Mia tossed down a datapad with a sigh, rubbing her temples. She'd been staring at numbers on screens since 0600 and it was starting to wear on her vision. She'd been helping John run numbers for the resources they'd been collecting for the Alliance, wanting to take something off his plate since Adams was a superhero and never had anything for her to do other than menial calibrations. It was a small engineering deck, she supposed, and he had Tali.
But she was more helpful to John, so she found herself working right alongside her brother, crunching numbers and doing paperwork. So this is what being a Commander was all about. She almost jumped when their near-silence was interrupted by Joker over the comms.
" We've got a transmission coming in from the Citadel, Captain ." Joker said, " Top priority clearance."
"I should go," Mia said, getting to her feet at once. John joined her but stopped her from leaving.
"Just a second," John told her, "Joker, is it the ambassador?" He asked.
"It's not his signature. I think it's from the Council? Want me to patch you through?" Joker asked.
"Whatever the Council has to say to me, you have clearance to hear. I'm just going to be relaying the information to you, anyway. Stay." John told Mia. She looked up at him, a grin plastered on her face, and had to stop herself from hugging him then and there. "Patch us through, Joker." John ordered.
The orange holographic projection of the three Councilors appeared before the siblings, and Mia instinctively took a step back, giving her brother the floor.
"Captain Shepard," Tevos, the Asari Councilor opened with. "We've received information that may be critical to your mission against Saren."
"We'll take all the help we can get," John told her.
"We've received an urgent message from one of our infiltration regiments in the Traverse." Valern, the Salarian Councilor informed him. "We currently have several infiltration units scattered throughout the border regions of Citadel space. This particular unit was gathering intel on Saren."
"What did they find?" John asked.
"Unfortunately, the message we received was little more than static. The infiltration team must be in a situation where they can't set up proper interstellar communications. But the message was sent on a channel reserved for mission-critical communications. Whatever they were trying to tell us, we know it was important. Considering your interest in Saren, we thought you might want to investigate this. Find out what happened to our team. The signal originated from the planet Virmire." the Councilor finished.
"I'll look into it," John confirmed.
"The Council prefers not to become involved in the specifics of Spectre activities. We only want you to be aware of all your options, including Virmire. Good luck, Captain Shepard. We will keep you advised if we learn anything more."
With that, the hologram went dark, and Mia let out a breath she hadn't known she was holding. They hadn't even mentioned her presence. Was that because she wasn't noticed, or because she was expected to be there? She wasn't sure.
"So Virmire it is?" Mia asked her brother.
"Most solid lead we've had in weeks. And there's a missing unit on the line. I think we've got to," John agreed. "Joker, plot a course to Virmire."
"Aye, sir. Plotting course. " Joker informed him. " ETA thirty minutes. "
"Thank you," John told the pilot, then turned to Mia. "You'd better go get the squad ready, Commander," He told her. "I want everyone here for this one. I have a bad feeling about this place."
"Yes, sir. I'll let them know." Mia told him, then turned to gather the crew.
Mia Shepard Beaches of Virmire, STG camp 1200 hours
Virmire was a tropical world full of picturesque cliff sides and crystal clear tidal waters. It would have been a lovely place to vacation if it weren't swarming with geth. Mia had spent the last two and a half hours cramped into the Mako as they fought their way through the shallow tides. They'd had to disable an AA gun to even be able to land the Normandy, and upon landing, Joker had informed them that they were grounded. Anxiety was building in the pit of her stomach at the sheer number of large armored geth, and she had a sinking suspicion that they'd come across Saren's base of operations- or something close to it.
As she, John, Garrus, and Tali waded to the shore, Mia saw Kaidan talking to a salarian, presumably the commanding officer. They'd only dropped in a task force to clear the AA tower, knowing they'd be bringing the Normandy in to land. Wrex and Liara also stood on the shore as the ground team waded up, John taking the lead.
"So what are we supposed to do now?" Kaidan asked.
"Stay put until we can come up with a plan," The salarian said.
"Are you in charge here? What's the situation?" John asked, getting straight to the point.
"I'm Captain Kirrahe. Third Infiltration Regiment, STG. You and your crew have just landed in the middle of a hotzone. Every AA gun within ten miles has been alerted to your presence.
"What are we supposed to do in the meantime?" John asked, crossing his arms over his chest.
"We stay put until the Council sends the reinforcements we requested." Kirrahe said matter-of-factly.
"You're looking at 'em." Mia spoke up, gesturing to herself and the crew.
"What? You're all they sent? I told the Council to send a fleet." Kirrahe exclaimed.
"Your transmission wasn't exactly clear. It was mostly static, according to the Council. They sent me to investigate." John told him.
"That is a repetition of our task. I lost half my men investigating this place." Kirrahe said, looking over his shoulder with disgust.
"So what have you found?" Kaidan asked.
"Saren's base of operations." Kirrahe said, and Mia felt a sinking pit in her stomach. "He's set up a research facility here, but it's crawling with geth and very well fortified."
"What exactly is Saren researching?" Mia asked.
"He's using the facility to breed an army of krogan." Kirrahe said, and Mia's heart sunk as she saw Wrex's attention flip, moving over to the group suddenly.
"How is that possible?" He asked, accusatorily.
"Apparently Saren has discovered a cure for the genophage." Kirrahe said.
"What is it with this guy and wanting to conscript other species to fight his wars for him?" Mia groaned.
"The geth are bad enough, but with an army of krogan…" John shook his head. "Saren would be unstoppable."
"Exactly my thoughts," Kirrahe said. "We must ensure that this facility and its secrets are destroyed." Oh, no. Mia felt her jaw tighten as Wrex's whole body tensed, as though preparing for a fight.
"Destroyed? I don't think so. Our people are dying. This cure can save them." Wrex countered.
"If that cure leaves this planet, the krogan will become unstoppable. We can't make the same mistake again." Kirrahe said.
Wrex moved up to Kirrahe slowly, looking him in the eye and poking a finger into his chest.
"We are not a mistake!" He asserted before storming off. Mia watched him go sadly.
"Is he going to be a problem? We already have enough angry krogan to deal with." Kirrahe asked callously.
"He'll be alright. I'll talk to him." John said.
"I'd appreciate that, Captain. My men and I need to rethink our plan of attack. Can you give us some time?" He asked.
"Sure. I'll be back soon." John said, and the salarian turned away, back to the yellow tent that was set back against the rock wall just up the beach. Mia turned back to their team, looking after where Wrex had stalked off up the beach, cursing angrily and shooting into the water.
"You need to talk to him, John." Mia said, meeting his eye. "But do it carefully. He's a man on the edge of losing his people. He needs sensitivity."
"Everyone's still on edge after Feros, myself included. He'll calm down, he always does," He told his sister, heading off to talk to the man with a sigh. Mia gave him a moment, then followed at a distance. She just wanted to be nearby in case something happened. She was just within earshot of them as John approached Wrex.
"This isn't right, Shepard. If there's a cure to the genophage, we can't destroy it." Wrex said.
"I understand, but right now I need you to separate emotion from the mission. We don't even know what this alleged cure is or what their experiments have done to your people." John said, his voice stern. Mia shook her head, holding her breath. He really needed to meet the krogan where he was here, recognize he was hurting, but John never was the most sensitive to those with trauma. He'd overcome his own trauma by running from it.
"Really? Saren created a cure for my people. You want to destroy it. Help me out here, Shepard. The lines between friend and foe are getting a little blurry from where I stand." Wrex asserted, stepping into John's personal space.
"I have been nothing but a friend to you, Wrex. This is your one and only warning: don't threaten me." John said, crossing his arms over his chest. Mia sighed, walking closer. He wasn't supposed to escalate the situation further. He watched Wrex get right into John's face, looming over the man.
"You haven't seen a threat yet." He said, his voice turning dark. "I've been loyal to you so far. Hell, you've done more for me than my family ever did. But if I'm going to keep following you, I need to know we're doing it for the right reasons." Wrex pulled his shotgun out, aiming it at John. John returned the gesture unhelpfully.
"I'm telling you, Wrex, fall in line. " John growled, and Mia could tell he was getting pissed at the whole situation. As was she.
"Oh fuck this, " she murmured, shaking her head.
She pulled her sniper and took aim. A single blast ripped through the air.
Garrus Vakarian Beaches of Virmire 1230 hours
The blast ripped through the air, causing everyone at the camp to turn towards the scene, and making Garrus and Kaidan take off in that direction. They knew that sound, and it wasn't Wrex or Shepard's gun. It was Mia's.
Before Garrus could fully make it to the other side of the beach, he heard Mia screaming.
" Urdnot Wrex! " Garrus had never heard her use that tone before. "I swear to every god in every system, if you shoot my brother, I'll put you down ."
As he came into view, he saw something that made his heart stop in his chest for a moment. Five foot seven Mia Shepard nose to nose with seven foot four Urdnot Wrex. Her gun was still smoking on her back, and she'd shoved John out of the way to get into Wrex's face.
"This isn't a cure, Wrex. It's a weapon. And if Saren is allowed to use it, you won't be around to reap the benefits. None of us will." Mia asserted.
"That's a chance we should be willing to take. This is the fate of my entire people we're talking about." Wrex said, pushing up against Mia's chest in an attempt at a scare tactic. Garrus wasn't sure how Wrex could still think he could intimidate the woman.
"Wrex, these krogan are not your people. They're slaves of Saren, tools. Is that what you want for them?" Mia asked curiously, taking a half step back and looking up into Wrex's shotgun pleadingly. Wrex thought for a moment, then lowered his shotgun, holstering it on his back after a moment.
"No. My people were tools for the Council once. To thank us for wiping out the rachni, they neutered us all. I doubt Saren will be so generous. You've made your point, Shepard. I don't like this, but I trust you enough to follow your lead." He glanced over at John. "He's on thin ice, though,"he said.
"That's your commanding officer, Wrex. He's just trying to help." Mia admonished, shaking her head. "Go cool off. I'll come get you when we need you, okay?"
"Will do, Shepard." He nodded, as Garrus finally made it up to behind Mia. Garrus looked down at the tiny human as the krogan walked away, his expression somewhere between amazed and terrified of her. He was about to crack a joke when John rounded on Mia.
"Shepard," John called, his voice tense and his eyes hard. His jaw was set, and Garrus couldn't say that he'd ever seen John quite this angry. "A word?"
Garrus was worried. He'd never seen the siblings in a disagreement quite like this. Mia straightened her back and nodded to John, moving with him away from the crew. Garrus hesitated, but when Mia glanced back at him pleadingly, he moved within earshot, just in case he needed to step in. John had been worrying him lately, making rash decisions and jumping the gun. It'd been John who'd stayed his hand when he wanted to kill that salarian mad scientist, Dr. Saleon. How could this be the same John? He knew he'd been stuck in his own head about Mia, that he blamed himself for her past. But that excuse only carried so far. What had crawled up his ass today?
"I should have you court-martialed for that," John murmured dangerously, and Garrus looked up to Mia's face, which had gone blank of all expression except shock.
"I- what? " Mia asked, blinking a few times.
"You just opened fire on two squadmates, one being your commanding officer." John said, his words very precise and dripping with controlled anger.
"I'm a sniper who shot at the water between you two. It got your attention, didn't it? I thought you'd gladly risk a graze to the cheek if it meant a krogan didn't blast your head off, but maybe I was wrong." Mia frowned. "You were supposed to calm him down, not pull your gun on him, John." She said softly.
"I was supposed to get my team back in order. Unfortunately, your little stunt has done little more than undermine my already shaky hold on the authority of this ship." John grunted through his teeth.
"Why are you constantly worried about me undermining you when I'm never trying to? I told Wrex to his face that you're his commanding officer and he needs to respect that. Where did you see insubordination?" Mia asked, looking genuinely confused.
"When you decided that I couldn't handle a situation on my own." John grunted.
"I'm sorry, I didn't want my brother to be killed because he decided to have a stick up his ass while talking to an angry krogan !" Mia was yelling now, and Garrus saw Kaidan turn anxiously to watch the fighting siblings. "I won't care so much next time." Mia huffed.
"There won't be a next time. I'm taking you off the team." John said, a note of finality in his voice. "That was almost a friendly fire incident, Amelia. I'll spare you the court case, but I'm having you reassigned after this mission. I think you've gotten too comfortable and the chain of command has gotten a little too muddy with you around."
Mia stood there staring at her brother for a moment, her eyes wide in shock. She opened her mouth to say something then promptly shut it with a snap. She closed her eyes, took a breath, and when she opened them, he could see the tell-tale sign of tears forming in the corner of her eyes. She was fighting them back, but one fell anyway.
"Aye, sir. I'll go anywhere the Alliance needs me. I'm sorry I wasn't a better soldier. I'll wait on the Normandy." She said, and promptly turned on her heels, walking away towards the ship. John watched her go, his jaw flexing in anger. Garrus knew he had to do something. He moved over to the man, holding up his hands to show he wasn't trying to fight.
"Captain, are you alright?" Garrus asked, looking the man over. There was a tiny red mark on his cheek from the heat of Mia's shot. Garrus had to agree with Mia, a burned cheek was better than a hole through the skull.
"I'm fine," John snapped, and when Garrus took a step back, he ran a hand down his face and sighed.
"Want to try that one again, Shepard?" Garrus suggested, arching a brow at the man. "What's going on?"
"I didn't know I was bringing my team into a suicide mission on this godforsaken planet, Vakarian." John shook his head, rubbing his neck. "AA guns, a krogan breeding facility swarming with geth. I don't want this team that I've built to die because of the poor planning of the fucking Council . And then Mia undermining my authority like that-"
"Is that really what you think she did?" Garrus challenged with a frown. "Or are you just pissed that she calmed Wrex better than you could?"
Garrus saw John bristle at that, but he looked over the other man carefully before responding.
"This team would follow Mia into hell. I don't know that they'd do the same for me." John said with a shake of his head.
"This team will follow Shepard into hell. Doesn't quite matter to us which one, speaking for myself, of course. You promoted her for a reason, John. She's your squad commander. You might as well reassign her if you're not going to let her do her job." Garrus shook his head. "Kind of an asshole move, though, considering her history of getting reassigned by family members."
John's face paled, his jaw unclenched, and his eyes widened. "I'm just like Mom." He whispered, as though just coming to the realization. "She's going to hate me for this."
Garrus could see John spiraling and knew he had to stop that thought process before it played out what-if scenarios and got to John's head.
"She might," He allowed, "But at the end of the day, Shepard, you have to do what you feel is best for the team. Do you think reassigning her would help you feel more in control of your ship? Genuinely?"
Garrus watched John chew that over, glancing up the beach to where Mia had found Kaidan. The man was checking her out after her scuff with Wrex, and Garrus saw Kaidan holding her face, wiping tears from her eyes. Kaidan glanced up at John with a frown before turning his attention back to his girlfriend and leading her back towards the Normandy.
"I'm not sure." John finally said after a long pause. "I'll decide after this mission. For now, I'd like you to lead the second team, Garrus." He said, turning back to the turian. "I need to be able to trust my squad commander. You're the only one qualified."
Garrus turned that over in his head. He didn't want Mia to see it as a betrayal, but telling John no would only further weaken the man's resolve. He needed a strong second in command right now, and he was picking Garrus. He felt honored, but also like an imposter.
"I don't like taking Mia's job, but I'll gladly step up if the situation requires it, sir. Perhaps we should go see if Captain Kirrahe is ready?"
"That sounds like a good plan," John said, taking a deep breath. "Go get her. As much as I hate to admit it, we're probably going to need all hands for this one. I want you to take Kaidan and Wrex. I want Mia and Liara with me. I'd like to leave Tali with the Normandy if possible, just to give Joker more hands. I'm going to go see about supplies and I'll meet you back at Kirrahe."
"I'll talk to her." Garrus agreed, reaching out and placing a hand on the man's shoulder. "We'll get through this, Captain. At least it's not another husk-filled colony." He said, and relaxed when John's shoulders relaxed at that. John needed to know Garrus was on his side. But so did Mia.
John headed off to the far side of the beach, giving Mia a wide berth and allowing Garrus to gather the team together. Garrus headed over to Mia and Kaidan at once, calling out to them to wait for him.
"Shepard!" Garrus called, and Mia didn't turn around at first. "Mia?" He asked, coming up behind her. He couldn't see her face, but Kaidan turned toward him.
"I wouldn't," Kaidan warned, his eyes concerned. "I'm taking her back to the ship, let her sit this one out."
"Mia, talk to me," Garrus insisted, reaching out and placing his hand on her shoulder. He pulled it away as though he'd been burned when he felt her tense up, though.
"He doesn't trust me, Garrus." Mia said, not turning around. Garrus had had enough of her avoidance and reached out again, turning her around gently. He saw that her face was pink from crying, but that she'd recovered pretty well. Her eyes, though. Her eyes were hard, callous. She was still pissed. No. She was hurt.
"He fucked up. He hurt you, I know. But right now, we need a soldier. This mission is going to be hard enough as is, do you really want to send us in there without you watching our backs?" He asked her, his voice softening. "Cause I know I'd rather have you by my side out there."
Mia's eyes softened at that, and she nodded. "Don't tell John why I said yes? He'll probably accuse me of trying to undermine his authority again. I just don't want you idiots to get killed." She said softly.
"A little faith would be appreciated," Kaidan said, mock hurt on his face, and Mia cracked a smile. "We'll get through this, sweetheart." he promised.
"He wants to be my commanding officer? Fine. That's all he gets." Mia said, pushing her shoulders back. That was the Mia Shepard he knew. "Malicious compliance it is." She sighed, then looked up to Garrus. "Thank you for trying with him, Garrus. I don't know what crawled up his ass today, but taking it out on the crew isn't helping anyone." Garrus reached out and rubbed her shoulder reassuringly.
"He knows that, I think. Honestly," Garrus looked over to the supply tent where he saw John emerging. "I think he's just scared. And fear manifests in strange ways." Garrus saw Mia nod distantly.
"Come on, let's go see what Kirrahe has to say," Garrus said, leading the two humans over to John as he approached the returning salarian.
"I assume you've come up with a plan?" John was saying, nodding at the arrival of the rest of his crew.
"Of sorts. We can convert our ship's drive system into a twenty kiloton ordnance. Crude, but effective." Kirrahe informed them.
"Nice. Drop that nuke from orbit and Saren can kiss his ass goodbye." Kaidan commented.
"Unfortunately the facility is too well-fortified for that. We'll need to place the bomb at a precise location." Kirrahe told him.
"Where do we take the nuke? And how do we get there?" John asked, matter-of-factly.
"Your ship can drop it off, but we'll need to infiltrate the base, disable the AA guns, and pacify any ground forces first." Kirrahe said.
"You want us to go in on foot? We don't have enough men, we're one squad." Kaidan pointed out.
"We won't be able to meet their force head-on." John agreed.
"Definitely not," Kirrahe nodded. "But I think we can work around that. I'm going to divide my men into three teams and hit the front of the facility. While we've got their attention, you can sneak your 'shadow' team in the back."
"It's an idea, but your people are going to get slaughtered." John pointed out.
"We're tougher than we look, Commander. But it's true. I don't expect many of us will make it out alive. And that makes what I'm going to ask even more difficult. I need one of your men to accompany me. To help coordinate the teams." Kirrahe said.
"You expect me to commit one of my people to your command?" John asked.
"We are all soldiers by trade. If your people are not prepared to face such a risk, would you really want them by your side?" Kirrahe asked.
"He's right, Captain," Mia spoke up for the first time. "It needs to be someone with knowledge of Alliance communications protocols. We can't do this without everyone at their best. Send me."
"No." John said at once, but Garrus knew she wasn't going to drop this.
"Respectfully, sir, you need everyone else. Let me help Kirrahe. I can handle it." Mia said, and the tension in the air could cut like a knife. John took a breath, looked down, and nodded once. He looked back up to Kirrahe with a determination on his face.
"I'll send Commander Mia Shepard. She's an N7 infiltrator. She'll get you out of there." he told the captain. "No heroics, understood?" he asked tensely.
"Aye, Captain." Mia nodded, sounding oddly relieved. Garrus would have to ask her about that later. After the mission. Right now, they needed to focus.
"I'll have the ordinance loaded onto the Normandy and brief your crew on its detonation sequencing. Do you have any questions, Captain?"
"Shadow seems pretty straightforward. What are the other team names? And which one will Shepard be on?" John asked carefully.
"Aegohr, Mannovai, and Jaeto. They were the initial settlements on our first three colony worlds. They are at the heart of salarian territory to this names will remind my men what they are fighting for. They must have a personal stake in the fight if we are to have any chance of success. Shepard will be with me, coordinating the teams. "
"The Normandy's picking me up. How will your teams escape the blast?" John asked, glancing to Mia.
"We will engage the geth as long as possible. Once the bomb is in place, we will fall back to try and escape the blast radius. If we move quickly, we should be able to escape with acceptable casualties. If not, then our memories will live on as martyrs to a greater cause."
"I should be so lucky," Mia murmured from her place next to Kaidan. Garrus wasn't sure if John heard her, but he turned back to Kirrahe.
"I'm ready when you are, Captain." John told the man.
"Excellent. Then if you'll excuse me, I need to prepare my men." Kirrahe said, turning away.
"Don't be stupid out there, Alenko. Let Liara and Wrex handle the heavy Lifting, yeah?" Mia said, looking up at the man, then over her shoulder at Garrus. "And you'd better count your shots, Vakarian. You're still too generous with your heat sinks." She glanced around the rest of the ground crew, nodding as though satisfied. Her eyes landed on Liara, and Mia paused for a moment. "Keep him in line, will you? He needs a voice of reason sometimes." She said, nodding to her brother. Liara looked a little shocked, but smiled softly at the request, simply nodding in acknowledgement.
John moved over to stand just behind Mia, not really looking at her. "It doesn't matter if we're not in the same unit, we're still a team. Watch each other's backs, keep your eyes open, and fight like I know you can. We'll all come out of this in one piece." John said, then he turned as Kirrahe and his men filed in to hear the captain speak.
"You all know the mission" Kirrahe said, "And what's at stake. I have come to trust each of you with my life, but I have also heard murmurs of discontent. I share your concerns. We are trained for espionage. We would be legends, but the records are sealed. Glory in battle is not our way. Think of our heroes: the Silent Step, who defeated a nation with a single shot. Or the Ever Alert, who kept armies at bay with hidden facts. These giants do not seem to give us solace here, but they are not all that we are. Before the network, there was the fleet. Before diplomacy, there were soldiers. Our influence stopped the rachni, but before that, we held the line. Our influence stopped the krogan, but before that, we held the line! Our influence will stop Saren! In our battle today, we will hold the line!"
The unit sent up cheers as the captain concluded his speech and he turned to John.
"Good luck, Captain. I hope we will meet again." Kirrahe told him.
"We will," John told the man, then looked over at his sister who had joined the STG ranks. "Good luck to you."