OMNITOOL RECORDING TRANSCRIPT
KHALISAH BINT SINAN AL-JILANI
LATE NOVEMBER, 2186
Taken from the rough draft of Al-Jilani's ebook, Wrong Place, Right Time:
Alliance Medical transport Aelius Galenus. The crew is tired, dirty, bloody and raw. We all are. I have only caught a glimpse of the Commander as he's brought onboard. I was already on the ship as an embedded reporter with the 229th Advanced. Only Private Morris, Corporal Dietrich, myself and Sergeant Henderson survived from a squad of fifty. I have a broken arm and a broken orbital bone over my left eye. My back is gashed from a husk assault, but the medigel is helping. I'm not here for the Commander, it was a pure coincidence, but the opportunity is too good, too historic, to pass up.
MEDTECH: No, sorry, he's in bad shape.
KHALISAH BINT SINAN AL-JILANI: This won't take long…
MEDTECH: You insane? The Commander is barely alive and you want an goddam interview?
AL-JILANI: I swear my being here is a complete coincidence!
MEDTECH: Whatever. You'll just have to wait like the rest of us.
AL-JILANI: Is that… Subject Zero?
MEDTECH: Which?
AL-JILANI: With all the tattoos. Isn't she a criminal?
MEDTECH: She isn't much better. Scan says she's an Omega-class biotic, but she's fried all her amps. She saved his life doing it. I think whether she's a criminal or not is irrelevant at this point.
Al-JILANI: I suppose it is. I guess a lot of things are, now.
MEDTECH: You got that right. Stay over there until I say.
One hour, fifteen minutes later, just short of the Charon Relay. The tension is high. Reports say most Reaper Capital ships are dead in the water, so to speak, the big ones, the Destroyers. But many smaller ones, they're still active, still engaging our fleets, even if they're haphazard and directionless. They're still lashing out, with no discretion - still a threat.
AL-JILANI: I thought the Relays were all inoperable!
MEDTECH: Where did you hear that?
AL-JILANI: Everyone's been saying it! It's the official…
ALLIANCE SOLDIER: Yeah, for emergency and military craft only. Everyone else, the relays are currently fried… and that's the official line until it's otherwise. Get it, reporter lady?
AL-JILANI: I see. How is the Commander?
MEDTECH: Still unconscious. It's several minor miracles he's alive at all. We've already lost and resuscitated him twice.
ALLIANCE SOLDIER: Don't harass the Commander!
AL-JILANI: I have no plans to! But the Galaxy is going to want to know that he's alive!
ALLIANCE SOLDIER: Let me put it this way, lady: I know who you are – and nobody's gonna miss you.
MEDTECH: Come now! That's unnecessary!
SOLDIER: We'll see. Leave. The. Commander. Alone.
Two hours, ten minutes later, approaching Charon Relay. Tension extremely high. Private Morris has died. Corporal Dietrich is severely brain-damaged, the medtechs are arguing whether to take her off life support. The Sergeant is still unconscious. The Commander likewise. Subject Zero has awakened once and rather profanely insisted on being next to the Commander. The techs complied. I am not allowed near him, as yet. They guard him as if he's made of the rarest of rarities.
In a way, I suppose he is.
SOLDIER: Traffic's heavy, not a surprise. We're in the queue.
MEDTECH: Do they know we have Shepard?
SOLDIER: No. Something about security. Why they think anyone would want to…
AL-JILANI: Reapers are still out there.
CAPTAIN ELANNOS: Francis – Admiral Hackett wants to know if the Commander is stable enough to move?
MEDTECH FRANCIS: Move? Where?
ELANNOS: The Orizaba. Hackett wants him on his Dreadnought for transfer to Sur'kesh.
FRANCIS: If we're very careful….
ELANNOS: The other one – Zero…? Can she be moved?
FRANCIS: She's bad, but not as bad as the Commander.
ELANNOS: Bring her. Hackett's orders.
Dreadnought Orizaba, Admiral Hackett's Flagship. It is impressive, but it has seen better days. Blackened holes and sparking fires mar its surface. Considering that it was in the very heart of the battle for Earth, it has held up remarkably well.
AL-JILANI: Admiral Hackett! Khalisah Bint-
HACKETT: I know who you are, Miss Al-Jilani. You want interviews and access to Shepard, yes?
AL-JILANI: The story should be kept straight, Admiral, even if no one ever gets to hear it.
HACKETT: Official censorship is common in wartime, Miss Al-Jilani. But nothing is forever.
AL-JILANI: We all have our duties, Admiral.
HACKETT: Fine.
It isn't a ringing endorsement, but I'm in. I'll get my chance.
Enroute to Sur'kesh. The salarians have the most intact and advanced hospitals still operating in Citadel Space. One has to admire their ability to recover so quickly.
AL-JILANI: Thank you, Admiral, for allowing me onboard.
HACKETT: I'm not against your presence, Miss Al-Jilani, as long as you stay undisruptive.
AL-JILANI: 'Leave Shepard alone'? I know, Admiral. I know I'm not popular with many soldiers.
HACKETT: You seemed particularly vehemently against Shepard, if I recall.
AL-JILANI: I would have been that way if it had been anyone else, Admiral. It wasn't because it was Shepard. I'm suspicious of any manufactured 'hero'.
HACKETT: I assure you, Shepard was and is the real deal.
AL-JILANI: I don't doubt that anymore, Admiral.
HACKETT: Then you have my countenance, Miss Al-Jilani, as long as you keep that in mind.
Sur'kesh. Solus Memorial Advanced Medical, six days later. Muggy outside. It smells of too much green, yet the air in the hospital is crisp and clean, despite it. My patience is not what it used to be.
SALARIAN MEDIC: Commander Shepard is awake – but he is in no shape for anything prolonged.
Al-JILANI: Believe me, I'll let him do all the talking.
Ah. She's still with him, and not remotely happy. Her threats seem hollow, coming from her in her bed, as prone as Shepard. She doesn't seem that impressive, yet she dug him from under the remains of the Citadel, they have said. No small feat, nothing to lightly dismiss.
The Commander is weak and in terrible shape – not at all as the stories depict him. Not the "Iron Fist" that the krogan call him, not the "Butcher". Not the invincible hero of heroes.
Just a man, terribly hurt.
The sight, I must admit, shakes me.
SUBJECT ZERO: Who the fuck…?
AL-JILANI: I'm with Westerlund News, I'm Khalisah Bint-
ZERO: Don't give a fuck. Get out.
AL-JILANI: Admiral Hackett said…
ZERO: What part of "don't give a fuck" didn't you get, bitch? Get…
SHEPARD: Jack… it's okay.
ZERO: You sure?
SHEPARD: Sooner it's done, sooner she's gone. Sooner they all are.
ZERO: Make it quick. I'll kill you if you try anything funny.
She is cold, but her concern is very real. It's obvious she cares a great deal for him. I'll tread carefully, I suppose. The Commander's voice is weak, weary, pained. He is missing teeth, which distorts that usually authoritative voice. His face is almost unrecognizable, every exposed surface black with bruises, tubes and sensors everywhere. One of those chilling eyes glares at me, the other smashed shut. His limbs are sheathed in repair casings. Tubes and feeds everywhere. An intern helps him sit up. Zero glares, but she is not much better.
AL-JILANI: She's very protective of you.
SHEPARD: She also means what she says. Can we get to it please? I feel…
AL-JILANI: Yes, of course. I'm sorry, Commander, it's just that…
SHEPARD: …'while it's fresh and I'm still alive'? Is that it?
AL-JILANI: Not how I would have put it, really…
SHEPARD: Ask.
I want it official. I want it historic. I spent more money than I have to acquire this omnitool after mine was smashed by an over-zealous guard. It doesn't matter.
This is history.
AL-JILANI: You've done the impossible, Commander. You've ended the Reaper threat and endless cycles of murder and slaughter. Now that it's over, do you have anything to say to the billions who will hear this someday? We've seen your suit telemetry, the astonishing video from inside the Citadel. What do you think it all meant, Commander?
SHEPARD: I don't know for sure, Khalisah. I think when all is said and done, it will mean very little, to be honest.
AL-JILANI: Well, you still did it, Commander. Give us your thoughts. You save everyone, you're responsible for the greatest…
SHEPARD: I was not responsible – you all were – all the living, all the dead. All I can really say, is that, on your shoulders I climbed to that spot and I made a choice, in your names. I can only hope it was the correct choice. Nothing's finished. We must put out the fires and bury our dead. We must give those we have lost their full due, the full measure of our gratitude and respect for their sacrifices. We build their memorials. Then we celebrate, when it is time.
Today, all of us, asari, krogan, turians, salarians, quarians, geth, batarians, hanar, elcor, volus, vorcha; today we are one people. By dint of who we have lost, by the blood shed in this common cause, we are one people.
If I can ask anything, if I have earned anything, all I ask is that we remember that – we are now one people.
This is the moment when all the races of the Galaxy can and should decide if we should remain so. This is the only chance we'll get, and the only time it will mean anything.
Make it count.
The Commander laughs quietly at this moment. He seems to be fading.
SHEPARD: I should go.
He collapses. Alarms ring. Subject Zero shouts in a fear I doubt she has ever experienced. I am unceremoniously shoved out the door. Inside is a flurry of activity and the alarms cease. There is no way to see inside, and those grim-faced asari guards are coming toward me.
I did it. I was there. It was nothing compared to that man's achievements, but I can be proud of it, and in many ways, we all can be.
Transcript Ends