A tall brunette man stood before them. His face looked worn and tired, but his eyes glistened with determination. He wore smoky grey armor with green lighting around the jointed areas. A sniper rifle and a shotgun were strapped to his back and a pistol holstered on his right hip.
He stood on top of a platform on the far end of the warehouse. Behind him was a metal door, probably leading to the outside.
"This meeting is more than I could ever ask for. I honestly thought you died for a second time during the war. This will surely be fun," Toombs said with a smile.
"What the hell? What is this?" Shepard demanded.
"Do you not remember the email I sent you three years ago?"
Shepard took a moment to remember. So much mail came through her personal terminal on a daily basis it was hard to recall what Toombs was referring to. Then she finally remembered. She didn't remember what the whole email said for verbatim but she did remember one particular part of it:
I've got my own merc team now, Shepard. And I kill any Cerberus team I can find. If I run into you, don't expect any different.
Was Toombs behind CAT6 this whole time? He was behind the group her clone hired to kill her?
"I remember," she replied, "but I never expected this."
"You should always expect the unexpected, Shepard. Not doing so will end tragically for you. Not that I mind or anything," Toombs shrugged.
"Toombs, this is all a misunderstanding. I never worked for Cerberus. Their agenda was never mine. Yes, I used their resources, but that was it. I needed to take out the Collectors and that is all it ever was. I understand your hate towards them, but it doesn't need to end badly between us."
"I don't think you truly understand. I see now that you never really worked for them, but what has happened recently has become a growing concern and you must be taken out. The safety of the galaxy depends on it."
"What the hell are you talking about?" She was lost in his reasoning.
"Do you not see it, Shepard? You are a plague to this galaxy! That clone of yours was right about one thing, the Cult of Shepard has spread too far and now I'm the only one who can stop you."
A cult? Was he really serious? Toombs was spewing absurdity at this point. The more Toombs talked, the more livid Shepard became.
"And so blowing up ships and torturing innocents is your way of solving the galaxy's problems? You don't know the first thing about the best interests of everyone. Uniting this galaxy was the only way to bring peace! You just want to destroy it," she spat back at him.
"Those were strategically placed attacks. People need to realize that there is still a threat out there! Since the end of the war, everyone has let their guard down. No one is expecting another catastrophic event like the Reapers. Little do they know, there will always be something around the corner. I'm trying to make them realize that and it's been working. People have taken notice to our threats, but haven't pinned it on us yet. Cerberus is acting as a perfect scapegoat at the moment.
And when the "Galaxy's Savior" has finally been destroyed, people will begin to realize that we are not safe. That is when we, Salus, will come in and create a secure future for us all. All the species will proactively work together to build a better future."
"So CAT6 is just another cover name?" Tali asked.
"Exactly, quarian. Under our guidance, Salus will lead us all to a better future."
"A better future doesn't involve torturing and experimenting on innocents." Kaidan retorted.
"They weren't innocent. They were indoctrinated. Unfortunately for them, the effects did not wear off when the Reapers were destroyed. We tried to help them but their sacrifices have not been in vain. We have a better understanding of the whole process and we were successful in reversing it."
"Toombs, you're going about this all wrong. I understand wanting to help the galaxy but terrorizing it only just to turn around and help it is counterproductive. And whatever research you have on undoing indoctrination is sure to be helpful. We should be working together and not against each other. There is no 'Cult of Shepard' and I'm not a threat to the galaxy. Let's just calm down and talk like civilized…"
"No," he cut her off, "There is no hope for an alliance. You are beyond helping, Shepard. There is only one way this can all end. Enjoy your time in hell. However, if you do get off of this planet alive, it'll be a fun game of cat and mouse between you and me."
He turned around and disappeared behind metal door. Shepard and her team took a few steps forward to start following him when they heard a beeping sound coming from the pile of crates on their right.
It could only be one thing.
A bomb.
"Shit! Tali, find that thing and disarm it. Everyone else, get out of here! Follow Garrus and Kaidan and get to safety. Acanthus, be ready to throw up a biotic field just in case disarming the bomb is impossible," Shepard barked her orders.
"Shepard," Garrus began to say.
"Go!" She yelled back.
With a silent nod from Garrus, he and Kaidan began running to the other side of the warehouse and everyone else followed behind them. While they did that, Tali rushed over to the crates and scanned them to find the source of the bomb. It only took her seconds to locate it and quickly opened the crate containing it.
"Shepard, we've got thirty seconds till this thing goes off!" Tali shouted while she worked on disarming the explosive.
"You've got this, Tali," she reassured her. Shepard moved towards Tali to the point where she could see the countdown over her shoulders. She then looked over to the other end of the warehouse. Everyone else was almost to the door where they came first come through. When she looked back at the timer, there were only ten seconds left.
"Come on, you Bosh'tet!" Tali seethed in frustration.
"How much longer?"
Five
"I think I almost got it!"
Four
"You think?!" Shepard had her biotics ready to throw up a shield between them and the bomb.
Three
"Almost there!"
Two
"Tali!"
One
"I've got it!" Tali yelled. A dead silence filled the room and Shepard's head pounded and she swore her heartbeat could be heard throughout the room. After taking a deep breath to relax her nerves, she found herself laughing. Tali joined her in nervous laughter.
"There's never an uninteresting moment when you're around, Shepard," Tali took a jab at her.
Shepard let out a single laugh, "Yeah. I guess so. Though, you scared the hell out of me with that stunt of yours."
"What stunt?" Tali asked, turning her palms up and shrugging her shoulders.
"'I think I almost got it!'" Shepard mocked, trying her best to impersonate her quarian friend's dialect and manner of speech.
Tali giggled but was soon interrupted by another, flanging, voice calling out to them from the other side of the warehouse.
"Not to interrupt your precious moment you two, but we've got a lunatic to chase," Garrus called out.
"Right," Shepard agreed. When she and Tali caught up with the rest of the squad, Shepard called in to Cortez and requested a pick up at a new LZ in front of the building. It was time for them to get back to the Normandy and try to piece together exactly what Toombs was up to since he was too cryptic to explain himself.
The shuttle ride back was somber. The mission was tense and it was a close call with the bomb. Unlike the ride down, no one talked. The only words spoken were from Shepard. She expressed that she wanted to discuss with them the information they gathered over some much need cups of coffee at the table in the mess hall.
After everyone changed out of their equipment and into more comfortable clothes, they all reconvened in the mess hall. Shepard was the first one there and prepared three large pots of coffee for everyone. Two were levo based and the other was dextro based. Everyone grabbed a cup and settled in around the table. Silence still lingered amongst them but after everyone had a chance to take a few sips from their mugs, bodies began to loosen up. It was amazing how coffee could ease the rigidness from tensed up soldiers.
With the team in a seemingly more relaxed mood, Shepard decided to begin the meeting by asking Tali what she was able to recover from the laboratory.
"The majority of the data collected from the Salus lab is information we already know. It's about the indoctrination process. I believe they gathered their information from Cerberus' Sanctuary base on Horizon. The parallels in the data are too similar to not be a coincidence. However, the more interesting info is what Toombs mentioned; the reversal of indoctrination."
Tali pulled up relevant records to the process and the results of the experiments. Everyone took a moment to read and examine the documents.
"So they started with psychological therapy but it only led to an increased rate in suicides," Solana spoke first with her observations, "But it looks like the first round of implants helped relieve the suicidal tendencies for a short while. The subjects with the second kind of implants fared much better; however, I've never seen or heard of these kinds of circuits before."
"These are like payarnit integrated circuits. These haven't been used since the Inar War. Do you not have this kind of technology in this galaxy?" Ba'el looked to everyone else for an answer.
"They're what circuits now? Genie, did you catch that?" Shepard questioned.
"Your guess is as good as mine. That went right over my head," Genie responded.
"I take that as a 'no' then," Ba'el sighed then continued, "A payarnit integrated circuit is similar to a mind control implant but the subject using them receives their thoughts and ideas from the following surroundings instead of a single source, such a puppet master. They were often used during the war by the Harock because the subject with the implant was susceptible to mindlessly fight without being coerced, given they received the right conditioning prior to battle. Many thralls fighting for the Harock were captured, implanted, and influenced with the Harock's manifesto before being sent off to battle. They were said to be ruthless enemies."
"I guess I don't understand how this is considered to be a cure for indoctrination. It's just another form of brainwashing," Garrus commented.
"True, but these implants can be turned on or off at any time. I take it by their success, according to their data, it counteracted the indoctrination effect when the implant was on. For how long this lasted, I have no idea."
"Wait, so they countered the indoctrination effect only to replace it with their own version of brainwashing?" Kaidan reiterated.
"That would be correct," Ba'el confirmed.
"What do they hope to achieve by doing that?" Acanthus chimed in.
"There are many possibilities. My best guess would be to use them in their new world order or whatever Toombs wants to call it," Garrus answered him.
"We don't know where he ran off to, though. So how do we tackle all of this?" James added his question to the storm of inquiries.
"For now, all we can do is send this over to Liara and see what she can find," Shepard stated, "In the meantime, we need to return to the Citadel. Kaidan will continue on as the escort of the Citadel ambassadors to the Inar Galaxy while we continue to build the fleet. The Reapers are still our number one priority here. Toombs is just an inconvenience that we'll deal with step by step."
And with that, the discussion of Toombs and Salus were over for the time being. Shepard had more important things to deal with. Plus, Liara led them to Salus once and she was bound to do it again. She would have to put trust in her asari companion.
As everyone left to retire for the night, Shepard sent all the data and analysis they had to Liara then headed up to the CIC to plot a course for the Citadel. After that, she decided it would be best get some rest herself.
When she opened the door to her room, Garrus was sitting on the couch with a bottle of wine and two glasses.
"Thought you could use the unwinding," he said, offering her a glass the of duel-chirality wine.
She gave her mate a tired smile and took the glass, "You know me too well."
"I could tell this whole ordeal with Toombs has taken a toll on you. Do you want to talk about it?" he motioned for her to sit next to him on the couch.
She happily obliged and when she did, Garrus wrapped his arm around her and gave her a firm and loving hug. He continued to keep his arm draped around her shoulders.
"I guess I never anticipated my past to come back like this to haunt me. I know Toombs and I had a rocky reunion on Ontarom and I just regarded his email as an empty threat. I never thought he would proactively seek out my destruction by killing innocents."
"We'll deal with him the same way we do any other problem: we'll be ruthlessly relentless until he's taken out while still kicking ass in the rest of the galaxy," he brought her closer to the envelopes of his carapace.
She leaned her head in the crook of his neck, feeling the warmth of his body on her cheeks. She could easily loose herself in just his embrace and often preferred these moments over sex any day. Intimacy in their relationship was not restricted to play time in bed. The complexity of their relationship went beyond just the physical aspects. Soft smiles and playful jabs in the stomach spoke more than words could the majority of the time.
There was also an intricacy with how they interacted with one another on the battlefield. They were so in tune with each other they could predict each other's movements and shots. This was already the case before they became romantically involved with each other but it evolved exponentially afterwards. They acted as one despite being two separate bodies.
"You're right. I think I'm just overreacting to all of this. I have bigger fish to fry anyways," she finally said after relishing in his warmth for a few minutes.
"Why would you be frying fish?" Garrus' voice raised in confusion.
Shepard let out a playful chuckle, "It's a human saying meaning that there are more important things to do. I swear I'm going to have to buy you a manual on human idioms someday."
"Now that's not fair," he grabbed her shoulders and pulled her away slightly, turning her towards him so she looked squarely at him, "Why do I have to be the one learn all these nonsensical sayings?"
"Because it's part of our culture. Get used to it," she smiled and leaned back into his embrace.
"Silly humans and your sayings," he said, giving up on the argument. He wrapped his arms around her body as she moved in closer.
They spent the rest of the night in each others arms, sipping on wine and talking about unrelated topics.
These were the moments Shepard truly cherished.
A/N: I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I'll be adding some less dramatic moments into the story, meaning it'll focus on crew interactions with Shepard and each other and some other nonsensical fun. I will also go further in depth on Genie's background soon, so look out for that interlude.
I probably won't have an update for a week or so. I'll be visiting my best friend and then going to a convention with her this weekend, so I won't be near a computer much to write. However, I will try my best to update before the start of the weekend, but no promises. Thanks in advance for you patience and understanding.
Please R&R!