[It really bugged me that no one would explain where the rest of the Normandy crew had gone, minus the very few that show up again. I started with that.]
Commander Shepard had all but kicked out as much of the crew as she could get away with before she made her trip to earth.
EDI could do everything a crew could as far as running the Normandy; the living crew were pretty obsolete, but she'd never say her living sentient counterparts didn't help her function better. But the last leg of the journey, they all knew, would put most of them in the brig. Or worse.
So it was that they made stop at a colony a few systems out and the Commander made her last set of commands.
They were to blame everything on her, if they were cornered, they were to disappear from Cerberus as best as they were able and required to contact a few specific people she knew if they had trouble getting out.
Most of them took the offer. Gabby and Kenneth snuck back on board. Joker stayed too. Said EDI was useless without her pilot.
Thane was the hardest to watch Shepard leave. The emotional and sexual chemistry between the two of them was palpable.
He was the last person to see the Normandy leave the surface and break atmo.
The colony was a system over from Arcturus Station, giving them the distance and time to reinvent themselves if they felt the need to do so. Many of them did, knowing better than to underestimate Cerberus. Shepard's team left over the course of a week in different directions. Most of the human crew stayed planetside.
Kelly insisted that Tanith stick with her.
"Trust me, I've got lots more experience with Cerberus than you," she told her shorter partner in crime. "We'd do better here in this little colony than a city or a space station."
Tanith had shrugged at the time, her mind elsewhere; where else was she going to go, anyway?
Noveria sprang to mind, but Tanith had no desire to bring her troubles to Lorik, especially with how awkward they'd left things last time she'd seen him.
She groaned silently and willed away the memory. She really didn't want to dwell on that right now.
It was the tail end of growing season on the colony called 'Sorrow's End'. An optimistic name that suited Kelly Chambers just fine, but struck Tanith as a jinx. Still, the place was really nice, a solid community established as a farming colony about twelve years ago. They even had children there.
Technology, in most populated places, made a lot of manual labor obsolete, but farming was still done best under the sun with a hat and as many pairs of sturdy hands as you could find. Kelly and Tani had no problems finding work and establishing themselves as a pair of labor workers. Many of the former SR-2 crew followed suit in a variety of work, but most found a kind of meditative solace working the fields at least some of the time.
Their advanced training helped upgrade just about every piece of equipment, program, engineering whatever the place had, and the leery attitude of the colonial folk quickly faded to welcome and gratitude. Five months into the season flew by like nothing.
It was the happiest Tani had ever seen her crew-members.
Harvest season was in full swing, the growing seasons longer here than on earth. They'd pull in a massive bumper crop along with their all organic, no hormone or chemical haul. The suppliers would come in soon to buy directly from the farmers before too long; even though stasis pods could keep the stuff fresh indefinitely, having three harvests before the cold set in really cramped the locals for space. They hoped two more seasons like the last four would get them enough money to build the warehouses they needed, but for now, they sold their wares as often as they had a full inventory.
Mostly sold to suppliers of high end restaurants, they grew a variety of greens and fruits popular with Asari. It was an unintentional niche, but a very lucrative one. Every bountiful season led to a massive pay day. They had no intention of switching clientele any time soon.
Tani and Kelly were driving in a shuttle loaded with goods into what was playfully called 'market square'. It was really the landing strip, crowded with ships of all different make and model, suppliers lining up with datapads in hand, ready to bargain and bid and haul away some produce. It still surprised both of them that this tiny colony was so popular.
It made Tani very nervous.
"This place isn't as obscure as we thought," she told Kelly when they'd been told about the upcoming market day. "Over a hundred buyers on first harvest? The first day? This thing can go on for a whole week!"
Kelly had laughed at her. "That's really not a lot, Tani," she teased. "You need to relax. Stop jumping at shadows! This place is great, they're successful, and we're on the ass-end of Cerberus' radar." She hugged her friend. "Please. Enjoy it here! We're safe! We can actually just live for a while."
Tani stared out over the shuttle port, uneasy. She still couldn't wrap her around it all.
I mean, I know what's out there. The Reapers are coming. We all know it. We're at a stalemate and this place is so small... The Commander said that they'd come after the well populated areas first.
She wanted to think that Shepard would stop it all before it went too far, before the machines came to planets like this one. She tried to convince herself that they were safe here.
But deep down, she knew better, and as the days went by, she became more and more certain as to what they needed to do.
They needed to leave, they needed to help. Cerberus be damned. There was no way Cerberus would stand by while humans, humans, were harvested against their wills. Or worse.
As they pulled in and landed, Tani made the decision to talk to Kelly about it that night when they were off. They couldn't stay here anymore. It was because of places like this that they needed to be out there and help.
They started unloading the sample crates on to the purchasing docks, nodding to fellow workers as they passed. Most everyone here they knew today, all ex-Cerberus, bringing in the goods and passing them out to the buyers for scanning. Before long, their voices were lifted in banter and laughter, comraderie blazing bright amongs the crewmembers of the Normandy.
After about ten minutes or so, Tani stopped what she was doing. She shaded her eyes against the afternoon sun, looking down the line as purchases were called and hauls were placed aboard ships.
That's funny, she thought. "Seems like everyone working the market today is all old crew..." she mumbled.
"What?" perked Kelly, distracted, keying through her pad to tally money and mark off inventory. She looked up and peered about, then shrugged. "Eh, it's probably just coincidence. There's gotta be more than just us; we'd be swamped!"
Tani shrugged too and went back to work, only to pause again, staring out over the square.
The only place that was busy at all ... was their end of the docks. All the other ships at the far end were empty, and no other shuttles from the colony but the ones on this end, brought in by Kelly and Tani and... and ...
All the old Cerberus crew.
Just as it dawned on her, every single 'buyer' turned around to face them and pulled out a couple of guns each. The collective gasps from the old Normandy crew were punctuated by dropping crates and muffled swear words.
From the depths of one ship came a man that moved with deadly grace, unnatural and too smooth for human joints. His face was half covered in optic enhancers and other bionic equipment, wires and technology that joined more past his collar and traced down his body. The hilt of a weapon, two of them, peaked over each shoulder. He wasn't anyone Tani recognize, but in an age were human culture blended happily with the other, it surprised her to find his features distinctly Asian.
"Who-" she began to whisper, only to have Kelly grip her wrist so hard Tani could have sworn she was grinding her bones together.
"Kai Leng," she breathed, the woman as pale as Tani could ever imagine, the red-head's eyes wide with horror.
When Tani opened her mouth to ask again, Kelly shoved her behind their shuttle. They were far enough back that there were no suppliers nearby; maybe they could sneak away and-
Kai Leng spoke. "Hello, my fellow coworkers," he said, his voice laced with arrogance, a private joke pulling half his mouth in a nasty smirk. "The Illusive Man wanted me to convey his gratitude for your years of service, but regrets to inform you that, as times are dire and loyalty the only commodity..." He raised a hand and gestured to his armed comrades. "He will have to terminate your contracts."
Pistols were raised. Disbelieving shouts given.
Cerberus open fired.