Welcome back to another chapter of Radioactive Dawn. I hope you enjoy and remember to Comment with any remarks and favorite or follow if you feel it worthy. In the story, the universe is heating up and war is just around the corner. :)

From the Martian orbit John spied half destroyed cites bombed out during the war. Within them he could see the bustle of activity as people went along with their lives, trying to rebuild what had been destroyed. Aria informed him that over two billion humans lived on Mars, the majority of the human population left after the war. It was a mere fraction of those that lived before, the rest having perished during the war and after as disease, famine and strife plagued humanity. Aria had told him much during their short trip to Mars as she connected to various sources of information available through the ships sensors, and while most made his blood boil with rage, not all of those that made up Citadel space were bad.

She had told him that some had even argued against the war, against the merciless destruction of humanity. These were mostly a people that called themselves the Asari, a race that Liara belonged to. John found it interesting that it was a made up of only females and he wondered how it worked mentally noting that he should inquire later. After the war the Asari had done the most to help humanity and even argued that the occupation of the Sol system should end. This had not helped their reputation with the rest of the galaxy that had been fed propaganda justifying the war with humanity claiming humans were the great evil of the universe.

He changed one of the holograms to show the orbit of Mars. Debris was everywhere. Aria told him of how the NCR had declared war on the Brotherhood and Vegas claiming they were to blame for the assassination of their president. Some of the debris was from battles between human ships, foolishly fighting one another even though and enemy was at the gates. The rest of the debris was only possible because of a virus that swept through human controlled spaced causing entire colonies to go dark along with entire fleets and most of the defenses to go offline allowing the invading Citadel forces to sweep in and put a few of the final nails into the coffin. The ships and defenses that survived both the civil war and the virus proved to be no match as the Citadel forces grinded humanity to dust.

The virus itself was claimed by the Salarian as their doing, another race of Citadel space Aria told him of. That virus was responsible for most of the loss of human life as cities suffered from lack of power and supply lines were thrown into chaos across human controlled space. But even though all of this, humanity still continued to fight the enemy, apparently even to this day as the Coalition organized underground resistance aimed at freeing humanity from their new overlords.

While the members of the Citadel races that were stationed on Mars only numbered a few hundred thousand, far less than the two billion humans, their weapons as well as the ships they had stationed in orbit allowed them to retain control. The living situations were not very good for humanity on Mars either which caused constant conflict between them and the Citadel. Mars infrastructure at its height could only support just over a billion people and with most of that infrastructure damaged or destroyed, even still to this day, it was not a comfortable place with water and food often times hard to come by. The Citadel had given a lot of aid, mostly pushed for by the Asari, but in humanity's eyes it did not make them look any better.

The beginning of the war still perplexed John. Aria had told them about the first contact over the planet Ellen and how the Citadel had launched a surprise attack during peace talks. Aria had told him of how they wanted humanity's technology and humanity's refusal to give it up had caused the attack but that bothered John. Yes, it certainly was tempting but to him, he felt there had to be more to it than just that.

He glanced away from his displays and over to Sergeant Allimer and Liara talking amicably. The sergeant did not seem to share the hate towards the Asari the Captain Baker held. He found himself feeling as though he could trust the man, and hoped he was not wrong.

Liara met his gaze as he watched their conversation and she gave him a smile. He hoped he could trust her as well. He felt he could.

"Liara," he said to the Asari as her and Allimer broke their conversation. "Can you answer a question for me?"

"I can at least try, John," she said making her way to him. "Well?" she asked after a moment of silence as she stood next to him. John admired the courage that she had displayed over the past couple of days. He was grateful for all she had done and was happy she was by his side.

"Well, Aria has told me a bunch of facts dealing with the Citadel and humanity but I wanted to know how they actually feel about us. What does the rest of the galaxy see humanity as?" The Asari gave him a quizzical look at his question. "I know that it is an odd question, but regardless what is about to happen, something is going to happen and I want to know what these people that I may be fighting against actually think of us. In my time, I was able to pull different people together, to see what we had in common instead of focusing on our differences and that helped all of us prosper. I guess what I really want to know is if these other peoples out there have to be our enemies, or can they be, perhaps, our friends."

Liara did not respond for a moment which caused John to mentally fret, thinking that he have said something foolish. After all, for all he knew he could have just said something offensive to a culture that he could not even begin to fathom. He was pleasantly relieved when she finally answered.

"I have to first say that what you have said simply amazes me," said Liara. "You wake up to a world where your people have been ravished and you look at those that your people warred with and think, after everything, that those strangers could one day be friends. It is something I don't encounter very often, from your kind or mine. But I am afraid that across this galaxy there are not many that view humanity well and you are in for a tough time."

"But why, Liara? Why do this people hate us so? They won the war and now humanity is only a shell of its former self."

"They hate you because they fear you," said Liara. John was surprised to hear this from the Asari.

"Why would they fear us?" he asked.

"Because of the potential humanity has," she said.

"And they are right to fear that potential," said Captain Baker as she entered the ship's bridge with Corporal Leroy in tow.

"Baker," said John nodding towards her not letting his frustration of her disrupting the conversation show. "I trust you are feeling better."

"Much," she responded curtly. "I have just gotten off the horn with Coalition forces and they are waiting for us planet side. I would advise we go as soon as we can. Every second we wait around is puts us closer to losing any chance to regain the Key.

"Then we better get to it," he said. "Aria has informed me that the Dawn's shuttles are equipped with the same stealth tech that the ship has so getting down shouldn't be much of a problem."

"I wouldn't call those things just shuttles," said Allimer joining the conversation. "Those things have enough fire power to make quite a punch."

"Regardless," said John with a bit of a smile. "We do need to head down. Liara, I think it would be best if you stayed up here with the ship."

"Negative, Walker," said Baker. "She was held by the Enclave and may have information useful to tracking them down. She will need to come down with the rest of us."

John looked to Liara. "It's your call Liara." While what Baker said made sense, he did not feel comfortable putting her in a position where she was surrounded by people with potentially the same sentiment as Baker. Aria had informed him that the Citadel races were viewed very negatively by humanity and he did not know if they would be willing to put their hatred aside even for someone that had helped them. However, Liara was no child and if she wanted to contribute, then he would not stop her. Perhaps it would even show some down there not all of the rest of the galaxy was bad.

"I will go down, John," said Liara. "Captain Baker is right, time is of the essence and we need to move as quickly as we can." Baker gave her a smile, one John did not quite like. He did not trust Baker, but at the time being there was little about that he could do, not if they wanted to find the Key before it was really lost.

"Alright then. Aria, Prepare one of the shuttles for us," he ordered. "Have everyone meets down at the bay."

"If you want we could leave Leroy and Jenkins up here to keep watch," suggested Baker. It was a suggestion John was not willing to risk.

"I said everyone Baker," he responded. "Aria is more than capable of keeping an eye on things up here." He turned and began to walk out of the bridge heading for the lift that would take them to the bay. The others followed suit.

-)(-

George Allimer was comfortable sitting in the shuttle as it dropped through the atmosphere towards the rendezvous. The shuttle was clearly designed for troop transport and its armor and its specifications made it ideal for assault as well as tight evacuations. There was barely any turbulence as the craft made its way, partially due to its engineering as well as the skill of Corporal Jenkins piloting the ship. Allimer was sure the man was glad to be back in the pilot's seat again. In the years after the war there were not many opportunities for the former military pilot to practice his trade. Luckily the man was good with tech and had transitioned better than most. He had been a valuable asset over the years as well as a good friend to George.

Sunlight burst through the small windows of the shuttle as it exited the clouds. Taking a closer look George could see the bustling city of Red Valley. Even after all the devastation it was still a remarkable city, not only because of its size and architecture but it was the original site for the Mars' colonization. It had come a long way in the years since.

Craft of various size flew around the buildings of the city as people went about their lives. The city was still in a constant state of repair attempting to undo the damage caused in the war. In the center of the city was the tallest building stretching far into the sky. From there the Citadel ran Mars making sure everyone and everything was kept the way they liked it. It made him want to jump for joy at the barest thought of chasing the Citadel out and reclaiming the Sol system.

The shuttle sped towards the city and soon joined a stream of traffic. It did not stand out in the crowd as it was the same structural design as other shuttles built for military use back when humanity had a military. Since the war many of the shuttles were disarmed and used for simple purposes. Some as taxis, others as small cargo haulers and some even as personal craft. The weapons that their shuttle had retracted so unless someone really inspected it and saw that it was not properly tagged, they would be able to go about their business without any trouble.

As the minutes ticked by the shuttle followed the traffic flows through the city of forty million. Finally it broke away and headed toward the rendezvous, a large shipping center bustling with activity. As the shuttle landed the group stood up to leave. All of them had small arms easily concealed, anything else could draw attention being as it was illegal for the populace to have any weapons. That of course did not apply if you were someone willing to work for the Citadel or had enough money to bribe the guards, but that was a rarity among the poor and looked down upon humans.

The group exited the shuttle and found themselves on a large concrete slab dusted with red sand from a previous storm. Warehouses were all around them and work crews moved cargo to every kind of destination. The seven men and women stood outside the shuttle waiting as their escorts approached from one of the warehouses.

There were eight men in all and Allimer could just make out the weapons underneath their coats. All were Coalition men and Allimer was glad to be back in friendly hands.

"Captain Baker," said the leader of the group. "I am glad you made it back safely. If you will all follow me I have transport ready to take us to command." He turned around a began to make his way to one of the warehouses. Without comment Baker followed. Walker shot George a look, the man was not sure about the strangers. He gave him a nod and Walker followed suit behind Baker, Liara by his side and the rest of the grew group stepping in behind.

They approached a warehouse. Inside dim lights illuminated various cargos. Their escorts entered the building and turned right, disappearing into it. Baker followed, but as Walker and Liara rounded the corner Allimer heard a small scuffle. Without hesitation he pulled out his side arm and motioned for the other two marines to do the same. They speed up leaving behind Hammond behind. A man flew through the air across the entrance glowing blue from a biotic attack. He heard the man hit something with a loud crash. Allimer and the two other marines whipped around the corner, guns up and ready to fire.

"Stand down Sergeant," ordered Baker loudly as should stood just outside the group of now seven escorts attacking Walker and Liara. One man had a device over Liara's arm and he watched as her eyes lost their biotic color as the man injected her with a serum designed to block her biotic abilities. He wrestled control over her after that and had her on her knees, wrist tied behind her back. Walker was still struggling, two men were on him with a few others standing back with their weapons ready. Walker held his pistol in his right hand struggling in vain to aim it at his attackers, but his attackers managed to keep it pointing towards the ceiling. The two men soon knocked it free and one of the men slammed a baton into Walker's head knocking him to his knees.

With Walker dazed the men brought the Courier's hand behind him securing them. They then stood on either side holding him by his shoulders.

"I said stand down Sergeant," said Baker again. A couple of the soldiers moved their weapons on the marines and Allimer put his weapon back in his holster, as did the other marines.

"What the hell is going on here," said Hammond as he finally rounded the corner and eyed the scene.

"I would like to know that as well, Baker" said Walker with venom in his voice as he stared at the Captain. She waved her hand and one of the men placed a gag over Walker's mouth.

"This man, and this freak," she said indicating Walker and Liara. " Are to be confined and made ready for interrogation. Secure the shuttle we arrived in and get these two out of my sight." She turned to Allimer and the rest as two of the soldiers left to secure the shuttle leaving two behind Baker with their rifles steady. "Marines, Doctor, report at command at 0700 tomorrow for debriefing. Do I make myself clear?"

Allimer watched as the soldiers pulled Walker and Liara to their feet and led them deeper inside the warehouse.

"They don't deserves this Captain," said Allimer.

Baker looked at him a long second before answering the big man. "You're wrong, Sergeant. They deserve this, and more. That asari bitch is the enemy, lest you forget. And him, what is he but a reminder of the past and the way things were. He will do nothing but question what we do and put doubt in our people's minds." She spoke with a fanaticism that unnerved him. "That will be the death of us, Sergeant. People need to forget about the past, about how things use to be and be willing to commit to the Coalition solely. They must be willing to sacrifice anything and anyone, even themselves for the good of the Coalition and humanity as a whole. At this time we must be united and one if we are to win against the Citadel, and we must remove anything that distracts us from that, especially the great Courier. As for you, gentlemen, you will do as you're told. Do I make myself clear?" She stood there in front of the men waiting for their answer.

Allimer found himself in a tough position. He knew that if he did not agree with her he would find himself in the same position as Walker and Liara, he could not afford for that to happen.

" You do, Captain," he said. He looked over to the other three. "Doesn't she, boys?" They regarded him for a moment with a sliver of shock in their eyes. But Allimer knew they trusted him and hoped they would follow his lead. To his relief the two other marines gave him a nod, but the doctor just stared.

"No, Lorrie," said Hammond with nervous looks coming from Allimer and the marines. "The only thing that is clear is that this is wrong." The two men standing behind Baker held their weapons a little tighter.

"Excuse me, Doctor?" she asked coldly.

"You heard me, Lorrie. What you're doing to them is wrong." Allimer was surprised to hear the doctors objection. He knew the man did not like confrontation.

She pulled out her side arm and held it in her left hand as she stepped towards Hammond. Allimer reached down for his side arm as did Leroy and Jenkins but before they even touched them the two soldiers behind Baker had their rifles aimed at the marines.

"Stay still, marines, or you will find yourself with the other two, or worse," warned Baker. Allimer, Leroy and Jenkins stayed their hands and watched as Baker approached the doctor. Allimer's heart was beating a mile a minute as he watched Baker place her gun under the doctor's chin, aiming for the brain. Allimer watched as the doctor's eyes went wide with fear.

"That conscious of your is getting annoying, doctor," she said.

"I will not stand here and go along with this, Lorrie," said Hammond, his voice breaking.

"What's wrong, Hammond? Scared," Baker teased as the terrified doctor trembled slightly.

"Damn right I am," said the trembling doctor. "Your holding a gun to my head and I am no combat soldier trained for such a thing, but, I would rather die than abandon my principles. I have served under you since before the war, and I have seen what our loss has done to you, but I won't stand by any longer and watch you sink down further. I will not go along with this mockery so if you mean to end, then end it now, Lorrie." The doctor built up resolve as he spoke defiantly. He stopped trembling and stared the Captain down daring her to pull the trigger. A bit of reckless madness danced in his eyes. Allimer did not believe that man had it in him. The doctor was much stronger than he had been given credit for.

Baker lowered the pistol from the man's chin. "Get out of my sight, Hammond, and consider yourself relieved. Our future has no place for you." Hammond regarded her a second then turned around and walked away.

As Hammond exited the building the two men that had left to secure the shuttle returned. "Captain Baker, the shuttle craft is gone," one of the men reported. Baker grimaced but otherwise did not respond to the news.

She turned to Allimer. "Sergeant you men are to report at 0700 tomorrow at command for a debriefing. Consider the rest of the day yours." She turned away and headed the same way Walker and Liara were taken followed by the rest of the escort.

"You heard the Captain," said Allimer to Leroy and Jenkins. "Let's get out of here."

As they departed the warehouse he could just make out Hammond walking away, nearly lost in the crowd. He was glad the man had left. It meant he could trust him for what was coming next.

I hope you enjoyed. Not much action this chapter, but that will come later. I just did not want this chapter to be too long. Stay tuned.