Ministry chapter 5
Ok Chaps, here's the next bit. If you have any questions, suggestions or accusations please don't hesitate to contact me. I would like to say thank you to those who have reviewed and am still looking for someone who'd be interested in illustrating this story. If you know someone, please tell me.
Commander Jane Shepherd was bored, bored, bored boorrreed. Here she was under house arrest in the Munro Hotel, Auckland, New Zealand, site of the Under-Admiralty for the Royal Space Force. She looked out from her apartment's window over the harbour, the sun was shining and sail boats were out on the water enjoying the weekend against the silhouette of Rangitoto island as heavy transport ships, shuttles and sky cars hummed over-head.
As she sat in her chair admiring the view, she switched the vid screen onto the BGBC, a young presenter was in Wellington at the unveiling of the H.M.S.S. Wellington memorial garden to commemorate the hundredth anniversary of Munro landing on the Citadel, in the back ground the Turian, Asari, Salarian, Volus and Quarian ambassadors could be seen, the occasion being very special to them due to the Turian, Salarian and Volus ambassadors all being descended from the children Munro had rescued. Shepherd found her thoughts turning to her crew and what they'd be doing if they were with her. Joker would probably be sitting on the Balcony watching the ships over-head and cracking those awful jokes of his. Ashely would be trying to soak up the sun, Mordin would probably be having a field-day with the shells on the beaches and Grunt would probably be applying for the All Blacks (he'd discovered the Rugby World Cup before the Collector Base and had quickly decided which team was his favourite). She smiled as her mind turned to Garrus. Garrus would probably be desperately searching for something to calibrate. She'd dropped him off on the Citadel before heading back to earth as she didn't want him to be arrested with her. The more she thought about it though, the more she regretted that decision, she missed him and after their evenings together her affection for him had become more than a little distracting.
From her crew, Shepherd's thoughts turned to the events which had brought her here. The find on Eden Prime, the fight against Saren and Benezia, Sovereign and the Collectors. The Royal Space Force had scared the Council when it used a Victoria Class Dreadnought to take down Sovereign with only the loss of a light cruiser. Afterwards the Council demanded the Ministry of Space join the Council but the Galactic Commonwealth Parliament refused instead insisting that the current method of alliance be continued. When Munro returned from the Citadel the G.C. decided they didn't want to be under the control of the Council, instead they opted for a series of treaties and exchange programs that allowed military personnel, scholars and engineers to be exchanged. The Royal Space Force made contact with the Quarians and were eager to build an alliance and soon all major species had embassies on Articus Station and Earth. The Council's demands were for the most part ignored epically when Batarians stated to attack human colonies for slaves and the Council refused to do anything. In response the RSF launched a vicious assault against the Batarian Hegemony, the end result was the Hegemony breaking up through internal rebellion and becoming a young republic. Once peace was realised the RSF withdrew ensuring that Batarian Planets were returned but that all slaves in Batarian space were freed and returned to their home planets. This resulted in yet another huge boost for humanity in the eyes of the Galactic public.
Not for the first time Shepherd appreciated the Ministry of Space for putting the H.Q. of its military arm New Zealand, back in the day when they were still launching rockets, most of them were launched from Woomera in Australia. The Ministry thought it best of have a Headquarters as far away from Whitehall as possible in the case of attack, and preferably without having to run the risk of Australian Wildlife (Spiders, Lizards, Dingo's, crocs, Australians etc.). Not only was the climate and views pretty good, but also there were plenty of good places to do some training and keep in shape.
As she looked out of her window her eyes were drawn to a small child playing with a model ship on a roof top garden on the building opposite. She smiled as she remembered her own child hood. She'd been born on Churchill Station orbiting earth, and had been raised in a military lifestyle. Her family had been close, her fondest memories were of her father and mother occasionally taking her on trips to earth when they both had leave and exploring. She'd done the normal family things like camping and beach holidays all over the world. Shepherd's mouth quirked in a smile as she remembered one time they'd been walking along a railway platform in Yorkshire in England (One of the rare special railways that only operated steam trains) when she'd seen her first alien. She had been a beautiful Asari maiden and her father had explained that maidens toured the galaxy learning about other races. Shepherd had done her best not to stare but it was hard. Soon after the piercing whistle of a steam locomotive echoed and the train came steaming along the platform, its green paintwork and brass fittings gleaming, the steam hissing and the heavy metallic clanking and clunking of its wheels causing the young Asari to nearly jump out of her skin and give a piercing squeal almost as loud as the trains whistle.
Shepherd's smile wavered however as she remembered her death, the two years which seemed to pass in the space of a week. Waking in that strange facility and the Australian voice telling her to move. Meeting Miranda and Jacob. She'd known about Cerberus, all high-ranking Space Force officers did. A Human Supremacist group, illegal, and terrorists to boot. They'd never knowingly publicly attacked anyone yet. (Though they had been responsible for Akuze and other "Experiments")
When she'd met the Illusive man she was shocked when he had revealed himself as the leader of Cerberus. He seemed far too smooth, far too much like a smug lawyer. He didn't have the character to order a thresher maw to be unleashed on a group of Marines, or for those experiments to be made on civilians. The stuff they'd done to Jack. Jack had actually mentioned seeing someone when Shepherd had talked to her about it. A man with a small moustache, glasses and a bowler hat who'd observed her a few times when she was still a prisoner of Cerberus, he'd supervised and even administered many of her tortures, but when she'd broken out, he was no-where to be found.
Shepherd closed her eyes, all these trips down memory lane were not doing her any good, if only she could just leave the hotel, go for a walk, or something!
She started at the sound of a knock on the door. She stood as James "Jimmy" Vega, her guard and only real source of conversation strode in.
Half an Hour Later
Shit shit shit! Shepherd snarled as the Cannibals closed in. Anderson was struggling with the radio as Reapers plummeted onto the burning city. Firing her Vickers Lancer assault rifle into the oncoming horde Shepherd gasped as a Reaper horn sounded, almost deafening her as a Reaper landed barely 500 meters from their position. She stared as the Reaper lifted its cannon and fired at a wet-water battleship that was steaming out of Devonport Naval base, its own cannons flashing and roaring. The Reaper beam sliced the vessel in two before detonating the on-board reactors causing the ship to disappear in a roar and billowing, flaming cloud. At the same moment a destroyed and burning Reaper fell blazing into the harbour the waves from its landing smashing over their position and drenching them both in salt water.
Anderson, she could see, was shocked, "Where's the bloody Behemoth?" he shouted. Shepherd shook her head. The Behemoth was one of the three Guardian class Super-dreadnoughts, purpose built after Sovereign to destroy mass reaper attacks. At over 18 Kilometres long and up to 8 kilometres wide these vessels were huge, multi turreted reaper and planet destroying ships. Containing 8 squadrons of Septimus Fighters and a further 6 squadrons of Witch class fighter bombers as well as thousands of multipurpose military drones. Each of the eight turrets on the top and bottom of the vessels contained four long range maglev cannons which were proven to be capable of punching through Sovereign's armour. The cannons could also fire planet buster projectiles which would embed themselves in the mantle of a planet before detonating causing extreme earthquakes and volcanic activity. In Short the Behemoth (Flagship of the 1st Home System Fleet) should have wiped out the reapers. Instead here they were destroying everything in their path.
Shepherd's rifle let out a warning beep as it began to over-heat, she growled and drew her bayonet prepared to fight to the death when the Normandy whizzed in low and opened its hanger hatch, blasting the husks to powder. Shepherd and Anderson leapt for the ramp, Shepherd eternally grateful that she was returning home.
When Anderson refused to accompany her Shepherd was crushed, Vega's almost mutinous attitude didn't help either as she stormed through the companionways of the Normandy. She reached Joker in the cockpit and felt her jaw drop at the sight that met her eyes as the Normandy breached the atmosphere. The Home fleet lay scattered and shredded in orbit, and there in the middle of it all lay the Behemoth, surrounded by hundreds of dead Reapers, her once smooth proud lines buckled and blackened, her back broken and Reapers crawling over the ruined hulk like flies on a corpse.
The Normandy hid amongst the wreckage as Shepherd made hologram contact with Admiral Hacket. Shepherd could only listen as he explained that despite all of Humanities knowledge of the Reapers, the Reapers had skipped all the colonies and had come straight through in such huge numbers and had hit Earth with no warning at all, overwhelming the Behemoth and the rest of Earths defences before they could be alerted even Churchill Station was wiped out. Most colonies were still reporting in but the Home Fleet had been wiped out with all hands. London had been hit first but luckily contingency plans and civil defence was already working to evacuate large towns and cities. But no matter how fast they worked the Reapers had already slaughtered several million in the first few minutes. The European Union, China and the Union of South America were also reporting severe Reaper attacks. Hacket informed Shepherd that while the Prothean Device Aka Crucible was built, Humanity still had little to no knowledge of how to operate it. The device was protected by one of the two remaining Guardian class dreadnoughts the "Thunderchild" but the Thunderchild had lost contact a few minutes after the Reapers hit and was officially missing.
Hacket looked Shepherd straight in the eyes as he leant forward, "Commander, you have to go to the Mars Archives and see if they've found anything to tell us how to use the Crucible, you have to talk to the Council to see if they can help us, and you have to find the Thunderchild, without her and the Crucible we are all dead in the water." The older Admiral sighed, his face looking drawn and tired, "We tried to warn the council, ever since first contact we have approached them with all we knew and they laughed at us. And we all must suffer." Shepherd shook her head, the Prothean beacon, her visions, Sovereign, the collectors, even after all that the Council hadn't believed, and all this time Humanity had known what was coming, but they had pretended that it was all a hoax. "If you knew all this time." She snarled, "Why did you cut me off as a nut job when I died?" Hacket shook his head in dismay, "We had no choice," he sighed, "The orders came through from Whitehall that in order to ensure the public didn't panic, we had to assure them that your public warnings were false."
Shepherd seethed as Hacket cut the comn link. "Joker!" she called, "Yes Ma'am," came the immediate reply, "Set course for the Mars Archives." "Aye, aye Shepherd setting the course now." Shepherd's shoulders slumped as she heard the pain in his voice at watching his home world burn. The Normandy's engines hummed and the ship lurched slightly as she crept out of the wreckage and headed to Mars.
Somewhere else
The thing smiled as the hologram of the Illusive Man appeared before it. "Mr. Harper," it chuckled, "I trust the mission is accomplished." The Illusive Man sat up straight in his chair, the ashtray on the arm of his chair almost overflowing with burnt ends. "Yes sir," said the man, his usually relaxed, confident voice tight and strained. "The Thunderchild is now under your command." "Good," came the response. "The Reapers have hit earth; I trust you are gathering intelligence from Mars?" "There is an agent there already and a Phalanx of troops inbound." Stated the man, his voice uncertain. "Very well, Mr. Harper. Shepherd managed to escape earth. I'm sure that if your men fail, she will succeed. I had you rebuild her for a reason." As hologram flickered off. The thing reached forward picking up a small crystal decanter full of amber liquid, it poured itself a generous helping into its glass and smiled, the small black moustache crinkling slightly. The soft lighting in the room glinted off a gold watch chain and a pair of spectacles as the thing raised its glass towards the door, a black bowler hat hanging on a hook beside it. "To Shepherd, and the future."
