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Shepard gathered everyone into the War Room after her meeting with Admiral Hackett. Her crew watched her pace appearing frazzled as she used her omni-tool to project a holographic image up for the crew to observe. An image of a solar system appeared as Shepard hastily typed into her omni-tool; the silence of the room growing more and more prominent.
"Shepard, does this have something to do with your discussion with Admiral Hackett?" EDI inquired amongst the quiet, startling Shepard's private thoughts.
"Were you eavesdropping on me?" Shepard questioned, defensively, suddenly angry by the lack of privacy.
"Jeff and I were worried, I thought the deception necessary to receive answers, my apologies," EDI replied, her synthetic voice had a slight pitch of shame to it.
"What's going on, Commander? I thought we were headed to the Citadel, why the change in direction?" James asked.
Shepard sighed heavily, gathering her thoughts as she planned on how to brief her crew on something so personal, something that wasn't considered a priority to the Alliance, or the Reaper threat for that matter. Shepard turned to look at the holographic model, thinking about her father being in danger and trapped for decades in the Terminus Systems. The uneasiness she felt didn't fully deter her from her great need to find out the truth and possibly save her father.
"My mother, Captain Hannah Shepard, discovered a distress signal out in the Crescent Nebula. There's evidence of an Alliance cruiser, one that had gone MIA twenty years ago, has been found and that the crew are possibly still alive and in danger. We're going to investigate what happened," Shepard explained.
Her crew looked at each other, waiting for someone else to fill in the awkward silence.
"With all due respect, Shepard, can't the Alliance send a squad in to investigate the ship themselves? I know all our militaries are spread very thin right now, but this just doesn't seem like a mission that should be put before attacking Cerberus," Garrus piped up.
"I agree, there's a chance we could lose track of Kai Leng. That tracer Miranda Lawson placed on him could soon go out of range," Liara added.
"No, this is too important, it takes priority," Shepard clipped in response.
"Shepard... what's going on? There's more to this isn't there?" Kaidan asked, searching her face.
Shepard knew Kaidan and the rest of her crew could easily read her like an open book. As much as she didn't want to disclose her personal stakes in the mission, showing weakness for selfish reasons, she knew they deserved to know. They have all followed her to hell and back so there wasn't even a question of their loyalty, more of a question of time and resources being drained when everything they worked on seemed to be closing in.
"There is more to it, the distress signal that was left..." Shepard began, reluctantly.
She brought up her omni-tool and pulled up the audio file her mother had sent her and played it aloud for everyone to hear:
"This is Major Yuudai Kobayashi of the Alliance SSV Munich! Something went w- [unintelligible static] Systems suddenly beca- [unintelligible static] We are in the Zelene System, I repeat in the Z- [unintelligible static] in the Cresc- [unintelligible static] If anyone can hear this, please contact Alliance officials immediately! We need he- [unintelligible static]
"What of it?" Javik asked after listening, his interest waning.
"Wait a moment, Major Yuudai Kobayashi... isn't that..." Liara began, realization dawning on the asari's face.
"Yes, that's my father. He's been missing since I was twelve."
Silence returned to the War Room as the news settled in. The truth being out in the open made the situation even more real, Shepard didn't know if she could stomach this any further. Her nerves had been tense for days. The nightmares had left a dark and crippling sensation; the rush to complete the Crucible, find the Catalyst, take down Cerberus, and stop the Reapers from causing their galactic extinction, was mounting further than mere threats.
"Shepard, are we sure that the voice speaking is really your father? It could be a trick, like what the Illusive Man did with that fake turian distress signal," Tali mentioned.
"I know, but this just seems to real, and why go to the trouble with a soldier and a cruiser that has been presumed dead or missing for two decades? Even though he's my father, finding out where the SSV Munich even went would be a feat in itself. No... I think this is real, and if not it's worth investigating," Shepard retorted. "My mom and I deserve closure. There's a chance that we could not come out of the Cerberus headquarters, or even the fight against the Reapers alive. I need to tie up these loose ends. I know this is personal, but... I just need to know."
"We understand, Shepard. You deserve to know what happened to your father," Kaidan replied, sympathetic and steadfast in his loyalty to his partner.
"You helped me with finding out the truth and fate of my father, I will do the same for you, Shepard," Tali added.
"We owe you that much for helping us, Shepard, we're all right behind you," Garrus responded.
Shepard couldn't help but give her crew a small smile, feeling grateful for their belief in her. They agreed to aid her without any more convincing. She turned back to face the hologram of the Crescent Nebula displayed before them.
"My mom pinpointed the coordinates of the distress signal to the Crescent Nebula, in the Zelene system. I'm not sure which planet yet, I haven't been able to scan and narrow down the search more."
"Allow me, Shephard," EDI stepped forward, changing the hologram to show the four planets that orbited Zelene's sun. "This should not be difficult to find the exact location, there are only two planets that are able to sustain life in Zelene."
EDI began to bring up each planet one by one:
"Gaelon is a gas giant, so life on the planet is not possible. There is evidence that one of the moons along Gaelon's rings once had an arthenni helium-3 mining infrastructure. But landing with all the debris floating around the rings, and with debris from a past destroyed dreadnought make it difficult to navigate. Surviving a crash landing is only at a 0.1276% chance."
"But less than 1% is still a chance," James pointed out with a shrug.
"It is extremely unlikely, Lieutenant Vega. Odds would be better suited at 0%," EDI corrected him before continuing on.
"Epho is a possibility, it is a rocky planet consisting of oxygen and a carbon dioxide atmosphere. There are more arthenni infrastructures of mining and possible settlements, although no evidence of current species attempting to make Epho a colony in recent centuries. Be advised, Epho's atmosphere is 41% carbon dioxide at sea level, making it four to six times that necessary to render most species unconscious within minutes of breathing. A crash landing on this planet has a better chance of survival, if enough crew members had oxygen filtration helmets, and the hull wasn't breached before precautions were taken."
"Nepyma, a biosphere based on chlorinated oxygen. It was once considered nearly habitable, but is considered dangerous because of a microbe native to the planet," EDI conintued.
"Yes, an asari surveyor called the Versallas landed on Nepyma in 1684 to study the ecology of the planet. The crew of the Versallus unknowingly brought back the microbe to Nos Parnalo on Illium. The microbe began to feed on chlorides, creating a toxic byproduct called polychlorinated biphenyls. It turned Nos Parnalo into a toxic waste dump that we had no choice but to abandon. It was a disaster," Liara recounted.
"So landing on that planet is extremely risky," Kaidan concluded, "and it would be unlikely that a crashed ship would survive without a microbe infestation, and that's not even counting the atmosphere itself."
"My species have banned anyone from landing on Nepyma, it's too dangerous. The microbe could get on the ship and spread," Liara added.
"There is one more possibility: Helyme. Shepard you defeated Captain Vorleon and the Eclipse mercenaries that had overrun the mining facility on Helyme. The atmosphere suggests it is the most viable option with similarities to your own homeworld, Earth," EDI stated.
"Wait.. but that means I could've been on the planet where my father had crashed on?! He was right under my nose this whole time..." Shepard realized, shocked and angered by her sloppy work of scanning the planet nearly a year ago.
"Much of the planet hadn't been explored, Shepard," EDI replied. "On the other side of Helyme there is a plentiful jungle on the garden world, as well as ruins of the arthenn's civilizations. It is believed that this planet was the homeworld of the arthenn, a species that as we know disappeared 300,000 years ago. The oxygen-nitrogen atmosphere is in habitable zones for sustaining life, so a crash on this planet has a high likelihood of survivors."
"Illium has mostly banned any travelers from landing on Helyme, though. The lightning storms and wildfires from the oxygenated atmosphere can be devastating. Also preserving the crumbling civilizations of the arthenn were set as an importance, their ruins are nearly disintegrated," Liara explained.
"I remember it took the Normandy a few days to receive clearance from Illium for us to land to stop the Eclipse gang," Garrus recounted.
"Hmph, why preserve the ruins of a species wiped out by cataclysm. The Protheans had little to do with a species who were able but unwilling to travel outside their system. The dead world isn't worth saving," Javik huffed.
"We don't have time to wait for clearance. If there's a chance my father is on this planet I'm not going to delay any longer. Besides, the atmosphere on this planet appears very similar to Earth, we had our share of storms and wildfires, but it didn't destroy us," Shepard replied as she stared at the holographic Helyme display. "EDI, begin a thorough scan on Helyme, and the other planets just to be sure. We won't have time to land on every single one, so we need to make sure we choose the right one on the first try."
"It seems like the two best options are Epho and Helyme, the other two are either too dangerous or inhabitable," Kaidan offered, watching Shepard carefully.
"You're right," Shepard nodded slowly, still processing the fact that she could've ran into her father a year ago.
"Very well, Shepard, I'll scan Epho and Helyme. This could take several minutes, I advise coming up with a battle strategy in case we run into hostiles, including Reaper forces. We have a couple hours before the Normandy reaches the Crescent Nebula," EDI suggested.
Shepard dismissed the group, telling them she would contact each of them when they all did some brainstorming on strategies. She needed to clear her head, and doing so with all these eyes on her wasn't working. Her frustration of missing her father when she was so close was eating away at her, but she tried her best not to dwell on it too much. EDI was right, she had no way of knowing that the SSV Munich had crashed on Helyme. For a moment of fury she thought of the Illusive Man knowing the truth and hiding it from her when she entered Zelene for missions when she briefly worked for him. She wouldn't be surprised, knowing he would've probably used this knowledge to manipulate her down the line if she still worked for Cerberus.
The suspicion of it all gave her a terrible feeling.
EDI had picked up readings on Helyme of a crashed ship; it was enough for Shepard to convince herself that it was the SSV Munich. As the Normandy made its way toward Helyme, Shepard paced around the Normandy, visiting her crew members to see if they had any ideas on how to approach this mission. She wanted as much feedback as possible, knowing her emotions were blinding her judgement and her rational thinking was at an all time low.
On the third level Shepard made her way toward Liara's cabin. She told Shepard she would use her connections as the Shadow Broker to see if she could find out any more information regarding the Munich's disappearance, or even the planet Helyme itself. The dead planet was shrouded in mystery, finding any information beyond the mining facility was impossible. The Extranet had only brief theories of the arthenn on how they suddenly vanished over a quarter of a million years ago. The theories mostly pointed to the Reapers now, but Javik had mentioned that the arthenn had kept to themselves. The asaris interest in studying their ruins also left theories on Prothean beacons being hidden there, but Javik had said that the Protheans didn't bother with their system. Something just seemed off with the arthenn extinction, as did the unreachable parts of their homeworld.
"Commander Shepard," a voice cut into Shepard's thoughts.
Dr. Chakwas emerged from the med bay, waving at Shepard to get her attention.
"What is it, doctor?" Shepard asked, antsy to go speak with Liara.
"You're due for a psych eval today, remember? Hackett's orders," Chakwas reminded her.
"Can this wait? I really need to speak to Liara about the upcoming mission."
"Commander, the stress you are experiencing could be detrimental to the mission. Your last reading indiciated that you're under more duress than you were during the Skyllian Blitz. Health-wise it's my job to ensure you're healthy enough to lead," Chakwas explained matter-of-factly.
"I know, doctor, it's just I don't have much time to prepare before we reach the Crescent Nebula," Shepard clipped.
"I understand, Commander, but you know this comes straight from the top. Your personal involvement in this mission is putting you under more strain than usual."
"Normandy's scheduled maintenance at the Citadel was also an order from Hackett, I'll get this pushed back, too," Shepard groaned.
She continued toward Liara's cabin, feeling bad for how she spoke to Dr. Chakwas, but she didn't have time to waste on a physical examination. The psych eval itself would take nearly an hour. The doctor was right, her stress was getting to her and making her irritable, but the importance of this and the preparation couldn't be squandered.
Shepard entered Liara's cabin, finding the Shadow Broker at her console, typing quickly. The monitors flashed with images and text that scrolled by too quickly for Shepard to read. Glyph greeted her, forcing Liara out of her research.
"Any luck?" Shepard questioned, although Liara's furrowed brow gave her the answer.
"It's odd, Shepard... everything about Helyme and the arthenn species are almost nonexistent. The asari have been studying the artenn ruins for hundreds of years, them not finding anything in that span of time doesn't make sense," Liara said aloud, her eyes back on the console.
"What do you think is the explanation?"
"I think the government on Illium is keeping it classified somehow, but I don't know why. With everything going on and our knowledge now on the Reapers and even Leviathan, why hide something so trivial?"
"I can't think of anything," Shepard answered, honestly. "What could be bigger than the discovery of the Protheans, Leviathan and the Reapers?"
"Nothing I can conclude, but I'll keep digging. In the meantime it would be wise to speak with Javik, he has first hand knowledge about arthenn."
"Good idea, let me know what you find," Shepard said before she left.
Down in engineering, Javik had little else to add, much to her disappointment. The Prothean stood before his memory shard, deep in thought.
"My ancestors know little about the arthenn. As I said before, they kept to themselves. By the time the Protheans ruled the galaxy, they had been wiped out."
"But why didn't the Protheans explore Zelene like the rest of the systems? Doesn't that seem strange to you?" Shepard questioned further.
"It does," Javik agreed, "not much can be said about Zelene or even Helyme. It was almost like my species avoided going there."
"Avoided? Why?"
"Perhaps because of depleted resources, we are not a superstitious race, Commander. The planets in Zelene were no longer viable, and the ruins of lost civilizations do not interest us. Exploring dead planets would not help us against the Reapers," Javik stated.
"It just all seems so weird, like something isn't adding up. There's so much secrecy surrounding Helyme, and I want to know why," Shepard said with a sigh, annoyed that she wasn't getting anywhere.
"I will search through my memory shard to see if I can uncover anything, but it is unlikely," Javik replied.
"Thank you, Javik."
"The sooner we complete this mission, the sooner we can get back to defeating the Reapers," Javik concluded without another word.
Shepard left, already knowing his coldness and disinterest toward the mission. He had agreed to help, but didn't have the empathy to understand how badly she needed to find her father. She left engineering, dodging Diana Allers who wanted to have an interview before the Cerberus mission. She had questions about the sudden change to head to the Crescent Nebula, but Shepard didn't want something so personal being shared with the public. Shepard headed up the elevator, feeling suddenly fatigued in the waking presence of an unknown mission. She still had to come up with a tactical strategy, but it was hard to do without any information on the planet. When the elevator opened, Kaidan stood before her on the CIC level.
"Shepard, I was looking for you," Kaidan began.
Shepard appeared so drained and grim to him, he felt bad about all the hardships she was facing, and most of it she seemed to bear alone. He reached out and caressed her shoulder, feeling the extreme tenseness of her muscles. She eased slightly with the familiarity of his touch.
"I'm sorry, Kaidan, for not telling you what was going on right away. It was unexpected and-"
"You don't have to apologize, Shepard. It's a lot to take on at once. You doing okay?" He questioned, gently.
"No, not really. I'll feel better once I know more about this planet and if my father is really alive."
Traynor hovered behind them, concern etched clearly on the technicians face. Shepard felt guilty for brushing past her earlier and keeping her in the dark. Her urgency to have Joker head to the Crescent Nebula was a pressing matter. Getting the entire staff on board had caused a lot of confusion. She heard retorts from Engineer Adams, even Steve Cortez had pointed out how the Normandy was overdue for maintenance, but she had waved off their disagreements.
"Commander Shepard, I got the briefing over my messages of the mission change. You really think the SSV Munich has been found?" Traynor asked, alarmed.
"That's what we're going to find out. There's more at stake than that, there's evidence that my father is alive among the wreckage. Don't spread that around, this needs to be kept private. I don't need our enemies discovering this, it could be used against me as a weakness," Shepard explained.
Traynor audibly gasped.
"Hold our comms and my messages, we need to go dark for a little while, just to be safe," Shepard added.
"It's also illegal to land on Helyme without clearance from Illium, so we need to keep that quiet, too," Kaidan told Traynor.
"Ye-Yes, I understand," Traynor snapped a salute. "I'm sorry Commander, I had no idea about your father..."
"It's okay, Traynor. The crew has been informed, we're going all hands on deck with this one. Do you mind helping EDI scan the planet? The more we know about Helyme, the better."
"Of course, Commander."
"Thanks, I'm going to check on Joker."
Shepard and Kaidan headed to the cockpit. Joker was casually navigating the flight controls. Out of the entire crew, Joker appeared to be the most unnerved.
"Hey Commander, we'll be approaching the Crescent Nebula in about forty minutes," Joker reported.
"Good, keep it stealthy, Joker. I don't want anyone to know we're poking around here, especially on Helyme. There seems to be a lot of mystery and stigma about landing on this planet."
"Pssh, don't remind me. Getting security clearance last time to land when you were going after that Eclipse cell was a pain in the ass. Even with the Illusive Man's resources, appealing to customs took days. I don't know what the asari are hiding on this planet, hell landing on Thessia is an easier process," Joker rambled.
"I don't know, either, and that's what I don't like. I didn't notice anything unusual about the mining facility, and the Normandy didn't pick up on any anomalies. I just don't understand why the distress signal got through now," Shepard replied.
"Well kinda hard to pay attention when you were being shot at by Eclipse members nonstop. Our landing permission was only for a few hours, too, so we had to leave rather quickly. I just hope we don't get discovered, although the Reapers have Illium a bit occupied right now."
"We should get our armor on and check on our weapons," Kaidan suggested, gently gripping Shepard's shoulder.
Shepard only nodded, her throat suddenly feeling dry as Helyme approach closer. Joker assured her he would bring the Normandy in without being detected, and followed Kaidan back to her cabin. The closer she got to the mysterious planet, the more the uneasiness churned in her stomach. She had a terrible feeling about the secrecy surrounding Helyme, a feeling that she hadn't had since Eden Prime. Kaidan was there to comfort her, but even in his embrace the fear she felt was deep and unsettling like her nightmare. The voice returned in her thoughts, a terrible reminder of the unknown waiting for her beyond the safety of her ship.
You will discover the truth.