The Dragonfly announced its presence over the Citadel at full burn, sailing in from outer space and immediately plunging to a low level just a few dozen meters above the atmosphere layer, screaming across the Zakera Ward cityscape. Behind the stick, Miranda was flogging the big drop ship at the very edge of maximum safe speed, rattling apartment windows as she flew by and weaving around some of the taller skyscrapers. Less than two hundred meters behind her, Lieutenant Cortez was steering Kodiak-One on an identical course, keeping pace with the Normandy's lead ship.
The pair of Alliance drop ships had started their incursion near the far end of the Ward arm, where the picket line of patrol ships was light and where they could quickly dive into the cover of the tightly packed skyline. Now they were moving with urgency along the length of Zakera Ward, toward their targeted objectives located in the Presidium ring forty kilometers away.
The short flight from the Normandy to the Citadel had been all about stealth, Miranda's effort focused on minimizing the hulking assault shuttle's radar and thermal profile as they traversed the thousand or so kilometers from the Normandy to the station's local airspace, avoiding active scans from the rogue salarian and human warships. It was the phase of the incursion they were most vulnerable, when any number of the patrolling ships might spot them and swat the Dragonfly and more lightly armored Kodiak out of the sky.
But once they'd passed through the gauntlet and arrived overhead the station's densely populated districts, there was little advantage in remaining stealthy. Regardless of the state of the Citadel's air defense network or who was manning the consoles in the Flight Operations and Control Centers, two very big and very obvious Alliance combat drop ships were impossible to miss as they thundered over the Zakera urban centers.
Below the Dragonfly, the ground-facing optics were capturing a scene of steadily escalating chaos. Power was out in much of the Wards and there were dozens of obvious structure fires burning throughout the business and residential districts. According to Ashley Williams and other allies on the Citadel, the Cerberus-controlled mechs and hostile collaborators had begun an even more aggressive stage of their assault, indiscriminately targeting civilians and property throughout the station and whipping the population into a frenzied state the outmatched C-Sec forces had little chance of containing.
The Dragonfly's threat detection alarm began sounding its persistent, urgent tone, alerting Miranda to half of dozen anti-air radar systems painting the ship. She casually reached over and silenced the alarm. She could monitor the numerous threats well enough through the tactical feed projected on the inside of her flight helmet's visor without the annoying tone in her ear. Most of the alerts were being triggered by very low output signals from the surface, probably from the Rampart Mechs prowling the streets, some of which began to fire ineffectually up at the flight of Alliance shuttles as they rocketed overhead.
A missile fired from ground level sprang up from between two tall buildings and shot up after Miranda's lead Dragonfly. She banked to port to avoid the warhead, but the ship's automated defensive countermeasures were already pumping out megawatts of radiological energy. The missile lost its lock on the drop ship and spiraled out into space before she needed to react any more dramatically.
"Contact," Miranda said calmly over the squad channel and for the benefit of Shepard and the rest of his patchwork team of fighters riding in the troop compartment behind the cockpit's armored bulkhead. "We're taking some small arms fire from the ground but it's no concern at the moment. The station's anti-air missile and cannon defense batteries look to be offline. The enemy probably disabled them in the early stages of their offensive out of fear their own shuttles might be shot down. Lucky for us. Two minutes to Presidium space transition."
"Copy that," Shepard said. He was strapped into the squad command console seat, across from the drop ship's crew chief. "Any threats in the sky?" he asked quite unnecessarily. He was plugged into the ship's tactical feeds and privy to the same data Miranda was seeing from her vantage point up in the cockpit.
"Negative," she said. "If the intel Williams provided is accurate then Cerberus only has hijacked C-Sec shuttles at their disposal. They'll keep their distance if they have any sense. They're no match for us."
A short while later, the dual drop ship flight was skimming the parks and greenbelts of the massive Presidium ring at a speed and altitude entirely unadvisable under normal circumstances. Not that there were all that many residents around to lodge a complaint. Miranda gazed out at the artificial skyline beyond the Dragonfly's armored cockpit windows, unsettled by the absence of the usual number of vehicles that crowded the airways on any given day. Neither her eyes nor the shuttle's instruments could manage to pick out more than a handful of sky cars darting by overhead. Added to the nearly empty parks and open-air businesses below, she'd never seen the central hub of the station so deserted.
Miranda glanced at the plots on her tactical display and keyed the shuttle flight's TacAir channel. "Rogue Two-One splitting off," she transmitted to the Normandy's Kodiak drop shuttle. "Proceeding to LZ Foxtrot One."
"Copy that, Rogue Two-One," Cortez's voice came back. "Rogue Two-Two continuing on to LZ Foxtrot Two. Good hunting, Major."
"Likewise, Lieutenant," Miranda said, her gaze remaining locked on the HUD projected in her helmet. A moment later, she banked hard to the right and goosed the drop ship's thrusters, accelerating toward the massive Citadel Tower in the distance.
Despite the eerie lack of civilians visible out and about on the galaxy's largest and most densely populated space station, Miranda and the rest of the Normandy's team were far from alone. The Dragonfly's tactical ground sensors were dutifully tagging dozens of new contacts near the Citadel Tower approach and surrounding areas, organics and mechs alike hiding among the buildings and ground clutter, drawn to the siren wail of the drop ship's powerful thrusters. Some of the bolder Rampart Mechs ventured out into the open and leveled their integrated pulse rifles in the Dragonfly's direction, firing rapid bursts, a handful of mass-accelerated rounds plinking feebly off the drop ship's heavy ablative armor plating.
A few moments later, Miranda spotted their objective in the distance—the big VTOL landing pad near the base of the Citadel Tower. She eased the stick between her legs gently down and to the right, making a minor course correction and pointing the nose of the Dragonfly toward their target. "LZ in sight," she sent. "Stand by for combat landing." She angled the drop ship into a steep decent but then the ship's threat board came alive with renewed urgency, the sensors picking up a gaggle of Rampart Mechs and human mercenaries dug in near the main landing pad entrance to the Tower complex, partially concealed and sheltered by an upper floor overhang. A flurry of muzzle flashes erupted from the hostile emplacement, a few rounds peppering the front of the Dragonfly.
Miranda inhaled sharply before calmly thumbing the guard clear of the stick's trigger, selecting one of the Dragonfly's abundant weapons systems with another gesture. "Engaging," she said over the squad channel before pulling the trigger.
A light tremor ran through the Dragonfly as the chin turret-mounted cannons erupted, rapping out dozens of 40mm dual-purpose high explosive anti-armor grenades in the span of a few seconds. A little over a hundred meters away, the group of hostile mechs and lightly armored soldiers disintegrated into a fireball of superheated gasses, smoke and debris.
Miranda resumed her approach to the landing zone and then put the drop ship into a tight left-hand turn, circling the landing pad below and scrutinizing the scene for any additional hidden threats. "LZ looks clear now," she transmitted a moment later. "Touching down in five seconds."
She flinched as another barrage of fire impacted against the side of the cockpit, ricocheting off the armored glass in a hail of sparks. "Dammit," she cursed under her breath. "Scratch that. We have more interlopers causing trouble near the pad. Hold onto something back there and stand by." She yanked back on the stick, gaining altitude, and glanced at the tactical display to pinpoint the source of the fire.
Forty meters to the right of the pad, another group of HASTR operatives had emerged from an adjacent building and taken up position in a small courtyard. Miranda could see three men clad in light powered exoskeletons, their assault rifles trained skyward, raking the hull of her drop ship with disciplined, sustained automatic fire.
"Bloody morons," she muttered irritably. The mercs were either incredibly stupid or absurdly brave to take her on with those weapons. She banked the ship toward the new targets, her finger hovering a few millimeters from the trigger when the ship's threat detection alarm shrieked again.
Miranda yanked back hard on the stick instinctively and opened the throttle, pulling the forty-ton drop ship up and away from the two ground-to-air missiles that had appeared on her tactical scope, a shower of decoy flares ejected automatically by the defensive systems VI and left in the Dragonfly's wake. The missiles had launched near their minimum effective range from somewhere across the plaza, leaving her almost no time to evade. Even still, one of the warheads missed and streaked by just inches beneath the ship's underbelly and impacted the side of the Council Tower admin building. The second warhead glanced off the port engine mount armor plating and cartwheeled away, exploding a split second later and sending a shudder through the ship.
Miranda grimaced at the impact, but the Dragonfly appeared to shrug off the impact without any ill effects, all the ship's systems on her board remaining in the green. "You're one tough bitch," she muttered, still gaining altitude and whipping the ship's tail around to give her forward-mounted guns a bead on the latest threat. The drop ship's tactical computer tracked the missile trajectories back to their source and highlighted the pair of Rampart Mechs stationed on a third-floor balcony across the plaza. She accessed the high-res optical feed trained on the location and saw the two synthetic troopers methodically reloading their shoulder-mounted missile launchers.
She gave a feral grin and readied a missile of her own when another rocket fired from the opposite corner of the plaza streaked across the sky in front of the Dragonfly and impacted the Mechs' position, resulting in a brilliant, fiery explosion and washing out the drop ship's thermal targeting instruments.
"Rogue Two-One, friendlies on the deck, inbound to your position," a female voice crackled across the Tac-Air channel. Miranda peered out the cockpit window to her right and saw a small group of Alliance marines leapfrogging along the perimeter of the plaza, followed closely by the unmistakable armored form of Zaeed Massani. The big merc was cradling a rocket launcher in one arm, reloading the breach with his free hand as he trotted along, looking entirely unconcerned with the fire they were taking from the group of HASTR troopers Miranda had originally meant to engage.
"Typical," Miranda said before keying the squad channel. "Shepard, Alliance marines on the ground, approaching from our three o'clock. Massani is with them."
"Copy that," Shepard said. "Get us down there, Miranda."
"Working on it," she said tersely. "Stand by."
She returned her attention to the nest of HASTR operatives. They'd abandoned their effort to distract her and were busy making life difficult for Zaeed and the marines who were still making their way across the plaza, advancing in a staggered line toward the Tower. She swung the nose of the Dragonfly back toward the enemy position and squeezed off several rapid bursts from the chin turret cannons, raking it with more high-explosive grenades. A moment later, the hostile gunfire fell silent and the alcove the enemy troopers had been huddled within was little more than a smoking crater.
She cast her gaze across her tactical scopes one last time, searching for targets, before rapidly descending back toward the Tower's primary VTOL pad. She pulled the nose up sharply, banked to starboard, and almost reversed course for a few seconds before sliding the big drop ship into position at the edge of the pad, tail pointed toward the main building entrance. "Touching down," she sent and hit the switch for the tail ramp while the Dragonfly was still a few meters off the ground.
Shepard leapt off the ship before the skids even kissed the landing pad and quickly assumed a position a short distance from the Dragonfly, taking a knee and scanning the area with his rifle while EDI, Liara, PFC Tran, and Allers stormed down the ramp after him.
"Squad delivered," the crew chief sent to the flight deck, hitting the troop compartment control for the ramp.
"Copy," Miranda responded. Before they'd been on the pad a full five seconds, the Dragonfly roared upward once again and pitched forward, picking up speed. She pulled back on the stick and gained altitude, putting the ship into a tight orbit and assuming an overwatch position where she could observe the entirety of the Presidium area directly around the Tower.
A hundred or so meters below, Shepard was organizing his team as Zaeed and the other marines reached the pad. Miranda kept one eye on her scopes and the other scanning the ground team's perimeter, vigilant for any movement or heat signatures that might prove a hazard.
"Rogue Two-One, Bravo One," Shepard transmitted a few seconds later. "Maintain overwatch but standby to assist other assets. I'm leaving a pair of marines to hold the entrance and taking everyone else to clear and secure the building."
"Bravo One, Rogue Two-One," Miranda sent back. "Copy that. Good luck."
Shepard clicked back his acknowledgement without bothering with voice comms then led his team into the Council Tower, disappearing through the threshold a moment later, leaving Miranda to monitor their progress through the shared tactical network and to keep watch on the skies.
The Citadel, Kithoi Ward
Halfway across the Citadel, more than twenty-five kilometers from where Miranda had just delivered the Normandy's first infiltration team, a lone C-Sec drop shuttle rocketed across the sky above Kithoi Ward and headed for Midtown.
Ashley was sitting in the shuttle cockpit's right seat, leaving the driving to the C-Sec pilot Commander Bailey had been gracious enough to loan her along with the shuttle ride to the Council Archives. Kasumi was standing just inside the central passageway, between the cockpit and the passenger compartment, one hand on either seatback, swaying gently with the motion of the big shuttle.
"This is nice," Kasumi said casually.
"What's that?" Ashley asked without looking up from one of the shuttle's terminals she was busy using to keep abreast of the situation unfolding across the Citadel.
"Riding up front in one of these C-Sec taxis. I'm usually in the back and without the freedom to move about as I please."
Ashley gave an amused grunt. "Lots of new experiences all around these last few weeks," she said. "If you'd said to me a month ago that I'd be teamed up with a master thief wanted in half a dozen systems and a notorious assassin responsible for God knows how many hits to quell an attempted coup on the Citadel, I would have told you that I'm obviously fully drunk and hallucinating."
"We're all getting fully drunk once this is over," Kasumi said.
Ashley flashed a brief smile and returned her focus to the array of screens she was busy scanning along with the tactical network feed projected on her combat visor. A moment later, a pair of new icons in cool, friendly Alliance blue popped up on the tactical map display along with their corresponding Fleet designations. She blew out a relieved breath and turned to look up over her shoulder at Kasumi. "Drop ships from Normandy made it," she said.
"I never had a doubt," Kasumi said with a sheepish grin.
With Shepard, Garrus, and their respective teams joining the fight, Ashley felt a wave of relief wash over her. All things considered, they were still overwhelmingly outnumbered by the hundreds of known hostile soldiers, mechs, and sleeper agents scattered throughout the Citadel, busy whipping the place into a frenzy. But, she thought to herself, at least she was no longer the only loyal Alliance military officer left working to hold the place together.
Ashley knew Shepard's hastily assembled insertion plan was a relatively straightforward one. With only a pair of drop ships and a short squad of marines at his disposal, he had limited options, forcing him to prioritize the two most critical locations on the station—the Citadel Tower and the Alliance Navy docks.
The Tower was the obvious, critical target and the reason Shepard was leading the assault personally. Along with the Council Chambers, individual Councilors' offices, staffs, and their protective details, the Tower was also home to the Citadel's centralized Flight Operations and Control Center. Once the facility was secured, the Normandy's team could effectively seize control of all the station's ports and near-space defenses. If it came down to it, they'd even be able to initiate a complete, station-wide lockdown and close the Ward arms, sealing the whole place off from any hostile reinforcements launched from the ships patrolling the local nebula.
Garrus and Vega's responsibility was to secure the Alliance Navy docks spanning most of the D Bays along with Ashley's current, official duty post, the Alliance Naval Command Operation Center. In addition to whatever Alliance Navy warships were left in their slips, the ports and regional command centers contained the largest auxiliary armory outside of Sol and Arcturus. From what she was able to gather from messages Kaneda had sent to Councilor Udina, the traitorous Admiral had been forced to mobilize the fleets and rally to the falsified Reaper signature several days sooner than originally planned, preventing his people from stealing the stockpiles of weapons, ammunition, fuel, medical supplies and support craft stored in the armories. That was the good news. Now, the trick was to make sure that that equipment stayed put and secured. If Cerberus managed to get even just a few gunships free and out into the Citadel skies, life for the Normandy's teams would be considerably more difficult.
Once Shepard had sent her the details of the plan, Ashley almost begged off the assignment of investigating the Council Archives to join the force tasked with securing the Alliance military facilities and docks instead. With all the carnage she'd seen taking place on the station over the last few days, she was spoiling for a stand-up fight against the human traitors destroying what was left of the Alliance's good name. But orders were orders and she wasn't going to challenge her former skipper's command. At least, not anymore. Besides, Cerberus clearly expected to gain something important by raiding the Archives and she was more than happy to kick them in the balls to keep them from getting their hands on whatever it was.
Before setting out from the Human Embassy Compound, Ashley downloaded all the relevant intel she could find on the Council Archives to her Omni-tool. Located in the Midtown District of Kithoi Ward, the massive facility extended deep into the station sub levels. Altogether, there were three major entrances to the facility. The main visitor access doors leading into a general reception lobby were at street level, close to one of the station's rapid transit rail hubs. A second, more discreet entrance reserved for VIPs, Council and Spectre staff was accessible around one side of the above-ground structure. Finally, a partially recessed VTOL pad located at the rear of the building, just below street level, led to a pair of huge hanger doors offering direct access to the primary loading dock and first basement sublevel.
"Williams, we just got a hit from Drone 19," Thane said over the squad channel. The drell man was sitting in the back of the shuttle along with the pair of Alliance marines sharing the ride. Since taking off from the rooftop pad on the embassy, he'd been monitoring the telemetry coming in from the dozens of surveillance drones they'd deployed across the Citadel, tiny SOCOM-quality gear that was allowing them to put eyes on hostile activity all over the station. Before boarding the shuttle, they adjusted the patrol patterns of a handful of the drones to converge on Kithoi Ward Midtown and aim their cameras and passive sensors at the Archives facility. "Two shuttles just arrived at the primary loading dock and are proceeding in through the hanger doors." He paused a moment. "It looks like they're securing the doors behind them. I'm taking manual control and steering 19 in after them."
Ashley sat up a little straighter in her seat and sent the drone's sensor feed to one of the bigger screens mounted on the C-Sec shuttle's forward console. The glow from two sets of thrusters was immediately visible just a few dozen meters ahead of the surveillance unit as the shuttles eased past the hanger doors and descended to the VTOL pad beyond. She watched closely as the drone slipped through the threshold just before the two edges of the doors came back together, sealing the hanger behind it and whoever was riding in the two ships it was stalking. Thane then gently maneuvered the drone up toward the ceiling and engaged its magnetic hardpoints, securing it to the side of a support archway and shutting down the miniaturized motor.
"Nicely done, Thane," Kasumi said. The petite, hooded woman was crouching between the two pilot seats now, her eyes locked on the drone's video feed.
Ashley nodded silently in agreement, her eyes glued to the screen. The pair of shuttles were just settling down on the landing pad inside what looked like a typically-arranged Citadel loading and transport dock. Then the video feed began to break up and degrade significantly, the signal struggling to penetrate the thick interior walls of the facility after the doors had sealed shut. "Shit," she said.
"Hold on," Kasumi said and gestured at the screen. "Look."
Through the static and pixelated imagery, the drone optics zoomed in on a gaggle of people emerging from the shuttles' passenger compartments. With the poor vid quality, it was difficult to make out all the details. But Ashley counted at least thirteen humanoid forms, almost all armed and clad in advanced-looking, form-fitting armor. "Alright, well at least we know we're not on a wild goose chase," she said.
Beside her, Kasumi groaned. Ashley glanced over at her and raised and eyebrow. "What?"
Kasumi leaned in closer to the screen and pointed to one individual visible through the pixelated and broken imagery. "I know that guy," she said with an unsettled tone. "That's Kai Leng."
Ashley looked to where Kasumi was indicating, following her finger to the image of a male human wearing matte-black hardshell. Squinting, she could tell the man looked like an Earther, probably Asian descent. His long, jet black hair was drawn back in a partial pony tail and she could have sworn the tactical visor he was wearing looked like it was grafted onto his face. He clutched an assault rifle with one hand at low ready and was busy motioning orders to the other Cerberus troopers who had emerged from the shuttles. "Okay, so what?" she said. "Just another Cerberus asshole we can look forward to greasing."
"No, he's bad news, Ashley," Kasumi said. "Trust me, that guy's number one job is killing things. And he really, really enjoys his work."
Ashley frowned. "Thane?"
"Kasumi is not wrong, Lieutenant Commander Williams," he said. "I know of him and I agree that he should not be underestimated. However, his presence here means that whatever the Illusive Man is seeking to acquire, it's immensely important to him. He would not send a man like Leng on an inconsequential errand."
"Alright fine," Ashley said impatiently. "I get it. He's a dick. But we're not in the business of being careful, so we're going in after them regardless." She glanced at the pilot next to her. "What's our ETA?"
"Ninety seconds," the female C-Sec officer said. "Want me to drop you in the same spot?"
"Yes," Ashley said and then turned her attention back to the video feed. The image was almost totally corrupted now, but it looked like the Cerberus team had all filed out of the loading dock and proceeded deeper into the facility. She pointed to the map of the target area displayed on the primary navigation screen. "Set us down just outside that hanger. We'll make our way in through this maintenance hatchway near the big sliding doors here. And step on it. I'll be damned if I let a freaking museum heist go down on my watch."
Next to her, Kasumi retreated to the passenger compartment, switching channels on her data link as she went. "Miranda, are you there?" Ashley heard her say.
Less than two minutes later, the C-Sec shuttle arrived at the Council Archives facility and descended to the deck, the port and starboard passenger doors sliding open simultaneously.
Ashley made her way through the shuttle's central passageway and joined the rest of her small team in the passenger compartment. She retrieved her M-8 assault rifle from the storage rack behind the bulkhead and charged the weapon with a deft and practiced motion.
Thane was seated on one of the jump seats along the aft bulkhead, jabbing himself in the neck with an auto-injecting syringe. Whatever pharmaceutical drug cocktail he was using to stave off the disease that was eating away at him, it seemed to take the edge of his wheezing and keep him fit enough to stay in the fight. He looked up and caught Ashley's gaze, giving her faint nod.
The two marines she'd brought along from the group that had stormed the Human Embassy were standing at either of the open doors, weapons at the ready and covering sectors, scanning the darkened downtown business park with the augmented vision of their battle helmets. Not quite waiting for the skids to touch the ground, Corporal Allen and Private Hardy jumped out of the shuttle and onto the tarmac below, spreading out and establishing a makeshift perimeter around the shuttle.
The others hopped out a moment later. Thane and Kasumi joined the marines in securing the immediate area while Ashley strode to the facility's side entrance, a personnel door slightly recessed within an alcove adjacent the much larger loading dock and shuttle bay doors. Behind her, the C-Sec shuttle climbed back into the air and sped off in the direction they'd just come, hurrying to gather and support other security officers scattered across the station.
Ashley leaned in toward the door's security panel but then paused when the comm unit in her ear pulsed with an incoming transmission over the global TacLink Shepard's team had setup. On the other end of the line was a woman's voice she'd prefer not the be hearing, one who spoke with a distinctive Australian accent.
"Williams, do you copy?" Miranda said.
"Go head, Lawson," Ashley said impatiently. "I'm kind of in the middle of something here. What do you want?"
"I'm advising you hold your position outside the Archives and setup a perimeter around the building," she said. "The man leading the Cerberus team you're chasing is extraordinarily dangerous. Cover and seal the access points as best as you can and wait for backup."
Ashley rolled her eyes behind her tactical visor. "I already heard it from Goto," she said irritably. "He's one fucking guy leading a bunch of undisciplined mercs. We can handle them."
"I'm not exaggerating, Williams. Do not underestimate Leng. He's undergone extensive augmentation and runs a team of highly skilled assassins. You don't want to hear it from me, fine. Trust Kasumi. These people kill everything."
Ashley suppressed the urge to tell Miranda exactly where she could shove her advice but instead measured her response. "Acknowledged and duly noted," she said. "I'm still going in after them. I don't have the numbers to cover every exit to this place effectively and I'm not about cool my heels out here while they're up to God knows what inside. We're going to run them down while we still can. Williams out." She killed the comm link to Lawson and leaned back toward the door's access terminal, rapidly punching in the code she'd extracted from Udina. The double doors parted with a hiss a moment later, withdrawing into the walls.
The others joined her at the door and Ashley motioning the heavily armored marines to move in first, their weapons pointed downrange and helmet optics piercing the gloom of the dimly lit passageway. She grasped the rifle slung across her chest and pointed the muzzle through the open doorway then glanced over at Kasumi and Thane. "You don't have to follow us," she said. "I don't have any authority over you and wouldn't blame you if you'd prefer to hang back and wait for help."
Thane exchanged a quick look with Kasumi. "We're with you, Lieutenant Commander," he said. "But I'm going on ahead. I move faster alone. I'll contact you when I find something."
Ashley opened her mouth to protest, but the drell man had already dashed ahead and into the darkened hallway beyond. He paused at the first intersection a dozen meters away and then disappeared around the corner.
Ashley and Kasumi joined the marines holding position a short distance up the passageway. "Alright," Ashley said. "Corporal Allen, take point. Hardy, bring up the rear and watch our six. Everyone stay frosty and check your targets. I don't want anybody putting holes in some poor afterhours staff member. Move it out."
Miranda was still shaking her head, irritated by the exchange with Williams.
Before Kasumi had contacted her, Miranda had been remaining busy behind the stick of the Dragonfly, patrolling a big swath of the Presidium near the Council Tower. For the better part of the last fifteen minutes, she'd been playing a grim game of whack-a-mole, knocking out targets of opportunity as soon as her tactical VI painted them. Her marks had mostly been small groups of mechs that emerged from nearby buildings or sprang up from the network of tunnels that snaked throughout the Citadel sublevels, vainly attempting to challenge her supremacy over the skies. The human mercs, soon after the Dragonfly's arrival overhead, had quickly become wise to the fact that they had no chance what so ever against a forty-ton, fully armed Fleet ground attack drop ship.
Now, what had been a steady tide of hostile contacts was receding dramatically as even the highly-modified LOKI combat mechs began to lose interest in reinforcing the hostile elements in the Council Tower. The Cerberus-funded and organized enemy—with the advantage of surprise and support from a high-level collaborator like Admiral Kaneda—had been far more than a depleted and disorganized C-Sec force could effectively handle. But the tide was beginning to shift ever so slightly now, at least on the Presidium.
Miranda glanced at the image still displayed on one of the ship's forward vid comm panels, a grainy, distorted image of one particular Cerberus operative she had hoped never to see again. Kai Leng. "You slippery bastard," she muttered to herself. "What the hell are you up to?" She switched back to the team's squad channel. "Bravo One, Rogue Two-One," she said. "Shepard, what's your status?"
"Still mopping up in here," Shepard sent back, his voice elevated over the staccato of automatic weapons fire echoing in the background. "We have a lot of real-estate to clear. But Citadel Flight Ops is secure. Cerberus wrecked the place all to shit but EDI's working on bypassing the damage. We've linked up with the Turian Councilor's protection detail as well. Sparatus is unharmed but still no word on Valern." He paused, presumably to fire another burst from his assault rifle. "You should be seeing a flight of four C-Sec shuttles on your scopes soon. Bailey's managed to organize an understrength platoon's worth of officers to lend us a hand here. ETA is five minutes."
"Very well, Bravo One," she said. "I'll try not to shoot Bailey's reinforcements down. But Shepard, once those shuttles get here and if you've no objection, I'm going to break off and move to assist the team at the Council Archives. Things have quieted down considerably out here, and I believe Williams is taking on more than she can handle."
There was a pause on the open line, more weapons fire audible over the comm. "Ashley's an experienced soldier, Miranda. She's more than capable of dealing with the mission."
"I'm aware of her combat prowess. This isn't about her experience in the field. If a hoard of geth were waiting for them inside the Archives, that would be one thing. But I have updated intel on the opposition they'll actually be facing. Trust me, they're going to need backup."
"Copy that," he sent a moment later. "Do it now. We can manage fine until Bailey's people arrive. Get back to me with an update as soon as you can."
"Understood," Miranda said, consulting the TacNet display on her HUD, noting the four new contacts that had just appeared on the edge of the sensor suite's awareness bubble. The diamond shaped icons were shaded in confirmed-friendly green, each labeled UT-47 (C-SEC-HEAVY). "I see the incoming C-Sec flight. It looks like they're ahead of schedule, for once."
"We've got this, Miranda," Shepard said. "Go and help the others."
"Copy, Bravo One," she said, banking the Dragonfly to port and goosing the thrusters, rocketing back across the greenbelt and toward the Kithoi Ward transition locks. "Rogue Two-One vacating the area."
Thirty seconds later, a new incoming broadcast sent a ping to her helmet's headset. It was a signal transmitted over the encrypted data network she'd setup some months back for the team supporting Anita Goyle. She switched over to the clandestine channel to hear another familiar voice.
"Hey, anybody listening on this channel?" Jack asked. "Anybody hear me?"
Miranda frowned. "Jack, this is Lawson. What's your status?"
"My status is that I'm sitting on my ass and bored out of my mind. Where the hell are you, Princess?"
"You're supposed to looking after Goyle, Jack," Miranda said. "She's a priority target for Cerberus."
"Oh, for fucks sake. Will you relax, Cheerleader. Mommy Dearest is fine. She's stashed in a safe house with my guys. Believe me, nobody's getting through those kids. Not after the work I've been putting in training their silly asses."
Miranda sighed impatiently. "Very well," she said. "I'm sending you a Nav-point. Can you be there in under ten minutes?"
There was a brief pause before Jack sent back her response. "Yeah, I see it. No sweat. I'll be there. And hurry it the fuck up, Lawson."
A short while later, Miranda arrived over the Kithoi Ward Midtown district and put the Dragonfly into a left-hand turn, circling the Council Archives building. She activated the searchlights on the nose of the drop ship and swept the area immediately around the site, piercing the darkness with the high-powered beam as well as the full suite of ground-facing sensors. The business park surrounding the Archives appeared quiet and still, so she dipped the ship's nose and descended toward the rear of the building, the tips of the big warbird's stubby wings only just barely clearing the available space between the tightly clustered skyscrapers.
The Dragonfly touched down on the street behind the Archives, its massive bulk settling low on its skids. Miranda glanced out the armored cockpit window and saw Jack leaning against the wall a dozen meters away, eyeing the drop ship lazily.
Miranda powered down the drop ship's engines and flight systems and unstrapped herself from the pilot's seat. Removing her flight helmet, she shook her long hair loose, hit the switch for the rear troop ramp and made her way through the hatchway into the troop compartment. Pausing at the Dragonfly's armory integrated behind the forward bulkhead, she pulled a standard Alliance M-12 Locust submachine gun from the racks along with a handful of spare magazines.
The compact personal defense weapon didn't offer the stopping power or long-range accuracy of the M-8 or newer M-66 main battle rifles, but it could put an obscene number of rounds downrange in a very short span of time and was well-suited to tight spaces. She inspected the weapon with adept hands before securing it to her flight harness with a tactical sling, stashing the extra magazines in the abundant pockets of her flight suit. Finally, she took one of the tactical visors and slipped the unit over her head. The integrated tactical network and comm suite appeared in her field of vision a second later as the little device activated and synchronized with her Omni-tool systems.
"Seal up the hold after me and stay with the ship," she told the crew chief. "Monitor the TacLink for any updates and contact Shepard's team if you don't hear from me within twenty minutes."
"Understood, Major," the crew chief said. "Good hunting in there."
Miranda gave a curt nod to the sergeant and strode down the ramp, finding Jack had come around to meet her just outside the drop ship, looking as impatient as ever.
Jack was clad in a studded synthetic leather jacket, an impossibly snug tank top, and digital-patterned camouflage trousers that sat low on the woman's narrow, muscular hips. Miranda didn't flinch at her appearance, having learned long ago that Jack tended to rely almost solely on her immense biotic gifts to protect herself from all manner of hostile threat, gunfire or otherwise. She was cradling a combat shotgun in her arms as well, caressing it like one might hold a newborn.
"What, did you stop for drive thru?" Jack said. "I've been waiting here for ages. I almost gave up on your pretty ass and left to find my own action for tonight."
Miranda made an indifferent noise. "Please," she said, striding past Jack and toward the back door of the Archives building. "We just spoke. You haven't been waiting long."
"Whatever," Jack said, following Miranda over to the door. "What's the story with this place? I'm going to be pissed if you're wasting my time with some JV bullshit."
Miranda leaned in closer to the door's security panel and activated her Omni-tool, initiating a bypass hack. "You know of Kai Leng?" she said matter-of-factly.
Jack stiffened. "You know goddamn well I do," Jack said acidly. "Are you saying that greasy little prick is in here somewhere?"
Miranda simply nodded. The hack completed its runtime a moment later, the door's locking mechanism disengaging with a resounding click before the two halves of the door slid away into wall, revealing a long, dimly lit hallway beyond. "He is," she said, raising her M-12 and sticking the muzzle through the passageway entrance. "Leng and an entire Cerberus Spec Ops team. Ashley Williams led a group in after them a short while ago. You and I both know she has no idea what she's walking into."
"Shepard's old girlfriend? That creampuff thinks she's going to handle Leng and his goons? Hilarious."
This time Miranda was the one to bristle. "Shepard and Williams were never romantically involved."
Jack snorted a laugh. "You're adorable, Cheerleader," she said. "But whatever you say. I'm sure you're right and in all those months back in the day on the old Normandy little still-wet-behind-the-ears Gunny Williams never, ever played hide the sausage with her number-one crush, Commander Shepard." Jack charged her shotgun with a quick, harsh motion and shouldered her way through the doorway ahead of Miranda. "Come on. Let's get going."
Miranda glared at the other woman as she strode forward, shooting daggers with her eyes. But then she took hold of her emotions, blowing out a long, deliberate breath. She ought to be used to it by now, she reminded herself. Jack never passed up an opportunity to needle her, especially when it came to Shepard. She pressed the stock of her M-12 into the crook of her shoulder and followed the other biotic deeper into the building.
They advanced through the narrow hallway for another twenty meters, moving with purpose. From what Miranda could see on the building schematics she'd downloaded to her visor, they were traversing a maintenance tunnel that ran parallel to the hanger and loading dock. Small tiles illuminated the floor at regular intervals, but the building appeared to be operating on limited power, likely due to the widespread disruptions in the power grid affecting much of the Wards. Soon, the tactical network feed on Miranda's visor began to degrade significantly and she lost contact with the Dragonfly parked just outside.
"I'm getting a lot of interference with the data feed," Miranda whispered. "There's some kind disruption field active in here. I've lost my tactical link to the other teams and I'm not seeing anything at all from Williams or her people. They probably won't show up until we're right on top of them and within range of the near field systems."
Beside her, Jack gave a grunt of acknowledgment and pressed on, sweeping the area directly ahead of her with the shotgun's muzzle.
A short distance further, the passageway branched off in two separate directions. Miranda gestured to the right where the hallway grew wider and led to a heavy set of doors. They bypassed the lock and advanced carefully into the Loading Bay, and took stock of the scene before them.
Two shuttles were sitting on the VTOL pads, both pouring thick, black smoke from their engine compartments. Clearly, Ashley's team had paused here to set demolition charges on the transports Cerberus had arrived in before moving on. Yellow warning strobes for the fire alarm system were flashing all over the cavernous space, but someone must have taken a moment to silence the audible alarm. The sound of the ventilation fans in the roof reverberated through the space, the environmental systems struggling to filter the noxious fumes from the air. Miranda and Jack exchanged a look before continuing on their way, crossing to the other side of the bay and through another passageway.
Soon, they arrived on one of the Archive's main floors and a part of the facility that was clearly designed to accommodate visitors and dignitaries of all manner of species. The corridors Miranda and Jack were now moving through were triple the width of the employee and maintenance passageways they'd just left behind. The smooth floor tiles reflected the low light with a mirror finish and the ceilings were high enough to easily allow for a Elcor to move about unimpeded. The walls lining the hallway were pristine and marked at regular intervals with reference numbers designed to aid the facility's staff as well as visiting researchers. Every few meters, alcoves displayed artifacts with accompanying informational vid displays. At the far end, bluish light emanated from a holographic exhibit playing on a loop.
Miranda paused at the end of the hallway where the path branched off in several other directions, consulting the map of the building on her visor's display. A moment later, she nodded toward the route to their left. "I believe they would have gone this way," she said. The light of the holo display was dancing on the walls and painting her face and ethereal blue. "It's the most direct route to the classified artifact storage vaults." She started moving again, weapon at the ready and Jack by her side.
"Goto and Krios are with the Williams girl, right?" Jack said.
Miranda gave a curt nod. "A pair of Alliance marines as well," she said. "But from what I understand, Thane's condition has deteriorated significantly these last several months. Frankly, I'm surprised he's still capable of moving under his own power. He's in the very advanced stages of Kepral's Syndrome now."
Jack frowned and muttered a curse. "Well, let's pick up the pace then."
A short while later and down several more levels, the two women moved ever deeper into the bowels of the facility. Then Miranda signaled her partner to wait. "Hold up, Jack," she said. "I've got a hit on the TacLink." She scrutinized her visor's display where two Alliance blue icons labeled CPL ALLEN and PFC HARDY appeared on the map overlay. "Alliance marines, this is Major Miranda Lawson, Fleet," she sent over the main squad comm network. "What's your status?"
"I read you, three-by-five, Major," Corporal Allen sent back a few seconds later, shouting over the din of gunfire. "We're in contact with multiple hostiles and pinned down inside one of the storage warehouses. Level seven, southwest corner."
"We copy," Miranda said. "Hold on, Corporal. We're coming to you."
Miranda and Jack took off down the main hallway with renewed urgency, clearing corners as they darted along side-by-side. Thirty seconds later, they reached an emergency access stairwell and raced down four levels to where the two marines were engaging the Cerberus team, the sound of gunfire and low-yield explosions growing louder as they closed the distance.
A few moments later, the women breached a set of secure doors and emerged into a cavernous storage depot. The ceilings towered high overhead and the walls were lined with rows of massive cylindrical containers, sealed iridium vaults stacked one atop of the other. Several open-air catwalks snaked throughout the warehouse and half a dozen automated, heavy articulated lift arms were positioned at regular intervals throughout the space.
A few meters to their right, the Alliance marines were hunkered down behind a stack of heavy storage crates, firing controlled bursts from behind cover. Miranda raised her weapon and took aim at a hostile trooper advancing on their position from halfway across the enormous room. She exhaled and squeezed the trigger, sending a hail of mass accelerated rounds downrange, clipping the man across an armored shoulder guard and sending him diving for cover. Beside her, Jack's shotgun barked its authoritative report in her ear. Then the woman dashed ahead, joining the Alliance soldiers behind the stacks of crates.
"Where are Williams and the others?" Miranda shouted in the Corporal's ear, taking a knee next to him.
"In pursuit of the rest of the hostiles," he yelled back, nodding toward another set of doors across the room. "We arrived here just as the Cerberus team was making their exfil." He leaned out of cover for a quick second and fired another short burst from his M-8 rifle. Next to him, Private Hardy was busy doing the same, his big M-76 light machine gun propped on the edge of the crate, muzzle flashing. "Lieutenant Commander Williams ordered us to keep these assholes busy while she and the woman in the hood went after the others and whatever they took. But things got hairy fast after more hostiles dropped in out of nowhere and started to flank us. We're almost black on ammo."
Miranda glanced over to where Corporal Allen had indicated Ashley and Kasumi had gone when a shimmer of light and movement caught her eye. Moving swiftly along the wall, darting between cover, was a familiar-looking silhouette and the shimmer of advanced polychromatic armor. A cold trickle ran up her spine at the sight of the Cerberus Phantom Project operative.
She leaned out of cover and took aim at the Phantom's cloaked silhouette, emptying the rest of the M-12's magazine and sending her scrambling for cover. The female Cerberus operative took several rounds off her advanced armor, disrupting her suit's integrated camouflage, before rolling to one side, righting herself gracefully on one knee, and returning fire.
Miranda ducked her head back behind cover while the rounds peppered the crate she was sheltering behind. She waited for a break in the gunfire and then swung her body into the open again, releasing her grip on her M-12 and sending a jolt of biotic energy at the Phantom. The telekinetic force lashed around the armored woman's ankles like and invisible lasso, yanking her off her feet and pulling her skyward. Miranda held her suspended in mid-air for a split second before flicking her wrist and sending the operative cartwheeling into the catwalk running along the side of the room, striking the railing violently and landing in a tangle of limbs.
Nearby, Jack let out a joyful little shout. "That's more like it, Cheerleader!" she hollered. "Much better than that pathetic stuff you were tossing around back on Grissom."
Across the big room, another pair of Cerberus troopers were sweeping around a cluster of storage vaults, trying to get around their defenses. Jack glanced in their direction and then stepped out from behind the stack of crates, a feral look in her eyes and an aura of chaotic, blue-shifted energy raging around her body. She gave a primal scream and let loose a shockwave of biotic energy that cascaded across the length of the space, hammering the enemy operatives with bone crushing force and shearing much of their armor and weapons away as they were sent tumbling backward.
Jack looked over her shoulder at Miranda. "Go!" she shouted. "I can handle this. Find Kasumi and the others." She then turned and advanced deeper into the warehouse, striding defiantly toward the remaining Cerberus troops.
Miranda motioned for the marines to stay with Jack and then took off in the opposite direction, sprinting the length of the chamber toward the doorway Corporal Allen had pointed out a few moments earlier, slapping a fresh magazine into her weapon as she moved. She burst through the double doors at a run and followed another long hallway for another seventy meters or so when Kasumi's transponder appeared on her visor's display. Miranda led with her weapon as she swept into yet another sub-chamber.
Kasumi was sitting on the floor, her back propped up against a display kiosk at the center of the room. A Cerberus operative in light battle armor riddled with bullet holes was splayed out on the floor next to her. The man was clearly dead, his neck twisted at an unnatural angle.
Miranda dashed toward her friend and dropped to one knee next to her. Kasumi was holding her left arm gingerly at her side and blood was flowing from a deep laceration on her cheek. "I'm okay," Kasumi said weakly, meeting Miranda's concerned gaze. "No thanks to this piece of trash." She kicked the dead Cerberus agent's body with one foot, wincing at the pain of the movement.
Miranda pulled a trauma compress from one of her thigh pockets and pressed it against Kasumi's face. "Where are Krios and Williams?" she asked, her eyes darting from one part of the room to the other. "The tactical computers are bloody useless in this place."
"I know," Kasumi said. "Thane went on to scout ahead as soon as we arrived. We haven't heard from him since but I'm betting he ran into more of these jerks somewhere else in the building. Ashley and I got split up here. We were right behind Kai Leng when I got jumped from behind." She gestured toward the hallway on the other side of the room. "They went that way. There are at least two more agents with Leng and he's dragging some poor asari around too. Ashley said she knows who she is." She moved her hand to her face, replacing Miranda's hold over the bandage. "Hurry, Miranda."
Miranda pulled the sidearm from the holster strapped to her thigh, quickly checked the loadout, and handed it to Kasumi. She stood, touched the injured woman on the shoulder, and rushed off down the next hallway.
The building was designed like a labyrinth, Miranda decided after another forty-five seconds of sprinting through more tunnels and ducking around corners. Whatever electromagnetic interference the creators of the structure put into place, it was extremely effective in disrupting even the military-grade tactical wireless networks she and the others were using. If she hadn't downloaded a copy of the building schematics to her visor, she'd be hopelessly lost or reduced to stopping at every other kiosk to check her position and get directions.
But then there were the bullet holes to follow as well. Most every passageway she was advancing along showed evidence of a running battle, scorched and pockmarked walls, spent magazines and smashed artifact display cases caught in the crossfire. She turned a corner and nearly tripped over the body of a dead Cerberus trooper spread out on the floor, his armored body riddled by bullet impacts and his gun arm torn to shreds.
She was still glancing down at the dead man when the sound of gunfire a short distance away drew her attention, short staccato bursts of automatic fire followed by a muffled explosion. Miranda raised her weapon and advanced toward the noise at a run.
Approaching another set of doors, Ashley's transponder signal finally appeared on her map overlay. The Alliance officer was in the next room with at least four hostile contacts her tactical visor had managed to tag and send over the TacNet. Miranda slid to a halt in front of the doors and rapidly keyed an access code into the control console. The doors glided open and the report of a high-powered assault rifle fire increased in volume tenfold. She poked the barrel of her M-12 through the open doorway and took several tentative steps inside, scanning for targets.
Miranda had entered at the bottom floor of another cavernous storage warehouse, identical in size and layout to where she and Jack found the Alliance marines a short while ago. She heard someone yelp in pain from somewhere overhead and looked up just in time to see a body falling toward her. In one graceful motion, she sidestepped and rolled smoothly to her left before the Cerberus trooper's body smacked the floor with a resounding thud, his body smoldering and full of holes.
She lifted her gaze skyward and pointed the muzzle of her weapon up toward where the man had fallen from. Three levels above, along one of the open catwalks that ran adjacent to the huge iridium vaults, Ashley Williams was fully engaged in fierce hand-to-hand combat with another Cerberus agent. Miranda toggled her M-12 to single-shot and zeroed the crosshairs of the weapon's scope on the two female forms, tracking their frantic movement for several heartbeats before cursing in frustration, unable to get a clean shot.
Miranda swept the muzzle in a tight arc, searching for other hostiles, then dashed forward toward the stairs leading up to the higher levels, taking the steps three at a time. She reached the third level just in time to see the Cerberus agent pivot and plant a spinning kick into Ashley's midsection, sending the Alliance officer stumbling backward. The enemy agent then pulled her sidearm from its holster on her hip with world-class quickdraw speed and fired three rounds into Ashley's chest, knocking the Alliance officer onto her back.
The Cerberus agent glanced over her shoulder a split second later and was greeted by the muzzle flash of Miranda's Locust, a full magazine's worth of rounds catching her in the neck and face. The hypervelocity bullet impacts spun the woman around like a top and sheared a third of her armored skull clean off, blood and bone splattering the iridium vault door next to her.
Miranda didn't wait for the Cerberus agent's body to finish dropping before dashing forward and kneeling next to Ashley's prone form. She kept her M-12 pointed downrange with one arm and pressed her other gloved hand against the Alliance officer's chest where the rounds had impacted the woman's body armor.
"Fuck me," Ashley croaked, grimacing from the pain.
"You're fine," Miranda said tersely. "They didn't go through." Then the sound of boots striking the metallic catwalk some distance away drew her attention. She turned toward the noise, listening, and then bounded back up to her feet and took off in pursuit along the catwalk.
Another fifteen meters farther up along the elevated walkway from where she'd left Ashley Williams, Miranda turned a corner and was met with a burst of automatic fire. She dove forward and rolled clear, righting herself on one knee behind a heavy storage container. Exhaling, she poked her head quickly out of cover to pinpoint the source of the gunfire.
Not quite ten meters away, Kai Leng was standing in front of an open doorway. He was holding his carbine low with one hand where he'd fired from the hip in Miranda's direction. His other hand was clasped around the wrist of a dazed-looking asari with a distinctively green skin tone. Recognition flashed across his face when he saw Miranda peeking around the corner and his lip curled into a smirk, the barrel of his weapon lowering a tiny faction. "Miranda Law—"
Leng didn't quite get the second word out of his mouth when Miranda's biotic wave hammered him across the chest. He was sent flying into the room behind him, his weapon thrown from his grip and over the railing where it clattered on the floor three stories below. Caught by the edge of the blast wave, the asari was also throne backward, crying out in shock as she spun wildly away and disappearing into the room beyond.
Miranda sprang to her feet like a cat and sprinted after Leng and the asari, entering another wide exhibition hall. Alcoves holding relics lined the walls at regular intervals and a handful of glass-covered kiosk platforms were spread throughout the open floor space. A Cerberus Phantom operative was standing across the room in front of a bank of elevators, her palm outstretched toward Miranda.
Miranda ducked her head as she crossed the threshold, only just avoiding the blast from the Cerberus agent's palm blaster, the superheated plasma scorching the wall and singeing her hair. Miranda slid to a halt on her knees a few meters into the room and pointed her M-12 at the Phantom, pulling the trigger only to hear the firing mechanism strike down on an empty chamber. She cursed and turned her focus toward conjuring a protective biotic barrier.
A short distance in front of her, the Phantom was crouched like an animal preparing to strike, the woman's right arm thrust forward, palm up over her outstretched right leg. Suspended in the air behind her back, she held a long, shimmering monomolecular sword in her other hand.
To Miranda's right, Kai Leng was getting back to his feet, dusting himself off in an unperturbed fashion. The asari was laying face down a short distance away, unmoving.
"Wait!" Leng growled at the Phantom, holding up a restraining hand. "She's mine."
Miranda got back to her feet, eyeing the Phantom operative warily before squaring herself to Leng. He was approaching slowly, moving with a predatory gait.
"I've waited a very long time for this, Lawson," he said, breathing heavily.
Miranda unclipped the sling connected to her M-12 and let it drop to floor. "Oh, will you shut the hell up you bloody idiot," she hissed.
He surged at her with frightening speed and sent an armored fist at her head. She sidestepped the blow and drove her left elbow into his ribs. He recoiled in pain and she swept her foot, taking him down at the ankles and dropping him onto his back.
Leng kicked his legs out and sprang upright in the blink of an eye, spinning his torso and sending a foot into Miranda's side. She cried out in pain, thrown into the wall. Then he was on her, attacking with a vicious barrage of fists. She managed to block most of the hard strikes and counter with several sharp jabs of her own, but he was considerably stronger than her. A few seconds later, she was pinned against a wall with Leng's armored forearm across her throat, her tactical visor on the floor and smashed under his heavy boot.
She struggled, feeling his hot, sour breath on her face. "Time to die, traitor," he whispered and stretched his other hand behind his back. Behind him, the Phantom drew closer and placed the hilt of the white-hot monomolecular sword into Leng's waiting palm.
Then there was a blur of movement behind the Cerberus operatives. Thane appeared like a ghost behind the Phantom, snapping the woman's neck with a smooth and terrifyingly rapid motion that might have been elegant if not for the violent result. She crumpled to the floor at his feet with a barely a sound.
Miranda didn't hesitate, slipping out of Leng's hold while the man was distracted by Thane's sudden appearance. She sent a knee into his gut followed by a hard strike of her palm to his chest. He stumbled a few steps backward and slashed wildly at her with the sword. She threw herself back and ducked under the blade as it sliced through the air, taking a few strands of her hair with it, and then rolled to one side.
Leng recovered quickly and turned to meet Thane with a much more controlled, compact swing of the blade just as the drell assassin pounced. Thane angled his body away from the edge of the blade, barely avoiding the killing blow, then dropped his shoulders to get inside the human's reach. He hammered his opponent with an uppercut to the chin followed by a rapid combination of blows to the midsection and face before managing to get hold of Leng's wrist and wrenching the sword from his grip, sending the weapon tumbling across the room.
Miranda jumped back to her feet and charged into the fray but was instantly thrown backward again when Leng delivered a fierce lateral kick. His boot connected with her midsection, knocking the wind out of her and slamming her against the wall, the back of her head striking the unyielding surface and causing stars to pop in her vision.
Miranda sank to her knees, doubled over, coughing and gasping for breath. She lifted her head, tears and sweat stinging her eyes, and watched through blurry vision as her former Cerberus colleague and Thane continued the brawl.
They were exchanging fists and elbows, locked together in some sort of twisted ballet. Thane, even with his diminished health, appeared the quicker of the two, striking the human man seemingly at will. But Leng was strong and well-armored and appeared to be shrugging off much of the punishment he was taking from the drell.
Then Leng seized Thane by the shoulders, pulled him in closer, and drove a crippling head butt into his temple, sending him reeling. The Cerberus operative hurled himself after his opponent and tackled him to the ground.
They rolled across the floor several times, grappling and striking each other with more rapid, short armed fists and elbows. A few seconds of brutal combat later, Thane somehow managed the upper hand, pinning Leng with a forearm to the human's throat. Kai Leng struggled against the drell man's wiry strength, his arm digging into his windpipe, then reached one hand down to his side.
Thane never saw the combat knife his adversary pulled from the sheath strapped to his leg armor. He gave a convulsed, sharp intake of breath when the blade was driven between his ribs. Across the room, Miranda screamed in protest.
Thane managed to hold the man down for another moment or two while Leng twisted the blade in his side. Then the strength seemed to drain from his body. He gurgled and coughed blood onto Leng's face before the human assassin pushed his mortally wounded body off him.
Yanking the knife roughly from Thane's side, Leng stood and glowered over the drell man bleeding out at his feet. Then he turned to see Miranda charging toward him. He jabbed at her with the knife, but she countered with an expert motion, capturing his wrist between her hands and wrenching the weapon free, sending it sailing away end over end.
He swung a short-armed left cross at her, but Miranda was already inside his guard. She hit him in the sternum with the base of her palm, sending the man stumbling backward several paces. Then she pressed her attack, chasing after him and plunging a knee into his gut before dropping low and punching him straight in the groin.
Leng bent over in pain, flailing for her awkwardly with both arms, but Miranda slipped under and around the clumsy movement and sidestepped behind his back, grabbing the tops of his shoulders. She vaulted her body upward, swinging her legs in the air in a scissor motion and spinning around over his shoulders until she was facing him again, his head squeezed between her thighs.
The man struggled to steady himself on his legs, his hands slapping and pulling at her hips, trying to rip her off him while Miranda sent three vicious elbows in quick succession onto the top of his head, grunting loudly with the effort of each blow.
Then he roared in anger, ambled a few steps forward and threw her down onto her back and into one of the kiosks near the center of the room. Her body crashed through the glass display case and smashed an ancient clay artifact under her weight. Then Leng's hands were around her throat, squeezing.
But this time it was Leng who didn't see the knife Miranda had pulled from her flight suit's harness. She jabbed the short blade into his torso, twisting it as she dug as deep into his flesh and muscle as her strength allowed.
Leng shrieked in pain and released his hold on her throat, falling away. Miranda let go of the knife and shoved him hard with both hands before extracting herself from the ruined display kiosk. She lifted herself upright and fixed him with a murderous glare.
Leng grabbed the handle of the emergency survival knife sticking out of his side and pulled it out with a grunt. He then returned Miranda's scowl and made to take a step back toward her when she captured him in a vice-like biotic grip. He struggled futilely, trying to reach her, but he'd been utterly immobilized by the stasis field she'd trapped him in.
Miranda took a step toward the man, holding his gaze.
He tried to say something, but her biotic hold on his throat only tightened, strangling him and crushing his windpipe. He tried to thrash about for another few seconds but then the dark energy shifted and transformed under Miranda's direction, burning away his flesh and slowly obliterating the molecules holding the rest of his organic parts together.
Miranda let him suffer under the inexorable grip of her biotics for another few moments. Then she flicked her head to the side. In front of her, Leng's head mirrored her movement, his neck snapping with a loud crack. He remained still and upright for another second or two before Miranda finally released her hold on his body and allowed the energy to dissipate throughout the room.
Kai Leng crumpled to the floor awkwardly and didn't move again.
When Shepard and Liara arrived in the main lobby of the Council Archives sometime later, a trio of turian C-Sec officers trailing close behind, they found Ashley was already waiting for them on the main floor.
She was standing close to the central bank of elevators, wearing a grim expression on her face. Corporal Allen and Private Hardy were there as well, checking over their weapons and gear. They stopped what they were doing and saluted the captain when they noticed Shepard approach.
"As you were," Shepard said to the two young Alliance troopers. Their hardshell armor had clearly taken a beating, pockmarked from numerous bullet impacts and even showed evidence of a slash mark or three, but they looked to be unharmed and in one piece respectively.
"You alright, Ash?" he asked, turning his attention to his fellow officer. Her lip was bloodied, one eye was half swollen shut and he could see several divots carved into the front of her armored vest.
"I'm fine, Shepard," she said with a tired sigh and then looked down and over to her right.
Shepard followed Ashley's gaze to where the green-skinned asari was sitting against the wall, arms wrapped around her knees, a far-off look in her eyes. He studied her for a moment, his mouth opening in surprise, and then glanced back at Ashley.
"I know," Ashley said. "Crazy, right?"
Liara walked over to Shiala and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. The other asari woman flinched at the contact, but kept her gaze fixed forward, staring at the opposite wall.
"Is she going to be alright?" Shepard asked.
"I think so," Ashley said, glancing at the asari. "She's in shock, I think. Or whatever the asari equivalent state is. Physically she's not injured beyond a few bumps and bruises." She shifted the weight of her assault rifle slung in front of her and looked back at the Normandy's CO. "I'm sorry, Shepard," she said. "Things went all to shit down here."
"It's fine, Ash," he said reassuringly. "You were following my orders." He glanced at the other marines who were trying to discreetly inch away and give the two senior Alliance officers some space. "Take these two and get your TackLink reestablished with Garrus and Vega. They've secured the Alliance docks and armory, but I'll need your help coordinating other ops or to reinforce their position if those mechs make another push. There's two C-Sec shuttles waiting outside, but hang tight until I'm back topside." He looked around the room. "The others still downstairs?"
"Yeah," she said, looking over her shoulder toward the bank of elevators. "Take one of those down to Level Five and you'll find them. And careful not to slip on the blood."
Shepard and Liara left Shiala in the care of the C-Sec officers and rode the elevator down to Level Five and what was obviously the scene of a fierce and bloody fight.
Miranda was standing off to the side with Jack, her arms crossed tightly in front of her and her head bowed slightly. They glanced over at Shepard and Liara when they stepped out of the elevator, but immediately went back to their conversation, speaking in low voices.
Three bodies were strewn on the floor amid broken glass and a handful of discarded weapons and gear. Shepard spared the two dead Cerberus operatives a brief glance before approaching the center of the expansive room and kneeling next Thane's body.
Kasumi was sitting on the floor next to their drell friend, cradling his head in her lap. Thane's eyes had been closed and his hands placed clasped together over his heart. There was a ragged puncture wound in his side where he'd lost many liters of blood, which was now pooled around him on the polished floor tiles. But his face appeared serene, almost as if he was merely sleeping peacefully.
Shepard met Kasumi's red and bloodshot eyes and tried to give her a comforting look. He then removed an armored glove from one hand and placed his palm over Thane's hands. "Rest well, my friend," he whispered. "You've earned it."
He stood back up and turned toward where Miranda and Jack were still huddled together, approaching the women with a look of concern in his eyes. He reached out and touched Miranda's elbow.
"I'm alright," she said sharply and then seemed to immediately regret the tone. She drew in a long, shaky breath and looked over at Thane's body. "He took out at least three other Cerberus assassins we found on the upper floors before facing off against Leng. He saved my life. I couldn't save his."
"Miranda," Shepard said gently.
"I should get back in the air," she said and pulled away from him. "This isn't over yet. I'll taxi Williams and the others wherever they're needed." She paused, gesturing toward one of the display tables in the center of the room—one of the few left intact after the fight. There was small, alien-looking rectangular shaped device sitting on top of the kiosk's glass cover. "That's what they were after, by the way. At least we stopped the Illusive Man from getting that much." She smiled weakly at Shepard and then strode off toward the elevators.
Shepard watched her walk away, deciding against trying to hold her up. He knew her well enough to recognize the anger she was feeling but also that he didn't need to worry that she'd act recklessly because of it.
He shared a quick look with Jack who shook her head slightly and offered a little shrug. "I'll go with," she said. "I need to find some more these Cerberus fuck sticks to wipe off the board." Then she strode after Miranda, joining her in the waiting elevator car.
Shepard watched the elevator doors close, hands on his hips, then glanced over to the kiosk Miranda had pointed out to him. Liara was already there, inspecting the small, alien artifact.
"What do you think?" he asked Liara, walking closer.
"It's definitely Prothean," she said, handling the thin green and black object. "But I've never seen something quite like it or in such a preserved state." She offered the artifact to him. "Have a look."
Shepard took the object in his ungloved hand and instantly dropped to his knees, seized by a crippling jolt of electricity surging through his body. Everything went black and soundless, as if he'd been tossed into some sort of void or pushed out an airlock.
Then there was pain. Tremendous, excruciating pain radiating through every cell of his body. He suffered for what seemed like hours, but he couldn't be sure. The concept of time had suddenly become foreign and incomprehensible to him. Wherever his mind was taken, he was eventually released from the agony and shown visions of a war fought tens of thousands of years ago. He lived the countless battles as if they were vivid but long forgotten dreams. And the familiar, earsplitting Reaper horn pursued him at every turn. Then he stood upon a distant planet and watched a desperate plan unfold before him. It was a place seared in his memory. A planet he couldn't forget if he lived a thousand lifetimes.
When he woke, Shepard found himself sitting on the floor, his back against the kiosk. His heart was hammering in his chest and sweat was beading on his forehead, but the visions were quickly receding from the forefront of his mind. The Prothean device was on the floor next to him.
"How long was I out?" he asked Liara. She was crouched in front of him, fear in her eyes and a steadying hand on his shoulder.
"Just a few seconds," Liara said. "Goddess, Shepard. Are you alright?"
Shepard glanced around the room, gathering his bearings and blinking his vison clear. "Eden Prime," he said in a half-strangled voice that sounded almost unfamiliar in his own ears. "There's something buried on Eden Prime."
