Hey everyone, I am back with another chapter for you all. I'll keep it brief, don't want to spoil the chapter for you. Also a thanks to those who have been reading. Enjoy!

Chapter Eleven

The Normandy maneuvered among the scattering quarian ships. The hostile ships had already taken out several of the marine patrols and were trying to penetrate further to strike at the vulnerable ships in the center of the fleet. There were at least a dozen fighters as the Normandy made it's way to intercept them.

GARDIAN pulses were seen as the quarian ships tried to defend themselves from the swift Cerberus fighters. Explosions from the fighter's weapons peppered their shields. The fighters continued to avoid the incoming fire while they delivered their payloads on their targets.

The shields finally broke as the fighters continued their hit and run tactics. Luckily, they immediately aborted any further attacks on the fleet when they identified the Normandy. Gathering into a rough claw like formation, they moved against the Normandy.

"Initiating GARDIAN defenses. I have also located their point of origin on the planet." EDI, spoke as they dodged a volley of incoming fire.

"One thing at a time, we need to take out those fighters first. We can't use the Thanix, their too fast and we might hit the fleet." Shepard replied as he watched the tactical map on Joker's display."

"I estimate that only 75 percent of the fighters will be destroyed by the GARDIAN alone before the remaining ships bypass our shields. Recommending use of javelins to avoid collateral damage."

"Hold on everyone!" Joker shouted as he pulled out of a sharp dive. The ship shuddered from several detonations as the fighters pursued them.

"Targets locked. Take them out EDI!" Joker announced as he rolled to avoid another volley.

The fighters were quickly cut down from twelve to three as the GARDIAN continued to target them. Several javelins had made direct hits and one had exploded near one of the fighters buffeting them into another fighter where they collided. The three remaining fighters disengaged and tried to drop several anti-ship mines as they attempted to escape. The mines were quickly destroyed by a quarian frigate while several corvettes obliterated the remaining Cerberus ships.

"Status?" Shepard asked as he looked out the port window.

"No major structural damages detected. Kinetic barriers at 32 percent. No additional contacts detected." EDI, reported.

"Joker, open up a channel to all of the fleet. Tell them to make a quick sweep for survivors before moving their fleet out of orbit."

Once they received an acknowledgment from the fleet Shepard contacted Miranda and told her to get the team suited up. As Shepard left with Tali to grab his armor he couldn't help but speculate. What was Cerberus playing at? What could they have gained from attacking the fleet? He seriously doubted that another Cerberus cell went rouge like the one that involved Jack.


Several minutes later Shepard along with Tali, Garrus and Mordin, rocketed towards the coordinates that EDI had provided in the Hammerhead. The rest of the ground team would arrive after them in the shuttle to provide cover if it was necessary.

Shepard recalled the last time they had come to this planet. It seemed like Cerberus was always up to something nefarious. Shepard had uncovered the truth behind the Overlord project and was horrified by it. The scientist responsible had used his own brother as an experiment to try to control the geth. He spared Dr. Archer but instead of letting the doctor continue his work, he had the Alliance take Archer's brother to Grissom Academy to be cared for. He had no idea what they would find down on the surface but whatever it was it could'nt be good.

Tali sat beside Shepard making constant adjustments to the Hammerheads shields while Mordin monitored some of the other systems. Garrus had taken his place at the gun and was humming something that sounded like the turian anthem.

The Hammerhead landed with a dull thump before it sped off in the direction of the Cerberus facility. Like all of the other facilities Shepard had been to, it was in a secluded area nestled within a gorge. Shepard spied several automatic turrets, but they proved to be inactive as they passed by them. Stopping some forty feet away from the walls they waited for the shuttle to do quick flyby before proceeding.

"Mordin. Anything on the scanners?" Shepard asked as he watched the shuttle make a pass over the facility.

"No life signs detected. Picking up movement within the base. Most likely mechs."

"This doesn't seem right Shepard. There had to be more people in that base than the ones we encountered up in orbit." Garrus spoke as he scanned the surroundings for potential targets.

"Area looks clear commander." Miranda's voice crackled over the comms.

"Alright we're coming in." Shepard responded before boosting towards the wall and at the last moment hitting the hover jets propelling them over the wall.

Everybody was a little shaken up except for the commander. Garrus could be heard muttering as he narrowly avoided hitting his head, while Tali held the controls with a death grip. This was not as bad as Shepard driving the Mako, but that was only because of the Hammerhead's design. Tali couldn't help but wonder how Shepard's brilliance on the battlefield didn't translate to driving.

The four of them piled out of the Hammerhead and saw the rest of the team disembarking as the shuttle settled on the landing pad. With quick hand motions, Shepard had most of the team take up positions in and around their only means of extraction. Tali went up to the main door and began hacking the panel while Shepard and Garrus flanked both sides of the door.

After a few tense moments, the panel turned green and Shepard and Garrus moved inside to secure the corridor before signaling for Tali and Mordin to follow. The first corridor was empty, the only signs of anyone ever being there was the marks of gunfire. Further down the hall they encountered several bodies. Mordin knelt down and examined the bodies while everyone else covered him.

"Strange. Victims appear to have died from blunt force rather than gunfire."

"Could it have been krogans from a local merc group?" Garrus asked as he peered around the corner.

"Unlikely. Cerberus base well hidden and have many defenses. Would have known if anyone was coming."

They continued on and eventually they reached what seemed to be the living area for the base. The large room was devoid of any signs of life and several bodies were scattered around in addition to broken mechs. Unable to find anything they proceeded into the elevator and traveled deeper into the base.

Eventually the elevator pinged and the doors slid apart and the team continued on. Most of the lights had been smashed, the few that remained flickered feebly. This time there were no bodies in the hall ways, organic or otherwise. Unlike all of the other facilities they had been to before, this one seemed like it was created in a rush and more purposeful. All of the others had been created with multiple wings, whereas this one had the bare essentials and nothing more.

Shepard signaled the team to stop when they heard movement. The team quickly melted into the shadows as they waited for the owner of the footsteps to appear. A LOKI mech appeared around the corner and methodically scanned the area for intruders. Finding nothing, it continued on into an adjacent hallway. Once they were sure that it was gone they continued in the direction that the mech had come from.


While Shepard and his team were exploring the base, the rest of the team continued to keep an eye out. Grunt complained a little bit about not having something to shoot at, so Miranda sent him along with Jack to take care of some of the nearby turrets. She didn't want any of the turrets spontaneously activating and cutting off their escape.

Every now and than they would hear something and would snap their weapons up, expecting something to come out at them. It turned out to be loose equipment spilling out of crates or some of the native wildlife knocking barrels over. Miranda, along with everybody else began to feel twitchy with each passing moment. There was something wrong with the entire situation.

"Hey we took care of two of those turrets. Want us to take out the rest of them cheerleader?" Jack's voice came over the comms.

"Negative. Just the ones closest to the base so that they don't give us any trouble."

"Whatever. We're headed back."

Despite Jack's attitude, Miranda believed they had come to a sort of understanding. She wouldn't bother Jack as much while Jack agreed to work with her on missions. It wasn't perfect, but there were more important things to take care of rather than their petty disagreements.

She was about to check in with Shepard's team but all she got was static. Confused, she tried the radio again. Knowing her former employer, she wasn't surprised that they couldn't reach the others. They were on their own for now. Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw something move. Before she could say anything or pull out her weapon, something lunged out at her.


Meanwhile Shepard's group was slowly forging their way deeper into the base. They had several encounters with mechs but they managed to avoid detection each time. Eventually they came across a room guarded by two mechs. Tali silently drained both of the mechs and they fell with a clatter. She proceeded to hack the door while everyone else covered her. Shepard grabbed the clips from the mech, they still had no idea what was down here besides the mechs and he didn't feel like wrestling with anything that was down there.

"What's the hold up Tali?" Garrus asked as he glanced at her. Tali had been hard at work for over five minutes now.

"Working on it. The bosh'tets put a advanced encryption in place. I can't crack it." Tali replied. She was starting to feel frustrated.

"Let me take a look at it." Shepard offered.

"Be my guest."

Tali moved aside and watched Shepard kneel down in front of the panel. He looked at it critically. Tali couldn't help but laugh at the situation in her mind. She knew that Shepard knew a little bit about tech, but if she couldn't figure it out than how could he. Shepard nodded to himself before standing up. With a smooth motion, he pulled out his Phalanx and shot the panel twice. The door slid open as the emergency door locks disengaged.

"I can't believe that worked." Tali said incredulously as Shepard holstered his weapon.

"Usually the answer is the simplest one." Shepard grinned before moving in to secure the room.

The room they entered could best be described as large but felt small because of the amount of equipment inside. There was a small observation window overlooking another room. Mordin had already began checking several of the terminals and started downloading anything that might give them a clue what Cerberus was up to. Garrus hung back with the doctor and kept an eye on the hall way. Tali and Shepard had moved closer to the window. Shepard tapped a flickering button and the window depolarized and revealed what was in the chamber beyond them.

"Keelah." Tali uttered as she stared through the glass.

The room was covered in honeycomb like structures. Numerous pod's lined the walls. Shepard shuddered as he remembered the collector base. Seeing some of the colonist's being liquefied and pumped into the human Reaper was not something that could be forgotten. Looking away from the pods, he directed his attention to the back of the chamber.

A large artifact stood at the back with four pillars supporting it. They could see equipment scattered around the base of it, no doubt an attempt to study the artifact. It's intricate curves gave it the appearance of staring into something infinite. A blue glow emanated from it, seemingly independent of any source of energy. Shepard knew that it wasn't just an ordinary artifact. It was a Reaper artifact.

"Mordin. How long until we've got the data?" Shepard asked as he turned his attention away from the artifact.

"Data mine already started. Just a few minutes. Will not take long."

A sudden howl echoed down the hallway and accompanying it was the sound of gunfire. Silence quickly returned as the gunfire stopped.

"Well make it take less time." Garrus suggested.


Thane dropped his spent clip to the ground after he had pumped several rounds into the husk that had threw itself at Miranda. Miranda glanced up in his direction and nodded her thanks before joining the fray with the others.

When the shuttle had landed, Thane had chose a small elevated building next to the landing pad. Despite his recent decline in health, the air was bearable and his task of keeping watch over his comrades gave him purpose. However the calm was broken and now only a cold methodical aim remained as he continued to target more husks as they streamed out into the courtyard.

The husks were disorganized, but they had the advantage of numbers. Each time someone reloaded the husks gained a little more ground. Not having time to reload his Mattock, Zaeed had jumped into the gunner seat of the Hammerhead and quickly bombarded the husks. By the time the last husk fell, most everyone had received a few cuts and bruises.

"Alright everybody. We know what we're up against now, so we'll stay on the defensive and wait until Shepard gets back with his group." Miranda shouted as she shoved a new clip into her gun.

"Hope we don't need the Hammerhead again. I figure we have enough rounds to last us an hour." Zaeed grunted as he shoved another clip into his rifle.

"We should pile those husks off to the side, keep a clear line of fire." Jacob suggested.

Miranda nodded and indicated for Jacob, Kasumi, and Zaeed to stack the husks off to the side. Everyone else took up positions far enough a way from the entrances so that they wouldn't get surrounded. As soon as the last body was thrown into the grisly pile they heard another shriek. This time they were ready.


Shepard leaned around the edge of the door and fired a burst at the husk running towards them as it slid down the pile of bodies. The husks had been assaulting their position for several minutes now, and were showing no signs of relenting. Shepard and Garrus had put down so many husks that they formed a makeshift wall.

While the two of them held off the husks, Tali assisted Mordin with their data collection. They had only retrieved a fifth of the data that was stored in the lab. Every now and than Tali would turn to look over to Shepard and Garrus. The two of them were constantly picking off the husks as soon as one popped their head over the bodies.

Her omni-tool pinged as it finished downloading operation logs from the terminal she was hacking. Tali was about to move on to the next terminal when she heard a noise above them. Pointing her shotgun towards the ceiling, she moved slowly to next terminal and began another hack. As soon as she did, the weakened ceiling collapsed. Tali lost her shotgun as a husk fell on top of her. The husk flailed its arms as it tried to get a grip. She tried to push it off of her but it was too heavy. Realizing her gun was out of reach, she yanked her knife out of it's sheath and stabbed the husk several times in the head.

The husk writhed one last time before it stopped moving altogether. Tali pushed the body off of her and picked up her weapon while returning her knife back in it's sheath.

"You alright Tali?" Shepard shouted as he continued to shoot.

"I'm fine. I can take care of myself."

"I don't know how much longer we can keep this up Shepard!" Garrus yelled as he switched to his Vindicator.

"How much longer Mordin?" Shepard asked again as he reloaded.

"Very close. Should be done at the same time." Mordin quipped as he glanced at both sets of data mine streams.

As soon as Mordin finished speaking, another wave assaulted them. Shepard noticed a slightly different figure standing among the husks. The figure was similar to a husk but was obviously a female, it's head was slightly elongated and the arms were disproportional compared to it's body. Whatever the creature was it screeched and swung its clawed hands in their direction and the pile of corpses flew towards them.

Garrus fired a concussive blast and the force of the round pulped the bodies. Shepard quickly followed up with his own concussive shot and caused the creature to stagger. While it was doubled over, Shepard and Garrus unleashed a hellish barrage upon it. Shepard cringed at the final screech that came from the creatures throat as it crumpled to the ground.

"What in the spirits was that?"

"No idea Garrus. Let's just hope we don't run into more of those things in a cramped hallway." Shepard responded.

"Done! Should leave before more arrive." Mordin announced.

"Alright we're out of here. Just one last thing to do." Shepard replied.

Jogging over to the terminal in the center of the room, Shepard tapped several buttons and activated the self-destruct sequence. A twenty minute countdown appeared on the console. With that the team left at a brisk pace and started to trace their way back through the facility.

They didn't encounter anything in the hallways but the closer they got to the upper levels, the sound of gunfire grew in intensity. When they reentered the living area, they found only chaos. Husks were running in every direction, the majority were rushing a group of mechs that were congregated on one side of the room. The few mechs that were overwhelmed by husks exploded, sending bits of bodies flying throughout the room.

Knowing that time was of the essence the team plowed their way through the combatants, only shooting anything that got in their way. When they reached the other side of the room, Tali sent Chiktikka back into the room to keep the husks and mechs from following them. Howls and gunfire continued to echo down the hallway, drowning out almost everything except for sound of their running and labored breathing.

By the time they reached the surface, Shepard and his team were nearly out of breath. Shepard quickly filled Miranda in about the self-destruct and she had everyone board the shuttle while Shepard's team took their places back in the Hammerhead.

In unison, the shuttle and Hammerhead rushed to their pick up point. They concentrated on putting some serious distance between them and the base. The resounding explosion was felt over a mile away. Shepard gave a sigh of relief as he eased off on the throttle.

"EDI. I'm sending you the data we got from the base. See if you can make some sense out of it. Once we're aboard I want everybody to meet in the briefing room."

"Of course. ETA five minutes to extraction point."


"I've already compiled the data and have decrypted most of it. This base was recently constructed to house the Reaper artifact that a surveying group had discovered."

"Cerberus has been using this base to study the artifact as well as storing what seems to be collector technology. I assume they were salvaged from the remains of the collector base."

"Figures. Cerberus can never leave well enough alone." Jack snorted as she listened.

"What about the attack from those fighters?" Shepard asked.

"Most likely they were indoctrinated, although not to the point of being a husk. The personnel must have recently been changed."

"Great. Now we have semi husks performing suicide missions. Guess Cerberus never gave up on that shock troopers project." Garrus observed.

"Operation logs indicate more bases similar to this one. Most likely not a coincidence. New form of husk also intriguing. Seemed to have biotic tendencies." Mordin added.

The team paused as they took in the information. They were starting to fill in the blanks, but they still didn't have a clear picture of what the Illusive man was up to.

"Is it possible that the Illusive man was trying to reverse engineer Reaper artifacts?" Shepard asked.

"I don't know Shepard. We didn't really know what was going on in some of the other cells. I wouldn't doubt the possibility though." Miranda answered in a perplexed manner.

"Wait Shepard, there is more." E.D.I said as she pulled up a image of a Reaper.

It was the same one Shepard had come to associate with Harbinger.

"Why would he work with the Reaper's though? It dosen't make sense." Jacob commented as he shook his head.

"Maybe he's trying to do the same thing Saren did. Try to get the Reapers to spare them if they prove themselves useful." Tali said in a disgusted tone.

"Well we're not gonna find out for sure right now. Until then we can only assume the Cerberus has pulled out all the stops, even if it meant working with the Reapers. Everybody get some rest, tomorrows going to be a long day." Shepard said as he dismissed his team.

Everyone eventually left the briefing room leaving Shepard alone with Tali. Judging from Tali's body language, Shepard could tell she was worried.

"What are we going to do Louis?" Tali whispered.

"To tell you the truth. I have no idea how we're gonna do this. I'm gonna try though. We've done too much to just give up."

"Don't worry Louis. We're with you to the end. You've done the impossible before, you'll do it again."

"I didn't do it alone you know." Shepard replied as a grin broke through grim demeanor before continuing in a gentle tone, "Whatever happens though, I want you to know that running into you was the best thing to ever happen to me."

He couldn't really tell, but he knew that Tali was smiling as she looked into his eyes. The two shared another hug before Tali excused herself. Shepard watched her go and when she was out of sight he stared down at the table. He had to report back to the council and the Alliance. For some reason unknown to him, he knew that time was running out.


After removing his armor and putting his weapons away, he sat down and sent a message to Anderson. It didn't take long for Anderson to respond. Shepard waited for his model display to disappear and saw Anderson's weathered face appear.

"Shepard. It's good to see you."

"Likewise."

"You wanted to speak to me?"

"Yes. Cerberus has completely lost it. They attacked us and the Migrant fleet. We recovered data from one of their bases, and we think they might be working for the Reapers. We need to tell the council and the Alliance."

"That's one hell of a claim Shepard. I don't know if the council would take this seriously even if you did send a copy of that data. As for the Alliance, they probably don't want anything to do with Cerberus, not after what you did to the batarians."

Shepard narrowed his eyes. "So the Alliance doesn't even trust me anymore. Do we have to wait for the Reapers to invade before I can get them, the council, and everyone else who thinks that we're safe, to believe me? After everything I've done, this is what I get?"

"Look they're just scared. They just want to avoid more problems. You know I trust you. You wouldn't have done what you did if there was another way. I probably would have done the same if I were in your place."

"Has the council had any luck with the batarians than?"

"Not really, the Alliance is trying to avoid a war with them. They think that if we bring you in and hold you responsible, we might be able to avoid a war."

"So when do I have to stand trial?"

"A week from now. I'm actually gonna be there with you. The Alliance wants me to keep an eye on you. They're gonna send an escort to make sure the Normandy comes back to Earth. It would probably be best if you inform your crew. I know most of them were with Cerberus, but you should tell them that the Alliance might try to use that as an excuse to take them in."

"I understand. We'll be back in Sol in a few days."

"Take care Shepard. I'll make sure the brass gives you a chance to show your data to them. I'm not gonna stand by while they try to turn you into a scapegoat."

The screen faded away and Shepard could only wonder what he was going to face when heads back to Earth.

Anyway that's it for this chapter. Hope you all enjoyed this. Trying to get this story as close as possible to the next game. I'll see you in the next chapter. But until then let's enjoy the highly anticipated demo! :D