Chapter 1: Bad News

Shepard

Commander John Shepard sighed dejectedly as he stared at his computer screen. He had just received a message from Operations Chief Ashley Williams, further declaring her anger at him after their rather heated argument on Horizon and also adding that she had found 'someone else'. He couldn't believe how selfish she was acting. She saw the collectors herself! She could at least agree that Cerberus was the only organization working against the threat. It wasn't as if he was asking her to join Cerberus and give them her undying loyalty. Hell, he didn't trust them as far as he could throw them. All he had been asking was to join him, help him with the Collectors and maybe be with him in the process.

After several minutes of glaring angrily at the computer screen, he deleted the message and stood from his desk. There was a mission he had to get back to and he couldn't waste his precious time on someone too stubborn to see past the Cerberus logo on his armor. He had already looked over the dossiers for new members the Illusive Man sent and he figured that finding Tali was the best one to start with. He didn't want this mission against the Collectors to go the way Akuze had.

Thinking about Akuze made his foul mood even fouler. The only other marine to survive that mission – Corporal Toombs – had sent a message to him a few months back. Apparently, he believed Cerberus was behind the Thresher Maw attacks on the marines under his command. He had no reason to believe this to be true and had found no evidence to support it, which is the only reason he was still working for the human-centric group.

He stomped over to the elevator and hit the button for the CIC. As the door opened and he strode out to the galaxy map, about to check how far they were from Haestrom, Yeoman Kelly Chambers' voice called, "Commander, you have an unread message at your private terminal."

Shepard stopped, looking at her slightly confused. "I just checked my unread messages."

"Well, a new one from Councilor Anderson is waiting. It just arrived, sir," she replied. Shepard nodded and continued over to the computer. He saw the message and opened it.

Commander Shepard,

Your sister, Lt. Rudy Shepard was stationed on the cruise vessel SSV Athena. The Athena was bringing some of the surviving colonists from Horizon to the Citadel. She was stationed on a protection detail and was one of the leading officers of the Alliance military aboard the ship.

While on their way, they were attacked by Batarians. We received a distress call a few seconds before I sent this message to you. You are currently the only ship that is close enough to make a difference. I sent out messages to the Alliance vessels that are close, but they won't make it. I believed you would want to know this information. Hopefully, you'll be able to help.

Anderson

Shit, shit, shit…. The Commander's blood had gone cold, his face pale, and eyes wide. His sister… he hadn't seen her since before becoming a Spectre. Had he even sent her a message since waking up in a Cerberus laboratory? And now… she's on a ship that has been attacked by batarians.

Chambers must have noticed his panicked expression because she began asking if he was alright. She had a concerned look on her face, blue eyes a little wide and red eyebrows furrowed a little. He didn't hear a thing she said, fear for his younger sister ate at his mind and rage at the batarians bubbled in his gut.

Quickly, he pulled up the galaxy map and plugged in the new coordinates to the Athena. Once the destination was set, he made his way to the cock pit, ignoring all the strange looks people were throwing at him. Joker's chair swung around as the commander neared, eyebrows raised at the almost panicked look.

"Joker, we are not headed to any of the locations the Illusive Man sent. I keyed in the coordinates for our new destination and we must get there as fast as possible," Shepard commanded.

"Aye commander. What are we looking for?" Joker asked as he swung his chair back around and placed his hands over the keys.

Shepard ignored the question and gazed out the window as he asked, "What's the ETA?"

"Uh… a few hours at most. We have to go back through relays," Joker replied. Shepard tensed at the answer, every second counted. "Commander? What are we looking for?"

Shepard looked away from the view of stars and blackness and back to Joker. "We're looking for the SSV Athena. She was attacked by batarian mercs. The Alliance ships won't be able to make it there in time. We're the closest and the only ship that can do anything about it," he answered.

Joker still looked confused but accepted the answer. "I'll let you know when we get there, Commander."

Shepard nodded then turned to the AI. "EDI, I need you to search for information concerning the Athena and tell everyone to meet me in the Conference room in twenty minutes."

"Understood, Commander," she replied, her blue lights blinking slightly. Shepard turned on his heel and brusquely walked back to the computer on the other side of the galaxy map. He could see Chambers eyeing him worriedly out of the corner of his eye. But he couldn't talk right now; he had to send a reply to Anderson.

Ten minutes later, Shepard stood in the conference room, palms planted on the table as he leaned into them. His squad members were casting him curious looks but refrained from asking him questions, for now. He must have been giving off pretty intimidating vibes, as even Jack, their newest and most abrasive member of the crew was quiet.

Operative Miranda Lawson stood off to his right, hand on her white-clad hip. She watched him curiously with her light blue eyes. Shepard was still unsure how much he could trust the woman. She was loyal to Cerberus to the very end, not to mention that had she been allowed full control of his reconstruction, she'd have added control chips into his brain.

To Miranda's right stood Operative Jacob Taylor. He was a hard man to get to know, not that Shepard made any attempts to try. At least he understood the workings of a military ship and its command. He stood at attention, arms behind his back and watching him, waiting respectfully for the commander to begin.

On Jacob's right stood Kasumi Goto, the small and quirky Japanese thief. She was an interesting character in that she would sneak around the ship to discover the juiciest gossip. According to her, Miranda had created an online dating profile and spent her free time messaging different men, not that Shepard really cared about it.

On Shepard's left stood Officer Garrus Vakarian. He'd been by Shepard's side as they pursued the rogue specter Saren Arcturus all over the galaxy. Their relationship started out a little rocky, mainly because Shepard was a little racist against turians back then. However, Garrus had proven his loyalty and trustworthiness to the commander on more than one occasion, Saren just being one of them. He was one of the only friends Shepard had on this ship. He knew Garrus would have his six just like he would have Garrus's. The turian was watching the commander patiently with his piercing blue eyes as he leaned against the wall, arms folded across his chest. The scar on the right side of his face was healing slowly, even with the cybernetics. Shepard couldn't believe he'd almost lost Garrus on Omega, but the turian proved tough, as always.

To Garrus's left stood Jack, the slightly insane, overly powerful biotic. She was glaring across the table at Miranda, tattooed arms folded across her chest and scowling. Shepard still hadn't quite figured her out yet. As it was, she'd only been part of the squad for about a week. He also knew that she hated Cerberus with a molten rage and therefore hated Miranda for her unquestionable loyalty. If he wasn't careful, they'd end up killing each other.

On Jack's other side stood the old mercenary Zaeed Massani. He used to be the leader of the Blue Suns, until one of his own betrayed him. Shepard had already helped the veteran with his revenge, and received the man's loyalty in return. Other than that, Zaeed had stayed out of everyone's way and Shepard didn't try to talk to him.

At the end of the table paced Dr. Mordin Solus. Shepard liked the old Salarian doctor despite his constant confusing ramblings. He was always excited about his work and always gave his opinion. Mordin was the first alien to join his crew aboard the Normandy, and Shepard was glad he'd recruited him. Without the aging Salarian STG member, they'd not have gotten through Horizon nearly as unscathed as they had.

Finally, leaning up against the door stood Grunt, the tank-bred Krogan. He was huge and intimidating. For a Krogan, he was pretty volatile, which didn't necessarily bode well for the Normandy's crew. It had been a risk to wake him, but so far, Shepard wasn't regretting it. He had been a huge help fighting the Collectors off on Horizon.

Shepard sighed and every eye that wasn't looking at him swiveled their gaze. "I just received a message from Councilor Anderson telling me the SSV Athena has been attacked by batarian slavers. We are the closest ship to her location, which means we are the only ones who can make a difference." The Commander began.

"Excuse me Commander, but there must be a reason why Anderson sent this information to you, beyond the fact that we are the closest ship to the Athena's location." Miranda claimed, arms folded, body leaning toward him, and looking at him with a raised eyebrow.

"And you'd be right," He paused, taking in a pained breath before he continued. "My sister is a Staff Lieutenant in the Alliance. She is stationed on the Athena."

The reactions to this statement would have been comical had it not been for the grave situation. As he scanned the room, he saw their expressions ranging from Miranda's bulging eyes and standing upright slowly, looking around to see if anyone else knew or was just as confused as she was, to Garrus's stepping forward and eyeing Shepard with his head cocked to the side, like a terran puppy hearing a recorder's squeak for the first time. But they were silent, waiting for him to explain.

He looked down at the table again, still fighting the anxiety-produced adrenaline. "I know, I never told you about her. I didn't want her to be involved in the missions that I am… Just protecting her as an older brother should," Shepard said quietly, then looked back up at his squad. "That's why Anderson sent me the message."

"With her being a 'Shepard' wouldn't she be a really good soldier?" Jacob asked him, slightly confused. Shepard frowned.

"Yes, she is a very talented soldier. She is a very powerful biotic and has weapons training with assault rifles, pistols, and sniper rifles. She was in the top tenth percentile for marksmanship when she graduated from the Academy." Shepard answered. He had in fact learned something from the dossiers Anderson had repeatedly sent him while he'd been chasing the rogue specter. The old commander was as adamant that Rudy be a part of his team as Shepard was to keep her away.

"She's a biotic? What sort of implants does she have?" Jack asked.

"She has L5s I believe. She was already stronger than biotics with L2s without her implants," Shepard answered. There was a startled murmur throughout the squad at the information.

"But, wasn't Lt. Alenko an L2? He was pretty powerful when he let loose!" Garrus exclaimed, sounding as if Shepard's word of his sister's abilities was illogical, but believing him at the same time.

"Human diversity at its finest! Evolution of biotics is extraordinary! Could eventually replace Asari as the biotic leaders," Mordin exclaimed excitedly from the other end of the table.

"Well… I'm a biotic and I'm naturally stronger than those with weaker implants," Miranda stated, lips slanted in an unimpressed frown. Jack rolled her eyes from across the room.

"You were genetically modified, princess. I'm pretty sure Shepard's sister wasn't," Jack retorted.

"Whatever, Commander, how come we had no knowledge of your sister? How did you keep that bit of information a secret from the public?" Miranda demanded, eyes narrowed slightly.

Shepard frowned at her. "I'm pretty sure Cerberus did know about her, just not her name and relations. After I became a Spectre, I had any information concerning our relationship wiped. On paper, Lt. Rudy Shepard isn't my sister. Public records say my sister died on the streets of Atlanta, where we grew up. I couldn't let any harm come to her because of me."

At the other end of the room, he heard Kasumi mutter, "Smart."

Miranda was quiet for a few moments, then said, "The Illusive Man will want to hear about her. She could be useful to our mission, if what you say about her powers is true."

Shepard's original foul expression morphed into a scowl of rage. "Rudy will not be used by Cerberus," he snarled, forcing Miranda to take a step back, fear in her eyes. It took a moment for him to realize that his small amount of biotics flared in response to his anger. Before, he had no real inkling of biotics but so many things had changed on that operating table… Shepard exhaled as he fought his blistering rage, but the blue glow around him dissipated. Tension was so thick in the conference room that it could be cut with a spoon, everyone watching in still silence. Except Jack of course, who was beaming with absolute glee watching Miranda squirm.

After a few seconds of thick silence, Garrus asked, "Who is going with you on the mission, Shepard?"

Miranda seemed almost relieved by the question, which had successfully diverted Shepard's focus away from her. He looked at his old friend and sighed slightly, letting the rest of his anger fall away to be replaced by business. "Garrus, Jack, you'll be with me. We'll be searching one half of the ship for Batarians and survivors. Miranda –" he snapped, turning to her, making her shrink back, "I want you to go with Mordin and Grunt to find as much information about the batarian ship as possible and help with survivors. Mordin, you'll need to look after any survivors' health. And Jacob, you'll stay behind on the ship with Zaeed and Kasumi. I'll need people with combat experience to stay on the Normandy, so no batarians will board." The squad nodded as they got their orders. "EDI, did you find any schematics on the Athena?"

EDI's blue form popped up in the center of the table. "Yes commander." She replied and blinked out of view as an orange floor plan of a ship took her place. "It seems that in emergencies, there is a bunker in the lower decks for civilians to go." The room was highlighted in blue and was at the lowest level of the ship. "The doors are heavily enforced, and locks are difficult to crack. I suggest sending someone with decryption expertise."

Shepard nodded and looked around at his squad. He knew Garrus was one of the best decryption experts on the ship, but he needed the turian with him. Kasumi was also a tech expert and was brilliant at cracking locks. He looked down the table at her. "Kasumi, you will be heading with Miranda, Mordin, and Grunt instead of staying aboard."

"Got it, Shep," she replied. He'd tried in vain to get her to call him Commander instead of 'Shep,' but she was having none of it.

Another room lit up on the second level. "This is the CIC. The batarians will try to take this area first. Once they have control of this room, they have control of the ship. That means heavier defenses will be stationed here."

Garrus moved up to the table, eyeing the layout. "Your sister should be stationed there, Shepard. She is one of the higher ranked officers of the alliance marines on board."

Shepard frowned and folded his arms across his chest. "No. She doesn't like being left out of the action any less than I do. She would most likely be at the front lines, keeping the batarians focus away from the civilians and the CIC. That's what I'd do anyway."

"So… we start looking where exactly?" Jack asked, leaning forward on the table to get a good look at the Commander. He eyed the schematics before pointing to the bottom level.

"We'll dock with the ship in the cargo hold. Miranda, I want you to take your team and head directly to the emergency hold. Once you get that lock open, I want Miranda and Kasumi to head back up to the fourth floor. See if there are any survivors. Also, kill any batarians that cross your path. Garrus, Jack and I will cover the third and second floors and clear the area before going to the first floor, where most of the civilians' and officers' rooms will be." He explained, indicating the rooms and floors as he gave his orders.

As he finished explaining, the intercom buzzed overhead. "ETA fifteen minutes Commander," Joker's voice rang out.

"Do we have a visual?" Shepard asked, looking up at the ceiling speaker.

"Yes, Commander. The Athena is badly damaged. There's a ship speeding away, do you want me to tail it?" Joker asked.

"No, go to the Athena. EDI, can you get the transponder codes from that ship and tell me where they're headed?" Shepard asked.

EDI popped back up in place of the schematics and said, "Have them, Commander. They are headed toward Omega."

Shepard sighed. He really hated Omega. "Alright, everyone dismissed. Meet me in the cargo bay with full gear in fifteen minutes."

Garrus

Shepard stood by the Kodiak Drop Shuttle in full black and red armor, waiting for the squad to show so they could head to the Athena. He checked his sniper rifle, then shut it and attached it to the magnet strip on his back before he reached for his assault rifle. Garrus sighed. Shepard looked tense, more than tense. That was the third time he'd checked his guns in five minutes. Of course he understood why the commander looked that way, having a sister himself.

Shepard looked up from checking his weapons and saw the crew gathered. He nodded toward the shuttle and climbed in, Garrus right behind him and taking the driver's seat at Shepard's indication. Garrus keyed up the shuttle as Shepard sat in the passenger seat. The door shut after everyone boarded and EDI depressurized the cargo bay and opened the hatch.

As Garrus steered the shuttle out of the cargo bay door, Shepard asked, "EDI have you reached the captain of the Athena? Are they going to open the door for us?"

"I received no response from the Athena captain. However, I have hacked into their mainframe and will allow you to enter through their cargo hold. There are no life signs present." EDI replied.

No life signs in the cargo bay? No captain? What if – Garrus stopped, not wanting to think of the possibility, but it could be detrimental to the mission to ignore details. However, he knew better than to say anything about it to Shepard until there was sufficient evidence… like there was no one on board.

The ride to the Athena was quiet. Too quiet. It only took a minute to station the shuttle in front of the Athena's cargo bay airlock.

"Opening airlock," EDI stated as the airlock door in front of them opened slowly. Garrus drifted them inside and landed on the floor. The airlock behind them shut and their shuttle door opened once the oxygen had filtered back into the room. As they stepped out of the shuttle, they were assaulted with a gruesome scene. Bodies were strewn about the floor, many in Alliance grade armor. It was hard to tell whether the ones that weren't decked in armor were civilians or crew members. Almost as many batarian bodies lay in pools of blood as human ones.

From the rear of the group, he could see Kasumi's eyes were watering at the stench as she quickly brought a hand to her nose. Garrus gagged at the smell, but he'd seen quite a few gruesome scenes like this at C-Sec and while he was on Omega. His thoughts flashed back to when he'd returned to his base of operations on that forsaken asteroid and found ten of his men dead. He couldn't help the wave of anger that washed through him then.

"Is it just me, or does this make anyone else hungry?" Grunt asked, receiving several annoyed and disturbed glares from his squad mates.

Shepard stepped ahead of them and surveyed the cargo bay. He picked his way to a few Alliance marines and looked them over. Mordin followed, scanning each body with his omni tool to see damage or check for life signs.

Must be looking for his sister among the bodies. Garrus watched the commander gently turn over a body, this one female. Human expressions were hard to read, but Garrus didn't think he was reacting quite the way that was expected if that body had belonged to his sister. He realized Shepard's usual stoicism could have also been throwing him off.

Shepard stood and looked back at his crew. "Alright, you know where you're going. Head out and stay in radio contact." Miranda nodded and set off toward the emergency hold, Grunt, Mordin, and Kasumi tailing her.

The third floor wasn't much different than the cargo bay. Bodies littered the hallway, blood staining the walls. Shepard checked each female body in Alliance armor just as gently as the ones in the cargo bay, but none of them were his sister. Garrus knew better than to comment and with Jack staying so quiet, she obviously understood not to say anything as well. They proceeded on in silence, passing one destroyed room after another. The amount of bodies decreased the farther they searched the third floor.

The second floor, the one with the CIC, was as dismally populated as the ones before. However, there were obvious signs of resistance. They had barricaded the hallway leading from the elevator to the Command Center, but the walls had been knocked down. Both batarian and Alliance bodies littered the CIC. The commander stopped in his searching for his sister as he found a body slumped up against the galaxy map. He had the Captain's emblem on his armor.

"At least we know why no one responded…" Garrus said quietly.

Shepard sighed as he stood, eyes surveying the rest of the room before resting on Garrus and Jack. "She's not here, we should probably keep looking," he said, voice sounding both relieved and worried.

Garrus had the sinking feeling that Shepard's little sister was no longer on the ship. She wasn't in the two places they believed she would be and it was unlikely she'd be on the first floor, where the living quarters were. "Maybe she made it to the emergency hold?" he offered optimistically, hoping that his instincts were wrong this time.

Shepard made a noncommittal noise as he made his way back to the elevators to head up to the first floor. Jack gave Garrus a significant look before following the Commander. Apparently she didn't think Lt. Rudy Shepard was here anymore either.

The first floor was quiet, just like the earlier floors, but there were much less bodies, much less destruction. There must have been a ship-wide alert because the only bodies up here were a few alliance marines and batarian slavers. Shepard went from room to room, looking around quickly and moving on. Garrus and Jack remained quiet and just followed.

Suddenly, Shepard stopped dead in his tracks and Garrus had to snatch Jack's arm – there really wasn't much of a shirt to grab – to keep her from ramming into the Commander. Jack lost her balance for a brief second before spinning on her toes and snarling 'what the fuck, man,' at him, eyes absolutely ablaze. Shepard, however, remained oblivious to the commotion behind him, eyes fixed on something in the room. Garrus walked up next to him and eyed him with confusion before following his gaze. A sketchbook was lying open on one of the beds, a pencil lying next to it. Shepard approached the sketchbook as if in a daze. He reached down and picked up the book – so odd to see paper nowadays – and flipped through the pages gingerly, as if too much movement would destroy them.

"Shepard? What the fuck is that?" Jack's brazen voice interjected, coming up to Shepard's side and looking at the drawings on the paper.

"She's gotten better…" Shepard said quietly, fingering the corner of a page before turning it, showing another sketch.

"Wait a minute, does this belong to your sister?" Garrus asked, looking down at a sketch of some haggard-looking colonists. Their shoulders were slumped; arms wrapped around their bodies as if trying protect themselves from everything wrong in the universe. Smoke billowed in the back ground from the destroyed prefab housing units and the ground was scorched in areas. One of the subjects was looking directly at the artist, anguish, but also relief in their expression. Garrus could feel his heart tug as he examined the drawing, pulled in by the raw emotion.

Shepard didn't respond for a few moments as he gazed at the picture. Finally he said, "she was always an artist. Sometimes I wish it wasn't mandatory for biotics to join the Alliance."

Suddenly, their radios buzzed, startling all three with the loudness. "Commander?" Miranda's strange, crisp accented voice inquired. Shepard closed the sketchbook and put a hand to his ear, pressing the button on his radio.

"What have you got Miranda?"

"You need to come down to the emergency hold. Commander Williams is here. She says she knows what happened to your sister."

Miranda

Miranda scowled as she stood waiting for Kasumi to bypass the lock and let them into the emergency hold. She was still bristling in anger from being reprimanded by Shepard earlier. All she was trying to say was that his sister could help with the mission. Another talented fighter would greatly benefit their operation; maybe even improve their chances of surviving the collectors.

Of course, she'd contacted the Illusive Man to let him know of the deviation from their mission. It was her job to keep him informed of their progress, especially because they had a limited amount of time to complete their suicide mission. Miranda wanted to see this through to the end, and hoped this distraction wouldn't cost them in the long run. Not that she'd say any of this before the others.

"Are you nearly done?" Miranda demanded, her annoyance at her situation making her impatient.

The small Japanese woman never looked up from her work, but replied, "lock-picking is an art, and art takes time, Miranda." Her tone, as usual, was bright and chipper and lacking the respect due to Miranda's rank. She was, after all, the Executive Officer of the Normandy, a job she didn't take at all lightly. Her irritated glare went unnoticed by the thief.

A few minutes later, the lock beeped and turned green. "Finally," Miranda growled moving from the wall and striding over to the door. The door slid open, revealing a large room, absolutely filled with civilians and soldiers, all looking at the group with anxious eyes. "It's ok everyone, the batarians are gone," Miranda stated in a bored tone. She really wished she were elsewhere searching the ship for the Commander's sister. At least then she would be doing something useful.

A few of the people inside cheered at the news. The soldiers however looked grim, and one stepped forward. She had black hair that was pulled back and a dour frown on her face. Her brown eyes snapped to the Cerberus logo on Miranda's uniform before looking back at her face, glaring at her.

"You with Shepard?" She growled.

Miranda was taken aback by the poisonous tone as she eyed the woman disdainfully. "Who the hell are you?" she demanded, eyes flashing dangerously.

"Commander Ashley Williams, formerly of the Normandy SR1," Kasumi supplied helpfully, voice as chipper as ever. The thief smiled devilishly as she continued, "She helped Shepard take down Saren two years ago. Rumor has it they were close." Miranda turned to scowl at the Japanese thief. Kasumi shrugged nonchalantly, adding, "I've also heard they no longer see eye to eye, not since Horizon." Williams' disgusted expression hadn't changed but her body language showed she was surprised that they knew so much about her.

"Well then, I guess that explains the hostility," Miranda smirked, moving her hand back to her hip.

"We don't need help from a terrorist organization like Cerberus," Williams spat, fists clenching.

Miranda raised an eyebrow, letting a humorless laugh escape. "We aren't really here for you all, so I guess you can tell your superiors that you didn't have help from 'terrorists.'"

"Doesn't include medical help," Mordin stated before moving into the room, ignoring Miranda's glare. She was really getting tired of the disrespect. Williams, however, moved to intercept the salarian doctor. Mordin heaved an annoyed sigh as he said, "Commander Williams, I am here to help. You need not worry. I'm retired STG, not Cerberus."

"You're working for them, might as well be," Williams scoffed.

Mordin's stare intensified as he replied, "Look around. People need help. You'll deny them medical attention?" Williams' frown deepened but finally she stepped aside and let Mordin into the emergency hold. "I thought not."

Miranda let out an annoyed breath. How had the conversation gone off course? "Look, we're here looking for someone, that's all."

Williams sent her a distrustful look before asking, "Who?"

"Lt. Rudy Shepard. She was stationed—"

Williams' eyes had gone wide as she exclaimed, "Lt. Shepard? Is she – she wouldn't be related to the Commander, would she? I mean, I had my suspicions…. But…"

Miranda didn't answer the question, only stated, "Do you have any idea what happened to her?"

Williams set her jaw, eyes hardening, as she said, "Yes, but I want to talk to Shepard."

Shepard

When Miranda said Ashley's name over the radio Shepard's fists clenched around Rudy's sketchbook. The fact that she might have information on his sister was the only reason he even considered going down to the emergency hold to talk to her. What the hell was he supposed to do?

Hopefully, she doesn't make this another opportunity to tear into him about Cerberus. All he wanted right now was information on his sister; he didn't really have time for anything else.

Garrus and Jack stayed notably silent the whole way down to the fifth floor, but Shepard wasn't in any mood for idle talk. He was angry: angry at the Batarians, angry that he hadn't found his sister – dead or alive – and he was angry with Ashley.

Finally, the elevator doors slid open showing the body-littered cargo hold. Shepard stomped out and went toward the emergency hold, at the opposite end of the ship. Before he made it to the emergency hold, he paused and took a breath, schooling his emotions and putting on a blank face. Then he turned the corner and strode toward the crowd, head high and eyes blazing.

Ashley and Miranda were standing ten feet apart, glaring at each other, and for once, Shepard wanted to join the Cerberus Loyalist. Once he reached Miranda, he turned to Ashley, arms folded and giving off a 'don't fuck with me' vibe.

"Shepard," Ashley greeted, eyes slightly narrowed and tone faintly venomous.

"What do you know?" Shepard demanded, deciding to skip the pleasantries this time. They hadn't worked before, so why try now?

Ashley raised her eyebrows, as if she were surprised by his behavior. Did she really expect him to grovel? "What, no hello?"

Shepard glared at her. "Look Ashley, I don't actually have any time to talk to you. I need to find my sister. Now either you're going to tell me what the hell you know or I'll rip this damn ship apart looking. Which is it?" He didn't look, but somehow he knew that Miranda was smirking smugly. Maybe it was the glare Ashley directed at the woman that tipped him off.

"You're not going to like this Shepard," Ashley stated, finally tearing her glare away from Miranda to look at him, eyes now sad. Shepard merely waited, not changing his position. "Lt. Shepard was in the cargo bay last I saw her. She was keeping the Batarians back while I got the civilians into the emergency hold. When I went back to help," Ashley paused and looked away angrily before her gazed snapped back to Shepard. "She's gone, Shepard. The Batarians have her."

That cold feeling that had hit his stomach when he read Anderson's message earlier in the day now turned into a block of ice. He heaved in a breath and exhaled before looking at his squad. "Let's go."