Chapter 31a: The Cerberus Coup pt1
Javik's room
Javik spent the last couple of hours reviewing and watching footage of the reaper's defeat on Tuchanka in his room. EDI offered her help, as she was also reviewing the footage to send to the Alliance and its allies…however the prothean refused as he did not trust the AI. He found it disturbing that Shepherd allowed an unshackled AI to roam freely around the ship; he was even more disturbed that the pilot harbored romantic feelings for it. Artificial Intelligence were the bane of organic life, he knew it from fighting the reapers and from his people's history.
Early in their development, the Protheans encountered a hostile machine intelligence which threatened to overwhelm them. To defeat the machines, the Protheans decided to unite all of the galaxy's sentient organic life under their empire. The other organic races were free to resist, but those that tried were crushed, and none ever managed to best the Protheans' might. In time, each of the subjugated races assimilated into Prothean culture and came to think of themselves as Prothean. United under a single cause, the Prothean Empire successfully held off the enemy machines in a conflict known as the "Metacon War".
"Enter asari…" Javik said. Liara came into his room, Javik scoffed…no doubt she wanted more information about his people. Her curiosity reminded him of the Alka, a race from his cycle…they valued knowledge…in fact it was the basis for their culture, the more one knew the better off they would be in their society. The Protheans saw value in that, and they were absorbed into the empire as keeper of prothean history and part of their intelligence division of the military. "You are here for more answers, yes?"
Liara shook her head. "No, just wanted to check on you…" she said. She came up to his side. "We're approaching the Citadel soon…why don't you get some air? It can't be too interesting being stuck on the ship"
Javik scoffed. "Your concern is not needed asari, my only purpose is to defeat the reapers" he said. "Anything else is nothing to me" Javik felt a change in her physiology, the asari felt sorry for him…again this cycle continued to confound him, in his cycle the feelings of one individual did not matter, only the good of the empire matter. The compassion, the races of this cycle value would be their downfall…to defeat the reapers they would have steel themselves.
"Of course…" Liara said sadly. She went to the door, knowing he want to be left alone. Before she walked through the door she looks back. "I hope you know Javik, you can talk to us anytime…this war is likely to be long and terrible; you're not alone…"
"You will learn, asari that comradery ultimately does not matter in this war" Javik said bitterly. "You will see all of them as potential threats…."
"Is that how you see us?" Liara asked softly. Javik did not answer. "I see…" Liara walked out of the room and Javik continued looking at the footage of Tuchanka.
Shepherd's Cabin
"Commander, we are getting close to the Citadel" EDI said. "Commander, please report to the bridge" Tali stirred awake, hearing the AI's message for Shepherd to get out of bed. She looked to her right and saw her naked lover asleep peacefully, it was tough for her to wake him up, due to this being the best sleep he's gotten since the war started. But they had a job to do, and went wake him up. Tali kissed his bare chest, and Shepherd stirred in his sleep.
"Wayne, it's time to get up, love" Tali said softly.
Shepherd groaned. "Yeah…Yeah…" he said annoyed. Shepherd kissed Tali's lips and got out of bed for a shower, while he was in the shower Tali checked her omni-tool once again to contact the Migrant Fleet. She had been checking Mass relay traffic reports…however most of the reports were about refugees or were no longer being track due to reaper forces. Shepherd came out of the shower and went to get dress, he saw Tali on her omni-tool. His eyes went wide, in his self-pity about Mordin's death he had totally forgot what Hackett told him.
"Shit, I almost forgot Hackett was finally able to get into contact with the Migrant Fleet" Shepherd said. "We'll go and see them after the meeting" Tali's eyes lit up and she pounced her boyfriend and gave him a deep kiss.
"Thank you, Wayne, Thank you, I was so worried about them" she said.
"Anything for my girl" Shepherd said with a smile.
Cockpit
"Son of a…" Joker complained. The Normandy approaches the Citadel but was not cleared for landing. Joker tries to contact someone inside the Citadel but there was no answer, which really frustrated him to no end. "This ridiculous, are they on a coffee break or something…?"
"It could be your charming personality, Jeff…" EDI said dryly.
"Way to support your boyfriend in his time of need…" Joker whined.
"I try…"
Joker shook his head and went to the comm. "Alliance control, this SSV Normandy, are we cleared to descend?" he asked irritated. "Alliance control, this is Normandy on Council business"
The door opened and Shepherd came in. "What's the holdup Joker? We should have been there minutes ago and Tali's complaining you wasting the Normandy's fuel"
"Don't look at me; I've tried to get through for a while now"
"System malfunctions then?" Shepherd asked.
"Even if that was the case they would have back-ups in place, and I am not sensing any malfunctions in the Citadel's system" EDI said.
Shepherd frowned. "Weird, check emergency channels" Joker nodded and pressed a button.
"Oh shit…" Joker said. "Message from Thane, Commander, it's bad, like shitstorm bad"
"Open it" Joker nodded and opened the file.
"Shepherd, we have a problem here, Cerberus troops are everywhere, they're in control of the docks" Thane said.
Shepherd and Joker looked at each other, the Citadel was one of the most secured places in the galaxy and the Council had made great strides to make sure nothing like the Battle of the Citadel every happen again. "Cerberus? Are you and Kolyat safe?"
"We're okay, I'm helping the refugees get to safety, Kolyat went ahead, said he was going to protect the council" he said. "After I'm finish here, I will go to C-sec headquarters"
"Why C-sec?" Shepherd asked.
"It's been compromised, as long as Cerberus is there they have the station"
Shepherd frowned; Thane was in the late stages of Kelphal's Syndrome he was not in top form to take on Cerberus directly. However Thane was right, as long as Cerberus was on the station they were a problem. The spectre sighed. "Just be careful, Thane, for your sake and Kolyat's"
"Understood" The com closed, and Shepherd walked away to get to armory.
"Joker get us as close to C-sec HQ as you can, we'll go by shuttle" he said.
"On it Commander" Joker said.
The Citadel is an ancient deep-space station, presumably constructed by the Protheans. Since the Prothean extinction, numerous species have come to call the Citadel home. It serves as the political, cultural, and financial capital of the galactic community. To represent their interests, most species maintain embassies on the Presidium, the Citadel's inner ring.
The Citadel Tower, in the center of the Presidium, holds the Citadel Council chambers. Council affairs often have far-reaching effects on the rest of the galactic community. Five arms, known as
wards, extend from the Presidium. Their inner surfaces have been built into cities, populated by millions of inhabitants from across the galaxy.
The Citadel is virtually indestructible. If attacked, the station can close its arms to form a solid, impregnable shell. For as long as the station has existed, an enigmatic race called the keepers has maintained it.-Codex
The Citadel was in chaos as the Kodiak flew through the presidium. C-sec was holding their own trying to force Cerberus back; however they were simply unprepared for the heavy arsenal the organization brought with them. About half way to their destination, they saw a turian C-sec officer and an Alliance officer taking cover behind a car as they faced off against Cerberus as they entered the plaza. The two groups traded shots until an Atlas came up on Cerberus' side, its right side started to spin and it smashed a car in front of them into the two men. They ran away only to be cut down by Cerberus guns. "My god, it's a warzone" Miranda said.
"But why is Cerberus here?" Liara asked.
"Doesn't matter, we need to get these bastards off the station" Shepherd said. The shuttle turned the corner into a corridor that lead to the C-sec customs. The hatch opened C-sec was currently in the middle of battle with Cerberus and was losing men quickly, the shuttle landed and as soon as the team got out, a Cerberus trooper slammed into the shuttle hard. A rough feminine voice yelled out.
"Bring it on, you fuckers!" Shepherd looked to his side and saw none other than Jack fighting off Cerberus, while protecting a wounded Bailey.
"Jack?!"
Jack summoned a biotic tendril from her glove, and swung it at the troopers…knocking them off ledges. More troopers came at her and she took cover. "Sup, Boy Scout, I would to shoot the shit with you but let's finish these bastards off first" Shepherd and team nodded and went to cover.
Liara used her singularity field to lift the troopers up and Shepherd blew them away with a warp field. Some troopers came near Miranda and fired at her she summoned her tech shield and blast them with her flamer. Jack threw shock waves at the troopers blowing them back, and then she took out her knife and charged it biotic energy and swung causing a shockwave. Shepherd took out his Blackstorm projector to suck in the Centurions and Engineer and exploded making them fall off ledges. With the help of Jack and Shepherd and his team, C-sec was able to push back Cerberus back, at least for now.
Shepherd went help Jack with Bailey, he was shot in the sides…not fatal but he was out of commission for a while. They went into the Customs office and sat him at a desk; the officers that weren't injured took their positions to look out for more troopers. "Shepherd, thanks for the save, I thought we were done for"
"No problem, you okay? You look like shit"
"Nothing medi-gel can't fix up" Shepherd looked at Jack, last he saw her she was in the middle of training her students in case the Alliance decided to deploy them.
"Jack, what are you doing here?"
Jack crossed her arms. "What do you think? Kicking these fucks of the Citadel"
"Where's Kelly and the kids?"
"Helping out with the refugees" she said. "Shit it's been crazy; I had a close call with Cerberus before coming here..." She later explained that a Salarian spectre in black armor helped her out when she was outgunned by Cerberus; Shepherd recognized who she was talking about...Jondum Bau the spectre he and Kasumi worked with on the hanar diplomat incident. Jack said after he helped, he went down to the wards to help C-sec while she went to help Bailey.
The ex-con shook her head. "Those fuckers are killing everyone in sight, mostly aliens" Jack said. "They've been capturing humans, for what I don't know…"
After being patched up, Bailey looked at Shepherd. "So what's the plan Shepherd? We're flying blind as long as Cerberus has the network" Bailey said.
"We take it back; Thane is heading to the headquarters now" Shepherd said. "After that, we help Kolyat and the Council"
"Thanks Shepherd, I was pretty worried about the kid, even though I know he can get the job done" he said. "Anyway, I'll open up the network, try to wiggle some control from Cerberus" He activated the console to get to work.
"Gecko is? He's pretty badass for being sick" Jack said. "So what are we waiting for? The sooner we kick Cerberus out of here, the sooner my kids will be safe"
Miranda raised a brow." You are coming with us?"
Jack crossed her arms. "Problem, Cheerleader?"
"No not at all, I just hope you can keep up with me"
Jack glowed blue. "That a challenge?"
Miranda glowed blue and smirked. "Afraid?"
"To a cheerleader bitch like you, hell no"
Bailey looked at them and raised a brow as he typed on the laptop. "Are they always like that?"
Shepherd shook his head. "You have no idea…" he said. "What do you got?"
"A warning from Valern, he was to meet the executor" he said. "Be on guard- the likelihood of betrayal from within is high… Not much else"
"I didn't know that, I came here for a meeting with Valern myself"
"Do you think this was what Valern wanted to talk about?" Liara asked. "He did mentioned Udina"
Miranda's glow disappeared and she looked at them. "I wouldn't doubt it, Cerberus has friends in high places, and Udina would be no exception" Miranda said.
"We can speculate all we want, but until we find Valern, it's all moot" Shepherd said. He looked at Bailey. "Where am I headed?"
"Chances are he'll be in the executor's office, it's fairly safe" Bailey said. He worked on his omni-tool. "We'll keep in radio contact"
Shepherd nodded. "Thane, I'm sure you heard all that"
"Yes, I'm nearing the building, but running is difficult. I'll try to get to you" he said. They go through the two doors behind Bailey, and see two Assault Troopers across the hall with their backs to them.
"Pre-emptive strike…" Miranda said.
"I got this" Jack said. She glowed blue and disappeared right on top of them and summoned some long biotic tendrils and slammed them against the two troopers, causing a small crater in the ground. "Looks like we got their attention"
"Looks like it, Showtime people" Shepherd said. Liara and Miranda nodded. Miranda used her snap freeze at a group of engineers and Jack shattered them with a biotic slash. Shepherd threw some lift grenades and suspended them in the air, while Liara blew them away with her warp field. More and more troopers landed and attacked the team.
"Good I was looking forward to kicking more Cerberus asses" Jack said with a smirk. "Hey Cheerleader, bet I kill more than you"
"You're on!" Shepherd and Liara shook their heads as the followed them into battle.
A more in-depth look at Kasumi, Miranda, Jacob, and Jack's Powers
Kasumi: Shadow strike, Flash bangs, Submission net, and Overload
Miranda: Warp, Slam, Flamer, Snap Freeze
Jacob: Biotic charge, Nova, Pull field, and incendiary ammo
Jack: Biotic smash, Biotic slash, Annihilation Field and Shock wave
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