Note: So this one took my brain and ran. I had a lot of fun with it to be honest. Thank you so much for the reviews on the last chapter I was happy y'all enjoyed it. Cerrus is a complicated fellow and he sure as hell isn't perfect and neither are Victus and Nov.
AlienSinger, I hope you are feeling better but if not I hope this helps.
Music I listened to for this chapter are Come With Me Now by the Kongos, Awake by Godsmack, and Walk by the Foo Fighters
Feedback is always appreciated and please enjoy
Chapter Twelve: The Derelict
Mass Effect
"Foreign Relations"
Chapter Twelve: The Derelict
It had been a very long day for everyone involved. Cerrus, Tali, Sidda…it was an emotional rollercoaster even for the people who merely watched. Sidda still had a mission to do but she needed to put the people on the ship back together first. She found Nov in the training room and leaned on the wall watching him take on a punching bag with a mix of Turian and what looked like Human moves. He did tell her that he spent a little time on Earth after she'd died but he never really told her to what extent. It took a moment but he did finally see her and staggered a few punches before stopping entirely.
"Oh please don't do the 'I told you so' speech," Nov groaned as he worked his shoulder in a few tight rolls before going back to the punching bag.
Sidda chuckled, he couldn't be more wrong. The 'I told you so' was voiced already in admittedly bad form. "Actually, I came to apologize."
He was setting up for another round but gave her a confused look. "Eh?"
"I've been a real bitch lately."
Nov shrugged, he'd noticed but it wasn't a big deal for him. "You said it not me."
"You were right about telling Cerrus even though that didn't go so well. You also don't deserve to be yelled at just because I'm having a bad day…week…year…two…"
"Spar with me and all is forgiven," he said and she furrowed her brow.
He was definitely too good to be true. "Damn you're easy."
"Don't tell anyone," he replied with a wink and she looked confused. "I just don't see the point of being angry over petty things," he explained and she stepped away from the wall to the middle of the room.
Sparring with Nov was always fun, he was the first Turian on the Lante to fight her. He beat her, of course, but he saw her resolve even then. Victus was the one who taught her most of what she knew but Nov was fun.
He purred as he trapped her with her back to his chest, his right hand drifted down and he caressed her breasts. This was the other thing about sparring with Turians in general…couples used it as foreplay which was what he was doing right now. "Mmm…you smell nice."
He let his guard down and she used that opportunity and threw him over her shoulder. He landed with a thud and he was on his feet in seconds.
"Spar. Not fuck," she clarified but his expression said it all. He wanted to play with her.
He saw very little distinction. "Can't we do both?" he asked with a smirk.
"Cal…" she warned trying to hide a chuckle. He was now stalking her, typical male Turian behavior…Victus had done this a lot. "Cal…"
"Sid," he replied in kind. "You don't want me to take you then you better win."
She laughed at the terms he set. "Brazen bastard." She smiled, and he attacked her.
Sidda may not have had the best practice lately against Turians but she still remembered everything they taught her. Victus was an excellent teacher as was Nov. Nov loved sparring with her, she was so good but just as clever as he was, at the moment she was beating him at his own game with his own techniques.
She straddled his waist after laying him out and smiled as she leaned over him. "I win," she gloated quietly and Nov didn't mind losing to her if she gloated like this.
"Claim your prize then," he said and she giggled kissing him. She felt him run his hands up her sides and then cradle her as he rolled her on her back. He went straight for her neck as she squirmed under him. His teeth raked her skin and he resisted the urge to leave a permanent mark. "Not here," she told him but he ignored it. "There are cameras."
Nov pushed up onto his knees and his Omni-tool lit up. He tapped a few keys and it spat back a noise often associated with jamming or disabling technology. "Not anymore," he replied. "It'll take EDI an hour to dig that out."
"You criminal," she chuckled.
Nov really should have taken that escapade to her quarters but it was fun none the less. It didn't take EDI an hour to undo Nov's mischief but it did take 53 minutes. By then she informed Sidda that The Illusive Man wanted to speak with her. Lucky for them both they'd finished their fun and were not indisposed. She had a stinging scratch on her neck but would deal with it later.
"Alright, EDI, put it through," she ordered as she stepped into the Comm room and onto the QEC.
"Why haven't you gotten the IFF?" The Illusive Man asked immediately when the link was established and Sidda sighed.
"Been putting out fires," she replied flatly. It had been a bit busy lately.
The Illusive Man went through the cigarette in just a few drags. Clearly irritated. "I would hate to think that you are wasting my time, Shepard. I gave you good intelligence and you're squandering it."
Sidda cocked her head and scoffed. "That's some nerve. Every time you give me good intelligence I always feel like I have a target painted on my back."
"Commander," he warned.
"Things go wrong every time I follow one of your leads so forgive me if I'm a little hesitant to go get my ass shot off," she went on and The Illusive Man sighed.
"Commander," he warned again.
"I'll get it," she assured him. In the end, she wanted to stop the Collectors and the Reapers…so did he.
The Illusive Man's confidence in her was dwindling. "Now, Commander, do not test my patience," he said and the QEC went dark.
"You should sleep, Commander." EDI advised.
"Yeah," she agreed, she was at close to 48 hours without sleep.
"Commander, Victus is requesting to come aboard and speak with you." Joker said and Sidda groaned as the Comm room returned to its typical layout.
"Terrific," she muttered, sounding more annoyed than anything else. "Alright, have him escorted to the Comm Room." At least Nov wasn't present this time to antagonize another jealous male.
"You look exhausted," Victus observed and she looked up at him from across the table.
"Kind of my natural state lately," she replied tiredly. "What's going on? Joker said you wanted to talk."
"Cerrus," he said and Sidda sighed heavily with a groan. "He's refusing to return to the Lante. He wants to resign his commission and stay here."
Sidda couldn't blame Cerrus for his actions and found it damn odd that she was siding with him. "If Cerrus wants to stay onboard I'm not going to stop him." She said casually, though the fact he wanted to stay on the Normandy struck her as odd.
Victus glared at her and was getting frustrated. "It's desertion, Commander," he snapped.
Sidda shrugged. "I can't say I blame him. His superiors murdered his wife and then covered it up. I'd resign too."
In all honesty, he could understand the feeling. He would have done or tried to do the same thing. "I didn't accept his resignation."
Victus always was stubborn but he had his reasons for it. If he saw potential in his officers he fought for them. He saw the potential in Cerrus years ago and took him on when everyone else wouldn't touch the damaged officer. "So, as of right now, you're the only one standing in his way," she bit back and saw Victus' scowl deepen.
"Damnit, they could execute him," he replied with a louder tone then he intended.
Sidda cocked her head. "Execution for desertion? That's a little harsh," she commented, genuinely curious.
"A Turian's first duty is to serve. Desertion carries a maximum sentence of execution on Palaven depending on circumstances," Victus replied in a normal tone but the demeanor between them was cold. Very cold, he consistently referred to her by her rank…a way to keep her at a distance.
Sidda sighed. "Alright, I'll talk to him," she said and found that her being the voice of reason to Cerrus more than a little strange. "Damn that seems odd…"
Vcitus snorted. "You gave him the only thing he's wanted for the better part of a decade, Commander, closure."
Sidda swallowed. "I told Cal not to tell him," she admitted. "I wasn't sure what he'd do and I can't afford to lose Mordin."
He loved her honesty. He would have hesitated telling him too. "I'll help you with the derelict Reaper. Let me know when and where." He wanted to apologize to her for his behavior but saw the marks on her neck and got angry again. "Excuse me," he said but then turned back to her. "No one from this ship goes anywhere near the Lante without an escort."
"Still being an ass," she thought. "What's the matter, Adrien, you don't trust me?"
He thought over the answer to that, he trusted her…not Cerberus. "Commander." He said simply and exited the Comm Room.
She let out another long tired sigh. How did things go so wrong between them? It was the only question she had but at least now she had some backup with the IFF. The IFF that she really needed to procure before something else went wrong. "EDI, I'm going to bed. If anyone wants me have them talk to Miranda or Garrus…whoever they prefer."
"Understood, Commander." The AI replied.
Stepping into her quarters to see Cerrus sitting on her couch was a bit odd and she wasn't sure how to proceed. The uncertainty was clearly evident on her face because he immediately stood. "I apologize for the intrusion, Commander," he said quietly. "I wanted to apologize for my behavior, my intention was not to hurt anyone."
Sidda didn't blame him for any of this. She was sorry about not wanting to tell him…something she actually felt guilty for. "You don't have anything to apologize for, Cerrus, I think Isla will forgive you, given the situation."
The Sentinel was someone he still needed to personally apologize to. She'd been very kind to him and he returned it with a very hard whack to the face. "That's no excuse."
Cerrus had changed so very much since the first time she'd met him. She remembered the look he gave her on the Lante when Maridus took her on the tour. Remembered the world class beating they gave each other when their differences finally came to a head. She also remembered how helpful he was in tracking Saren. He had come a very long way. "You want a drink?" she asked and Cerrus nodded sharply looking extremely tense.
He watched her retrieve a bottle and two glasses from the cabinet by the locker. "You keep Brandy?" he asked.
Sidda had acquired a taste for it but it took some getting used to. To her it tasted like honey and hit harder than Absinthe. "Never know when I'll need to share a drink with a grump," she smiled and he took the glass offered to him.
"Funny," he replied and he sniffed the contents of the glass. Brandy wasn't his favorite but it was still a familiar aroma. "I also wanted to thank you."
Sidda took a sip of her drink and tried to decide how to act. He didn't know how to act casually with her, all the time they spent berating and beating the hell out of each other made them walk on eggshells in each other's presence. He stood so she did as well. "I know you appreciate honesty," she began and he remained silent. "I didn't want to tell you, I didn't know what you'd do."
He was quiet for a few moments and took a drink of the Brandy before speaking. "Suppose I deserve that," he said, knowing that he wasn't the easiest person to get along with. He had a vicious temper and was a little scary at times.
"I told Cal not to tell you but he doesn't listen to anyone, least of all me," she continued, very surprised with the civil conversation.
Nov was a better friend then he gave him credit for. When Cerrus came onto the Lante everyone who didn't blame him outright for his failure as an officer wanted to be his friend, Nov was the junior officer who tried harder than anyone else and managed to succeed. "I do appreciate the honesty, Commander."
She sighed and he took another drink of the Brandy but didn't finish off the glass. "I also got a visit from Victus," she added, beginning to wander the cabin a bit. "You tried to resign."
Key word was 'tried'. Victus had to accept it to be official as he was the commanding officer. He had other avenues if Victus refused to accept it, but he'd need to report to Palaven Command to do that and right now he'd just as soon firebomb it. "I still will resign whether he likes it or not," he snarled before quelling his irritability. "I've served since I was 15, Commander, every member of my family has served. My mother was senior NCO at the academy. She was there when me and my brothers went through boot. Can you imagine being ordered to pick up the pace halfway through a 20K run after being up for 36 hours by your mother?" It was the first time she'd seen him be this personal with her.
"Sort of…my mother's an Admiral."
His mood returned to being serious. "I won't serve those who ordered a Priority Black hit on my mate and then lied to me about it for almost 10 years."
Sidda couldn't blame him but she told Victus she'd talk to him. Desertion was a heavy charge, and aside from the Blackwatch Incident, he'd never run away from anything in his life that she was aware of. "We have our differences, a lot of them, but allow me to give you some advice: trust Adrien." Cerrus merely looked at her waiting for her to finish. "If he'd known he would have told you. If he didn't accept your resignation he has a reason for it."
"Do you still love him?" he asked and knew immediately that the question should never have been asked. He was still curious on the answer, however. He saw what her death had done to Victus but he didn't see what her death had done to her. Sidda blinked and Cerrus took the hint. "Forget I asked that."
"I appreciate that," she chuckled, not having a clear answer for him anyway. Despite his rather childish behavior lately, there was still something between them.
Cerrus found time to end the conversation and finished off the drink setting the glass down. "Again, thank you, Commander," he said extending his hand to her. "Anything you need you just ask." The decision on whether or not to trust Victus was still up in the air but he'd stay on the Normandy if she accepted him.
She shook his hand and appreciated his gesture, they'd never be friends like she was with Maridus but this was a step. "Could use some help with the derelict Reaper," she said after they released from the handshake. "Here's the intel on it. Can you get me a plan?"
"Count on it." He nodded and left her quarters.
They were still docked with the Lante, but like Victus' order that people weren't allowed on board without an escort, no one was allowed on the Normandy without permission. He held the pad in his right hand and looked for a place to work. Sidda gave him exactly what he needed, something to keep his mind occupied and planning an op was perfect.
"Major." A voice called pulling his attention. It was Garrus and he hesitated, from what he understood Isla was his and he'd hurt her. This wasn't going to be a friendly conversation, Garrus was a hot head. "First, let me say that I heard about what happened and I'm sorry. Those in Special Forces have all taken part in a mission like that at some point, and when we do carry one out, the training teaches us to compartmentalize it, but there's a person and a family behind the one that we execute. That was my flaw…the compartmentalization." Cerrus listened, there was more to this beside the confession and shared experience. Garrus didn't handle it well and Cerrus came to the startling realization that he never struggled with it, all the people he'd killed on missions…he never struggled with any of it. Maybe he was just a killer. "I'm sorry for what happened to your mate."
"Thank you," he replied, but Garrus wasn't done. He'd said 'first'.
"Second, all that aside, let me say this: if you hurt Isla again, that weapon of mine you like so much will be what kills you." Garrus informed, and Cerrus quelled any response he may have had.
"I understand," he replied. "And I apologize."
Garrus glared at him. "Don't apologize to me, apologize to her…you nearly broke her nose."
Cerrus wasn't used to what he was feeling. He kept things to himself, he thought things through, most of the time, and didn't apologize for it later. This time he acted rashly and hurt someone who didn't deserved it.
There were more Cerberus guards out and about now and when Cerrus approached the Weapons Lab they side-eyed him. "Is Isla in there?" he asked one of the guards barring his entrance and the other nodded. "I'd like to speak with her."
After a moment he was allowed to enter and Cerrus found Isla working on her armor. It was painted up like the Blue Suns and Cerrus remembered Tali telling him that she was a former Blue Suns mercenary, she'd changed sides to help Garrus escape Omega. She glanced over at him briefly then returned to what she was doing.
"What can I do for you, Major," she asked and he was able to see the bruising on her face.
"I want to apologize. There is no excuse," he said and she stood from her squatted position but still focused on the armor.
"I've been hit harder," she replied casually. "Are you going to kill Mordin?"
Cerrus shook his head. "No."
"Why?"
He didn't know why she was asking and found himself inclined to give an honest answer. "I don't know. I don't think Anara would have wanted me to do it."
"Apology accepted," she told him.
Cerrus worked intently on the data that Sidda had given him. He used the Reaper data from EDI to study Sovereign's layout. There was a Cerberus lab ship docked with it that made it a safe place to dock and search for the IFF. There were logical places that the IFF would be but the Cerberus intel hinted that they'd already found it. He wasn't sure what they would find inside a Reaper and he began to sort out the squad size, firepower, and logistics. He looked over the dossiers for the Normandy crew and formed his plan. One of the most intriguing files was 'Subject Zero' or Jack as she went by. She was the one he'd met in the subdeck. He kept reading through the files selecting those he felt would be best suited for the mission. Sidda had accumulated quite the crew, a broad spectrum of professional and bat shit crazy. Mercs, soldiers, vigilantes, cops, murderers…she had them all. He leaned back in the chair and sighed unclear of the time and took a drink of the coffee Tali had brought him.
The next morning he had Sidda and Victus in the Comm Room. "I got it," he proclaimed and set the pad he had on the table. "At least I think I got it," he added after a brief pause. "I've never planned an op on a ship 99% of the galaxy doesn't believe exists."
"Believe me when I say I'd trust your plan over anyone else's," Sidda said and Cerrus paused touched by the compliment.
"Thank you, Commander," he replied and Victus' eyes flicked from one to the other. He flashed back to them in a roaring fight on the Lante, they could hardly stand being in the same room as one another but now…it was very different. Cerrus had changed drastically, seemingly overnight.
"What do you have, Major?" Victus asked. He wanted to press him for getting back to the Lante but he felt that it was best to just let it go for now.
"Pretty straight forward plan, I suggest we go in force though," he said. "If they've lost contact with the Cerberus team and Reaper ships are where Husks are made…"
"I agree," Sidda replied quickly following his train of thought.
"Who do you need?" Victus asked knowing that if Cerrus had him here for a plan he made for Sidda he wanted to use some of his personnel.
"Ruvvak and Maridus would probably be best," Cerrus answered. "Ruvvak's explosives are second to none and we could really use a Ghost." Maridus had to be one of Victus' most underrated soldiers relegated to the CIC for much of his time now, but the Colonel was an absolute badass on the battlefield. "Jack and Tali from the Normandy, Nov too." His selection of Jack was odd but he selected those that would complement and balance the team.
"Alright…lets assemble," she said and they parted ways.
"Major," Victus said stopping Cerrus in his tracks with a hidden cringe, "have you come to any decisions lately?" he asked as the tall Turian faced him properly, the ingrained military propriety.
His question was intentionally vague but Cerrus understood. "No, Sir," he replied tightly.
That was not what he wanted to hear. Cerrus, despite his tumultuous past, was one the best and most reliable soldiers he'd ever worked with. His colossal mistake he'd paid for in full and he'd earned every award and promotion. "Tyr," he began, "whatever you decide I promise someone will answer for this."
He'd believe that when he saw it and Victus saw that before he even needed to say it. They'd lied to him for so long he was disillusion by it all. "General." He replied simply and left him there.
An hour later the Comm room was filling with the necessary personnel and some that weren't necessary. They couldn't take everyone but Cerrus planned contingences so just because they weren't currently on the mission doesn't mean they weren't slated for backup if everything went sideways.
"So it takes a request from her to get me out of the CIC," Maridus joked as he made his way into the Comm room behind his escort, Chambers. Maridus was a good executive officer, a natural leader, and a proved to be a good mediator between the General and the crew. He was also fairly reluctant to be stuck in the CIC while others did the work he ordered them to do.
"Actually, it was my request, Sir," Cerrus corrected.
That didn't help and Maridus shrugged. "Yeah…but after she gave you the mission."
"It ain't easy being promoted," Sidda said with a chuckle and Maridus folded his arms across his chest and stood next to Garrus. "For those of you who don't know, this is Col. Damar Maridus and Sgt. Linus Ruvvak of the Lante," she introduced. "They will be accompanying myself, Cerrus, Nov, Tali, and Jack over to the Reaper."
"We'll dock with the derelict Reaper and proceed inside. Tali, Nov, and Col. Maridus are the Tech experts and will lead us to the most likely location for the IFF and extract it. Mission is fairly simple: find the IFF and leave," Cerrus continued as the table presented a holo of the derelict Reaper. It honestly looked like a crustacean carcass.
"Why do I think it's not going to be that simple?" Ruvvak commented, with a ship that looked as creepy as that there was no way it was going to be that easy.
"Because if he has to plan it, you know it's a shit mission," Nov replied with a chuckle. That wasn't to say that Cerrus was bad at planning an op, whenever he planned an op he had an over 90% success rate, what Nov meant by that was that when Cerrus was asked to plan an op the objective was usually insane.
"If it's too rough for you, Cal, you can stay here…I'm sure between Tali and Damar we won't need you," Sidda teased with a giggle.
"Ouch," Nov laughed.
Everyone else was chuckling except Victus, this behavior did remind him of their friendship but now with the knowledge that they were lovers it angered him. He kept it to himself and seethed quietly and began to realize that he may have made a huge mistake.
"The biotic power between the Commander and Jack should be enough to manage whatever we find over there," Cerrus added trying to steer the conversation back on track.
"Garrus, you and Miranda will be on deck as backup in case something goes wrong," Sidda said and then looked to Victus who seemed to have collected himself from their previous encounters. He still looked a step below angry though. "And Adrien will be the Normany's back up if things really go wrong."
The General gave a single nod but his eyes were trained on her. He could see the faint precision scars on her face from the cybernetics used to put her back together. He did find that he actually missed the shrapnel scars around her left eye. He'd never really paid too close of attention to them before, but now she looked so different without them. He saw the top of the same set of scratches on her neck he'd seen earlier and that snapped him from his observation. Someone else had done that…someone not him.
"Anyone who goes over there could be subject to indoctrination," Sidda explained. "Hopefully we won't be over there that long, but there's the disclaimer."
"Questions?" Cerrus asked and Ruvvak raised his hand.
"Loadout?" the demolitionist asked.
Cerrus snorted. "Bring your firepower, Sergeant."
Ruvvak gave a broad grin that could be seen whether you were Human or Turian. "Yes, Sir. Thank you, Sir."
"You have all the firepower you need, Commander," Victus added, "two Havocs, a Saboteur, and a Ghost. Most Commanders don't need much more than that."
The approach to Mnemosyne was rough, rougher than they thought it would be. "What's with the chop, Joker?" Sidda asked.
"Winds are gusting at 500kph."
Inhospitable environment, if the Reaper survived this long in this they'd gotten luck with Sovereign. "Welcome to the failed star," she muttered.
"There's a ship alongside…not active but the LADAR paints the silhouette as Geth," he reported and Sidda steadied herself on his seatback.
"Geth? What the hell…"
"Guess we know why the research team stopped reporting in," he said sarcastically. The chop stilled and Joker informed them that the Reaper was still maintaining its mass effect core and that was the only thing keeping it from falling into the failed star.
The boarding party assembled at the airlock and Sidda sighed. "So we have an added attraction: there's a Geth ship alongside…reason unknown." She heard various groans from those who'd fought Geth and would prefer not to do it again. "Also, this thing has been maintaining its own mass effect field for who knows how long so let's try not to piss it off completely," Sidda said. "I don't really want to be a part of that brown dwarf."
"Any word from the research team?" Tali asked as she checked her shotgun again.
"Nothing. Cerberus isn't sure how long it's been dark," Sidda answered and Maridus voiced what they were all thinking.
"Yeah that's not a good sign. Even without a Geth ship being in mix now."
The Normandy shook as the pilot managed to dock. "Contact, Commander." Joker reported over his shoulder to the group clogging up the passage from the cockpit to the CIC. There were so many armored Turians they dwarfed Sidda, Tali, and Jack. "Lante is hanging back as instructed."
Sidda nodded and looked at the world through her Sentry Interface. "Cal, get the door please," she asked. "Ruvvak, Cerrus, on point."
As soon as they reached the main door to the lab the Reaper, though dead, raised a barrier, effectively cutting them off from their exit, so much for Cerrus' plan. The boarding party had no choice but to proceed further in and disengage the core before hot-footing it out to avoid being vaporized in the brown dwarf. The lab was abandoned. Any abandoned research lab was creepy anyway, but an abandoned lab on a dead Reaper was just worse on so many levels. "No bodies," Jack observed. "That's just fucking creepy."
"Cal. Tali. Check the files," Sidda ordered as Ruvvak and Cerrus took up cover positions, the act was second nature to them by this point in their lives. "Look for anything about that IFF."
"We don't even know where the fuck this thing is?" Jack questioned.
"We have an idea where it is but anything helps narrow the search," she explained. "And any intel on the Reapers is helpful too."
"Fuck me," Jack grumbled and Ruvvak chuckled.
"I like her, Commander," the big Turian grinned. Jack scoffed and Sidda snorted.
"Yeah you would, she's explosive just like you," she said. Maridus tapped a log which brought up unsettling things. There were more logs as they went along and it was clear Chandana's team was being indoctrinated. The Illusive Man was a fool once more by sending them here, Sovereign was dangerous and had indoctrinated Saren, a highly trained and strong willed Spectre and Matriarch Benezia, an even stronger minded individual.
"Sidda," Maridus began as they moved on through the ship, "your new boss is a bastard."
Maridus couldn't be more correct and Sidda snorted as they pressed on. It wasn't long before they were attacked by a horror Sidda prayed she'd never have to fight again: Husks. As they moved on toward the airlock to the Reaper itself Jack, Tali, and Sidda cursed when Scions appeared flanked by Husks.
"What in the blue fuck is that?" Ruvvak asked, while Sidda dove into cover with Jack.
"We're calling that a Scion," Sidda replied shortly, reloading her Mattock next to Nov. "Shockwave based weapon stay out of its way."
"Great," he replied sounding less than thrilled. He sure as hell wasn't going to step in its way.
At the top the stairwell was probably the most underrated weapon Sidda had on her team. Maridus quietly changed to his sniper rifle. Like Garrus, he remained old school when it came to his sniper rifle and his favorite weapon was his Haliat Equalizer. While Cerrus preferred Armax equipment, Maridus used Haliat and they were the last to upgrade to the use of thermal clips. Victus had ordered him to upgrade soon as that model of Equalizer was being phased out. The Scion was an enemy he'd never seen before but they all had the same weakness. Headshots. He cloaked, dropped to one knee, sited, and fired.
His sniper rifle didn't have the definitive 'bang' that Garrus' did but she heard the damn thing over the endless stream of Husks, shotgun fire, and shockwaves, as she and Jack went bowling, Reaper style. The nearest Scion's head vanished and it collapsed, crushing Tali's drone on the way down. He ducked back into cover and waited for his cloak to be available again. Cerrus and Ruvvak were in the middle of it all raising hell as only the Havocs could. Cerrus' cryo blast would set them up and Ruvvak's incinerate would blow them up. Tali and Jack were closer to him at the bottom of the steps on the other side handling everything perfectly but the Husks kept coming, crawling up and down from the walls. Sidda and Nov were trying their best to focus on the remaining Scion but Sidda was pretty much covering Nov since the Husks could easily overwhelm them. He activated his cloak again, took aim at the Scion, and fired. This one didn't drop on impact but it did stagger. A shockwave blast from its weapon hit him and his shields took the brunt of it but it did drop his cloak.
Jack roared her battle cry at the biggest enemy on the field and charged the Scion. The super biotic glowed the most vibrant, brilliant blue as she connected with the creature with the familiar sound of a biotic explosion. The Scion disintegrated and the Husks nearby practically blew up. Once the Scion fell the Husks stopped coming and they regrouped.
"Alright," Ruvvak began, "now I really like her. What's your name again?" he asked but Jack ignored him, thoroughly uninterested.
"Well done, Jack," Sidda praised but Jack straightened her jacket, glared at everyone, and walked away.
"Sid," Nov called. She looked over at what had his attention and her skin crawled. She had a flashback to Eden Prime, her first encounter with Husks, her first encounter with the abomination known as Reapers. Humans became Husks, they were impaled on giant spikes that made one think of Vlad the Impaler and turned into Husks. "Not a good sign," he finished. That seemed to be the phrase of the day.
"What is that?" Ruvvak asked as he saw the Dragon's Teeth.
"Dragon's Teeth," Tali answered with a tone that reflected the fact that she could have gone the rest of her life without seeing those again. "Don't get too close and don't touch anything."
Ruvvak was unfamiliar with the sinister contraption. "Dragon's Teeth?"
"Husks, Sergeant, that's how they make Husks," Nov explained and he looked up at the giant spikes with a grim feeling.
Leaving the very creepy alter or shrine dedicated to the Dragon's Teeth behind, Tali was able to bypass the security door and gain access to the Reaper itself. The benefit to having this be a Cerberus research space was that they had set up catwalks, consoles, supplies, and a host of other things that made it easier to navigate. Ruvvak remained on point with Sidda and Maridus behind him. Tali and Jack were in the middle and Cerrus and Nov brought up the rear.
"Sniper," Maridus said quickly, they watched a few precision shots from nowhere near their position take out two Husks before they got close to them.
"One of the researchers?" Tali suggested but even to her that didn't seem right.
"No way. You heard the lab recordings these people were going crazy," Nov replied.
"And they were turned into Husks," Jack added.
"The Geth?" Sidda brainstormed but the rest of the team shrugged. "You know for a 50,000 plus year old ship it certainly is a hot bed of activity."
Maridus tuned out their conversation and engaged the cloak stepping around the catwalk safely concealed by his tactical cloak. He sighted down the long chasm that the shot had to have come from but saw nothing through his scope. "Damar?" he heard Sidda ask.
"Clear," he replied quietly. "My bet is it's Geth, keep your eyes open."
Moving around in a Reaper was unsettling to say the least. The short amount of time she'd spent onboard aside, she felt like it was watching her. "This thing's dead and it's still a nightmare," she muttered and Nov saw her shudder like she was trying to shake its eyes off of her.
"You okay, Sid?" he asked quietly as they moved further though the ship to find the IFF.
"I…" she began and tried not to sound crazy, "just feels wrong. Let's go."
Nov could understand the feeling. He didn't like it either and was pretty sure the rest of the team felt the same way. Dr. Chandana and his team went insane and turned into Husks. The passage widened to a large platform with tanks of something marked with Cerberus' emblem. Water or fuel or something and Sidda gestured for the team to spread out. The bark of a sniper rifle and the sudden disappearance of a Husk who'd gotten far too close to Sidda without a damn sound, revealed the mystery sniper. On the upper platform a Geth stood, it had a piece of N7 armor on its chest.
"Shepard-Commander," the Geth said which stopped the entire team in their tracks and then it jumped off the platform vanishing from her sight.
The team was stunned…more than any of them had ever been. "Uhhh…" Ruvvak began, "the Geth just spoke." Geth didn't do that, they just chattered.
Sidda blinked. "Yeah…" she replied and started moving in direction of the IFF and the Core.
The team was just as bewildered as Ruvvak but all followed Sidda. "I mean the Geth just spoke doesn't that strike anybody else as odd?"
"Strikes me as downright unsettling," Sidda replied but focused on the mission at hand, "move out."
"I thought they couldn't speak," Cerrus asked Tali, the resident Geth expert.
"They're not supposed to," Tali told him. "They aren't any smarter than a Varren."
"It looked different than other Geth troopers though," Cerrus went on. He'd seen enough of them on the Citadel. "You notice that, Commander?"
"The antenna on its back?" she clarified. "Yeah, from what I remember the Troopers don't have that the Primes and Juggernauts do."
"Maybe that's why it can talk," Nov added.
"How about when we find it, we ask it," Maridus put in with a tone that reminded most of them of Victus' commanding officer tone. It ended the conversation but it wasn't that he was disinterested in the topic he'd just had enough of the chatter.
The team pressed forward and encountered more and more Husks and Scions. Cerrus has assembled a very good crew and they found the IFF. It was shockingly simple to acquire it after blasting through a few dozen Scions and Husks and between Nov and Tali it was extracted without issue. The question now was to get to the Reaper Core and disengage it.
The Core was easy enough to find and Sidda split the team. She left Cerrus, Tali, and Nov to guard the door as the rest moved on. They found the Core with the mysterious Geth futzing around the controls. Whatever it was doing caused the door to slam shut behind them and the Geth was overwhelmed by Husks that appeared from nowhere. Ruvvak and Maridus placed a few well-placed shots but they were effectively stuck in the core.
Outside Nov was less than thrilled. "Sidda!" he shouted shouldering his rifle then activating his Omni-tool.
"What happened, Nov?" Cerrus asked and Nov didn't have an answer.
"I don't know," Nov answered quickly focusing beyond the fact that Sidda was stuck on the other side of the wall with who knows what. "Tali, help me."
They scanned the walls with their Omni-tools looking from access panels to see if they could bypass it. "Get it open. Commander, Colonel, do you copy?"
"Yeah, we're here. The Geth manipulated the system…not sure what it did but we are stuck," she replied over the comm.
"Shepard!" Jack warned as she readied her shotgun. Husks were climbing up the walls and down the walls to get to them in Core they were now trapped in. "Coming from the left."
"On the right too," Maridus added switching over to his Phaeston. "Sergeant."
No order needed to be voiced as Ruvvak took position on the left with Jack as he changed to his shotgun. Despite the situation they had a pretty even spread of talent.
"Sidda, hang in there. I'm trying to bypass the door now." She heard Nov say.
She cursed, there was no one she trusted more to mitigate the situation but it didn't mean she liked being trapped in box. "Damar?"
"Shit cover on both sides and these fuckers will overwhelm you," he assessed as the shooting commenced. Maridus engaged his tactical cloak and literally vanished from her side.
"Jack," she began but she didn't need to hear the rest of it.
"Yeah, yeah," she responded, it was their job to keep the biotics coming and cover the Ghost - when they could see him - and the Havoc from a distance.
Maridus was incredibly useful in this situation, rather than being the conventional sniper of 'snipe and relocate', Maridus was one of the most effective operative classes the Special Forces division ever produced. He alternated between using his weapon and the cryo blast and overload. When he used those in combination the Husks just blew up. On the left side of the room it sounded like a bomb went off when there was an explosive combination of Jack's biotics and Ruvvak's modified High Explosive grenades.
While the other three managed to entertain the seemingly endless stream of Husks Sidda took on the Core. There was more than one way to disable it and if none of them could get to the console she went with good old plan B. Hands down, the Mattock was the best rifle she'd ever used, while she focused on the task Maridus covered her. The Ghost decloaked next to her, his Omni-blade went through a Husk's head that had gotten way to close before cloaking again, and presumably, went back down to the right to engage them directly.
Jack's shockwave was nearly nonstop and Ruvvak's carnage was same. Sidda received some help from two grenades that hit the core back to back thrown by the demolitionist. She spent all round with the Mattock but the core failed, and when it finally did explode the concussion from the blast caused them all to be knocked back in some fashion. After the core exploded the ship rocked and the door that had shut opened.
"Everyone okay?" Cerrus asked in a raised tone. Ruvvak was on one knee. Husks had mauled him but Jack was there to back him up and managed to clear them from him. The right side of his face had a deep gash but he'd survive. "Linus?"
"I'm alright, Sir," he replied with a pained grimace before shakily getting to his feet. It had been a hard fight. "Thanks," he said to Jack.
"Don't mention it," she replied and he was pretty sure she meant that literally.
"We have to go, People, the Core is offline and this brown dwarf will vaporize us," Maridus said as he tapped the disabled Geth with his foot. "What do we do with this?"
"Leave it," Tali said quickly.
"Are you kidding?" Nov asked. "It's an intact Geth. You've said no one's ever been this close to one without being shot at."
"It's too dangerous," Tali replied sharply.
"Commander, I recommend you take it with you," Cerrus put in and got an agreement from Maridus. "It's behavior is certainly worth investigating."
Sidda nodded, she had a similar opinion of the matter. "Cerrus, Cal, grab that thing and let's go. Normandy, we need a pick up," she called into the comm but the response wasn't from Joker.
"This is Lante, Commander, on our way in." Victus answered. "There's a ripped out section of the hull near your position. We will meet you there."
"Copy." That wasn't part of the plan but there had to be a reason why he took it instead of the Normandy. In the end the pickup wasn't her call. The Turian frigate appeared by the torn out section of the hull, the perfect pickup site with its port side airlock open.
Cerrus and Nov went first with the disable Geth and landed safely in the airlock. Kalvaris, Desala, and Victus himself helped move the unique Geth. Nov and Cerrus provide long range aid.
Tali was next to leap. "Tali," Maridus ordered slapping her arm. The Quarian complied and made her running leap to the Lante. Jack and Ruvvak were still mixing it up keeping the enemy busy. "Go, Sid, I got them."
Maridus gave an order and Sidda followed it, trusting Maridus, and then landed in the Lante's airlock stumbling into the line of helpers.
"Colonel!" Maridus heard Ruvvak yell, he and Jack were close to being overwhelmed. They couldn't just cut and run at the moment. The Reaper jolted hard and knocked Jack off her feet…that's when it started to go bad. Ruvvak stepped up and covered her, even going hand to hand with some of the Husks. "Gotta be a finite number of these fuckers!" he bitched and he crushed the head of a husk with his foot.
Maridus reached down and grabbed Jack's arm to pull her to her feet. "Fall back, Sergeant!" he ordered and the demolitionist complied though he left a parting gift in the form of a grenade or two.
Maridus and Jack didn't land very well. They crashed into Ruvvak who wound up catching Jack, and Maridus nearly did a face plant into the deck had it not been for him practically landing on Cerrus and Desala. "Zara, go!" Victus ordered loudly. The frigate launched away from the rapidly descending wreck.
The Geth was the greatest tourist attraction Sidda had ever acquired. Of course, Miranda wanted to study it and never activate it again unless it benefitted Cerberus, Tali warned against waking because it could network and over power EDI then they'd all be screwed. EDI was intrigued and Victus made another trip over to have look himself.
"That," he began keeping his eyes on the Geth lying behind a mass effect barrier in the AI core, "is one hell of a souvenir, Commander."
Sidda chuckled. Nov scanned it thoroughly a half dozen times with his omni-tool. Tali also examined it and EDI had run about hundred scans of her own. "Wow," Nov muttered. "Last time I was this close to a Geth it was trying to eat me after the boarding party breached the Lante."
Tali giggled at his humor. "A fully intact, disabled Geth…Keelah, it is amazing."
"Alright, EDI, let us out," Nov ordered and the barrier dropped then went back up again as soon as they were cleared.
"Are you going to reactivate it?" Victus asked practically ignoring Nov's presence.
"What do you think?" she replied with a grin. A grin that made Victus chuckle, he knew the answer before he even asked it.
"Yeah, that's what I thought," he replied. Nov glowered a little, why were they getting along all of the sudden?
"EDI?" she inquired.
"In time, Commander, allow me to complete my analysis." She replied and Sidda nodded.
"It has a piece of N7 armor on its chest, Sid, did you see that?" Nov asked as they proceeded out of the AI Core leaving EDI and four Cerberus guards hanging out to keep an eye on their disabled guest.
Sidda had, she'd seen it when the Husks disabled it, and it felt very uncomfortable. "Yeah, and it has a giant hole in it," she replied. "Odd choice for a field repair."
"Well it did talk so let's assume this isn't a conventional Geth Trooper," Nov explained.
"Agreed," Victus replied tightly. "I suggest caution in reactivating it. I could stick around for a while if you like."
Victus' mood was a 180 degree change from how he was earlier. He was focused on a mission and ignoring the fact that Nov was present. "I appreciate that," she smiled. Nov bristled but she'd whacked him once to get her point across about jealously so he kept it to himself. "How's Linus?"
"Superficial. Holum says he'll be okay," Victus answered. "If you want me to stay let me know," he added and excused himself.
Mordin made sure to steer clear of Cerrus while he was onboard. Cerrus hadn't made any kind of retaliation, and to be honest, if he was going to kill him he would have done it by now. Nov occupied a table in the Tech Lab and was working with EDI on their guest in the AI Core. Tali was in engineering working on the same thing. When Sidda entered she noticed Mordin gone from his station, one of the rare times he was either sleeping or eating, and Nov studying the data in front of him intently.
"How's it going?" she asked trying to eliminate her own frustration after arguing with Miranda on how best to handle the Geth.
"We're good," he replied. "Should be able to reactivate it, Tali's working on it too in engineering."
"What's your take it?"
"Tali and EDI both agree it's not normal but I think that since it spoke…we already knew that," he said and she chuckled. "Are you okay? With Victus I mean?"
"Oh, don't start, Cal-…"
"Oh, no, no, no. Thane is one thing and I get that he is something completely different. I noticed that you two were actually getting along down there."
"Cal, stop. I am with you, Callus Nov, not him. You," she reiterated firmly.
Thane told him flat out that there was nothing between them except a close bond. Victus, the bastard, broke her heart but he knew Victus still loved her. That kind of love died a slow and agonizing death; Victus was a threat if he changed his mind. His possessive jealousy was hard to quell but he trusted Sidda, just not Victus. He opened his mouth to keep the argument going but they were interrupted by EDI.
"Commander, I have completed my analysis. If you wish to reactivate the Geth I believe it can be done so safely." The AI reported and Nov bottled the argument that he wasn't going to win anyway.
"Thank you, EDI," she replied. "Come on. I want you there too incase it tries anything. I know you have something in that bag of tricks to disable it if needed."
"I do indeed."
"Adrien," she began as she keyed her Omni-tool, "we're about to reactive the Geth if your offer of back up still stands."
Nov gave her a reproachful look. "Are you fucking kidding me?"
"Oh, you know, you really need to seek some help," she fired back, annoyed with him now. She stopped sharply and pulled the collar of her shirt down. "You gave me these, not him, so knock it off. He offered his help and I'll use it."
"Well, forgive me if I'm uncomfortable with him being around so much."
"Deal. With. It," she said in a firm and clear tone. "If I wanted him I wouldn't be with you. End of discussion."
In the AI Core, Sidda was armed, Nov was armed and even Victus had a weapon. Nov took Sidda's words to heart for now and put the issues he had with Victus in the back of his mind. Sidda had instructed him to reactivate it and after a few minutes of work the mech flickered to life, sat up, then stood up. The N7 breastplate had a hole in it and also seemed to be feminine despite its contorted appearance.
It stood quietly behind the mass effect barrier and there was a silence for a moment. "Can you understand me?" she asked clearly.
"Yes," it replied simply.
"Are you going to attack?"
"No."
Sidda admitted that this was strangest conversation she'd ever had and that included chatting with Vigil and Sovereign. "You called me by name on the Reaper. How did you know it?"
"We know of you," the Geth answered and seemed to be studying them as they were studying it.
Its response didn't really answer her question. "You mean you know my reputation against the Geth."
"We are all Geth and we have not met you," it said and copied her stance. "You are Siddalee Shepard. Commander. Alliance. Human. Fought Heretics. Killed by Collectors and rediscovered on the Old Machine."
"Old Machine?" Nov asked and the Geth turned its attention to him. "The Reaper?"
"Callus Nov. Captain. Turian Special Forces," it said seeming like it was processing data. "Reaper. A superstitious term originating with the Protheans, we called those entities 'Old Machines'."
"What are Heretics?" the other Turian asked and the Geth repeated what it had done for Nov.
"Adrien Victus. General. Turian Special Forces," it rattled off in the same manner and Nov and Victus exchanged unsettled looks. "Geth build their future. Heretics asked the Old Machine for theirs, they are no longer a part of us."
"They went their own way. Sided with Sovereign," Victus clarified quickly.
"Yes."
"Are the Reapers a threat to you as well?" Sidda asked.
"Yes."
As Sidda continued to question it both Nov and Victus studied the Geth, it was a day of oddities, but this took the cake. The Geth was talking. Ruvvak was right to be a bit unsettled about that. As it spoke to her it mimicked her, every shift in her weight, pace, and fidget, the Geth copied it. Strange behavior indeed for the machine. Victus was watching the same and the guys were both surprised at Sidda's bid to assemble the craziest crew in existence. She shook hands with the thing, now known as Legion, a name suggested to it by EDI from an Earth religion.
They left that meeting knowing that the woman they both loved could recruit anyone into anything for any reason. She was a charmer, even to the Geth apparently.
"Did you just recruit a Geth to fight the Collectors?" Victus asked even though he'd just witnessed it all.
"Yes, I did."
"How about the next time you have a chat with it you find out why it has a piece of N7 armor stuck to its chest," Nov said and Sidda nodded. It was disturbing for her as well as it had a striking familiarity to it.
"Believe me, I will," she agreed and stopped walking turning to Nov. "Can you give us a minute please." Nov was reluctant to comply and his body language showed it. When he left she didn't bother to explain his behavior to Victus, the General already understood it. "Have you talked to Cerrus?"
"Not yet," he replied. "I was intending to find him now."
Sidda wasn't sure what his decision was going to be but she was pretty sure that having him onboard would be a blessing for about a minute then a curse as he'd wreck Cerberus from the inside out. It would actually be amusing, to a point. "Thanks for the help, Adrien," she said after a moment and extended her hand to him. "Honestly."
Victus slowly took her hand in a firm handshake. "All you ever need to do is ask…Sidda," he replied in a gentle tone but he actually used her first name instead of distancing himself by using her rank. "For anything," he said and left to track down Cerrus.
Cerrus' plan didn't go as well as he had anticipated, but as Sidda had told him and everyone else had ever trained him told him: no plan survives contact with the enemy. The mission had been accomplished despite the hitches and Sidda had gotten what was needed. "Major," Victus announced when he found his wayward officer on the port observation deck of the Normandy. He wanted an answer and Cerrus knew it.
"Sir," Cerrus greeted but remained seated.
Pushing Cerrus was like wrestling an animal constantly trying to bite you. "When you first came to my attention everyone told me that you were a failure as an officer, 'driven by your emotions and unstable'," he explained and moved to the window to look at his pretty frigate docked with the smaller ship. "We've all made mistakes and that's what I told them, I used my rank and reputation to get you assigned to me. You were very…difficult at the beginning, but next to Maridus, you're the best officer I've ever served with regardless of your short-comings," he said. Cerrus remained silent. "I know you're angry and you have every right to be but I don't want to lose you because of them. I've already lost two excellent officers this year."
Nov he lost to the Spectres, technically speaking before everything blew up between them, and then Rajin before that to a request she made for reassignment. Cerrus had been weighing his options; Victus was fighting for him to stay in so he thought about what he would do if he wasn't in the military. Mercenary sprang to mind but he didn't want to do that and working on the Normandy would be temporary because he would die before working for Cerberus directly. He'd also made a hell of a mess with the Quarians too so that probably wouldn't work either. He was prone to rash decisions and sighed heavily.
Cerrus was still trying to reconcile it all. "I understand missions," he began, knowing that he was going to have to figure this out soon. "I know how it goes, I know the drill. I've done horrible things to protect my people and because I've been ordered to. How can I serve them?"
There was no good answer for that. "Serve me, Major, I will get answers for you but I think leaving the military over this is a mistake and I think you know it too." It was an honest observation.
Serving Victus was serving them but he was right about it. The military was all he knew and he honestly had no idea what he would do as a civilian. Cerrus stood and there was a long pause before it came to his decision. "Yes, Sir." Victus cocked his head, unclear on what he meant by that. "I will stay in for now but know this, Sir, that if I don't get an explanation in a timely manner I will resign and find my answers my own way."
Victus accepted that, he'd get answers from the Primarch one way other another. "Understood. Report back the Lante, Major,we leave in an hour." Victus left Cerrus on the observation deck, passing Tali on the way out.