Hey people!
The idea for this story came to me when I was thinking about what other designations there are within the Alliance other than the "N". Where are all the other operatives? What do they do? Are they working behind the scenes? A bunch of unanswered questions.
So I decided to write a story about what goes on behind the scenes, both within the Normandy and out, exploring the aspects of the story not mentioned or glazed over in the games.
There are OC characters in this story, one of which is a key character and hence it is slightly AU, but not that much. Ashley and Wrex both survived Mass Effect 1.
Anyways, I hope you enjoy! :)
"Miranda, program the mech to turn on the mercs when they're activated," Shepard ordered, turning to the woman at her left flank, "Taylor and I'll keep watch."
Miranda nodded and briskly started to go to work on the terminal. She didn't quite trust the Cerberus operative, but Shepard recognised ability when it was presented. She wouldn't let her anxiety get in the way of the mission, not now, not with so much at stake. Although she wasn't at all comfortable with the idea of one of the Illusive Man's best operatives armed and behind her back during missions, nothing could be done about it. She had to make do and just press on. Just like she'd always done. Just press on.
She could not allow her personal opinions get in the way of her mission. So many lives were depending on her. The Collectors, the bastards that had apparently spaced her, were abducting colonists. Human colonists.
A confused Miranda looked back at her, "Shepard, this mech has already been reprogrammed to turn on the mercs."
"How's that possible? Who would do that?" Taylor thought aloud. Shepard knew he was a good man, but being a Cerberus agent as well, she couldn't completely trust him either. At least he was ex-Alliance.
"Can't know for sure right now. We'll leave the mechs as they are for now, but keep your eyes peeled. Be prepared for anything," Shepard said as she moved out of the room and walked down the hall towards the barricade.
A Blue Suns merc walked by her on the way, "Freelancers, the next assault is about to start. Hurry your asses up into position!"
"Wish me luck," she replied dryly, but the merc had already turned the corner and out of her sight by the time she got the words out, moving hurriedly towards the barricaded area.
The rooms were empty as they walked towards the bridge and Shepard noticed a lone batarian working on a seemingly broken gun ship; from the way his legs appeared out from under the ship, Shepard could tell he was repairing the underside of the machine while lying on his back.
You're making this too easy, Shepard thought as she approached the batarian with lethal intent. However, as she stood over the body, she noticed the flow of a red fluid from underneath the ship at her feet. Lowering herself to the point where her face was almost touching the floor, she peered in to the small gap between the bottom of the ship and the floor to be met with the sight of Cathka's body wearing an expression of shock, complemented by a gaping hole through the middle of his forehead.
Shepard felt unnerved, not from the grotesquery of the corpse but from the fact that she was almost certain now that there was someone other than her lurking around the base and sabotaging the mercs themselves.
"I doubt the mercs would start killing each other again before they took care of Archangel," Miranda said as she approached Shepard by the gunship.
"I agree. Whoever did this probably isn't a member of the three merc groups," Shepard replied, "Maybe another freelancer, like us."
The Cerberus operative's brows furrowed as she thought through the multitude of different possibilities, while Jacob stood guard by the entrance.
"We have to keep moving for now," Shepard said, taking out her Avenger rifle, "I don't like going in blind but we don't have much time on our hands."
"I think they're about to start the final push, Shepard," Jacob said, peering out of the room and looking towards the barricades.
"Then we better hurry. Wouldn't want Archangel to die on us before we get to him."
They left the room and rushed on towards the barricade, where a Blue Suns turian was shouting out towards the freelancers, "All right! This is it freelancers, you're up first! Get into your damn positions!"
The freelancers were lined up with their backs against the barricade, firearms drawn, some with keen expressions while others with those which resembled regret. She didn't like their chances; if Archangel didn't take them out, she would have to. At least that stupid kid wasn't there.
The turian glanced down at Shepard, who was at a half crouch alongside the barricade with the rest of the freelancers, noticing the N7 logo on her chest plate, "The hell's an N7 doing here?"
Shepard shrugged, "Looted it. The fit was fine so I decided to keep it for myself."
"Right," the turian muttered, looking almost unconvinced, "Guess it's my lucky day. That thing's got to be worth a nice sum of credits."
You're going die was what the turian was telling her, Shepard knew.
It'll be too late by the time you realise what's happening, she thought. She would have shown a grin if it were not for the extreme circumstances.
"Okay! Go, go, go!" the turian bellowed, waving the freelancers over the barricade.
Shepard vaulted over the wall and landed square on her feet, closely followed by Jacob and Miranda and looked up over to the balcony across the bridge. Perfect for a sniper's nest, she thought.
Sprinting over to the nearest pillar to use as cover, she caught glimpses of several freelancers' heads disappearing into a cloud of gore. Archangel was no push over.
"Give'em hell. It's time to spill a little merc blood," she said, landing a headshot onto a freelancer ahead of her. She looked back towards the barricade to see the Blue Suns turian looking shocked with surprise.
"She's with Archangel!" he shouted, ordering a squad of mercs over the barricade to their deaths with a wave of his hand.
Instead of turning back to shoot at the mercs by the barricade, Shepard pushed on across the bridge as Jacob and Miranda covered her flank, weaving through enemy fire and the occasional concussive shot from Archangel.
Shooting at the backs of mercs was easy, but getting out?
One thing at a time, Shepard thought, one thing at a time.
