Heuta Memorial Hospital, Citadel, 3rd December 2186 CE
The team that worked the hardest on repairing Shepard's broken body was once again headed by Miranda, after all she had the most detailed knowledge of what enhancements had been made to the Commander during the Cerberus project.
"This is becoming a habit of yours Shepard," she smiled down fondly at the unconscious Ana and gently smoothed hair from her sweaty brow. Ana had been put into an induced coma to reduce the chances of shock.
A few days earlier:
Following information received from Liara, using her resources as the Shadow Broker they'd managed to locate the abandoned space station that had housed the Lazarus Project. The Illusive Man, in his arrogance hadn't even bothered to have the place stripped bare or even to destroy the facility, it had just been moved from its previous orbit and then left to float in space.
As the shuttle approached the station Miranda commented, "Stay alert everyone, we have no way of knowing what structural damage has occurred or if there are any hostiles on board." The accompanying unit of five marines didn't really need reminding but there was no harm in doing so.
Once safely docked they disembarked and fanned out, everything was oppressively quiet as they made their way forward. Corridors were dimly lit by emergency power only; the whole squad was on edge as the surrounding pools of darkness pressed in upon them. Miranda led the small strike-force that was now carefully working its way through the station, the objective was to find and recover as much data and equipment as possible that could be used to help Shepard's recovery.
Bodies of Cerberus staff still lay where they had fallen, blast marks and blood smears adorned the floors, walls and ceilings, highlighting the ferocity of the slaughter that had taken place. Life support was offline, this was a blessing in disguise as the interior temperature was below freezing. The system failure had prevented decomposition.
"Shit, that heartless bastard didn't even recover the bodies," Miranda was truly appalled by the indifference of her previous employer. These were people that had reported to her during the two years it had been her home while she rebuilt Shepard. As far as she was aware the only survivors from the whole bloody affair were Ana, Jacob and herself. She promised to herself to arrange a retrieval detail so at least these poor bastards could be returned to their loved ones, or at the very least receive a decent funeral.
Calling to Vega, Miranda split the team into two squads, "I want you to sweep the area and eliminate any active mechs James, keep in radio contact and let me know if you hit any problems."
"Aye, aye ma'am." He looked at the squad, "You two with me, I have point, you take left and right," he saluted Miranda and moved off. This was his last mission with the Normandy before shipping off to the N7 training programme. He was his usual confident self about his chances of graduating, after all he'd already undergone some of the expected training methods while serving under Shepard's command.
Miranda motioned for the two remaining marines to follow her, "The main lab isn't much further, but I'll also need to go to my old quarters to pick up some notes and other items.
As they approached her room she instructed the soldiers to stand guard outside the door, "I won't be long," it felt odd stepping inside that room again after so long, everything was just as she'd left it. She activated her terminal and while the files were transferring to her omni-tool she looked around and started to pack the few possessions she didn't want to leave behind. From the wardrobe she grabbed some dresses, shoes and underwear. She stared at the spare Cerberus uniforms hanging up, she now wore a navy-blue combat suit sporting the Alliance emblem and the rank badges of major, she didn't need Cerberus any longer.
With one last look at the white catsuits she closed the wardrobe door and walked into the bathroom, there she picked up a few pieces of jewellery that had been left in haste. Some datapads were all that was left to stow into the kitbag. The bed was still in disarray and the memory of her and Jacob having sex months previously sprang to mind but was quickly discarded, he'd been a pleasant way of relieving tension at the time but now she was a completely different woman to the Cerberus 'Ice Queen'.
She mused that Shepard was responsible for so many changes to her life, the task of resurrecting Ana had been all consuming at the time, but the subject of the project had ended up becoming her friend, supporter and lover for a brief time. Even though they were no longer together Miranda had sworn to herself never to let Ana down.
Miranda stepped outside the door and closed it behind her for the last time, "All done here, let's go," she headed off to the main lab where Shepard had lain for two years.
"Vega to Lawson, do you copy? Over."
"I hear you Lieutenant, what's your status?"
"We found a few active mechs ma'am, they've been neutralised. No injuries to report. There are a number of bodies on this level too."
"Acknowledged, good job James, Rendezvous at the lab, sending you the coordinates now. Continue to sweep as you make your way to us."
"Aye, aye ma'am, on our way."
As Miranda and her escort rounded the next corner they were met with gunfire, one marine grunted in pain as a burst of rounds battered through his shields, "Damn mechs, you still with us corporal?"
"Yes ma'am, just nicked my arm. Those things sure pack a punch!"
"Good to hear it's not serious, load explosive rounds and fire on my mark. I'm going to throw a stasis field into the target area. Corporal, you use overload on the closest targets. Ready?"
"Aye, aye ma'am."
Miranda readied her biotics and threw a stasis field directly into the group of mechs that had reactivated on their approach, "Now!"
The mechs were raised into the air by the field, then overload attacked their programming and the robots started to jerk spasmodically, concentrated fire from the three soldiers blew them apart and pieces rained down as the biotic attack dispelled.
"All clear now ma'am," said the nearest marine
"Move forward and let's check the lab for more hostiles," Miranda ordered as Vega and his squad jogged around the corner to re-join the others.
Five minutes later Miranda hailed the shuttle, "Lawson to Cortez, do you copy?"
"Loud and clear ma'am," Steve replied immediately.
"The station has been secured, send over the tech staff, Vega will meet them in the hangar and escort them to the lab. I want this mission over as quickly as possible, we need to get back to Shepard asap."
They had been lucky to be honest, thanks to the Illusive Man's disregard they were able to salvage most of the project's medical equipment and all the locally held data. The dismantling was carried out efficiently and the packing cases were transferred first to the waiting shuttle in several loads and on to the Normandy where it was stowed in the cargo hold. Shepard would be the primary beneficiary but then the advanced technology would be shared with the rest of the allied races.
"I hope Harper is turning in his grave at the thought of Cerberus tech benefiting non-human species." Miranda thought viciously.
"Lawson to all alliance crew, we're done here. Rendezvous at the shuttle in five minutes, we're leaving this station," she waited until all groups acknowledged her orders then left the now empty lab and made her own way to the shuttle bay.
In her report submitted to Alliance command she requested a retrieval team to collect the bodies, the Normandy didn't have the facilities to store so many.