Pt.4 Cornerstone

1615 Hours, Tuesday, April 15, 2183 / Fairmont Empress Hotel, Vancouver Island, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, UNAS, Earth, Sol, Local Cluster / 3 years, 1 month, 8 days Pre Reaper invasion of Earth

"Normandy is missing."

There was a sinking sensation in my gut. Two days prior, the Illusive Man had flagged me down from a brief act of reconnaissance in San Diego to have a look into the sudden absence of reports we had been intercepting regarding the whereabouts of the SSV Normandy. After all, he had charged me with dissuading Shepard when the time came.

Suffice to say, news of a missing ship belonging to the Spectre was not what I wanted to hear.

"Well, I suppose that answers whether or not you took a peek at the data files." I flashed an unamused smile at my expected guest.

"Of course." Abraham Rumoi dutifully settled his entire bodyweight into the leather chair beside me, and placed a cloth napkin in his lap. The Alliance Intelligence Officer was not a tall man, but he was lean, agile and strong. With a decent sense of humor. Built for the work he provided. "I usually like to know what I'm stealing. Some of the valuables I come across in my line of work are dangerous. If the line is traced back to me I could wind up in a lot of trouble. Better to know I'm risking my neck for a good cause."

"A kleptomaniac with standards," I mused.

Abraham's expression grew deeply offended. "Well, I don't pilfer. There's no reward in snatching wallets if you don't have to. Besides, better safe than sorry, right?"

I nearly snorted in disbelief, "Says the self-proclaimed best thief in the galaxy…Cucumber sandwich?"

"Thanks. Tasteful ambiance by the way." For a moment, he grew silent and thoughtful. In his dark eyes there was almost a wistful shimmer. But then, he flashed a playful grin. "I think I'm in second place actually."

"Because that's what I want to hear from the man I've hired to bring me the most reliable information an expert can get their hands on," I clucked my tongue to the roof of my mouth in dry sarcasm. "Do you tell all of your employers what they want to hear, Mr. Rumoi?"

"It's good for business. Whispering sweet nothings and what not."

I nearly cracked a crooked smile, but managed to keep a straight face. "A remarkable sales pitch."

"Yeah, but I usually only save that for my clients with good intentions." It was more of a dare, a challenge for me to allude otherwise.

I rolled my eyes and countered. "How do you know I'm going to do the right thing with the intel?"

"I don't," He admitted. "We've been acquainted for awhile, though. And you seem to be the only one that actually gives a damn about what happened to our Spectre out in the Terminus. Favor for a favor I guess."

"Are you sure you know me?" I goaded with an imploring raise of an eyebrow.

"I know your name isn't Andi Dawson." He murmured.

"And your name isn't Abraham Rumoi," I shot back, bringing an impromptu halt to the revelation of our aliases.

My eyes roamed the datapads he had slid underneath the cup of tea in my grasp. Images of the Alliance's prize prototype colored each page like a child's storybook. Amongst the texts were details of her layout and groundbreaking technological advances, important dates regarding her maiden tour of duty- though many missions were still far too classified to flounder amongst the data in my hand. There were also short-handed dossiers on the three commanding officers she had already hosted, and reports of her recent absence in communication.

"So the Alliance is…?" I left the question hanging in the air.

"Calling off the search for the ship," His irritated grumble belied the way he nonchalantly groped for the kettle I had ordered several minutes before his arrival. "It's a goner."

"Typical." I frowned and shook my head when I came across a similar tidbit of information. "And so is the commander…According to the brass."

His features hardened. "He was the one person able to convince anyone of Reapers. I can't believe they're giving up on him so easily."

I was unapologetic. "I can."

Abraham paused and gave the tea lobby a suspicious once over. "Should we even be discussing this here?"

The table was laid. There were the best things with a fat pink rose on the side of each cup; hearts of lettuce, thin bread and butter, and the crisp little cakes that had been baked in readiness that morning.

High tea at the Empress was not typically a time for eavesdroppers. It was a time for upper class tourists to experience customs of the former Commonwealth Nations, and for the wealthy relish to in their exorbitant lifestyle. Show face for friends, and strike up business deals with others. Lavish and grand, and as artificial as such a stoic culture could become. This was familiar territory.

I knew the Empress well.

Perhaps the only courtesy of my father.

I shrugged and took a bite out of one my cube-cut cucumber sandwiches. "We're simply having a conversation."

"Alright," He consented as I continued my crescendo of absorption through the datapads. Abraham's eyes grew woeful as he read over my shoulder. "Looks like the poor guy died on his birthday."

"People die everyday," I reminded him.

He frowned deeply. "That's a little cold, Andi. He wasn't even thirty."

"He made it to twenty-nine."

"By maybe an hour. He was just a kid."

I scoffed, and glared down at the picture of the Great Commander Shepard glowering back at me. The photograph must have been taken just after his harrowing escapade on Virmire where he had abandoned a friend to perish- when he had been grounded from his mission to pursue the now deceased Saren.

It was one of the few times I could recall him openly leering in anger during an interview since he had obtained his public status of Spectre. And he had stonewalled the press- who had nagged for answers regarding the secrecy surrounding Saren and his geth throughout the entirety of his lurk from Council Chambers- with all of the animosity he was probably capable of exerting.

Even Emily Wong, whom he seemed to thoroughly enjoy rattling off stories for.

At one point, I had been sure he was prepared to strike out at Westerlund's infamous arsehole, Khalisah Bint Sinan al-Jilani. A vein in Shepard's temple had merely throbbed, his face obtained a purplish hue, and a krogan had stolen the opportunity. Irritation and contradicting amusement had flashed in his brightly colored irises. Yet before he could open his mouth to reprimand or protest, Shepard had been ushered away from the cameras by a blue-faced turian.

Shepard's normal cheerfully optimistic facade that he paraded around for the public had vanished. Instead, his eyes were hard, his lips pursed in a straight line, and his cheeks were gaunt with stress. He wore the face of a man that had seen death a hundred times over.

A man that knew sacrifice.

And for once, I was convinced his motivations were deeper than the duty of a simple marine following orders. They were genuine.

"He wasn't a child." I argued.

"Maybe not," He shrugged. "But that's too short of a life…And they aren't even going to tell his mom yet."

Sure enough, the Alliance brass had already prepared a message to send to his mother four days from today. The data read as followed:

'April 19, 2183

'Dear Captain Shepard,

'It is with the deepest regret that I inform you that your son, Lieutenant Commander Ernest J. Shepard, service no. 5923-AC-2826, member of the special ops N7 marine program, Commanding Officer of SSV Normandy SR-1, has been reported Missing in Action since April 11, 2183 by his surviving squad members.

'Additional information has been received from survivors indicating that the Normandy was attacked by an unidentifiable enemy in the Amada System. As far as we can assume, the attack was instigated by the geth. Five escape pods containing twenty-three crewmembers were recovered, while twenty-one personnel have been reported missing along with the vessel itself.

'Believing you may wish to contact the surviving crew members and the families of those that disappeared along with the SSV Normandy, I am inclosing a list of the men and women and the names and addresses of their next of kin.

'Please be assured that a continuing search by land and space is being made to discover the whereabouts of our missing personnel. As our special forces continue advancing into the Terminus and other geth occupied territory and send us intel, we will be pleased in providing you any additional information.

'Ernest was a fine young man, and it brings me considerable grief to relay this message. He was a superb marine, a charismatic commanding officer, and one of the most intelligent people I have ever had the privilege to know. Know that his entire crew and myself considered him to be the most efficient and outstanding promise for the human race in our brief history. You can justly be proud of your son, Hannah.

'If I can ever be of further service, or bring future consolidation, do not hesitate to call upon me.

'Sincerely yours and with the deepest regrets,

'Steven Hackett

'Admiral, Alliance Fifth Fleet'

Friday, April 18, 2183 / Undisclosed Location, Cronos Station / 3 years, 1 month, 5 days Pre Reaper invasion of Earth

I stalked calmly towards the thickly paned window, and scowled out at the new dwarf star the Illusive Man had chosen to orbit Cronos. This one bled an angry red.

"They've declared him MIA." I announced. "Not publically. Not yet. We've got at least another three days before they reveal a ship that might be Normandy has even fallen off the radar. No doubt so they can tie up any loose ends."

"Which gives us time." My boss's synthetic eyes roamed the data I had retrieved for him. His holographic monitors were organized by personnel reports, sightings, and trajectory statistics.

"But not much."

There was a heavy pause. Then Illusive Man took a drag on his cigarette and said, "The Alliance has given up any lingering hope of retrieving the commander. They will not interfere when we begin our own search."

"So has the Council, but the Terminus Systems, merc groups, foreign agencies. They most certaintly haven't. Who knows what they could possibly desire Shepard for? Either way, he's incredibly valuable."

"A fallen hero- a human hero no less- is invaluable." Illusive Man drawled. "Though it's no surprise the Council has decided to waste their time elsewhere. Shepard was drawing too much power and influence away from them. He's made many friends in high places...and many enemies."

"Shepard did everything right." I insisted. "More than we could have hoped for. Saving the Citadel- even sacrificing human lives to rescue the Council. Our race has the trust of the entire galaxy. We've earned our seat on the Council a hundred times over." I glared back out at the dwarf star. "And it will never be enough."

My boss flicked a file from his holo screen in contemplation. "Our sacrifices have earned the Council's gratitude. Nothing more."

"We're still second class citizens." I murmured icily. "The old races will still refuse to listen to us. So stuck in their ways. None of their traditions will ever matter when the Reapers arrive on our doorstep."

Any reservations I had held a few months prior of the supposedly mythical sentient machines had all but vanished the day Sovereign attacked the Citadel. I had caught the live feed of the brave and unintelligent citizens daring enough to record the attack instead of running for their lives- into the deeper levels of the wards. The dreadnought had torn the Council fleet apart with its crimson gun. And, I was under the nagging suspicion that a piece of the Reaper was sitting shielded in one of the lower labs of the station for research. At least, I was certain that was what I passed by on my way up to the Illusive Man's office.

"Shepard remains our best hope. Regardless of how displeased they are with his chaotic nature, the Council does respect Shepard."

I gnawed the inside of my cheek for a moment as I wondered whether or not the Council was truly grateful for the Citadel's population as a whole, or simply their own sorry hides. They'd kept their gratitude for my own efforts in preventing the batarian bio weapon from going off in the galaxy's heart very underhanded.

All under the table.

After all, they could never publicly thank Cerberus- the organization they had so frivolously declared a terrorist institution.

Now, they were willing to sweep the blatant evidence of Reapers under the rug in favor of keeping a calm population.

Bureaucracies. I scoffed internally.

"But they sent him to his death by geth. Non-aggressive flashlights!" I pursed my lips, and turned from the window to see one of the Illusive Man's assistants pass him a datapad and scurry away. "Such a pointless waste of life. Geth don't wander beyond the Veil unless provoked by circumstance. We both know they're not the real threat. Their gods are. Reapers are still mulling around in dark space. They'll be here in our galaxy soon enough."

"And their arrival is up to humanity- up to Cerberus- to prevent," He agreed, taking a drag on his cigarette.

My arms folded across my chest. "The Council will never trust Cerberus. They'll never accept our help. Even after everything humanity has accomplished." Even after what Mr. Taylor and I did for them. "But Shepard...they'll follow him. He's a hero, a bloody icon. But he's just one man. If we have lost Shepard, humanity might well follow."

"Then see to it that we don't lose him."

My jaw set in determination. "I'll find him, sir. Don't expect much more than a body, but I will amend that."

How I would reverse such a final fate, I did not yet know. But I was determined to defy the laws of nature if I was so forced to do so.

Illusive Man rose his eyebrows in interest. My decision to do the impossible had always seemed to impress him. "Of course, Operative Lawson. I have the utmost faith in your pursuit."

A/N: Yay! We're finally getting into ME2/Foundation stuff! Don't worry for those of you that still like to read past history, I will definitely be including that along the way. I really hoped you guys like this chapter. And I gotta ask, do any of you have any nagging suspicions about who Miranda's contact was? Or was I kind of a dead giveaway?

If you'd be so kind leave me your thoughts, comments, questions, or concerns in a review or PM. I love hearing from you guys, and your input is very insightful. Thanks to my new followers/favoriters! :D Much obliged.