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Description
"GAAH!"

With a deep breath, Shepard opened her eyes. She lying on a bed in some room, but it was hard to tell where. It was dark with nothing more illuminating the room than a single lamp dimly flickering on the ceiling. The ceiling was bare concrete, and it was missing pieces. There were sounds coming from the distance; guns fired, people screaming. She was in a warzone.

"Damn it", Shepard whispered and tried to push herself up. Suddenly she felt a stabbing pain in her right side and fell back down again, grinning her teeth.

"Shepard!"

The voice was familiar. She turned her head and saw Anderson running towards herself. He was sweaty and covered in blood, but fortunately very much alive.

"Stay down Shepard, the medigel hasn't taken effect yet."
"What… What happened? Where are the others, how did I get here? Did we… Did we make it?"
"No, our final assault was a failure, we couldn't reach the relay. Harbinger was the, expecting us. He took out most of our troops before we could even get close. He almost got you Shepard; I could've sworn the beam wiped you out. But you survived, avoided it just barely. But you were in a bad shape, bleeding heavily. I had to pull of the attack; there was nothing we could do."

Anderson sighed and his eyes became to drift away. For a moment Shepard could see the disappointment in his eyes, and she realized how exhausted he was. She could only imagine what had been going on while she was unconscious.

"But we couldn't wake you up", Anderson said as he sat down next to Shepard, "We stopped the bleeding, healed most your wounds, but you just wouldn't wake up. We thought we lost you for good this time Shepard, we really did. And Liara… she just fell apart. She kept trying to wake you up for hours, no luck. I had to drag her away eventually, for her own sake."
"Well I'm okay now, you don't have to worry anymore."
"Yes, well at least that's some good news."

They were both quiet for a moment, Anderson too tired to talk and Shepard trying to find the right words to comfort her old friend.
"What's the situation, are we still holding up?"

Anderson shook his head, "They're pushing us from every direction, and even the armada is taking damages. Down here, we can slow them down, but we're losing men every single moment. It's only a matter of time before they..." He couldn't go on anymore. Anderson started to lift his head up from the floor, but instead turned his face away from Shepard.
"We lost Shepard, it's over."

BAM!

Anderson fell down onto the floor. He was holding his chin in pain, looking at Shepard with a baffled look on his face. She had managed to hit him, hard.

"Don't you ever say that", said Shepard. Though she had managed to sit up, her side was still sore and her hand was aching from the punch. Still, ignoring the pain she threw her legs on the floor and pushed herself on her feet, slowly but steadily.

"Don't you ever, ever dare to say that!" Shepard yelled as she struggled trying to stand up, "We're still here Anderson, we're both still here. And I don't know about you, but I'm going to keep on fighting no matter what. I'm not going to abandon my friends."

Finally Shepard was standing up. She could hold her balance, but her legs felt weak and numb. But no matter, she'd just had to walk it off.
"As long as we're here, alive, willing to fight, there's hope Anderson", said Shepard as she took wobbly steps towards him. She offered her hand to him, "So are you with me or not?"

Anderson looked at Shepard, at her eyes. She had that will inside her again, that fire burning in her eyes. That same fire had taken down Sovereign and Saren and burned down the collector base behind the Omega-4 Relay. Standing before him was the woman who had united the entire galaxy into one giant army against the Reapers. And he had just told her to give up.

Anderson smiled, first time after a long time.
"You're right, there's still hope. We have to keep fighting back."
Shepard smiled back and pulled her back up.
"Thank you Shepard."

Suddenly she heard footsteps echoing outside the room. The door flew open as the Turian ran in.

"Anderson is everything…"

Shepard couldn't hide amusement as Garus was standing there at the doorway, speechless with a dumbfound expression stuck on his face. He too was covered in sweat and blood and with his armor damaged. Shepard was happy to see her friend, but she could only hope that everybody else had as been as lucky as he had.

"Hello Garrus, good to..."

Shepard couldn't finish her sentence, for suddenly she felt Garrus squeezing her against his chest with his arms. Shepard could hardly breathe; the embrace had pushed all the air from her lungs.

"Easy there Garrus, you're suffocating me!"
"Oh, sorry about that", said Garrus with an embarrassed tone and let her go. They looked at each other for a moment, smiling like idiots. Shepard was happy to see Garrus, and he was happy to see her. Then, they heard an explosion somewhere outside. That brought them back to the reality of the situation.

"Damn it Shepard, don't you ever scare us like that again!"
"I won't, no need to worry about that. How are you holding up?"
"Just barely really. The battle is a mess, we're trying to keep husks at bay, but it's no use. We're losing ground all the time. I've already lost three troops today, almost got myself blown away as well."
"Just keep hanging there; I'd hate to miss that drink you promised to buy me."

Garrus took a step back with his hands lift on the air, signaling Shepard to slow down.
"Wait wait wait, buy you a drink? I didn't promise anything like that. If anything, you owe one for the husks I've been slaughtering while you were sleeping."

Before Shepard could answer, Anderson interrupted with a loud cough.
"I hate interrupt you, but if we're still aiming to win this fight, we need to figure out how."

Shepard nodded and gave Garrus an encouraging among with a sisterly pat on the shoulder. Then, she turned to Anderson.

"Our only hope is still the Crucible. Is there any way to reach the transportation relay?"
"I doubt it. The Harbinger is still guarding it, along with some other Reapers that are scouting the area. We have some heavy ammunition that could take them down, but the problem is that we lack the manpower. All our troops are busy slowing down the Reaper ground forces. We simply don't have enough soldiers to form a separate attack squad. Not to mention that the area surrounding the relay is swarming with husks. Trying to transport the missiles through it is just… suicide."

Once again there was silence. Both Shepard and Garrus were trying to come up with a solution. But it was always a dead end. They'd need men for the attack, but if they'd weaken their defenses the husks would definitely break through. Shepard thought about asking some backup from the space armada fighting the Reapers above, but she scrapped that idea immediately. They couldn't weaken the defenses on the Crucible either.

"So… It's a no win -situation after all?" Garrus asked.
"No, there has to be a way", said Anderson.
"I'll get those there missiles by myself if I have to", Shepard muttered to herself.

"Oh there's hardly need for anything as dramatic as that Shepard".

Someone had just walked into the room, and even without looking, Shepard knew who. She recognized that voice. It was cold, calculative and completely without hesitation. It sent chills down her spine.

Garrus pointed his gun immediately at the visitor, as did Anderson. Shepard was unarmed, but he noticed her gun lying on a desk next to the bed. With a single move she grabbed her pistol, turned around and pointed it at the man standing in front of them. The man was dressed in a sleek black suit which, even in these conditions, didn't have single spot of dirt on it. He was surrounded by Cerberus troops, five men in heavy armor. The man looked at Shepard with his steely blue eyes. His expression was calm, almost unnaturally so. In his mind, he had nothing to fear, nothing to worry about. Eventually, everything would go according to his plan.

"Illusive man", said Anderson as he spit those words out like poison, "What the hell are you doing here?"

Description
"GAAH!"

With a deep breath, Shepard opened her eyes. She lying on a bed in some room, but it was hard to tell where. It was dark with nothing more illuminating the room than a single lamp dimly flickering on the ceiling. The ceiling was bare concrete, and it was missing pieces. There were sounds coming from the distance; guns fired, people screaming. She was in a warzone.

"Damn it", Shepard whispered and tried to push herself up. Suddenly she felt a stabbing pain in her right side and fell back down again, grinning her teeth.

"Shepard!"

The voice was familiar. She turned her head and saw Anderson running towards herself. He was sweaty and covered in blood, but fortunately very much alive.

"Stay down Shepard, the medigel hasn't taken effect yet."
"What… What happened? Where are the others, how did I get here? Did we… Did we make it?"
"No, our final assault was a failure, we couldn't reach the relay. Harbinger was the, expecting us. He took out most of our troops before we could even get close. He almost got you Shepard; I could've sworn the beam wiped you out. But you survived, avoided it just barely. But you were in a bad shape, bleeding heavily. I had to pull of the attack; there was nothing we could do."

Anderson sighed and his eyes became to drift away. For a moment Shepard could see the disappointment in his eyes, and she realized how exhausted he was. She could only imagine what had been going on while she was unconscious.

"But we couldn't wake you up", Anderson said as he sat down next to Shepard, "We stopped the bleeding, healed most your wounds, but you just wouldn't wake up. We thought we lost you for good this time Shepard, we really did. And Liara… she just fell apart. She kept trying to wake you up for hours, no luck. I had to drag her away eventually, for her own sake."
"Well I'm okay now, you don't have to worry anymore."
"Yes, well at least that's some good news."

They were both quiet for a moment, Anderson too tired to talk and Shepard trying to find the right words to comfort her old friend.
"What's the situation, are we still holding up?"

Anderson shook his head, "They're pushing us from every direction, and even the armada is taking damages. Down here, we can slow them down, but we're losing men every single moment. It's only a matter of time before they..." He couldn't go on anymore. Anderson started to lift his head up from the floor, but instead turned his face away from Shepard.
"We lost Shepard, it's over."

BAM!

Anderson fell down onto the floor. He was holding his chin in pain, looking at Shepard with a baffled look on his face. She had managed to hit him, hard.

"Don't you ever say that", said Shepard. Though she had managed to sit up, her side was still sore and her hand was aching from the punch. Still, ignoring the pain she threw her legs on the floor and pushed herself on her feet, slowly but steadily.

"Don't you ever, ever dare to say that!" Shepard yelled as she struggled trying to stand up, "We're still here Anderson, we're both still here. And I don't know about you, but I'm going to keep on fighting no matter what. I'm not going to abandon my friends."

Finally Shepard was standing up. She could hold her balance, but her legs felt weak and numb. But no matter, she'd just had to walk it off.
"As long as we're here, alive, willing to fight, there's hope Anderson", said Shepard as she took wobbly steps towards him. She offered her hand to him, "So are you with me or not?"

Anderson looked at Shepard, at her eyes. She had that will inside her again, that fire burning in her eyes. That same fire had taken down Sovereign and Saren and burned down the collector base behind the Omega-4 Relay. Standing before him was the woman who had united the entire galaxy into one giant army against the Reapers. And he had just told her to give up.

Anderson smiled, first time after a long time.
"You're right, there's still hope. We have to keep fighting back."
Shepard smiled back and pulled her back up.
"Thank you Shepard."

Suddenly she heard footsteps echoing outside the room. The door flew open as the Turian ran in.

"Anderson is everything…"

Shepard couldn't hide amusement as Garus was standing there at the doorway, speechless with a dumbfound expression stuck on his face. He too was covered in sweat and blood and with his armor damaged. Shepard was happy to see her friend, but she could only hope that everybody else had as been as lucky as he had.

"Hello Garrus, good to..."

Shepard couldn't finish her sentence, for suddenly she felt Garrus squeezing her against his chest with his arms. Shepard could hardly breathe; the embrace had pushed all the air from her lungs.

"Easy there Garrus, you're suffocating me!"
"Oh, sorry about that", said Garrus with an embarrassed tone and let her go. They looked at each other for a moment, smiling like idiots. Shepard was happy to see Garrus, and he was happy to see her. Then, they heard an explosion somewhere outside. That brought them back to the reality of the situation.

"Damn it Shepard, don't you ever scare us like that again!"
"I won't, no need to worry about that. How are you holding up?"
"Just barely really. The battle is a mess, we're trying to keep husks at bay, but it's no use. We're losing ground all the time. I've already lost three troops today, almost got myself blown away as well."
"Just keep hanging there; I'd hate to miss that drink you promised to buy me."

Garrus took a step back with his hands lift on the air, signaling Shepard to slow down.
"Wait wait wait, buy you a drink? I didn't promise anything like that. If anything, you owe one for the husks I've been slaughtering while you were sleeping."

Before Shepard could answer, Anderson interrupted with a loud cough.
"I hate interrupt you, but if we're still aiming to win this fight, we need to figure out how."

Shepard nodded and gave Garrus an encouraging among with a sisterly pat on the shoulder. Then, she turned to Anderson.

"Our only hope is still the Crucible. Is there any way to reach the transportation relay?"
"I doubt it. The Harbinger is still guarding it, along with some other Reapers that are scouting the area. We have some heavy ammunition that could take them down, but the problem is that we lack the manpower. All our troops are busy slowing down the Reaper ground forces. We simply don't have enough soldiers to form a separate attack squad. Not to mention that the area surrounding the relay is swarming with husks. Trying to transport the missiles through it is just… suicide."

Once again there was silence. Both Shepard and Garrus were trying to come up with a solution. But it was always a dead end. They'd need men for the attack, but if they'd weaken their defenses the husks would definitely break through. Shepard thought about asking some backup from the space armada fighting the Reapers above, but she scrapped that idea immediately. They couldn't weaken the defenses on the Crucible either.

"So… It's a no win -situation after all?" Garrus asked.
"No, there has to be a way", said Anderson.
"I'll get those there missiles by myself if I have to", Shepard muttered to herself.

"Oh there's hardly need for anything as dramatic as that Shepard".

Someone had just walked into the room, and even without looking, Shepard knew who. She recognized that voice. It was cold, calculative and completely without hesitation. It sent chills down her spine.

Garrus pointed his gun immediately at the visitor, as did Anderson. Shepard was unarmed, but he noticed her gun lying on a desk next to the bed. With a single move she grabbed her pistol, turned around and pointed it at the man standing in front of them. The man was dressed in a sleek black suit which, even in these conditions, didn't have single spot of dirt on it. He was surrounded by Cerberus troops, five men in heavy armor. The man looked at Shepard with his steely blue eyes. His expression was calm, almost unnaturally so. In his mind, he had nothing to fear, nothing to worry about. Eventually, everything would go according to his plan.

"Illusive man", said Anderson as he spit those words out like poison, "What the hell are you doing here?"