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Chapter 9, One sure thing

Hannah Shepard was a reasonable woman, a wise woman, but not this day.

She'd been pacing her private cabin for at least thirty minutes. For an Alliance cabin, it was quite luxurious, but that was for Alliance. A bed in the corner of course, a bit too soft her liking. A small desk, crammed on the starboard wall together with comms equipment. Three metal chairs circled a tiny round table, one of the chairs touching the port wall. Metal, a metal table... metal... a metal chair...

A lifetime ago, she had walked the halls of the Destiny Ascension with her husband; the pair were even invited to the Captain's quarters. The huge walkways, the splendid three story observation windows, the soft sofas, had left a big impression on the young Captain. Within the Captain's quarters, she'd seen a seating area with leather couches, easily larger than her entire cabin. She now recalled the young Hannah being struck with a small bout of claustrophobia, after coming back aboard her own vessel. Come on Hannah, you've never been obsessed with luxuries!

During the Reaper War, Karli had sent her a letter with a picture. In her letter she'd raved about her spacious shower, decrying the fact that her own mother still had to use the cramped Alliance facilities. The picture held Karli in her private quarters, arms crossed, with a small smile on her face. Hannah had noticed how spacious her daughter's cabin appeared, and the large fish tank behind her. A fish tank that large... on a ship? That's five hundred showers!

She was annoyed by her own discomfort, and tried to find the source of her unease.

Karli's call, of course.

She felt the urge to do something, to run, to exercise; anything to release energy, but as she looked around the small cabin, she sighed and continued pacing. Four steps to the bed... one, two, three, four. Four steps to the wall.

Hannah felt empty. She had spent almost her entire life on Alliance ships; her honeymoon had been on a ship, even Karli had been born on a ship, The proudest day of my life! at this point, it was hard to imagine living outside an Alliance vessel. A sickening feeling suddenly rose in her stomach: Will I just grow old and die here?

Mark had died defending the Alliance. Looking back, that war had been completely pointless. Aren't all wars pointless? - Hannah! That's definitely not a soldier's thought!

The First Contact War robbed young Karli Shepard of her father. Hannah tried to be brave, and carried on like a good soldier would, but losing her husband left a terrible scar that would never heal. She grieved, and felt deeply hurt for Karli; the lively little girl would remember little, if anything of the warm, caring man that had given her life. Those first few months after Mark died, she had mechanically performed her duties, any spare time was spent with Karli in their tiny living quarters.

She closed her eyes, and exhaled; in her mind, she saw young Karli, 6, maybe 7 years old, playing with a few broken toys in their small cabin. Karli, on her 12th birthday, her favorite strawberry fruit shake in hand, in front of an observation window, studying the heavens. Barely 20, saying goodbye to go attend the N7 program. She is my everything, how come we have lost touch all these years?

Suddenly very relieved, she took a few deep breaths. I will see her soon! Thessia, a few weeks, it will be great to see her again. My girl... and the asari.

Oh my goodness, they are talking about kids together!

Once, only once had she seen the asari; Karli had introduced her during a short vid call, and on that one minute impression she did not dare make a character judgement, she was wiser than that. When Hannah had visited her daughter in the hospital, right after the Reaper war, Liara and the Normandy were still missing.

When Karli was born, humanity was still the only species in the galaxy. The Alliance was focused on exploration, and establishing colonies. That was Hannah's passion, and she excelled in it. She vividly remembered the huge shock that rocked Earth, when the first images of extraterrestrial life came flooding over the comms; things would never be the same from that point on. What was it? Thirty years? And now we are discussing interspecies relationships... how can one keep up with that?

Aliens were extremely rare on an Alliance vessel, for obvious reasons. Every race made sure to protect its secrets, strengths and weaknesses. There were a few exceptions, like the original Normandy, which had been designed and built together with the turians. If an Alliance marine met an alien, it was usually with raised guns, in a combat situation.

She... seems like a nice person, and Karli's obviously taken with her. My daughter's happiness should come first, right? Holy Shit! Can I even love an asari grandchild?

Not being able to stand on her suddenly wobbly legs, she grabbed one of the small metal chairs, and plopped down, deflated. What would Mark say about all this? She looked over to her nightstand, which held a picture of them on their wedding day. I still miss you, Mark. I need your strength.

With a tender smile, she studied the young man in the photograph. You would have been such a great father... Can you believe all the things our daughter has accomplished? Can you see our little girl, Mark?

All of a sudden, she jumped into action. Within a few minutes she'd talked to Alliance headquarters, securing time away to visit Karli; then scoured her cabin for which things to pack, and what to leave.

The hair on her arms stood straight up: Am I even coming back here?

She startled herself with that random thought, and found her metal chair again. Hannah thought about her life in the military, and what she had accomplished. What could possibly be her goal in the Alliance for the next three, five years?

I am 64 years old, and an Admiral of the fleet. What do I want to do with the rest of my life? Retire on Earth? I don't know anyone there. Stay here? For what? Live on Thessia to be close to Karli? CanI live on an alien planet? I could sit on the admiralty board, and just have meetings all day long. What do you want, Hannah?

Many things fell by the wayside. The one thing she was sure of, she would see her girl soon, and that brought light to her heart.

6 months earlier

Jeremy Vettock had never visited an alien world before, and to his surprise, he found himself in the middle of an asari town, surrounded by the blue aliens, and the batarian slavers. Like Garrus, he could hardly believe they had the audacity to continue their crimes so shortly after Crucible day. His top-notch camo system kept him safe, as long as he didn't step squarely in front of an enemy scanner. Seven, eight, eight enemies in the town square. Let's make another circle, have to be sure.

Fourteen days after Jeremy had completed his N7 training, the Reapers landed on Earth. At first his classmates had teased him with it, "The Reapers were waiting for you to graduate!" but that ceased quickly when the extent of the carnage became clear. His classmates had disappeared one by one; some were moved south to fight the Reapers, other were picked up by Hackett's fleet. I haven't seen any of them since, could some of them still be alive?

Moving towards his right, he took great care to place his feet on the sandy ground, avoiding twigs and bricks. You would think such an advanced species could build a decent road. At the eastern most point of town, he paused and scanned the area with his binoculars. Nothing new, eight enemies remain in the square. Slowly he proceeded up the hill, brushing aside the tall weeds.

In Birmingham, Vettock and 3 classmates had been picked up by a cloaked shuttle, and it had been the last shuttle out of Britain that month. Most were detected and destroyed, it was sheer luck they had found their way onto the fleet. The shuttle had docked with the SSV Libra, and Jeremy was surprised to find Captain Shepard as the commanding officer, only to find out later it was Shepard senior. Together they'd prepared for operation Hammer. She'd made fun of his strong british accent, and he could not help but notice a tired woman behind the cheery facade; she hid it very well, but Vettock posessed an uncanny ability to read people.

Behind him, suddenly the sound of gunfire; like lightning he went to ground, and checked his camo system. Not targeting me. To confirm his conclusion, a single female voice cried out from the town.

Operation Hammer had been his watershed moment. During the run on the beam, his Mako had been destroyed, and he'd been stuck under the vehicle for two hours. That's what saved his life, as he watched everybody die trying to reach the Reaper portal. After the crucible fired, he'd walked the dead zone, images that would haunt his dreams for years to come. Those hours stripped him of his youthful bravado and recklessness, and defined him for the rest of his life.

He took out his binoculars again, and focused on the town square. To his shock, the batarians had tied up the Matriarch, and circled her with a torture device.

*Vettock, come in.*

Jeremy initiated his helmet comms: *Go ahead, Major Alenko.*

*Have you completed your sweep?*

*I have just reached the top of the hill on the east side of town. There are eight enemies in the centre, they have tied up the Matriach in the town square, and started to torture her. Give me fifteen minutes to reach the hill on the west side.*

*Torture? Wh... we will be there in three Jeremy, we go now!*

The small asari town was surrounded by low hills, which were covered in tall, brown grasses. In the center of town stood a large building, likely a temple, where the batarians had rounded up all inhabitants. There had been some fighting, but the resistance collapsed when the batarians had bound the town's Matriarch in the market square.

"Garrus," whispered the Spectre, in the safety of their cover, "take Vettock, Vega, and five men and circle left. I will take the rest of the squad, and circle right. Wait for my signal... I will meet you in the centre." Kaidan's plan was basic, but perfectly fit the situation.

"Mmm, Kaidan, let's hold off for five minutes, I'd like to get one man up on a hill for a good view."

"What's the matter Vakarian, you getting old? I want to move in before that Matriach dies, we go now, there's only eight of them!"

Garrus sighed, surprised that he would even have to explain this. "Exactly my point, there could be... Damn!" Alenko had already left the safety of the wall, taking his small squad towards the temple building.

"One of these days..." grumbled Garrus, while he moved his own squad. He motioned to James to lead them into the centre of town, while he brought up the rear. They made sure to use of all available cover, the batarians still had not noticed them...

Kaidan's plan was working perfectly. They had the enemy surrounded, and the fight would be very brief, if it was to be called a fight at all, civilian casualties would be minimal.

Bracing himself against the wall, Alenko initiated his biotics, ready to surprise the slavers; he raised his hand to signal, while he looked at his squadmates.

Thud, thud, thud... With a sickening sound, the marine next to him was struck by three bullets, two in her shoulder, one in the neck. Gurgling, the woman grabbed her neck while she spun around; blood sprayed all over Kaidan as the Spectre realized the marine had been hit from the opposite direction. "They are behind us!" he yelled, and at that instant the second marine was obliterated by a grenade; Kaidan staggered as three large pieces of shrapnel lodged itself in his chest.

Garrus heard gunfire, and saw the muzzle flashes on the hill opposite of him. "Focus on the enemy in the square!" he barked at James, dropped the assault rifle, and was already targeting the batarians on the hill with his Mantis, re-loading in an insane tempo.

Kaidan's squad was caught in the crossfire, as the slavers in the centre of town responded, but they in turn were targeted by Garrus' squad. The turian himself downed three batarians in the high grass on the hill, and that appeared to be all of them.

The slavers in the centre focused on the new threat, and that was their undoing. Seizing their chance, the Matriarch's bodyguards unloaded with a barrage of biotics, instantly ending the fight. The batarians exploded in spectacular biotic thunderclaps, booming in between the hills.

Carefully, Garrus moved his squad forward, making sure to let the enraged asari know they were friendly. Asari... they look cute, but watch out!

He came up to Kaidan's location, and gasped. It was a bloodbath; the entire squad had been destroyed, only two were still breathing faintly. Stepping carefully in the slippery mess of blood and limbs, Vakarian quickly administered medi-gel to Private Leerman, and to the shocked Spectre himself.

With just enough awareness, Kaidan was able to look at his Marines, shredded and mangled. Oh God... oh my God... His gaze crossed Garrus', and he instantly looked away when he saw the damning accusation in the turian's eyes. "Garrus, I, I..."

No words were good enough.

"What the hell were you doing?" Garrus burst into the sick bay, his eyes shooting daggers at the Spectre. "Six people are dead, because you jumped the gun! Dammit Alenko, this was supposed to be a small routine mission!"

Kaidan could not bring himself to look at the turian.

Garrus fumed, and circled the bed twice, when a fatherly sentiment welled up in him. "Was it the stress of the leadership position? You forgot about the fundamentals down there."

"It, I... I don't know what to think right now, Garrus, all I see is their faces staring at me..."