Mass Effect: Project Persephone

by GibberingGemstone

The Illusive Man sends Commander Naomi Shepard to Titan Station, where one of Cerberus' projects has gone horribly wrong. There, Naomi and her teammates quickly find themselves descending into a terrifying nightmare filled with madness and death. Will they be able to survive the brutal onslaught of the necromorphs and their inner demons? Or will they succumb to the Marker's power?

6. Escape

MASS EFFECT: PROJECT PERSEPHONE

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Hello Dear Readers! Chapter 6 is finally here! This more 16,690 words of a chapter took more than three weeks to write, mostly due to my rather hectic work schedule, but its size will hopefully more than make up for the long wait I have put you awesome people through! :) Remember Gabe Seers? He has drawn an amazing piece of art, illustrating a scene from chapter 3! If you are interested, head over to Deviantart and look under his name, Gabe Seers!

I'm not sure if you readers realize this, but there is a secret message in my chapter titles. Whoever can figure out the full message I am intending to spell out will be able to deduce the future direction of this story and get a really nice cookie! Now, without further ado, read on! This chapter will feature the very much-anticipated appearance of Dead Space's hero, Isaac Clarke!

CHAPTER 6: Escape

Location: Titan Station Hospital, East Wing, Second Floor 1310 hrs

Alpha Squad

Naomi gritted her teeth as the double doors to the operating theater shuddered for the umpteenth time. Their unseen assailant was throwing his weight against them again and again, hell-bent on gaining entry into the room. She continued to press her back against it, digging her heels into the ground as she strained to keep the crazy bastard out.

"What's the progress on that lock, Garrus? Sometime today would be nice!"

The Turian was on the far side of the dimly-lit room, currently wrestling with a mass of multi-colored wires and cables which were tumbling out of an electrical power box located on the wall. Despite his valiant efforts, it was a fight that he was losing.

Right in the middle of the operating theater, lying on top of a bloodstained operating table and blissfully unaware of the chaos unfolding around her, was an unconscious Miranda Lawson. She was hooked to several life-support machines, monitoring equipment and a blood transfusion device, a single large screen displaying her vital signs in harsh green lines and numbers, accompanied by the slow but steady blip of her heartbeat. An oxygen mask was strapped over her face and several intravenous tubes, connected to the packets of blood hanging on a stand beside the table, snaked their way into both her arms, sending liquid life flowing back into her broken body.

"I've managed to locate the cable for the door lock," Garrus reported quickly, his eyes darting all over the maze-like interior of the power box. An intimidating number of plugs and sockets stared back at the former vigilante, rapidly eroding whatever confidence he had left in his pathetically-limited engineering ability. "I just need to find a socket for it!"

"JUST PULL ONE OUT AND PLUG IT IN!" Naomi bellowed from her position at the door, her concentration and strength faltering just as the insane doctor took a running start and rammed into it from the other side. The door shuddered and buckled inwards, throwing Naomi forward half a step. A second later, a bloodied hand shoved itself through the newly-formed gap between the double doors, grabbing a handful of her hair as the doctor cackled maniacally from outside.

"Join us in glorious convergence, Commander Shepard!" He laughed hysterically, yanking Naomi back by her red locks and slamming her against the door while she kicked, twisted and struggled, trying to break free from his iron-like grip.

"This isn't like having sex you know, I can't simply pull out and plug in whatever and wherever I want!" Garrus shouted exasperatedly, his voice strained and mandibles flaring. "And I have no idea which cable is for which system! If I pull out the wrong cable, I could shut off Miranda's life support by accident!"

"Now's not the time for your funny shit, Vakaria-aarrghh!" Naomi cried out as her attacker pulled at her hair with seemingly inhuman strength, making it feel as if the top of her head was being ripped off.

"Here's an idea. Why don't you just open the door and SHOOT HIM IN THE FACE!" Garrus exploded, desperately scanning the rows of cables for one which he could safely remove.

Damn it! He was Archangel, legendary vigilante of Omega, not Garrus the friendly neighborhood Engineer! Being able to Overload synthetics, shields and electrical systems were one thing, but hacking was something else entirely, requiring the specialised skills of a tech expert. Miranda was the closest thing their squad had to one, but unfortunately, the Cerberus Officer was currently incapacitated. Legion and Tali were on their merry way to repair the planet cracker, and Kasumi, that lucky little minx, was back on the Normandy probably helping herself to everyone's possessions.

"He's got a frigging flamethrower!" Naomi yelled. "Do you want to become a piece of barbecued chicken?"

Garrus' visor-covered eye twitched. "What the hell is a doctor even doing with a flamethrower?"

"IS THAT REALLY IMPORTANT RIGHT NOW?! HURRY UP AND LOCK THE DAMN DOOR!"

He let out another frustrated sigh, his mandibles clicking in agitation, still unable to make heads or tails of the circuit system in front of him. There was no other way but to wing it and hope that he did not somehow activate something totally unwanted like the emergency decontamination protocols, which would subject them all to an untimely, fiery death.

"The door is a no-go, Naomi! I'm not going to risk it! Let me snipe him from here, I can head shot him through that gap in the door!"

All of their problems would have ended right there and then if he had been allowed to put a bullet into the madman's head, but no...Naomi just had to be the righteous hero that she was and refuse, all because...

"I'm not going to kill a civilian!"

Garrus groaned inwardly. 'I swear...one day, her idealism and kindness would be the death of her. Again.'

"Technically, I'm the one who is going to do the killing..." He deadpanned.

"GARRUS!"

"By the spirits, Naomi! That man is totally insane! Shoot him!" If his hands were not occupied and the situation not so dire, he would have done what the Humans called a face-palm and gone over to throttle some sense into her.

"Aarrgh!" Naomi cried out again as the doctor twisted his arm, sending a fresh wave of excruciating pain shooting through her head. "He's still a survivor! If we can get him to safety, we can try to snap him out of it!"

Garrus shook his head furiously. "He's beyond help and you know it!"

"THE TIME FOR CONVERGENCE IS NIGH!" The doctor screamed rather unhelpfully.

"Damn it!" Garrus shouted, finally losing his patience and flinging the cables against the power box in a burst of anger. "I'm not going to stand here screwing around with a door while some madman tears your head off! If you're not going to kill him, I will!"

"Don't do it!" Naomi shot back, thrashing with all her might. She reached up above her head and after much flailing about, managed to wrap both of her hands around the doctor's wist. She gave it a vicious twist, trying to force him to let go, but the doctor held on, seemingly oblivious to the pain she was causing him. "Garrus!"

Ignoring her pleas, Garrus reached behind him and unfolded his sniper rifle, bringing it up to his shoulder and taking aim through the scope in one fluid motion.

"Watch me," he growled, putting the doctor's head in his sights and curling his finger around the trigger.

"GARRUS, NO!"

Suddenly and without warning, an unearthly howl cut through the air, echoing through the deserted halls of the hospital. It was a raw, vicious and terrifying sound, completely inhuman and making their blood run cold. Garrus froze, still in his firing stance as he raised his head slowly to look out into the dark, bloody hallway. Naomi ceased her struggling and realized with mounting panic that the huge commotion they were making had probably attracted the unwanted attention of the mutant zombies skulking in the shadows. Even the doctor had fallen silent, stopped trying to force his way through the door and relinquished his hold on Naomi's red locks. Through the gap in the door, Garrus could see his head cocked to the side as though he was listening intently for something.

"The Children of the Flesh have returned!" The doctor suddenly spoke, breaking the ominous silence which had descended over the operation theater. "They have come to release us from our mortal forms! Behold, the harbingers of our ascension!"

Above the racket of his delirious ranting, Naomi could hear the unmistakable sound of running in the distance, the rhythmic pounding of feet against the hospital's tiled floors getting louder and louder, in tandem with her rapidly beating heart. The same frightening howl came again, this time much louder than before and making her jump. Without a doubt, the source of the sound was nearby and rapidly closing in on their position. She turned around to face the door, dread filling every corner of her mind as she looked past the doctor and into the hallway beyond. The dim, flickering lights overhead only lit the long corridor outside the operating theater for about fifty meters, before pitch darkness enveloped everything beyond, making it impossible to see any approaching threat.

Her unease was growing as she watched the black void, expecting to see a bloodied zombie charging out of it at any moment. Judging by the sound of the near-constant footfalls, it was likely that there was more than one headed their way. "Son of a bitch!" Naomi swore loudly, knowing that they would definitely be overwhelmed if an entire horde of those things descended upon them now. Quickly, she spun back to her stunned Turian squadmate and started issuing frantic orders, drawing her shotgun in the process. "Garrus, we have to seal this room NOW! I'm hearing a lot of movement out there, and this is the only defensible position we've got! I don't care what you shut off, we'll get swarmed if we don't get this door locked!"

"Already on it!" He didn't need to be told twice. Throwing his sniper rifle to the ground, Garrus turned his attention back to the power box, feverishly searching for the door's power cable in the mass of wires. Unfortunately for him, he had gotten everything entangled again after tossing all the cables back into the power box just a minute ago. Slamming a fist into the power box's cover and smashing it off its hinges, Garrus cursed himself, his luck, and fate for being such a bitch.

Naomi ignored the power box's cry of pain and raised her shotgun, pointing it at the doctor through the gap in the door. "Listen to me, doc! You will get torn apart if you stay out there! Put down your weapon and step inside, we will protect you!"

The doctor's only reply was a high-pitched giggle and she swore again. He slowly raised the military grade, M-451 Firestorm flamethrower in his left hand and aimed it directly at her, grinning like a child on Christmas day.

"Last chance, doc!" Naomi shouted urgently, silently begging for the man to regain control of his mind and listen to reason.

"Prepare for your ascension by holy fire!" The doctor's finger flew to his flamethrower's trigger and Naomi screamed in frustration as she fired her own weapon in self-defense. Her shotgun boomed once, blasting the doctor into the opposite wall in a massive shower of blood. He was dead before he even hit the floor, the crazed smile still on his face.

She shook her head, eyes squeezed shut in anguish, but she knew that there was nothing they could have done for him. Already the footsteps were disturbingly close, and yet another chilling howl reverberated around them, the loudest one yet. Not wanting to wait for the zombies to show themselves, Naomi swiftly grasped the operating theater's doors and flung them shut, backing up and leveling her shotgun at the doorway in preparation for an imminent attack.

"Garrus, there's no time like the present!" She called back over her shoulder, cocking her weapon.

"Here goes nothing!" He picked the most harmless-looking of all the wires and gave it a sharp tug, dislodging it from it's socket. Immediately there was a low hum and all the remaining lights were extinguished abruptly, throwing them into darkness.

Naomi's heart leapt into her throat as she became totally blind. She fumbled around in the suffocating darkness, trying to find the flashlight on her weapon. "Garrus! What the hell was that?"

"Hey, at least I gave you a fair bit of warning," Garrus muttered, managing to sound a little hurt. Naomi smiled a little and resisted the urge to roll her eyes upon hearing his voice; it was both welcome and comforting given their current situation. "And in my defense, how could I have known that cable was for the damn lights?" He was just as confused and disoriented as she was, cursing in his Turian language and stumbling around, searching for his dropped sniper rifle.

"Shit, never mind that now," Naomi hissed urgently, remembering that there was still a large group of mutant space zombies bearing down upon them. "Get your ass over here, we need to cover this entrance in case they-"

An ear-splitting screech from somewhere right beside her rattled her eardrums, making her scream in shock and nearly jump out of her skin. "HOLY SHIT!" Fueled by fear and adrenaline, Naomi whirled around faster than she had ever done before in her entire life and fired her shotgun, backing away as fast she could from her current position. Her M-11 Wraith discharged an armor-piercing blast of shrapnel with a bright flash, piercing through the darkness for a split-second. Thankfully but a little disturbingly, it did not reveal any hostiles in the room. When the smothering darkness returned as quickly as it had been banished, a frightening thought passed through her mind. What if there really was a zombie in the room with them and she had not been quick enough to spot it?

"Garrus? Shit, Garrus, talk to me!" Naomi called out urgently as her armored back crashed against the wall, the zombie's cry still ringing in her ears. "Did you see anything just now?"

"Calm down, there's nothing in here," Garrus said slowly, trying his best to keep his voice level and his nerves under control. The sudden screech had him scared and shaken as well. "Listen! I don't think there's anything outside either...strange..."

Naomi stood stock-still, holding her breath. Garrus was right, why was it so quiet all of sudden? Where was the big horde of attacking zombies? Judging by what she had been hearing for the past few minutes, they had been getting closer and closer, and the shriek that she had just heard sounded like it had come from somewhere in their immediate vicinity. Naomi frowned as she strained to pick out any sounds of movement, finding the silence extremely unnerving. The zombies could not have simply vanished into thin air, and she was sure that she had not been hallucinating this time round; Garrus had also heard their cries. The unwelcome thought of invisible mutant space zombies crossed through her mind and she shuddered, finally managing to find the switch for her weapon's flashlight. A similar click from the far side of the room meant that Garrus had also done the same.

Twin beams of light cut through the darkness like a knife, but even with the aid of their flashlights, the room was still incredibly, oppressively dark. Naomi took rapid, calming breaths, her grip on her weapon so tight that she was sure her knuckles were turning white. "Corners," she replied tersely, sweeping the thin beam of light around the room. Nodding, Garrus did the same, and both of them let out the breath that they were holding when they realized the room was indeed clear. They then shone their lights upon the operating table to check on Miranda's condition. Fortunately, the lights were the only things to go out, and all of the medical equipment was still functioning. Naomi gave the unconscious biotic a quick once-over, relieved that Miranda was still as they had left her.

"She's a sound sleeper," Garrus remarked with a chuckle. "Like you."

"Uh-huh."

That relief was short-lived, as the doors to the operating theater suddenly flew open with a loud bang.

"Contact!" Naomi yelled as she and Garrus spun to face the door. Their flashlights illuminated a humanoid figure with glowing green eyes standing in the doorway, and both of them wasted no time in pulling the triggers on their respective weapons. However, her eyes widened in surprise when their target reacted instantly to her shouting, throwing himself to the ground like a trained soldier and avoiding both of their shots. This was no mindless undead corpse!

"Hold your fire!" She quickly darted over to Garrus and slapped the barrel of his weapon upwards, making his next shot go wide and hit the ceiling with a metallic ping. "He's not a zombie!"

"Damn right I'm not!" The Human male on the floor said rather irritably as he slowly got back up. "Seriously, if I have to be shot at by another survivor one more-"

He stopped mid-sentence as he looked up and got a good look at Naomi's face, the green lights of the night vision visor on his helmet shining into her eyes. "Commander Shepard?" The man gaped, scrambling to his feet and saluting her "What the...I thought you were dead!"

Naomi raised a hand to shield her eyes from his visor's glow, smiling wryly. "Yeah, I get that a lot nowadays." She nodded at Garrus to lower his weapon and made her way over to the Alliance Marine, who still stood at attention with his salute. "At ease, soldier. Alliance Command hasn't reinstated me yet," Naomi grinned and offered the soldier a hand which he shook gratefully.

"I'm Sergeant Jackson of the 103rd Division, Special Forces. It's an honor to meet you, Commander." The soldier gushed, managing to appear awed even though his face was concealed by his helmet. "Gosh, the Hero of Elysium and Savior of the Citadel in the flesh!"

Garrus holstered his sniper rifle, looking amused. "I'm glad to see that your fan club still exists. It's too bad you didn't bring along a pen for autographs, eh Shepard?"

"Who's that?" Jackson asked, jerking his head at Garrus.

"Just some insignificant grunt serving under the magnificent, invincible Commander Shepard," he answered with a straight face, ignoring the withering look which Naomi sent his way.

"Anyway, Sergeant," Naomi said, shaking her head at her boyfriend's antics. "You mentioned that you're Special Forces? Where's the rest of your squad, and what exactly are you doing out here?"

Before Jackson could respond, the sound of running once again reached her ears, making Naomi tense up and raise her shotgun. But she relaxed when three more armored Alliance Marines came into view, all obviously part of Jackson's squad and sporting identical night vision visors.

"Sergeant! We heard gunshots and came as fast as we could!" The lone female member of the squad panted, doubled over, hands on her knees and trying to catch her breath. "Wait a second, is that Commander Shepard?"

"The one and only!" Jackson said proudly, eliciting impressed and excited comments from the rest of his team.

Naomi ran a hand through her hair, smiling sheepishly. "I don't mean to offend, but this 'wow, it's Commander Shepard!' thing is getting old. We're not exactly in a very safe place you know."

The four marines straightened and Jackson coughed apologetically. "Sorry, Commander. It's just amazing to see you here of all places, especially since the Alliance officially declared you dead two whole years ago."

She nodded in understanding. "Don't worry about it, Sergeant. I was asking you earlier about your mission here. Can I assume that you and your squad are here to evacuate the hospital?"

"You hit half the nail on the head, Commander. We originally came here together with the rest of our platoon to get all hospital staff, patients and other civilians to safety. But halfway through, our CO gave us new orders and sent the four of us Special Forces Marines to find and kill some criminal held in this hospital's asylum."

"Why go through all this trouble for one criminal?" Naomi asked, her interest piqued.

Jackson shrugged. "CO says he's some big terrorist who killed over a thousand people in some shipping disaster two years ago. The orders came from the Station Director himself actually, he's afraid that our target would take advantage of the current situation and escape in the chaos. According to him, this man's a danger to the entire galaxy. Even worse, he's clinically insane, so imagine what he would do if he managed to escape."

"A thousand people? That's a pretty high death toll..." Naomi said grimly. "I'm sure that the galaxy will be a better place without him. Have you managed to locate him? Could he already be on the run?"

"Negative, Commander. Our reports say that he's secured in a maximum security cell in the asylum. There's no way he can escape on his own, but we're being sent there to make sure that he doesn't even get the chance to try," Jackson explained, cocking his assault rifle for emphasis.

Naomi took a step forward, preparing to ask another question but Garrus interrupted her, stepping in between them and holding up his hand. She looked to him quizzically, feeling a little annoyed, but that feeling disappeared when she saw the serious expression on his scarred face. "Garrus, what's wrong?"

"Wait, hold that thought. Something doesn't add up," Garrus whispered, apprehension evident in his low voice. "I've been thinking...if those footsteps we heard earlier belonged to Jackson's squad, then what made all those howls and screams? Sergeant, did you or your men see anything out of the ordinary on your way here?"

Jackson shifted uncomfortably and Naomi froze as his words sank in. "Yeah, now that you mention it, all this doesn't feel right. If you're talking about the zombies we've been fighting all over the hospital, the answer is no. We haven't seen any of them on this floor." He paused and looked warily to both ends of the corridor which they were standing in before turning back to Garrus. "But we heard those loud howls you were talking about. They were originating from this location, so we got here as fast as we could. I'm guessing you guys didn't see any zombies either?"

Both Garrus and Naomi shook their heads and Jackson shrugged again. "I'm guessing it was just the sound travelling through all the vents in this place. Zombies on the other levels maybe? Still, it could have come from somewhere near here. I suggest we keep moving. Who knows when one of those ugly undead freaks will come flying out of the woodwork?"

He barely got to the end of his sentence before a blood-curdling scream filled the air and something exploded out of the ventilation shaft above him. It was the undead corpse of an Asari, horribly mutated and twisted beyond all recognition. Its face was no longer that of a gentle Asari, instead resembling that of some terrifying demon. It had a set of milky-white eyes and a gigantic maw filled with an unbelievable number of razor-sharp teeth, and all the skin on its face had mostly been flayed, revealing the muscle and bone of the skull. Its body was similarly warped; two long bladed appendages protruded out of its back and its two arms ended in bloody talons where the finger bones had elongated to insane lengths and sharpened to razor-sharp points, shredding through the skin on each hand. To complete its ghastly appearance, the rest of its body was clad in a bloodied nurses' uniform, with a long tear in the fabric exposing a large, gory wound on its abdomen.

The zombie plowed into Sergeant Jackson, knocking him to the floor and brutally stabbing him repeatedly in the torso with its extra bladed limbs, before swiping with its claws and decapitating him in one forceful strike.

As fresh red blood gushed out of the headless body, the shock of the sudden attack finally wore off and the three remaining members of Jackson's squad reacted by unleashing a concentrated barrage of gunfire at the attacking zombie. Naomi and Garrus joined in a split-second later, firing their shotgun and assault rifle respectively, but by then it was already too late to save Jackson.

Surrounded on all sides, the zombie should have been riddled with bullets and instantly shredded into pieces and killed, especially since it was still busy ripping into the dead Sergeant's corpse with its talons. However, what happened next shocked all of them to the core.

A blue biotic field erupted around the undead monster, absorbing the initial wave of incoming fire before shattering. By then, the zombie had already jumped off the corpse it was attacking with a terrifying howl, launching itself at the female Marine standing in front of it with incredible speed. The remaining bullets then slammed into the body of its first victim, completely missing their intended target.

The zombie moved so frighteningly fast that everyone was taken by surprise, allowing it to easily claim its next victim. It thrust all four of its lethal upper limbs into the body of the female Marine, effortlessly breaking through the combat armor that she wore and driving its bone blades deep into her body with a sickening crunch. A strangled scream was the only sound the soldier could make before the zombie roared, viciously slicing upwards with its bladed appendages, ripping her entire upper torso apart in a massive shower of gore. Intestines, lungs, pieces of ribs and other internal organs spilled out of the bisected body, blood spraying high into the air and painting the walls and floors red.

"Jesus Christ! Angela!" One of the Marines screamed in terror.

Naomi fought back the bile rising in her throat, focusing on rallying Garrus and the remaining Marines for a coordinated counter-attack. "Spread out and keep moving!" She hollered, swiftly aiming and firing her shotgun at the zombie's back as she moved away from Garrus. "Don't stay at the same spot for more than a second you hear me? Attack from different directions with everything you've got! OPEN FIRE!"

Her squad sprang into action, flanking the zombie on all sides and running a small circle around it, firing their weapons as it howled and screamed, flailing about as numerous bullets tore into its body. It continued to thrash and stagger about on its feet, disorientated and unable to pick its next target. A blast from Naomi's shotgun blew a huge hole in its chest, coating her with its dark, slick blood as pieces of flesh splattered everywhere. It howled and doubled over, crashing onto the floor as more bullets ripped into it.

"We've got it! We've got it!" One of the Marines yelled in triumph, charging forward while reloading his assault rifle. "This is for Jackson and Angela you piece of shit!"

Naomi's eyes widened in horror as she saw him break formation and rush the zombie. "STOP!" She screamed, throwing a hand out to warn him but it was already too late.

The downed zombie suddenly looked up at the approaching Marine, fixing him with a soul-chilling stare from its soulless white eyes before roaring and scrambling to its feet, charging straight for him while swinging its scythe-like arms. Unable to change direction, the Marine ran right into the zombie's wild swings, and was instantly slashed multiple times across the chest. The force of the blow sent the man flying into the opposite wall, a bloody mess of internal organs, flesh and torn armor scattering all over the ground.

"Fall back!" Naomi grabbed hold of the last Marine and shoved him behind her, reloading her shotgun. "Fall back, reload and get ready to fire on my command!"

They managed to retreat about twenty meters before the zombie turned away from its most recent victim and ran straight at them, howling like a banshee.

"Form a staggered firing line! Cover the entire corridor!" Naomi instructed, eyes trained on the rapidly approaching zombie. "I'll handle the middle, Garrus will be on the right, and you're taking the left!" She gave the Marine a reassuring slap on the back. "Get ready!"

"Yes, Commander!"

"Aye aye!"

When it crossed the ten-meter mark, they opened fire in unison, blanketing the entire breadth of the corridor with a hail of gunfire. Instead of having nowhere else to go and getting shredded by their combined arms, the zombie surprised them yet again with another insane display of speed and agility. Howling, it jumped onto one of the walls and then pushed off, landing on the opposite wall and then leaping off again, repeating this action to traverse the corridor toward them without ever landing on the ground and getting hit. It continued to bound from wall to wall, rapidly closing the distance and evading their attacks even as they switched tactics and started to aim at it. Whenever they pulled the triggers on their weapons, it would already be one step ahead of them, jumping off to a new section of the corridor.

"Fucking hell! What the fuck?!" The Marine yelled as another burst failed to nail the zombie.

"It's too fast!" Garrus shouted urgently, ejecting a spent thermal clip from his weapon and hurriedly slamming in a fresh one. Even with his expert marksmanship, he was no match for the zombie's speed and his next shot missed it as well.

The undead Asari was just two meters away when Naomi finally realized that their current tactic was not going to work.

"Shit! Break formation!"

Yelling, the three of them scattered in all directions. The zombie pushed off the last section of wall and flew straight for the Marine, tackling him to the ground. The Marine didn't even have time to cry out as a bone blade stabbed into his neck and bloody talons ripped his chest apart. The zombie continued to tear into the unfortunate soul, blood splashing around the twitching corpse as it dismembered and cut up the dead body with vicious efficiency.

"By the spirits...what the hell are we supposed to do now?"

Naomi grabbed hold of Garrus, pushing him in the direction of the operating theater. "Get inside! Move! We'll force it into a choke point! Give it less room to maneuver!"

With the zombie right on their tail and screaming for their blood, Naomi and Garrus skidded around the corner and threw themselves into the operating theater, the beams of light from their weapons swinging crazily around the darkened room as they took up firing positions.

"I'm guessing you have a plan?" Garrus shouted above the zombie's screaming as Naomi directed him to stand at the far end of the room. She nodded, crouching down near the doorway and staring the approaching zombie down the barrel of her shotgun as it charged straight for them, arms swinging wildly.

"Garrus! Ready your concussive shot!" She ordered, digging into her armor's special ammo compartment and retrieving a cryo Ammo attachment for her weapon. She slammed it into place and looked over her shoulder, watching as Garrus did as he was ordered, loading a high-explosive shell into the grenade launcher fitted below his assault rifle.

"Naomi, I really hope you know what you're doing!"

A predatory smile appeared on her face and she turned back to meet the approaching threat, cocking her shotgun.

"Come on, Garrus, I always do. Now, let's kill this thing! Activating adrenaline rush!" Raising her omnitool, Naomi input the command for her suit to inject her with a stimpack, wincing as she felt a prick at the back of her neck. As soon as it was injected, the powerful mix of synthetic adrenaline, endorphins, and psychotropic aggression enhancers sent power coursing through her system, setting her nerves on fire and reducing all the sounds around her to a dull throb. An orange film appeared over her vision as time seemed to dilate and slow, the zombie's movements slowing to a crawl, its limbs blurring as it continued its charge in slow-motion. Naomi aimed her cryo ammo enhanced shotgun squarely at the zombie's chest, finger resting on the trigger.

"I've got you now, you son of a bitch."

Under the effects of her adrenaline rush, there was no way that her greatly enhanced reflexes would allow her to miss her target. Letting out a battle cry, Naomi fired five rounds at the zombie, all of which streaked toward the unholy beast in slow motion and impacted against its upper torso. With immense satisfaction, she watched as each shotgun pellet, covered with super-cooled subatomic particles, slammed into the zombie's flesh, ripping bloody holes in its skin before snap freezing both of its arms, most of its chest and one of the bladed limbs growing out of its back.

"Concussive shot now!" Naomi yelled as the five-second effects of her Adrenaline Rush started to wear off, the warmth leaving her veins, sound returning to her ears, and her perception of time returning to normal.

"Firing!" She heard Garrus call out in a muted voice before everything abruptly returned to real-time. The zombie had taken a running jump directly at her before her rounds hit, and was now sailing through the air with almost half of its entire body encased in a layer of ice. It descended upon her, howling, before Garrus' high-explosive round smashed into its frozen torso with devastating results.

Most of the zombie's chest was blown away in a spectacular fashion, and all three of its frozen limbs were similarly shattered into icy shards. The shot failed to change its trajectory, however, and what remained of its body crashed on top of Naomi, knocking the wind out of her and sending her sprawling.

Unfortunately, it was still very much alive.

Roaring right in her face, the zombie viciously headbutted the stunned Commander repeatedly, cutting a gash on her forehead and breaking her nose with a sickening crack. Naomi fell limp, knocked senseless by its ruthless attack, her vision getting blurry and pain shooting through her head. She raised a hand in a feeble attempt to push the corpse off her but it simply headbutted her again, this time striking her directly on her broken nose. Naomi arched her back and howled in agony as blood spurted from her injuries, tasting blood as it ran down her face and into her mouth. From the corner of her darkening vision, she saw the zombie raise its remaining bladed arm in preparation for the killing blow.

"Gar...rus...help..." Naomi cried out, her voice weak and desperate.

The sharp, bony appendage started its descent toward her neck and Naomi squeezed her eyes shut, thinking it was the end.

Garrus was positioned at the far side of the room and as a result, he was ill-prepared for the zombie's continued attack. When he had finally started to move, shouting in fury and screaming Naomi's name, it had already bashed her in the face no less than eight times and was already slicing down with its remaining arm to decapitate her.

He was too late.

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Location: Residential District Tram Station, 1250 hrs

Charlie Squad

Jack slowly opened her eyes. Her vision was a blurred jumble of debris in the foreground and fumes billowing somewhere at the back. She made to get up, a harsh cry coming to her lips as her right arm brushed against the wall. With a grimace, she looked down and immediately wished that she hadn't. A bone had snapped and was protruding through her lower arm, exposing the flesh beneath the torn skin. Subject Zero stared at the unnatural protrusion with morbid fascination before clenching her teeth and tenderly getting up.

"Ah...fuck..."

It hurt like a bitch.

"Mordin? Thane?" Jack called out as she stumbled through the wreckage of the tram. She could dimly make out gunfire and the unearthly cry of those monsters somewhere in the distance. She couldn't be sure however; her head was still spinning and there was a dull ringing in her ears. She felt disoriented.

"Jack?"

Jack felt a surge of relief. She never thought that she would feel this happy upon hearing the annoying, fast-talking Salarian scientists' voice.

Mordin emerged from the mangled metal shell of one of the carriages, limping towards Jack, his attire covered in what appeared to be some slick, greenish liquid.

"Is that blood, Mordin? What the hell happened…"

"Explosion was problematic," Mordin replied. "Was sent hurtling through air by blast, Salarian body structure not very aerodynamic." He paused, taking a deep breath which ended up sounding like a sniff. "Had less than ideal landing, on shrapnel and broken glass. Not to worry, mostly superficial injuries. Still, unable to complain, all hostiles caught in explosion and eliminated. Amazed at varying level of mutations on reanimated organisms so far, especially..."

The Salarian trailed away as he squinted at Jack's broken arm. "Skeletal injury, requires immediate medical attention. Shall I?"

"It's alright, Mordin, I ain't no pussy. This is just a flesh wound, I get these all the time." Jack felt a sting and grimaced again. "We need to get to Thane fast. That frog face might be in trouble."

"Pragmatic assessment," Mordin nodded, and headed out of the ruined tram. "Would also like to state observation that you are one tough cloaca."

Jack rolled her eyes but followed suit, her sidearm at the ready. "I'm no stranger to pain," she spat out. "I spent years being beaten, tortured and experimented on in Cerberus' labs, and I became pretty immune to it. When I get hurt, I just get angrier and pain kind of just fades into the back of my head."

Mordin blinked, his large eyes studying her intently as he thought about what she had just said. "Interesting. Anger used to override and ignore pain, very similar to Krogan blood rage! Would like to run tests."

"Try to run your tests on me, and I'll rip your other fucking horn off."

"Challenge accepted," Mordin replied cheerfully, bobbing his head. "Anything for science!"

Jack shook her head. "You're fucking crazy, you know that?"

They emerged into the relative brightness of the tram station, finding themselves surrounded by the stark reminders of the fierce battle which had taken place not too long ago. Bullet holes were riddled into every wall, and body parts, scraps of flesh and corpses lay scattered upon the blood soaked floor. Fires continued to burn, debris and other detritus littering the ground. And lying amongst several grisly dismembered bodies, was the last member of their squad, Thane the Drell Assassin.

But he was not alone. A man stood watch over him while another woman appeared to be applying medi-gel to a large stab wound on his thigh. Fortunately, that appeared to be the only injury he had sustained, and his life did not seem to be in any danger.

"Hey, frog face. You alright?" Jack asked once she and Mordin had joined up with them. "And if I may politely ask…"

She spun around to face the two strangers. "Who the hell are you two?"

"Peace, Jack." Thane said calmly, "I was just about to accept Kalahira's embrace when they dispatched my attackers and saved me. Perhaps if we introduced ourselves…"

The dark-skinned man had a neatly shaved haircut and was dressed in a plain white over-shirt with a hand-held communicator and flashlight attached to it. He appeared unarmed.

"My name's Franco. Franco Delille," the man announced. "And this lovely woman over here is my girlfriend." He gestured to the woman next to him, dressed in the armor of an Alliance Marine, a standard-issue M-8 Avenger assault rifle folded and clipped to her back.

"Thanks for the compliment, Franco. I'm Private Sarah Andarsyn of the 2nd Titan Station Alliance garrison," The woman stood up, brushing aside her copper hair. "That attack just now was brutal, and we would have died if not for your friend here taking on all those creatures by himself! It was incredible! I've never seen anyone, much less a Drell, fight like that before!" She smiled and gazed at Thane with admiration. "We also saw the two of you draw some of the creatures off into the tram and kill them all with some huge explosion! Just who are you people? The three of you are too...extraordinary to be civilians, so my guess is that you're a wandering group of mercenaries who got caught up in the attack?"

"Good guess, but still missing several, important details," Mordin answered as he accessed his omnitool and ran a scan over Thane's injuries, pleased that there was no nerve damage or fractures, and that the medi-gel had been timely and properly applied. "Not to worry, will explain. In the meantime, will treat my other colleague's injuries. Suggest that we all take this time to rest and recover."

Ten minutes later, the group of five were ready to go. Thane had regained most of his mobility, but was still unable to put much strain on his injured leg. He could walk, but running was impossible. Jack's broken bone had been fitted back into place, the torn flesh and skin stitched up and sealed by the talented Doctor Solus. However, her arm bone remained broken, thus hindering the full use of her biotic powers. To prevent further injury and accidental dislocation, Mordin fashioned a makeshift sling from torn clothing, salvaged from the remains of the corpses around them. Charlie Squad had taken quite a beating, but they were not out of it yet.

Mordin had also done a little explaining, wisely leaving out several sensitive details, such as their involvement with Cerberus. As far as Franco and Sarah were concerned, they were mercenaries led by Commander Shepard, who was currently on a secret Spectre mission to investigate the recent abduction of Human colonies by the Collectors. They had detected the communications failure on the station and decided to investigate, fearing an imminent attack by the Collectors. Upon landing, they quickly found the station in chaos and under attack by the undead. Mordin then related Shepard's evacuation plan to the two newest additions to their group, drawing an impressed look from Franco.

"So, not only is the famous Commander Shepard alive and well, but she is actually here to save us all?" He asked, amazement written all over his face. "And using a planet cracker as an evacuation transport? Now that is definitely something which only she can come up with! There's no doubt about it, this is the same woman who took down Saren and stopped the Geth attack two years ago!"

"What about the Alliance?" Sarah asked. "We're right in the middle of the Sol System for God's sake! Why haven't reinforcements and help arrived yet?"

"Likely that communications failure preventing broadcast of distress messages. Would expect Alliance to investigate eventually, but by then, afraid that it would be too late. Commander Shepard currently station's best hope!" Mordin remarked. "Enquiry, if I may. What were you doing prior to meeting us?"

"We were headed for the hospital," Franco replied. "I have some family there, and I need to make sure that they're alright."

"I was off duty when reports of violence and attacks by the undead creatures began to surface. When martial law was declared, I grabbed my gear and went to find Franco at his workplace. I learnt from him that his parents were warded at the hospital in intensive care, and that many of the creatures were seen nearby, so we rushed here as fast as possible, trying to catch a tram to the Transport Hub," Sarah explained, giving her boyfriend a sympathetic and concerned glance. "We barely reached this station before a large crowd stampeded through, sweeping us along. Turns out that they were being chased by a horde of those creatures. It was horrible, they were tearing everyone apart until you guys showed up."

Jack grinned. "Well, isn't today your lucky day? Shepard, big bird and the cheerleader are at the hospital right now, kicking zombie ass and taking names!"

"I'm guessing those are code names," Sarah laughed. "Did you hear that, Franco? Commander Shepard is at the hospital! Isn't that wonderful news?"

"Indeed. With Commander Shepard there, I am certain that your parents will be alright," Thane assured Franco, laying a hand on his shoulder.

Strangely, Franco appeared slightly discomforted when Jack informed him that Shepard would be in the hospital, but he recovered before his face could betray his thoughts. Thane noticed Franco's reaction and suspected that something was amiss. Franco, the seemingly average joe, was definitely withholding information from them. Nevertheless, the assassin said nothing. He would observe him quietly...for now.

"I...I still have to get to the hospital. I need to see, with my own eyes, if my parents are alright. Sorry, but we can't join your squad. I hope that you understand," Franco mumbled, shaking his head slowly.

"Franco, we should stick with them instead," Sarah insisted, looking surprised. "We've had plenty of brushes with death and we might not be so lucky the next time. There's a higher chance of surviving if we stick together! Have you not seen what those creatures are capable of? We need all the extra firepower we can get!"

"Sarah…baby, we agreed on this. We were going to 'stop for nothing', remember? It's not that I don't trust Commander Shepard's abilities. I'm just really concerned about my parents' safety, and I don't think that I'll be of much help to them by running around the Residential District with a bunch of mercenaries."

Mordin brought up his omnitool and tapped once. A burst of static filled the air and he frowned, speaking rapidly. "Communications failure still persisting. Nevertheless, will keep trying to contact Commander Shepard. Once connection established, will instruct her to look out for and personally ensure safety of Franco's parents. Until then, Sarah's analysis of situation accurate. Better chance of survival if you stay with us." A pause and a sniff. "Will help parents even less if you are dead. What say you?"

"We would greatly appreciate your help in searching for more survivors," Thane said gently. "There are many more lives at stake here. Now is not the time to be selfish."

"I agree," Sarah replied. "Franco?" She glanced at her partner.

It seemed that an internal debate was raging inside Franco as he pondered for a full minute. Finally he nodded his consent.

"That...sounds reasonable enough. Alright then, we're with you."

"Great! We're finally done talking! Let's move out, we're wasting time here!" Jack called over her shoulder as she strode for the exit.

Suddenly, the overhead lamps went out, one by one. Everything was soon eclipsed in pitch-black darkness, save for the meager light their flashlights provided. A shiver and a sense of foreboding passed through each and every person.

Jack sighed. Here they go again.

---

Location: Titan Station Hospital, East Wing, Second Floor 1330 hrs

Alpha Squad

He was too late.

But Miranda was not.

A blue biotic stasis field enveloped the zombie, immediately halting its movements. The bone blade stopped an inch away from Naomi's neck before Miranda followed up with her signature Biotic Slam, yanking the undead corpse upwards before slamming it down into the ground with bone-crushing force. The zombie literally broke apart, head, arm and legs flying in all directions as blood slattered messily around its gruesome body.

Garrus gaped at Miranda's timely rescue but then remembered his number one priority, sprinting over to Naomi's side. She was blinking blearily, eyes unfocused and groaning in pain, a hand on her ruined nose. Blood coated her glove and pooled around her head as she struggled to rise, wincing and collapsing back onto the ground as her strength gave out. Garrus dropped to his knees beside her, gently cradling her head in his hands and inspecting the damage.

"Naomi, are you alright? Can you hear me? Oh spirits..." It broke his heart to see her so beaten up and in pain, but then relief flooded through his body when he saw her brilliant green eyes lock on to his, a bloodied grin forming on her face.

"Heh...hey there, Garrus. We did it...We won..."

Garrus shook his head, clicking his mandibles and shushing her, brushing strands of blood-soaked red hair away from her face. "You almost died! And the first thing you say is 'hey'?"

A set of high heeled boots clicked into view, the woman wearing them cocking her hip to one side and resting a hand on her waist, smiling down at her.

"She can't die. It's not the suicide mission yet."

Naomi continued to grin, her eyes focusing on the newcomer. "Welcome back, Miranda."

5 minutes later...

Garrus helped to keep his Commander's head elevated while Miranda mopped away the blood, cleaned up her face and straightened her nose with a sharp, wince-inducing crack. An ice pack was promptly slapped over it, and a gloved hand clamped over her mouth to muffle her cry of pain as she kicked and squirmed. A tiny prick on her arm a second later sent painkillers flooding through her system and she sighed in relief, her body falling limp again.

"That should do it," Miranda reported, withdrawing her hand away from Naomi's mouth and tossing the used syringe over her shoulder. "Keep that on your pretty little nose for a few more minutes and you'll be fine. There will be a little bruising but hey, at least you'll look as ugly as your boyfriend over there."

Naomi scowled as she sat up, one hand on the ice pack to hold it in place as she glared at the Cerberus Officer. "You're evil. I should have disconnected you from the life support machine when I had the chance."

Miranda waved the threat away dismissively, her smile slowly fading away. "So, Commander. Care to fill me in on what had happened?"

"I'll send you a mission log of the last thirty minutes," Naomi tapped a command into her omnitool and lay back on Garrus' lap, readjusting the ice pack on her face. "Talking is a bitch right now."

---

Alpha Squad Mission Log

1230 hrs to 1310 hrs

1230 hrs - Executive Officer (XO) Miranda Lawson loses consciousness on approach to Titan Station Hospital. Gunnery Officer (GO) Garrus Vakarian identifies cause as rapidly decreasing blood pressure and onset of hypovolemic shock.

1231 hrs - Arrival at squad objective, Titan Station Hospital.

1233 hrs - Commanding Officer (CO) Naomi Shepard conducts reconnaissance of tram station. No hostiles, bodies or survivors found. Alpha Squad disembarks and proceeds into main hospital building. GO Garrus Vakarian is instructed to manually transport XO Miranda Lawson.

1236 hrs - Hospital's ground floor is found to be deserted. Evidence of large-scale attack found, but no hostiles, bodies or survivors. Substantial damage to hospital interior, small fires, dislodged wall and ceiling paneling, destroyed furniture.

1237 hrs - In light of XO Miranda Lawson's deteriorating condition, CO Naomi Shepard changes priority of squad mission from finding survivors to finding treatment for XO Miranda Lawson.

1239 hrs - GO Garrus Vakarian finds a directory for the hospital. Alpha Squad proceeds to East Wing, where operating theaters are located.

1242 hrs - Alpha Squad encounters no resistance upon entering East Wing. State of East Wing almost identical to hospital ground floor. No hostiles or survivors, but a few bodies are encountered. Inspection of a corpse reveals death by lacerations from sharp object.

1245 hrs - Alpha Squad boards elevator to East Wing, second floor. While in elevator, GO Garrus Vakarian remarks that XO Miranda Lawson needs to lose weight. CO Naomi Shepard reminds GO Garrus Vakarian to stop groping XO Miranda Lawson's rear.

1248 hrs - The second floor is found to be barricaded and sealed off by a survivor. CO Naomi Shepard speaks with the survivor, convinces him to grant Alpha Squad entry. Survivor identifies himself as Head Surgeon, Doctor Michael Enrique.

1250 hrs - Doctor Michael Enrique opens the operating theater for Alpha Squad to use. GO Garrus Vakarian assists the doctor as he begins treatment for XO Miranda Lawson. XO Miranda Lawson is given blood transfusions and connected to life support. CO Naomi Shepard finds several corpses lying around the second floor, all showing signs of extensive third-degree burns.

1255 hrs - CO Naomi Shepard questions Doctor Michael Enrique, who denies knowledge of the corpses. CO Naomi Shepard returns to the operating theater to oversee XO Miranda Lawson's treatment and recovery. Doctor Michael Enrique leaves to gather additional medical equipment.

1300 hrs - XO Miranda Lawson's condition improves drastically and stabilizes, but she remains unconscious.

1308 hrs - Doctor Michael Enrique returns with a M-451 Firestorm flamethrower weapon and runs toward the operating theater with clear hostile intent. CO Naomi Shepard tries unsuccessfully to get him to stand down. Doctor Michael Enrique apparently suffering from sudden complete mental breakdown, ignores vocal threat and single warning shot fired by CO Naomi Shepard.

---

"What happened to the doctor?"

"It's a long story, one which I have no intention of repeating. The short answer is over there," Naomi muttered, raising her finger and pointing to the dead doctor lying in a crumpled heap outside the operating theater.

Miranda raised an eyebrow and her mouth formed into a silent 'oh'.

"I'm guessing that the zombie attacked not long after?" She turned back to Naomi, who had removed the ice pack and was getting to her feet.

"We met up with some Alliance Marines before we got jumped. They're all dead now," Naomi said, looking downcast. Garrus put a firm supporting hand on her shoulder as she trudged out of the operating theater, beckoning for Miranda to follow. Her XO gasped as the devastation in the hallway outside greeted her.

Blue eyes widened in shock as they darted from one mauled corpse to another, taking in the obscene amount of blood which had been spilled. "Oh my God, Shepard. Just one zombie did all this?"

Naomi got down beside the body of Sergeant Jackson, snatching up his blood-stained dog tags. "Yeah. It looked like the one which attacked you on the tram but this one was insanely fast...some new kind of biotic zombie. It wiped them all out like it was nothing and I couldn't do anything to save them."

Garrus and Miranda winced as she slammed a fist into the blood-soaked ground, her shoulders slumping and head bowed in grief. "Damn it..."

"There wasn't much more that you could have done, Shepard," Garrus told her gently. "They're all dead now, but we can't dwell on that. We should get moving, try to locate more survivors and probably try to link up with the rest of their platoon."

Naomi sighed, putting a hand to her head. "I know, Garrus. It's just..."

A sudden burst of static from the deceased Sergeant's omnitool interrupted her, drawing all of their attention toward the glowing orange interface on the corpse' forearm. Miranda stooped down and inspected it, slipping it off the dead body and holding it aloft for all to see. "It looks like an incoming message," she observed, extending her hand and passing the device to Naomi.

"That's a little odd. Aren't all communications being jammed right now?" Garrus folded his arms, head cocked to the side in bewilderment.

"Only one way to find out," she said, hitting the command to accept the transmission. Immediately, their ears were treated to the jarring cacophony of an intense, chaotic and pitched battle. They heard the chatter of assault rifles, pounding of feet, heavy breathing and frantic, desperate screams. Incomprehensible orders were being shouted in the background, and they could also make out the chilling, unearthly shrieks and howls of the attacking zombies. A particularly high-pitched scream made all of them wince, before it was drowned out by the other sounds of the fight.

"What on Earth is going on out there?" Miranda asked out loud.

"Whatever and wherever it is, it doesn't sound good," Garrus remarked grimly.

Naomi prepared to speak through the omnitool's communicator, but the person on the other end beat her to it. "Sergeant Jackson! Come in, Sergeant Jackson!" The speaker was a Human male, voice gruff and authoritative. "Answer me, damn it!"

"Sergeant Jackson is dead," she said quickly. "He and his entire squad were attacked and killed by undead hostiles."

"What? Who is this? Identify yourself immediately!"

"I'm Commander Shepard of the Normandy."

There was a short pause following her announcement, and she could well imagine the look of disbelief which must have formed on the speaker's face.

"Commander Shepard? What the hell are you-" A burst of gunfire cut him off, followed by someone shouting 'bolster that left flank! I need suppressive fire!'. The man on the other end came back on a second later, breathing hard and panic lacing his voice. "Okay, Shepard. I don't care what you're doing here, how you're even alive, or if you're even who you say you are. Right now, I need your help! I'm Captain Victor Bartlett, Commanding Officer of the 2nd Titan Station Alliance Garrison!"

Naomi leapt to her feet, bringing up her omnitool. "Send me your coordinates! My squad and I will-"

"No, Commander!" Captain Bartlett interjected urgently, the fierce battle still raging in the background. "I need you to complete Sergeant Jackson's mission! It is of the utmost importance, do you understand?"

"I know about the mission, sir! Jackson told me about it before he died. But why? Why do you want to kill this man so badly? I should be coming to help-"

"LISTEN TO ME!" Captain Bartlett roared so fiercely that she recoiled, holding the omnitool at an arms-length away from her. "I have no fucking time to explain this shit! Just do as I say, get to the asylum, find and kill a patient named Isaac Clarke! Make sure he's dead, you hear me?"

"Yes, sir!" Even though there were a million questions running through her mind, Naomi reigned in her curiosity, knowing that Captain Bartlett was truly in no time to explain anything to her right now.

"Good! As we speak, my platoon is making a run for the hospital's tram station with survivors in tow! Get the job done, and we'll rendezvous with you there! Captain-"

The transmission cut abruptly, plunging them back into silence. Attempts to re-establish the connection only produced more noisy static and Naomi gave up after her third try. "Well, that could have gone a lot better," she sighed, dropping the omnitool and looking to her squadmates. "Thoughts?"

"I say we go ahead with the Captain's plan. You know, see what the fuss is all about," Garrus suggested with a shrug of his shoulders. "I'm actually curious to find out why this 'Isaac Clarke' is so important." He looked to the dead corpses strewn about the corridor and added," and why their mission was worth dying for."

Miranda agreed. "Besides, the Captain did say he was escorting survivors out of the hospital, and to the tram station no less. The way I see it, he does our job for us while we help him with this assignment. Its a mutually beneficial partnership, Shepard. When we rendezvous with his forces, we'll use the tram to take everyone back to the Transport Hub and link up with the rest of our team. In other words..."

"It's perfect," Naomi finished for her, smiling brightly. She stood adopting a thinking posture, hand under her chin as she carefully considered what little information they had been given regarding their new mission. "Something seems off though. I mean, sure he's a dangerous criminal, but going out of their way to eliminate him right when a zombie outbreak occurs seems suspicious to me. I think there's something bigger at work here than just a mass-murdering terrorist, so I plan on asking questions first and shooting later. I'm not going to execute this guy until we get the full picture, alright?"

"Understood, Commander," Miranda gave her a curt nod. "But since our target is being held in an asylum, you shouldn't get your hopes up too high. We might not be able to get any answers from him at all, as there's no telling if his mental state has completely deteriorated to the point of pure insanity."

"It's your call," Garrus said simply.

Naomi nodded, checking all her weapons and watching her squadmates do the same.

"Alright guys, let's go find Isaac Clarke."

---

Location: Somewhere above the Government Sector, 1300 hrs

Echo Squad

"Safe..." she muttered, tilting her head to face the ceiling.

And just by uttering that simple word, Kasumi Goto jinxed herself. The elevator lurched and shuddered to a halt, the lights flickering on and off before going out completely, throwing her into darkness.

She cursed aloud and immediately went for her omnitool, establishing a link to the cockpit.

"Joker? Come in! Hurry up, you baka! This is important!"

The seconds passed in agonizing silence, and the suffocating darkness didn't make her experience in the stalled elevator any more pleasant.

Finally, the pilot's voice came through.

"Joker here! Is that you, Kasumi? Where are you?"

"Who else on this ship speaks Japanese? I'm trapped in the elevator! The power suddenly went out!"

"Yeah, I know!" There was a pause and Kasumi could hear the pilot's fingers flying over his console. "I'm losing power to some of the ship's systems! Something really weird is going on in the Engineering Deck, Gabbriella wouldn't screw around with the power flow like this! I've been trying to contact her but she's not responding, what the hell?"

"Joker, something is very wrong," Kasumi whispered hurriedly, getting to her feet and switching on the flashlight on her heavy pistol. "Do you remember the body that was in the escape pod? The one which we put it in a body bag and left in the hangar? Well, I was down below just now, and it's no longer there!"

"Holy shi-"

"And that's not all!" She continued, cutting him off. "I was just attacked by what was left of one of the technicians! I barely got away-"

"What do you mean by 'what was left'?"

"As in, he was already dead!" Kasumi felt her own skin crawl as she recounted the horrific appearance of the bloody, mutated corpse to Joker, who listened in stunned silence.

"Shit," Joker breathed. "Shit. And it's still in the hangar?"

"Yes. I couldn't kill it, only cripple it before I ran out of ammunition," Kasumi explained, now shining her flashlight at the elevator's ceiling, looking for a way out. "Joker, we have to issue a ship-wide alert. I have a very bad feeling that the missing dead body was responsible for killing that technician and turning him into that thing. I think it's roaming around the ship looking for more victims!"

Suddenly, there was a low hum and the Normandy shuddered. Kasumi pricked up her ears, finding it strange that she could no longer hear the dull throb of the Normandy's engines.

Worried, she once again contacted the cockpit for an explanation. "Joker, talk to me! What just happened?"

"Shit. Shit. Shit! Things just got a lot worse, Kasumi!" The pilot's panicked voice made the trepidation she was feeling even worse. "I just lost all power to the Normandy's propulsion systems! We're drifting into the path of some big ass asteroid, and EDI says our kinetic barriers are rapidly losing power as well!"

"Can't you divert power from other non-critical systems to the engines?"

"Negative! There's nothing non-critical left for me to divert! Except well, maybe the damn coffee machine..."

"JOKER!" Kasumi shouted so fiercely that she could practically feel the pilot's cringe through her omnitool's communications channel. "How much time do we have before the Normandy pulls a Titanic on one of those rocks?"

"Fifteen minutes!" Joker yelled, his fear palpable. "What the hell are Gabriella and Donnelly doing down there?"

---

Normandy SR2 - Engineering Deck

Engineer Gabriella Daniel's terrified screams echoed through the Engineering Deck before she was abruptly silenced by the heavy metal wrench smashing into her face.

She was knocked senseless by the blow, her nose and cheekbone broken instantly by the crushing impact. Her body fell limp, red rapidly filling her vision. Blood coated her attacker's face, hair and uniform as he swung the wrench down again and again, crushing her face into a bloody pulp. By the fourth swing, Gabriella was already dead, her face caved in and resembling nothing more than a sick, gory mess, her skull crushed and head split open by the savage blows she had received.

Engineer Kenneth Donnelly dropped the bloodied murder weapon, stepping away from his colleague's gruesome body as it slid off the console and fell to the ground with a wet thud. In a daze, he stumbled over to his own workstation, gripping both sides of the console tightly with his blood-coated hands before slamming his head down onto the metal surface with a loud crack. Kenneth slowly raised his head, returning to a standing position with blood running down from a gash on his forehead, still maintaining his death grip on the console.

He looked down, staring at the red smear on the console before leaning back, screaming as he brought his head down again. And again. And again. And again.

---

Normandy SR2 - Combat Information Center

The Normandy shuddered as small pieces of rock continued to strike its depleted shields.

"Kinetic barriers are at thirty percent, Mr. Moreau. We have four minutes until the Normandy impacts the asteroid. My analysis concludes that the ship will not be able to survive a collision with an object of that size," EDI's synthetic voice calmly informed him of their impending doom, its blue holographic interface popping up beside Joker's flight console.

The pilot was furiously hammering away at the controls, still trying desperately to reroute power from all over the ship and stop it from crashing into the giant chunk of rock in front of them. He was not going to lose another Normandy, and definitely not to something like a stupid rock!

However, despite his best efforts, the Normandy was still bleeding power and slowly but surely shutting down. For some reason, the people in engineering had sabotaged the power flows all over the ship, disabling the Normandy's four antiproton thrusters and other critical systems. It was both bizarre and frightening. With no word from the Normandy's engineers, and all his calls to the Engineering Deck going unanswered, Joker was completely in the dark and at a loss of what to do. As if all that wasn't enough, there was also a freaking mutant zombie stalking through the ship! As per Kasumi's suggestions, Joker had issued a ship-wide alert, getting all the combat-trained crew members to arm themselves and patrol the Combat Information Center and Crew Deck for the intruder, while all the non-combat personnel locked themselves inside the Crew Quarters.

"Dammit! There has to be another way!"

"We can still save the Normandy, Mr. Moreau," the AI replied, "Give me the ship."

The pilot stared at EDI as if she was insane. "What?! You're crazy!"

"Unlock my sealed data-bases and I can personally restore power to the Normandy's kinetic barriers and propulsion systems. The maintenance shaft in the science lab will allow passage to the AI core."

Joker shook his head in disbelief. If he let EDI play ball and if the AI ended up going more rogue than Saren Arterius, everyone on the ship would be at its mercy and probably get shot out of the airlocks or something. But then again, what choice did he have? As much as he hated to admit it, EDI was their best hope right now and if he didn't give her a chance to save the ship, everyone would be part of a nice stain on an asteroid.

"Alright, but if you start singing Daisy Bells I'm done!"

"Thank you, Mr. Moreau. However, I recommend caution when making your way through the Combat Information Centre. I am detecting movement within the elevator shaft," EDI replied, still sounding unnervingly calm about the entire situation.

"Aw shit shit shit shit!"

Joker pushed himself off his leather backed armchair and hobbled past the vacant rows of control terminals in the CIC. Four armed crew members were stationed around the galaxy map, watching all corners of the deck.

"Kasumi? It's Joker. I know this is crazy but...I'm giving EDI control of the Normandy. It's the only chance we've got at saving the ship. I'm heading down to the AI Core now."

The pilot could discern the fear and concern in Kasumi's voice. "Be careful, Joker. The Crew Deck is no longer safe. I just left my room and found all the combat personnel stationed outside dead. The zombie must have broken into the Crew Deck and killed them all. It's horrible...there's so much blood here...I'm going to check the Crew Quarters to see if the others are alright and meet you in the AI Core after that. Stay sharp, the zombie is still around and hiding somewhere."

"Shit. Okay, Kasumi, you be careful too."

As Joker limped his way to the Tech Lab, something smashed against the elevator door, denting it severely and making him freeze. Whatever was on the other side let loose a terrifying howl.

"We'll cover you, Joker! Go!" Crewman Hadley shouted as the other three members of the crew trained their guns at the mangled sheet of metal.

Jeff Moreau made his way past the Tech Lab doors. Upon passing the threshold, he could hear the sickening screech of metal being torn away and the staccato of gunfire. Someone began to scream in terror. Too terrified to look back, he hastily made his way over to the maintenance shaft, grasping the sides of the ladder and putting his foot on the top rung.

Well, here goes nothing.

---

Normandy SR2 - Crew Deck

Kasumi the Master Thief stood outside the Crew Quarters, glancing warily around as she waited for the lock to cycle open. She had escaped the elevator through the maintainence hatch on the ceiling, crawling her way through the elevator shaft and the vents between the Combat Information Centre and Crew Deck before popping out into her room in Port Observation. She then armed herself with her flashbang grenades, additional thermal clips, and her prized M-12 Locust sub-machine gun. Feeling confident, she had left the room, intending to meet up with the rest of the patrolling combat personnel and join them in the hunt for the missing zombie.

Instead, she had found nothing but death and silence on the Crew Deck. Blood was splattered all over the walls and floor, the slashed and brutally dismembered corpses of the crew scattered amongst overturned chairs and tables. Immediately, Kasumi's thoughts had turned to those non-combat personnel herded and locked inside the Crew Quarters. Judging by the intact door, the zombie had failed to get to those within, but when she pounded on the door and called out to its occupants, the lack of an audible response worried her.

Finally, the door slid open. Kasumi gasped in horror and recoiled when she saw all the corpses lying in a corner, their blood pooling together to cover almost half the room and filling the air with a sickening, metallic scent. She was even more disturbed upon noticing the innumerable bullet wounds on all of their bodies and the scorch marks in the walls. Someone, most likely wielding an assault rifle, had opened fire on every single crew member inside the room, slaughtering all of the defenceless men and women. Who could have done such a thing, and why?

Kasumi cried out as a sudden, powerful blow to the back of her head sent her reeling. She spun around, just in time to see and feel an assault rifle slamming against the side of her head, knocking her onto the ground.

Gasping in shock, pain and fear, Kasumi dragged herself forward, trying to crawl away from her attacker.

It was Yeoman Kelly Chambers.

"Hello there, Kasumi."

---

Location: Titan Station Hospital, East Wing, Asylum 1340 hrs

Isaac Clarke

"Isaac!"

Someone was calling his name. Quiet...he needed quiet...

"ISAAC!"

An abrupt, sharp stab of pain in his head jolted him awake. Isaac opened his eyes and was immediately assaulted with blinding light. He could see nothing else, blinking and squinting against the harsh brightness being directed at his face, turning his head this way and that in a futile attempt to escape the radiant rays of light, flinching as a disembodied male voice spoke to him.

"You were drifting away for a moment there, Mister Clarke."

Isaac ignored the voice. The light was hurting him. He wanted both the light and the voice to go away. Go away! Go away!

"I believe you were telling me about the nightmares that you've been having. About your dead girlfriend. What was her name?"

The voice was persistent, noisy, and unwelcome. Why wouldn't it go away? Maybe if he told the voice what it wanted to know, he would be left alone.

"Nicole," Isaac bit out with great difficulty, shutting his eyes as his head throbbed again.

A ghostly whisper made its way over to his ears, sending shivers running down his spine. Isaac tensed. Something about the new voice was so familiar, so hauntingly familiar and comforting at the same time.

"I never wanted it to end like this, I really wanted to see you again. Just once. I loved you. I always loved you."

The distinctively female voice began to fade. No! Stay! Stay! Isaac shook his head, trying desperately to listen, trying to will the female voice to return. Who did the voice belong to? He knew that person! He knew that he knew that person! Who was it? Was it Nicole? Yes! Yes! It was! It was Nicole's voice!

"Yes, Nicole Brennan. She was a Senior Medical Officer stationed aboard a planet cracker class vessel."

The male voice once again returned to plague him. No! He didn't want to hear it! He only wanted to hear Nicole's voice! Where was her voice? Where was Nicole? The voice said that she was on a ship? Wait, ship! He knew a ship!

"The Ishimura," Isaac muttered. It was the first name which had come to his mind. Why? Why did he think of that name? What did it mean to him?

"USG Ishimura, yes. Part of a mining operation on Aegis 7. I understand communications went down soon after their arrival. You were part of the repair mission. A mission for which you volunteered, am I right?"

Isaac grimaced as another wave of pain seared through his aching head. This time, however, it did not fade away after a few seconds. It instead increased steadily in intensity, making him cry out. Make it stop! Make it stop!

"What did you find aboard the ship, Isaac?"

It was the voice! It had to be the voice! The voice was causing him all this pain!

"They found something," Isaac hissed, gritting his teeth and squeezing his eyes shut against the terrible pounding in his head. The blinding light seared his closed eyelids, and he was starting to hear a new noise at the back of his mind. It consisted of the warbled, distorted voices of a hundred people, all chanting unintelligible things, laced with what sounded like loud static.

"What did you find aboard the ship, Isaac?"

Unsatisfied, the voice pressed him further. The pain, combined with the ever-increasing volume of the other voices, sent him over the edge. His head felt like it was being ripped apart! He couldn't think! Couldn't focus! Isaac groaned, and it took all of his willpower and strength to force out the next two words from between his clenched teeth.

"The Marker."

"Did you have contact with this Marker? It made you see things didn't it? Things you didn't want to see?"

A shadow passed over his closed eyes. Someone was standing in front of him, shielding him from the bright light. A set of cold, wet fingers placed themselves upon his face, tracing lazy circles around his eyelids. Blood! He could smell blood! Isaac breathed in sharply, keeping his eyes shut and trying to pull away, but the person's hands suddenly grabbed both sides of his head, holding it in place with surprising strength. A thumb slowly peeled back each of his eyelids, forcing him to come face to face with the horror which stood in front of him.

It was Nicole's corpse. Her pallid, blood-streaked face was inches away from his, and her empty, bloodied eye sockets glared into the depths of his soul. Isaac watched in horror, transfixed as his once-beautiful girlfriend opened her mouth to speak, blood dribbling and bubbling out of her torn lips. Nicole's lips were moving, but he couldn't make out the words that left them. The cacophony of voices and the static in his mind drowned it all out.

"It spoke to me," Isaac said numbly, shocked senseless by the ghastly sight in front of him. His tortured mind was no longer his own, his brain was no longer working. He just sat in a daze, forced to gaze upon his dead girlfriend's terrifying visage. His whole body was numb, he felt nothing, couldn't feel anything...

"What did it say to you, Isaac? What did it say?"

Nicole mouthed the words again, a dirty, orange light escaping from her eyes and mouth. This time, Isaac could hear her. He could hear every single word that she was saying in her cold, harsh voice.

"Make. Us. Whole." Nicole hissed at him, tilting her head slowly as she continued to glare at him, her eyes still glowing with their unholy light.

"Isaac!"

"Isaac, can you hear me? Isaac!"

Nicole leaned backwards before thrusting her face at him, screaming at the top of her lungs.

"MAKE US WHOLE!"

---

Isaac awoke with a start, gasping in shock. His eyes flew open, his heart hammering away in his chest as he was ejected from his cryogenic-stasis containment pod and violently returned to reality. Blinking furiously, it took him a few seconds to realize that he couldn't see a thing, that Nicole was no longer screaming at him, that it had all been a very disturbing nightmare, and that he was currently strapped to a cold metal table with his arms bound in front of him by some sort of device.

"What the fuck?"

Panicking, blind and confused, he immediately began to thrash and struggle, but froze when two hands grasped hold of his shoulders. Ghastly images of Nicole flashed through his mind, and he stiffened in reflex, squeezing his eyes shut again. As the seconds passed in silence, he felt his fear turn into anger. 'What am I doing? That was not real! I'm awake now, she's no longer there!' Isaac angrily told himself, extremely annoyed by his own paranoia. 'Get a grip, Isaac!' Taking a deep, shuddering breath to calm himself, Isaac tentatively asked the first question which came to his mind.

"Who...who are you?"

After a brief pause, a female voice answered him. It was gentle, yet firm and confident, with a hint of Canadian dialect.

"Isaac? I need you to calm down. Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you."

The hands let go of his shoulders and he allowed himself to relax. Whoever was standing in front of him now was probably not a threat. Her words were friendly, comforting, and sounded genuine. But a small voice at the back of his mind told him to be cautious and not to trust her completely just yet; He was in an extremely vulnerable state, blind and under heavy restraint.

"Hang on, I'm going to get you out of these restraints. Isaac? Are you still with me? Are you alright?" As the woman spoke, he was aware of more than one pair of hands getting to work at the straps which held him down to the table, slowly freeing his body from its uncomfortable confinement. So, the woman was not alone.

"I can't see..." He muttered as the last of the straps were removed and he was helped off the table by the woman's companions. He wobbled unsteadily for a few seconds as his feet touched the ground, his bound arms and blindness being a severe hindrance to his sense of balance.

"Garrus, hold him steady for a moment."

Someone, most likely this Garrus person, held on to him until he managed to find his balance and could stand on his own. At this point, Isaac straightened up, shrugging the person's hands off his shoulders.

"Touchy, isn't he?" The voice was male, low, and with a distinct flanging effect. Turian, Isaac concluded. Given its proximity, this was probably Garrus.

He flinched as another set of hands brushed against the back of his head, and reacted instinctively by twisting his body violently to the side and jerking his head away.

"Hey!" Isaac shouted in protest. "What do you think you're doing?"

A reassuring hand placed itself on his shoulder, and the woman spoke again. "Relax, Isaac. There's some kind of blindfold on you, that's why you can't see anything right now. We're removing it now, but I need you to stand still."

"If you say so," Isaac ground out, apprehension evident in his voice. He stilled himself and let the hands return to do their work, fumbling with some sort of catch at the back of his head. There was a click and a moment later, light flooded back into his eyes. He grimaced, stung by the sudden exposure to the glaring brightness of his surroundings, but wasted no time in lowering his head and blinking rapidly in an effort to restore his vision as soon as possible.

As his eyesight slowly returned, the first things he saw were his own two feet, clad in white hospital shoes. Then, as the dark shadows and blurry lines gradually faded away from the corners of his vision, he was able to see the matching white patient garb he was clad in, as well as the complicated-looking, metal and fabric straitjacket currently keeping his arms bound. He stared long and hard at his bizarre attire, many questions coming to mind. Hospital clothes? Straitjacket? What the hell was going on? And how did he even get here?

Isaac slowly looked up, finally able to get a good look at his 'rescuers'. There were three of them, two women and one male Turian, all well-armed with an impressive array of weapons and clad in military grade combat armor.

Garrus was the easiest to identify, being the only Turian in the entire group. His armor was typical of the sort worn by his species, and was colored mostly blue with black highlights. Isaac noted with interest, a curious symbol in the shape of a golden set of wings above his right gauntlet. Perhaps Garrus was some sort of Turian Commando? His armor sure looked the part. It was extremely pitted and battle-worn, with large scorch marks in some places and missing a large chunk of the collar. Furthermore, Garrus' facial features also fit his mind's mental picture of a veteran soldier who had seen plenty of action. He had several blue markings on his face which looked very much like war paint, and the right side of his face was heavily-scarred. A visor covered his left eye and a large sniper rifle adorned his back. Marksman, Isaac observed. The Turian must be the squad's long-range specialist and sharpshooter.

The woman in the middle was obviously the one in command. It was hard to describe, but she exuded some sort of aura which made her stand out from her two companions. It was an aura which gave him the impression that she was a leader, someone special and important. Isaac couldn't quite put a finger on it, but he was quite certain that he had seen her face somewhere before. A mop of short red hair framed her relatively attractive features and her warm green eyes gazed at him evenly as she offered him a small, friendly smile. Her armor was black, with a distinct white and red striped pattern running down the right arm. A letter and a number, 'N7', featured prominently on her armor's breastplate. It most likely had some military significance, but since he was just a civilian, Isaac had no idea what it meant. In any case, he was more interested in the sheer number of weapons strapped to her armor, finding it both unbelievable and impressive that the woman could be proficient in the use of so many different weapon types. He could see an assault rifle, sniper rifle, shotgun and heavy pistol, and something told him that they were not just for show. This woman looked like she was more than capable of handling herself in a fight, and could do a lot of damage if she wanted to. Isaac frowned as he studied the redhead, the sense of familiarity nagging at him and frustrating him. 'I know who she is! But I just can't remember! Why can't I remember anything?'

The last member of the squad was a strikingly beautiful woman with long, flowing raven hair. Her features were practically flawless and they took his breath away, but her eyes were a cold blue, devoid of warmth and emotion. Her luscious lips were unsmiling, and were instead set into a thin line, indicating her impatience. Everything about her facial expression expressed arrogance and contempt, and Isaac felt himself taking an immediate dislike toward her. Still, it took him some time to stop admiring her well-endowed and curvaceous body, clad in a ridiculous, figure-hugging white catsuit. Isaac raised an eyebrow at this. 'Seriously? You call that armor?' However, he could see that the woman definitely did not lack for offensive capability. A pistol and sub-machine gun were clipped to her slim waist, and as his eyes once again traveled up to the area around her chest, he saw a peculiar symbol in black and gold emblazoned on the suit near the edge of the plunging neckline. The symbol was also awfully familiar to him, but once again, his memory failed him.

When he was done observing the trio, Isaac turned his attention to his immediate surroundings. They were standing in some sort of high-security cell, lit by a strip of glaring lights overhead. The walls were a dull gray, possibly made of reinforced metal, with no windows of any kind in the cramped compartment. His cell was effectively an isolated metal cube, Isaac realized. Beside him lay a steel table which had a dizzying array of straps hanging off it. This was definitely what he had been secured to before the woman and her squad released him. It was fitted onto a set of tracks, which allowed it to be pushed back into a long, cylindrical cryogenic-stasis containment pod of some kind. Closer inspection revealed that there was a small screen on the pod's polished chrome surface, with his name clearly displayed on it. 'Patient Five, Isaac Clarke'. What did all this mean? Was he in some hospital? When and why was he admitted? Why was he under such restraints? And why, why couldn't he remember anything at all? He was confused, disoriented, angry, and damn it, he needed answers!

"Isaac? Isaac Clarke?"

His gaze lingered on the display for a little longer before he turned to face the speaker. It was the woman in the N7 armor.

"Look, I need you to tell me what's going on here," Isaac started, unable to keep the impatience and anger out of his voice. "Where am I? What am I doing here? And who the hell are you people?"

The woman in the catsuit sighed in annoyance. "You see, Commander? I knew that this would happen. He's just a babbling idiot! We should just-"

"Miranda!" The redhead cut her off, holding up a hand.

"I'm not a babbling idiot," Isaac glared at Miranda, incensed. "Listen, you geniuses. I just came out from stasis and my memory's in a mess. I can't even remember how I got here in the first place! So why don't all of you start talking, huh? Get me out of this straitjacket, and answer my FUCKING QUESTIONS!" He finished his sentence with a shout, all of his pent-up frustration and fury channeled into his last two words and sent echoing into the room beyond his cell.

He stopped to catch his breath after his outburst, glowering at each of them in turn. Miranda still appeared unmoved, crossing her arms with a huff and a slight upward tilt of her chin. Screw his previous dislike for Miranda, Isaac now knew that he didn't simply dislike her. He hated her. Garrus looked a little startled, his eyes widening and the plates on his fringe moving up a fraction of an inch. The N7-armored woman whom Miranda had referred to as 'Commander' ran a hand through her hair, sighing in resignation and offering him an apologetic look.

"Yeah...sorry about that," she grinned sheepishly, rubbing the back of her head. "I should have known that this would be pretty overwhelming for you. Believe me, I was in a similar situation myself not too long ago." At this, she turned to give Miranda a knowing smirk, one which the raven-haired woman returned. "I'm not sure if I have all the answers you need though, but I'll try to explain to the best of my ability. We actually have a few questions for you as well, so perhaps we can help each other. Just take it easy, alright?"

Isaac nodded slowly, feeling his anger subside. The woman spoke with confidence and sincerity, and her voice had a certain calming quality to it which made him inclined to trust her. On top of that, she had already promised to give him some much-needed answers.

"Anyway, let's get you out of that thing before we play twenty questions." The woman marched forward, whipping out a long combat knife from a holster built into her armor. He flinched instinctively when she stabbed it into the straitjacket, getting the disturbing impression that he was getting stabbed in the abdomen. However, he needn't have worried. The blade ignored his skin and got to work on the fabric, cutting and slicing through his remaining restraints with ease. Isaac shrugged off the heavy straitjacket, popping his neck and rolling his shoulders, massaging his wrists, flexing his arms and just getting used to his returning mobility, sighing in relief.

"Better?" The woman asked him with a smile, sheathing her combat knife while he stretched his aching joints.

"Thanks," Isaac mumbled, suddenly feeling an odd sensation on his left wrist when he rotated it. It felt like something cold and hard was digging into his skin, and he pulled back the long sleeves on his hospital clothes to get a better look at the culprit. It turned out to be a thin, metallic patient tracking band, featuring a tiny flashing green light next to an engraved symbol colored black and gold. As he stared intently at the symbol, he realized that it was exactly identical to the one on Miranda's uniform. Isaac froze, his heart pounding and eyes narrowing as he gradually put two and two together, head throbbing as several images, all pieces of his missing memories, flashed through his mind.

He was restrained to a chair, being interrogated by a man dressed in a white suit, the black and gold symbol on his lapel. He struggled as two soldiers forced him onto the table, strapping him down, the black and gold symbol visible on their shoulder guards. He was being dragged through a featureless corridor, coming to a stop in front of a heavy, locked door, the black and gold symbol engraved on the polished metal. An extranet article featuring an image of the black and gold symbol. Cerberus. Terrorist organization.

Isaac blinked, shaking his head as the images faded away, alarm bells beginning to ring in his mind. 'What the hell? I've been captured and held prisoner by terrorists! When did this happen, and how? It doesn't matter, this Miranda is working for them! I knew there was something about her I didn't like!' He continued to think furiously, analyzing the current situation, but being careful to keep his facial expression neutral so as to avoid arousing their suspicions. 'Calm down, Isaac. They still don't know that you're on to them, just play along and look for an opening. But what do they want? They just released me from my cell and freed me from my bindings. What's their angle?'

He looked down as the redhead extended a hand toward him, intending to shake hands, the friendly smile still on her face. Isaac felt like sneering. 'They think that they're all so clever, they think that I'm an idiot who can't figure things out? They must have drugged me, made me forget things and screwed with my memories. Whatever it is, I think I'm starting to overcome it. They have let down their guard, this is my chance!'

Isaac took her hand in his, his whole body tensing in preparation for what he was about to do as the redhead introduced herself.

"I'm Commander Shepard of the Normandy," she said cheerily, shaking his hand and giving him a small nod. Isaac flinched, squeezing his eyes shut as he received yet another stab of pain through his head. The words she had spoken had triggered his brain to overcome a set of mental blocks, releasing an additional set of memory images into his mind's eye.

Extranet vid. Commander Shepard's Spectre status presentation ceremony. Breaking Galactic news. Articles from the Alliance News Network. Commander Naomi Shepard, Humanity's first Spectre. Hero of Elysium. Savior of the Citadel. Commander Shepard and SSV Normandy lost in battle. Commander Shepard killed in action.

Isaac opened his eyes to see the redhead's concerned expression. She was saying something to him, he could see her lips moving but he wasn't listening. He tuned her out, quickly pouncing on the new information his mind had recovered, trying to see how it all fit into the current situation. 'Okay, I know who this woman is now! No wonder she looked so familiar, she's Commander Shepard! What the hell is she even doing here? Wait! No, that can't be right! Shepard was killed two years ago! That means this bitch is nothing but an imposter! What the hell is Cerberus trying to pull, using a 'hero' to gain my trust and cooperation? What for? Well, it's not going to work! I'm not going to fall for whatever they're telling me. They're all lies! Lies!'

"LIES!" Isaac yelled in fury, suddenly tightening his grip on the fake Commander Shepard's hand. While his enemies were shocked into momentary inaction, he attacked with a level of speed and strength that he didn't even know he possessed, yanking her forward with a surprised yelp. That yelp quickly turned into a cry of pain as he transferred his grip on her hand to her wrist, spinning her around and viciously twisting her arm behind her back, making her stagger and gasp. His other hand simultaneously snatched the heavy pistol clipped to her thigh, shoving the barrel against her temple and making his prisoner stiffen in his grasp.

Miranda and Garrus shouted in surprise, swiftly drawing their weapons in response to his hostage-taking. In retaliation, Isaac mercilessly increased the force he was exerting on the redhead's arm, twisting it even further to near-breaking point and making her writhe in agony.

"Don't. Shoot!" She gasped to her squadmates as he jabbed the gun against her head.

"You better listen to her," Isaac growled, maintaining the tight hold he had on his captive and the weapon, peering at the remaining two Cerberus soldiers over the top of their Commander's head. "Or she'll lose her head!"

They complied, not moving a muscle but still keeping their weapons trained on him. Not that they could have hit him anyway. Isaac was effectively shielded by the redhead's armored bulk, and the threat of him blowing a gaping hole into her head kept Miranda and Garrus at bay. He smirked, relishing the control and power that he was wielding now.

"Still think that I'm a babbling idiot?" He crowed, enjoying the furious expressions on their faces. "Nice try Miranda, your 'Commander Shepard' almost had me convinced. But I know the truth. I know that all of you work for Cerberus!"

The look of surprise which flitted across their features confirmed his suspicions.

"You two are going to drop your weapons and tell me what I want to know. Why have you captured me? Where am I? And what have you done to my memories? Start talking, and you better not be lying," Isaac threatened, curling a finger around the heavy pistol's trigger. He roughly shoved the gun against the woman's head, making her wince. "Well, I'm waiting!"

"Isaac, listen to me!" The redhead pleaded with him. "Take it easy. Just drop the gun and let me go, this is all just a misunderstanding. I already said that I can explain everything to you, please trust me!"

"Let her go, and I won't shoot you dead where you stand," Garrus warned him, his voice low and dangerous. The Turian re-adjusted his firing stance, aiming through his assault rifle's scope, ready to make good on his threat. Isaac ducked his head back down, shielding his head behind the redhead's.

"You're in way over your head you idiot! If you fire that gun, you die." Miranda's cold, mocking voice made its way into his ears, infuriating him, taunting him.

"Wrong answer," Isaac snarled and pulled the trigger.

---

Not the best first impression he could have given to our Mass Effect heroes, but hey, who can blame poor Isaac? Jack, Mordin and Thane have found Franco, but will his hidden agenda doom them all? The Normandy's crew has been devastated by the necromorphs, Marker-wrought insanity and the dangerous Unitologist fanatic, Kelly Chambers! Will Kasumi and Joker be able to save the ship and their own lives? In the next chapter, Samara, Grunt and Zaeed will run into a familiar female face from Dead Space 2, Jacob and Tali fight for their lives on the tram, and one of our heroes will meet his/her tragic end. Stay tuned, and keep those reviews, favs and follows coming! Until the next chapter then, Gibbering Gemstone, out!