"Okay," Adama sighed and looked at Shepard, "So, you, Helo and the rest of your crew are here to talk to us about Sharon," then he fully turned to face her, "I suppose you think you can talk us out of keeping her in the Brig, right?" to which Shepard nodded, fairly calm about the matter. He sighed, then looked at Kara and asked, "And you think you can help her?"
Halsey had chosen to simply witness this discussion… For now.
"Sorta?" Kara shrugged, then saw the glares she was getting from both Adama and Tigh. Raising her hands, she said, "Oh, come on. You can't tell me you guys think Sharon dragged the Cylon here? She warned us, didn't she?" only to see Tigh staring at her still. She stuck her tongue out at the Colonel, who rolled his eyes, before she clarified, "Okay, look… I trust her about as far as I can throw her myself, but she did give us enough time to start flying before the Toasters jumped in. And if Karl trusts her, some part of me does, too."
"Thanks, Kara," Karl nodded, a small grin on his face as he looked at his old childhood friend. She gave a thumbs up to the man. She then crossed her arms to her chest and saw the two men exchanging looks, while Karl continued, "With all due respect, sir… I don't see how she's a threat to the Fleet, or you, anymore. Especially now that she's pregnant."
"It's the Pregnancy that's worrying us, son," Tigh replied with an edge to his voice, "Who the frak knows how that Baby's gonna turn out? It might wind up as an abomination like the corpses we found aboard their Ships!" to which Karl seemed to restrain himself from replying, though a vein visibly bulged on the side of his head.
Tali replied in his stead, "Or it might turn out to just be a normal-looking baby with some Cylon traits, sir…" staring him in the eye, "While I deeply appreciate that the Galactica and her brave crew jumped to the rescue of my people, potentially saving countless lives, a lot more would have been lost if Sharon had actually been hostile to us. She could've not said a damned thing, or outright misled you all. She also gets bonus points for being the wife to a man who's part of the Normandy's crew."
"I'm with Tali on that," Shepard replied, "She could've easily caused issues if she was actually hostile for one. For two, even according to Doctor Halsey, the girl's as close to a human as they get. How the hell's a baby born out of her and Karl gonna wind up anything but a mostly normal baby?" she then inquired, raising a brow.
Though the tension was a bit thick, the bridge remained active and working normally. Gaeta and Dualla only shot a glance over every once in a while, focusing on their jobs while trying to maintain a direct link to the Waystation joint fleet outside, which was doing Search and Rescue. Adama, ever the peacemaker for officers and staff, sighed and said, "While we deeply appreciate the thought of you and your crew wanting to help Captain Agathon, Commander, I'm afraid keeping Sharon under observation for the time being remains the prerogative of the Colonial Fleet."
"Sir-" Starbuck started.
"Your input has also been noted, Lieutenant," Adama looked at her like a father did at his child. With understanding and some degree of compassion, but also a stern attitude, "Please, return to the Hangar. We'll have to provide escort to the Quarian Fleet soon enough and our job here's gonna be patrol all over again."
Kara sighed deeply, then looked at Karl with a slightly apologetic face. He nodded in understanding and the two bumped fists before Starbuck excused herself to return to Duty. Shepard, meanwhile, wasn't easily gonna give up. She requested, "At least let us speak to Sharon, Commander. I wanna hear her side of the story, too…"
Tigh and Adama exchanged glances, with Tigh sighing and nodding. Adama said, "I'll have a couple of Marines provide escort to you, the Captain and your crew, Commander. Otherwise, we'll be up here if you wanna talk anything strategy-related," to which Shepard smiled and nodded. Two of the Marines, clad in UNSC equipment, greeted the Commander and her team, then led them over toward the Brig.
As they marched down the corridors, they stepped foot into what one would assume as the Memorial area. Two walls on each side of the corridor, filled with pictures of the missing and the dead, ranging from children to the youthful and the old, soldiers and civilians alike. Candles sat atop the boxes around them, too.
Karl frowned as they passed the wall, with Tali visibly just as distressed, while Shepard wondered if the Quarians would have to put up the same kind of memorials around their craft after the Cylons' assault on the Flotilla. Shepard, however, paused when she saw that Doctor Halsey had joined them, stating, "Doc…?"
"Commander, Captain, miss Tali'Zorah," The woman nodded, "Apologies, but I suppose I wanted to see how your silver tongue would work yet again," and she hummed as they walked. Shepard stared at her still, confused and curious. Noting the look, she nodded and said, "I can assume you're curious about my finds at the Dig Site… I will show you a detailed recording once we get miss Valerii out of her cell and back with her husband."
"Honestly, Doc, I'm not sure that's such a good idea, considering Karl's operating with us," Shepard spoke, then looked over at Karl. The man waved it off, more concerned with seeing his wife than anything. Tali, however, approved what Shepard was saying with a hum, to which the Commander continued, "I mean, she would do fine under observation from Doctor Chakwas, but…"
Halsey nodded in understanding, "I get it…" before they turned a corner and arrived at the Brig, in one of the most armored parts of the ship, save the CIC. As they entered, they were met by the sigh of Sharon, sitting on her bed, nursing a hot drink and some fresh food with a small smile. Though she was slightly more pale, she was fine.
Karl couldn't help himself, smiling brightly at the sight of the woman before him. He walked over and knocked on her window, which caused her to perk up. The moment she saw Karl, Shepard, Tali and Halsey, she sprung up to her feet, a beaming smile on her face as well. She slowly walked over, the belly a bit bigger than last time, then leaned forward, putting a hand on the glass. Karl put his on the same spot, smiling, then lifted up the phone and said, "Hey… You alright?"
"I'm alright, yeah," She replied happily, then looked at Shepard and said, "That your Commander?"
"Current, yeah," Karl nodded, then looked back at Shepard. She snapped a salute and cracked a grin, too, nodding approvingly. Sharon still smiled, snapping a salute back at the Commander, before the man said, "Commander Shepard, this is Sharon. My soon-to-be-wife and mother of that little child right in there," while pointing at the glass right around the height of her belly.
"Hope that kiddo grows nice and healthy, Lieutenant Valerii. I'm Samantha Shepard, Alliance Commander," The woman spoke and leaned forward, "And I'm here to get you outta that cell so that kid can be born safe and sound on board either a medical ship, or the Waystation, free," before she looked down. Sharon's eyes seemed to widen for a moment, welling with tears of joy, possibly due to the baby.
Halsey smiled and said, "If there is anyone who can get her out of there…"
Tali chuckled, replying with a casual, "Guessing Shepard's become a bit of a local legend at the Waystation, too, eh?"
"If you knew the half of it, miss Tali'Zorah," The woman quipped. She walked over toward the window and said, "Hello again, Miss Valerii," only to get a quick salute from Sharon. The good doctor nodded in approval, then tapped a few buttons on her tablet and told Shepard calmly, "We should move this process along… I need to get back to the Waystation with these findings, too."
"Right," Shepard nodded, then looked at Sharon and started, "If you don't mind me asking a couple questions," before receiving an affirmation from Sharon. She spoke, "Alright… How'd you manage to warn the Colonials and the Heavy and Patrol Fleets ahead of time? It might help us understand how the hell we even managed to keep the casualties below the hundreds of thousands…"
"... Simply put?" Sharon spoke, her voice low, "They talked to me… Directly," and that caused the entire room to drop a couple degrees in temperature. She said, "They wanted to drag me with them. I could tell that much. They even said they 'saw me'... I think I was their target to begin with. That Beacon you guys must've hit…"
Shepard nodded, "The one on the Alarei…" and got a nod back from Sharon.
"They had it set up here as bait," She shrugged, then continued, "I think they were supposed to attack the moment it got turned off. They knew I was here, too, so…" she scratched her neck, then mumbled, "They must've known I was aboard the Galactica, which doesn't bode well for the Commander or anyone here…"
Halsey hummed, thoughtful, while Karl spoke, "That basically paints a target on everyone's backs, regardless of where this ship is," his voice quiet, filled with concern, "They'll just keep coming back. If they talked to Sharon, that means they lost all the wants and needs of using her as a Sleeper Agent… As has happened when she was 'ordered' to fire at Commander Adama."
"I fought back," Sharon spoke, scared, "They tried taking my mind over. It hurt like a bitch, but I fought them back…" and she stared at Shepard, begging, "Tell the Commander and Colonel I have to get off this boat, find another. They know where I am… They can probably track me without the use of that Beacon now."
"And if we don't, the Waystation's gonna be Target Number One for them," Mumbled Shepard. She nodded and said, "I'll go convince the Commander and Colonel, then. If we take her aboard the Normandy, it might just be safer after all. We're always on the move and only ever take pit stops at the Waystation or Citadel for rearm and resupply…"
"The Deck is all yours, Commander. We'll wait here," Halsey spoke. Shepard nodded in thanks, then walked off, with the Doctor whispering, "That's going to be an interesting discussion, I feel…" as she checked her datapad again, making sure she had everything set up properly and neatly organized into folders.
"So…" Tali spoke, "Dig site?"
"I will send the file to Cortana. She will disseminate it throughout the Normandy's computers," The woman replied calmly. She spoke, "The most I can tell you, however, is that humanity in all four Galaxies is related. And I fully believe it has something to do with the Librarian, or at least some of her plans and pre-prepared actions…"
Tali blinked, then whispered, "Well, that's totally not concerning," before looking at Karl and Sharon, both of whom seemed to have overheard this revelation and suddenly wanted to hear more. More information which Halsey seemed to not want to give, simply tapping her foot and finishing the last touches on the files.
Shepard walked in with Adama, eyes wide, then whispered to Halsey, "Apparently telling them 'Sharon fought back the Cylon, but they might be tracking her, so we'll keep her safe aboard the Normandy' was quite convincing," to which the Doctor simply snorted. The Commander breathed a sigh and gave a nod to the Marines guarding Sharon's cell.
He walked over, then picked up the transmitter from Karl and said to her, "We're going to let you go now, Boomer… Don't make us regret this. I'm begging you," while trying to keep himself calm. The woman stared at him for a moment, then breathed a shaky sigh and snapped a salute. Adama saluted her back, then gently opened the door, telling Shepard, "Keep her safe. Her and her kid are… A bit more important than you might now."
"Sir," Shepard smiled, then nodded. When the door slid open, Sharon jumped into Karl's arms, hugging him tightly and laughing happily, almost moved to tears. Commander Adama, for all the stoicism he was trying to display, actually cracked a smile, while the Commander said, "President Roslin was okay with this, too, right?" as she looked at him.
Adama nodded, then said, "I sent a message and immediately got a reply back after our short chat… Saul's not too happy about it, though," in a mumble. He crossed his arms while Shepard chuckled, then shrugged. Man did sound a little like Bailey, though, so that was something, she thought to herself.
After she got proper clothes on and Karl had started helping her, the group boarded Helo's newly-refurbished Raptor and took off back to the Normandy, the teams on the deck watching them depart. Some of the crew would voice concerns about allowing Sharon to leave this quickly, especially with Doc Cottle still wanting to make sure the kid was alright when it was born.
As they reached the heavily-modified Stealth Frigate, Shepard spoke, "I'll have Doctor Chakwas keep tabs on you for the time of your stay, Sharon… I feel like it might be a good idea to warn you, though, we get into some pretty dangerous situations,' to which the woman smirked. She and Karl exchanged one look, which made Shepard grin wryly, "Fair enough. Welcome aboard…"
When the door opened, Doctor Chakwas was already on-site, a smile on her face as she said, "Karl let me know ahead of time, Commander. Lieutenant Valerii? Welcome," as she offered the girl her hand. Sharon smiled and looked at Karl, to which the doctor reassured, "Don't worry, mister Agathon. She's in safe hands," as she helped her and supported her.
"Thanks, Doc," Karl replied with a nod, then looked at Shepard and Tali and said, "And thanks, you two… We got upgrades for the Raptor and I got Sharon out of her cell and closer by. I owe you both a lot," to which Shepard waved it off, smiling. She dismissed him with a nod, then showed Tali to follow her. They walked onto the deck, to the sight of the Clone Pilots fixing their gunship and Ahsoka cleaning off some plasma scarring.
As they entered the elevator with doc, Karl and Sharon, Shepard checked her Omni-Tool and read the reports from both the Citadel and Alliance. She said to Tali, "Seems like the Cylons' little poke across the Galaxy hit you all the hardest. Citadel reports twelve Civvie casualties and six dead C-SEC members and the enemy Cyber Attack disabled an Alliance automated shipyard building one of our new Cruisers."
"Those attacks were probably distractions so they could strike out at us and steal Sharon," Tali remarked, cupping her own chin, "Aside from the baby… I don't know why they would want her. Deviance from their seemingly pre-programmed genocide of all of humanity? Or her being the mother is all?"
"If I was gonna hazard a guess," Sharon spoke, dispassionate and a little scared, "Probably just the latter. I might've wound up as disposable to the Cylon, whether they're taken by the Reapers or the normal colleagues, when the baby was born," and she gently put a hand on her belly. Tali sighed at that, while Shepard pondered the situation.
As the elevator reached the engineering and storage decks first, Tali said, "I'm gonna get off here, Commander… Hope you'll be alright, Sharon. Keelah Se'Lai," and she bowed her head before stepping off. Sharon smiled, then looked upon the Commander like she was some kind of Guardian Angel. Captain Agathon, meanwhile, simply saluted Shepard when the crew deck came and he, Doctor Chakwas and Sharon stepped off.
Shepard smiled, saluted back again, then let them leave before hitting the button for the CIC. Breathing a sigh and stretching a little, she mumbled to herself, "What a fucking day this has been…" when the elevator dinged. Entering the CIC, the woman looked around at the crew, hearing various discussions.
"Commander," Yeoman Chambers smiled, "You have new messages on your terminal. The Illusive Man and his team have completed deciphering the Data Cortana and EDI retrieved from the enemy vessel with their help. Additionally, Doctor Halsey has sent forth reports of what she found at the Dig Site and Lord Rhasits wishes to speak with you."
"Thanks, Kelly," Shepard replied, then paused as she saw Cortana and EDI on the same terminal, seemingly discussing something. She furrowed her brows, noticing that Cortana was somewhat agitated, before approaching slowly. As she did so, she could hear the two AIs discussing something fairly sensitive.
"... I understand your concern, but I assure you, I am fine…" EDI spoke, her voice sounding just a hint more emotive than normal. "Early interactions with the Reaper-controlled Cylons during our operations must have affected my operating systems a little, considering their electronic warfare proficiency, but I am functioning normally."
Cortana sighed, pinching the bow of her nose, then said, "I detected that Code activating the moment we got poked by the Command Basestar's Hybrid… It wasn't normal, EDI. You know that very well," then her avatar crossed her arms, "I'm not asking you to turn yourself off… I wanna run diagnostics in the background so we make sure the bastards don't do something worrying. You're a mishmash of code and a Brainscan, after all."
"... Very well. Please, do be careful what you touch," EDI replied, visibly deflating as her own avatar dimmed. She told Cortana, "I do have to ask why we're speaking on a sealed console and keeping the speakers on. Commander Shepard can probably hear us," to which Cortana cracked a small smile. She looked at Shepard, with EDI letting out an audible mechanical noise that resembled a sigh and stating, "You were going to ask her to convince or order me to undertake this examination if you failed to persuade me, weren't you?"
"Yep~," Cortana chuckled, "Thankfully, it seems I've got a silver tongue of my own. Hey, Commander."
"Girls," Shepard nodded, then sighed deeply and requested, "Keep me posted on that checkup, will you? And EDI? Let's be safe about this, aye?" while opening up the new Data Halsey had sent them on her Omni-Tool. Might as well read something while going back down to the crew deck, she thought, all while the AIs seemed to process that little tidbit.
"Aye, aye, Commander," Both of them replied. She dismissed them with a nod and walked over to the Terminal, opening the data the Illusive Man sent. She hummed, forward it(namely specific information about the Omega-4 Relay and how a Reaper IFF, AKA what the Collectors have, is necessary to travel through it), then walked to the Elevator.
Meanwhile, on Caprica…
Despite all the ongoing issues in the Four Galaxies, work needed to continue, one of the Number Threes thought to herself as she walked through Delphi in the middle of night. Rainfall blanketed the city with faintly radioactive water, but their radiation counters showed little change in the overall background radiation.
Her escorting Centurion Squad, approximately a dozen heavily-armed units, marched not far behind her, feet thumping against the concrete, creating small cracks as they moved, their optical sensors scanning the place for possible hostiles. There'd been a certain rise in Partisan activity. Lots of patrols going missing, some Humanoid Cylons here and there, but they usually returned via Resurrection Ships.
Some went missing… Scarily enough.
One of her own sisters had gone AWOL a while back, no sign whatsoever. That was on Picon, a sign that the Human Resistance in the Colonies was spreading. And with the added threat of the split-off Cylon Sect currently off to God-Knew-Where between the four Galaxies, probably hunting Sharon just like them, the situation was harsh for the Cylons.
The Shipyards of Picon were rebuilt specifically to allow them to amass their own fleet, should their corrupted siblings ever return. Any and all Machine Artifacts that'd come from that Galaxy were gone. Destroyed by the Number Ones in a bid to keep them from losing any more troops and any more of their own brothers and sisters.
She paused, feeling slightly woozy, then mumbled, "Damned Radiation…" as she looked at the Centurion walking up to support her. She simply lifted a hand to tell it to stay in position, before sighing and trying to look through the ever-thickening blanket of raindrops. The rain fell like a constant drumbeat in the deserted streets, washing ash and blood away…
One thump, distant, but loud, echoed. The rainfall ahead seemed to split. A round impacted behind her and two Centurions were ripped in half by the impact. She screamed, feeling the shockwave rippling through the air, causing the rainfall's rhythm to stagger. Then, automatic fire mixed with the thumping rain. The electromagnetic field around the round caused the hair on her neck to stand on-end.
She saw figures appearing out of the darkness. Black-clad figures, armed with weapons and clad in heavy armor. The Centurions that saw them engaged with their arm-mounted guns as she turned to flee, running back down the way she came. Several Centurion units behind her exploded, falling dead under the whittling barrage of gunfire.
… Finally, through the rainfall, she could make out the thump of boots crashing against concrete and looked back. Two figures chased her, rifles drawn. One aimed and fired a burst that narrowly missed her leg. She grit her teeth and barked, "LEAVE ME ALONE!" before turning the corner into an alleyway. Another burst zipped by her head.
She saw the figures turn the corner, then felt the air knocked out of her lungs as she slammed into something hard. Looking up, she yelped as she saw a wall-a dead end. She turned around, then yelped as another burst struck beside her. They weren't aiming to kill her, she soon figured. Or, at least, not with firearms.
She'd been one of the directors of a local Farm before this insurrection started striking at them, blowing them apart and liberating the Humans inside. She pressed her back against the wall, heart thumping in her chest. She wanted to push it down, to try and climb it, to do anything to get away… Even for a being that could be revived in a new body, death was painful.
The humans approaching her seemed to know this, keeping their rifles trained on her. She yelled, "JUST SHOOT ME, YOU BARBARIAN BASTARDS!" ever defiant, her accent thick. The two looked at one-another, then nodded. One of them lowered her scoped, short-barrel rifle, sliding it onto her back, then, much to the horror of the Number Three, withdrew a serrated blade from her shoulder pad.
She yelped, then scrambled to try and leave, to try and escape. A flash of lightning lit the figure ahead, their opaque visor glowing with the light, a faint outline of the eye sockets visible behind said visor, like it was only a skull glaring at her from within. She gasped as the figure drew closer, simply walking.
Then, she felt the soldier slam against her with all her might, pin her against the wall, then gently and slowly slide the blade into the flesh of her throat. The woman in the armor didn't speak, simply glaring as she slid the blade deeper and deeper. The blade slid through flesh like it was butter, severing arteries and the windpipe, causing her to taste her own coppery, acidic blood.
She didn't wanna die… Then, the blade twisted.
She jolted awake, screaming aloud from her revival pod and feeling her throat, staggered screams that sounded like a cry for help barely audible. A Number Six ran up to her and said, "Pico Three! It's fine! You're safe!" but it was almost as if the Three couldn't hear her, simply screaming aloud, tears in her eyes.
The Number Six looked back at the other present Models. Number One shook his head, sighing, then took his hat off and mumbled, "Fifth one this week alone," as he leaned against a support pillar. Before long, the Number Three's voice had grown raspy and weak, leaving her only to sob, a mess as she hugged the Number Six…