After the debriefing, Kasumi stepped lightly back into her room. Shepard’s invitation for the crew to be taking advantage of the bar was welcome. The thief had experienced near-death mission before but coming face to face with another Reaper in such a short span of time had frightened her. She could hear the alarms of the Hammerhead blaring at her again, the screens flashing, her commander shouting “Reaper inbound!”

But she was thankful. Everyone had made it back to the Normandy again and after all, it was still Shepard’s birthday. They deserved a respite and the commander had more than earned their gratitude. She continually pulled them out of dangerous situations, forcing them to be the best versions of themselves. Inspiring them.

Kasumi had done her share of illegal activities, including some vigilante sprees, but Shepard…the work she did for her was on a whole different level. Nothing could compare. She would be sure to toast the other woman wholeheartedly before the night was out.

salvationthroughdestruction:

Without any warning, the Hammerhead’s motion sensor begins blaring a warning. Something large has just appeared behind them, well inside the sensor’s range.

As the motion sensor found something, Kasumi immediately became alert. Her fingers flew over the controls, getting what information she could gleam from the various monitors. She stopped the Hammerhead, finding themselves unable to move forward.

“We’ve got something overhead! It looks like it’s moving from building to building. Slightly smaller than us. I can’t get a visual and we can’t move from here without risking it catching us before we catch it.”

Her heartbeat was pounding in her chest, the adrenaline threatening to take over. But she had to stay in control. Shepard had put her in charge for a reason. Taking in a calming breath, Kasumi kept herself in high alert without panicking. She had a solid team with her. They would get through this. She steadied her grip on the controls, ready to take evasive maneuvers should whatever was out there reveal itself. She had a feeling it wasn’t friendly.

kaidanalenko:

The rain was pounding, an incessant drone at the edge of his thoughts, a soft patter of life into an area of complete carnage and desolation.

It looked like no one had been left alive.

Something stirred in him then, some old anger, a deep seated hatred he had no name for. It was the same as Eden Prime, it was the same as Horizon; this crushing sadness and overwhelming need to strike back, to make the Reapers pay for every single life they had taken.

The city had been devestated by the attack, burnt out buildings and crumbling ruins, smoking under the torrent of rain, a testament to the level of destruction. He had hoped, somewhere under layers of realistic self preservation mechanism - they’re going to be all gone, there’s nothing you could have done to save them - that there would have been someone left to find and rescue. The scanner didn’t pick up any signs of life.

He kept a close eye on the scanner, his eyes flying over the display, hands tapping at the holographic interface it was attatched to idly, while another small part of him worried for the others.

The two in the Hammerhead with him had undoubtedly witnessed horrors before, had seen dead civilians sprawled in the mud, but Kaidan wondered whether they were prepared for this level of devestation. He himself was stretching his powers of calm to their fullest extent just to keep himself in the copilot chair and doing the job that was asked of him. A quick glance at Kasumi’s face told him she wasn’t coping, a subtle strain in her features that were usually so happy looking. For a moment, he wanted to reach out and comfort her, but he held still, suddenly conscious of the chain of command Shepard had placed on them for this mission. Perhaps a gesture like that would be more appropriate another time. Instead he gave her a small smile, a reassuring nod.

“We’re making good progress here. We might want to head further into the city, see if the damage patterns change any in more built up areas.” he tapped in some controls to the computer before turning to face Jack manning the cannon. “You alright back there, Jack?” Her silence was starting to worry him if he was being honest. If she wasn’t cussing and blustering in the back then maybe it was a sign that she was finding it hard to cope, too.

Feeling Kaidan’s eyes on her, Kasumi glanced over to see him smile and nod. Returning the gesture as best as she was able, the thief’s lips quirked upwards in the slightest on one side before fading again. Mouthing a “thank you” to her co-pilot, Kasumi turned her attention again to the various readouts. She did what she could to shake her thoughts away and focus on their surroundings.

“We’re making good progress here. We might want to head further into the city, see if the damage patterns change any in more built up areas.”

Kasumi nodded her head. “A good suggestion,” she replied, turning the Hammerhead towards the center of Hatre.

Hearing Kaidan’s question to the other biotic aboard, Kasumi frowned a little. Jack had been surprisingly quiet thus far, something she had not expected of the other woman in this scenario. She had figured Jack would have complained about having nothing to fire at. It would seem that she was not the only one in her own head during this mission.

Kasumi’s grip of the controls tightened as they were air-dropped into Hatre. As they leveled out above the ground in a central, open area, the thief immediately glanced at the life scans on her monitor. Turning the Hammerhead, she addressed the other two with her, “Keep your guard up. We don’t want to miss anything.”

As they maneuvered through the empty streets, Kasumi took note of where the damage was concentrated. The most crowded of the areas were hit the hardest, whole buildings brought to the floor beneath them. Navigating large rubble was made easier by the hoverjets, which the thief was grateful for. As much as she loved the idea of the Mako, she wasn’t sure she would want to be driving it over some of the terrain before her in these circumstances.

The longer they spent finding nothing but the aftermath of the Reapers invasion, the more stark everything seemed to Kasumi. Her face was set into a hard line, her expression grim. The desolation frightened her. Her hope for the rest of the galaxy wavered against the capabilities of the Reapers.　

janeshepard-:

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.”

Kasumi listened intently to Shepard’s orders before letting out an optimistic “Aye aye, Commander!” Jumping into the Hammerhead, Kasumi took her seat at the helm and directed Kaidan and Jack to their respective chairs.

“Be warned, if we take direct fire, the gun can only go vertically but it’s got guided missiles so if we find ourselves in that situation, our evasive maneuvers might be…erratic. This thing isn’t built like the Mako.”

As Kasumi gave her heads up, she strapped herself into her harness and booted up the onboard VI. “Let’s make sure we get all the intel we can about the Reapers.”

subjectzer0:

“Alright, watch out, people, I’m driving this bad boy!” Jack said as she walked over where Kasumi, Kaidan, and Shepard were gathering. Of course, the convict was only half serious and half yanking their chains. She was hoping to get particular reactions out of them for her amusement. Just the slightest expression of concern of worry would have sufficed. But she was not going to make a big deal out of it if they didn’t. “You have to at least let me take shotgun, or operate the cannon.” She added as she paced around the Hammerhead.

Although blowing stuff up sounded like it was right up her alley, even a girl like Jack would find it getting old after a while. That was where the excitement of the mission came into play. To be honest, she was not completely up to speed on what they were supposed to be doing, though it was only because she did not find herself caring all that much. “Unless, someone has a problem?” She said, speaking with her own tone that sounded almost casual, yet threatening. Again, she was only messing around, but sometimes the intimidation factor was amusing when it seemed to be effective.

With that..She was leaning against the Hammerhead itself, arms crossed.

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

Kasumi nodded along with Shepard, glad to have someone as level-headed as Kaidan along, just in case. No one knew what they were going to find planet-side.

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

“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.”

Kasumi strapped her armor into place and wiggled her fingers into her gloves before heading down to the cargo bay. As she stepped from the elevator, she stood near Shepard and crossed her arms.

“Anyone know who’s joining me in the hammerhead for this joyride?”

After Kasumi finished her food, she silently stood, cleaned her dish, and then went about pulling the cookies from the oven. She set apart the dextro from the levo cookies, using her customary red and white plates to separate them. As a precaution, she left a note on the side of the red plate, indicating it was dextro. Leaving them on the counter, she retreated to the port observation deck.

The thief slipped into the chair at her desk, the faint glow of the terminal outlining her features against the darkness of the room. She had decided to leave the lights off, allowing the stars and mood lighting around her to illuminate what she needed to see.

She set her fingers above the keyboard, running her nails across the keys as she contemplated how to start. “Best to get it over with,” Kasumi muttered. Her eyes narrowed as she recounted not only what she had seen, but what she had done aboard the reaper vessel.

Kasumi recalled the sickening feeling as she had stepped around the batarians, the single shot she had fired into each of their skulls, the feel of Zaeed’s knife cutting through the reaper cables. She remembered the words she had spoken to the lone batarian she had left just so the rest of them would still have gravity aboard the reaper.

As she typed the formal version of this story, Kasumi clenched her teeth. Stopping, she closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. When she opened them again to resume her report, the thief had done her best to separate herself from the memory. Her expression held no trace of the trauma as she concluded typing and sent the report to Shepard.

Once she had turned off the terminal, Kasumi hung her head and placed her hands flat on the desk. Her fingers curled inwards as if she could grip the smooth surface.  A few deep breaths and the memory washed over her fully. But she did not cry. Raising her head, she remembered she had done what she could and then she let the memory go. She sighed and a small smile touched her lips. Reliving the memory once more and letting it go in the form of her report had given the thief the sort of catharsis she needed. Grabbing a book from her shelf, she settled into her preferred couch, and took some time to read before the next mission.

Kasumi carved through the roast and set up a pile of plates and utensils. After sitting down with her dinner, she slowly ate, lost in her own thoughts. This celebration would be short-lived. It wouldn’t be long before the crew returned to reality. Already it crept at the edges of their senses, tinted their words, hid behind their eyes.The thief knew it. They all knew it. She would sit down and relive the atrocities she had witnessed on the Reaper ship and the Memphis by putting it into formal words in some report for Shepard to read.

Putting another bite into her mouth, Kasumi continued to stare at nothing. She tried not to be pulled down by the gravity of the situation. The thief had often attempted to keep a positive attitude, to take life as it came at her and adapt to it. She had done that with Keiji’s death, on the Collector Base, with Aerei’s passing, and then finally with her feelings for their resident turian.

Kasumi had kept few friends over the years. Everyone she came across was some sort of business transaction. Even Shepard had been a means to an end. The final paragraph’s to Keiji’s story. Once the graybox was in her possession, Keiji would only live through her. Aerei’s memory had held pieces of him but not enough for a spirit to exist through. And now those pieces were gone as well.

The thief clutched her fork a little tighter.

Shepard had done right by her. She had gone above and beyond. The commander had allowed Kasumi to keep Keiji close and had given her a higher purpose than stealing and the occasional vigilante operation. And she had survived that suicidal mission. They had defeated the Collector’s on their home turf and now they were targeting the Reapers directly. Until the Alliance took Shepard.

Kasumi wasn’t sure she could return to her former life. Not with Keiji gone. Not with  Shepard’s influence. And certainly not with the inevitability of the Reapers. But the thief wasn’t quite sure what she would do instead. However, one thing was for certain: she would fight back against the Reapers.

zaeedgoddamnmassani:

Zaeed leaned back in his chair, eyes closed, letting the chatter of the Normandy’s crew wash over him.  It seemed like a few of the aliens didn’t quite get the concept of a birthday, and the human crew were trying to help explain it to them.  A small smile quirked at the edges of his lips as he listened to all of the conversations.  He missed the downtime, sometimes.  Merc bands tended to take their unwinding almost as seriously as the missions, with sometimes ridiculous consequences.  Shepard’s crew was a little more… straight-laced.  With a few exceptions of course.  

His stomach audibly growled at him, and he glanced up at Kasumi.  ”How much longer on the food?  And if you’re taking requests, how ‘bout cookies for dessert?  Those ones you made a while back were goddamn fantastic.”

As Tali seemed to be considering something, Kasumi tilted her head slightly, awaiting her answer.

 ”Nothing very strong though…I don’t want a repeat of Omega.”

Then a certain sound caught her attention with Zaeed’s voice following.

”How much longer on the food?  And if you’re taking requests, how ‘bout cookies for dessert?  Those ones you made a while back were goddamn fantastic.”

The thief smiledat the compliment. It wasn’t hard to get chocolate chip cookies right but it was nice to see Zaeed enjoyed something other than taking out enemies for credits. “A few more minutes. Enough time for me get Tali a drink and prep your cookies.”

Glancing at Tali, Kasumi uttered a quick “be right back” and went to her room. The thief quickly made Tali a weak turian cocktail and brought it back out, handing it to the quarian with a smile. As the timer on her omni-tool counted down, Kasumi organized some pre-made cookie dough on the cookie sheets, ready to switch them with the roast. As usual, she had one tray that was levo and a smaller one that was dextro.

When her timer sounded, she called out that dinner was finished, carefully pulling it from the oven with her hands covered. Placing the cookies in their place, she set another timer and looked over at everyone. “So, are we gonna sing or should we just cut this up and eat?”