A/N 9/12/2012: Thanks to GoogleFloobs for thetaing (Check out his story)! Again, this story is currently under revision, so please excuse any inconsistencies. A full plan of my revisions is avail in Chp. 59, Author's Explanatory Note: An Update.
Disclaimer: Mass Effect is copyright of Bioware. Ci-Ci is mine.
I welcome constructive and/or encouraging reviews/critiques. Please leave feedback!
Thank you for reading. Enjoy!
22 May 2183—Comm Room, SSV Normandy, orbiting Edolus, Sparta System, Artemis Tau Cluster
Liara and Tali were already in the comm room when Shepard walked in. They both looked up from their murmured conversation as if they had been interrupted.
"Commander..." Liara started, her voice soft and surprised (as usual).
Tali coughed. "We have managed to isolate the distress signal. It was difficult, but I managed—"
"Get to the point," Shepard growled, flopping down into a seat.
"The signal was the same used on Akuze," Liara finished.
"Tell me something I don't know."
Tali toyed with her fingers. "Admiral Kahoku sent a message for you, saying that he traced some kind of signal."
"But it would be impossible for him to do it unless he already knew who was transmitting it," Liara continued.
Shepard thought that the way the girls were finishing each other's sentences was nothing short of creepy, but they weren't the first female pair to do it. "You're point?" he asked.
"Cerberus is responsible," Liara said.
Shepard stiffened. "Say that again?"
"Cerberus is responsible for the attacks," Liara repeated. After a moment, she added, "Is there something wrong, Commander?"
Shepard ran his hand over his head, mind racing. Cerberus. He should have known. Those mother fucking bastards... Corinthia would probably have a seizure if she found out.
"How do you know it's them?" Shepard asked, voice low and dangerous.
"Kahoku said that the facilities were run by Cerberus," Tali replied.
"I verified his information," Liara continued. "They are, indeed, Cerberus facilities and received the data the tower transmitted."
Shepard's fists clenched, nails digging into his palms. "Do you have the locations?"
"Yes," Tali replied.
"Then give them to Joker and get us there."
Liara nodded. "Of course, Commander."
Tali hesitated before asking, "Don't you want to know what else we found?"
"No need," Shepard muttered. "Find Ci-Ci and tell her that I want to see her in here."
The asari and quarian exchanged looks before heading out the door. Almost as soon as they were gone, Williams, Alenko, and Garrus came in.
"Whatever you found, I don't want to hear it," Shepard told them before they could even speak.
Williams frowned. "So I just spent ten hours —"
"I just wanted you out of my way," Shepard coldly replied. "Tali and Liara have already told me everything I need to know."
Garrus crossed his arms. "They told us about Cerberus already. Funny thing. I found out that they'd been threatening Kahoku."
Alenko nodded. "And the rescue party was nothing special, no one that was going to amount to much. It was almost like Kahoku knew what was going to happen."
"Because he'd already identified the past incidents," Williams said derisively. "He figured out that Cerberus was responsible for Akuze."
"And the bastard didn't tell anyone because he thought he could take care of it himself," Garrus observed. "Sounds like a cover-up, if you ask me."
"Commander, I set a course for Binthu," Joker said over the intercom. "ETA six hours."
"Good," Shepard answered. He looked between the others. "What are you all standing around for? Get ready for the mission."
"Aye, aye, Commander," Alenko said, saluting and herding Williams out.
Garrus lingered. "Have you told her yet?"
Shepard raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about?"
"I know about Ci-Ci's mother. She told me about it."
Shepard sighed. "She's going to find out before long, anyway."
"Want me to keep an eye on her?"
"I can handle it," Shepard replied.
"Do you think she'll get angry?"
Shepard shook his head. "Not about this. I saw her on Torfan. The only thing she was mad about was me."
Garrus chuckled. "Sounds like her, scolding you."
"Damn right," Shepard muttered. "This, though..."
"Want me to tell her?"
"No. I got it." Shepard spotted her in the doorway. "Alone, if you don't mind."
Garrus nodded and left with a murmured greeting to Corinthia.
She raised an eyebrow. "They all already report? And I missed it?" She grinned. "Nothing good to say, huh?"
"Cerberus is responsible for the attacks," Shepard said, without even waiting for her to realize that he wasn't in a joking mood. "We're heading to Binthu now to take care of the first set of bases."
Corinthia's smile faltered and faded. Her cheeks paled slightly. "Cerberus?" she repeated.
"Surprised?" Shepard asked.
"I... No," she answered quietly after a moment. "No, it makes perfect sense."
Shepard waited for her to start panicking or freaking out, buts he didn't. She just stood there, staring ahead at some spot on the floor in front of him.
"Cassie?" he asked after a long moment.
She opened her mouth like she was going to answer, but instead her expression hardened and she said, "What do we know?"
"Do you think I asked?"
"Point." She clenched and unclenched her fists, as if she couldn't decide if she was going to punch him. After a moment, she sank into one of the seats. "Damn it, Shepard... What the hell? All the way since Akuze?"
"Apparently."
Corinthia leaned back, running her fingers through her hair. "Worst fucking events of my life, both because of them..."
Shepard sat next to her. "What're you going to do about it?"
Her expression hardened, losing any sense of remorse it had held. "Kill them," she said, sounding almost as if she were stating a fact rather than swearing vengeance.
Shepard blinked in surprise. He had never, ever heard her sound cold in her entire life. Now, though, she was beyond cold; she was full of hatred. Real, actual hatred.
"That's what I do," he told her.
She snorted. "I know. I was on Torfan."
"That isn't what I was talking about."
"Oh. You're talking about the Omega Incidents, right? What actually happened? The report was lacking in necessary information." She didn't sound as eagerly curious as normal. In fact, she sounded more like a student given a case study to learn from. Like Shepard was about to become her role model.
He wasn't sure if he liked it.
"It wasn't that complicated. There was a group of Cerberus scientists I had to recover. They were supposed to be linked to the attack on the Geneva. Turns out the only connection was that they were Cerberus. The scientists were doing some kind of sick mind-control experiments. I... didn't exactly look into it very hard. I just know that it was fucked up and every last one of those sadistic bastards for what they deserved. You know me well enough to know by now to know how I reacted."
"Yeah, I do," she murmured.
"Then you know that this isn't going to end well for them."
"Good," she replied coldly. There wasn't a drop of emotion in her voice. Everything from her smile, which usually glittered in her eyes regardless of what she was doing, to her stance was completely devoid of warmth or feeling.
When Shepard took her hand in his, she stiffened and removed herself from his grasp.
"No," she said, getting to her feet.
"You alright?" he asked, concern actually coming through in his voice.
"No."
"Is there something I can do?"
"No." Her omni-tool flared to life, panels appearing as she started finding out everything she could about Cerberus. By the looks of things, she had been looking into Cerberus on her own time and had found out more than the Alliance was willing to share. The orange light cast across her face made her look like the soldier Shepard wished she would be. There were moments where he'd glimpsed what she was capable of — Elysium, Akuze, Torfan, and Eden Prime, for example — but it was only out of necessity, not choice.
This next mission was going to be different. She wasn't reacting because she had to survive; she was reacting because she was angry. Shepard had seen her upset before, specifically with him, but never truly pissed. That was something he did, not her. He fought for her, taking on every battle like it was personal for him, too. She hadn't cared about revenge on Torfan (although he still didn't understand why she hadn't), so Shepard had done what he would have wanted if it was his dad that had been killed. Or, at least, what Shepard would have done if he had parents to avenge at all. He wanted to know how far she would go, if she was capable of the things that he was, or if she was truly so... pure that even her need for vengeance wouldn't outweigh her compassion. But if he had to, he would finish the job for her.
23 May 2183—Secret Cerberus Research Facility (North), Binthu, Yangtze System, Voyager Cluster
Corinthia jerked the Mako to avoid a rocket from a turret. Shepard had to slam his palm into the window to stay upright. "What the hell was that?" he demanded.
She had yet to say a word to him other than "no", having spent the twelve hours before they left for the mission on her omni-tool in the conference room and completely ignoring him. Of course, he hadn't tried to interrupt. The last Cerberus mission had been a fifteen-man team. Every last one had made it out alive, but it had been because of a the five best fighters on that team (Shepard and Alenko included). Considering the difference between the kind of fight this time, they were going to need everyone.
Garrus, Wrex, Tali, Liara, Alenko, and Williams sat in the back, shoulders knocking together uncomfortably as Corinthia maneuvered them through the Cerberus defenses. Her omni-tool was working overtime, its hue turning redder and redder with every algorithm it ran.
"Her omni-tool's about to overheat," Tali murmured to Garrus. "Perhaps I could help..."
Garrus shook his head. "Not right now."
Tali cocked her head to one side. "Why not? Doesn't Shepard need all our help?"
"I'm not sure that's why we all came."
Williams crossed her arms. She wasn't sulking, but she wasn't sure why Shepard was bringing everyone for this mission. It was just a bunch of terrorist thugs. Sure, they deserved to get their asses kicked, but that Shepard could do on his own.
"Alenko, get rid of those turrets," Shepard ordered.
Alenko nodded, climbing over Wrex to get to the weapon.
Liara clutched her stomach. "I think I'm going to be sick..."
Wrex laughed. "Hah! The asari's gonna be spilling her guts all over the place in about two minutes. Don't have the right stomach for it, if you ask me."
"It is less about our stomachs and more that she cannot drive," Liara snapped.
"Get those barriers up!" Shepard shouted, his fists flaring with biotics as he glared at Liara.
"Of course. Forgive me, Commander," she muttered guiltily. Her hands glowed as she, too, added her biotic power to the shields.
Williams gritted her teeth. "So am I just here to be a body?" she asked.
"Something like that," Shepard replied, his attention entirely focused on the approach to the base. "Get ready to get on the ground."
Wrex roared and surged for the hatch. "Bring them on, Shepard. Every last one of them."
"Easy, Wrex. You'll get yourself killed before you even get to the action," Garrus replied, getting to this feet. He used the ceiling to steady himself as the Mako lurched. "Of course, that would leave more for me."
"Watch it, turian. You're no match for the power of a krogan warlord," Wrex growled.
Garrus patted his sniper rifle. "We'll see about that."
"That a challenge?"
Garrus shrugged. "If you think you can keep up."
Wrex's mouth twisted into a wide, toothy, maniacal grin. "I'm gonna leave you in the dust, turian." With that, he wrenched open the hatch and climbed out, Garrus on his tail. The Mako was still moving, but neither cared.
Tali's omni-tool was open and working overtime in an attempt to help Corinthia. "I have control of the turrets," she said victoriously. "Shutting them down now."
Corinthia's driving calmed somewhat and she slowed the Mako to a halt in front of one of the bases. Like most underground facilities, the base was only a series of low, cylindrical buildings arranged in a somewhat circular pattern. Radar towers jutted up from the ground, not to mention the guard turrets. Binthu's surface was composed mostly of sulfur and was therefore barren, but strangely pretty. The large moon, set in a peaceful blue and slightly clouded sky, shone serenely just above the horizon. Corinthia snorted. Why did hellish places always seem peaceful?
Outside, Cerberus soldiers darted into cover from Wrex and Garrus. The krogan was charging the barricades, using his biotics and shotgun to rip bodies apart. Garrus had found himself a sniper's nest and was picking off people one by one.
Williams put on her helmet. "Permission to get into the action, Commander?" she asked.
"Get on it, Williams," Shepard replied.
She climbed out the hatch without another word.
Tali took a deep breath, trying to remember everything Garrus had told her. She jumped when Shepard's hand descended on her shoulder.
"Stay with the Mako. Keep it ready for evac at any point," he said.
Tali nodded, half relieved and half apprehensive of being left alone. "O-of course, Commander. I'll get the repairs done while we're here."
"Alekno will stay back with you," Shepard added. "Ci-Ci, you ready?"
Corinthia was trying to get her omni-tool back into line. It flashed red and shut off. "Damn it," she muttered, punching her forearm. "Thing overheated..."
"How long until it's back?" Shepard asked irately.
She pushed past him, putting on her helmet a second before she exited the Mako. "Not long."
Shepard gritted his teeth and climbed out after her. "Of all the times for you to fuck up your omni-tool..."
Corinthia had her shotgun out, not even listening to him or paying attention to the fight around them. She knelt in front of the facility door, put some omni-gel on the lock, and waited for it to open.
Shepard looked at her curiously. "Resorting to that?" Omni-gel, much like medi-gel, was the panacea of technology. Shepard didn't know or care how it worked, but if you put it on something that was broken, it ended up fixed and it could open almost any lock. Corinthia usually hacked the locks (she thought it was more fun).
Corinthia didn't answer and Shepard couldn't see her expression through her helmet, but he suspected that she was not smiling and was, in fact, more focused than she had ever been. Or, maybe, itching for a fight. That wasn't at all like her, but she had been nothing short of determined from the second she found out that Cerberus was to blame.
Although she was adept at hacking locks, omni-gel ensured that their entrance would be unnoticed. Shepard took out his assault rifle and put a finger to his earpiece. "Garrus, Wrex, Williams: get over here. Now. We're going in. T'Soni, Alenko: Stay with Tali and the Mako."
"Aye, aye, Commander," Alenko answered. "We'll hold things down out here and try and track down the other bases."
"Good call, Alenko," Shepard answered.
Garrus slid into cover next to Corinthia. "You may have to drag Wrex out of the carnage. He's still finding bodies to kill."
Williams joined them, wiping blood off her visor. "And I thought fighting Geth was bad," she muttered.
"At least you got them first," Shepard answered.
Corinthia straightened as the door opened with a hiss.
"Wrex!" Shepard shouted.
The krogan ran up, laughing evilly. "Shepard you sure know how to pick the fights!"
Corinthia held up her omni-tool, which had now returned to its normal orange glow, and their earpieces buzzed as she hacked into Cerberus's communications.
"What the hell's going on up there?"
"Scans show no signs of anything."
"But the turrets engaged."
"Disengaged a few minutes ago. Must have been a space monkey or something. You never know what kinds of things will show up."
"For a second I thought I saw an ATV..."
"You're just seeing things. The Illusive Man said — What the hell is that?"
"Sounds like gunfire... Oh, sh —"
The speakers fell dead as Garrus and Williams silently secured the security center. Williams checked the screens. "Looks like we've got about thirty soldiers and ten scientists, tops. They're all holed up in the main and back rooms."
"Have the schematic?" Shepard asked, coming next to her while Wrex guarded the door.
"Just a second," Williams answered. She stiffened as Shepard leaned next to her, but only because he hadn't ever been that close to her before. However, Williams understood that it was only because she was being useful in that moment. He's an asshole, she reminded herself. "Got them," she declared. "Uploading them now."
"Ci-Ci, what's —" When he turned around, she wasn't there. "Where the hell is she?"
Wrex shrugged. "How should I know? She never came in here."
"I've found her," Garrus said. "She's getting close to the main room."
"Fuck," Shepard said, eyes scanning the inhabitants she was about to face. About twenty Cerberus soldiers, plus what looked like eight-foot long cockroaches set inside a barrier. "What the hell are those things?"
Garrus narrowed his eyes. "I could be wrong, but those might be rachni..." The rachni were a sentient insect species, long since believed extinct. They were large, monstrous, and looked like a hybrid of a dragon and a cockroach. The krogan had helped repel an invasion by the insect species, which had uplifted the krogan race before the krogan rebellions, which led to the genophage.
Wrex came over when he heard the word. "Damn right those are rachni. Goddamn bugs... Got my people into the situation they are now, turian."
"Don't look at me," Garrus answered. "I wasn't there when they decided to make the genophage."
"Doesn't matter. Your kind is still responsible."
"Whatever they are, they're going to be dead in a few minutes," Shepard said, stepping between Wrex and Garrus before they got into a real fight. "Williams, stay here and keep an eye on things. Wrex, Garrus: Follow —"
"Commander, look at this," Williams said, pointing to the monitor.
The barricade holding back the rachni shut down. The soldiers looked around in confusion before the bugs were on them. The rachni screeched and lunged towards anyone in sight. The chaos was unlike anything Shepard had ever seen. Even the most hardened of soldiers could lose it when facing a monster. Those with enough sense to shoot instead of scream were quickly subdued. However, the rachni weren't strong enough. They barely managed to dispatch seven soldiers before Cerberus reinforcements arrived and killed the rachni.
"How the FUCK did they get out of there?!" one of the scientists demanded, striding towards a computer console. "The security measures were absolute. Nothing was supposed to have gone wrong. I had reassurances from the Illus— Damn it! Where's security? We've been hacked!"
Shepard shook his head. If they knew that they were hacked, Corinthia was either being sloppy or wanted them to know that they were under attack.
"All communications are down," a Cerberus soldier said. "Jammed across all frequencies. Just getting some woman saying, 'We're sorry, but all lines are busy'."
On purpose, Shepard thought. Corinthia was about to get herself into one hell of a lot of trouble. "Wrex, Garrus, let's go."
"This isn't good. Get everyone into lockdown," the scientist ordered.
Corinthia had her omni-tool pressed against the main door. Shepard almost scolded her, but she wasn't trying to unlock it. In fact, she was mapping out the locations of every soldier in the room. The screen was planning a course of attack that would allow her to kill them all on her own, connecting every man with a line with some kind of number attached to it.
"You're not going in on your own," Shepard told her sternly.
Corinthia glanced at him, nodding curtly. She pulled her omni-tool away from the door and took out her pistol. "Orders, sir?" she asked.
"Wrex and I go in first. You and Garrus cover us from the door," Shepard replied, secretly thankful that she was going to do as he said. "No survivors."
Garrus raised an eyebrow. "That necessary, Commander?"
"If you want the ethics discussion, we'll do it after," Shepard snapped. "Ci-Ci, get the door."
Corinthia straightened, putting her omni-tool back to the lock. "Step back," she warned. "We'll be exposed for a few seconds."
The lock flashed and the doors slid apart. Corinthia stepped into cover as Shepard and Wrex both charged past her, their biotics surging around them. The scientist looked up in shock right before Shepard snapped his neck. After the chaos from the rachni attack, the soldiers were still slightly panicky. That made them easier to kill. Wrex was laughing and shotgunning men in the gut (not to mention making sure to stomp on rachni heads as he passed them). Garrus had found himself a nice position by the door and was carefully taking out soldier by soldier. Corinthia had ignored orders, charged into the center of the room, and was grappling with a Cerberus soldier.
Shepard's first reaction was to run and help her, but she didn't need it. She broke the man's grip, putting her pistol against his stomach and shooting three times. He crumpled over, groaning in pain. Her omni-tool flared to life as she stepped towards the next man and thrust the hologram into his chest. The orange light crackled with electricity, frying the agent's shields and, from the way he was twitching, his nervous system. Another soldier grabbed her from behind. Although she elbowed him in the stomach several times, the man didn't let go. So, she shot him in the foot and then directly between the eyes as he staggered back in pain. With no other immediate threat, she clinically dispatched her three attackers and moved on to others.
Shepard couldn't decide if her ruthlessness was frightening or sexy.
The fight was over in less than five minutes. Shepard sent Wrex and Garrus into the back rooms to clear them out. Corinthia went to the scientist, scanning his omni-tool for any useful information.
"Damn, Cassie..." Shepard started.
She shook her head. "Just doing my job, Shepard." She was unsmiling. She hadn't enjoyed the fight, oddly enough. Shepard thought she would have relished the chance to get back at Cerberus like this, but instead she seemed stiff and weary.
"We're all clear, Commander," Garrus radioed. "Looks like the scientists were ready to die for the research here. Whatever it was."
"Mind control," Corinthia murmured. For the first time on the mission, her voice registered emotion: disgust. "Bastards..."
"Do you have everything you need?" Shepard asked.
"Everything I can get, yes," she replied.
"Then we're leaving. Everyone, move out."
24 May 2183 — Secret Cerberus Research Facility (South), Binthu, Yangtze System, Voyager Cluster
Shepard cracked his neck. As tough as he was, twelve hours in a Mako and eighteen on mission could get to anyone. But, according to Corinthia and Tali's data, this base was the last one.
Unfortunately, Cerberus now knew that they were under attack. It wasn't that Corinthia had let any facility know what was going on, but rather that they had lost all contact with one another. In general, any outpost knows that a loss of communications means an attack.
Williams, Wrex, and Garrus were waiting by the hatch, ready to jump onto the ground at any moment. Shepard had been too preoccupied on Eden Prime to even recognize just how capable a soldier Williams was. Honestly, she was better than Corinthia. Of course, the two women had completely different skill sets, but Shepard preferred to use brute force; Corinthia simply forced him to be subtle on occasion.
Corinthia stopped on a rise in front of the final station. Her tension was palpable. She had been calm in the first and second base, hardly saying a word and generally following orders. Well, in the second base Shepard hadn't even given her any orders because he hadn't had to; she just met his eyes, nodded, and did what he wanted.
"I've got the turrets," Tali announced.
"Turn them on their own," Shepard ordered.
"On it."
Liara put up her biotic barrier around the Mako while Alenko manned the rocket. Corinthia opened her omni-tool and deftly hacked into their communications in less than ten seconds.
"Got it!" Tali said.
Shepard nodded. "Wrex, Garrus, Williams: You're up."
Garrus opened the hatch and they all climbed out, carefully weaving towards the base. Cerberus personnel were already shouting to try and coordinate a defense, but it wasn't working. Wrex was bowling a hole through their barricades while Williams and Garrus picked up the stragglers.
"All clear," Garrus radioed. "Looks like they knew we were coming, too."
"Take us in, Ci-Ci," Shepard commanded.
She threw the Mako into gear and tore towards the base, skidding to a stop in front of the door. Tali nervously rubbed her hands together.
"Am I staying here again?" she asked.
Shepard shrugged. "Whatever. Not like there's anyone left to try and steal the Mako."
Corinthia took a few deep breaths, hands still clutching the wheel.
"Ci-Ci?" Shepard asked softly.
She shook her head, as if snapping out of a reverie, and quickly exited the transport. Shepard frowned. He didn't like this new version of her. She had been non-communicative and withdrawn. She hadn't even batted an eyelash when he executed a surrendering scientist. That wasn't like her. At all.
Shepard followed. Then was not the time or place for a confrontation, but he was getting worried. It was his job to be inaccessible.
Corinthia went to the door, her omni-tool whirring as it opened the lock and showed the schematic of the bunker. It was similar to the others, but larger and set up like a main base. From her readings, there were at least fifty Cerberus soldiers inside. Shepard was still wondering how her omni-tool could see through walls when the door hissed open and she darted inside. He followed, barely making it in before the door slammed shut, leaving just the two of them alone.
"Are you insane?!" he demanded, grabbing her arm. "We'll need the others."
She shook her head. "We'll be fine."
"Past precedent is not on your side for this one."
"But it is on yours." She took out her pistol and showed him a map on her omni-tool. "There's a bottleneck right here. There's also that same barricaded area holding some kind of test subjects. Open that, start a panic, wait until they take out that enemy, strike during the recovery."
"I'm good, but I've got my limits," he hissed. "Get back to the Mako."
"No." She straightened. "I'm finishing this." She sounded emotionless, but Shepard couldn't know what she was thinking without seeing her face. "There are plenty of things I can override and make explode in there. I've got to get in for their data, anyway. Something about all of this isn't right."
"No kidding," Shepard muttered, drawing his assault rifle.
"You two alright?" Garrus asked. "We can't get in the door."
Shepard glanced at Corinthia before replying, "Just part of the plan, Vakarian. Keep an eye on things outside."
"Understood. Garrus out."
"I'd better not regret this," Shepard warned Corinthia as the advanced into the base.
She held up a hand, indicating that he should be silent. He wasn't particularly happy about her taking the lead, but he was walking blind and she was not. If anything went wrong, he'd jump in. And make her open the door so they could have some goddamn backup.
Corinthia headed directly towards the control center. When a Cerberus soldier stepped in front of her, she silently put her omni-tool against his throat and shocked him into unconsciousness. Shepard finished the job by snapping the man's neck. By the time he caught up with her, she was already in the control center with full access to the system and three dead Cerberus soldiers on the ground. By the looks of things, they hadn't even put up a fight.
Shepard raised an eyebrow, surveying the scene. Corinthia had put her helmet on the desk and was wearily running her fingers through her hair. Still, she looked determined. And as dangerous as a cornered wolf.
"What's the situation?" he asked.
She pointed to one of the screens. "Dead body and a whole bunch of husks."
"No rachni?"
"Not in this facility." She pressed a few buttons and the barrier holding the husks back fell. As she predicted, the soldiers and scientists panicked and started shooting at anything that moved. Eventually, the husks groaned mournfully and fell limp to the ground.
"What's going on?! Why won't the doors open?"
Corinthia had locked down the areas. She put her helmet back on. "I'm about to vent the place," she quietly warned Shepard.
He checked his armor seals. "You serious?"
She nodded, her omni-tool flashing as she opened the ducts. Her fists clenched as she watched everyone inside suffocate.
Shepard couldn't believe what he was seeing. It wasn't that he wasn't cold enough to let someone suffocate, but rather that Corinthia would. It wasn't like her. She found out someone was having a bad day and gave them a hug. If things like this were going to happen, he was going to bear the weight of the responsibility, not her.
"This isn't right," Shepard murmured.
"Morality from you?" she answered, surprised. "Hah, don't make me laugh."
Shepard frowned. "What was that?" Of course, she hadn't given him time to finish his sentence and she was the only person in the galaxy who could make him truly defensive.
"The Butcher of Torfan telling me I've gone too far? You're the one that sent men to their deaths because you didn't bother to plan out the attack. I just wiped out this entire facility without firing ten shots."
Shepard gritted his teeth. "That isn't what I meant. This isn't how you deal with things."
"It —"
"I mean you, Ci-Ci. I would. Some Cerberus freak would. But not you. You're better than that. I'm not, but you are. You're too... Fuck, I don't know what the word is. They all just fucking stupid when I say them, anyway."
Corinthia's expression softened slightly. She closed the vents with a weary sigh, pulling off her helmet and resting it on the control console. She left her hands on the shell, as if held there by some kind of force. For the first time since she had found out about Cerberus, she was registering emotion: remorse. Even if she couldn't feel a thing, Shepard covered her hand with his. There had always been too much between them, from their armor to regs to his personality and past. It shouldn't have taken tragedy to bring them together like this, but it did.
"Are they dead?" she whispered.
Shepard's eyes flicked to the screen. "Doesn't matter. I'll finish it."
"No, this was my —"
"I'll finish it," he repeated, this time in earnest.
She put her other hand over his, squeezing (not that he felt it through the armor). "You don't have to."
He pulled away, but only to take off his helmet. "Yes, I do." His fingers stroked against her cheek. For a moment, she thought he was going to kiss her, but he smirked and stepped towards the door. "Like you said, I'm the Butcher."
"I'm sorry."
"For what?" he answered. "It's the truth."
"No, it isn't," she murmured, but he was already gone.
Shepard replaced his helmet. Even if everyone in the other room was only a body, he wasn't going to risk getting shot in the head, especially after what happened to Corinthia. Good thing he put his head protection back on, too, because he slammed right into the door to the main area.
"Ci-Ci!" he shouted. "The doors are still locked!"
The panel flashed and changed color after a second. "Sorry, Shep. Forgot," Corinthia radioed.
Shepard rolled his eyes. She was starting to sound more like herself, now, when she called him "Shep". It had been a long mission and they were both exhausted, her probably more so than anyone else. She rarely had to deal with emotions, let alone ones that weren't related to Shepard in one way or another.
Shepard stepped into the main research area. There were bodies everywhere in various states of agony. A few were still groaning, but he deftly killed them instead of letting them lie.
"The one at the center... Looks Alliance," Corinthia said.
Shepard could hear her apprehension and he felt it, too. From the bars on the uniform's shoulders, the Alliance officer before them was an admiral.
"Kahoku," Shepard said.
The Admiral was not in good shape. He had been badly beaten. His uniform's arms were torn and painfully rolled up past the elbows. There were track marks all along the Admiral's arms and, from the expression on his face, he did not die quickly.
Shepard didn't regret Corinthia's actions anymore. "Joker, get ready for pickup. Inform the Alliance that Admiral Kahoku is dead."
"Got it, Commander. ETA thirty minutes," Joker answered.
"Got a couple left alive in the back, Shepard," Corinthia informed him.
Shepard checked his pistol. "I'll take care of it." As he headed in that direction, he relaxed, because that was how it was supposed to be: him taking care of things for her.