Mass Effect: Phoenix Chapter 3 - Hannah

Admiral Hannah Shepard searched the rubble around London absently-her thoughts thousands of miles away. Only two days before, she had requested a transfer from the Crucible to the ground for the final push against the Reapers. Despite her age, the woman was as strong as ever and determined to show the Reapers that they weren't welcome in the galaxy ever again. Part of her had hoped-in vain-that she would be given the chance to see her daughter one last time before they threw themselves at the Reapers for the last time. Now she wondered if she would ever see her daughter again.

There was a long gash in her shoulder, caused by a piece of flying shrapnel that was set airborne in the wake of a Reaper gun. The laser had been too close for comfort, and nearly killed her. The piece of metal had sliced cleanly through her armor, though in her adrenaline-fueled state of mind, the pain had been reduced to nothing more than a slight sting. Now, however, she winced as every step sent blinding pain through the damaged nerves in her body. Her right hand was clutched to the bleeding wound and saturated in her own blood. She figured that she should have been resting, waiting for the medical teams to find her, but Hannah was military to the core and hated to remain sitting. She was searching for survivors, though knew that in her heart, she was hoping to catch a glimpse of her children. They were both missing. Her son, Ronald, with his wife, her grandson, and unborn second grandchild, had been staying in the London suburbs with Liliana's, Ron's wife's, family. Hannah wished desperately that they had escaped the area unharmed. Her son had broken the family tradition and had not joined the military. He had no reason to stay in the city.

Adalia was another matter.

Hannah shook her head, the movement paining her shoulder. Adalia would have been right in the thick of the battle. She had spent the past three years of her life battling the Reapers, and Hannah knew that, somehow, her daughter was the cause for the red blast of light that had killed the Reapers and ended the war.

Adalia was most likely dead.

The admiral refused to let the thought be rooted firmly in her mind. She needed to believe; Adalia needed her to believe.

Hannah looked up as rescue aircraft flew through the sky directly above her head. She could hear shouts as people attempted to signal it. It pained her to see what her home world had been reduced to. Earth was little more than a shadow of its former self, its inhabitants even more so. It would take years to rebuild, and years more for the pain of death to fade.

Tears stung at her eyes, and she let them fall reluctantly. She hadn't had the chance to speak to her daughter since she came back from the dead. Losing her only daughter to the Reapers once had taken its toll on the strong willed soldier, but losing her again would cripple her.

She stepped over the dead body of a civilian, scratched, beaten, and bloody. She guessed that the unfortunate man had fallen victim to one of the thousands of husks that now littered the streets of one of the greatest cities in Europe. Hannah guessed that the scene was similar for every part of the world.

She heard sirens wailing in the distance, but even though the landscape was bleak, people were cheering. The war was won; the Reapers were gone.

How, she didn't know.

What she did know, was that her daughter would now and forevermore be regarded as a legend-an intergalactic hero. Hannah swelled with pride at the thought.

Her omnitool pinged, and she glanced at it. A video message.

Hannah relinquished her grip on her wound, gritting her teeth as she did so, and answered the hail. Feeling blood start to run down her shoulder-not as strongly as before, but still severe-she once again clamped her hand on the wound.

The holographic image opened, and her heart leapt when she saw her son staring at her in the orange-tinted square.

"Mom!" The relief in his voice was evident; it made Hannah smile weakly.

"Ron, you're alright." She felt as if a weight had been lifted from her shoulders.

"We're find-all of us. Even our unborn son."

"That's great, I was worried beyond belief." Realizing what he just said, "Son? You're having another boy?"

Ronald Shepard grinned on the other side of the image, "Yeah, found out the day that the Reapers hit." His grin faded, "Guess Dali wasn't crazy after all."

Hannah bit her bottom lip and looked up from her omnitool, as if Adalia would have materialized at the mention of her nickname, "No," her voice was little more than a whisper, "she wasn't."

Ron shifted, glancing off-screen for a moment before returning his attention to his distressed mother, "I take it she hasn't been found yet?" He sighed in despair when his mother shook her head, "She did it, Mom, she stopped the Reapers."

"She most certainly did." Hannah was surprised that her voice didn't shake.

"She's a hero, and if she isn't with us anymore, she's a martyr."

"I know that, it's just," Hannah took a breath to prevent her voice from trembling, "I don't think that I will be able to face her death again."

Ron's eyes clouded, "Same. It was bad enough the first time, then she had to come back and put herself into more danger. The Reapers were her war though; it was her fight to finish.

Hannah saw her son's resolve weakening and straightened herself up, she had to be strong for her son, "But they haven't found her yet, Ron. Don't worry. Adalia is strong and stubborn, there is a very real chance that she survived after doing whatever she did to release that red energy."

Ron was silent for a long moment, looking up at the smoking ruins of his wife's hometown, "I didn't even get to see her after she came back from the dead. Hell, I didn't even see her for nearly a year before she was killed. She was always busy or on some classified N7 mission. I didn't even get to say goodbye the first time..."

"Neither of us did," Hannah's voice was strong despite the agony that she was feeling, "the same thoughts crossed my mind. Hopefully we won't have to think that; hopefully they will find her."

Ron gave her a half-smile, "Hopefully, but that doesn't mean anything."

"Hope is the aspect of life that sustains us. If we don't have hope, then we have nothing."

Ron seemed to ponder her words, "Then, for Dali's sake I'll have hope. There is a refugee camp near where you are. I'm going to bring the family there, then I will assist in any way that I can in finding her."

Hannah smiled, "OK, I'll see you soon then."

Ron nodded, and Hannah deactivated her omnitool. Her son was safe, and now she only had the whereabouts of one child to worry about.

The blood from her wound had almost completely stopped flowing. She took her hand away from the gash, not noticing or caring that it was completely covered with her own bright red blood. Hope, yes, Dali needed her to hope.

Her omnitool pinged once again-another video message. Frowning, Hannah opened the message to the familiar face of Admiral Hackett.

"Sir," Hannah said in confusion. Why would he be contacting her, of all people? Unless...

"Hannah," the admiral then did something that Hannah had never seen him do, his face broke into smile, "we found her."