[Book Three] Chapter 19: Aftermarth

Chapter 19: Aftermarth

The krogans were free.

Free from the genophage, free to have a real future and free to join the fight at the side of the Turians and Humans. Mordin had easily bypassed the contingency put in place to stop anyone from using the shroud to cure the krogan and released perhaps his greatest accomplishment into the atmosphere ensuring his legacy as apparently Wrex wanted to name the first krogan female born genophage free after him. Something that the Salarian took in stride and didn’t object seeing it as it was, a backhanded compliment and thank you. The doctor was glad to have made good friends with some people, in the name of Jane Shepard. She had gone with him up the Shroud despite the fact that the entire building was about to blow up. Without a life saving barrier from her he would have died in an explosion a few moments after dispersing the cure. If the explosion wouldn’t have killed him outright and just mangled his body, the several hundred feets free fall after being flung through the window bay would have done the job. But Jane Shepard was here and never left anyone behind. Not if she had a say in it. When they survived the explosion, she simply grabbed Mordin and jumped through the window, using her biotics to control their weight. The landing was not as nice as Rick’s and certainly not as graceful as Samara could do but they survived with a few bruises. They look worse for wear but they survived.

“That’s one hell of a start from the krogans and their future. This story will last for millenia so will the songs about it.”
“Don’t forget the statue.”

Everyone looked down in the direction of the voice. Its owner was sitting against a small wall to the side, motionless. The only indication that Rick wasn’t still sleeping was that they heard his voice.

“What statue?” asked Wrex.
“Mine, duh.”
“And why would you have one?”
“I rode Kalros and literally punched a reaper in the face. Some of your warriors got one for doing less.”
“Uh-huh.” the clan Urdnot leader answered flatly.
“That will inspire a generation of little krogans. The greatest story of all time. You can’t touch this Wrex!”
“Oh yeah?”

As soon as he spoke, Wrex used his foot to push Rick from his position onto the ground, laying him on his back.

“Tsk! You’re just jealous, you didn’t get to ride Kalros.”
“I’m not.”
“You are! You’re totally jelly!”
“I’m not!”

Before the two friends could start a childish fight, Jane grabbed Rick’s legs with one hand each from behind.

“Yeah, we’re going before they start throwing food at each other and saying who has the better toys.”
““I DO!!””
“Have you seen my sword?! Pinnacle of technology!” Rick bragged but was ignored.
“Mordin, If you want to join the crew you’re welcome, if not, the crucible project could use your talents.”
“Crucible project more interesting. Work in lab, risk of death minimal. Thank you, Shepard.”

Jane also said her goodbye to Wrex and Eve who shared her real name; Urdnot Bakara, as a sign of friendship. Dragging Rick behind her she had an evil smile on her face, puzzling Liara and Garrus. They understood immediately why when they reached the stairs and Rick’s head hit every single step.

“OW! You bitch! You’re doing it on purpose!”
“Well, yeah. Consider it punishment for your stupidity.”
“Punish… Garrus, Liara, help please!”
“Do you hear that, Liara?” the turian asked his asari teammate.
“Hear what? The sweet melody of payback?”
“Yes, yes. It’s quite sweet indeed.”
“WORST FRIENDS EVER!”
“It will be even sweeter when Ash hears of what he did.” Jane added to his misery.
“You wouldn’t dare!” Rick replied after gasping in shock.
“Watch. Me.”

As most of the team laughed at Rick’s expense as they left the Hollows, Eve was watching from behind.

“You really made good friends, Wrex.”
“Nah. They’re not good.” the krogan replied, also watching. “They’re the best.” he added with a smirk on his lips.

____________________________________________________________

When the team came back on the Normandy, courtesy of Steve, everyone disembarked except Rick who was left on the shuttle. Jane met a very furious Ashley just as she exited the vehicle.

“Skipper, mind if I have a word with my lover?”
“Can it wait? I need to have a few words with him in private.”
“Oh, I know and no it can’t wait, not after the shit he pulled out there.”
“How do you know?” Jane inquired, shocked.
“We were all huddled up in Aller’s room watching what was happening live.”
“Oh! Well, go ahead. He can’t move anyway, so take your time, just leave enough of him so I can have my turn.”
“Don’t worry, there will be plenty of him left. He’s lucky Tali isn’t here.”
“That he is.”

Without saying anything more, Ashley went into the shuttle.

“Hey, Bombshell. Mind helping me, please?”

The incensed woman didn’t answer back and simply shut the shuttle’s door behind her. Praying for her brother, even if what was going to happen to him was well deserved, Jane made her way to the locker to drop her weapons and went to the elevator where Garrus and Liara had been waiting for her. She made a stop one deck above and went to see Diana.

“Diana, is everything ready?”
“Commander!” exclaimed the reporter as Jane had clearly surprised her.
“Yes, almost. I had to adjust the text a bit with the footage. God, I think I nearly died of a heart attack multiple times watching your team fight. I understand now why you’re not leaving Rick to his own devices on the field.”
“Welcome to the club.”
“Aaaand okay. I’m good. Here’s the edited footage and here is the text that was with it. EDI did remarkably.” she said as she finished typing on her keyboard.

Diana left her chair so Jane could sit in her stead to watch what was done. The video wasn’t long but the images were impactful. From Eve’s rallyment of the krogans to their fights against the multiple reapers troops and the apparition of Kalros. The emphasis was put on the fight against the reaper where one camera had followed Jane while another stayed with Rick and Garrus. Watchers could see the fight from two different angles which was good and give a different perspective of what a fight against a reaper was all about. Rick’s stupid stunt and the death of the old machine was there too, something that would more than raise but actually boost the morale of every soldier out there fighting. The footage culminated with the release of the cure, a touch of hope from everyone and ended with Wrex's promise of the alliance with Humans and Turians against the reapers. Jane noted that the part about the underground ruins was completely omitted, and she understood why. Rick had a moment of weakness and it wasn’t something they could show on TV when they wanted to raise morale, gather support and deal with Linron.

“That’s excellent, Diana. You can forward that to Admiral Hackett for approval, he’ll do the rest.” Jane said as she stood up.
“Thank you. Now the only thing left is the interview.”
“Interview?”
“Yes, interview. Of you. It would help a lot for the people to hear your opinion on things.”
“That’s… It never really did before.”
“Oh, please, Al-Jilani is a journalist in name only. The only thing she’s after is scandals.”
“That’s… I suppose it’s true. I met Emily Wong on the citadel three years ago and she seemed more professional. I guess, one interview won't hurt.”
“It won’t, I promise.”

It didn’t last long, half an hour at best. Surprisingly the interview wasn’t just about the cure of the genophage but also about questions from watchers. Diana had made a selection of a few from hundreds of thousands. Some were stupid, some were not; some were tricky and some were not. In the end it’s an exhausted Jane that went to the com center to make her report to Hackett.

____________________________________________________________

“He punched a reaper.”
“He did.”
“An actual, 160 meters tall, reaper.”
“Yes”
“In the face.”
“Right in it, sir.”
“So hard that it threw the reaper’s aim off a bit.”
“I know. I was there, Admiral.”
“Commander, do you even know how the crew of my ship reacted when they saw that?”
“Hmm… No?” she replied a bit puzzled.
“Every single one of them stopped working to jump in the air, fist raised yelling in joy. Some embraced each other and patted themselves on the back as if we’ve already won the war.”
“Really?!”
“Yes, commander. And despite the monumental boost in morale it gave everyone, that was reckless of him.”
“I know.” Jane replied with a sigh. “As we speak, he’s getting chewed by LC Williams. As soon as she’s done it will be by me.”
“Good because I don’t want to see something like that again. Next time he may not survive and we can’t have that.”
“I know, Admiral. To be honest the odds of happening again are rather low. I believe the only reason he acted like he did was because of…”
“That moment in the underground ruins.”
“How do you… That wasn’t in the footage.”
“No, it wasn’t but EDI was nice enough to send me a live feed on my personal terminal, or rather a few minutes delay of a live feed with the distance separating us. Honestly when I saw that, I wasn’t entirely sure of the success of the mission. I’m glad you proved me wrong.”
“I did what I had to do.”
“Were you aware of…”
“His phobias? Not all of them, I only learned about him being claustrophobic a few days before I recruited the rachnis. He told me when he said he wasn’t going on the mission.”
“Does he have more than could endanger what you’re doing?”
“Not that I know of but I’ll ask him to be sure.”
“Good. On another note, I approved Miss Allers’ work. You can tell her it's excellent and that it has been forwarded to the Alliance News Network but also any prominent news outlet of every space faring species. Dalatrass Linron will soon be replaced by Dalatrass Kirosa who promised the full Salarian military and help.”
“Let’s hope she keeps her word.”
“She will, there are only detriments in not keeping it.”
“Speaking of Salarian, I gave an invitation to Dr. Mordin Solus to join project crucible and he accepted. I think he will stay on Tuchanka for a few days to check on the situation but he’ll be free to work afterwards.”
“We’ll contact him shortly, his talents and skills would be invaluable. Do you have anything else to report?”
“No. I do have questions on how we’re doing but otherwise no, sir.”
“The situation has not changed much since Wald asked me the same question. Anderson and the resistance are holding up on Earth better with the new shields. As for the colonies… Some are lost, some are not.”
“I see.”
“We knew it would - Yes?”

Jane looked at Hackett confused but quickly understood that someone was talking to him. It must have been rather important for him to be interrupted.

“Commander, one of my engineers wants to know what was that weapon that Wald used on Tuchanka and if it could be replicated in high numbers. The omni-blade is a god send but his… sword seemed more effective.”
“The only thing I know is that it cuts things and that the blade is very hot… I also know that it’s expensive to make but what it is exactly and how it works… I have no clue. I’ll ask him along everything else.”
“Thank you.” he replied before he raised his hand to take something out of the hologram only to come back with a datapad. “That is good news.”
“Sir?”
“I just got the result of the GR-canon. It didn’t outright kill a reaper but it seriously managed to damage a small one. It took multiple shots to bring it down but it did the job.”
“That’s great!”
“Yes, we finally have an appropriate weapon to fight back. The only drawback is the time needed to produce and install the canon on ships but with the Salarian coming into the fray I believe it would take less time.”

With nothing more to talk about Hackett ended the transmission allowing Jane to finally rest and relax after a very hard day. She still had an ass whooping to do but it will have to wait, right now she just wanted to cuddle up with her brother. Seeing him fall had troubled her greatly and she didn’t really have much time to check if he was really alive and not just lost her mind forcing her to get stuck in it and hallucinating her current situation. Asking EDI, Rick’s location, she was surprised to hear that he was in his quarters, wondering if Ashley didn’t go easy on him. She couldn’t blame her, Rick too had a hard day, more than her actually. His breakdown in the ruins, the constant use of his biotics… He couldn’t even move. How he was still awake was still a mystery to her and she wondered if it was him or because he was a biotic.
She went first to the Crew Deck to make something to eat. A simple vegetable soup from the leftovers of someone’s cooking. That was not nearly enough to replenish his stamina or hers but was better than nothing. Drinking her own bowl she made one for Rick and went up to his quarters. She almost laughed when she saw how his body was positioned on the bed. Head down, ass up while still wearing his clothes and coat.

‘I guess that’s Ashley’s way of paying him back for scaring her. I bet she didn’t miss the opportunity for a good spanking’  she mentally giggled.

Putting down the bowl of soup she was holding on the nightstand, she went to her brother and changed his position to a more acceptable one. With effort she began to remove his coat then the rest of his clothes. The pants had been a nightmare so she didn’t even bother with his underwear. She then undressed herself then laid on the bed spooning him. After a while and to her surprise he spoke.

“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” was her simple reply which she punctuated with a kiss at the nape of his neck and felt him shudder.
“I’m surprised you’re not taking advantage. More than that I mean.”
“I told you back then, when you went stupid playing with your biotics, that taking advantage like that was not my style. Anyway, I made some soup, interested?”
“I can’t move, muscles aching all over.”
“Well… I can spoonfee…”
“NO. I’ve been humiliated enough today, thank you.” he opposed with a hard tone.
“It’s not less than what you did when I was in that state.”
“And you cracked my helmet despite it.”
“I won’t think less of you for it, you know.” Jane said changin tactics.
“I don’t care, I would.”
“Now you’re just being a big stubborn baby. There is only you and me and I remember a time when…”
“Alright! You win! Get to it already!”
“You know, for all the genius that you are, you still don’t know that you don’t mess with older siblings and that they are always right.” she chuckled with her chin resting in the crook of his neck.
“I’m going to develop laser eyes, just so I can burn you to a crisp when I can’t move.”
“As long as they have the same color.”

She let him go and moved his body so his back could lean against the wall. Picking up the bowl, she took a spoon of soup and brought it to his lips. He hesitated for a moment before opening his mouth and gulping down the warm liquid.

“How is it?”
“It’d be better with a bit of salt but it’s alright.”
“I guess I’m not such a disaster in the kitchen then.”
“You made this?” he asked in surprise.
“Hmm. Don’t ask me to do anything else though, that’s the only thing I can do properly. Other than the basics, I mean.”

He didn’t say anything to that and Jane just kept on feeding him until the bowl was empty. She put it back on the nightstand and laid Rick’s head on her lap, her fingers gently caressing his scalp through his hair.

“Are you alright?”
“I gather you’re not referring to my body’s condition.”
“No. Though, partly. I mean, I thought your heart would burst when I was carrying you. I can still feel it beat on my back.” she whispered the last part.
“Hopefully I’ll never be in this situation again.”
“Hackett is worried.” she said before explaining at his puzzled expression. “Just like Diana and the rest of the team he was watching live. He wants to know if you have other phobias that could be problematic during a mission.”
“Not that I know of. I mean fears? Yes. Fear of spiders, things like that. Phobias? I don’t think so.”
“Okay.”
“...”
“...”
“The one I don’t understand is… the fear of being trapped. You can take elevators, you can stay in a ship in space, which is like being in a submarine but down there you couldn’t. How so?”
“An elevator I can escape. A ship? Well… It’s a big ship. I don’t really feel restricted. A submarine will pose a problem for sure as everything is cramped inside but a ship is fine. Down there… It was a cumulation. Despite our lights, we couldn’t see much. The room may have been spacious but debris was all over the place and we couldn’t move properly. Usually it’s either one or two at the same time but there… It was all of them. When everything began to shake I… For me that was it. We were buried alive with no way to get out. It’s actually the worst of the three. The dark I can deal with easily. Claustrophobia? It’s all about the place I’m in so I just have to not be in tight places and can fight through it moderately. Cleithrophobia is the worst. It’s about a situation. You can’t control that. I can’t do anything about it. I may stand in the middle of a gigantic park and still feel trapped.”
“Is that… Is that why you jumped off the balcony when mom…”
“Yes… Don’t misunderstand, I was absolutely livid but between you being constantly on my back watching my every move and her… Especially since she was blocking the only real exit…”
“I see.”
“...”
“Hackett’s engineers want to know more about your sword, notably if it can be mass produced.”
“It can’t as far as I know. Inside the hilt is an eezo crystal. I only managed to get two and one was thanks to Kasumi who stumbled upon it during her work.”
“An eezo crystal?”
“It’s… just like the name says, a crystal, created by a certain amount of eezo under very high pressure. Normally eezo is like… gold or silver, you find some amount into rock but it’s spread and not… well, not compacted in one place. It might be possible to artificially create one but honestly that’s beyond dangerous. I gather the process is the same as creating a diamond from carbon but carbon does not have the volatile property of eezo.  It could take years to properly succeed and it would still be dangerous and still expensive. The point is moot by the way, using a lightsaber requires some sword training beforehand. I only managed it because with my charge I took my enemies by surprise and did simple movements that I studied. Most of the soldiers that would use one would simply cut one of their limbs. That’s why despite how efficient it is in close quarters I’m sticking to my shotgun. And it’s not all powerful; either a strong shield or barrier could stop it long enough to get hit back. It’s only really useful against armor since it’s practically a plasma beam.”
“They will be disappointed.” she chuckled and changed the subject slightly. “They tested the GR-Canon. It was effective against a reaper the size of the one on Tuchanka. A few hits to take it down.”
“That’s… not good news.” he replied with a frown.
“It isn’t?!”
“No. A well placed hit would have been enough for a dreadnought to take a small reaper down. That means the new distance was not enough. Either because they didn’t put it on a dreadnought or because the spring wasn’t as long as necessary.”
“I’ll share that tidbit of information, if the canon can actually do better we can’t pass it up.”
“...”
“...”
“You scared me, you know? When you fell off the hammer. I thought I lost you again.”
“...”
“Then Liara pointed you to me. On the back of Kalros ready to take on the reaper. I thought ‘No, he can’t be that stupid.’... turned out you were.”
“Chewing time again, I see.”
“No, that comes tomorrow. Now it’s just… Seeing you fall nearly gave me a heart attack and you jumping on that asshole did the same. Can you not do stupid things like that? For my health.”
“I make no promises but I’ll… I’ll try my best.”
“...”
“...”
“I guess it’s good enough.” she accepted in defeat. “Who’s sleeping with you tonight?”
“Not Ashley, that’s for sure. Not Liara either; I’m a bit miffed that she didn’t help me. Besides, it's not like I can move to her cabin. So it’s only EDI. it’s almost as much her bedroom as mine.”
“Maybe I should stay. That way you’d be in tits heaven.” Jane jested.
“You know, I don’t get why you’re so fixated on putting my head in your cleavage.”
“Because you love them?”

Her answer was bewildered like a ‘duh that’s why’.

“Not particularly.”
“Oh, really? Yet you don’t hesitate to bury yourself in them.”
“They feel nice so I won’t complain but I’m an ass man at the core.”
“Really?!” she asked in shock.
“Hmmm. I mean… Tali, Miranda, Ashley and while Liara’s breasts are her best physical feature her ass is great too. Can’t believe you never notice. Heck, EDI's driving me mad half the time.”
“Now that you say it… What about mine?”
“No comment on that.”
“Oh no, Mister. None of that.”
“Ugh… I fucked it didn’t I? Here’s your answer.” he replied, making Jane beam a smile.
“Should I turn around and let your head rest on it?” she inquired with a smirk.
“You’re insufferable, Fire crotch.”
“Anything to get you back.” she replied with a soft laugh.