Chapter 25: Destination
"Are you sure, Shepard? The geth massing in the Armstrong Nebula seems much larger."
Tali's voice carried a lot of doubt in it after hearing Shepard saying he wanted to visit Ontarom before the Armstrong Nebula.
"Yes, I'm positive. I plan on contacting Admiral Hackett and letting him know about it. He can get there, and either stop them, or hold them long enough for us to finish them. Plus, this "Cerberus" group seems like trouble. Especially considering what I received before we landed on Feros."
Tali cocked her head sideways, conveying her emotion of confusion.
"What do you mean?"
Shepard sighed, and walked over to the table, taking a seat. Tali mimicked him, and took the opposite seat, leaning forward in anticipation of what Shepard was going to share.
"Before we landed, Joker contacted me, and told me he intercepted a heavily encrypted message directed to me. I took it in here, and it was Rear Admiral Kahoku. You remember him?"
Tali nodded.
"Yes… I do. That was Edolus."
Shepard nodded.
"Anyways, he contacted someone you are familiar with, the Shadow Broker."
Tali let out a noise of distaste upon hearing the Shadow Broker, but kept her tongue in check.
"He purchased information pertaining to Cerberus, and he told me everything he knew about it in his message. He said Cerberus used to be an Alliance black ops unit, total whiteout, everything they did was classified. He said they were hunting him now, and he said they were responsible for Edolus, and several other incidents where this happened. We have no idea where he is now, but if there is a Cerberus outpost on Ontarom, maybe we can find something on Kahoku if he's still alive. If not… then we can at least avenge him."
Tali leaned back into her seat, staring blankly into her lap, her fingers intertwining. Shepard stared hard at the tabletop, marring its smooth surface with his fingernail. Shepard sighed, and stood up, arching his back.
"I gotta go tell Joker our next destination. You should get some rest though. In fact, everyone should get some rest. Tell the Kaidan, Ashley, and Garrus that they have leave of duty, and can get some much needed R&R."
Shepard couldn't be sure, but he could sense the arched eyebrow, and the unspoken question.
"Rest and Relaxation."
Tali nodded, and stood up, stifling a yawn.
"Are you sure you want to go? I can go tell Joker for you."
Shepard smiled and shook his head.
"No, I can do this."
Tali nodded her head, and began to feel the wear and tear Feros had on her; She really was tired. Tali stepped out towards the door, Shepard following behind. They began to walk side by side, until they hit the elevator, where they went separate ways. Shepard walked up his left stairway, and Tali stepped into the elevator.
As the door closed, and Shepard disappeared around the corner, she slumped against the wall, and began to ponder worriedly. Shepard said they were responsible for other incidents. Could it be they were responsible for… no, that's crazy. There's no way Cerberus did that too. However, the doubt had already wormed its way into her mind. But what if they did?
"Joker."
The body in the pilot's seat stiffened suddenly, before relaxing with relief.
"Jesus, Commander, please. One day, you're going to give me a heart attack."
Shepard shook his head, and clapped a hand lightly on Joker's shoulder, taking note of his Vrolik Syndrome.
"I doubt that, Joker."
Now that the jokes were aside, Shepard became serious.
"Joker, I need you to plot a course to a planet called Ontarom in the Kepler Verge."
Joker looked up towards Shepard, a weird look plastered all over his face. He was about to make a smart remark, when he saw the look of Shepard's face. It was a look that would brook no lightheartedness.
"Aye Aye, Commander. What are you planning to find there?"
Shepard stared out of the Normandy's cockpit windows, the expansive blackness of space reaching as far as you can see, and further.
"It would be faster for everyone to hear it at once."
Shepard reached for a button on Joker's console, and hit the ship wide comm.
"Attention crew of the Normandy, this is Commander Shepard. We have concluded our business on Feros, and are now on our way to our next destination, which is the Kepler Verge. Once there, we will go to Ontarom where a Cerberus facility lies in wait. Most of you won't know what Cerberus is, so let me enlighten you. Before Feros, I was contacted by Rear Admiral Kahoku, the leader of the marine squad that was decimated on Edolus. This is the message he sent me."
Shepard began to transfer the audio message to the console so it could be broadcast to the entire ship. A few seconds later, the message began playing. Shepard could hear the exclaims of shock from the Alliance crew members, and the anger in others. The thought of an Alliance black ops operation which had total whiteout was close 20th century terrorism.
Footsteps could be heard approaching behind him, and he turned around to see Ashley and Kaidan approaching him fast. They stopped next to him, and stared at him with wide eyes, shocked at what their hearing. As the message concluded, Shepard opened the comm for himself again.
"There you have it. We're heading to Ontarom, where hopefully we can find some information of Kahoku, and find out what this Cerberus group is doing."
Shepard cut off the link, and turned to face Kaidan and Ashley.
"Are you kidding me, Skipper?"
"I wish I could say yes, but I can't."
Ashley slumped down on the floor, leaning against a supporting strut, her head in her hands. She couldn't believe that the Alliance, whom she has fully supported for years, would have something like this covered up.
Kaidan just sighed, and shook his head. He turned to leave, wanting some alone time to think about the information just shared.
Joker let out a long whistle.
"Wow, talk about messing up big time."
Joker turned to look back over his shoulder, and caught the death glare of Ashley. He paled slightly, and apologized.
"Sorry, force of habit."
Shepard crossed his arms, and glanced down at Ashley.
"Go get some rest, Ash. Your group didn't fare much better than mine, so we all need our rest."
Ashley stood up, her voice tired as she spoke.
"You got it, Skip."
Shepard looked back to Joker.
"Plot the course, Joker."
So caught up in the announcement, he forgot he had stopped extrapolating a course to Ontarom.
"Oh, right, sorry Commander."
Joker's fingers began to fly around the haptic interface, and Shepard turned back towards the CIC. As he passed by, he could hear the human crewmembers chatting amongst themselves, a lot of them expressing their distaste with the thought of Cerberus being covered up for so long.
Shepard paced down the stairs, and entered his cabin again, flopping down on the bed. He let out a huge sigh, and fell fast asleep, not even bothering to take off his boots.
His dreams turned sour with his usual nightmares and bad memories. But one nightmare stood out more than the others, and it was Akuze, but it was always the memory of Toombs' final moments. Every time it happened, he suddenly rushed back 10 minutes earlier, and it occurred again and again, like a broken record.
When Shepard woke up later, he would have no recollection of his dreams.
A/N
Ohhhh snap, we're almost there.