Chapter 26: The Brain Trust
I was back on the Citadel. Kai Leng and Thane were fighting. Exchanging a flurry of punches, chops, strikes and blocks with such speed, even my optical implants were hard-pressed to keep up. Finally Kai Leng broke through, landing the first savage blow. An audible crack reached my ears as one of Thane's ribs was shattered.
"Get the Councillor out of here," I told Liara and EDI. They looked at me in confusion before staring at the floor. When I looked down myself, I realized why: Councillor Valern was lying there, a large bloody hole in his chest. We were too late. I was too late.
I turned back in time to see Kai Leng grab Thane and throw him over his shoulder. Thane gracefully rolled to his feet, scooping up the gun that had been knocked down earlier. Realizing I had a clear shot, I raised my weapon to avenge the Councillor's murder…
…only to see him vanish in thin air—again. We waited for him to reappear. Seconds passed. Then a minute. Then two minutes. Why was he making us wait? Why was he making me wait, when we both knew how this would turn out?
Finally Kai Leng decloaked, sword in hand. He advanced without a single word or cry, a silent harbinger of death. Unstoppable. Inevitable. Thane charged without a moment's hesitation, choosing to challenge fate.
Kai Leng swung his sword. To my horror, he cut off Thane's left hand, cutting right through flesh and bone. Undeterred by the blood gushing from the stump of his arm, Thane swung his gun around and knocked the sword away. He landed a firm kick to Kai Leng's midriff, then a roundhouse kick to knock him off balance. Concentrating, he launched a biotic attack that sent Kai Leng flying into the wall.
Checking his gun, Thane ejected the thermal clip and loaded a fresh one—a feat made more impressive considering he was now one-handed. Then I saw Kai Leng flipping himself to his feet and scooping up his sword. Before I could do anything, Thane was charging again, firing his gun with every other step. Just like before, Kai Leng managed to dodge or deflect every shot. Thane leapt into the air, biotics charging up again. Kai Leng sidestepped the biotic blast, lunged forward…
…
…and decapitated Thane with a single swipe.
I wanted to scream. Or run. Or shoot. As long as I did something. But I couldn't move. Why couldn't I move?
Kai Leng slammed a spear into the floor—where he got it from, I have no idea. Lifting Thane's head up, he drove it on the other end. Thane's eyes were staring at me. Lifeless, yet full of accusation.
All I could do was look helplessly at his murderer, and the cold smile on his lips.
I jerked awake, drenched in sweat. My chest was heaving, my heart was pounding. My lungs strained to bring fresh air in through my tortured throat, made raw from the screaming I'd made.
Trembling, I covered my face in my hands. It wasn't fair. Despite his past, despite his finely honed mastery of the art of death, Thane was a gentle man. A humble man. He deserved to die in peace, rather than being stabbed to death. He didn't deserve this. He didn't ask for it.
"I'm sorry, Thane," I whispered. "I'm so, so sorry."
Thankfully I had a distraction from the nightmares and the guilt. And I owed it all to Cerberus: Traynor had traced a bunch of ex-Cerberus scientists to Gellix, a planet in the Arrae system. Unfortunately, so had Cerberus. "What do we know about this place?" I asked on the way down.
Naturally, Miranda provided the answer: "Originally granted to the krogan after the Rachni Wars, it was conquered by the turians following the Krogan Rebellions. Unfortunately Gellix was a levo-amino-acid-based world."
"Which means it was useless to dextros like us," Garrus chimed in.
"Quite," Miranda nodded. "So they tried to rent it out via the Vol Protectorate. Between the high price of rent, the unexploded war ordinance lying around and the average brisk temperature of four degrees Celsius, they didn't exactly have a lot of buyers. The greatest success was a private company that set up a human penal colony in 2161, but even that was shut down in 2179 after a string of horrific safety failures. Nowadays, Gellix is home to a series of mines, supply depots, miscellaneous facilities—and, most recently, a refuge for scientists trying to hide from Cerberus."
"Do we know how long they've have been holed up here?" I asked.
Liara shook her head. "Neither Traynor nor I were able to dig up any further information."
"Sir," Cortez interrupted. "I'm picking up chatter from a Cerberus squad engaging one of the supply depots."
"Looks like we've found our scientists," I said.
Cortez simply nodded as he compensated for some turbulence. "And if I'm reading it right, sounds like more troops are on the way."
"Okay, set us down, then get out of here," I ordered. "Everyone get ready."
Garrus clearly wasn't prepared for the cold, judging by his outburst when we hopped out. "Spirits! It's freezing out here."
"And yet Cerberus still decided to drop by," I said. "Just keep moving, get the blood flowing. You'll be fine." Unlike the trooper who I set on fire. Or the one I shot with my sniper rifle. My old N7 Valiant, not the Black Widow I'd just bought. I hadn't gotten around to modding it yet. Too busy having nightmares. And harassing the crew on a regular basis. And guzzling down coffee. The curse of the sleep-deprived-social-butterfly-who-certainly-isn't-developing-an-addiction-to-coffee-because-he-can-stop-any-time-he wants-and-that's-the-story-he's-sticking-to! (1)
It didn't take long to overwhelm the pair of troopers, considering how ridiculously outgunned they were. Apparently they drew the short straw and got stuck with guard duty. Everyone else was busy slaughtering civvies by the entrance to the depot. "Teams One and Three, push forward!" I urged, shooting out a shield pylon. "Team Two, see if you can flank these guys!"
"Understood!" Miranda led James and Kaidan to the side as the rest of us engaged the hostiles. That's right—this was Kaidan's first time out in the field. Given the amount of overlap between Miranda's and Kaidan's skill sets, it might have been overly redundant, but Team Two needed some fresh blood.
The real reason for my decision was James. He'd apparently been invited to the N7 program. Now he didn't have to take it—the mere fact that he'd been considered would be noted on his service record—but he was considering it. If he did accept, though, I figured he could benefit from having another leadership style to watch. And despite Kaidan's many flaws, he'd become quite an effective soldier and leader. Otherwise he never would've popped up on Anderson's and Hackett's radar.
But I digress.
I set another trooper on fire. Garrus's concussive round ignited the plasma. Liara yanked the shields away from a pair of Guardians. EDI and Javik tag-teamed them with a one-two punch of plasma and biotics. Then I sniped another Guardian right through the slot in his shield.
A pair of troopers dropped down, their boot thrusters slowing their descent. They had barely taken a step forward when they took a fireball to the face, courtesy of EDI and yours truly. Liara and Garrus were quick to follow up. We could hear the twin detonations even from this distance.
More troopers were dropping in. Most of them had shields. Either TIMmy had been handing out some more upgrades or… I searched around. Sure enough, Cerberus had set up another shield pylon. I took it out with one shot. Returning my attention to the troopers, I saw most of them had lost their shields. Miranda and Kaidan had indeed flanked them and dropped a couple EMPs on their heads. A bright flare of light, followed by an equally intense boom, told me that James had pitched in with a concussive round. The hostiles were so disoriented; it was hilariously easy to mop things up.
"Hello?" someone called out. His voice sounded familiar. "Who's there?" I motioned for the squad to move in and search for survivors.
"This is Brynn," a woman's voice echoed through the air. "Jacob, are you all right? Come in!"
With a start, I realized why the voice was so familiar. "Jacob!" I exclaimed, finally finding him. He was lying down behind a crate, hand clamped tight to his side. "How bad?" I asked, crouching down and running a quick scan.
"I'll live… I think," he groaned. The scans came back. Single bullet, through-and-through, no major organs hit. Still there was a fair amount of blood seeping out. I quickly administered some medi-gel, ignoring his feeble protests.
"This is Brynn. Is anyone there? If you can hear me, come in."
Looking around, I saw a small comm device lying on the ground. I walked over and picked it up. "This is Commander Shepard of the Alliance," I identified myself. "The enemy is clear for now. Open the door."
"Is Jacob there?"
She sounded worried. "Stand by." I returned to Jacob and crouched down, holding the comm close to his mouth so he didn't have to reach up. "It's okay, Brynn," he reassured her.
We heard a series of loud thuds as hidden bars retracted. I slowly helped Jacob to his feet, slinging his arm over my shoulder. Then the doors slowly slid open. A woman strode out, her dark skin complimenting the black-and-white outfit Cerberus liked to hand out. I guess when you're on the run, you don't exactly have time to go shopping. By that point, my squad had finished their sweep—no survivors other than a former squadmate of mine. "Jacob!" she cried out as I helped him inside.
She rushed up to him. "Oh my god!" I think she might have thrown her arms around him if she hadn't seen how he was clutching his side. "What happened?" She reached to his wound, hesitated, lifted her hands to his face, hesitated some more, and repeated the whole thing once or twice before awkwardly putting her hands back down.
"I'm all right," he hissed, face twisted with pain and guilt. "The others didn't make it."
"What are you doing here?" I asked.
"I'm supposed to be protecting these people from the Illusive Man and his attack dogs!" he spat.
"To be fair, he's accelerated his acquisition and training of 'attack dogs'," Miranda said, walking up. "Good to see you again, Jacob."
"Same here, Miranda," he nodded. "Wish it were under better circumstances."
"Are they gone?" the woman—Brynn, judging by her voice—asked.
"For now," I shrugged. "But they'll be back." A hiss of pain cut off anything else I was going to say. "Sure you're okay?" I asked Jacob.
"Yeah," he said. "I'll walk it off. Save my life one more time and I'll start owing you."
Miranda rolled her eyes. "You haven't changed a bit," she muttered.
"This one's on the house," I chuckled.
"Jacob," Garrus tsked. "Where have you been? You don't call, you don't write."
"Hey!" he greeted him, smiling despite the pain. "Good to see you too!" (2)
"Staying out of trouble, I see."
"Well I'm not blocking rockets with my face, if that's what you mean," Jacob retorted. After sharing a few laughs, he waved a hand at Brynn, only to quickly return it to his side. "Shepard; Dr. Brynn Cole. She's in charge here."
"Tell me what's going on," I invited. "Intel says you're ex-Cerberus. Scientists mostly."
"Call us refugees," she said. "If we hadn't run, we'd be dead."
"Why does the Illusive Man want to kill you?" I asked. "Aside from being really clingy."
"Our stories are different, but the themes are the same," Brynn began. "We were each using information from the Collector Base to work on the different components of a larger tech."
Anderson had mentioned that TIMmy was digging through the remnants of the Collector Base, so I wasn't completely surprised. It was still kinda horrifying, though.
"After someone completed their component, they disappeared. No bodies. Just… gone. As we progressed, we started feeling like we were signing each other's death warrants."
"The Illusive Man doesn't mess around," I said. "If he can't control it, he'll destroy it."
"The brain trust here has to be a significant loss for him," Jacob grinned.
"I trust you anticipated this response," Miranda asked. "You must have realized how quick he is to dispose of people once he feels they've outlived their usefulness."
"We thought we covered our bases," Brynn sighed.
"But the Illusive Man is one tenacious bastard," Jacob shrugged.
"Then maybe we should think about evacuating before the next wave of Cerberus goons arrives," I suggested.
"Agreed," Jacob said. "Just need to get the AA guns on the roof back online. Cerberus is jamming them somehow. With those guns down, they'll just blow our escape shuttles out of the sky."
"Might be the network link," Brynn suggested.
"I'll check and meet you upstairs," he nodded.
We all saw him start to limp away. It didn't exactly put us at ease. "Jacob, you should get that wound looked at," I frowned.
"I'm good," he tried. "I mean, I will," he amended when he saw the looks we were giving him.
"Commander, I should see to my people," Brynn said. Join me upstairs when you can."
EDI watched Jacob go with a smile on her face. "Jacob did not recognize me. This may be an opportunity to surprise him."
"Let's just focus on the mission, EDI," I admonished.
"What's with you and scaring the crap out of people?" Kaidan asked.
"I did apologize."
"Yeah, but…"
While the two of them yakked away, I restocked on thermal clips and tried to comfort one of the scientists, who'd apparently lost her boyfriend or husband or something in the initial attack. Then I gathered the squad together and headed up the stairs. I didn't see Brynn, but I did see someone at one of the computer consoles. "You've got to be kidding me!" I exclaimed.
"Commander Shepard."
"Dr. Archer," I said coolly.
"I take it you've met?" Kaidan asked.
"Yeah, am I missing something?" James scratched his head.
Oh. Right. Kaidan, James and Javik didn't know about this guy. Before I could say anything, Miranda strode forward and socked him in the jaw. "Dr. Gavin Archer here headed a Cerberus project codenamed Overlord," I said casually, while Miranda punched him again. "He had the bright idea of hooking his own brother into a VI with the hopes of controlling the geth. (3) It went completely FUBAR, so I had to clean up the mess. Um, Miranda, are you done yet?"
"I don't think so," she seethed. "You see, he's still breathing."
"Well, I'd like a word with him before you pummel him into a bloody pulp, if you don't mind."
"Oh very well. If you insist." Miranda settled for a slap that echoed through the entire depot before stepping away. Dr. Archer gingerly touched his face and winced. "Yes, well, after you took my brother to Grissom Academy, I tried putting all that behind me. I don't suppose you have any news from there? I've heard rumours the Academy is in trouble."
"Cerberus tried abducting the students," I admitted.
"And David?" he asked desperately. "Is he all right? Please tell me he's okay."
"As if you'd care," Miranda spat. She probably would have throttled him had Garrus not pulled her back. "He's okay," I said. "That's all I'm gonna tell you."
"Oh thank God," he breathed, practically sagging in relief. It was a pretty good bit of acting, if I do say so myself. "Commander… you have no idea what that means."
"A chance for you to get back in the Illusive Man's good graces?" Miranda snapped.
"It's a little late to start worrying about his safety now," I agreed.
"I know you think I'm a monster," he said. "And you're right. Not a day goes by where my dreams aren't haunted by what I did to David."
My heart bleeds.
"All I can do now is hope that one day he forgives me."
I wouldn't hold my breath. "What are you doing here?" I demanded.
"After your intervention, the Illusive Man insisted I find another test subject. Someone who shared David's 'abilities'. I couldn't bear the thought of subjecting someone else to that horror, so I refused."
"Really? Can't imagine the Illusive Man took that well."
"Oh, he was furious. But I told him that my days of torturing the helpless and confusing that with curing diseases or discovering new elements were over. I told him that if his intention was to work with the devil, he only had to look in the mirror. I wanted out of his nightmare. Then I destroyed all of my research. Which is why I'm here—every Cerberus soldier in the galaxy has orders to shoot me on sight."
"Works for me," Miranda declared.
Garrus and James gently, but firmly, took her away before she could give in to her little—and entirely justifiable—urges. "I have to go," I scowled, "and I'm not even going to pretend it was good to see you again."
"I understand," he nodded. "But Commander… I just wanted to say thank you for saving David. Both times."
It almost sounded like he had started to grow a conscience. Too little too late, if you asked me. I just ignored him and indulged in some blatant looting. Found some credits, along with the following message on a datapad:
From: Horace
To: Brynn
Brynn I don't like this. I've managed to get eyes on some of the research the others were doing, and I'm getting a sense of a big picture here beyond anything we could have imagined. In our worst nightmares kind of imagined.
I'm going to start sabotaging my work. That's how bad it is.
We need to meet up and talk. ASAP.
—H
We went through a set of doors and up another flight of stairs, pausing long enough to drag Miranda away from Dr. Archer and for me to scan a weapons mod. I helped myself to some medi-gel on the way up a third flight of stairs, where I finally found Brynn. "And Dr. Fredericks? Make sure those samples from Project Mia get out on the second shuttle," she said to one of her colleagues.
Dr. Fredericks was one of the guys consoling that woman I saw earlier on the death of her partner. Now it looked like he needed some consoling. He flinched as another bombardment—or whatever Cerberus was using—hit the depot. Actually, it had been a pretty steady barrage for the last four or five minutes. "I've already dropped one box, my hands were shaking so hard," he confessed.
Brynn squeezed his shoulder gently and gave him a reassuring smile. "We're going to make it."
He shakily nodded and stumbled away. "What's the status of the guns?" I asked.
"Still waiting. I have my best people on it."
"And by 'best people,' you mean Jacob. How do you know him? We went through a lot together."
"It was actually Ms. Lawson who introduced us. About a year ago."
"One year, one month and five days, to be exact."
Brynn went on without missing a beat, no doubt familiar with Miranda's precision. "It was only a brief encounter, but we kept in touch. His e-mails became increasingly… disturbing. Through his eyes, I started to recognize what the Illusive Man had become. I guess I was so in love with my work that I refused to see the obvious—its sponsor had become corrupt."
"I get that," I said. "That's why it's important to have good people around you."
"Which was why I enlisted his help to run from Cerberus and set up here," she smiled. "I can't imagine what we would have done without him."
"What kind of work did you do for Cerberus?"
"Until the Illusive Man became preoccupied with the Collectors, I worked in physics. It was a researcher's paradise. I had access to cutting-edge tech, the freedom to pursue my experiments wherever they led and all the personnel I needed. The Illusive Man spares no expense for technical perfection."
"Yeah, I know," I winced. "That technical perfection's almost killed me a few times."
"It also brought you back to life," Brynn reminded me. "Strange to think about, I would imagine. But then, life is full of uncomfortable ironies. Everyone's is, I suppose."
Which was why I did my best not to think about those ironies. "So what's this work of yours that Cerberus wants so badly?" I asked instead.
"It's based on tech gathered from the Collectors. In essence, it involves dissecting Reaper-to-Collector communications. Dr. Horace Armstrong and I were working on a practical human application, an implant of sorts. Once he'd completed his component and moved on to less 'valuable work, he disappeared."
Well it was clear TIMmy put that component to good use. Or maybe I should say bad use. Whatever. "How did you get away?" I wanted to know.
"I was a loyal senior employee," she shrugged. "There's a lot of freedom in that. When our fourth colleague disappeared, we organized and were out the door in days."
"And until now, Cerberus never suspected you were right here."
Brynn smiled ruefully. "We honestly thought we had it all figured out. It's… humbling."
"Don't worry about it," I waved it off. "How many people are here?"
"Forty-three scientists plus research assistants."
"You ran with over forty people?" Garrus asked. "Impressive."
"When you fear for your life there's a lot you can do," she smiled.
Another man rushed up. "Brynn, I can't possibly dismantle the genetic amplification components in time."
"I'm sorry, Dr. Baynar," she said. "It's important work, but right now you need to tend to your family."
"Wait a second," I interrupted. "There are families here? Children?"
"Well this became a little more complicated," Miranda frowned.
I rubbed my hand over my eyes as Dr. Baynar hurried away. "So let me get this straight: these refugees brought everyone with them?"
"Yes. We have about seventeen kids here. Along with partners, spouses, parents. We didn't escape just to go into hiding or because we grew disgruntled with the Illusive Man and his tyrannical attempts to shackle and manipulate science. I promised these people the chance to build a new life, one where we could live and work on our terms. Love, family—they're all part of that, even now. Otherwise, what are we fighting for? I just never imagined the Illusive Man would…"
"That's what evil counts on," I said, "that it's hard for good people to imagine. Don't beat yourself up over it." I waited until she nodded before continuing. "Okay. So we have scientists, research assistants, significant others and kids. That makes… how many, exactly?"
"Seventy-eight, originally. Seventy-two now."
Eek. "Okay. Seventy-two. All seventy-two gets out of here alive."
"This escape will have to be carefully executed," Miranda pointed out.
"I'd hoped… we tried so hard to make sure it wouldn't come to this," Brynn fretted. "Excuse me."
We watched her go with some concern. It was clear that she had done an outstanding job of assuming responsibility for all these people and getting them this far, but she was starting to reach her breaking point. Guess it was up to me to take over.
"Shepard? This is Cortez. Do you read me?"
"Loud and clear," I replied. "What's going on?"
"We're picking up several frigates and at least a cruiser or two. And you wouldn't believe all the gunships and shuttles flying around down there. I'm not sure if we can extract you or the civilians."
"We're trying to get some AA guns online down here and there are several shuttles ready to evacuate the civvies," I replied. "We'll hitch a ride with them. Get back to the Normandy. Tell Joker to prep a couple hit-and-run attacks to distract them. I'll give the word when we're ready."
"Understood. Good luck."
I had just closed the comm channel when I saw Jacob limp into view. "What's the news?" I asked.
"Can't tell," he grunted. "I only know I can't fix it from here. Gotta go to the roof. Hell, I'd have to go there anyway: sensors just picked up a Cerberus shuttle inbound to our location. Damn thing'll be touching down in ten minutes. You in?"
"We're in, you're not," I said firmly. "Jacob, you're injured," I insisted when he opened his mouth to protest. "I'll fix the guns."
"No way," Jacob tried. "These are my people. I'm going."
"Just because you survived one suicide mission doesn't mean you get two," I rebutted.
"Jacob," Miranda added gently. "Think about it: who has a better chance of repelling the Cerberus forces on the roof and repairing the guns. A squad of fresh, healthy fighters? Or a squad worrying about Cerberus forces and the man who's run ragged fending off Cerberus attacks and suffering from a recent injury?"
It was a bitter pill to swallow, but Jacob finally conceded to reality. "Fine. But I'm going to talk you through it from here. Cerberus is probably jamming the satellite link. Radio me when you've found the controls and I'll give you the override code."
"First we're getting you to a doctor."
"No shortage of docs around here."
I gave Jacob a look. "A medical doctor, smart-ass. Or a medic. Anyone who can patch you up. And if you keep stalling, no one will be laying out the welcome mat for Cerberus."
"All right, all right. I'm going."
Not quite believing that he'd have someone check up on him, I picked up him up and dragged him to the improvised sickbay they'd set up. While a medic began assessing his vitals, I wandered around and helped myself to some more credits and medi-gel. I also skimmed through an earlier report Jacob wrote on this place. Sounded like a work-in-progress, if you asked me.
Eventually I ran out of cubbyholes to poke through and things to stuff in my pocket, so I headed back to Jacob. "Well?" I asked.
"Give us a minute," Jacob said to the medic, who got up and left the room. "Got hooked up with some IV meds and synthetic plasma," he told me, pointing to the little box that was pumping fluids into him. "Gonna be okay."
"Glad to hear it," I sighed.
"This is crazy. I didn't think I'd ever see you again after you turned yourself in."
"I know the feeling. Small galaxy, huh? So how'd you wind up with these guys?"
"Long story. It was an opportunity I couldn't resist for people I came to care about."
"You seem good," I observed. "You look good."
Jacob's eyes came to life. "These are great people. Defending their ideals, building a life for themselves… I like it. I think I found what I'm meant to do."
"Well it's good you figured it out before Cerberus got its hooks back into you," I told him. "Is there anything on them I should know about?"
"Well the Illusive Man became obsessed with indoctrination, I know that."
"Brynn was saying the same thing," I confirmed. "All those scientists working on their own piece of the big indoctrination puzzle."
"Yeah." He shook his head. "You ever wonder how it all went wrong? I mean… was I blind? Don't get me wrong, I had my doubts, but he seemed like an idealist when I joined up. How come I couldn't see the evil?"
"Too busy being relieved that Cerberus wasn't as obsessed with politics as the Alliance?" I suggested. "Look, don't beat yourself up over it. None of us predicted that the Illusive Man would go this far, or that he'd make his move just as the Reapers began slaughtering us by the billions. If you manage to find a crystal ball or something that makes it all clear for you, though, give me a heads-up. I'd love to know how this all plays out."
"Sure thing, Shepard."
"So summarize this long story for me. How'd you wind up with them. Brynn said something about meeting you through Miranda."
"Yeah. That was when we were still… when you were still… asleep," he finished. "I had to go pick up some supplies from the Mumbai cell about a year ago. Miranda told me Brynn was the contact person. Just a short meeting, but I guess we hit it off. So we stayed in touch, even when you woke up and things got busy. After I lost track of you, I made my way to Earth and sat by the Mediterranean for a while."
"And what did all the fresh air and meditation teach you?" I asked.
"That what I choose to fight for better mean something to me. It has to come from the heart."
Which made sense. It's one thing to be ordered to do something. It was another thing entirely to do something because you believe in it. Believe in the people around you. Believe in what you're doing. Believe that it matters. "I don't suppose I can convince you to join me on the Normandy again after we get these guys outta here. We could sure use you."
Jacob was kind enough to consider my offer before shaking his head. "It's real tempting, Shepard, but I like where I'm at. I'm important to these people. I want a life. I want a family."
"Sure I get that. I had to ask."
"Trying to get the gang back together?"
"Trying to get anyone and everyone I can find to help fight the Reapers."
"How's that going?"
…
…
"Oh. Shit, Shepard. Who was it?"
"Mordin gave his life on Tuchanka to help cure the genophage. And Thane just gave his life to save the salarian Councillor."
"Damn." Jacob shook his head. "I didn't know."
"Sometimes I just wanna say 'to hell with it' and walk away, you know?"
"But you won't," Jacob said. "You can't. And that's why the galaxy needs you."
Tell me about it. "So you soaked up some sun on some beach in the Mediterranean. How'd you go from that to chilling out—literally—on Gellix?"
"Brynn contacted me about her missing colleagues. Asked for my protection, my help finding a place to run to. How could I say no?"
"Hard to imagine how," I agreed. "So the two of you run this enclave together?"
"Yeah."
"And you want a life and family with these people. Maybe with Brynn?" The fact that he didn't automatically dismiss that idea was all the answer I needed. "You settling down, Jacob?"
"Yeah… maybe… it's just… uh… if these are our final days, I want to spend them protecting these people. Protecting Brynn. Building a life—whatever's left of it."
And the real story comes out. "Well, I'm happy for you," I smiled. "I really am. Now I'm gonna head up top and see what's going on. Once the medic clears you, help Brynn get everyone organized for evac."
"You bet. Let's get to it."
I swiped some armour and weapon mods on the way to the roof. There was also some research on some kind of turian-specific toxin, which was hopefully abandoned once whoever worked on it came to his or her senses. Dr. Fredricks and some other scientist were alternating between backing up data, wondering why TIMmy wanted them so badly and convincing themselves that everything would be okay because Jacob said so. Poor guy. (4)
If there was any question that TIMmy was interested in these guys, this datapad settled things once and for all:
Personal Log: Damini Sengupta
Attempts are ongoing at figuring out what the end product of our research was meant for. While it is obvious that the delivery system was to be implant-reliant, with evident neurological applications, many questions remain as of yet unanswered. The loss of Dr. Horace Armstrong in particular is hindering our efforts to speedily reconstruct the nature of the Illusive Man's goals. We have several parts of the whole, which lead us to chilling conclusions. But we are nowhere near figuring what said whole might be—and that is what scares me the most.
Me too. TIMmy had done a bang-up job as it was when it came to controlling and augmenting his troops, and he'd only had some partial results from their research. I really didn't want to think what he could do if he had access to all these brilliant minds once again and could finish off what they started.
"What would these people have done if we hadn't shown up?" Garrus wondered as we entered the dark hallways leading to the roof.
"I suppose they would have had to make their stand here," Miranda shrugged. "Hold their ground with whatever forces they could muster while they evacuated as many as they could. But a hastily assembled militia and a handful of shuttles is no match for a Cerberus force of any kind."
We reached a ladder and climbed one by one. "Then it is fortunate that we are here," Liara said as she reached the top.
"Quiet," I hissed. I thought I had heard something. EDI confirmed it a second later: "Hostiles at 2 o'clock." We slowly advanced, pausing long enough for me to scan a Carnifex heavy pistol. Turned out we'd heard the first round of Cerberus troops on the roof. Clearly we'd arrived just in time.
"We've got the jump on them," Garrus hissed.
Silently, I selected targets for each team and we snuck into position. Not daring to speak out loud, I set a countdown with my HUD. Miranda and Kaidan fried the shields of the closest hostiles—a combat engineer and a Centurion—before EDI and I set them on fire.
"Enemy on the roof!" another hostile finally yelled.
"Go cover Thompson on the satellite!"
"Call for reinforcements! Now!"
Activating my cloak, I raised my sniper rifle and turned to my right. Sure enough, there was an assault trooper trying to flank me. Until I shot him right through his eye, of course. Unfortunately, his partner tossed a grenade our way. Garrus and Javik drove him out of cover with a barrage of weapons fire. The poor guy ran back the way he came… right into the sights of my rifle. One shot, one kill.
"We gotta locate that satellite tower ASAP, Loco," James said.
Well, sure, it would've been great if we could do that. Unfortunately, we ran into a little snag of the Cerberus reinforcement variety. So we had to start zapping shields, dropping plasma like it's hot, firing concussive rounds, freezing hostiles solid and other things that are terribly impolite. Not that any Cerberus guys were complaining because they were too busy being real dead. Which gave me a little time to go looking for weapon mods, credits and med-kits.
"Jacob? Found the dish. Give me the override code." I entered the numbers he gave me and watched as the satellite dish began rising into the air. "All right. Dish should be back online now."
"Affirmative. But the guns are still down. You'll have to manually activate them. Head back to the front of the facility."
Well that was stupid. Who thought up that arrangement? Okay, to be fair: they weren't responsible for the layout. They just moved in and did the best with what they could. Still, with my luck, we'd run into trouble during our little jaunt and…
"Hostiles landing!" Garrus yelled.
…and you'd really think I'd learn to stop tempting the universe like that. (5) I dropped an assault trooper, but not before he threw a grenade our way. I ran forward, Liara and EDI hot on my heels. Clambering up over some ventilation shafts, I spotted a Centurion. EDI zapped his shields and Liara hit him with his biotics.
"Shuttles incoming!" Miranda warned over the comm.
"They're dropping from above," Kaidan said. "Damn. Look at that precision."
"Less admiring, more shooting," I admonished as I shot out one of the shield generators Cerberus had deployed.
"Sorry."
By that point, the other two teams had caught up. EDI and Liara did their usual combo trick, just barely beating Miranda and James to the punch. Kaidan zapped a trio of Centurions, one of whom promptly dropped a smoke grenade. I dropped one with a headshot, aimed for the next, and cursed when I realized I was out of ammo. Reloading, I quickly fired again and managed to take out a second hostile. The third one ducked behind a pipe, barely missing death by a few millimetres.
I tried to cut him off, only to run into another Centurion.
"Shepard! Down!"
Trusting my team, I dropped to the ground. EDI and Liara took out his shields and seriously damaged his hardsuit with an EMP and a biotic punch. A fireball from yours truly did the rest.
"We've got a problem," Garrus called out.
"Only one?"
"Well, it's kind of a big one—the AA guns might be offline, but the turrets on the roof work just fine—and we've got a hostile manning one of them."
"Then we gotta get him off. Team Three—cover fire. Everyone else, push forward!"
I opened things with a sniper round right through an assault trooper's head. "Move up!" I yelled, charging forward—only to hastily retreat before the turret ripped through my shields and, well, me. "Keep low and find cover!" I belatedly added.
EDI and Liara helped take out an assault trooper as they hurried to join me. The turret tried to track them, but wasn't able to move fast enough. Miranda and Garrus saw that too. "Garrus?"
"I see it. Change of plans: Team Two gets the boring job. Javik, let's move!"
The gunner saw Team Three run forward and tried to turn around. As we'd expected, though, it wasn't fast enough. And while the turret was turning, I was free to hit another trooper with a headshot. Team Two kept a couple other troopers occupied while I scored another lethal hit—albeit with some cloaking assistance. Darting forward, I scooped up some spare ammo before peeking over the ledge—
—eek! Trooper. I quickly ducked back down and launched a fireball. The plasma arced up over my head before landing squarely on the hapless trooper. Liara ignited the plasma with her biotics. Lifting my sniper rifle, I trained the sights on another trooper—and detected the telltale energy signature of an activated shield. Either the trooper had upgraded his gear or… yep, there was another shield pylon. One shot took care of that. EDI launched some plasma at the suddenly vulnerable trooper.
Over on my right, I spotted Garrus aim at me—no, just past me—and fired. I whipped my head to the left just in time to see a headless trooper collapse. "Good shot!" I complimented.
He didn't respond, on account of lying still on the roof. My heart stopped.
"The turian will be fine," Javik shouted. "A minor flesh wound. Press on, Commander!"
Nodding numbly, I carried on. Destroyed another shield pylon, crawled to the right, sniped a trooper, set a second one on fire and looted a med-kit. Because apparently that's the sort of thing that I can do in my sleep. It was that same autopilot that had me sniping a third trooper, realizing that he'd thrown a grenade with his dying breath, moved to a new spot and barbequed a fourth trooper who had foolishly thought he was safe. Then I raised my arm, waited for the plasma to regenerate and sent another fireball flying—this time burning the guy who'd been shooting at us to a crisp.
I turned around and saw, much to my relief, the rest of the squad joining me. Including a certain turian. "What, Omega wasn't enough?" I joked. "You had to block another shot with your face?"
"Figured I needed a new scar or two to pick up the girls," Garrus winked.
"Perhaps you could work on your questionable strategy of attracting women on your own time," Miranda suggested. "Right now, we have to get up there and manually activate those AA guns."
"Hang on," I said, running to the side and grabbing another weapon mod.
"Now?" Miranda asked impatiently.
I raised my sniper rifle, squeezed the trigger and watched the brains of a trooper spray out of the back of his head. "Now."
It took a while to get to the guns. There were a lot of ladders to climb. (6) But I got there and hit the controls, only for the helpful VI to tell me "Failure at junction. Repair and reset." I couldn't help but let out a sigh of frustration. Why couldn't anything be simple? "Kaidan, you're up."
"You want me to repair this thing?"
"Just treat this like the console you were tinkering with on the original Normandy."
He gave me an odd look. "The one that gave me migraines?"
"That's the one."
"Shepard. You know I never fixed it, right?"
The shuttles came just in time. "Can't talk now. Hostiles inbound. Everyone ready?"
"Quite," Miranda nodded.
"Let them do their worst," Garrus grinned.
Well, I don't know about their worst, but we were more than ready to do ours. While the teams got into position and Kaidan began his repairs, I ran to the closest turret, wheeled it around and opened fire.
It wasn't really a fair fight at the beginning. See, the first couple shuttles had apparently decided to drop off their guys one at a time. So I had the teams act as spotters. They'd point me to the next shuttle that seemed to be making a landing run and I'd be locked and loaded by the time the troopers began descending. "How're the repairs coming?" I asked between shots.
"I need more time," Kaidan replied.
Things got complicated with the fourth shuttle. I managed to blow away a Centurion and his trooper buddies. The Phantom was another story. I fired; she back-flipped out of the way. I fired again; she dove forward. I fired again and hit her, only to have her biotic barriers absorb the worst of it. "This is gonna take a while."
"Another shuttle's landing," Miranda said. "Concentrate on the Phantom. We've got this."
I spent way too much time dealing with that Phantom. Between her insane acrobatics and her disgustingly robust biotics, it took forever to take her down. Thankfully, the squad managed to hold most of them at bay. Seeing how the shuttles weren't making any more drop-offs, I decided to join the fun. "EDI?"
She obligingly zapped a Centurion's shields. I set the guy on fire before he knew what hit him. Then I drilled a neat hole through a trooper. I wheeled around, searching for any more hostiles.
"Shepard, I'm done! We can bring the guns online!"
I quickly ran over to the AA guns and hit the controls. "Power restored. Gun one reset. Circuit incomplete."
Of course it was an all-or-nothing deal. "Jacob," I muttered under my breath as I sprinted for the second AA gun, "you and I are gonna have a little talk when this is all over." Thankfully, I didn't run into any more hostiles on the way, so I was able to reset the second gun.
"Power restored. Circuit reset. Guns operational."
"Shepard! AA guns are back online."
"Copy that," I said. "Let's get these people out of here."
"Okay," I said when the squad returned to what I was starting to call the command centre, "the guns are already picking Cerberus ships out of the sky. Where are we at?"
"On track," Jacob replied, walking towards me without even the hint of a limp. Guess that medic really knew her stuff. "The first shuttle is already loaded with everyone under sixteen."
"Commander, when should we leave?" Brynn asked. "What's our best chance for survival?"
Well, that depended on a couple things. "We have one shuttle loaded up. Is everyone ready to board the other shuttles right now? Has all the research and equipment been packed up or destroyed?"
"Yes and yes."
Then that settled it. "All right," I said. "Let's get these shuttles in the air."
Everyone got to work. The PA came to life. "Evacuation is go," an automated VI announced. "Evacuation is go. Stand by for shuttle launch."
"All right," I said. "Have the guns punch a hole in the perimeter, then launch shuttle one. Lay down some fire to cover their escape." The guns blew a pair of gunships out of the sky. The first shuttle lifted off a second later. "Shuttle one is away," the VI announced to a chorus of cheers. "Shuttle one is away."
I nodded in satisfaction. "All right!" I announced. "Everyone here head to the shuttle bay and—"
An explosion cut me off mid-sentence, shaking the entire facility to its foundations. "What was that?" Liara cried out.
"Suicide fighter took out one of the guns!" someone shouted. "Cerberus troops are—"
One of the windows exploded. A man fell to the floor. I hurried to check on him, but slowed when I saw all the shards embedded in his body and the blood pouring out of him. So much for keeping my promise. "Get those people out of here!" I shouted. As Brynn and Jacob hurried the civvies away, I activated the comm. "Joker, it's Shepard. Start your attack."
"Roger that."
A trooper dropped through the broken window and touched down on the floor. Miranda hit him with her biotics, James landed a concussive round in his midriff and Kaidan froze him solid with his gun. A single shot shattered him to smithereens. I lifted my sniper rifle to shoot the next trooper, but Liara had already frozen him with the cryo mod on her gun, so it was a relatively easy kill.
"Attention: shuttle bay doors have been breached. Attention: shuttle bay doors have been breached."
Uh oh. We double-timed it to the stairs and began running down. "Shepard!" Jacob said over the comm. "Shuttles are loaded. We need you at the landing area to make sure they get away. I'll meet you down there!"
"Copy that," I replied. "You heard Jacob, people. Let's double-time it!"
Before we knew it, we'd arrived. "Clear the shuttle bay first so we can retract the doors," I ordered. "Then get out to the landing pad."
Liara and I blew an assault trooper apart with our biotics and plasma. Miranda and Kaidan did something similar on the other side. EDI and James fried several shields with an EMP and a concussive round. Spotting two troopers crouched down; I activated my cloak and dropped one of them. As my cloak shut down, I wheeled around, lined up another shot and took out the second one before he could get to his feet.
Looking around, I saw the other teams had dealt with the other hostiles. "Jacob: shuttle bay is clear!" I called out. "Bring up the main door!"
"Got it, Shepard. Will do."
"Okay, everyone," I said as the doors opened up. "Let's get these people out of here."
Team Two stayed on the right side of the doors while Team Three headed out to some nearby cover. I dropped a trooper before he could flank them and saw he was sporting some shields. Only a weak one, mind you, but still problematic. It didn't take me long to find a nearby shield pylon and put it out of commission. I was about to target another trooper, but had to duck back as the second shuttle flew out. By the time I had re-established a line of sight, Team Two had finished him off. "Team One's moving out," I warned. "EDI, Liara: let's go!"
The other teams covered our backs while we ran towards a stack of containers—and a pair of troopers who were too busy watching the scientists leave to notice us until I set them on fire and EDI turned the conflagration into a raging inferno. "Enemy shuttles on either side!" Miranda said, seeing them take position from her vantage point.
"I see them," I shouted. Doubling back, I aimed my sniper rifle at a trooper who'd just gotten off one of the shuttles and took him out before he could take advantage of his superior firing position. "Shuttle two away—two shuttles remaining," the VI announced as I sniped a second trooper. Then a third, just as another shuttle began its launch run. Lowering my rifle, I saw one of the Cerberus shuttles had flown away.
That left just one hostile shuttle carrying troops. Its pilot must've realized that, because he—or she—began dropping them off like crazy. It was all we could do to keep up with them. I missed my first shot, winged a hostile with a second, then quickly reloaded. My third shot struck home as the VI gave its report: "Shuttle three away—one shuttle remaining."
At some point, Team Two had come out to join the party. Miranda and James showed Kaidan how it's done, blowing up yet another trooper. I found another trooper, relieved him of his head and got on the comm again. "Jacob, come in. What's your status?"
"Shepard! The facility's overrun—Cerberus troops are all over the place!"
As if they'd heard him, another Cerberus shuttle slowed to a stationary position. Its hatch opened, revealing several hostiles. We quickly launched a barrage of plasma, biotics, EMPs, concussive rounds and bullets. Most of them fell, but at least one Phantom made it out alive. "One more shuttle of refugees to go, right?" I asked. There was a Centurion who was too badly injured to make it out of the shuttle. I put him out of his misery.
"Affirmative."
"We got this! Just need to hold them a little longer!" Spotting the Phantom, I tried launching a fireball. I missed, but I'd half-expected that. I was already on the move, activating my cloak as I ran. I was about to fire, but switched targets at the last second. While Team Three got the honours, I was busy disabling another shield pylon, making sure the Phantom would have no more tricks to get out of harm's way.
Just as she collapsed to the ground, another shuttle flew over our heads. "Shuttle four away—evacuation complete."
"That was the last of the civilians," I said. "Good job—"
Then an Atlas dropped, landing at the far end of the runway. Aw, crap.
"Shepard! Heads up! The place is overrun. We gotta go!"
"Tell me something I don't know," I snapped as we opened fire on the mech.
"Don't ask me how, but your pilot Cortez managed to sneak down with a Cerberus shuttle. As soon as he picks us up, we'll head your way."
Cortez was probably using that shuttle we'd saved from Grissom Academy. We never had gotten around to giving her a new paint job. Good thing, too. "Understood."
With eight of us concentrating our fire, the Atlas lost its shields in no time. Then we began a series of combo attacks, making sure every one of them started off with plasma or biotics. It wasn't long before the Atlas collapsed and exploded.
Sadly, it wasn't over yet—as I discovered when several bullets bounced off my shields. I quickly hacked the automated turret and let the rest of Team One blow it up while I hunted down the wise guy who'd set it up in the first place. His eyes widened as I ran towards him and he fumbled for his pistol. Before he could get off a shot, I cloaked, closed the distance and stabbed him with an omni-blade.
While my shields regenerated, I got on the comm. "Jacob! Landing zone cleared!"
"Can't say the same about the rest of the base. Bringing the shuttle to you!"
We soon saw what he was talking about: dozens of troopers swarmed out of the shuttle bay. As we watched, a second Atlas dropped from above. Just in the nick of time, Jacob's shuttle touched down. "Everyone get onboard!" I yelled, switching to my submachine gun and laying down cover fire. "Move!"
Team Three fled first, mostly so Garrus and Javik could bring their long-distance weaponry to bear on all the hostiles out there. Then Team Two. Then it was our turn. Spinning around, I ran for the shuttle. I was maybe fifty metres when an explosion took me off my feet. Miranda later told me a shell from the Atlas had landed just behind me and knocked me over with the shockwave.
"Shepard!"
"Commander!"
Before I knew it, Jacob and Brynn had jumped off the shuttle, hurried over and hauled me up. Brynn half-dragged me to safety while Jacob covered our six. Then he double-timed it to the shuttle while the squad laid down a withering barrage of gunfire. "Okay!" he yelled as he practically dove into the shuttle. "Let's go!"
The hatch slammed shut and the noise of gunfire dropped to a metallic din as the bullets bounced off the chassis. Then the thrusters kicked in and the shuttle took us away with a thunderous roar.
After thanking Cortez for the pickup and verifying that we'd rendezvous with the Normandy on the outskirts of the system, I returned to the cargo bay. "Out by the skin of our teeth again, eh, Shepard?"
"Nice to see you back in action," I returned.
"Yeah." Jacob sat down with a grateful sigh. "Feels good."
"I was afraid we wouldn't get anyone out alive and that base would become our tomb," Brynn confessed, "but we got almost everyone out—all because of you. Thank you."
"You're welcome," I said. It was a bit crowded in here, I noted. The last time it was this packed, the squad had just fled Grissom Academy with Kahlee, Jack and a bunch of biotic students. (7)
That gave me an idea. "Dr. Cole, I have a request—one that you can't afford to turn down. I need your help against the Reapers."
"Without a doubt," she nodded. "I'm at your service. And I'm sure you can count on the others as well. What can we do?"
"How would you and your people like to work on the most important military and scientific project in recent galactic history, one that could save us all? In a place that's secure, as well-guarded as any location can be, and would probably have enough space for all your spouses, loved ones and children?"
"That… that would be a dream come true," Brynn beamed.
"That offer's open for you too, Jacob," I said.
"Like I said, looking out for these families is important to me. It's where I'm at right now."
"Keep them safe, then. From what I've seen, they're in good hands."
"You got it."
"Jacob, Dr. Cole: I'll set things up. Report to Admiral Hackett for your assignment. I can't stress enough how important this is. The Alliance—the whole damn galaxy—needs this Crucible."
"We'll do that," Jacob nodded.
"Shepard," Cortez interrupted. "I've established contact with the Normandy. ETA: two minutes."
"Understood."
Brynn sat down beside Jacob. "You know, Commander, I've never met anyone like you."
"That's because there isn't one," Miranda said warmly.
"Clearly. I just feel better knowing you're on our side."
"Thanks."
"Hey, Shepard," Jacob said, leaning over Brynn. "When this mess is over, drinks are on me. "Be safe out there."
As soon as we got back to the Normandy and found some housing for Brynn, Jacob and the others, I got in touch with Hackett. He was in the middle of a meeting, which gave me time to change out of my hardsuit and into battle fatigues. Once he was free, Traynor opened a comm channel. "Hackett here."
"Admiral Hackett, I'm sending you a large team of scientists—and their families."
"Yes, your Comm Specialist sent me the dossier."
"They're all Cerberus defectors. Please keep them safe."
"Will do. We'll need to debrief them first, of course, but I'll put them to work on the Crucible as soon as possible."
Made sense, I had to admit. They had to make sure none of them were a Cerberus sleeper agent. The last thing we needed was to compromise the security of the Crucible, especially when it was our last and only hope of winning this war. Besides, you never knew if any of them had some critical piece of intel that might give us an edge. (8)
"I served with one of them, Jacob Taylor, during my preparations against the Collectors," I added. "He's committed to finding a place for the families."
"I've read his service record. He'll be a perfect liaison between the Alliance and the scientists, and a valuable asset as well. And speaking of records—my staff made a point of bringing Dr. Cole's name to my attention. Extracting her from the Illusive Man is a coup. Having her on our side could be a huge win for us."
"Agreed. The sooner we can get the Crucible finished, the better I'll feel."
"I'm with you," Hackett sighed. Maybe it was the connection, but he seemed to have a few more bags under his eyes. But I didn't know him well enough to comment on it. "Keep up the good work, Shepard," he said at last. "Hackett out."
No sooner had his image faded away then Traynor got on the comm. "Commander, Admiral Anderson is available on vid-comm."
"Patch him through," I ordered.
He was rubbing his shoulder when his image shimmered to life on the pad. "Shepard. I was hoping you'd check in again."
Unlike Hackett, I could voice my concerns with him. "You okay?" I frowned.
"Been putting my old academy training to use, organizing the resistance." He stretched his neck back and forth, as if working out some kinks. "You know, you've got quite a fan club back here."
"Tell me they don't want to erect a statue in my honour," I pleaded.
He laughed. "Not yet, but it may only be a matter of time. Any news we hear about the Normandy gives hope to the guys in the trenches."
"I know what that's like;" I nodded, "fighting in the dark. I'm running around, doing what I can… but I have no idea how the Crucible's coming along or how you guys are doing on Earth. I'm glad we're making a difference."
"It's more than that," Anderson told me. "A lot of these people have never held a gun in their life. Never had to know how to clear a room. Do basic first aid. Build a shelter. Fight for their lives. They were scared. Overwhelmed. So imagine how they felt when they heard you managed to get the turians and the krogan to cooperate.
"That was a shot in the arm, Shepard. Of the one thing we're in short supply around here: faith that any of us will live to see another day."
"I've been too busy running and gunning to think about another day," I confessed. "How bad is it?"
"It could be worse… but not much."
"Can you still coordinate any kind of counterattack?"
"We're hitting the Reapers every chance we get. Mostly guerilla-style hit-and-runs. But it's not enough. It's time we start focusing and coordinating our efforts."
"Where?"
"London," Anderson said firmly. "Something big is happening there. Our networks in the UK say the Reapers have arrived in huge numbers." (9)
"I don't like the sound of that," I admitted. "Any more details?"
He shook his head. "No… and that scares the hell out of me."
Me too. "Well," I said, trying for false bravado, "the Crucible will scare the hell out of the Reapers."
"We're counting on it." He paused for a moment. "Oh, and Shepard—I meant what I said earlier about Kai Leng. The Reapers may seem like our biggest threat, but take it from me, Leng is a vicious bastard. Don't underestimate him."
"Noted."
"Then I'll let you get back to it. We need whatever good news you can send our way. Anderson out."
No one else wanted to place a long-distance call, so I left the War Room. As I passed through the security screens, I listened in on the guards' conversation. "Cerberus seemed popular for a while," Westmoreland was saying. "They were trying to figure out what was going on with our colonies in the Terminus Systems while the Council sat and watched. Then they were fighting the Collectors, when we learned they were behind the abductions."
"And now they're killing civilians, brainwashing innocent men and women into becoming their slaves and attacking our allies," Campbell pointed out.
"A lot of people were sympathetic to Cerberus, or were willing to work with them, because they were willing to help when no one else would," I offered. "Most of them put their foot down and said 'enough was enough' when the rest of the Illusive Man's agenda became clear—particularly with the lengths to which he was willing to go. The important thing is that we stopped them again, and we'll keep stopping them until we've won.
"Yes, sir," they chorused.
Joker was chuckling when I entered the cockpit. "Man, Cerberus is gonna have a hard time recruiting now. Hey, how's Jacob?"
"He'll be okay," I replied.
"Glad to hear it. Nice to see we weren't the only one to come to our senses."
"After everything he's done, the Illusive Man can't pretend he's still fighting for humanity," I agreed. "Anyone who isn't indoctrinated has to see that by now."
"No kidding. Good thing we got out early."
"Yeah" I nodded. "And what about you, EDI? Anything on your mind?"
"Liara and Miranda recently requested assistance in calculating whether the mass effect is a phenomenon that occurs only in our universe, or in all possible universes."
Where the heck did they find the time to come up with this stuff?
"It may be that our laws of physics only occur in a finite area—a bubble, if you will, in an ocean of other possibilities."
Sure. Maybe in another universe, we'd have warp drive or the Force. (10)
"I am speculating whether, if you went far enough out, or created enough energy, you could reach a place where one plus one equaled three. Everything would change. All energy, all matter, all the underlying math of the universe would be unrecognizable to us. Why, what were you thinking?"
"I'll… get back to you on that," I managed.
A tactical retreat brought me to Traynor's station. "We've arranged to transfer the scientists and their families to an Alliance cruiser," she told me. "The brass thinks they'll be a big help on the Crucible."
"So I've heard," I agreed. "You, know, this is the second time you found someone who needed our help. First Grissom Academy, now this. Nice work."
"You know how fighter pilots put those little stamp things under their cockpits for each kill?" she asked.
"Mission markings."
"Sir?"
"They're called mission markings. Or kill markings. There's a couple different terms for them."
"I'm thinking of getting a 'mission marking' by the galaxy map every time I analyze the crap out of some data."
I burst into laughter. "You're turning into a regular marine."
"Yes… well… I guess you're rubbing off on me. Ooh-rah, and all that."
"Nice work."
"Thanks, Commander. It feels good to bring someone out alive."
Before I left, Traynor told me that Kaidan was looking for me. I was heading down to Deck Three anyway, so I headed down. I found him in the crew quarters. "Hey," he greeted me. "There you are."
"What's on your mind?"
"You know, I've been just sitting here thinking…"
"Uh oh." I pulled up a chair and sat down. "Okay, hit me with it."
"So those Cerberus scientists… they were good people. I mean, Dr. Cole and her team, they seemed like… like good people. So was Jacob. And you."
"Okay."
"Knowing that, what do we do? What if there are more like them trapped inside Cerberus, struggling to get out?"
This was a far cry from the Kaidan who'd been running around wanting to verbally tar-and-feather me. (11) "What do you think we should do?"
"I don't know, Shepard," he shrugged. "These are the hard calls. The decision to 'sacrifice the one for the many.' The choice to leave someone behind. Until you're in that moment…" he trailed off and sighed. "So yeah, you know. I don't know."
"Anyone that comes forward—like these people—we help," I said at last. "No matter what. Might not be much of an SOP, but that's the best we can do."
"I guess."
"Sometimes the best we can do won't feel like enough, but it's all we've got."
Kaidan got to his feet and started to pace. "So… the scientists that put you back together. The ones that saved your life, like Miranda, they were good people?"
It sounded like he was trying to wrap his head around the concept that Cerberus couldn't be viewed in strictly black-and-white terms. About time, I thought. "They were professionals," I said. "I didn't know them all. The ones I did know, yeah, they were good people."
"And the Illusive Man?"
"Was he a good person, you mean?"
"Once? Ever?"
"Well, he gave me what I needed to stop the Collectors," I shrugged. "When no one else would. I don't think that makes him a good person when you consider all the other horrors and atrocities he signed off on, but I'll give him that."
"Right. I see that. But… you never saw this coming from them? From him? Sorry," he apologized before I could respond. "I'm not sure what I want you to say here. I guess I'm looking for some sort of insight on the Illusive Man… some sort of… well… something."
"Back then, he said he wanted the best for humanity," I finally said, "and he had resources to spare. But it soon became clear that what he really wanted was humanity first at any cost. For humanity in general—and him specifically—to have the power to control and dominate everything else. Everyone else. And that… that's a very different thing."
Kaidan sat back down and listened. Again, I marvelled at the change from the Kaidan I'd had to deal with for the last year or so. "But this? Launching an assault on the entire galaxy when we're already busy fighting for our lives against the Reapers? I knew he was ambitious as hell, but no: I never saw this coming from him."
He thought about that. "Hmm. Okay. I guess I'm not surprised. If we knew what the hell he was thinking, we wouldn't be in this mess. Well thanks, Shepard. I'm glad we could talk about this."
"Me too." I stood up and faced him. "Meanwhile, you should find a way to take your mind off things."
"I know," he smiled. "Joker did ask me to give him some poker tips. He keeps losing his shirt to James."
That's right: the renovations and retrofits did include a poker table. "Good luck with that," I laughed. "Joker has a terrible poker face."
He laughed, somewhat ruefully. "Great. I like a challenge. Hey, if you have a moment the next time we're on the Citadel, we should head up to the Presidium. I know a place that still has steak."
"Only if you're buying."
"You bet."
I was on my way to Liara's office when I saw Garrus and James hanging out in the mess hall. To see them out here instead of performing calibrations or pumping iron was unusual, to say the least. My curiosity was piqued. And there's only one response to that.
"You sure you want to play this game?" Garrus asked as I leaned against the wall and listened in.
"What's the matter, Vakarian?" James grinned. "You chicken?" (12)
"I don't even know what that is," Garrus confessed, "though I've heard everything in the galaxy tastes like it. But if you're suggesting I'm scared… game on, Vega."
"Age before wisdom," James said cheekily.
"Okay," Garrus nodded. "Back in my C-Sec days, I busted a batarian spy ring that was trying to assassinate a Councillor."
"Please," James sneered. "I fought off a dozen angry batarians on Omega single-handedly. Used one of 'em as a landing pad off a three-story jump."
"Just warming up," Garrus chuckled," seeing what you had. Now… I tracked down this guy, Saren. Stopped him from raising a geth army and unleashing the Reapers on the galaxy three years ago."
James shook his head. "Doesn't count. You did that with Shepard."
"You're right," Garrus conceded. "I was with Shepard. From the very beginning."
Darn tootin'.
"That just means you're old."
"Still think you can win this, huh?"
"I can do this all day, Scars."
"Funny you mention those. Ever hear the name Archangel?"
James shrugged casually. "I might've."
"You know you have." Garrus leaned towards him and paused for dramatic emphasis. "I'm Archangel."
"Maybe I heard something about that, too."
"Then maybe you also heard that, for a couple months there, the crime rate on Omega mysteriously dropped while Archangel did a little… 'housecleaning'."
"So you ran a cleaning service on Omega," James scoffed. "Back on Fehl Prime, I uncovered a pair of Harvesters. Had to kill them by myself."
"Two wormnecks… that's almost impressive."
"Oh, that's not even the best part. They left behind an egg. It hatched, and I trained it to let me fly it."
Garrus snorted. "The Alliance teach you to make up crap like that, or did you figure it out all by yourself?"
"It's a gift," James shrugged. "But I gotta admit, you've been through a lot, Scars."
"You giving up?"
"Nah, I got more." James suddenly became more somber and serious. "Just don't like to talk about it."
"Fair enough," Garrus relented. "We've all got one of those."
If we were lucky. James picked up on it too: "Just one, huh?"
"Yeah, not every story has a happy ending."
Something I was learning with each and every day of this god damn war.
"Except there was this one time I teamed up with a turian named Garrus Vakarian," James said loudly, clearly trying to improve the mood. "He was pretty good with a gun, I guess, but he thought he was some kind of hotshot."
Not to be outdone, Garrus quickly carried on. "Yeah… yeah, I knew this wise-ass marine named Jimmy Vega—sounds like a bad pole-dancer on Omega. Always got on my nerves. But the kid was all right. Had guts when it counted."
"And together they cured the genophage," James declared.
"And stopped Cerberus from taking over the Citadel," Garrus added.
"And finally kicking the Reapers from this galaxy into the next," James concluded.
"With a little help from their friends," Garrus grudgingly said, having finally spotted me.
James saw me too. He gave me a cheeky grin. "Nah, it was just us. But mostly me."
There was only one possible response to that performance. I raised my hands and slowly gave them the applause they deserved. So did everyone else—apparently this show had drawn quite the crowd. Garrus nodded graciously, then gave an embarrassed half-bow. James hammed it up big-time with over-the-top bows and kisses and everything. "Having fun, are we?" I asked.
"Just telling James here what it means to be a real soldier," Garrus shrugged.
"I like it. Team bonding through copious amounts of bullshit."
"Something they don't teach you in the Alliance, I bet."
"You'd be surprised."
We shared a laugh. "I'm glad Jacob was able to get those scientists away from the Illusive Man once they realized what he was up to," Garrus said after the chuckles subsided. "Good to know that some people in Cerberus haven't lost their mind. This fight can use them."
One unintended consequence of the Garrus and James show was that everyone I wanted to see was right there in the mess hall, so it was fairly easy to ask everyone how they were doing. Most of them gave the usual response.
Not Dr. Chakwas, though. "You always pull through, Commander."
"Um… yeah. I've been lucky so far, I guess. Got almost everybody off Gellix."
"What? Ah. No, Commander, I was referring to the negotiations you completed with Tactus."
Tactus? Oh, right: the turian who many of the Citadel refugees had appointed as their leader. Dr. Chakwas had asked me to trade some medical supplies they could use for some combat-grade meds we could use. "Everything good, I take it?"
"Indeed. We've acquired some very useful equipment. As such, I've been able to enhance the effectiveness of our medi-gel delivery systems. Once I finish up here, I'll head down to the Armoury and began upgrading the hardsuits."
"Great," I approved. "That's wonderful news."
"I've also collated information that you may find of interest. Check with Glyph."
When I tried to do so, Liara shooed me away. Glyph was more polite: "I'm sorry, Commander Shepard, but Dr. T'Soni is extremely busy right now. She would appreciate it if you come back later."
"I'm actually here for you," I said. "Dr. Chakwas said she collated some information and I was to talk to you."
"Right this way, Commander. And may I say what an excellent find you made. The information network terminal has been updated."
It didn't take long to find out what the big deal was. Long story short: the stuff we picked up, added to the research Dr. Chakwas had done last year, could either heal all scarring from my cybernetic implants or boost my immune system. Since my scarring had healed a long time ago, I opted for the latter. Which would mean another trip to sickbay to get poked and prodded. Rather than do that, I went to Deck Four instead.
Javik had a few concerns, as I found out when I dropped by. "You and this human called Jacob were both a part of Cerberus?"
"That is correct," EDI said over the comm.
"And Cerberus is filled with traitors to humanity?"
"Yes, they oppose us in this war."
"Then why should we trust either of you?" Javik pounced.
"We have severed our ties with the organization."
"But you were programmed by Cerberus," Javik rebutted.
"I can extrapolate where this is going. I have superseded my original programming and have chosen to oppose Cerberus."
"You mean you have chosen to oppose your creators."
"Correct."
"I find this a very troubling freedom, machine," Javik told her. "That is all." He turned around and saw me. I waved at him. He grunted.
"Those humans you saved were fortunate. There are still places in the galaxy to hide."
"Can I ask…?" I began tentatively.
"Our refugees perished. There was nowhere left to run."
"Oh."
"I trust you, Commander, when you say you no longer expedite Cerberus's goals. Otherwise…"
"Gotcha," I said cheerfully. "I should go."
The rest of my rounds were fairly uneventful. Gabby admitted she helped EDI make some repairs to her mech, which elicited the usual lewd suggestions from Ken. Emily wondered if Kaidan had had media training given the 'steady stare' he gave during an interview. And Cortez was busy smoothing out the dents the shuttle had received during the extraction. So I bought some upgrades for my sniper rifle and submachine gun before returning to Liara's office.
I walked into the middle of a conversation she was having with Kaidan. "I find using my biotics to toss someone across the room is a decent attention-grabber."
"Yes, but it's also a good way to draw enemy fire," she chided.
"That's what the rest of your team is for. Which you know, judging from what I saw today. You can handle yourself in a fight now, Liara. I mean, not that your biotics weren't impressive the first time we met."
"I have had my fair share of opportunities to use them these past few years," Liara admitted.
"Well, I'm glad you got through in one piece. Sounds like you have a few stories to tell."
"So do you. I'll talk to you later, Kaidan."
"Later, Liara."
"Hi, there," I said. "I dropped by earlier, but you were busy."
"Yes. I was investigating that back-channel request for help from Asari High Command."
"Yeah," I nodded. "Figure out what the hell's going on?"
The door opened behind me. "You could say that," Miranda said, entering the room.
"Well?" Liara asked.
"You were right," Miranda replied.
"Goddess."
"Someone gonna fill me in here?" I asked.
"Over the last two weeks, the Asari Republics have sent commando squads to the planet Lesuss," Liara began. "It's the first planet from the sun in the Mesana System, located within the Nimbus Cluster."
"What can you tell me about the place?"
"It has an orbital period of 0.8 Earth years," Miranda said, rattling off stats with almost mechanical precision. "Average day length of 23.5 Earth hours. Average surface temperature of 38 degress Celsius. Surface gravity of 1.23 g—and your eyes are glazing over."
"If I wanted that, I could've looked up a tourist guide," I pointed out. "Or a stellar cartography guide. Or some travel forum on the extranet."
Miranda gave in. "What you won't find is that it's barely populated, despite the fact that it's been designated as a garden world.
Now that was unusual. 'Garden worlds' were basically any habitable planet whose ecosphere could sustain and support a population. If Lesuss was a garden world, you'd think the asari would be all over it. "Why?"
"Well, it could be because it's just outside the average comfort zone for an asari," Miranda offered in a suspiciously nonchalant tone. "Gravity's a little too high, local diseases a little too virulent, soil's a little too inhospitable for growing food. Of course, it's hard to say for sure, considering the asari government is unusually reticent in providing details on the world. At least, compared to other asari worlds. So even your perusal of tourist guides or the extranet would yield little information."
"In fact, Lesuss is far from regularly travelled galactic trade routes," Liara continued. "There is only one colony there and this is its main feature." She handed me a datapad. I thumbed it on and started reading the reports. Then I blinked. Started from the top and read it again.
Aw, crap. "Is this for real?" I asked in disbelief.
"I'm afraid so."
Well. This was going to be interesting.
(1): Shepard generally preferred his coffee black, during the war. On the rare moments when he was in a good mood and had a relatively decent amount of sleep, he might add some cream and sugar.
(2): During their numerous missions against mercenaries, geth and the Collectors, Garrus was Jacob's team leader.
(3): Miranda was horrified at what Dr. Archer had done to his own brother, particularly after the lengths she had gone to in order to protect her sister. This discovery, along with the fact that it was done with the Illusive Man's express approval, seriously damaged Miranda's loyalty to Cerberus and played a significant role in her decision to cut ties.
(4): No doubt Shepard empathized with Jacob, after spending countless times in that exact situation.
(5): One would think so.
(6): And items to loot.
(7): I'll admit, the similarities were striking.
(8): Hackett personally oversaw the preparations for the interviews to ensure the refugees would not be treated as traitors or worse.
(9): Anderson's report would be factored into the planning of the operation to retake Earth.
(10): A reference to the human science-fiction franchises 'Star Trek' and 'Star Wars,' respectively.
(11): An old form of human public humiliation, used in feudal Europe, its colonies in the early modern period and the early American frontier. Tarring and feathering became a metaphor for public humiliation and punishment.
(12): A human idiom implying cowardice, one that is rather curious in this instance given Garrus's avian origins.