Shepard could tell that something wasn't right. She could feel it in the air, in the prickling of the hairs on the back of her neck, in the uneasy silence. She motioned her companions to either side of the main door while she used her omni-tool to start decrypting the lock. Hackett specified this chamber to be the generator; vital to some wider Cerberus plan that was deemed too need-to-know for Shepard's team. The Cerberus forces they had met so far were sparsely dotted about the base – contrary to intel, which suggested the team would meet heavy resistance. It seemed logical, then, that the bulk of enemy forces would be at the generator itself. As the decryption program ran its' course, Shepard rolled to cover next to Tali. The metal shutters slowly screamed open, and Shepard's hand tensed around her assault rifle. She readied herself for the barrage of bullets that was going to be released from the room…
A minute passed in silence. Then another.
Shepard peered round from cover into large chamber. The room was vast and circular, as large as the room that held SR2's mass effect core, with the walls curving into a large thick column in the middle of the room. The ribbed effect of the large dividers that jutted out of the walls at regular intervals, made the whole room look like the inside of an orange, and wires snaked across the floor into these panels. The centre column was unlike anything Shepard had ever come across. It was hollow, cement mixed with steel to hold its rigid structure, with a beam of soft blue light glowing gently through its core. In front of the column was a control panel.
"So… where is everyone?" A gravelly voice spoke, Shepard's second companion.
"I don't know, but I don't like it." She walked up to the panel, using her omni-tool to try to gain access. "Tali, any idea what this thing is?"
"Not a one," Shepard detected hints of curiosity in her voice; audible despite the tinny quality given to it by the suit.
"Hang on a sec there's some interference-" Shepard's fingers whizzed across the keyboard, filling gaps in the lines of code to crack the panel open. "Almost there-yes!" She watched the screen blink a few times in recognition of Shepard's successful hack.
The beam of light in the column before them hummed into action, rings of energy pulsing from both ends of it to crash violently in the centre. The doors slammed shut at lightning speed as the crashing rings sent out lashes of energy towards the group.
"Spirits, Shepard! What the hell did you do?"
"I don't know! I only just got into the system!" Shepard was annoyed and hurt at the slightly accusatory tone in the voice. She brought her omni-tool to the system to try and undo whatever she'd triggered, but she was locked out. The door was wrenched open by an Atlas just long enough to allow Cerberus forces through, and then they were slammed shut once more.
"This was a trap Shepard!" The Quarian's hand shook as she clenched her pistol.
"Shit! Get to cover!" Shepard managed to scramble over to one of the wedges jutting out of the wall as the Cerberus troops lumbered up to the panel.
The troops set up a defensive perimeter around the control panel as the crashing rings of energy picked up in tempo.
That thing is powering up for one large blast! Shepard realised in horror.
"Take them out quickly! We need to shut that thing off!" She barked the order as she fired a round from her assault rifle, hitting an engineer before he managed to set up a turret.
"Roger that." The voice in her comm spoke before a second assault rifle fired rounds into a Cerberus agent that crumpled to the ground. The generator lashed out with more aggression almost as an angry response.
The power thrummed around the room as Shepard punched her way past the remaining hostiles to grab a hold of the console once more. She clung to the station despite the heat of the energy crackling before her, desperately scanning her omni tool for any sign of a crack she could use to shut the generator down.
"Shepard look out!" The voice cried, talons connecting to her back to shove her out of the way. She crashed off the platform and whipped round to see the energy blast hit the person that pushed her, that saved her, and suddenly the room filled with light-
Shepard woke up with a start and bolted out of bed. She reached for a nearby pistol and aimed it at the empty room, scanning her surroundings only to find she was in the loft, her cabin of the Normandy.
"Are you alright, Commander? I'm detecting an elevated heart rate."
"EDI Patch me through to Joker,"
"Of course, Shepard." The comm whirred, but after a few clicks Joker's voice patched through.
"Hey Shepard, what's up?"
"Joker where are we?"
"We're en-route to the Cerberus base,"
"Which base?"
"The base that Admiral Hackett directed us towards? Cerberus are making a power source that we need to deactivate." Shepard frowned, wasn't this the base she had just been at? After a few minutes of silence, Joker spoke over the comms once more.
"Are you okay, Commander?"
"I'm fine." Shepard's commanding tone signalled that the conversation was over, and Joker cut off the connection.
"EDI? Is Dr. Chakwas in the med-bay?"
"She is."
"Call ahead. Tell her I need to speak to her; urgently."