Rocket sat up as Kara donned her top while she walked towards the elevator. "What's next?"
"Shepard's getting some rest, so we'll be able to relax for a while. Get dressed, and let's get you something to eat." Rocket felt a rumble in his gut at the mention of food. The idea of a good meal and a drink caused him to almost fall off the crate as he rushed to put his clothes on.
He joined Kara on the elevator, zipping up his jumpsuit as the doors closed. As they stepped off the elevator, they found the mess hall packed with the rest of Shepard's team. Garrus turned, and raised a hand in greeting. "What's up?" Rocket asked, standing by the side of the mess line.
"We were just talking about what we're gonna do after this whole Reaper thing is over." Garrus said.
"I'm going to build a nice big house on the homeworld." Tali said. "One with a nice view. Preferably a waterfall."
Mordin chimed in next. "Would like a beach home, always liked oceans."
Kara shuddered. "Ugh."
Jack looked at her, amused. "What, you afraid of water or something?"
"Of oceans? Yes." Kara said flatly. "I can't swim, I'm too dense."
"Aw, don't be like that. You're one of the smartest people I know." Garrus said, eliciting laughter from Tali, and snickers from the rest of the crew.
"Very funny." Kara said dryly, though there was a hint of a smile on her lips.
"So if you fell overboard or something, you'd just sink?" Kasumi asked.
Kara nodded. "The augmentation process didn't exactly help, but Hunter's in general can't swim, our musculature and skeletons are too dense. We don't need air, so we wouldn't drown, which means lakes and deep rivers aren't really a problem, we'd just walk across the bottom, but an ocean…" Kara shuddered, and shook her head. She looked at Mordin. "What would you do on the beach anyway?"
Mordin shrugged. "Might conduct tests on seashells."
Garrus folded his hands behind his head. "I'm never gonna retire. When I die, It'll be with my rifle in my hand." He shrugged. "Probably taking potshots at new recruits."
Garrus's eyes shifted to look at Kara and Rocket. "What're you two gonna do?"
Rocket leaned back, far enough that it looked like he was going to fall backwards off the bench, before Kara, without missing a beat, placed her hand on his back. "We talked about it a while ago." Rocket started, leaning his head against Kara's hand.
"And we decided we're going to find some mountain range nobody's ever set foot in, on a planet nobody's heard of and we're gonna build a cabin in the woods."
"A cabin in the woods?" Kasumi asked. "Haven't you ever watched a horror movie before?"
Kara snorted. "I have more in common with the monsters in those stories than their victims, so we'll have nothing to worry about."
"You finally gonna take off that helmet of yours?" Zaeed asked.
"Yeah, what's with that helmet? I've never seen you take it off." Garrus asked, gesturing to the silver adorning Kara's skull.
"She doesn't take it off." Rocket answered.
"Never?" Kasumi asked. "Not even during…"
"Not even then." Kara said. "It's not just a piece of armor, it has tremendous cultural and personal value. You earn it when you complete your Rite of Passage, at about 12 years old. Each clan has unique designs, modeled after animals from our homeworld, and when you put it on, it becomes part of you."
"What do you mean "part of you"? Jack asked.
"I mean, it literally becomes part of you. It connects to the wearer's brain via an array of neural fibers."
Tali shifted. "That seems… pretty extreme."
Kara shrugged. "As I've said before, my species is naturally blind. These helmets contain cameras that allow us to see. And not only that, but each one has access to the Repository, the entirety of our peoples collective history. Asking me why I don't take my helmet off would be like me asking you why you don't gouge your eyes out with a rusty spoon."
Serina was only vaguely aware of the conversation going on between the Normandy's crew, and only then because sensory data from Kara's body was tickling the edges of the AI's consciousness as she managed Fireteam Artemis's affairs. Laura and Nora were on Omega, taking care of Garrus's unfinished business before they moved on the station's self proclaimed "queen", while Machiko and Samantha were surveying Cerberus personnel, finding bases of operations and places of interest, making lists of targets.
Serina was reading through the relevant reports that Sam had written, when one of her communications subroutines alerted her of a priority communique routed through the Dreadnought. Curious, she ran the decryption process. Artemis's communications were encrypted using the languages of hundreds of alien species, encountered throughout half a dozen universes that Hunters had discovered. It took Serina's decryption subroutines only two seconds to unlock the file (an eternity by her standards) and she scanned the message.
"The progress we've made on Tuchanka is considerable (thanks to the data you provided me). I am about to administer the cure to the volunteers, and I expect a near 100% survival rate. I wanted to thank you for the opportunity you have given me to make things right, I only wish you had found me sooner -M."
Serina passed the message along to Kara, and waited as her carrier read the message herself. Once Kara finished reading, she dictated the response to Serina.
"Good. Stay alert. If the Salarians haven't heard about your work yet, they will soon. Work quickly." Serina encrypted the message, and sent the reply.
"How big of a response do you expect from the Salarians?" Serina asked.
"The Salarians favor small unit tactics over large scale engagements, so nothing we couldn't handle. Besides, from what Maeolon has told us, Mordin would be the first to know, and he'd try to enlist Shepard's help."
"Would that be a problem?"
"Only if they make it one." Kara said with an air of danger.
Shepard woke from her much needed sleep, and put on her clothes before taking the elevator to the CIC. She input the coordinates that Jacob had given her when he asked for her help, deciding that since nothing more pressing needed doing, now would be a good time to find out what happened to the Hugo Gernsback.
As the ship angled towards the nearest Mass Relay, she turned and entered the armory. Once Jacob saw her, he moved to salute, before catching himself, a small smile on his face.
"Shepard."
"Jacob. I came to tell you we're heading to 2175 Aeia."
Jacob stared blankly for a moment before responding. "Thanks for the heads up Shepard. I'll be ready in five."
Shepard gazed out the viewport as their destination grew from a speck to blotting out the stars. Joker and EDI brought the Normandy into low orbit, and they began scanning the planet for any trace of a distress signal as Shepard gazed at the verdant green, and deep blue that covered the planet.
She turned when she heard footsteps approaching behind her, and saw Jacob. "We find anything?"
EDI's avatar appeared. "I have detected a weak signal originating in the northern hemisphere. Playing it for you now."
"General distress. MSV Hugo Gernsback registration: VW4610034087. Impact and unexpected suborbital deceleration recorded." The message began to repeat, and EDI cut the audio. Shepard gazed out at the planet. It was an automated recording, giving the Normandy no clue as to the state of the crew.
"Can you tell us anything else before we head down there EDI?" Shepard asked.
"My scans indicate the vessel was heavily damaged upon reentry. The bow is missing." Shepard frowned, and turned to Jacob.
"Alright, let's get down there and see for ourselves."
Shepard settled into her seat on the Kodiak, alongside Garrus, Tali, Jacob and Samara. She felt herself being pinned against her seat as the Kodiak launched itself towards the Gernsback's debris. The shuttle began to experience heavy turbulence as it penetrated the planet's atmosphere. As the Kodiak decelerated, the turbulence subsided and they settled into a glide towards their destination.
Once it was safe enough, Shepard unbuckled her crash webbing and moved towards the starboard window, gazing at the LZ. There was a small clearing, and a few hundred meters away, was the remnants of the Hugo Gernsback. The Kodiak slowed again, and Shepard gripped the handrail above her head, bracing herself against the deceleration as the shuttle came in for a landing.
Shepard slid the door open, and hopped out. The rest of her team followed shortly, and the shuttle moved into a holding pattern, providing the ground team with navigational data as they trekked through the lush foliage between them and their destination.
"Do you… think anyone survived?" Tali asked slowly, worried she might offend Jacob.
EDI's voice echoed in Shepard's ear. "The presence of such heavy vegetation would suggest the presence of other life forms, as well as adequate rainfall. Survival for extended periods of time is possible."
"Thanks for the info EDI." Jacob huffed as he swatted aside bushes and leaves blocking their path.
They pushed through the plants for what felt like an eternity to Shepard's muscles before finally emerging from the jungle, the remnants of the Hugo Gernsback towering over them.
Shepard gazed at the debris, vines having slithered over nearly the entire hull, before following her signal tracker to the source of the distress beacon. She deactivated the signal, then, before she could do anything else, she heard Garrus calling for her.
She jogged towards the sound of his voice, then nodded once they saw each other. "Found something?"
"Yeah, looks like the survivors set up a V.I. interface."
"Is it working?" Shepard asked.
"It's not not working." Garrus shrugged.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"It's been left out here for years." Tali interjected. "It's heavily degraded, but still functional. It's a miracle it'll even turn on."
Shepard approached the interface. "Hello?"
The V.I.s response came in stutters. "H-h-hello. P-p-please input r-r-request."
Shepard turned to the rest of her team. "Search the wreckage and the immediate area. See if you can find personal logs, or anything that'll help us find any survivors."
They nodded, and Garrus and Tali entered the ship, while Jacob and Samara searched the area looking for any sign of intelligent life, leaving Shepard to extract as much as she could from a barely functional computer.
After five minutes of speaking to the V.I. Shepard felt a pit form in her gut. Some of the ship's crew and passengers survived, but most of the emergency supplies were sequestered in the ship's bow, which was god knows where. And to make matters worse, according to the toxicology report performed on the local flora, the vegetation here was toxic, resulting in the degradation of neurological processes of anyone who consumed it.
Shepard shut down the V.I. terminal, believing she learned all she could from it, and she called her team back. Jacob and Samara arrived first, and briefed Shepard on what they found. There was a path a little ways north of their current location. Marks on the ground showed signs of heavy foot traffic, as well as equipment being moved.
Tali and Garrus emerged from the hulk shortly after, and they told Shepard what they discovered. They had found several passenger logs, detailing what happened shortly after the crash. The ship's Captain, as well as many of the higher ranking crew members, were presumed dead when the vessel split in half, leaving only a handful of passengers and inexperienced crew members left. With barely enough emergency supplies to last a few weeks, the survivors quickly ran out of food. Whatever happened next was unknown, as there were no logs detailing what occurred after the food ran out.
With nothing left to learn from the ship's wreckage, Shepard and her team followed the path north, hoping to find out where the tracks led.
Laura was kneeling atop a shipping crate in one of Omega's many docking bays, her weapon aimed at a group of six individuals clad in the yellow and black armor of the Eclipse. On the other side of the bay was Nora, her DMR aimed at another group of Blood pack mercenaries.
There were only a handful of the mercenaries left. The Blue Suns had been wiped out entirely a week ago, the surviving members trading their weapons and armor for disguises and a ticket off the station.
The two groups in the bay were led by the highest ranking members left after Kara and Shepard's engagement when they extracted Garrus. Once they were dead, the contractors operating on Omega would be effectively wiped out, leaving Laura and Nora free to move onto Aria.
Serina had already gained control over the station, and was allowing business to continue as usual until they made their move.
Laura shifted as she waited for Nora's signal, eager to get the job done so they could leave. Omega was the kind of place that left one feeling like they needed to bath in bleach to feel clean.
When Nora's signal finally came, the shots rang out so closely together, it was nearly impossible to tell that three rounds had been fired. Nora's targets keeled over, mere microseconds apart.
Laura opened fire immediately after, an angry storm of searing plasma struck the group of Eclipse mercenaries, each of their bodies struck by dozens of plasma bolts, leaving Laura feeling a little sorry for whoever had to clean up what was left.
Another three shots rang out as Laura opened fire, just as quick and fatally precise as the first volley, leaving all the mercenaries in the bay dead. The pair waited for several moments, in case their targets were simply bait for a desperate trap, trying to get Laura and Nora to reveal their location, but nothing happened.
The pair swiftly moved to regroup at the bay's exit, taking care to avoid the field of view of the multiple cameras watching from the walls, their movements so quick even a Salarian would struggle to register them.
Nora reached the door first, and kept her rifle at the ready as Laura joined her. Laura walked past her comrade and opened the door, Nora following close behind.
They then moved as quickly and quietly as they could towards Afterlife. Laura noticed a particularly intense looking Asari with her arm wrapped around a young human girl, barely 18 by Laura's estimation. She quickly turned her attention back to the mission, and they came to a stop twenty meters from the entrance to Afterlife, a long line of hopefuls looking to get in, oblivious to the imminent firefight.
"Rules of engagement?" Nora asked.
"The club's full of civilians, so we check our targets. If some kid pulls a popgun, we use non-lethals or ignore them. Priority is Aria T'loak. Serina will activate the emergency measures and start a lockdown, leaving Aria trapped with us inside the club." Laura said, recapping the plan.
"Affirmative." Nora stated. "Ready?"
Laura hefted her chaingun. "Ready."
Shepard's team had followed the tracks left behind by the Gernsback's survivors for nearly ten minutes before they spotted the survivor's camp. The people were wearing tattered rags that once were clothes, and when they spotted Shepard and her team, an excited crowd quickly formed around the newcomers.
Shepard took note of their movements. They were languid and sluggish, and their speech was slow and slurred. At least the neural degradation EDI had mentioned wasn't fatal.
One of the survivors, an Asari, approached them. "You… you help us?"
Shepard raised her hands in a reassuring gesture. "Yes, we're here to help you. We'll get you all home, I promise."
The crowd began to repeat the words help and home to themselves, quietly at first, but they grew excited as the words were spread throughout the camp.
"EDI, contact the Alliance and have them send some people to pick the survivors up."
"Right away Commander."
Shepard turned to gaze at Jacob as he scanned the faces before them, looking for any sign of his father. A brief flash of recognition crossed his face, and he moved through the crowd. Shepard watched him for a moment, before spotting the man that caught Jacobs attention. His father. For as long as Shepard had known him, Jacob had been calm and collected. But now? She could see he was barely holding it together as he realized his father had survived.
Jacob came to a halt a few feet from his long lost father, and he felt tears threaten to overwhelm him. "Dad?"
Rocket waited impatiently aboard the Normandy as the ship's sensors detected the arrival of several Alliance cruisers that had happened to be close by, as well as the ground teams shuttle on approach to the Normandy.
Joker shifted in his seat uncomfortably, before turning around to face Kara, Rocket and Mordin. "Do you have to just stand there? It's creepy."
. "Must speak to Shepard as soon as possible, urgent news." Mordin said in his usual rapid fire speech pattern.
"Then why didn't you just ask me to open a channel?"
Mordin blinked. "Didn't think of it, too distracted, I apologize, should have done so." He said as he turned to leave.
Joker looked at Kara and Rocket. "Well what are you two doing here?"
"We're just here to make you uncomfortable." Kara said, a hint of amusement in her voice as she turned to leave, a snickering Rocket close behind.
Joker sighed as the two of them left, and he saw a flash of blue out of the corner of his eye. "I have notified Shepard that Mordin would like to speak to her."
"Thanks EDI." He replied as he opened the shuttle bay doors.
Shepard slid open the door to the Kodiak once it came to a halt, and she stepped to the side, allowing Samara, Garrus and Tali past her, leaving her alone with Jacob.
"How're you holding up?" She asked.
"I... I really don't know. I mean, I'm glad he's alive, but I thought he was gone for so long that this kind of throws me off, you know?"
Shepard nodded. "I guess I can understand."
Jacob sighed. "You should probably go talk to Mordin." He said, not so subtly hinting he'd like to be alone.
Shepard placed a hand on Jacob's shoulder, and held it there for a moment, before turning to leave.
"Shepard! Thanks."
"Settle a bet for us Kara." Garrus said as she accompanied Rocket through the mess.
"What bet?" She asked.
"We were wondering," Zaeed continued. "Who would win in a fight between you and Jack, or you and Samara?"
"Well that's easy." Kasumi interjected. "Only one of them can throw things with their mind."
Kara huffed. "It depends."
"On what?" Miranda said.
"The rules of engagement. If it's like sumo, and the loser is whoever gets thrown out of the ring first, Jack or Samara would win. Any biotic of sufficient ability would. But if the rules are we're locked in a room, and only the survivor comes out, I would always win."
Jack snorted, but didn't say anything. "That is… a bold claim." Samara said.
"And accurate." Kara replied. "A Biotics powers require considerable energy from the user's body. So much so that Biotics are typically supplied nutrient dense, high calorie rations, just to prevent them from running out of steam on the battlefield. Don't get me wrong, during the first few minutes, you'd throw me around like I was nothing more than a ragdoll. But I'd keep regenerating, and eventually, you'd be too tired to fight."
"She's not wrong." Garrus said. "Back on Feros, I watched her take a missile to the gut, and she was back on her feet almost immediately."
"Fuck. That's hardcore." Jack muttered.
Kara turned her attention to the elevator as she felt it rumble down its shaft. She kept her gaze fixed in that direction until Shepard stepped through the doorway.
Shepard nodded in greeting once she saw Kara, who waved her over. Once Mordin spotted her, he bolted upright. "Shepard! Must speak to you immediately, please follow me." Mordin gestured for Shepard to follow, and the two of them walked off.
Once the two of them left, Tali (whose leg was bouncing uncontrollably throughout the entire conversation) approached Kara. "Um… Can I talk to you about something? Privately?"
"Of course." Kara said kindly as she followed the young Quarian.
Tali led Kara to the elevator doors, where she stopped. "Do you remember my mission on Haestrom?"
"I do." Kara said, remembering that all but one of Tali's squad had been killed there.
"I received an alert that the mission is about to be declassified and… I just wanted some advice on how to tell their families what happened." Tali said weakly.
Kara sighed, and her brow furrowed. "Tali…" She started slowly, pondering her words. "I've been in their position. Of being told that my child was killed in action. And when the realization hit me, there was nothing anyone could say or do to comfort me. I was beyond grief, beyond anger." Kara saw Tali's demeanor grow even more despondent, and she placed a hand on the Quarian's shoulder.
"But… I have to do something." Tali whispered.
"I know how you feel, Tali. They were your soldiers, and you had a responsibility to make sure they made it home. But your best wasn't enough that time, and you feel like you failed." Kara sighed again. "But you did everything you could, and that's all anyone can ask of you. As for breaking the news… Forget whatever speeches you've been writing, whatever platitudes you were going to offer about how their deaths weren't in vain… In that moment, it won't matter what you say, it's all worthless. All you can do is show up, In person, and inform them of their loss."
Tali stared at the floor as she absorbed Kara's words. "Keelah." She whispered to herself. She leaned against the nearby wall, and slumped down it, ending up sitting on the floor.
Kara adjusted her footing so she could kneel next to her. "I take it you've had to break the news before?" Tali asked bitterly.
"I have."
"How did it go?"
Kara paused, wondering how much detail was appropriate. "I did pretty much what I told you to do; I showed up at his wife's home with his helmet. I didn't say anything. The fact that I was there and he wasn't said everything."
Kara extended a hand to Tali, and the woman grasped her hand after a moment of staring at it. She easily hoisted Tali back onto her feet, and gently squeezed her shoulders, reassuring the Quarian.
"What's the problem?" Shepard asked Mordin as he came to a halt.
"Deeply troubling, just learned that cure to Genophage is almost complete on Tuchanka. Final step is distributing cure. Must act immediately, or disaster inevitable." Mordin said, his speech even more rapid fire than usual.
"You make it sound like curing the Genophage is a bad thing." Shepard said, crossing her arms.
"Krogan violent, aggressive. Spread too quickly. Led to Krogan rebellions, Genophage stopped the war. A Krogan resurgence would lead to more conflict, unacceptable. Galaxy would be left too weak to deal with Reapers."
Shepard chewed the inside of her lip as she considered Mordins request. She had heard about how devastating the Krogan rebellions had been, but surely things were different now. There were Krogan like Wrex who understood that they needed to evolve if they ever wanted to be part of the galaxy. And if Kara and her species were willing to get involved in the conflict against the Reapers, it was unlikely they would ignore a second Krogan uprising.
After a few more moments of hesitation, she relented. "Alright, we'll head to Tuchanka immediately."
The sun above Eden Prime cast a warm glow upon the planet's surface. It had been two years since the Geth attack, and the damage had largely been repaired. The structural damage anyway. The trauma left behind by the attack was still very much present. And that was why Kai Leng, and his cell were here; for recruitment. He didn't care what people called Cerberus, he knew what happened to Shanxi. That Turians had started the first contact war, and had attacked the colony without provocation, killing over 600 humans.
He remembered what happened to his homeworld MIndoir, where Batarian slavers had slaughtered his family and friends, and how they had captured him, implanting a control device into his skull. It was Cerberus agents that rescued him, and killed his captors.
That was why Cerberus existed. So there would never be another Mindoir, or another Shanxi, no matter the cost. He pushed his memories from his mind, and focused on the task at hand. The recruitment efforts were going well, in spite of the discrete methods they were forced to employ, and he was currently on his way back to the Cerberus safe house. He expertly waded through the crowded streets of the city, making his way to the edge of the outermost city limits, to the aging warehouse district.
He found himself standing in a field of forgotten buildings, left cold and abandoned by the rest of the population. He approached a large structure, the number 42 written on the front of it in faded yellow paint. It looked no different than the buildings that surrounded it, even on the inside.
He leaned against a nearby wall and reached inside his pocket, retrieving a chocolate bar. As he unwrapped the candy and began to eat, he casually swept his eyes across the rooftops and alleyways around him, anywhere a pair of eyes could be watching.
He heard a buzzing sound, and caught a glimpse of an insect buzzing annoying close to his face. He grunted in annoyance as he swatted at the nuisance, and watched as the thing flew off. He finished his candy bar, and satisfied that he wasn't being followed, entered the warehouse, tossing the empty wrapper. He approached one of the large cement tiles on the ground, and pushed down on the tile with his foot.
There was a click, and the tile swung up, revealing a staircase leading to the cells headquarters. He descended the staircase, and closed the entrance behind him. Kai Leng was unaware that all his movements had been observed by an "insect", its thousands of compound eyes coldly absorbing every minute detail.
He reached the bottom of the stairs, and walked past the two security guards watching the entrance. They nodded to him as he passed, while he simply ignored them.
One of them glared at Kai Leng from out of the corner of his eye. "Dick." The man muttered under his breath when he was sure Leng was out of earshot. His comrade nodded in agreement, and opened his mouth to say something, when a light flashed, indicating that the entrance had opened.
"Is anybody else scheduled to come in?" He asked, adjusting the grip on his rifle before they heard metallic clinks descending the staircase. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as the object entered their field of view, a fist sized metal cylinder. "Oh shi-"
Kai Leng entered the surveillance office, meeting with his second in command, Lana Torez. The short, ebony haired human was gazing at a nearby screen, displaying the schedule the cell was assigned. For security purposes, the amount and times that personnel were allowed to enter and exit the facility was strictly controlled. Otherwise, the foot traffic might draw unwanted attention. Lana turned to look at him. "How was your walk?"
"Uneventful. The Alliance still has no idea we're here. Recruitment is still going well?"
"Better than we hoped. The Geth attacks two years ago have caused recruitment opportunities to skyrocket. It's just a matter of finding people worth training."
Kai Leng nodded, but before they could continue their conversation, the lights shut down, as well as everything else that required power. "What's happening?" He shouted.
"I don't know, we just lost all power!" One of the security personnel responded as they activated their flashlight.
"Get the backup power on now! We're about to-" Kai Leng was cut off as the sound of a sudden explosion rippled through the air. He ripped his pistol from his holster, and spun to face the source of the sound. Flashlights darted towards the entrance to the room, bathing the door in light.
The sounds of gunfire echoed from behind the door, and Kai Leng clenched his teeth, knowing full well that his comrades were fighting for their lives on the other side.
There were a few more rounds fired, before the air was filled with a deathly silence. Several seconds ticked by, and the security personnel began to flip tables and desks, providing themselves with as much cover as possible, while the air around Lana shimmered as she readied her biotic powers. The door swung open, and some of the more jumpy security immediately opened fire, sending rounds through empty space.
"Hold your fire!" Kai Leng barked. The gunfire quickly died down. "Blade!" Kai Leng shouted, half of the code phrase used to identify friendlies.
No verbal response came. Instead, Kai Leng watched as two alien arms reached through the door, with long claws clutching frag grenades. They rolled the explosives into opposite corners of the room, and Kai Leng cursed as he threw himself backwards. Then they exploded.
He hit the ground, smacking his head against the floor, but he bit his tongue. Lana fell backwards, her face and throat torn to shreds by shrapnel, and her bloodshot eyes stared into his as she died, her body convulsing.
Kai Leng laid still, playing dead, waiting for an opening. He heard single rounds being fired, calmly. Whoever had breached the room was now performing dead checks, and finishing off the few wounded still alive.
He tightened his grip on his pistol, and darted up, only to find himself staring down the barrel of a gun. The round that killed him punched through his chin, and severed his spinal cord.
He was thrown backwards, and the last fleeting moments of his consciousness were spent staring into Lana's dead eyes.