Cerberus Headquarters I
As it happened, we still had a few hours to wait until the forces deemed necessary to vanquish Cerberus arrived in the Pax System from various locations across the Galaxy. The Alliance fleet would be leading the charge but every species had wanted to send some of their own ships to aid us in the destruction of one of the galaxy's enemies. Even the Volus, who possessed few warships indeed, sent their only dreadnought. From the outside, the Kwunu appeared similar to a Turian dreadnought given the close ties between the two races, but it was especially heavily armed as it was designed to add substantial long range fire support to a Turian fleet. Letting off long range, high accuracy, devastating salvos, no one wanted to be caught in the sights of the Kwunu. The Kwunu and the Asari dreadnought, Destiny Ascension, were both on station to represent their species in the fight to come. They had sworn to help us when we took the fight to the Reapers on Earth.
Wrex sent me a message as he got word of what was about to go down. The leader of the Krogan regretted that he did not have any ships to send, naturally blaming the Turians and making sure that Garrus heard him, for his own amusement.
"Maybe if the Krogan were as strong as they were at the start of the Krogan Rebellions, then the Reapers would be having a nightmare of a time," Garrus admitted to me after Wrex had gone offline.
"But with the allies we've banded together now, we can still do this," I said. We had headed down to the starboard observation lounge and were both gazing out at Anadius as the impressive sun seemed to glower right back.
"I can't believe that, after all this time, it has finally come to this," my Turian friend said. "Feros, Noveria, Ilos, Horizon, the Collector Base and just about all of the Home worlds, we're finally about to launch our do-or-die attempt. This is the only shot we've got but…"
He trailed off and his head dipped down in contemplation. I did not interrupt and let him think of what he really wanted to say.
"With or without the Catalyst, we're heading to your Earth. It will be the place that will either become known as the planet where we beat the Reapers, or will be a smoking ruin for the next cycle to wonder about. But for the record, I think, with you leading us, we can win."
I was surprised by what Garrus said. He always seemed so calm and collected, able to see the brighter side of things when they were at their worst. Yet, I knew that deep down Garrus was a bit more pessimistic than he let on and I had expected him to try to say one final goodbye while he could.
"Thanks, Garrus," I said, "I couldn't have done this without any of you. But you've been there the most out of everyone. You've always believed in me when no one else did and followed me into the worst pits of hell. We've got a couple more to get through… and then we can finally bring peace to the galaxy. And you and I will be able to get on with normal lives."
Garrus laughed,
"What the heck is normal? I think I've forgotten what that is."
"Well, it doesn't always involve guns or calibrations," I gave him a mock jab with my elbow.
"No fun," he chuckled. "I wanted to tell you that I heard from my dad and sister. They managed to get out in time, picked up by one of the Quarian evac ships."
My heart bounced with relief at this news.
"That's great Garrus! You'll be able to see them soon."
"Yeah…" he looked out the window at the empty beyond, a smile growing on the Turian veteran's face, "I will."
Doing my rounds of the Normandy, everyone was geared up for the fight ahead and I found Steve working on the Kodiak, as usual.
"Will she get us through the barriers covering the Cerberus hangers?" I asked him.
"Oh, we'll get in," he said, "getting out will be a different story. But that's part of the fun, right?"
"I'm pretty sure the Cerberus soldiers will be preoccupied with us tearing up the place," I said, "you should have the time you need to get the shuttle working again."
"Well, I got plenty of practice on Despoina. Commander… I wanted to say something."
His voice dropped a little and he checked around to see who else may have been within earshot, but when he saw that we were clear, he took a deep breath.
"You ok, Steve?" I asked.
Ever since I had first met Steve, I had felt that he had a troubled mind. Even through his caring and polite personality he could seem distracted, or too focused at other times as if trying to take his mind off something.
"Even with everything we've accomplished, this is the first time that I've actually been able to dare to hope that we can win. That doesn't mean I doubted you, or the team. I mean, I didn't think any amount of power in the galaxy could defeat the Reapers. But now, if you find that data, we've actually got a shot ending this!"
Just being able to air his feelings seemed to improve Steve's mood, and I saw the beginnings of a smile appear on his face. He looked at me again,
"I want to say thanks, for giving me reason to believe again."
"No worries, Steve," I replied and clapped him on the shoulder. "Victory is not guaranteed, but our chances are better now that they've ever been. Focus on one thing at a time. First, we fuck over the Illusive Man."
Cortez laughed,
"Hell yeah, Commander. Cerberus won't know what hit 'em."
Checking in on the others, Javik exclaimed his desire to slit the Illusive Man's throat which let me know that he was on board. More than this, he emphasised that there was no way to defeat the Reapers with Cerberus running around behind us and so defeating them was almost as necessary as destroying the machines themselves. Last of all was Tali, who was as busy as ever in engineering, too apprehensive to get any rest before the attack began.
"You have my ship good to go?" I leaned over the railing to talk to Tali as she worked on the subdeck below.
"Who do you think you're talking to?" she gave me what I assumed was a cheeky grin under the mask. "The Normandy just doesn't go right without me… no offence, EDI."
"None taken, Tali," our AI replied sarcastically, "Though now that I possess a body, I could maintain this ship at one hundred percent efficiency at all times."
"Ok… only feeling a little redundant," I chuckled as the Quarian let out a short "humph" in reply.
"I'll only be a short while here, Scott," Tali said, "if we have some time… maybe we could go to our cabin."
Her wide eyes looked up at me and I gave her a comforting nod to let her know I would be there for her.
Her voice was void of the usual playfulness that was usually there when she was making a suggestive comment. That meant she needed me, as much as I needed her. I headed back up to the cabin and busied myself with reading a few status reports and news on our fleet strength for Operation Guillotine. A nice addition was a few of the last cruisers and destroyers that the Batarians had left from their once impressive navy. Their ships were ugly, misshapen things, but they were brimming with guns that could make mincemeat of whatever was unfortunate enough to be caught in their arc of fire. Another message was addressed directly to me, which informed me that the platoon belonging to one Captain Riley was being folded into one of the many divisions of marines that would be destined for Earth when the time came. And that meant that my sister Sophie would be there too. Every soldier would be needed, and I had watched Sophie grow into a fine example of what it meant to be a marine in the Alliance.
While I was reading, I heard the doors to my cabin open and the soft footsteps of a Quarian in an envirosuit enter.
"I can't do it anymore," she said softly, "I can't find any more jobs to do to make the time go faster. The waiting is killing me."
I took her hand and we sat on the bed looking at each other. I watched her bright lilac eyes flit back and forward between my own blue ones. I then laughed at the familiarity of the situation,
"So, is this the part where we have sweet, passionate sex right before the final mission. Just in case it's our last chance?"
"We have done this a few times now haven't we," Tali caught on, "Ilos and then the Collector base… what a crazy life we have! But still… there are worse traditions we could have."
She could make me smile just by being next to me and I could not take my eyes off of her. Tali closed into me and we held each other in an intimate embrace, neither of us wanting to let the other go.
"I want to tell you how lucky I feel to be with you, Tali," I suddenly said, "every day I tell myself how lucky I am to have found you, twice. I know my job and I know my mission, but having you with me makes it all so much more important to me. I could sit here and pretend to be Mr noble and tell you that I'm fighting for every soul in the galaxy, but I'm not."
Tali sat and listened, her finger idly gliding over my Promising Band, while I carried on,
"I'm fighting so Grunt can go back to Tuchanka and, under Wrex's leadership, keep learning what it is to be Krogan. I'm fighting so that Garrus can go back to his family on Palaven and patch things up with his dad. I fight so that Javik can see the Reapers destroyed, and the vengeance of his people completed. I fight for that house on Rannoch that I'm going to build for a certain little Quarian."
Tali giggled at that and hugged me tighter. "And yet you can't escape the fact that every soul out there is calling on Commander Gardner to save them," she said. "You are a hero to everyone, Scott. And before you say "I'm just one part of a team" I'm going to tell you that you are the face of the team. When people think of think of the Normandy crew, they don't think of me or Garrus or Liara… it's you they're calling for. And I like it that way as well. You're my hero too, Scott. And I'm so happy you picked little me to be your wife. We will see this through together, as always."
I pulled back from our embrace slightly so that I could look at her when I had a flashback to the first time that Tali had ever showed me her face back on the Normandy SR1. She had been so nervous, her hands fidgeting and her voice quivering. Yet now Tali was a strong and confident woman who had experienced so much and grown very indomitable indeed through it.
"Do you remember that night right before we dropped onto Ilos?" I asked my Quarian wife.
"How could I forget?" Tali said to me. "I… I remember feeling so frightened. No one knew what we would find on Ilos. What if we died? What if we didn't reach Saren in time? So much was uncertain. That's why I needed to find you, starting our little tradition, I guess. You were, and still are, this bulwark of strength that does not buckle even under the worst pressure."
"It's not as easy as that, Tali…" I tried to say, but she cut me off.
"Perhaps not to yourself," she said. "But you need to see you from the perspective of others. There is a reason that we all follow you, there is a reason that all of us would fight to the very edges of the galaxy and back for you. When I fight alongside you, it's like I can feel this aura of confidence that is worth my undivided loyalty. I remember when Wrex took the rest of our crew to watch you and Grunt fight the Thresher Maw on Tuchanka. We were all so terrified for you and wanted the Rite to end. And still… if I had been down there with you, I know that I would have fought like you and Grunt did and win. Because being in your presence in a battle gives us the feeling of being invincible. We can do anything! And that is how the fleets and united species feel now."
Tali was so sincere in what she was saying that I finally let her words sink in and believed her. To me, it was simply a case of staying focused on the task at hand, but it was easy for me to forget that, in the kinds of messes that I always found myself in, so many others out there would crumble like a crushed biscuit under the strain. As I pondered on this revelation, I saw Tali gazing at me and she reached over with a gloved hand to stroke my cheek.
"That was why I came to you then, to feel that security and shield of care that you emit."
"Thanks, Tali," I said. "That means a lot to me to hear that. But I want you to know that I was feeling the exact same way as you were that night."
"I know," she nodded, "and yet you were so with it and calm. I knew I loved you before that, but that sense of certainty and assurance was what made me truly ready to be with you."
"Come here," I said lustfully. I pulled her into me again and her arms wrapped around my chest, squeezing almost too tightly, yet I was quite happy to leave her be. "I'm here for you Tali, any time you need me. Have you heard from Rannoch?"
"Admiral Koris and Xen are back on the planet to coordinate our civilians, Han'Gerrel and Shala are out commanding our fleets. No doubt Gerrel will be at the head of the warships we send against Cerberus."
"Good, he seems to like shooting vessels that we are on," I said with a snide tone as I remembered his fleet blasting away at the Geth dreadnought while my team and I were still trying to get off.
"If he does that again, even the ancestors will not be able to save him from me," Tali growled, but when I started laughing, she was quick to join me.
Tali and I cuddled on our bed for a while, the ambient humming of the Normandy the only sound that either of us could hear. It was comforting and familiar, the kind of feelings that you would associate with being at home. Right then, that was exactly what I wanted, to feel grounded and settled in a place that I knew intimately and shared with someone that I cared about more than life itself.
"You know what, Tali," I said, "I don't want this to be one of those nights."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, I don't want this to be one of those "this might be the end" nights. Compared to the Reapers and what we have planned for them, Cerberus will be so little! We can beat them, like we have so many times before."
"You think so?" Tali was not as convinced.
"Sure," I explained, "we have all the advantages this time around. Superior numbers, a sound battle plan and the element of surprise. Cerberus will still be reeling from the shock by the time we're inside the station. Cerberus must have limited amounts of resources and soldiers left after the beatings they've taken on Sur'Kesh, the Citadel, Omega and everywhere else where the Alliance has hit them. This is their last stand, even more than Earth will be ours."
"But this is Cerberus we're talking about," Tali said. "They will fight like a wild animal backed into a corner. I bet they'll still have some tricks up their sleeves."
"Bring on the tricks," I gave her a wink. I knew that Cerberus would be more dangerous than ever in the upcoming battle. We were sure to run into obstacles that were far less than savoury. But we had overcome the wily terrorists before. Tali saw that I was not going to hear any objections to my perhaps silly optimism, and decided that quietly agreeing with me was the best course of action.
"Like a good wife," she giggled.
"Backing up her idiot Husband no matter how dumb he sounded," I joked right back. Feeling more relaxed, I put on some relatively calming and relaxing music. Tali and I moved to the couch to be together and spent some lovely, quality time together until the call came.
Tali and I had only been talking on the couch for half an hour or so when my personal comm beeped with a priority message from Admiral Hackett.
"Attack Fleet is mobilised and enroute as of twenty-hundred hours.
Operation Guillotine is now in action.
Prepare Ground Assault Team and be ready to bring Normandy into the fight after the Cerberus fleet has been fully engaged. This is the best chance to wipe out Cerberus for good.
Good luck Commander, and may God help us all."
I gave Tali the nod that told her it was time to go. We both sprang into action and sent out the word for my team to gear up for battle and assemble in the War Room. When Ashley and James arrived, we were all present and so I brought up the holo image of the Illusive Man's base. I had gone over the plan before with them all, but it never hurt to hit it home harder to make sure everyone knew all the details.
From EDI's basic knowledge of the layout of the base, we suspected that the Prothean VI would be in the safest and most secure part of the station. Most likely, the Illusive Man's personal workspace as he would not risk anything so important straying too far from him. To get there, however, we needed to fly straight into one of the fighter hangers, as the quickest way in, and fight the rest of the way on foot. The nearest hanger was not too far from where we assumed we needed to go, the path taking us through several lab spaces and another large open bay, purpose unknown.
After we had deployed in the shuttle, I instructed Joker that he would then back off from the fight and wait for opportunities to strike at isolated, or badly damaged, targets that would limit the risk to my ship. If I was an essential person to the overall war effort, then the Normandy was the quintessential warship. With everyone clear on what we needed to do, and eager to get going, we headed to the hanger.
"Cerberus has hurt us and the whole galaxy many times over," I said to all of them as we walked. "Remember the brutality of their murder and torture that we saw on Horizon, remember the terror that they sowed on the Citadel with their Coup attempt. Remember Thane, and the sacrifice he made to help us and save Councillor Valorn's life from Kai Leng. I'm making it my order of the day to make Cerberus pay for their crimes! That clear?"
"Can't wait," James said, cracking his knuckles. My team were out for blood on Operation Guillotine, and I was more than happy to encourage them. The Illusive Man had made this personal for all of us.
The Normandy was closer to the Illusive Man's base now than it had ever been, but we were still in stealth mode and lurking quietly beyond the range of being detected visually. No scans were being taken and Joker and I were both equally tense on the bridge as we waited for the unleashing of the allied fleet against the unknowing Cerberus enemy. The Cerberus vessels could be seen sailing around in standard patrols and fighters zoomed in and out of the hanger launch bays. The unfathomably huge mass of Anadius glowed hotly behind our target and I could almost see into the Illusive Man's mind as to why he chose this location. It was a scene of raw and pure power like that which he aspired to attain.
But then, like a storm suddenly rushing in during a perfect day to bring destruction and wrath with it, dozens of ships suddenly began to appear around the Cerberus forces. At first, they were all Alliance warships with waves of fighters guarding them, then Turian vessels appeared, then Salarian, Asari, Batarian and the Volus ships joined them. Next, a squadron of Quarian frigates and cruisers arrived escorting one of their enormous Liveships which they had converted into dreadnoughts before they launched their mission to reclaim Rannoch. Last of all, and in perfect unison, Geth ships decelerated from FTL speeds and immediately flew to the front with the vanguard of the force. It was a magnificent scene to witness and the pride that I felt watching all the ships from the different races teaming up was powerful.
"Glad we got front row tickets to this one," Joker said as he felt the exact same kind of burst of pride that I did.
"Cerberus won't know what hit them!" I said enthusiastically. "Can't deny they'll fight back. But what are they gonna do against that kind of force?"
"The SSV Victory and SSV Enterprise just arrived," Joker informed me. "And Miranda's squadrons of our shiny new fighters are right with them."
The two Alliance fighter carriers and Miranda's ex-Cerberus fighters would make certain that we would have complete dominance in the space around the space station.
"Miranda, report in," I said over the comm, no longer concerned with maintaining stealth now that Cerberus would have had over four hundred ships charging towards them.
"I'm here, Commander," the Australian answered from her fighter at the front of her formation. "You ready to finish this fight?"
"More than ever," I said. "You and Jacob did a brilliant job on Noveria… and I want to say again how thankful I am to you for bringing me back. I know it was for different reasons at the time, but I'm proud to have a friend like you."
"Thanks, Comm… Scott. Whatever I did for you, I owe you more! I never had the best way with people. But being with you and the Normandy team I found that sense of belonging, of fitting in that I had always been searching for ever since I had found out how I was created."
Then I heard her laugh,
"This is on a secure channel, right? Because if anyone finds out I'm really this soppy, I will just have to kill you again."
"Oh, don't worry," Joker suddenly spoke up, "absolutely no one else knows your little secret."
"Joker… I know things about you that you would not like to be made public."
"Note to self: Delete extranet browsing history," Joker said with slight sarcasm and shame.
"Do me proud out there, Miranda," I finally said.
"Give the Illusive Man my regards before you kill him, would you?"
Battle was joined. The Cerberus ships had reacted and had formed into a line of battle, launching salvos at our fleet from long range. There were some hits scored, but no losses inflicted or ships seriously damaged, yet. Before long, our ships began to return fire and the amount of munitions surging through space was a bewildering sight that gripped my heart and made me want to jump for joy. Every shot that Cerberus fired they were getting in return fivefold, and the guns of the Destiny Ascension and the Rayya, Tali's childhood ship, gave the enemy ships a harsh beating. The swarms of Cerberus fighters were about to clash with our forward ranks when our own waves of thousands of fighters broke free from within our fleet and jumped the incoming foe.
Energy beams, missiles and mass accelerators were blazing away and created quite the lightshow for us when I nudged Joker,
"Prepare to bring the Normandy up to full power for our insertion. You ready?"
"I'm sitting on the side-lines of a hell of a fight and you're asking me if I'm ready? Oh yeah, I'm good to go!" He said with a happy grin.
"Steve," I said over the comm, "The Kodiak ready?"
"Ready and the ground team is on board. Just waiting for you, Commander," Cortez replied. There was nothing else to wait for now and I gave Joker the order. There was a gentle subsiding of the buzz as the stealth drive was disengaged and was quickly replaced by a much more fervent whirring as the engines were powered up to full and the weapons systems came online. We had selected our chosen hanger to land in, and Joker now steered his dear frigate towards it. As I wished him luck and went to leave, I heard him say,
"Commander, keep EDI safe."
"Same to you," I said back. When I arrived at the Kodiak, I jumped on with the rest of the crew and gave them an encouraging smile.
"The Cerberus fleet is getting hammered out there," I told them all, "this is as good a time as any to go. Let's show them they messed with the wrong galaxy!"
"I wished that I could have seen the end of the indoctrinated separatists in my cycle," Javik said. "I look forward to fulfilling that wish for you all now."
Cortez took the Kodiak out of the Normandy's hanger and my frigate zipped off straight away, to get a better handle on the battle being waged around us before Joker re-engaged.
"Take us straight into that station, Steve," I ordered.
"Buckle up everyone, this is gonna be tight!" my pilot responded. He moved the shuttle to full throttle and I had to steady myself as the Kodiak was bumped and shunted by explosions that were going off like a deadly fireworks display, filling all the empty space around us. I checked around the faces of my friends, and when Garrus caught me and shot me a knowing grin, I actually managed a laugh.
"You really are loco, Loco," James said when he heard me.
"You learn to love it," Tali joined in, tentatively holding her shotgun close. There were a few seconds where the rocking from the blasts seemed to stop and we all looked at each other in surprise at this sudden peace. However, this was instantly shattered by a blow to the Kodiak that seemed like we had taken a direct hit.
"Steve? Status?"
"Brace yourselves!" he shouted back, "we're inside the hanger and the barriers are bringing me down. Ready for impact!"
We all held on tight to something. I let my limbs go semi-relaxed to absorb some of the shock to my body while our vessel bolted through the Cerberus hanger bay.
The force with which we hit the ground was bad, to say the least, and we twisted and turned many times over, knocking all of us around like rag dolls, before the Kodiak finally came to a frighteningly sudden stop. It had skidded into an obstacle and sent us flying to the side. Barely recovering from the crash landing, I pulled myself up and flipped the switch for the side door, opening it up to reveal the large hanger bay outside. The Kodiak was under fire, but we emerged from our shuttle and began hitting back straight away with the extra heavy weapons that we had brought. James, Liara and I set ourselves up in an arc and delivered heavy covering fire on anything that moved until everyone was off.
"You gonna be ok, Steve?" I asked over the comm, "you going to be able to get out of here?"
"It's kind of like what happened with Leviathan, but I know what I need to do. Good luck, Commander! Hit 'em for me."
"Yes, Sir," I joked as I gunned down a Cerberus trooper with a rapid burst of fire.
We were hunkered down about half-way along the total length of the hanger. At the back of the hanger was a huge set of heavy blast doors flanked by smaller doors for personnel. Along both sides of the hanger were bays for ammo crates, cargo, fuel and maintenance stations along with control panels which gave us plenty to take cover behind as we advanced. We had to move quickly to beat the Cerberus forces entering the hanger taking these positions.
However, as soon as I led Ashley and Liara in a dash to one of these side bays, I realised we had another problem. There was an upper level to the hanger, the walkways of which ran around the inside of the perimeter of the bay and gave Cerberus sharpshooters incredible vantage points from which to take shots at us. The shots were hitting perilously close and Liara's shields took several hits before I dashed back out and pulled her into cover next to me. Liara was quick to hit back however as she whipped up a biotic field, lifted a heavy cargo crate and sent it flying back at some Cerberus gunmen with the force of a bomb strike.
"Strike!" James whooped as he watched Liara's impressive biotic powers at work and popped up to rip away at Cerberus with his machinegun.
Making increasingly rapid progress, we were soon leaving behind a heavy number of Cerberus dead on our warpath through the hanger. EDI knew that she could hack open the doors at the far end and once we were into the hallways of the station, we could follow her on a path to avoid running into a whole army of angry Cerberus soldiers. I used the missile launcher that I had brought with me to blow up a section of the upper walkway with the two Cerberus snipers that were hiding on it. However, EDI suddenly called out in alarm to us all.
"Commander, Cerberus is evacuating personnel from the hanger and are preparing to vent it."
"Oh that's not good!" I growled. We would be sucked out into the vacuum of space and drift endlessly if we were not shot by short range lasers first. "Can you stop it?"
"I need an active console that is linked to the station's security systems," The AI thought quickly. "There is one on the upper level in that office."
I followed her finger to the upper room at the far end and on the other side of the hanger.
"How long do we have?" I asked, my feet already pounding their way towards the nearest ladder that would take me up.
"I do not think it would benefit any of you to know," EDI replied.
"That just makes me feel worse!" Tali exclaimed as my team raced behind me. The fear was evident in all of our voices as we knew we were against the clock. Fortunately, all the Cerberus forces had left the hanger, so we charged around to the destination office uninterrupted and EDI began working away like crazy on the security terminal.
"EDI?" I asked the AI as she worked away to stop Cerberus from venting the hanger.
"In progress," she replied in an even tone. Just then, alarms started sounding in earnest and we were all gathered around EDI as if that would make her work quickly.
"Warning, warning," a synthesised voice called over a loudspeaker, "Achilles Protocol engaging."
"EDI!" I called out, my senses on fire as the anticipation nearly killed me. Some of the team took positions where they would not immediately be sucked out by the vacuum and were putting on their breather masks. I was just about to follow suit when the alarms suddenly died down and eventually went off completely.
"Achilles Protocol disengaged," EDI reported. Compared to a few seconds ago, I was now in a sea of calm and actually laughed,
"Good job, EDI. I knew you wouldn't let me down."
Yet another addition to the huge list of times that we owed our lives to EDI.
"With my knowledge of Cerberus algorithms and this body's updated systems, I can get us through any technical obstacle that Cerberus throw at us," she stated. "I will not let them stop us. I also have another plan, if I may?"
"Go for it," I agreed.
"I can hack their fighter launch controls and override the safeties. If I launched one at the blast doors, it should have the power and ordinance necessary to break through."
My team all exchanged moderately excited glances and James said,
"Ooh, that sounds good!"
"I'm with James," I said. "Do it, EDI. What's the best route to take after that?"
"Going through the subdecks offers the quickest route, and though Cerberus can still send troops to fight us, they cannot lock down these sections. They can barely slow us down."
Cerberus knew that the venting procedure had failed and were sure to send more soldiers against us. I left EDI in the security station to prep a fighter on the launch pad while the rest of the team went back down the ladder and took cover from what was sure to be an insane amount of destruction. The fighter was raised and EDI swivelled the pad around to face the thick blast doors, the engines beginning their rapid powering up with a loud whine.
"Everyone, keep your heads down!" I told everyone over the comm. "EDI… whenever you're ready."
There was an almighty blast of ignited fuel and the engines blazed into life, the fighter craft shaking violently on the launching rig before EDI finally released it. Like a bullet from a gun, the fighter shot from the pad and slammed smack-bang in to the middle of the blast doors and the sounds of explosions and twisting metal were like a nuclear blast had been set off over our heads.
Fires raged, and half of the upper walkway came tumbling down, sending shattered glass everywhere.
"Keelah!" Tali uttered in amazement.
"That's the way it's done!" Garrus howled jubilantly. With a wave of my hand, I ordered my team forward towards the breach. EDI rejoined us and we headed for the massive gap in the blast doors that was our ticket into the rest of the facility, but from the other sides I heard angered voices.
"What the hell happened?" A Cerberus soldier called out.
"They must have rigged heavy explosives."
"Negative. They rigged a fighter and fired it through the doors. It's Commander Gardner and his team, that fucking AI is with them."
"Sounds like I got their attention," EDI said with a grin.
"Well, they're about to get our attention," I told them. "Split into two teams and set up on both sides of the hanger, we'll cut them to pieces as they come through."
Then, as if the Cerberus soldiers had heard my exact words, they sent the Atlas mechs in.
Two of the Cerberus walking tanks lurched into the hanger and their cannons immediately started blasting away at our positions while a squad of Cerberus infantry filed in behind them. The crates and terminals that we were sheltering behind were being torn to bits by the high calibre guns and we had to fall back.
"James! Missile launchers ready and focus all attacks on one mech before we hit the second," I yelled over the comm.
"Got it!" I got back from the big marine straight away. Tali, EDI and Garrus unleashed overload attacks on a single Atlas. When its shields were stripped away, James and I brought our missile launchers to bear and both of us fired three missiles each, all six of them zooming straight into the metal beast. Smoke smothered the mech and shrouded several of the Cerberus troops as well, though not before I saw one drop with a bullet from James' gun shattering his collar bone and punching right through. The Atlas that had been hit was still in operation and its cannon fired another salvo at me, narrowly missing and the shell blowing apart a bunch of crates behind me.
That's when I had a brainwave.
"EDI, are there any munitions or fuel crates next to the Cerberus guys?"
"Affirmative," she said after a quick scan. "The stack next to the left-hand side Atlas has a full complement of ordnance capable of massive amounts of destruction."
I couldn't quite get a line of sight on the stack that EDI was detailing, but I knew James could hit it.
"Light up the target for James, EDI," I said over the comm. "James, fire a missile into the centre of that stack and get your bloody head down when it blows."
With covering fire from Ash and Liara, James lined up his shot and let the missile fly. The projectile hit the stack dead-centre, and when the munitions went up, the shockwave that shook the entire hanger, probably the whole station, was absolutely gargantuan. My hearing actually went for a few seconds and I could have sworn that I felt the heat of the blast through my armour. Metal and bodies went flying everywhere and a scene of complete desolation lay before us.
The mech nearest the munitions was a scrapheap, most of the soldiers had not just been killed but nearly vapourised. However, the first Atlas was still in operation, but there was something wrong with it as I realised that it could only turn in one direction. The mech could not rotate left at the waist. If the pilot wanted to aim at me again, he would have to rotate all the way clockwise before he could target me. I took my chance and bolted straight past the mech as he could not follow me. Once I had a clear shot at the engine air intake at the back and got to one knee, I aimed the missile launcher and fired one right up the Atlas' ass.
The top half of the Atlas brewed right up and turned into a fireball, the pilot leaping out and receiving bursts of bullets from Liara, EDI and Garrus simultaneously. With the threat clear, I was already running for the breach in the blast doors when they realised that they had to catch up.
"EDI, how are Cerberus reacting to their venting attempt failing?" I asked.
"They are sealing off much of the station and setting up defensive positions in the sub-decks. They are deploying engineers with turrets to block our path. They do not anticipate us using another fighter against them."
"Why not? It could be fun," Garrus smirked.
"Can we, Scott?" Tali chipped in hopefully.
"Wish we could," I chuckled. "Ok, we get into the sub-decks and fight our way through until we reach what we think is the Illusive Man's private section. You still think the Prothean VI will be there?"
EDI looked at me and mimicked a ponderous expression until she finally answered,
"Undoubtedly."
We found a shaft going down to the sub-decks that winded all the way through the station and allowed us access to areas that were otherwise locked down and secured. I quickly eyeballed the space beneath us to make sure I was not going to be gunned down as soon as my feet hit the metal grated floor. With the area clear, I was the first to jump down and quickly scoot into cover to fend off any Cerberus troops while my squad followed me down. In these cramped quarters with low, red lighting, it was a treacherous assault, but we quickly overcame the rapid but disorganised resistance that we encountered, at first.
The further we delved into the station, the more hard-pressed we were to break through the Cerberus lines of defence. Squads of Cerberus soldiers were working together to try and box us in, and even though EDI was able to guide us along another route to escape encirclement, we still had to fight enemies to our front and rear on several occasions. I was leading from the front and put two rounds into an enemy when I happened to check behind and saw Ashley ambush a Cerberus soldier. She met him with a rifle butt to the face, a sweep with her leg to take the man down and three rounds in his head to finish the job. The next caught a shotgun blast in the neck from Tali and EDI sabotaged the third one's gun so that he could not fire. While he fumbled for his electrified baton, EDI unloaded her submachinegun into him and he thumped to the ground.
Things were becoming very dangerous for us indeed.
"Is there a way around the next line, EDI?" I asked as I poked out to fire at the enemy only to have a bullet smack into the metal an inch from my face.
"Negative, Commander," EDI replied, "the only way is forward. But we are nearing our destination."
"Which is?"
"A science wing where several labs are located. From there, we can follow the destruction left by the fighter to a large area where I have detected a massive power source. From there, the Illusive Man's office is only a few minutes away."
I felt better having some kind of idea of how we were doing and urged myself on. The sweat was pouring off of me, and in these tight fighting conditions I felt short of breath at times. But I put the scope of my Mattock to my eye and put four rounds through the chest of a Cerberus soldier and rushed out to take his position. Garrus stacked up next to me and threw a couple of grenades ahead of us. The explosion tore the enemy position apart, but the soldiers had leapt clear of the grenade and were returning to their firing positions to keep us back. Fortunately, Javik managed to bore a hole through one of them with his particle rifle before catching the other in the arm. As the soldier veered off to one side, Garrus popped out and slotted him in the head. It was fast-paced and brutal, but we were winning this fight.
We all climbed up one ladder to escape the confines of the sub-deck only to have EDI lead us to another ladder which descended back down into the darkness of the level below. I had told EDI to take us on a path where we could throw Cerberus forces off of our tail, but now we really needed to get to the Illusive Man's office ASAP. Soon, EDI had us scrambling up another ladder, leaving a few Cerberus corpses behind us, and we emerged in what I would describe as the laboratories that EDI had told us about.
"This is it?" I asked. "Just the large power source to go by and then we're there?"
"Affirmative, Commander," EDI replied, "but be warned that Cerberus forces are enroute to this location and will not be far behind."
"Commander Gardner, are you still with us?" I suddenly heard Admiral Hackett over my comm.
"Yes, Sir," I reported, "we're deep inside the station and are progressing towards the final objective. What's the status of our fleet?"
"The Cerberus ships have largely been dealt with, but we took losses and now we're having to deal with the defences on the station itself. We're limiting fire as best we can, but we're being hit hard."
"No need to limit your fire, Admiral," I told him, "the VI will be in the safest part of the station."
"Commander… I can't jeopardise you and your team. Your mission is too important. This isn't Elysium, Gardner. we don't need a hero."
We moved through the vacant labs towards a massive gaping maw at the far end where the enemy fighter had ripped through the majority of the station, the silence was highly disconcerting.
"Admiral, just take Cerberus down. Please," I eventually said. I needed to see these bastards shut down after what they had done against our war effort, for what they had done to all those helpless innocents on Horizon. With a heavy sigh, Hackett was persuaded and I heard him order all friendly vessels to begin bombarding the station with maximum firepower.
"We better move quick," Garrus said and we all hustled towards the hole in the wall, bent and broken metal strewn all over the place and embers still flickering away. That was when we felt the full power of the allied fleet.
The Cerberus warships had put up a frightening fight that had impressed our own Captains, and we had lost a few valuable vessels as a result. Ultimately, the allied fleet had been too much for the Cerberus force and when their shields had been whittled down by fighters and frigates, they were easy prey for the cruisers, battleships and the mighty dreadnoughts that tore the Cerberus ships to bits with their immensely powerful main guns. Now those same guns were being turned on Cerberus HQ and entire sections of the base were slowly being blasted away to nothing.
We could barely move in a straight line as the floor below our feet shook from the impacts of the heavy guns. Electronics overloaded and explosions were going off all over the labs. High pressure air pipes were bursting and each would announce itself with a high-pitched whistle that could easily pierce our eardrums. I hurried everyone on as I led from the front and jumped down through the hole we had made. My feet hammered down onto a steel grated floor and I surged on along the corridor that I was in. Ahead of me, the path opened up into a huge expansive chasm with walkways around the perimeter and ladders connecting each level. We had to go up another ten levels at least before we could reach the top. The artefact that these walkways were built around, however, was something truly terrible.
I stopped dead when the corridor opened up into the chasm and revealed what Cerberus had stored here. My feet were like lead and I genuinely felt sick as I gazed upon the massive construct in front of me.
"Keelah!" Tali exclaimed as she joined me and when Garrus saw what we were looking at he had a dark, murderous glint in his eyes.
"What is it, guys?" Ashley asked, suddenly worried about Tali, Garrus and I. I looked over at EDI who, even though she had been there for the journey to the galactic core, was now looking upon the artefact for the first time.
"Is that the Proto-Reaper from the Collector Base?" I asked her. I already knew the answer, but I just did not want it to be true. Looking upon the partial shell of the Reaper-in-making that we had found at the Collector Base, I felt as distraught as I had the first time that I had set my eyes upon it. This monstrosity was the product of tens of thousands of innocent people being melted down into genetic paste and processed to construct what was to become a new Reaper.
Alliance investigations, conducted while I was in prison in Vancouver, had put the estimated total number of abducted Human colonists at nearly six-hundred-and-fifty-three-thousand. The most pessimistic estimation came closer to one million. Working families, people starting afresh on a new world, children or retirees. It did not matter to the Collectors who they had taken.
"All those families… turned into this," Tali said, her voice full of sadness, "and Cerberus has it on show here like a trophy."
"The Illusive Man convinced me to work with him to defend the colonists," I said aloud, "but he never really cared, did he? This is what he truly wanted… and I fell for it."
Ashley was looking at me as she remembered that traumatic day on Horizon when the Collectors had hit the colony and she could very well have been abducted herself.
"You worked with Cerberus for your own reasons, Scott," she said, "you could never have turned your back on people in need. That was why you joined."
"You weren't exactly as understanding when we found you there," Garrus quickly put in as he recalled the harsh words spoken that day.
Ashley shot Garrus a grim look, but relinquished slightly as she realised that he was right.
"A lot… was going wrong. I was wrong and I admit that. But seeing this… I don't want to get into it again Scott, but I'm glad that it's you here shutting Cerberus down. It feels… right."
I could see that Ash regretted what she had said to me on Horizon for a long time now, but I had never begrudged her for those words. Working for Cerberus had never felt like a wise decision and the hideous Reaper in front of us now proved that. Yet Ash had been able to find it in herself to forgive me, maybe I could forgive myself too.
There were no Cerberus forces in the chasm, so we rushed on to make as much ground as possible before the firing started again. As we circled the Reaper larvae, I could see that the damage from the explosion that destroyed the Collector Base was extensive.
"It's like it knows we're here," Garrus commented.
"Can't believe you guys found this in the galactic core, man. It's twisted and evil! You can feel it." James was still in shock from us telling him how this monster had been created. I also knew that he was thinking of all the colonists on Fehl Prime that he had sacrificed in order to get the Intel on the Collectors, including the little girl, April. The Collector vessel that attacked Fehl Prime had ended up being destroyed during James' efforts to launch a rescue. He knew that April's life had not been given to the Reaper, but it still did not help. His was a deep scar that even I would struggle to bear.
"What is Cerberus doing with it, EDI?" Liara asked.
"They are using what is analogous to the heart to provide power to the station while they are using its central processor to perform high-level computing operations. If we were able to secure it, these modules could provide much assistance to Project Crucible safely."
EDI was looking at me as if I would flat-out disagree with her suggestion. If I listened to my heart, then I would have the bloody thing destroyed immediately just for being what it was. However, my brain agreed with EDI and, though I struggled to say the words, I told her that she was right.
We had nearly reached the top before Cerberus soldiers eventually showed up and began to engage us. Bullets pinged off the walkway below my feet as I ran along, and my shields deflected a couple of rounds before I could get out of sight. Returning fire while the rest of my friends ducked around me, I saw that the enemy troops were using jet-boots to quickly leap up the levels and were quickly catching up with us. However, I had a brainwave that actually made me laugh.
"James, get your missile launcher," I said. He caught on straight away and grinned as he brought out his heavy weapon and aimed at the struts that held up the walkways. If we blew away the floors below us, then the Cerberus troops would not be able to reach us at all. The missiles flew in salvos and the floors below were sent tumbling down to the blackness below in a twisted, screeching mess of metal. More than a few mangled bodies of enemy soldiers were caught in the drop, the screams of those still alive echoing back up towards us. I only wished that I could do the same to the Proto-Reaper and rid the galaxy of the abomination.