Chapter 3: Old Faces, New Faces
My eyes adjusted remarkably quickly to the dim lighting. I tried not to think that this was courtesy of all those gadgets Cerberus stuck in me, focusing instead on the Illusive Man. Fancy, expensive suit. Perfectly symmetrical features. Close-cropped brown hair. Steely blue eyes. I paid particular attention to that last one. The more I looked, the more I saw what looked like circuitry glowing in his irises. Maybe they were prosthetic. Maybe it was my imagination. All I knew was that it looked damn creepy. About the only thing that made him look inhuman.
Of course, I wasn't about to admit that, verbally or otherwise. Show fear to your enemies, and they'll walk all over you in a nanosecond. "I thought we'd be meeting face-to-face," I said casually, crossing my arms.
TIMmy smiled politely. "A necessary precaution. Not unusual for people who know what you and I know."
"And what exactly is it that 'you and I know?'" I prompted.
"That our place in the galaxy is more fragile than we'd like to think," TIMmy responded immediately. "That one man—one very specific man—may be all that stands between humanity and the greatest threat of our brief existence."
"Wait... let me guess..." I paused for a moment. "The Reapers." Despite all the changes that had happened during my enforced nap, I suspected that their existence was still classified. I also suspected that TIMmy wouldn't be dissuaded by a little annoyance like that.
I was right. "Good to see your memory's still intact," he smiled again. "How are you feeling?"
"Cut to the chase," I dodged the question. "What are the Reapers doing that made you decide to bring me back?"
TIMmy stood up and walked towards me. "We're at war. No one wants to admit it, but humanity is under attack. While you've been sleeping, entire colonies have been disappearing. Human colonies. We believe it's someone working for the Reapers. Just as Saren and the geth aided Sovereign. You bested all of them two years ago. That's just one reason we chose you."
And the other reasons were... what? "You do realize you chose a dead guy, right? I mean, you could have trained an entire army for what you spent to bring me back," I pointed out.
"You're unique," TIMmy responded, pointing a finger towards me. "Not just in ability or what you've experienced, but in what you represent. You stood for humanity at a key moment. You're more than a soldier—you're a symbol."
Story of my life.
"And I don't know if the Reapers understand fear, but you killed one. They have to respect that."
Somehow I doubted that. The Reapers seemed too weird, too... too alien to fathom. "If this is a threat against humanity, why don't you present your evidence to the Alliance? Get them to mobilize their fleets and check it out?"
TIMmy shook his head. "They suffered substantial losses fighting Sovereign. They're still rebuilding, still stretched too thin to waste resources verifying the Reaper threat. Blaming the abductions on mercs and pirates is easier. And more convenient."
"And that's where you come in?" I asked sceptically. "Out of the goodness of your heart. Fighting a war doesn't seem like Cerberus. Why are you involved?"
"We are committed to the advancement and preservation of humanity," TIMmy said calmly, yet proudly. "If the Reapers are targeting us, trying to wipe us out, Cerberus will stop them. If we wait for politicians or the Alliance to act, no more human colonies will be left."
"Putting aside your differences with the Alliance, this doesn't make any sense," I shook my head. "Sovereign was trying to harvest all life in the galaxy. Now the Reapers decide to target a few human colonies instead and ignore everyone else? Why? And why didn't anyone pick up on this?"
"Hundreds of thousands of colonists have vanished," TIMmy replied. "I'd say that fits the definition of 'harvesting.' Nobody's paying attention because it's random and the attacks occur in remote locations. I don't know why they've suddenly targeted humanity. Maybe you got their attention when you killed one of them and demonstrated humanity's true potential."
Flattery will get you nowhere, I thought to myself. Aloud, I simply said "Do you really expect me to believe that what you say is true? That humanity is specifically being targeted? And that the Reapers are behind it?"
TIMmy smiled yet again. "I'd be disappointed if you accepted any of this without seeing for yourself." He turned around and walked back to his chair. "I have a shuttle ready to take you to Freedom's Progress, the latest colony to be abducted."
He sat back down before continuing. "Miranda and Jacob will brief you. They'll also be providing backup on this mission."
"Is this a volunteer job, or am I being volunteered?"
"You always have a choice, Shepard," he replied. "If you don't find the evidence we're both looking for, we can part ways."
He seemed awfully confident that I'd trip over something. That or he was holding something back. Either way, I was pretty sure that he wouldn't let me go so easily. Not after spending four billion plus creds and two years on me.
"But first, go to Freedom's Progress," TIMmy repeated. "Find any clues you can. Who's abducting the colonies? Do they have any connection to the Reapers? I brought you back. It's up to you to do the rest."
With that, he tapped a console. The large room shimmered away, replaced by the small room I originally stepped in and that grid of light, lowering itself into the floor.
Just as well that he cut the connection. I wouldn't want him to see me agreeing to check it out.
Damn this curiosity of mine.
"The Illusive Man is very impressed with you," Miranda said when I returned. She was tapping away at a console, working on what looked like a sitrep. "I'm eager to see if you can live up to his expectations on this mission."
I smiled noncommittally. "I never got the chance to thank you for saving my life."
"I just hope it was worth it," she replied bitterly. "Too many people lost their lives on that station."
She glared at me. "Good people."
I recalled her earlier words on how everyone was expendable. So much for that. "Something you want to say?" I asked. "We have to work together for the time being, and it sounds like you have a problem with that."
"I have the utmost respect for your abilities, Shepard," Miranda replied. "It's your motivations that concern me."
"Motivations?"
"I believe in what Cerberus stands for. Only time will tell if you prove to be an asset or a liability to our cause."
Well, she wasn't willing to blindly trust me just because her boss said so. I had to give her that much, at least. "Speaking of Cerberus, you guys spent two years bringing me back. I'd like to know more about the Lazarus Project from the person in charge, if you don't mind."
"Two years and twelve days," she corrected. "And I wasn't in charge—the Illusive Man was. If I was running the show, we'd have done a few things differently."
"What would you have changed?"
"To start, I would have implanted you with some type of control chip," she admitted. "But the Illusive Man wouldn't allow it. He was afraid it might affect your personality, alter your character somehow. He wouldn't let us do anything that might limit your potential in any way."
"Can't say I like the idea of being brought back to life with a control chip in my brain," I said dryly.
"Without that chip, we have no way of knowing what you might do. You could go berserk and we'd have no way of stopping you." Miranda sighed and shook her head. "The Illusive Man is taking an incredible risk with you. I just hope his gamble pays off."
"Tell me about yourself," I prompted.
"Worried about my qualifications? I can crush a mech with my biotics or shoot its head off at a hundred yards. Take your pick."
"Actually, I was trying to get to know you as a person," I admitted.
"I'm not here to make friends, Shepard," she replied. "Stay focused on the mission."
All right. Let's play it your way, I thought. For now. "Did you and Jacob serve together in the Alliance?"
She shook her head. "No. The Illusive Man recognized my potential and recruited me at a young age."
"How old were you?"
"Old enough to know this was what I wanted," she replied.
Guess she wasn't going to tell me her life story any time soon. "What can you tell me about this colony we're going to?" I asked instead.
"Freedom's Progress?"
I nodded.
"It's a typical human settlement out in the Terminus Systems. They had a small military force for protection supplemented by mechs and security drones. Average in almost every way, really. Completely unremarkable... until the disappearances."
"Any thoughts on what we might run into there?"
She shrugged. "A lot of empty buildings and one giant mystery."
I waited for her to continue, but apparently that was it. "You're not much for idle chit-chat, are you?" I finally said.
"We've got an assignment, Shepard," she replied, turning her attention back to her console. "We can either talk about it or we can do it."
"Fine," I said. "I'll give you five minutes to wrap up what you're doing before we go 'do it.'."
"It'll be done in three."
"Deal." I paused before adding "Miranda? For the record, I regret that so many of your colleagues gave up their lives."
She looked up at me for a moment, as if gauging the sincerity behind my words. "Much appreciated," she said at last.
"I'm glad the Illusive Man convinced you to join us, Commander," Jacob greeted me when I walked over to him.
"I just want to find out what happened to those missing people," I replied. "So I'll work with you guys for now, but I haven't joined you. I still don't trust Cerberus."
"Noted." Jacob paused before asking "Do you trust me, Commander?"
Good question. He seemed decent enough, but still... better to dodge the question for now. "You're a good man, Jacob. But you might be working for the wrong people."
"Maybe," Jacob said. "But I thought the same when I was with the Alliance. That's why I'm here now."
Curious.
"I remember you talked about your service. Five years, right?"
Jacob nodded. "Five years in total. Stationed all over the galaxy. Even spent a couple of years as a Corsair."
That didn't ring a bell. "I've never heard of the Corsairs," I admitted.
"It was an Alliance initiative. They hired independent starship captains and used them for missions that fell outside official Alliance jurisdiction. Technically, we weren't part of the Alliance. If we ever got caught, they could disavow any knowledge of us."
Ah. Must've been codeword stuff. (1)
"We were supposed to be free from restrictions and rules, but there was still enough red tape to sink a cruiser," Jacob said bitterly. "I finally just gave up."
"Was that why you joined Cerberus?" I asked.
"Yeah," Jacob sighed. "I guess I just got tired of never making a difference. So much of what we did in the Alliance seemed pointless. I thought things would change after the attack on the Citadel. Humanity was finally invited to join the Council.
"But nothing changed. Politics. Bureaucracy. Same bullshit, different leaders," Jacob spat. "Cerberus is different. When colonies go missing, we don't commission a team to write a report to figure out what the hell to do about it. We just go and find out."
"Speaking of finding out about missing colonies, do you know anything about Freedom's Progress? The colony we're going to?"
Jacob shook his head. "Aside from the name, not really. I guess we'll find out when we get there."
"Then let's get going," I decided.
Before we hopped on the shuttle, Jacob and Miranda took me to the station's armoury. They restricted themselves to two weapons each—a shotgun and heavy pistol for Jacob, and a submachine gun and heavy pistol for Miranda. Unlike the Alliance, it looked like Cerberus didn't believe in saddling its operatives with extra weapons just for dead weight.
As for me, I got four weapons. Just like before I got spaced. I got to keep my heavy pistol and grenade launcher. I was a bit uneasy about handling a heavy weapon that I'd never had any formal training in. I mean, would you slap a weapon in some random stranger's hand and trust that he or she could use it properly? Still, it seemed easy enough. Just point-and-shoot. And I had a feeling that it could come in handy.
I was also issued a submachine gun. Another weapon class that I had no familiarity with. From the sounds of things, it would be good for unleashing a hail of bullets at rapid-fire speed, but without the recoil and accuracy issues that a newbie like me would face.
The last weapon was something that I'd been aching for since the beginning: a sniper rifle. Different make and model than anything I'd seen before, but at least it was something familiar. And in a crazy universe where everything—from allies and enemies to weapons and hacking routines—had suddenly gone topsy-turvy, I really needed something familiar.
The hardest part was figuring out which hardsuit to wear. Or what kinda goodies to put in it.
I should probably explain that.
To start, I had a choice of sticking with the N7 armour I'd worn when I busted out of the Lazarus Station or something called the Cerberus Assault Armour. The latter was designed to take a disgusting amount of damage and held a rechargeable power pack designed to extend the use of power cells—handy if you wanted grenade launchers and other fancy weapons to last a little bit longer.
Now you'd think that that added protection and firepower would be attractive, given that I'd just returned from the dead. I suppose there were two main reasons why I put it aside. One, it was damn heavy. After putting it on, I worked up a sweat just walking around the room. I didn't want to think about how much effort it would take to move on the battlefield, or how easy a target I'd become.
The other reason was that it sported a couple Cerberus symbols. One on the helmet, right where my forehead would be, the other under my collarbone. I wasn't looking to become a walking advertisement, thank you very much.
So that left the N7 armour. Apparently it was designed to be modular, with interchangeable helmets, chestpieces, gauntlets, shoulder pauldrons and leg plates that could be swapped in and out to make a customizable set of armour unique to the preferences of the user.
Same with the Kestrel armour, though it wasn't really armour per se. Rather, it was a complete set of helmet, chest plate, shoulder plate, gauntlets and leg pieces that was completely compatible with the N7 armour. In short, I could mix and match pieces between the Kestrel armour and the N7 armour any way I wanted.
Jacob later told me that shops throughout Citadel Space and the Terminus Systems sold individual components that were also compatible with the N7 armour, thus extending my range of choices. For now, I'd have to settle for this.
After some thought, I swapped out the N7's default shoulder pauldrons, gauntlets and leg plates for the Kestrel equivalents. That would boost my weapon damage by 3%, my shields by 19%, my heavy weapon ammo capacity by 5% and my overall physical strength by 10%. I declined the helmet because, well, it looked a little too weird for me. As for the chest plate, it would cover up the N7 logo. I really needed something familiar to hang on to, even if it was just a painted letter and number. (2)
Not that I would admit that out loud, of course.
Once we were all geared up, we headed for the shuttle. We weren't joined by any pilot. Instead, the onboard VI got the shuttle to lift off and enter FTL as soon as we buckled in. Someone must have uploaded the location of Freedom's Progress to the shuttle's nav computer.
The trip took an hour, most of which was spent in silence. Miranda finally broke the ice when we dropped out of FTL. "We should be there shortly, Shepard. The Illusive Man put us under your command. Do you have any orders?"
I shook my head. "Not yet. But I do have questions. What did you find at the other colonies?"
"Nothing," Jacob replied. "No signs of attack, no corpses. Not even a trace of unusual genetic material to give us a clue. They just... disappear, and we've got no target to go after."
"Not even any data? Vid-logs, sensor readouts, anything?"
"None."
"Then what makes you think this investigation will turn up anything new?" I asked.
Jacob handled the answers again. "At other colonies, official investigators got there first. Sometimes looters or salvage teams as well. We're hoping to be the first ones there this time. Maybe find clues before somebody else disturbs the scene."
And now for the big one: "Are you sure you'll be comfortable following my orders?"
Naturally, it was the ex-Alliance soldier who responded. "We didn't bring you back from the dead just to second-guess you, Commander. If the Illusive Man says you're in charge, you're in charge."
I was half-expecting Jacob to salute me on the spot. I glanced over to Miranda, who was staring at me intently. It was like she was letting Jacob answer the questions while observing what questions I asked and how I responded. Like she was trying to figure me out or something. Good luck with that. I might have spent two years on the operating table, but I'd spent a career before that lying through my teeth.
"Enough questions for now," I said. Looking out the viewport, I could see that we had entered atmosphere. Since we'd be landing any minute, now was the time to give the orders. "Our first priority is to look for survivors."
"That's unlikely, Commander," Miranda finally spoke. "No one was left at the other colonies. They were completely deserted."
"Be nice to find somebody," Jacob said. "Anything's better than another ghost town."
"Well, let's keep our eyes open," I shrugged. "Just in case there was a surviving eyewitness that could shed some light on what happened. It sounds like that's the only way we'll get any intel."
By that point, the shuttle was on final approach to the landing site that the VI had picked for us. As soon as it landed, we popped out. The thrusters were still winding down as we took our first look at Freedom's Progress.
The buildings were spread out over a wide area slathered in concrete. They were illuminated by overhead lights, their metal walls and doors gleaming. Standard pre-fab stuff. Crates were scattered around. It was quiet. And empty. Not a soul in sight.
After a minute, I got bored and started moving. Miranda and Jacob followed me into the first building. The lights were off at first, but they flickered on when the motion sensors detected our presence. A nearby table held a couple platters of food and a pitcher.
"Looks like everyone just got up and left right in the middle of dinner," Jacob observed.
I led them out of the building and down some stairs into a courtyard filled with more crates. The only thing of note was a door built into a rock outcrop. Mostly because there was nothing else worth seeing in here.
"Aside from the fact that no one's home, you'd never know Freedom's Progress was attacked," I commented.
"Strange," Miranda agreed. "No bodies. No structural damage. No signs of battle."
"Uh huh," I murmured absently. I was tweaking my hardsuit's sensors, trying to pick up anything notable. Anything... hello.
Next to the door was a pile of salvage. Most of it was useless, but my sensors were detecting a couple spare parts that could be salvaged for credits. I picked them up, shrugged, and put them in a side pocket. It didn't look like much, but loot was loot.
Without anything else to grab my attention, I activated the door controls. As the doors lowered, I noticed a pair of LOKI mechs. They were just standing there, motionless. Until we stepped forward. Naturally, they chose that moment to turn towards us.
"Combat systems engaged," they announced pleasantly as they raised their pistols and opened fire.
As we ducked for cover, I heard a strange low-pitched electronic warble.
"Hear that," Jacob asked Miranda. "Sounds like FENRIS mechs."
"That's odd," Miranda frowned. "Security was disabled at the other colonies."
So I got stuck in the one colony that was the exception to the rule. Typical.
I leaned out, just far enough for my sensors to get a good scan. Ducking back, I looked over the sensor readouts...
...and cursed. They had armour. This would be harder than I thought.
At some point, people started figuring that standard-issue hardsuits just wouldn't cut it. So they started adding extra stuff so they couldn't be manipulated by biotics or hacking or whatnot. Which meant that other people had to start developing countermeasures. To deal with electronically-generated shields, you had to whittle them down with rapid-fire weapons or overload them with tech attacks. Biotics were fond of generating protective barriers, but they could be defeated by rapid fire or certain biotic attacks that explosively reacted with any mass effect fields.
As for armour? Offensive biotic abilities, high-impact single shots or good ol' fashioned fire would work just fine. Time to try the plasma function on my omni-tool.
I popped back out and triggered my omni-tool. A small ball of plasma arced over and hit one of the mechs, splashing it with radiant fire. Then I reached over my shoulder. By the time I pulled out my sniper rifle, the plasma round had melted away the armour plating. Activating the disrupter ammo mod on the rifle, I zoomed in, lined up a shot and fired.
Perfect headshot. I still got it.
"This unit is not designed to handle specialized ammo," the remaining mech said, just before its head exploded. "Yes!" Miranda cheered.
"Look out!" Jacob yelled. Three more LOKI mechs were sneaking on our right flank. Thankfully, Jacob had given us enough warning to find some more cover.
Miranda and Jacob opened fire. I didn't, occupied with the sensor readings that were displayed on my HUD. If I was reading this right, there were five enemies in front of us. So where were the other two?
My answer came shortly as a pair of quadruped dog-like mechs trotted out. They kinda looked like varren. Well, if varren had shiny metal skin and a blunt-ended panel with red status lights instead of jaws.
Dog. FENRIS. Got it.
"Anything I should know about these FENRIS mechs?" I called out as they charged towards us.
"They generate EMP blasts that will disable your shields and can cause severe concussive injuries," Miranda said, warping one of the FENRIS mechs with a biotic burst. "Shoot them before they take out your shields."
I took a shot, cursed, and then put away my sniper rifle. They were moving way too fast for me to get a good shot. Seeing that my omni-tool had generated a fresh plasma charge, I fired it at the closest FENRIS mech, pulled out my pistol and finished it off.
Meanwhile, Miranda and Jacob were tag-teaming the remaining puppy. Jacob surrounded it with a biotic field that lifted it up into the air, and then Miranda sent a biotic bolt into the field. As soon as the bolt touched it, the field exploded, turning the FENRIS mech into shrapnel.
Then the three of us turned our attention to the LOKI mechs. They had eschewed any kind of cover, deciding to walk towards us while firing their pistols. If there were more of them, we might have had a problem. Since there were only two, their lack of any tactical programming sent them to an early silicon grave.
"Those mechs shouldn't have fired at us," Jacob frowned. "They should have recognized us as human."
"Someone reprogrammed them to attack on sight," Miranda deduced. "We're not alone here."
Great.
Ejecting my thermal clip, I started hunting for fresh ones to add to my collection, which I suspected would start dwindling. I didn't find clips in any of the nearby buildings, but I did find a med-kit, a wall safe full of creds and some more spare parts to salvage.
Oh, and I also bumped into another pair of mechs. But we took them out without any problems.
The next building was a bit surprising, in that there were actually people inside. Not humans, though, which was funny for a human colony.
They were quarian.
"Stop right there!" one of them yelled, lifting his assault rifle. The three of us raised our pistols in response.
"Prazza, you said you'd let me handle this," a female quarian said, moving in front of him and pushing his weapon down.
That voice...
She turned around to face me. "Wait..."
Was that...
"Shepard?"
...Tali?
"I'm not taking any chances with Cerberus operatives," the first quarian insisted, raising his weapon again.
"Put those weapons down," the female quarian snapped. "Shepard?" she whispered. "Is that... you're alive?"
Definitely Tali. I'd recognize her voice anywhere.
"Fancy bumping into you all the way out here," I said casually. "Don't tell me you're still on your Pilgrimage? What, that geth data I gave you wasn't enough?" (3)
"No, it was," Tali reassured me. "Prazza, weapons down," she ordered, turning back to the first quarian. "This is definitely Commander Shepard."
To my relief, he did. "Why is your old commander working for Cerberus?" he asked.
"I'm not sure," Tali admitted. "Maybe we should ask."
"I nearly died when the Normandy was destroyed," I said when she turned back towards me. "Cerberus spent the next two years reviving me, then told me about a bunch of attacks on human colonies. None of this was my idea, but..." I shrugged. "What can I say? I was curious."
Tali shook her head. "As if I needed any more proof you're Shepard..."
"A likely story," Prazza scoffed, crossing his arms. "No organization would commit so many resources to bring back one person."
"You haven't seen Commander Shepard in action, Prazza," Tali said. "Trust me, it was money well spent."
"Perhaps we can work together," she tentatively suggested to me. I motioned for her to continue. "We're here looking for a young quarian named Veetor. He was here on Pilgrimage."
I scratched my head. "Why a remote human colony out in the Terminus Systems? Citadel space isn't that unwelcoming to quarians, are they?"
"It's not that. Quarians can choose where they go on Pilgrimage. Veetor liked the idea of helping a small settlement. He was always..." Tali paused, trying to find the best way to put it. "He was always nervous in crowds," she finally decided.
Prazza was a little more blunt. "She means that he was unstable. Combine that with damage to his suit's CO2 scrubbers and an infection from an open-air exposure, and he's likely delirious."
"When he saw us landing, he hid in a warehouse on the far side of town. We suspect he also programmed the mechs to attack anything that moved."
Great.
"That would explain the greeting party we encountered earlier," I agreed. "If the last few buildings we've seen are any indication, Veetor's the only one who can tell us what happened here. But thanks to his tinkering, we'll have to go through the mechs first. Our chances of success would be a lot higher if we worked together."
"True. We'd need two teams to get past the drones, anyway," Tali agreed.
Drones as well? Aw, crap.
"Now we're working with Cerberus?" Prazza piped up.
"No, Prazza, you're working for me," Tali snapped. "If you can't follow orders, go wait on the ship."
"Any ideas on how to proceed?" I asked before things got ugly.
"Head for the warehouse through the center of the colony," Tali suggested. "We'll circle around the far side and draw off some of the drones to clear you a path."
"Sounds good," I nodded. As the quarians prepared to depart, I lifted a hand. "Before you go... you guys really don't like Cerberus. What did I miss?"
"They killed our people, infiltrated our flotilla, and tried to blow up one of our ships," Prazza seethed.
"That's not how I'd have explained it, exactly," Miranda objected. "It was nothing personal."
So much for things not getting ugly. I was starting to see why TIMmy put me in charge.
Before Prazza or any of the other more hot-headed quarians could react, Jacob stepped in. "We can argue over who killed who later. Right now, we've got a job to do."
"Agreed," Tali said. "We work together to get to Veetor."
"Make sure to keep in contact," I told her, transmitting our comm frequency to her omni-tool.
"Will do," Tali confirmed. "Good luck, Shepard. Whatever happens... it's good to have you back."
With that, the quarians left. We departed a minute later.
The door we used to exit the building led to a ramp that connected to another building. As we walked along it, the comm clicked on.
It was Tali. "Be careful, Shepard. There's a squad of security drones up ahead."
We could see them swooping over us, touching down on the far side of the building we were about to enter. "Thanks for the warning," Jacob replied for us. "We'll take care of them."
First we had to search this building and clear it of any hostiles. There was only a lone LOKI mech, which we shot to pieces before it powered up and got to its feet. Then I swiped everything of value that I could find. Just like old times.
Having done that, I stepped outside. I felt a weird tingling sensation on the back of my neck. The last time that happened...
Aw, crap.
I ducked, just in time to avoid a rocket. As it swooped by overhead and exploded harmlessly in the distance, I cautiously lifted my head. There were a bunch of drones, assault and rocket, flying around. If they were smart, they would've swooped directly overhead, where they could get a clear shot at us. Instead, their limited VIs were content to take pot shots at us from a distance.
Rather than complaining, we took shelter behind some cover and started firing back. After a minute, we'd taken out a rocket drone and two assault drones. Things were going pretty well, all things considered.
Then a rocket exploded next to me.
As my shields dropped precipitously, I looked around. A rocket drone and an assault drone had landed on the roof of a tower, well over our heads. You'd think I would've learned not to think things like that. Of course, I had been out of it for two-plus years. Stifling a curse, I lifted my submachine gun at the rocket drone. I was just about to fire, when its shields exploded in a hail of sparks. Courtesy of Miranda, I later found out. Without its shields, it only took a couple rounds to knock it out. "One left," Miranda said, consulting her own sensor readings.
She was right. Between the three of us, we managed to destroy it in short order.
Just as the drone exploded, Tali contacted us. "Shepard," she said. "Prazza and his squad rushed on ahead. I told them to wait, but they wouldn't listen. They want to find Veetor and take him away before you get here!"
Miranda shook her head. "We should have expected this."
"Come on," Jacob urged. "We can still catch them."
We hurried through another building and started down a flight of stairs. Just as we hit the halfway mark, another swarm of drones swooped down. (4)
By this point, we'd figured out a system for dealing with the drones. First priority went to any drones that were flanking us—rocket drones first. If there were no drones sneaking around, take out the rocket drones. No rocket drones—move to assault drones. If there were no drones left, eject partially spent thermal clips—nothing worse than trying to fire at an enemy, only to discover that your thermal clip has been used up—and start scrounging.
I activated my comm. "Tali," I said. "You there?"
"Yes," she replied immediately. "You have to hurry, Shepard. We're inside the loading docks."
Looking around, I saw a building built into a cliff face on the right, with a large set of cargo doors. The loading docks, I guessed.
"Veetor reprogrammed a heavy mech," Tali continued. "It's tearing Prazza's squad apart!"
"They did want to get to Veetor first," Miranda said dryly.
Tali ignored Miranda's comments. "Get your squad into cover and I'll open the loading bay doors."
After a quick scrounge for loot, we found cover behind some concrete blocks in front of the loading bay doors. "Ready," I told Tali over the comm.
As the doors opened, I quickly scanned the battlefield. Lower level sprinkled with crates, some of which—according to scans—were a bit more fragile than others. A ramp led up a couple metres to a second 'level', which held three buildings. A quarian was sprinting down the ramp, taking cover behind a crate. Three more quarians were slowly retreating out into the open from behind the left building, firing at something. Something big, judging from the stomping steps I could hear all the way over here.
The heavy mech, which my sensors helpfully identified as a YMIR-class mech, thundered out after them, its every step sending reverberations through the ground. Even from where I was hiding, I could see that it was twice as tall as I was. A rattle of automatic gun-fire blazed from its right arm, knocking two of the quarians over. One of them, a female, tried to get up, only to get crushed to the ground with a cry as the YMIR mech stepped on her. It paused for a moment, as if assessing her status. Apparently it decided she was still a potential threat, as it fired four or five rounds into her head. Looking up, it scanned its immediate vicinity. It focused its attention on the two remaining quarians that had been firing at it earlier and extended its left arm. There was a beeping noise, like something charging up, before a rocket launched from its arm. It whistled across, made a slight course correction and exploded, sending the quarians flying into the air. They staggered to their feet, just in time to receive multiple rounds to their chests.
Panicking, the last quarian, the one we saw running down the ramp earlier, broke his cover and tried to flee for the loading bay doors. This attracted the YMIR mech, who immediately opened fire. As that hapless quarian twitched and shuddered under the onslaught, Miranda, Jacob and I ran into the loading bay.
Jacob hid behind a stack of pipes. "That mech's got heavy armour plating. Those quarians never stood a chance."
"And shields," I noted with dismay, reading the latest scans from my sensors.
Taking cover behind one of many sets of crates, Miranda summed it up quite nicely: "This is gonna be one tough son-of-a-bitch to take down."
Not quite as pithy as "Aw, crap," but pretty damn accurate given the circumstances. I switched over to secure communications, not wanting to broadcast our instructions out loud where the YMIR mech could hear—and potentially understand—us. "Miranda, overload its shields. Once they're taken out, we can start punching through the armour. Jacob, Miranda—tag-team the sucker with your biotics once it's down to its standard chassis."
Miranda nodded, sending a pulse from her omni-tool towards the YMIR mech. Unfortunately, it only drained about a quarter of its shields. I managed to take out another third with my submachine gun before I had to duck for cover behind a set of crates. That damn tingling at the back of my neck flared up again.
"Target locked," it rumbled. A chill ran down my spine as I heard it stomp towards me.
I took another peek, only to see a rocket fly my way. Hastily, I ducked back. I avoided the worst of the resulting blast, but still took enough damage to drain my shields completely. And for all my trouble, what did I learn? That it still had shields.
For the next few minutes, all we could do was take pot-shots at it and hope we didn't get our heads ripped off by a stream of bullets. At one point, I emptied a thermal clip into its head. The YMIR mech turned towards me. "Retargeting," it stated before sending a rocket my way. "Miranda," I yelled, ducking back just in the nick of time. "Any time now!"
"Three seconds to recharge," she called back. "Two... one... here we go!"
She sent another pulse from her omni-tool. This one did the trick, as the shields were finally gone. Unfortunately, her timing was slightly off and there was a large protruding pipe blocking the way, forcing her to break cover in order to get a clear line of sight to attack. The mech paused, swivelled in her direction and fired its mass accelerator cannons at her. I darted to the other side of the crates, hoping to get the drop on it...
...only to see it stomping in my direction, guns a blazing. I hastily fired a plasma round from my omni-tool as I ducked back. It staggered for a moment, announced that it was "rerouting," and then plodded its way towards me.
While I was panting away, my mind raced over what had just happened. For some reason, that damn mech was fixated on me, even though it had a clear shot at Miranda. Maybe it somehow decided I was the greater threat. Maybe it was just determined to take out one target at a time. Whatever the case, it insisted on stomping slowly around the crates, trying to acquire a clear line-of-sight on me. I was equally determined on running around to keep the crates between us, only stopping to fire off a shot or plasma round. Jacob and Miranda took advantage of its obsession to fire at it without fear of reprisal.
I paused at one point to assess its status. Armour still at 66%. Aw, crap.
"Miranda, Jacob," I yelled, trying to keep the panic out of my voice. "I'd appreciate it if you could hurt that sucker a little faster. I can't run around in circles all day, you know."
"We're trying, Shepard," Jacob called back over the roar of his shotgun. "Just hang on."
The YMIR mech clipped me with another rocket, draining the last of my shields. "While we're young!" I demanded.
Jacob jumped out of cover. Eschewing his shotgun, he settled for waving his hands up and down. "Hey! Over here!"
"Jacob!"
To this day, I'm still not sure whether Miranda or I yelled at him first. All I know is that his suicidal distraction worked. The YMIR mech paused and started to swivel towards Jacob. I glanced at my shield status. Nope: regen cycle hadn't kicked in yet.
While I would have loved to let someone else carry the bulls-eye for a change, the fact remained that I couldn't afford to throw away any allies-of-convenience right now. Not when I only had two of them. (5) Cursing, I activated my cloak, knowing damn well that that would abort any shield regeneration that might have started. I ran out and pulled out my sniper rifle. Not because I needed to reach out and touch it—I mean, the damn thing was right in front of me. But if I had to go risking my neck, I might as well make the most of it.
I took my shot and held my breath as the cloaking field collapsed. Sure enough, the sheer amount of damage I'd dealt bumped my ass up to the top of the YMIR mech's priority list. It turned back towards me as I dove out of the way, presenting its back to Miranda and Jacob. Naturally they took advantage of the opportunity provided.
We did a little more back-and-forth, and way too much ring-around-the-stack-of-crates for my liking. Eventually, we dealt enough damage to punch through its armour plating. "Threat assessment: aggressive," it decided.
Jacob verified the accuracy of its analysis by immediately encasing it in a biotic field. No doubt the intent was to lift it off the ground so we could fire at it without reprisal. For the first couple seconds, it just stood there. Guess it was too heavy. Then it started to lift off the ground, millimetre by millimetre. We never got the chance to find out how high it would go, as Miranda detonated the field with her own biotic abilities.
I picked that moment to activate my cloak again, run out and fire several pistol rounds into its head. As I expected, it crumpled to the ground and exploded.
I did not expect the damn thing to explode with a force that rivalled a low-yield tactical nuke. The crates and debris in its immediate vicinity were vaporized. The shockwave plucked me off my feet and sent me flying all the way into the other end of the courtyard.
By the time my ears stopped ringing, Miranda and Jacob had ran over to me. The latter helped me to my feet. "Are you all right, Commander?" he asked.
"Peachy," I replied. "By the way, do you always make a habit of throwing yourself into harm's way?"
Miranda snorted. I think that was an affirmative.
"My orders are to ensure you complete the mission, no matter what," Jacob said firmly.
I gave him a long look. "You're an idiot," I told him.
"So I've been told."
"Thanks."
"You're welcome."
Having completed that little exchange, I breathed a sigh of relief. That was definitely the most challenging threat I'd faced so far. Hopefully, I wouldn't have to face any of those guys again.
Now that the immediate threat was eliminated, I began my usual scrounging. Found a nice pile of refined iridium, which I snatched up. Figured it might come in handy. Also found a med-kit. At first I thought I couldn't take it with me since my pockets were all full, then I learned I could use my omni-tool to break it down into basic components, which could be sold for more credits.
I also found another YMIR mech—destroyed, thankfully. Much to my surprise, I saw that part of its weapon systems was still salvageable. I started tinkering with it, trying to see if I could remove it.
Jacob saw what I was doing. "Commander," he said. "You can use your omni-tool to scan it, instead. Then we can upload the scan to a fabrication unit and replicate it later."
Well, that took the fun out of it. These guys were such wimps. Why in my day, we staggered around with weapons we couldn't use, just for the sheer joy of lugging extra weight. And we loaded ourselves down with more weapons and equipment than we could possibly use, just so we could carry it around. Uphill. Both ways. Giving in to the inevitable, I followed Jacob's instructions and activated the relevant program on my omni-tool. It only took a second to scan the weapon component.
I found Tali in one of the buildings, tending to a bunch of wounded quarians. Prazza wasn't amongst them. Must've been one of the guys who got shot or blown up in the courtyard outside. "How are they?" I asked.
"They're fine," Tali replied. "I'm just seeing whether any of the hardsuits are punctured, and to what extent."
Kind of a big deal, since that was the only thing that kept a quarian from catching a simple head cold and croaking. "And?" I prompted.
"So far, so good. This is your chance to go find Veetor while I tend to the wounded, Shepard," she added. "He's probably somewhere in the back of the loading bay."
Well, we'd covered most of that area by now. Only thing left to check was one of the buildings. So off we went.
We opened the door of the last building and stepped into the dark, as someone had turned off all the lights. The only illumination came from a bank of computer monitors. By their glow, we could see that someone was sitting in front of them. Veetor, presumably.
He didn't hear us come in, too busy looking at all the readouts from the computers. "Monsters coming back," he said. "Mechs will protect. Safe from swarms. Have to hide. No monsters. No swarms. No-no-no-no-no."
"Veetor?" I called out, trying to get his attention.
He was off in his own little world, though, both from his infection and the trauma he'd endured. "No Veetor," he babbled. "Not here. Swarms can't find. Monsters coming. Have to hide."
"No one's going to hurt you anymore," I said.
Veetor just kept typing and yammering away.
"I don't think he can hear you, Commander," Jacob said after a moment.
Yeah, clearly. Time for a new tactic, I decided. Lifting my arm, I started tapping on my omni-tool. Maybe his ears weren't working right now, but his eyes might. If I could just establish a connection...
While I was typing away, Veetor continued muttering. "Have to hide. Have to hide. Mechs will protect. Swarms coming. Storm coming. Storm of swarms. Swarm of—"
At that point, I successfully penetrated the firewalls guarding the computers. With a wave of my hand, I sent a signal to shut down the monitors. That finally got Veetor's attention. He leaned back, looking at the blank monitors in confusion, before looking behind us. Seeing the three of us, he slowly got to his feet.
"You're human. Where did you hide? How come they didn't find you?"
"Who didn't find us?" Miranda asked.
"The... the monsters," Veetor whimpered. "The swarms. They took everyone."
"We're not survivors, Veetor," I replied. "We just got here. Any 'monsters' or 'swarms' had already left."
"You don't know," Veetor realized. "You didn't see. But I did. I see everything."
He reached over and tapped a single key on the console. All the monitors immediately came back, displaying a recording of some of the buildings. There were bugs of some sort, flying all over the place.
"Looks like security footage," Miranda guessed. "He must've pieced it together manually."
As she spoke, we saw a cocoon-like structure float into view. A mass effect field was keeping it hovering above the ground, allowing whoever was behind it to push it with ease.
That someone came into view.
Or something. Bipedal, walking in some kind of... that didn't look like any armour or hardsuit I'd ever seen. Looked more like some sort of carapace or exo-skeleton. The kind of things bugs had. It had this really huge head, too, one that tapered to a set of points at the back. At the front, four eyes blazed out, even through the grainy quality of the vid.
"What the hell is that?" Jacob gaped.
Veetor obligingly froze the recording. Miranda gasped. "My god. I think it's a Collector."
"That's a Collector?" Jacob asked.
"What's a Collector?" I chimed in.
"They're a species from somewhere beyond the Omega 4 Relay," Jacob explained. "Only a few people have ever seen one in person."
"They usually work through intermediaries, like slavers or hired mercenaries," Miranda added. "If they're involved with the Reapers somehow, it could explain what happened to the colonies."
"How so?" I asked.
"Rumour has it that the Collectors have some seriously advanced tech," Jacob took over. "Guess it isn't too much of a stretch to imagine they have a weapon that could disable an entire settlement at once."
"The seeker swarms," Veetor confirmed. "No one can hide. The seekers find you. Freeze you. Then the monsters take you away."
"What else can you tell me about the Collectors?" I asked.
"Nobody knows much," Jacob shrugged. "They're so rare; a lot of people don't even believe they exist."
"More importantly, why are they abducting human colonists?" Miranda mused. "What are they after?"
"Maybe the Illusive Man can figure it out," Jacob suggested.
"Well, if we can't figure out why, maybe we can work on how," I said. "Veetor, tell me more about these swarms."
"It's how they find you," Veetor trembled. "Seeker clouds. Machines like tiny insects. They go everywhere. They find you. Then they sting you. Freeze you."
"Sounds like miniature probes, maybe," Miranda theorized. "Find victims, then immobilize them with a stasis field or nerve toxin."
Damn, that's sneaky. And clever. Diabolically clever. Wait: was it wrong that I was admiring these guys? Their tech, anyways.
"But why didn't the Collectors take you too, Veetor?" I asked before I got too distracted.
"Swarms didn't find me. Monsters didn't know I was here," Veetor said simply.
Miranda frowned. "Curious. The Collectors aren't known for being careless."
"Maybe his enviro-suit kept him from showing up on their sensors," Jacob suggested.
"Or they were using technology specifically designed to detect humans," Miranda added. "Only human colonies have been hit."
I turned back to Veetor. "What happened next?"
"The monsters took the people onto the ship, and then they left. The ship flew away. But they'll be back for me. No one escapes!"
Jacob took a look at Veetor, who was started to rock back and forth, and sighed. "I think that's probably all we're getting out of him, Commander."
"We appreciate what you told us," I told Veetor. "You were very helpful."
Veetor nodded. Apparently, he hadn't completely retreated into his own little world. "I studied them. The monsters. The swarms. I recorded them with my omni-tool. Lots of readings. Electromagnetic. Dark energy."
"We need to get this data to the Illusive Man," Miranda said. "Grab the quarian and call the shuttle to come pick us up."
Tali picked that point to come in. "What? Veetor is injured! He needs treatment, not an interrogation!"
Apparently, she'd overheard enough of the conversation. This should be interesting.
"We won't hurt him," Jacob said soothingly. "We just need to see if he knows anything else. He'll be returned unharmed."
"Your people tried to betray us once already. If we give him to you, we'll never get the intel we need," Miranda said.
"Prazza was an idiot, and he and his men paid for it," Tali replied immediately. "You're welcome to take Veetor's omni-tool data, but please. Just let me take him."
"You don't have to take leave," I said. "We could work together after dropping Veetor off with the Flotilla. Just like old times."
"I want to, but I can't," she sighed. "I've got a mission of my own. It's too important for me to abandon, even for you. When it's over, and I'm still alive, we'll see what happens."
"'I'm still alive,'" I repeated with a frown. "That sounds dangerous. What are you doing?"
"I don't think Cerberus needs to hear about it," Tali said.
Fair enough.
"But it's in geth space. That should tell you how important it is."
Pretty much, given all the baggage between quarians and the geth. As for Veetor's fate, Miranda was right as far as she knew: the quarians had gone back on their word once, so who's to say they'd wouldn't do so again? On the other hand, Cerberus apparently didn't make the best first impression. And I knew Tali. Unless she'd had a personality overwrite in the last two years, of course.
Making my decision, I turned around to look at Miranda. "He's traumatized, and he needs medical care. Even if Cerberus had detailed records and personnel experienced in quarian medicine, he'd still be better off with his own people. As long as Tali gives us the omni-tool data, I don't see any reason why she can't take him back to the Flotilla."
"Understood, Commander," Miranda replied curtly.
"Thank you, Shepard," Tali said. "I'm glad you're still the one giving the orders. Good luck out there. If I find anything that can help you, I'll let you know."
"Shepard," TIMmy greeted me. "Good work on Freedom's Progress."
We had just returned to Minuteman Station, where I'd been told to report immediately to The Man. I was starting to wonder whether he had anything better to do with his time.
"The quarians forwarded their findings from Veetor's debriefing," he informed me. "No new data, but it's a surprising olive branch, given our history. You and I have different methods, but I can't argue with your results."
"You ever think about playing nice once in a while?" I asked.
"Diplomacy is great when it works, but difficult when everyone already perceives you as a threat," he replied smoothly.
Gee, I wonder why people don't greet Cerberus with open arms.
"But more importantly, you confirmed the Collectors are behind the abductions."
I sighed. "Why do I have the feeling you knew about them already?"
"I had my suspicions, but I needed proof," TIMmy admitted. "The Collectors are enigmatic at best. They periodically travel to the Terminus Systems, looking to gather seemingly unimportant items or specimens. Usually in exchange for their technology. When their transactions are complete, they disappear as quickly as they arrived; back beyond the unmapped Omega 4 Relay. Until now, we've had no evidence of direct aggression by the Collectors."
"What are the Collectors getting from these deals?" I asked.
"The Collectors aren't very forthcoming about their motives," TIMmy said.
Right. Like you are.
"Generally, they seek out species with rare genetic mutations or abnormalities. They pay slavers and merc groups exorbitant sums to obtain these specimens. And then they leave. But they've never targeted a single species before. And their previous sample sizes were in the dozens, not the tens of thousands."
Next question: "Miranda and Jacob said the Collectors travel to and from the Omega 4 relay to deal with clients. Why hasn't anyone gone through the Omega 4 relay before? What do we know about it?"
"Dozens, if not hundreds of ships have gone through the Omega 4 relay," TIMmy replied. "Unfortunately, none of them have ever returned."
Oh that's reassuring.
"Our best guess is that the relay reacts different to Collector vessels, allowing them safe passage. If they can manipulate relays, that's just further evidence of their connection with the Reapers."
I still thought TIMmy wasn't telling me everything, but he seemed a bit more willing to let stuff slip than he was earlier. Maybe he'd be willing to share any thoughts he had on why humans were the sudden species of the month. Year. Whatever. "Any ideas on why they've shifted their focus to humans?"
"If they're agents for the Reapers, it could be for any number of reasons," TIMmy replied. "Obviously, humanity played a huge role in Sovereign's destruction. That might have been enough to draw their attention."
Figures. No good deed goes unrewarded.
"What really concerns me is why they bother abducting the colonists. Once the humans are paralyzed, why not just kill them?"
I'd never tell TIMmy this, but I was worried too. If you're going to kill them, why not kill them on the spot? Why abduct them and then kill them? Clearly the Collectors had something else in mind, but what?
What I was willing to admit was the fact that I was on to him. He might not be the kind that was easily shaken, but it was clear that playing the dumb grunt would only get me so far. Time to show him that I was only a sort-of-dumb grunt. "You're holding something back," I said bluntly. "How do you know the Reapers are involved?"
"The patterns are there, buried in the data."
Oh that was helpful. Maybe I should've just opened a fortune cookie instead.
"The Council and the Alliance want to believe the Reaper threat died with Sovereign. You and I know better. I won't wait until the Reapers are on the march. We need to take the fight to them."
Well, he had that right. I had to do something. But I couldn't do it alone. "Going up against the Collectors and the Reapers isn't a fight—it's a war. That'll require an army. Or a really good team."
TIMmy leaned over and tapped a spot of empty space. A holographic console display obligingly flickered into view, streams of text scrolling upwards. "I've already compiled a list of soldiers, scientists, and mercenaries. You'll get dossiers on the best of them. Finding them and convincing them to work with you could be challenging, but you're a natural leader."
Stop. Please. You're making me blush.
"I'll continue to track the Collectors. When they make their next appearance, I'll notify you and your team. Be ready."
"I'm sure you have an excellent list of candidates," I smiled politely, "but I've already got a squad—the ones who helped me stop Saren and the geth." People I can trust, I silently added.
"That was two years ago, Commander," TIMmy reminded me. "Most of them have moved on... or their allegiances have changed."
"Where's Kaidan Alenko," I asked, ignoring his earlier words for the time being.
"He's still with the Alliance," TIMmy replied. "Promoted, I believe. His file's surprisingly well-classified."
"Where's Urdnot Wrex?" I tried next.
"He returned to Tuchanka and hasn't gone off-world in over a year. He's trying to unite the krogan clans."
"What about Tali? She already helped us on Freedom's Progress."
"That was unexpected. I need more intel before I commit to that."
"Garrus Vakarian?"
"The turian disappeared a few months after you were declared dead. Even we haven't been able to locate him."
"Liara T'Soni?"
"She's on Ilium. My sources say that she's working for the Shadow Broker. If so, she can't be trusted."
I could say the same about him. Still, he was probably telling the truth when he was saying that they were otherwise occupied. It'd be too easy for me to determine their general status, if not the specifics. "Okay, I get it," I gave up for now. "They're not available."
"You're a leader, Shepard. You'll get who you need."
"I'm also a Spectre," I reminded him. "Maybe I can get the Council to help us out." Fat chance, but anything had to be better than jumping into bed with these guys.
TIMmy smiled politely. "If you think you can convince them, by all means. Just remember—you've been gone a long time. Things have changed."
"We'll see," I replied. "For now, you worry about the Collectors. I'll make sure my squad's ready."
TIMmy took a puff from his cigarette. Probably celebrating this little victory, the creepy-eyed ass. "Good. Two things before you go: first, head to Omega and find Mordin Solus. He's a brilliant salarian scientist. Our intelligence suggests he may know how to counteract the Collectors' paralyzing seeker swarms."
I couldn't help but snort. "I haven't even started, and you're telling me what to do?"
"I'm giving you direction; what you do with it is up to you," TIMmy corrected. "I'm sure you'll make the right decision."
And I'm sure you'll make sure I don't have a choice. "All right. What's the other thing?"
"I've found a pilot I think you might like. I hear he's one of the best. Someone you can trust."
He tapped a control and cut the connection. As the comm grid thingy descended, I wondered who the hell he was talking about.
"Hey, Commander."
No. Freaking. Way.
I turned around.
"Just like old times, huh?" Joker said, with a goofy grin on his face.
"I can't believe it's you, Joker."
Seriously, I couldn't believe it. It was Jeff Moreau, wise-cracking ace pilot of the Normandy. The last guy I saw before I got spaced. Back then, you could easily ID him amongst all the other navy-clad Alliance members, as he was the only one who couldn't get around without crutches or a hoverchair.
Now? Now he was sporting Cerberus colours, all white and gray and black, with a big honkin' yellow Cerberus symbol on the shoulders of his short-sleeved shirt. Most importantly, he was walking. Okay, okay, limping was more like it. But he could actually move under his own power.
And move he did. He had led the way ever since we left the comm room. Based on my limited tour of the facility, Joker seemed to be leading me towards another docking bay. Guess we were headed for whatever hunk of junk Cerberus had scrounged up for me.
Joker brought me out of my introspection with his reply: "Look who's talking. I saw you get spaced."
"Got lucky," I shrugged. "With a lot of strings attached. How'd you get here?"
He paused. For a moment, I thought he was tired. We had been climbing a couple sets of stairs now. Then I saw the look on his face: a mish-mash of disappointment, frustration, betrayal and bitterness.
"It all fell apart without you, Commander," he answered sadly. "Everything you stirred up, the Council just wanted it gone. Crew was broken up, records were sealed and I was grounded."
Ouch. Flying was the one and only thing that made Joker's Vrolik's Syndrome remotely manageable. Without that...
"The Alliance took away the one thing that mattered to me. Hell yeah I joined Cerberus," Joker added bitterly.
So the Alliance REMFs were still a bunch of desk-ridden idiots. Of all the things that stayed the same over the last two years. Still, was Joker still the guy I remembered or had he converted into some limping zealot for the cause? "You really trust the Illusive Man?" I asked.
Joker snorted. "I don't trust anyone who makes more than I do."
Yep: he hadn't changed a bit.
"But they aren't all bad," Joker conceded. "Saved your life. Let me fly. And there's this."
My ears pricked up at that last bit. Sounded like Joker could barely keep himself from jumping up and down, and wrecking whatever medical progress he had made.
We had paused by a large dark hangar. He gestured towards the windows. "They only told me last night," he said softly.
As if on cue, the hangar lights started turning on. One by one, they illuminated its contents from bow to stern.
First I saw the cockpit, adorned with a pair of flaps that thrust forward like the crown of a graceful monarch. Then the hull was gradually revealed. Sleek and aerodynamic, not because of the necessity of such a design in the vacuum of space, but because of the sheer inspiration that came from seeing something that could glide, no, fly amongst the stars. A pair of wings graced her stern like a bird ready to take flight. Each wing was equipped with a set of two-dimensional vectorable engine nozzles to provide the manoeuvrability she needed to dance between mass relays. And finally, a pair of vertical stabilizers, standing proud and tall.
Aside from the fact that she was almost twice the size of the original, and had Cerberus colours splattered all over her, she was the spitting image of a certain ship that had gone down in flames before my eyes.
"It's good to be home, huh, Commander," Joker said casually, after what seemed like an eternity.
Not to be outdone, I nonchalantly shrugged. "Guess we'll have to give her a name."
Neither of us were under any illusions here.
We both knew there was only one possible name.
(1): Codeword clearance restricts access to individuals authorized to work on that particular project, rather than by rank or seniority. As a result, it was not uncommon for non-commissioned or low-level officers to have knowledge of some covert project that captains and admirals did not 'need to know.'
(2): This is the most blatant statement so far of how much out of his depth Shepard was feeling. I am impressed that he was willing to be so honest about it, rather than ignore his uneasiness.
(3): Shepard is referring to data obtained from a computer he found when eliminating a series of geth outposts in the Armstrong Nebula during his hunt for Saren. He gave a copy of it to Tali, who intended to use it to complete her Pilgrimage.
(4): Groups of friendly drones are often designated as 'flocks,' while enemy drones are called 'swarms.'
(5): Naturally Shepard would resort to rationalization to 'justify' his actions.