Chapter Forty One: Leaving Earth
There was a little kid just below Shepard. His apartment was three stories up, and the courtyard was just below it. A little boy was in it playing with a model of an Alliance ship. The ship made Shepard homesick; his prized collection of model ships left behind on the Normandy. It was weird how Shepard had been in this apartment for nearly six months now, and it still felt foreign.
The kid made the ship dive, spin, and fly upside down, which only served to bring memories of Mako driving adventures to Shepard's mind. Memories of awkward Liara soon followed. The memory of her restarting her sentence three times was interrupted by a knock on his door. "Come in," he called out.
James walked in, his usual casual manner of moving had changed into an excited walk. Shepard tore his eyes away from the heart-warming scene of the child and faced towards James. "Commander, Admiral Anderson is here. He's going to take you off my hands. Something's happening, Commander. Something big," Vega eyes flashed with excitement.
"I'm not a Commander anymore. I am just simply Colt," Shepard turned back towards the courtyard, but the little boy was gone.
"Yah, whatever Commander. Come on, Anderson is waiting," James led Shepard from his apartment. As soon as he stepped outside, the change in atmosphere was apparent. The air was alive with fear, and excitement.
"Shepard, long time, no see," Anderson greeted Shepard with a hearty handshake. Before Shepard left with Anderson, James nodded at Shepard, and left. "Something big is going down, something bad. The Defense Committee wishes to speak to you," the whole time Anderson spoke, people rushed about them. Completely ignoring the Admiral, and the disgraced Commander. Not one person saluted them.
"It's the Reapers, isn't it?" Shepard couldn't think of anything else that would cause such activity.
"Let's hope not, for all our sakes," Anderson's voice was dark, before turning hopeful again," looks like you've been enjoying imprisonment." Anderson's face pulled into a smirk while gesturing towards Shepard's stomach.
"Well, I figured I might as well enjoy my stay. Gained a few pounds, but hey, why the hell not?" While it was true that Shepard had eaten a lot, and gained weight, he had actually gained it in mostly muscle. There was simply not a lot to do in prison, so hours each day for months had been spent at the gym.
"Like the food better than the Normandy's?" Anderson asked; they were steps from a huge door.
"Sir, Ryncol mixed with the tears of a baby Varren is better than the Normandy's food," Shepard smiled at his own joke, before turning into a scowl at the people that lay before them. Through the large doors, the Defense Committee waited.
"Shepard, let's cut to the chase. You're the person who has had the most experience with the Reapers. We have called you here to get your professional opinion on the situation unfolding before us. Colonies in the Terminus and even some in Citadel space have gone dark. Several distress beacons were sent, but no specifics were mentioned," the man talking to Shepard stopped when an assistant spoke to him. "I have just received word that Luna Base has also gone dark," those words froze Shepard. If the moon was already reached, the Reapers would be on Earth in minutes.
"The Reapers are here. This is it. The thing I've warned you about for years is here. Send out an evacuation notice for this building, right now! The Reapers will target a large military building such as this. Everyone out," Shepard yelled through the large room. No one moved.
"Shepard we have time. Do you think this is the Reapers?" The same man asked.
"This is the Reapers, and with all due respect, we don't have time. Get out of here, while you still can. This will be a target. We are all in danger. Do what you must to warn everyone, but hurry," the horror of his words sunk into the room. Someone started contacting what were probably admirals. Shepard thought he heard his name mentioned.
"Alright, Shepard," the man who had spoken to him earlier turned to an Ensign, "evacuate the building." As soon as he spoke, a Reaper dropped into view through the window behind the committee.
"Everyone get out!" Shepard yelled. Alarms for evacuation started going off. The Reaper turned its main weapon towards the building they were in. Shepard watched the entire Defense Committee, and all of their assistants, be enveloped in a storm of red before jumping for safety himself. His world turned black.
"Get up, Shepard," a voice pulled him from his dark world. He groaned when he felt rubble on him. As his vision cleared he saw Anderson digging him out. He pushed off a piece of the ceiling, and stood. The demolished room was a mass grave of skeletons twisted in gruesome ways. For the millionth time Shepard cursed the universe for ignoring his warnings. "I'm in contact with contact with Lieutenant Commander Williams and Lieutenant Vega. They're heading towards the Normandy. We need to rendezvous with them. Come on!" Anderson shoved a gun in Shepard's hands and started dashing out of the ruined defense room.
They wound their way through twisted metal, and papers. The whole building had absolutely no activity, a sharp contrast to what it was before. They stopped to catch their breath in a room where the windows had blown out. Shepard looked out the window to see a Reaper decimating a nearby section of the base housing. He turned to leave, but not before movement caught his eye. Something was moving around in the vents.
Shepard dropped to his hands and knees and looked inside a child-sized vent. Inside was the same boy that had been playing with the toy ship. At a closer look Shepard realized that he looked startling like his brother, Alex. "Come with me, I'll save you," Shepard reached out his hand desperately.
"I can't," the little boy said. A strange noise distracted Shepard for a fraction of a second, making him turn his head. When he turned back to the boy, he was gone. How did the kid get away that fast?
"Shepard, this way," Anderson poked his head into the room. He didn't seem to notice the kid. Colt couldn't wait around for the kid to come back, so he followed Anderson. His fear of heights was flared when the ground underneath him gave way. He clung on to a thin piece of metal before Anderson pulled him up. The drop down was at least thirty feet. He shivered at the thought.
Anderson and Shepard continued their journey through war-torn Vancouver. Everything was very much the same with husks thrown in the mix. The only memorable thing that happened was almost being hit by a Reaper beam while on a ledge. Besides that it was just lots of urban fighting, something Shepard hadn't done in a long time.
They made it to the rendezvous point on sheer luck, but found that their lucky charm had ran out of juice as soon they realized that their meeting place had no Normandy, and lots of enemies. The ensuing battle was brutal. Half way through, Shepard ran out of ammo, and had to rely on biotics. Normally that wouldn't be a problem but two things made it so much worse. One the battle was long, exhausting Shepard, and two he hadn't practiced biotics in six months. The Alliance base didn't have the facilities necessary for safely doing biotic attacks. They made it through, but just barely.
Shepard could honestly say that he had never been so glad to see the Normandy. When the ramp went down, he leaped onto it, and turned to help Anderson up. James stood on his left while Ashley stood on his right.
"I'm staying. The Earth resistance needs me," Shepard's ears must have still been ringing from the explosion, because there was no way Anderson wanted to stay.
"What?!" Shepard shouted back, still extending his arm.
"I'm staying. Earth needs me," there was no mistaking his words.
"Then I'm staying too. Earth could use us both," Shepard started towards the edge of the ramp.
"No, you need to rally support from our allies. Go to the Citadel and try to get support from the Council on Earth's behalf. You'll bring the fame that will put on pressure for support. Admiral Anderson asking for support? No one cares. Commander Shepard asking for support? Outrage if you're ignored. Everyone knows you, fame will be your best friend," Anderson glanced up, probably nervous about the Reapers noticing.
"I'm not in the Alliance anymore. I don't take orders from you," Shepard stepped towards the edge again.
"Consider yourself reinstated. Welcome back, Commander," Anderson smiled, threw Shepard's dog tags at him and then started running back into the war zone. He was out of sight in seconds behind a piece of sheet metal. Shepard stared at his dog tags for a long time.
"So someone just told me that Commander Shepard is on board. Are they right or are they stupid?" Joker's voice came over the intercom.
"Seems like they're correct Mr. Moreau," Shepard changed his voice while saying Mr. Moreau. His EDI voice may have needed some work.
"Commander, my voice does not sound anything like that," EDI said.
"Yah, yah. Good to be back," Shepard surveyed the cargo bay.
"Good to have you back, Commander," Joker said. A half a second later his omni-tool went off.
"Commander Shepard, congratulations on your reinstatement. Listen, instead of going to the Citadel, go to the Mars base first. An old friend is there with information on a potential weapon to kill the Reapers. Hackett out," Shepard never spoke once during the conversation. He wanted to go to the Citadel to regroup, but orders were orders.
"Joker, head for the Mars Archives," Shepard opened a nearby armor locker. He left his N7 armor back in Vancouver. The armor that hung there was bulky, and the standard Alliance combat wear that Shepard despised. There was nothing else, however. Shepard could tell this would be a long war.