CHAPTER 6

The News

Both Tali and Garrus' heads sprang up at the sound of Liara's voice crackling through the intercom overhead.

"Attention everyone. We have managed to get our comms back online and have made contact with Alliance Command. Please stand by."

Garrus and Tali looked at each other surprised. "Come on," the turian said, lifting his arm from around the quarian. "Let's go get some answers."

He offered a hand to Tali as he stood up and pulled her to her feet. When the door out of the main battery slid open they could see that much of the crew had already begun gathering on the deck. About a dozen or so marines were gathered, waiting around the big pile of debris where the dining area used to be, and were quietly muttering to each other. Among them was Ashley Williams, James Vega, and even Javik, the prothean. They all wore a somber expression as Garrus and Tali walked up beside them. James turned to greet the pair.

"Scars. Sparks," he said nodding his head towards them. Tali rolled her eyes upon hearing James' odd nickname for her, but politely nodded back.

The crews low murmurs swiftly hushed as Liara's voice boomed through the ship's intercom. "We have received word that the Crucible did indeed successfully fire as we made our way out of the Sol system." Everyone stayed perfectly still as she spoke, unsure as to what a successful fire truly meant. Garrus' mandibles twitched slightly in anticipation.

"The energy from the Crucible overcame us while we were in transit, and is responsible for knocking us off course. It also, however, traveled from relay to relay, spreading its energy from cluster to cluster." Liara paused again. Tali grew frustrated and began wringing her hands nervously.

Keelah, Liara, just spit it out!

"Reports are coming in from all over the galaxy… Every single Reaper unit... has been destroyed… it is finally over."

With that, a large cheer instantly erupted throughout the Normandy, as its crew began rejoicing in the news. Marines began jumping up and down, throwing their fists in the air with raucous joy. Several of the crew began hugging one another with tears streaming down their faces, and one had fallen to her knees and buried her head in her hands crying tears of relief.

"He did it! The crazy pendejo did it!" James cheered gleefully. He quickly ran up to Ashley, scooped her up in his arms and squeezed. She smiled uncomfortably through the pressure of the large marine crushing her.

Tali looked over to Garrus and watched a wide turian smile grow across his face as he began to clap his hands and slap some of the human marines on their shoulders. She then caught Javik out of the corner of her eye. He wasn't celebrating or jumping up and down. Instead he simply closed his many eyes, took a deep breath, and much to her amazement, smiled. Of all the times she had seen him, this was probably the most at peace he would ever be. Tali turned from Javik, looked to the sky through the ceiling, and did the same.

He did it… We did it. We- UURRGK

Her moment of joyful peace was abruptly cut short as two huge arms wrapped around the unsuspecting quarian and lifted her off her feet. James, after sufficiently crushing Ashley, had jumped over to where Tali was standing and proceeded to give her the strongest hug she had ever felt.

"He did it, Sparks!" James exclaimed as Tali struggled against the man. Garrus noticed her discomfort and openly laughed.

"He did yes….*gasp*... now please…*gasp*... put me down before you break something!" Tali managed to squeak out.

"Right! Sorry!" He dropped Tali back down to her feet and she took a deep breath to get back some of the air he had forced from her lungs. James smiled at her again and looked around the room for another victim. He turned on his heel, outstretched his arms, and made his way toward the only person who wasn't jumping for joy: The Prothean.

Javik saw the man make a move for him and snarled "Don't even think about it Human!" James stopped inches from Javik. His smile and arms dropping slightly as he gazed into the prothean's infamous scowl. Barely a second later, James shrugged his shoulders and said, "Eh. Hell with it," and wrapped his arms around the prothean before he could react. Javik grimaced and all four of his eyes bulged a bit as James proceeded to squeeze the ancient alien. Tali, Ashley and Garrus, witnessing this once in a lifetime event, began to howl with laughter as Javik struggled with the large human.

Javik finally broke free of the man by delivering a swift but powerful punch to James' side. Both dropped back, gasping for breath.

"You will *gasp* pay for that *gasp* Human!" the prothean wheezed.

James threw his head back and laughed. "Cheer up, Buggy! You've waited 50,000 years for this! You deserve to celebrate!"

"While we have achieved victory… It has not come without a cost…" The riotous cheering began to die down upon Liara's voice once again ringing through the intercom.

"Although the Crucible did destroy the Reapers, it did create some… collateral damages. As I said earlier, the Crucible sent its energy through the mass relays around the galaxy. This energy proved more than the relays could handle. I've been told that all mass relays have been damaged and are inoperable. As of right now, the entire relay network is offline."

Tali, Ashley, Garrus and James all shared worried looks with one another, as the rest of the crew began to murmur anxiously amongst themselves. "The network is destroyed? How do we get home now?" one of the crewmen nervously asked around the room.

Keelah, how will we get back home? Will I ever see Rannoch again? The implication frightened Tali. Rannoch was on the other side of the galaxy. If the relays truly are destroyed, she might never live to see the skies of her homeworld again.

"However…" Liara continued "Hackett believes the relays can be fixed, but it will take some time. For now, we must focus on repairing the Normandy and making our way back to the Sol system" The crew expressed some relief upon hearing this, but the jubilation they had once felt about the end of the war had been replaced with gnawing uncertainty.

"And… I'm sure you're also wondering what has happened to the Commander."

Tali swallowed nervously and the entire room fell deathly silent once again. "Hackett confirmed to me that Commander Shepard and Admiral Anderson did make it to the conduit and onto the Citadel. They managed to open its arms and activate the Crucible, but they…" Liara's voice began to shake. Garrus stood as still as a statue, his mandibles twitching again. Tali's eyes grew wide and a sinking feeling took root in her chest.

No...no. It can't...

Liara pulled herself together. "They… they recovered Anderson's body on the Citadel. They have been unable to locate Shepard…" The ship remained silent, save for the hum of ventilation and the PA system loudly filling the void left by the crew.

"There was… an explosion where they believe Shepard to have been when the Crucible fired… It's been days… they have been unable to... he is presumed dead."

The crew remained still as the news washed over them. Several marines looked down and shook their heads in disbelief. James folded his arms and looked down at the floor. His once jovial expression now replaced with stoic disbelief. Ashley held her hands to her mouth as her eyes began to water. Garrus remained frozen, mandibles still twitching as he stared up at the intercom.

But Tali... Explosion… unable to locate… presumed dead. These words repeated in her mind over and over again until it became nearly deafening. Words were soon replaced with images. Images of him burning, being vented into space, being shot. An assortment of horrible realities assaulted her imagination. An image of him lying bloodied and broken on the ground, eyes open, looking for someone. Unable to locate.

Liara continued. "We must not waste the opportunity that their sacrifice gave us. We must repair the Normandy and go home. I will inform you if there are any new developments. Until then... we must press on."

The intercom clicked off and the crew murmured quietly amongst themselves. James kept his stern yet mournful gaze fixed toward the floor, shaking his head in disbelief. Ashley didn't speak a word. She started pacing slowly back and forth around the room lost in thought. Javik simply folded his arms and grunted, "A good death," to no one in particular as he walked toward the elevator, ignoring everybody else in the room. Garrus' eyes fell on the quarian. She hadn't moved. Not even an inch since the news had started.

She just continued to stare up at the intercom.

Waiting and hoping for Liara to come back on and say it was all a mistake.