The Reaper War

by Cole Price

  Shepard nodded. “That it does. You have my profound thanks, sir.”

  “Let’s just make it worthwhile. Do you have an objective?”

  “Liara?”

  “We may,” I agreed. “Actually, Specialist Traynor did the relevant analysis.”

  Traynor nodded. She had full control of her voice when she spoke, although I noticed her accent had become a little thicker under stress. “Dr. T’Soni and I were going through Alliance message traffic less than two hours ago. We saw a distress call from the Grissom Academy station above Elysium. They’re concerned they may be hit soon by both the Reaper and Cerberus invasion fronts, and they’re requesting evacuation.”

  “Grissom Academy,” mused the Primarch. “Isn’t that a training facility for many of your most exceptional young men and women?”

  “That’s right, sir,” agreed Shepard. “Many of the students are very promising young scientists, engineers, mathematicians, and military officer candidates. The Academy is also the central facility for humanity’s Ascension Project, our gold-standard training program for young human biotics. For many humans, the Academy is a symbol of the best our species has to offer.”

  “I see. What do you propose to do?”

  “Well, sir, a turian transport apparently responded to their distress call, so normally I’d say we don’t need to do anything.” Traynor worked at her console and brought up a packet-analysis graph. “Something seemed off in the turian signal. On a hunch, I brought EDI in and we performed an analysis. It’s fake. The message headers aren’t quite formatted properly.”

  “Someone trying to pass themselves off as a turian ship?”

  “I think it’s Cerberus,” said Traynor. “EDI said something about a fake turian signal that lured Normandy to a Collector ship, a few months ago. This could be more of the same. In any event, whoever faked the signal wants us to think the Academy is being evacuated, but I believe they’re still in danger.”

  “I concur,” I said. “I think the conclusion is obvious. As a first step in opposing the Cerberus offensive, I recommend that Normandy proceed at once to Elysium and forestall any attack on the Academy.”

  Shepard and the Primarch exchanged a silent glance. I noticed that Shepard’s color had improved, his expression speaking of confidence and determination once again. Victus gave a short, sharp nod.

  “Shepard to bridge. Set a course: best time to the Trebia mass relay and then to the Vetus system. Pull out all the stops, Joker, it’s time for us to be big damn heroes.”

  “Again,” said the pilot dryly. “Don’t worry, Commander, we’ll be there in three hours or less even if I have to get out and push.”

  Shepard grinned at Traynor, the first time I had seen him smile in days. “Good catch.”

  * * *

  17 April 2186, Grissom Academy/Elysium

  Five of us boarded the Academy station, by way of an auxiliary cargo hatch since Cerberus had blocked the main docks.

  “Commander Shepard, this is Kahlee Sanders. My console tells me you’ve made it aboard. I’m barricaded in a security office around the corner from your position. Cerberus troops are trying to get in.”

  “Roger that, Dr. Sanders.” Shepard hurried forward. “Double-time, people.”

  He was first to the door at the end of our corridor. He opened it, only to see four Cerberus troops clustered around another door about twenty meters away.

  He didn’t even draw a weapon.

  I barely had time to see him snarl in anger. Then he shimmered, vanished, a perfect flash-charge down the length of the corridor into the midst of the Cerberus fire-team. With a howl of rage, he raised a fist and hammered it down on the deck. His barriers surged in a great wave of blue-white force, lashing out in all directions, picking up the troopers and slamming them against the walls.

  None of them stirred after that.

  I stared at Shepard as the rest of us arrived. “Goddess. When did you learn to do that?”

  Garrus and James checked the bodies. Shepard’s nova burst had killed all four of the enemy: broken necks, shattered spines, fractured skulls, all despite their armor.

  “Like I said, I had six months of nothing much to do but train. I finally got to explore all the possibilities of this vanguard function Cerberus grafted onto me. I even ran a training course for other Alliance biotics on the QT.”

  “I’ve only ever heard of asari performing that kind of eruption of force.”

  “That’s our Shepard,” said Garrus, a note of grim humor in his flanging voice. “Pushing the boundaries of human evolution three different ways before the lunch break.”

  Shepard made a fractional smile, just enough for me to notice. Then he turned to the door the dead Cerberus fire-team had been trying to open. “Sanders, we’re clear. It’s me.”

  The door opened and Kahlee Sanders rose from behind cover, carrying a shotgun at the ready.

  I knew Dr. Sanders by reputation, of course: current director of the Ascension Project; one of the Alliance’s foremost experts on cybernetics, artificial intelligence, and biotic amplification; long-time associate and occasional romantic partner of Admiral David Anderson; secretly the daughter of the famous explorer and war hero Jon Grissom.

  Intimately familiar with her dossier, I wasn’t prepared for her considerable force of character. As a young woman, she had permitted great events to simply carry her along, victim of an uncertain and even timid personality. Now close to fifty years of age, experience and tragedy had tempered her character, transforming her into a mature and very effective person. Her body language spoke of alert, decisive confidence. Even her physical appearance was striking: tall and athletic, with finely-chiseled features, startling silver eyes, and long hair of a white-gold color I had never seen on a human before.

  Somewhat to my surprise, I found her quite attractive, the first time I had ever experienced such a reaction to a female human. I carefully filed the datum away for much later consideration.

  “Commander, thank you,” she said. “Admiral Anderson always said you were the best. With Cerberus coming for my students, I need the best.”

  “How many of you are there?” asked Shepard.

  “Fewer than twenty. We evacuated most of our students and staff as soon as word arrived of the Reaper invasion. A few volunteered to stay, to assist with the war effort. Some are prototyping advanced tech for the Alliance. Others are the strongest of our biotics, training for military operations, working together as biotic artillery.”

  “Cerberus has always been interested in human biotics,” I pointed out. “We’ve been encountering elite Cerberus troops with biotic talents. I think that explains why they are here.”

  “That’s right. Dr. T’Soni, isn’t it?” Sanders nodded as she sat down at a security console. “They’re rounding up as many of the students as they can find. Hang on. I’ve been trying to get communications working.”

  She touched keys, and suddenly a male voice came over comms, choppy with static. “This is Froeberg! There are students trapped in Orion Hall. Cerberus has us boxed in. They’re closing fast!”

  “Damn it!” cursed Sanders.

  “Orion Hall?” asked Shepard.

  “Back out the door and down the hallway. I can get the doors open in front of you.”

  “I’ll bring them back here, along with any other students I find, and we’ll make a run for the shuttle.”

  “Thank you, Commander. I’ll stay put. With luck, I can regain control of some of our systems.”

  Shepard gathered us with his eyes, and we moved out.

  * * *

  At first it seemed easy enough. Shepard, Garrus, and James led, while EDI and I remained behind to apply our technical and biotic abilities in support. We encountered Cerberus forces, but not yet in large groups. Shepard alone could often take them down by ones and twos with his new charge-nova tactic. If the Cerberus leadership knew of our presence, they failed to mass their forces against us.

  Possibly they were
too busy playing with the station’s PA system.

  “Attention all students. Cerberus forces have taken control of this station. We have no desire to hurt you. Surrender and you will not be harmed.”

  Shepard smashed a team of two Cerberus troopers, rescuing a young male human who had erected a formidable biotic barrier.

  “Resist us, and we cannot guarantee your safety.”

  We heard a small sound and discovered a young woman in hiding, already suffering from a minor gunshot wound. I rushed forward to apply medi-gel and first aid, enough to permit her to get to Sanders under her own power.

  “We understand that you’re scared. Your teachers have filled your heads with Alliance propaganda. But Cerberus can keep you safe. We’re the only ones who can.”

  A girl fled madly, shot down from behind. Shepard growled in rage, charging a whole Cerberus squad, fighting desperately in their midst while the rest of us supported him with gunfire and biotics. Once we had dealt with the Cerberus troops, I bent to examine their victim: thoroughly dead, a small entry wound in the back of her skull, most of her face gone.

  “The Alliance has failed you. Earth has fallen.”

  Another squad rushed around a corner and spotted us. “Armed hostiles!”

  Cerberus caught Shepard off-guard for a moment, so he chose to take cover, rebuilding his shields and barriers. This time we fought conventionally, taking the Cerberus troops down one at a time. Garrus got the chance to try his sniper rifle against the new Cerberus armor, finding that headshots still worked very effectively. EDI used misdirection, setting up holographic illusions to direct Cerberus fire away from the rest of us. I used telekinetic pulls to yank Cerberus troops out of cover. Shepard and James laid down a dense field of fire, killing anything exposed for more than a moment.

  “Alliance soldiers have boarded the station. They claim they want to help you, but all they’re doing is threatening your safety. Don’t risk getting caught in the crossfire. Surrender now.”

  Another corridor, and then we saw it: Orion Hall.

  Three Cerberus troopers stood in our way, working on a piece of equipment until they noticed our presence. They didn’t last long.

  “Shepard, look at this,” I said. “A computer, a network shunt, a portable generator, all plugged into the station comms.”

  “Stand back,” he ordered, and discharged his shotgun into the generator at point-blank range.

  “Is this thing working?” Sanders’s voice sounded over the PA system, replacing the unctuous voice of Cerberus. “Shepard, you’re a miracle worker. Students, if you can hear me, this is Kahlee Sanders. I am still alive, and help is coming! Commander Shepard and an Alliance team are here to rescue us. Stay safe. Get to me if you can, or send me a message if you need help. I’m in the security station near the room where we had Holly’s birthday party.”

  “Smart lady,” muttered Shepard, as we approached the final door to Orion Hall.

  The door opened. We heard gunfire. Shepard rushed forward, the rest of us a shaved second behind him.

  My heart leapt into my throat. Out in the middle of a great open space, several unarmed students stood out of cover, uncertainly giving ground. Cerberus forces, armored and armed to the teeth, converged on them. I expected at any moment to see several young humans cut down in cold blood.

  Then one of the human figures, a slender female, made a vicious control gesture. Blue-white force lashed out, blasting four Cerberus soldiers head-over-heels through the air.

  “Eat this!”

  Reddish-brown hair in a strip cut along the top of her head, a highly non-standard outfit consisting of a short vest and baggy leggings, tattoos on every square inch of exposed skin . . .

  “Jack!”

  The biotic turned. “Shepard?”

  Off to our left, another door into the hall slammed open. Through it hunched a massive mech, its Cerberus pilot scanning the room and picking out targets.

  One of the students stood out of place, far from any cover, in the mech’s direct field of fire.

  Jack’s reacted, as quickly as Shepard might have done. She sprinted, slid along the deck to interpose herself, then rose to her feet and ignited with biotic power. When the mech fired its main cannon, Jack’s diamond-hard barrier deflected the shot.

  The mech rose to its full height, confronting Jack, who stood her ground. Feral expression, corona blazing almost pure white, biotic power swirling around her hands, she looked ready to tear the mech apart.

  Shepard ran to support her. We followed, firing on the mech and the remaining Cerberus troops. The mech turned slightly to face us.

  That gave Jack the moment she needed to withdraw, covering her students as they ran for cover. “Everyone get down – this thing’s outta your league. Shepard, keep it off us!”

  Easier said than done.

  I had seen a number of reports about these new Atlas mechs, rolling out of some Cerberus factory and onto a dozen battlefields in just the past few days. They packed much more firepower than the YMIR models we had often faced during the war against the Collectors. With a human pilot they could also react far more intelligently.

  We scattered, using what little cover we could find. Shepard, Garrus, and James pelted the mech with gunfire, while EDI and I kept the remaining Cerberus soldiers busy. I tried to remember what I had seen about possible vulnerabilities in the Atlas design.

  “Shepard, the pilot’s canopy,” I transmitted over our team comms. “It’s not as well protected as the rest of the mechanism.”

  “Roger that. Garrus?”

  The turian adjusted something on his sniper rifle, crouched behind cover, lined up his shot, and fired.

  I saw a star-pattern suddenly appear on the mech’s canopy. It swung toward Garrus.

  Cool and controlled, every movement utterly precise, Garrus shifted no more than a degree or two and fired again.

  The canopy shattered. The pilot inside slumped lifeless. The mech rocked back on its “heels,” lowering its weapons and going silent. After that, the remaining Cerberus soldiers presented much less of a challenge.

  A peal of malicious laughter broke out as we gathered in the center of Orion Hall. Jack leaned out over a railing from a balcony high above. “Now that’s the kind of shit I remember. Kahlee said she was sending out an SOS. Didn’t think you would show up.”

  Shepard grinned up at Jack as he stowed his shotgun on its attachment point.

  “All right, amp check!” Jack barked, turning to the students behind her. “Prangley, those barriers were weak. Cerberus isn’t going to lie down out of pity, like that girl you took to prom.”

  Tired, frightened, the students still responded to Jack’s tirade. I saw a few of them smiling.

  “Is this the Jack you and I remember?” I murmured to Shepard.

  “Well, it sounds like her. I kind of like it.”

  “Grab juice and an energy bar, we move in five.” Then Jack vaulted over the railing, her biotics flaring as she reduced her mass and came to a perfect landing ten meters down, on the floor where we waited.

  She strode across the deck to meet Shepard, all coiled energy that erupted into a vicious right cross along his jaw as she reached him. More than twice her mass, wearing heavy armor, trained for combat, Shepard still staggered when that blow landed.

  “God damn it, Shepard! How many times did I tell you not to trust Cerberus?”

  He stood tall again, massaging his jaw carefully to test for loose teeth. “Heard, understood, and acknowledged, Jack. Although even I didn’t think the Illusive Man would go rogue quite this bad.”

  “Live through Teltin for ten fucking years,” Jack spat, “and then tell me just how rogue Cerberus can go.”

  Shepard only nodded.

  “I see you still have some anger-management issues,” I greeted her.

  “Oh, I manage my anger just fine. Mostly by beating the shit out of any Cerberus bastards who get in my way.” Jack gave me a wicked grin. “So, Blue, you still f
ucking the King of the Boy Scouts here?”

  James made a strangled noise. I felt the blood rush to my face, but managed to hold my ground. “Every chance I get, Jack.”

  “Good.” She shook her head. “All right, I’m still pissed off at you, Shepard, but we can hash that out later. Right now all I care about is getting my kids out of here.”

  “Your kids?” Shepard asked gently.

  She chuckled and glanced up over her shoulder, to where a dozen or so young humans kept busy, refreshing themselves and seeing to minor wounds. “Yeah. I guess so.”

  “I can’t think of anybody who could care about them more.”

  “Yeah, well, I had some free time while you were off playing hero. Not to mention the Alliance had a charge sheet on me a mile long. Since you were nice enough to get me amnesty as part of your deal, that wasn’t such a big problem, but I still needed something legit to do. They offered me this.” Her voice rose so the students could hear. “And apparently the students respond well to my teaching style!”

  “The Psychotic Biotic!” shouted Prangley.

  “I will destroy you!” screeched a young woman, imitating Jack’s combat bark with uncanny accuracy.

  “Drink your juice, Rodriguez. Right now you couldn’t destroy wet tissue paper.”

  Our radio comms crackled. “Cortez to extraction team. That Cerberus cruiser is coming back. Two minutes, tops, then there’s no way we’ll get past them.”

  Shepard thought for a moment, glancing up at the students we were there to rescue. “Get out of here and back to Normandy. We’ll find another way off this station.”

  “Roger that. Good luck, Commander.”

  * * *

  With help from Kahlee Sanders, we planned an attack through the main mass of Cerberus troops, hoping to reach the invaders’ own shuttles and evacuate that way.

  Unfortunately, our path took us straight through the station’s atrium: open space, limited cover, and plenty of avenues for an enemy to come up on our flanks. Cerberus outnumbered us roughly six to one. Not to mention that they had a number of combat engineers available, placing savagely powerful automated turrets to channel our attack and make us pay for even a moment’s exposure.