Chapter 4 - Homecoming
Paul Addison
October 29th, 2186
I sat on the couch in my living room, sipping my morning coffee, watching with interest as Cara used any object within reach to create an entire fantasy world. The power of her imagination never ceased to amaze me. Grace stood behind me in the dining room, tending to our Jane Doe.
Jane Doe had been unconscious since she had awoken the first time. Her trauma was so extensive he couldn't make heads or tails of how she was alive. At the very least, she had fallen through the atmosphere with shards of the Citadel, crash-landed onto Earth, and survived twelve hours buried in debris, not to mention what could've happened to her before the station's unscheduled descent, judging the condition of her armor. This woman had something to live for.
Our omnitools began buzzing simultaneously, flaring to life on our arms as if they had a mind of their own. An emergency message:
"Attention all citizens of Earth, the Reapers have been defeated. We have re-established bases of operations in many major cities around the planet. Field hospitals have been erected in each city. Attached to this message are the locations of each of these hospitals. If anyone you know is hurt, or if you have any military or medical training, please report to your closest one as soon as possible."
- Alliance Command
Without so much a word, I began packing my armor and weapons, and Grace started to prepare her patient for transport. Within an hour, we set out in our groundcar for Berlin.
Garrus
"Garrus, I'd like you to meet Jason Stone. He is the new Alliance Prime Minister." Victus gestured to the younger human standing in the tent, the only one in the group wearing civilian clothes rather than armor.
Jason Stone was a human in his mid-thirties. He wore his steel-grey hair close-cropped to his head, similar to Kaiden, and a suit and tie, fitted perfectly to his thin body. It was a nice change from the ugly number other humans wore around the Citadel.
"Prime Minister," Victus continued, "This is Garrus Vakarian, my closest advisor and the man taking my position once we get back to Palaven." Stone reached out his hand, offering it to me, and I accepted it happily. There was no reason to leave a bad impression on the man I'd soon be spending a lot of time with.
"Good to meet you, Prime Minister. Looking forward to working with you to rebuild. What did you do before this?" I asked.
"I was the Governor of Mindoir, and before that, I was in the navy," Stone answered. My brow plate rose when he said Mindoir, a motion that didn't escape his notice. "You know Mindoir?"
"Just what my mate told me."
"I wasn't aware any turians lived on Mindoir." Stone replied, placing a hand on his chin in thought.
"No, she's human. And she hasn't lived there in a long time. She was a survivor of the attacks in 2170." Even the mere thought of Shepard brought my mood into the gutter.
"Oh…," Stone's face looked dejected, and he hesitated for a moment, "I'm sorry to hear that. Not one of our government's finest hours. Who is your mate, if I may ask?"
"Admiral Shepard."
Stone stood stock still as if he had turned into his namesake. His complexion got many shades lighter. "Ame…? Ame survived Mindoir?"
Now it was Garrus's turn to look like he had seen a ghost. "You knew her?"
"Yes… We were childhood friends… I…" He trailed off, "I had just enlisted in the Alliance Navy when the attack happened; I had left for boot camp two weeks before. When I heard her name on a newscast, I assumed it was a different person. Is she alive?"
I looked directly at the ground, my mandibles drooping until the edge of my cowl armor obscured them. After a painfully long moment, the silent observer of Victus came to my rescue, "We don't know. All of our intel points to her being on the Citadel and activating the Crucible."
"I'm sorry to hear that. Well, I should go back. I look forward to working with you, Primarch Vakarian." He offered, holding his hand out for me to shake again.
Once he was gone, Victus turned to him and said, "Our engineers have stabilized the mass relays back to Palaven; we leave in the morning."
-0-
The night once again brought nightmares.
I ran back into my hideout in Omega, shouting the names of various squadmates as I ran, gaiting up the stairs three at a time. I swung around the corner into the main room of the building, just to be met with gore. Blood coated every wall in a myriad of colors; green dripped from the curtains, indigo from the ceiling, and dark orange and red ran together in a pool on the floor. In the room lie the bodies of my squad.
Sensat, the salarian explosives expert, was ripped in two, entrails strung across the floor.
Vortash, the biggest bastard of a batarian, who was also good with tech, bled from his four eye sockets.
Grundan Krul, the krogan biotic, was blackened almost to the point of being unrecognizable.
Mierin and Monteague, the two former asari commandos, sat slumped against one of the support pillars, each trying to stem the other's bleeding.
Ripper was on top of the table, a broken omniblade in his throat.
Butler's and Weaver's bodies lay right on one another, Weaver clearly trying to drag his wounded comrade to safety.
And Melenis, the lone female turian, on the floor, legs bent backward at an unnatural angle, bones protruding from where plates were peeled from her flesh, was also missing her mandibles, which looked to be ripped off violently.
And then I saw her, the worst victim. Shepard lay in the middle of the room, a clean bullet hole in the center of her forehead and a slash across her neck, red blood mixing in a morbidly beautiful way with her pale skin and wildfire hair.
"Why did you abandon us, Garrus?" All eleven of the bodies asked in unison, singing a chorus of his failures, mouths moving from their lifeless forms like the asari body the rachni controlled on Noveria.
Shepard's body rose, now devoid of wounds but still pale as a sheet. Her body floated over to him, feet hovering a few inches off the ground but never moving. "Why did you abandon me? You said you'd always have my six."
Her eyes began to glow, no longer their natural emerald green color but now yellow. The glow grew in intensity, causing him to shield his eyes from the torrent. She was gone when he looked back again, and a pile of ash lay in her wake, still smoldering.
My eyes snapped open, jumping from object to object, taking in their surroundings. My heart beat wildly in my chest as if it wanted to escape. I was in my cabin on the Exactor, a turian dreadnought, exactly where I fell asleep.
Dejected by the thought of more nightmares, I decided to get up and made my way to the small window of the forward-facing room. I stared at Palaven, my homeworld, growing closer on the horizon. Fires still danced across the surface, glowing like embers against the blackness of space. Debris littered the area around, showing signs of the massive battle fought here less than six months prior, a battle that his people lost, and billions died after. Derelict Reapers floated like guardians to the gates of hell, taunting our approach.
I sighed and made my way to the bridge.
Grace Addison
October 30th, 2186
"She's seizing! Help me!" I yelled, jumping out of our groundcar, pulling the makeshift stretcher out of the back of the vehicle. Paul quickly leaped out of the driver's seat and grabbed the other end, running in pace with me towards the gate of the Alliance base.
The two soldiers standing guard at the gate quickly acted, one calling for a nurse, the other running over to help with the stretcher. Three nurses ran out of the nearby field hospital over to their new patient. "What happened?!" The first nurse yelled from across the field, quickly legging it to the couple.
"I don't know… She was fine for the last four days, but two minutes ago, she started seizing." Shepard was convulsing like she was caught in an earthquake. The nurses quickly took over, grabbing the stretcher from me and running back to the hospital. Without a word, I ran after them.
As soon as the nurses entered the hospital, a salarian in a white coat was on them. They set Shepard down on a table, and the salarian whipped out his omnitool, running scans over the tremoring woman. "Get her to the OR! Quickly!" The nurses complied, picking up the stretcher again and running down the hall of the prefab building. I tried to follow but was stopped at the doors by a guard.
"I'm sorry, ma'am, but only staff beyond this point."
At that point, a breathless Paul ran in, carrying Cara. My poor baby looked terrified. "Mommy! Is she gonna be ok?"
"I dunno, honey… I hope so."
-0-
A few hours later, the salarian doctor emerged. He quickly scurried over to where I was sitting in the waiting room with Paul and Cara. "Hello. I am Padok Wiks. I operated on patient you brought in." He said.
"Is she okay?" Cara asked from where she sat on Paul's lap.
"Immediate problem solved. However, still massive amount of injuries to heal. Will take time." Apparently, the quickness of a salarian's mind also made them as blunt as a hammer. Padok continued, addressing me, "Did you know patient?"
"No, we found her in the debris from the Citadel crash, about fifty kilometers west of here."
"Hmm." Padok hummed, "Strange to care so much about someone you didn't know. Curious. Was only survivor?"
"We don't know," Paul interjected, "We went back to our home after finding her. My wife took care of her; we only came here because of Alliance Command's message."
"Do you know who patient is?"
"No," I answered.
"She is Admiral Shepard. Scanned Alliance personnel tag embedded under skin in wrist."
The room became silent. After a moment, Paul was the first to speak. "You mean… Shepard, Savior of the Citadel Shepard?"
"Yes," Padok answered back. Paul and I just regarded him with amazed looks on our faces. We saved a hero's life.
Miranda Lawson
My omnitool sprang to life, illuminating the small cabin on the ship I shared with Oriana, waking me. On it was the image of a salarian. At first, I thought it was Mordin, but I knew he died on Tuchanka, and this one had both aural horns. He also had a more brown complexion than the enigmatic doctor.
"Hello?" I questioned, trying to chase the sleepiness from my voice, "Who is this? How did you get my contact info?" No one could get my contact info; I prided myself on being the best at encrypting communications. I'd survived for six months on the run from the Alliance and Cerberus, but now a random salarian just knew how to call me?
"Name is Padok, but time for more questions later. Need help. About Shepard." The salarian answered. He was standing in a small, well-lit office. A potted fern sat behind him, which was unusual; salarians didn't usually concern themselves with furnishings past the essentials.
"Shepard? What do you mean?" I asked as Oriana stirred behind her.
"Body recovered. In bad condition but alive. Need doctor who rebuilt her before. Need you." The salarian clipped, each word spilling over onto the next.
"I can't come to Earth. I'm wanted by the Alliance."
A human walked into the frame, steel-grey hair outlining the face of a man that had seen too much, too young. He wore an old-fashioned suit tailored to fit his body perfectly, "Hi, sorry for not making it clear that I was here before. I am Jason Stone, the new Prime Minister of the Alliance. I'm prepared to offer you full immunity from prosecution if you come to help now."
I typed out a few things on her omnitool and thought for a moment, this could all be a trap. As if he had read my mind, a message appeared. It contained a signed immunity agreement, as well as a location. Miranda nodded, "I will be there in twelve hours."
Garrus
November 2nd, 2186
For the first time in a long time, I was nervous. I faced down a rogue specter, all three of Omega's major gangs, and the entire Reaper armada, and this was more terrifying to me than all of that combined.
I had to make a speech.
I stood backstage listening to Victus wrap up his resignation speech, waiting to be introduced.
"... It's my pleasure to introduce your next Primarch, Garrus Vakarian…." Orderly applause broke out in the crowd.
That was my cue. I started walking towards the podium, set on the edge of Cipritine's largest gladiatorial arena, the only venue large enough to fit all the people in attendance and be able to televise it to the entire Hierarchy. 'I guess the Reapers didn't care about our sports….' I mused while walking, trying to hide what was left of my limp.
"Good morning." I said, and the crowd quieted, "I come before you today to celebrate our victory and mourn the losses of the brave men and women of the Hierarchy and those brave men and women of all our allied nations." I went silent for a moment, bowing my head, a move which the crowd mirrored.
"Today marks the beginning of a new era, signifying renewal and change. Yesterday, the greatest battle we have ever faced as a species, as a galaxy, was won. Our enemies threatened every person's life, not just one species or one role in society, but everyone, everywhere. Fighting separately, or depending on one race to hold strong, as we have for millennia, would only have lost the conflict. We all stand here today because one person changed that ideology. One person believed that we could prevail." I heavily emphasized the last three words, "But only if the galaxy united under one banner, not splitting apart to defend our own. One person shook away the notion that we would fall, as all other galactic civilizations had before us, and because of that belief, and that drive and determination to fight or die, today we stand here as victors of the greatest conflict we will ever know. So I dedicate this day to those who have fallen, dying so others might live, and to her. Shepard, the Uniter."
Another pause. The room fell deathly silent again, enough so that I could hear the light rain falling steadily on the dome we all stood under. "I plan on living her legacy, keeping her work alive, even if she isn't. Now is not the time to split and lick our wounds. Now is the time to band together for the good of ourselves and our children and form stronger bonds so that we will be ready if any great conflict ever arises again. But it is also a time for a change, where new systems develop to allow us stronger bonds in the future. For that reason, the Hierarchy will be leaving the Council because it represents the archaic, ineffective way we have operated for thousands of years. We will form new bonds with the species of the galaxy, just not under the old system."
"This war cost us more than we can comprehend. On Palaven alone, over two billion died, only a quarter of which were military. On Earth, six billion died, less than a quarter of them military. On Thessia and Sur'kesh, billions died. On Tuchanka, billions died. And billions more died across our galaxy. But now, it is time to rebuild, and rebuild stronger than we were before, so I invite every race to become partners with the Hierarchy to build a better tomorrow. Thank you." I stepped back from the podium, looking at everyone in the room, people from all walks of life, civilian and military alike. Applause broke out among them, steadily increasing until it was a thunderous roar.