Recon and Rescue

Commander Christian Shepard stood outside of the airlock that led from the Normandy to the docking bay that his ship was docked at. His arms were folded across his chest and he was pacing back and forth, waiting impatiently on Councilor Anderson. Being impatient was one of his flaws and something that he knew he had to work on. Miranda would always tell him that 'patience is a virtue'. Most of the times she would say that was when she was trying her best to tease him or build up suspense that would lead to a climactic ending. There was the few occasions where he would be waiting for a video call or a message and she would stand behind him and whisper quietly that patience was a virtue.

But not right now. This was something that was pressing on Shepard's mind and he needed to get the hell off of the Citadel and get to this planet named Calypso. It was a Batarian world that EDI could find little detail on which was surprising to Shepard. She normally could do damn near anything that he asked her to do but it was almost like someone was wanting them to not find anything about it. One place EDI had reported that she looked at had said that the planet did not even exist. It was only a black hole in space where the existence of a planet used to be. Curious.

"Damn it Anderson," Shepard thought to himself. The bastard needed to hurry up and see him so he and his crew could find this Dr. Corson. Mordin spoke very highly of him and said that he was someone that was looked up to in the Salarian community. If Shepard could head to this planet and be able to bring him back then that would give not only him, but humanity a little more sympathy from a Council race. That could ultimately go a long way in trying to help promote their species.

The elevator opened up and Councilor Anderson walked out onto the catwalk and stood in front of Shepard. The commander nodded and cracked a half smile at the councilor.

"I guess being late is better than not showing up at all isn't it Councilor," Shepard said, trying to joke with the Councilor. It normally would have worked but he could see the concern and worry across his face.

"Shepard I am going to be frank with you," he started off. The two walked across the catwalk and stood at the end of it, looking out over one of the five arms of the Citadel. It was such an amazing construct that Shepard could not help but be in awe every time he was there on it.

"Since when have we ever not been frank with one another Councilor," Shepard said. It was true though. They had never had a 'normal' meeting with each other. Most of their meetings where concerning Spectre status, Geth, wars, and the occasional reprimanding from the Council. But there was something a little different about the Councilor today. He was much more serious than other times and he was not in the mood to mess around today.

"I do not like what it is you are doing by going out and searching for a man that has not been seen in years," Anderson said. "I looked up reports from the doctor on your ship. The Corson family was murdered years ago and the doctor was nowhere to be found, making him a prime suspect of course. The local authorities assumed that either he was off world or went and committed suicide due to the guilt of his actions. But now you are telling me that he is sending messages to your crew members about a race that is cloning themselves to make an army. We have had some pretty farfetched assignments Shepard…"

"Which is why this makes so much sense Anderson," Shepard interjected. "We are the only ones who know that the Reapers were behind the attack on the Citadel and the colonies disappearing. No one else believed us and damn it we proved them all wrong. After all of that now you are telling me that this seems a little farfetched?"

"Listen Shepard," Anderson said after sighing. "You have to remember that now I am now on the Council and not just a part of the Alliance military. I answer to people that ultimately could revoke your Spectre status and our embassy on the Citadel. That also means that most of the information you send to my office or tell me on a video call will be monitored and must be shared with the other Councilors."

"So they sent you here because they know that I trust you and not them," Shepard said shaking his head.

"They sent me here because they want someone who can get you to listen to reason. You have been on wild goose chases before and we have come out on the good side of them. But now it seems like there may not be something here to find at the end of the trail. I trust your judgment Shepard but I am having a hard time believing that this Dr. Corson is still alive. On top of that, is there really an army that is being created by the use of cloning?"

"One of my crew members believes what it is that he saying. Since he is part of my crew and helped me defeat the Collectors, I believe and trust his judge of character. If I trust him, so should you Councilor."

Anderson shook his head, "He may know of this Salarian but the odds of him being alive are not in your favor."

"When has that ever stopped me Anderson?" Shepard's voice rose a little bit and echoed lightly throughout the docking bay. Some of the workers who were loading supplies onto the Normandy looked over at them but then went right back to working. Anderson and Shepard both stood their ground, not wanting to be intimidated by the other.

"You have beaten the odds before but you must remain conscious of the political implications that this could cause," Anderson said. "This planet that you are going to is a Batarian world, was a Batarian world, whatever. The fact remains that it is not in Citadel space or Alliance space. If it is Batarian then hostilities with them could re open. And if it is another species that we know nothing about then who knows what could happen."

"I do not plan on starting some kind of war Councilor. As far as I am concerned, this is a recon/rescue mission. We are going to reach the planet and find out if these Salarian doctors are indeed there and if they are then we will go in and extract them."

"And what about guards and casualties?" Anderson asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No on the Normandy will be hurt," smiled Shepard knowing exactly what it was that Anderson was asking him. The Councilor shook his head and turned back to the view beside of them. "My crew and I will limit the casualties if we feel like we need to enter into wherever these men are being held. But I cannot make promises Councilor." Anderson nodded and kept looking out over the view. Shepard could sense that something was bothering him but he did not want to press the issue. Anderson would tell him if he felt it was a necessity. There were certain limits to their friendship that were put into place but never stated, and this was one of them.

"I miss going out and fighting Shepard," Anderson said. They had a discussion like this before when Shepard asked Anderson to come out and have help out with the Collectors. Back then Anderson said his place was behind a desk. Shepard had picked Anderson because he stood behind Shepard the whole time during the investigation of Saren and the Eden Prime War. There was a loyalty to Anderson that Shepard felt he needed to repay.

"You told me that you needed to stay here and fight on this front," Shepard said, leaning against one of the rails.

"And I still believe that Shepard. My place is indeed here at the Citadel. You have helped myself and humanity get on a platform that we never thought would be imaginable," Anderson said. "But there is still something about heading out and holding a gun in my hands and gunning down someone in front of me. I miss the thrill of not knowing what lies behind the corner Shepard. This life is too still for me." He sighed once more. "I guess you could say I am a little jealous. You are still at the age where you can go and kick ass. I am at the age where I am sitting on my ass. But I know that this is my arena and yours is out there amongst the stars." He took in a deep breath and let it out and stared out at the rest of the Citadel.

"If you ever want to come with me Councilor," Shepard said. Anderson turned and nodded, not letting Shepard finish. They both knew what Shepard was going to say and what Anderson's answer would have been. Shepard extended his hand and Anderson shook it. There was a great deal of not only professional respect, but respect as men and soldiers. They both have helped humanity in many great ways and both have faced off against impossible odds and come out on top. Now they both had two different fronts to fight on and pursue the advancement of humanity.

"You take care Shepard," Anderson said. "I do hope that you are right and there is someone there worth saving. Just make sure you keep your eyes and ears open. I don't think the galaxy could ever afford to lose you again."

"I hadn't planned on going anywhere soon Councilor," Shepard grinned and walked back down the catwalk. Anderson watched as he disappeared into the airlock that was attached to the Normandy. A hissing sound was followed by the shutting of the Normandy's airlock. Anderson stood with his hands clasped behind his back. Standing like that was almost second nature to him from his time in the military. The airlock began to slowly retract from the Normandy and pull back towards the catwalk. The large arms released their grip on the vessel, allowing it use its Mass Effect fields and hover in space on its own. Joke was a damn good pilot and Anderson knew the Alliance's most prized ship was in good and capable hands.

Joker backed the ship up and maneuvered it around the docking bay with effortless ease. Anderson turned his body in the direction the Normandy was going. It had taken some time to set in with him, but he had his own battles to fight and so did Shepard. The commander would take his crew and search for these captured Salarians. He was confident that they would find what they were looking for, the commander always did. If he had his mind set on getting a job done, the Commander always made sure it was done and done the right way.

Once the Normandy got completely turned around it raced off into space until Anderson could no longer see it. It was quiet. So quiet that Anderson could hear the faint sounds of the Rapid Transits zooming about and taking their passengers to their specified destinations. This had become his life and he was okay with that. Anderson was going to fight battles that Shepard could not possibly fight. The corporate battles.

Planning

Traveling through the Mass Relays was something that still astonished Commander Shepard, no matter how many times he did it. It was almost like he could be in two places at one time with the instantaneous movement from one point of space to the next. Humans and the other races in the galaxy had tried for years to recreate what the Protheans had made but so far all of their efforts had seemed to be very futile. Not being able to recreate what the Protheans had done was a huge disappointment for humanity, despite all of the leaps and bounds they had made.

When they became part of the galactic community they had encountered many different races that brought their own ideas and unique ways of life to the table. The Asari brought diplomacy and a sense of beauty, the Turians brought their knowledge of galactic warfare, Salarians were smart, and Krogans were brutes. Quarians, the Volus, Batarians, they all brought something different that helped make the galaxy and a great and diverse place.

Now they were about to come in contact with a race that Shepard had never heard of before. The Anahaus. Mordin had sat down and talked with Shepard about them in more detail. They had radical ideas but were very secluded from the rest of the galaxy, until recently it looked like. Most of the people in the galactic community did not know that these creatures even existed, let alone knowing that they were cloning themselves to create an army the size of which had never been seen. An army that could ultimately rival the Krogans in terms of pure strength and that could rival the Turians in terms of size.

But one thing that Shepard knew humans had to their advantage was their determination and desire. It had been known for many, many years that humanity had this uncanny ability to outlast anyone they had gone to battle with. Humans had a will and desire that was envied by many other races in the galaxy. That is one of the reasons that they were able to hold out so long in the First Contact War; that and the Council demanded that the Turians call a truce with them.

Shepard stood in his cabin getting himself ready to drop down in on the planet. His gun metal colored armor felt good to have on once more. He took the visor that he had bought back on Omega and put it on his head. With a click of a button it turned on and a small blue screen popped up in front of his right eye. He was able to see his ammo count and his shield status all on the small screen. He wanted to have it modified to where he could see some of his messages from the ship but he never got around to it.

He strapped his pistol, assault rifle, shotgun, sniper rifle and the Collector Particle Beam that he had collected, all to their spots on his armor. In the back of his mind he was telling himself that it seemed ridiculous to be taking so many weapons. But it was a case of he'd whether have them and not need them, than need them and not have them. He gave his armor one more look over. Everything was in its place. He was ready to take the shuttle down to the planet and find out if these scientists were even there. Shepard left his cabin and rode the elevator down to the CIC. Miranda was already working with Jacob and Garrus, trying to assemble everything they needed for the mission.

The rest of the crew was down in conference room waiting on Shepard to come down and analyze the pictures that EDI had taken of the planet. She told Shepard that there was something interesting about the pictures, something that she had never seen before. Hearing this news intrigued and excited Shepard all at the same time.

The elevator stopped at the CIC and Shepard walked out of it. He must have been an intimidating sight for all of the ensigns and other workers on the Normandy. The great Commander Shepard stood in front of them, in all of his armor and weaponry. He laughed a little inside when he saw a couple of the ensigns whisper things to one another, more than likely about him. Kelly turned and looked at him. She always had a thing for the Commander and always made sure to flirt with him every chance she had. The Commander stopped the flirting once he and Miranda officially became an item.

He turned and went into the armory just in time to see Garrus, Jacob, and his love Miranda finishing their tally of the weapons.

Jacob snapped off a salute. "Everything is accounted for and ready Commander." Shepard nodded and Jacob stood 'at ease'.

"The shuttle is ready also Shepard.," Garrus said. "While we were on the Citadel I was able to upgrade the armor capabilities of it. We will be able to take some damage if this were to head south. Chances are we wouldn't need it though."

"Everyone is waiting for you in the conference room Commander," Miranda said. "EDI has a small presentation for us." She smile and walked through the door first. Shepard followed her with Jacob and Garrus trailing him. They all four entered into the room and a host of heads turned to watch them walk into the room. Shepard walked around to the other side of the table and Miranda stood next to him. Everyone looked over at him and waited for EDI to begin her presentation.

The lights dimmed down a little bit, and a low hum began to reverberate around the room. The lights in the middle conference table came on and a holographic image of Calypso popped up in front of everyone. It was turning slowly, and everyone could make out all of the different aspects of the planet. There were numerous mountain ranges all across the planet. It only had one large body of water, but it looked almost as if it made up nearly 45% of the planets surface. Very few lakes could be made out but there were numerous rivers and small streams that flowed from the mountains and almost seemed to whither away the farther they got from the mountains.

"From the searches I have ran in Cerberus and Alliance databases, I have been able to find that the planet is an oxygen rich planet," EDI began. "So none of you should have a problem being able to breath once we get there. Surprisingly, Cerberus databases had an abundance more information about the planet than the Alliance. It is quite possible that someone had come through and deleted certain facts and information about Calypso. It is full of mountain ranges as you can see. But there is something of interest that should be noted about these mountains Commander.

"There is a small mountain range that is actually hollowed out and encases some sort of facility. Inside of the mountain seems to be some facilities inside of the mountain ranges. I have not been able to determine what they are but they seemed to be located deep within the mountains. Thousands of rooms are in these mountains, and heat signatures are off the charts. However, in one of the mountains there seems to be just one level of rooms. In the back there is one large room that is the epicenter of the mountain.

"Each mountain has tunnels that act as walkways and connects each of the separate mountains. Unfortunately they are glass and would be able to see someone approaching if they got close enough. That would mean that any oncoming vehicle would need to stay out of sight of these particular mountains and approach them from a carefully planned out position," EDI finished up and the conference room fell silent.

Shepard examined the layout of the planet as it slowly turned, much like it would in orbit. A thousand thoughts and scenarios played out in his head giving me one hell of a headache. After a few moments everyone seemed to be staring at him, as if to be waiting for his next move. This was one of the rare moments in his life that he was at a loss for words. It took him a few moments before he finally began to conjure up a plan in his head.

"Here is the plan I have so far," Shepard said. He reaches out a little bit and spun the holographic image of Calypso. He located the mountain ranges that EDI was talking about and made the spherical picture flat to where the Mountains could be the only things seen by he and his crew. He moved it a little bit more so that they could see the mountains off in the distance, and a small open area was in front of them. "We need to drop down with the Normandy here." He pointed out and a green marker popped up on the map. "That is one of the risks we are taking though. Since we have to touch down on the planet we will have to disable the Normandy's Mass Effect fields and Kinetic Barriers. That is where Legion and Garrus will come into play. The two of you will set up in strategic positions away from the ship and keep an eye on it with your Sniper Rifles.

"Jack and Samara will stay inside of the ship and use their biotic powers if they need to just incase Legion and Garrus miss someone, which they won't." Legion and Garrus nodded. "Joker and EDI will watch the long ranged scanners with their lives, and keep updating Garrus and Legion if they see anything approaching from the distance. Tali, Thane, and Grunt will be the infiltration team. Grunt is there to be your back up and muscle just incase you two run into any trouble. I want to know everything you see inside of there. Take pictures and scans if time allows. You will have 20 minutes to get us a door open. That is when myself, Miranda, and Jacob will…"

"Pardon Commander," Mordin said interjecting. "You have given roles to others. Have left me out."

"You may get too emotionally attached to the mission if there are indeed any Salarian's being locked up as slaves," Shepard said looking at him. He could already see the disappointment in his eyes, but Shepard believed that he was making the right call. "I need you to be here at the ship waiting."

"No," Mordin said defiantly. He folded his arms across his chest and stared down the Commander. "My people are in trouble. Need someone who knows Salarians and culture. They will react better to someone they know." He had made a damn good compelling point. Shepard may have been given the title of the 'Savior of Humanity', but Mordin knew Salarian where as Shepard did not.

"Fine Mordin," Shepard said. "New plan. Garrus and Legion will provide over watch for the Normandy. Miranda, Mordin, and I will scope out the base. Tali and Thane will still be used as the infiltration team, minus Grunt. I believe that the two of you can be quick enough to evade any and all problems that you may encounter. You need to knock out any and all communication buoys and relays you find. If they have any sort of camera system then take them out as well. I do not want them to know that we were ever there. Everyone else will be used as a distraction team. Jacob, you take of the lead in that group. If anything goes wrong you get the hell out of there." Jacob snapped off another hardy salute. Whatever made the man ready to kick some ass was good enough for Shepard.

"We will still only have a 20 or 30 minute window to work with here people. I want to make sure that we are efficient and effective in everything we do. I have no idea what we are going to find in there, so be prepared for anything. We are hear for Dr. Corson. If there are any other Salarians that are able to move and follow us then recruit them at your own discretion. I do not want any unneeded weight to slow us down. If the messages are true then we will inform the Council and a proper rescue mission will take place. Let's raise hell people." Shepard looked back down at the images in front of him of Calypso. It looked like such a peaceful and quaint planet to try and start a colony on for any species. Yet if the messages from Dr. Corson was correct then it was all a façade. The mountainous planet was nothing more than a hell for the Salarian doctors there, if there were any.