Chapter 21

Disclaimer: I do not own Mass Effect or any of it's characters. Those belong to Bioware and EA. I own my OC's.

Thanks everyone.

As we exited the airlock back onto the ship all hell broke loose as Wrex stormed up to Shepard.

"Shepard! What the hell have you done? You let the Rachni live!" The Krogan roared.

"Stand down Wrex!" Shepard barked.

They stared each other down in silence for a few moments before Wrex finally turned and stalked off.

"You ok Commander?" I asked.

She looked at me "I'm fine. I'll go talk to him." She said walking off.

I was so glad to get back on the Normandy. Noveria was just too damn cold.

I headed towards the door leading down to the elevator. I wanted to get out of this goo covered armor and get a hot shower.

I walked into the armory room and started stripping off the pieces of armor. I noticed several pieces of armor were melted somewhat.

"Will! You got a moment?" I turned to see Shepard standing there unhooking the latches to her armor.

"While I appreciate that you know a lot of things about what's going to happen. It still doesn't hurt to follow my lead." She said.

I turned to look at her "If this is about my hacking the door and walking on through than I'm sorry." I said.

She nodded.

She said something then that totally caught me off guard "Did you think it was a great idea for me to release the Rachni Queen?"

I looked at her for a moment before answering "Yes! I believe they will be a valuable asset to us in the future commander."

She smiled.

"Thanks.. Sometimes it's hard making these choices. The council instead of being happy I didn't commit genocide chastised my actions for releasing her." Shepard said looking down in thought.

I was puzzled this wasn't like the normal Shepard from the game. She actually seemed more Human I guess you could say.

"Screw the Council! Their so caught up in their own foolishness that they can't see the bigger picture. And besides the Rachni paid for their mistakes. The least we could do is not condemn them for what their ancestors did." I said placing a hand on her shoulder.

She looked at me a moment before nodding "Thanks Will"

"Commander! There's a message coming in from Anderson for you!" Ashley said walking up to us.

Shepard nodded and headed out.

Ashley turned to me as I unhooked the last piece of armor and was now standing in my t-shirt and boxers.

She raised and eyebrow at me.

"Can I help you?" I asked.

She shook her head and walked off.

I got dressed and headed to my quarters.

As I got near the door I saw Emily.

"Will! Glad you made it back ok." She said beaming at me.

"Thanks. What are you up to?" I asked.

"Just waiting on you. I'm done with my shift you want to catch a bite to eat and maybe play some skyllian five?" She asked.

I smiled "Sure. Just let me get a shower and I'll be there in a bit."

She nodded and walked off.

XXX

I just turned off the water when the Com beeped "Attention All senior staff report to the briefing room." Shepard said.

I sighed and got dressed.

When I arrived at the briefing room I was once again late.

"Your starting to make this a habit Will" Shepard said glaring at me.

"I'm sorry Commander!" I said taking a seat.

As the door closed Shepard turned to us.

"What I'm about to reveal to you all does not go beyond this room for now. I recently received a classified message from Admiral Kahoku." She said hitting a few buttons on her Omni-Tool.

"Shepard... I don't have much time. I've found out who was behind the attacks on my men. It's a group called Cerberus. They worked for the Alliance but now they've gone rogue... I have to hide. Their on my trail. I'm sorry Shepard." The Admirals voice cut out.

"What does this mean commander?" Kaiden asked.

"The Admiral also sent Co-Ordinates to a Cerberus facility on a planet called Binthu in the Yangtze system of the Voyager cluster. I've already informed Joker to set course." Shepard said crossing her arms before continuing.

"I know your probably wondering who Cerberus are. They were part of the Alliance but no more. They've turned rogue with the intention of furthering their own goals for the good of Humanity so to speak." Shepard said.

Everyone was quiet for a moment before Ashley spoke up "Well take them down mam!" She said.

"Thank you Ash. Now everyone get ready. Well be there in three hours. Dismissed." She said.

As everyone left I hung back as usual and hit the lock for the door after everyone left.

"What can you tell me of this Cerberus base?" Shepard asked taking a seat as I took one across from her.

"There will be three facilities. I'm not sure which one has Kahoku though. I know that in each they will be experimenting on Rachni, Thorian Creepers, and Rachni Soldiers." I tell her.

She looked at me for a moment before asking me a question that I knew was coming "Is Kahoku dead?"

I looked at her for a moment before nodding "But they didn't experiment on him. They gave him a lethal injection."

She nodded and looked down.

It was quiet for awhile before she spoke again.

"Why didn't you tell me this sooner?" She asked.

"I wasn't sure if things would go like they did. Some things are different. For all I know he could still be alive." I said in my defense.

She nodded "Let's get ready. It's time for some payback."

"Yes Mam!" I said getting up.

XXX

As the Mako hit the planet's surface Shepard brought up a holo of the terrain.

"Well be hitting this base first." She said indicating a facility on the left.

I turned towards Wrex "You ready big guy?" I asked smiling.

"Ask me that again and I'll crush your skull!" He said growling.

Shepard had brought Wrex, Ashley, and Liara with us for this trip. I grabbed the handle above me as the Mako rocked hard.

"Is that rocket's or your driving?" I asked Shepard.

She glanced over her shoulder and gave me a look causing Ashley who was in the gunner's seat to start laughing.

"Whatever! Were at the first facility." Shepard said.

I looked out through the windshield to see sure enough to rocket turrets on top.

With a couple of bursts. Ashley blew them to bits.

Shepard pulled up the Mako alongside the facility and we all piled out.

"Alright internal com's only. We do this fast and silent." Shepard said.

We nodded and headed for the door.

Shepard hacked it and we took an elevator down.

XXX

As the elevator opened Ashley and Wrex moved out flanking both doors. Shepard and I were next followed by Liara.

It was quiet.

There was a door at the end of the hall and we moved through it.

We came out into a huge room that in the middle was some kind of force field with several Rachni soldiers inside.

We flanked out and looked around.

"Their all on the other side." Ashley said looking at her mini map on her omni-tool.

We started to move but I stopped Shepard.

"Commander I got an Idea. Wait here!" I said moving out.

"Will!" She hissed through her com but I ignored it.

I quietly made my way up to the force field and after using my omni-tool to hack It the force field dropped and I double timed it back.

Sure enough we heard shouts and yelling as the Rachni soldiers began attacking the Cerberus personnel.

"While that was a good idea let me know what your going to do next time ok?" Shepard said moving out.

We swept in Ashley, Shepard, and Liara flanking right while Wrex and I went left.

I fired my sniper twice killing the remaining Rachni soldier.

The three remaining Cerberus soldiers looked up just as Wrex fired a carnage catching two of the soldiers while the third didn't have a chance to pull his gun up as a sniper round went through his helmet.

"Nice kill Ash!" I said as they walked up.

"Look around for some kind of access terminal. I want to know everything that they were doing here." Shepard said as we spread out.

After a few minutes I hear Liara call out.

"Commander! I've not found anything. There must a central hub in one of the other facilities." She said stepping away from a terminal.

Shepard nodded and we headed out.

XXX

The second facilities held Rachni workers and we still didn't find anything. I was starting to think that maybe Kahoku wasn't dead.

That was my thought as the elevator in the third facility stopped and we approached the door on the opposite wall.

Once again we were greeted with a force field and this time it was thorian creepers.

I hit the switch on the terminal and as the chaos ensued we swept out bringing our guns to bear on the Cerberus soldiers.

I put a sniper bullet through ones head while Wrex brought the butt of his shotgun down on one guys head while cocking it at the same time and firing a blast point blank at another ones head causing it to explode in a shower of red.

We moped up the remaining soldiers and the last thorian creeper as we turned to Admiral's Kahoku's body laying in the middle of the containment area.

Shepard rushed over and knelt to feel for a pulse. After a moment her head dropped down.

"He's dead" She said slowly getting to her feet.

I held my head down for a moment as did everyone else... even Wrex.

"Come on this is the last facility they should have something." Shepard said with a look that could kill etched onto her face.

We made our way into the hallway and once again came upon a fork in the road so to speak.

"You two take the left! Well take the right!" Shepard said moving off with Ashley and Wrex in tow.

"Roger Commander!" I said moving off to the left with my pistol out and Liara following me.

As we entered the room it looked just like all the rest so we began searching for some kind of terminal that might be hidden.

I knew the room Shepard went into had the main terminal for Cerberus but I kept getting this feeling that there was something in here that I needed to find.

"Liara you check the right side! I'll check the left!" I said and she nodded.

I started moving along the wall hoping that maybe there was some kind of terminal interface that I could use.

As I was moving my hands along the wall I stopped as my arm began to glow.

"Here!"

I snapped my head around looking for the voice only to see Liara busy searching the other side of the room.

"Here!"

I looked around once again only to see no one.

Suddenly my hand touched a point on the wall and a hidden door slid open. I stared puzzled.

~what the hell is going on? This wasn't in the game!~

I slowly walked into the room. It was small no bigger than your average bedroom.

I heard a noise behind me and turned to see Liara standing there.

"By the goddess! What is this?" She asked taking a step into the room.

The interior was silver in color. The walls, floors, and ceiling were all silver with a few narrow beams of light shining from the ceiling.

I looked to the far side of the room to see a terminal. I made my way over to it with Liara following.

As I stepped up to the console and began sifting through the data something caught my eye.

Subject: Stacey *******, Location: Unknown

"Per The Illusive Man's request we've been tailing Ms. ****** for some time now but have not been able to get close to her. Any agent that has tried has wound up dead. Were working on other ways to procure Ms. ***** so that we can ensure Will ******'s cooperation. If we cannot procure her and Will becomes a threat. Our agents are ordered to terminate Will at the earliest possible time as he may pose a threat to our cause for human dominance in the galaxy." End Log: Acting Official of Base Alpha Delta Gamma: Thomas Paine.

"There after my sister and I! Why?" I asked aloud more to myself than anyone in particular.

Suddenly an alarm started to blare from the terminal and it winked out as alarms started to ring out all over the base when suddenly a VI's voice rang out over the com's.

"Warning! Warning! Self Destruct Activated. All personnel have 10 minutes to evacuate."

"We must leave at once Will!" Liara said grabbing my shoulder.

"But this could help me find my sister!" I pleaded to her.

She looked at me a moment "Will! The terminal has been fried. Any information you wanted is gone. They know were here and this base is about to be destroyed. You have other opportunities to find her I'm sure."

I stood a moment before nodding.

As we raced out of the room we ran into Shepard.

"What the hell is going on?" She yelled.

"I'll explain it up top. But for now we need to get the hell out of here before this base blows sky high!" I yelled as our little band ran for the elevator.

XXX

We stared at the monitor in the Normandy as we sped away towards space as the Cerberus base exploded leveling about half a square mile.

"Will! Meet me in the briefing room alone in 10 minutes! You've got a lot of answer for!" Shepard said moving off towards the elevator.

"Good luck!" Ashley said placing a hand on my shoulder before walking off.

I saw Tali approaching me. "Will! Are you ok? What happened?" She asked placing her hand on mine which made me jump a little.

"I... Can we talk about this latter in private? I don't think this is something I want everyone to hear right now." I said glancing around as various crew members were staring at us.

She nodded and I left to see the commander in the briefing room. I glanced over my shoulder to see Tali staring at me.

XXX

"Explain to me what happened Will?" Shepard said with her arms crossed as she stood across from me.

I sighed and began "I kept having a nagging feeling that I was being drawn to something. I thought I heard a voice but I wasn't sure. Than my hand hit a hidden switch and the room opened up. Shepard this is not supposed to happen. That room didn't exist. It's as if someone knew I would be there personally." I said.

She raised an eyebrow "What do you mean?"

"The terminal that I accessed had no locks or anything and it contained classified data regarding surveillance and tracking on My sister and I" I said looking at her.

The look of shock was plastered on her face "There after you two why?" Shepard asked getting up to her feet and walking over to me.

" I do not know. But as far as I know according to what I was able to read before the terminal fried is that they haven't been able to capture my sister yet. And if they can't use her they'll find a way to eliminate me." I said looking up at her.

She was even more shocked "Will! This is serious. Until this is taken care of I'm afraid that you'll be staying on the ship if we dock at the Citadel or any other public locations that involved civilian's. It's for your own good. Now could you think of any reason they want you or your sister?" She asked.

I raised my arm as I began to glow "I think this is reason enough!" I said.

Her brow furrowed "But how? How did they know about this?" She asked.

"I think the answers obvious Shepard... we have a spy on board." I said looking into the commanders eyes.

XXX

Emily felt the buzz of her omni-tool. She excused herself from her workstation stating that she had to use the restroom.

As she quickly ducked into a storage room she activated her scrambler and did several encryptions before activating her omni-tool.

"What is it? I'm in the middle of my shift. I don't want to get caught!" She whispered.

"I'm well aware of that! They now know that were after Will and his sister." TIM stated.

Her eyes widened in shock "What? How?" She asked.

"I let them know through my own means." TIM said.

"Why?" She asked.

She heard a chuckle on the line "My dear you have a lot to learn. The best way to find someone is have them find you." TIM said as he took a drag of his cigarette.

Her eyes widened in surprise. They were setting a trap for Will.

She turned back to her omni-tool "What do you want me to do sir?" She asked.

There was a pause on the line before he spoke again "I've given my teams one week to capture her if they cannot and I haven't contacted you within seven standard days I'm ordering the termination of Will ******" He said.

Her hand shook and she tried to steady it. "Sir... Are you sure that's the right thing to do?" She asked trying to not let the quiver in her voice make itself known.

"I'm quite sure! It is becoming obvious that he cannot be swayed to our cause once this is over. T chey most likely will turn him over to the Alliance brass. And we cannot let that happen!" TIM said.

She stared at her omni-tool not saying a word.

"Now they will be no further communications as by now their suspicious that someone is leaking information on board. Do not let yourself be caught! That is all" He said as he disconnected the line.

She stood there staring at the wall.

~One Week!~

~In one week I might have to kill the man that I've become to call my friend~

Meanwhile...

TIM sat in his chair staring at the star as he took another swig of his liquor when the hologram of Miranda appeared.

"You wanted to see me Sir?" She said.

"Yes... what is your status?" He asked taking a drag and puffing out the smoke.

"We believed that we had her sir but it was a decoy." Miranda said looking away slightly as he narrowed his eyes at her.

"A Decoy? Explain?" He said with a tone that could shatter windows.

"We believed we had located her but when my team went in they found a dummy which soon after exploded killing most of the squad that went in to retrieve her." Miranda said.

He looked at her coldly for a moment before speaking "Than that is most unfortunate... where is she now?" He asked.

Miranda bit her lip before answering "She stole a transport and managed to jump through the relay"

He squeezed the glass in his hand causing it to shatter "Do you know the trouble that I've gone through tracking her down! The sources that I used so that you could find her?" He roared getting to his feet.

"I am sorry Sir! I will not fail you again." She said her voice quivering slightly.

He surprised her by smiling "Don't worry my dear. Your one of my best and brightest. I'm reassigning you my dear."

She looked shocked but nodded. "I will do my best Sir!" She said.

He turned his back and she turned to switch off the transmitter when he stopped her.

"There is one other thing my dear. I do not believe that Emily will go through with the order!" He said glancing over his shoulder at the Operative.

Miranda's eyes widened in shock "But Sir. She is one of our best. I trained with her." She stated.

He turned to her "I can tell by the last transmission that her faith is straying. I'm issuing a new order if she doesn't pull through as ordered." He said taking a drag of his cigarette.

"Sir?" She asked slightly confused.

"If she fails than I'm ordering the termination of both Will ***** and Emily Turner!" He said cutting the line.

Miranda stood shocked for a moment before cutting the power on her end.

A/N: Wow! This is the longest Chapter I've written in awhile. Well its snowing over here so I had the time lol. Take care everyone and enjoy :D

Story Advertising: Cry Witch- by Xenolord. It's a left 4 dead story. It's a pretty good story.

Take care everyone. I'm thinking of doing a crossover story after reading a few others but I plan on that latter. For now take care everyone.