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Chapter 12: Drifting in Space
There it was, the Collector Ship. Listing slowly through an inky void; silent and inviting. The Illusive Man's sources had paid off, big time. Less than half a day ago, reports that an Alliance patrol had encountered and engaged an unknown hostile ship had inundated Alliance intelligence channels. While they were still working on organizing any kind of response to the incident, the Normandy - stationed at Ilium - the gateway to the Terminus Systems, had already deployed to investigate.
To Miranda, it was a welcome distraction. Investigating an alien vessel, working to safeguard the galaxy from unknown aggressors; that was what she had signed on for. Not to dig up dirty laundry on her employers, or heaven forbid harboring a secret desire for her Commander. That being said, the secret part had been shot to hell, at least as far as the Commander himself was concerned.
She had kissed the damn man. There was no point any longer wondering why she had done it; the only this she could do was figure out where to go from here. As practical woman, the first step was easy. She'd immediately canceled her arranged rendezvous. The entire rationale for that arrangement had gone out the airlock when her lips had met his.
As she was contemplating contingencies, something struck her. She should be looking for ways out of the situation; ways to correct her mistake. But she wasn't. She was looking for ways to make it work out; to make it acceptable. That moment she had shared with Shepard had been one of the the best of her life, and she did not want it to have been a mistake.
Mistake or not, the entire situation was clearly a distraction, Miranda reminded herself, directing her gaze back to the enormous ship from the poor innocent wall tile that found itself enduring so much of her vitriol as of late. Finding the ship still here, and being the first responders; these unlikely events afforded them an unprecedented opportunity they could ill afford to waste. Miranda stowed the gear she had checked four or five times already and departed her office to join the rest of the team assembling in the cargo bay.
Shepard was there, of course, checking the sight on his assault rifle and conferring with Garrus. Nearby, Jacob and Zaeed were performing spot checks on each other's armor. Grunt paced restlessly back and forth a short distance away, clearly irritating Jack, who was leaned against a stack of crates slightly apart from the others. The newly arrived Asari Justicar, Samara, sat cross legged on top of a container, seemingly oblivious to the activity around her, an impressive feat considering that said activity included Mordin attempting surreptitiously to scan Grunt, who merely swatted him off as he would a particularly bothersome insect.
"Alright, listen up." Shepard's commanding voice silenced the idle chatter and drew the group in towards the shuttle where he was standing.
"We've got an unprecedented opportunity here. A chance to bring the fight to the collectors. I know all of you are eager to strike a blow against our enemy, but we've got another, even greater priority."
"As you know, the ultimate goal of our mission lies beyond the Omega 4 relay, a journey from which no ship has ever returned." A pause as he looked over the assembled faces, "Except for the one right in front of us."
The atmosphere in the cargo bay intensified. Shepard sure knew how to lend a moment a sense of gravitas. "Before we can think about trying to light up the Collector ship, we need to siphon every bit of intel we can from it. According to EDI, the only way we can do that is from the inside."
At this point, EDI jumped in, "The Commander is correct. The Collector ship, in spite of apparently being disabled, still has excellent cyber security. To break it, I will need a data spike physically inserted into a networked console on the collector ship."
"That's where we come in," finished Shepard. "Any questions?"
"What can we expect in terms of resistance?" asked Garrus.
"Honestly," answered Shepard, "we have no idea. Our scans of the ship have failed to pierce the hull, and we can't see any major damage other than that which the alliance GUARDIAN lasers inflicted on Horizon."
Jacob said what they were all thinking, "So this is the same ship. Hows that for coincidence?" Murmurs of agreement circulated the assembled team.
"It's possible that Collectors only have one ship active this side of Omega 4 relay, or perhaps damage this vessel sustained left it vulnerable to alliance patrol it encountered," mused Mordin.
"Oh yeah?" snorted Jack derisively, "then where's the patrol, genius? Cause they sure as hell didn't win."
Miranda added her input, "They may have disable the Collectors with lucky shot to one of the damaged sections, then retreated before the ship came back online."
"If your scouts got away," Grunt inquired, "Why haven't they returned with more ships to destroy the collectors?"
Jacob shook his head in bemusement, "As if the Alliance ever acted that fast. If they don't have orders signed in triplicate, their ships aren't going anywhere."
Shepard raised a hand to silence the speculation. "I know, I know. There's a lot about this that doesn't add up, or that we don't know. Fact is, we're just going to have to deal with it. The shuttle will put us down at an insertion point here." Shepard brought up a rough holographic image of the collector ship created from EDI's ladar scans. A blinking red dot highlighted the point to which he had been referring.
"The Normandy's stealth tech is active, so we're assuming… hoping that the Collectors don't know we are here yet. As such, we'll be maintaining radio silence once we land for as long as possible. Move fast and stay together. Got it?"
Nods from everyone confirmed it. "All right then, final checks everyone. We leave in 5."
Exactly five minutes later, they loaded up and shipped out. The shuttle dropped them off and the 8 extraordinary individuals immediately fanned out, covering every angle of the strangely angular corridor they found themselves in. The architecture here was... alien. To all of them. Insectoid might have been the best way to describe it. Strange geometry covered the walls and gave the impression of being immersed in a gigantic high tech hive, of sorts.
After a few moments of taking in their surroundings, and as the shuttle pulled away from the LZ, a simple gesture from the Commander had the entire squad moving forwards as one. They maintained radio silence, as they had discussed, and the quiet felt almost oppressive as they advanced deep into the unknown. Silence was indeed all there was to greet them; they found nothing and no one for several minutes.
Before too long, they came across a selection of pods, identical to the ones they had encountered on Horizon. Shepard signaled a halt, and moved cautiously forward to examine one. Glancing in, he looked back at the group and shook his head. Empty. A wave from Garrus caught everyone's attention. He pointed upwards, and all eyes moved in the indicated direction. What met their gaze took everyone's breath away.
The ceiling was covered in pods. More than that though, the narrow tunnels they had traveled through continued in more than the horizontal directions in which they traveled. A passage above them led upwards for dozens of meters before opening out into an even larger chamber. Details were difficult to make out at this distance, but inside, thousands, maybe tens of thousands of pods lined the enormous area beyond. The scope of the Collector's obviously intended abductions was staggering.
They followed the tunnel they had been in even further and eventually found themselves in the same area they had glimpsed through the ceiling shaft. Miranda now saw that her earlier estimate might have been a bit conservative. It was entirely possible that hundreds of thousands of pods filled the gargantuan area they now found themselves in. The collectors could hit every out of the way colony in the terminus systems and still not have enough humans to fill all those pods. They were going to target alliance space. Or worse, earth itself. Who knows how many ships the collectors could have at their disposal, or what their true numbers were? The threat could be far worse than any of them had feared.
After meandering and featureless tunnels, they had finally come across a console. Shepard attached the data spike they had brought along, allowing EDI direct access to the Collector Ship's systems. She began the process of data mining. The rest of the group alternated between pulling security and gaping at the menacing cathedral of the ship's main chamber.
A jolt shook the entire party. Inactive screens suddenly flared to life, and all around them rang the unmistakable sounds of a ship powering up.
"Shit! It's a trap," growled Zaeed.
"The Illusive Man set us up!" snapped Jack.
"That doesn't make any sense," interjected Miranda, because it didn't, "there has to be an explanation."
"What a twist, the cheerleader stands up for her pimp,'' sneered Jack, "don't worry, I'm sure he'll show his gratitude later you Cerberus wh-"
"Stow it, both of you," commanded Shepard. "We've got incoming."
All heads turned upwards towards the sudden sound of wings now reverberating around the chamber. Around a dozen hexagonal pads surrounded by a veritable swarm of collectors were flying their way.
"EDI, did you get everything you could from their console?" asked Shepard, as the team started to lay down suppressing fire.
"Affirmative, Commander, but along with the data came approximately 1374 viral intrusions which I am currently engaged in countering." While it's tone was neutral and pleasant as ever, Miranda thought (though she might have imagined it) that the AI actually sounded stressed. "I can tell you that the collector ship is currently powering up, and their weapons will be online in less than 4 minutes. A quick exit is recommended."
"What she's saying, Commander," Joker cut in, "is that we've got 4 minutes until we need a new Normandy. You'd better hurry, I'm not losing her again."
"Roger that. Set up a bounding withdrawal," barked the Commander, "I want constant fire and constant movement. Go now!"
Three or four at a time, the team quickly moved back the way they had come, through the tunnels. Any squad member not retreating laid down fire, covering their comrades. Collectors were dropping from the sky like flies, but still more of them came. As the group entered the tunnels they gained the benefit of a bottleneck, but soon realized their disadvantage in the form of the many connecting tunnels.
"They're behind us!" yelled Jacob, shifting fire to the rear and taking out the pair of collectors that had just dropped down from the ceiling.
Shepard thought quickly. "Pick up the pace. I want front and rear security, at least two at all times. Keep moving!"
Like a well oiled machine the group reacted immediately, tightening their ranks and focusing their fire fore and aft of their little unit. As quickly as collectors emerged from the miasma that was the network of connecting tunnels to the docking cradles, they were cut down under a hail of combined fire. The biotics did their best to provide barrier support for the team, and those with heavier weapons concentrated their fire on single targets, shredding their barriers and ripping them to pieces.
The next few minutes were a chaos of movement, gunfire, wing beats, and explosions. After what felt like an eternity, they rounded a corner to see the shuttle waiting at the end of a short hallway. Shepard reached behind his back and grabbed a weapon Miranda hadn't seen before. It was heavy and stocky, with a black and yellow design on the side. A flap on the front opened and a whirring noise that signaled the weapon's charging began to sound.
"Go!" yelled Shepard, "I'll buy us some time."
No sooner had all members of the squad made it past the Commander than the whining noise coming from the weapon reached a fever pitch. Sensing the weapon had reach maximum charge, Miranda, who had been the second one to reach the shuttle, braced herself against the side.
A small "thunk" noise came from the weapon.
Followed a moment later by a gargantuan explosion further down the hallway. The shock wave, even from that distance, rocked the shuttle and caused a blast of artificial atmosphere to blow past them all. Sounds of the collectors that had been pursuing them suddenly seemed much further away, and for the first time since they had taken contact, no one was firing at them or visa versa.
The remainder of the squad, including the commander, made it to the shuttle unmolested, and Miranda piloted the group out into the empty expanses surrounding the collector vessel. The Normandy, guided by the skillful hands of Joker, swung around the side of the collector ship, cargo bay doors wide open. Coming up behind the shuttle, he scooped them up like a hawk snatching up a fleeing field mouse. Luckily, Miranda reacted quickly enough to adjust their velocity and avoid slamming into the rear of the cargo bay.
The squad felt the subtle vibrations as the Normandy's inertial dampeners kicked in, sparing them the bone shattering force of acceleration as the Normandy engaged it's FTL drive and blasted off into the darkness, leaving the collector ship helplessly drifting in space.
Half an hour passing found the entire squad assembled in the briefing room. They were exhausted, and several had minor wounds to attend to, but no one wanted to miss the examination of the data they just fought so hard to retrieve.
It had taken EDI a while, but it had managed to eradicate all traces of the virus which had flooded the ships systems following the acquisition of the data. Now they were left with whatever raw data was left.
"I've finished analysis of the data, Commander," said EDI, breaking the silence in the briefing room. "There are several things worthy of note."
"Go ahead EDI."
"Very well. First, and most pertinent, my analysis has discovered the method which allows the Collector cruiser to travel through the Omega 4 Relay unharmed." That got everyone's attention. "Each Collector ship is equipped with an advanced Identify Friend/Foe, or IFF system. This is read by the relay and likely allows much more precise targeting than would otherwise be possible."
Joker butted in over the comm, "See, even a superstar like me can expect a couple of thousand kilometers of drift after a typical jump. And that's with charted relays. If there's anything nasty on the other side of the Omega 4 Relay, we could slam straight into it without knowing."
"What Mr. Moreau is saying," completed EDI, "Is that without this IFF, safe travel through the Omega 4 Relay is impossible."
"Did you get the IFF from the collector ship?" asked Shepard.
"No Commander. It seems the IFF is a separate system from the ship's networked terminals."
Shepard grimaced with disappointment, "We'll have to make finding one of those our top priority. What else did you get?"
"I'm hesitant to confirm this without further analysis, but I have a conclusion that I was able to draw on the origins of the collectors."
That got Mordin's interest. "Fascinating. Collectors had data on themselves?"
"I have no hypothesis on why, but the collectors were performing genetic experiments with their own DNA, part of which involved comparing it to samples of human DNA. Regardless of the intent, I have cross checked the samples of Collector DNA with every known DNA record, and have found a near match."
"What was it?" asked Miranda tentatively.
"Prothean. The quad strand DNA structure most closely resembles that of samples found at former Prothean ruins across the galaxy."
"What?" exclaimed Jack.
"You're telling us those things are Protheans?" asked Zaeed incredulously.
"Protheans wiped out by Reapers. Possible Reapers altered surviving Prothean to create subservient race," speculated Mordin, "Cybernetics and cloning could have been used for optimal effect."
"So why would they be running comparisons of their own DNA with humans?" Miranda wondered out loud. None of the possibilities she could think of were even remotely appealing.
"When we get through the Omega 4 Relay we'll be sure to ask them," commented the Commander grimly. "EDI, how can we go about acquiring this IFF?"
"The Illusive Man is awaiting communication from you via the QEC to discuss precisely that Commander."
Shepard rubbed his forehead. "All right. Good work today, everyone. Go take care of any injuries and equipment maintenance you need to. Be sure to get some rest. You may need to be ready to act on a moment's notice the next time we find a lead." He looked round at each of them. "Dismissed."
As the group started to file out of the room, EDI spoke again, "Miss Lawson, kindly remain behind for a moment."
Unperturbed, the rest of the group continued their exodus. Miranda stopped, a slight itch - the precursor to panic - playing up in the back of her throat. EDI was making requests of her? Specifically for her and Shepard to be alone in the room as they were about to contact the Illusive Man. Miranda didn't like to think of herself as paranoid, merely possessive of keen situational awareness tempered by a well developed survival instinct, and these combined were only letting her think of one thing: did the Illusive Man know?
Miranda, who was absolutely not paranoid, had previously ensured that security footage of her own cabin, while not disabled, was routed through her own omnitool, unconnected to the ship and EDI's systems, where she needed to approve it before being added to the ship's logs. This precaution had made it easy to cut around the more personal of her conversations with the Commander, as well as any other… moments… she might not have wanted included in the records the Illusive Man would be able to peruse.
While she was perfectly proficient with cyber security, she wasn't arrogant enough to put herself anywhere near the purpose built AI the ship had been equipped with. One of EDI's responsibilities was the analysis of the ship's footage and the reporting of anything potentially hazardous or jeopardizing to the success of their mission. Ordinarily this would be reported to Miranda herself, but in such a case wherein Miranda herself was the jeopardizing element, what then would EDI do? Sending said information to the Illusive Man should be a judgment call above EDI's operational capabilities, but with an AI, who can know for sure?
As the door closed behind the last member of the team, EDI spoke, "There is additional information from my analysis of the data taken from the Collector vessel, but due to its sensitive nature, protocols dictate only the two of you are cleared to hear it."
A fist Miranda hadn't realized she'd been clenching and a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding released simultaneously. She felt a considerable drop in tension level. Her level of confidence in the non-existence of her potential paranoia had also dropped, but that was an issue she could deal with later. After a cold shower. Maybe two.
"I found the original report picked up by Alliance Intelligence and later discovered by the Illusive Man. It was sent from the Collector Ship itself."
"We suspected all along it might have been fake. Were they trying to lure in an alliance ship, or were they trying to set a trap for the Normandy?" wondered Shepard out loud.
"Unknown," replied EDI, "However, while alliance encryption programs were inconclusive on the matter, my own tests revealed the messages lack of verisimilitude. This means the Illusive Man could not have believed the message was genuine."
"What?" Miranda didn't quite follow that leap of logic.
"The Illusive Man had access to the original report intercepted by the alliance, and the protocols I used to detect the forgery, were written by him."
There was an uncomfortable silence in the briefing room before Shepard spoke up with a flippancy that defied the hard edge to his eyes. "Well then, looks like the Illusive Man and I will have a very interesting discussion after all." He gave Miranda a look that she read as 'we'll be discussing this later, ' but Miranda no longer felt the apprehension she would have not so long ago at the idea.
As a matter of fact, the lack of impact this disquieting revolution regarding her employer had spoke to the unprecedented level of skewed her priorities had attained if her demeanor before EDI's announcement had been any indication. It was high time, Miranda decided, for that shower.
Author Notes:
I'm back! Hurray. As anyone who checked my profile will know, I joined the military, and during my approximately 6 months of training, I had very little time, will, or ability to write. Now am at my first duty station in South Korea, and I hope to resume updates as much as my schedule allows. Thanks to everyone who returns to continue reading despite the lengthy hiatus. I hope you enjoy the rest of the fic.
Anyway*, savvy fans will notice that I changed the distress beacon to be human rather than Turian. Why? Because it made no goddamn sense whatsoever that the Collectors, trying to set a trap for the Normandy, would use a Turian distress beacon. What if the Illusive Man hadn't been able to intercept the beacon (leaving aside the issue of how you "intercept" tight beam FTL communications in the first place)? It's doubtful he has top level access to the Turian military. It's much more likely he would learn about a distress beacon second hand from Alliance sources (of which he doubtless has more than Turian), and would simply managed to act on it faster than them. YMMV on whether you think my version or Bioware's leaves less questions unanswered.
Also, "Say hello to my little friend." Shepard got to use the Cain! I was saving it for something high stakes, and this seemed appropriate.
I know that Shepard and Miranda's story took a bit of a backseat in this chapter, but they'll be back. You might have noticed my pattern of having a breather episode between every chapter with too much main plot. Expect the same here.
Lastly, title drops are cheap and the tools of lesser writers. So obviously I had to put one in.
*What? :P