Things went wrong very quickly in the following hours. Allegra had been unable to put her mind fully on the Spectre issue. It was a complicated thing, and her baser urges were obstructing proper contemplation. It felt much like thinking her way past a brick wall. Allegra gave in to herself and attended the cockpit rather than brood in the office. Captain Anderson had been there as well, giving orders to Moreau.
The red sky was hazed with dark clouds and rising smoke. A massive ship loomed ominously over the spaceport nearby. Any proximity to it jammed the comms and navigation systems. Allegra didn't doubt the use of the stealth system saved them from having to confront the giant directly.
Movement was largely restricted until the flag ship ascended to orbit. Passing over the area afforded a clearer view. There were corpses and flaming shacks littered all over the place. Synthetics were everywhere. Some shot at the Normandy, and Anderson had them fly higher.
It was then that the landing space of the mysterious flag ship became clear. The ground was cracked apart as if from a massive quake, and shining from some kind of red energy.
Allegra hadn't realized how tight her grip became on Moreau's chair until her injury grew agitated enough to overwhelm her pain medication. She winced and forced her hand to relax. She didn't miss the suspense of waiting for news. Radio silence was a condition that never did well for her blood pressure.
Finally, a voice filtered through the comms. Shepard's voice came in steady and clear, "Normandy, the beacon is secure. Request immediate evac."
Moreau tapped the comm on his terminal, "ETA is 60 seconds, commander."
"Roger that. Standing by."
Anderson's tight shoulders lowered. They could all be relieved that at least the objective of the mission had been met. It was regrettable that they didn't have the manpower to rid Eden Prime of the remaining synthetics. They had killed too many, too quickly. The damage that ship left behind would take months to clear alone.
"Normandy!" a female voice shouted into the comm just seconds later, "The beacon activated and did something to the commander! It exploded- she's down!"
Allegra felt adrenaline surge through her. She met the captain's eyes. For a single moment, understanding corded between them. She knew what she was going to do. The captain saw it. He gave no arguments, choosing instead to allow her to act.
Allegra took off from the cockpit. Her boots thundered along the deck at speed. Startled crewmen and a shouting Pressly were left in her wake. The security officer at the stairs saw her running toward him and pulled his weapon closer to his chest.
"Ma'am-"
"You come with me," Allegra ordered, voice strong and firm. She looked to the two men on the comms door, "You two as well. Be ready for a possible confrontation."
Allegra slipped past the first officer and hurried down the stairs. If Shepard's life was on the line, she wasn't going to waste time explaining the situation to anyone. Rushed stomps followed her at her heels.
Allegra made it to the freight lift and jabbed the control. The last man in their little group had to hop through the door before it closed shut too far for him to fit through. She could feel her heart rousing as if coming out of a months-long reverie. Thumping steadily in her chest, ready for engagement.
For the few seconds it took to descend to the next deck, Allegra felt minutes tick by. Her companions didn't ask any questions as they likely should have. In a less pressing time she might offer up more information unprompted. As it was, her mind was running through scenario after scenario, and how she could react to them.
Allegra called for the security officer standing by engineering to join the group. She had one pair each post up on either side of the hold. It was quite warm because of the stealth drive having been used. She could feel her body begin to dampen at the sensation of heated, stagnant air. The bandage around her arm began to itch.
The hold doors opened as the Normandy lowered toward the dock. An influx of cool air swirled in the hold, bringing with it the smell of plasma and death. Allegra scanned the area, looking for any synthetics or hazards. Shepard might have called in secure, but that had hardly lasted long.
Allegra scanned the group. Their armor was splashed with mysterious white liquid and punctured in several places each. Medi-gel seals had them plugged. Shepard herself was lying unconscious. Pieces of shrapnel were lodged in her armor. It was impossible to tell just how deep those wounds went without removing them first. Nearby was what might have once been the prothean beacon. Pieces of it were scattered across the dock.
Alenko and the female marine pulled the commander up into a shared hold. Allegra called to them as they neared, "Where are corporal Jenkins and the Spectre?"
"Both went down, ma'am," Alenko answered, "Jenkins is just past our drop point. Nihlus is on the spaceport platform up the cargo line."
"Get to the med-bay and stay there," Allegra glanced over the surroundings once more but there were no enemies in sight. No civilians or otherwise. Partially destroyed synthetics were strewn about the dock.
Allegra used her omni-tool to access the comm for the cockpit, "We need to retrieve corporal Jenkins and the Spectre. The closest one is at the spaceport cargo platform."
"Status?"
"Killed in action."
The captain's voice responded after a moment, "Very well."
Allegra watched the ramp close as the Normandy began to rise. The captain's hesitation was understandable. The mission had seemed as if it would be successful until it suddenly failed. Then it was revealed that they had lost the Council's Spectre, as well as one of their own. It was a sort of bad luck some might consider superstitious.
The Normandy couldn't fully set down in the cluttered space of the platform. Moreau lowered as close as possible. The ground was heavily disturbed from the Normandy's proximity. The fresh oxygen of the planet was marred with that same char and decay Allegra noticed earlier. The corpses and explosive residue only made it more potent.
A quick sweep didn't show any functional synthetics. Allegra craved reprisal. Her temper was flaring, causing the air around her the shimmer. It was a reflex she had still not managed to rid herself of. Priming her biotics so that she could react with speed. Gathering the dark matter disturbed the air, but not quite enough to ignite it with the blue or purple color people recognized it with.
"I am unarmed, I will carry him," Allegra announced, staying low as they rushed up the platform stairs, "Keep your heads on a swivel."
"Aye, ma'am."
Nihlus was lying in his own pool of blood. From the time he had laid there it had begun to thicken. Allegra sat him up. There was a gaping hole in the base of his skull. No standard ammunition utilized such large rounds. It was partly scorched as well. It was unfortunate that their last and only genuine interaction had been so tense.
Does he have someone back home?
The turian was heavy and unwieldy. His long limbs and barrel-like torso made it difficult to carry his lifeless weight effectively. Allegra was glad that she attended the gym so often. She normally did so because it was an easy routine that didn't require much thought. It was a stress relief that she depended on. But since her injury, and joining the Normandy, she had been obstructed from true exercise.
Allegra was as gentle as she could be when she set Nihlus down. She wasn't shy about supporting the back of his head even as his blood soaked her fingers. She could keep his fringe intact. She could preserve his weapons for someone that might inherit them. Respect was all that she could give him now that he was gone.
"Nihlus has been retrieved. Corporal Jenkins is at the drop point."
There was a beat before a reply came, again, "Roger that. ETA 30 seconds."
Allegra's lips pursed when she noticed the blood soaking into her uniform. The deep blue was largely hidden in the dark of her uniform, leaving her to look as if someone had spilled a drink across her. The tangy smell of turian gore was deeply familiar to her. She hadn't missed it.
Jenkins was indeed very close to the drop point. His armor had been pelted with large shavings. Some were chipped, littering the ground around his body. Others were still lodged deep in his torso and an arm. Such an attack would have killed the corporal quickly without the protection of his shields. Considering how many there were and the fact that he was in the open, Allegra surmised the young man had overextended his position.
Nihlus was right.
Allegra shoved the thought away as fast as it came. She sped up into a jog, eager to get back to the ship. The security was doing a passable job of keeping up with her. They never let her get ahead, and their eyes never relaxed on their surroundings. None of them she had seen looked as young as Jenkins. Perhaps they had been chosen with a more careful hand than the Marine squad had been.
Jenkins wasn't immediately set down. Allegra jabbed her omni-tool's open interface, "Corporal Jenkins has been retrieved. Everyone is inside. I am moving the bodies to the med-bay."
"Good work, LC. I'll see you there."
Two of the officers took the Spectre before Allegra had to tell them to. She looked to the other two. Her mouth opened to dismiss them back to their posts, but paused. They were standing close to each other, glancing uneasily about the cargo hold. Before, they had been steady enough. But now their hands were shivering. Their breath was uneven.
Allegra had forgotten what it felt like to be especially horrified. Eden Prime was a mess, and innocents and marines alike had decorated the scorched earth. The smell had been pungent enough to make most sick. She regretted so many lost lives. It was never an easy thing to see. The surviving friends and family would be haunted by such loss for years to come.
"You did well," Allegra looked to all four of them before eying the idle two, "Take thirty minutes to yourselves before you return to post. Hydrate. You two can do the same as soon as we get our comrades to the med-bay."
There was a round of nods and subdued agreements. Allegra made a mental note to keep an eye on those four. She was no doctor, but she knew what grief and trauma could do to people. Naval security ran into danger often enough. But they weren't generally immersed in such environments like those marines dealt with.
The doors to the med-bay slid open to reveal a small crowd. Allegra physically bit her tongue to keep from scowling. Alenko and the other marine were mostly out of their armor to tend to their wounds. The captain was with them, handing both packets of salve and bandages. They looked like minor burns and bruises, accompanied by a couple of shaving wounds like the ones Jenkins had.
Dr. Chakwas was standing over Shepard at the nearest bed. She was picking out the shrapnel piece by piece, applying salve and medi-gel as she worked. Blood was all over the commander and the marines both. The sight, the smell, was bringing about a gruesome sort of nostalgia. An uneasy sickness began to brew in Allegra's stomach.
Worse than seeing all of this was knowing that she could do little to help after the fact. The disaster had already come. Allegra was limited to damage control.
"Put them in the back, please," the doctor called to her. She hardly took her eyes from Shepard save to see who had entered. It looked like it would be a while before she could be asked how the commander was doing. The wounds alone didn't seem very deep despite the heavy bleeding. Yet there could be any kind of poison or side effect caused by whatever the shrapnel was made out of.
Allegra led the way to the back of the med-bay. It was meant to be a lab. Not a morgue. She sighed softly when she set Jenkins down by Nihlus. They would need to be properly cleaned and packaged if the Normandy wasn't going to be hitting a base soon enough. She told herself to be ready to make the statements for their deaths.
"Thank you," Allegra nodded to the officers and waved for them to leave. Both wasted no time escaping from the med-bay. She supposed she could tell them to clean off their armor once they were relieved. Neither were as covered in blood as she was, considering they had been careful.
The captain acknowledged Allegra when she came to his side, "Once you get cleaned up I want you to debrief. I will deal with the notifications and the Council in the meantime."
The man's face was tight with displeasure, but his voice only sounded tired. Allegra knew why. She would be there as his side soon enough. The Council wasn't the only entity with a vested interest in the Normandy, nor the only ones aware of the mission. There were impending meetings to be scheduled the moment Allegra gathered all of the information she could.
Allegra turned her attention to the marines once the captain left. Alenko was eying Shepard worriedly, picking thoughtlessly at excess medi-gel on his stomach. Allegra hoped the regret on his face didn't bely some kind of guilt he had for Shepard's condition. If it was anything more than a genuine accident, she knew she wouldn't greatly bother holding in her temper.
The unknown marine was struggling to open the packet she had been given. She was biting her lip to hold in noise. Her hands were tremoring heavily. She was making no progress while several of her deeper wounds waited for treatment.
Allegra's fingers closed around the marine's hands. She startled, sucking in a breath. Now that she was looking up, Allegra saw the mist in her eyes. Was she the only surviving marine the team had come across? How many of her friends and comrades had she watched die before the Normandy arrived?
"May I help?" Allegra questioned gently, affording her what privacy could exist in that room. The woman was jittery. Her brow furrowed, and for a moment Allegra thought she would lash out.
A shaky sigh left her, "Please."
Allegra took the medi-gel and led the marine to an empty cot. She had Alenko take the other bed next to them. A swift search in the paneling of the wall revealed towels and disinfectant she could use for her hands. Medi-gel did a lot of anti-bacterial work, but she didn't want to give either of the marines the blood she had covering her skin. Mixing turian fluids in human wounds was deeply dangerous.
"Start wiping off," Allegra gave Alenko a pair of towels that were stored in a pack. One towel was stored with soap and a water equivalent already applied. The other was for drying off.
Allegra cleaned her hands quickly. She spoke as she peeled open the medi-gel packet, "What's your name?"
"Gunnery chief Ashley Williams, ma'am," her pale face twisted, aggrieved, "Of the 212."
Allegra hummed quietly in acknowledgment. She could wait to ask more questions. The injuries were more important. Her movements were swift and practiced as she tended to Williams. She made certain to be as gentle as possible. The wounds weren't deep, as with Shepard, but the skin looked worse for wear.
With a better look at the shavings wounds in particular, Allegra noticed something odd. The skin was burned in an odd pattern. It was similar to scarring left behind by intense electrical discharges. Were the weapons the synthetics used designed for use against shields, or armor? Energized, savage ammunition was a disquieting notion.
Allegra finished minutes later. The gunnery chief wasn't shaking as much anymore, "Finish cleaning up. I will get you both something to eat."
Allegra took the chief's uniform items and strode from the room. It felt unnecessary to wait for them to answer. Both were a little dazed and slow to respond now that the adrenaline from the mission was diminishing. She knew that the last thing they might want at the moment was food. Williams especially. But they needed something to help keep their bodies from crashing.
A quick visit to the requisitions officer yielded a new uniform for Williams. The working uniforms were cheaper than Allegra recalled. All the better for her wallet, she supposed. She gave the ruined set to the officer for him to dispose of properly.
After snatching two rations from the pseudo-pantry, Allegra returned to the med-bay. She set the folded uniform by Williams, "Here you are. Try to take a few bites of this, alright?"
Williams glanced at the uniform and took the bar. She nodded absently, "Yes, ma'am."
Allegra looked to Alenko, who seemed more alert, "Come to my office after this. I need to debrief the both of you. Show Williams where it is."
"Aye, ma'am."
Allegra glanced between them both before taking her leave. An uncertain glimpse at the doctor and Shepard did little to allay her private concern. Shepard had lost a lot of blood just from the extraction of all of the pieces in her body. If she tried to help, Allegra worried she would only get in the way or slow down the process.
The captain would be busy long enough for Allegra to let the marines have a little time to themselves. Her time waiting could be spent looking up emergency contacts for Jenkins and Shepard. She wasn't required to tell family herself, but she did need to alert the command. The notifications the captain was making were mission related, and political in some cases. The personnel were her responsibility.
Allegra unzipped her uniform bag to pull out a clean service uniform. She double-checked her rank and designation insignias to ensure they were set properly. She could change as she ran the search on her terminal.
Jenkins had his mother set as his contact. Allegra transferred the information to a KIA document. There wasn't a significant amount of work involved in putting together the package before routing it to the captain for review. She attached the corporal's file and his mother's information. She would have to wait to send it off until she could write cause of death.
Many people in the Alliance had a superstition about looking up contact information before someone died. It was thought that such a thing put a curse of bad luck on whoever was looked up. Allegra didn't believe in it, which was why she ran a search for the commander. It took her an embarrassingly long moment to recall the woman's first name.
"Jane Shepard, commander," Allegra whispered, typing with one hand as she gingerly slipped her injured arm into a sleeve, "Like someone else I've h…"
Allegra squinted at the screen. Shepard had her mother listed as well. A captain Hannah Shepard.
Something like panic surged through Allegra. Whatever adrenaline had been missing during the body retrieval came to her then. It couldn't be the Hannah that she knew. It couldn't be. The names and the ranks were exact matches. But it just could not be possible.
Allegra sunk into her chair, uniform forgotten. Her eyes were trained on the screen, reading Hannah's name over and over again.
If it was the Hannah that Allegra knew, she would want to know what happened. Allegra had heard story after story about Jane for years from her mother. Everything from her first word to the day she joined the Alliance. She was the captain's only child. Hannah loved her more than anything in the world. If the commander ever did lose her life she would be devastated.
Absent fingertips made patterns on the desk. Allegra shuddered simply to imagine delivering such news to Hannah. Suddenly, there was another layer added to her concerns about Shepard. Jane.
A quick tab over to Shepard's basic file proved it beyond a doubt. She was the hero of the Skyllian Blitz. Allegra remembered how simultaneously upset and proud Hannah had been when she called her to rant about her reckless daughter. The commander never bothered mentioning it, and Allegra never searched because she hadn't even considered it. She had simply assumed the woman happened to share a name with someone she knew.
The family resemblance should have been obvious from the beginning. Hannah had dark hair, but their faces were extremely alike. If Allegra had just bothered to look she would have seen it. If she had stopped overthinking the commander's friendliness for just a few damned minutes.
Allegra's brows drew together anxiously. The superstition about curses flitted through her mind again. That nauseous feeling was steadily growing worse.
As the LC, Allegra wasn't obligated to alert Hannah to anything. But as a friend…
Allegra groaned. If she was ever going to call Hannah she ought to do it before she was occupied by the rest of the mess the mission left behind. She knew the woman would want to be told. Hannah hated being left in the dark.
Allegra shot off a short message to Alenko, asking him to inquire as to Shepard's condition. While she was waiting on that she could at least see if Hannah had the time to answer a call.
Not two rings passed before the call was accepted. The familiar face of her friend was a welcome sight. Her dark hair was pulled back in a neat bun that wasn't overly tight against her scalp. Those bright, intelligent eyes sat above a straight nose and a strong jaw. Even at forty-eight years old, she looked barely over thirty.
Hannah's eyebrows were already raised. When she saw Allegra, a wide, familiar grin brightened her face, "Allegra, hey," she greeted. Her eyes glanced down Allegra's front, and the grin faltered.
"Hey, Hannah," Allegra cleared her throat and set about finishing dressing, "Do you have a few minutes to talk?"
"I can make the time. What's happened to you?"
"Nothing," Allegra winced slightly at the skeptical look the captain gave her, "I, well… I just moved to my new station."
"A frigate, I remember," concern sobered Hannah's face. Allegra knew what she was thinking about without her saying it, "Are you okay? You haven't told me about things in a couple months."
A quiet little ping on her omni-tool alerted Allegra to a message. It was Alenko. He only sent a few words but it was enough. Eighty percent of the tension in her muscles vanished. Shepard was alright.
"I'll have to update you another time. I'm not calling about myself today," Allegra swallowed, "The frigate I'm on is the Normandy. Jane is my commander."
Hannah at first was surprised. But within a moment palpable dread began to darken her expression, "You have that look, Allegra. Is she… How is she?"
Guilt surged, and Allegra rushed to comfort her, "She's alive, Hannah. She's okay, I promise."
The captain's hand flew to her chest, "Don't you dare scare me like that! That girl is my baby. She's all I have in this damned galaxy."
Allegra huffed at the older woman, but she knew it was useless to remind her that Shepard was an adult, "Today was our first mission. It went wrong. We lost two people and the others are injured. Jane is currently unconscious, but stable."
"What the hell happened? Can you tell me?"
"At the moment it's classified. You'll be seeing it in the news soon," Allegra could only imagine the headlines, "I just wanted to let you know, as a friend. You might need this context the next time she calls you."
"It's a good thing you did. I've been waiting on an update from Jane."
"To be fair to her, we have been kept busy for the past few days."
"And how are you?" Hannah clarified as Allegra gave her a questioning look, "You haven't been around things like this since that incident with your mother."
Allegra hummed and looked down at her hands, "Seeing it didn't bother me as much as I would have expected. I suppose therapy has its merits after all."
Allegra didn't have the heart to say anything more on the subject. Deeper subjects were meant for deeper conversations. There was no need to tell Hannah about her finer details of her flaring temper earlier. It was a shallow reaction compared to many she had suffered on the Vienna. Allegra longed to have a simple evening of drinking whiskey with the older woman.
Hannah smirked, and Allegra was vividly reminded of Jane. Something tight tugged in her chest, "I've missed that attitude of yours. Have you been giving Jane a hard time?"
A soft blush flooded Allegra's cheeks, "I haven't been giving her a time at all, honestly. I didn't assume she was your Jane until today."
Rather than be upset, Hannah only shook her head, fondly exasperated, "I'm not surprised. Give her a chance, would you? She needs someone she can rely on."
Allegra softened at the request. Hannah had one weak spot, and that was Jane, "I suppose I can lighten up. She seems a lot like you, you know. Insufferable."
That rich, belly-deep laugh that only Hannah had left the captain. Despite the looming work ahead, a smile warmed Allegra's face. She missed her friend. She missed the constant adventures she invited her on. She hadn't been able to visit with Hannah in quite a long time. But whenever they sent messages or spoke it was like they had never been separated.
"It's good to hear Jane is carrying on my legacy," Hannah replied blithely, "And better to see you making jokes again."
A knock at the door nearly startled Allegra out of her own skin. She released a sigh, "I'm sorry Hannah. Can I call you back or message you later?"
"That's just fine, dear. Let me know when my baby wakes up, please. For my peace of mind."
Allegra gave a nod, "I will even take a picture for you."
A fond smile spread across Hannah's face, "I will never say no to seeing my daughter's face."
Once the call ended, Allegra stood to open the door for her visitor. It was Alenko and Williams. Both looked far better than they had coming in. There was a haggardness in their faces, but now they were clean and dressed. It would have to do. They could rest more properly once the debrief was finished.