"Freedom is the right of all sentient beings." The Doctor watched Optimus Prime say on the giant wall-sized TV in the lounge.
The TARDIS lounge was a large theater sized room, filled the the brim with various entertainment... things, from all corners of the universe. The Doctor and Susan were lounging around, as the Normandy flew through space to its next destination.
"Grandfather, could you turn that down?" Susan requested, reading a book at a desk.
"It's Transformers!" The Doctor made the sound with his mouth. "My Eighth self used to love this show!"
"Still, I'm trying to concentrate on this." Susan responded. But something kept bugging her. "Eighth? Did you really regenerate that many times?"
"More, actually. I'm the Eleventh."
"Oh... Does it hurt?"
"Does what?"
"Regeneration."
"Not really. It kind of feels like a bad LSD trip. Don't ask how I know that." The Doctor said. Just then, Shepard walked in.
"Hello, Doctor." Shepard greeted. "Nice chair."
"It is, isn't it?" The Doctor rubbed the velvet. "But that's not why you came here."
"Very observant of you. We're going to recruit the next teammember. I want you to come with, give you another chance to prove yourself."
"Ah, yes, good idea!" The Doctor hopped up. He then turned to his granddaughter. "Stay here and keep studying. Don't answer the door for anyone, even if they knock. I'll be back before you can say 'Where's he gone now?'" The Doctor said, following Shepard out of the room. "Not that fast!" He shouted, peeking his head in. "But pre-tty fast." He said, finally leaving.
Susan sighed, and got back to her studies.
A few minutes earlier...
"Shepard, you can't be serious!" Miranda said, following the Commander, who was heading down to the cargo bay. "He contributed nothing to the mission last time!"
"I want to keep him where I can see him."
"But he's useless!"
Shepard stopped, and fixed Miranda with an icy glare. "I take offense to that."
Miranda was understandably confused. "Why do you? You said it in the mission reports yourself."
Shepard stopped glaring once she heard Miranda's point. "I did, didn't I...?" Shepard sighed. "Ever since I stepped into that box of his back on Omega, I've felt like I'm going insane. There are these dreams I keep having of... it was me, but it was also not me, founding an entire civilization! And then, back on the Citadel, I had an outburst at the Council, and told them that I was responsible for the Asari's evolution!"
"And you think that he's connected somehow?"
"It's the only thing that makes sense." Shepard said as she and Miranda entered the elevator. "That box of his has some pretty... unique properties."
"What kind of properties?"
"Oh, you'd just love to learn the details of eleven-dimensional vortex science, wouldn't you?" Shepard snorted, then froze. "Now you see why I want to keep him in my sight!?"
"You think he's doing this to you on purpose?" Miranda asked. "Perhaps you should go to Doctor Chakwas, and have her run some tests."
"I will." Shepard said, stepping out of the elevator. "After the mission." She amended, approaching the TARDIS. Shepard opened the TARDIS door just enough for her to slip inside without Miranda seeing the interior. Shepard locked the door, and proceeded over to the console. "Doctor!" She shouted. "Where is he?"
As if responding to Shepard's question, one of the monitors above the console switched on, and showed an interior layout of the TARDIS. Two rooms were higlighted, one in blue, the other in white. The white one seemed to be the console room, and the other looked to be where the Doctor was.
"Uhh, thanks?" Shepard awkwardly looked at the time rotor. She shook her head, and proceeded into the sprawling corridors, intent on finding the Time Lord.
In the present...
The Doctor shuddered as he and the others left the Normandy and boarded the prison ship, Purgatory, where their next recruit was located. Though their similarities may have been distant, at best, the Doctor couldn't help think of Shada, the legendary Time Lord prison where only the worst of the worst were sent.
Still, he followed the the others deeper into the prison.
"Welcome to the Purgatory, Shepard." The guard greeted as they approached. "Your package is being prepped, and you can claim it shortly. As this is a high-security vessel, you will need to relinquish your weapons before we proceed."
Shepard narrowed her eyes in suspicion. "I'll relinquish one bullet." She threatened, drawing her pistol. "Where do you want it?"
"Everyone stand down!" A turian shouted, entering the room."Shepard, I'm warden Kuril, and this is my ship." He introduced himself as he approached the waiting group. "You must realize that this is a standard procedure. Your weapons will be returned to you on your way out."
"Yeah?" Shepard sarcastically asked. "It's my standard procedure to keep my gun."
The warden's stare was piercing, but Shepard didn't waver. The others readied their weapons, and the Doctor's grip on the sonic screwdriver tightened. He put it on setting #38557879b, ready to make the guns short out in their wielders' hands.
Fortunately, it didn't come to that, as the warden backed down. "Let them proceed." The warden ordered his subordinates. "Our facility is more than prepared to handle three armed guests."
Shepard, Miranda, and Zaeed holstered their weapons, and the four followed the warden through the large blast door, deeper into the ship.
"Cellblock two." The warden identified. "As you can see, we keep a tight hold on the population."
Through one of the windows the corridor was lined with, the Doctor could see a pylon powered by element zero activate, creating energy bubbles around fighting prisoners, separating them.
Then, a massive crane arm swung down from the ceiling, and attached to a small cubic container, pulling it out of a wall made out of similar containers. The arm then swung around to attach it to a door, further down the hallway.
"Each cell is a self-contained modular unit." The warden elaborated. "I've blown a few out of the airlock as an example before. This ship is made up of thirty cellblocks identical to this one. And each cellblock holds thousands of criminals." He boasted. "We can put the whole place on lockdown at a moment's notice."
"I've seen better." The Doctor shrugged. It was true, some of the prisons (especially the ones designed to hold Time Lords) back in his universe would make this place look like an open door.
"I'm sure." The warden condescended.
"It's got to be expensive as hell to run a place like this." Shepard observed.
"We can cut corners that governments can't." The warden elaborated. "And each prisoner brings in a fee from their homeworld. These people are violent, and their homeworld pays well to keep them here."
"And what happens if their homeworld doesn't pay the fee?" Shepard crossed her arms.
"Then we inform them that we can no longer afford to keep the prisoner, and have to release them." The warden answered. "At an unspecified place and time."
"So it's an extortion racket." The Doctor spat, disgusted. "Despicable."
"You don't have to agree with my methods, but don't mistake my intentions. These are despicable people, and I'm keeping them locked up."
"How'd you end up running a place like this?" Shepard questioned.
"I was in law-enforcement back on Palaven. I got sick of seeing criminals escape into the larger galaxy, and bounty hunters aren't dependable. Eventually, I got an idea: Keep the criminals in space, and the galaxy is a safer place."
"So you do all this because you think it's necessary?" Shepard asked.
The warden nodded. "Every day I see the worst sapient life the galaxy has to offer. Governments are soft, unwilling to make the hard choices. Someone had to stand up and make the galaxy safe."
"And because Jack's here, I assume he's on that list." Shepard shook her head in frustration. "What can you tell me about him?"
"Cerberus hasn't told you?" The warden asked, twiddling his thumbs. "Jack is the meanest handful of violence and hate I've ever encountered. Dangerous, crazy, and very powerful." The Warder, said in fear. "You'll see soon enough."
"Alright, let's get on with this." Shepard said, uncrossing her arms.
"Bet it'd be hell trying to escape from this place." Zaeed remarked.
"We're in space." The warden said, leading the four forward. "They have nowhere to go, and they know it. But still, we exercise extreme caution. These are... dangerous individuals." A door slid open, and the warden led the group into an almost identical hallway. "I'm going to confirm the funds from Cerberus cleared. Outprocessing is straight down this hallway." He guided. "Just keep going past the interrogation rooms and the supermax wing." He lingered for a moment, then left. "I'll catch up with you later, Shepard."
"I don't like the way this place is making me feel." Shepard said after the warden left. "Everyone be on your guard." Then, she started leading the team down the hallway.
As they were walking, the Doctor noticed something. A cell was attacked to the hallway, and inside, a guard was beating the prisoner. "Is this really necessary?" The Time Lord demanded.
"Compared to what he did to his victims, this is a light massage." The guard outside the cell responded.
"If you keep doing this, it makes you no better than him." The Doctor told the guard. "Besides, don't you get tired of it?"
"...I admit, I kind of do." The guard reluctantly admitted. "I wonder, is this really getting us anywhere?"
"Then stop this." The Doctor pointedly told. "For your own sake." Then, he caught up with the others, who had just crossed the threshold into outprocessing.
The four approached the door on the far side of the room, and opened it.
Instead of what the four expected, they were met with one of the cells used to store prisoners. "My apologies, Shepard." The warden's voice rang from overhead. "You're more valuable as a prisoner than a customer."
"Kuril," Shepard cracked her knuckles, "you've just kicked the hornet's nest. And now, you're about to get stung."
"Activate systems!" The warden ordered. At that instant, numerous Blue Suns entered the room, firing their guns at the four, who scrambled into cover.
A FENRIS mech charged into the room, and the Doctor, seeing his opportunity, took it. He pointed the screwdriver at the tiny robot, and pressed the activator, causing the mech to spark, and then go running back to its owners. The mech then triggered an EMP, and knocked out the shields of the assembled Blue Suns.
"Excellent work, Doctor!" Shepard shouted as she fired upon the Blue Suns. After the last one was dispatched, the four ran out into the hall, taking care of the other two Blue Suns that tried to stop them. Shepard opened the door into the cryo chamber, and entered.
"Shepard is on the loose!" A techie shouted frantically. "I repeat, Shepard is- aagh!" Shepard shot the man right through the hart, and watched coldly as his body toppled to the floor.
The Doctor didn't comment on any of it, just settling to watch as the Commander approached the controls.
"If we hack that control, every cell on board opens." Miranda warned.
"It's the only way to get Jack out of cryo." Zaeed said.
"Oh, that's a rubbish word, 'only.'" The Doctor rambled, approaching the controls. "There are always alternatives to situations." The Doctor looked over the controls. "Should be a cakewalk for the sonic." He ran the device over the terminal, and grinned. "There, you can press it without popping open every other cell on board."
Shepard nodded, and slammed her hand down on the button.
In response, three YMIR mechs below activated, and a big metal arm with two prongs extended down from the roof. The arm inserted its two prongs into two similarly sized holes in the floor, and rotated. The arm then pulled up a cylinder, with something resembling an examination table inside.
"That's Jack?" Miranda asked, looking at the frail, heavily tattooed female form cuffed to the table.
Jack's eyes snapped open, and the woman looked around the room. Her expression changed to fury, and she started pulling herself out of the cuffs, breaking them in the process.
Jack fell to the floor, and saw the three mechs approach. She gritter her teeth, and dark energy started gathering up around her fist in a blue aura. Jack, howling a primal roar, charged towards the mechs, decimating them in an explosion, which consequently shook the floor beneath them.
"That was impressive." The Doctor looked down at the room in awe.
"We have to get down there, let's move!" Shepard led the group through the door, and down the ramp into the cryo storage area.
On the other end of the room, the wall was ripped open, creating a passageway into the other areas of the ship. How could someone so small create so much damage?
"All guards, restore order!" Kuril shouted. "Lethal force authorized, but don't kill Jack! Techs, lockdown, lockdown!"
"Sections seven, nine, and eleven have lost life support." The Purgatory's computer reported, without a hint of emotion. "No survivors."
The four walked through another hole in the wall, into the cellblock, where the prisoners that hadn't been in their cells when Jack was released, along with the guards, were fighting. The red emergency lighting was on, fires were everywhere, and the ship was crumbling as the four made their way through.
"All prisoners, return to your cells immediately, or I'll open every airlock on this ship!" The warden threatened.
On the other side of the cellblock, a YMIR mech activated to supress the fighting.
"Doctor." Shepard pointed out.
The Doctor nodded, aimed the screwdriver at the mech, and pressed the button, causing the two-ton behemoth to explode, after it had already taken down the unarmed prisoners.
The four got out of cover, and proceeded forth.
"Warning: All reactor core safeguards are now non-functional. Prepare for reactor meltdown."
The four walked into another cellblock, where the guards were waiting for them. Shepard fired at the canister on the walkway above them, causing it to explode, and set fire to the two guards next to it.
The four proceeded through the ship, taking out more guards as they came across them.
Eventually, the four entered the final cellblock, where the warden was waiting for them.
"You're valuable, Shepard." The warden said, firing at them, but missing. "I could have sold you and lived like a king! But you're too much trouble. At least I can recapture Jack."
"Not happening!" Shepard shouted back. "You're a two-bit slave trader, and I don't have time for it."
"I do the hard things civil governments are unwilling to. This is for the good of the galaxy!" He argued. Then, three energy pylons activated, powering a shield that protected the warden, while more guards came in.
"Doctor, you take out one of the pylons, while me and the others take out the rest!" Shepard ordered over the gunfire.
The Doctor nodded, and sprinted out of cover, ducking and dodging the bullets that came his way.
Across the room, a grenade detonated, taking out a pylon. Then, another one of the pylons was subject to an Overload.
Finally, the Doctor pointed his screwdriver at the pylon, and pushed the activator, causing the pylon to short out.
Shepard and the others then focused their fire on the remaining guards, before directing it to the warden.
His shields couldn't handle the fire, and his armor was torn through by an inferno grenade, before he finally dropped dead from his wounds.
"Come on." Shepard said. "We can still catch up to Jack."
She led the others through the halls, following the path of destruction, finally coming to a stop once they found Jack screaming in rage at the Normandy.
Shepard saw a guard trying to run towards Jack. Shepard fired her pistol, which took out the guard, and also had the effect of getting Jack's attention.
"What the hell do you want?" Jack spat.
"You're in a bad situation, and I'm here to get you out of it." Shepard answered nonchalantly.
"Shit, you sound like a pussy." Jack chuckled. "I'm not going anywhere with you. You're Cerberus."
"The dog?" The Doctor asked. "I mean, Shepard isn't exactly Marilyn Monroe, but she isn't... I'll stop talking now."
"I'm here to ask for your help." Shepard continued, ignoring the Doctor.
"You show up in a Cerberus frigate to take me away somewhere?" Jack looked over the Normandy. "You think I'm stupid?"
"This ship is going down in flames. I've got the only boat off. I'm offering to take you with me, and you're arguing."
"We could just knock her out and take her." Miranda suggested.
"I'd like to see you try." Jack returned.
"We're not going to attack her." Shepard said.
"Good move. Look you want me to come with you? Make it worth my while." Jack approached.
"Fine, I'll do what I can." Shepard sighed, getting tired of having to jump through hoops all the time.
"Don't make promises you can't keep. I bet your ship's got lots of Cerberus databases. I want in, see what they've got on me. You want me on your team, you give me that."
"Done."
"Shepard, you're not authorized to do that!" Miranda interjected.
"It pisses off the cheerleader." Jack grinned. "Even better. You'd better be straight-up with me."
Shepard just nodded.
"Then why the hell are we standing around here?" Jack asked.
"Move out." Shepard ordered, and the four boarded the Normandy.