Chapter 22: Battle Plan
"Shepard I'm picking up turian distress signals in orbit!" E.D.I announced.
Shepard cocked her head back at Ashley who was still leaned against the wall. "Friends of yours?" Shepard questioned.
"Feldmen wanted no chance of you escaping." Ashley replied not looking at Shepard still unable to move her body. "If I didn't kill you the turians were going to shoot down any ship leaving the planet."
"I bet if I still had eyes the wreckage would be awesome." Joker sarcastically added.
"I'm so glad I can start hitting the mute button on you Joker."Shepard grunted. "Any sign of the ships that did this?" Shepard questioned.
"Scans show a large number of ships have just left the system." E.D.I answered.
"Well the way it looks Ash you've got a choice to make." Shepard said in mock cheerfulness, nealing down to her friend. "The Reapers have most likely smashed Feldmen's blockade and given the fact that he sent you alone with a turian fleet means you got made a Spectre."
"What are you planing?" Ashley questioned, suspicious of Shepard intentions.
"This ship can get us to the Citadel before my fleet starts shooting and hopefully we'll make it before the Reapers can do any real damage."
"So you want me to use my spectre status to get you on the Citadel?" Ashley glared angrily at Shepard. Shepard left her and many Alliance soldiers to die when Omega exploded and now she had the nerve to start asking her for favors. "Why should I?" She snapped.
"Because the alternative involves many casualties. Mostly civilians and you and I both know you don't want that on your conscience." Shepard whispered, leaning into Ashley's face, malice lacing each word.
"Bitch!" Ashley grunted. Shepard was right of course. Shepard knew exactly how to push Ashley's buttons. Ashley is a good person, Shepard isn't and this was something she could use.
"Ash we both know I won't mind letting a bunch of civs die in order to accomplish my goals. Now what would that higher power say knowing you could have... "
"Ok!" Ashley angrily interrupted.
Shepard nodded in approval. "Good and you'll regain control of your limbs in a couple minutes." She said reassuringly. Shepard stood back up and looked toward Joker's control panel. "Chart a new course for the Citadel Joker and E.D.I I want you to send a message to Liara on Lusia detailing the new plan!"
"Of course commander." E.D.I responded
"Don't tell me we're fighting the Reapers!" Joker whined.
Shepard laughed but then stopped herself. "We're fighting the Reapers!"
"Damn it!"
The asari colony of Lusia was the starting point for the Krogan rebellion and now the site of a new rebellion to take back the Citadel. A council of matriarchs, rouge Systems Alliance admirals and Shepard's mercenary army have met here to discuss going about taking back the Citadel.
So for they have gotten nowhere. The asari matriarchs wanted to send in Shepard's mercenaries and the Alliance ships lead by admirals/ captains that went rouge after Feldmen's rise to chancellor and the failed invasion of Omega in as a distraction force while the asari fleet moves in once the Citadel fleet was weakened. The human admirals dismissed the idea as asari cowardice in the face of a real fight.
The asari fleet had many more ships available and more were coming in from Thessia. The Alliance ships available consisted of several frigates, cruisers and the dreadnought Shasta. Liara spoke in Shepard's absence and so far she's just watched members of her very own species bicker and adult humans whine at every thing proposed. "No wonder Shepard shoots so many people." She thought to her self slouching on the table. She had gotten a message from Shepard before the meaning explaining the change in plans and was told to "make some thing happen."
Liara flashed her omni tool and began to send data to every matriarch in the room. The room became dead quiet, with the exception of whispering from the other side of the room. "What is this?" on of the asari demanded.
"Information that if it was to get out would cripple Thessia and several asari colonies." Liara sighed, continuing to type on her omni tool. Seconds later the Alliance admirals omni tools began to chime at once. "And that is some of the Alliance's very own dirty laundry."
Liara stood up from her chair, staring menacingly at every one in the room as she walked around the table. "The information I have and by extension Shepard puts us in a much better position after we take the Citadel wont it?"
"You've got some nerve pure blood!" An older looking asari yelled from across the table.
"How did you get this?" An Alliance admiral questioned.
Liara smiled in reply to the slur and turned in the direction of the human admiral. "Simple I'm the Shadow Broker." She answered simply and to the point.
The room exploded into whispers an gasps. Liara found a little humor in using a title she hadn't used in twelve years. "Now I realize retaking the Citadel will be no easy task but we have much greater issues." She grunted.
Liara used her omni tool to project an image of Omega as the Reapers swarmed out of the Omega four relay and attacked the alliance fleet. "This is what happened at Omega." Liara explained, turning off the projection. " That is what will happen to the rest of the Galaxy if you all don't start coming up with ideas and cease this idiotic arguing!" She said, raising her voice to emphasize her point.
"As we speak the Reapers are getting closer to the Citadel to bring in their entire fleet and if we don't figure something out we might as well all be dead!" She snapped, sitting back down in her chair.
"Right now Shepard is on her way with a spectre she captured to the Citadel. Once there she'll go to Citadel control and take out the Citadel controllers." Liara explained. "In the confusion she'll get to Citadel tower and signal us to strike."
Liara looked all around the room all eyes were on her. "Comments? Criticism?"
"Excellent, we need to move all available ships in the next few hours." Liara stated, in a commanding tone of voice. Liara of course wasn't surprised at all by the protest from some of the matriarchs.
"Impossible!" one shouted.
"It will at least take a day for additional forces from Thessia to..."
"There won't be a tomorrow if we don't leave inn the next few hours!" An alliance admiral that Liara recognized as Shepard's father shouted. "My daughter has fought those things time and again, only to be ignored by aliens like all you!" He yelled, pointing a accusing finger at the other asari.
"If she says we've got a few hours then the Shasta and the rest of the Alliance fleet wont sit here while you scared girls hid and what for your fleet!"
"That must be where she gets it from." Liara thought, watching the Admiral rail away at the asari at the other side of the room who combined must have been centuries older than the both of them put together. "So I take that to mean the human fleet is ready Admiral Shepard?"
The admiral looked at the younger asari and nodded. "Ready at your word."
AN/ Two chapters left until the final epic conclusion (which still has yet to be picked) of Dark Avenger! Reading back I noticed Liara doesn't get enough alone time and I figured this was a good place to put it. It originaly was Shepard in that scene and Liara said nothing until she brings up a cheap plot device that I threw out. (Cheaper than the clones I brought up earlier in the story.)
Any way please review and tell me what you think of the story.