Horse Head Nebula
When everyone started to leave my apartment, there were many emotional goodbyes and even some tears. We all knew that when we bade our friends farewell, we were seeing them off to the war and that they, or I, may never come back. Miranda had been the first to leave as she had a briefing with Admiral Hackett over the plan of attack for the Cerberus base on Noveria. One by one they left, some in better states than others, and none of them received any less of a goodbye than any others. Whatever their part in our fight, they were important and I trusted each of them to see their duties through to the end, just as they were trusting me to see my own mission through.
The next day, it was time to rally the troops and get everyone back to the Normandy to be ready for what would hopefully be the final battle with Cerberus. In the morning, I felt strange. I sorted the apartment out and said goodbye to my parents who came around to see me off with of hugs and "good luck" wishing, as well as a few comments along the lines of "come back alive". After that, I found myself alone at the docking bay window looking out at my ship. The glistening and elegant shape of the Normandy was mesmerising. For all that my beautiful and deadly ship had been through, she was still strong, still ready to see us to our next mission and be ready to pick us up again on the other side.
I must have stayed there for hours looking at her. Going down with the first Normandy had literally destroyed me and cost me two years of my life. When I had seen the second Normandy for the first time, I did not shy away from stepping aboard a ship again. From the moment I laid eyes on her, I knew that she was the ship that was going to get the job done. I was right. So much depended on her now. The whole galaxy was looking to me and the Normandy to save them from this hell that the Reapers had plunged us into.
A figure appeared out of nowhere and when a three fingered, gloved hand placed itself on top of mine, I felt a calming warmth spread through my body.
"Time to go back to the fight?" Tali's soft voice spoke. I took her hand and squeezed it affectionately, stroking her thumb with mine.
"We need to get back out there sooner or later. Might as well be sooner. At least we threw an amazing party. Probably the last one."
I had not meant to say the last part, but the thought was very prominent in my mind and it made itself slip out.
"No," Tali said, "no matter what happens, you'll find a way to do what's right. For all of us. We believe in you and will follow you. "To whatever end"."
"To whatever end," I smiled at the Lord of the Rings quote. Tali and I both gazed out at our beloved Normandy for a while before Tali finally spoke.
"Serving on a Human ship… I never would have guessed. But, I would not trade it for anything."
"You ever wonder how different our lives would have been if neither of us had ever set foot on the Normandy? Either of them?" I asked. Tali shook her head,
"I wouldn't want to," she said. "With the places I've been, experiences we've shared, the people I've met, I would not want anything else. Meeting you has been the most impactful event of my life. And definitely for the better."
I laughed and gave my wife a thankful hug and told her that I felt exactly the same way.
"We've had a good ride," Tali said to me before heading for the Normandy.
"The best!" I agreed with all honesty.
Every mission I had been on from that very first visit to Eden Prime had been fraught with danger, taken unexpected turns for the worst and cost me close friends. Yet, if never having experienced all the bad things from my time on the Normandy meant never having experienced the good either, then the pain was worth it. Tali came to the door onto the gangway when she turned back to beckon me to join her, just as the rest of the crew began to appear in the docking bay.
"It's time to give those Cerberus assholes the beating of their lives," James bellowed with a fist pump and everyone else joined in. I joined my voice to theirs and led my crew, my family, back to our ship. I was ready to lead them to victory.
Joker, still with the last remnants of a hangover, guided the Normandy out of the docking area and sent our warship soaring through the open expanse of space once again to the Mass Relay and I received a call from Admiral Hackett. The Admiral was relieved to see me rested and with my spirits greatly lifted from the party, in which all the people most important to me bonded and increased the strength of their friendships. Those bonds would carry them through the coming battles.
"I hear I missed quite the party," Hackett sounded amused.
"I'd have sent an invite if I'd known you were keen, Sir," I joked. "But my crew are clear-headed, focused and ready to go."
"Good. I'll consider coming to the after-party you're sure to be hosting once the war's over. But it's time to fill you in. The tracer on Kai Leng gave us the location of the Illusive Man's base in the Anadius System. It's not in the asteroid belt like we thought."
Hackett forwarded a hologram of the system with its enormous star and a beacon detailing the position of Cerberus headquarters. It was much closer to the star than the belt of asteroids and was in the middle of empty space, that meant only one thing.
"A space station," I said.
"Affirmative, Commander," Hackett said. "We haven't been able to risk sending in recon ships yet, in case they were discovered and tipped off the Illusive Man in any way. That's where the Normandy comes in. We need you to enter the system in stealth mode and gather what Intel you can. EDI will confirm that any high-frequency scans will be detected by Cerberus, so I am only allowing low level reconnaissance to be carried out here. While you are scouting Anadius, the Alliance will be conducting several high-profile missions against hidden Cerberus bases, research facilities and military installations all across the galaxy. I've been in contact with our allies and they're happy for the Systems Alliance to handle these missions while they have given us forces to use against the main attack on the Illusive Man."
"Plenty of reasons for every race to hate Cerberus," I stated.
It was true. Even before the Reapers had invaded the galaxy, Cerberus was an avowed enemy of every species in the galaxy due to their Human-first manifesto, and for carrying out many high-profile attacks, assassinations and even attacking ships. Given that Cerberus was an entirely Human organisation, there were plenty of aliens out there who saw them as the true face of Humanity. In light of the poor reputation that Cerberus gave our species, most Humans hated Cerberus as well. Cerberus would be like an animal getting ripped apart by a whole pack of wolves when this attack commenced.
"When will the attack start against the headquarters station, Sir?" I asked.
"Miranda Lawson is leading the strike force against the fighter base on Noveria. As soon as the base is ours and the fighters under our control, we will have the advantage in the sector and I will give the green light to initiate the assault. When our combined strength has weakened any Cerberus fleets protecting the station, you will infiltrate the station and hunt down the Prothean VI."
I knew that I would be going into Cerberus headquarters as part of the plan, but now that I knew it was a space station instead of a base on an asteroid, it made me feel uneasy considering it would be under bombardment the whole time. However, I did not voice my concern as I was sure that Admiral Hackett was thinking exactly the same thing. One ill-timed shot could put a hole in the hull and end my mission quite abruptly.
"What if Cerberus doesn't have the data, or they stop us from getting it?" I asked. Hackett pondered for a second,
"Then we lead the fleets to Earth and take our chances anyway. But the Intel we have on Cerberus tells us that the data will be on that station. The Crucible is complete and ready to use as soon as we need it, but without the Catalyst it may be useless. Interestingly, the Geth engineers working on the project found that the Crucible wouldn't just kill Reapers if it is fired, but all synthetic life. Geth, every VI in the galaxy and even your friend EDI would be killed by the dispensed energy. This reinforces the theory that the Catalyst is what will focus the energy on the Reapers and leave all other synthetics alive."
"Then it's doubly crucial that we get it," I said. "I'm fighting for all life, not just us organics. I'll direct the Normandy to the Anadius System immediately and whenever we have to retreat to discharge the heat sinks, I'll relay everything we've found to you."
"Sounds good," Hackett said.
His words hung in the air and I sensed that there was something else that the tough old man had to tell me.
"Scott, let me be clear. With the forces we're sending against Cerberus, it won't be long before the Reapers take notice. As soon as we're done with Cerberus, I've informed the rest of the species that I'll be directing all of our strength directly to Earth. Think of taking down Cerberus as the first phase of the larger operation to retake our world, Commander. We have to move fast. I trust that you'll be ready to go as soon as the green light is given?"
"I will, Sir. We all will."
The team was assembled in the War Room and I had repeated to them everything that had been said between Admiral Hackett and I. When we had boarded the Normandy again, everyone knew that this was for the big operation, but now it seemed to have some sort of "finale" feeling to it. The team was quiet and thoughtful, each considering the scale and importance of what lay just ahead of us.
"One way or another," I said to them, "this is it. This is the big battle that we've been waiting for. Palaven, Tuchanka, Thessia and countless other places where immense struggles are taking place will not even come close to what we are about to start. And I realise that obviously not all of us are Human, and Earth might not mean as much to you as it does to me. But once we're done with Cerberus, then we're heading to Earth because that's where the Reapers have gathered their greatest strength. Victory at Earth will be victory everywhere. Think of the battle for Earth as the battle for every world."
All the alien crew members understood what I was saying and agreed. It was not that I ever doubted their loyalty, but telling them this would give them greater context for the fight ahead. Every Cannibal or Husk they killed on Earth was another step closer to saving their own worlds as well.
The Normandy arrived in the Pax System in the Horse Head Nebula by Mass Relay and Joker set our course for the Anadius System. When the jump to FTL travel was initiated, EDI informed me that it would be another day until we arrived. I gave the order for all my ground team to double and triple check weapons and armour, and for Steve and whoever was available to help to make sure that the Kodiak was in peak condition. Before I left the cockpit, however, Joker held me back a moment longer.
"Sir, are you taking EDI on this mission?"
"Yeah. Why?" I asked, curious as to where this was coming from.
"Well, its Cerberus headquarters… this is where EDI was created. What if they have a virus that could infect her? Or some kind of local kill-switch that they could use against her?"
"I will be fine Jeff," EDI's voice came over the comm system. EDI had gone to help in engineering where Tali and the engineers were hard at work optimising the stealth drive to give it greater duration. However, as usual we had forgotten that EDI's body did not need to be physically present for her to hear and see us, she was the Normandy.
"With my knowledge of Cerberus algorithms, and this body's updated protocols, I offer the Commander the greatest chance to succeed."
"But EDI…" Joker sounded very unconvinced, "you still can't know everything."
"I am going, Jeff," EDI told him and said no more. EDI had made up her mind and was sure that Cerberus had no such countermeasures against her, but Joker was still extremely worried.
"I'll bring her back, Joker. I promise," I said. "I'll need you at your best as well, Flight-Lieutenant. Once we've departed in the shuttle, I want you to give any Cerberus ships hell. I'm thinking along the lines of when you ripped apart the Collector cruiser."
Reminding Joker of his most favoured kill brought a grin back to my pilot's face,
"Aye aye, Sir!"
The team all went to their beds to get their rest before the operation started, but thanks to the cybernetics I was already too rested and did not need any more sleep. Instead, with Tali slumbering in the bed in my quarters, I started a vid-call with Miranda.
"Miranda, you there?" I asked over the patchy connection.
"Affirmative, Commander," the elite soldier replied and I could see that she was geared up in full battle armour with a few squads of Alliance soldiers behind her. Her transport would be inbound to Noveria very soon, and her strike operation would then begin. "Are you in position? Have you found the Illusive Man's base?"
"Not yet but we're well on our way," I told her. "What's your status? Is Jacob with you?"
"I'm ready," she answered with her Australian twang. "Jacob's briefing the marines on Cerberus defensive doctrine and tricks to watch out for. He's carried out a few high-level ops for the Alliance already, so he has the trust of the troops. I guess I'm still a new face. Not to mention the former second in command of Cerberus…"
"You know what you're doing and what you're capable of, Miranda," I said, "they'll see that straight away, believe me."
Miranda nodded as if trying to convince herself of the same thing before she said, "I tried to tell Admiral Hackett that I would need the Normandy to get my team in past the fighter screen and defences around the base undetected."
"Wanted one more ride in our ship?" I smiled. She laughed,
"Maybe. For the good old times, perhaps. Fortunately, Admiral Gerrel suggested that the Quarians had a stealth-capable ship that could take us instead."
I remembered when we had originally gone to meet with the Quarians to enlist their aid, only to find empty space around us until the aforementioned ship eventually revealed itself to us.
"I wondered how the Quarians were able to obtain such technology," Miranda continued, "but I don't suppose for one second that it involved a certain wife of yours discreetly sending schematics back to the Migrant Fleet under my nose."
"Well it's serving us well now," I said as I looked over at Tali as she slept peacefully.
"We'll deploy in the back of the facility and take down the defensive grid from inside," Miranda told me, "then Alliance Marines will arrive in force to secure the facility and we'll be able to capture the fighters. With luck, we can have them operational and helping with the attack on the Illusive Man when Hackett is ready."
"Sounds good," I agreed. "Keep me updated on your status and tell Jacob to watch his ass as well. I'll be watching the live feeds, if I can."
"Then I'll be sure to put on a heck of a show," Miranda said. She went to end the call when I stopped her.
"Miranda. Good luck down there! And be careful."
"I promise, Scott," she said. "You too."
A few hours later, we arrived in the Anadius System and Joker confirmed that the heat emissions sink was fully engaged and that there was no way for us to be detected. As we could only afford to conduct low frequency scans of Cerberus Headquarters, we needed to move in closer and the Normandy was set on a course towards the hidden space station.
"Feels kind of like going through the Omega 4 Relay again," Joker observed quietly.
"This certainly feels familiar, I'll give you that," I said. As the Normandy powered through space, I was instantly drawn to the awe-inspiring view of Anadius itself. How could I describe the monster of a sun that was so immense in size that it boggled the imagination? The enormous sun, with its outer ring a deep blue in colour and its fiery red centre still burning bright, was a picture of fury and the brutality that existed in the natural universe rolled into one. Anadius was indeed an ancient sun in the final stages of its life. Someday, still millions of years away, the sun would implode and cause a supernova that would obliterate the system in a blaze of blinding light that would be seen from half a galaxy away. It made me feel infinitesimally tiny. Strangely, I found the thought reassuring.
As EDI began her scans, there appeared the smallest blip on our screens between us and the sun.
"And that is our target," Garrus said with satisfaction. "How long until Hackett's fleet is in position?"
"They're not far behind Miranda's strike force, so they could be here in less than thirty hours," I said, "I hear Primarch Victus was very generous with ships for this assault."
"At my insistence, of course," Garrus grinned, "Cerberus is just another arm of the Reaper war machine. I for one can't wait to rip that arm off and tear it to pieces."
"Join the queue," I laughed. As we got closer to the Illusive man's base, EDI was able to refine her scans as she did not have to search over as grand a distance, and slowly the big blip began to show many smaller blips around it.
"Cerberus is maintaining a strong defensive force both around and inside the station," EDI said.
"The Normandy does not join in the fleet-to-fleet action until we have successfully deployed onto the station, so their ships won't know the Normandy's there until it's too late," I said to everyone.
"Good, all the extra weight slows me down in a fight anyway," Joker quickly sneaked in to a small round of laughs.
Even with our limited scanning capabilities, we were able to compile a relatively impressive collection of Intel for me to forward to Hackett and the other fleet commanders. Cerberus fleet strength was assumed to be nearing twelve capital ships ranging from carriers and battleships to cruisers. Approximately seventy smaller warships had been detected, but we knew that the number could possibly be encroaching upon a hundred had we been able to carry out a more thorough recon. The station itself bore many heavy anti-ship weapons and close-range, anti-fighter lasers that would put up stiff resistance and could harry our attacking fleet the entire time.
It was decided that, if the control room for the station's defences was on our route through the base, then we definitely had to take it out. Yet, the Prothean VI and its data remained the primary objective. Cerberus Headquarters also had a number of fighter bays which could be holding anything between four-hundred to six-hundred fighters to add to those carried by the warships.
"One of the fighter bays could be our point of entry," Javik said, "your shuttle possesses stealth technology as well, it would serve well to use every tool at our disposal."
"Agreed," I said and the rest of the team nodded with me.
"There will undoubtedly be a horde of Cerberus soldiers waiting on the other side of the hanger barriers," Tali said. "Could we not blast an opening in the hull?"
"We don't know where the VI will be," Garrus countered, "any heavy damage to the station could result in no one getting the data. I say we stick with the fighter bay plan and make sure we're packing as much firepower as possible to lay down the suppression fire."
"Any chance they'll have Atlas mechs on there?" James asked. I had not considered that at first. Now that James had said it, I knew there was a massive chance that Cerberus would have their heavy armour to protect the hangers.
"Good thinking," I said, "James, make sure you've got some anti-armour and I'll do the same. Everyone else make sure you're carrying a machinegun and extra grenades as well as your normal loadout for the initial breach. The more bullets we have to throw back at them the more time we have to move and secure our position before they box us in. I'll make sure Steve knows that the armoury won't be getting the heavy weapons back before he freaks about his inventory."
Before our mission was to begin, Miranda and Jacob had to see theirs through successfully. My friends and I were assembled in the war room and EDI brought up the live feed from Jacob's helmet camera as they waited for the green light to start. The Quarian stealth ship, named the Cholar, named after one Dira Vas'Cholar, an assassin from way back in Quarian history, moved in towards Noveria alone. It had begun its approach with its fighter escort, a mix of Quarian and Human wings. But now they were hanging back out of range of the Cerberus base's scanners. As soon as the shuttles with Miranda's ground team were deployed from the Quarian Frigate, they would be detected and the fighters would race in as fast as they could to counter any Cerberus response.
"The shuttles could still get hit before the fighters arrive," Ashley mused as we watched the soldiers board their Kodiaks.
"The Cholar will be able to jam or inhibit systems without giving itself away for a little while," Tali told us, "that should buy them a few more minutes."
We were all tense in the war room as we watched the operation that was about to unfold. It was horrible to watch friends about to throw themselves into danger without being able to help them. I felt so disconnected and uneasy, pacing back and forwards as I was unable to keep myself calm any other way. Miranda and Jacob were supremely skilled operatives and the Alliance marines going with them were not fresh-faced newbies.
The 72nd Marine Battalion, commonly known as the "Blood Bandits", were a well-respected unit with a reputation for sticking it out in a fight a lot longer than usual and coming out the other side. The platoon had a high casualty rate given its penchant for their battles getting ugly, but there was no shortage of volunteers to join them as replacements as even being associated with the unit was considered an honour. With Miranda at the helm, there was probably much less to worry about than I was telling myself.
However, when Miranda, Jacob and their handpicked unit of Alliance soldiers boarded their transports and they burst out of the hanger my fear gave way to pure exhilaration. Like watching the most exciting and realistic action movie ever made, I was hooked by the drama and anticipation of what I was watching. The Blood Bandits prepped their weapons, some sat silently during the ride and others eased the tension with jokes or making fun of each other. Jacob quickly ran through the strategy for the thirtieth time with Miranda to work out every detail and I saw their plans of the Cerberus facility.
They had every approach worked out and figures for possible resistance and where they would most likely be so they could work to draw the Cerberus guards into kill zones. A part of me found it fun to hear someone else laying down the tactics and the plan to be followed for once. At one point, Jacob actually addressed us on the Normandy when he tapped the camera,
"And you guys watching us better wish us luck! We'll see you when Cerberus HQ is a smoking ruin."
Miranda was the first off of the shuttle, her feet barely hitting the ground when she let off her first burst from her Harrier assault rifle, a fully automatic variant of the Mattock. Jacob was right behind her and moved to a position ahead of her, nearer one of the doors leading inside the base. He had his Scimitar shotgun trained on the door, and when a Cerberus trooper appeared to engage the Alliance forces landing, his shoulder suddenly turned into flying red mince and Jacob confirmed the kill.
The base was set into the side of a snow-blasted mountain and the winds were blowing so cold that I could not only see the breath of Miranda and her soldiers, but the heat from their bodies as well. Even watching from the simulated warmth on the Normandy, I felt a shiver run through me.
Miranda joined Jacob at the door into the base and she threw a heavy biotic blast along the hallway to put the Cerberus soldiers' heads down as the marines moved in. Bullets whizzed everywhere in both directions and cracked past the marines' heads. Jacob was third through the door and used his own biotics to snatch a Cerberus trooper out of cover, where he then received repeated hits from dozens of bullets. Jacob's shields blared as bullets started flying back and the marines ducked into cover as well, one having taken a bullet through his arm.
"Bravo squad, move round to the second door and flank these guys before they get dug in," Miranda ordered over her comm.
Miranda and Jacob continued the exchange of gunfire with the enemy, hitting them with biotics every so often to shake them up. Another marine took a few bullets and dropped dead before a grenade landed in the midst of the Cerberus troops and went off with devastating results. Bravo squad filed in and one private finished off a survivor as he tried to retreat.
"This room's secure, Ma'am," the French accented corporal said.
"Keep up the pressure," Miranda said and instantly took the lead again. "By now they'll be locking down the control station and we need in there now!"
For another ten minutes, I watched Miranda and Jacob tear through the Cerberus soldiers and watched with pride as the marines did more than their own fair share of dishing out the damage. Some of them were wounded and went down, three of them had been killed, but the strike team breached through a side wall into the control room and cleared it out. Miranda and an Alliance tech went to work bringing down the outer defences and signalled the larger formation of transports with two-hundred marines and fighters for escort to begin their approach.
Cerberus still had a strong force of ground soldiers that they could send against the control room. Despite Jacob doing an incredible job of mobilising his men into great defensive positions, they could only hold out so long. Miranda made sure that the main door to the room stayed firmly shut and so the Cerberus soldiers could only enter through the breach that the marines had made or try to hack the door open again, but Miranda had left a little surprise by the panel for any who tried.
Beside me, Tali was barely breathing as she feared for Miranda and Jacob. Garrus wore a look of satisfaction and I figured that he was impressed by how the ex-Cerberus operatives had handled the mission, a look shared by Javik. I was pretty sure that James was just checking Miranda out every time she entered the screen of Jacob's camera, but a jab to the ribs from Ash told him that he was not being subtle about it.
"How's it going on Noveria, Commander?" Joker asked over the comm.
"They'll get it done, Joker. They've taken the control room and deactivated the perimeter defences for the main assault force to move in. She's dropped the blast doors over the fighter launch bays to stop any more launching. If she pulls this off, then we'll be adding a few dozen advanced fighters to our attack on the Illusive Man."
"Be great if we finished him with his own toys," my pilot chuckled, "be a real "suck it" to him!"
"Like killing Kai Leng with his own blade," Garrus said.
"Too kind," I countered. I wanted to do far more than just run that man through with a sword and have him die quickly. He had to feel the pain that Thane felt, tenfold.
Through Jacob's helmet camera, I could not see the Alliance reinforcements landing, but I could hear over the comms that they were running into heavy resistance and that Cerberus Atlas mechs were entering the fray. Reports of casualties started coming in immediately and, until an Alliance fighter pilot braved a low-level strafing run against the Atlases, the marines were pinned down.
Cerberus engineers were setting up turrets in predetermined positions, but this had been anticipated by Jacob and the marines had come equipped with missile launchers to simply blast them away. They were using them to fend off the Cerberus mechs as well, but the heavily armoured machines were well known for being extremely robust and able to take a pounding.
After a brutal fight, the marines had secured the landing pads and now Miranda and Jacob led their strike force on an attack through the remainder of the facility, clearing out every last Cerberus soldier. Miranda secured copies of the software that would have been uploaded into the Cerberus fighters which allowed Alliance techs to sweep the fighters for fail-safes or traps, before they were turned over to Alliance pilots.
"Captain Schafer, how are things outside?" Miranda asked the Alliance officer in charge of the second wave of troops.
"Cerberus resistance has almost been eliminated, Miss Lawson," a German accented soldier replied, "they tried to destroy the fuel cells, but we've intercepted them and are keeping them out for now. Atlas mechs are causing problems."
"We'll be right there, Captain," Miranda replied and sped off with her soldiers and Jacob close behind.
They hammered into the flank of the Cerberus advance and Miranda hit the lead Atlas with an overload to take out its shield as Jacob slapped an anti-armour grenade on the joint of one of the legs and ran like hell. The footage from Jacob's camera shook violently when the explosion went off, but when he checked around to see of the hulking death machine was down, he found it still standing. And the gun was turning towards him.
My heart was in my mouth, and I knew Garrus and Tali feared for our friend as well. Miranda and some of the Blood Bandits shot the Atlas to bits, but the pilot was still zeroing in Jacob's location until he tried to move the Atlas forward. Then the leg that had had the grenade planted on it fell right off and the huge mech toppled over like a stricken character from a cartoon. In the midst of a heated battle, it was hilarious to see, and when the pilot opened the cockpit and tried to scramble out, he was taken prisoner by four marines.
By now the fight was over and the last of the Cerberus guard force had either been killed or captured, though some of the troopers committed suicide by means of lethal drugs injected into their bodies via their suit of armour. On my own operations, there were never any Cerberus prisoners taken so I had no first-hand experience of this, but the reports from other successful missions against the terrorists all stated that any POW's often just dropped dead before they could be incarcerated. Miranda, however, was unconcerned. As she stepped over the body of one of the Cerberus soldiers, she reported in to Hackett to tell him that the base had been secured.
The techs were working on the fighters for the Alliance pilots that were now on their way to take control of their new vessels. Alliance casualties were quite heavy, especially among the second wave that had hit the landing pads. However, the mission had been a complete success and now the Alliance had a strategic advantage in this sector for when we would launch our attack on the Illusive Man, which would be very soon.
I wished I could be there to congratulate Miranda and Jacob on their mission, but as soon as Miranda's debriefing was over, the QEC began to blink as Admiral Hackett called.
"Admiral," I answered, "it looked like everything went well on Noveria."
"All objectives accomplished and Miranda herself will lead the new fighter squadrons into battle."
"Miranda can fly fighters?" I heard Garrus say to Tali in surprise.
"Perfect Human," Tali said with a shrug.
I continued with my briefing,
"Affirmative Sir. How long until our operation starts?"
"I've sent word to the other fleets and they'll be on their way ASAP," the old Admiral told me. "I've given them all the Intel that you've provided, and it's given us a clear picture of what we'll be up against. The main priority, however, is still to get you on that station. The fleets will move in and engage the Cerberus ships guarding the headquarters, but until you've secured the Prothean VI, we will have to limit offensive action against the station itself. We've code-named this Operation Guillotine. We take out the Illusive Man, and Cerberus is history!"
"I'll be glad to be there to see it all end," I told him, "the Illusive Man has made an enemy of every race in the Galaxy and used me and my team for his own needs once. The Normandy will be ready to go as soon as you give the order."