[Book Four] Chapter 53: Never bitch about the classics

[Book Four] Chapter 53: Never bitch about the classicsChapter 53: Never bitch about the classics









The construction of the multiple Mass Relays that were the size of the conduit was progressing smoothly. Two dozen were already in place after a year and more were scheduled to be launched. Twice now, this new Mass Relay system had allowed the discovery of Ketts incursion into systems in the Ares cluster and facilitated the defense preparation of the council’s forces there. In less than two minutes the fleets posted in the cluster had received the information on the attack, and quickly overwhelmed the ketts’ fleet trying to attack them.

More than that, Ketts’ fleets and outposts in systems and clustered unexplored by the council species were discovered and heavily monitored. Bit by bit, a map of Andromeda began to take form and make more sense than what they already have to everyone’s joy.



Meanwhile Rick, one step at a time, was still recovering from his ordeal and while he believed he would always be fed up with life in general, he became more and more open with his family and the people he considered close. It was enough that he was able to take care of Aezzia from time to time and actually enjoy those moments. Even more than that, he could actually spend some time with his two new granddaughters and not completely lose it.



When, two months after the evening and night they had spent together on his return, Sandra declared that she was pregnant at family dinner. That has been joyful news from everyone even for Rick despite seething on the inside. Not because he was going to be a father again but because that new child would grow up without a proper father. He knew how hard it was from first hand experience and prayed that the child would be a girl so she could relate better with her mother. He was also unhappy with Sandra who he knew had tricked him as he had hoped she would reconsider or give up on her idea of him fathering the child.



“I didn’t want to be a mother so soon but since I will not accept a child from any man but you, I had no choice. Your disappearance drove home that.... You won’t always be there. I saw an opportunity and I took it.”



That was her justification and Rick couldn’t be mad at her any longer, his daughter did as she always did; finding something she wanted and doing anything to get it no matter what. Jennifer and Miranda who were on the Cassiopeia for the holidays didn’t hesitate to speak about this to him in private. Miranda was murderous and blamed him, though there wasn’t much heat in her anger. She was more annoyed that she was now a grandmother at the age of seventy four. Jennifer for her part was teasing him mercilessly and fanned her wife's small ire towards their daughters’ father. Seven months later and it’s a blond blue eyed girl that saw the light of day. Considering that Sandra had never discussed a partner in her life, many wonder who the father was as she justified her daughter’s hair color with the convenient excuse of gene therapy. Matthew knew better but said nothing. Adam on the other hand had just taken a look at his favorite sister nursing his new niece for a moment and knew. With the most beautiful smile he ever saw on Sandra’s lips, she simply looked at him, prompting him to let out a long tired sigh of resignation.



“He always was trouble that I couldn’t save you from.” he said as he sat on the side of the bed and reached with a hand his niece’s cheek.

“I never needed to be saved from him to begin with. If anything it’s the other way around.”

“I suspected... ever since he came back but...” he stopped himself from continuing his sentence.

“But?”

“I had hoped I was wrong. But knowing him, knowing you and seeing you happier than I ever saw you... You were the one to take advantage of him.” Adam explained himself, knowing with the grin that Sandra had, he was right. “I guess I can't really be mad at him for failing to tell you no.”

“Not like he could have.”

“True.” he replied with an amused smile. “I suppose the older generation knows?”

“Them and half of our generation.” she answered and explained further “Nana and Sara have known for a long time, almost for the very beginning. Matthew and Leah, less than a year.”

“How come? I get why you didn’t tell me but why them?”



From there Sandra explained how her relationship with their father began and how the others became aware of it. She had to expand on the Shepard’s family dynamics, something that shocked her brother greatly but he was nothing but accepting about it. After all, if everyone in the family was fine with it, there was no reason to rock the boat.



Erica, as Sandra named her because she was ‘completely nuts about her father’ (said Jennifer), was succeeded a few months later by her younger sister, Hannah.

Seeing that her little sister was pregnant, Arianna’s jealous side showed up once again and decided that she would not wait until the end of the war to go through pregnancy too. And that’s why a few months later she also gave birth. Hannah had been moved to tears that her granddaughter would name her own daughter after her despite the many mistakes she made with her own children.



“Grandma, it’s been so long ago. You’ve been an excellent grandmother and a good mother for the past forty years, it’s twice as much time you made mistakes. Besides, I like your name, I like what it means.” was her explanation as she held her redheaded green eyed daughter.



She went with her mother’s and grandmother’s coloring at Sara’s insistence who simply said ‘it’s tradition’, something that only her father had understood and agreed with.



All in all, despite the tiring two new additions to his life, Rick’s recovery was rather steady. He was still isolating himself for a rather long period of time when he needed it but was present both physically and more importantly mentally with his loved ones. Helping Jane make escape rooms helped greatly and he cherished every single one of those moments with her. With the bit of free time he had left and with the Ragnarok armor finished, Rick started a new project to acclimate better soldiers to combat situations, emotionally and psychologically. He intended, via nanobots, to connect the mind to a virtual world. He, of course, got help from EDI who saw it as the reverse of what she went through with Dorothea. With her memory, she recreated most missions the crew of the Normandy went through while Rick busied himself designing in depth their enemies’ capabilities with of course the opportunity to modify any of their parameters to make it easier or harder. The more data they had and added the more real the virtual world and the experience it provided were real and effective. When they showed it to Hackett the man immediately tried it to everyone’s shock.



“It felt good to finally be back on the field and to have my body move like it was in its prime.” was the first thing he said as he came out of the simulation which was quickly followed by an offer of buying the thing for the army. Of course the old Admiral was rebuffed but Rick promised that it would be available for everyone as he intended to make video games with it which included flight and fight simulators. Victus was also intrigued with the new technology and after trying it for himself simply said that Rick would be an even richer man should he commercialize this.



The more or less peaceful life Rick was having was broken one day at noon as he was talking with Hackett and Victus on the bridge about the development on an hidden outpost on an hospitable planet from a new cluster being explored.



“Dad?”

“Yes, pumpkin?” the man replied as he looked up from the holo-table displaying blueprints of the underground buildings for the new outpost.

“Did you already feed Erica and put her in her crib?” inquired the brunette.

“No, I didn’t, why?”

“Because it’s time...”

“... Okayyy. Why are you telling me?”

“Because she’s with you?” she replied with her brows lowering showing a bit of displeasure.

“She isn’t.”

“One of the caretakers at the nursery said you picked her up two hours ago, so where is she?”

“Miss Andersson, your father has been here all morning with us, working and debating on the building of the new outpost for Hora.” Victus said as Rick put aside the blueprints and pulled up a video recording of the nursery dated two hours ago.



With fear gripping her heart, Sandra looked at the video as Rick asked EDI to follow someone definitely human, wearing his usual clothes and his helmet that he put on from time to time leaving the nursery with a blond baby in their arms.



“EDI, where did that bastard go?”

“... He left the station on an EVA.” she replied, showing the impostor joining a black and white colored ship which left the Cassiopeia immediately.

“What?!” exclaimed the young mother.

“What does security know about the ship and its crew?” asked Rick.

“They arrived a week ago among the many ships coming in for the holidays. They left at the same time as the others.”

“Auntie, where is my daughter?! Where did those bastards take her?!”

“I’m sorry, I don’t know Sandra.”



The somehow sorry and deflated tone of EDI’s synth voice through then com and the words themselves made Sandra begin to hyperventilate in panic.



“Shepard.” the voice said.

“Holy shit, is that...”



Jane left the rest of her sentence hand in the air as she looked dumbfounded at the face of the illusive man.



“Commander. It’s been a long time.”

“How the hell are you still alive?!”

“Oh, I’m not. I’m just a copy of the mind of the one you knew as the illusive man. I was created just before he underwent his reaper augmentation at the end of the war.”

“I guess he wasn’t so sure of himself if he made you.”

“While I was a contingency and nothing more it proved...”



The TIM AI or whatever it was, stopped on the spot when he heard a very familiar song he hated almost as much as the man playing it.



“I am the very model of a scientist Salarian~...”

“No...”

“I've studied species Turian Asari and Batarian~...”

“No, no, no, no....”

“I'm quite good at genetics as a subset of biology~...”

“ENOUGH! STOP!”

“Because I am an expert which I know is a tautology~...”



On and on the song went as Rick was working on the terminal in front of the holo display. Jane couldn’t help but laugh while Jennifer and Hannah, who were holding the scientists at gunpoint, were smirking evilly. Sandra was just confused.



“Don’t! Stop it! You don’t know what you’re doing, Wald! Only I can bring humanity to the top! Only I can give it its rightful place among...”

“You should have thought of that before kidnapping my granddaughter.”



Finishing typing on the terminal, the hologram flickered erratically before disappearing. Turning toward the scientists, Rick gave them a choice.



“You’re going to die today. Have no doubt about that. The question is if it will be quick and painless or after hours of torture. I’m telling you outright, I’m about to go all medieval on each one of you in the later case.”



The dark and heavy tone he delivered his words terrified them, prompting one of them to piss himself.



____________________________________________________________



Sandra was cooing at her daughter in her arms under the watchful eyes of the rest of the family as the Normandy went back to the Celeste.

The entire Cerberus complex had been destroyed, the data of any project or research backed up and no one was left alive. Not even EDI’s ‘father’ who begged her for his life to be spared. Unfortunately for him EDI was quite beside herself in anger for both coding her like a pig and for being the one who shackled her. Among the data, they found the name of every Cerberus agent undercover in a strategic position. There weren’t many and would be easy to deal with, so were the hidden sympathizers and backers in positions of power. As for bases, the one they destroyed was the very last one active as Cerberus was only able to build this one since its public fall years ago. All in all, the xenophobic terrorist organization was dead for good though no one was a fool believing that. Cockroaches were very resilient after all. Getting back on the Cassiopeia it was decided that Erica would always be with her little sister, always being watched over by someone from the family. Sandra, having finally relented that she needed help and setting her pride aside, asked for it.



That little excursion had a not insignificant impact on Rick. To both Hackett’s joy and regret, Rick was back actively in the war. His granddaughter’s kidnapping had fanned his rage that had all been gone, replaced by tiredness after his return. Lamenting the fact that he was losing the best assistant he ever had and winning back perhaps the best soldier he ever got, the old Admiral ordered Jane to reformed the Normandy crew however she saw fit and to once more be a spearhead in war. The redhead somehow rejoiced about it, not liking being benched on the Cassiopeia for so long and just taking care of her brother. She loved it, sure but she needed action and more than just scouting like she did before.



The war took a turn for the worse for the Ketts, they just didn’t know it yet.