A Call to Duty

by Z98

Relations between the Terran Empire and the Citadel have been tense since the First Contact War, but efforts to reach amicable relations were bearing fruit. The discovery of a Prothean relic on Eden Prime offered another opportunity to improve relations, until things go badly awry. As Cadre, one of the emperor's chosen, Shepherd is charged with determining the truth, at any cost.

21. Chapter 20

When the Terran Empire emerged onto the galactic scene, it was greatly interested in bridging the technological gap between itself and the other polities. One of the biggest gaps would have to be in the field of biotics, the manipulation of mass effect fields by a person via biological processes. The Empire had possessed only a cursory awareness of such possibilities due in part to the side effects suffered by people whom worked in close contact with element zero. Musings about a controlled application were still in the theoretical stage when first contact occurred and humanity was made aware of the practical solutions the rest of the galaxy had already achieved.

The Empire wasted little time trying to apply this technology to its own population, buying and acquiring the technology and knowhow necessary to create human biotics even as it began searching for candidates whom met the criteria for manifesting these abilities. Some would indeed suggest that the Empire moved too rashly and without due consideration for the personal consequences that might befall the participating candidates. Such criticism was ultimately validated when people outfitted with the second generation L2 implants began suffering severe, crippling side effects. While the Empire eventually set up a system to compensate and care for those so affected, many considered such efforts too little and far too late, especially in light of the desperation some of the L2 biotics were driven to.

-Forward Unto Twilight: The Terran Empire

Chapter 20

Ne puero gladium

"Here you go skipper."

The break area of the living quarters deck was serenely quiet with the night watch on right now and most of the rest of the crew getting some shuteye. The Normandy was on its way to the Horse Head Nebula, via the Hades Gamma and Exodus Cluster relays. Assuming no pressing matters interrupted their journey, they would be arriving in a few short days.

Shepard took the offered mug of coffee. "Thanks LT."

After taking a sip she let out a satisfied sigh.

"The lady approves?"

The major snorted. "If you want to butter up a lady, you break out the wine, Alenko, not the coffee beans."

"Damn, I guess I should have filched that bottle from Fourth Fleet's supply train."

"And get an admiral on your ass for disrupting his table service?" Shepard teased back. "You're a braver man than I thought, Alenko."

"That or there's something wrong with me in the head," the lieutenant said self-deprecatingly.

"Far be it for me to suggest a lieutenant is actually competent," Shepard said, taking another sip. "Headaches still keeping you up?"

"Nah, I just had some paperwork to wrap up," Kaidan answered. "Same with you ma'am?"

"I wish," Shepard said, massaging her temple. "My mind, I can't seem to get it to rest. Things keep bubbling to the surface, thoughts, sensations, some things I don't even know how to describe."

Kaidan cradled his own mug. "This from Shiala, ma'am? Or the beacon?"

"A little of both," Shepard said. "The stuff from Shiala I can at least mostly understand, even hang onto. The stuff from the beacon, I can see it, hear it, even taste it. But I still don't quite understand it."

"Is the cipher not working?"

Shepard snorted. "Oh, I'm pretty sure it's working. I keep getting these weird, stray inclinations." A thump sounded as the major's pistol was plopped on the table. "Like this. I didn't even notice I was wearing my bloody sidearm everywhere I was going on the ship."

"I was wondering about that," Kaidan admitted.

The major snorted again before frowning slightly. "I think, I don't have the complete message from the beacon. I can see bits and pieces, but I can't put the whole picture together."

"Oh. Well, here's hoping Saren's having the same trouble."

"Here's hoping."

As Shepard was about to take another sip a large hulking form emerged from the dim lighting of the rest of the deck.

"Shepard," the krogan greeted, then as if an afterthought, "Alenko."

"Wrex," Shepard responded. "What brings you up from the cargo bay?"

"Figured I'd get a late snack while everyone else was snoozing," he answered. He looked down at the pistol on the table. "What's this, you preparing for a mutiny or something, Shepard?"

"Dealing with some new stupid subconscious impulse that's probably from the prothean cipher," Shepard said.

"Huh. Well if you start hearing voices, a few good knocks to the head might do ya some good."

Shepard and Kaidan alike chuckled at that. The major's eyes however narrowed as she saw just what the krogan was reaching for.

"Wrex?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you-"

Crunch. Only after chucking a fistful of coffee beans into his mouth did Wrex turn about to regard Shepard. The major gaped at him before sighing in weary exasperation.

"So THAT'S what's been happening to my coffee supply," Shepard said. "You haven't been drinking my coffee, you've been eating it!"

"Oh, this here's yours?" Wrex said, sounding utterly unrepentant. "Thought this here was for the whole crew, what with it being out in a public space."

"It is for the whole crew," Shepard said, "but that's supposed to last for an entire month. We're going through it four times as fast. The quartermaster has actually been asking questions about our requisitions because of that."

"Oh really?" Wrex looked down at the container of beans before shrugging and putting it back. "It's tasty, but seems like a whole lotta fuss over some beans."

"Careful there Wrex," Kaidan said lightly. "Never underestimate the lengths an addict will go. Wars have been fought over that bean."

"Plus the damned stuff is expensive," Shepard said. "I only get a certain allotment, if I go over it comes out of my pay."

"Huh, your Empire keeps you on a rather tight leash, doesn't it," Wrex said, plopping himself down on the one chair reinforced enough to support his weight.

"The price to pay for getting to play with all the fancy toys."

Wrex chuckled. "Fair enough. And those are some nice toys indeed, from what I saw down there on Feros."

Shepard cocked her head aside. "Oh?"

"Did some digging about you before we joined up on Therum," Wrex began. "Lots of rumors and whispers, about how you weren't someone to be trifled with. None of them breathed a hint about you being biotic though."

"The Empire doesn't make it a habit to advertise the capabilities of the Cadre," Shepard stated simply. "At this point, you've probably seen more than anyone outside the Empire that wasn't on the business end of my gun."

"That right," Wrex said.

Looking back and forth between the two, Kaidan could not help but feel a slight crackling of tension, eager rather than nervous, in the air. It was as if a pair of prize fighters were sizing each other off in anticipation of a bout. The lieutenant was pretty sure the Normandy would not survive such an occasion.

"So Wrex," Kaidan interjected before the tension could build much higher, "I've been wondering, what was your training for your biotics like?"

The krogan regarded Kaidan with a glint of amusement before answering.

"Like fire and brimstone, that's what it was like," he said. "A krogan battlemaster learns his art on the battlefield, where you keep your wits about you or you die."

"Well, that sounds, intense."

Shepard gave a snort at that. "Smooth LT, real smooth."

"What, you think you can do better, ma'am?"

To that the major shrugged, but she still regarded the krogan thoughtfully. "I've heard that when a krogan is young, he will find a battlemaster that he respects to follow to learn the art of war. Who was your battlemaster, Wrex?"

The krogan fell silent for a few moments, a slight glint in his eye portending uncertain things.

"My father was the one that taught me the ways of a warrior. He instilled within me a pride of my heritage, of the glorious victories my people paid for with our very flesh and blood. He was everything I wanted to be, a great and respected leader of our people." The krogan bared his teeth. "And then after the end of the Krogan Rebellion, he turned into everything that made me turn my back on my people."

There was a bitter tinge to Wrex's tone, a hint at the sense of betrayal the krogan felt over his father's actions. And his immense regret and smoldering anger over the entire affair.

"Parents often make the mistake of trying to force their beliefs upon their children," Shepard stated. "They do this often because in their own insecurity and fear, they demand others bolster their confidence by conforming to their expectations, indeed to even sacrifice their own self to do so." The glint in Shepard's eye seemed to match Wrex's in intensity and even meaning. "Instead their actions mark their failure as a parent, and even as a person."

Wrex seemed almost taken aback by the vehemence of Shepard's closing remark. It was as if the major herself had experienced such imposition, had endured such failing. How else could she have arrived at such surety in her conclusion. Before the krogan could probe further on the matter however, Artemis' voice sounded.

"Major, we are receiving a distress signal from the passenger liner Ontario in the Farinata System."

The three briefly stared at one other for a moment before hurriedly making for their stations.

"Do we have a sit rep?" she asked, heading up to the command deck with the other two in tow.

"The distress call indicated that several human passengers with biotics are attempting to hijack the ship."

That caused Shepard to glance back at Kaidan and the two exchanged frowns.

"Anyone of note on the passenger list?"

"Several, but the likely target is Baron Martin Burns, the chairman of the Parliamentary Subcommittee for Transhuman Studies."

Shepard visibly sighed at that while Kaidan merely grunted. That was the sort of inference that a virtual intelligence was incapable of making. An artificial intelligence on the other hand was amply equipped to connect the dots like this.

"So this is political," she said as they emerged on the command deck.

"Almost certainly."

"Lovely. Pressly, best speed to the Ontario and inform the Admiralty that we are en route."

"Aye skipper."

"Total crew and complement of the Ontario?" Shepard asked as she stepped up to her command station.

"Sixty-eight crew, five hundred sixteen passengers booked for this passage."

That was a lot of hostages if the biotics were able to succeed in their hijacking.

"Number of hijackers?"

"Unclear. Telemetry included with the distress call suggests a minimum of six, but there may be more."

That might not have seemed much, but six biotics were more than enough to do a lot of damage in a constrained environment like a passenger liner.

"Security complement?"

"Standard corporate security, a single squad, none biotic. The distress call indicates they have not been successful in containing the hijackers."

Little surprise there. Depending on how well trained the biotics were, they could have ripped through an opposing force several times larger.

"ETA to the Ontario?"

"One hour thirty, ma'am," Pressly took that one.

"Just enough time to plan and prep the boarding op," Shepard said. "Squad to the communications room."

Turning about, she saw Kaidan and Wrex already heading in, the two having predicted the order. With a slight chuckle Shepard followed. The others were not long in arriving and took up seats around the room. By then Shepard had had time to review the tactical telemetry that arrived with the distress signal, limited as it was. Now they just needed to figure out a way to help the passenger liner without getting any of the hostages onboard killed. The hijackers were another matter entirely.

"Approximately five minutes ago Normandy received a distress call from the passenger liner Ontario," Shepard began the briefing. "The call indicated that a group of human biotics, estimated to be six in number, were attempting to hijack the ship. While we do not know what their objective is, there is a high probability that they are after this man."

A hologram was projected in the center of the room, showing a tanned middle-aged man with short darkish hair and a faint mustache.

"Baron Martin Burns," Shepard continued, "is a sitting peer in the House of Lords. He's considered an up-and-coming member of the Conservative Party, ambitious and hungry for further advancement. He was appointed to be chairman of the Subcommittee for Transhuman Studies as a sop to the Conservatives in exchange for their support for the sitting government, and also because the Centralists thought he wouldn't be able to do much harm in that post. What did they did not count on however was a Liberal representative in the Commons submitting a private member's bill advocating for reparations for people suffering complications from L2 implants, a bill that managed to pass enough readings to be presented to the relevant standing committee, which just happened to be the one Burns chairs. Burns however has refused to advance the bill."

"And you think these biotics want to assassinate Burns for that?" Garrus asked.

Despite the rather abrupt crash course in imperial politics that Shepard's opening explanation represented, the turian was able to pick out the relevant bits of information without too much difficulty.

"There is a high possibility the biotics want him dead," Shepard allowed. "They could also be hoping to ransom him in some way. Burns might be just a baron, but his family isn't without some means."

"Could these, people, be trying to sway the government to push forward with this legislation?" Liara asked.

The human members of Shepard's squad tightened their expressions. The major herself was no exception.

"The Empire doesn't negotiate with terrorists or pirates over hostages," Kaidan said, providing some context for the others. "That position holds true even if a member of the imperial family is amongst the hostages. Standing orders are anyone who takes them, the best they can hope for is to not hang for their crimes, but they don't get to walk away with their prize."

While Liara inhaled sharply, Wrex actually looked as if he approved. Tali's reaction was of course obscured by her visor, and Garrus kept his expression flatly neutral.

"That is, rather ruthless," the turian did remark however.

"Giving in to terrorist demands would only encourage others to try the same tactic," Shepard stated frankly. "The imperial government made the call a long time ago that on balance, more lives will be saved in the long run by sacrificing hostages than by setting a precedent that the Empire could be blackmailed."

"The needs of the many," Garrus said.

"Indeed." Shepard's expression hardened. "At the same time, no command of mine will ever permit the sacrifice of innocents for the sake of expediency. Collateral damage may be an inevitability due to the nature of our duty, but that does not ever make such losses acceptable. Am I clear?"

"Yes ma'am," Ashley said loud and clear, her tone demanding anyone dare challenge her.

Heads nodded all about, and even Wrex deigned to tilt his ever so slightly. Satisfied, Shepard nodded in turn.

"Good."

"How dangerous are these hijackers exactly?" Garrus asked. "From a tactical perspective."

Shepard glanced over at Kaidan. "Alenko?"

"Assuming these hijackers really are biotic extremists, they're probably outfitted with L2 implants like me," the lieutenant explained. "L2s are an older model, prone to some pretty severe side effects and stability issues, but they peak higher than the current generation L3s. If I put my mind to it, I can tear out bulkheads and break someone's back. We should assume these hijackers are at least as capable."

"Side effects," Liara said. "Like your migraines?"

"And much worse. I'm arguably one of the luckier ones. There are some people with L2 implants that're basically crippled by the feedback they suffer from. It's why the bill was proposed in parliament in the first place."

"Oh my," Liara said. "And this, Burns, is refusing to allow it to pass?"

"The Conservatives have always been stuck up about anything they consider to be handouts," Kaidan said. "Burns is just skewing to the party line on the bill, who knows what he himself personally believes."

"The political cockup that led to this development isn't our problem," Shepard interjected, closing off that line of discussion. "Whatever the cause, we have to deal with the consequences here and now. That being said, this matter is again solely a terran affair. Those of you uncomfortable with participating in such a mission are permitted to recuse yourself."

"I appreciate the offer, Major," Garrus spoke up first, "but these people, whatever their grievances, they've crossed a line from political activism to outright piracy. As far as I'm concerned, there's no ambiguity here and this is a straightforward policing action. I'm in."

A rumble of a chuckle sounded from Wrex. "Well, I ain't much one for wishy-washy sentiment, but I gotta agree with the turian here. You pull a gun, you don't get to complain about being shot."

An uncomplicated, straightforward sentiment befitting the krogan battlemaster. It was however not one shared by all his squad mates, even if their own philosophies ultimately took them to the same place.

"These people have had a regrettable past, but that is no excuse for them bringing harm upon others," Liara said. "Whatever their grievance with the terran government and this baron, it does not warrant getting the other passengers involved."

A rather high-minded attitude, that one. It was in some ways rather condescending in the way its simplicity papered over all the nuances behind the hijackers' grievances. That did not make Liara heartless or arrogant however, it simply set the bounds of her own personal limits. Asking for more would have represented an equal level of arrogance in many respects, and Shepard had no intention or need to do so.

All attention now fell on Tali. The quarian looked about, a slightly nervous edge to her form.

"I don't like hurting people that are hurting themselves," she stated, "but I won't let that stop me from helping those they are hurting."

In some respects Tali's thoughts aligned more with Wrex's than with Liara or even Garrus to an extent. It was however good enough for now. With a nod of her own head Shepard returned to the matter at hand and the project of Burns was now replaced with that of the Ontario herself.

"The Ontario is an Essex-class passenger liner, and we have the base model's schematics in the Normandy's databanks."

The outer hull disappeared to reveal a wireframe mesh of the interior.

"Essex liners are approximately six hundred meters in length, most of that space dedicated to passenger space with some cubage set aside for freight. They have minimal defenses, a kinetic barrier and a few point defense guns, but nothing heavier and no meaningful armor. Entry and exit is usually through access ports in the forward sections on both sides, while cargo is usually loaded via a larger bulk transfer hatch in the aft section. There are also maintenance hatches situated here, here, and here."

Three locations started blinking on the hologram.

"The navy has override codes for every Empire flagged commercial transport, so we should be able to get in through those if the need arises. Once inside, there are maintenance shafts stretching the entire length of the ship that would allow us to completely bypass the passenger sections."

"What's the security like in those shafts?" Garrus asked.

"Minimal, beyond the usual electronic lockouts," Shepard said. "Those tend to be specific to each ship and it's unlikely we could get the overrides in time." The major glanced over at Tali. "We'll need to bypass themselves, and do it in a way that avoids alerting the hijackers."

Tali shifted slightly. "I'm pretty sure I can bypass the locks, Major, but doing so discretely is going to be a lot harder."

"I should be able to assist with that, Specialist Zorah," Artemis' voice sounded.

This time the quarian stiffened, but after a few moments longer nodded. Shepard kept her own expression flatly neutral. A hostage situation was not really the best place to sort out one's insecurities, but Tali did need to learn how to work with Artemis if she was to meet the fullness of her potential as part of Shepard's squad.

"By the time we reach the Ontario we should have a clearer understanding of the situation," Shepard said. "At this point the hijacking attempt could go either way, but the liner's crew obviously think the hijackers have a pretty good shot of taking over the ship. If that does happen, our primary objective will be to liberate the liner from them."

"Rules of engagement, ma'am?" Ashley asked.

"Regardless of whatever political agenda these hijackers have, their actions constitute an act of piracy," Shepard stated, "and the penalty for piracy is death. If any of the hijackers willingly surrender before the shooting starts, they will be given a chance for a trial. Otherwise, shoot to kill."

"Understood ma'am," Ashley said.

The others all nodded in turn. It was a straightforward enough assessment of their tactical options and constraints, and an easy enough one to apply. Less so on the hijackers of course, but as had been repeatedly noted, once the line was crossed, the rules of engagement changed to ones enacting a more permanent resolution to the crisis at hand.

---

The Ontario was not quite dead in space, a few lights and station keeping thrusters were visible on the imagery being projected. She was also not entirely motionless, in space very few things were, and gravity if nothing else would add a small amount of momentum to any object adrift in the void. Some distance away, the four frigates of a patrol flotilla from Third Fleet were holding position, ready to pounce should the liner start moving but otherwise prepared to wait out the situation. Closer to the Ontario, oblivious to the liner's admittedly limited sensors, the Normandy was inching closer and closer, making sure to remain outside of any line of sight of the liner's windows.

"Alright, according to the commodore the Ontario's crew were able to zero-line the ship's drive core," Shepard said, joining her squad down in the storage bay. "Without that core, the ship's still got power, but it won't be making any FTL jumps."

"Do they think the hijackers'll be able to bring it back online, ma'am?" Kaidan asked.

"Not quickly enough to do them any good," Shepard responded.

"Are they making any demands, skipper?" Ashley asked next.

Shepard shook her head. "So far they've just demanded the flotilla stay right where they are. They were even helpful enough to demonstrate that Burns was still alive, for now at least."

A slight hiss sounded as the major finished sealing her suit. The others were already geared up and ready to go.

"The hijackers were apparently unarmed when they got onboard. They then staged a fight to draw shipboard security to them," Shepard continued. "The only weapons they've got are whatever was in the onboard armory when they managed to take over, besides their biotics of course. We'll split into two teams for this op. Ash, Garrus, Liara, you three're with me. We'll be heading for the bridge. Wrex, Tali, you'll accompany the LT in securing the engineering section. Your point of entry will be further aft than ours, so make sure you keep your suits slaved to Alenko's, not mine."

Klaxons began blaring as the atmosphere was cycled out. The ramp cracked open next and soon the sight of the liner was before them.

"Normandy has orders to take out the Ontario's engines if the hijackers are actually able to get the drive core online and try to make a jump," Shepard stated. "We are not letting them get away with this many potential hostages. The rest of the flotilla is prepared to wait for us to retake control of the ship, but if we fail, they'll be coming in guns blazing. That happens, the body count will almost certainly climb. We are not letting that happen, am I clear?"

Helmeted heads bobbed up and down all around, even from Wrex.

"Good." Shepard turned about to face the open ramp. "On me!"

The major took a running leap out of the frigate. The others were right behind, their relative positions flashing on Shepard's HUD. This was the second time she, Kaidan, and Ashley had deployed like this for an operation, but for her non-human squad mates it was the first, at least with this particular squad. Even so the four were acquitting themselves well, avoiding any twitching or jerking motions that might destabilize their flight path. After a few minutes of careening through the void, the tiny specks of light that represented each squad member slowed to equalize their velocity with the passenger liner. Some touched down a bit more gracefully than others, but all of them made it safely enough.

"All here ma'am, proceeding with entry," Kaidan reported over the comms.

"Roger that, and good hunting Alenko."

Kneeing down at the access hatch, Shepard reached out and activated her omnitool to connect to the ship's systems.

"I am in, Major," Artemis reported to all of them. "Initial set of security screens have been bypassed. The hijackers should not detect your utilization of the external access ports."

"What about the internal sensor feeds?" Shepard asked. "Can you route those to me?"

"Negative, Major," Artemis answered. "Those systems are on a separate air-gapped network that utilizes hardline connections. You will need to access a security junction box in order to access the internal sensors."

Shepard grimaced. "That means until we get to a junction box, you can't obfuscate our presence on those sensors either, correct?"

"Correct, Major."

That could prove problematic. Fortunately Artemis was already on the case.

"Based on the schematics for an Essex-class, there should be one such junction box fifty meters from your point of entry." A map appeared on Shepard's HUD, with various sections color coded differently. "I have also been able to extrapolate the coverage of those sensors between you and the junction box. They should be traversable without alerting anyone monitoring them."

"That's something," Shepard said. "Alright, everyone sit tight for now. I'm going in first to get to that box. Once the coast is clear, proceed to your objectives."

"Aye ma'am."

"Tali, see what you can figure out about the Ontario's systems in the meantime," Shepard ordered. "The rest of you, prepare for a hard breech of your respective targets if this turns into a Charlie Foxtrot on me."

The requisite acknowledgments flowed back and Shepard entered the hatch. The interior of the access tube was noticeably spartan, with only emergency lights providing any illumination. Her own sensors indicated the way was clear, for now, and Shepard proceeded towards the first internal hatch.

"You have got to be kidding me," Shepard murmured as she opened the hatch. "Damn thing isn't even locked down."

"Commercial liners are known for a certain slackness in adherence to protocol," Artemis noted.

"Anything to save on margins."

The major reached out, letting Artemis access the hardline locking mechanism anyway just to verify there weren't any alarms that they might trip by her opening the hatch.

"You are clear to proceed, Major," Artemis said. "If the locking mechanism on the other hatches are like this one, none of them are connected to a central monitoring and control system. This may explain why they are not locked."

"Because someone couldn't be arsed to come down here and do it manually?"

"It would not be the first time that human laziness has trumped taking sensible precautions."

Pushing forward, it took Shepard little time to reach the security junction box. It took Artemis even less time to tap into the feeds.

"I am in, Major."

"Picking up anything from the internal comms?"

"Routing to your private channel now."

"-and it's gonna to take at least another hour to get the drive core cold-started," an irritated voice sounded. "Are the imps gonna to sit on their ass that long?"

"They won't try anything funny," another voice answered, this one gruffier but still possessed of a nervous edge. "Not with all the hostages onboard, and not with that asshole Burns having a gun to his head."

"Maybe. Just, this ain't like what we seen the news, Dale. The navy always goes on about how they don't negotiate over hostages. Is this Burns guy that big a deal for them to change their tune?"

A snort sounded. "The government doesn't gave a rat's ass when it's just your average Joe, but when it's some stuck up noble prick, they start singing a different song right quick. This is good for us, once we're outta here with Burns, we can start squeezing them for some proper payback."

"I wouldn't be so sure of that," Shepard murmured, then to the rest of the squad. "Internal security systems have been neutralized, start moving in."

Positional data started updating on Shepard's map as the rest of the squad began towards their objectives. Ashley, Garrus, and Liara were soon at her location shortly, and from there the four of them made for the bridge even as Shepard continued reviewing the tactical telemetry Artemis was pulling from the ship's systems.

"Looks like most of the passengers are still in their compartments," Shepard said. "The only one out is Burns, they've got him in the captain's quarters with two guards."

"Do we try extracting him before taking the bridge, ma'am?" Ashely asked.

Shepard actually took a moment to consider before answering. "No. Main priority is to retake the ship. If Burns is still alive and his guards are reasonable, we can see about talking them down."

All of them knew the chances of that was not very high, but Shepard was right about one, their first priority had to be taking the ship back. It was the difference between securing one life versus five hundred lives, and a politician or noble like Burns did not warrant such a trade.

"Alright, we've got a hard count on the hijackers," Shepard said. "Four on the bridge, five in the engineering room, three walking the ship in patrols, Christ these guys are amateurs, they're not even doing it in pairs, and two guarding Burns. They've also got eight in the infirmary, seven down with gunshot wounds and the last one standing guard over the ship doctor."

That indicated the ship's security detail had managed to inflict some losses upon the hijackers, even if they ultimately failed to stop them.

"Better than dealing with professionals," Garrus remarked.

"Professionals generally know when to fold," Shepard retorted. "These guys might be desperate enough to fight to the death and take as many people as they can with them."

"Fair enough," Garrus conceded.

"Major, we're approaching the core room," Kaidan reported in.

"Roger that Alenko," Shepard responded. "Artemis, can you sever the bridge's feed of the core room?"

"Yes Major, though it will not take the hijackers long before they notice something is amiss."

"Alright. Hold position until I say the word, Alenko. The cameras also show three members of the crew being forced to restart the core. Watch your shots when you breach."

"Aye ma'am."

"What of the guards you mentioned?" Liara asked.

"Already got a plan in mind for at least one of them," Shepard said. Artemis, you got the recordings ready?

Yes Major.

Shouldering her rifle, Shepard drew her combat knife. Raising a fist, she signaled for the others to hold position. With an almost preternatural quietness, Shepard began inching closer to one of the hatches that would lead out into the main corridors. The bulkheads were thick enough that one could not hear the footsteps of the hijacker closing in, but Shepard knew the man's exact position thanks to her suite of sensors. Artemis' tap into the intra-ship sensors also didn't hurt. Once the hijacker was past, Shepard popped the hatch and charged forth.

The noise of the hatch opening was enough to cause the man to jump, but as fast as he moved Shepard was even faster. The only sound that escaped the man was a gurgle of surprise before Shepard's armored hand connected, crushing his neck with a sickening crack. Or perhaps the crack came from the blade of her knife punching through the base of the man's skull, severing the base of his brain and shorting out the biotic implant. Either would have been enough to neutralize the hijacker. As it was, the man was dead before he even knew what was happening.

With a deft movement, Shepard tossed the limp body back into the service tunnel, careful to limit any spray of blood.

"Fall in," she ordered.

By the time the others joined her the major had gotten most of the gore off her own armor and was securing anything of use from the hijacker.

"We should have another five minutes before their scheduled check-in," Shepard said. "The other two hijackers are also closer to the stern, so it should be a clear shot to the bridge."

"Will we be able to take the bridge in five, ma'am?" Ashley asked.

"If not, we'll at least have this handy," Shepard said, holding up the hijacker's comm unit before hooking it onto a spare spot on her belt. "Artemis can probably fudge at least one response, more if they don't get too chatty."

"Handy," Garrus remarked. "Almost makes me wish we had some AI on staff in C-SEC."

"Who knows Vakarian, after we bag Saren there might even be a human liaison permanently stationed at the Citadel with an AI partner."

"Don't know about that, Sparatus might keel over from apoplexy if that happened."

"Your councilor does seem to have a particularly big stick up his ass, even for a turian," Shepard agreed. "Alright, next stop, the bridge. Alenko, status?"

"Waiting on you ma'am," Kaidan responded. "Artemis is keeping us updated on those two wanderers, in case they stray too close to our position."

"Be prepared to breach in five," Shepard ordered.

"Roger ma'am, breaching in five."

Shepard's own team hustled, working their way through the corridors and bypassing the locked hatches as they went. The hijackers were still unaware of their presence, but once the shooting started they would need to hit them hard and fast to get a clean sweep. Fortunately the Ontario did not have any significant modifications from the baseline schematic in the Normandy's databanks. That would have proven extremely inconvenient if not outright disastrous. One would have expected some sort of tradeoff for the less than competent conduct of the hijackers. As if to emphasize their amateurism, there was not even a guard posted outside the bridge. Signs of the prior firefight dotted the corridor, but the hatch to the bridge itself was still intact, indicating the hijackers had not needed to tear through it to get through.

"The door's a natural chokepoint," Shepard said. "We'll need to get through it quickly to avoid getting pinned. Ash, toss in a flashbang once it's open. I'll go first. Garrus, you next. Liara, I want a barrier up covering Garrus. Ash, bring up the rear."

One by one the others made their preparations and nodded to affirm their readiness. That was all Shepard needed.

"Alenko, move in."

"Roger ma'am."

On their end Shepard signaled Artemis to override the lock. A click sounded and the door slid open. From her HUD Shepard could see the hijackers inside turning about, wary but not really expecting any trouble. Such negligence cost them dearly as a canister sailed into the room before erupting in a brilliant, blinding flash and deafening boom. The cries of the hijackers was just barely audible over the din, but they were quickly eclipsed by the bark of Shepard's rifle.

Unaffected by the flashbang, the major was opening fire before she was even entirely through the doorway. Without any kinetic barriers, and without any time to muster meaningful biotic ones, her shots produced lethal results quickly. The first hijacker was still in his seat and never left it as his chest exploded in bloody gore. The second reached for his gun in a panicked rush but had just barely drawn it when he was sent tumbling over the console, eyes frozen wide in shock. The third was just zeroing in on Shepard when a burst from Garrus punched through his center. The last one got off a single shot before jerking back, her head a bloody pulp as Shepard got around to her. By the time Ashley was fully through the door, there was no one left for her to shoot. The four still took a moment to look around however to confirm the hijackers really were down for the count.

"Clear," Shepard declared, then into the radio. "Bridge is secured."

Thanks to the cameras she already knew Kaidan and his team had had similar success, albeit not quite as cleanly as hers.

"Drive core is secure," Kaidan reported. "One of the engineers got clipped by a stray shot, Tali is tending to him now."

The lieutenant arguably had ended up with the tougher job, but there had been no way for them to know which objective would be harder to secure before they managed to get into the ship's systems. The really tricky part was yet to come however, now they needed to figure out some way of getting Burns out alive.

"Kyle, how's the damn drive core coming?"

All four of the squad froze as they stared at the blinking console.

"Fuck," Shepard snapped.

It looked like that particular task had just been made considerably more difficult.

"Artemis, lock down the ship's systems, do not allow the hijackers to communicate further with each other," Shepard ordered. "Ashley, Liara, I want those two strays neutralized. Wrex, hold position in the core room, do not let anything in without my say-so. Alenko, take Tali and go secure the infirmary. Offer the hijackers in there a chance to surrender, but put them down hard if they refuse. Williams, rendezvous with the LT once you're done with the stragglers, give him whatever support he might need. Vakarian, with me."

Shepard was already breaking into a flat-out sprint even as the others processed the rapid-fire orders. Garrus was close behind, while Ashley and Liara peeled off shortly thereafter in the direction of one of the other hijackers.

"This is Major Evangeline Shepard of the Imperial Cadre," Shepard said into the ship's comm, responding directly to the guards watching over Burns. "We have retaken control of the Ontario. I am giving you a chance to surrender peaceably."

Inside the captain's room, Shepard could see the two hijackers start panicking. Burns was a bit better, if only because the hope of rescue was rising. That hope was quickly mixed with more fear however as the hijackers looked his way. A gun was quickly shoved in his face.

"Whoever the fuck you are, you come anywhere near us and I'll blow off this fucking blue blood's face!"

Shepard considered her possible responses and ultimately elected to provide none. The hijacker in question was obviously starting to become unhinged and engaging with her further was all too likely to just push her over the edge. Then again from the sounds of it the hijackers hardly needed any further pushes from Shepard.

"Cadre, she said she was Cadre, oh god Kris, there's a Cadre onboard!" the other hijacker began panicking. "She's gonna kill us all!"

"Shut the fuck up and grow a pair, Vlad! She's not gonna do nothing while we've got this asshole here!"

Shepard and Garrus were now at the captain's quarters, which fortunately was soundproofed enough that the people inside could not hear them. Scanning the bulkheads, the major was able to quickly determine that they were thin enough for her rifle to penetrate. Combined with the overlay of the interior positioning that Artemis was providing, Shepard could easily take out the two hijackers. She refrained from doing so, at least immediately.

"This is Major Shepard," she said over the comms again. "I am offering you one final chance to surrender peaceably. If you do so you have my word that you will leave this ship alive to face trial."

The woman gave a bark of laughter. "Face trial!? Don't fuck with me! We're gonna hang anyway, so we might as well-"

The barrel of her pistol shifted ever so slightly, enough that she would not be blowing through Burns' brains. That was enough for Shepard and the major pulled the trigger.

"OH FUCK!" the other hijacker screamed, throwing his hands up. "I give up! I GIVE UP!"

Lowering her rifle, Shepard strode over to the door and unlocked it. The surviving hijacker fell to his knees, hands still up.

"I give up!" he repeated again. "Don't shoot me!"

Shepard let her sensors get a solid read, making sure the man was not preparing to activate any biotics. Once satisfied, she looked over at the hostage.

"Baron Burns I presume," she greeted.

"Oh thank God you made it in time, Major!" Burns said. "I really thought these lunatics were going to kill me!"

Shepard regarded Burns for a few moments before nodding to Garrus.

"Cut the baron free," she ordered.

"Right away Major," Garrus acceded.

For a moment Shepard was able to enjoy the surprise and even fear that washed anew across Burns' expression. The baron was obviously not expecting an alien to be part of the rescue party, and certainly not a turian.

"Sergeant, status?" Shepard asked, returning back to business.

"One target neutralized ma'am, moving on second," Ashley responded.

"Notify me when the second target is dealt with," Shepard said, then switching channel, "Normandy, drop stealth and proceed to dock with the Ontario."

She then turned to the kneeing hijacker.

The man flinched, nearly toppling back. Shepard stepped over before bending over to avoid towering over the man.

"I believe introductions are in order," she said.

"V-Vladimir Sokolov," the man managed after a few tries.

"Mr. Sokolov," Shepard responded civilly but firmly. "You have agreed to surrender peaceably into imperial custody. In exchange, you will be accorded the opportunity to defend yourself in a court of law. Should you lack the resources to hire an attorney, one will be provided to you from amongst the crown's solicitors. Do you understand?"

"Yes," Vladimir sobbed. "Yes, I do. But, what about the others? Did, did any of them make it?"

"Some," Shepard answered frankly. "For now."

"Did-did you kill them?"

"Yes," the major replied with complete honesty.

"Oh God, why, why…"

Vladimir was obviously a broken man at this point, driven to a deep enough desperation to participate in the hijacking, and now further traumatized by the deaths of his fellow conspirators. Shepard did not know if any of them knew each other beforehand, or how close they might have gotten while preparing for their operation. To survive when so many others did not, that was a going to be a tough pill to swallow regardless. The major rose, then extended a hand. Vladimir looked at her, eyes wide and not just from shock.

"Umm, what, what?" he mumbled.

"You look like you could use a hand," Shepard said gently.

Vladimir's mouth open and closed soundlessly several times before the man could finally muster a response. Reaching out, he took Shepard's hand and with the major's help rose.

"Thank you, Major. Maybe, well, maybe there are people besides Father Kyle that cares. And, I'm sorry."

Shepard nodded, filing away the name for future reference but for now focusing on the immediate situation. She glanced over at Garrus.

"Captain, if you would be so kind as to escort Mr. Sokolov here to the infirmary to join the rest of his friends."

Kaidan seemed to have that situation mostly in hand. At the very least no one was shooting each other down there.

"Right away, Shepard."

With one last apologetic glance, Vladimir allowed himself to be taken away. Once the two were away Shepard turned her attention back to the baron. To the man's credit he seemed to be aware that he was not Shepard's favorite person right now. That already set him above quite a few of his fellow peers.

"Well Your Lordship," Shepard said, extending the necessary courtesy but not necessarily the associated respect. "I trust you will take to heart what has happened this day."

Burns grimaced. "I would much rather forget any of this ever happened, Major, but something tells me that would be a big mistake."

"You won't get an argument from me there," Shepard agreed.

The baron sighed. "It, wasn't supposed to be like this. My chairmanship of the subcommittee, it was just supposed to be one more stop on the road."

Shepard's eyes narrowed, a dangerous glint in her eye.

"When you took your seat in the Lords, you swore an oath to uphold your charge with honor," the major said in a very level tone. "Are you saying you've foresworn yourself?"

Burns' eyes widened. "No! No, no! I mean-" The man sighed. "I just, I used to think, I knew everything. That what I thought, was right. But these, people. They thought I was wrong. And they thought I was wrong enough that they, that they did, this."

Like Vladimir, Burns himself was suffering from a degree of shock. The baron was handling it a bit more coherently than the hijacker, but it would still be a bit of time before he could process it all.

"I thought they were crazy when they showed up. I mean, hijacking a passenger liner! That's out and out piracy! But, they did it anyway. Because they thought they didn't have any other choice. That's what they said to me. They said they didn't have any other choice." Burns shook his head. "I kept thinking, course they had a choice. They could have chosen not to go through with this insanity. They could have just stayed home. Could have worked through the system. But, they'd done exactly that, until I got in the way." He sighed. "Until I took away their choice, their chance."

Shepard had to admit, the baron was turning out to be more introspective than she would have expected. Life and death situations could certainly be illuminating, but that did not mean everyone that underwent one actually took the lessons to heart.

"Are you considering a change of heart regarding the compensation claims?" Shepard asked.

Technically she should not have broached the subject, Shepard was a member of the military and she was supposed to stay as far away from political meddling as one could and still breathe. Still, the major was curious as to how far Burns' viewpoint had evolved from this little incident.

"I, don't know," Burns admitted. "To withdraw my objections to the bill feels, as if it would validate the methods these, people, employed."

"Well, the hijackers made their choice," Shepard said. "Are you going to let theirs determine what yours will be?"

Burns regarded Shepard quizzically, apparently not sure what to make of the major's question. He thought about for a few moments, before shaking his head.

"I suppose, no, I won't."

Shepard gave a simple nod. "The Ontario's crew has been released from captivity. Will you be fine here until they reach, you, Baron?"

Burns took a deep breath. "I should be fine. And, again, thank you, Major."

The major clicked her heels together and took her leave.

"Sergeant, status on that last straggler?" she asked once out the door.

"He's surrendered, ma'am."

That could either be good or bad depending on the next report.

"Lieutenant, you got things locked down in the infirmary?"

"Yes ma'am," Kaidan responded. "The guys down here were willing to listen to sense."

"Can any of them be moved?"

A beat passed there.

"With assistance, ma'am."

The qualifier was probably justified there.

"Alright. Sit tight for now, we'll get a fireteam down to lend a hand once the flotilla links up."

"Roger that ma'am."

"XO, notify the patrol flotilla that we've retaken the Ontario," Shepard said after changing channels, "and request that they send over some fireteams to assist with securing the prisoners."

"Roger skipper."

The major herself started towards the infirmary, to lend whatever hand was needed to keep the prisoners in check. That and it might give her a chance to talk to some of them, try and figure out who this Father Kyle was. If this was some sort of nascent biotic terrorist movement, better they nip it in the bud now than to let it fester and grow.

Shepard came to an abrupt halt. The update payload that Artemis dropped her unspooled and played back in her head. A person without her augmentations would have needed several seconds to parse all the information, to separate out the bits and pieces into a coherent whole instead of just a jumble of words and concepts like Sirta Foundation or hostages or biotics, or massacre. For Shepard, not even a second passed before she obtained a full awareness of the information in the payload.

"Oh FUCK!"

End of Chapter 20

Okay, this went on for way longer than I thought it would. But I ultimately decided I wanted the hijacking resolved in one chapter instead of dragging it out, since this particular arc is going to stretch across several chapters already. Ah, sequencing, sequencing. I knew I wanted to get this particular arc in, but the question was always on where I would squeeze it in. As I noted in prior notes, the reveal of information from the Feros and Noveria missions make it such that by default, you would expect Shepard to be racing from one mission to another and ignoring all of the side missions since the urgency of stopping the Reapers would be rather high. As an open ended game Bioware could handwave the fact that you, the player, is doing all these side missions. In a prose narrative, that is much harder to justify, since as noted in this chapter, the needs of the many often comes first, and stopping the Reapers certainly serves the many versus the handful of people Shepard might save or help on these side missions.

There is also the fact that few of the side missions possessed any narrative arc by themselves. Some did, like the rachni side missions or the Cerberus side missions, but the narrative was extremely thin and weak. You didn't really get the sense of something actually unfolding before you. In my case I will be going for a much tighter narrative, sequencing the events that happen in between the main hunt for Saren in what I hope to be a more cohesive narrative.

The purpose of this arc isn't just to give Shepard and crew something to do besides hunting Saren. I also want to show more aspects of each character to not only the readers but also to the other characters as well. As all of you learn more about each member of the squad, so do they learn more about each other. This gives them more reason to trust each other, to respect each other, and ultimately to respect Shepard. By the time this story is done, I want the Normandy crew's loyalty to each other to feel entirely natural, to make sense.

One other thing to note is that, in a lot of cases, if Shepard does her job right she should not get into a massive firefight with the bad guys. She is in charge of what amounts to a commando squad, and commandos sneak around doing things like sabotaging enemy equipment, pulling off assassinations, and otherwise not fighting the enemy head on. There will certainly be cases where Shepard and co do need to take part in a stand up fight, indeed that's happened a few times already, but in each instance they either made heavy use of the Mako or were backed up by more troops.