As they entered the shuttle bay, Operative Kyran and his team of bodyguards were the picture of Cerberus discipline. Checking each corner and piece of cover they came to as they advanced towards the two Kodiak shuttles, they made damn sure there were no Asari waiting to ambush them. Kyran clutched the data disk in his hand with an iron grip. As well he should, for the information stored on the disk was worth more than his life if the Illusive Man found out he'd left without it. No-one outside Cerberus could be allowed to know about project Arachne, period.

He divided his bodyguard into two groups, sending half onto the shuttle closest the doors . As they opened, the eerie light of distant stars seeped in. With his face mask on he would be alright whilst he was still on the station, its powerful radiation shielding protecting him from the harsh conditions of the vacuum. The first shuttle's thrusters fired up, and it began to depart. Unbeknownst to its occupants it was to be a decoy , bait to lure the Asari frigate waiting outside away from his own shuttle.

He turned to the other shuttle and noticed something odd about it. It was facing the wrong way. It was standard practice for shuttles to be turned to face the exit in order to facilitate a quick escape if necessary, but this one was pointed towards the interior of the station. How odd.

Another explosion rocked the deck and shook all suspicions from his mind. He had to leave. He gestured to one of the guards to open the shuttle. The door swung upwards and almost immediately something leapt out and knocked him right onto his back .The disk was thrown out of his hands and spun wildly across the room. He could feel bony knees pinning both his shoulders but before he could get a look at his assailant, two thick fingers jabbed him in simultaneously in the eyes. He heard gunfire, followed by the dull thud of bodies hitting the floor. Somehow he knew it was his men. A thin, cold edge pressed against his neck. He forced his eyes to open. As they regained focus, he began to make out the wiry frame of a Quarian female, clad in red and black.

Out of sight another Quarian, male this time, said something in their native language. For the first time, Kyran regretted never having learned it. The female cocked her head and pressed her mask right up against his face.

"Sweet dreams, Cerberus".

Kyran could hear the hatred even in her robotic voice, see it even behind her featureless visor. And then there was nothing.

...

Running down the stairs towards the fusion plant , Frank was oblivious to what was happening above him. He stuck to the inside corner of the stairs , keeping Dumond behind him for protection. The Asari attack had thrown the station into disarray, the civilian staff ran around desperately searching somewhere safe to hide. Every so often they stumbled across a firefight, the remaining troops making last-ditch attempts to hold back the relentless commandos, and had to work their way around . Every corridor seemed to run the entire length of the ship, Rekki knew if they didn't find Young soon, Dumond wouldn't be able to keep up. With hindsight, It might of been easier to leave Him with Moreno by the escape pod.

At last they came to the fusion plant. The doors had been thrown off their hinges, most likely by a biotic attack.

" Wait in there until I come for you" Frank whispered, pointing to a storage cupboard. Dumond nodded. Frank crept into the room. There were two Asari on the far side of the room, by the plant itself. They were wiring small charges into the plants cooling system , Oblivious to the fact there were already enough on the underside of the Reactor to rip the whole deck in two. No sign of the lieutenant. He walked deeper into the room, searching for a foot, a hand, anything that might be a concealed human soldier, but still there was nothing. Rekki's stomach began to sink, where was she?

Slowly it began to dawn on him. Lt. Young was too well hidden for him to see her , but presumably she had some sort of vantage point so she could see when he had arrived, and even if she hadn't she was too smart not to keep a line of sight on the Asari, however focused they were on their bomb. It wasn't her fault he hadn't turned his cloak off.

Hastily he flicked the off switch on his suit, materialising a few seconds later. The sight of an armed human appearing out of thin air came as a shock to the two Asari, But as they fumbled around to grab their weapons he thrust his omni-tool towards them, hurling a bolt of electricity that struck them head on, crackling fiercely as it contorted their bodies into grotesque , twisted sculptures . They fell limp to the ground, smouldering slightly. He checked their pulses. It was only meant to be a stun attack, but he knew from experience that it was more than capable of killing people by accident. Sufficiently reassured that he hadn't committed another war crime, he turned round see a small crate hidden underneath some work benches take a couple of steps forward. The crate began to rock back and forth comically, eventually falling open to reveal the lieutenant, dripping with sweat from having been in such cramped quarters . On the surface at least she seemed unharmed, although the scorch marks on her armour where her cloak had overloaded were unsettling.

"Glad to see you commander" she panted, walking over to the two unconscious aliens on the floor. She grabbed one of their omni-tools and began scanning the mass of tangled wires and blobs of plastic that had been planted on the cooling system. It wasn't the most sophisticated of bombs, but it would do for now. "I can set this to go off in seven minutes, that should give us enough time to reach the escape pod and get clear before it blows. Provided the elevator stays empty..."

Frank nodded and went to fetch Dumond.

...

RED OVERHEAT REACH ESCAPES PODS ALERT.

The sirens and alarms were almost drowned out by the screams of the panicked scientists and the few remaining officers vainly trying to bark orders. Even the Asari had given up on their stupid raid and decided to flee to their ship, confused at how the station had managed to blow itself up.

Dumb bitches. Dawes thought to himself as he casually strolled amid the bodies and debris. But they were always good at being a distraction. They had made it so easy to copy the Arachne data he could have done it blindfolded. They had played their part admirably, just as the Commander had. Thanks to him there would be no evidence that there had even been a project Arachne.

He didn't even bother with the cloak as he made his way to the escape pod, he just casually mowed down anyone unfortunate enough to impede him. With a lazy swish of his submachine gun he downed a whole elevator full of soldiers before calmly continuing along the corridor. He smiled to himself, thinking of the things he would buy with the money from his new employer. Sure, crossing Cerberus was risky, but so confident was he that his brilliant plan to cover his tracks that he barely gave it a second thought. Nothing could go wrong.

The escape pod was in sight. Moreno was waiting for him, his rifle rested on a small barricade of crates he had built to stop the Cerberus staff from getting through. When he saw Dawes approach, he lifted the weapon off the barrier and folded it up.

"You'd better get inside Nigel, we only have three minutes left. What are you-" his eyes widened and his jaw dropped in shock as Dawes, still walking straight toward him, raised his gun level with his head. Dawes pulled the trigger twice, unflinching and kicked over the box-wall, stepping over it to enter the small escape craft. He strapped himself in and tapped in the launch codes. As he shut the door he allowed himself to smile a little. Nothing could go wrong.

...

Frank, Young and Dummond arrived mere seconds later, only to see their exit route fly away. Dumond began rocking back and forth where he stood, his face turning an odd pale shade. A few seconds later he collapsed. Young quickly jumped over and caught him. She gave Frank a thumbs up to indicate he was still breathing. He looked over at Morenos body and lowered his head. Section 22 had lost its first operative, and if he didn't think of something soon, it would lose another three.

"zulu-3, this is zulu-1 do you read?"

Silence.

"zulu-3, this is zulu-1 do you read?

Still nothing.

"Nigel come in goddammit!"

The continued silence confirmed in Franks mind what he already suspected. There had been no word from Dawes since he had confirmed his position. He was almost certainly dead. Frank knelt down and closed Moreno's eyes, removing the look of surprise from his face. This had been a disaster. He fell back into the wall and sat down, waiting for the end. He heard footsteps running towards them. He grasped the handle of his shotgun, a righteous anger rising in him. At least he could take a few terrorist bastards with him . Leaping to his feet he whipped the shotgun from its slot and levelled it at the figure in front of him .

He was surprised to see it was a Quarian. A very familiar Quarian . He would recognise that pine-needle green and jet black exosuit anywhere. It belonged to Haro'Danar vas remora, head of the migrant fleet marines special operations office. A few seconds later he was joined by his daughter Sunni, dressed in the scarlet-black suit she had been awarded at the end of her pilgrimage. Frank lowered his weapon, rather embarrassed that he had nearly shot his friend.

" i'm sorry Harry, I didn't know it was you."

"T hats quite understandable, frank. It's been a while. I'd heard human eyesight deteriorates overtime."

Frank laughed. Lt. Young looked at him, confused.

"I'll explain later. Now Harry, any chance of a lift?"

the station shook once again, and the Quarian nodded and began to lead the way. The run to the shuttle bay seemed to take an eternity, each time Frank thought they were nearly there, another corridor appeared before them. The station was almost silent now, all the occupants now having either left or died , save for the ever louder roar of the overheating power plant. Frank lost track of time until they reached the shuttle, where everything seemed to happen quickly. He, Young, the Quarians , and the still unconscious Dumond all piled in to the tiny vehicle. As it took off and flew towards the nearest mass relay, he felt relieved to have made it out alive.

He began to plan what he was going to tell the brass.