31 Menae

--> We have just passed the boundaries of Turian space. I've ordered the now expanded crew run check and double check on all systems. We can't afford the slightest hitch here. We'll not be running away from a war zone this time, but instead diving straight into the heart of the fray. It would never do to offer the Primarch a ride only to be embarrassed by a flat tire and capture by giant space lobsters.

Liara has set up shop in Miranda's old office, filling it to the rafters with various and sundry servers and monitors and mechanisms I know not the purpose of. She is now multitasking overtime, balancing her role as Shadow Broker in assessing and managing tremendous resources and intelligence to aid the Alliance and gather material for the Prothean device, and studying the device's blueprints herself in effort to aid construction, all while assuring me she's still ready for combat. While I appreciate the support, it would be the height of miscalculation to heedlessly pull her away from her more crucial work while there are dedicated soldiers standing ready for combat. She'll likely need diversion from time to time to prevent working herself mad at her desk, but her talents are far more urgently needed in shining light upon the secrets of this mysterious Prothean contraption.

What a surprise it would be if this oversized wonder gadget were to simply blow up in our faces.

In addition to the recruits from the embassy, Engineer Adams is back on board, as is Dr. Chakwas. It is cheering to see the ship once more manned by old friends. Some of them, anyway. There are a lot of new faces among the crew, and at least twenty of the old crew are history, killed by Collectors on the old Normandy, SR1.

There’s no way everyone aboard the new Normandy, SR2, will come through this war alive. Some are going to die, quite possibly everyone. We’ve seen some tough assignments, but no one alive has ever seen a challenge like this.

I've looked at the reports, and following surrender to the Alliance when we left Cerberus, the Normandy has been properly scrubbed for any Cerberus monitoring or control devices. Everything is guaranteed secure, specifications are in line with Alliance regulations, and the stealth systems have been upgraded. The capacity of the heat sinks has been improved to the point where we can drop out of lightspeed without setting off every sensor in range. Of course, it was always possible before to enter system behind a planet, but this new development affords a tremendous degree of flexibility. Moreover, the weaknesses in the stealth systems that the Collectors exploited have been corrected. Unless we're deliberately trying to get their attention, even Reapers should have a hard time detecting us now. We also have a pair UT-47 Kodiak Shuttles primed for deployment, both equipped with the same stealth tech as the Normandy. And the final delight, all Cerberus logos have been removed: the Normandy once again flies her true Alliance colours.

It’s good to be back.

--> Extraction complete, the Primarch is on board.

Barring Humanity, the Turians have the best military in the Galaxy, and the Reapers are hitting Palavan with half of what they threw at Earth, but the Turians are still fighting a losing battle. They’re holding their own for now, but their world is in flames, and the eventual outcome is a forgone conclusion. The focal point of the fight there has moved from the planet to the moon. The Turian heavy weapon emplacements there are strong enough to deny the Reapers undisputed control of Palavan airspace, and even the Reapers have hesitated to attack the defence batteries directly from orbit, instead fielding vast numbers of infantry across the rocky surface of the moon to take it on foot.

Primarch Fedorian is dead, his shuttle shot down as it tried to leave the moon. The Turian line of succession is designed for situations like this, but the sheer mass of causalities, rumoured and confirmed, complicated things. Palavan Command finally settled upon General Adrian Victus as the new Primarch. An unconventional tactician, popular with his men but not his hitherto superiors, Victus is understandably torn to be taken away from the scene of action where his men so desperately need him.

Victus is a practical man. He’s agreed to join forces with Humanity on one condition: that we recruit the Krogan to assist Palavan. While they lack any kind of meaningful fleet the Krogan are the toughest fighters in the Galaxy, and if the Turians can keep the Reapers on their toes in space, the Krogan can turn the tide on the ground.

So far as I know, the Reapers have thus far completely ignored Tuchanka, likely on account of the Krogan having neither political position nor fleet, so they should be anxious to get in on the fight. The primary challenge in gaining the aid of the Krogan will be not only getting agreement, but getting all of them to work together. The Krogan have fallen back on a splintered framework of antagonistic clans since the Krogan Rebellions. Urdnot Wrex, last I knew, had been attempting to garner enough support to unite the Krogan and end some of the more self-destructive customs. Let us hope his work has been successful.

General Victus will remain aboard the Normandy for now.  At this time it's as safe a place as can be found in the known Galaxy. The man doesn't dally about. He's already called for a war summit with the Asari, Salarians, and Krogan to discuss terms for emergency military cooperation. Unfortunately, despite this brisk and efficient Turian soldier-turned-politician and his prompt action in the face of emergency, the Salarians are dragging their heels, and the Asari have outright refused to attend. Customarily the exemplars of diplomacy and negotiation, the Asari have declared the odds of successfully uniting the disgruntled Krogan with their hereditary enemies to be so slim as to be not even worthwhile. A pity. With Turians on one side and the Krogan on the other, and the snide Salarian Dalatross in the wings, we could use the able talents of Asari persuasion.

Despite all of this chaos, doubt, and peril, I can at least remove one worry from my mind: Garrus is back, alive and well. Like Victus he was on Palavan's moon, and now is back on board the Normandy, multitasking in his official role as "Chief Advisor on Reaper Forces" to the Primarch and away team soldier and chief calibrations officer for the Normandy. It's good to once again have his dry nonchalance. The Normandy just wouldn't be the same without him.

EDI has occupied the Cerberus robot body. It was not a seamless transition. A hidden back-up in the robot's processing unit tried to sabotage the Normandy in the process. EDI assures me that the synthetic form is now completely safe and purged of remaining Cerberus software. She's walking around the Normandy in her new body like a Human woman might in a new dress. Joker is of course beside himself with glee. I can't say I'm especially pleased to see the form that nearly murdered Ashley Williams, the same that tried to steal the Prothean data, sauntering about the ship. Even if only for Joker's sake, I wish EDI hadn't occupied that deceptively feminine body; the poor fellow seems to be growing confused.

Despite the overall danger the crew seem buoyant, confident that the great Commander Shepard will lead them to victory, certain that Humanity will never be defeated. While I maintain an attitude of brisk direction to sustain morale, I am far from easy at mind.

Humanity has yet to meet an enemy it could not best. We barely got our feet wet with the Turians, and the Batarians were little more than a backstreet brawl. This struggle, the Reaper Invasion, will test the strength and resolve of Humanity to its very limits. Live or die, this war will be like no other, brutal and horrifying beyond the scope of mortal imagination. While our fleets and our colonies still remain, we've seen Earth struck with more carnage in the space of three days than throughout the sum total of known history.

And it's only just begun.

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