averyillusiveman replied to your post: -

I demand drinks now.

((You aren’t even on board YOU HAVE NO SAY ABOUT WHAT HAPPENS ON THE NORMANDY ANYMORE OK

no but seriously, I’ve gotten a couple of messages about this and the people who stayed behind during the mission aren’t caught up yet - it’s partially my fault for apparently not making it clear that the post I wrote a short while ago was the discussed timeskip. I assumed everyone would get that by putting the ground teams back on the ship and having a debrief with the crew, we’d jumped closer to Noveria but apparently not~~ lots of people seem to be relatively inactive atm though, so I’m certain there is time for Tali, Thane and the others to get caught up to our timeline/one of them to write another timeskip post that puts us all together again~))

-

Once the creature had been dealt with - a creature which had further manifested the commander’s belief that the Reapers were cowardly in all their might and intelligence once you stood up to them - Shepard, Garrus and Miranda moved onwards, searching for any sign of life but finding nothing except husks of various kinds, all of which eventually fell before them. As they were fighting, Shepard was a force of nature, the eye of a storm, controlled chaos with a regulation-approved hairstyle and a fiery but serious vibrant green gaze. The fight was less about her, less about the millions in the galaxy and far more about the lives that had been taken, the corpses that were lying in the streets.She felt furious, of course, but as they progressed she also felt… detached.

Eventually they came upon the burned-out ruins of the Dah’tan Manufacturing Company. The smell of Reapers clung to every wall - that inexplainable scent of space itself, of corroded ancient metal. It was already too late. Even if anyone had managed to get out here, they hadn’t survived.

If Shepard had known that she was standing in the very spot that Saren Arterius once had occupied, surveying the then still smoking building the same way she was now peering through the rain, she might have felt differently. As it was, all she experienced was a sense of fatigue, the dull feeling of hopelessness and a faint vibration in her teeth.

Once she acknowledged that vibrating teeth wasn’t exactly a common occurence, which she did within about half a second, she also noticed that some of the pebbles before her seemed to glide very, very slowly across the ground and knew that it wasn’t an earthquake.

She opened a comm channel to everyone groundside, knowing that EDI would instantly pick it up and relay it to Joker and the rest of the ship. “Reaper inbound! Get the Hammerhead the hell out of here!” she shouted, simultaneously gesturing to Garrus and Miranda to follow her as she started running toward a shuttle pad. “EDI, lock onto my signal and send the Kodiak here now. We have to abandon the mission.”

Hating the words as she spoke them, Shepard threw herself down behind cover - the remains of a door propped up against some rubble - and saw the desert open as the Reaper tore through the ground, rising above her. It made her stomach churn, caused her to grit her teeth and almost subconsciously flare, as if her biotics could do anything against the thing before her. All she could do was charge to the shuttle, once it arrived, so forecully that it seemed like the distance was a personal insult and be prepared to lay down cover fire for the other two if it was needed as they ran after her.

Impossibly, miraculously, the Kodiak and the Hammerhead both managed to avoid the Reaper’s blasts, managed to get out of atmo almost unscathed and get back onto the Normandy as Shepard shouted at Joker to get to the mass relay, knowing the other ships would follow, and finally allowed her heart to pump more blood than adrenaline when she went through the decontamination procedures.

The feeling of failure still clung to her mind. She didn’t particularly want to face anyone, least of all herself, but once she’d gotten out of her armour she still held a debrief, telling the squad what they’d found (whish certainly wasn’t a lot save for husks and corpses) and assuring them that the rest of the galaxy, particularly any remaining batarians in other systems, would know what had happened on Camala. The air in the comm room felt heavy, and it was without mirth that Shepard reminded them that it was still her birthday, so shouldn’t they have a drink together before they arrived at Noveria?

((okay so people seem to approve of a timeskip - I have a couple of feels to squeeze in on Camala, and while I want to get to the Citadel for Anderson’s party as much as the next person there are ~things~ on Noveria as well, like getting a certain vehicle and pass by a certain assassin and hang out with a certain flawless salarian. Weren’t we supposed to take a birthday drink once we get back to the ship after this as well? I could type up a post that takes us there, and then Port Hanshan should just be a handful of posts away~ and then it’s party time! But, uhm, would people be allright with me pushing forward? In the meantime maybe the people who are supposed to find bugs can do that and we can work something out from there with a short debriefing?))

salvationthroughdestruction:

Suddenly, a sound of rushing air comes from behind the squad, the sound of something large moving faster than seems reasonable. 

Then the chittering sounds begin echoing from multiple locations.

Shepard swore under her breath, her grip on the assault rifle tightening, as not even Garrus’ specialised visor detected whatever was moving around them.

“I doubt it’s something friendly”, she said in a low voice, piercing gaze taking in their surroundings as she flared, glowing with the obvious blue of a charged biotic. “Let’s keep moving. I have no intention of waiting around for a surprise attack. If whatever that was wants to engage I’ll have a shockwave ready for it. Garrus, keep checking for lifesigns of any kind - even if we just get an extra second to react it’ll be better than nothing.” 

She looked at the two with her, her second and third in command, two people she’d trust with her life in a heartbeat. Maybe not all her hidden weaknesses and doubts - no one was allowed quite that close, not even Liara despite all the thoughts and feelings shared through the mind meld - but her life? Definitely. 

A quick smile darted across her face, like a lizard slipping away under a rock, as she caught their eyes before she started walking down the street again.

(Source: cerberuscheerleader)

garrus-vakarian:

When Shepard had finished, and they began boarding the shuttle, he stood back, letting Miranda get on first and looked back to his CO, about to ask if everything was okay… then decided against it.

She didn’t need to know that he was worried about her. At least not until after they’d finished on Camala.

It was raining over Hatre that day. Heavy drops hammered on the Kodiak as it went into atmo, tearing a hole that soon closed again in the dark, fast-moving clouds. Shepard looked out the shuttle window onto the vast, empty desert and briefly thought that it’d been ages since she’d heard a sound as mundane as rain against glass. Last time had been on Aratoht, when she’d attempted to free Amanda Kenson as a favour to Hackett…

She pushed the thought away, storing it in the part of her mind that frequently got filled with similar thoughts of guilt and failure to deal with it at a later date. There were quite a few of them by now. There would, unquestionably, come a time where she’d have to start dealing with all these things before she broke. Then again, maybe forcing herself to go through all those troubling thoughts would be the breaking point. Who knew.

As the shuttle touched down, Shepard got to her feet and pushed the hatch open. The rain smelled ancient and new, like rock and sky, river and desert. When it had passed, the otherwise inhospitable surroundings would flourish with plantlife and nature would go on despite the horrors that had been going on, might still go on. The silhouettes of buildings torn apart were visible against the clouds. Was there anyone still alive in the city? She wasn’t sure if she wanted there to be. Anyone who survived something like this would be scarred, probably for life, after seeing giant metallic monsters fill the air and killing everyone they came across.

“They hit this place hard”, Shepard said, the corners of her mouth turning down in a grim expression as her gaze landed on a batarian female who looked like she’d been on her way to or from a standard-sized house. She’d had a heartbeat and blood and breath, and they’d just left her there like trash. It was disgusting. Moving forward, the commander bent down and pulled the dead batarian’s eyelids carefully open, allowing the unseeing dark eyes to look into the sky. “Batarians believe the soul leaves the body through the eyes”, she said, not looking back at Garrus or Miranda. “If there’s an afterlife, I hope she gets there. No one deserves to die like this.”

With that, she pulled the Mattock from its place on her back and moved down the street, resolute and prepared to face just about anything.

(Source: cerberuscheerleader)

cerberuscheerleader:

Miranda offered a tiny nod towards the mass, acknowledging their presence. The Hammerhead group looked solid, even if a crazy woman was apart of their team. 

She cleared her throat, regaining her professionalism. Or whatever facade she could put on for whoever. “Ready when everyone else is.”

Shepard nodded curtly, fingers busying themselves with her omni-tool as soon as Miranda was close.

“Here’s the plan. We’ll land on the outskirts of Hatre, because it’s more likely that we find survivors there than in Ujon. EDI’s found a large number of heat signatures but we don’t know if those are from people, running equipment or fires. Hammerhead team, you’ll be on the streets inside the city. Take note of the damage, where the Reapers hit hardest, anything that helps us finding out how they operate when attacking a colony. My team will take the shuttle here” - she pointed to a southern suburb, not quite as densely populated as the rest of the city - “and circle around the outskirts, moving to this area while looking for survivors. There’s an old facility there, bombed out, been abandoned for years. It’s one of the last buildings before the desert. People might have moved out there, hoping to avoid the attack. From the Prothean ruins we’ve seen it looks like the Reapers focus on heavily populated areas. Assume hostiles and check your targets. Move out.”

memorystealer:

“Absolutely, Shepard,” the thief replied just as Jack sauntered over. Her eyebrow raised at Jack’s words. “I think the cannon would be perfect for you, should we run into trouble.” She gave her own mischievous smile to the biotic before turning to Kaidan. Kasumi bowed her head slightly at him out of respect, “I could use your skills as my co-pilot. The Hammerhead should be easy enough to learn how to maneuver on the job and I need your good eyes in case I miss something. Which is unlikely but you have more experience with the Reapers than I do.”

Shepard barely raised an eyebrow at Jack’s bravado, unamused. She wasn’t fond of the fact that Kasumi apparently hadn’t been certain who would accompany her, but thought it likely that her own annoyance was the cause of her previous dreams, the loss of a man while he was supposedly at her disposal and the prospect of possibly finding nothing but husks and corpses.

“Well”, she said, looking the small group of people over, “if only my XO would show up I can go over the plan and we can move out.”

kaidanalenko:

He geared up slowly, taking his time with the ablative plating, making sure that everything was securely fastened and locked into place, before making his way down to the cargo hold, his face a grim mask. Nothing about this mission appealed to him, although the prospect of seeing the Hammerhead in action was enough to brighten his spirits enough that by the time the elevator had opened up on the cargo bay, his face wore a neutral expression. He spotted Kasumi, Garrus and Shepard at the far end of the hold and made his way over in time to hear the last snippet of their conversation.

“I think that I’ll be joining you in the Hammerhead, Kasumi.”

Shepard, still with her hands on her back and heels together, nodded in acknowledgement as each member of her squad arrived. 

“As the senior member of this team, you’re in charge of your group as soon as you get into the vehicle, Kasumi”, she said, eyes focused on a point far away. “I expect you to be able to command enough authority to have a second squad member prepared and ready for action within three minutes.”

She knew there was a hard edge to her voice, and also knew that they couldn’t waste time on waiting for whoever decided to show up. If Legion hadn’t been explicitly told to join the ground team it was doubtful that the geth would take a chance, possibly having calculated that it was likely someone else had been asked instead. Then again, who knew with a geth? Shepard was far from understanding it. Them. Whatever.

(Source: memorystealer)