In the end all five of them set off from the shuttle, the four humans encased head to toe in lousy Blue Suns armour and Garrus gleaming with fresh paint. The mercenary band they had taken out had helpfully carried a PDP with an IFF and access codes for the station a couple of klicks away. The thing on the ground they had all been examining when Shepard and her squad had hit them turned out to be a stabiliser designed for a small drive core, recently ejected onto the surface; presumably they'd been arguing over whether to bother turning it in or not. Miranda and Jack were carrying the thing between them.
Beneath her veneer of casual confidence, Shepard was boiling with curiosity and anxiety. The mercenary's datapad had again saved her a lot of trouble by providing a blueprint of the station, which turned out to be cobbled together from storage modules from another damn Kowloon. The terminals, however, were not marked, and she was counting on EDI for that part. She was on the point of deciding to split the team up; keep someone with her and send the other three off to investigate separately, perhaps to drop off the salvage and get some gossip. In that case Jack would have to stay with her. There would be no way Miranda could keep her in check.
But if they were splitting into two groups, it was imperative that they remain undetected. If the entire station turned against them that would be upwards of a hundred mercenaries to deal with, plus at least that amount again in LOKI mechs. Even with the blueprints, they would be easily overwhelmed without their habitual armour. There was no way she could take another shot to the head in this piece of tin.
No, they had to remain secret. Shepard was confident she could talk her way out of any difficulties, and Garrus would make an effective spokesperson for the Cerberus operatives. She would laugh about Archangel later.
'Alright, listen up. Once we get to the base we'll split up: Garrus, Jacob and Miranda will take the drive core over to engineering. You'll probably then have to report to someone about the circumstances. Jack and I will head for what passes for their CIC. We'll get the data we need while you three casually pump any mercs you find. Rendez-vous back at the shuttle in two hours. If you get the feeling anyone is starting to get suspicious, you pull out straight away. Jack, you'll answer to me as captain. Garrus, you're now lieutenant. Any questions?'
'Can I be corporal, captain?' asked Miranda sarcastically.
'What do we do if our cover is blown?' asked Jacob.
'Whatever happens, do not blow your cover. With this crappy gear, if we're discovered on the inside our chances of survival are slim to none. But if the worst comes to pass, get to the garage. There should be something with wheels in there we can borrow. Am I clear?'
Assent all round. Shepard blew out a breath and flexed her neck again. She really shouldn't have Charged. Head-butting a krogan was a terrible idea anyway, much less meeting a charging one head-on when powered by cybernetic implants. This had all seemed like such a funny thing to do back on the ship, but now, walking on the planet's slick surface with four lives in her hands, her opinion of her own plan was dropping rapidly.
'Heads up. Jack, hand that thing over.'
Jacob and Miranda took charge of the stabiliser, and Garrus nodded to her. The three of them went out first into the clearing. Seventeen LOKI mechs swivelled, but the IFF signal worked (for once!) and their eye lenses remained white. "Lt Vakarian" and his "underlings" passed through the yard and disappeared through the large entrance.
Shepard gave them five minutes, then jogged across with Jack at her shoulder. Again the unnerving stare of the LOKI mechs followed them across, but nothing exploded. The mech closest to the door murmured, 'Have a pleasant day,' as they fiddled with the access panel for the entrance.
Inside, Shepard closed the door and sought her bearings. EDI's voice came quietly through her helmet. 'Shepard, from your pitiful suit's readings I've located three potential terminals for the hack. Updating your scanner.'
They began a casual saunter through the mercenary hive. Mercs passed them in the corridor without looking too closely at them. Shepard was almost aware of every separate red blood cell pulsing through her body. The drones were easy. The huge problems would start if they ran into higher ranking workers. She mentally crossed her fingers.
Astonishingly the first terminal presented itself without incident, in an empty module no less. Crates and benches were scattered about the room, and she guessed it was some sort of down-time hub. The terminal, when she activated it, hadn't been shut down properly by the previous user, and a gambling game was in progress. Jack shoved her. 'Hey it's batarian quasar, I know this one, gimme a second...'
Shepard let her push in front and work the terminal. Presently it blooped and lights flashed green, and Jack punched the air. She inserted her credit chip and gloated. 'Boom! Come to momma...'
'Good for you. Now wait at the door and stop anyone from coming in.'
Miranda had provided her omni-tool with a program designed to search for the relevant data, and she transmitted it across and ran it from the terminal. She kept relaxed and focused on the holo screen, watching the little progress bar edge its way across, even as Jack encountered their first test.
'Can't go in here. Captain's discovered a virus on the terminal. Tricky bastard. Needs silence to disable the damn thing.'
'Aw man,' bemoaned the merc. 'I was just getting into a nice run on quasar...'
'Man I fucking love that game. You ever play on Omega?'
'Yeah, was on a job over there a while back. There's this place called Coal that's real nice for that kind of thing. Nice little bar, private terminals. You ever been?'
'Oh yeah. I prefer things a little more lively though.'
'You should check out Coal. They have the best asari dancers that side of the damn rock.'
'I'll bear it in mind. Don't worry, she'll be finished in a few minutes.'
'All right. Guess I'll drop by later.'
98%... 99%... complete. No result. Shepard resisted the urge to punch the terminal and withdrew the program. 'Gotchya. All right, this thing's clear. Had to restart it through. Sorry you lost your game.'
'Annh I wasn't sure I could win it anyway. See you around, captain...?'
'Arashu,' said Shepard instinctively, and a chill went shivering down her spine. 'Not a problem. Carry on.' She left the merc to his gambling and turned left out of the module.
'So? How was that?' whispered Jack on their encrypted channel.
'Good work. Nothing on the terminal though. We need to find a networked one. The CIC's our best bet. You'll need a better excuse than a virus though.'
'Better than an excuse, we need a fucking diversion.'
'Jack...'
'What's the fire containment system like here? ...Looks like carbon dioxide vents in the ceilings. If we can lock down the CIC that should give you plenty of time, and access to everything.'
'Jack, I thought I made it clear this was a low risk mission.'
'Low risk, low reward, captain,' sneered the biotic. 'You want results, fuck, you gotta go in all guns blazing.'
'What's your plan?'
Jack scanned the ceiling. 'We need to cause panic. Smoke 'em out. Block up one of the CO2 pipes. Then light a small fire. System goes off. Pressure builds and the vent explodes somewhere in the ceiling. Beautiful chaos reigns.'
'One problem. How do we get out?'
'Probably with violence. Another day in the life.'
'If I wasn't so concerned about the life support in these suits, and for the other three over in the other side of the damn compound, I'd consider it more carefully. Not this time Jack. Stay with me.'
The biotic snarled and punched the wall, which warped and buckled beneath her fist. She trailed sullenly along after that. Shepard's hands were starting to become damp with sweat inside her gloves. She flexed her fingers and headed to the right down a long hall.
By the time they reached the information centre, she had a rough plan of her own. She stormed in, registering that Jack had lingered near the door. 'My lieutenant just brought in a stabiliser for a tiny drive core,' she proclaimed. 'I need a networked terminal to run the serial number. Fast. I think the rest of the damn thing might still be in orbit.'
For mercenaries, they were surprisingly disciplined. A batarian just in front of her ceded his screen and stood back. 'Captain.'
The info centre was comprised of four hexagon-shaped storage modules with the sides knocked out, creating a scattered honeycomb of terminals and cables. Shepard pushed forward and activated her omni-tool again, discharging the program and hoping against hope that the terminals weren't remotely monitored.
'Is that beat-up turian in the garage your lieutenant, captain?'
Shepard looked up with with a cockiness she did not feel. 'Who wants to know?'
The human male opposite her was cradling an assault rifle. 'I'm captain Aziz, scout team. I was wondering if I could persuade you to transfer him to my squad for my next recon actually.'
'No can do, captain. I'm afraid that turian still owes me for ship damage after a brawl. We arranged it so part of the debt includes scrap service. Birdbrain hates it, but he has a damn good nose for good stuff. Why'd he attract your attention?'
'I was talking to him in the garage earlier. Seems he survived on Omega when the Primary Colours attempted to take out Archangel. I could use a shooter like him.'
Shepard lowered her head back to the terminal, cautious of the fact that even if she had bitten her tongue, her eyes might still betray her amusement.'
'Ah yeah, that. That was the origin of the brawl actually. Boasting as usual. Couple of my men decided to ah, test his reflexes.'
'I'd seriously like to know more about him,' pursued Aziz. 'You're just passing through the system right? What did you say your name was?'
'Arashu.'
He activated his omni-tool. 'Here's my contact. Seriously. Let me know when he's worked off his debt.' His eyes narrowed. 'Woah. That's weird. My 'tool is reading yours as "Commander Shepard".'
Shit.
Shepard made a noise of irritation and hit her long-suffering omni-tool. 'Ugh, damn thing. Yeah. Ran into her once. Wasn't pleasant. I escaped to tell the tale but she fried my omni-tool. I got it repaired by a volus on the Citadel but the bitch had hacked it somehow so the ID tag reads as hers. Volus couldn't do anything about it.' She laughed bitterly. 'Spectres are all the same, y'know. It's not enough to be the top operative in the galaxy, they have to go carving their name on everyone they meet too.'
'I hear you,' agreed Aziz, and to her relief he deactivated his omni-tool. For a second she had been worried it would register her thundering heartbeat. 'What a bitch. You should talk to a quarian if you can find one.'
The terminal bipped happily, and Shepard withdrew the program and its haul before Aziz could crane his head over to see. 'Gotchya. Okay this thing's still in orbit. I'm gonna collect my lieutenant and take a team up there to check it out. I'll be in touch Aziz.'
'Good hunting.'
She turned around to discover Jack leaning nonchalantly on the wall, with one hand on the fire alarm. 'Don't. You. Dare,' she intoned privately. 'I got the data. Let's get out of here.'
Through the battered Blue Suns helmet, Shepard saw her raise her eyebrows. She shrugged and pushed off the wall, casually putting all her weight on the button.
Three different alarm sirens went off at once, and the hive went berserk.
