The next few hours were spent loading up shipping crates and the shuttle with as many artifacts as they could haul. Some relics were far too large to ship back to Alliance space so easily, however. Within the armory lay a number of colossal tablets detailing the works of the Protheans and the last days of the Reaper-Prothean War, or as Javik called it, the War in Heaven. Numerous other storage units were too large to fit aboard the shuttle, and thus were left to gather dust for a while longer. Bau sent word of the Cerberus intel to Eden Prime's militia, who had already taken their first steps to pushing Cerberus off their planet. A unit of militiamen led by on-site Alliance commandos would see to the armory's security.<br/><br/>John stepped into the<span style="font-style: italic">Midway</span>'s comm center and saluted as an image of Admiral Hackett manifested above the hololith.<br/><br/>'Hell of a job you pulled there, Commander,' Hackett rasped. 'All of these artifacts will go a long way to bolstering both the Alliance's and the other Citadel races' Exalted. Dr. T'soni also tells me that she managed to pick up a series of blueprints connected to the tech we have in Mars' archives.'<br/><br/>'Thank you, sir. Liara apparently believes it's some sort of Prothean device designed to counteract the Reapers. We're not completely sure of its workings or exact purpose yet, but she thinks she'll have the full picture once she gets to Mars.'<br/><br/>Hackett nodded. 'Duly noted. Something's come up. I'll send you an e-mail with all the details later. Suffice to say, we need your team in the Sol System ASAP. Get Liara to Mars. The rest of you will dock at New Mombasa Station for debriefing and a couple of days of shore leave. Because of the circumstances, I can't book transport home for your non-human crewmates, sadly.'<br/><br/>'Aye aye, sir.'<br/><br/>'By the way, Commander, the Fourth Fleet's currently stationed above Earth. I took the liberty of letting your parents know you'll be around.'<br/><br/>'Thank you, sir. Is there anything else?'<br/><br/>Hackett frowned. 'Yes. What's the status of your ground team? Your report said Cerberus deployed four Exalted and one unknown against you.'<br/><br/>'Minor injuries and damage all around, sir. Bruises, cuts, and cracked ribs for me. Lieutenant Esone's got some minor burns, Doctor Czevak's down in sickbay for overexerting herself, and 042 has suffered minor hull damage. Nothing we can't fix with time, though.'<br/><br/>'Good. Cerberus' Exalted are worrying, but it's reassuring to know they can be beaten. Send me your team's armorcam footage when you can. Hackett out.'<br/><br/>With that, the hololith darkened and deactivated. The Armorer had given them all hell for the damage done to their artifact gear, but she was confident that she could repair it all. John was content with Gold Experience, so that would remain aboard the ship. He left the rest of the Exalted to select their own share of the pile and retired to the modest captain's quarters at the top of the vessel. It was smaller than the<span style="font-style: italic">Normandy</span>'s, and far, far more spartan. Bed, personal armory, footlocker, desk, and shower. It was a shoebox by comparison to Shepard's, but it would serve its purpose with no distractions. Presently, he sat at the desk and opened up his message terminal. Spam, spam, lovely spam, wonderful spam, dick extension spam, Batarian prince spam, and--ooh, coupons for burgers at Spacey's. He'd keep that. Ah, there it was, hidden beneath all the spam: Hackett's e-mail. It was armorcam footage of Shepard's mission to Aratoht. Raising an eyebrow, John opened the file.<br/><br/>As the minutes passed, he realized just why Hackett was in a hurry. The end was nigh, and the galaxy wasn't ready. Not by a long shot.