Chapter 21:
Rallying Cry

Admiral Hackett was none too pleased at the turn of events involving Michael Hollister and Commander Anderson. The loss of Captain Foster surprised him, but he masked it well. As Shepard finished his report, his somber look turned to face him. "So this Hollister character is holding Commander Anderson hostage on Akuze?" he clarified.

Shepard nodded. "Yes, sir."

"Then we don't have a lot of time. You did good, Lieutenant. We'll drop you off at Arcturus Station-."

"Drop me off?" Shepard asked, perplexed. Then he shook his head. "No. Not a chance."

"This isn't a debate, Lieutenant."

"Commander Anderson is down there because of me. It's my fault, it's my responsibility to get him back."

"Shepard, from what I've heard about you on this mission, I don't trust your judgement enough to let you be on this mission."

"Just give me the-."

"Enough!" Hackett snapped. "Shepard, your personal feelings in this mission are not important. Your vendetta is not important. What is important, what you do not realize, is that Cerberus had Anderson for a reason. They could have killed him like they did Captain Foster. But they didn't. Which can only mean they have something very bad planned for him. That is what we're going down there for. Do you understand?"

Shepard stood there for a moment, trying to find the right words to convince Hackett to let him join the mission. Briefly he considered using his experience on Akuze to bribe Hackett into letting him go. Instead, he sighed. "I owe him," he said simply, hoping Hackett would understand.

Hackett's face creased at the mention of Shepard's previous mission to Akuze. Before he could reply, however, Callus stepped forward. "So do I," he replied.

Kaidan Alenko, rescued from one of the Kennedy's escape pods, nodded from across the room. "We all do," he said. "And if anyone can save the commander, Shepard can," he said. Shepard looked over at him in surprise. After his actions on Earth, he was sure the sergeant hated him. He'd have to ask about it later.

Hackett looked over to Joker Moreau, one of the more senior officers of the Kennedy. Joker sighed and rolled his eyes. "We've got this, Admiral," he said, though he didn't really sound as though he completely believed it.

Hackett looked back at Shepard again, then hung his head, sighing deeply. "Then I assume you've come up with a plan?" he demanded.

"Actually, sir," Shepard replied. "I think I have."

Michael Hollister stood on the command deck of the Cerberus station, looking over the plains of Akuze with something akin to admiration. This was a truly incredible sight. An accomplishment of what humanity was capable of. True humanity. Not the kowtowing jackals of the Systems Alliance. Not Shepard.

Hollister smiled to himself, pleased at the fact that he had passed the Lieutenant in almost every conceivable way. He was the better of the two. He always would be. He knew it. Shepard knew it. Swift knew it.

For a moment, Hollister's thoughts darkened at the memory of Swift. He hadn't wanted to kill her. He was hoping she would join him, become his second-in-command for the new generation of Humanity. She had talked about stepping down as the Reds' leader for years, after all. But her acceptance of the alien scum and her lust for Shepard blinded her. So, he had to make a point. And if it hurt Shepard, so much the better.

An approaching assistant caught his eye, and he turned to see who would dare interrupt him. Upon seeing Hollister's glaring eyes, the assistant faltered. "Um... S-sir?" he stammered.

"Out with it," Hollister snapped.

The assistant frantically looked at his datapad, not wanting to look the manic Cerberus agent in the eye. "We-we've seen some... troubling geographic activity," he continued.

"What is it?"

"It's... the thresher maws, sir. They're... migrating." The assistant gulped, waiting for a response. When none came, he looked at the agent in surprise. Was he not taking this seriously? "They're coming this way."

Furthering his surprise, Hollister only grinned. "Interesting," he muttered. He looked at the assistant, who quickly averted his eyes. "You are dismissed."

The assistant briefly looked as though he wanted to argue, but he knew better. He left without another word, leaving Hollister alone with his thoughts once more. He looked out the window again, his feral smile searing through the skyline. "Very interesting."

Orbiting Akuze was a blockade of Cerberus ships. They had orders to shoot down any ship that got too close. An order that their captains were all too happy to follow. Most of them were Cat6, dishonorably discharged from Alliance services. All of them were dangerous. But none of them expected half of the Fifth Fleet to arrive at their doorstep, either.

Several ships turned away from the blockade and immediately opened fire, which was returned tenfold. Fighters were launched on both sides, and a full on battle in the vacuum of space was raging.

Hackett looked at the fight with satisfaction. "Well, Lieutenant, it looks like your intel was dead on," he commented through the radio to Shepard, who was suiting up in the shuttle bay.

"Guess Riley was smart to send it to me before he died," Shepard replied, fastening his gauntlet over his hand before running it over the N7 symbol on his chest. Hackett had let him use the armor on the condition that he return it in one piece. Shepard couldn't make any promises. He was heading straight into the storm, after all.

"The fight's started in full effect out there. You should be clear to head down there and retrieve the commander."

"That's the hope," Shepard said.

"Good luck, Lieutenant."

"Thanks." The conversation ended, and he turned to see Orion and Alenko checking their weapons. "You two ready?" he asked.

"I'm always ready," Callus replied.

Shepard turned to Alenko. "What about you?" Alenko nodded, but didn't say anything. Shepard sighed. Time for the talk. "Listen. What happened on Earth."

Alenko shook his head. "I'm over it, Lieutenant. I was angry before, yes, but everyone's going to screw up. If I held a grudge against everyone who did something remotely wrong, the galaxy would feel like a much more hostile place." He shrugged. "Besides. I've seen a lot worse."

An explosion sounded and the ship rocked, the shields no doubt taking a large hit. Hackett's voice came I've the intercom. "Shepard, if you're gonna go, now would be the time!"

Shepard quickly grabbed his weapons and stepped onto the shuttle, where Joker was already at the helm. "Let's get this bird in the air," Shepard said as Callus and Kaidan followed him.

Callus frowned. "I don't think that's an entirely accurate statement, Lieutenant," he pointed out.

"Figure of speech!" Joker shouted before he gunned the engine. "Let's go!"

The shuttle sped out of the bay and into empty space, but only remained there for a moment before heading straight into the battle. Unlike the shuttle they used to escape from Omega, this one was decently armed, though they would be in trouble if they tried to actively fight in the battle. Joker knew this, and kept the shuttle strictly to the least-contested areas of the battle, and other than a few nicks to their shields, they were able to break into the atmosphere of Akuze.

Shepard breathed a heavy breath, steadying himself for what was to come. But the truth was, he wasn't sure of what to expect from this fight. The last time he was on Akuze, he and his squad were investigating an Alliance distress beacon coming after the colony had vanished. The next thing he knew, thresher maws were attacking everything and everyone in his unit.

He shook his head to clear his thoughts and turned to Joker. "Any idea where this base is?" he asked.

Joker nodded slowly. "Right here," he replied, pointing at the screen.

Shepard looked at the screen and froze. The coordinates on the planet were all too familiar to him. "My god," he muttered. "Those crazy bastards."

Cerberus had built their base on the exact spot the maws had killed the marine unit.