Hey guys,
As of 3 Sept the chapters preceding this have been revamped- some corrections here and and some additions. Nothing extensive or earth shattering although I would recommend going back and giving them a read. There's also a sort of important author's note in chapter 1.
WELCOME TO FREEDOM'S PROGRESS
This is a civilian colony in association with the Systems Alliance Military . All weapons and fire-arms are prohibited without special approval and must be checked in. Kindly report to our arrivals outpost for processing.
You will now be patched through to a security operator. Thank you.
This has been an automated message.
establishing connection to SECURHQ… …
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establishing connection to ARRIVALCOMM… …
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establishing connection to RESCOMM… …
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establishing connection to AGRILAB… …
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establishing connection to SCHOOLCOMM… …
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Please contact the Systems Alliance Military. This has been an automated message.
Shepard did not meet the "Illusive Man" in person. Instead her meeting consisted of speaking to an orange, flickering hologram of a middle-aged human man. Between chain-smoking and sipping from a tumbler he spoke with a smooth charm that reminded Shepard uncomfortably of a politician. She knew that any answers she got from the man would at best be equal parts truth and lies. Nonetheless, Shepard began with the Lazarus Project,
" Getting you to this point took a lot of work" He answered when she asked for details, " You met Miranda- She oversaw the whole project. If you want specifics you should see her"
" How did this even happen?" she asked, " The Alliance are pretty strict when it comes to handling the remains of officers who die in the line of duty"
" The Alliance never investigated the incident fully. They were able to conclude you were dead due mostly to the reports of your surviving crew. When you died the war with geth forces was at still underway- protocol was different, then. No doubt they couldn't afford to expend resources searching for your remains. And the damage to the ship was extensive- whether there were even any remains to collect…well, that was doubtful". Shepard felt torn, yes prioritizing the war effort was pragmatic but she couldn't help thinking that the Alliance had been a bit quick to rule her as deceased.
" If finding my remains was as unlikely as you say what made you search for them?" she asked. The Illusive Man was silent for a few moments,
" The galaxy needs you Shepard. Only you can stand as a rallying point for humanity to defeat their enemies". Shepard laughed bitterly,
" Like the Reapers? It's been two years and still no sign of them"
" That's not what we believe", he added, " No one will admit it, Shepard but humanity is under attack- whole colonies of settlers have been mysteriously disappearing"
" Colonists disappear- slavers abduct them. There's nothing mysterious about it"
" This is different. You'll see for yourself. I'm sending you to Freedom's Progress- The most recent colony hit"
" Do I get a say in this? What if I want to retire," Shepard joked bitterly, "find a nice tropical planet and lie on a beach for the rest of my life?"
"We both know that wouldn't be long- the Reapers are coming. It's just a matter of time. Cerberus spent two years and billions of credits to resurrect you. All we're asking is for you to go Freedom's Progress and investigate what's left. You can decide if you want to retire afterwards" he finished off rather caustically.
With that the holo-projection vanished. The meeting was over.
That was how Shepard found herself in a shuttle headed to the allegedly abandoned human colony. According to Cerberus' frighteningly detailed intel on the Alliance they were saying there had been a communication blackout on the colony and were en-route to investigate. Shepard would get there first. The shuttle gently bumped around as it entered the atmosphere and Shepard stifled a yawn. She'd gotten no sleep the night before but not from lack of trying.
The Cerberus station had been quiet. Shepard hadn't needed to check the door to know that it was locked. "Lights out" the last doctor had told her as she left. They obviously had expected her to rest then and it was true, after all the prodding and medical tests she was exhausted- tired in her bones. But no matter how hard she tried, her tossing and turning had not yielded to sleep. Unfortunately lying alone in that quiet dark had encouraged her mind and thoughts to turn to things she wasn't convinced she was ready to confront. Where were her old team now? She didn't worry whether they remembered her, her concern had turned more towards how they would feel about her new affliation with Cerberus. Scratch that, after all her talk and all their fighting how would they judge her in light of the Reapers supposed absence. She'd been so sure, so sure that they would strike soon.
Turning over onto her back she'd stared at the ceiling and felt impossibly alone before growing annoyed and sitting up. She hated moping. Activating her new omni-tool had filled the room with an orange glow and she found that her connection to the extranet was active. The clock read that there were still many hours before her deployment to Freedom's Progress, but she'd ignored it in favour of opening up an extranet tab. Navigating to the search page she had entered her name into the bar. News was what she wanted- about what had happened, about her squad. Two years ago seemed like an eternity, knew things would be different- the question was to what extent.
Her finger had lingered over the holographic keys, then erasing the her name from the search bar she instead entered one word: "normandy" and hit execute before she could change her mind. In a blink the engine spat out millions of results. Her eyes had scanned the page, ignoring adverts and links to historical pages. And then there it was, blinking orange and innocuous – a single line , a link to a news piece.
"Alliance Military's SSV Normandy destroyed, Shepard listed as a casualty"
The article had been brief, there was no casualty list just one other name was given in addition to hers as deceased- Pressly. Goddamn Pressly, she'd thought and choked back a sob. They'd been at odds most of the time on the ship but slowly a professional relationship had developed. He was essential to the Normandy as any other of her squad members. Now he was dead, gone- for two years apparently, just like her. She wondered if anyone had searched for his body, valued him enough to spend " two years and billion of credits" on bringing him back. She'd been so angry, so furious then with her own goddamn myth. People didn't realize she hadn't achieved anything alone. If it weren't for people like Charles Pressly she'd have died far sooner.
She'd been about to close the page and try for sleep again when something had caught her eye off to the left of the article. A picture of a picture. Her own face framed and surrounded by flowers in front of what looked to be a coffin. She'd tapped the link and found herself navigated to a video of her funeral on earth. Something like a laugh had bubbled up from somewhere dark inside her before she'd quickly covered her mouth guiltily. A laugh but not a laugh- what else was she supposed to do?
She hadn't been able to help herself it was so bizarre she couldn't look away. She'd watched a few minutes of the funeral. Her reaction wasn't what she might have expected. All the speeches by dignitaries and high-ranking military men rang hollow. The most potent emotion she felt watching it had been humiliation, pure embarrassment at the ridiculous praise they bestowed on posthumously. She'd scanned the crowd on the podium, trying to find a familiar face- there wasn't one, not even Anderson. A short blurb at the bottom of the video revealed he hadn't been able to leave his duties at the Council. What a relief, she'd thought. Even if she had been dead, submitting her old mentor to that atrocity would have been unforgiveable.
Beneath the video had been another link, this time without a picture. Not being able to bear a second more of her funeral, she'd clicked on it hastily. It had taken her to news segment, the production value wasn't the best- its seemed to have been shot for a smaller network. The video flickered as it had shown the dark interior of a large industrial and she'd found herself muting the sound at the grating monotonous tone of the reporter. Instead, reading the information below, she'd discovered that the piece was dated a month after the Alliance had announced her officially as deceased. The story was covering the Alliance press-conference revealing the results of the investigation into her death. She was tempted to unmute the video but had stopped when she made out where it had actually been shot- The Normandy's docking terminal. Ships of the Normandy's class were usually issued permanent docking bays by the Citadel- it was rare but when a bay had to be reassigned (such as in the case of the original ship being destroyed) it took months to go through all the correct channels and paperwork.
Shepard had realized that the Normandy's dock would have thus been empty for months after her death. The camera in the video panned to the side , focusing on something that looked out of place on the dock- a memorial shrine. There was photo of her, one she had never seen, at the centre. It showed Shepard leaning on the Mako, rifle cradled, laughing at something off camera. Behind her loomed the ellipse of a planet that looked a lot like earth.
She'd paused the video then, for a closer look. Around the photograph was a plethora of …stuff, some of it was flowers, there were also a few of what looked appeared to be religious statues- asari by the look them and also human. She'd even made out the beat-up remains of a shotgun that once belonged to Wrex before he'd completely trashed it. Mostly, though there was alcohol.
It was strangely fitting, but she'd been too tired to smile. Looking at that pile of odds and ends had made her feel a strangling combination of comfort and desperate nostalgia as if the faces of her old squad looked out from those items, as mismatched and out of place as they ever were.
Miranda Jacob and Shepard stepped off the Kodiak Shuttle. It was the first time since awakening she'd been groundside on an actual planet. It felt good. She'd been in danger of starting to believe that nothing existed beyond the four walls of her Cerberus room. Despite the possible threat of danger and the serious nature of their mission Shepard felt more at ease that she could recently remember. Finally there was space to breath.
Cerberus had even issued her new gear and although it didn't have the same familiar comfort as her old equipment, having weapons on her back made her feel a little more like her old self.
She fiddled idly with the safety on her pistol. There was also the fact that being armed to the teeth with big, nasty guns had a way of making your all your problems seem a bit more manageable.
Her mag boots clip-clopped on the industrial metal walkways of the colony. The sound was familiar, as was the air of the place. If she closed her eyes and let her mind wander maybe she could try and pretend it was Garrus and Liara behind her instead of Miranda and this Jacob. At least until one of them said something…But no, she thought, a sad little smile on her face for no one to see. There was no way either of them could come close to her old squad mates. It wasn't even the species thing. Liara had been poised where Miranda was aloof, curious where Miranda was arrogant. And Jacob, he was okay, but Garrus was…just Garrus.
The last time she'd seen her favourite Turian was on the Citadel. He'd had to stay after the destruction of Soveriegn to smooth things over with C-Sec. Somewhat unsurprisingly certain contents of his final report on Saren had caused some "controversy" so the brass had called him in for a hearing- just a formality, apparently. Total crap, of course. They'd clearly had been trying to find a way to punish him for running off with her and making them all look bad.
Thinking about her old team-mate left a large and uncomfortable lump in her throat. She wished he was around right now- he'd make sense of this Cerberus insanity. Often in the past she had gotten bogged down with trying to analyse all the angles and outcomes of every decision she made and just end up mired in stress. Then he'd reel her back in and lay things out with the same single-minded efficiency with which he did everything. He also had the uncanny ability to know exactly when she needed to be called out on her bullshit.
They had been walking through the deserted structures for almost twenty minutes . Shepard felt a growing sense of paranoia and unease as they reached the residential portion of the colony. She'd only experienced this kind of silence in the wake of battle or massacres. But the scene before her didn't match- there were no bodies, no blood, no damage. No evidence of a fight at all. It was if the colonists had just been zapped out of existence. An involuntary shiver ascended her spine.
She was struck by the irony- it was the lack of corpses and blood and conflict that disturbed her. Ha!
A mechanical bleep sounded behind a pile of crate in front of her,
"What was that?" Miranda asked from behind her, her voice slightly shrill. Just then a security drone dove out cover toward them and Shepard sighed with impatient relief.
"Finally, something to shoot at" she said, raising her rifle and taking out one after the other. Beside her and behind her she felt the flare of biotics which never failed to set her teeth on edge in such close proximity. Shepard switched to her shotgun as LOKI mechs began to over run them. They were easy to take down and fun to shoot at. The model she had in her hands was an upgraded version of her old shotgun. The rhythm of aiming, firing, reloading; the recoil kicking back and sending shockwaves up her arm- it felt like coming home.
Sooner than she's have like the mechs were decimated. She looked over to Miranda and Jacob, not saying anything. They had worked together...adequately. Perhaps with some time they would be able to really function as a team.
The mechs were interesting, though. Someone had obviously programmed them to attack on sight which pointed to the possibility of surviving colonists.
They made their way into the housing pods, ejecting spent heat sinks and reloading their weapons as they walked. When they entered the structure they were ill-prepared to face the raised weapons that waited for them. Quarians it seemed.
"Stand down" said a voice that Shepard immediately, gratefully, recognized, " I'm ordering you to stand down." . It was Tali, cutting through the surreal haze Shepard had been living during the past couple days. Shepard felt compelled to hug the small Quarian out of relief and to further confirm that- yes, she was real, this was real. But she hesitated. Gone was the shy mechanic that had nerded out over the Normandy's drive core- it seemed in Shepard absence Tali had become something of a commander herself.
"Shepard? Shepard, is that really you"
"Tali, it's really me. Of course it's me. Remember the geth data? God, it's good to see you". The words fell out of her mouth in quick succession but before she could say any more one of other quarians interrupted,
"They're with Cerberus!" he said raising his weapon again.
"Enough Prazza!" Tali admonished the male Quarian sternly, " I told you to stand down". Prazza backed away but Shepard could see by the way he moved and held himself- he was still on edge, on guard.
"Shepard is this true?" Tali asked her, tilting her head questioningly. Something cold had crept into the quarian's voice. " I thought you were dead but you're working with Cerberus?". A double betrayel, Shepard heard and understood. She stifled her exuberant relief at seeing her friend and instead adopted an expression of utter seriousness and professionalism.
"No" she said clearly, and could feel Miranda shift to look at her, " I was injured…badly injured. I've been unconscious for two years. Cerberus fixed me up- but I don't take ordered from them". All her admissions felt like lies although she had only intended the first to be. Somehow Shepard couldn't' bring herself to admit just how badly "injured" she'd actually been. The fewer people who knew about her unintentional hiatus in the afterlife the better. Tali might have been wearing a mask but Shepard could feel her scrutinizing gaze on her.
Her explanation didn't seem to cut it for any of the Quarians,
"Okay" She said, giving up any pretense of knowing what the hell was going on, "What happened between Cerberus and the Quarians?"
"Where to start" hissed Prazza angrily, "They infiltrated our flotilla, killed our people and tried to blow up one of our ships"
"That's not how I'd have explained it" Miranda offered smoothly, quirking her eyebrow haughtily in the face of Prazza's righteous anger, " It was nothing personal"
"Sound pretty personal to me" Shepard ground out, annoyed, angry, humiliated. She turned to Jacob, "Are either of you going to even try and deny this?". She didn't really expect an answer but at least Jacob looked a bit uncomfortable, maybe. These were the people she'd allied herself to? 'You're judged by the company you keep' was something she'd heard before. Screwed, completely screwed, that's what she was.
"Were in the middle of a mission" Jacob said, somewhat more confidently than he appeared, " We can argue about who killed who later"
Shepard felt very much like punching him. That had not helped at all-distrust radiating off Tali like a miasma. It felt like a kick in the gut- one she deserved.
"What do you even want with this colony?" Miranda asked Tali coolly. Shepard gave Miranda a look that said 'shut the hell up' before speaking to Tali herself.
"I don't know much about any past…issues between Cerberus and the Quarians" she said carefully," But I'm here investigating the disappearances of the human colonists. If you've found anything that would help I'd really appreciate it- for old time's sake, Tali". Her Quarian friend sighed reluctantly letting go of some of the tension in her stance.
"We know as much as you- probably" she sighed tiredly," when we arrived the colony was deserted- We're were looking for a quarian on pilgramige called Veetor. He hadn't checked in with the fleet for a while which was worrying. He's always been nervous and when landed he ran from us. It was likely him who changed the mech's security protocols-"
"Wait- You saw him?" Shepard interrupted urgently, "Why'd he set the mechs on you?"
"He seemed disorientated- delusional even. I don't know if he even knew who we were. I think he might be sick, or feverish. If there was damage to his suit or CO₂ scrubbers he needs medical attention"
"Okay" Shepard said, coming to a decision " we should work together to find him". Tali nodded,
"I agree. We'll work in two teams to infiltrate the residential sector- you go through the warehouse and I'll take my team round the back entrance. We'll meet at the security office- if Veetor's controlling the mechs that's where he'll be holed up and if there's any heavy artillery we can take it out together.". Shepard nodded, it was a plan.
"Hold on" Prazza cut in, incredulous " now we're working with Cerberus?"
"No Prazza, You're working for me. If you can't take orders go wait on the ship."
Shepard had to hold back a smile. Whatever problems Tali had with her and Cerberus it warmed her to see her usually shy friend taking this command role in her stride. Then again, although the Quarian had been quiet she'd also had a sharp wit and lightning temper. The other Quarians were still sulky but listened and co-operated when Shepard and Tali work out the details of the plan.
Shepard crouched behind a ground vehicle with her rifle loaded, so far things had gone off without a hitch. Her schematics told her that the security command centre lay behind a door on the far side of a courtyard they had just entered. Problem was there were two YMIR heavy mechs guarding the entrance to the building- it would take a combined strike from bother her team and Tali's to take them down.
Tali informed her over comms that she and her team were closing in on their location. Shepard clicked off the safety on her rifle and waited for the signal.
Before she knew what was happening Prazza and a few other Quarians launched out from behind a storage container and charged the mechs.
"Shepard" Tali shout over comms "Their trying to get to Veetor to before you"
"We can't trust these Cerberus bastards" Prazza's yell was audible over comms and from across the courtyard. There was nothing for it- Shepard opened fire from cover but it was already too late. Prazza and the two other Quarians that had been riddled with bullet within seconds of charging the mechs front on.
" Everybody! Go now!" She shouted over comms and she and the Quarians flanked the mechs, Miranda and Jacobs combining biotics to overload their shields. After that it took a few well-place rifle-shots from Shepard to the mechs' joints to immobilize them and then a hail of bullets before they exploded. There were no other casualties.
With the YMIR mechs crumpled and smoking Tali walked over to Prazza's body,
" You fool" she said tiredly, without anger, " just another Cerberus casualty"
" It was his decision to disobey orders- and he paid the price" Miranda volunteered, unasked.
Shepard ignored both of them and made her way to the security office. She understood that Tali didn't blame Prazza for not trusting Cerberus- How could anyone really?