So why was this was a good idea? A bullet soared overhead, making me wince as it skimmed a hair away from setting my beret on fire. A growl rumbled in my chest, the Carnifex reloading. The Blue Suns pinned us down with gunfire and grenades. We crawled down three floors with another 20 odd left, when the staircase filled with angry Blue Suns. The tiny room we struggled through had been a recreation room. Desks lay sprawled on the floor, tumbled over to act as cover. The windows smashed as bullets pelted through them. My head popped over my rough cover – three desks on their sides – and fired a clip of Carnifex bullets. A few more down at least...
"Arthan! Watch the right flank! Cassa, we've got 3 guys sneaking up on the rear. Shayan, for fuck sake, stop freaking out and hit something!" I snapped. My eyes found a new bullet hole behind the Blue Suns. "...And a wall doesn't count!" I scowled. Shayan flushed, but bless him, he lined up another shot regardless. My head shook. This wasn't going anywhere near as well as it should. A hole smashed through my cover. Where was a krogan when you needed one?
I swapped to the Locust, tightening my jaw as a merc yelped at the bug bites of bullets and leapt to the side. A laugh burst free when he jumped back out of cover as an explosion sounded of an unleashed grenade. Jhort slipped another into his hand. If you didn't let yourself get too personal, fighting became somewhat comical. Indira had rubbed off on me too much. A nod to Jhort, and he tossed another grenade out behind cover. Several Blue Suns floated in the air for a few seconds. They flailed as the bullets rained into them. The joys of lift grenades and their wonderful ability made my life easier. My cheer rang out when Shayan hit a Blue Sun, making the merc stumble. Shayan got a fright and Phylla had to finish the job, but it was progress. The red-masked quarian blushed as I gave his shoulder a firm shake.
"There you go! See? Easy!" I encouraged. "Keep it up, we need as many guns as we can get to crawl out of this mess," I grinned. He managed a small nod. My face fought to hold a positive expression, knowing what awaited us. But the quarians worked well together… assuming someone directed them and Shayan didn't freak. My gaze looked over the cover once the bullets stopped flying. A quick study revealed the Blue Suns had retreated.
"All clear, captain," Cassa confirmed. A scowl formed.
"Thanks, but don't call me captain," I sighed, hauling myself over the cover to reach the staircase at the other end of the room. The Blue Suns tried to funnel us, they blocked the stairs leading up with debris and the only way down was this set of stairs. The one we had come down on was impassable. We crouched at the top of the stairs, slipping beside the central column. Phylla positioned herself on the other side, scanning down the twisting stairs. Empty. The whole staircase was empty of life. The hairs on my arms stood to attention
"It's too quiet..." Shayan voiced. My head nodded in agreement.
"They could have set charges," Jhort added. My eyes scanned to see if anything stood out.
"Just my goddam luck. Alright, hang on," I sighed as my middle finger clicked against the palm control of my omni-tool. The purple drone danced circles around me. "Mar, go on ahead and check for traps," the drone chirped, disappearing down the stairs. Shayan's eyes glowed.
"You have a drone? What model? What specs does it have?" he asked. My face blanched.
"Uh… it's… a… drone?" I shrugged. Shayan blinked. "I-I don't know, my mentor gave it to me. I'm not fantastic with computers,"
"So why are you an Engineer class?" he asked. A flush warmed my cheeks.
"My mentor decided it. I couldn't do Vanguard, Adept or Sentinel without biotics. I am too... frail for a soldier and didn't have the steady hand or stealth abilities for an Infiltrator. Engineer remained left," I said.
"Well I think you'd be amazing at computers if you learned, captain," he perked. A cough hid my embarrassment, shaking myself to recover.
"An optimist, refreshing. Rare to find one of your kind around these parts. And stop calling me captain," I scowled. Shayan laughed. He glanced to the stairs as the drone returned, bouncing like an excited puppy. He leaned down to study the ecstatic drone. "So what did you find, eh?" I asked. My omni-tool flared up, a load of data skimming over the screens. The garbled text and maps was my answer. "Mar, I've told you, this is about as useful as double-Dutch! Simplify it for me!" I groaned.
"Here, try this," Shayan reached over, pressing a few buttons. "If you open this, then click here, you then get a query system. Go ahead, try it," My finger hovered over the omni-tool, blinking, staring at the empty text boxes before me. A word formed under my fingers.
'Explosives' translated into a map of the staircase, with several parts highlighted in yellow against my purple hologram. Shayan whistled low, studying the hologram with interest. He muttered something about 'C10-B explosives' and 'proximity detectors', none of which ease my fears. Another query added to the first. 'Hostile' summoned spots of red that marked Blue Suns that the drone had sensed. The Blue Suns had set another trap on floor 10 for us should the explosives fail.
"Ideas, ladies and gents?" I asked, watching as Marshal, my drone, danced around Shayan. The quarian spun to follow it, his eyes shimmered through the helmet. Arthan hmmed, Phylla paced, Cassa tapped her finger against her arm and Jhort stood silent. The desire to run a hand through my hair at the silence nearly overcame me, but that beret refused to shift. A grumble soured my mood. Fine, I'll come up with all the ideas! "I don't suppose we could zip-line out of here?" Shayan perked.
"Well, maybe not but there is the swinging stage if we go upstairs onto the roof," he said. My stare pinned to the quarian. My throat cleared, shuffling before the waiting quarians.
"Um... heights don't stand well with me..." I said.
"It'll be fine, I'm sure," Arthan answered. A glance to the other quarians confirmed none were forthcoming with anything better. A moan of defeat sounded.
"Alright, alright. Everyone, back up to the last staircase, we're heading to the roof!" I ordered. The quarians answered with an 'aye, aye, captain' before backtracking. "And stop calling me captain, fucking hell!" I complained. My sigh calmed my nerves as my eyes watched the rear of the retreating group, side stepping with Carnifex in hand.
Getting to the roof posed no problem. The Blue Suns hadn't expected that we would move away from the exit. We clambered up the stairs, all 5 flights. At the top, my lungs panting as we approached the roof. My arm covered my eyes as the brightness of the exterior blinded my eyes. Dammit, why were the staircases to dark? After a scan of the rooftop, the swinging stage sat opposite us. My eyes longing for the sky cars to come by and pick us up instead as they looked up. We vaulted over a knee high square vent, the quarians reached the window cleaner platform. The quarians readied the platform for the descent, checking the winches and ropes. 5m away from the edge, my knees knocked. My stomach wanted to plummet to the ground. Trying to breathe as the wind ruffled my hair wasn't easy. I had done stupid things in my life, but this. Christ, all those Blue Suns had to do was look out the window and we would be helpless. A silent prayer flew skywards. If you exist, please let us survive this!
"We're all set, captain!" Shayan called, sounding too excited now bullets weren't flying our way. My shoulders shook out, settling my expression. It was this or die, there was no other choice. I spun on my heel and marched towards the metal cage of death. Rip it off like a plaster. Move now before my mind convinced me otherwise.
"Stop calling me-... ah fuck it!" I cried, my arms thrown in the air, defeated.
The platform dangled over the edge, the ropes tensed. Cassa, Jhort and Shayan waited inside the contraption. Phylla and Arthan grinned as we passed. My foot raised to step inside the cage. Hands clenched onto the metal barriers, my knuckles turned white. My fears only eased once shuffled into the middle where the movement would less. My throat clenched. Don't look down, just don't look down! Arthan and Phylla clambered on after us. The platform shuddered and twisted. My fists clenched, ready to punch someone as hard as I could. Crouched in the platform, my hand yanked a gun out as my head ducked inside the death machine. The aliens around me copied me. How could I tell them that that was because my knees trembled so hard they would give out and fall out the damn thing?
Cassa began the descent. Well, at least with passing each second, the drop lessened, but that didn't improve my mood. The quivering worsened, fighting the bile that wanted to rise. To distract me, counting the floors as we passed them occupied me. All the rooms looked neat and tidy, far from the rooms we battled through earlier. Then the floors we had never traversed appeared, all empty of life. Some of them didn't even have anything in them aside from a few crates. With this sized building, they hadn't found a use for all the rooms yet. My hands tightened their grip on the metal bar as time ticked by. The only thing stopping me from falling to my death was my death grip. The seconds ticked by, the floors continued climbing.
Then Blue Suns flooded the floors. A shudder trembled my body, looking at the sight before me. Their backs turned, all crouched with guns aimed at the doorway we would have come from had we not changed the plan. My hands grabbed Shayan, pressing fingers to my lips in desperation. He quivered, twitching as he watched them. He wasn't bouncing yet, a good thing. Now to keep him like that. The other quarians were still, holding their breaths. All it took was one, just one person. A Blue Sun turned.
The floor vanished from view. My heart thundered in my ears, my grip tightening until a muffled squeak snapped my gaze to Shayan. Our fingers crushed each other's. My lips pressed together. My eyes looked up to the floor we passed. Would he notice the cables? It was a miracle that bullets hadn't rained in from above yet. My throat seized as my hands tried to make signals to the quarians to ask how far we were from the ground. Arthan got it. Another 8 floors. A swallow forced my throat open, that was not survivable. More Blue Suns littered the floors through the windows. Only these ones were wandering around. The terror rose, sweat breaking out. How many of these guys were there? Another floor, another group of Blue Suns.
And they spotted us. My voice screamed 'duck' as the bullets shattered the glass. Instinct threw me over Shayan, glaring to the mercs yelling over their radios. My hand grabbed the controls for the stage, forcing it to descend as fast as it could. A bullet smashed my shields, making me swear. We were still three floors up and the mercs from the upper floor would tramp down the stairs like bats out of hell. My glare fixated to the window, grabbing my gun. My bullets fired at mercs in good positions. The quarians followed behind.
"Concentrate, Shayan, you can do this!" I roared over the noise. A shotgun blasting your ears out kills your senses.
My head ducked as a bullet flew past my ear, making a horrible high pitched whizzing sound as it passed. The floor vanished and a new wave flared to life. We had no cover, nowhere to manoeuvre to. This was what I was afraid of! Shayan fired 4 quick rounds and downed a Blue Suns sniper, the corpse failing past us. My hand his back, grinning. A glance to the ground showed only one more floor left. My jaw clenched as a bullet skimmed my arm, shields long gone. We had to evacuate and soon, we couldn't wait for it to touch the ground, not with the Blue Suns ready the pour out from the front door. We would have to jump. My body could handle it, but could the quarians? It would hurt, dammit, but there was no other way out of this. My jaw tightened as the decision weighed. Jump, break something but escape bullets or wait a little longer? My glare pointed towards the Blue Suns above us.
We waited a few moments longer. A bullet burned my torso and the quarians made odd noises that didn't sound healthy by any stretch of the imagination. My voice screamed the order to jump once our heads were level with the second floor. My body vaulted over, rolling once on the ground. It was only a story jump but the fall could break something. My eyes glanced back for a heartbeat when the quarians followed me without hesitation. No, don't stop!
"Run!" I ordered.
We bolted back towards the cabs. Get them out, get them somewhere – anywhere – safe. Somewhere where we could hide for a time, somewhere the Blue Suns wouldn't show their faces around. Nothing was forthcoming though. The mercs expected us to jump, since we rounded a corner with about 10 mercs only 10 metres behind us. My eyes stayed straight, pumping all my energy into my legs. My drone flew out behind me to distract them. Jhort dropped more grenades behind him. Keep running, just keep running! Another corner, another short sprint, and the cabs appeared before us. Cassa ran ahead of us, skidding to a stop beside one cab, throwing the doors open. My legs launched me into the front passenger seat, Shayan, Arthan, Phylla and Cassa piled on top of each other in the back. Jhort drove. Under normal circumstances, I would have said take two cabs, but now was not the time for that.
"Drive! Just drive!" I told the yellow-masked quarian. He slammed his foot on the accelerator. My jaw clenched as we smashed into about 2 Blue Suns and 2 dozen bullets. The glass cracked, but remained intact. We soared skywards, speeding towards the traffic. We milled around like an ordinary car, begging none of the Blue Suns could find us. The windscreen would be hard to cover though. But nothing followed us, nothing shot at us. We took a moment to recover.
The cheer that erupted deafened me. My muscles sagged as the quarians clung to each other, bouncing in joy, rocking the entire car to an extent. My hand flopped against Jhort, a vague pat on the back, leaning against the seat in relief. Cassa cheered 'we did it', shaking Shayan in a strange hug come headlock. The red quarian didn't care.
"See! See, I told you we could do it!" he grinned. Phylla leaned on the back of my seat. She looked pleased, though the mask made that hard to see.
"Well, I suppose you aren't all that bad, captain," she answered. She sounded amused though. My eyes rolled the captain. There was no stopping them, was there?
"You're a good shot. May want to get your captain to change the ship name though," I offered. Phylla groaned.
"We've tried," she responded, shaking her head. Without the helmet, she would've stuck her tongue out in disgust. A laugh staggered out, the relief making me giddy. Time to relax, finally, eyes drifting to stare at my reflection, only noting the uniformed reflection staring back. My moan flopped my head on the glass. Fuck, so I did forget about something! How to get out of this mess now, Keplar would have my head.
"Hey... can I ask a favour?" I asked. The quarians turned to me, aside from Jhort.
"Of course, Captain, what do you need?" Cassa asked.
"Can you drop me off at the Alliance Citadel HQ on the Presidium? I to get to a shearing," I said.
"Hearing? For what?" Shayan gawked. A smile strained, a sloppy thing but it was all that could be mustered at this point.
"Got an old boss trying to leash me. He needs to know how I feel," I said, glancing to my reflection again. That fucking hat was still on my head! My hands pulled it off just to make sure it wasn't glued on. It slipped free. My scowl deepened it pulled back on.
"Need backup?" Arthan offered. My gaze glanced to him. "Can't help to have a few extra bodies around, just to give this guy a scare," My eyes studied the group before me, all bright eyed from a successful mission. They had to have injuries, but there were no obvious marks. They had to get themselves looked at before doing anything else, but they didn't look to be in any form of discomfort. But they had to get back to the flotilla before something else happened. Knowing these guys, something would happen. But backup...
"If you're sure. I mean, don't any of you need medical attention?" I asked.
"Oh no, we're all drowning in antibiotics," Shayan laughed. "We'll be fine," There was no point resisting them.
"Alright, if you want," I said, dug a small data drive out of my bra. This little thing was the bane of my life. The source of so many problems. How I wanted to... to... my gaze studied to the quarians behind me. A grin formed on my face. "Alright team... I have a plan,"
My torn uniform, burned, blood stained, bullet ridden and filthy. Yet I walked into the Alliance Citadel office with my head held high. The quarians flanked me, unflinching of the humans gawking at us. My hand saluted to a commander who crossed my path. He didn't recognise him, but he had more stripes on his shoulders than me. He saluted back, pausing as the quarians passed. My eyes trained forward, eyebrows drawn down as my war path continued. No one stood in my way. The Alliance uniform meant they couldn't stop me, my expression was murderous and the quarians made them pause long enough for us to pass before they asked questions. We marched up a set of stairs, a double doors rearing up before us. The doors parted as we approached them, ignoring the scampering soldier with a datapad in hand by the door.
This hearing room was full of people from the AGS. The round room reminded me of a small colosseum, the accused standing in the middle of the room with the audience high above them on tiered seats. My smile was cool as my eyes took in the scene. It looked like they were packing up and ready to leave. My entrance halted everything. A bubble of glee simmered as Keplar's wide his hazel eyes gawked at me. Seeing his face, the first time my eyes had seen him since Noveria, stiffened my resolve. He couldn't do anything to me now. I stopped in the middle of the round room. An arm raised to salute.
"Private Second Class Endellion Shaik, reporting. Excuse the delay, sirs and madams, I got held up," I said, the quarians standing behind me. The air electrified, tension lining every particle of dust in the room. The tension around me brushed off me, my gaze fixated to Keplar. Keplar licked his lips, brushing his arms of his uniform down. He hadn't been expecting my entrance. Keplar straightened, all eyes in the room were on him. His were on mine. A frown grew on his face as he too his seat. I would not falter here.
"It would appear you have been busy, Shaik," Keplar said. "However, the gall you show by appearing for a formal hearing dressed like that is-"
"I apologise for the interruption, sir," I said, suppressing the smile. He ogled, eyes widening. Gall? He would know bloody gall! "However, something is telling me you know why I this delay happened. Why is that? Oh let me think..." I said, pretending to ponder, muttering to myself as my feet paced. "I can't quite recall..." My heels rocked. "But I think Blue Suns were involved?" Keplar quivered.
"Are you accusing me of something, Shaik? We are here to discuss your crimes!" he snapped. My head tilted to the side.
"Crimes? What imaginary crimes are you accusing me of?" I asked. Keplar glowered, straightening. His expression settled, shoulders rolling forward. My behaviour was not what he was used to. He didn't know the toils traversed to get to this point.
"As I understand it, you were stranded here on the Citadel on the 21st of May, as reported by Commander John Shepard due to an emergency departure. You were to report to the Alliance for further instructions-" he said.
"What instructions?" I scowled as my omni-tool opened. "I see no instructions here, not even a message to inform me of what procedure to follow. Well, what was a girl to do? My papers have not even been completed, I wasn't even formally part of the Alliance by this point. It forced me to call a friend of mine for help, he took me in. I was on a space station in orbit above Sur'Kesh for 2 weeks, awaiting instructions from the Alliance which never came. I ended up spending my time with the STG," I shrugged. Keplar's jaw dropped.
"Yes, but why didn't you report to the human embassy?" he asked.
"Why? Was I required to? Nothing in the Alliance code states that, and my paperwork for the Alliance hadn't been processed so I couldn't go the Alliance brass for help. They wouldn't find anything about me," I smiled. Keplar shuffled.
"W-well, Shepard has told the Alliance he saw you on Noveria-" he started.
"On a covert mission with the STG. Sorry, can't say more," I shrugged. "Secrecy and all that,"
"So you admit that you were working undercover with another agency?" Keplar demanded. My laugh filled the room.
"Undercover? It was a poor attempt at being undercover," I scowled. "My friend, Commander Mat'al Delern, is a senior STG agent and trainer. He wanted to train me to prepare myself for formally joining the Alliance. However, while on Noveria, Saren kidnapped me. I found myself on Virmire. After escaping from there and returning to the Citadel with the aid of Lieutenant Anthon Cerr of the Salarian STG and his team. However, before I could do anything, there was the whole issue with the geth invasion. I believe Commander Satrino Wilcerous of C-Sec can vouch for me on what I did that day. The Presidium was a mess when they sent in there with my friend from the Hanar Special Forces. The month afterwards? I was under medical supervision by the Hanar embassy for aiding one of their associates. They discharged me from their care today," I explained. "You'll excuse me I've had no time to process my details by the Alliance. Are they finished?"
My suppressed laughter warmed my chest at seeing Keplar's expression. He hadn't been expecting me to name anyone. Or being under the careful eye of the Hanar.
"I... I see. W-Well we will be in contact of these people for verification. However!" he seemed to gain confidence now. "You were still with the STG. We will have to ask them for details about what you were doing," I smiled at his answer, which he narrowed his eyes at me in response. "We also have reason to believe you are withholding Alliance information. You were to send us several reports that have not appeared. At first, we believed you would sell them, but it would appear you were giving intel to the STG-" he stopped short as my held laughter released.
"What the fuck would the STG do with my reports? They have no interest in mining those worlds, too much political complications with the Alliance and the Volus," I answered. Keplar frowned, gritting his teeth. "What's wrong, Keplar?" I grinned, unable to control my expression. "Are my reports that critical to your survival? Have all your hits dried up? No more reports to steal from me?" His expression sagged. He blustered as he fought for words. MY ego bathed in it. My allegiance to the Alliance and to him was dead, I had my get out of jail card.
"Outrageous! You dare make such an accusation towards me after the display of your lack of duty and common sense?" Keplar roared, rising from his chair. My grin grew. He was getting both Mat'al and Indira attitudes. He deserved nothing more than to squirm. Imagining Raisha in the crowd helped stiffen my backbone. Without that, tremors would have consumed me. Now the only quivering was from anticipation. The drive pulled free from my pocket, holding it in my fingers. Keplar stared at it, eyes hungry.
"This drive," I restarted a slow pace, holding the disc in the air. "Contains my reports from Edolus, Nodacrux, Casbin and Mavigon, and early interpretations for Altahe," My hand brought the drive down to my eye level. "This little piece of machinery, of data, has been the absolute bane of my life for 2 months!" My fingers clutched the drive in my hand, spun on my heel, facing Keplar in the eye. My other hand created a signal behind my back. Shayan shuffled, His concentration burned into my back. "And I will be frank. I've had enough," My arm threw the drive high in the air. The Indra fired a single shot. The sounding crack and Keplar's outcry came just before the shards of metal showered down on me.
"Commander Arnold Keplar," I cried, ripping the beret from my head. "I quit!" My hand threw the hat down on the floor. "Good day, sir!" I snapped, turning on my heel, matching out the door. The quarians followed me, smug, with Keplar flailing for words behind us.
When those doors closed behind me, my grin burst to life. It was time to make my departure from the Alliance official, once done, they wouldn't bother me again. Them or that bastard! The quarians followed me back out the entrance, smirking as the torn jacket was tossed to the side, shoving the letter in my pocket. Shayan beamed behind me, hugging his Indra as the other quarians patted his shoulders and back. My instinct to trust Shayan to hit it was correct. It was just target practice, a useless piece of machinery that wouldn't care if you hit it. My feet paused at the door as the quarians overtook me. They turned to me when they realised I had stopped following.
"You aren't coming?" Cassa blinked. My head shook.
"Sorry, Cassa. I have one more thing to do before I can move on with my life. Head back to the flotilla. I'll be in touch," I smiled. My omni-tool burst to life, sending my number to each of them. "Call me if you need a hand with anything. I'll try my best to help. You guys take care, alright?" They shuffled, glancing to each other.
"We'll be alright," Arthan nodded. "Hope to be under your command again in the future, captain," he saluted. My expression flattened when the other four copied. "Take care,"
"Y-yeah, you too," I managed. My arm mustered a weak wave as they turned, striding back to the cabs to return to their ship. Frozen, my mind restarted. First captain, now a salute. That... goddam it! My hair flew as my head shook. My hands dusted themselves on my hips. Concentrate on the task at hand, Dell, worry about that later. My target was the embassies, my legs stretching out along the street.
The quiet walk was well needed, my first real moment alone. This morning, the sense the freedom had simmered, but then Shayan and his crew appeared. Would anyone else wander into my life and flip my life upside down? The afternoon sun was a welcome, the lack of Blue Suns only made it better. My back stretched, the bullet wounds pulled and ached. After wincing, my omni-tool applied a quick dose of medi-gel. That should've been done earlier, but the adrenaline in my system was too potent. A deep breath dragged in the 'fresh' Presidium air, taking in the sights of the aliens wandering home for the evening. The walk gave me time to reflect. My mind wandered back to my first journey here on these boulevards. That time my hand gripped Garrus' helmet – clamped to his waist – so my eyes could gawk at the sights and not get lost in the crowds. Fear had paralysed me, leaving me vulnerable. My life was so uncertain, there was no plan, there was no familiar sights.
Then Val wandered into my life, hauling my ass out of the fire for no reason other than a girl needed help and he was wondering why a – at the time – naïve human was following a known criminal. Then Mat'al, who shoved me back into the fire, watched me cook, and then yanked me out to hammer me into shape. He trained me, refined me and helped me hold my own in a fight. But Benezia kidnapped me and then Nyryntha raised her voice. The whole Reaper thing was still something to worry about, but that was for another day. Raisha helped calm my nerves, steady my determination and focus my resolve. Without that, my nerves would never have had the strength to tackle Keplar where it hurt. He wouldn't hurt me again, or anyone close to my heart. Indira, damn that girl, burst into my life like a bloody firework. She distracted me from everything with her eccentricity, had gotten me get drunk twice. She had helped me relax, to loosen up and to become more confident. And now Shayan, the bubbly, happy quarian with a weak backbone in combat and an impatient trigger finger. This time, I had to do the leading, the guiding. My journey had been long, but I had soared since last time my feet touched these streets.
The embassy greeted me, the bustle ignored as my progress to the ambassador continued. The receptionist said he was available, so he was available now. A smile stuck to my face as my feet climbed the stairs to the office. A few months ago, my imagination would see this as a fantasy. The doors whooshed open. As I hoped, Captain Anderson stood with the ambassador inside the room. The air felt heavy as the pair mumbled to each other. The tanned man turned to look at me, straightening his back as he took in the burnt Alliance uniform. Or, most of it after dumping the jacket. Udina's expression was limp. I saluted to Anderson, since my leave from the Alliance was not yet final.
"Captain Anderson, Councillor Udina, forgive the interruption. Endellion Shaik, SSV Normandy reporting," I said. The two men straightened.
"The Normandy? But... wait, Shaik? Were you not MIA?" Anderson asked.
"I was, sir. Abandoned on the Citadel. A friend took me in for a while. They classed as MIA for a couple of weeks while I waited for instructions. I haven't contacted the crew," I explained. Anderson's shoulders dropped. What was going on? "I apologise, sir, but I am here to hand in my resignation," The crumpled letter pulled free from my pocket, dog tags safe inside the envelope and handing it over to the Captain. Anderson took the envelope, stared at paper for a moment he didn't even open it. He stared me straight in the eye.
"You have not heard?" he asked.
"Heard, sir?" I asked.
"The Normandy was destroyed while on patrol. Shepard has... Shepard has been confirmed KIA," Udina answered.
The Timeline has been updated for this chapter. Please see profile for link to Archive.