Disclaimer: I do not own or make any claim to the Mass Effect universe or the characters contained in this story, all of which are owned by BioWare and Electronic Arts.

[AN: Hello there, if this title looks familiar, that would probably be because this is the third time I've re-posted this story, because I've always got bogged down while writing it and by the time I get back around to it, I'm so horrified by the writing contained within, I'm forced to re-write it entirely and I've just found it easier to re-post.

But no more! This will be the last time, and I will get it right!

I'll be aiming to update this story once a day, and it has around 8 chapters, so it should be done in a week with any luck, two if I get distracted.

Anyway, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy!/AN]

Redemption: Come What May

Prologue: What's the Worst that Could Happen?

Systems Alliance Cruiser SSV Wellington (September 25, 2157, 0430 Hours, Ship Time):

"What the hell just happened, Juarez?" Lieutenant Hannah Shepard called out over the droning alarm tones and surprised mutterings of the rest of the crew.

She'd been at the ops station in the CIC during third shift when she felt the ship drop out of FTL. They still had another 7 hours until they reached their destination so if they had stopped then there must have been a reason; and the string of expletives coming from the bridge indicated that it was not an intentional stop.

"I don't know lieutenant, the core just went offline; the techs must have broken something again," The pilot replied, the irritation in his voice clear.

"I'm on my way down to engineering, alert the Captain and fill him in on what's happened," she said before standing up and signalling for a junior officer to take over her position. Her carefully polished boots clicked sharply against the deck as she strode towards the elevator and selected the Engineering Deck.

As the XO of the Wellington it was her job to fix any problems that cropped up while the Captain was off duty, and she had always believed in a 'lead from the front' methodology. Besides, she had previously trained as an engineer so she reasoned she may be of some use.

'What's the worst that could happen' she thought to herself.

She really should have known better.

Chaos greeted her as she stepped off the elevator, however it was chaos of a uniquely military kind.

Engineers rushed around the core, patching coolant conduits or attempting to solder loose wiring that had presumably been damaged by whatever had stalled the vessel. Everyone moved with a purpose and in the middle of it all stood Chief Engineer O'Hanlon, scanning through read-outs and performance logs from the core as they scrolled across his data pad's display, letting him coordinate the hive of activity around him.

Behind the main engineering room lay the Wellington's massive Element Zero core, which, among other things, regulated the ship's mass, allowing it to maintain FTL flight. The core, usually humming from the vibrations that resulted from the passage of a current through it, was silent and still; a stark contrast to the activity surrounding it.

"Chief O'Hanlon, what's the word?" Shepard asked as she approached him, "Why is the core offline?"

"I don't know LT. We're trying to figure it out now," O'Hanlon replied, brows knotted in thought, "One minute, everything's normal then the current shuts off and the core stalls; I can't explain it. Our best guess is that it's these new Citadel-standard power couplings the Alliance just installed; the alien tech is probably causing problems with our components where we've tried to integrate them."

"Alright, do we still have the old power couplings? I know they're not quite as efficient but at least they worked. How long would it take to switch them over?"

"We do still have another set of good ol' fashioned, human-made couplings, but switching them out is fiddly work and even if our theory's right, they're not the immediate problem. Near as we can tell, power's still flowing through them just fine, the problem's in one of the other components," the Chief Engineer said as they pushed their way towards one of the main status diagrams, where a worrying amount of the usually calming blue lines that made up the image of the core and it's supporting infrastructure were now a harsh red or simply black. Hannah was having to call on all of her previous training and experience just to try and keep up with the rush of information the display provided.

"We're trying a few work-arounds to re-establish the power flow," O'Hanlon continued, gesturing to some of the locations and new connections that were appearing in real-time on the display, "so we can get the core back online and re-establish our kinetic barriers. That has to be our first priority seeing as a lone Alliance warship without shields out in the Traverse might be too tempting a target to pass up for some groups. Once we've got that sorted, then we can try and work out where the original fault started. Our escort wolf-pack can't know that we dropped out until they arrive at their destination, so it'll be at least half a day until they can get to us, assuming they can work out where we are with any sort of speed," he stated grimly, knowing the XO would be just as aware of the dangers as he was.

"Agreed, do whatever you have to to get the barriers back up. Let me know if there's anything that I can help with," Shepard agreed, nodding at his rather astute tactical observation.

A ship with no kinetic barriers or FTL capabilities would be a sitting duck by most standards, and that was not something that Shepard wanted to be while on patrol in the Attican traverse.

The Traverse is a volatile region of space bordering the Terminus Systems. While it is technically under Council protection, that doesn't stop the occasional pirate raid or mercenary group from causing trouble. The Terminus Systems are comprised of the territories of races and groups that don't recognise the Citadel Council or its laws. As such, it is a haven for mercenary groups, the black market, the slave trade and piracy, among other criminal enterprises, and that makes it a very dangerous region of space to be around if you can't protect yourself; and being this close was cutting it a little fine.

Humanity, being the new kid on the block, was doubly vulnerable. Technologically, they were still aging behind most other races in the galaxy by a good half a century, and much more than that in some cases. Even worse, their military was still small and dispersed over a quite large area, and while they'd made an impression by going toe-to-toe with the Turians, a lot of the Terminus' species would probably love to take a crack at them, if they thought they could get away with it.

Shepard was returning to the elevator so she wasn't taking up any more valuable space when the core unexpectedly hummed to life. A couple of cheers went up from the engineers around the room and a look of relief spread across O'Hanlon's face. That look was quickly washed away though when the sound coming from the core didn't plateau. Instead, the frequency continued to shift higher and higher, quickly reaching a painfully high level and sounding more like a keening wail than the usual deep hum.

Shepard and O'Hanlon locked eyes and their faces drained of colour. They both knew what that sound meant, everyone in the Alliance who spent any time at all on board a ship with a Mass Effect Core new what that sound meant, they'd been forced to listen to it during enough safety briefings after all, not that they'd ever expected to hear it in real life.

Core Overload.

Not good.

"I need all non-essential personnel out of here now!" Shepard shouted, attempting to raise her voice above the screaming Drive Core, "use the access hatches, the elevator will take too long. Come on people, let's move it!" She shouted, herding the general staff in the direction off the ladders and maintenance ways that connected the various decks of the Cruiser.

Just as she was counting off the last stragglers, she heard O'Hanlon calling to her over the din.

"Hannah, I hate to ask this off you, but we could use a hand! It's third shift so we're running on a skeleton crew as is, and I could use another trained engineer. You do still remember overload theory and procedures, don't you?"

"Just because I work on the Bridge now doesn't mean I forgot five years of work in the bowels of ships just like this!" She called back, then, noticing the last member of the general crew about to disappear into the hatchway, she called out to the Petty Officer.

"Pike, alert the captain, tell him that we have a probable Core Overload and that I'm assisting O'Hanlon and the Engineering team, but that I recommend he orders all non-essential crew to the life pods just in case."

"Y-Yes ma'am!" Came the reply after a brief double take at what she had just heard. Petty Officer Pike snapped off a quick salute to her XO, then dashed up the ladder.

By this point, the core itself began to pulsate, gaining mass then losing it in quick succession. Already, Hannah could feel the nauseating effect of this instability, her inner ear being pulled in every direction as it tried to align itself with the fluctuating gravitational axes.

All-in-all, she was rather glad for the anti-nausea medication she was on at the moment and she had no idea how the others were coping.

There had, of course, been training simulations that were intended to simulate such conditions, but nothing could quite prepare you for the feeling of trying to move while your weight kept shifting and your perception of where the floor should be shifted at random. It was difficult to move, let alone concentrate, but if they didn't stop this quickly, the ship would literally tear itself apart.

Of course, the tidal stresses involved put immense strain on the core as well. Soon, micro-fissures in its surface began to appear, releasing ultra-fine particulates of Element Zero. These minute particles seeped out through various cracks in the casing that contained the core and spread across the engine room, flung outwards by the shifting gravitational fields around the core.

Klaxons began to blare throughout the ship as the Captain ordered all hands to the life-pods. In engineering, the calm voice of the ships VI also sounded, alerting those present that the room had been contaminated with Element Zero. O'Hanlon didn't seem to notice as he worked feverishly at a nearby console, attempting to re-direct the charge flowing into the core. Shepard, however, did notice and was struck by a sudden pang of fear, but the groaning of strained metal as a support strut began to buckle forced her back into focus and she pushed her concerns away, focusing back on the more immediate threat.

"Hannah!" O'Hanlon hollered, struggling to make his voice heard above the sirens and the core, "I need you to eject the fuel lines that feed the reactor; we need to stop power from reaching the core!"

"That will leave us Dead in the Water!" She shouted back, and although she wasn't sure if he had actually heard her over the noise, he seemed to understand her objection.

"We don't have a choice, either we cut the power or the core overloads and destroys the ship. Being vulnerable beats being dead in my book!"

And he was right, they had maybe two minutes before the ship shook itself apart, less if the something happened to the ship's fusion reactor; a very real possibility at this point.

Of course, she thought to herself as she struggled towards the emergency manual disengage, we probably don't even have half that time, a thought that was re-enforced when one of the other engineers, Michaels she thought, looked like he was plucked straight off the console he was at and flung into an equipment rack. He didn't get back up.

She finally managed to reach her destination, which had only been five meters away, breath heaving and only barely resisting the urge to empty her stomach all over the deck plating, or what she thought was the deck plating; she wasn't entirely sure any more.

Regardless, she fumbled with the release lock as another shift nearly pitched her forward, so she felt like she was hanging upside down on the side of a wall, before she finally got a grip on the lever.

"Okay, cutting fuel lines…now!"

The cacophony of noise coming from the core ceased almost immediately as lights and haptic interfaces within the room fell dark. Within seconds emergency backup power had kicked in and the ship was bathed in a dull orange-red glow.

Of course, with the loss of the Mass Effect Core, the ship also lost artificial gravity, because things weren't difficult enough as is. Shepard sighed heavily as she and O'Hanlon grabbed onto hand rungs sunk into the wall for exactly this kind of eventuality, the weightless feeling doing little to settle her stomach, but at least it was consistent now. Keying her radio to let the Captain know what had happened, she floated limply from the nearest hand rung and waited for the First-Responder team to arrive, acutely aware of the contaminated air she was now breathing while she waited.

Systems Alliance Cruiser SSV Wellington (September 27, 2157, 0945 Hours, Ship Time):

Hannah raised her head as she heard footsteps in the med-bay, approaching her cubicle. She had been confined to a bed for a week due to Element Zero exposure. As such, she had missed the frantic two days in which the crew had worked feverishly to get the Wellington up and running again, restoring power and the core to full functionality, or as near as they could manage without a full overhaul and dry-dock facilities.

Shepard had cursed her inability to help them.

O'Hanlon had been allowed to leave three days prior, but she was on sick leave for an 'indefinite period of time until the Chief Medical Officer believes she can return to duty' as the official notice had put it.

Hers were rather special circumstances, after all.

"Good evening Hannah, how are you feeling today?" The Wellington's CMO asked good naturedly. It was a routine that Shepard had grown quite used to in her time 'on leave', as it were.

"I feel fine Doc, I just want to know if…" She trailed off, words catching in her mouth. If something was wrong then she might never forgive herself; she wasn't even sure how her husband would react.

"Well, I have good news for you; scans show absolutely no abnormality in the foetus and growth appears to be proceeding normally. Your child should be fine," he finished, with a sincere smile tugging at the edges of his lips.

A wave of relief hit Hannah, she felt her muscles relax and she exhaled deeply, releasing a subconsciously held breath. "Thank you doctor, that's great news. I was starting to get a little worried there," she said, though 'a little worried' may be in contention for the greatest understatement of the last decade.

"I believe you'll also be happy to hear that you may return to your duties whenever you feel fit, though I would strongly recommend some good meals with only light duty and lots of rest for at least the next couple of days, to help you fully regain your strength. You were lucky to only get off with only minor burns and a mild case of radiation poisoning."

"Of course doctor, though you have tasted the food they serve on this ship, right?"

The doctor chuckled as he considered just how accurate her assessment of the food was.

"Very well, nutritionally balanced meals then," he made to leave her cubicle to tend to his other patients, but turned towards her as he reached the curtain that separated her room from the med-bay. "Just one more thing, and I don't say this to alarm you, but I feel you should know; some studies have begun linking In-Utero exposure to Element Zero and the development of biotic abilities. We still don't know much about this phenomenon but it may be something to keep in mind," and with that thought and a quick nod, he left.

Hannah began to ready the few personal items she had in her cubicle in preparation for returning to normal duty. She was relieved that everything appeared to be normal with the child and that she was ready to go back to work, but a little voice in the back of her mind kept wondering if her child might develop biotic abilities, and if it did, then what would that mean for their family?

[AN: And there you have it, the first chapter.

If you see any mistakes (spelling [note that I am Australian and so will be using British english, not American], grammar, lore, common sense, etc), or have any feedback please do tell me; it's hard to improve if you're not aware of your flaws, and I want to improve.

Anyway, until the next chapter./AN]