[Book One] Chapter 22: Meeting halfway

[Book One] Chapter 22: Meeting halfwayChapter 22: Meeting halfway

The mood on the Normandy was atrocious. Everyone was out but the skeleton crew and the ground team. Shepard's small hope for the council to actually take action had been dashed. They chose to do a blockade of the Mass Relays leading to the Terminus system. What she didn’t see coming, and should have, was Udina’s betrayal. The ambassador to make humanity look better went for cooperation with the council. For that, he couldn’t have Shepard free to do what she wanted regardless of the council’s decision. That’s why he locked down the Normandy under the pretext that she needed to do maintenance which was a bold face lie and everyone concerned knew it.

Shepard was on the crew deck, organizing her locker while cursing herself. Her control on her anger slipped and she hit it repeatedly before sitting against it in defeat. She heard someone walk towards her and saw two boots stopped right in front of her. She knew whom they belonged to.

“You were right. Again.” she said, still looking at the ground.

“...”

“Saren is going to reach the conduit, the reapers will be back and I’m stuck here.”

Rick crouched down and took her head in both his hands. Raising it so they were face to face, they looked at each other in silence. In a quick move and with his helmet on, he headbutted her.

“ARGH! WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU!” she yelled, holding her forehead with her hands.

“Did it scramble your mind enough to be back in the game?”

“It hurt, that’s all it did, asshole!”

“Are you a mindless grunt or a soldier?”

“I’M A SOLDIER!”

“You don’t act like one.”

Soldiers do what they have to do. It’s soldiers that win wars.

Be a soldier, do what you need to do regardless of the rules as long as you don’t sell your soul to do it and can still look at yourself in a mirror. Because if you do, then perhaps it isn’t worth doing.

Both Anderson and Rick’s own words came to her mind again. She was a soldier and she would do what she had to do no matter what. The fate of the galaxy was more important than anything else. She stood up, Rick doing the same and looked up at him. This time with conviction she said it.

“I am a soldier.”

“Now, you act like one. Are you ready for the consequences? It is treason.”

“It matters less than everyone’s life in the galaxy.”

“The alliance is your whole life.”

“Again, it doesn’t matter.”

“...”

“I said that, but I don’t know what to do. I need a miracle.”

“Miracles are for the helpless. You are not. Besides, you got better.”

“I do?!”

“You got me.”

“You have a plan?!”

“Of course I do.”

“What didn’t you say anything?!” she was yelling in his face now.

“Because you were not ready. In here and here.” He said pointing to her head and heart.

“Now you are. It was about time, I’ve been waiting for months. Now you’re ready to take down Saren.”

“... What’s that plan of yours?”

“None of your concern. Just be ready to go the moment you get the authorization to fly. No matter what, no matter who’s missing on the ship, you go.”

She wanted to argue, to know more. She didn’t like what he said, nor the way he said it. The implication didn’t sit well with her. But he never failed her before and knew he would not fail her now. She wasn’t in control, she knew nothing of what he was about to do nor the consequences but it was fine with her. She trusted him. Fully. That’s why it was so easy for her to let go and let him do his thing. Easier than she thought it would be.

I finally met him halfway.

She just nodded and turned around to gear up. Rick went to the med-bay to visit Liara in her room. Hearing the door open she spinned her chair around to see who was visiting her.

“Rick! Do you need something?”

“Yes, I would like to know if you had some lipstick and if yes if I could borrow it? It’s for a harmless prank on Tali.”

“I do. Give me a second.”

She went behind the curtain where her bed and personal effect were and was back in front of him in a blink of an eye.

“Here.”

“Thank you.”

He suddenly opened the lower part of his helmet and kissed her passionately. Liara was shocked at first but when she felt his hands caressing her hip and squeezing her ass she got into it. Despite its nature and the feelings involved the kiss was surprisingly gentle. When they needed air Rick broke the kiss.

“I”m sorry I’m unable to love you the way we both want. You deserve better.” he whispered, his lips almost touching hers.

“Me too but it’s alright.”

Leaving a very worried asari behind he closed the open part of his helmet and left without saying anything else. And made way to the cargo bay where he found Ashley cleaning her weapon in frustration at the situation they were in. Opening his helmet again he embraced her from behind and kissed the exposed part of her neck.

“Bombshell.”

“Fido.” she said leaning back on his chest in contentment.

“Fido?”

“You love to bite, so a dog’s name.”

“You know its plan?!” Anderson's eyes almost comically popped out of his head at the surprise he felt then he connected some dots.

“The citadel! But why attack it?”

“When you start a war, what is the most important thing to have to win swiftly? Especially when you know nothing about your enemies.”

“Information.”

“And where in the galaxy could you find the most information about the worlds and species you want to eliminate?”

“The citadel! That’s why they built it and left it to be found! It’s a death trap!”

“Yes. The moment Sovereign said that the reapers built the Citadel I knew it was the key to the invasion.”

“What do you mean?”

“I think the citadel is actually a hidden Mass Relay and the reapers will flood the galaxy from there.”

“What?!”

“Think about it, why would they bother arriving somewhere else then travel here when they could just get here in the first place? They created the Mass Relays after all.”

“They wouldn’t. It’s highly inefficient and there is the enemy's presence, our presence that would try to fight back.”

“Exactly! Though I don’t think they think we could do any harm to them. I mean, after millions of cycles of victories for them, the odds are almost nonexistent. It’s more about efficiency if anything.”

“But what about the conduit then? What is it? Why does Saren need it?”

“Well.. From there on, it’s purely speculation.”

“Because it wasn’t before?”

“No. They were proof.”

“Go on then. What’s the conduit?”

“Exactly what I thought it was. An object bringing something from point A to point B.”

“That doesn’t help me understand one bit.”

“Yes, yes, just give me a moment. I need to sort out the information so I can convey it properly because there is a lot.”

While he took a few minutes to think, Anderson observed the man and lamented that he wasn’t part of the alliance. Shepard had struck gold with him in her crew. And even though she had been reluctant at first, if not down right opposed, he knew she would not let him go for everything in the world if she had the choice. He had connected bits of information from right and left across half the galaxy and came to a conclusion that no one did, that could not be ignored and seemed highly probable. Something that not even the STG achieved.

“Okay, I get it. The Citadel is an inactive Mass Relay. What are the two ways to activate it?”

“I don’t know, I’m no tech expert.”

“Okay, an example then.... A bomb?”

“Well, you either have to manually enter the countdown or remotely detonate it.”

“It’s the same for the relay.”

“Why didn’t Sovereign do that then?”

“Because I believed the protheans did the same things that I did when I disabled the alliance probe during Elanos Haliat mission.”

“If I remember correctly, the nuke received the activation signal but ignored it, making it so the only way to detonate it was to manually do it. But following your logic, the reapers must have been in control of the Citadel at the time. How would the protheans...” Anderson stopped finally connecting all the dots and seeing the big picture that Rick saw.

“The conduit. The protheans created the conduit to get on the citadel and hacked the signal so it would be ignored. The conduit is a prothean Mass Relay! Saren knows that he couldn’t force his way in, not with the defense fleet present and the Citadel capable of closing itself. Instead he found a way to directly arrive in it bypassing all defenses. If he could infiltrate with an army of geths at the heart of the Citadel...”

“He would have no problem taking control of it and activating the relay or letting Sovereign come in like he owns the place to do it itself. With most of the council fleet wanking itself away at the Mass Relays, it would be like a walk in the park.”

“We need to warn the council.” Anderson said, standing up from his chair.

“No.”

“No?”

“The council won’t listen. They didn’t before, they will not now. Not when half what we discussed has no proof to back it up, even if it’s the only conclusion someone can get too. What we need to do is tell the council what to do. But we can’t do it with just the two of us alone.”

“You’re right. We’ll need men, a lot of them and a fleet. I’ll contact Admiral Hackett. The fifth fleet under his command is free and not far.”

“Try to get his approval to recruit every single alliance personnel on the Citadel, actual members of the navy, c-sec everything you can think of.. I’ll try to see if I can’t recruit mercs.”

“Mercs?”

“Yes, an army is coming. Eleven million people need protection. With a bit of luck the council will be... reasonable.”

“I understand. That leaves me with two questions. When will the attack happen, and where should we regroup?”

“The presidium, the council is there after all. As for when? I honestly don’t know. Saren is way ahead of Shepard but he had preparations to make so it’s impossible. If you want a number... Let’s go with three weeks. ”

“Three? Why three?”

“I just like the number three and it’s more realistic than six. Anyway it doesn’t matter. We need to be ready as fast as possible, after that we’ll just have to keep under the radar on the presidium.”

“Then there is no time to waste.”

“Are you sure? I may be wrong.”

“I believe you.”

“What we’re about to do... It’s prison for life at best if we fail.”

“I’m a soldier.” Anderson replied with a smirk and left.

“Good answer.”