Author's Note: The person who proofreads With Lions will once again be gone. So don't expect an update until Sunday or Monday.

Chapter Thirty Seven: Blowing Up Batarians

"So Shepard… Did you just do this so there was no doubt that pissing you off was a bad idea?" Garrus asked.

"Pretty much, watch yourself Garrus or else I'll have to liquefy you too," Shepard and Garrus sat in the Mess Hall. Shepard was supervising the repair work, while Garrus kept him company. "One comment about my dancing, and boom! I'll make you into Turian coffee," Shepard had woken up hours earlier from his unconscious state. His arm had been repaired by none other than Miranda Lawson, and he was told that she did it at just under an hour and a half.

"Oh, but you'd miss this voice, plus all the women only talk to you because I'm around," Garrus turned his head to what Shepard thought was the scarred side (Shepard couldn't tell which side had been hit by a rocket). "These scars drive women insane," Garrus gestured to his face.

"While all of those things are true, you're forgetting about my facial scars, and the fact that they glow. Since my face glows like Omega's signs, people don't forget me easily," Shepard shoved his chin out, in an attempt to one up Garrus.

"I'll give you one hundred creds right now to get a Fornax ad scrolling through your face. That way you really will be like Omega," Garrus replied, seemingly scanning Shepard's face for the best ad space.

"That would certainly make Alliance gatherings more interesting," Shepard changed his voice so he sounded uptight, "Umm excuse me, Commander Shepard. Is that Fornax ad on your face?" Shepard changed his face back. "I would have some copies stuffed in a corner, and when someone asked I would hand one to them and whisper in their ear, 'First one's free, don't tell anyone where you got it.'"

"Shepard, you have this planned out surprisingly well," Garrus replied.

Before Shepard could say anything Joker's voice comes over the intercom, "Shepard, Admiral Hackett wants to speak with you."

"Duty calls, make sure they don't mess anything up," Shepard pointed his finger in Garrus' face with mock anger, and then he turned to take Hackett's call.

…

"So Hackett, sir, you're saying I need to go in alone to rescue your friend? Rescue her from Batarians," Shepard wanted to save Hackett's friend, but going in alone sounded dangerous. Plus he knew when he was put into a situation with Batarians, he tended to act differently.

"More than one person and you'll attract too much attention. That is dangerous, but I wouldn't ask if I didn't think you could handle it. This is big, Commander. She found evidence of an imminent Reaper invasion," Hackett's biggest scar wiggled when he talked and it distracted Shepard a little bit.

"I'll get on it right away, sir," Shepard was trying so hard to not stare at the scar, but he was almost positive Hackett knew what he was doing.

"Thanks, Shepard. Hackett out," The image of the admiral faded out and Shepard called out for EDI to call the crew together.

Thirty minutes later Shepard had gotten through explaining what the mission was and how he had to do it alone.

"Shepard, going in alone sounds like an awful idea," Tali stepped to the front of the crew.

"I have to agree with her, Battle Master," Grunt said. Then everyone started talking all at once about how he shouldn't go alone, and how this all seemed like a bad idea.

"Alright, alright! I understand that going in alone is something that I've never done while commanding the Normandy, but I used to do solo missions. I'll be fine, it's not like I've never done it. Hackett has entrusted me with the safety of his friend, and I don't intend to mess up. I'll be leaving in five hours. Crew dismissed," Shepard hoped that he sounded more self assured than he felt.

...

"Good luck, Commander," was the last thing he heard from his shuttle pilot before he was left all alone on Aratoht. The weather was miserable, of course.

"Shepard to Normandy. Is my camera working?" Shepard fiddled with the tiny camera for a second.

"Affirmative Commander. Planet looks like a shithole," Miranda said.

"It sure is. Make sure all communications are blacked out. The only thing I want working is my camera," Shepard stood under a platform to get out of the rain. It was an awful experience - wearing armor while it rained.

"We'll be able to hear you, but you won't be able to hear us. If you want to talk just say and we'll activate communications again. Going dark in three, two, one," the usual buzz that was usually in Shepard's earpiece disappeared completely.

After cutting the power he entered the building. The smell was almost unbearable. The stink of urine and feces hung in the air. He even had to kill a few wild Varren which made him sad; he hoped Rosebud wasn't watching.

His journey through the prison had so far revealed several things to him. One: Doctor Kenson was still alive, she heard her talking to a Batarian, Two: She and some other people had planned to slam an asteroid into the nearby Mass Relay. He got this information through overhearing and the equivalent of Batarian diaries.

Before long Shepard discovered the room where Kenson was being interrogated. "If she doesn't talk, kill her," a deep voice sounded. Shepard found the back way into the room and easily knocked out the guard with his fists.

"Who are you? What do you want from me?" Doctor Kenson was being held by a nasty looking device. It held her head and body, while an arm with two prongs circled her head, no doubt some type of torture device.

"I'm Commander Colt Shepard, and I'm here to save you," Shepard hacked into the chair quite easily and released the doctor. He handed her a gun.

"I heard you were alive. I found evidence of a Reaper invasion, and we need to get the evidence back. I need to find a console to make an escape path," Doctor Kenson slammed her foot down on the Batarian guard's head.

"Let's go!" Shepard yelled.

…

"Their defenses won't have enough time to come back up, we'll be fine," Doctor Kenson and Shepard were in a shuttle they had hijacked a few minutes earlier after fighting through a horde of Batarians.

"Do you think they'll follow us?" Shepard glanced out the window nervously.

"Maybe, I'm a high priority target. They don't take kindly to people who want to blow up their mass relay," Kenson also turned to look out the window at the nearby mass relay.

"Mind telling me why you were going to destroy it?" Shepard didn't think meddling with technology they didn't understand was a very good idea.

"I discovered information that the Reapers are going to invade the galaxy using Bahak's relay. It's the Alpha Relay, so they can get anywhere in the galaxy," did Kenson have any idea how big this was? The Reapers could be arriving within hours.

"So you were going to blow it up?" Shepard really didn't like the sound of this plan.

"Exactly. We just simply called it 'The Project.' We were going to launch an asteroid into the relay to slow the Reapers. Traveling with FTL can take months or years to get anywhere," Kenson explained. "It is likely that it would've destroyed the whole system. The explosion would rival that of a supernova. There is a colony of three hundred thousand Batarians that the explosion would undoubtedly kill."

"Three hundred thousand?!" Shepard could not believe what she was telling him. "You didn't even try to warn them?"

"There was no time, and besides it's not like Batarians are very friendly to humans," Kenson's voice was unwavering. It held no regret for the mass murder she was about to commit.

"Look, I'm no fan of Batarians, but that is genocide. You should've tried to warn them," Shepard's blood was boiling, but he tried to keep himself in check.

"Maybe, but we didn't. They aren't dead yet, so I suppose there's still time," Kenson responded, calm as ever. "We found a Reaper artifact, Object Rho, which showed me their arrival. It was a necessary evil, to prolong the Reapers."

"I need to see proof. Killing three hundred thousand people is nothing to take lightly," Shepard thought this all sounded weird, but was willing to see what was happening. Killing three hundred thousand people might be necessary to save the galaxy.

"Fine, we'll go back to my base. Just sit back and enjoy the ride Commander," Kenson said, settling down on a shuttle seat.

…

"What the hell is that countdown timer for?" Shepard had arrived at the base of 'The Project.' Above him was a large monitor counting down. There was two days, three hours, twenty five minutes, and nineteen seconds on it.

"It's counting down to the Reaper invasion," was all the Doctor said, before heading into the base. The base was an intricate thing with lots of rooms and paths, and a great deal of people around.

"Is there an alternative?" Shepard asked while following the surprisingly quick doctor through the base.

"Well, the Reapers will arrive eventually, but destroying the Alpha relay makes them a lot slower," Kenson said.

"We have to get the project running again, it's our only chance, but this time we'll try to evacuate the Batarians," Shepard was trying to get a door open.

"Hold on, let me open it," Kenson typed on her omni-tool for a moment before the door opened. Inside Object Rho just sat there with no protection, out in the open. Hell, Shepard had been in there for a total of four seconds and he could hear whispers.

"You have it sitting in the open?!" Shepard yelled in Kenson's face. This was a huge mistake.

"One minute, Commander. The object will give you your proof," Kenson completely ignored Shepard's concern and approached the object. Whispers and dark tangles whipped around Shepard's head.

"This is not good, Kenson," Shepard walked towards the object. Suddenly a sensation he had felt before entered Shepard's mind and he saw Reapers heading towards the Alpha Relay. Shepard fell to his hands and knees as the images tore through his mind. When the object released him he turned his head to find a gun in his face.

"I can't let you start the project, I can't let you stop the Arrival," Shepard was barely staying conscience, and he couldn't stand. In a last ditch effort he grabbed her arm and twisted. He could feel the crackle as her bones broke. "KILL HIM!" Kenson roared, while retreating, holding her broken arm. Shepard stumbled for cover. Bullets flew above his head from the people shooting at him. He got his bearings back slowly, but at least he returned to normal.

The first few guards were easy, killed almost instantly. Then a second wave came, and Shepard had to take a little longer. Then a third wave, which only served to give Shepard a bigger headache. Then a fourth wave came, and he knew this had to end quickly. Then the fifth and everything went to shit.

Shepard had been shot before, it was part of the job, but he always got up from it. At the worst he spent a couple hours, even days in the med-bay. This was something different. The force being thrown at him was unbelievable, and he was starting to fail. Even with his fancy upgrades, and supposedly super soldier quality about him, he knew he was going to lose.

…

"Shepard can't handle this force," Miranda stood up and started pacing. She stood in the Mess Hall, along with most of the crew watching the live feed from Shepard's camera. They set up a screen so members could watch the ground crew.

"We can't go in, because his location is dark," Garrus replied. He was still sitting and watching the screen intently. "His location has been blocked ever since he got into that shuttle with Kenson."

"Goddamit, he's going to die!" Miranda turned back to the screen and noted the blood and clear liquid that was spattered on the glass near Shepard.

"Joker, we need to get to Shepard ASAP," Chakwas spoke up now - she was also watching while monitoring her omni-tool which probably had Shepard's vitals.

"What the hell is he doing?" Miranda turned back to the screen when she heard someone shout that. Shepard had taken a small bag off his belt and was unzipping it. Inside contained several vials and needles. He took one vial and drew the liquid out of it before injecting himself.

"I gave him those for emergencies only. What he just injected himself will over clock his cybernetics. He can't do that often, because it'll burn his cybernetics out if used too much," Shepard turned his head towards his torso, and gave the crew a nice look of his wounds. A bullet hole in the small space between two plates of armor closed up in seconds. Other wounds in his torso followed suit. It seems like the liquid was doing a great job.

Then he pulled out another vial, and drew out liquid from it. "What's that for?" Garrus asked, wincing in sympathy when Shepard injected the stuff.

"That will make his biotic amp more powerful. Again, this can't be overused," Miranda explained. The small biotic barrier around Shepard increased sizes dramatically, glowing even bluer as more energy flowed into it.

Shepard's voice crackled over the live feed's video, "Give me five days. Longer than that and I'm dead." Shepard started to reload all of his guns and then took a huge deep breathe. "One, two, three," He charged out of cover with guns blazing. He took out a few people before his biotic barrier was taken down. Blood drizzled down Shepard's camera, and he collapsed backwards.

"Commander Colt Shepard requires immediate medical attention," Chakwas' omni-tool spoke with urgency. It was flashing. The screen showed the people who had almost killed Shepard standing over him.

"Take him to the med-bay. We want Commander Shepard alive, and shut off his camera," the voice belonged to Kenson. Movement was heard before the screen went black.

…

"The computer is reading that Commander Shepard is waking up, probably just a glitch," were the first words Shepard heard when he started regaining conscience. This was startlingly familiar way to wake up. He stood up from the table he had been on, and searing pain ripped through his torso. He punched the two guards hard enough for them to go down and then Colt fell to the floor. The pain almost to the point of blackout.

"Come on, get up," Shepard told himself, and hauled his body up with great effort. He then stumbled to the mech controls and got out of the closed off section he was in. About ten minutes after breaking out and wandering around he found his gear. He turned on his camera and spoke into it, "Is anyone on the Normandy seeing me?"

"I read you, Shepard. Patching your video to the Mess Hall screen," Joker answered, "it's good to hear your voice, Commander. We all thought you were a goner."

"Thanks for trying to find me," Shepard was very slowly putting his armor back on.

"Your locator isn't working, we have no idea where you are," Joker responded.

"Here, let me try to send out another signal," Shepard fiddled with something else attached to his armor. "Anything?"

"I've pinpointed your location, Shepard. Should we come and get you?" This time it was EDI who spoke.

"No, I need to fire the meteor controls. Then you can get me," Shepard winced in pain as hit his torso.

"Shepard, its Garrus. Are you okay?" Shepard doubled over in pain as it shot through him. Before he could stop it he vomited a mixture of blood and thick clear liquid.

"I have internal damage for sure," Shepard swiped his hand over his mouth.

"Commander, you need medical attention immediately. I told Joker to start getting to your location, and we'll be there in three hours. In the meantime you need to get medical equipment," Chakwas spoke over the intercom.

"No can do, I need to finish Project Rho," Shepard had finished putting on his armor. He started to head to the room where he thought the launch button was.

"Shepard you could potentially die if you don't get necessary medical equipment now. Is this worth more than your life?" Chakwas asked.

"Yes," Shepard replied, once again showing his dedication to the mission. No one spoke for a long time after that.

Shepard came to a communication system that connected to the Batarian colony. "Attention: There is going to be an ex-,"

Shepard was cut off by Kenson's voice yelling something at him. He hoped he would get another chance to contact the Batarian colony. He ran to the next room and found a massive number of people waiting for him. He couldn't fight because the clock was so close to the invasion. So he summoned all the biotics he could muster and released them. The blue wave slammed his enemy into walls, killing or knocking them out.

He stood up from his cover, and found his energy even more depleted. He felt his side was wet, so he reached his hand down and it came up bloody. His worst gunshot had reopened. He could only hope that the cybernetics would close it soon.

In a matter of minutes he found the launch for the meteoroid, but no comm. system. There was no time left, so he launched it. There was a vid screen next to the button. With horror, Shepard realized he was watching a city that was about to be destroyed. Batarians walked about, with no indication anything was wrong. Another screen contained the picture of the Alpha Relay. He watched it explode and release a devastating wave of power. The Batarians in the other screen watched and pointed to the sky as the wave grew closer. Shepard saw buildings and people disintegrate before the camera was destroyed.

"What did I do?" Shepard fell backwards as the magnitude of what he had just done washed over him. "Oh my God," Shepard felt so numb, the pain in his torso was no longer there.

"Shepard, we're going to be there very soon, okay?" He didn't know who he was talking to anymore. He could only see that blue wave hit those civilians over and over again.