The Oncoming Storm

by Razial

Shepard must face the consequences of his actions in choosing to destroy the Alpha Relay, but he knows it's a waste of time as the Reapers are coming and a galaxy wide war will follow.

8. Chapter 8

+OS+

(Mars)

Liara struggled through the air ducts as fast as she could knowing the Cerberus troopers were right on her heals, she cursed the narrow ducts but they had proved the only way to try and get out of the complex without running into to many enemy troops. Gun fire erupted behind as did multiple shouts for her to stop, she snorted at the idea of them actually thinking she would comply with their order. Finally she saw an exit panel that according to the map on her wrist computer should lead to the main hangar, turning she fired of a couple of rounds forcing the Cerberus troopers to back off and giving her time to kick the panel out. She jumped out of the air duct and to the ground and landed hard but with enough momentum to fall into a roll thus avoiding the fire of the Cerberus troopers, she came back to her feet and unleashed her biotics to rip the two troopers out of the air duct and sent them crashing into the wall with extreme force.

Shepard, Ashley and James moved into cover and watched as the two now lifeless bodies dropped to the ground dead. Two more Cerberus troopers jumped out of the air duct but before they could do anything Liara again activated her biotics and used them to rip the weapons from the soldiers before crushing their skulls into bloody waste. Shepard smirked at the display as he knew how powerful Liara had become since his initial meeting with her meaning the Cerberus troopers had bitten off more than they could handle. Putting his weapon away he moved forward with the others bringing up the rear and keeping an eye out, Liara spun around but quickly froze as she realized who was coming towards her. A smile quickly bloomed on her face as she moved forward and hugged Shepard who warmly returned it, stepping back she could see traces of the stress he had to be under as his home system was invaded but as with all her other adventures with him he refused to allow it to impede his progress.

"Shepard I am glad to see you" Liara said in greeting before noting another familiar and welcome face. "Ashley, it is good to see you again" she said with a smile which Ashley returned.

"Hey Liara glad we got here in time to help" Ashley responded even though they had basically done nothing to save Liara as she had taken care of the Cerberus troopers herself. "What happened here?" he inquired.

"Cerberus got into the compound somehow and slaughtered everyone they could find, they want what I've found in the archives" Liara answered with a frown.

"How did they find out about this information you've found" James asked as he kept an eye on their surroundings.

"They must have been monitoring my communications even though they were of the highest encryption you could find" Liara responded thoughtfully.

"But they must have had someone on the inside to let them in right Liara?" Ashley cut in before she could say anything. "This compound is one of the biggest security rigged places we have, there is no way they could breech it from the outside except with help from within right?" she pressed.

"It is possible they have someone inside but I do not know who as soon as the attack started they tried to kill me and I've been on the run since" Liara finally replied.

"Whoever it is we will find them but for now we have to get to the archives and secure that information before they get it, James get back to the shuttle and circle the base just in case they try and leave or we need a fast get away once we have it" Shepard ordered turning to the other man.

James wanted to argue but he knew better than to try, this was a battle and once you were in a battle you obeyed the orders you were given by your superior officer no matter your internal thoughts on the matter, he nodded and got back on the lift and headed back down but vowed if Cerberus tried to leave he would be waiting. Shepard quickly reloaded his weapon as headed up into the higher levels with Liara and Ashley following, his temper was close to the surface now because he knew Ashley's line of questioning was aimed at him no matter how many times he said he was no longer involved with Cerberus she just would not listen and he knew if she accused him again he would blow.

"Joker, any signs of Cerberus comm traffic?" he inquired into his mic.

"EDI is tracking multiple signals within the base although we can't hear what they are saying we can pinpoint their positions, you are about to come into contact with seven of them leading to one of the guard stations so be careful Shepard" Joker responded quickly. "Any signs of Liara?" he inquired with clear sign of worry in his voice.

"We've found her Joker and she is safe, EDI I've got James circling in the shuttle so stay in touch with him and alert him to any signs of them trying to leave the base" Shepard replied.

"Copy that Shepard, may I suggest we split up the ships to cover different orbits around the planet to cut off their avenues of escape" EDI suggested in response.

"Good idea EDI, co-ordinate with the other two ships captains to maximise an effective cover range" Shepard agreed before signing off. "We've got seven up ahead, sniper rifles first then we charge in behind Liara and he biotic shield" he told them as he replaced his assault rifle in his rack and removed the sniper rifle and quickly took up position near the open door and began to look for the enemy ignoring Ashley she did the same. "Ready?" he inquired.

"Target in sight Shepard" Ashley assured him as her finger flexed on the trigger but did not pull it.

"Fire" Shepard ordered and two sharp bangs rang out as they both fired killing two of the unaware Cerberus troopers with clear head shots spewing their comrades with their blood and brain matter.

A shout of "Shit take cover" rang out from the open doorway but Shepard managed to take down another trooper with a shot to his neck as he tried to duck behind a wall.

He quickly switched his weapon back to his assault rifle as did Ashley and then after a quick signal to Liara they got up and advanced, Liara quickly summoned a biotic shield and entered the next hallway which quickly rang out with bursts of fire that rebounded off her shield. Shepard and Ashley quickly advanced behind her and then took up positions behind the struts and returned fire, letting the shield drop she dived behind the nearby stairway wall before opening fire herself. Shepard grabbed a grenade from his belt and threw it as Ashley covered him and watched two more of the troopers go flying covered in blood and clearly dead, Liara jumped up from cover and using her biotics using its power to shred the three more leaving only one left who quickly tried to retreat only to be shot in the back by Ashley.

"There will be more so keep a close eye on your surroundings" Shepard warned them both as he exchanged clips before moving forward. "Liara, where to?" he inquired.

"There is a security station just ahead of the next corridor, I am hopeful we may be able to find out how Cerberus got into the station so easily" Liara answered to which Shepard nodded.

They moved fast but carefully so as not to end up ambushed and quickly located the security station, Liara quickly got to work on bringing up the security cam vids of the previous couple of hours whilst Shepard looked around and located a few pieces of equipment they could use, Ashley kept watch.

"Shepard look" Liara said as she found what she had been looking for. "This is Doctor Eva Mendez she arrived months ago and then vanished only to return yesterday" she said as they all watched Eva execute the guards and then use the station to seal most of the station and vent the air from others. "This must be how Cerberus got in" she concluded.

"Her speed seems unnatural" Ashley noted with a raised eyebrow.

"Cybernetics perhaps" Liara mused as she got up.

"Doesn't matter she is dead if we find her just like every other Cerberus solider we find" Shepard spat in anger. "Ok check your ammo and lets move we have to get to the archives fast and get that data before Cerberus does" he ordered as he did the same with his own weapons.

"Why would Cerberus want the data?" Ashley inquired as she complied with the order glancing at Shepard as she did so.

"I don't know Ashley, it make no sense for them to even to be here attacking their own kind yet here they are" Shepard growled beginning to grow tired of having to fend of Ashley's questions as if he had any answers to give. "Whatever they want it for is of no matter, we need it to save the galaxy and that means we get it no matter what is that clear?" he demanded.

"Yes its clear" Ashley replied realising she had angered Shepard for again making it seem he would know why Cerberus was here.

They moved on quickly and soon found another patrol guarding the exit to the outside platform that led them to the main hub; quickly they took aim and took out all three guards with well-placed shots to their heads. Exiting through the door they dropped down the ladder and came to a dead stop as they each took note of the huge sand storm rolling in from the north; it covered the entire northern dunes and seemed to be bearing down on them with tremendous speed.

"By the goddess look at that storm" Liara finally said feeling a shiver of fear as she imagined been caught up in it. "I've never seen anything like it in my life, you can just imagine what it would do to us if it hit us before we get back inside" she added.

"Come on let's go" Shepard urged them to move pulling his eyes away from the sight and moving across the platform to the jump point.

Jumping onto the next platform he quickly climbed the ladder and headed to the main hub doors which were surprisingly open, leaning against the side he gave the order for Ashley to cover the rear whilst Liara came in behind him as he led them in. The room was in complete darkness hence they turned on their weapon flashlights and began to move in side, they quickly discovered the room was littered with bodies of dead scientists and office personnel.

"My god how could those bastards do this to them" Ashley gasped in alarm and hatred. "I thought Cerberus was supposed to stand for humanity" she spat.

"Clearly they have different goals in mind at the moment Ashley" Liara mused as she bent over and picked up a datapad and read its contents. "Seems like Doctor Eva was not well liked by Doctor Stavros the lead scientist stationed here, they clashed about following proper security protocols just before she seemed to vanish and the security lockdown fell into place locking them in" she informed them. "That must be when she got hold of the security controls and once she locked them in opened the doors venting the oxygen from the room killing them all slowly" she added with a shake of her head.

"We keep our eyes open, if you see Eva you kill her" Shepard ordered growing angrier by the waste of lives caused by Cerberus's actions.

They moved down the steps leading to the next corridor only to see flashlights on the other side, quickly turning their own lights off they bent down below the windows so the Cerberus guards could not see them. Waiting a few seconds Shepard quickly jumped up and smashed his fists through the glass and grabbed the closest guard and pulled him into the room, smashing his elbow into the guards face sending him to the ground allowing him to shove his Omni blade into the guards face killing him instantly. Liara jumped and used her biotics to warp the air between the two remaining guards causing them to float upwards thus allowing Ashley to shoot them both in the head, moving on they entered the next corridor to find it was a sealed lab. Using his Omni tool they quickly unlocked the door and moved through it only to find the next door opened up to a huge room guarded by a turret which locked onto them and opened fire, ducking not cover they just barely avoided been killed.

"We're going to have to run the gauntlet here, keep in cover and move fast" Ashley shouted. "The security room for that turret is right there" she added pointing to the room behind the turret. "I'll go first" she told them.

"On three" Shepard shouted to them both. "One, two, three" he said and suddenly all three of them were running and ducking behind cover as they went each time just barely avoiding a swift death.

They managed to reach the door within two minutes and luckily none of them had been hit by the turrets fire, taking deep breaths they entered the security room to find it full with Cerberus troops who stared at them in surprise having clearly believed anybody approaching would be swiftly cut down. Quickly they dived in cover as the Cerberus troops opened fire on them, Liara cast reave and warp with her biotics taking out two of the troopers and sending another into the air, Shepard quickly put a bullet into the troopers head. Ashley threw a grenade at the location some of the other troopers were using for cover and smirked as two of them went flying in a shower of blood, the remaining guards tried to rush them only to end up cut down by the hail of fire from the weapons of their enemy.

"That was too damn close" Liara muttered as she moved to the security console and began to try and undo the lockdown.

Ashley moved to one of the downed troopers and began to check him for any useful Intel; Shepard reloaded his weapons as he stood behind Liara and watched her work. Ashley frowned as she removed the man's helmet wondering at the blueish glow she could just make out around the seams of the helmet, what she found horrified her.

"Shepard, you better take a look at this" she called out as she stood up her gaze still locked on the face of the dead Cerberus trooper.

Shepard frowned as he heard the slight tremor in Ashley's voice as she spoke and quickly spun and moved to her side, he was instantly filled with dread as he saw the blue glow around the troopers face as well as the signs of reaper technology connected to the man's skin.

"My god, he almost looks like a husk" Shepard remarked disgusted that anyone would do this to one of their own. "What the hell has the Illusive man done?" he wondered.

"That could have been you Shepard" Ashley suddenly said quickly gaining his attention and his ire. "Hell Cerberus rebuilt you after you died, they could have done anything to you" she pushed unable to help herself.

"You actually think I am anything like this Ash?" Shepard demanded incensed once more by her inability to let go of her mistrust despite her word to do so. "How could you think anything of the sort, if I was one of these things under the Illusive Man's control I would never have broken away from Cerberus or destroyed the collector base when he wanted it intact, for god's sake what do I have to do to convince you?" he yelled making both Ashley and Liara jump at his tone.

Ashley could see she had really angered Shepard with her question and quickly looked away unable to bare his angry gaze, she really did not understand her own doubts considering everything she knew since Shepard turned himself in to Alliance authorities several months back. She knew he had been watched every minute of his time in confinement, he'd had a dozen medical check-ups and scans and if anything like this was in his body it would have showed up she knew.

"I'm sorry okay I just fear what they could have done to you, I watched the Normandy go down with you inside John I mourned you for two years and then suddenly there you were on Horizon alive and well as if nothing had ever happened" she tried to explain. "I couldn't truly believe it was you at the time which is why I refused to join you against the Collectors, plus I could never trust Cerberus and that you did no matter even for one mission seemed like proof it wasn't really you not after all the things we discovered about them during our mission to take down Saren and stop Sovereign" she continued. "I was riven with doubts, Anderson believed it was you when I reported back from Horizon but I still couldn't let go of my doubts would you if our positions were reversed?" she inquired.

"I'd like to think so Ash" Shepard responded calming down somewhat especially as he noted she had used his first name which was a very rare thing usually done only when they had been alone in his cabin back on the first Normandy when they were seeing one another before his death. "I get it okay, yes I was willing to trust Cerberus because people's lives were counting on me stopping the Collectors seen as the Alliance was doing nothing nor was the Council but just because I was willing to trust them on that score did not mean I forgot what they had done before or may be doing whilst I was working with them and that is the key word with not for" he countered. "Joker, Chakwas, Garrus, Tali and I knew we could not trust them beyond the confines of the mission against the Collectors, so we gathered what intel we could whilst we were there and focused on the mission, when the Illusive Man requested we leave the Collector base intact he proved our mistrust was well founded as we had already proved even dead Reaper tech was deadly, it proved enough to make the entire crew who had helped us including his two loyal lieutenants Jacob and Miranda cut ties with him as well as me and my team and since then we've had no contact we him or any part of Cerberus end of story" he stated staring into her eyes. "You have to believe me Ash, my time with Cerberus was for the good of our people and ended once it was done, I am Alliance through and through, okay?" he asked.

Okay Shepard I guess I need to put my doubts aside and realise you are yourself just like you were when we hunted Saren and when we were together" Ashley finally conceded with a nod of her head as his words made her remember it was not just him who had joined with Cerberus against the Collectors but Garrus, Tali, Joker and Doctor Chakwas all people she knew and had trusted and yet she'd shown no doubts about where they stood once they came back from that mission so why had she done so with Shepard. "I guess we should be glad you and the others got out when you did or this might be you now" she mused indicating the dead Cerberus trooper who now looked more like a Husk than a man.

"Agreed, clearly he's begun messing with things he should have left alone" Shepard agreed turning away and letting out a sigh at her answer to his plea to let her doubts go. "But his motives for doing this to his own men allude me, all the time I worked with him during the mission he went on and on about how he and Cerberus only wanted to defend humanity so it could evolve as it was meant to but this is not evolution this is madness and desecration" he spat.

"Shepard I can't override the lockdown but look at this" Liara said gaining his attention.

A video played on the overhead monitor showing Eva giving orders to the Cerberus troopers, Shepard listened to every word they said before smirking as he told Ashley to find a comm device as a plan formed in his head on how to get them to drop the lock down allowing them to reach the archives.

"Here Shepard" Ashley said handing over the comm device she had found on another dead trooper.

"This is Delta Team we have secured security control and the surrounding area" Shepard said into the comm. "We need backup" he stated.

"Delta Team standby we're sending troops over on the tram" a voice came back seconds later.

"Okay we need to set up an ambush when they arrive" Shepard said as they moved through the door leading to the tram station that led straight to the archives. "Ashley you take position there, Liara up there overlooking the entry way, I'll hold here behind these boxes with my sniper rifle" he instructed. "We don't fire until they are all off the tram" he warned them both as they took their positions.

They waited silently for the tram to arrive which it seemed to do very slowly, finally after what felt like ages the tram arrived and a group of five troopers one with a shield stepped off the tram and walked into the entry way calmly. Shepard sighted the lead trooper and quickly pulled the trigger and almost smirked as the man's head snapped back and blood spurted out of his helmet before he dropped, at the same Ashley and Liara opened fire as well taking out two more of the guards before the last two including the one with the shield managed to get into cover. Liara used her biotics to warp the area where they were hiding sending the boxes they were using as cover to go flying, the minute it did Shepard sighted the small slit in the shield the second to last guard was using and fired and this time did smirk as he watched the guard drop dead. The last guard dived for the fallen shield but Ashley was quicker and riddled him with bullets, slowly moving from cover they got on the tram and activated it.

"You realise they probably have the hub housing the archives well-guarded?" Liara pointed out.

"Yes and we are going to have to punch our way through them no matter how many there are Liara, so I need the biggest warp field you can must the minute we arrive" Shepard responded as he reloaded his weapons and checked the sights on his scope. "Follow it up with reave if you can, Ashley me and you will throw every grenade we got in a spread pattern hopefully get as many of them as we can" he added to which both nodded. "We need to be quick, there is no telling how long Eva has been in the archives or if she has found the data we need" he warned.

The trip went quickly and soon they pulled into the station and as expected there were a dozen Cerberus troopers in the area around the archives, the minute the tram stopped Liara let loose with her biotics sending men and crates flying, Ashley and Shepard both began throwing their grenades as fast as they could in different directions before ducking back down and hoping the explosions took out as many of the troopers as they could. They could hear the multiple explosions and cries of pain as the grenades went off, Liara jumped up and let loose her biotics again this time using reave to cleave three more guards down before she slumped somewhat back down. Shepard looked back out and noted half the guards had been killed much to his relief; pulling his sniper rifle he quickly opened fire before they could regroup. Ashley was right behind him and between themselves they killed three more guards before they were forced to duck from the return fire and two grenades sailed into the tram cart. Liara reacted immediately and formed a barrier around them so the explosion did not harm them, letting loose another round of fire the Cerberus troopers closed in on the tram. Shepard gestured for Liara to use warp again and then popped up as soon as she did with Ashley following and gunned down the remaining troopers as they floated in the air.

"That was not fun" Liara muttered as they exited the tram and moved for the archive door but making sure to keep an eye out for trouble.

"They seemed to have lost some of their finer aim" Ashley noted as they pass through the dead bodies. "Perhaps whatever Cerberus has done to its people it's affected their motor functions and brains" she mused aloud.

"If it has then they've done themselves a disservice Ash" Shepard shot back as they reached the controls for the archive doors and opened them.

Stepping into the vast room that housed the Prothean archives they came to a stop as they took it what was inside except for Liara who had already seen it, she headed straight for the archive terminal. Shepard shook himself and quickly ordered Ashley to do a quick patrol of the area just in case Eva was in here, she nodded and lifting her rifle moved to circle the giant Prothean artefact. Shepard moved to join Liara at the console and failed to notice the glowing circle platform he passed over, he even failed to see an image suddenly materialize behind him before it spoke and drew their attention.

"Shepard it's been a while" a very familiar voice said in greeting causing Shepard to spin around with his sidearm aimed at the voice even as Liara moved to do the same. They both paused as they took note the voice had come from a hologram, a very familiar one.

"Illusive man, what the hell have you done?" Shepard demanded as he put his pistol away and glared at the hologram. "You've attacked your own people right as the Reapers finally attacked, why?" he asked.

The Illusive man stared at Shepard for a few seconds before taking a drag of his cigarette. "I don't expect you to fully understand what it is I am doing Shepard, the reasons behind my attack on Mars but simply put there is a bigger picture you are not seeing" he finally said. "The Reapers are here in force and we need to find an answer to them quickly, the archives have that answer but I no longer wish to simply destroy them as I previous stated when we worked together because it has now accrued to me they could give humanity the edge over all the other races that we could finally achieve our rightful place as first among many" he explained before taking another drag from his cigarette. "When we discovered the Prothean Archives it gave us a huge technologic push, it gave us access to space travel and mass effect drives and the relays themselves" he pointed out as Shepard tried to speak. "Think about what we could learn from the Reapers if we could find a way to control them, that is what I plan to do Shepard find a way to bring them to heel" he stated boldly.

"You've lost your mind, listen to yourself you can't bring the Reapers to heel they are beyond our technological understanding" Shepard argued in shock at the man's ignorance and if he was not mistaken arrogance. "We have to destroy them before they destroy us all, and humanity has its place in the galaxy, we don't need to be first just respected I think I've proved our worth to the other species when I stopped Sovereign with the help of a team comprised of several races" he added. "We did the same with the Collectors remember, even you knew we would need all the help we could get to stop them hence allowing me to recruit several members from different races well against normal Cerberus polices" he pointed out. "And because you were willing to do that we saved our entire race from destruction, and more importantly protected our colonies in the Terminus systems" he stopped as the Illusive man broke in.

"I did what I had to do to keep our people safe just as I am doing now Shepard, but the problem is you've always been short sighted about how far we must go to ensure our safety and more importantly our place in the galaxy" Illusive man said calmly. "Like when you destroyed the Collector base against my express request not to, you failed to see the advantage it could have given us, the insight into their technology and power although I will say even though you destroyed the base it did not destroy everything within it allowing me and my people to salvage enough to begin getting a handle on their technology" he informed him.

"My god you've exposed yourself and your people to Reaper tech, even once we proved that even dead Reaper tech could be deadly you still risked it" Shepard realised.

"Don't take me for a fool Shepard we took the nessacary precautions before we began working on it" Illusive man shot back with a glare of his own before taking another drag from his cigarette before disposing of it. "We've learned much, but we need the data from the archives to progress any further" he admitted.

"How did you ever reach the base without a Reaper IFF?" he demanded to know.

"Simply copied the signal wavelength from the IFF you recovered from the derelict Reaper before you went through the Omega 4 relay and then created a device to send out that signal to the relay allowing us safe passage back and forth" Illusive Man answered with a smile.

"Stop this now, we shouldn't be fighting each other join us give me access to your resources and people and I will win this war" Shepard insisted.

"You'd do better than anyone else Shepard I admit that in fact one of the reasons I've left you alone since you broke away is because I expect you to draw the Reapers attention by gathering every force you can to fight them" Illusive Man told him. "But as I said I don't want them destroyed not anymore, so unfortunately we are at cross purposes" he stated just as Liara broke in.

"Shepard someone is downloading the data from a remote terminal" she warned him.

Shepard drew his rifle even as he heard a shout from Ashley before a figure collided with her and sent her flying before running for the exit, Shepard tried to shoot the running figure which he easily identified as Doctor Eva and quickly headed after her with Liara and Ashley following once she got back up. He loosely heard the Illusive Man say goodbye as his hologram faded, dismissing the hologram he chased Eva threw the facility and back out into the surface forcing them to pause and put their helmets back on. Charging out they continued to follow her upwards towards what had to be a landing point for a shuttle, cursing Shepard got on the comm.

"James do you copy Cerberus agent has the data we need and is trying to leave on a shuttle" he shouted into his comm even as he continued to run. "Sending coordinates now, need you to intercept anyway you can" he ordered and just prayed that James could hear him through the static.

Climbing a set of ladders they came upon the main platform which had to be where Eva planned to meet her shuttle, so far she had not turned or tried to stop them following her but now she turned and opened fire with an assault pistol forcing them to take cover even as a shuttle with Cerberus markings came in to land behind her. Liara cast a shield with her biotics allowing Shepard to charge forward but could not intercept Eva as she boarded the shuttle and closed the door on him, they watched as the shuttle began to lift just before they noted their own shuttle come screaming out of the clouds on an intercept course and slamming straight into the Cerberus shuttle causing it to nosedive straight for them. Both shuttles slammed into the platform in an explosion of fire and sound of screeching metal, the Cerberus shuttle came off the worst even as Shepard regained his footing from where he had jumped to avoid the crash he could see it was totally destroyed. Ashley moved forwards to check out the debris even as James exited their own dented shuttle flexing his shoulders and grinning clearly pleased with himself, Shepard helped Liara to her feet and turned just as the door of the Cerberus shuttle exploded outward and Eva jumped out and easily disarmed Ashley and grabbed her by the head and lifted her up.

"Orders" Shepard heard her say into a comm device.

"Dispose of her and bring me the data" Illusive man ordered after thinking the pros and cons through and realising the only way to get the data he needed was to dispose of anyone who go in the way no matter who it was.

Shepard shouted as he pulled his pistol and took aim even as Eva slammed Ashley into the burning wreck of her shuttle several times with more force than a normal person should have been capable off. Eva dropped the now wounded and unconscious Ashley and turned to charge Shepard even as he opened fire, almost in slow motion she rushed to reach the man only for two bullets to slam into her head and deactivate her within seconds as they caused serious damage to her systems. Shepard took only a second to make sure Eva was down barely taking note that she was not a human at all but a synthetic, rushing to Ashley's side he checked her pulse and was relieved when he found one.

"Normandy come in this is Shepard need immediate evac, shuttle damaged and doubtful it will break atmosphere need you to come in and pick us hope then head straight for the Citadel" he ordered into his comm.

"Roger that Shepard on our way now, are you okay?" Joker inquired.

"Ashley's been injured badly, she needs immediate medical treatment" Shepard responded. "James pick that up and get it in the shuttle, we need to take it with us as it has the data we need" he ordered.

"You got it man" James said with a nod before he hefted the inactive synthetic up and got it onto shuttle before taking the pilots chair again.

"Joker, order our escorts to follow us once we are back in orbit, they are to head to the Citadel as well" Shepard ordered as he climbed aboard carrying the wounded Ashley with Liara following behind him and sealing the door.

"No problem sending orders now" Joker shot back even as the Normandy came into view.

James slowly powered up the damaged shuttle and brought them into the air, it was a bumpy ride all the way into the cargo hold and touching down was even worse. Once they were in and the ramp door closed they immediately disembarked, Shepard carried Ashley out careful not to shake her too much.

+OS+

(SSV Normandy)

"James, get that synthetic to the AI core and station two guards near the door, no one in or out except Liara understood?" he ordered.

"Yes sir" James nodded and moved to comply.

"Liara get that data out of her anyway you can before we reach the Citadel, EDI will help you anyway she can" he added as he rushed out towards the medical bay.

Once inside he placed Ashley carefully down on one of the beds and watched as a nurse rushed over to start scanning her, Shepard looked around but failed to note any signs of Doctor Chakwas and he realised she must not have been on board and then he recalled Ashley had told him there was only a nurse on board when they escaped Earth. He tried to push aside any worries about the doctor as he watched the nurse work to stabilise Ashley, finally after what seemed like a lifetime the nurse turned to him.

"I've stabilised her condition Commander but I'm only a nurse she needs to be operated on by a doctor to repair the damage done to her arm back and neck" the nurse reported.

"Just keep her alive until we reach the Citadel" he ordered. "Joker how long until we reach the relay?" he asked into the nearby comm.

"Twenty seconds, thankfully there is no Reapers keeping an eye on it" Joker responded as he piloted the Normandy straight for the massive structure with their escorts following close behind. "Programming destination now, transfer into ten" he continued.

"All stations report ready for jump Shepard" EDI reported.

"Thanks EDI, Joker let's get out of here" Shepard replied.

"Jumping now" was all Joker said in response and instantly Shepard felt the very moment the Normandy jumped.

In space the Normandy vanished from the Sol system in a flash of light with its two escort cruisers following seconds later, in the distance the space was filled with Reapers as they closed in on Earth and its surrounding colonies.

Back on the Normandy Shepard exited the medbay and headed back to the lift before heading for his quarters; once he reached them he tore his armour off and hit his comm panel. "EDI can you get me a signal to Admiral Hackett?" he inquired.

"Yes Shepard but you will have to head down to the flight deck and to the quantum communications systems installed near the war map room" EDI responded instantly. "The former lab, weapons armoury and meeting room was dismantled during the retrofit and a whole new area built in, the Cerberus communications terminal was removed and destroyed and replaced with an Alliance model, specialist Traynor has worked on it extensively" she explained even before Shepard could ask. "She will meet you at the lift to explain the changes and how the system works if you like, I think you will find her most helpful" she added.

"Thanks EDI" Shepard nodded before heading back to the lift and heading for the flight deck where there was indeed someone waiting for him. "Specialist Traynor I presume?" he inquired. "

"Yes sir Samantha Traynor" Traynor responded with a quick salute before she indicated he should follow her. "The Normandy has undergone a seven month overhaul since you turned her over sir, a lot of systems had to be removed as they doubled as spying devices this included the quantum communications system previously installed in the meeting room which now is the war room and Alliance communications" she explained. "Certain areas received a partial or full overhaul, the armoury which was stationed behind the galaxy map is now stationed in the cargo bay near the shuttle loading area whilst the lab has been moved and combined with the normal medical lab" she continued. "The engine core was fully overhauled although I am not the one to explain the changes that would be Engineer Adams job" she added.

"Adams is back on board?" Shepard inquired as he followed her through what looked like a security check point

"Yes sir, he oversaw all engineering overhauls and structural modifications" Traynor answered as she led him into the war room and through that to the comm terminal. "This is the communications terminal where you can reach Admiral Hackett and anyone else you may need to talk to, I'll be on the bridge if you have any more questions sir" she added before she saluted him again before leaving.

"Admiral Hackett is online Shepard" EDI reported before going silent and the communications system activated and a hologram of the admiral appeared.

"Shepard did you find Doctor T'soni and the data from the archives?" Hackett inquired without any greeting.

"Yes sir we did but Cerberus hit Mars and killed everyone at the station and tried to hijack the data before we could locate it" Shepard reported. "They had a synthetic stationed there and as soon as the attack started she struck, Liara is going through the systems to get the data but we do have it but they're attack there means they are hostile and after my conversation with the Illusive man I would have to say it will not change no matter what transpires" he went on. "He wants to try and find a way to control the Reapers" he admitted.

"Is such a thing even possible?" Hackett inquired shocked at the news.

"I'm not sure I wouldn't think so considering how advanced the Reapers are from our understanding, but he seems sure there is one and worse than that is that they also managed to get back through the Omega 4 relay to the Collector base or what was left of it after I destroyed it and looted any Reaper tech they could find" he reported.

"Is it possible they may be indoctrinated through exposure to this Reaper tech like in your reports?" Hackett inquired.

"I raised that point with him myself but he insisted they took precautions to prevent such things but whether that is true or whether whatever precautions they took failed to protect them is up for debate" Shepard answered honestly. "Either way we now have more than the Reapers to deal with, warnings have to be sent out to all Alliance ships, stations and outposts as well as a general warning to the other races" he insisted.

"Agreed I'll take care of it Shepard, where are you heading now?" Hackett responded.

"The Citadel as Anderson ordered to try and get the other races to help us as well as get Ashley medical attention she was badly wounded by that Cerberus synthetic" Shepard answered leaning against the wall. "We're going to have to pull some sort of alliance together if we are to have any hope of fighting the Reapers, Anderson was right about that and my previous encounters showed acting together is the best course of action" he stated.

"Agreed, alright Shepard get to the Citadel as fast as you can and do what you can to convince the others to help us if you can, I am already regrouping our fleets as best I can" Hackett told him.

"Sir two cruisers made it out with us, the Avenger and the Majestic I request they remain with us as backup" Shepard admitted.

"Two cruisers won't make much difference at the moment Shepard in the grand scheme of things so I will allow them to stay with you and back you up as your mission evolves, you may need the help I will send the orders to Captains Halenbeck and Steins myself once I finish this call" Hackett quickly decided. "Good luck Shepard and keep me informed, oh one last thing once Doctor T'soni has recovered the data have her send me a copy through encrypted channels" he ordered.

"Yes sir I will, good luck" Shepard said before the connection cut off.

Letting out a sigh he headed back to the bridge and up to the pilots station where he found Joker waiting for him, his friend turned to greet him.

"Glad you managed to find Liara and get her out of there" Joker said with a grim smile. "Just our luck we'd have more than one enemy eh, guess the universe decided just fighting the Reapers would be too easy eh?" he sarcastically inquired.

"Suppose so, but then again if we didn't have crappy odds it wouldn't really be an adventure for the Normandy crew now would it?" Shepard shot back knowing a little levity never hurt even in moments of terrible events.

"So what will we do about Cerberus?" Joker inquired.

"Hackett is sending out warnings to ever Alliance ship, station or outpost we have left as well as a general warning to the other races to be on guard" Shepard answered. "It's all we can do whilst we are still regrouping, at least we got the data we need to hopefully destroy the Reapers" he mused. "Let me know when we reach the Citadel I need to try and get some sleep before things turn even more hectic" he said before he left and went back to his quarters not even hearing Joker's response.

Once in his cabin he had a quick hot shower before changing into fresh clothes he sat at his desk and tried to start a report about the mission to Mars but quickly gave it up before dropping onto his bed and quickly dozed off, but his dreams were once again dark as he mind replayed the death of the little boy he had seen back on Earth except that he was in a dark wood and Shepard was trying to reach him and save but always came up short as fire suddenly erupted around and then consumed the boy. Shepard awoke with a gasp and looked around trying to get his bearings before he relaxed when he realised he was still on his ship, that was he had seen was just his imagination playing with him.

"Are you okay Shepard?" EDI inquired sounding genuinely concerned.

"Just bad dreams EDI, I wish Kelly was here she'd be able to help me work through this" Shepard responded with a sigh as he made his way to the bathroom and washed his face.

"I am sure Kelly is somewhere safe Shepard, she would know to try and reach safety once word of the invasion hit and I truly doubt she would have remained on Earth due to her past connection to Cerberus" EDI said in an attempt to reassure him.

"Yeah you're right EDI she wouldn't have stayed on Earth, but that just means she could be anywhere, same with Miranda, Samara and the rest of the crew that disembarked before I turned for Earth seven months ago" Shepard stated as he sighed and exited the bathroom and collapsed onto his office chair and stared at two photos that rested on his desk one was of him and Kelly taken during a brief stopover on the Citadel, the other was of the entire Normandy crew during the mission against the Collectors taken just after they had succeeded in destroying the Collector base and made it back through the Omega 4 relay.

"You may be concerned about the rest of the crew Shepard but it is Kelly you miss the most at this moment in time" EDI pointed out. "I admit to studying your relationships especially once I was unshackled by Jeff, whilst your relationships with Miranda and Samara were close to a point there was a distance especially where Samara was concerned due to her code" she explained. "It was with Kelly that you found some happiness and sense of partnership as one would have in a true relationship" she stated.

"There was something there alright between us but Kelly was always a bit skittish about having a proper relationship, maybe something in her past put her off normal relationships but she would never say" Shepard recalled just as there was a beep on his comm. "Yes Joker?" he inquired.

"We just dropped out of the relay and are on approach to the Citadel Shepard, should I radio ahead and tell them to have a med team to meet us at the airlock?" Joker inquired.

"Indeed, Ashley needs immediate attention" Shepard agreed as he stood up and stretched. "Also tell our companion cruisers they can dock as well and give their crews some shore leave same with us" he added after giving a quick run over in his head. "There might not be much time later, say about three hours, also request a team to go over all three ships make sure they check out and are fully fuelled" he ordered.

"Understood Shepard I'll take care of it" Joker assured him.

"I'll be down in twenty once I've finished my report on the mission to Mars to be sent to Hackett and whatever command structure is left" Shepard said before he signed off.

He focused on the report he had briefly started before dropping into bed and quickly set about finishing it, making sure to put a full description of what changes the Cerberus troopers had undergone he also added in most of what the Illusive Man had said before finishing it and sighing it before heading for the lift and heading for the command deck where he found Traynor.

"Traynor can you send this report to Admiral Hackett over secure comm channels when you report in again?" he inquired.

"Of course Commander no problem and whilst we are speaking you have messages on your personal terminal which is part of my duty to monitor" Traynor responded taking the report from him and nodding her head even as she spoke.

Shepard checked the message terminal that was stationed right next to the galaxy map, he found a few messages including one from Admiral Hackett forwarded to every surviving Alliance ship or base of his reinstatement and command of the Normandy. There was also one for Miranda asking to meet him on the Citadel and one from Thane also asking to see him; the one from Thane worried him as it stated he was in the medical wing. He knew Thane had been ill with Kepral's syndrome which was a disease that could kill Drell and there was no known cure, he hoped it had not progressed too far. There was a message from Alliance command or whatever now served as it warning about Cerberus showing that Hackett had kept his word not that he expected anything different, the last message was fragmented and mostly garbage. Signing out he headed for Joker's station and watched as they approached the Citadel docking arms, crossing his arms over his chest he remembered briefly his first visit to this vast station.

"Docking procedure underway Shepard, medical team is standing by at the airlock for us and our companion cruisers are docking in the berths next to us, shore leave for three hours for all crews has been arranged and tech crews are ready to go over our ships make sure there is no damage and fully fuelled" Joker reported as his hands danced over his consoles.

"Good work Joker, shore leave goes for you too" Shepard shot back and quickly added before Joker could protest. "Joker you go and you stretch your legs because once we leave more than likely you're going to be in that chair a lot" he said with a look before Joker sighed and nodded his agreement. "Ok I'm heading for the medbay to see to Ashley's transfer" he added before turning and heading for the lift and going straight for the medbay on the deck below.

"Ok we have to transfer Ashley to the Citadel so I need you to get her on a gurney and ready to move, a med team is waiting for us at the airlock" he said to the nurse who was currently running a scan on the still unconscious woman.

"Yes sir, we'll have to be careful as we move her onto the gurney as I believe she may have some damage to her ribs although I cannot tell how badly as I am not a doctor" the nurse responded.

"Easy, I understand that you are not a doctor I not expecting miracles out of you nurse?" Shepard responded waiting for her name.

"Anna Peterson I am a niece of Doctor Chakwas Commander" Anna replied doing her best not to do something stupid like blush, her aunt had told her dozens of stories about the famous Commander Shepard instead she focused on fetching the gurney.

"Really I knew she had family but I didn't expect one to show up here, have you heard from her?" Shepard inquired in surprise.

"Yes she is safe at an Alliance R&D lab where she has been working for the last few months since returning from your mission to stop the Collectors" Anna answered. "More than likely once she hears about the attack and that Normandy escaped Earth she will make for the Citadel to try and join up with you, she always said this place felt like home and she wouldn't feel right leaving you and Joker to fight alone" she explained.

"I'd welcome her aboard in a heartbeat Anna, you aunt is the best doctor there is" Shepard assured her as he helped slowly transfer Ashley onto the gurney Anna had rolled over. "At least she wasn't on Earth when the Reapers hit, that is one friend I now know the whereabouts of outside of Joker, EDI, Ashley and Liara" he mused as they began moving the gurney to the airlock hatch.

"When Joker contacted her about the mission against the Collectors and that you had been brought back by Cerberus she didn't even hesitate to sign up, she took a leave of absence from the Alliance and let us know what was happening and why she was going" Anna admitted to fill the silence as they waited for the ship to finish docking. "She didn't trust Cerberus but she cared a lot about Joker and you, she wanted to ensure it was you and the mission was a vital one that needed doing when she got back Admiral Hackett made sure there was no reprimand against her as they have been friends for quite a while" she added.

"I owe her a lot and Joker, believe me if things had been reversed I'd have done the same for her" Shepard said as they felt the ship finally lurch as they finished docking. "Let's go" he said as the dock door opened and they moved out with the gurney between them.

+OS+

(Citadel, Normandy Hangar)

James and Liara soon joined them even as the med team took over and began a preliminary check on Ashley and listened to Anna's assessment, once that was complete they quickly wheeled her off to the lift with Anna close behind. Shepard watched them go and just prayed Ashley pulled through, turning he leant against the bar rail and stared out to where the Normandy was berthed, James and Liara joined him.

"She'll be okay Shepard, Ashley is strong" Liara said comfortingly. "Yes the damage was bad but I am sure she will be up soon, she is too strong willed to stay down for long" she insisted.

"Yeah you're right Liara, and Ashley isn't going to want to miss this fight" Shepard finally said with a sigh. "Did you manage to get the data from the synthetic Liara?" he inquired moving onto calmer topics.

"Yes it took a few hours but I managed it thanks to EDI who found the code within the synthetic very similar to her own base code before she was unshackled" Liara answered with a small smile as this news at least had to cheer him up somewhat. "Clearly they used EDI'S design programs as the starting format before adding new complex designs to it, they obviously did want to risk another of their AI's going rogue like EDI did" she explained. "Anyway she managed to borrow deep enough to retrieve the data, now we just have to hope the Council will listen to us" she added.

"Did you send a copy to Hackett?" Shepard asked.

"Of course it went with your report on the Mars mission just before I came down here, hopefully he can get the Alliance moving to at least start construction" Liara answered even as a voice interrupted their conversation.

"Commander Shepard, good to see you again" this made them all turn to find one of the nominal heads of C-Sec Captain Bailey behind them.

"Captain Bailey nice to see a friendly face" Shepard responded as he shook the other man's hand.

"That's Commander Bailey now I got promoted" Bailey admitted with a grim smile. "Hell of a lot more paperwork much to my annoyance but guess it means I am doing my job right" he mused with a shrug.

"Congratulations then Commander" Shepard said having liked the man since he had met him last year after coming back from the dead.

Instead of been shocked or insistent he take a dozen tests and fill out a million forms he had just calmly looked at him and then changed his records to show he was alive having taken it on faith he was who he was, he had then gone out of his way to help him and Thane stop Thane's son Kolyat from trying to assassinate some bigoted Turian and then listened to his suggestion of putting him on community service instead of been arrested. He had also helped him and Garrus track down Fade also known as the corrupt C-Sec agent called Harkon so they could get information out of him, information that had let Garrus gain revenge on the Turian who had betrayed him and got the rest of Garrus's team on Omega killed.

"Thanks, glad to see you made it off Earth Shepard I hear it was a nightmare when those things hit" Bailey said.

"Yeah but the fight isn't over yet Bailey and the war has just begun, we can hopefully turn this around if we can gain the support of the Council" Shepard stated firmly.

"A tall order especially if these Reapers are already at their door, and talking of the Council by the way they are expecting you immediately" Bailey replied not looking too convinced that what Shepard said was doable but Shepard could not allow himself such doubt.

"Yeah expected they would, guess I better head up to Council chambers then come on Liara you're with me" Shepard replied with a sigh not looking forward to this meeting. "James try and relax whilst we're gone" he said over his shoulder.

"I'll try Commander but I doubt I will" James responded watching them go before looking around as this was his first visit to the Citadel.

"You look new here so I suggest hitting the Presidium plenty to see and do there even with it been so crowded" Bailey suggested noting the look of someone who had never been to the Citadel before on James's face James just nodded and headed for the lift.

+OS+

(Citadel Tower)

Shepard headed for the spot Liara was standing facing the Council, Tevos the Asari councilor, Valern the Salarian councilor, Sparatus the Turian councilor and finally Udina for Earth having replaced Anderson when he returned to the Alliance. He bet Udina was crowing at finally gaining the rank he had so wanted for many years, it was only on his advice that Anderson got the job when they were offered their first seat on the council after stopping Saren and Sovereign and saving the council on the Destiny Ascension. He had never liked or trusted Udina and still recalled how easily he had stabbed them in the back when the council decided to ground the Normandy to stop them following Saren into the Terminus systems for fear of causing a war, it had taken Anderson knocking him out and unlocking the lockdown that had freed them to act just in time to stop Saren helping Sovereign from unleashing the Reapers on them all almost four years ago now.

"Ah Commander Shepard you're finally here, we've been waiting for you" Sparatus said folding his arms behind his back.

"I'll make this brief as I can councilor and try and not allow past choices influence what I have to say" Shepard stated. "The Reapers are here and they have invaded Earth killing god knows how many, the Alliance navy is regrouping even now but it is not enough we need help, we need the support of the other races to combat this nightmare" he told them. "We need every ship and soldier you can spare" he added.

"Unfortunately Commander that is not possible at this time, Palaven is already under siege from the Reapers and we are barely holding the line" Sparatus responded grimly far more grimly that he had ever sounded before. "They are also signs they are heading for Asari and Salarian space" he added.

"If you had listened to me at the beginning of all this we may have been prepared councilor, I told you what the beacon showed me told you about the Reapers but none of you wanted to hear about some all-powerful enemy" Shepard snapped unable to help himself no matter what he had previously said about keeping past choices behind them. "You said you wanted undeniable proof even though Sovereign should have been proof enough but you want to believe it was simply a Geth construct but if it was they surely would have shown the capacity to create more but they didn't and still haven't" he went on and the councilors decided to let him vent. "You wouldn't listen to me either when I came back and told you the Collectors were also pawns of the Reapers, you were more concerned about my resurrection and how my actions may look to the galaxy as I was working with Cerberus to stop them, the key word there is with them not for them because I recall Councilor Valern telling me a Spectre does whatever it takes to complete the mission and I used Cerberus to complete mine" he stated.

"I did say that Commander and I meant it, in fact you quickly showed during your time as a Spectre a willingness to embrace that rule to do whatever it took even if it meant defying the Councils ruling on matters" Valern interrupted him. "And perhaps we should have given you some benefit of the doubt considering if not for you we would all be dead when Sovereign attacked, perhaps we should have put at least some effort into getting to the bottom of the Reaper puzzle the beacon raised" he mused rubbing his chin with his finger. "But without clear proof of what you saw of what you and your crew experienced we had to act on what knowledge we had, which wasn't much" he stated.

"Indeed, for all we could tell the beacon downloaded unclear and barely decipherable images into your mind and Liara T'soni's efforts to help you make sense of them could have been flawed or incomplete" Tevos agreed with a nod of her head. "I admit maybe we should have taken your warnings a bit more seriously after all you have done, but the time for recriminations is past us Commander" she added.

"Indeed, we can only act on fact Commander and no matter your standing after saving us and stopping Saren and Sovereign you had no facts or evidence to support your warnings" Sparatus quickly agreed not a surprise as Shepard knew he did not take accusations well. "Not even the AI called Vigil you met on Ilos which shut down after you left the planet, if that had remained active it may have given your warnings some more weight" he stated.

"You could have at least put some kind of plan into effect on the off chance I was right about what I saw from the beacon, taken some defensive measures to protect all our worlds just in case the Reapers were real which as is now proven they are" Shepard argued.

"Again without solid proof of a true threat such a scheme would have seen like a waste of resources Commander, I understand as a military man you see things from a certain perspective which is why I am not taking offence at your tone but please try to see things from ours" Tevos said in response. "Our people like to us to make wise choices and to use our powers for the good of our worlds and those who look to us to aide them, they would not accept us wasting resources of something that to most would sound like a myth" she explained. "We made the best choice we could with the information and facts we had, now I suggest we move on from the past and focus on the present how do we fight this enemy?" she stated.

Shepard decided continuing to argue was pointless and let the matter drop and focused instead on convincing the council to help, one thing he was surprised about was Udina staying silent during the brief exchange he would have thought the man would try and cut him off.

"It is simple really councilor the only way we have a chance at fight the Reapers is by joining our forces into one" he answered. "If my previous missions have shown us anything it is that a combined force has a chance at fighting them and even beating them, if we do not join forces and instead focus on only our own space we will lose" he stated.

"That is all you can suggest Commander?" Valern inquired sounding disappointed.

"No we also have one other way, as you know of our races has prospered due to locating a long buried stash of Prothean technology thus giving us access to things like the mass effect relays and engine drives" Shepard shot back before turning to Liara who took over.

"Inside one of these Prothean relics I have found the plans for a Prothean weapon that could destroy the Reapers in one go" she informed them tapping some commands on her omni-tool to show the device to the councilors. "A weapon of Prothean design but if it could do what you say then why is it the Reapers still exist?" Valern inquired intrigued. "It is called the Crucible" she added. "Unfortunately the Protheans never completed it during their own war with the Reapers, they ran out of time however the plans are easy to follow and the device itself seems to be designed to be built as quickly and easily as possible" Liara told them. "However it does seem to miss a very important part which is why the Protheans failed to complete it in time, something called the Catalyst" she added.

"The scale of the device is huge, it would take massive amounts of resources to build" Valern mused as he studied the designs that Liara was showing with her omni-tool. "As well as time" he added seconds later.

"It maybe our only hope of winning this war" Shepard told them glancing at each of them.

"What we need Shepard are fleets not weapons from a dead and defeated race that more than likely will never work" Udina finally snapped breaking his enforced silence having been listening carefully and seeing that Shepard was not winning any points with this pitch. "Earth has been invaded and we need immediate help" he insisted.

"So councilor you suggest we should gather our fleets abandon our own worlds and head straight to Earth to save just one planet?" Sparatus inquired with a glare at his fellow councilor. "No I don't think so" he stated dismissively.

"The sad truth is Commander that whilst the Reapers focus the majority of their forces on Earth and its surrounding systems we can use the time to rally and shore up our own fleets and defences" Tevos told them bluntly sounding truly sorrowful at the prospect.

"So you won't help us in anyway not even in building the device?" Shepard demanded to know trying to stem the sudden rage he felt at their responses.

"I'm afraid Commander that at the moment our resources must be spent on our own defences, I see not real benefit to this device at this time because whilst I disagree with a lot of what councilor Udina said I do agree this device might not even work especially if you cannot locate the missing piece the Catalyst I think you called it" Valern replied. "Do you have any idea what it is or where it might be located?" he inquired folding his arms across his chest.

"I'm afraid we do not councilor but it must exist" Liara responded instantly. "Yes time is against us, but the device is our only hope of winning because in conventional combat we will only hold the Reapers back for a short while" she warned. "This device should destroy them all fairly quickly" she insisted.

"But you do not know that do you Liara, you're basically taking a huge guess correct?" Tevos shot back. "How long have you had to truly examine the plans?" she asked.

Liara looked away from Tevos and that seemed to be answer enough. "I'm sorry Commander I truly am but for now Earth must stand alone" Tevos stated before the Councilors turned and left except for Udina who glared at their retreating backs.

"Damnable fools" Udina snarled. "Follow me Shepard, just you" he instructed before turning and heading for his office. Shepard glanced at Liara who sighed and quickly headed away.

+OS+

(Udina's Office)

Shepard followed Udina into his office trying to ignore the man's curses and anger; it wouldn't help him keep a lid of his own anger. Granted he had known getting the Council to help in either capacity was going to be easy but he had not expected such a quick shoot down, they were too worried about their own people and space to care about Earth seeing it was a nessacary sacrifice to save their own worlds. He shook his head because he knew no matter how much they now tried to prepare it would only slow the Reapers down for a short while, rushed preparations was not going to save them or their people. If they had listened to his sooner and but serious thought into their defences and preparations then maybe they would have had a chance, now it was too late and they did not want to take the blame for their lack of action hiding instead of doing what was right by their people's expectations of them.

"Stupid self-centred fools all they care about are their own worlds and people to hell with others" Udina's sudden loud rant broke though Shepard's thoughts and made him focus on him. "So much for been allies, so much for been willing to defend other Council races" he spat.

"If are roles were reversed would we be any different?" Shepard found himself asking not even understanding why he was in a sense defending the Council.

"Perhaps not but I would like to think we would at least offer some support no matter how small, they instead refused to give us any at all" Udina reluctantly admitted. "And your little spat of accusations didn't do us any good in there, what the hell were you thinking Shepard?" he growled out as he took his seat and glared at him.

"I was thinking of finally been vindicated about my warnings not that it does us any good, a part of me would love to be proven wrong that the beacon on Eden Prime really did screw my mind over but it didn't but not one of you would listen except Anderson and Hackett" Shepard shot back with his own glare. "Do you remember when you stabbed us in the back and locked down the Normandy Udina, had we not disobeyed orders had Anderson not undone the lockdown you and everyone else would already be dead" he reminded him his tone suddenly frosty as he still had not forgiven the man for had easily he had made him and his crew seem so disposable. "What you did back then is exactly what just happened to us at the Council's hands" he pointed out.

Udina could not help but rub his jaw as he recalled how Anderson had stormed into his office and knocked him right out with a powerful right hand, he had woken half an hour later with a black eye and a very sore jaw to find the Normandy was gone. Before he could try and bring charges against Anderson Saren and Sovereign had launched their assault on the Citadel, and he had to admit even though it galled him to do so without Shepard and the Normandy they would have been all killed. When the Council had offered them a seat on the Council for their efforts in protecting the Destiny Ascension which they had escaped on by sacrificing quite a few of their ships he had been certain it would be him who would be chosen, instead Shepard had put Anderson's name forward and because of his actions in saving them the Council had listened to him. That slight had always angered him and made his dislike of Shepard all the more potent, yes he was a competent solider and perhaps even a good Spectre but he was not someone Udina liked or trusted. Before he could reply his office door opened and Councilor Sparatus entered, this surprised him and clearly Shepard was no better off.

"Commander I am truly sorry we cannot help you at this moment in time no matter our differences in the past I do respect you and your people, however it is no longer in my hands to grant such help" Sparatus told Shepard. "Before Palaven was attacked Primarch Fedorian called a war summit of the other Council races however before he could leave for it his shuttle was forced down on Menae one of Palaven's moon's, if anyone can get you help and support it is the Primarch but to do that he needs rescuing but none of our ships can get close enough and are all engaged fighting the Reapers and trying to stop them reaching Palaven" he admitted. "However the Normandy can get close thanks to its stealth systems, if you can rescue the Primarch Commander he and all Turians will owe you a debt and he will be the one who decides where our ships fight and how" he added coming to the point and Shepard nodded knowing the Councilor was right this was out of the Council's hands now and in the hands of the actual leaders of the Council races. "He more than likely will be able to help get your resources for this Prothean weapon you want to build the Crucible" he pointed out.

"Do you know where on Menae his shuttle went down?" Shepard inquired having already decided this was his best bet to get any kind of support.

"Yes here near the northern command post run by General Corinthus one of our best leaders, if he is anywhere it is there more than likely rescued from the downed shuttle" Sparatus responded using his omni-tool to show a map of the northern edge of Menae . "That is all the help I can give you slim though it is, also the Council has decided to reactivate your Spectre status and make all equipment and resources available to you" he informed him before using his omni-tool to transfer the nessacary command codes to Shepard's omni-tool. "Good luck Commander" he added before turning and leaving.

"That was surprising" Udina muttered. "But at least it's a start, how long before you can leave for Palaven?" he inquired.

"An hour or two, I have work crews going over the Normandy and our support cruisers making sure we're fully fuelled and sustained no damage getting away from Earth" Shepard answered. "I know this is priority Udina but I will not take the Normandy into a warzone unless I know she is sound and working at full capacity especially the stealth systems plus I have the crews some time to blow of some steam before we go to war because if they are not focused it cost us at the worst time" he explained.

"Well I'll defer to you on military matters Shepard but don't delay leaving to long" Udina replied hating having to even say it. "That Primarch may be our only hope of getting help for Earth, in the mean time I'll do what I can do to convince the other Councilors to help" he added to which Shepard nodded and then turned and left and headed directly to the nearby Spectre offices.

+OS+

(Spectre Office)

Shepard noted only two other Spectres were in the office as he headed for the main terminal to see if there anything interesting he could use, the two Spectres nodded in greeting before going back to their own work. Opening the terminal he began to read the information on it, he paused as he noted a message about Kenneth Donnelly and Gabriella Daniels was in the brig on the Citadel awaiting transfer to Earth. He frowned wondering why they had not been held on Earth before he recalled they departed the Normandy before heading back to Earth several months back, they had been too afraid to face the Alliance brass at the time. Quickly putting a request to have them reinstated and transferred to the Normandy using his command codes he moved on, at least he could help two of his crew who he knew he could trust to face the fire to come. He found some useful information on Reaper movements around Palaven and also located some weapons that could be useful and used his command codes to order some to be moved to the Normandy's armoury, once he was done he turned and exited the office and headed to the medical bay to check on Ashley and see if he could find Thane.

+OS+

(Huerta Memorial Hospital)

Exiting the lift he paused as he noted the utter chaos the hospital was experiencing with many injured and dead littered everywhere, he could see nurses and doctors rushing all over the place as well as civilian volunteers trying to help where they could. Shaking his head he looked around for any signs of Thane before finally noting him looking out of the nearby window that showed the Presidium below it, heading straight over he took note that Thane did indeed seem different in the way he stood.

"Thane good to see you" he said as he came to a halt just behind the Drell.

Thane spun having already sensed someone behind him and had not felt any threat thus he had not moved to defend himself, the voice of the visitor was a very welcome one and one he had been trying to contact for the last few months but considering Shepard had been in lockdown it was no surprise that his messages had not got through.

"Shepard, I am grateful to see you made it off Earth" Thane said in response as he reached out and shook his hand. "I tried to contact you in the months you were detained but I suppose they did not want you to have any contact with your friends" he admitted.

"I appreciate you trying Thane but they were not going to allow me to have contact with the outside, they were too busy trying to ignore the truth by focusing on my destruction of the Alpha Relay" Shepard replied as they sat down. "Month after month all they did was ask the same damn questions and waste the time we brought them by stopping the Collectors and me destroying that Relay" he explained his tone darkening as he recalled the seven months of wasted interrogation.

"They were fools to ignore a threat of such magnitude Shepard and the Council just as foolish, after all you and the crew had done you would have thought they would have given you some trust and taken some measures just in case you were right" Thane mused.

"They just told me it would not have looked good to their people to waste resources on something based on no facts as they saw it, they won't even support us right now as their own worlds are under threat" Shepard informed him and Thane shook his head at their foolishness. "I have one chance to get any sort of alliance of the ground and that is rescuing the Turian Primarch off Menae as he called for a war summit but without him it won't happen, I don't suppose you are up to coming with us are you?" he explained.

"I am afraid not Shepard, my condition is in its final faze and I need constant medical attention each day" Thane reluctantly answered. "I can no longer move and act as I once did, when you recruited me against the Collectors my condition was only just showing and thus had no real effect on my abilities now it takes a great strain out of me to use them" he explained. "So sadly I must remain here and help however I can no matter how little that truly is" he concluded.

"I'm sorry to hear that Thane and I really wish there was something I can do to help you" Shepard responded with a sigh.

"I appreciate the thought Shepard but we knew this was coming from the moment I joined you against the Collectors and I am thankful that I least had time to make things right with Kolyat thanks to you and Commander Bailey" Thane shot back with a thankful look on his features.

"How is Kolyat?" inquired Shepard.

"Well and he visits me often for which I am thankful as I would hate to pass on without fixing things with him" Thane answered gratefully. "I wish you luck in your mission Commander and pray Kalahira will grant you victory" he added.

"Thanks Thane I appreciate it and I will be back so we will talk again but I have to go and visit a friend now before I head back to the Normandy" Shepard told him as they stood back and shook hands again.

"You mean the badly injured female human who was just brought in?" Thane noted with interest. "I saw Doctor Chakwas follow her and the med team into the surgery bay but I did not know she was a part of your crew" he added.

"Ashley was with me and my crew when we stopped Saren and Sovereign Thane, she was the friend we met on Horizon who refused to help us during the Collector mission due to her distrust and hatred of Cerberus" Shepard admitted with a sigh. "Not that I blame her but she really has some issues with my willingness to work with such a group no matter what the mission was" he explained.

"We all took a chance when we joined up with you Shepard because Cerberus is well known for its anti-alien stance, but they were willing to look outside the box of their one sided viewpoint when they needed it or maybe perhaps because they knew you would want to hire more than just human allies" Thane told him thoughtfully.

"Yeah even I knew it was a risk but once I knew what we were up against I knew it had to be done so I put aside my disquiet and did what was nessacary and as I told the Council I used Cerberus to complete the mission" Shepard replied to which Thane nodded. "Did you say Doctor Chakwas was here?" he inquired finally catching onto that part of Thane's statement.

"I did yes, she told me she came as soon as the news reached her that Earth had been attacked hoping than you and the Normandy would survive and make it here so she could join up to aide you" Thane answered and pointed to the main entry door to the surgical wind where he noted Doctor Chakwas and her niece Anna stood talking.

"Good we will need her as her niece is only a nurse and we will need a full doctor, and it is a relief to know she is safe from the carnage going on back home" Shepard said trying not to think about Anderson and the millions of people they had left behind back on Earth.

"I will keep an eye on your friend and befriend her if I can whilst she is here Shepard it can get lonely when you are on your own" Thane assured him.

"Thanks Thane I appreciate it and I am sure Ashley will as well once she wakes up, I'll see you when I return from Menae" Shepard responded and shook Thane's hand again before heading for the doctor and her niece and coming to a stop just to the side of them.

"Doctor it's good to see you alive and well" he said as they turned towards him. "I was concerned you may have been on Earth during the Reaper Invasion" he admitted and noted the way Doctor Chakwas face tightened at the mention of the invasion.

"Thankfully no I wasn't I was stationed in an Alliance R&D lab in the Shalta Wards. Thanks to Admiral Hackett's protection I was not sanctioned for joining you on your mission against the Collectors even though it meant working with Cerberus" Chakwas informed him regaining control. "Joker sadly had a bit more difficulty due to actually joining them so as to pilot the new Normandy and help you once you were returned to life" she explained.

"Had they not taken the one thing Joker loved more than anything else from him he wouldn't have had to make that choice" Shepard said resentfully. "They forced the issue, but I would not trust anyone else behind the controls of the Normandy so I was glad he was there and your presence and council helped me greatly during the mission" he admitted.

"I appreciate the sentiment Commander and it was my pleasure to help you and Joker and keep an eye on you both as well" Chakwas said with a smile. "I came here as soon as I heard of the attack on Earth hoping you would make it, I trust Joker is with you?" she inquired.

"He's fine in fact without Joker and EDI I'd be dead alongside god knows how many others, Ashley and Anderson survived as well but Anderson decided to stay and Earth and lead the resistance" Shepard responded.

Chakwas breathed a sigh of relief at hearing her friends were alive even though she already knew Ashley Williams had survived as she had helped stabilize her when she was brought in, hearing Joker was safe relieved her of a massive burden.

"I am pleased to hear that Commander and as for Anderson remaining on Earth I would have expected nothing else from him and at least with him in command you know he'll keep the people fighting no matter how long I takes us to come back in force" she finally said.

"Unfortunately our fleet was badly mauled in the initial attack and is still regrouping, I came here to get Ashley help and hopefully gain the assistance of the Council but they all but shot me down in favour of defending their own space although the Turian Councilor offered me some hope" Shepard informed her. "If I can rescue the Primarch from Menae and get him to the war summit he called for we may get the Turians help which is a start and from their hopefully we can get the Asari and Salarians to help as well" he went on. "There is more bad news before we left the Sol system we were ordered to Mars to find Liara and get some data that might help us combat the Reapers, when we got there we found the entire base personnel had been massacred by Cerberus who were after the data as well" he informed her darkly.

"Why would they attack a human outpost even if all they wanted was data?" Chakwas asked in shock.

"I think it's possible they may be suffering from indoctrination as the Illusive man sent ships back to the Collector base by rigging up some kind of signal booster to resemble the IFF signal beacon we had on the Normandy and salvaged what they could from the destroyed base" Shepard concluded. "We had a brief chat through a hologram, he told me he would do anything he found nessacary to make humanity first in the galaxy even sacrifice human lives, he no longer wants to destroy the Reapers he wants to control them" he told her with a shake of his head at the insanity of the man's plan.

"I do not believe such a thing is even possible Shepard" Chakwas mused horrified to learn of more deaths in the wake of the Reaper invasion and that they happened due to the madness of the Illusive Man who clearly had lost his mind. "I believe you may be right about what has happened to them if they have been messing around with Reaper tech, we saw even dead Reapers can indoctrinate people I would have thought he would have more sense" she spat.

"Clearly not but enough of that for now how is Ash?" Shepard inquired wanting to discuss something other than Cerberus as his anger at what he had seen on Mars was still close to the surface.

"Stable thankfully, she took some bad hits especially to the spine and ribs but she is now out of the woods and recovering but she has not yet regained consciousness" Chakwas answered calmly noting the dark look in Shepard's eyes and knowing why it was there. "Anna did a good job of keeping her alive until you could get her here for treatment" she concluded with a smile at her niece who blushed slightly at the praise from her more experienced Aunt.

"Yes she did and I thank her for that, but no offence Doctor I am hoping you can come back aboard Normandy as its Chief medical officer, I am sure working under you will be an eye opening experience for your niece?" Shepard stated.

"Commander nothing would give me greater pleasure than returning to my post where I belong, I already informed Admiral Hackett I would re-join Normandy if I could so he already knows and has cut orders for me to do so if I wish and I do" Chakwas replied pleased she did not having to ask to be let back on board. "I will collect my things and make my way to the ship, come Anna I need some help to get my things and some supplies we'll need" she said turning to her niece.

"Of course Auntie, thank you Commander for your kind words but I know I was lucky in keeping Lieutenant Commander Williams alive" Anna said with a smile. "Working with my Aunt will be a fun experience even during this terrible nightmare" she added before following her Aunt to her room.

Shepard watched them go before turning and heading into the surgery ward and quickly located Ashley's room, entering he found his old friend and former lover unconscious in the bed and looking so very small. Her face was covered in bruises from where the synthetic had grasped her head to slam her into the destroyed shuttle; Shepard shook his head and considered it a miracle that Ash had survived at all.

"I hope you can hear me Ash but we need you to recover quickly there is a war to fight and your presence is needed, I hope when you wake you will let me know so I can visit I know we've left things in an rough place but I still consider you a friend and I still care about you" Shepard said quietly knowing that some people believe unconscious people could actually hear when been spoken too. "Take care Ash and I'll see you soon" he promised before turning and exiting the room and heading back to the elevator before recalling Miranda wanted to talk to him and was waiting in a room in the Presidium and thus headed there.

+OS+

(Presidium)

Shepard stepped off the elevator and headed for the area of the Presidium designated as housing, mostly it was a rather large hallway with a half dozen rooms where people could live or hire for a time. It was not the only place where housing was stationed but it was one of the nicer areas to live if you were lucky, headed for the ninth apartment as stated in Miranda's message he placed his hand on the pad and waited for it to open which it did almost instantly as the computer recognised his Spectre status. Stepping inside he quickly noted Miranda sitting in a chair reading through a pad, she didn't look all that different than when he had last seen her except her dark hair was longer and she no longer wore the jumpsuit with the Cerberus logo. She now wore a tight all black jumpsuit which seemed to emphasis her amazing body, he took a few seconds to admire her before shaking his head and coughing to announce his presence. Miranda looked up slowly from the pad she was reading before a smile broke, putting her pad down she got up and quickly moved over to him and hugged him which he eagerly returned.

"Shepard, it's good to see you again" Miranda whispered softly before pulling back and meeting his eyes, slowly they inched forward and kissed heatedly.

The kiss only lasted a few seconds before ending and Miranda quickly stepped back, Shepard sensed a change in the way Miranda was looking at him. Back on the Normandy during the mission against the Collectors aside from been in a semi relationship with Kelly he'd also romanced Miranda and seemed to be on a more steady path with her but now he sensed that path was closing.

"Are you okay Miranda?" he inquired.

"I'm fine Shepard but things aren't the same as they were seven months ago, I know when we last saw each we were seeing one another but I knew about you and Kelly and to be honest I didn't mind but now things are different" Miranda answered making Shepard frown as he failed to understand her meaning. "When we've finished talking you need to go to docking bay two where they are housing the majority of the refugees from the planets already hit by the Reapers, you will find Kelly there doing what she can to help but well you will understand once you see her" she told him and Shepard felt his heart lurch somewhat when she mentioned Kelly was so close. "Anyway I was glad to hear you made it off Earth once the Reapers hit, those damn Alliance fools should have listened to you and made plans to defend home but instead they wasted the seven months we bought them and now we're all paying the price" she spat moving on.

She didn't exactly want to end things with Shepard and especially not like this but after seeing Kelly well she knew this was the only option she could take, Kelly needed Shepard far more than she did and at the moment her only focus was finding her sister which was why she had asked for Shepard to meet her.

"What's going on Miranda?" Shepard inquired still trying to work out what Miranda had been hinting at.

"My sister has gone missing Shepard, I've heard nothing from her in a month" Miranda finally admitted.

"Oriana but I thought we relocated her to a safe location with her parents?" Shepard shot back frowning again.

"We did but somehow I think my Father has found her and taken her and I need to find her before he harms her" Miranda replied with a troubled sigh. "If you will recall when we relocated her we were still working with Cerberus, it is not out of the realm of possibility that my Father made some kind of deal with the Illusive Man to get her location" she stated darkly.

"Considering what Cerberus did back on Mars it would not surprise me in the least if the Illusive Man would use Oriana as bait to get your Father's co-operation" Shepard mused sitting down on the bed and rubbing his chin in thought. "But why would he need your Father's help?" he inquired.

"My Father is as much as I hate to admit it a brilliant scientist with many skills and areas of expertise Shepard, there could be many reasons why the Illusive Man may want or need his help" Miranda answered. "Now what happened on Mars Shepard, what did Cerberus do?" she inquired as she sat next to him.

"They slaughtered everyone at the Mars Archive, they've been fucking around with Reaper tech they stole from the destroyed Collector base and before you ask according to the Illusive Man who I talked with by hologram they rigged a device to mimic the IFF we stole from the dead Reaper" Shepard informed her. "They've begun transforming their people with Reaper tech, they almost look like Husks now" he added.

"My god I knew he was willing to go to extreme lengths to achieve his goals like he did when he wanted you resurrected but this goes beyond anything I would consider worth the risks, he knows how dangerous Reaper tech is even dead or destroyed" Miranda exclaimed in shock. "I sent him reports to that affect after the mission to investigate that dead Reaper and get the IFF, why the hell would he do that?" she demanded to know.

"He wants to find a way to control the Reapers not destroy them, he will do whatever it takes even if means killing humans and experimenting on his own people to get what he wants as he believes it will elevate mankind to the next level and make us first in the galaxy" Shepard spat in answer. "You need to be careful Miranda, Cerberus is far more dangerous than it's ever been and the Illusive Man has targets on us all" he warned her.

"I appreciate the warning Shepard but if they have anything to do with Ori's disappearance then they are going to die for it" Miranda shot back. "I need to find her and quickly, I came here to see you and a few others and begin my search, I know there is a war on but my sister comes first" she told him.

"I understand that Miranda I do I know how much Oriana means to you and I promise if you need help rescuing her do not hesitate to call me, war or no war you are a part of my crew and I am here for you if you need me" Shepard swore. "On the Normandy we do not turn our backs on one another when we need help" he reminded her.

"Thanks Shepard I will remember that and if I need the help I will call you" Miranda replied with a smile pleased by the offer of support even considering there was a war on. "I better go before anyone takes notice of my presence here oh and Shepard, do not forget to go see Kelly before you leave" she reminded him before she turned and exited the apartment.

Shepard stared at the door for a few minutes considering his meeting with Miranda and wondering just what her Father if anything had to do with Cerberus and their goals; whatever it was he was certain it was nothing good. Shaking his head he exited the apartment and headed back to the lift and quickly keyed docking bay two, closing his eyes he wondered just what he was going to find when he saw Kelly again.

+OS+

(Docking Bay Two)

The first thing Shepard noted was the utter chaos going on in the bay, there were hundreds of people crowding the area, some he noted were mourning at a wall decorated with what he guessed were the pictures of the dead or missing. Most were hanging around a dozen or so containers probably used for temporary housing, quite a few looked injured or in shock. There were more sitting or standing around tables and chairs looking lost and without hope, there were also about a dozen C-Sec agents standing guard and keeping an eye on things. Moving slowly he weaved his way through the mass of people keeping an eye open for a flash of red hair that might signal Kelly's position, finally after searching through the crowd for twenty minutes he finally saw her near a container mulling over a pad and he quickly closed in behind her.

"Yeoman Kelly Chambers" he said with a wide smile and waited as her back stiffened and then spun around to face him and it was then he realised why Miranda had been so strange with him.

Kelly was pregnant, almost full term if not close to it if he was not mistaken, his mind quickly devolved into shock wondering who was the Father not even considering the possibility it was his. He felt a pain in his heart at the very idea of someone else been connected with Kelly in a romantic sense, he watched as her eyes locked on his and gleamed with pleasure before she moved forward and engulfed him in a hug.

"Shepard oh my god you're alive" Kelly said with a sigh. "I am so glad you made it off Earth, how are you?" she inquired as she stepped back.

"I'm dealing as best I can Kelly, I wanted to stay on Earth and fight to the last but Anderson ordered me off wanted me to unite the other races and I am trying to do that but as usual nothing is ever easy" Shepard answered honestly. "The rest of the Council all but turned on us more interested in defending their own space, only in private did the Turian Councilor offer any hope which was to rescue the Turian Primarch off Menae and get him to a war summit he called for" he informed her with a shake of his head.

"We knew when the Reapers came it would not be easy John but at least you have a chance if you can rescue the Primarch, any chance is better than no chance at all" Kelly replied. "How did you know I was here?" she inquired.

"Miranda told me when I visited her she was strangely distant and told me I had to see you to understand" Shepard answered as he leaned against the container. "And now I see somewhat why she was distant you're pregnant, who's the lucky man?" he inquired trying to sound normal but he was certain his unease had shown in his tone.

Kelly smiled having heard clearly heard the unease in his voice and shook her head at his denseness, she supposed considering how she had stated she did not do long term relationships it was no surprise he believed she had found someone else in the seven months they had been separated.

"You are the Father John as I've been with no one else since we last saw on another before you headed for Earth, I am eight months along with a month to go but I couldn't not try and help when the Reapers finally arrived" Kelly answered sending Shepard into even more shock. "I'm a psychologist and I can help these people pregnant or not" she stated.

"Why, why didn't you try and let me know I was going to be a Father?" he inquired finally clearly his mind of the chaos.

"I couldn't risk it; Cerberus has been hunting all of the crew who went AWOL with you at the end of the Collector mission so I've stayed off the grid as best I can" Kelly answered looking troubled. "I heard through some friends quite a lot of people have defected or gone on the run from Cerberus due to the growing evil within it, I've heard disturbing things John from them about illegal experiments with Reaper tech" she admitted.

"It's true, I've seen it for myself their troops now look almost like husks" Shepard told her recalling the dead trooper back on Mars. "They attacked Mars Kelly and slaughtered the entire staff to get their hands on data we needed to possible stop the Reapers once and for all, they want to control the Reapers now not destroy them I think they maybe indoctrinated" he informed her as she sat down on a bench inside the container.

"Oh god I dread to think what would have happened had any of us stayed with them, they've clearly lost whatever semblance of good they had when I joined" Kelly said horrified by what Shepard had told her.

"Nothing good I'm sure, I want to stay here and discuss this more Kelly but I need to get to that Primarch before he gets killed, I'll be back but for now stay hidden as best you can and if you are here using your own I.D chips get new ones" Shepard finally said as he realised time was now against them and already two and a half hours had gone by which surprised him. "Change your hair colour, take no chances Kelly Cerberus could be anywhere" he insisted.

"I will Shepard and I know if you could you'd stay but you need to start doing what you do best, uniting people and fighting an enemy we know will be out to destroy us all" Kelly replied standing up and kissing him softly. "I'll be here when you get back John I promise" she swore.

"Thane is in the medial wing if you want a friend to talk to and I get the feeling he doesn't get many visitors bar his son" Shepard told her as they withdrew from the kiss. "I'll be back soon" he added before he turned and exited the area and headed back to the elevator. "EDI send the recall to all personnel we're leaving in ten minutes, let our support ships know to do the same" he ordered over the comm.

Kelly watched him go and hoped he would be back soon because as strong as she had tried to make herself sound she was scared of what the future would bring, especially now that the Reapers were here and Cerberus had lost its soul.

"Understood Shepard sending recall now" EDI's voice came back.

Shepard entered the elevator and pressed the button for the Normandy's dock, his mind however was still on the fact that Kelly was pregnant and he was the Father. How the hell was he going to look after them in the midst of a damn war? He asked himself. Hopefully she'd go see Thane and the Drell would keep an eye on her once he realised her condition, stepping out he headed straight for the docking hub and entered alongside a few of the other crew. He found Joker already at his station, thus he stood behind him and waited for the signal everyone was on board. Several minutes later EDI reported everyone was back on board; Shepard smiled grimly and put Kelly out of his mind for now as he had to focus on reaching Menae and saving the Primarch.

"Ok Joker take us out of here slow and steady and then straight to the relay destination Palaven's second moon Menae" Shepard ordered.

"Roger that Shepard leaving dock now, the Avenger and Majestic are following our lead" Joker replied as his hands swiftly moved over the console.

Slowly the three ships moved out of their berths and back into the darkness of space, once clear of the Citadel they headed for the Relay and seconds later they vanished as they activated their Mass Effect drives and used the Relay to dive into faster than light travel.