Six Months later, New Calander Year of 2183
Location: General Oleg Petrovsky's office-SSV Albatross—Drifting near Sigma Depot-23
"General, if you recover this message my advice is screw the rachni, they're too smart. Use one of the other projects. Flores, signing off...for the final time."
General Petrovsky listened to the audio-log in silence as he stood hunched over his desk. Dima and Sveta were at perfect attention before him, presenting themselves for punishment like the perfect soldiers that they were. But this was not their failure. His eyes landed to the man and woman they flanked.
"This was all we recovered from Depot Sigma-23 after the Normandy crew detonated the station."
"This is unacceptable," Petrovsky said, feeling the soft finish of his desk give beneath his palms.
Armistan Banes was the only one to laugh as he waved his omni-tool over the small vid-screen in his office. "I think the word you're looking for is 'over', Ivan."
The anchor appeared next to the breaking news banner. "In today's top story, a pirated quantum entanglement transmission interrupted an Alliance Parliamentary meeting today and exposed an Alliance Black-op group named Cerberus...evidence in the transmission depicts graphic imagery of human experimentation as well as Illegal A.I and weapons research that breaks intergalactic laws...Alliance officials deny any involvement with Cerberus."
Years of working alongside Dima and Sveta made him accustomed to their automatic stiffening, he could see their fingers twitch across their holsters but good discipline held them still. What was even more amusing was Lawson's complete awareness of it all as she eyed the two of them speculatively. Only Banes was blissfully beside himself with joy.
But if he hoped to annoy Petrovsky with that perpetual smirk then he was dead wrong. The general's lip twitched first, quivering into a smile before laughter escaped from deep within his diaphragm. The laughs bellowed throughout his office, leaving no room for any other sound.
He watched the reporters hound the Alliance parliament members who ran from questions like a horde of rats. Defeat was not something to take lightly and surely punishments were due, but for the first time in many years Oleg was glad to be on the losing end. Elena had turned the spotlight on the shadow world, but all she really did was ring the bell on the first of many showdowns between the Alliance and Cerberus forces. There would be no more sticking to the shadows, with Cerberus out in the open conventional warfare would reign supreme, a true revolution could begin and they could openly recruit in earnest.
"I'm glad you find this so amusing," Miranda interrupted, bringing him back to the command of his office.
"For once your crazy friend is right," Petrovsky replied, ignoring the jab. "This is a warning shot. We would be stupid to continue our pursuit of Elena when she can so clearly broadcast our secrets to the galaxy."
"We can't let her run around with Cerberus research!" Miranda protested.
"Her research is already being duplicated and perfected upon at the Barn," Petrovsky informed, noticing every eye flinch at the new information. For once he was glad to know the Illusive Man still trusted him with top secret information. It was interesting to read her reaction; being left in the dark was not such a pleasant thing. "There is nothing left for us to do but resume our duties."
"General—" Miranda began.
"We reach the Citadel at 1500 hours, at that time both of you can await reassignment there," Petrovsky finished cutting her off and left no room for argument. "Make your final preparations. Dismissed!"
Dima and Sveta turned on their heels, he could see hints of matching smiles on their faces, glad all of this was over. Miranda looked as if she were trying to read the situation but Petrovsky gave her nothing but a hard stare. These two operatives had caused enough disruption from his task. Cerberus would need utmost focus if they wanted to maintain their espionage advantage now, no more chasing runaway science projects.
"Cheer up, Lawson," Banes began despite Petrovsky's glare landing on him. "At least this way we can keep an eye on Ivan's daughter, protect her from—"
Banes barely finished his words before the life was being choked from him. Petrovsky covered the distance so fast that no one had time to react.
The general could feel the cartilage contract beneath his beefy hands, but the smiling face of Banes didn't falter. He could hear Miranda yell at him to stop, but she was at a standoff between Dima and Sveta who had their guns drawn in his peripheral vision.
"Come on, Ivan. I thought you were stronger than that," Banes taunted as the darkness slid over his eyes, corrupted veins crept along his skin.
"You will never mention my daughter again," Petrovsky threatened, reluctantly releasing his hold when his palms started to burn. A normal man would've crumpled from asphyxiation yet Banes merely stood tall with glowing eyes and tendrils of pure black dark energy surrounding him.
It was not in Petrovsky's nature to pull a gun on an unarmed man, but he was close to making an exception. So close.
Miranda stepped between them, facing Petrovsky. "We will continue from here, General. With or without your support."
"You might want to listen to what the Illusive Man has to say before you make declarations Ms. Lawson," Petrovsky warned, nodding for Dima and Sveta to go as they hesitated near the door. "I've put my family at risk for this cause. How far are you willing to go?"
"As far as it takes," Miranda replied resolutely.
"That might not be far enough," Petrovsky spoke, glancing to Banes who was starting to revert back to normal. The energy surrounding him subsided and his eyes returned to normal blue, only the drops of blood from his nose showed any signs of a struggle.
Banes quickly turned with a wink and was the first one out of the office. When the others followed, Petrovsky was left alone with the news screen. Unlocking the secret drawer he was not allowed to have, he produced an expensive glass distilled vodka. Pouring himself a drink he raised a toast to the screen. "Well played, Elena. I'm proud of you."
Location: Lieutenant Commander Shepard's quarters—SSV Dublin, docked near Firebase Dagger—Ontarom
Liam nodded absently as he watched his little brother through the vid monitor. If there was one word to describe John it was haggard. Dark circles sunk his eyes, giving him away despite the pristine buzz cut of his hair and the crispness of his uniform. The first human spectre was in survival mode.
Most men would've crumbled after what happened on Virmire but John was determined to keep moving despite the significant loss. "We're heading to Ilos in order to find the conduit," John explained.
"Never saw you as one to break the rules, brother," Liam teased lightly. Though he never understood this thing with the beacon and the Protheans, the conviction in his brother's reports was unmistakable. If John said it was important then it probably was. But that didn't erase the loss. "How are you holding up?"
"The relay's coming up in two minutes and we might get disconnected. Tell Fi and mom that I love them," John said, a soft quality rising in his voice for the first time in decades.
Liam swallowed a lump in his throat. "I wish I could be there."
"There's a good group here," John replied, rubbing the back of his neck with a smile.
"You know what I mean," Liam prodded.
The static started to fill the screen as the younger Shepard looked down. "I should go."
"Good luck baby brother," Liam whispered as the screen fuzzed from the lost connection.
"Commander Shepard, Blitz is looking for you in the hangar bay," Traynor said over the intercom.
"Thanks Traynor," he replied, instantly sitting up and grabbing his gear. "How's the decryption coming along?"
"I'm working on your code from last night; we're at 30% overall decryption. The techs are poring over files detailing various reaper indoctrination devices."
Liam attached his Paladin to the metal clamp at his back before grabbing the Widow in its collapsed form. He wondered if any of this information might have helped John's case in front of the council, but the currently tattered reputation of the Alliance made him wary to give the council ammunition against them. "Keep me posted."
"Roger that."
In the hangar Vega inspected his shotgun mods. Glen prepped a Mako while the Casey was huddled in front of a familiar face.
"I thought you were on Earth?" He asked, knowing she was tethered to some cleanup job of shutting down old Cerberus locations.
Fi ignored him continued to argue with Casey. "I've tracked these fuckers for the past seven years, when I say there's a base under your noses I mean it." The small squad of marines behind her seemed new, too eager and shifty eyed to pay any attention to the Lieutenant arguing their case.
"Your sister thinks there's a Cerberus base on this planet, but her squad doesn't have mission orders or a permit," Casey explained. "I didn't want to drag the Captain into this."
"This cleanup is classified," Fi hissed. "I don't know how many times I need to say it."
"Whoa, alright, we hear you," Liam said, treading carefully around her hair trigger temper. "You just need permission."
"And it's just been granted," Dana's voice spoke from behind him. Everyone jumped to attention and saluted.
Dana returned it before addressing Fiona. "We scoured every inch of this planet and didn't find a single Cerberus base. If you want to wander the desert, be my guest."
"The base is underground, ma'am," Fiona answered, stealing a glance back to her squad. One glare from her put them back into a proper troop formation. "Those Cerberus fucks dug a hole in the ground and called it home for years. I wanted a cavalry but they gave me these guys."
Liam frowned in pity. After Akuze, Alliance brass wasn't keen on giving Fiona command of any good squads. Too bad for them, the N7 symbol on her chest plate meant they couldn't shut her out completely.
"You three will accompany her team," Dana said, looking to Vega, Casey and directly at Liam.
"Yes ma'am," Casey replied and hurried over to her locker. Vega, already armored, strolled towards the group of marines.
"Thanks for the assistance ma'am, I promise to have him back in one piece," Fiona teased before turning away. Liam followed but gave Dana an amused smile as he passed, one she returned.
Hours later they were storming the narrow corridors of an underground facility that extended forever. It was some sort of testing base, because three labs were already cleared out. But aside from heavy pockets of mercenary resistance, there was little sign of Cerberus involvement. Everything was scrubbed clean long ago and the place looked like it hadn't been fully used for some time.
Blitz rammed a biotic charge into the mercenary sniper across the room while Liam put a round into an enemy skull. Fiona held a biotic shield that protected them from the hail of incoming fire, allowing her grunts to finish off with their spray and pray technique.
When the last mercenary fell, Vega took point near the executive doors. At Fi's nod, he kicked it open and stormed in to a sight that stopped everyone dead.
The large office stretched far into the distance, flanked by imposing antique rifles from by-gone eras. In the middle of the room, directly atop a bear-skin rug, stood the last mercenary in what looked like painted-Alliance ground assault armor. He had a gun pointed to a terrified scientist.
"Weapon down!" Vega bellowed, but his shotgun was too far out of range for that threat.
The mercenary grabbed the scientist and mashed the barrel against his skull. "Please...please don't let him kill me!" the scientist pleaded.
"I have a clear charge," Casey said on their helmet comms.
"Negative!" Fiona yelled. Liam saw her arms shaking as she eventually lowered her pistol and removed her visor. "Toombs?" she called out.
"Fi, you know this guy?" he asked, not taking his sights off the mercenary.
The man named Toombs looked surprised, but let it last only a second before he shielded himself behind the scientist. "Shepard? My god, Shepard, is that you?"
"Corporal Toombs? But...I saw you die on Akuze. How did you get here?" Fiona stammered, raising her gun instinctively when the scientist screamed in pain.
"They took me, Shepard." Toombs tightened his arm around the poor man's throat.
"You...you can't prove any of this! This man is delusional," The scientist accused, pretty much wiping any shred of innocence he held when Liam got a good look at the Cerberus crest on his arm.
"Blitz, you see that?" Liam asked through their private comm.
"Oh yeah," she replied, "let me guess, bag and tag?"
"Everyone stand the fuck down," Fiona ordered, prompting her grunts to lower their weapons, but Liam kept his sights steady.
"Sorry, sis, but that scientist is a high value target," Liam replied, positioning his crosshairs over Toombs. "We'll play to your tune but I won't hesitate to end your friend."
"They were running tests on the Thresher Maws. They let those things hit us just to watch and study," Toombs explained, oblivious to the dilemma he was putting Fiona in.
Liam could see the other man's gun hand shaking as he lost himself in the recollection, his jaw tightened in recognition of the symptoms. "He's unstable, Fi, be careful."
"You'd be unstable too after Akuze," Fiona shot back as she inched forward. "Toombs, let the lab rat go. We'll fry his ass in court."
"I woke up in a holding cell just down the hall. These sick bastards were delighted they had someone to run tests on," Toomb explained, letting the recollection get to him.
Fiona deliberately moved into his line of sight as she tried to talk Toombs down. "What the hell are you doing?" Liam ground out, unable to get a good vantage point.
"I got her six, Loco," Vega assured as he moved up, shotgun drawn.
"I—I didn't see anybody. If I'd seen you, I would've come back for you. I swear," Fiona almost pleaded.
"I demand a fair trial! This man has no proof," the scientist protested.
"She was there you bastard!" Toombs jammed the gun right against his captive's temple. "She knows the truth!"
"Put the gun down, let me deal with him," Fiona ordered, making every effort to block Liam's sights.
"They're part of some organization. Cerberus I think, they run tests like this. They treated me like a lab animal!" Tombs yelled, quivering with rage. Liam didn't need to see him to know he was at the breaking point. "This man deserves to die, Shepard. For you, for me, for everyone else in that unit. Are you with me?"
"Toombs, you don't have to do this. It's not the only way!" Fiona reasoned. Liam knew it was too late when the Mercenary stilled. He didn't look like someone who would surrender quietly.
"It is for me," Toombs replied. The shot pierced the air before Liam could shove his sister out of the way. Vega and Casey were too stunned to react as the scientist crumpled to the floor, missing half his brain matter and taking any Cerberus secrets with him to the grave.
Liam lowered his rifle in defeat. "You idiot."
"I avenged them, Shepard," Toombs said, completely ignoring Liam as he appealed to his sister. "Our unit can finally rest in peace."
Fiona seemed to recover as she moved away from Liam and held both hands out to stop Vega and Casey. "Give me your gun, Toombs. It's over. They won't hurt you anymore."
"The vids say you were the sole survivor of Akuze." Toombs smiled with a shrug. "Who am I to argue?"
The second shot sprayed everyone with blood as Toombs took his own life.
With another casualty on the floor, Liam knew they were working on borrowed time. "Vega, Casey, secure as much intel as you can from this base. Fi's squad has to bring in everything they find, so get a move on it."
"Got it, Loco. What about them?" Vega asked, nodding to the grunts who stood in a loose gaggle near the doorway.
"Forget them, go." Liam knelt down beside his sister who clutched at Toombs' dead hand. "Fi, I'm sorry."
"Go and get whatever you need," she said mechanically as she donned her helmet again.
"Are you sure?" He wanted to stay and know she would be okay, but Fi was having none of that.
"We can't help him now," she replied, before slowly rising to her feet and addressing her squad. "I want all bodies in bags, ready for transport. Don't touch the tech."
"Thanks sis," Liam said into his comm as he plugged into the nearest terminal and dug for any trace of Cerberus experiments he could bring back.