Chapter 07: Back to hell

Shit

That was the only thought that came to her mind after Hackett bailed out.

It had to be Eden Prime. Not one of the hundred other human colonies in the galaxy. No, this one.

Jane didn’t know how to announce that to her brother and Ashley. The latter lost her best friend and her whole company and the former everything. The brunette would shoulder it on, she had no doubt about that but she was really worried about Rick.

Would he compartmentalize that too?

She didn’t know. During the chase against Saren he did most of the time except when he was dealing with her. Something that was still true during their campaign against the Collectors and still true to this day. Especially to this day.

Thinking back on the days spent chasing the rogue spectre, she avoided the trap of ‘What ifs’ and instead focused on their meeting on the colony. Not in a million years she would have thought that the cold and collected helmeted man that destroyed geths left and right as if it was a game would have been her kind and naive brother.

No wonder he had stared at me. What were the odds to meet his sister after more than a decade when you can travel the whole galaxy? Low would be an understatement. And to think I hated his guts and wanted to shoot him.

Her mind wandered to his wife, her sister-in-law, that she knew almost nothing about, except some description that Ashley made of her. The big question was what kind of woman was she to fall in love with the awful man she, herself had met? Right there and then, Jane decided to know more about the family she never knew she had and went to see Ash in the star observing room. Unfortunately for her she didn’t find her there and instead of searching for her all over the ship asked EDI to call her to her cabin. It was a spur of the moment decision but the right one as the conversation they will have may be better done in private.

“I’m here, Skipper. What do you want to talk about?” Ashley said as she entered Jane's quarters in a cheerful tone
“We got a new mission from Hackett. Stop Cerberus to get their hands and a major prothean artifact on Eden Prime.”

The commander went straight to the point, no beating around the bush, thinking it would be the best way to deal with it.

“Oh.” replied the brunette, her cheerful tone gone.
“I know that you can handle going back there but if you want to stay on the ship that’s alright with me. I won’t think less of you.”
“I… Do what you think is best. Does Rick know?”
“Not yet. I wanted to talk to you first. To see if you could tell me how he will react to the news. I don’t want to… worsen the relationship we have further by saying the wrong thing or saying it the wrong way.”
“Just tell him like you did me. Professional, hard facts. He’d… just nod or give you a one word answer. You should not bring him with you on the team though. I don’t think that would be a good idea.”
“That’s what I thought.”
“Anything else?”
“No. Not work related at least. But personally I would like to ask you for a favor.”
“Shoot, what do you need?”
“I realized that I had a sister-in-law, family that I didn’t know about and I want to know more about her. I can’t ask Rick for obvious reasons so it’s just…”
“Me.”

Taking a deep breath Ashley went to sit on the couch, joining Shepard.

“It would be easier and faster if you tell me what you know about Analysse.”
“That she was very tall, not as tall as him but above 6 feet. Black raven hair and blue eyes since Miranda said she made him think of her…”
“Miranda?”
“The… former Cerberus agent that brought me back, you met her on Horizon.”

Ashley tried to remember for a moment, when the memory hit her.

“Oh! Her? Well… Besides what you listed they looked nothing alike. Analysse had way more curves and… it doesn’t really matter. Anything else?”
“She was out going and didn’t care about appearance and that’s it.”
“Then let’s rectify that because she was so much more.”


____________________________________________________________


“Satisfied with your body performance for its first outing, EDI?” Rick asked as he was working on a new idea he had.
“Yes. It worked perfectly, the effect of incinerate and overload was way above the everage.”
“So, what did you think of your first fight?”
“It was a great source of data.”
“I meant: see with your own eyes and in proximity the horrors you will encounter a lot on the field..”
“I didn’t think anything of the Cerberus agents being killed.”
“Me neither, but that’s not what I’m asking you.”
“No, you’re asking what I felt which I cannot answer as I don’t have emotions.”
“True, but you have preferences which mean likes and dislikes.”
“I do.”
“Then?”
“I liked helping the female krogan, to give the possibility to a whole species to develop once again.”
“To gather more data?”
“Yes.”
“I see.”
“What is the purpose of your questions?”
“To see if you developed emotions. For example, disgust is a very extreme dislike and opposite to it, love is a very extreme like. If you can like and dislike because you have preferences then in theory you should be able to be disgusted and love. If you can do that why not other emotions? It’s at the same time a very small step and a very big one.”
“I understand but why the inquiry?”
“Why not?”
“Because the answer, whichever it is, will be useless to you.”
“That’s incorrect. It can bring me joy, satisfaction, contentment, happiness, sadness, indifference, and many more feelings. And more questions too.”
“How could, me, having emotions make you feel joy?”
“Because while you are alive, EDI, you do not live. I believe a life without emotions is not worth living. Sure, I do find them annoying, as I don't understand them most of the time but they allow people to go beyond, to do things that should be impossible or rather improbable. I want to see how far you will go and how you chose to live your life beyond the parameters that you were created with. It would be like… being happy for someone else because something good happened to them. I would be happy because if you had emotions, you would live.”
“I think I…”

She didn’t go further as the door to the room opened and Jane came inside.

“I need to talk to you.”
“That’s ominous.” he said before speaking to EDI. “We’ll continue that conversation later?”
“We didn’t even start.” said Jane with a frown.
“Yes, though I’d like to think about it more.”
“That’s alright, take as much time as you need but don’t use all your computing power to do it.”
“Computing…”
“ I won’t, I’ll just use the power allocated to the critical systems, they don’t ask much.” the AI replied, making Rick laugh and confused Jane even more.
“Who are you talking to?” she finally asked her brother in realization.
“I was talking to EDI. She speaks directly to me through my helmet.” he replied while typing away on his terminal without looking at her.
“I see.”
“What do you want?” he asked, still focused on his terminal’s screen.
“We have a new mission.”
“What is it about?”
“Taking an important prothean artifact from Cerberus.”
“I gather you want a report on everything on the location?”
“No, I don’t need one as the location is well known.”
“Where…”
“It’s Eden Prime.” she finally let out.

Rick stopped his typing for a moment at the name of his former home where he lost everything then typed back up as if nothing ever happened.

“ Okay.”
“You will not be part of the ground team.”
“...Understood.”

No more words were exchanged allowing a silence to fall in. Jane looked with apprehension and worry at his straight back. Taking a few steps forwards she tentatively put a hand on his shoulders.

“Are you going to be alright?”
“I have important work to do, gingerbread, so if you’re done with your information dumping I’d like to get back to it.” he replied, removing her hand.


She wanted to protest but abstained as she knew it wasn’t the right thing to do at the moment.

“See you at dinner in one hour?”
“Mm-mm.” was his only answer.

Giving him one last look she turned around and exited the room.


____________________________________________________________

The next five days had been weird for Jane, regarding her brother. He was there but at the same time he was not. As if he was going with the motions. He was present in the Cargo Bay at five AM, teached and trained her until 8, then either went back to his quarters or went back down to train. He didn’t interact with anyone outside meal time. Neither Liara or Ashley approached him, giving him some space. Even EDI stayed away.

When they arrived  on orbit of the planet, Jane did one last check with Ashley who she decided would stay here, along with James.

“Skipper, I don’t…”
“I know, Ash. I’m not taking you so you could be there for him and also a bit of him for you.”

The brunette nodded and wished her friend good luck before going up to the CIC then Rick’s room. She came behind him as he was sitting on his seat in front of his workstation and embraced him in silence.

“I never thought I would ever come back.” she said after a while.
“Me neither.”
“Part of me wants to go down there with the team and go see them.”
“I… don’t.”

His answer was understandable but it surprised her a bit.

“You don’t?”
“No. I… don’t think I… would be able to come back if I did.”

She was puzzled for a moment, not sure of what he meant then let it go as it wasn’t really the time for questions. Instead she just kissed gently the back of his neck indicating that she was here for him when he straightened up suddenly.

“What’s wrong?”
“Cerberus is doing a clean up of the colony. Apparently the resistance has been too good for their taste.” he said as he stood up.
“How do you know that?”
“I hacked the colony’s communications, the colonists are being slaughtered.” he replied as he exited the room.

She followed him into the elevator which went down to the Cargo Bay. seeing go for his locker she spoke up.

“Please tell me you’re not thinking of doing what I think you’re doing.”
“I don’t give a shit about those retarded assholes, but there are children and it’s her home…” Rick answered as he began to put his armored clothes on.

Ashley sighed and began to gear up too when James came from his reserved area.

“What are you guys doing?”
“Preparing to go down there.” the blond replied, equipping a cooling system on his left side.
“Cerberus is currently wiping out the colony leaving no survivors.”
“Well, you’re not leaving the ship, not without me.” James announced as he opened his own locker and began to dress her for combat too.

Rick turned on his omni-tool and contacted Wrex.

“What?”
“We’re going down to kill some cerberus assholes, interested?”
“Yeah. I’m in. It would break the boredom.”
“We’re leaving in five minutes, don’t be late.”
“Be there in two.” the krogan replied and cut off the communication.
“With a krogan with us, they got no chance” James said, picking up his weapons and making Ashley snort while Rick went to the second kodiak.
“What?”
“Nothing, I just forgot you never fought alongside Rick.”
“Yeah, so? What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Be prepared to keep up, James.” she answered with a smile and joined her lover in the shuttle leaving behind a confused James Vega.


____________________________________________________________


“What the fuck?!” James shouted in astonishment as he looked at the scene in front of him.

Rick was merciless and brutal in the way he dealt with Cerberus, leaving a heap of corpses in his way as he charged forward. For each charge, three enemies fell dead on the ground.

“He’s new.” Wrex stated to Ashley as he shot down the shields of an engineer who was setting up a turret.
“Yes.”
“Does he always fight like that?”
“Nah.” replied Wrex.
“Yes and no. He does usually charge around the combat zone but he’s rather careful and mindful of what his squadmates are doing.” explained Ashley.
“He doesn’t seem mindful at all.”
“That’s because he’s pissed. A lot.” enlightened Wrex. “Hey! Leave some for us!”
“I’m going ahead to disrupt their ranks. Try to regroup the resistance and build some coordination.” Rick said through the coms before getting out of sight.
“Is he going to be alright alone?”
“Don’t worry about him, Pyjak, he can handle himself. You focus on keeping up.” commented the krogan as he charged forward.
“I told you to be prepared, James!” Ashley shouted as she followed behind Wrex.
“They’re nuts.” the human soldier said aloud before joining his teammates with a smile on his face.

____________________________________________________________


Not far from the colony, at the digging site, Jane and her team were dealing with their own members of Cerberus. They had recovered the complete sequence to open the cache containing the protheans artifact that had been dug up, thanks to Shepard having been in contact with a prothean beacon and having in her head their language. To everyone's surprise it wasn’t an artifact at all but a living prothean in a status pod. Liara was over the moon to have the possibility to meet one though it would never come to be if they couldn’t deal with Cerberus’ forces.

The team was doing well until an Atlas dropped in. Edi was too far away and there were too many grunts  around for her to hack the mech. So they did it the old fashion way. Taking its shields down. Between the biotic combo of Jane and Liara and more importantly the tech combos of Garrus and EDI, the shields dropped rather quickly. The turian didn’t miss the opportunity to use his sniper rifle right on the cockpit’s glass. His first shot worked, pierced the protection and lodged itself into the pilot’s head. From there, dealing with the rest of the enemy troop was just a formality.
The unfrozen prothean, whose name was Javik, was not what anyone in the group expected. Far from being someone with great wisdom like Liara imagined, he was a soldier. A very bitter one and hell bent on revenge. That was something both Shepard and Garrus could sympathize with. The alien lost the war against the reapers, his people were extinct and he was the only one left after a fifty thousand years cryo sleep. With his only goal being the end of the reapers no matter what, he was welcomed with open arms into the crew.

As soon as Steve landed the kodiak, they got on and Jane contacted Joker to relay her orders.

“Joker, we’re leaving as soon as we’re back.”
“Negative commander, the second team is not back yet.”
“What second team?” she asked with a frown.
“Ash, Rick, James and Wrex. Rick got wind that Cereberus started their own final solution on the colony and they left to help the resistance.”
“Alright, thank you, Joker. Your orders are still the same.”
“Roger that.”
“Steeve, change of plans. We’re going to the colony.”
“Yes, Ma’am.”

The flight only lasted ten minutes. Once on the ground, Jane made her way alone to the second team by asking directions to some members of the resistance, Steve going back to the ship with the rest of her team and Javik. The resistance fighters were not really happy to see her coming after the battle, but when Jane said that she had been with her own team pushing back Cerberus at the digging site and that they were with the current squad who helped them, their attitude changed for the better. After marching a bit she found Ashley and James helping around. Transporting the wounded towards a makeshift med-station.

“Ash!”
“Skipper!” exclaimed the brunette in surprise. “I’m sorry, but Rick would have left alone so…”
“I’m not blaming you, you and James did the right thing by accompanying him to come help here. I wonder about Wrex, though.”
“Rick invited him.”
“Where is he by the way?”
“I don’t know… James!!”
“Yeah?” the man replied from the other side of the area.
“Have you seen Rick?”
“Not since he separated from us.”
“Wrex?”
“Nah.”

Ashley tried to contact him through her comms but got no answer, neither did Jane when she tried.

“EDI, can you get a hold of him?”
“I’m sorry, commander. Either he deactivated his helmet or…”

She had the tact to not finish her sentence but both ladies knew what she meant. With only one choice left, Jane went to speak to the leader of the resistance who was giving directives.

“Excuse me. Have you seen my friend? 6”5 tall, clothed in black with a peculiar black helmet?”
“Sorry ma’am, can’t say I have.”
“I did!” came the reply a few feet on the side from a teenage girl. “Once he killed all the bad guys, he left north.”
“Why would he? There is nothing there.” said the resistance leader.
“Not true! There is an old wooden house!” replied the young girl before her father by her side spoke under his breath.
“So it really was him.”
“You know him dad?” asked the daughter, surprised.
“Yes, he’s… Miss Andersson’s husband. We thought he passed away with her when the geths attacked three years ago.”
“I thought she left the colony.” she said mournfully.
“No sweety, she didn’t.” turning to Jane he gave her some advice. “You should go join your friend; we buried his wife and child there when we found them. He souldn’t discovered their graves alone.”


Jane thanked both the man and his daughter and went back to Ashley. Since Rick went to visit his home the brunette, who had often been there, was the perfect guide.

“Ash, he went home. Can you lead me there please?”
“He went back? That’s not good.” Rick’s lover answered as she quickly finished what she was doing and went to the kodiak they had used to come here.

Jane, Wrex, and James followed her and quickly got on the shuttle. As the kodiak reached above the buildings they saw a thick black column of smoke in the direction of their destination.

“No, no, no, no! ” shouted Ash in panic.
“What is it?” Jane asked.
“That idiot! I’m going to…”
“ASH!”
“He said.. He said that he wasn’t sure he would be able to come back if he came down here!”

Jane's face paled so much her skin was sickly white. Fear gripped her heart at the implication of what her friend had said. It didn’t get better when two minutes later they landed on a patch of grass looking at a modest wooden house engulfed in flames.