Chapter 2;
Shepherd roused in a somewhat familiar setting, his eyes struggling to adjust to the gloom. As he tried to move he was met by sharp unbearable pains throughout his body, he gasped as he hastily lay back trying to make sense of the situation. His mind was hazy, he couldn't quite piece together the past events, had he really made it out of that reaper ship or was this all just some crazy nightmare. He heard footsteps and braced himself unsure of his surroundings, after waking in that Cerberus facility some months earlier he wasn't prepared to take any chances. 'Commander your awake,' exclaimed a familiar voice.
'Dr Chakwas is that you', he questioned carefully trying to adjust his eyes in the semi darkness of the room, 'Commander try to stay still you took quite a beating back there, it's a miracle your still with us'. She moved closer pressing buttons that caused a series of monitors to flicker to life basking his body in an eerie green glow. She cautiously observed the reading and noted them down on her omnitool before turning to face him with a wry smile she said 'I'm so glad you made it, I don't know what we would have done without you?'
He groaned as he enquired, what's going on, did everyone make it out, where are we?
Commander slow down, you took a severe blow to the head amongst other quite life threatening injuries, Garrus and Miranda managed to haul you off the reaper and back to the Normandy just in time. You were in pretty bad shape but I have done my best to patch you back up. It'll be a few weeks mind before you are charging back into battle'. There it was the thing that pulled him back to the reality of the situation, 'Miranda', in that moment nothing else mattered, had she made it out alive? He struggled to a seated position fighting every nerve in his body, 'Did she make it out?' He stammered as he tried to remain composed.
'Who?'
'Miranda' he almost shouted, 'Where is she, did she make it?', his voice visible quavered as he pleaded with her to tell him, he needed to know nothing else mattered.
'She's alive commander in fact she has kept a bed side visual since we got you back to the Normandy, she has not left your side in days, poor girl is exhausted. I had Jacob carry her to her room for some much needed rest, she refused to allow me to tend her wounds all she wanted was for you to come back to her, willing it with every fibre in her body for you to make it through.'
Relieved shepherd relaxed back on the med bay cot, he drew a deep breath before he asked 'and what about the rest of the crew did everyone make it out alive?' he felt a slight pang of guilt when he realised that the very survival of his crew had come somewhat secondary to his own needs and desires.
Her face visible pained Dr Chakwas turned away from him, tears forming in her eyes at the painful memory of what had come before. 'We lost two before we had made it back to the Normandy, attacked by husks, they were every were, panic broke out amongst the survivors, everyone scattered unsure and frightened. We were soon over run, Mordin tried his best but there were too many for him to take on and the rest of us were in no condition to fight them off. Many were badly injured and had to be aided back to the Normandy, everyone has worked tirelessly to heal the wounded, but I fear it will not be enough to heal those terrible scars they will bear for the rest of their lives, how are you supposed to move on from this Shepherd, how do you live with such atrocity, its unbearable'. She choked out before momentarily pausing to took note, she wouldn't allow herself to be that emotional, that weak in front of the Commander, she needed him to be strong for the sake of those on board, for the galaxy. She sighed heavily before recounting the events of the past few days.
'We lost another as we passed through the reaper field, the Normandy came under heavy fire as we attempted to make it back to the Omega four relay. The rear of the ship was breached by a devastating attack unleashed by the reaper as it fell. Make shift repairs were made and airlocks were sealed, we could all but hope that they would hold as we passed through the relay, the reaper in close pursuit. When we drew close enough to the relay, Garrus activated the bomb you had managed to plant in its core. We barely escaped as the flames tore through the reaper, almost engulfing the Normandy. I feared we would not make after all you had been through to rescue us but thanks to Jeff and EDI we made it out largely alive with only a few minor casualties as we, nothing worse than a few broken bones', those men and women have you to thank for bringing them back safely to their families shepherd.'
'Commander ill allow you to rest,' he barely heard her as she made the way from the med bay, laying back in the thickening silence trying to take it all in, desperately wanting to make sense of it all, he remembered the illusive man appearing over video comm. Telling him, no pleading with him to not destroy the Reaper. How could retaining such an abomination possible prove a benefit to mankind, it needed to be destroyed at any costs, he would not allow others to witness the horror he had faced. He realised in that moment that the illusive man had sought to manipulate him into his bidding, this was not some galactic crusade to rid the galaxy of this terrifying scourge, it was more personal, more sinister than he could of ever imagined.
Cerberus was no different, except they were perhaps less pro human that Shepherd had previously believed, now he was unsure what they stood for beyond the illusive mans own disillusioned gains. He realised they had been betrayed, sent blindly into someone else's fight, used as pawns in his game. But for what purpose, what did the illusive man stand to gain from this and why did he go to so much effort to obtain shepherd to revive him at such a cost. He dwelled on this thought unable in that moment to comprehend the scale of the situation. He urged his body to move to stand up, he had work to do, he had to warn the council, something was coming and they needed to prepare, they had ignored his foretelling in the past he prayed that this time they would heed his warning, however his mind weary from excursion desperately ushered him into a deep dreamless sleep.
