Chapter 11

"Taetrus?" Shepard gripped the edge of the table in the communication room. "The Reapers are on Taetrus?"

"At least two confirmed—though they're attacking different hemispheres separately," Garrus said, pointing on the holographic map of the planet. "They must have known that Taetrus was in a weakened condition from the bomb and war. But why only two?"

"They're probably testing the turian defenses; seeing how quickly we can respond," Shepard said, her face grim.

Corporal Tallon, the turian on the comm, spoke up. "We need the Normandy, Commander Shepard. How soon can you be here?"

"Approximately one and a half hours," EDI offered. "The ship will need to refuel before hitting the Widow Relay."

"We'll be there soon. Hang on," Shepard assured Corporal Tallon.

"With both claws, Commander." The comm clicked off.

"I'll go prep for groundside," Garrus said after a moment. "Want me to alert Alenko and Vega?"

Shepard nodded. "I'll be right behind you."

Shepard leaned over the table for a moment as the door hissed shut behind her. Even though the battle on Earth hadn't been that long ago, she'd allowed herself to grow complacent. The news that the Reapers were again attacking caught her like an unexpected punch to the gut. Just like Alchera, the Normandy could be vaporized within minutes of coming into the system. All the upgraded weapons and shielding in the galaxy wouldn't count for anything if a Reaper had them in sight.

She blew out a breath, releasing her fears. No. That wasn't going to happen. They were ready this time in a way they never could have been when they faced Sovereign.

It would be okay. They would fight and survive and win. She had to believe it or no one else would.

"EDI," said, lifting her head, "tell the crew to assemble."

#

Shepard walked into the med bay. Ashley looked up hopefully from the terminal in front of her. Dr. Chakwas nodded in greeting and went back organizing her supply cabinet.

"What are you watching?" Shepard asked, coming to sit in the chair by Ashley's bed.

"Citadel Council briefings from Citadel News Net," Ashley said, fighting a yawn. "Wanted to catch up on what I'd been missing."

Shepard winced. "You're a glutton for punishment."

"I know." Ashley rolled her eyes and shut down the console. "Anyway. What can I do for you, Skipper?"

Shepard tossed her one of the packages she'd been holding behind her back toward Ashley who caught it. "What is…?" Ashley broke out in surprised laughter as she read the label on the MRE. "'Irish Cream Cappuccino'? You remembered!"

Shepard chuckled. "How could I forget? Feros—"

"Geth around the corner—" Ashley continued.

"That foul creeper muck sprayed all over our visors—"

"And you biotic geeks so hungry you're ready to eat rocks," Ashley laughed.

"And Gunnery Chief Williams pulling out her last MREs to save us poor, starving biotics—Irish Cream Cappuccino." Shepard raised her plastic bag and they toasted. Shepard ripped the top off with her teeth and sipped the soupy, lukewarm cappuccino with a grin.

"Heard from Joker about Taetrus," Ashley said after taking a sip from her drink bag. "We're on our way?"

Shepard sobered. "Yeah. Wanted to check with you before we hit the relay… So you and Joker been talking?"

Ash fiddled with a bit of loose plastic on her drink bag. "Yeah. Didn't think he'd want to speak to me again, but…" She shrugged. "We're good."

Shepard compressed her lips. "Ash, you know us, we're going to fight and do our best… but there's always a chance we might not come back from this. Do you want me to contact your family? They would be overjoyed to—"

"No!" Ash shook her head. "They've mourned and moved on. It... would break their hearts to see me like this and then lose me again."

Shepard's stomach clenched. "Ash—"

The other woman smiled sadly. "I know about the cancer. I have, what, maybe weeks?"

"There are better treatments-"

Ash shook her head again. "Between the poison to kill the cancer and fighting off Cerberus hack attacks... I won't really be living. I'd be stuck here or a hospital somewhere."

Shepard didn't reply, her throat going tight.

"Can you tell me about them?" Ashley said, sounding wistful. "Are they okay?"

"Yeah," Shepard said with a smile. "They're okay. They're all still on Amaterasu. Your sister Abby got married last year to... oh, what was his name? Your mother sent me an invitation."

"Abby? Married?" Ashley grinned. "It was probably Katashi from college. They've been dating off and on since high school."

"That was the name," Shepard nodded, fiddling with her empty MRE bag. "Lynn is still at seminary and Sarah is in college, pre-med. Your mother said in her last letter that Sarah was thinking of joining the Alliance as a medical officer."

Ashley leaned her head back against the bed. "Good," she said, suddenly sounding exhausted. "Good for them."

Shepard took the empty MRE bags and threw them in the med bay incinerator. "I have to go armor up for the last legs of the trip."

"Hey Skipper. You know I'd have your back if not for…" Ashley raised her restrained hands with a wry smile.

"I know." Shepard nodded. "See you on the other side."

#

Taetrus was in chaos. Though she couldn't see it from orbit, Shepard felt as though she could imagine the massive Reapers like a dark tumors on the continents of the turian colony. The ship's sensors suddenly blinked on, showing the Reapers' locations with bright red dots..

Joker looked up from his controls, face grim. "That bastard is right on top of Vallum, Commander." He shook his head. "Dick move."

Shepard tightened her grip on the back of the pilot chair. Vallum, Taetrus' capital city, had only recently made some recovery after the separatist fanatic crashed his ship at near-FTL speed into the city, causing death and devastation for thousands of civilians. To the people down there now, the nightmare had returned. She glanced at the scanner. There were some ships fleeing the planet but not nearly enough.

"EDI, Joker, help coordinate evac from here and let me know when the Migrant Fleet gets in the system."

"Will do, Commander. Good hunting."

#

The surface of Taetrus was a broiling mess of panic. In some places, the turian sense of military discipline seemed to be holding together by mere threads, the orderly lines of civilians waiting for escape transports quivering with terror barely held in check. A tall, helmeted turian met them as they disembarked.

"Dea?" Garrus asked.

The turian turned to him slowly. "Yeah. I'm here."

Garrus' mandibles flexed. "Uh. Right. Shepard this is Communications Officer Corporal Dea Tallon. She's part of the garrison in Vallum, the one we talked to over the comm. I checked in with her from the shuttle. She got separated from her unit in the initial attack. Reapers are jamming local communications."

"They're dead," Dea said unexpectedly. "There's no way they survived the blast. My squad brothers are dead, my commanding officer is dead; the lieutenant is dead. I'm alone."

"You don't know that," Garrus insisted.

Shepard looked at Dea, unable to see more than a shadowy outline of the face under the visor. "We'll keep an eye out for them. What's the situation?" she asked as they moved through the crowd, the noise of crying children and moaning injured ringing in the background. Kaidan and Vega followed, faces unreadable behind their helmets.

"Taetrus—and Vallum specifically—upgraded to kilo-weight anti-aircraft batteries after the Facinus incident. But the Reapers have jammed the signal or damaged it or something. Either way, it's not responding to hails. We need to check it out. Turian navy is on the way, but..."

They exited the spaceport, coming out into the open air. In the distance, hovering over the skyscrapers of the city like a child playing with toys, loomed the Reaper, its insect-like appendages gleaming with red light. Shepard felt a brief sense of vertigo. Once again, she was standing on the side of the Citadel Tower. An airless, no-gravity battle raged around her. And above them loomed the behemoth that was desperately trying to kill them all.

Kaidan turned to Garrus. "The Reapers' shields are the real problem."

Garrus nodded, mandibles quivering. "The Taetrus Planetary Protection has been trying to distract them from the surface, to give the civilians more time to escape, but they may as well be gnats for all the good the weapons do against their shields. It's just like Sovereign all over again."

"Tali and Legion have been working on that problem," Shepard said in an assuring voice. "We learned a lot about them from the attack on Earth. Once we get the anti-aircraft cannon back online, that will do a lot to whittle them down."

"Alliance?" A harried-sounding voice came up behind them. "Spirits, am I glad to see you."

Shepard turned back to the newcomer, a turian in uniform, but not armor. "Can I help you? We need to get going…"

"Right. Sorry, but I wonder, Commander, if you could spare a couple of your men. We're fighting panic here and the evacuation would go quicker if we could keep order. My men are stretched thin and we were hit pretty hard when the… that thing came into the atmosphere."

Shepard glanced at Garrus, unsure.

"I'll stay, ma'am," Vega said, stepping forward.

"And I as well," Dea said.

Looking relieved, spaceport official led the two soldiers away.

"Alright," Shepard said, turning back to the city, Kaidan and Garrus at her side. "Let's go."