Sorry it's taken me so long to update this fic, I will really try to update this more often. Hope you enjoy, if you do then any reviews would be appreciated. Thanks for reading ^_^
The newly acquired salarian doctor, Mordin Solus, made his way down a deck in the elevator and headed straight for the XO's office.
''Ah, Professor Solus, what can I do for you?'' Miranda looked up from her terminal at the salarian.
''Operative Lawson. Glad you're here. Wanted to speak with you in fact'' Mordin paced at the door.
''Please, take a seat'' Miranda gestured to one of the seats parallel to her desk ''No doubt you have concerns about Cerberus, I'd be happy to put your mind at ease''
''Yes. Thank you.'' Mordin took one of the vacant seats ''Cerberus working with aliens? Unexpected''
''The attacks on human colonies are a clear threat to humanity and need to be stopped, for that, we need the best, regardless of species or gender''
''So you don't share Cerberus' views on human dominance?''
''I believe that the Illusive Man has humanities best interests at heart and I trust in his judgment, too many join us out of simple xenophobia''
''Then why Cerberus? Why not join the Alliance?''
Miranda stood up and began pacing behind her desk as she explained. ''The salarians have the Special Task Group and the asari have their commandos. Cerberus is humanities answer to those groups. The Illusive Man never tells me something is impossible, he gives me my resources, tells me to do it and he never asks questions. The Alliance are too buried in bureaucracy to deal with the real problems that humanity face.''
''But Cerberus 'experiments go too far. Unethical. Ends cannot always justify the means''
''You of all people should understand. You were with the STG, working with people as smart as you to achieve what others thought was impossible, I'm sure you've crossed more than a few lines in your time''
Mordin shook his head ''But we had the salarian government to keep us in check. Who keeps Cerberus in check?''
''Regardless of what you think professor, Cerberus achieve results, you don't have to look any further than Shepard to see that''
''Yes. That is true. You performed nothing short of a miracle bringing her back'' Mordin paused to think ''I understand your motives Operative Lawson but I can't say I approve of your actions''
Miranda sat back down at her desk ''You don't have to. Just focus on stopping the collectors, we don't expect anything more from you''
Mordin nodded, stood up from his seat and walked towards the door before stopping abruptly and turning ''Oh, almost forgot'' Mordin walked back towards Miranda and placed a handful of Cerberus bugs on her desk. ''Found these in the lab. Would appreciate it if you didn't attempt to monitor me any further'' Miranda glared at him but Mordin simply smiled and left.
An hour passed before Shepard entered Mordin's lab and approached his work bench.
Mordin greeted the Commander without diverting any attention away from his current research ''Shepard, how can I help you?''
''Relax Mordin, I was just checking in on you to see how you were settling in'' The redhead stopped and stood on the other side of the workbench from the salarian.
Mordin finally diverted his attention away from his work to look at his new Commander, he smiled at her ''The lab is very well equipped. Cerberus must be very well funded''
Rayne chuckled ''I'm guessing so, although I think you'd have to talk to Miranda to find out exactly how well funded they are''
''Yes. Spoke to her earlier actually. Wanted to be clear on Cebrerus' intentions…also wanted to give back bugs I found in lab''
''I don't know if I trust Cerberus either Mordin but they brought me back, gave me a new ship and they seem to be the only ones who care about our missing colonies so for now I don't really have a choice but to stick by them''
Mordin nodded ''I agree. Co-operation with Cerberus is necessary. Mutually beneficial. Would advise caution though Shepard. Operative Lawson seems incredibly driven, she will sacrifice anything to ensure this mission is a success.
Shepard raised a brow ''You got that from a short conversation with her?''
Mordin paced behind his workbench as he explained ''Salarians are short-lived, we have to assess people's motives quickly based on available evidence. Can sometimes make incorrect assumptions. Not often.''
''Miranda has had plenty of chances to kill me, for now we just have to trust her, it's not like we have a choice anyway''
''Understood Shepard. Should get back to work. Not going to find a way to counter seeker swarms by talking.''
''It was nice talking to you Mordin'' Rayne smiled and exited the lab.
Shepard made her way to the bridge to use the Normandy's internal comm system.
''Zaeed, Miranda, suit up we're heading back out onto Omega to find this Archangel, meet me in the airlock in 5 minutes''
5 minutes later, in the airlock.
''Goddamn tough son of a bitch this Archangel, from what I hear. This ain't going to be a walk in the park'' Zaeed said whilst checking over his avenger assault rifle.
''Aria mentioned that the local merc gangs had set up a recruitment station in Afterlife, that's our best be to go after Archangel'' Miranda added.
''Miranda's right, we'll know more once we've talked to the merc recruiters, let's get going'' Shepard said as she led her ground team back out onto the streets of Omega.
The three of them entered the recruitment station in Afterlife together.
''Sorry ladies, looks like you're in the wrong place, strippers' quarters are on the other side'' The batarian recruiter scoffed.
Shepard's biotics flared around her body as she grabbed the batarian by the neck and lifted him into the air ''You talk like that to me or my friend again and you'll be greeting your next recruits with 4 bruised eyes, you understand me?''
Miranda smiled at Shepard's actions.
The batarian laughed. ''Seems as though you 3 mean business. You after archangel too?''
Shepard smirked and put the batarian down ''You could say that''