Love, Blood & Tears
Chapter 29:

"What the hell is going on? Where's Anderson? Where we going?" Vega asked Shepard.

"We're leaving," Shepard sighed as she tapped into the console.

"Leaving?" Vega scoffed.

"What's going on?" Kaidan asked.

"Anderson wants us to go to the Citadel," she replied. "Get help for the fight."

"Bull shit! He wouldn't order us to leave," Vega replied.

"Did you not hear him on the docks? That's exactly what he said!" Shepard yelled back. "We don't have a choice! Without help this war is already over."

"Forget it, drop me off some place!" James replied.

"Are you serious right now? Don't you think I'd rather stay and fight too? We're going to the Citadel. If you don't like it you can catch a ride from there."

Shepard was pissed…Vega had been her only companion for the last six months and just like that…they were at each other's throats. He was so eager to be a part of her crew but now…what happened?

"Commander," Joker said over the comm.

"Joker! That you?" she replied.

"Alive and kicking. I've got an emergency transmission from Admiral Hackett for you."

"Patch it through."

The transmission was sketchy as best.

"Shepard-sustained heavy losses-force was overwhelming-no way we can defeat them conventionally."

"Anderson's already ordered me to the Citadel to talk to the council."

"First I need you to-outpost on Mars-before we lose control of system."

"Yes, sir," she replied.

"-researching Prothean archives-T'Soni-found a way to stop the Reapers-only way to stop them-contact soon, Hackett out."

"Joker, set a course for the Mars archives," Shepard said.

"Mars? Roger that."

Shepard walked past Vega and Alenko…over to the N7 armor that was on a table.

James looked at Kaidan, "This is loco."

"Why Mars? What does he think we'll find there?" Kaidan asked Shepard.

"I don't know, but if it helps us win this war…so be it. Grab your gear," she replied.


Vega flew the shuttle down towards the outpost. Shepard stood over him…trying to think of something to say to clear the air between them.

"I've been trying to reach Mars on secure channels, no one is answering," Joker said on the comm.

"Any sign of Reaper activity?" Shepard asked.

"Negative."

"EDI?"

"The base appears to be online," EDI responded. "It's possible the inhabitants were evacuated."

"We'll know soon enough," Shepard said. "Be ready, Joker, just in case."

Shepard walked back to take a seat when she caught eyes with Kaidan who eagerly anticipated her taking a seat next to him.

Oh, God…

She quickly turned back around and stood near Vega.

"We're almost there," James said as they approached the base.

Vega landed the shuttle and they geared up.

"Still no contact from the base but we've got a massive storm headed our way," said James.

"How long until it hits?" Shepard asked.

"Half hour - tops. After that we're going to have trouble keeping contact with the Normandy."

"Understood. We better work fast then."


They made their way down the cliffs when Shepard noticed a dead Alliance soldier.

"Doesn't look like he put up a fight," said Alenko.

"Something's not right here," said Vega.

"Keep a low profile until we know what's going on," said Shepard.

As they were coming around the corner, they heard two gunshots go off in the distance. Looking ahead they could see Cerberus forces…one of them was standing in front of a row of Alliance soldiers…he put his gun up to the last soldier's head and pulled the trigger.

"Holy shit! They're executing them!" Vega gasped.

Shepard quickly took to cover, "Let's take them out! Kaidan, warp! James, fire at the left! I'll take the right!"

It was Shepard's first time back in action and her first time witnessing Vega's skills. He was good and she was happy to have him with her…even if he had been an asshole back on the ship.

"Those guys were Cerberus, weren't they?" James asked.

"Yeah, they were," Jane replied.

"What's Cerberus doing here on Mars?" Kaidan asked.

"Good question," she said.

"You don't know?" Kaidan asked surprised.

"I'm not with them anymore, Kaidan, if that's what you're asking," she snidely replied.

"It wasn't…but you have to admit - it's pretty convenient."

Shepard rolled her eyes…she had nothing else to say to him. They had barely started their first mission together and he was already a pain in the ass. There were more assault troopers ahead which she raced to meet…anything to get away from Kaidan's questioning.

They cleared through the troopers and made it up to the facility entrance controls. Shepard activated the elevator and stowed her weapon for the ride.

"I need a straight answer, Shepard," said Kaidan.

Oh my freaking God…

"About what?" she dared ask.

"Do you know anything about this? What is Cerberus doing here?"

"God damn it, Kaidan! What makes you think I know what they're up to?"

"You worked for them…how am I supposed to believe you've cut all ties…"

"We joined forces to take down the Collectors, that's it."

"They rebuilt you from scratch, gave you a ship…resources…"

Shepard's blood boiled as she spoke, "Let me make this perfectly clear…I've had no contact with Cerberus since I destroyed the Collector base. I have no idea why they're here now or what they want."

Vega spoke up, "Shepard's been under constant surveillance since coming back to Earth; no way they've communicated since."

Kaidan sighed, "I'm sorry, Shepard…I just…"

"I shouldn't have to explain myself to you, Kaidan."

The elevator arrived at the top level…Shepard stepped off first and looked over her shoulder at Alenko.

"I need you to trust me," she said sternly.

"I do trust you, it's just that…"

Just then there was a noise in the venting shafts above…Shepard grabbed her assault rifle…Alenko and Vega pulled out their guns as well. Shepard could hear gun shots in the vents…she saw the venting slate bust open and out fell a familiar face…Liara T'Soni. Closely behind her were Cerberus assault troopers. Liara threw a biotic warp their way and then pulled out her pistol and shot a round into each of them. The troopers fell to the ground…Liara walked over to them and shot two rounds into each of their heads. Shepard got up from cover and ran over to Liara.

"Shepard!" Liara exclaimed. "Thank the Goddess you're alive."

"You too," Shepard replied as she gave her a quick hug.

"I was worried when I heard the reports…I'm sorry about Earth," Liara said.

Kaidan spoke up, "Yeah…it was difficult to leave."

"I'm sorry, Kaidan," Liara replied. She looked back at Shepard, "But why did you come here?"

"Hackett ordered us to - he said you'd know what was going on."

"I do," she said as she started to walk off.

"Hallelujah," Vega said as they followed after Liara. "Some answers…finally."

"Maybe…I've discovered plans for a Prothean device," said Liara. "One that could wipe out the Reapers."

"Here on Mars?" asked Shepard.

"In the Prothean archives, yes."

"We've known about the archives for decades…why now?"

"Process of elimination…mixed with a little desperation. When you destroyed the Alpha relay, you bought us some time. But then you were under investigation…I knew I had to do something. Hackett knew it too; he contacted me and asked me if I would use my resources as a Shadow Broker to find a way to stop the Reapers. My search led me here. Hackett gave me access to the archives and kept me up-to-date on your status. In any case, the research paid off - I think I found what we need."

"I guess I'll believe it when I see it. Where is this weapon?"

"It's not a weapon…not yet. It's plans for a device; a blueprint."

"It's more than we had a minute ago," Shepard shrugged. "How do we get it?"

"The archives are just across that tramway, assuming Cerberus hasn't locked it down."

"What are they after?"

"Yeah, they seemed hell bent on catching you," Vega added.

"They want what I'm here for…what we're all here for," Liara replied.

"But why?" Shepard asked.

"The Protheans came close to defeating the Reapers. They had plans to destroy them but ran out of time."

"Anything powerful enough to destroy the Reapers sounds like something Cerberus would be very interested in."

"So it's a race to the archives," Vega said.

"James, I need you to go back to the shuttle," Shepard said.

"What?"

"If Cerberus beats us to the archives, I need you to cover the exits."

"But…"

"Now, Lieutenant!"

Vega grumbled as he ran to the elevator and headed back down.

Shepard looked over at Liara and Kaidan, "Let's move out!"


They made their way to a communication hub…

"Shepard, see if you can get access to the pedway," Liara said as she took a seat at one of the consoles. "I can't seem to unlock the live feeds but…"

"Hey, did you see that?" Kaidan asked as he looked at the video recordings. "Who's that woman in the vid?"

"That's Doctor Eva Corѐ. She got here about a week ago," Liara replied. She looked over at Shepard, "Any luck?"

"Pedway's been locked out."

"Alright, it looks like there's construction nearby on the roof…we can find a way out from there."

"Great, let's move."

They made their way outside onto the catwalks…the wind was causing quite the little dust storm.

"Commander-you copy?"

"Barely, James," Shepard replied.

"-lost contact with the Normandy-your position-"

"I didn't read that. James, repeat! Damn it!"

They made their way into the cafeteria…the power to the room had been cut off. Without the environmental controls in place…the people in the room had suffocated and died. Shepard saw a data pad on the ground…she picked it up and read it.

-
From: Sho D'hen
To: Cameron Harrison

CAM!

Who the hell is that woman messing in my files? GET HER OUT OF HERE! I won't have my system messed up by some wannabe "expert" who'll be gone next week! Damn strangers who think they know it all but don't care what we're really trying to achieve here. Dr. Eva. Seriously? Don't you remember what happened LAST TIME?

S.

"Looks like that Eva was causing some trouble," Shepard said. "Let's keep moving."


They reached the next control hub and Liara activated the environmental controls.

"There we go…we have access to the labs - they'll take us right to the tram station," Liara said.

"Hey! Looks like there's a recording of what happened here!" Kaidan said as he pointed to a nearby console.

Shepard pressed the play button…

-
"Security station, come in. We're seeing some odd activity down here. Our security protocols just kicked in - everything's locked down."

Dr. Eva walked up in the background…gun drawn.

"Doctor, I'll get you a report as soon as I…"

*BANG! BANG! BANG!*

She moved over to the console and shut down the power in the cafeteria…causing everyone to die.

"Guess we know how Cerberus got in," Shepard said.

"I should have noticed it when I met her," Liara sighed. "I was just so focused on trying to stop the Reapers."

"Stopping the Reapers is the only thing we should be focused on…it's not your fault."

"But what if we're wrong? What if there is no way to stop them? What if these are our last days and we use them scurrying around to fix a problem we can't fix."

"Liara…"

"I know, I shouldn't think that way. I don't know how you do it. You've always stayed focused even in the worst situations."

"When there's so much at stake, I think about my friends…my loved ones…what I would lose if I failed. We'll stop them, Liara. We've got this."

"I believe you…or I believe that you believe…maybe that's enough."

Liara approached the controls, "Okay, doors open…we can get to the labs and then the tram station."

"Perfect, let's move out."


They fought through more assault troopers as they made their way through the labs. More forces waited for them down the corridor to the tramway.

"Liara, throw! Kaidan, warp!" Shepard commanded as she charged forward.

They cleared through them and made their way to the tram station.

"No doubt Cerberus has it locked down, hopefully we can override it at the security station," said Liara.

Shepard ran down the corridors and rounded the next corner…where a heavy gun turret was set up at the end of the hall.

"Crap!" Shepard yelled as she ducked back behind cover.

"Is that the only way in?" Kaidan asked Liara.

"The only way I know of," she replied.

"Let's move up, Kaidan - take cover in the next corridor!"

"On it!" he replied as he ran forward. He tucked and rolled and landed with his back against the next half wall.

Shepard was the next to run up…Kaidan kept pace ahead of her and Liara was closely behind her.

They made it past the turret and into the next room where Cerberus troopers were waiting for them. Once they cleared them out, Shepard approached the terminal feed…it showed Dr. Eva instructing Cerberus troops to set up a perimeter - to make sure no one else got through…not even the rest of the Cerberus team.

"What a bitch," Shepard said.

"Looks like they've made it to the archives," said T'Soni.

"And they won't be sending a tram any time soon," added Alenko.

"Can you override it?" Jane asked Liara.

"The archives are on a separate network…I'm completely locked out."

"Not completely," said Kaidan. "What if we could find a short-range transmitter…helmet to helmet."

"And?"

"And then we convince them that we're with them and that the Alliance forces have been taken care of."

"Good idea. See what you can find," Shepard said.

Kaidan nodded and walked away. Jane turned around to see Liara staring at her.

"What?" Shepard asked.

"The Lieutenant-Commander has become very…capable," she replied with a smirk.

"Agreed," Shepard replied with a furrowed brow.

"Commander, I found something!" Kaidan said as he signaled for Shepard to follow him into the other room.

"What have you got?" she asked as she followed him over to a Cerberus trooper that was dead on the floor.

"He's got a transmitter in his helmet," Kaidan replied. "If I can…"

The visor to the helmet opened…exposing the troopers face…his eyes were nothing but a blue glow that were blackened around the edges.

"Oh God," Kaidan gasped. "He looks like a husk."

"Yeah…not quite…but they've definitely down something to him," Jane said as she knelt down in front of the trooper.

"Engineered? By Cerberus? They claim to stand for humanity and they do this to their own people! That could've been you Shepard…for all I knew, that's what Cerberus had done to you."

She wanted to punch him in the face so badly for that comment.

"Are you serious right now? How can you compare me to that?" she shouted.

"I don't know what you are…not since they got their hands on you. Is it really you? Would you even know if they were controlling you somehow?"

"That's not fair, Kaidan."

"I'm just talking out loud; I don't need you to answer. I don't think there's anything you could say to convince me. I guess I just need some time to get to know you again."

Get to know me again? You didn't know me to begin with! Garrus would never pull this crap…

"I'm the same person I always was…time won't change that. But whatever, I guess I don't expect you to understand that. Now, let's see if we can get that tram sent over here."

Kaidan sighed as she walked away from him.

Shepard opened the comm channel, "Hello? Come in, this is…delta team. Anybody there?"

"Where the hell have you been? Never mind…what's your status?"

"We're at the tram station, waiting for extraction. All hostiles terminated."

"Roger that. Echo team will ride over and secure the station."

Shepard closed the channel, "Let's get into position…be prepared to flank them when they arrive."


They took out the troopers and loaded into the tram.

"The storm's getting bad, we better wrap this up quickly," Shepard said.

*BOOM!*

Charges had been set to go off and their tram came to a halt. Another tram full of troopers approached. Shepard and her squad took them out and hopped into their tram. They finished the journey to the other side and quickly exited the tram to take cover from the troopers waiting for them.

"Let's take these guys out fast! We don't have much time!" Shepard yelled.

They cleared through the room and walked into the back room where the Prothean archives were. As they approached the terminal…a hologram of the Illusive Man appeared.

"Shepard."

"Illusive Man."

"Fascinating race, the Protheans. They left all this for us to discover."

"What do you want?"

"What I've always wanted…the data in these archives holds the key to solving the Reaper threat."

"I've seen your solution! You're people are turned into monsters."

"Hardly. They're being improved."

"Improved?"

"That's what separates us, Shepard. Where you see a means to destroy, I see a way to control - to dominate and harness the Reaper's power. Imagine how strong humanity would be…if we controlled them."

"You've gone too far. The Reapers will kill us all if we don't stop fighting each other."

"I don't expect you to understand, Shepard. And I'm certainly not looking for your approval. You were a tool, an agent with a singular purpose. And despite our differences, you were relatively successful. But like the rest of the relics in this place, your time is over."

"Enough talk."

Jane nodded at Liara to download the data.

"Don't interfere with my plan, Shepard. I won't warn you again."

"Duly noted."

"Shepard," called Liara.

"What?"

"The data…it's not here. It's being erased."

"Good-bye, Shepard."

"Damn it! How's he doing it?" Shepard asked T'Soni.

"It's local…somebody's uploading the information."

Kaidan was walking around the perimeter when he came across Dr. Eva standing at a concealed console.

"Hey! Step away from the console…now," he said as he aimed his gun at her back.

She quickly spun around and delivered a side kick to Kaidan who was knocked to the ground. She turned back around and destroyed the console…then ran off.

"Damn it! She's got the data!" Kaidan yelled.

"Go! Go! Go! We can't lose her!" yelled Jane.

They ran after her as she fled out of the room. They shot round after round into her back…but her shields were too strong. They followed her out of the facility and onto the roof tops…her shuttle was flying over to a nearby roof top. She picked up her pace as Shepard struggled to keep up. She'd been out of practice for a few months…Anderson was right; she'd gotten a little soft.

"Vega, you read me? If you can, radio the Normandy…get them down here now!"

Shepard chased the doctor down the catwalks and up the ladder to the next roof over. Eva ran faster as her shuttle came in closely to pick her up.

"Damn it! She's getting away!" Shepard yelled.

Eva took a running jump and landed into her shuttle as it started to fly away.

"God damn it! No! James? Normandy? Anybody?"

As the shuttle flew off…Shepard noticed a blue shuttle headed directly for Cerberus' shuttle…they hit head on; causing the Cerberus shuttle to crash back onto the roof top where Shepard and her squad were. The blue shuttle circled around and landed near Shepard. She walked over to it as James was exiting it.

"The Normandy's in route," he said. "It should be here soon."

Kaidan was helping Liara over to the shuttle when suddenly…Eva appeared from the wreckage behind them. She was on fire…it burned through her and revealed what she truly was…an android. Kaidan pulled out his gun and started firing…she charged at Kaidan and grabbed him by the throat. She swung him around and started bashing his head against the wrecked shuttle. Then she dropped his limp body and turned around to charge after Shepard.

Gun drawn…Shepard fired off a whole round from her assault rifle…Eva was still advancing…she was almost to Shepard…Jane pulled out her shot gun and charged forward…the barrel of her gun met Eva's stomach and she pulled the trigger.

Shepard let out a sigh of relief as Eva fell down to the ground…she was dead. Jane looked over to Kaidan's lifeless body…she ran over to him and swung his arm around her shoulder. Vega grabbed Eva and tossed her over his shoulders. They all headed to the edge of the roof top as the Normandy approached.

"We gotta go," said Joker over the comm. "We've got Reaper signatures inbound."

Shepard pulled Alenko's body over her back and ran towards the Normandy's ramp.

"Get us out of here, Joker."

"Aye aye, Commander."