HAD TO CHOOSE
Part 1
John Shepard walked down the busy aisle of the Normandy towards the war room. His sunken eyelids on his face revealed the sleepless nights, the stubby hair on his chin displayed the disruption in the military standard routine of a clean shave. His jaw squared with his fists clenched by his sides. Despite the struggle, everything was coming together. Mordin contacted him at 0300 to advise a breakthrough in his research. Any Alliance offer would grumble in the disturbance of their sleep, but John was wide awake. He had been waiting for this call for several weeks now. It felt like months since obtaining Mordin and Eve from Surkesh and felt like years since he left San Francisco, Earth. Despite growing up on Alliance ships while his mother served, he still held attachment to Earth. It was humanity's homeworld. Families were scattered, scared, injured and fighting for their lives along with his best friend, Admiral David Anderson. Just like his marine comrade, James Vega, wanted, they needed to get back to Earth. Going at the Reapers alone was not an option. He required every species' assistance, but their home planets were being attacked. Backroom deals had to be made, politics to be played. He hated it. He wasn't born a politician and didn't have the patience to broker treaties. It wasn't his forte. Admiral Hackett depended on him. The Alliance depended on him. Earth depended on him. He went against odds before when he went up against Saren, The Geth and the Collectors. He could do it again.
Samantha Traynor caught his eye as he neared the war room door. "Commander Shepard, do you have a moment?"
"Not really, Specialist Traynor," Shepard stopped abruptly to address her concern. "What's this about?"
"I received reports that Grissom Academy is under attack by Cerberus. I also noticed that you have multiple messages in your inbox that have not been read. Did you want me to flag the ones that will be the most urgent to your private terminal in your quarters, sir?"
Grissom Academy's attack was alarming to John. Grissom was the Alliance funded biotic school for children. There was no logic behind Cerberus' attack on it right now. "What the hell is the Illusive Man up to?" He groaned. "I don't have time for this shit." Dealing with Cerberus was becoming an annoyance. There were several missions he took on due to Cerberus' random raids on Alliance stations that housed reaper tech and colonies. He could understand the need for reaper tech, since the Illusive Man had his eye on his own personal agenda with the artificial beings. The colonists were a mystery, and several were rescued while many were lost to the troops. He was close. So close to curing the genophage, the demand that Urdnot Wrex made to complete the deal between the krogan and the turians. The salarians wanted no part in the treaty. The Dalatrass felt that dealing with the krogan was unwise and ill advised. She openingly argued against it, bringing up the past krogan rebellion and the past need for the genophage. Wrex was John's friend and showed him more loyalty than the Dalatrass. He trusted the krogan leader. Earth's survival depended upon the treaty and there could be no further delays. "Flag the nearest Alliance vessel in the sector. Tell them about the distress signal and ask them to get there as soon as possible."
The order seemed to shock the young woman. "Uh, right, Commander," She stuttered as she moved back to her workstation to make contact.
John blocked out all the images of the poor students hiding away in their rooms as Cerberus soldiers moved in on the academy. This war was causing him to make tough decisions. He never wanted to see children involved in the crossfire. It was painful enough for the young child on Earth to be killed when their shuttle was taken out by a Reaper beam. The disturbing image haunted his dreams each time he closed his eyes. However, on Earth, hundreds of children were being killed by Reaper forces or dragged off to be turned into husks. At some point, he would deal with Cerberus. There was no need for the cruelty of the Illusive Man to slaughter children. There had to be a reason behind the attack on the academy. Shepard prayed that he would be right, and the leader of the pro human organization would keep them alive, and unharmed in some facility. Once the treaty was complete, then he would find them. Taking a deep breath, he lifted his blue eyes back towards the war room doors. "I have to choose."
"And your messages, sir?" Traynor called back to him.
Without turning around to acknowledge her once more, John replied, "I'll deal with them later."
Entering the war room, he saw Mordin, Wrex and the Primarch standing around a holo image of the shroud on Tuchanka. A smaller class Reaper stationed itself right in front to block off any attacks. The Reapers were onto them and they were ready to deflect the cure. Wrex looked his way as he entered. "About time you showed up, Shepard. You ready to do this?"
"You bet, Wrex. It's been a long time coming for your people."
"You can say that again," The burly krogan grumbled as he shifted his glance over to the Mordin. "You heard that, Pyjak?"
Mordin studied the image as his quick salarian mind with STG training tried to derive of a plan of strategy. "I did…the Reaper was unexpected." A beat. "Problematic."
Wrex chuckled. "Makes it more fun."