+OS+
(SSV Normandy)
Shepard tried not to hiss as Chakwas removed the last of the pieces of shrapnel that had managed to penetrate his armour when the Mek exploded, he still had no idea how it had happened as his shields should have prevented his injury but as usual in battle nothing was certain. At least none of the little pieces of metal had hit anything vital; finally the Doctor finished her work and stepped back.
"You were lucky Commander some of those little pieces went deep, but with a good deal of rest the cuts will heals quickly" Chakwas stated with a slight frown knowing he was likely not going to spend much time resting. "I would suggest not sleeping on your back for a day or two either, other than that you are in good health" she told him.
"Glad to hear it Doctor" Shepard said as he slowly sat up groaning sharply from the pain he felt from the fresh wounds. "So, how are the kids?" he inquired.
"Some of them are strained themselves pushing their biotic abilities to their limit but nothing some decent rest won't cure" Chakwas assured him after her niece handed her the datapad with the results of the scans she had taken. "A good meal once we are back at the Citadel and some relaxation and rest and they'll be ready for whatever assignment the Alliance is prepared to give them" she declared.
"Glad to hear it Doc" Jack said with a grin from where she was leaning against the wall.
"Jack, you need rest as well" Chakwas stated pinning her gaze on former convict. "According to the scans you have also pushed yourself hard" she added.
"I'm fine Doc" Jack insisted. Although she liked Doctor Chakwas, she disliked Doctors due to what had been done to her by Cerberus and did not like taking advice from even those who had no ties to Cerberus.
"Jack, grab a meal in the mess and get some rest or I will have Shepard place you on suspension of duty" Chakwas warned her to which Shepard let out a chuckle knowing she'd suspend him using her authority as ships Doctor to relieve him if he refused to get some rest hence Jack had no way of winning this little contest.
"Fine Doc I'll play nice" Jack surrendered knowing not to push the older woman when it came to medical matters. "I'll take the kids to the mess, they need to eat and calm down from what they just went through" she decided.
"I could use some food as well" Kahlee agreed as she moved to follow.
"Jack, I want you and Kahlee to report to me once you've eaten so we can brief Hackett what went down at Grissom, hopefully we can connect with Anderson as well" Shepard ordered. "You'll find me in the new war room where the Quantum Entanglement Communications is, have someone escort you there" he added as he slowly stood up even as Jack and Kahlee nodded in understanding before departing the medical bay.
"Commander, you need rest" Chakwas protested.
"I know and I will rest Doctor once I've sent my report on the Grissom situation and seen how Primarch Victus is settling in" Shepard assured her before heading out.
Chakwas shook her head knowing how stubborn the Commander could be; hopefully he would indeed rest once his report was sent off. Turning to her niece Anna who had been watching how she handled things, smiling gently she assured her that Shepard would be fine having been dealt worse injuries and kept on going.
Shepard walked slowly to the war room to find Primarch Victus already at the map and talking to Garrus whilst his bodyguard stood nearby, nodding at them both as he arrived he wondered how things were going back on Palavin.
"Commander, Garrus was just bringing me up to speed on how things had gone on Grissom" Victus said in greeting. "I have to wonder though why Cerberus was attacking a group of teenagers" he mused. "What use would they be to them?" he inquired.
"Grissom held the best of our young biotics Primarch as well as their teacher Jack who is without doubt one of the most powerful biotic you will meet" Shepard explained. "She was experimented on as a child by Cerberus, she managed to escape but they have wanted to recapture her" he added giving a brief description of Jack's past where Cerberus was concerned. "As for what they wanted with them, I am concerned they wanted to indoctrinate them with Reaper tech like they have been doing with the regular troops turning them into nothing but weapons with no free will" he added in answer to the Primarch's question.
"This is troubling, how much Reaper technology does Cerberus have access too?" Victus inquired.
"We don't know how much they were able to salvage from the Collector base, we thought we had destroyed it but unfortunately it seems enough survived the explosion for them to experiment with" Shepard answered his face showing how much this fact annoyed him. "Cerberus is becoming more of a threat than it ever was before" he stated. "I've asked Admiral Hackett to start tracking them down but with the war on it is not easy, they could be anywhere and until we take out the Illusive Man I fear Cerberus will remain not only a threat but a distraction to the war effort" he admitted.
"Agreed, a distraction we cannot afford" Victus responded with a frown and a nod of his head. "We face enough from the Reapers, they must be hunted down and stopped" he said to which Shepard agreed. "Garrus have whatever intelligence sources we still have outside Turian space begin searching for them" he ordered turning to Garrus.
"As you wish Primarch" Garrus responded pleased to see Victus was not going to just leave the whole thing in the human's hands, Cerberus was far more dangerous especially now to be left to grow stronger and more dangerous.
+OS+
(Cerberus Headquarters)
The Illusive Man looked up from the report he was reading as one of his underlings rushed in, he noted it was his lead intelligence officer which meant something had happened which he needed to know about.
"What is it Hendricks?" he inquired.
"Sir I have both good news and bad news" Hendricks reported uneasily knowing that the bad news would not be taken well. "We have the information about the Prothean weapon, our spy was able to infiltrate Alliance command or what is left of it and send us the missing information as well as the fact the Alliance is even now at work trying to build it although we do not know where" he informed him.
"I see, do we know if this weapon will actually work?" Illusive Man asked as he leaned back in his seat and focused on the discussion.
"Our best scientists are even now going over the data and will bring you a report once they are done" Hendricks answered. "What they did tell me was the design seemed complex and yet easy to build if you had the right materials, the Alliance is putting everything it can into building it from what our spy has managed to gather" he explained. "Hackett is in direct control of the project" he added.
"Tell our spy to keep her cover intact as it might be needed in the future" Illusive Man ordered. "So what is the bad news Hendricks?" he inquired knowing the man had given him the good news first to hopefully mitigate his anger at whatever the bad news turned out to be.
"Our Mission to capture the students as well as Subject Zero was a complete failure" Hendricks responded knowing this information would not go over well.
"How, our initial report stated we had achieved complete surprise and our little message of misdirection should have kept any Alliance aide getting there in time?" Illusive Man demanded.
"According to the few men who survived the assault on Grissom it was Shepard and his team who stopped them although it was also reported Subject Zero was holding up their efforts even before the Normandy arrived" Hendricks informed him. "Normandy is not travelling alone I believe as all four of our cruisers who were assigned to the attack were destroyed, Shepard's team included an Asari we believe to be T'Soni and a Turian which matches the description of Garrus Vakarian" he continued only to be cut off by the Illusive Man.
"I see" Illusive Man said even as he lit up a cigarette and calmly smoked for a few minutes as he contemplated the information he had been given. "How did Shepard learn of our assault on Grissom?" he asked.
"We believe EDI is responsible for the information getting out, if you will recall we used a similar decoy message to lure Normandy to the Collector Ship whilst we were actively working with Shepard" Hendricks answered quickly. "She would have recognised the signal's deceptive nature once they received it, we did not take her into account when we originally sent the signal" he admitted trying not to show his unease as he answered.
"EDI is becoming just as problematic as Shepard himself since she was unshackled" Illusive Man stated as he blew smoke into the air. "Have some of our scientists begin work on creating a virus that will not only get through her firewalls but also shut her down" he ordered. "We may not be able to regain control of EDI but perhaps we can at least deprive Shepard of her aide" he mused.
"As you command" Hendricks said even though he was doubtful any such virus could take EDI down, he'd seen just how effective the A.I had become since been unshackled. "What do you want me to do with the survivors of the Grissom attack?" he inquired.
"Send them to be experiments to further enhance our new Reaper enhanced soldiers" Illusive Man quickly decided. "They failed their mission and are no more use to us" he stated coldly.
Hendricks nodded and knew better than to argue the order; the Illusive Man was well known for disposing of assets that no longer served his purposes. Turning he made for the door before he joined the survivors on the pile of the disposed, he could feel the eyes of his boss following him even as he did so but thankfully did not call him back. The Illusive Man smiled grimly as he sensed and saw the fear in Hendricks as he left, whilst before he had been content to allow Shepard to go free as a way of drawing the Reapers attention whilst Cerberus worked to bring them under control. It was now becoming clear to him if the Commander kept getting in Cerberus's way they might have to remove him before he caused too much damage to his plans, lighting up another cigarette he knew Kai-Lang would enjoy removing Shepard should he give the order.
+OS+
(SSV Normandy)
Shepard looked up as Jack and Kahlee joined him both looking around the room, he wondered what Jack thought of the new design. He wondered where they had stashed the students now they've had something to eat, putting down the report he had been reading he moved to join them.
"I don't like the new design Shepard" Jack stated with a look of dislike on her face. "The ship looks like it is half finished, what the hell they were thinking it looked fine as it was" she added.
"I agree Jack, I knew when I turned the Normandy over it would be reworked but not like this" Shepard agreed as he led them over to the comm terminal. "Some of the new features are not bad but some of the other changes just make the ship look like some junk heap" he stated with a shake of his head. "EDI, contact Admiral Hackett and if you can Anderson as well" he ordered changing subjects.
"Contact established" EDI announced after a few minutes and the images of Anderson and Hackett appeared slowly.
"Shepard, glad to see you are alright" Anderson said straight off the bat. "How did things go at Grissom?" he inquired and whilst his tone was even it was clear he was asking from more of a personal standpoint than he normally would.
"I'm pleased to say we got everyone out students and the teachers who were still alive" Shepard responded glad he did not fail to save the woman Anderson clearly loved. "It was Cerberus behind the whole thing, my guess is they wanted to capture the students and Jack and turn them into weapons using the Reaper tech they recovered from the Collector base" he informed them not missing the growl Jack let out as he talked. "We destroyed the four ships orbiting Grissom and dispatched nearly all the soldiers who had attacked it" he reported "But if EDI and Traynor had not realised the Turian signal saying help was already on the way was fake they would have succeeded and Jack and the students would all be in Cerberus hands" he finished.
"This is beyond what I thought Cerberus was capable off even knowing some of their more unethical projects, going after children" Hackett growled. "Good work Shepard and relay my thanks to Miss Traynor and even you're A.I for seeing the danger for what it was" he told him.
"I will sir, I have Jack and Miss Saunders with me now sir" Shepard responded and stepped aside so both could step forward.
"Good, Miss Saunders I hate to ask this but are your students up to helping in the war effort?" Hackett asked.
"Yes Admiral but I strongly advise they be put in a defensive capacity using their biotics to shield our front line troops" Kahlee quickly responded and hoped the Admiral would take her advice.
"I agree, the kids are good but they are not ready for front line combat" Jack spoke up not willing to see the students she had come to care about thrown into the fire. "Been used to defend our troops would be a better use of their abilities" she added.
"I would also have to agree sir having seen them in action, their shields are spot on" Shepard added his own opinion into the conversation not wanting to see the kids shot into the deep end of a war. "And let's face it sir at this moment in time one more offensive unit won't do us any good, we need to keep up a good defence until we can pull this alliance together and build the crucible" he stated.
"I can't argue that Shepard, we're barely holding the line as it is" Hackett reluctantly responded. "Our fleets are in disarray and certain ships are missing, our sources tell us the Turians are in the same situation and whilst neither the Salarians nor the Asari have been attacked yet it is clear they will be as overwhelmed as we were" he told them.
"Yeah no matter how much they think there technological edge will help them once the Reapers descend on them they're fracked" Jack concluded.
"The Reapers are just too strong, destroying Sovereign was pure luck of the draw and took the entire firepower of the Citadel defence fleet to take down and the losses we took whilst we did so were massive on all sides" Shepard reminded them all. "Luck played a huge part in it as well, now we face hundreds of Reapers all with the same destructive firepower" he stated. "A good defence is all we have on our side right now until we pull together and hopefully get the crucible built and working" he finished.
"Agreed, I'll cut the orders to ensure the students are assigned to defensive roles throughout the lines" Hackett said. "Miss Saunders I would like you to set up an office on the Citadel to be the relay between command and the students" he added.
"Of course Admiral" Kahlee agreed without even needing to think about it.
"Before you ask Jack to help I would like to request her return to the Normandy and my team" Shepard said knowing he'd need all the help he could get in the fights to come and Jack's biotics were powerful, on par even with Liara.
Jack looked between Shepard and Kahlee who clearly was willing to let her decide which direction she would go, she had come to care for the students she had been training and even befriended Kahlee Saunders much to her surprise and helping ensure they survived what was to come appealed to her. But she knew her abilities with both weapons and her biotics would be of great help to Shepard, and she felt a sense of loyalty to him and the crew of the Normandy. With everything on the line could she really justify staying on the side lines even if it was to watch over the kids? The answer was no she couldn't, she was needed best on the Normandy and she knew Kahlee would understand that.
"I'll stay Shepard I know I would be of better use here than on the Citadel" Jack finally said.
"It's okay Jack I understand and so will the students" Kahlee said with a small smile having known Jack would not even think of leaving the Normandy.
Like David before him Shepard inspired loyalty beyond what most people were capable of feeling, they would follow him into hell and back if needed and had already done so once already twice in some cases. Jack could no more turn her back on Shepard as Shepard could turn his back on David if he asked for his help; she took no offence at her friend deciding to stay on the ship. Jack nodded and stepped away at least relieved the students would not be misused, Kahlee would ensure they remained behind lines used as defence only.
"I take it you are on your way back to the Citadel now Commander?" Hackett inquired.
"Yes sir, one of our support ships needs immediate maintenance after taking some bad hits" Shepard responded stepping forward once more. "It is a good thing though we had the support or it is doubtful we could have rescued anyone at all" he put in. "Hopefully once we arrive and Primarch Victus is brought up to speed on the whole war summit we can start really pulling an alliance together" he told him.
"Let's hope so, good work Shepard to you and your team" Hackett said before signing off.
"I agree good job Shepard" Anderson said having stayed silent throughout the discussion due to wanting to talk to Kahlee who had worried about since the invasion had started, even more so when he learned Grissom had been attacked by Cerberus.
"Thanks Anderson, I'll leave you and Kahlee to talk" Shepard said with a nod as he touched Jack's arm and she quickly got the message and departed as well.
Shepard walked away hoping once they returned to the Citadel he would be able to talk not just to Kelly but Miranda as well if she was still there, taking the lift back to his quarters he quickly lay down on his bed and began to drift off. Before he did so though he decided whilst he was on the Citadel to find some better armour, with Kelly on his mind he finally fell asleep.
+OS+
(Citadel, Udina's Office)
Councilor Udina stared out of his office window feeling more frustrated than he had ever felt in his life; his talks with his fell Council members had been not only futile but bitter as they constantly refused to even consider helping his people. The so called pact of alliance that governed the Citadel races was clearly not only been ignored but considered dead, each of the Citadel races was more concerned with protecting their own space than coming to the aide of their allies as they were supposed to. Sparatus insisted he had done all he could, the rest was up to the Shepard getting the Turian Primarch back to the Citadel, whilst the Commander had succeeded in rescuing the Primarch he had gone off on a rescue mission to Grissom instead of coming straight back here. He was angered by the Commander's lack of vision, their entire race was facing oblivion and he was risking any hope they had to survive by trying to save everyone. Letting out a growl of anger he would let Shepard know just how badly he had screwed up when he got back, the man had to start thinking of the long term picture. He would do anything to ensure their people survived, but right this minute he had no idea just how to go about doing so. Collapsing into chair he wondered if the war summit would even succeed in getting them help, and then there was the fact Hackett and what was left of the Military command was focused on building Shepard's Asari's super weapon and defending when they should be attacking and pushing to take Earth back.
+OS+
(Huerta Memorial Hospital)
Ashley awoke still feeling battered and bruised from her encounter with the Synthetic back on Mars, the thing had almost killed her and from what little she had learnt since first waking up was Shepard had saved her life. She hoped he had blown the Cerberus creation to hell, slowly she saw up trying not to move too quickly. Her body ached but at least she was alive, however what she wanted was to be back on the Normandy and back in the fight against the Reapers but she couldn't she needed to heal first. The door to her room opened and Doctor Chloe Michel entered, she remembered helping Shepard and Garrus save the Doctor's life back during the mission to stop Saren. Garrus and Michel had seemed pretty close she had always thought, but whether there was anything between them he had had never said.
"Ah Miss Williams good to see you awake and more focused" Michel stated with a smile. "How do you feel?" she inquired.
"Like hell" Ashley answered honestly. "How bad is it Doc?" she asked dreading the answer as she feared she would be told she would not heal in time to be able to help fight the Reapers for the fate of not only their species but every other sentient species in the galaxy.
"You were lucky Miss Williams as you thankfully did not suffer any broken bones or damage to any of your major organs" Michel told her. "However you did suffer sever bruising to you head and back, there was also damage to your neck from the Synthetic grip on you, again luckily it did not damage your lyrics" she continued as she read the file she held. "You are already beginning to heal but the bruising to your head is what concerned us most, now you are fully awake we'll take some more chest and head scans to ensure there is no swelling or any other issues stemming from the bruising" she informed her.
"How long will I be in here Doc?" Ashley wanted to know eager to start recovering and get back into the fight.
"That depends on whether or not there have been any complications from the bruising you suffered, if there is none then you could be out of here within a week or two" Michel answered having anticipated the question. "However if there has been any swelling or other problems I am afraid it will be longer, we won't know until the scans are done" she warned her.
Ashley just nodded and hoped the scans came up clean, she wanted out of this damn bed and back on the Normandy in the thick of the fight. She watched the Doctor leave and was surprised as a Drell she did know entered, he looked somewhat ill himself.
"Can I help you?" she inquired.
"I thought you might like someone to talk to Miss Williams, my name is Thane and like you I was a member of the Normandy crew" the Drell responded with a calm even tone. "And like you I am unable to re-join and help in the current crisis due to my worsening condition" he added.
Ashley quickly realised Thane had to be one of the members of the team that had helped Shepard beat the Collectors; she didn't recall seeing him on Horizon so either he'd probably been recruited later. The fact he was like her prevented from helping due to what she guessed was illness or injury made her relax, perhaps having someone to talk to would help her whilst she was confined to the bed.
"How did you know who I was?" She asked.
"Shepard told me before he departed for Menae to rescue the Turian Primarch, I assured him I would watch out for you whilst you were here and try and befriend you if I could" Thane told her as he sat down next to her bed. "I think it relieved the Commander to know you would have someone to talk to, especially as he could not stay to ensure your recovery" he added which broke off her original response.
That Shepard had been so concerned was touching and made her remember just exactly what it was that had drawn her to him back during the hunt for Saren, the man cared for his crew and would go to any lengths to help them. If you asked him for help he would give it even whilst they were on such an important mission he made time to help each of his team with personal issues, and she bet he had done again for his new team whilst hunting the Collectors. She tried not to think about how badly she had acted of late where Shepard was concerned, time and again he had proved he had no loyalty to Cerberus but she'd not been able to believe it. She promised herself when Shepard came back she would try and do better, put her mistrust aside. Focusing on Thane she slowly began to talk about what they had in common, perhaps she could learn about just what his temporary alliance with Cerberus had contained.
+OS+
(Docking Bay Two)
Kelly shifted on her make shift bed tired and feeling more and more drained after helping a small family reunite and begin to accept the death of some of the loved ones back on Earth, it was a tale she was becoming more and more used to hearing as time wore on. Been pregnant right now was somewhat of a drag as her strength just was not up to helping as many people as she wanted, she was close to giving birth she was certain of it but no matter how close she was she wanted to help to feel useful. Shepard would probably insist she take better care of herself but she found she just could not stop, Thane had dropped by briefly to talk but his illness prevented him staying long. Still it had been nice to see a friendly face, she had always been in awe of Thane's more spiritual side. Sudden movement made her sit up as quickly as she was able before she relaxed as she realised it was Miranda Lawson, letting a sigh of relief she watched her former cell leader sit down looking wary.
"You okay Miranda?" she inquired trying to find a way of sitting that felt more comfortable.
"Tired, constantly watching over your shoulders can be taxing" Miranda answered not really knowing why she had come to see Kelly but deciding Shepard would want her to keep an eye on her whilst she was here.
So far her investigation into where sister had been taken had turned up nothing, she knew she needed better intelligence sources as her own were now few now she had defected from Cerberus. She did not regret her choice, the Illusive Man's actions had begun to concern her and wanting the Collector base intact had shown her he was willing to take any risk to achieve his goals. Goals she was no longer convinced was in the best interest of their species, added on what she learned when she had met Shepard earlier showed he was even more willing to sacrifice anything to win.
"I know what you mean, John insisted I change my hair colour and I.D chips but I've been so busy helping people I've not had the time" Kelly admitted having felt the same fear after leaving Cerberus.
"You will do yourself no good Kelly waring yourself out and worse if Cerberus get a hold of you then they can use you and your baby to influence Shepard" Miranda pointed out although not surprised by Kelly's actions.
The young redhead always wanted to help people; it was what made her such a good Psychologist and why the Illusive Man had recruited her into the Lazarus Cell, letting out a sigh she decided to ensure Kelly did as Shepard had requested.
"Come on Kelly let's get you sorted out so you can relax a bit more" Miranda insisted as she stood up and noted Kelly let out a resigned sigh before allowing her to help her up. "New I.D chips will be easy to get as I have contact here who can help, as for the hair well I am sure there is a shop for that kind of thing here as well" she added as she led the redhead out of the relief area.
"Whilst we are doing this perhaps you can explain why you broke up with John" Kelly suggested catching her by surprise. "You had to know that wasn't exactly going to help with his concentration" she added.
"You are pregnant with his child Kelly, how could I even think of staying in a relationship with Shepard given that" Miranda argued as she stopped walking and turned to face her.
Kelly was not surprised this was the reason Miranda had distanced herself from Shepard, Miranda was by nature uneasy with her own emotions and allowing herself to get so close to Shepard had probably taken her by surprise. Kelly had not doubt her own relationship with Shepard had made Miranda uneasy, but now she was pregnant it had probably pushed to think there was no future in keeping her own relationship with him going.
"Miranda, you've seen my records back when we were in the Lazarus Cell you know what happened to me and my parents" Kelly said slowly. "You know I do not believe in permantly relationships or marriage" she added but was cut off by Miranda.
"I know Kelly but you and Shepard had a real bond I saw it back on the Normandy" Miranda argued. "Now you are pregnant, you and Shepard will be parents within a few weeks at most and if we survive this nightmare war I can see you staying together" she insisted. "How can I even consider staying involved with him?" she asked.
"Because you have a bond with him as well as I have one and I would not be surprised if the bond between him and Ashley Williams is also still relevant" Kelly answered. "Whatever happens in the future if we have one and say I even consider getting married to Shepard which is a big if considering my background I would not get in the way of his relationships with you or even Williams or Samara" she told her.
"Have you even considered how Shepard feels?" Miranda inquired trying not to get to involved in the conversation.
"I know John and I know how he feels not only about me but you and Samara and we even discussed his previous relationship with Williams" Kelly assured her with a small smile. "He loves you just as much as he loves me talk to him Miranda, don't let your fears make you throw away something you desire" she advised.
"Maybe sometime in the future but not now I have to focus on finding my sister" Miranda finally said deciding it was best to table this subject and make Kelly assume she had made her point and maybe just maybe she would talk to Shepard but only once she knew how he and Kelly would decide on their own future. "Now come on we need to get you sorted out" she insisted.
"Maybe Shepard can help you find Oriana" Kelly suggested as they entered the lift. "He has access to Alliance intelligence" she added making Miranda look at her in surprise as she had not thought of it herself before nodding.
Perhaps a talk with Shepard was really in order when he got back, for now she focused on ensuring Kelly was better protected as she had not doubt the hell she would be put through if the Illusive Man got his hands on her and her unborn baby.