Disclaimer: I do not own Mass Effect or the various X-COM games. They belong to their respective copyright owners. This story is not written for profit. I make no money from it. It is not for sale or rent.
Chapter 2: Picking up the pieces
=SF=
Part 3: Aftermath
05:44, 13 August 2176
Lawson's Penthouse
Sydney
Australia
Earth
A piercing, ear rendering alarm tone dragged him back to the world of the living. For a moment Jack groaned and blinked in confusion, trying to focus his eyes. Then his training kicked into high gear and he bolted upright in bed.
Thanks to his implants, he didn't really suffer from hangover, though the ungodly hour of the morning he went to bed did have his effects. Even the newest XCOM toys couldn't really remove the need of sleep, though stimulants helped in that regard.
Jack groaned and activated his Omni-tool. He knew that alarm tone very well, he had chosen it because it was one of the most offensive he had ran into and in his opinion it could awake the dead.
Considering how he felt that morning, that was a rather good thing.
His left hand was enveloped by an orange hardlight construct and two big blinking buttons appeared. He pressed accept and a screen was projected above his arm.
"Major Harper, report to HQ ASAP. The Commander wants to see you."
"I'm on my way." A suddenly wide awake XCOM agent answered. His vacation being interrupted by an order to meet the Commander yesterday could only mean trouble.
A fast shower and change of clothes later, Jack was leaving a message for his host and friend, who he had no intention of waking at this hour. While he was doing that, Jack was in the kitchen, getting a hasty made cup of coffee, before dashing for the garage, where his rented aircar waited. He planned to drive to the nearby military base and catch a flight from there, one he arranged, while getting dressed. The fastest they could prepare a transport was thirty minutes, which meant that he had a bit of time to kill before leaving, because the base was rather close.
At least that meant he could afford to wait for a cup of coffee.
"Uncle Jack? What are you doing up this early?" A rather sleepy voice muttered from the door.
Jack glanced up and smirked at his half-asleep goddaughter. Miranda, who frowned at him, before bee-lining for the fridge.
"I should be asking you that. Aren't you teenagers supposed to sleep all day?"
"Only when we were up all night." She scowled. "What was that racket anyway?"
"Alarm."
"It was awful!"
"That's the point."
Two bleary eyes glared at him.
"It's not my fault you obviously forgot to switch on the sound dampening on your room, kiddo."
"Jerk."
"You noticed? I'm flattered. Its all in the job description." Jack smirked.
"What are you doing up anyway?"
"Duty calls. Speaking of which… Stephanie, news feeds, unusual happenings in the last twenty four hours." Jack addressed the VI running the penthouse.
"Searching… Data points found. Listing by relevance… "A holo screen materialized over the far wall. "BREAKING NEWS! PIRATE RAID ON ELYSIUM!" That message appeared on multiple small smaller screens, showing feeds by all major news networks.
"Goddamn it!" Jack spat. He had the sneaking suspicion that he would have to deal with that mess.
=SF=
07:23, 13 August 2176
XCOM HQ
Location Classified
"This is a bloody mess." The European Federation's representative on the Council, Howard Stanton muttered.
"What a charming understatement." Prime Minister Kelly Yamada stated. "This… raid caught us all with our pants down, that's for sure. How the hell did they shut down the planetary defenses?"
"That was an inside job. I already have one of my best people investigating that fiasco." The Commander announced. "They had the command codes needed to shut down the system and force it into diagnostic, and self-repair mode."
"There are just a few people who have access to those codes. Some of them are in this room." That came from Lora Fidgerald, the North American Alliance's representative.
"I'm well aware of that." The Commander deadpanned. "That's why I'll be sharing nothing about that particular investigation until we're all cleared."
In another time and age, such a statement would have been considered outrageous by many of the politicians present either in person or virtual form.
After the Etherial war and the Exalt backed attempt for a coup a decade and half later, XCOM had grown in power and statute to such an extent that when it really wanted, it could freely step on the toes of the Alliance members which in theory were in charge.
In reality, that wasn't really the case for more than a century. For all intents and purposes, the organization had grown to be an Alliance member in its own right, one of the most powerful too.
Something the governments it was supposed to answer to, naturally resented, making for some rather "interesting" conversations and backroom deals.
That said, no one really liked the scrutiny, though the only thing protesting would have done was place them firmly on the top of the suspect list.
"The only good news is that elements of Third fleet arrived on time and while a few of the pirate ships managed to escape, we are fairly confident that they didn't make it out with captives on board. Needless to say, we're doing our best to track them down anyway." Admiral Steven Hacket, the current Fleet Admiral of the System Alliance's Navy, changed the topic. He was present via hyper-weave comm, from his flagship.
"Still, this is a rather black eye for the Alliance as a whole." Sung Mi, from China added.
"Perhaps. On the other hand, the Navy did stop the attack cold, that's more than the Council could say for most raids on their outer colonies." Anita Goyle, the Martian representative mused. "At any rate, we'll need to formulate a proper response. Such a slight can't go unanswered. I trust XCOM is on the ball?"
"We are." The Commander nodded.
"On a different note, the political ramifications, especially at home will be significant." Stanton changed the topic. "Sol First will have a field day with the attack, though they will undoubtedly be vocal for a reprisal against any pirate we can get our hands on."
"We can deal with them. Out overly large pool of xenophobes on the other hand… Well, they would want all pirates dead too and will probably push for a war with the Council. Again." Yamada massaged her temples.
"Well, at least your party will be reaping some significant benefits too." Lora smirked. "Before coming here I was made aware of a certain report." She smiled at the Commander. "One of yours, a few marines, local SWAT unit and some volunteers protecting a shelter with faulty doors or something. Care to elaborate?"
The Commander groaned. "Is that report in the hands of the media?"
"I'll be surprised if it isn't aired soon. And no, there are no grounds on censuring it. Even if they were, I'll be against it. It can help mitigate some of our internal issues, though I freely admit that it will make some others… more touchy."
"Commander? Care to enlighten us?"
It took him a few moments to give the bare-bones to the Council.
"So, an Asari, a Turian and that fella you thawed last year ended up as heroes. We can use that." The Prime Minister smiled for the first time after learning about the attack.
"A squad of marines, the local law enforcement and a lot of volunteers helped too." Admiral Hacket reminded her.
"Oh, all right. Your marines will get the credit too. You are aware how the game's played. The truth takes a second place to keeping humanity strong and stable. When the news of the attack really hits the public, it will be bad enough. Everyone will be spinning it to serve their own purposes and damn what really happened. We'll need to get on top of that. At least you all are well aware what a disaster a full scale war with the Council will be and that's what will happen if certain parties get into power during the elections next year."
"Even if we win, the Alliance will be wrecked worse than Earth was after the war." Hacket nodded grimly.
"We won't be starting a war against the Council unless we're confident of a victory." The Commander stated flatly.
=SF=
Part 4: Consequences I
10:15, 15 August 2176
"Hope Memorial" Hospital
Olympus City
Elysium
"Anderson, it's good to see you again, LT." I perked up when I saw who my latest visitor was. "I thought it was another bloody reporter." I had to struggle to keep a frown from appearing on my face. Anderson was wearing a bloody parade uniform. For some reason that felt off.
"Those vultures won't let you alone?" He smirked.
"There I was, a poor clueless sod who though that the circus after they unfroze my ass was bad enough." I ruefully shook my head.
"There were distinctly fewer reporters after you back on Earth. Who would have thought, an old fashioned XCOM badass working with aliens to protect a bunch of civilians. I heard a rumor that some consider you almost a saint for that." Anderson didn't event try to keep the amusement out of his voice.
"Don't forget the idiots who consider me a traitor, because I didn't shoot people who volunteered to help. I'm not getting myself killed or starting an intergalactic incident to satisfy the lunatic fringe."
"We would have been better if that was the case. You may not have figured it out, but almost a third of humanity is like that nowadays, though I think that's a significant improvement from the post war years."
"I wouldn't know anyway. I was too busy being a Popsicle those days."
"Anyway, I didn't come for a social visit."
"I didn't think that you cleaned up just to visit little old me."
"Actually that's precisely the case."
Well, shit.
"What did our lords and master up the chain of command decided to do to me this time?"
Anderson grinned. "Well, you were a certified hero before and now that you proved that you can work with aliens, you became an even hotter commodity in certain circles or so the Major told me."
"What major? Which circles and how likely is that their attention will get me killed one of these days?"
"Major Harper, he's the poor SOB assigned to investigate this fiasco. Apparently, command used him to channel the good news as far as you're concerned and I just got drafted. Thank you for that by the way." His last words were dripping with sarcasm.
"You're welcome. So what's the torture requiring a full dress uniform?"
"Meals. Speeches by a lot of politicians. Backing in the sun while posing for all reporters in the nearby sectors, while listening to said speeches. Interviews. The full celebrity treatment. You're practically guaranteed to get yourself a fan-base and stalkers."
"Anderson, you're enjoying this too damn much for someone who's likely to be right next to me for the circus." I muttered after finding my voice.
"Of course I am. After the circus dies down, you're being assigned to my unit and we'll be hunting the bastards who attacked us."
"How did you manage that?"
"Called a favor or two. Besides all I did was get you into my platoon."
"I'm missing something. Care to share?"
"Some genius in the PR section decided that sending you after the pirates will help mitigate the fallout of the attack, keep the civies from thinking too much about how we got caught with our pants down. The last hero of the Etherial war being out there, hunting the xeno scum that dared attack us or some such deck. Last I heard they were still fiddling with the details."
I groaned and face-palmed. "You know what that means, right? I'll be getting one suicide mission after another!"
"The reward of job well done and all that."
"I simply went out for a damn drink! It's not like I planned some heroic last stand or something!"
"I'm sure that wasn't the idea. Though by weeks end, no one who don't really know you would believe that. As for the suicide missions, we're XCOM. Need I say more?"
"We get suicide missions for breakfast and then the real work begins." I chuckled.
"I have a private outside with a parade uniform and a box with all your medals. Orders. You're going to look like a damn peacock for this afternoon."
"Any other good news?"
"You still haven't told me whats your problem with Shepard."
"The kid's unstable. Once she saw we were dealing with Batarians, she nearly got berserk multiple times. If it wasn't for that Asari barman, she would have gotten her head smashed by a Krogan too."
"Damn. I was afraid of that."
"There is story here."
"She's from Mindoir."
"Never heard of the place."
"Right, you slept through that mess. It was one of our few more or less independent worlds on the fringe of human colonized space. No real defenses to speak off. Just a lightly armed militia with ME grade weaponry and hardsuits."
"Obviously that didn't work too well for them."
"No." Anderson scowled. "It won't surprise you to learn that the idiots got raided. To date that's the only successful pirate attack on a human world and even then it was a bloodbath for the bastards, though that was because a frigate patrol happened to be in the neighborhood. I was a wet behind the years sergeant then, on my first tours after becoming an NCO.
By the time we got there, most of the population was either dead or taken, though we managed to interrupt the pirates while they were mopping up and looting the place. It was during the SAR effort when I found her. Her family and neighbors were dead and she was covered with blood as if she has swam in the damn stuff. When the doc cleaned her up, he found a half imbedded slave implant in the side of her neck."
"I'll make an educated guess. She manifested her psionics and went on a rampage, that's how she made it out alive."
"That she did."
"I'll pointedly won't ask what happened with any non-existent unpleasant psych evaluations. I've been in a similar position." I closed my eyes. The only reason I didn't get myself killed after I physically recovered from the experiments, was a certain sergeant who straightened me up after my first field deployment with XCOM during the war.
"You know, now that I think about it, that's right. Though you weren't a teen, you've been through a similar shit and you're even somewhat sanish." Anderson smiled.
"You pulled more strings and Shepard's on the team too, right?" I groaned.
"Well, yeah. The Marine's were actually glad about it. Someone over there finally added two and two and figured out that she might not be all too stable after seeing the AARs. They were tickled pink that she would be our problem after the media finishes with you lot."
"You want me to help her."
"Oh, I'll be doing my best to straighten her up, but you'll have your hand full with Shepard too. She's a good kid who deserves better than being Section Fived."
"Am I to understand that she'll be in one of the squads I'll be running?"
Anderson just smirked. "It's time to get yourself presentable, Sergeant."
=SF=
14:03, 15 August 2176
Remembrance Plaza
Olympus City
Elysium
"You too?" I asked the two familiar figures waiting near the hastily prepared podium on a barely cleaned up large square. Not too far away, a cordon of riot police, heavily augmented by marines, was doing its best to keep a huge crowd in check.
"I just got orders from the Executor. No tactical retreat from this nonsense." Vakarian grumbled.
The lucky bastard was actually wearing a slick looking, polished to gleaming armor. The rest of us were stuck in parade uniforms with the sole exception of the Asari, who wore a nice looking green dress.
"Despite my usual disposition, I'm a Matriarch. Sometimes you simply can't avoid the media attention." She rumbled, sounding anything but pleased.
"What did I do to deserve this?" A new voice added from behind me.
"Shepard, how nice of you to drop by. I guess that Anderson forgot to give you the good news?"
"Lieutenant, sir." Shepard turned towards the officer. "What did you do this time?" Her voice was deceptively sweet.
"Congratulation private. You're getting drawn by XCOM."
Shepard spluttered.
We weren't that bad, were we?