Rescue Plan

John! John! John, please wake up! JOHN! Wake up he did. Shepard's world came back to him in one massive blur. All he could see was the blurred image of a quarian's mask looking straight at him, her face creased in worry, holding his face with her hands. He shook his head to rid himself of the daze. The blur disappeared almost immediately, and he saw that he was in a cell, Cerberus by the wall insignias, and was lying on the ground.

Tali was crouched next to him, still shaking him. "John?" she asked, her voice in a soft whisper. Her tone implied she was scared or worried. Probably a mixture of both. He raised his hand to reassure her that he was alright. Tali didn't immediately back off though. As he sat up, he took another look around. "Where are we?" is all he could ask. The room looked devoid of anything. The Cerberus insignias made it obvious they were on a Cerberus ship or base. He rolled over and immediately put his head to the floor, listening. No humming machinery indicating spaceflight, so they were planetside. "How long was I out?"

Tali answered as he rolled back over, "I have no idea. I only woke up 16 minutes ago, and they were questioning me. Don't worry, no interrogation or anything. When I told them I knew nothing, they threw me in here and 5 minutes later, they bring you in. Are you okay?" Tali said the last line with extreme worry. She was all tense, she looked like a petrified little child. Of course, she had every reason too, they had no idea what horrors Cerberus had planned. And Xen...That traitorous bitch. Why did I not see her treachery coming.

"I'm fine, don't worry about me. What about you? You took one hell of a beating from those assholes." Shepard jumped up and began examining the back of her suit, which had swelled up noticably. Tali winced as he laced his fingers over the injuries, "It really hurts. Like a migraine, but all over my back. The pain was blinding before, but its died down, but it still really hurts John." Shepard stopped touching the bruising, as it was obviously causing Tali discomfort, and moved back to sitting in front of her. He raised one hand up to her cheek, caressing it. "Don't worry, I'll find a way out of here."

Tali looked at the ground and nodded, not out of optimism, but out of desperation. What if they had kidnapped Rael? Or killed him? Or what if they bombed Unastali and...No, she couldn't think of it. She wouldn't. The thoughts brought to much pain. Shepard smiled and rested his forehead on her visor, and they both looked into each other's eyes. Tali smiled weakly and Shepard kissed her visor before standing up, offering her help. She took it, and together they began searching the room, getting a feel for where they were.

The room was basically full of Cerberus. Everywhere they went, Cerberus had made sure they knew exactly where they were. Every meter of wall had Cerberus eyesores, as he called them, all over their brown, rusted cover. Bits and pieces of rusted, useless steel poles littered the room, mostly residing in the corner's. A cyclonic barrier was active in the doorway, as the door appeared to be non-functional, or simply, there wasn't one. The room looked like an old apartment, except the residents were either killed, they moved and the room hasn't been rented since or the simply hasn't been used. Decommissioned maybe. For all he knew, this entire apartment building could be on Omega, or Illium, or the Citadel, or...or anywhere!

"This cyclonic barrier is very weak, it uses the fields emitted by the original prototype. Its the weaker version of the technology I used to upgrade the Normandy's shields with the Cyclonic barrier tech. This should be easy to overload, just let me get my omnitool. She reached out to activate it, but found it gone. "They took my omnitool. Oh don't tell me they...!" Tali started fiddling with her suit, looking through pockets and everything. "NO!" She was really panicing now. She was scared before, but now she was terrified. He tried to calm her down. He embraced her, whispering words of reassurement. "Sssshhhhh...what's wrong Saera?" Tali was shaking horribly. "They took...they took my...nutrient paste. All of it. John, I have no food. Within 2 days I'll...I'll...die without food." Shepard's eyes widened and looked down at his lifemate.

Shit. Now I feel hopeless. I felt like there was nothing in the world that could stop me from protecting her, but now they've exploited her one main, critical weakness. Cerberus bastards. He let go of Tali and looked up at the corner of the room, where he saw a single camera, "What do you want from me! Is it information? Myself? What!? If you want to kill me just do it! But leave Tali out of this! Let her go and take me!" He felt frustrated when he heard no response from the camera. Angry, he jumped up and ripped the camera clean from its socket, throwing it on the ground and stomping on it.

Tali gripped his arm, "John, you know I could never leave you. They try and let me go, and I'll stay, I'm not abandoning my lifemate." Shepard turned to her, his face still creased in the anger he had since learnt to keep under lock and key, "And what of Rael Tali? This isn't just about us anymore, I want Rael to grow up with a family that loves him. Parents, he deserves a proper mother and father, and if we die? What happens then? He gets sent to an orphanage! Or worse, he could get disowned! He needs a parent, and he needs you!" Shepard tried to reason with her. Rael maybe one of the reasons, but the main reason was simply his sheer love for his lifemate. Her safety always came above all else. As long as she was safe and secure and not dying, he could be calm and at peace.

Tali started to get angry, "NO! I don't want Rael growing up with just one parent! I don't him to go through with what I did with Rael and Meru! No! It's all parents or none! Please John, I'm staying. I'll never leave you until I know your safe, and even then, I shall never leave your side. You come with me, or I'm staying. Its as simple as that." Tali then embraced him, making sure to hold her lifemate close. She didn't want to let go, she REFUSED to let him go. He was her world, without him, life had no meaning. I will not go through what I did after the Normandy attack. After Harbinger's beams of death. I will not lose him a third time!

Shepard finally gave in and returned the hug, squeezing hard. He expected her to complain, but she didn't, she just held him like there was no tommorrow, and their most likely wouldn't be. "I...love you. Always." Shepard whispered in her ear. She didn't need to respond, only to tap his head with her visor. The moment was ruined when he heard the barrier shut down and a squad of heavily armed Cerberus commandos entered, followed by a large human with a batton. He held Tali close, even though they broke the embrace to face their assailants.

The squad took positions around the doorway. He eyed them suspiciously, but none as closely as the soldier with the batton. His name tag read, 'Warrant Officer II Bradley F. Faringar.' What the fuck do you-" Shepard didn't get to finish his sentence as the soldier whacked him furiously in the head, knocking him to the ground. He immediately felt pathetic. His eye swelled shut as the bruising encompassed his forehead. He turned over but was immediately picked up by two soldiers and held. "JOHN!" He saw Tali immediately whack the batton out of Bradley's hand. He tried to respond with a powerful front kick, but Tali, being the nimble woman that she was, easily strafed left and she managed to kick him in the quad. He reeled back in pain, but not before two soldiers restrained her.

He tried to shake free, afraid of what they'd do to her. Connor recovered from Tali's attack and approached Tali. "Well, Mrs. Shepard, I was told I was allowed to have a little fun with you..." Bradley stroked Tali's mask pervertedly, and then took it off. She was about to squeel, but held it back and resisted her captor's grip even further. It was fruitless, female strength was laughable to male's. Plus, these soldiers were enhanced and augmentated with upgrades, making them even stronger.

Bradley took the mask down to his side and gazed at Tali's beautiful features. Shepard was disgusted by this man's actions. What is he- His unasked question was answered when Bradley leaned forward and put his hands on her hips. She spat in his face. Shepard's fists clenched. How dare he touch my lifemate. He said as he tried again, "LOTS of fun...don't struggle quarian. I'm going to give you a world of pleasure" Shepard was now REALLY repulsed by this poor excuse of humanity. This guy was obviously a sick rapist, as he seemed to be treating Tali like a pleasure machine. He wanted so much to reach out and snap the bastard's neck. Bradley had obviously errored in his judgment when he leaned forward to begin pervertedly kissing her neck, because the next thing she did was remarkable.

She growled, loudly, her primal instincts taking action. She bit his neck, her teeth sinking into it. He yelled in pain, "GET THIS CRAZY BITCH OFF ME!" Shepard was flabbergasted when he saw blood trailed out of Bradley's neck. She was like a vampire, just that he loved her. He smiled, That's what you get asshole. The Cerberus troopers restraining Tali pulled back and one trooper shot her in the leg. Shepard felt his body move on its own, trying to defend his lifemate. The trooper's had too firm of a grip. Bradley got back up and cradled his neck, smiling horribly. What parents raised this sicko?

Bradley leaned forward and stroked her cheek. She tried to bite it, but she couldn't. Bits of blood were left all around her mouth. "You are full of energy aren't you? I guess I'll have to restrain you for our pleasure session. Xen likes to call it interrogation, but I think you'll find it very entertaining." Shepard could hold back nomore as he saw him grip her buttocks. "GET YOUR FUCKING HANDS OFF HER YOU SICK PIECE OF SHIT!" Bradley immediately reeled back, as if examining his hands. He then turned to Shepard. As he moved forward, he executed a punch into his stomach, making Shepard winded. He didn't relent. He looked straight into Bradley's face and added his spit to Tali's, making itself welcome in his open mouth. He said with as much venom as he could as he looked at Bradley's wound, "I hope it hurt you sick asshole."

"Come on. I'm only looking for a good time. Noone owns this quarian." Shepard began to flare in anger again. Owns this quarian. He treats her like property. Having a good time, how dare he look for a good time in my lifemate. My wife. "Look for fun somewhere else. You touch my lifemate again, I'll rip your fucking hands off and make you eat them you sack of excrement. Noone owns her, she's a free woman, you'll treat her as such or-" Once again he was cut off as Bradley punched him in the face. Tali still struggled with her restrainers, but they were just too strong. Connor moved back to Tali, looking her in the eyes with a want, a lust. This asshole better not be thinking of what he thought he was...

Tali eyed her mask in Bradley's hand, and he noticed this. "You want this don't you pretty girl?" He then threw it towards Shepard, impacting his head and clattering on the ground. "Well, you won't need it for what I've got planned in your questionnaire. Come on boys, its time to do a little exploring." He motioned for the soldiers to follow him, dragging Tali along. The soldiers on his sides just dropped him where he stood. Tali gave him a glance of worry, concern and the one thing that hurt him the most: Terror. She was going to be raped, and he had to do something about it.

"TALI! NO!" He got up and ran towards the door. Before any could react, he grabbed one of his previous captors and reared the weapon to his jaw, pulling the trigger. The shot ignited his face, leaving clumps of blood and gore on the ceiling, he entire front portion of his face gone. Taking the rifle he shot his other captor in the chest. He turned to engage Tali's captors, but when he went to pull the trigger, nothing happened. He looked to see red streaks indicating sparks coming out of the weapon's stock. Sabotage. He threw the weapon away and charged, but only met a wall of tech armor as Bradley stepped in front of him.

He felt himself thrown away. "JOHHHHNNNNNNN!" Tali shouted desperately. He slammed into the wall, but immediately leapt up. His lifemate needed him, and he sure as hell wasn't letting this sicko exploit her. He charged forward again, but it was too late. Bradley and the rest of the squad, including Tali were behind the barrier, which reactivated. He charged into it, receiving only electrical charge. He looked into Tali's eyes one more time as she began struggling again. He saw two things; sorrow, the birth of tears. He began rustling around the room as he tried to find another way out, but it was hopeless. All he could hear was Tali's desperate cries fade into the background as he slumped to the ground, defeated.

Tears welled up in his eyes as Tali's cries for help, cries of desperation faded completely. He began to weep. I was meant to protect her, and I failed. Damn it! I FAILED! As Shepard looked at the ground, he noticed a shimmer from behind him. Looking backwards, he saw Tali's mask, left discarded on the floor. He crawled towards it and picked it up in both hands. He saw tears, his own, landing on the visor's interior, a testament to the quarian woman's fate. He hugged the mask tightly, as if it was his favourite teddy bear in childhood, and began sobbing into it.

I failed. And now, Tali's paying the price for it.

...

"How the hell do we rescue them if we have no idea where they are?" Jack asked, quite loudly. The whole crew was in the cargo port of Unastali. They had begun packing things onto a shuttle for transference to the Neema, which Malra had decided to lend to them to rescue Shepard and Tali. Garrus sighed. As Shepard's third-in-command, Garrus was in command of the crew. He sighed again, and turned to the angry, impatient human biotic.

"Simple, we scan every planet that Cerberus ever set up on. Sanctum, Ontarom, Noveria, Gellix, Benning all of them. Every single one." Jack's face creased in anger as she swivelled around and kicked a box nearby. Jacob and Miranda looked up from their work to see the commotion but after seeing Jack, they immediately returned to work. They were definitely not going to be involved in whatever was going on.

"So where going to search these planets one by one?" Jack asked. Garrus figured it was a rhetorical question, so he just nodded. Jack rolled her eyes and stormed off. As Garrus turned back around he heard Jack yelling at Conrad, "HEY YOU! YEAH YOU DICKHEAD! WHY DON'T YOU HELP ME WITH THIS SHIT!" He heard Jack throw more profanities at Conrad before it faded into the distance, leaving him smiling inside. A massive part of him still worried about what Cerberus was doing to Shepard and Tali. Torture? Interrogation? Execution? Public humiliation? There was any number of things they could be doing to them. He felt so hopeless that he couldn't help them.

He looked over at Joker and the rest of the non-combatant crew and immediately lost his smile. EDI was comforting Joker, while Chakwas and Samantha were talking about something he couldn't quite make out. Gardner was trying to cheer everyone up with food, but it obviously wasn't working, and Judy and Ellen were simply engaging in dialogue about Shepard's well being. Everyone was worried about their friends, their family. Garrus knew that when he encounted whoever now led Cerberus, he would place a bullet squarely between his or her eyes, without hesitation.

Without giving his surroundings a second thought, he crouched back down and motioned to lift the next crate. Sliding his arms under quickly, he lifted the crate up, utilizing his turian strength and then turned and began walking steadily towards the shuttle. This thing wasn't your standard kodiak, this thing was a heavy lifter. It was 5 times larger, slower, but was able to carry a crew of 50, even with it packed to the brim with large crates, equipment and munitions. It was built with a dropship in mind, but eventually got converted into a heavy lifter. By the look of the architecture, it looked like a reconfigured design used by the quarian's during the Morning War, most likely a Utilghd-class.

As he opened the door, he lay the crate down and slid it inside. The interior was basic, with clad colored walls and steel support frames. The cockpit was located far up front while behind them was seating, as it was originally designed for quarian aerial deployment troops. The rest was just complete open space. He hit the button to close again and had to duck and weave through quarian and geth workers before reaching his original area. He crouched to pick up his last crate when he felt eyes trained on his back, seeing right through him. He wanted to throw the feeling away as stupid, but he just couldn't. Unable to resist, his C-Sec training kicking into action, Garrus spun around.

He saw nothing at first, but then he noticed a single quarian, male by suit and sexual dimorphism, looking straight at him, at least 10 or 15 meters away. Garrus looked the quarian in the eyes, and for a second, he would have guessed he was just a kid, then he saw the fabric, or realk, or whatever they called it and his poster. An Admiral. Garrus saw the male approach and as soon as he stood in front of him, he snapped to attention. He may not be quarian or part of the quarian military, but he knew when to show respect. He always respected authority, and this quarian was an admiral, and quarian admirals must earn their place. Respect was earned. Xen was a different story though...

But this wasn't Xen. So he waited for the quarian to return his salute. But he didn't, instead he shook his head. "You're not quarian Garrus, so stop acting like it. If anything, I should salute you. Your a hero, I just order ships around, the bastard I am." The quarian chuckled. Garrus laughed as well, before regaining his posture. "Well, Admiral. I'm going to guess your Han'Gerrel? Admiral Han'Gerrel vas Rannoch?" The quarian nodded. "Yes indeed." Garrus' face creased in anger. "The one who almost blew up the ship Shepard was on." Han went to retort, but knew the turian was right, and looked at the ground in shame.

"Yes...well, that was, foolish of me. I was desperate and...I let my desperation get the better of me. I just wanted our people on the homeworld..." Garrus stopped him by holding his hands up, "Its okay Admiral, I forgive you, as has Shepard and Tali. Besides, here you are, Rannoch." Han looked up and smiled. "Please, do stop calling me Admiral. It's just Han, or Gerrel to people like you. Besides, the Admiralty Board as long been disolved. I'm techincally what you humans would call Chief of Staff, or Secretary of Defense. I control, quite literally, the entire quarian military, from ground forces to our naval fleets. Everything." Garrus nodded in astoundment. He also smiled inside at the thought of Hackett and Gerrel going back to back, arms crossed like gansters with "don't fuck with us" written all over their faces as the combined Alliance and Quarian fleets fly over their heads.

"Impressive. Not to be rude or curt, but did you come down here for a reason?" How much I sounded like James just then. Han nodded in understanding, "Not at all. I just noticed you were packing up for an op. Anything I should know about?" Garrus nodded, "As you already know, Shepard and Tali were kidnapped. Were launching a rescue op. Sweep through all known previously Cerberus occupied areas." Han nodded, "And I heard Malra lended her ship to you. Not common when she does that, Shepard really did grow on her, although I overheard him mocking her when he said, 'gentle soul.' She really is." Garrus wanted to laugh. Gentle Soul. Ha! When she caught me not moving the crates she specified on the Normandy, she started insulting me and telling me to hurry my ass up before she threw her boot up my ass. Gentle Soul indeed.

"He's our Captain, and Tali my sister. I won't abandon them in a time of need." Han nodded again, as if in agreement. "Yes, but sweeping those individual systems takes time. And what if you don't find him on either? Are you just going to search every individual cluster, system and planet?" Garrus didn't even hesitate when he nodded. Han considered this. Yes, its ready. It's definitely ready. "Rally your crew outside. I have a surprise for you." Without waiting for an answer, Han turned and went back outside, the sunlight dancing on his suit, basking its internal brightness upon him. Garrus simply shrugged and keyed his communicator, signalling everyone to meet outside the cargo port.

Once done, he followed Han outside. He noticed EDI and Joker walking past, Joker only beating his fast stride due to EDI's assistance. Everyone else, Samantha, Dr. Chakwas, Judy, Ellen, Gardner, Gabby, Adams and Ken, matched Garrus' walking pace as he followed Han, all giving the quarian defense minister the same look he was; curiosity. What did Gerrel have in mind? Once outside, he noticed the whole group outside and Gerrel had stopped in front of them. They all gave him curious glances as he began working his way through the crowd and towards the front.

He finally broke past Liara and James and emerged in front of the group. He looked up at Han, "Now what?" Gerrel nodded, "Follow me." Garrus nodded and turned to the crew, "You heard the man, let's go." Garrus' curiosity was peaked. What was so important that Gerrel had to keep it secret and it involved his whole crew? And why did he feel like it connected to Shepard and Tali's current predicament? The whole crew followed him like they were playing a game of 'follow the leader' or that popular human game, 'simon says.' They all followed him in what was close to being single file, but not quite. It was jumbled up mismatch.

For what seemed like a long time, the crew and himself followed Gerrel fast, making sure they didn't lose themselves in the quarian crowds. It wasn't along before they were travelling the outskirts of the city. Not towards Tali's house, but towards where the 'Reaper base' was during the Battle of Rannoch. It took them a good 5 minutes via Makos to get to the site, and once outside they were shown to the top of a hill where Gerrel stood.

"Over this hill, is one HELL of a surprise for you." Everyone's curiosity couldn't hold in, especially Joker's as he pushed EDI to her assistance limits as he rushed ahead. Once ontop, the look on Joker's face made it all the more better. "MY BABY!" Joker shouted. Garrus couldn't hold it no more. He ran up and was immediately welcomed by a beautiful site, one he thought he'd never see again. Everyone was absolutely flabbergasted, including himself. Words weren't needed, their looks told all, especially Han'Gerrel. He smiled at their looks of bemusement and continued to say loudly, "My friends, behold the..." He stopped as Joker filled in the words for him.

"...Normandy SR-3." He then immediately stopped talking. The ship was alot bigger than it was originally, MUCH bigger, it dwarfed the Normandy SR-2. It had thicker armor, more devices he didn't recognize and a bigger armament. This thing looked like a dreadnought on drugs, a Corvette-Dreadnought, the speed of a Corvette, the armament and armor of a Dreadnought. Garrus looked at his crew, "So, shall we test it?" Han laughed, "It's all yours. I'll tell Malra she can keep her ship now. I'll think she'll be as equally happy." He laughed further as they ran down the hill towards the SR-3. Yes, built by quarian and geth builders. He then keyed Garrus' comm as he walked off, "Hope you don't mind the jumble of quarian and geth crew." Garrus was out of his mind, "YES! Shepard and Tali are going to LOVE this!"

Han continued to smile as he walked back to Unastali. From not very far away, a very angry Xen was watching.

...

Tali struggled as the trooper lay her on the bed and cuffed her. Now tied to the bed, all Tali could do was watch as Bradley ordered his men to leave. I have to find a way out, and fast. I'm not letting this igra lay his hands on me. Help me John Please. She knew it was fruitless, even he couldn't hope to break through that barrier. Now she was deeply worried of what this man would do to her.

Bradley sadistically smiled as he looked at her body, up and down, as if inspecting her. "Good. You're the goddess of hips, I'll give you that. Time to work that G-spot of yours. If you quarians have one." Without even being careful, he began tugging at her lower suit straps. Her face lit up. Only John had been allowed to touch me this intimately, now I've got this igra exploiting me. I could do with a miracle. Ancestors guide John to my salvation, please! Before she knew, she had removed the lower portion of her suit and thrown it away. Everything below her waist was now exposed to this poor excuse of homo sapien. He nodded in impression as he looked at her. He shook his head, mockingly. "No, not enough. I think the whole suit has to come off." Before she could react, he removed the top portion of her suit, showing her breasts. He cupped them in his hands tightly. Oh that's it. Tali waited until he was close enough before grabbing his head with both her feet.

Before the soldier could even react, she twisted them sideways and in a blink, snapped his neck. Bradley's body crumbled to the ground in a heap. Immediately, she began working on the cuffs. They used similiar ones on the fleet, so she was alien to their design, she had been taught by her father how to break out of them. Working her magic, she managed to break out of one of them, and used her free hand to easily break out of the other. Cradling her saw wrists, she didn't waste time in retrieving the top portion of her suit and taking her time to strap it back properly. Once back she went to retrieve her waist section. Noticing Bradley's body, she prepared a large ball of spit, and landed it right in his face.

"That's for even touching me you bosh'tet." Tali moved and picked up her waist section, strapping it back into position, and quickly rechecking for any errors. She only realized now that she had no mask. I'll be getting sick soon. Her first objective was too free John, and then get out of this base and warn the republic of Xen's treachery. Probably ran off back to Rannoch to play innocent. Our friends will know were missing, they'll come for us. She grabbed the holstered sidearm on Bradley's waist, a M-358 Talon, and checked to make sure it was loaded. She was surprised when she found it fully loaded and Bradley holding thermal clips on his belt.

Strange that he would walk into a room, prepared to rape me, holding a fully loaded weapon. He really should have read my dossier. Cuffs won't hold me long. She smiled as she approached the door. She keyed the code to open it, but it didn't budge. "Please enter code." Tali clicked her fingers in her epiphany, something she learned from humans, and approached Bradley's body, snatching his keycard. She approached the door and waved the card over the console, and it registered. Beeping, the door opened as she stood right in front of it. She was met by the barrels of two Mattock heavy rifles, wielded by 2 Cerberus troopers. In front of her, another Cerberus soldier, much like Bradley, but higher in rank. A general by the look of it, he held a batton.

He clicked his tongue. She dropped the keycard and immediately levelled the pistol at the general's head. His name tag read, 'Major General Connor U. Faringar.' Keelah, I just killed his brother. "Very naughty, trying to escape. Not only is your attempt redundant, but I should be killing you right now. But Xen and our...leader wants you alive." Tali gripped the pistol steadily, "Move out of my way, igra. I'm going to get John and leave. You will not stop me." Connor laughed and frowned, "I'm not like my brother quarian. My brother was a moronic idiot, and I have to say, he deserved what you did to him. I was strongly considering doing that myself. Nice execution by the way. He really was a igra." Tali was shocked. Cerberus can speak khelish? No, this is all a trap. Their trying to delude me into a state of safety, don't fall for it.

Connor continued, "Come on, my boss is on the way, and I don't want to disappoint." Tali smiled smugly, "What a pity. I don't care about your pathetic life, your Cerberus, and you murdered thousands of people just to control the Reapers. Your monsters. Now, what have you done to John? If you've hurt him, I'll kill EVERY LAST one of you!" Connor rolled his eyes, "Xen was right when she said you were defiant. Your lifemate is fine, for now. But keep this up, and I might have to kill him." Tali wanted to consider dropping the pistol, but what if their lying? They most definitely must be. She had to ask though, "If I drop the pistol and surrender, will I return to John?" She just wanted to be in his arms. That, until rescue arrived.

Connor didn't even hesitate, "I promise, but only if you surrender. Now, drop the pistol and make it look like I captured you." Tali was surprised by this human's willingness to both help her and not help her. She had no choice but to trust him. She lowered the pistol and put her hands behind her head. Connor walked behind her and pointed his pistol into her back, the troopers taking his rear. She closed her eyes, expecting the pistol to fire and everything to go black, but it didn't. This human, Connor, Cerberus, kept his promise. For now at least.

She heard footsteps before finally a human in black uniform appeared in the doorway. She read the name tag, which read simply, 'Hawk.' The soldier looked like Kai Leng, but alot more intimidating. He had thicker muscle, he had numerous cybernetic implants coupled with the posture of a ex-N7 commando. His body glowed slightly, indicating biotics. Yes, Cerberus' new leader suited well. Damn it Tali, you're not here to review him, your here so you can get back to John! Hawk looked at Tali and smiled, evilly, "Ah, Captain Zorah, a pleasure to meet you."

Tali didn't take the preoffered hand. She ignored it. Seeing her reaction, Hawk pulled away, but he didn't look surprised. He simply kept smiling. "Yes, I do hope you enjoy your stay here, as you will be spending alot of time here. Possibly the rest of your life if your luck holds up. You and Shepard will make fine additions to Cerberus." Tali just laughed, "Trust me, Vido tried this crap, and he ultimately failed. I don't see you fairing any better." Hawk simply motioned his head to indicate she had a point. Not that she wanted his approval.

His posture indicated one of leadership, but something was nagging at her, telling her something wasn't quite right. She had to ask, "Are you Cerberus' leader?" Connor rolled his eyes at the quarian's answer, while Hawk gave her a examining look. "Of course he is you idiot..." Connor wasn't able to finish as Hawk butted in. "No, actually, I'm not. You see, I'm not fit to follow as leader, so someone else had to fill his place." Connor was flabbergasted, as was Tali and the troopers. "Then who's in charge?" Tali asked. Connor didn't object, he was just as curious, even though he should be subduing his prisoner.

Hawk smiled, "Allow me to reintroduce..." Tali frowned, Reintrodu-She didn't get to finish as the man walked into the doorway. Her mouth dropped. Impossible...He wore the same uniform, held the same cigar, and the same creepy eyes. The man smiled, "I AM Cerberus, Mrs. Shepard. I thought you had realized already that idea isn't so easily destroyed."

It was the Illusive Man.

Chapter was rushed. No time for translations, sorry :( But you probably know most of the words anyway.

"It is good that war is so terrible, lest we should grow fond of it."

- General Robert E. Lee