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Chapter 6: Home

Four Months ago

"What the hell happen down there? I sent you to break Amanda out of prison and now she's dead and a whole system was wiped out"

Shepherd got up and gave him a data pad. "Your friend, was right the reapers were coming in two days, destroying the relay was only way to stop them" He said. "I'm sorry about your friend, she was indoctrinated"

"I started the engines with a little more than an hour left, I tried to warn the batarian colonists, but…time ran out"

"The batarian report said there were no survivors, at least you tried."

"Not good enough…" the spectre said.

"And the threat was real?"

"We had only minutes to spare" Shepherd said. "So what now?"

Hackett sighed. "I won't lie, Commander, the batarians will want blood, and a war with the batarians is the last thing we need"

"I know, not with the reapers breathing down our backs"

"I know you did what you had to do, but in the end 300,000 batarians are dead and this will make the Alliance look bad" the admiral said.

"What's your suggestion?" Shepherd asked. He was not going to like the answer.

"Evidence is shoddy at best, but at some point, you will have to go to Earth and face the music" Hackett said. "I can't stop it, but I can make them fight for it"

Shepherd sighed. "I'll do it, but just promise me that you get the Alliance and the council prepared, I don't care if you have to go dirty to do it"

"I will try, though it will be an up-hill battle" he said walking away. "Do what you have to do, but when Earth calls, you make sure you're there with your dress blues on, ready to take the hit"

"I will…" Hackett threw the data pad back to Shepherd. "Admiral?"

"Keep it; I don't need it to tell me you did the right thing"

Shepherd gave a sharp salute. "Yes sir!"

"You did a hell of a thing, Commander" Hackett walked away, leaving Shepherd with his thoughts of an uncertain future.

Now-Tali and Shepherd

After the meeting with Hackett, the Normandy crew went about their business like nothing happened or at least tried to. Samara had left the ship, to continue on seeking out injustices in the galaxy, Thane was next, wishing to see his son on the Citadel, and finally Zaeed was the last to leave, possibly looking for his next job. Four months had passed, Shepherd received a summons from the Alliance committee…the top brass of the military and so honoring his promises the crew made their way to Earth.

Shepherd was in his room preparing his defense for the trial coming up; with the batarians trying anything to get his head on a platter he had to be prepared. The atmosphere on the ship had been tense and heavy for a few days, Shepherd couldn't blame them, the Alliance weren't exactly kind to Cerberus members, even ex-members. He had heard no word from Alliance Command on his room arrangements, but he had a sinking feeling it wasn't going to be good. Shepherd heard his door open; it was Tali, the love of his life. When they were making the journey to Earth, Shepherd offered to drop her off some place where she could hitch a shuttle back to the fleet but the Quarian was adamant on staying, saying he needed her. As much as he liked the fact Tali would be staying with him, he was worried how she and the other alien members would be treated. "Wayne, we just went through the Sol relay, we'll be on Earth in four hours, why don't you get some rest?"

Shepherd sighed; he put down the datapad and rubbed his tired eyes. "I can't, I have to prepare my defense for the trial"

"You've been at this since last night, if you keep this up, you won't have energy to defend yourself" she said concerned. She then went to Shepherd and put her hand on his. "Please, do it for me…"

Shepherd looked at her and smiled softly. "Okay, for you…" Tali sat down next to him and rest her head on his shoulder. They just sat around in each other's company, Shepherd could help how Tali stayed with him even through the toughest of times, Saren, Cerberus, the Collectors, and now this. Without her, he didn't know how he would be able to face the firing squad. "Thank you…"

Tali looked at him. "For what?"

"For staying with a dumbass like me, I know I'm not easiest…." Tali put her finger on his lips.

"Hush, you've always helped me out and the crew, it's the least I can do" She said. "And besides, I love you, you are my world, I could never abandon you"

Shepherd smiled and took off her helmet and kissed her cheek. "You're an angel you know that"

Tali tilted her head. "An…gel?"

He chuckled. "It's a creature in human mythology, they came to people in times of need, to give them hope" Shepherd said. "You're that for me"

Tali blushed. "Thank you, you're that for me also" she said, "So what's Earth like?"

Shepherd thought a moment, and was drawing blank; he didn't really know anything about Earth apart from the basic stuff from textbooks and extranet. Other than that he didn't really care, he had no emotional attachment to the planet other its humanity's homeworld. "I don't really know"

Tali looked at him. "You don't know about your people's homeworld?"

Shepherd rubbed his head. "I actually never stepped foot on Earth before"

"You're kidding?"

"Nope, the closest I got to Earth was Luna, Earth's moon" Shepherd said.

"Can you tell me anything?" Tali pouted.

"Well let's see, Earth is a planet that is mostly water, it has as abundance of life, and history but that's it" He said. "As for anything in depth, like culture you'll have to speak to Kaiden or Kasumi, thye was born on Earth"

Tali stood up and put her helmet back on. "Okay, I think I will"

"I don't get why all the sudden interest with Earth?" Tali came over and flicked his head, yet another trait she was picking up from the crew. "Ow…" Shepherd said rubbing his head.

"Duh, it's the ancestral home world of my boyfriend, why wouldn't I want to know about it"

Shepherd chuckled and shook his head. "Well, if you know anything let me know, I could use a course in Earth 101"

"Of course" Tali left the room, and Shepherd went to take a nap.

Illusive Man

Back on the Cerberus base, the Illusive Man was as usually up to no good. Since the defeat of the Collectors, things haven't been as smooth as he would have liked. Shepherd destroyed the collectors, took two of his best operatives, and the most advance ship and AI in the galaxy. Not to mention the huge set back with Project Overlord, which was again Shepherd's doing, but like any good mastermind, a setback wasn't going to keep him down. His com beeped.

"Well?"

"We've done it sir; we have the collectors' technology in our hands"

"It doesn't matter if it is our hands, does it work?" he asked while smoking a drab.

"Yes, despite what Shepherd did, the collectors' technology is surprisingly resilient, only taken minor damage"

"Will you be able to integrate it with our systems?"

The scientist nodded. "Yes, despite how advance the technology is, it is amazingly simple, but given the reapers history…"

"How soon?"

"Estimates are around four to six months"

"Then get to work, with the reapers so close, we can't afford any delay" Illusive man said. He then presses another weapon.

A dark-haired blue-eyed man appeared on the screen, he was dressed in clothing that suggests high-class. He was at his desk working on something before turning and facing camera. He frowned. "Who are you? What do you want?"

"Hello Mr. Lawson, I am the Illusive Man and I have a business proposition for you"

The Normandy

Tali were on the lounge deck speaking to Kaiden about Earth and Earth culture; after they were done she was left with more questions than answers. For one thing, how could one race have so much differences, and culture? It was mind-boggling, like the fact humans had over a thousand languages; she had always thought English were humans only language, but then she found out about Japanese from Kasumi. Then Kaiden went into human history and it gotten so overwhelming that she had to stop to digest it all, including all the war humans had been in against each other.

"Keelah it's a wonder you don't collapse like the krogan"

Kaiden chuckled. "I know it's amazing to us too" Tali giggled and then she lowered her head, as she thought back to the trial.

"Kaiden tell me the truth, how bad is this?"

Kaiden sighed. "It's like Hackett said, evidence is shoddy at best, no witnesses, but as much as he did the right thing, at the end of the day Wayne committed a war crime" he said.

"But he didn't have a choice"

"You and I know that, but other people will see it differently" Kaiden said. "And that's not even the worse part"

"How could it be any worse?"

"It's Wayne and the batarians, which means Mindoir and Torfan will come up at his trial…" he said. "And you know how he feels about both of those events"

"Keelah, but surely he has some friends, can't Anderson help?"

"No he can't, as much as Anderson would like to, he can't help, he's a councilor" Kaiden explained. "It would only complicate things"

"But…" The door opened and Shepherd came in, instantly putting an end to the conversation. His face didn't look happy at all, but grim…"Wayne? Something wrong?"

"It's time…" Shepherd said. Tali and Kaiden nodded. They went up to the CIC where it was deadly silent, like there was funeral, even Joker wasn't cracking any jokes today. Shepherd and the team went to the cockpit, as the Normandy jumped out of the relay and into the Sol relay.

Kaiden sighed. "Looks like it's time for us to face the music" he said.

"No, it will be just me, no one will get involved with my crime" Shepherd said.

"It's not your fault, Wayne, you only did it to save us" Tali said softly.

"And may have caused things to get worse" he said.

"Wayne, it was a bad situation no one is blaming you" Kaiden said.

"Maybe…" Shepherd then looked at Tali "are you sure about this, Rookie?"

Tali nodded. "Yes, I want to do this, we all do. You've been there for us, it's only right we are there for you too."

Shepherd looked back as the Normandy crew got up and saluted. His friends, his family would not abandon him; he would not face this alone. Tears ran down his cheeks as Tali hugged him. "Thank you, everyone, thank you" Shepherd choked. Shepherd smiled and kissed Tali

"I love you"

"I love you, too" The comm broke through.

"Everyone we're here" Joker said. Kaiden, Shepherd, and Tali looked out the window. Tali's eyes went wide; the human homeworld was more amazing than she thought. It was so vibrant, she had never seen a planet with so many colors. If it looked beautiful on the outside, she could only imagine what the surface was like.

"Keelah, your home world is beautiful…" she said in awe. Joker began inputting descent vectors and thrust output. Shifting the angle of descent, the Normandy entered the outer atmosphere. Plasma traces coursed over the hull, surrounding the ship in a nimbus of white fire. Entering the lower atmosphere, the nimbus dissipated and finally flickered out of existence. Plummeting thousands of feet in seconds, Joker angled the Normandy into a dive and powered up the mass-reduction systems, allowing the Normandy atmospheric flight. Breaking through the clouds of the troposphere, the deep blue of the Pacific Ocean stretched out beneath the ship towards the horizon.

"Rookie, welcome to Earth" Approaching 1500 feet above the water, Joker righted the Normandy, decreasing the angle and finally leveling the ship. The Normandy cast a great shadow over the deep blue water; from this elevation, the naked eye could make out the calm surface of the ocean. From the bridge, Tali saw something rise from the water and expel a great spout of water.

"Keelah, what are those?"

"Whales, the gentle giants of the deep…" Kaiden said. "Looks like they're in the middle of their migration" Shepherd smiled as he saw the animals swimming through the water gracefully, for a second it made him forget what was coming up. A com broke through.

"This Alliance control, we don't recognize your ship, identify yourself"

"This is the SR-2 Normandy and her crew, we have Commander Wayne Allen Shepherd on board, we request to land" Joker said.

"Verifying stand by…"

"I see they haven't gotten any friendlier" Kaiden said.

"Yeah friendly like sandpaper to the ass, maybe"

"Confirmed, SR-2 Normandy, you are to meet with the Alliance Committee in Toronto, any delay will be seen as an act of treason"

"Roger that"

"Toronto, my hometown" Kaiden said. Shepherd looked at him.

"Wait I thought you were born in Singapore"

"I was, but I moved to Toronto when I was five"

"I'm sorry, but Toronto, Singapore?" Tali asked.

"We'll explain later" The Normandy flew over the expansive Pacific Ocean, and all too soon the great skyscrapers of a city were visible on the horizon. In the middle of the city was a huge building with the Alliance insignia on it, Joker pulled the ship higher and began docking procedures for entering the hanger. As the ship landed, the rest of the ground team came up to the CIC.

Shepherd sighed. "Time to put on my game face" The team headed for the airlock and it opened. In front of them was a rather large human, he had a scar across his face and his hair was styled into a mohawk . He gave a sharp salute.

"Commander Shepherd, Lt. James Vega" he said. Shepherd blinked, he was half expecting a firing squad, not one person meeting him. Lia then spoke up.

"Jimmy?" she said.

The man's eyes went wide. "Lola?"

Shepherd blinked. "Wait, you two know each other?"

Lia pressed her fingers together and blushed. "We kinda went on a date back on Illium"

The team blinked. "WHAT?!"

What? Lia has a boyfriend, and it looks like the Illusive Man is up to his old tricks, and how is Shepherd going to get out of this? :)