The Intelligence

A Mass Effect 3 story

Chapter one: Aftermath

"All fleets the Crucible is armed, disengage and head to the rendezvous point."

The Normandy circled the Citadel, Joker ignoring Hackett's command. He couldn't leave the Commander behind, not now.

"I repeat: disengage and get the hell out of here."

Joker still did not listen, then someone put a hand on his shoulder. "Joker listen…we have to go." said Garrus.

"Damn it." said Joker hoarsely.

The Normandy turned and jumped to FTL. A blue sphere blasted out of the Citadel and slowly enveloped Earth. All Reapers hit by the blast remained still for a few minutes, blue energy flickering across their bodies like electricity. Then one by one, they took to the sky and were gone. The cries and shouts of triumph and relief were soon cushioned by the vacuum of space. A beam shot from the Crucible and into the Sol Relay. The Relay span rapidly and then shot the beam onward to other Relays. With each Relay hit, the Reapers left. City by city and planet by planet they left. The beam was catching up with the Normandy. Joker was having no problem keeping the Normandy distant from it though. Then a planet approached them and there was no avoiding the inevitable crash.

Liara gasped awake. She was sweating and quickly looking about her surroundings. She was relieved to find that she was in the temporary cabin that had been placed outside the crashed Normandy for her. "Another dream about the battle." She thought. Three days had passed since that fateful day. She had been having the dream ever since they had landed on the planet. Every time she had that dream she began to think of Shepard. A single tear rolled down her cheek, she couldn't handle the sadness of losing her love. Earths greatest and wisest leader had sacrificed his life so that the galaxy could live. She missed him so much, all those years they spent together.

Liara wasn't the only person mourning Shepard. The whole crew had shut themselves away to mourn the commander. Even Javik, a ruthless Prothean soldier, hadn't said a word for the past three days. Next to Liara, Joker and Garrus had been the most affected. He had been their best friend who always put others before himself. A selfless Commander and a very rare soul. Never once did he say he couldn't do a mission, never once had he put himself before others. But everyone knew the relationship Liara had with Shepard, and knew that she was heartbroken and the most affected.

They had sent out a distress signal to any Alliance ships in the system and were waiting for them to bring repair materials. Traynor was the only one out of the group that was monitoring the QEC so that the Alliance ships could find them.

Liara looked at the picture of Shepard she had on her bedside desk. The more she looked, the more she cried. Suddenly there came a beep at the door. Liara wiped the tears off her face, "Come in."

The doors light flashed and Traynor walked in. "Sorry to disturb you Dr T'soni, but Admiral Hackett ship is in orbit. He is coming down as well as bringing supplies and he would like all of the crew to meet him." She said.

"Thank you Traynor. I'll….I'll be out in a minute."

"Please don't rush Dr T'soni." Traynor said with understanding.

She turned and walked out of the door. Liara sat in thought. They never did find out what had happened to the Reapers, she wanted to find out. She had prayed every night that Shepard had not died in vain. She slowly walked out of the cabin and into the sunlight. They were all camped outside the Normandy in a clearing. The rest of the crew had also come out of their temporary cabins and were looking up at the sky. They didn't say a word to each other. Liara walked over and stood next to Garrus. He gave her a small smile, which she returned, but it still wasn't going to make her feel any better. Then they saw a Kodiak shuttle flying in towards them. It landed and Admiral Hackett stepped out. He looked at the crew and then at the Normandy. It needed serious work and repairs, the hull was buckled inwards and there were chunks of the Normandy had been ripped off. He turned back to the crew, "Is everyone okay?" He asked.

They all nodded slowly but didn't say a word. Hackett knew perfectly well why. He had some explaining to do.