Another week, another installment of the story. Hope y'all enjoy and REVIEW
POV: Aedon Wynne
After getting that news from Nyreen that the Batarians went dark the whole station went into overdrive in preparations and have continued to do so over the past week. From stocking up on food to fortifying positions and everything in between so that if they ever came to Omega we would be prepared. I don't know if they would just outright destroy the station but getting on Omega would be one hell of a task for them. They'd essentially just be throwing bodies at us until they won which they absolutely could do.
Adding onto the preparations we made sure that we were ready to evacuate the whole of Omega if it came down to that. None of us wanted that to happen but all of us recognized the possibility of it happening. The resident Quarians and Nif especially helping there by creating pods that could imitate a ship with life on it. A few codes into the pod and it functioned as such but they had no field tests so we didn't know if it would be effective or not. It would help an evacuation if it occurred.
That being said when I wasn't running around Omega like a chicken with its head cut off helping everyone I could I made a call to the Council. I was only able to get through to Valern but they had noticed the Batarians were going dark as well and had enacted what measures that they could. The STG with nukes were all in place and the ones in Batarian space haven't reported in so I can only hope their mission went according to plan. That was about all of the good news that I got, if that could even be classified as good news.
Right after the Batarians went dark almost a third of all human colonies went dark within the next day. From the path the dark went the Reapers were on a beeline straight for Earth and it wouldn't be long until they arrived. As for the Turians they were already under heavy fighting and had lost close to half of their colonies and Palavan was already under siege. They were holding out better than if they hadn't been preparing but nowhere near where we all hoped they would be. The only plus side being that a few of the lost Colonies had confirmed firing off their Nukes killing the colony and denying the Reapers soldiers.
At least the Salarians were mostly untouched by the Reapers yet and the same went for the Asari. Only a few Asari colonies had been hit as of yet and they were able to evacuate most of their people before all was lost. Though even with that being the case from the few reports I've been able to read the total population of the galaxy has already dropped by 5%. Around seven billion people.
As of now though I was sitting with Nyreen going over reports from across Omega on the status of getting the station ready. Everything was progressing as best as it possibly could for the moment. Besides the preparations we were training as many civilians as we could on how to fight. We hoped that it wouldn't come down to that but we would need them prepared to fight if need be. Hope for the best, plan for the worst.
As we continued to go over the plans and reports Nyreen's omni-tool pinged. Looking away from her papers she looked at the message and hung her head before punching a few commands in and sent me the message. It was a report but the two big letters on top caught my attention first: Earth Abandoned. At least it didn't say that it's fallen, abandoned means that there are still people fighting on the surface. There was more in the messages about mechs fighting alongside soldiers and some evacuating with them but not much else on them besides the fact that they apparently came from the Vatican.
I wish there was more information on those mechs but for now they weren't something to concern myself with. As for the rest of the report it stated that most of the top military personnel had abandoned Earth in the hopes of forming a bigger alliance with the rest of the galaxy to take Earth back. Plus, it seemed that Shepard would be spearheading that campaign being reinstated as a commander.
Now, again with all the preparations the galaxy had made in preparing for the Reapers when it became apparent that all their efforts merely slowed the Reapers down the Council fell apart. That had me seething as they seemingly abandoned one another in favor of looking after their people and their people only. I understood the reasoning but there was no fucking reason that the Asari or Salarians couldn't send help to Palavan or Human and Turian colonies. Something that they were refusing to do.
Most of those orders coming from the Council of Matriarchs and the fact I had spared them was more salt in the wound. They were now firmly in the kill section in my mind, maybe only one or two would live but most would die by my hand if they survived the war. Their days were numbered regardless.
Pulling back from that line of thinking once the voices came back I calmed myself down. There was no point in crying over spilt milk for the time being but it seemed in my anger I had caught fire again setting a few of the physical reports on fire. Quickly putting out the flames it still got me a glare from Nyreen for failing to control my temper.
"Hear anything from Garrus on how Palavan is faring?" I asked hoping to get her mind off of the burnt reports. It had the desired effect but it definitely wasn't the reaction I was hoping for. She was sad now.
"No… All communication from Palavan ceased two days ago and I haven't been able to get in touch with him at all. I know he's alive, I just feel it but not knowing for sure is killing me. Anything on the Quarians and Tali?" I scowled before responding.
"Same as you on that end. We don't even have anyone out there at the moment so I don't even know how the fight is going. I hate being the dark about this shit," she snorted at my words.
"Well, we seem to have that in common then… I've been meaning to bring this up but I have no doubts that Shepard will make his way here for you," I opened my mouth to respond but she held up a hand stopping me. "When he gets here you have my full permission to go with him. We'll be alright without you, Lord knows he'll need you." I nodded my head silently thanking her for the permission before my mind registered what she had said.
"Lord? You converting there Nyreen?" I joked with a smile but it disappeared when she reached into her pocket and pulled out a rosary and nodded her head.
"After the attack on us and you went beserk. I needed solace that there was a plan for what happened and I guess there was, we got half of Omega… Before you ask I enjoy Matthew the most."
"Never would have thought you as someone who would convert. Didn't even seem like the religious type to be honest."
"I'm not really one but I've slept easier since I converted. Makes me believe that everything that's happening there's still a plan and that we'll be alright when this is all said and done with," she put the rosary away and we settled into silence at that going back over the reports.
An hour later I left the room and went back to my apartment to finally get some rest from the long day. Iris was currently making dinner upon my arrival and Nif was in his own apartment next to ours. Nif was a very simple individual but he had a dry and sarcastic humor to him that was appreciated at times. Others not so much and he was still learning when it was best to actually voice what he wanted to. Still, not that bad of a soldier regardless.
When Iris finished making dinner we ate and had a quiet talk. Nothing serious but just seeing how her day went and at the end of it told her I would probably be leaving again. She wasn't exactly happy about that but she thankfully understood why I needed to leave. Saved me from trying to placate her but it was easy to see that she wasn't happy with me.
After dinner it was bed time and I passed out quickly. I was awoken to the sound of my omni-tool going off from someone calling me. Answering the call Nyreen was on my screen and she told me that Shepard was inbound and would be here within the next fifteen minutes. Getting up and dressed I grabbed all of my gear before waking Iris up. I kissed her forehead and gave her a goodbye hug.
It was a teary moment for her and I wasn't better at all. I held her tight and promised that I would make it back to her, that she wouldn't loose another father. That seemed to make her cry even harder and made me swear to keep the promise. I basically had to pry myself from her and even then when I left the room she followed right after me still in her pajamas.
Leaving the apartment with Iris still walking behind me I woke up Nif and made my way to the docks. When we left the building Iris was still behind us and I decided to change that and stopped and picked her up. Telling her that she could see me off if she wanted to but that she couldn't come with me. She tried to argue but I shook my head and she just buried hers into my shoulder in response.
Making our way past everyone to the docks most people knew that I would be leaving to help with the overall war effort. However, for them to actually see it some shed tears at my impending departure. It still confused me how they had so much faith in me but it was appreciated nonetheless. Though the Krogan who saw me heading to the docks began following me with Vrul at the head of them.
It took me about 10 minutes to get there and upon arrival I got to see the Normandy land. A couple moments later Shepard stepped out of the air lock and looked at me. I set Iris down on the ground and took off my mask giving her forehead a kiss and hugging her before stepping away. She was crying again but was held by Kelli who had been waiting for me at the dock along with Samuel and Ilok.
Going to Shepard I shook his extended hand and the airlock opened back up. Before stepping through I turned one last time to Iris and the others and waved goodbye. The entirety of the Krogan present immediately saluted me and shouted for my conquest to be fruitful. Kelli, Samuel and Ilok all saluted and Iris gave a teary wave. It hurt my sould to leave her behind but I needed to. Stepping through the airlock with Shepard the door closed and the Normandy disconnected from the dock.
"Thanks for being quick on the uptake Aedon," Shepard stated as he began walking to one of the doors in the ship. I followed him and we went through a security room and even a scanner before getting through and seeing a map off the galaxy on a holographic projector.
"No problem sir. What's our first move?"
"We got a emergency signal from Grissom Academy saying they were under attack before we docked so we'll be heading their first. After that straight to one of Palavan's moons, that's apparently where the Primarch is and Sparatus won't lift a finger to help Earth until the Primarch is safe."
"Good enough for me. I know Jack's at Grissom though, nervous to see her again?" it was mild teasing at best.
"Yes. It'll be nice to see her, we were barely able to see each other when I was incarcerated. Save for one congenial visit and I had to call in a good bit of favors to get it," I heard laughter from behind me from Nif but didn't say anything to it.
"Anyone else on the ship I would know?" I asked moving past Shepard's personal business.
"Yeah. Liara is here in Miranda's old room and Architect is here as well, he's at the range right now," good that both were here. I didn't expect for Architect to be here but it was a good thing he was. I thought I would have to wait until after the war finished to do what had been agreed upon but apparently not.
With that too I left Shepard and made my way down to the range, Nif going to the engine. Either way once I reached the range Architect was changing out his weapon for another and spotted me. A simple motion of my hand and he knew what we were about to do. He joined me and we went straight back up to Liara's room.
Knocking once the door opened with Liara standing there. Wasting no time I punched her in the face making her stumble backwards falling down. Nose broken and bleeding and she looked up at me in shock and confusion. She tried to get back up but I slammed her back into the ground with my foot on her chest. Architect closing and locking the door as I did so.
"You really thought that I wouldn't put the pieces together Liara?" I growled out putting more pressure on her chest. Her eyes widened in realization and fear. "You warned the Matriarchs that I was coming. You endangered me but more importantly you endangered my soldiers. Why the fuck did you do it," now I wasn't 100% sure that it was her but she was the only person that made sense for giving the Matriarchs warning that I was coming after them.
"We needed them alive Aedon. I couldn't just let you go and kill them for revenge," she snapped at me bringing her hands up to her face and setting her nose.
"You think I didn't know that?" I snarled increasing the pressure on her chest to what must've been an uncomfortable degree.
"You've never given me reason to believe you would do otherwise," she shot right back, which made me pasue. Thinking on her words she was kind of right, I've never given the impression of being merciful to anyone at any time. None of those I've killed barring a select few while I was still an assassin on Earth ever deserved mercy though. I didn't relieve the pressure on her chest despite those thoughts however.
"Doesn't matter. You betrayed me, put me in danger, put my men in danger… So this is how this will go. Architect here will be your minder, all the information you gather will also go straight to him and I do mean everything. All your contacts as well, everything that has made you into the Broker is now his and by extension the Vatican and mine as well."
"Fuck you."
"Actions have consequences Liara. Learn to live with them and if you can't follow through know I will find you after the war ends. I don't like being betrayed," removing my leg from her chest I left the room leaving Liara lying on the ground and a patiently waiting Architect. Once I left I made my way to my room and decided to get settled in.
My old room was unoccupied and became mine again as I went about setting up my gear. While doing so Nif messaged me and let me know he had set himself down in the barracks. Acknowledging the message I set myself up and once that was accomplished left my room and went down to the range.
Getting there I got to actually look around and was rather surprised by the amount of weapons and mods that were now available. The Alliance had completely revamped the place to something only akin to a massive stockpile of weapons and mods. It was like walking into a candy shop as a kid. Examining every single thing that was available was fascinating but at the same time mildly disappointing. Mostly because the mods I already had on my AR were more than good enough.
Though, that being said, the ones for my Locust could definitely be expanded upon and that's how I spent my next two hours. There were a lot of combinations between all the mods that would've worked well for me but I could only have one at the moment. With that in mind I went with the Lightweight Materials, High Caliber Barrel and Increased Heat Sink capacity. Allowing me to hit harder and longer with a lighter gun. Perfect for a close quarters smg.
After picking the mods I spent another hour on the range getting used to it, the mods giving it a bit more kick than it had before. Wasn't terrible though and my AR needed a little bit of dusting off since it hadn't gotten any action since Cerberus. While doing this a big latino guy joined me on the range but stayed quiet even though he looked pissed. Not my problem.
After finishing up on the range and going back to my room I did maintenance on my weapons for the next hour. Close to the end of the hour Shepard's voice came over the radio asking for all ground crew to make it to the briefing room. I was the first one there besides Shepard but that was a given with him being in charge of us.
The others weren't that far behind me however. Liara being the first after me, her nose obviously sporting some medi-getl and one of her eyes was starting to turn black. Shepard quirked an eyebrow upon seeing that but otherwise didn't comment on it. After Liara came that big latino dude who was accompanied by Nif and talking amicably with him. No one else walked in after them so I was a bit curious as to what Architects job on the ship would be but for now I didn't ask. Regardless Shepard started the briefing.
"Grissom Academy sent out a emergency signal about four hours ago. We'll be there within the next hour and we'll be using a shuttle to enter the main hanger. Joker will be taking care of any ships from the attacks that are still in the area. Our only objective is to get in, kill the attackers and save as many of the students and faculty that we can."
"We know who we'll be up against?" I asked directing my question more towards Liara than Shepard. If anyone would know it would be the Broker; she would still be it after we took everything but she would no longer be unique.
"Nothing confirmed but from the few reports I've been able to scavenge probably Cerberus. They look to be taking people wherever they can; for what though I have no idea," Liara stated to the room. Which supported Nyreen's theory that they had been after our people on Omega but the 'why' was still in question? Experiments, soldiers, fodder?
"That's all I needed to hear. Cerberus can get fucked," the Latino stated gruffly crossing his arms over his large chest.
"Good, keep that attitude. Get ready and be at the shuttle in 30. Dismissed," Shepard stated with finality ending the briefing. At that I left and grabbed my weapons and gear from my room before making my way to the shuttle. Same place as it was my last time on this ship.
Already there and geared up was the Latino man. He didn't say anything to me but he did send a few sidelong glances towards me with distrust evident in his eyes. It wasn't a lot of mistrust but more akin to uncomfortability. Probably heard some horror stories about me and there were plenty of those to go around if you asked the right people. Mostly people who deserved the horror stories.
Either way he didn't say a word and soon enough everyone else had joined us. The last being the pilot, Cortez was his name. Seemed like a decent enough fellow and was a quiet professional. Dropping out of the Relay we made a beeline towards Grissom academy with the bay doors opening about halfway there as Joker started to make evasive maneuvers.
While he did that and got the attention of the confirmed Cerberus vessels we snuck by them and made our way onto the Academy. Landing in the closest bay the moment we stepped out we heard the PA system repeating the same drabble over and over again. Saying how Cerberus was here to help as best as they could and the Alliance, by extension the Council, couldn't be trusted.
I was hard pressed not to agree with the last part, especially after they essentially abandoned each other. Still made me angry but at the end of the day I'd rather throw my lot in with the Council instead of Cerberus. Nothing but insane and degenerate people on their team and that didn't take into account what they were doing to their soldiers. Turning them into pseudo husks; how far gone do you have to be to believe that to be the correct course of action?
Moving on we made our way through the nearest doors in a loose formation with myself on point. AR raised and ready for anything as we made our way through the doors we were immediately greeted with two Cerberus soldiers. Both looking away from us and through a glass panel that had obvious bullet marks but remained unbroken. When we entered that little hall though both soldiers snapped their heads towards us and I opened fire. The first one dropped with a bullet through the head instantly.
The second took a Carnage round from the Latino tearing out half of his side. Then a bullet to the brain from Nif dropping the soldier to the floor dead. Taking no chances as we walked up to the glass panel both Nif and I put an extra bullet through the heads of the downed soldiers. While we did that Shepard had started talking to whoever was on the other side of the glass. A Kahlee Sanders who was one of the head administers for the Academy.
"Most of my students are a couple halls away. You'll need to go through that door and take two lefts then a right and you should find them. Their teacher is still in contact with me," she stated raising a radio up for all to see. Shepard nodded at the information.
"We'll get them out. Go back to the shuttle that's in the bay, our pilot will help but we won't be able to leave until we get all the students we can."
"Good enough for me. My students deserve to be saved far more. Now go, I don't know how long they have," Shepard nodded and we went to the door. I hacked it open after a few moments.
The door opened just in time for us to see a kid, no older than 16 be shot in the back as they ran away. Sprinting forward without a thought I grabbed their body and pulled it into cover while the others covered me and started to fight with the Cerberus soldiers in the area. It was a big waiting room that I couldn't for the life of me see a use for besides maybe to just hang out.
Either way, I started to work on the kid; a girl. She wasn't doing well but the bullet had been a clean through and through so it gave me a chance to help her. I got to work immediately putting medi-gel in the wound and doing my best to otherwise stop the bleeding. She was looking up at me with tear filled eyes pleading for help and I would be damned if she didn't get it.
As I continued to work she coughed and spit up some blood, that wasn't good. Ripping open my med kit, I reached into it and found what I was looking for. It was essentially a valve that would drain the blood from the lung when opened and ease her breathing but it wasn't without its own risks. Mainly being that I had to stab it into her lung.
Looking at the girl I showed her the valved and grabbed her hand with my free left hand. She nodded and I stabbed it down into her left lung, the one closest to the wound. Right through the ribs I felt the valve connect with the lung and puncture it before I twisted the mechanism forcing it to latch onto the lung. This elicited a scream of pain from girl but it needed to happen. A moment after it was latched I opened the valve and she immediately began to breath easier.
She still had problems though, the bullet had definitely hit something inside her and I didn't have the equipment to properly treat her. She had an hour, maybe two before she dies from internal bleeding and that's if shock doesn't get to her first. Which she was definitely going into as of right now. Taking out some pain killers and sedatives I stabbed them into the girl eliciting a gasp from her and then she passed out. Dipping a finger in the blood I painted a 'P' on her head just so she didn't get overdosed.
As I finished my treatment of the girl it seemed that the others had finished dealing with Cerberus and had a boy, no older than 18 with them. Upon seeing the girl he immediately ran over the other girl and slid next to grabbing her hand caringly. Brother or boyfriend for sure, before he could get too lost in his own mind though I grabbed his arm and forced his attention on me.
"Get her to the bay," I stated pointing the way he had come. "We have a shuttle there and some more medical supplies. Be who she needs right now, we have to get the rest."
The boy looked at me shocked for a second obviously recognizing me before nodding his head determinedly. Picking up the girl biotically he gently went through the doors with her. Standing up from the ground no one said anything else and we began a breakneck pace following the directions given to us by Sanders. On the way we didn't get into any trouble besides the occasional soldier who we dropped quickly.
When we did reach our destination the door was again hacked closed and I needed to unlock it. It took me less than a minute to do so and we were through the room. There were about 15 Cerberus soldiers in the area with a rather large mech in the middle of the room being bombarded by biotic energy coming from the balcony on the far side of the room. Upon our entrance only a single soldier noticed us and he was instantly dropped with a shot to the head.
From there we systematically started taking out the Cerberus soldiers. Pushing them out of cover when we could giving others a shot at them, including from the biotics on the balcony. None of the soldiers were anything special either, just regular boots on the ground. They couldn't contend with us. The only problem was the mech which the biotics on the balcony kept occupied the whole time. Eventually taking it down when I tossed a grenade at it breaking open its canopy which allowed for a Warp to smash through and reduce the pilot to atoms. The mech then just shut down with the canopy open.
"Shepard!" I would know that voice anywhere.
Jack vaulted over the balcony and guided her way downwards softly with the control of her biotics. As soon as she landed she stormed up to Shepard before grabbing his face with both her hands and slamming her lips into his. Shepard responded in kind falling into the kiss bending down to the smaller woman.
Releasing him after almost a full minute she spotted me and smiled before walking over and giving me a giant hug. One that I returned and when she pulled away I playfully ruffled her hair ruining the Wolf Tail she had it into and drawing a grumble from her. I just laughed it off and she gave me a small shove at that.
Sparing a glance at the students on the balcony all of them looked on with opened mouth shock. The reason became apparent when Jack spun around and began pointing out all their failures during the fight. Though she did end with a good bit of positives she was harsh in her entire way of delivery. In essence, she was still the Jack we knew and being a teacher barely changed her at all.
Once she was done doing that she started talking to Shepard and I went upstairs to get a look at the students. All of them were young and not a single one looked to be over 20. In other words this was probably the first time that they had ever been involved in a few fights. Of course a few were boasting and overconfident now that they had survived. We still weren't out of the woods yet though.
As I observed the students Jack called out that we would be moving along. Hearing that I caught Shepards eye and he nodded towards the door that was below the balcony. Seeing the order for what it was I made my way downwards and to the door hacking it open after a few moments.
Once it was opened our group shot forward into the fray. Cerberus troops lining the walls in front of us in what looked like a giant auditorium with greenery everywhere. Seeing that they had Shield generators I made it my personal mission to destroy them with the Latino backing me once he saw them as well. It forced us to split up as a group but it was okay.
Whoever the Latino was he knew exactly how to play this with extreme aggression. We practically charged the soldiers by the shield generators throwing grenades and Overloads left and right. Each either taking a Cerberus soldier or putting them on their ass and allowing us to destroy the shield generators.
While we did that Shepard, Liara and Nif pushed parallel to us and we would catch Cerberus soldiers in the middle with Jack's students above us biotically bombarding them from above. In other words it was barely even a fight as we mowed through them. The only part of that worth noting was that one of the soldiers charged me with a knife. I simply grabbed the offending hand with my augmetic, crushed his wrist and then blew his face off with my AR from point blank.
Once that was done we moved to the other side where another one of those big ass mechs was waiting for us. It forced us to move from cover to cover so that we wouldn't get eviscerated by one of it's rockets. Making the fight all the harder but with the students supporting us from above we were still able to push with only a little increase in difficulty. That is until I was within about 20 feet of the mech.
I called for covering fire before charging out of cover and jumping at the canopy of the mech. In the air I brought out my ax and slammed it into the canopy making it spiderwed. Once that was accomplished I put my AR right next to my ax and fired until the heat sink ran dry and the pilot was filled with bullet holes.
Ripping over the canopy I climbed in and took control of the mech. Admittedly it wasn't a smooth ride and the thing was about as nimble as a drunk giraffe but the weapons hit hard. One of its regular guns tore straight through Cerberus soldiers and it's rockets could take two or three at a time. Essentially, it wasn't a fight anymore once I got in it.
Once all the soldiers were dead I disembarked and followed Shepard through another door as he talked through the radio with Jack. Going through said door we were greeted by two more Cerberus soldiers pointing their guns at a couple of students locked behind a biotic barrier. The soldiers never saw us coming before we dropped them. Walking up to the barrier I recognized one of them immediately.
"Hello David," he looked back up at me and for a moment sent me a small smile and nodded back. Then he looked at Shepard and did the same. Seeing this the student holding the barrier dropped it and after a few short words with Shepard decided to follow us.
With them behind us we went through another couple of doors as our radio came to life. Our shuttle had found a couple more and we would use them to get off the station. However, in front of us was a good number of Cerberus soldiers along with two of those giant mechs.
Breaking off from the group at a single look from Shepard I made myself scarce and went on flanking. It wasn't exactly the most effective move but it forced some of the Cerberus soldiers to focus on me and took their attention off the students and Shepards group. It also allowed me to skate under the radar of the mechs which was the whole point.
As soon as I got my opportunity I sprtined at the closest one, my shields tanking the shots of the Cerberus soldiers who hit me. Jumping onto it's back I climbed up and over it landing right where the canopy was. Grabbing onto the edge I wrenched it open before grabbing the pilot and draining him. Tossing the body out afterwards and climbing in I took control and unloaded on the other mech as it was still turning to face me. It never got the chance to do anything before it exploded from all the ordinance sent its way.
After that it was just a mop up job with the mech as everyone else picked apart the soldiers. There was nowhere for them to hide with me in the mech and everyone else pushing them out of cover. Either they died from the others or were blown apart by myself in the mech. The fight only last a sparse few minutes after that.
With that done we all piled into the shuttles and I was on a different one than Jack and Shepard but the Latino and Nif were with me. As we took off the Latino finally introduced himself as James Vega, N5. I shook his hand and when he mumbled in spanish that I didn't seem to be that much of a boogeyman I responded in spanish myself. His head shot towards me and then we began speaking in spanish. Guess it had been a bit since anyone had talked to him in his native tongue.
As we flew through space though I saw that some of the students, specifically the ones that had been with Jack, were playing rock paper scissors. Cocking my head at that I politely excused myself from Vega and walked over to one of the pairs playing. Standing in front of them for a couple of turns without saying anything one of them, a girl, looked nervously up at me.
"Uh… can I-I help you sir?"
"Why are you playing rock paper scissors?" they looked between each other confusedly for a moment before the other one answered, another girl.
"Jack makes us do it using our biotics. An exercise to fine tune our control so that we can sense what the other would throw down," my mind went blank for all of a couple seconds. I was RIGHT! She had been cheating, she swindled me out of 15000 credits! I was both proud and angry at the same time.
When we landed on the Normandy my mood hadn't changed and once we exited the shuttles I made a beeline for Jack. Who was trying, not subtly at all, to take Shepard back to his room. When she saw me coming towards her she took one look at her students behind me before her eyes widened and she tried to hurry their escape. It was futile as I hacked the elevator from going up.
"I want a written report within the next two days Jack. Detailing how you did it and how I can train it," I stated looking at her; she seemed surprised I didn't want my money back. I definitely did but now that I knew she had been cheating I planned on taking the money with sweet revenge.
"I can do that," she nodded Shepard looking confused at the interaction but didn't say anything.
"Good, now. Go claim your prize," Shepard groaned but did absolutely nothing to stop Jack and her cheshire smile from pulling him along.
Knowing he would be indisposed I went up to the cockpit and told Joker to set a course for the Palavan moon we were meant to go to. He nodded without arguing and made his way to the relay. We would be there in a few hours so I made sure my weapons were ready and raring for a second round within the hour. There was no rest for us now and I doubted there would be much of it in the near future.
Making my way back to my room I found my room blocked by a couple of the students from before. All having been from Jack's class and all looked antsy. When they spotted me one of them, a boy in his early 20s, came straight up to me. Stairing slightly down at him he opened his mouth once before clicking it shut and steeling himself. Then he opened it again and spoke.
"We want to fight on the front lines but Shepard and Teach want us to be support," as the words came out of his mouth I looked around at the few kids present and I knew my answer to his question before he even finished.
"Be support," I made to move past him to my door but he opened his mouth again and I wasn't in the mood. My weapons needed a cleaning and I wanted a nap before we got to whichever moon of Palavan's we were going to.
"How many of you have experience fighting life or death before today? How many of you actually killed someone today?" When none of them answered I took off my helmet and looked every single one of them in the eye before continuing.
"You'll get yourselves killed if you rush headlong into this. This isn't a spar or a controlled environment. There is no honor, there is no rules, this is war and as powerful as some of you think you are the Reapers will overwhelm you. They will break you with sheer numbers; it's been a week and we've already lost 5% of the galactic population and that's just the confirmed numbers," I let that hang in the air for a moment. "Be supporters, you'll save far more lives that way."
Putting my helmet back on I ushered them out of the way with a simple wave of my hand. They all parted instantly and I went straight into my room. Entering the room and leaving the students outside I just hoped that they got the message.
There ya go folks. Hope you enjoyed. REVIEW