Chapter 4
"How'd it go in there, Major?"
"Major?" Shepard said in surprise as he turned to see Kaidan walking toward him and Anderson.
"You hadn't heard?" Anderson asked, amused.
"No. I'm a bit out of touch these days."
"Sorry about that," Kaidan said. "It's mostly a formality anyway."
"I did hear about that," Shepard said happily. "Second human Spectre. Congratulations."
"Thanks. I wanted to tell you personally, but the council ordered me to keep my distance while you were under house arrest," Kaidan explained.
"Fair enough. So…" Shepard gestured toward the committee room.
"Your report about the Collector Base raised quite a few eyebrows," Kaidan began. "It finally convinced people that the Collectors were a real threat, but it wasn't enough for anyone to believe that the Reapers were involved. Most of them still think that the Collectors were working with the geth because of the husks."
"Of course they are," Shepard said tiredly. "What about Aratoht? I know why they had to lock me up over it, but my talk with Harbinger must have gotten their attention."
"It's even worse than when we tried to tell them about talking to Sovereign. There are more people calling you crazy now than there were when you first came back," Kaidan said sadly.
Shepard was angry, but before he could form a response a female officer alerted Anderson that the defense committee was ready.
"Good luck in there, Commander," Kaidan said.
Shepard nodded in thanks as he walked away. As he walked toward the committee room, Shepard noticed James Vega approach Kaidan.
"You must know the commander pretty well," Vega said.
"That's one way of putting it," Kaidan replied dryly.
Shepard simply smirked.
Kaidan did not think the phrase "all Hell broke loose" could be any more accurate than it was at that moment. Everyone watched in horror as Reaper capital ships descended through the clouds while Shepard was talking to the defense committee. One Reaper shot something near the building. People and furniture went flying as windows shattered and electronics exploded from the intense force of the beam. It was only the reflexive use of his biotics that held Kaidan in place and kept him from being shredded.
As the dust started to settle, Kaidan looked desperately for any sign of other survivors as he suppressed the urge to vomit at the smell of blood and burning flesh. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Lieutenant Vega regaining consciousness and rushed over to help him.
"Major?" Vega groaned. "What happened?"
"The Reapers are here," Kaidan explained as he helped Vega to his feet. "We need to get to the Normandy."
"We can't just leave these people!" Vega argued.
"It's too late for them. Every moment we spend here gives the Reapers another chance to fry us," Kaidan said as he looked around for any sign of another survivor.
"So you're just going to run off and abandon everyone here?" Vega demanded.
"The alternative is to stay and get killed by the Reapers. Or worse. If that's what you want, I'm not going to waste my time dragging you out," Kaidan snapped. He stormed over to a damaged weapons locker. He was able to force it open and was relieved to find several functioning Avengers inside.
"God help me," Vega muttered as he walked over to the locker to grab his own Avenger. As he modified his weapon with incendiary ammo he heard Kaidan say something to Anderson on his communicator.
"Let's go," Kaidan said, motioning toward the empty window and erecting a barrier.
As they left the grounds, Kaidan was contacted by Anderson again. They agreed to meet at the Normandy. Kaidan hid his relief at hearing Anderson say that he was patching in Shepard.
On the way to the dock, they were set upon by a swarm of husks. Kaidan immediately reached out with his biotics, wrapping about a dozen of them in a blue sphere that lifted them off the ground. Kaidan heard the familiar sound of an assault rifle and saw the husks he missed fall to the ground in flames. He was impressed that he didn't even need to give the order to shoot the stragglers. Kaidan immediately sent a throw field at the husks that were floating helplessly in the air, launching them so high and so fast that they seemed to disappear among the chaos of the invasion. Kaidan knew from his previous experience with husks that they would not survive the fall, so he didn't wait before he began moving again.
As the Normandy came into view, Kaidan and Vega were besieged by grotesque creatures that neither had encountered before. Their skin was a mottled brown, their heads seamlessly merged into their rounded bodies with no sign of a neck. They each had four glowing eyes and a human husk welded to an arm.
"What the hell are those things!?" Vega shouted as he dived into cover.
"I think they're batarian husks," Kaidan said as he hit one with a neural shock, having noticed the creatures' eyes. "The Reapers must have converted them on their way to Earth."
When the first wave of creature was killed, both men were horrified to see another wave rush over and consume the remains of their comrades. The creatures that did so rapidly grew some sort of armored exoskeleton.
"Looks like we're going to need to make sure there aren't any corpses," Kaidan declared. Springing from cover, he reached out with a reave field. Dark energy ate away at the creatures' flesh, making short work of the armor gained from consuming one of their own. Kaidan wildly sprayed his rifle into the monsters while their own gunfire impacted uselessly against his reinforced barrier. Just when the biotic field was about to dissipate, Kaidan launched two throw fields, carefully aiming them at targets that were spread apart. The conflicting dark energy fields reacted violently, producing two brilliant blue explosions that ripped through the creatures. The few that survived were quickly finished by the last stage of Kaidan's reave technique.
Vega had directed his focus at a different group of creatures that had been attempting to flank the two soldiers. He had a personal shield-generator, but without a proper suit of armor he couldn't fortify himself against their attacks, forcing him to fight more conservatively than he preferred. Making sure that incendiary ammo was still active on his rifle, Vega popped out to shoot the creatures. His shields were nearly depleted, but he got what he needed; the creatures were burning even as they continued their attack. While he waited for his shields to recharge, Vega hit a small switch on his rifle. The next time he left cover, it was to send a carnage round at one of the creatures in the middle of their formation. The force of the blast violently ignited the chemicals perpetuating the burn from Vega's incendiary ammo. Flames nearly disintegrated the creatures. The smell of already rotting flesh being ignited made Vega want to retch. He prepared to fire on the few remaining creatures, only to watch them be lifted into the air and thrown into a nearby wall with bone-crushing force.
"It looks like that's the last of them for now," Kaidan said, checking his surroundings to be sure. "Come on."
Both men wasted no more time boarding the Normandy. It was Kaidan's first time on the SR-2, but he had heard enough about it from Garrus, Tali, and Liara to figure out where the cockpit was.
"Joker, get us out of here!" Kaidan barked as he burst into the cockpit.
"What about Shepard and Anderson?" Joker asked.
"They won't be able to get to us here. We need to pick them up," Kaidan explained.
"Where the hell are your guards?" Vega asked as the Normandy lifted into the air.
"EDI faked an emergency in the war room and locked them in," Joker explained.
"And the retrofit team?" Vega asked, figuring there was a better time to ask who the hell EDI was.
"Locked in the lower levels and cut off from all of the Normandy's systems."
"How are we going to keep the Reapers from shooting us down?" Vega demanded to know.
"The stealth drive combined with the Reaper IFF makes us invisible as long as we don't send out any signals they don't use."
While Joker and Vega were talking, Kaidan contacted Shepard and Anderson and patched EDI in so she could pinpoint their location. She did so with little difficulty, but things went wrong when the Normandy got too close to a dreadnought that had fallen too far into the atmosphere. Joker and EDI barely had enough time to pull the Normandy out of the lethal blast range, but the shock still knocked everyone else off their feet. More worrying was that the blast had cut off communication with Shepard and Anderson. Kaidan couldn't contact them and EDI couldn't track their location. All Kaidan could do was hope that they found some other way to lead the Normandy to them.
Shepard's mind was reeling. He barely had time to process the attack on Earth and Anderson's decision to stay behind when Hackett asked him to go to Mars. He'd caught something about Liara, but what could possibly be going on there?
"This is loco!" James declared. "What the hell is the admiral sending us to Mars for?"
"I don't know," Shepard said, trying to hold back his frustration.
"Maybe Liara found something," Kaidan suggested.
"What?" Shepard and Vega asked in unison.
"She's been on Mars for the last four months, trying to find anything in the archives that could help us stop the Reapers," Kaidan explained. "About a week ago, she sent me a message saying that she might have found a lead and that she would call me again once she knew for sure. That was the last time I heard from her."
"Maybe we'll find out more when we get there," Shepard said, sounding more hopeful. "At the very least, this is our only chance to get her out of there. Both of you grab your gear."
The trip to Mars did not take long. All three were taken by surprise when they encountered Cerberus troopers outside the station. The enemy was dispatched with little difficulty, but everyone was disturbed that Cerberus was there at all. Waiting for the entrance to the research station to depressurize seemed as good a time as any to discuss the matter.
"Shepard, when you were working with Cerberus, did they say anything that might explain this attack?" Kaidan asked.
"Nothing I can think of," Shepard said. "They were rather adamant about not discussing their other projects with me."
"I thought they were fighting the Reapers like we are. Why would they attack now?" Kaidan wondered.
"Could it have something to do with whatever Dr. T'Soni found?" Vega suggested.
"Maybe," Shepard said thoughtfully. "When I destroyed the Collector base, the Illusive Man tried to convince me to keep it so we could use it against the Reapers. He was furious when I destroyed it. If he's looking for alternatives…"
"Maybe someone inside can tell us more," Kaidan said as the door to the hanger opened.
They were surprised to walk in and see Liara jump out of a vent and kill her pursuers. A part of Shepard had been expecting a rescue mission similar to Therum. Liara confirmed their suspicions that she had found something, and that Cerberus wanted it. Shepard ordered Vega to wait at the shuttle. He didn't like to weaken his manpower, but they needed cover and Vega was the best qualified to handle the shuttle out of the four of them.
Fighting through the station was not particularly difficult. Kaidan and Liara were both even stronger than when Shepard fought beside them before. As they saw what Cerberus had done to the rest of the staff, Shepard found himself wondering just how much Cerberus had been keeping from him, and how extensive their manipulation was. He put those feelings aside to comfort Liara over how hopeless everything seemed.
After getting past the automatic turret, they found themselves at a roadblock. Shepard was impressed by Kaidan's suggestion that they take a communicator off a dead trooper and try to trick the others. When they did so, however, they were horrified by what they saw under the helmet.
"He looks like… a husk," Shepard said.
"Yeah, he does," Kaidan said. "Shepard, we thought that if the Illusive Man added anything that wasn't just to bring you back it would be some sort of control device. Chakwas wasn't looking for something like this. What if…"
Shepard interrupted. "Kaidan, even if we didn't think to look for something like this, we would have found something."
"How can you be sure?" Kaidan asked. "You know what Cerberus is like, and you were completely at their mercy for two years. There's not exactly a precedent for what they did with you."
"You've seen husks before," Shepard pointed out. "Even if what Cerberus is doing to their soldiers isn't the quite the same thing, don't you think I would have started showing some sign of this by now? Do you think I could have destroyed the Collector base against orders or come back to the Alliance if they'd stuck something like this in me?"
"Yeah, I guess you're right," Kaidan said sheepishly. "I'm sorry. It's just… I lost you once already, and it felt like I'd lost a limb. I guess I'm a bit paranoid about something happening to you again."
"It's okay. I'd be worried too if I were in your position," Shepard said. "And for what it's worth, I don't plan on going anywhere for at least another hundred-twenty years."
"So you planned your first death?" Kaidan asked, raising an eyebrow.
"No," Shepard admitted awkwardly, "but this time I'll make sure it won't happen. You know what I mean."
"Right," Kaidan said dryly. "Come on. Let's draw out those troopers."
Everything seemed to go wrong once they got to the archives. If Vega hadn't shown up when he did, they probably would have lost the data. Shepard honestly didn't know whether he should kiss Vega or punch him for his methods.
While Shepard talked to Vega about their next move, Kaidan went to help Liara, who was closest to the crash. It was right after she reminded everyone that they needed to get the data that Eva burst out of the wreckage. Her artificial epidermis and hair were gone, but she looked no worse for wear functionally. Kaidan immediately pushed Liara to a safe distance and attacked Eva with his biotics, only to find them dispersed by some sort of advanced shielding. Kaidan was so shocked that he didn't have time to react before he was backhanded and lifted into the air by his helmet.
"Let him go! Now!" Shepard demanded, his pistol trained on them both.
Eva ignored him, raising her hand to her communicator. "Orders?"
Kaidan knew that any answer the Illusive Man gave wouldn't end well for him, so he didn't wait for him to give one. Seeing no other option, he slammed his omni-tool into the arm that was keeping him suspended. Everyone else watched in horror as blue lightning arced over both figures for several seconds.
Kaidan's desperate ploy worked. Eva lost her grip on him as she stumbled backwards. The moment Kaidan was out of the line of fire, Shepard unloaded a thermal clip into the mech. Eva didn't even have time to prepare another attack before she fell to the ground, motionless.
"James, grab that thing!" Shepard barked, motioning to the prone mech as he and Liara rushed to Kaidan's side. Relief swelled through him as they saw Kaidan blinking through his helmet's visor.
"Goddess, Kaidan, are you all right?" Liara asked.
"I think so," Kaidan said tentatively. "My shields absorbed most of the shock. The headache's not as bad as the ones I get from my implants."
"Don't ever do that to me again," Shepard said as he helped Kaidan to his feet.
"I promise nothing."
Joker interrupted them over the comm as the Normandy landed. "Commander, we've got Reaper signatures in orbit!"
The squad wasted no time rushing up the loading ramp, Vega carrying Eva over his shoulder. The Normandy took off as Reapers appeared in the sky.
Shepard decided to keep Eva in the AI core for lack of any better options. Kaidan and Liara immediately got to work recovering the data she stole while Shepard ordered Joker to head for the Citadel.
"Commander, we are receiving a hail from Admiral Hackett," EDI said.
"Go ahead, Shepard. We've got this," Kaidan told him.
Liara walked in with the recovered data while Shepard was talking to Hackett. He turned to her once the admiral disconnected.
"Where's Kaidan?"
"He's running some scans on himself, making sure there's no damage from what happened on Mars," Liara explained. "He plans to get a proper examination once we reach the Citadel."
Shepard talked a bit with Liara about how hard it was to believe that they had something that could stop the Reapers before heading back to check on things.
When they arrived at the Citadel, Shepard was surprised when Armando Bailey greeted them. He was not surprised that the council wanted to see him immediately.
"Commander," Kaidan said to Bailey, "can you tell me where the nearest medical center is? We had an… incident, before we got here, and I need to be checked out."
"You want Huerta Memorial. It's the best on the Citadel," Bailey said.
"Thanks." Kaidan turned to Shepard. "I can't really tell the council anything that you can't, so I'll have this taken care of while you talk to them."
"Right. I'll come see you as soon as I'm done."
Shepard had not expected the meeting with the council to go well, but he was still disappointed that they wouldn't help. He had not been expecting Councilor Sparatus to offer anything, but when he pointed Shepard in the direction of Primarch Fedorian, Shepard couldn't help but be grateful to him.
As promised, Shepard went to Huerta Memorial Hospital to check on Kaidan. Finding out that Dr. Michelle was in charge was a pleasant surprise. She directed Shepard to Kaidan's exam room after a brief chat to catch up.
Shepard walked into the exam room to see a very familiar doctor checking Kaidan over.
"Dr. Chakwas? What are you doing here?"
She turned around to face Shepard. "It's good to see you again, Commander. I came as soon as I heard one of the Normandy's crew had been injured."
"She insisted on examining me personally," Kaidan said dryly. "You got here just in time for the diagnosis."
Chakwas chuckled as she turned back to Kaidan. "As you suspected, your hardsuit's shield-capacitor absorbed the shock from your attack, so you managed to avoid electrocuting yourself. You did come dangerously close to damaging your amp, however. Your worst injury is some bruising on your skull from where that mech was crushing your helmet."
"So I can get back in the action right away?" Kaidan asked.
"I would prefer you rested for a few days, but I know what we're facing, and I know you. I do have to ask that you at least take extra care to avoid head injuries until the bruising has healed."
"I can handle that."
"Good. Now, Shepard, when the two of you are done in here, I would like to speak to you out in the lobby."
"Of course."
After Chakwas left, Shepard turned his attention to Kaidan. "Are you sure you want to get back in the fight right away? You did mention having a headache back on Mars."
"I've had worse migraines and kept going," Kaidan pointed out. "Besides, you know even better than I do that we really can't afford to take that much time off."
"Fair enough," Shepard conceded. "So, got any plans?"
"While you were talking to Udina, Tevos came by to talk to me about what I was going to do next. She had places she wanted to send me, but I told her that I intend to stay on the Normandy. Knowing you, you'll want to unite the galaxy and get that device we found on Mars built," Kaidan said. "You'll need all the help you can get for that."
"Are you sure? If you can do more somewhere else…"
"I'm sure," Kaidan insisted. "There are plenty of things I can help with remotely, and to be honest, I don't trust Tevos's priorities. Not after what she said when you asked for help building the device."
"How do you know about that?" Shepard asked.
"She gave me an overview of your meeting. It wasn't hard to put things together."
"Are you really sure about this, Kaidan? I don't want to hold you back," Shepard admitted.
Kaidan shook his head and got off the exam table. Putting his hands on Shepard's shoulders, he said, "Shepard, I'm not going anywhere. We started this together, and that's how we're going to end it."
"Okay," Shepard said, smiling. "So, anything you need to do before we go back to the Normandy?"
"My suit's shield-capacitor is a lost cause, so I need to get it replaced. I also need to get my helmet fixed so it's not pressing into my head. Other than that, pretty much everything I own was back on Earth. Except for my armor, all I have is what I'm wearing now, so I'll have to pick up some essentials."
"All right. I'll see back there."
After Shepard went over the ship and checking on the rest of the crew, he found Kaidan in the starboard observatory.
"Hey, Kaidan. Settling in?"
Kaidan turned to face him. "Yeah. Didn't have much to unpack, but I kind of like living lean."
"Good," Shepard said. "So, what do you think of the new Normandy?"
"Whatever else I can say about Cerberus, they know what they're doing with ships. This thing blows the old Normandy out of the water."
"Yeah," Shepard agreed. "Anyway, I've been thinking."
"Uh-oh."
"Funny. Anyway, it occurred to me that we haven't had a real chance to talk since I came back. Every time we've seen it other it wasn't much more than a sit-rep. How about you come up to my cabin later so we can catch up properly?" Shepard suggested.
"That sounds good," Kaidan said. "I have a few things I need to finish up, so just call me up when you're ready."
Kaidan couldn't believe his eyes when he walked into the captain's cabin.
"Who the hell puts a cabin like this in a warship?" he asked, eying the fish tank.
"I think they were just trying to make me comfortable so they could manipulate me," Shepard said. "Once I dug out all the listening devices I figured I might as well enjoy it."
Kaidan just shook his head in disbelief.
"So," Shepard said as he held up a whiskey bottle, "I picked this up while we were on the Citadel. What do you say we crack it open?"
"You really know the way to a guy's heart, Shepard," Kaidan said with a smile as he took the offered glass.
"You headbutted a krogan!?" Kaidan asked. As familiar as he was with Shepard's modus operandi, he was still shocked by what he had just heard.
"It worked when Wrex did it," Shepard said defensively. "Besides, Uvenk was an asshole. Garrus and Tali will both tell you that he deserved it. The shaman thought it was hilarious."
They had talked for hours. Shepard told Kaidan everything about the mission against the Collectors, from waking up in the Lazarus Station to turning himself in after the mess with the Alpha Relay. Even with the reports he had gotten, Kaidan enjoyed hearing everything straight from Shepard's mouth.
The conversation turned to what Kaidan had been doing in the previous two years. Kaidan told Shepard about missions he had done, the students he was training, and his promotions. When Shepard asked about Kaidan's family, Kaidan looked sad and worried like Shepard had expected, but he also looked like he was leaving something out. Shepard decided that it wasn't the time to press the issue, so he turned the subject to the improvements he'd noticed in Kaidan's biotics. Things got interesting at that point. Kaidan talked about a doctor at Alliance HQ that had taken Kaidan on as her pet project and the regimen she had him on.
"My biotics are stronger than ever. I don't know if it's the meds, or… Maybe some things just get better with age."
"Or maybe you have," Shepard said before he could stop himself. Shepard immediately berated himself mentally for saying that.
Kaidan had his glass half-way to his lips when he stopped to stare at Shepard. "Are you… flirting with me, Commander? Wait. Don't tell me. Let me live in the illusion," he said before Shepard could answer.
Shepard figured it was best not to push his luck. It was enough for the moment that Kaidan at least wasn't repulsed by the idea. The possibility that he would be receptive was more than Shepard dared to hope for.
"So," Shepard said, deciding it would be a good time to change the subject, "how did you become the second human Spectre?"
"It turns out that the Spectres believed our original warnings after Sovereign's attack," Kaidan began.
"Really?"
Kaidan nodded. "Their options were limited with the council and their own governments denying everything, but they still prepared for the invasion behind the scenes."
"What does this have to do with you becoming one?" Shepard interrupted.
"Jondum Bau – he was recruited from the Salarian Special Tasks Groups – decided that, between my record and my part in stopping Sovereign, it would be a good idea to bring me into the loop. While you were dealing with the Collectors, he was evaluating me, like Nihlus was supposed to do with you. That mission to Joab I told you about was one of my tests."
"Did he know that you tipped me off about the beacon?"
"Yes," Kaidan said awkwardly. "I thought I covered my tracks, but he wasn't fooled for a moment. Fortunately, he was nice enough not to say anything until after I was inducted. He was actually impressed; said it was proof that I understand what being a Spectre is about."
"Lucky you," Shepard said, smiling. "So, what kinds of things were the Spectres doing?"
"They were mostly trying to get their militaries prepared; not an easy task when the brass denies the threat, but they made some progress. They also focused on weeding out indoctrinated agents," Kaidan explained. "Korym Venkel – she was originally part of the Turian Blackwatch – came up with an idea to detect indoctrinated agents trying to get onto the Citadel. Of course, with the council refusing to acknowledge the Reapers, she couldn't present it that way, so she repackaged it into a plan to pick out geth infiltrators. They were very happy to approve that proposal."
"So that's where all the extra security came from," Shepard mused. "Although…"
"I know," Kaidan interrupted. "She had some choice words about C-Sec's implementation when I asked her about it."
"I should hope so," Shepard said sardonically.
"You know, Shepard," Kaidan said tentatively, "I've been wondering; just what was it like coming back from the dead. Do you remember anything?"
Shepard was silent for a moment.
"Shepard? If you don't want to talk about it, that's…"
"No, it's okay. I just realized that you're the first person to ask me that," Shepard said with a sad smile. "I don't really remember anything; not from when I was actually dead. I was losing consciousness as my suit ruptured, then the next thing I knew there was some sort of commotion, something about how I wasn't ready yet, and Miranda was looking down at me, though I didn't know who she was at the time. When I woke up properly, the station was under attack. Everything else is a complete blank; like waking up from a dreamless sleep."
"Wow," Kaidan said after a short silence. "I think maybe you had the right idea when you mentioned trying not to think about it."
Shepard nodded in agreement. "You know, I actually spent that entire mission waiting for someone to ask me that question. I don't know if they just weren't interested or if they were afraid to ask. It feels good to finally talk about it with someone."
"You know I'm always here for that, Shepard," Kaidan promised.
"I know," Shepard said smiling, "I think that's one of the things I missed most during the Collector mission. The rest of the crew was great – old and new – but it still didn't feel quite right without you there. It's good to have you back."
"It's good to be back."
A/N: Without the reconciliation arc, I figured there would be no reason to take Kaidan out of the action, so I had him remember his powers.
Also, a couple notes over how things would have gone with Ashley. When the first Reaper shot the HQ, she would have been standing in a different spot and had to dodge a flying table, while she would have solved the confrontation with Eva by dropping a grenade between the two of them and letting that knock her to safety.