-It is good to be posting again. The conversation between Shepard and Miranda in the later parts of the chapter are an assumption. I do not recall if at any part of the game they make mention to Shepard's relationship with Ashley other than a conversation with Joker. If I am wrong please let me know and it will be amended. I did research and was unable to find anything. As always BioWare owns all, and enjoy.`

Bloody Day

Brooks removed his helmet and wiped some of the sweat that was beading down his face. There had not been any more transmissions from Martinez or anyone else for that matter. The marines with him did not look completely sure about what they were going to be heading out against, but they were ready to follow orders. The only thing was, Brooks did not know what orders to give them. He had last seen the figures jump out of the ship but then they were covered by the trees in the forest. The ship that dropped them off was still looming about above the tree line.

"Alright Marines listen up," Brooks said as he turned around to face the marines. "There is something out there right now and we don't know if it is friendly or not. We have not received any other transmissions from Martinez or anyone else. We are going to investigate who or what has landed on our planet. Do NOT open fire unless you feel like your life is threatened or the life of one of your brothers. We will fan out and try to surround them."

Brooks turned back around and put his helmet back on. He readied his assault rifle and made a couple of hand signals to the marines. They all began to fan out in separate distance from the man next to him and started to move forward. Slowly, they all took a few steps forward and made their way to where the ship had been hovering. Gavin was in point and held his assault rifle up, ready to strike down anything or anyone if they were hostile. Slowly the squad began to break off into two teams, with Brooks leading the first team.

The terrain of Egeos was perfect for hiding and setting up some form of an ambush, and that is what Brooks was hoping he could do here with these marines he had. He personally read through all of their files before hiring them on to join with him as part of the colony's defenses. This allowed him to trust these men with his life, but he did not want it to go that far of course. Maybe these creatures had come here as part of a misunderstanding of some kind, or maybe they were simply animalistic and acting out of fear. Whatever the reason was, Brooks was determined to make sure that if they were hostile he would do the killing before he could be killed.

Nothing in his direct line of sight moved, save the trees from the blowing of the wind. There were no indigenous life forms around, only his marines and whatever the hell had landed here.

He kept his eyes opened and locked as he scanned the area from right to left, hoping that he would be able to see even the slightest of movements. But so far there was nothing, nothing at all. It was almost as if whoever had been dropped here was as easily concealable as he and his marines, who wore special armor to match the Egeos terrain. Either that or they were simply better warriors or hunters that he was.

The thought of that made his stomach curl up inside of him and began to make him slightly sick. Striving to be the best damn soldier you can in life and then realizing that somewhere out in the big universe is someone or something that is better than you is slightly demoralizing, in his eyes at least.

His eyes shifted to a shadow to the right. Quickly he dropped to one knee and held his hand up in the air. The rest of the team followed and brought up their rifles, ready to strike down whatever it was that their leader had seen. Brooks watched the spot he was the shadow intently, not taking his eyes off of it, and not even allowing himself to blink. His heart began to beat faster and faster and he could feel the sweat rolling down his back.

Before anyone could get off a shot, the creature that no one saw attacked from above.

A large furry mammoth landed on the ground, making a loud 'thud' as he did. He had on a large chest plate, armor on his thighs, boots and gauntlets on both hands. On one gauntlet was a blade, the other was a gun of some kind. On his head he wore a helmet, not for protection but possible for show or ritual. With a loud roar that could have shattered an unprotected eardrum, the beast drove his blade into the abdomen of one marine and opened fire on another. His bullets quickly tore through the marines shields and eventually his flesh. Blood and gore quickly marked the ground beneath them.

The remaining marines turned and opened fire on the monster. Their combined firepower was enough to knock his shields out, but before a death blow could be brought a second creature came from above. It looked identical to the other and had a distinct bloodlust look about him.

Brooks fired rapidly at the second creature, hoping to knock out its shields as well, but being one man did little to help. The first one finally fell to the ground dead, allowing the marines to fire upon the second one. He too eventually fell, but not before he took a few lives with him.

The second team was under attack as well by this point, and Brooks could hear them screaming in horror as they were being torn apart by whatever was attacking them. Confusion must have been their attackers ploy, because more of them came from either trees or off in the distance.

Brooks was not one for retreating, but the situation was quickly getting worse and worse for he and his men. They were being literally ripped apart by these beasts, either by blade, bullets, or bare teeth. "Damn it!" He thought to himself. He should have waited back at the base and called for help, but he was over zealous and wanted to figure out what or who was attacking his home planet.

"Get out of the woods and get back to the compound!" Brooks said as he fired off a few rounds at his attackers. The remaining marines acknowledged the order and took off back towards the town. "What the hell did I just do?" Brooks thought. Taking them to the town would lead them to all of the innocent lives that were there. He grabbed a grenade from his belt, primed it, and sat it down by a tree. He and the marines quickly left the area before the explosion went off. "Maybe that will buy me a little time." Brooks thought to himself. He primed second grenade and threw this one behind him.

A good majority of the marines were already ahead of him and running so quickly that he couldn't keep up. As much as he regretted telling them to go to the compound, it would provide them with the best amount of cover and possibly a better position to fight their enemy with.

Gun shots from the enemy still reverberated from behind them. The sounds meant that Brooks was unsuccessful in trying to slow them down before the marines could reach the compound and raise some sort of alarm. He could see the city ahead and could also see some people running around in fear and terror as they saw the gun shots and explosions in the distance. Egeos had never experience something like this before and made it all new to the people who lived there.

Brooks stopped and hid behind a building, allowing his marines to try and take up good fighting positions as well. A long minute passed by before the creatures could once again be seen by Brooks and his men. Brooks closed one eye and aimed at the first one he saw and opened fire on him. It had little effect, only because more of them came charging into the streets.

The marines held their ground the best they knew how to, concentrating fire on one beast at a time. Trying to knock out their shields and hope to bring them down before they could deal anymore death.

"We need to get into the compound and send out a distress message now!" Brooks said to one of the marines. "You two come with me. The rest of you try to hold them here. Do you damndest to not let any of them through!" They all nodded in acknowledgment.

Seconds after giving he orders Brooks and the two marines he selected darted off towards the main compound they were in only 20 minutes before. Gun fire, explosions, and the horrifying shrieks of men being ripped literally apart were coming from behind them and were the driving factor for Brooks running as fast as he did. There was nothing in front of him but space, allowing him to maneuver how he pleased but cautiously as well. Open space meant no cover for him or his men, something that he did not particularly care for.

The three marines made it to the compound and were successful in getting the door opened quickly. They all piled in through the doorway and watched as the door slammed shut. Brooks immediately went to one of the consoles and began to work on a distress signal while the other two marines stood by and watched out the windows.

"Uh Lieutenant they are getting closer," one of the marines said. The creatures were firing at every door they came across and looking inside them all as well. It wouldn't be long before they would be ready to breach the doors of the marine compound.

"Be ready to hold them off boys," Brooks said. He knew that those words really meant, 'I will see you in hell', but he did not have the heart to tell them what they already knew themselves. Instead, he kept typing a distress code and trying to send it out to nearby frigates or anything that was close enough to them that could respond. After a moment of sending electronic messages, Brooks decided to try and send a video one using the camera in his helmet.

He took it off and sat it down on the console and plugged it into the computer, allowing his message to be transmitted to as many Alliance networks as possible, including C-Sec on the Citadel. He shifted his body back a little, and began to record it.

"This is Lieutenant Gavin Brooks of the Alliance Marines," he began. "Egeos has come under attack by an unidentifiable hostile force, one that we have not been able to counteract. They have killed our commanding officer and wiped out nearly all of my marines stationed here. We will not be able to hold them off for much longer." The door exploded open and the two marines standing there screamed in horror as they were mercilessly killed in front of Brooks. He spun his helmet around to face the doorway and grabbed his assault rifle. He let out a loud roar and ran towards their attackers, firing at them until they were able to cut him down. The camera kept recording and sent all of the video to everyone that Brooks specified, allowing them to witness his final moments.

The Next Step

The footage stopped playing once the large Anahaus fired what seemed like a concussive shot into the building, causing the recording device to be destroyed and the screen to go fuzzy. Shepard kept his eyes on the screen and inside, thanked Lt. Brooks for his bravery against the Anahaus. Of course now there really was nothing that could be done, the footage was almost an hour old and the Council would most likely not be willing to send ships to aid a small human colony, despite humanity's leaps and bounds recently. All of those humans, dead and gone now. Grieving for people he didn't know wouldn't erase what had happened to them but Shepard couldn't help it.

Once they received word of the attack Anderson took them all back up to his office to view the clip. It was a solemn few moments for everyone. Watching someone sacrifice themselves to try and stop a threat that they knew nothing about was heart wrenching and motivating as well.

"Hopefully now you can see what we are up against," Miranda said to Ashley and Riley. "The Anahaus are animalistic. This is a much bigger problem than any of us thought it was going to be. They have began to amass an army that is set for the destruction of every other race in the universe. We have been able to see what they can do first hand, especially Shepard."

"I never doubted the situation we have here," Ashley said matter-of-factly. "I just do not feel like it is in my best interest to rejoin the crew of the Normandy."

"Not this bullshit again," Shepard thought. "Listen Ash, what's done is done and is all in the past now. We cannot go back and change the way our lives have been, but what we can do is set up the future of humanity for success and stop this menace before it gets out of hand. I need someone with your experience and skill on my crew. I petitioned for this. We need you Chief. Humanity needs you."

His words pricked her heart. But she was slightly confused by how he was coming across with it all. Did he really feel that humanity needed her or did he still have some feelings for her? She did not want to get emotionally involved like she did before he died but there was still that something about him, that something that made her fall for him in the first place.

All eyes in Anderson's office were on her, and it was decision time on her part. Riley had already volunteered to go with her, not that it mattered too much but having someone that she had some 'connection' with would be nice. The thought of being alone on a ship with so many memories frightened her a little bit.

"Captain Richardson has volunteered to join your crew as well Shepard," she said. "If I am to come along and rejoin your crew then I would like for him to come with me. We could use another senior Alliance officer onboard. It could be very beneficial to all of us."

"The rules have to be in her favor don't they?" Shepard thought to himself, but outwardly he said, "Of course Chief. It would be a pleasure to have the Captain on board. As long as he understands that it is my ship and he is a part of my crew."

"It would be an honor Commander Shepard," Riley said. "And I do understand that it is your ship. I will do my best to remain under your command." Shepard couldn't tell if he was being a pompous ass or trying to put on a show for Ashley. He also couldn't tell if she was his flavor of the week, or if he was hers. Either way it didn't matter to him. The regulations that the Alliance had on fraternizing were thrown out the window on the Normandy and had been for sometime now.

"I am happy to see that we all can be friends and get along," Miranda said. "But there is still the problem of the Anahaus the human colony."

Anderson was the first to speak up, "Unfortunately there is going to be very little that the Council can do for them there. But there is something that the Alliance can do for them, since the Alliance and the Council are still technically two separate entities. We are going to send the Normandy there to investigate the colony and try to see if there are any survivors from the attack. It looks bleak for all of them but we will see what we can do."

"And what if we run into any Anahaus?" Shepard asked. He already knew the answer to the question, but asking it aloud was a way that he could cover his ass.

"Kill them," Anderson said. "Two wrongs don't make a right, but enough Alliance blood has been spilt on their behalf. Make sure that they know what it is they are up against." Shepard smiled. He liked how that sounded coming from the Councilor. Whipping ass and taking names was something that he had become known for.

Later that evening…

Shepard sat at his desk in his quarters looking over the reports they had gathered from the Calypso mission and what few reports that had been made from the Egeos massacre. He went over the final transmission from Lt. Brooks time and time again, looking for something that he was missing.

The Anahaus were much larger than the one that he had encountered on Calypso and had slightly different physical appearances. Not even so much the armor but the way that they carried themselves. Part of that could be because of the General that his crew had killed and part of it could be because they were just truly different. He grabbed a photo that had been taken of the Anahaus general and examined it over and over. It was slightly shorter and stockier than the ones from Brooks' video. The ones in the video had an aura about them that brought chills down Shepard's spine, and he had yet to see them in person.

He wondered if the Anahaus were trying to create an army of super soldiers, an army that was made up of soldiers stronger than their own. Soldiers that were genetically different from the rest of their species. He remembered back to Mordin's reports from the breeding boxes they had found while they were on Calypso. Mordin spoke about brain activity he recorded and extra chromosomes that they were packing into the embryos during the initial stages of development. That could explain why the Anahaus in the video were much larger than the one that his crew took down.

Things were all beginning to add up and make sense to him now. The Anahaus were trying to breath life into their fading race but have also created an army of super soldiers to act as their main force. In theory it was a good idea, until the genetically altered Anahaus decided to one day bite the hands that had been feeding them. If they were stronger than a normal Anahaus then it wouldn't be long before this new breed took over the rest of the race and the Anahaus themselves would systematically destroy their race themselves. But then again they could be smarter than that and have some way of trying to control their own beasts.

The door to his quarters opened, "I swear Shepard I will kill her before this damned mission is over." Miranda said as she burst into the room. "Telling me that all my work at Cerberus was wrong and that it could not be justified was wrong her part. I do agree that not everything we did was morally justified but sometimes the end justifies the means."

"Whoa, whoa calm down Miranda," Shepard said getting out of his chair. "You need to understand Ashley a little bit better. She is one who likes to make her opinions known and does tend to put her foot in her mouth a lot. You should just let it…"

"No do not tell me to let it go Shepard," Miranda said. "She has belittled everything that I have done in my life and degraded my hard work. You know first hand what it is I can do and provide to the Alliance, unlike her. You yourself are a token of what I can do. I do not praise myself often Shepard but when I feel I deserve it then you can bet your ass I will do it."

"You two will have to find some sort of common ground though during this mission, just like when you and Jack were forced to work together against the Collectors," Shepard said.

"This is different Shepard," Miranda replied. "Jack was not a lover of yours in a previous lifetime. Jack and I had our differences but none of them ever revolved around you in particular. This woman, whom I just met, is debasing my life's work."

"Ashley just has strong feelings and has no qualms about making those feelings known Miranda," he tried to argue back. Not argue for Ashley but argue to get Miranda calmed down.

"Why in the hell are you trying to act like you are okay with this Christian? To me it looks like you are on her side about all of this."Sides? Shepard wasn't trying to take sides at all. All of his life he had been the one to see both sides of arguments and sympathize with each party involved. That made it easy for him to help people because he could explain the other person's or party's point of view. But now it was coming back and biting him the ass.

"I am not taking sides Miranda," he said, the tone in his voice changing a little bit. "However, what I am doing is trying to get you to understand why Ashley is how she is. She is a strong and stubborn woman who is set in her ways and does not like anyone telling her that she is wrong. If she feels strongly about something then she will make it known."

"Then she needs to feel strongly about it somewhere else Shepard. I do not like that she is being brought here on this ship," Miranda replied, acting childish.

"It was my decision to have Ashley come along with us," Shepard said back to her. "She is one hell of a soldier and we could use someone like her on this mission."

"I am not saying that I disagree with your orders Shepard, its just…"

"You are the one who is jealous aren't you Miranda?" he asked. Finally he had been able to crack her in this small instance. He had been able to do it on several occasions but not anytime recently. Now he made her feel human again. Miranda was quiet for a moment and kept her eyes on Shepard.

"Yes Christian I am jealous," she finally said. "I saw her picture up your on desks for weeks while we were searching for the Collectors, I often heard you talk to Garrus and Joker about her, and I know that you two had something." This was a side of Miranda that he rarely got to see, the emotional side. She broke down a little to him before when they finally revealed how they felt to each other, but even since then she had never been very emotional about things. Sure she would tell him that she loved him but those times were few and far between. Now she was showing real human emotions and allowing herself to succumb to a normal human feeling…jealousy.

Shepard go to his feet and looked at Miranda. He put his arms around her and brought her in close to him. There were times that even Shepard would forget that Miranda was indeed human. So many times he looked at her as this perfect woman who was physically stronger and capable of many more things that other woman he had ever come across. He had never met someone who did not want their hard exterior broken until he met her so many weeks ago.

"I need to know something," she said pushing away a little bit. "You did not want her back on this ship for personal reasons did you?"

Shepard chuckled, "Ash…Chief Williams is here because Councilor Anderson and I feel that it is in the best interest of the Alliance and the Council to have such a decorated soldier on the most decorated ship, fighting with the best damn squad anyone has ever seen. She is here to help us all make sure that whatever is out there planning to harm humans or any other races that live in Council controlled space, do not achieve their goals." She kept looking at him, not having yet received the answer she wanted. After a moment of trying to figure out what she wanted, Shepard finished. "I do not have feelings for Chief Williams any longer Miranda."

A smile came across the ex-Cerberus Operative. The night that followed was one that neither of them would forget, closely resembling the one they shared before they met the Collectors.

-I know, I know. Hella cheesy, I get it. But I figured that we would add some soap opera drama stuff to it all and try to have Miranda feel a little jealous about things. I hope you all enjoyed. I will be trying to work on the next chapter in the upcoming days.-