A/N: This is the second half of "Arrival". I thought it would be better to split it up into two parts. Bear with me as it sets up the events for the upcoming chapters. More on the way! ~J

From Bad to Worse

"What is that?" Shepard asked as the shuttle continued its trek towards Dr. Kenson's base.

"The 'project'," Kenson replied, beaming with pride.

"It looks like an asteroid."

"That's because it is."

"I don't understand," Shepard frowned. "Why build a base in the center of an asteroid?"

"Our plan is to steer that hunk of rock into the Alpha Relay."

"You've got to be kidding me."

"No Commander," she said gravely. "I most certainly am not."

The shuttle deposited them on the landing pad and Shepard and Kenson walked through the airlock into a foyer that branched out in three separate directions. Above one of the corridors was a giant LED marquis that was steadily counting down some sort of time limit.

Involuntarily Shepard's chest constricted at the site of the countdown. The last time she had encountered one, things hadn't ended so well. And even though she and Garrus had survived the building's collapse after the bomb went off, it was still an event that she thought about often.

"Is that how long it will take to get the project up and running again?" she inquired over the lump in her throat.

Dr. Kenson's eyes followed Shepard's hand as she pointed to the counter that was gradually ticking away. 2:03:25:20 and counting.

"I guess you could think of it like that. That countdown signifies how long it will be until the reapers reach the relay. So if we don't get the project up before that, it won't matter."

"You're telling me the reapers could be here in two days?"

Kenson nodded.

Before she could ask any more questions the door under the marquis opened to reveal one of Kenson's teammates and together they quickly ushered Shepard through the shiny metal halls toward the center of the base.

"Where are we going?" Shepard asked as she trailed along behind them.

"I'm taking you to see the reaper artifact."

"Wait." Shepard stopped short. "You have the reaper artifact here in the building?"

"Yes," Kenson said with barely concealed excitement. She entered a code into her omni-tool and the door in front of her slid open. "Commander Shepard, I give you Object Rho!"

As she stepped into the room Shepard's gaze was immediately drawn to the large, dark form in the center. It instantly reminded her of the Thorian with its tentacle-like limbs.

"Are you crazy?" she managed. "You can't keep this thing in here! What about indoctrination?"

Kenson just smiled patiently. "Safeguards have been put in place to prevent such a thing from happening. You needn't worry Shepard."

"But I thought you said you had evidence of the reaper invasion. Where is it?"

"The object shared visions with me, much like the prothean visions you received from the beacon on Eden Prime. In it I saw the reapers approaching the Alpha Relay. I know they're getting closer, because the visions are getting stronger."

Shepard's gut slid into her feet. Without taking her eyes away from the object she said, "Kenson, this is not a good idea. You need to get rid of this thing before it's too late."

"Give it a moment Shepard and it will give you the proof you need."

No sooner were the words out of her mouth than the very same vision Dr. Kenson had seen flashed in her mind. It was so sudden and intense that it chased the air from her lungs and knocked her to her knees. Blinking rapidly she tried to rid herself of the horrific images of the galaxy's destruction. It was a full minute before she was able to get back on her feet.

The door slid shut behind them and seconds later she felt the cold metal barrel of her own pistol being pushed against the back of her head.

Shepard froze. "Kenson, what are you doing?"

"I'm sorry Shepard, but I can't allow you to stop the arrival."

Several doors on the far side of the room opened and a swarm of project workers ran out with their guns drawn. Shepard closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Then, she pivoted on her heel and wrenched the pistol from Kenson's grip, twisting it savagely so that the doctor would be forced to let go of it. She heard the telling snap of Kenson's radius breaking.

"Take her down!" Kenson ordered, clutching her forearm.

Shepard dove for cover, noting out of the corner of her eye that Kenson had managed to slip through the door, locking it behind her.

"Shit!"

Suddenly she wished that she had listened to Garrus after all and let him come along. She felt like an idiot for getting herself into such a precarious situation. She tried to fend off the assault as best she could, but there were too many of them and soon they had her surrounded.

As she continued to time her shots, she started to feel the artifact's insidious tendrils wrap themselves around her mind. It began to speak to her.

"Do not resist. Give yourself over and be spared."

And she began to listen.

"Your final days are at hand. Struggle if you wish, but your mind will be mine."

The desire to fight back slowly faded and became less insistent. Her limbs suddenly felt heavy. Dimly she became aware of the workers closing in on her.

"You will be the first to witness our arrival."

The sharp sting of bullets penetrating her armor caused her to falter and she staggered backward, hitting the floor with a hard thud. The last thing she remembered seeing was Kenson hovering over her with a sneer.

"Get her to the med-bay. We need her alive."

Then the world around her went black.

XXX

The low buzzing of a worried voice pulled her out of unconsciousness. But when Shepard opened her eyes and struggled to sit up, it immediately became apparent that the concern wasn't about her well being.

The lab technician in front of her whirled around in surprise. "I told you the sedatives weren't working!" she cried.

Everything that had happened came rushing back. Shepard flew off the exam table and knocked out the technician and her partner before either of them knew what was happening. Taking in her surroundings she spotted a glowing terminal and played back the latest log entry.

"It's been two days and we've barely managed to keep Shepard sedated. She's not responding to any of the sedatives we've tried."

"Two days?" Shepard echoed aloud. "That means…" Panic closed her throat. "Shit!"

She ran to the door only to find herself locked inside. After gaining control of a nearby mech she was able to take out the few guards lining the hallway and opened the door from the other side.

She found her armor and weapons in a cabinet just outside the room and hastily put them on. Above her the marquis confirmed what she'd feared the most; she had just over an hour until the reapers' arrival.

Finding her way through the maze of corridors in the station was hard enough, but word soon spread that she had escaped the med-bay and it wasn't long before she was inundated with guards. Growling at the inconvenience she fought her way through them, simply because she had no other choice. Finally after what seemed an eternity, she made it to the project control center. A synthesized voice greeted her as she keyed up the terminal.

"I want to restart the project," Shepard commanded.

"Warning: restarting the project will result in approximately 304,000 casualties. Do you wish to proceed?"

"Yes," she whispered and pressed the button to activate it.

The entire station shuddered as several giant engines propelled the asteroid forward.

"Alert: collision with mass relay imminent. Begin evacuation procedures."

Shepard looked at the expected death toll and hesitated only a second before she opened up a comm. channel.

"Attention! All colonists in the Bahak system. I –"

The link was interrupted as Kenson appeared on the screen before her. "Do you have any idea what you've done?" she shrieked. "You leave me no choice Shepard. I'm going to have to destroy this station. Now, because of you, everyone on this rock will die and it's all your fault!"

Her image flickered off.

"Where is Dr. Kenson going?" she asked the computer, trying her best to remain calm.

"Dr. Kenson is on her way to the reactor core."

"Kenson!" Shepard yelled when she reached the core. "Back away from the console!"

"You! You've ruined everything!"

"You don't have to do this. We can still get off this station." Shepard's tone was composed, even as she pointed her pistol at Kenson's head.

"No," the doctor said passionately. "All you had to do was stay asleep, but now…now I'll never get to see the reapers! I'll never get to receive their blessings!"

"Be reasonable –"

"No!" Kenson shouted vehemently. She turned around and brought her hand up and waved it tauntingly at Shepard. In it she was holding a detonator. "I may die, but then again, so will y –"

Kenson never got to finish her sentence. Shepard squeezed the trigger, hitting her squarely between the eyes. Then she ran over to the console.

"Joker, I need a pick-up!"

"All communications have been disabled," the friendly voice of the AI informed her.

"God damn it!" Shepard shouted, slamming her fist against the console.

"Evacuation procedures in effect. All personnel report to escape shuttles."

"Where can I find the escape shuttles?"

"Any remaining escape shuttles can be found on the landing pad located by the communication tower."

With twenty minutes left on the counter she bolted through the door. More guards were waiting for her on the landing pad and she wasted ten precious minutes on trying to take out the YMIR heavy mech alone. With literally minutes to spare she lunged for the communications console.

"Shepard to Normandy! Joker, do you read me?"

"God Commander, it's good to hear your voice! I'll – hey!"

She heard shuffling in the background and then Garrus's voice, irritated with a tinge of worry, came on the line.

"It's been two days Shepard! Two days with no radio contact! Are you okay?"

"I don't have time to explain right now!" She knew it wasn't the answer he needed to hear, but there would be time enough to go over everything later – hopefully. "I need a pick-up – now!"

"On our way Commander," Joker said and ended the transmission.

She stepped away from the console and put her hands on her hips. Hopefully it wouldn't be too much longer. Something materialized behind her and as she turned she came face to face with the transparent image of Harbinger, though she couldn't be entirely sure if it was actually floating before her or an image projected in her mind from another vision.

"Shepard, you have become an annoyance," the reaper addressed her in a deep, booming voice. "You count this as a victory but you cannot stop our arrival. We will come."

Shepard's eyes narrowed with hate and hostility. "You know what? Maybe we can't stop you. But I'll go down fighting. I'll never give up because that's what I – what humans do! And if there's a way to bring you down, trust me, I'll find it!"

"Normandy inbound," Joker announced over the comm.

She could see the Normandy off in the distance and when she turned back to Harbinger, the image had vanished. With the asteroid growing closer the Alpha Relay with each passing second, she took off at a dead run to the edge of the platform where the Normandy was waiting. Once aboard she raced to the cockpit, skidding to a halt directly behind Joker's chair.

"Go, go, go!"

She watched with baited breath as Joker steered his beloved ship toward the mass relay, hoping that there was enough distance between them and the rock to allow them to make the jump before the asteroid crashed into it.

Finally the Normandy was captured and pulled in by the mass effect field and propelled to a distant destination. Hardly daring to breath she turned and ran to the CIC to watch as the Alpha Relay disappeared off the galaxy map.

"Damn it!" she yelled. She collapsed against the platform and rested her head on the railing. All those lives lost…

A pair of hands fell on her shoulders and pulled her away from the map. She straightened and turned to see Garrus. His face was full of concern.

"What happened down there?"

Shepard exhaled and raised her hands in a gesture of hopelessness. Where did she even begin?

He brought his hand up and slowly ran a talon over the bullet holes in her armor. "Dr. Chakwas should look at you."

"I'm fine Garrus," she sighed.

"No, you're not fine!" he asserted. "If you were fine than you would have been able to answer our calls on the radio!"

"Communications were disrupted."

"I know you Shepard. You would have found a way! Now go down to the med-bay so the doctor can check you out!"

"No!" She puffed out her chest and squared her shoulders. "Garrus!" she shrieked when he knelt down and scooped her light form onto his shoulder. "Put me down!"

Her tiny fists were nothing against his armor, no matter how hard she pummeled them into his back. Ignoring her cries of indignation he carried her over to the elevator and pushed the button to the third deck.

A short while later she sat on the edge of the exam table, scowling at him as he stood in the corner of the med-bay with his arms folded tightly over his chest. He didn't say anything, but she could practically hear the words 'I told you so' trying to leap from his tongue.

His worry, however well placed, had been unnecessary. Most of the bullets that had managed to penetrate her armor had been patched up by the technicians during the two days she'd spent asleep in the station's med-lab, and those that didn't break the skin had only left bruises. And while the visions from the reaper artifact were intense, they left behind no lingering damage.

But he had been right about one thing.

"I'm sorry Garrus," she said softly. "I should have listened to you."

The turian's hard face softened and he took a step toward her.

"Shepard! Do you mind telling me what the hell just happened?"

They both looked up to see Admiral Hackett storm into the med-bay. She had told Joker to alert him right away and as soon as he got the message he had demanded that they meet with him in person.

Shepard swung her eyes back to Garrus and flicked her head toward the door and waited while he stalked out, grumbling all the way.

"I sent you in to rescue Dr. Kenson and instead you destroy a mass relay and wipe out the lives of over 300,000 batarians! Help me out here Shepard. I can't quite seem to make the leap."

"Kenson did find evidence of a reaper invasion," she said, sliding off the table to stand in front of him. The artifact gave her visions, showed her what was coming. I saw them too. Unfortunately, by the time I got to the station she and her team were well under the effects of indoctrination. They attacked me. I had no choice but to…" She spread her hands. "I'm so sorry. I know you two were close."

"And you think this 'evidence' was enough to justify what happened?"

"I tried to warn the batarians. I didn't want to wipe out their system without first giving them a chance to evacuate, but Kenson cut the communications. I was only just barely able to get myself out in time." Her shoulders sagged from the weight of the decision she had been forced to make.

"The batarians are going to want blood. I know you did what you felt you had to do to save trillions of other lives, but they're not going to see it that way. They've been looking for an excuse to start a war for some time now."

"What does the Alliance think?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. But sooner or later you're going to have to answer for what happened here. I think it would be wise for you to be prepared."

Shepard looked down and closed her eyes. "I will do whatever it takes Admiral. Maybe 'justification' isn't the right word, but I'd like a chance to explain my actions."

"Very good," he nodded. "Between you and me I think you did one helluva good thing, but my opinion is not the one that ultimately matters. I'll be in touch."

He raised his hand in a salute and left her alone in the med-bay to think about what she had done.