a long life." she added as she watched the Normandy pulling away from the wreckage.

From the video it was clear that the Normandy had not completed its repairs and was being forced to flee its current hiding place. There were sections completely devoid of armor, only the underlying skin of the ship could be seen. Just thinking of going into battle, even a quick one as this was, without the safety of armor gave her shivers.

Jossa complained as the shiver bothered her but settled down quickly as Liara gently stroked her head and softly cooed. After a moment more of quiet she looked at Athyra and quietly said "Please make sure this is all being recorded. It will be important to Jossa to know the determination her father has, his strength to never give up."

Opening her omnitool, Athyra verified it was being recorded and set it to permanent archive. Liara could decide later when it would be appropriate for Jossa to view it as she grew. "I have never seen a weapon such as the one the Normandy just used. It appears to be quite effective." she said.

"He does have a habit of finding things out in the void, finding things and people where you least expect them." she replied.

"He does indeed." responded Athyra. "He does indeed."

Looking down at Jossa she smiled softly and once more spoke of the time she herself was saved by him. "I had been trapped for a day in the prothean field, geth and krogan all around and out of nowhere came a man, Shepard he called himself, you can call him father."

…

A/N: There were questions raised by some as to the Thanatos trying to fight the Normandy, here I will try to explain my reasoning.

The last information Cerberus had on the Normandy was as it's main power feed blew apart. There was no indication that she had been repaired enough to even have working weaponry.

Since Shepard had been kept to bare subsistence living with the funds provided, repairs would have been done slowly as monies were found.

A refit is a nasty thing. In the first week or so, the ships are gutted of equipment as it's removed and repaired and/or calibrated. True, in the future most things could be done in place but I choose to believe that there will still be test racks everywhere and equipment pulled from their cabinets for testing. (Refits suck)

They were being forced out of refit before they were ready, if that happened to a modern warship it's a safe bet a lot of gear would still be waiting on the decks for installation. Let's just say I have personal knowledge of this.

Captain Ulric had specific orders to keep the Normandy there. He tried first to sneak up to the dock, then tried a show of force to get Shepard to back down. His belief that the Normandy was ill prepared for any type of battle was strengthened by the stealth system seemingly dropping off line as they approached.

Since the Normandy was hiding behind the doors he felt confident her weapons or at least her shields were inoperable. Either one would have made the battle a bit more fair to the Thanatos.

Finally and most importantly, the way TIM tells people only what they need to hear, there is no indication (even in the game) that the Normandy's abilities were known Cerberus wide. If you were commanded to go up against a Cruiser Killer in your tin can, would you? Keeping that knowledge to himself, he insured his ships captains would do their duty. Within the game/story Ulric thought he was just going up against a damaged larger version of the SR1.