2191:
Planet Kalio
The shuttles approached the research base on Kalio, carrying an N7 strike team led by Commander James Vega. All the soldiers on board had been briefed on the mission: a possible Pre-War Cerberus lab being used by old Cerberus commanders who survived the war after the Reapers were destroyed.
"Alright boys 'n' girls, you know the score" Vega said to the N7's, "We're dealing with Cerberus, they could be indoctrinated, or they could be recruiting post-war. We believe the ones in charge are still indoctrinated from the war, but they could still have a few new guys on the ground. Intel says that whatevers in there is big. We go in, take out local hostiles, and orders are if we cant secure it for ourselves, we destroy it. We clear? Then sit down, shut up, and wait 'til we get there!"
Sergeant Charlie Hawkins got his gear ready as the base came into view. At first glance it looked like a standard R&D lab, but then he noticed the two rotating rings in the centre of the complex, a ball of blue energy in the epicenter. His first thought was a mass relay, but they were all still being reverse engineered and rebuilt, and this one was too small.
"Any idea what is is they're doing in there, Commander?" one of the men asked.
"No idea pendejo!" Vega replied "I couldnt give two shits either, as long as it doesnt belong to those assholes!"
"Commander, we're approaching the drop point now! Good luck Sir" said the co-pilot. The shuttles touched down and the squads jumped out.
"Okay people fan out! You know the plan. Mako take point! Hammerhead support." Vega ordered.
"All the callsigns in the universe and you choose those, Commander?" Asked one of the team
"I learned from the best of the best, boy!" he replied. Everyone knew of Vega's service in the war, how he'd served under Commander Shepard. Vega was practically a legend to these men. Everyone who'd been on the Normandy was.
"This is weird. We should have encountered Cerberus by now" Hawkins said. And right on cue, four men came out of a door, all with guns and started firing on the N7s.
"Take cover! Take cover!" someone shouted as one of the squad was shot through the head. They opened fire on the Cerberus squad, Hakins concentrated fire on the one to the left. Took a whole magazine but the guy went down, he then assisted with the other three, which took as much punch before going down.
"Clear!" they shouted, checking there was no one else waiting for them. Hawkins examined the bodies, and didnt like what saw.
"Shit. Commander Vega, they have Infiltrators here, Combat-class. 500X series, unless im very much mistaken." Vega came and examined the bodies too, he saw where there should be bullet wounds there was just torn skin, blood, and machinery underneath. Cerberus had upgraded their infiltrators from the friendly looking fembot that EDI had controlled, to full-on war machines designed simply to kill.
"I thought we took out the last production factory for those things five months ago." one of the techs said.
"These must be the last ones then" Vega said back, "This facility is for something else, im sure of it. Keep moving"
They carried on for several minutes, only running into a few squads of Cerberus soldiers along the way. This facility was very understaffed. they made it to what looked like a control room, with a few Cerberus scientists at the various computers. As soon as they saw the N7 squad, they tried to kill themselves, proving they were indoctrinated.
"Indocs! Stun them!" Hawkins yelled, "biotics, stasis fields, now!" In the years since the end of the war, they had had to fight small remnants of the pro-human organisation. Familiar with the suicide-on-capture orders Cerberus drilled into its recruits, the New-Alliance had developed methods and devices for dealing with them. Using stunners or biotics, they would freeze the subject, then use a small tazer looking object against their neck which would disable any occular-nerve flashbangs or other "ways out". Most of them didnt use cynanide capsules in their teeth anymore, but in the event that someone did, they resorted to the old fashioned method: yank out his teeth.
After they had subdued the scientists and restrained them, it was time for answers. Vega was notorious for getting answers out of Cerberus personell, like he had a personal vendetta against them.
"Out of the way, ladies and gentlemen, let the master through!" He went to the lead scientist, an old man with twitching eyes. "Stevens, get on the computers and see what you can find."
Vega looked the man in the eyes.
"So, Pops, you gonna tell me whats going on here? Whats with the weird looking mass relay-type thing outside? And why do you still have infiltrators running around?" the man just laughed.
"You cant stop us! Its already begun, and whats we've set in motion... nothing can un-set it! It's in the past, you see?" the old man ranted.
"Whats he talking about, Vega?" Sergeeant Mantz asked.
"Vega!" the old man started "N7 Commander James Vega! i know you, crew of the Normandy."
"You know me?" Vega asked
"We knew all your faces, everyone who served under... Commander Shepard" he said Shepards name with particular distaste. He looked back at Vega, "You're whole life will mean nothing, none of them will."
Vega slapped the man across the face "hey! old man, what do you know about Shepard?"
"Commander Shepard, the biggest monster of all, destroyed the Masters and killed the Illusive Man" a tear rolled down the mans face. Some of the squad had other opinions.
"Good man!"
"Tough fucker!"
"Best of the N7s!"
Vega spent the next few minutes beating the old man, who had decided he didnt want to give over any more answers. Vega wasnt doing any real damage, just enough to get the guy talking.
"Commander... Shepard... wont matter... after today!" the old man said through a bloody mouth.
"Why, what are you planning you son of a bitch?!" Vega hit him again.
"Shepard wont... destroy the Reapers... this time! He'll die before he gets that chance" he said
"What does that mean?" Hawkins asked "The Reapers were destroyed five years ago! He's alive right now!"
"Oh, Jesus Christ..." Stevens said, in a state of complete horror.
"What is it, man?" Vega asked
"Sir, look at what they've built" he said, beckoning towards the computer. Vega and Hawkins both observed the screen and saw a project name and a note from the old man:
Project Rewrite:
The Reapers, being the magnificent machines they are, have recognized the very unlikely chance of them losing the war. I use the term "recognized" lightly, there is no chance they will lose, but they are taking no chances and have instructed the Illusive man and myself to deliver them a way out. Where the Reapers have the technology and the resources, Cerberus has what no one else does: human ingenuity. Even the Reapers never successfully resurrected a clinically dead organism, but we did it with Commander Shepard. The Reapers have given us all the technology, resources and plans they can provide, and now the rest is up to me. The Illusive Man has gone to the Citadel, now orbiting Earth. And I must complete the mission entrusted to me. To build a machine that can allow one to travel across time and space. And then, erase Commander Shepard from history.
"Those fuckers!" Vega shouted
"Theres more" Stevens said, "heres the latest one"
Project Rewrite - Complete:
We've done it, its taken years of work and research while all the time staying out of the eyes of our enemies, but the Time Displacement Relay is finished. Once again proving that humanity really is the dominant race in this universe. But I have no plans for personal gain with this technology, as I have orders from a higher power. The Reapers trusted me with this task before they died, and now I will make sure they are reborn, this time they will not be destroyed. Commander Shepard will be killed before he can join the Alliance. Before he is even born, to be precise. We won't be able to activate this facility without the New-Alliance noticing so we will have to be quick. This will be my final log, they'll most likely kill me, or imprison me. But I dont care as long as the Reapers live! Doctor Maklov, signing off.
"Its already started!" Maklov said "you cant stop it now! Its finally going to happen!" he then started to laugh like a madman
"Stevens, wheres this Time Relay? We need to destroy it!" Vega shouted
"Here!" he looked at a readout of the facility "just down that corridor outside this room"
"Hawkins, Jones, with me now!" they set off out of the room down the hall towards a large door, Stevens opened it for them and they carried on through. The room they were in was massive, with a platform in the centre.
With a man standing there.
"NO!" Vega shouted. There was a brilliant flash of blue light, and the man was gone.
"Fuck!" Hawkins yelled "can we reverse it? bring him back?"
"No" Stevens said over the comm, "and that was an infiltrator, Hawkins. 500X, like you said earlier."
"An infiltrator?" Vega looked horrified "they'll never seem it coming!" he started looking at his hands, as if expecting to fade from existence. "We've lost everything" he said "Shepard'll die, the Reapers will win"
"No" Hawkins said "send me through, i'll stop it. Stevens, wheres it headed?"
"You mean when and -"
"Dont get smart with me, sunshine. Just tell me quick." Hawkins asked.
"Hold on, getting the readings up. Shit"
"What?" Vega said.
"April 08, year 2154, location: New Hope Station. Target: Hannah Shepard. They're gonna kill her before she gives birth to Commander Shepard!"
"Right, send me through" Hawkins repeated.
"Im comin' with!" Vega said.
"Sorry Sir, i can only send one person through at a time, and this things only got enough juice for one more trip. The first one alone nearly tore it apart. I cant change the date either, Hawkins. You'll have to move pretty sharpish once you arrive, that 500X will be faster, smarter and more adaptive than you"
"lucky me"
"You cant take any tech or armour through either, messes with the Displacement systems"
"But that 500X is a fuckin' robot!" Vega said.
"Yeah, covered in skin." Stevens said.
"So i'll arrive with no guns, tech or clothes? wonderful" Hawkins asked
"You'll keep your clothes, dunno where you got that idea from..." Stevens carried on "just no armour"
"Well, Here I go" Hawkins said as he stepped out onto the platform. "This'll be fun. Travel through time, find Mr and Mrs Shepard, destroy the 500X, save baby Shepard and by extension everyone who's ever lived... shit, i'll be stuck in the past. Ah well, not important. Commander Vega, Stevens, and the rest of you crazy N7 bastards, been a privilege fighting and killing with you over the years" he said before taking off his armour and dropping his weapons, radio and omni-tool. Now he was just standing in a tight shirt and trousers you wear under armour, he was even barefoot.
"Good luck, you crazy son of a bitch" Vega shook his hand and grinned, "wait 'til the man himself hears about this." Vega cleared the platform and gave Stevens the all clear.
"Good luck Hawkins" Stevens said over a loudspeaker. "Try not to change any major historical events or anything, if possible try to take out the 500X before it finds the Shepards, that way everything stays the same.
There was a blue flash and a burning sensation all over his body, then he was gone.