Chapter 44: Lies and Shattered Hopes
"Commander, Thessia is under heavy attack!" Joker yelled at me. "There's Reaper activity across most of the planet. The mission to retrieve the asari artifact from the Temple of Athame's looking really dicey."
Somehow, I realized I was reliving the mission to Thessia. "This is too important," I replied. "It's now or never. "
With a flash of light, I found myself hopping off a shuttle with my squad. As the shuttle flew away, I saw her frantically dodging the Harvesters that were darkening the sky. In front of us lay a hastily fortified bridge, guarded by a few asari soldiers. "Where are the reinforcements?" one of them shouted.
"You mean us?" I asked.
The asari turned to me, took one look, and threw up her hands. "Commander Shepard? Lieutenant Kurin. We've been asked to hold this bridge until you arrived. Well, you're here and I've lost enough people today. I'm pulling the rest of them out."
"No!" Javik shouted.
"Yes!" she shouted out. "All right, everyone! Run for your lives!"
Every asari dropped their guns and, well, ran for their lives. After a minute or two trying to stem the tide, we gave up and ran over the bridge. There was a balcony up ahead. Some part of me realized that we shouldn't have gotten that far yet.
As we watched, a high-yield round whistled in and exploded. "This is Specialist Cayla!" we heard. "Specialist Jineva was just killed by enemy fire."
"What about Shepard?" Kurin asked.
"Not here. I can't hold out much—"
Another mortar round came in and blew her to smithereens. Rather than climb up to the balcony, we went around it and up a long, gently sloping ramp to Outpost Tykis. There were two gunships frantically spraying bullets at a horde of husks, Marauders, Cannibals, Ravagers and Banshees. A lone asari frantically ran for her life before being cut down.
"I'm hit, I'm hit!" I heard over the comm.
"So am I! The stabilizer blew out!"
"Talons One and Five are going down!"
The two gunships plummeted to the ground and exploded, taking out the entire Reaper force and clearing the way to the Temple of Athame. Which somehow wasn't protected by the kinetic barriers secretly installed by the asari government.
"That's the goddess Athame's shield," Javik announced abruptly, "representing an asteroid strike that my people diverted. There are fragments from the Athame Codex stored throughout this temple: over there was a tale of Lucen—clearly a Prothean if you have eyes—teaching the asari about the stars; over there was one of my people genetically manipulating asari into biotics; here and here are depictions of a Prothean-looking Athame talking to asari; that one's Janiri showing asari how to grow crops to fill their stomachs; that one's Athame as a math teacher—need I say more? The only thing here that is not clearly Prothean is that giant statue of Athame that looks like some asari model."
Somehow, this didn't seem right. I was pretty sure that we'd skipped one or two things. I was positive that Javik hadn't trampled over Liara's illusions quite so quickly in his zeal to be the fastest tour guide ever. And I knew for a fact that Liara hadn't dropped to the floor and assumed the fetal position. But before I could wonder what the hell was going on, the giant statue of Athame cracked and fell apart. A green sphere flew out towards us.
"Obtaining chronological marker," it said, transforming from a sphere to a transparent, holographic Prothean. "Post-Prothean cycle confirmed. Greetings, Commander Shepard. I am Vendetta, an advanced virtual construct of Pashek Vran, overseer of the project you refer to as 'Crucible.' My records indicate you are building it under the false belief that it's a Prothean device."
"Can you help?" I asked. "We need answers on what the heck is the Catalyst."
"Unable to comply. Reaper presence detected. This galactic cycle has already reached its extinction terminus. Alert: indoctrinated presence detected. Activating security—"
Before I knew it, Vendetta turned back into a sphere. It tried to fly away, only to get sucked into a high-tech vacuum cleaner held by Kai Leng. He slung the vacuum cleaner over his shoulder, did a couple back-flips, then activated his comm. "Now," he said.
A gunship swooped down from the sky and launched a barrage of missiles. As the entire temple began collapsing, the floor gave way beneath our feet and we plummeted into the abyss…
My eyes popped open, twitching back and forth in the dark. Gradually, I convinced myself it was all a horrible, horrible nightmare. My heart stopped racing. My breathing slowed down. I reached up and wiped off a thin sheen of sweat from my brow.
"Shepard?"
Oops. I wasn't the only one in this bed. Not that Miranda and I had been in the mood for any sexy hijinks. "Yeah?"
"What happened?"
"Nightmare. Reliving our mission to Thessia." I paused and thought about it before adding "Only it was in fast-forward. And a lot worse."
Miranda shuffled over and wrapped an arm around me. "Try to go back to sleep," she suggested.
Right. Like that would ever happen.
Despite my pessimistic predictions, I did get some sleep in the end. Not that I was aware of drifting off—it seemed like I had just closed my eyes when the alarm went off. But I had gotten enough rest to get out of bed. A painfully cold shower and a cup or two of coffee woke me up for good. (1)
An hour later, the squad was suited up, armed for bear and clambering aboard the shuttle. As soon as Cortez went through the pre-flight checks, Garrus asked the obvious question: "So what do we know, Shepard?"
"Let's start with Horizon," I said. "Miranda?"
"Horizon was first surveyed in 2168. The initial planetary scans revealed a nitrogen-oxygen atmosphere that was very similar to Earth, thanks to the abundant wealth of plants and bacteria indigenous to the planet. Minimal terraforming would be required, given the abundant supplies of fresh water, the fact that Horizon's soil was especially compatible with Earth vegetation and the mild average temperature of 13 degrees Celsius. Given the favourable conditions, one would expect it would be earmarked for immediate colonization. While a colony was technically founded on Horizon in 2168, it did not receive pilot habitation until 2172 and the colony proper was not officially established until 2178. It became known as a refuge from the increasing bureaucracy and restrictions of Citadel-governed society, attracting a wide variety of dissidents, marginalized people and fringe elements... until last year."
At that point, Miranda pointedly looked at Kaidan. To his credit, he only squirmed for a few seconds before 'fessing up. "The Alliance suspected Cerberus of being responsible for the mass abductions of human colonies in the Terminus Systems. During that time, we also received rumours that Shepard was alive and working with Cerberus."
With, not for. Just saying. (2)
"Then we got a tip that Horizon might be the next target. Officially, I was sent to install defence towers as part of a colonial outreach program. Unofficially, I was tasked with investigating Cerberus and the rumours surrounding Shepard in particular.
"In the end, the tip paid off: Horizon was the target of the next attack. Only the perpetrators were the Collectors and we were hit before the defence towers were brought online. A third of the colony wound up being abducted. If it wasn't for Shepard's arrival, we would have lost everyone. I should have been more grateful. But when Shepard confirmed he was working with Cerberus, I… well, I didn't react very well."
"The Illusive Man was the one who sent that tip," I said, "along with those rumours. He was trying to drive a wedge between the Alliance and myself."
Kaidan snorted. "And like a sucker, I fell for it." He looked around the cargo bay and added "Not my proudest moment."
We were briefly interrupted by Cortez sealing the shuttle doors and powering the shuttle up. EDI took over the briefing once we left the Normandy. "The Sanctuary facility was devoted to aiding refugees from Reaper-controlled systems throughout the galaxy. The facility went offline recently, and no communications have come or gone since. It is unclear why Kai Leng or Cerberus would be interested in Sanctuary."
"I've been going over the intel obtained by the Shadow Broker network ever since we set course for Horizon," Liara said. "So far, I've identified certain… anomalies with the establishment of Sanctuary. The number of companies involved, outsourcing of contracts, origin and lot number of various shipments… all of which are unusually difficult to track for a refugee facility."
"You think Cerberus may have been involved in Sanctuary?" I guessed.
Liara gave a helpless shrug. "By itself, the irregularities I've found are certainly unusual. Coupled with the signal blackout in this area and the fact that this system was Kai Leng's last known location, my findings become significantly more… troubling."
"Then let's get down there and figure out what's going on," I declared. "And if there's a clue to Cerberus here, we find it."
"Sir," Cortez called out from the cockpit. "I'm picking up a signal from the facility. It's weak. Lemme try to boost it and I'll patch it over the PA."
It didn't take much fiddling on his part. The signal came through a second later: "This is Oriana Lawson. Stay away from Sanctuary. It's not what it seems."
Miranda's face paled, if that was even possible.
"Please, you must listen to me! They're using—"
The signal dissolved into static.
"Ori!" Miranda cried out. Jumping to her feet, she burst into the cockpit. "Get her back!" she demanded.
"I'm trying," Cortez said, shaking his head. "Comm system's fine on this end. The signal must've gotten cut off at the source."
"Oriana Lawson," James repeated. "As in…"
"Miranda's sister," I confirmed quietly. "I think we've found our link to Cerberus."
Cortez tried one last time to re-establish a connection before giving up. "Approaching the LZ," he announced.
Miranda returned to the cargo bay and sat down. I wanted to say something reassuring—but that would be a lie and we all knew it. Hell, I wanted to give her a hug—but right now I had to be the squad leader and commanding officer, not her boyfriend.
That raised another potential problem: Miranda had been trying to find Oriana on and off for the better part of this war. She'd only recently discovered that her disappearance was in some way linked to her estranged father. And now she knew that Oriana was on Horizon, a facility that was growing more suspicious by the minute, and had been trying to send a warning. In short, Miranda was going to be seriously distracted. Possibly too distracted to be an effective team leader.
"Seeing some damage, Commander," Cortez said, interrupting that disturbing train of thought. "No activity, though."
"That could change," I warned everyone, getting to my feet. "Cerberus does not get the jump on us this time, people! Stay sharp, people!"
With that, Cortez came to a hovering position. The hatch opened. And we stepped foot onto Sanctuary.
Most refugee camps are ad-hoc. Temporary. Lots of cheap pre-fab modules and one-floor buildings scattered wherever you could find room.
But not this place. Sanctuary was clearly built for the long-term. Cortez had dropped us off in a large, circular courtyard lined with small trees and neatly trimmed shrubbery. A corridor of tiles led towards a staircase, which was bracketed on either side by curved balconies boasting more flora. In the distance, a tall tower stretched towards the sky. Modern and well-made: a silent promise that things could be normal here. That you could be safe.
Somehow, the scorch marks and fires kinda detracted from that. Javik apparently agreed. "A lot of damage, Commander."
"Yeah," I nodded, "but who was fighting?" I pointed at a bunch of shuttles parked behind us. "Them? Or someone else?"
"We need to find out, Shepard," Miranda insisted. "And don't even think about sending me back to the Normandy. I need to find Oriana."
"We need to find Oriana," I said, coming to a decision. "That's why we're going to switch things up a bit. Kaidan: I want you in charge of Team Two for the duration of this mission."
Kaidan cast a worried look at Miranda before slowly nodding. Miranda was equally hesitant, but soon echoed the gesture. Good. On some level, she must have realized that she wasn't in the right frame of mind to function as team leader. Which would hopefully make my next order easier to swallow: "Miranda, you're an integral part of this squad. And you're the best person to find any clues that Oriana might leave behind. That's why I'm not sending you back… for now. But the moment I even think your head's not in the game, I'm calling Cortez. Understood?"
The glare Miranda levelled at me wasn't quite as devastating as it could have been. Again, some part of her understood why I was making all these changes—and why they were being made now rather than later. (3)
"All right, then," I stated. "Let's move out, people."
We'd only taken a few steps forward before an odd squeal blared into my ears. "Everyone hear that?"
Miranda was too busy massaging her ears in pain to respond. Everyone else nodded. "The radio's offline," Tali elaborated. "Something's jamming our signals."
Which meant we were cut off from the Normandy. Not to mention my earlier threat to send Miranda back if she went off half-cocked had just been neutered. Great. "Well, that explains why no comms are leaving the facility," I sighed. "Come on. Let's see what's inside."
We didn't get that far. I'd just reached the top of the stairs when I heard a loud bang. Looking up, I saw a shuttle drop from the sky, spinning out of control, before crashing on one of the balconies. As we watched, another shuttle flew overhead. And right on its heels…
"A Harvester, Shepard!" EDI identified.
"I saw it!" I replied. Taking out my sniper rifle, I zoomed in on the crashed shuttle to see if there were any survivors. Good news, there were.
Bad news, they weren't the survivors I was hoping to see. I dropped the first one with a headshot before cursing. "Phantoms!"
"Don't let them get close," Miranda reminded us.
Good advice, considering no one wanted a bunch of Cerberus ninjas sneaking up on us and chopping us to bloody bits. Speaking of ninjas, one of them was hiding about twenty-four, twenty-five metres away. I sent her location to the others. Liara and EDI tore apart her shields a second later using biotics and plasma, then I landed another headshot. Teams Two and Three did the same with another pair who were trying to flank us.
And that was when the back of my neck started tingling.
Trusting my instincts, I lifted my sniper rifle and scanned around. No one was in the immediate area. But up ahead… "Watch out for the sniper!" I warned.
While the squad found cover, I zoomed in. The Cerberus sniper was just sliding into cover, so I decided to wait until she popped her head up. As soon as she did… bang! Popped her head like a melon.
"Looks like they were evacuating," Javik observed.
"And…" Liara paused to shake her head before finishing, "it looks like the Reapers were pursuing them out."
"About time they started killing each other," I snorted.
I just wished we could sit back and enjoy the show. Maybe the Reapers were just being indiscriminate in their hostility. But somehow, I didn't think it was quite that simple.
We leapfrogged our way towards the main entrance, scooping up thermal clips along the way. "Welcome to Sanctuary," an automated VI greeted us as I began bypassing the lock. It only took a couple seconds before the door slid open.
"What happened here?" Kaidan asked aloud.
That was a good question. There was a bit of a mess inside. Sparks were flying from a console behind us. Fires were burning over on the left. But otherwise, it looked pretty clean. Plain walls and flooring, broken up by the occasional bank of monitors, large glass windows, conveniently placed benches or carefully tended shrubbery. But what really struck me was how quiet and empty this place was. "I don't know," I finally said. "Come on."
That was when we heard the familiar whine of engines overhead. Looking up through the skylight, we could see more shuttles taking off. And each one had a very familiar paint scheme. "Cerberus on the move!" Garrus deduced. "They're coming from that tower."
"Then that's where we're headed."
We searched the area first. After finding nothing but a scrap of medi-gel, I found myself looking through a window towards a lush courtyard below. James took one look and whistled. "It's a mess in here, but man, this is a nice setup."
He wasn't kidding. What I first took for a courtyard actually looked like a very well-maintained park—from the plant life to the large pond in the middle. Very nice. In fact, this entire facility was very well designed. Aside from the fires, it wouldn't look out of place on the Presidium.
"And then something went terribly wrong," Tali said mournfully.
"But what?" Miranda demanded.
"We need to find out what happened."
"Be advised: communication devices will not function within Sanctuary."
I checked my comm, but the VI was right: it was still jammed. Was this a recent development or were comm signals always blocked in this place?
Maybe there was a file somewhere that would have the answers. Or some answer. I began searching for a computer. Place like this must have one—aha!
The squad peered over my shoulder at the video log I managed to pull up. "Footage from security cameras," Liara recognized. "It looks like a reception area for sorting out the arrivals. The numbers are incredible."
There were certainly a ton of people in the video log. I'd seen shopping mall sales that boasted shorter line-ups. I did some more digging, but the other files on this hard drive were too badly degraded for me to recover. Not without spending way more time than I had. "Come on," I said. "Let's keep looking."
I wandered over to what looked like an office area. Lots of desks and computers, cordoned off by thin glass walls. Randomly picking a desk, I sat down and woke up the computer. There was an audio log already selected, so of course I hit 'Play.'
"I figure in another week, I can finish off the remaining hours on my contract and move from staff housing into Sanctuary itself. Yeah, I feel a little guilty that I'm getting an upgrade from standard accommodations. But that's the deal. Do your time at the front desk—get the perks. Fair's fair. One more week."
Somehow, I don't think this was the kind of perk this guy was looking for.
The next desk had a PDA with another log open:
Front Desk Log 385
Civilian processing ratios:
Adults, 60% sent to integration
Children, 85% sent to integration
Suitable candidates are being assigned to temporary living areas in alphabetical order. Family units are being preserved for ease of processing.
Processing ratios. Integration. Candidates. Not the kind of thing I'd want to hear if I was a refugee.
It soon became clear that there were two sides to Sanctuary. On the surface, there were topics and concerns that you'd expect to discuss in a refugee facility, like this audio log:
"The number of refugees has doubled in the last two weeks. I heard that people are just abandoning shuttles outside the main gate. They just don't have anywhere to go. We'll need to start setting up temporary shelters out there until they can be processed."
And then there was this gem:
"Incident Report #2139. An illegal communication device nearly made it past pre-screening. Scanner software has been adjusted. No way it could penetrate the central scrambler, but we can't chance a signal leaving the planet. Report filed."
Why was Sanctuary so insistent on cutting off contact with the wider galaxy? Was this an effort to hide from the Reapers? Or to hide whatever was really going on in this place?
There wasn't anything else in Reception besides some credits I swiped from an open account, so we headed down the stairs towards the courtyard we saw. There were a couple shuttles at the bottom, that had touched down in a haphazard manner that would drive Cortez crazy.
"Another landing zone," Kaidan guessed.
"Yeah," James nodded soberly. "All those transports outside were waiting in line."
"But where are all the people they brought?" I wanted to know.
I double-timed it towards one of the shuttles. The hatch was ajar, with a body sprawled out. The angle of the neck told me he was dead before the scans confirmed it. I picked up the datapad lying nearby. The surface was cracked, but I did the best I could. "Got a fragment of something here," I eventually said.
"…we land in a few minutes," a man was saying. "You should see this place, Dad. It's amazing! Look, I'll record a bunch of stuff and send it to you. Might take a while, though: they warned us about no comms until we're through processing. What did I tell you? Top-notch security. Can't wait 'till you get here."
He seemed so happy. Cheerful. Relaxed. I guess he thought it would be smooth sailing from here on out.
I retrieved another audio log from another civvie's datapad, a woman this time:
"Sorry, I can't call right now. But I'll send this as soon as I can. My little girl got sick. That's why I left. I love you, but I have to take care of her. The clinics were closing their doors to refugees. I couldn't borrow credits from you. I don't know where I learned about Sanctuary. Around, I guess. Seemed perfect. Somewhere to hide, you know? Just till she got better. I can see the place out the window. It's huge. They already have people waiting for us."
You could hear the strain in her voice. The stress and worry from caring for her daughter. The desperation. And the relief from actually seeing Sanctuary for the first time.
"Got some bodies, Shepard."
We headed over to join Garrus. Sure enough, he'd found some bodies. A mix of Cerberus troopers and husks. "Looks like we missed a fight," I said. "There were casualties. On both sides."
While we pondered that, EDI took it upon herself to scout ahead. "More Cerberus troops up ahead," she hissed.
She was right. But we outnumbered them two-to-one and we had the element of surprise. They didn't stand a chance.
After the explosions died down and the bullets stopped firing, Teams One and Two restocked on thermal clips and looked around. Team Three found another flight of stairs and went up to take a look. They were back down, shaking their heads. "Just an observation deck," Tali explained. "Looks like a dead end."
"We need an exit," I said. "Keep looking."
I had just scanned a weapon mod from one of the dead Cerberus soldiers when Javik called out "Commander." He was standing next to a monitor displaying nothing but static. Evidently, he wanted me to work some computer magic and get it working. I reached over and hit 'Play.'
"Please, you have to listen to me. My name is Oriana Lawson."
Miranda shoved her way forward. No one stopped her, even though she had better hearing than any of us and the screen showed nothing but a random parade of images from various security cams throughout the facility.
"Go back. This is not a refugee camp. This is a Cerberus facility run by my father. He's finally gone too far… there's Reapers attacking. They're everywhere. I can't… there's no communications. Everything's being blocked from the central tower. Please, if you get this, just… stay away."
The screen dissolved into static again. "Okay," I said. "So we've got Cerberus, Reapers and Miranda's crazy father. Sorry, Miranda."
Miranda didn't say a word.
"Any ideas how this all fits?" I asked.
While waiting for anyone to come up with said ideas, I downloaded Oriana's warning to my omni-tool. Then I looted a nearby storage container. The squad didn't have anything but speculation and theories when I got back, so I figured it was time to get going again. Heading into the courtyard, I followed a meandering path around trees, bushes and a particularly nice row of tulips before stopping by a security panel. "Everyone stay alert," I warned. "I'm going to shut this security panel down and see what happens."
A shudder ran beneath our feet. Warning alarms started to hoot. "What's going on?" Miranda cried out.
"The water," EDI said.
We hurried to the edge and looked at the pond. Or what remained of it: the water was rapidly being drained, revealing something that looked more like the bottom of an artificial pool. A pool with a lot of weird add-ons that I'd never seen before.
"An unusual amount of technology for such a facility," Javik mused.
"Not just any technology," Miranda corrected. "Cerberus technology. Though there's something different about it."
"Modifications?" I suggested.
"A lot of modifications."
"Well, we now have a back door into the facility," I said. "Maybe it'll lead us to that tower. Let's move."
We found a ladder and climbed down. This was not like the bottom of any pond or pool that I had ever seen. To my eyes, it seemed more akin to an industrial factory.
Thankfully, we weren't relying on my eyes alone. "Some of this is Reaper tech," Tali said after scrutinizing a nearby junction. "I'm sure of it."
"I can corroborate Tali's findings," EDI nodded. "Along with several other components that match Cerberus proprietary designs. If I may hypothesize, it appears that Cerberus has found a way to create an interface between our technology and the Reapers."
Not surprising, considering all the Reaperfied cyborgs TIMmy had been throwing at us, but I still felt a chill running down my spine. Sanctuary had gone from a safe haven to some kind of Cerberus research project—and I knew full well where that could lead. Which made Oriana's presence even worse. "Let's pick up the pace," I said.
There was a door at the far end of the pool—pond, whatever. It opened up into a long corridor with another door at the far end. Compared to the openness of the courtyard, this area was positively claustrophobic. Dim lighting, with only a few thin light panels on the walls. Support beams angling upward to bisect the space. And gusts of steam hissing from exhaust valves, just in case you weren't creeped out enough.
"This looks more like a factory than a refugee camp," Liara said, unconsciously echoing my earlier observations.
"No refugee ever saw this part of Sanctuary," Kaidan agreed. "Or if they did, they only saw it once."
"Hey," James butted in. "Let's focus, alright?"
I looked at him. He had a worried eye trained on Miranda. Guess I wasn't the only one concerned about her. (4) "James is right," I said. "Cut the chatter and let's keep going."
We entered a smaller room. Not much to see, but I managed to loot a safe and scan a hardsuit mod on the way to the door.
The next room looked more promising. "A command centre by the looks of it," Garrus said. "Needs power, though."
He was right. The sheer array of computers and monitors, and the way they were arranged towards a bank of floor-to-ceiling windows, did resemble a command centre. However, most of the equipment was dark. I waded through the mounds of paperwork littering the floor, looking for some kind of power switch. Once I found a suitable console, I began pressing various buttons until I turned it on.
One by one, the monitors turned on. "What's happening?" Liara asked.
"Those are refugees," EDI identified.
She was right. Men and women in uniforms were firmly grabbing refugees and forcing them into what looked like bathtubs. Thick, brown smoke billowed upward as the refugees jerked and spasmed… before growing still.
"They're just rounding them up and killing them," Kaidan rasped.
"No," Javik said darkly. "They do not kill what can be useful."
"Javik's right," I realized bleakly. "They're not being killed. They're being turned into husks."
As we watched in horror, husk after husk emerged. Each one riddled with Reaper tech, glowing with unholy fury. Each one silently moaning in agony.
Miranda was the first to turn away from the monitors and step towards the windows. At first, she was looking through them in a futile attempt to forget the nightmare that had been burned into her memory. Then, she was staring through them intently. "Shepard," she said sharply. "There's something out there. Can you turn on the lights?"
I went back to the power console and fiddled with it some more. A few lights turned on, dimly revealing a larger chamber beyond the command centre… and the handful of husks that were just standing there. Then a few more lights turned on. Every single husk jerked to life. One by one, they sprinted to the walls and began clambering up, growling inaudibly. As more and more lights turned on, more husks were revealed running around like mad, and the growling rose in volume.
Then a husk landed on the window right in front of me and roared.
We all flinched back and raised our weapons. Thankfully, none of us actually fired. As we watched, another husk climbed up onto the windows. And another. And another.
And another.
I quickly looked around. There was the door we used to get in, the windows covered in crawling husks… and another door at the other end of the room. "Come on!" I said urgently.
We made a beeline for the exit, got through and collectively breathed a sigh of relief once the doors closed. "Why do this?" James asked angrily once we'd recovered. "Why go through all this—why murder all these civvies—to make husks?"
"They've done this before," I said darkly. "Experimenting with husks. The Thorian. And worse." In a flash, I recalled David Archer, and the barbaric experiments his brother subjected him to at Project Overlord. Every time I thought Cerberus couldn't sink any lower, they grabbed the proverbial shovel and began digging with a vengeance.
"There must be more to it," Miranda said, visibly making an effort to calm herself. "The Illusive Man would not make a move without some kind of objective in mind."
"Whatever that objective is, the Reapers must perceive it as a threat," I said. "That's probably why they attacked. We need to find out why."
At first, our search turned up nothing but a PDA confirming that 'unsuitable materials' were 're-assigned to recycling.' Then we heard a voice call out "—cutting power to the factory…"
"Oriana!" Miranda blurted out.
We traced the voice to a video log that was trying to boot up on one of the computers. I manually restarted it and moved aside so everyone could see.
Oriana was frantically typing away at the computer. "Those things are at the door," she said. "I'm cutting power to the factory. That should lock everything down."
The screen dissolved into static. I glanced at Miranda. "Well, at least we know we're on the right track," I tried.
She looked at me, eyes suddenly wide open. No, not at me—past me. At the screen! I whirled around and saw a shadowy figure walking through the command centre. He turned around—
"Kai Leng!" Garrus growled. "Shepard, she doesn't know he's here. Or what he's capable of."
"Quiet," I hissed. "He's talking."
"Oriana Lawson is in Sanctuary and on the loose," Leng was saying. "You want me to get rid of her?"
"Only if she gets in your way," TIMmy said calmly. "Stay focused on the research data. Find it and get out."
"Yes, sir."
"Damn it!" I cursed, pulling out my sniper rifle. "Let's move!"
The fastest way out of here was through a door at the bottom of the stairs. Fastest, but not safest: we could hear the inhuman wailing of the husks on the other side. Given that the stairway would funnel the husks into a perfect kill zone, I had the teams cover the door from different angles before trotting down and slapping the door control.
I greeted the first husk I saw with a burst of plasma before running up the stairs. The explosion told me that someone had set off the remaining plasma, triggering a secondary conflagration. Not a bad idea, all things considered. "Biotics, concussive rounds and so on to keep the husks off-balance," I ordered. "Use rapid-fire weapons to finish them off."
Don't get me wrong: husks are a terrifying opponent to face. But they can be easily handled if you know what you're doing. Husks are terrifying in melee combat, but helpless if you can keep them at a distance. That's probably why they like charging towards their targets, randomly dodging back and forth to throw shooters off-guard. Hence my choice of combo attacks—that could send groups of husks flying—and rapid-fire weapons that would have a greater chance of hitting something.
Of course, there's the psychological aspect of facing ravening cybernetic zombies who don't have a penchant for pyromania, kleptomania or outdated music. But I was fairly confident my squad could handle that.
After a few minutes, we'd cleared out most of the husks. "All teams: advance by fire and movement. (5) Team One goes first."
In hindsight, I was being overly cautious, as EDI, Liara and I were more than capable of mopping up the last couple stragglers. One husk was snatched up in a singularity while the other two were promptly set on fire and riddled with bullets. The last husk was put out of its misery by a single round to the noggin. "Gotta be more where they came from," I said once I'd cleared the room.
"No doubt," Miranda said tersely. "Can we get moving?"
"Hang on," I said. "I spotted a computer with an open audio file. Might have some intel for us."
It was pretty clear that she didn't appreciate the delay, but she also knew that the insights we might obtain could mean the difference between success and failure. She motioned for me to hurry up and I hastened to play the file:
"I've spent the last week making small adjustments to increase processing efficiency. There is no shortage of subjects: indeed, I am told there is a long line outside the main gate. The deception is an unfortunate necessity. Time is very short.
"We've successfully duplicated the results of Cerberus experiments involving the husk creatures. A crude, but necessary, first step in decoding how the Reapers communicate. The key is how the Reaper signal interacts with the nanides implanted within the subject's body. It's early yet, but we are making progress."
"Who was that?" Kaidan asked, while I copied the audio file to my omni-tool.
"Henry Lawson," Miranda said grimly. "My father."
"Does that mean what I think it means?" James asked.
"That my father was fully aware of what was going on here? That he deliberately took advantage of the desperation and suffering created by this war to lure hundreds, if not thousands, of innocents here for his experiments? Yes, James, I believe it does."
"That explains why Cerberus is really creating these husks," Javik said.
"Making them was never the main objective," I agreed. "It was just a stepping stone to understanding how the Reapers control them. How much you wanna bet that the ultimate goal is enabling Cerberus to control the Reapers and all their minions?"
No one wanted to take me up on that bet: especially since TIMmy had gone on and on about that particular dream on more than one occasion. Instead, we just grabbed some spare thermal clips and headed into the next room.
Unlike the other rooms, this one consisted of one long hallway. That was all we were able to appreciate before we were welcomed by the unholy howling of husks—and gunfire. "Reaper forces!" EDI identified, somewhat unnecessarily.
"Just a couple husks," I said at first. "Must be leftover from the attack!"
That statement soon proved to be sorely inaccurate. Oh, there were three or four husks charging our way—all of whom were promptly dispatched by Team One's generous application of biotics and plasma. Even the Marauder shooting from the far end of the room wasn't much of a problem once Team Two took out its shields with EMPs and concussive rounds.
But the Banshee blinking towards us proved to be more difficult. We'd only reduced its barriers to about half strength when it abruptly appeared in our midst and let loose with a devastating biotic barrage. "Fall back!" I cried out as my shields collapsed.
As I cloaked, Teams One and Two scattered. Team Three bought us some time: Tali deployed her combat drone as a distraction while Garrus landed a direct headshot and Javik pummelled the obscenely pregnant horror with his biotics. Still under cloak, I lifted my sniper rifle and fired a single point-blank shot. That finally collapsed her barriers, leaving her open and vulnerable. Well, as open and vulnerable as a Reaperfied asari can be.
Liara tried to ensnare the Banshee in another singularity. To my surprise, she wasn't swept off her feet. Instead, she skidded to a stop. Paused. Then, as we watched in horror, took a step forward. Then another. Then another.
Then I had enough and set the damn thing on fire.
That snapped everyone out of their collective state of shock. EDI snapped off an EMP. Miranda and James attacked with biotics and concussive rounds, followed by Kaidan and Garrus. Javik just poured a steady stream of viridian energy into the Banshee from his particle rifle.
And Tali jumped up and cursed. "Damn it! Spiders!"
This was hardly the time to indulge in a bit of arachnophobia, I thought. Garrus, however, realized what they really meant: "Rachni! Far end of the room!"
Presumably, he meant the Reaperfied rachni known as Ravagers and the spider-like swarmers that it could spawn. Great. I'd ask if things could get any worse, but I knew how the universe would reply. So I clenched my teeth, aimed with my sniper rifle and squeezed the trigger. With a soul-chilling shriek, the Banshee disintegrated. One more horror down, who knows how many to go.
"Team Two: concentrate on the Ravager. Team One: target the Ravager, but deal with any swarmers that come our way. Team Three: watch out for any more surprises. Weapons free!"
For once, the dice rolled in our favour: the Ravager didn't send any more scuttling critters our way, so Teams One and Two were free to hit it with everything we had. (6)
That left all the Marauders for Team Three. Javik and Tali stripped their shields with a minimum of chatter, while Garrus sniped them as soon as they were vulnerable. He kept score too, constantly telling me how I was falling behind in the kill count. I'd have been annoyed with him, except I was used to his competitive streak. Besides, he also took care to tell me—and everyone else—how many hostiles were left in the area.
With a howl, the Ravager collapsed. Finally free to seek out other hostiles, I took out the last Marauder with a headshot. "That was mine!" Garrus protested.
"Didn't see a name tag."
"You should look harder."
"I would, but… I'm looking for other hostiles… clear!"
Garrus stopped joking around and swept the room. "Clear!" he echoed.
Once we were sure that the room was free of Reaperfied monsters, we reloaded our weapons, snatched up thermal clips to replace the ones we'd used and generally catch our breath. Then we carefully made our way through the hallway. A lab space on the right yielded nothing but a few more thermal clips. The one on the left, though, had a—
"Banshee!"
Thankfully, it seemed to be sealed in some kind of containment cell. Aside from keeping a wary eye on it, we could concentrate on sifting through the computers for anything of value. After a bit of digging, we found a med-kit and the following gem from Henry Lawson:
"Dr. Nuri's legacy work with subject Paul Grayson provided a key element to our work here. (7) Using the addictive drug red sand to break down the will was inspired, but proved unreliable for general application. We've proven that adrenalin—and its cross-species equivalents—is most effective and efficient.
"Indeed, it was the pursuit of efficiency that revealed an important fact: the Reaper's use of 'dragon's teeth' to create husks is ingenious. The Reaper nanides attach themselves to the adrenalin released and quickly move through the body to speed conversion to the final husk state."
Liara shook her head as I made a copy of this log. "This isn't science… it's slaughter. What kind of monster builds a place like this?"
What monster indeed…
It was with those thoughts in mind that we entered the next room. Fittingly, it was as dark as our mood. The indicator lights on the computers and equipment were the only source of illumination.
"Some are indoctrinated…"
"Ori," Miranda started. "It came from that terminal."
Said terminal showing nothing but a lot of static. And a few sparks spitting out from the side. "Terminal's damaged," I said. "Hang on. Tali?"
"Right, Shepard."
"The Reapers wished to shut this place down," EDI observed as we began tinkering with the computer. "Why, is the question?"
"'Cuz Cerberus is trying to get in on the husk game?" James tried.
"Both of you have a point," I agreed. "The Reapers might not appreciate Cerberus moseying in on their turf. But they seemed to be getting along during this war."
"At the very least, they haven't been fighting each other on any significant level," Garrus chimed in. "The question is… what changed?"
"There it is," Liara said.
By 'it,' Liara meant the terminal, which we—okay, it was mostly Tali—had just got working again. I stood up and watched as the terminal began playing Oriana's message:
"Some refugees have turned into those things. Husks. I can hear the screaming from here. Some are indoctrinated and sent to the illusive Man to become troops. The rest die by the thousands in my father's experiments. It's the reason for this place.
"I have to get to the tower, maybe shut down whatever's blocking the signal. I have to warn people."
Shaking my head, I turned away from the terminal. "Tricking refugees with food and shelter only to turn them into brainwashed soldiers or test subjects."
"This is disgusting," Kaidan spat. "The scale of this…"
Granted, this was all sickening. But some of us had more reasons to be concerned than others. "Miranda, how're you holding up?"
"Horrified," she offered. "I guess I should feel… more but, honestly, I'm just worried about Ori."
Maybe that made sense. Her concern over her sister was offering a distraction from the ramifications of what her—biological—father had been up to. "Me too," I said, squeezing her shoulder. "Hopefully, when we find Oriana, we'll find something that can help take down Cerberus."
"I think we can," Tali said thoughtfully. "Oriana said that shipments were sent to the Illusive Man, right? Maybe we can use that to find him?"
"Good catch," I nodded. "Come on. Oriana said she was headed to the tower. Let's sweep the room and move out."
By this point, we were fully stocked for thermal clips, so we settled for scooping up some salvage, copying Oriana's message… and stumbling across a datapad:.
Progress Update
Rejected subjects have proven useful for preliminary genetic testing. The death rates are 100%, of course, but the data being gathered is critical to improving subsequent testing on viable subjects.
Note: Only approved personnel with Alpha Three and above level security clearance are allowed access to the genetic waste testing area. Be aware that security breaches of any kind will result in immediate contract termination.
I guess I shouldn't have been surprised. Cerberus liked to point to the shackles of bureaucracy, safety regulations and politically correct ethics as a justification for their blatant disregard for morals, ethics and sapient life. But the casual ruthlessness being employed here still shocked me nonetheless.
So perhaps I can be forgiven for almost walking into the glowing barrier engine situated in the next room. Once I realized it was there, I belated slipped behind some large pipes while pulling up the latest sensor results on my HUD. "Contacts in the adjacent room," I reported. "Team One, we'll take out the barrier engine and anyone who drops by. (8) "Team Two; fall back and engage the enemy in the other room. Team Three; you're our reserve."
In the end, Team One wasn't needed to take out that barrier engine. One shot from yours truly did the trick. And since nobody came running in screaming in protest, we decided to fall back and see how the others were doing.
At first, they were doing quite well. It looked like the hostiles I had detected were mostly Cannibals, but the squad had the situation under control. Miranda and James were tag-teaming individual Cannibals, followed by Kaidan and Tali and finishing with Javik and Garrus. Any Cannibals who hadn't been blown to kingdom come were easily dispatched by concentrated bursts of gunfire. The odd thing was that some of them were sporting biotic barriers. Had they picked them up from that barrier engine before I blew it up?
I didn't have time to ponder that mystery, as a couple Marauders picked that moment to show up and open fire. Worse, my HUD was picking up additional contacts in the other room—the one that had held that barrier engine. I guess the Reapers were coming to protest after all. They were just a bit late. "Back to the original plan, people. Team One, follow me."
We were greeted by some incoherent screeching and a whole lot of bullets. EDI and Liara responded by stripping the shields from the closest Marauder. I took it out with one shot from my sniper rifle. Then I looked ahead. And glared. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't I just take out that barrier engine?"
"You did," EDI confirmed. "This is a new one, positioned 1.3 metres away from the first one."
"It must have been powered down earlier," Liara suggested.
Well, that would explain those barrier-protected Cannibals I saw earlier. At least this engine blew up just as readily as the first one.
"Commander," Javik called out over the comm. "More of the enemy approaches, and we have detected another barrier engine protecting them. The turian requests your assistance."
Reloading my sniper rifle, I led Team One back to join the party. A quick glance showed why Garrus had asked for help. The squad was managing to hold the Cannibals at bay, but no one had a clean shot: not without exposing themselves to weapons fire. Luckily, I had a cloak.
After blowing up the third barrier engine, it was relatively easy to mop things up. Other than the Marauder who insisted on hiding in a corner and firing pot-shots at us. "Team One: suppressive fire," I ordered. "Team Three: flank the Marauder and take it out. Team Two: back up Team Three."
Once that hostile was down for the count, the coast was clear and we could begin clearing the room. Much to my relief, we did not find any more hostiles. We did, however, find an M-12 Locust submachine gun and a shotgun mod.
That was it as far as happy discoveries went. Everything else was flat-out horrible.
It started with the husk we found lying in some kind of containment cell. There was a log entry open in the containment cell's computer, with the following entry:
"Creating these husk creatures was our first success. While not true husks, they still respond to Reaper signals. There's more work ahead, though. Understanding the indoctrination process is one thing. Turning it to our advantage is proving to be quite another. This is assembly-line science. The sheer brute force of numbers and repetition is doing the thinking for us. The process may be inelegant, but it is undeniably effective."
Near the exit, there were two more pieces of information. The first was a datapad containing a mass e-mail sent to the Cerberus personnel working here:
Internal Memo: Streamlining Procedures
In an effort to streamline our waste elimination process, a high grade liquefaction compound has been added to our alkaline hydrolysis disposal systems. Our goal is to ensure that our processing system can meet the expected processing ratios as more subjects arrive at this facility.
As a result, personnel must wear level-4 hazmat suits at all times while in the disposal area.
To talk about disposing of all those bodies—and anticipating the need to process even more—in such a clinical and distant matter was chilling. Which made the files stored in the nearby computer even worse.
At first, there was just static. But when I began sifting through the files and pulled up the latest save, the static cleared up, quickly being replaced by a young woman with dark hair. The sudden intake of breath behind me was all the confirmation I needed to know that this was Oriana.
"Grabbed this from a tower security camera," she said. "I need to send this out. I have to get to the tower… somehow. The galaxy needs to know."
She looked down and typed something into an unseen keyboard. The screen suddenly went black with a red error message front and centre. "Connection established," the computer said. My guess was that she was patching an additional video file into this recording.
Sure enough, the screen was replaced by another, somewhat grainier, image of a man working in some kind of facility. Behind him, I could see a holographic display of some kind of tower or structure. What was more interesting was the conversation that was going on. "I have your report on the process, Mr. Lawson," TIMmy said. "Cut to the chase. Can you do it?"
"Theoretically, control is possible, yes. The Reaper subjects we converted are responding, but it's difficult to maintain."
"I thought that might be the case," TIMmy replied. "Not to worry, Henry. With Sanctuary's help, we'll get it sorted."
The screen dissolved into static. With a finger, I paused the recording. I needed a few seconds to let it all sink in. We'd pretty much assumed by this point that this was what TIMmy was up to, but to get actual confirmation…
"To exert control over Reaper forces," Liara said. "The sheer audacity of it…"
"Yeah," I nodded. "That's one way of putting it. Let me play the rest of it." With another tap, I resumed the recording.
"We've done it," Henry exulted. "We've found a way to co-opt their control signal. As long as the Reaper troops remain in close proximity to our signal, we can maintain control indefinitely."
"Excellent news," TIMmy exulted. "And how could we extrapolate this technique to apply to the Reapers themselves?"
Henry's head bowed. "That's a much bigger challenge," he admitted.
Once again, the screen turned to static and I figured now was as good a time as any to pause the recording. "Well, now we've confirmed why the Reapers attacked Sanctuary."
"Yeah," Kaidan said. "They found Cerberus out. Bad news for the Illusive Man."
"But it's good news for us," I replied. "We finally have our link to Cerberus. Just give me a second to copy these files and—"
"One moment, Commander," Javik interjected. "It isn't finished."
He was right, though at first I didn't see any cause for concern. Just a few seconds of Kai Leng before the screen went blank. Then Miranda pushed me aside and began typing away. She isolated and expanded the portion of the screen taken up by Kai Leng's visor…
…Kai Leng's shiny and reflective visor!
Miranda replayed the last few seconds in slow motion. As I realized what Kai Leng had been looking at, I swore. "Damn it! He's grabbing the data!"
"The tower can be reached through an access ladder," Miranda said. "Lowering the ladder now."
"Come on," I urged as the ladder descended from a hatch in the ceiling. "Let's move!"
Leading the way, I climbed up the access ladder to the next level. Once I reached the top, I found myself facing a set of stairs leading up towards a large room stretching out to our right.
On the surface, it wasn't anything new or surprising. It's safe to say I've climbed a lot of ladders and stairs in my checkered career. So had every man and woman in my squad. But never had we climbed with so much at stake. With every rung of that access ladder, we were reminded of what might happen should we falter. With every step we took up the stairs, we saw what might come should we stumble and fall.
Then, out of the blue, the back of my neck tingled. Sharply. With a painful intensity that could mean only one thing.
The words came out of my mouth before the first bullet ricocheted off my shields. "Take cover!"
Everyone obeyed my orders and scattered for the closest bit of shelter. Rather than join them, I activated my cloak. Spotting the Marauders that had tried to ambush us; I relayed their coordinates to the squad. EDI deployed her EMP immediately. Liara hurled a cerulean burst of biotics a millisecond before Miranda launched her EMP. James's concussive round—and the explosion that followed—finished both hostiles off.
"More Reaper troops!" Tali yelled.
Unfortunately, she was right. The room boasted another split-level design, and both were filled with Reaper troops. "Team Three take the right side," I called out. "Team One: cover Team Two so they can tackle the left. The sooner we take them out, the sooner we can look for an exit. Weapons free!"
Easier said than done, I soon realized. The entire room was teeming with Ravagers and Cannibals. Worse, several of them were sporting biotic barriers. Either the Reapers had been doing some crazy upgrades or they'd set up more barrier engines to buff up their troops. A quick glance told me it was the latter. It's a testament to the insanity of the situation that I didn't know whether to be grateful or not.
The squad had seen the same thing and adapted accordingly. While I took out the barrier engines, each team kicked things off with a biotic attack, before following with anything that could create a secondary explosion and deal even more damage.
Unfortunately, the Ravagers could soak up a lot of damage. As for the Cannibals, even the scant barriers they acquired were enough to keep them alive. "Damn it!" James cried out. "Look at 'em all!"
"We're close," I yelled back. "Keep going! Teams Two and Three: focus fire on the Ravagers. Team One: we'll keep the Cannibals at bay."
EDI, Liara and I spent the next minute or two darting back and forth. Frankly, it was a miracle we didn't get riddled with bullets for our trouble. But our efforts paid off: free of any other distractions, the rest of the squad could concentrate their biotics, plasma and concussive rounds on the Ravagers. Before we knew it, the closest ones had collapsed to the ground.
"Team One, move up," I said. With EDI and Liara hot on my heels, we darted forward. A pair of Cannibals popped up, both protected by partial barriers. EDI and Liara took one out while I sniped the other. Lowering my sniper rifle, I noticed Team Three was busy. Ducking behind a nearby column, I took a moment to catch my breath before leaning around to see what all the fuss was about. Spotting the Marauder that had been relentlessly advancing, I launched an EMP before firing my sniper rifle once again. Then Team One resumed their advance—
"Look out!"
—straight into another bunch of Cannibals. Three of them this time.
"Shepard! Get down!" Kaidan shouted.
I dove instinctively, along with the rest of my team. As soon as the coast was clear, Team Two opened up with everything they had at their disposal. The Cannibals didn't stand a chance against the sudden barrage of biotics, concussive rounds and bullets.
Which made the high-yield explosive round flying over my head even more surprising. Tracing it back, I saw another Ravager. Rolling to my feet, I reloaded my sniper rifle. I fired two shots before checking my HUD. "All teams, press on. Watch your flanks!"
Slowly but surely, we made our way towards the far end of the room and the Ravager that was trying to tear us to shreds. None of us wanted to see if our shields could withstand a point-blank hit from what amounted to a living mortar.
Unfortunately for the Ravager, there were several things in our favour. One, it had a very slow rate of fire. Two, it had far too many targets to choose from, all of whom were hammering it with everything they had at their disposal. Three, it had no more backup.
Once the Ravager had succumbed to the inevitable, we raced past its smouldering corpse into the next room. To our collective relief, there were no hostiles waiting for us. Which meant we could afford to catch our breath before resuming our search.
At first, we didn't find anything but thermal clips, medi-gel and random bits of salvage. Then I stumbled across another one of Henry's logs. Ignoring the husk lying next to it, all twisted and contorted, I hit the play button.
"We have underestimated the strength of the Reaper signal. They are here."
No, really?
"The Reapers somehow know what we have learned about them. They have a weakness. I'm compiling our research data to archive before it's too late. Cerberus sent troops to defend the facility against the Reapers. Hopefully they can repel them and deliver the data to safety."
I found another log covering one of the many experiments that had been performed here—in this case, the release of husks on one of the refugees. Her screams echoed through the air long after I closed the file and turned away.
"Shepard!" Garrus barked. "A way out!"
He was right. The doorway he'd found led to an overhead lift. "Climb onboard!" I told the squad. "If I'm right, this'll get us closer to the tower."
Thankfully, I was right. Once I enabled the controls, the lift began moving. Below us, we could see husks running like ants. Crazed, glowing, unnatural ants. We all tensed up, expecting them to climb up the walls and hurl themselves at us.
That didn't happen, though. Instead, the lift came to a halt partway down the corridor. But it had gotten us far enough to see an exit on the other side of the room. I jumped off the lift to the catwalk, quickly made sure the area was clear, waited for the rest of the squad to join me, then proceeded through the door.
The corridor had partially collapsed, so we had a little more jumping and vaulting to do.
"Shepard! Up ahead!" Liara called out.
"I see it," I replied, firing a snapshot at the hulking Brute stomping towards us. "Let's take it down, people. Stay out of its reach!"
An unholy shriek rang through the air as Liara and EDI hammered the Brute with biotics and plasma. Then Miranda and James lit the ugly beast up. Kaidan and Tali had the dubious pleasure of striking the final blow. I almost felt guilty for leaving Garrus and Javik out of the fun.
Then I saw them target another Brute that was trying to flank us. Guilt gone. I lined up a shot with my sniper rifle and squeezed the trigger. Then I set it on fire. EDI ignited the plasma as I lobbed a grenade. As I lifted my sniper rifle again, Liara and Kaidan teamed up for another display of pyrotechnics that made my kill shot somewhat anticlimactic.
Not content to simply wait until it was her turn to have some fun; Tali spawned a combat drone and sent it scouting ahead. Within a few seconds, it found a target. "They're all coming from that room up ahead!" Tali told us.
Technically it was up ahead and to the right, but whatever. I moved to line up a shot, but Miranda and James hit the Brute before I had a chance to fire. Seeing that it was still alive and kicking, I did my best to change that with one clean headshot. Lowering the sniper rifle, I said "Then let's take out this guy and get over there! Garrus? Javik?"
In reply, Javik captured the Brute in a biotic vice grip, lifted it up and slammed it to the ground. The Brute was still trying to pick itself up when Garrus fired a concussive round through its skull. Unlike my headshot, his did the job.
We carefully moved forward, scarcely believing that the fighting was over. So none of us were surprised when we finally spotted the source of that shriek. "I hate Banshees," Liara muttered fervently, launching a biotic volley against the horror.
"Me too," I declared, scoring a shot with my sniper rifle. Through my scope, I could see the Banshee start to move. Apparently, it had taken two hits before it realized it was taking fire.
"I also find Banshees quite distasteful," EDI chimed in. Her EMP reacted with Liara's earlier biotic attack, causing another explosion.
That really set the Banshee off. It began blinking towards us in rapid succession, making it hard for our guns to land a shot. Miranda and James waited until it slowed down before firing an attack of biotics and concussive rounds. I managed to score two hits—and collapsing its barriers—before the Banshee zipped to the side. Unfortunately for the Reaperfied horror, Kaidan and Tali still had a clear line of sight. The explosion from their attack was still reverberating as I reloaded. Then I fired a shot, threw a grenade and fired another shot. Garrus and Javik squeezed off a combo attack before I fired a third shot and launched a ball of plasma. Liara ignited the plasma with her biotics. The Banshee finally succumbed to the onslaught, but not before hurling a defiant burst of biotic energy. My shields shattered in an instant. The breath flew out of my body. And it felt like my chest plate crumpled.
Once my eyes cleared, I realized that last bit didn't actually happen. But it sure felt that way. "Spread out and search the room," I croaked. "We don't want anyone sneaking up on us." It seemed like a sensible precaution. Plus, I hadn't quite gotten my wind back.
Well, it turned out we were in the clear after all. Oh, there was one or two of Henry's husks lying around in some kind of stasis pod—they seemed docile, especially after we put a few bullets in them—but that was it. Which meant we could scoop us some more salvage, a medi-kit, some thermal clips and a brand-new assault rifle before heading for the door.
"Tower access granted."
Apparently we had finally reached the tower Oriana had been talking about. And judging by the controls set in the wall panel before me, we had just stepped into an elevator car. At least there wasn't any electronically synthesized music to torture our ears during the ride.
Just as the doors opened, a shot rang out. A few muffled cries were heard through the door in front of us. "Get ready!" I warned the squad before opening the door.
The room looked like some kind of office, judging by the layout of desks and computers. It had a nice view of the facility—or it would have if one of the windows wasn't cracked. I took that all in with one glance before focusing on the young woman—and the older man with one arm around her throat and the other hand pointing a gun at us. "Commander Shepard," Henry greeted us. "Excellent timing."
"Put the gun down," I said, moving forward so the rest of the squad could flood into the room. Without being told, they began to spread out.
Henry shook his head. "No. Oriana tried to shoot me. Miranda's poisonous influence, no doubt."
"Or maybe she was just fighting to do the right thing," Miranda countered.
She had a point. And part of me was sorry that her sister had missed. But we had just entered a hostage situation. Somehow, I had the feeling that voicing those opinions out loud would just make matters worse. "Where's Kai Leng?" I asked instead, taking a step forward and to the left.
"I don't know," Henry scowled, shuffling to his left in response. "Gone. He took my research and left us here to die."
"Yeah, I'm not surprised to hear that," I smirked, taking another step to the left. "He's pretty good atup and vanishing when things go south."
"I got that impression as—that's close enough. All of you!"
Apparently, he had realized that if he let the squad spread out any farther, he wouldn't be able to cover us all. He took a step back and to his left. "Kai Leng may have abandoned me, but I intend to leave in one piece. Now that the Reapers are taken care of, we have a way out."
"Shepard," Miranda pleaded, "don't let him take her."
"Let her go," I said.
"No."
Well, this was going well. "What exactly do you think you've created here?" I asked.
"Hope. Few people have the stomach to do what it takes to survive."
That was one way of looking at it. No wonder he and TIMmy got along.
"What we learned here will save countless lives. I will be seen as the saviour of the human race."
"We'll have to agree to disagree on that," I replied. Taking a chance, I holstered my sniper rifle.
"Shepard," Miranda started.
"Shepard. I have a shot, but it's not clean," Garrus voiced over the comm.
"Henry—may I call you 'Henry?' I have no problem with you. All I want is Oriana and the research data."
"You want a lot," Henry observed.
"You get your life in return," I countered, taking another step to the left. "To see whether you truly will be seen as 'the saviour of the human race.' How much is that worth?"
"A fair point," he relented.
…
…
"All right." Henry shoved Oriana forward. "Take her. But I want out alive. Deal?"
Miranda's body flared with cerulean light before she thrust a hand forward. The biotic shockwave sent Henry flying through the cracked window, where he plummeted out of sight with a scream. (9)
"No deal," Miranda said grimly. She stared intensely at the window where her father had fallen.
Then she quickly holstered her weapon and rushed to Oriana, crouching by her side. "Did he hurt you? Are you all right?"
"No. I think so."
Presumably she was answering Miranda's questions in order. "Clear the room. Start digging through the computers," I said quietly.
"It's okay, Ori," Miranda whispered, pulling her sister into her arms. "You're safe now."
"I'm fine," Oriana assured her. "I just… I want to get out of here."
"We will," Miranda reassured her. "Give us a minute, okay?"
"'Kay." Over Miranda's shoulder, she saw me. "Commander Shepard?"
"Last time I checked."
Her mouth twitched in an unconscious imitation of her sister. "Thank you for saving my life."
"We should be thanking you," I replied. "Breaking into a fortified Cerberus lab while it was being attacked by Reapers."
"Well, actually, the Reapers arrived after I did," Oriana admitted.
"Regardless, I think you did okay. Better than okay."
"Once I saw what this place really was…" Oriana shivered before finishing "I couldn't just walk away."
"Of course," I nodded.
"Things got really complicated when the Reapers showed up. And Kai Leng."
"You survived. And you tried to get the word out. Not many people could have done that. You should be proud of yourself. If nothing else: we wouldn't have known to come here if it wasn't for your warnings."
Oriana smiled for the first time. So did Miranda. I smiled back before turning to the others. "What's our status? Any intel we can use from this place?"
"Clear," Kaidan called out from the far side of the room.
Liara's fingers were flying over one of the computers. "The research data's gone, but there's basic facility information. Shuttle arrivals and departures—Cerberus included. No direct link, but it's a good start."
"Grab anything you can off the computer. We'll take it back to be analyzed."
"I may be able to help."
We all turned to look at Oriana. "What do you mean?" I asked.
"Well, when Kai Leng arrived at Sanctuary, I slipped down to his shuttle and planted a tracer. If I give you the frequency—"
"—we can track that bastard," Miranda finished. "Maybe right to the Illusive Man. Ori, I'm so proud of you!" Reaching out, she hugged her sister again.
"You did good, Oriana," I said. "This is exactly what we need."
"Liara's finished uploading the data, Shepard," Kaidan butted in.
"Come on, Ori." Miranda wrapped an arm around her sister and squeezed gently. "We've had enough of Father's 'hospitality'."
"Let's make sure everybody knows about this place," I said. "Liara?"
Liara typed a few more commands before stepping away from the computer. "Communications scrambler disabled."
I accessed the various messages Oriana had dropped. While I spliced them together, I got on the comm. "Cortez. Mission accomplished. We need a pickup at the tower."
"Roger that."
We left the room, with Oriana's warning broadcasting loud and clear:
"Please, you have to listen to me. My name is Oriana Lawson. Go back. This is not a refugee camp. This is a Cerberus facility run by my father. Some refugees have turned into those things. Husks. I can hear the screaming from here. Some are indoctrinated and sent to the illusive Man to become troops. The rest die by the thousands in my father's experiments. It's the reason for this place. Please, if you get this, just… stay away."
(1): According to Miranda, it was three. In a rare moment of levity, she recalls how Shepard had to abruptly end his breakfast to visit the bathroom. (2): Shepard went to great pains to clarify that distinction, the reasons for which have been made abundantly clear by this point. Readers may therefore find it interesting that Kaidan correctly identified the nature of their association. (3): Miranda later admitted that she did feel some initial resentment over Shepard's apparent questioning of her ability to perform her duties—followed almost immediately by the acknowledgement that he was correct. She would come to be grateful for the compromise he found. (4): Given that James had been paired with Miranda long before Kaidan joined the crew of the Normandy, and Team Two in particular, he had been accustomed to watching out for her and anticipating her movements. No doubt he was particularly attentive on this mission, given how it affected her. (5): A military tactic normally conducted by two units. One unit suppresses the enemy with weapons fire—usually from behind cover—while the second unit advances. After a short period of time, the advancing unit stops behind cover and lays down suppressive fire, allowing the other unit to advance. This cycle is repeated until the objective is met. In the past, Shepard referred to this tactic by the more colloquial description of 'leapfrogging.' By this point, however, the squad was experienced enough to understand the military terminology. (6): Contrary to what Shepard implied, we hadn't been (7): A former Cerberus agent and red sand addict who broke ranks with the Illusive Man over ongoing efforts to use his adopted daughter—a biotic with high-functioning autism known as Gillian—to infiltrate the Alliance's Ascension Project. Three years after leaving Cerberus, he was captured by Kai Leng and brought to the Illusive Man, who implanted him with Reaper technology to study Reaper enhancements. (8): The room we had just left had two doors, each of which led to a different level of a larger, split-level, room. While Shepard could have engaged the enemy there and then, he chose to fall back in order to make use of the doors as an extra barrier if needed. (9): While Shepard does not say as much, it is clear in hindsight that he manoeuvred Henry Lawson into a position where one direct hit could send him into the weakened window—which would be unable to support his weight.