From Ashes
Chapter Thirty Seven: Connections
A/N: Well, it's a little late, but here is the next chapter. I had originally planned to have this posted on my birthday (7, June) as a way of celebrating with my readers :) Ah well. Here we go!
They were the last to board the shuttle, and eyes were on them. Miranda, for the most part, shrugged it off. Shepard watched this interaction carefully; while under the impression that she and Jacob would follow orders, Shepard wanted to see the dynamic between her people, if they were to be considered that. Jacob seemed to be a friendly sort, if rigid. The other two, Hawthorne and Goldstein, were as well. They seemed a bit more relaxed. Miranda, while a little authoritative, seemed level-headed. Shepard had to appreciate this fact. If she couldn't trust her own thoughts right now, Miranda seemed willing and ready to act.
"What do we know about this colony?" They were on the way there when she asked the question. Directed toward Miranda, she wasn't surprised when the other woman answered promptly.
"Not much to report. It's average in nearly every way, really." Pulling up what they knew via omni tool, Miranda shared it across to the shuttle's display. "Typical human settlement in the Terminus Systems."
"There were other colonies hit." Jacob added data to the display. "All of them ended up like this:" He indicated still shots taken after the fact. "People were just gone. Some looked like they just got up from dinner and left. There were no signs of attack, struggle, or anything."
"We're hoping that, seeing as we'll be first on the scene, we might find something that we couldn't at the others." Miranda finished.
"I assume the Alliance has a reason for not handling this." Shepard was taking in all that was there to see. What she was getting wasn't much to o on.
"The Alliance, while affiliated with the Citadel Council, can't reach too far out into the Terminus Systems without causing some sort of incident." Jacob shrugged. "It's partially why some of those colonists came out here; to get away from the political bullshit."
"Unfortunately, by doing that, they are cutting themselves off from a good source of support, should things go wrong." Shepard pointed out.
"Sticking our necks out, that's not something we've been accused of before." Goldstein commented dryly.
"Not at all." Hawthorne added. "Initiating jump. Hang on."
"An FTL jump?" Shepard looked toward the pilot's chair. "Didn't think that was possible with most shuttles."
"It's become more commonplace." Miranda offered. "Over the last two years, a lot of development has been underway."
"Looks like I'll have a lot of catching up to do."
"Speaking of the last two years," Miranda began slowly. "I mentioned that I would be able to answer any questions you might have once we cleared the Lazarus facility." She left the data on Freedom's Progress on the display, but she leaned back in her seat. "Is there anything you want to know, while we have the time?"
"You said it's been two years." The meaning of those words was just sinking in. "What happened to the others who survived?"
"The majority of the SR1's crew survived." Jacob answered. A few servicemen and women didn't get out, but I have a full list of the ones that got to the escape pods. As for where they are, we don't know for certain."
"Most of the human crew were reassigned to various posts." Miranda picked up. Doctor Liara T'Soni was last seen on the asari world of Illium. Garrus Vakarian, the turian, returned to C-Sec, but he left the Citadel not long after. Urdnot Wrex returned to the krogan homeworld, Tuchanka. He made a few statements that he was going to rally his people and try to better them."
"Don't know what happened to Tali'Zorah." Jacob shrugged. "Cerberus doesn't have the best track record with the Migrant fleet, so she could be anywhere. It was confirmed that she returned to her fleet, though."
"I keep seeing myself being blasted backwards and out into space." She hadn't spoken about this yet, and Shepard felt a slight sinking sensation as she did it now. "Was that…" She didn't have to finish asking the question; the answer was obvious by their expressions. "Was that how it ended?"
"You managed to launch an escape shuttle manually." Miranda began quietly. "Three officers were inside: Navigator Charles Pressly, Flight Lieutenant Jeff Moreau, and an asari from an exchange program, Lieutenant Selyna. At the moment of its launch, an explosion occurred, and you were sent in the opposite direction. According to logs recovered from a nearby comm buoy, you managed to get a final message out before suffocating due to exposure to vacuum."
"I suffocated." The words were flat as they left her. Shepard had already felt a sinking feeling before, but this was downright grounding. When she blinked to regain focus, she saw Miranda and Jacob exchange a look.
"There is a lot more to it," Miranda finally admitted. "It would be better to go over that when we have more time."
"I can't even wrap my head around this right now." Frustration colored her tone then. Shepard looked down at her hands for a moment and saw scarring there. "I thought I could, but-"
"Hey, we've got company." Hawthorne's announcement had them all standing and joining him at the head of the shuttle. The colony of Freedom's Progress was dark, due to the late local hour. While it seemed quiet, there was something sitting near the spaceport that shouldn't have been. A shuttle that was of unknown make was already there, and it looked as if it had been for some time. Snow had already begun to gather on its top.
"Initial scans tag it as quarian." Goldstein announced.
"What are quarians doing here?" Jacob wondered aloud. "Boss didn't say anything about this."
"Doesn't matter." Miranda shook it off. "We need to get a good idea of what happened here, regardless of who got here first."
"Miranda's right." Shepard, while shoving everything personal back into the chaotic bin that was her brain, worked to focus on what was necessary now. They were here to investigate this colony's sudden silence. It was something she could center her concentration on. She then turned to Miranda and Jacob.
"I know what the Illusive Man told me," She began. "But I also know that you may have your concerns about following my lead." At this, Miranda shook her head.
"I saw how you handled yourself in the Lazarus facility, Shepard." She waved a dismissive hand. "I agree with Goldstein's assessment: You're solid in combat. Focus on that for the time being, and we'll get to the rest." Jacob nodded his agreement.
"I won't give any of you a confining order." Shepard shook her head. "Open to suggestions."
"Noted."
"Let's suit up and get out there." She finally said as Hawthorne brought the shuttle down. "With luck, the quarians might have found something."
"They won't be open with it, I'm sure." Jacob quipped as he loaded a pistol. "Like I said, Cerberus and their people don't get along."
"Diplomacy will out, ladies and gentlemen." She didn't know what made her say it, but Shepard went with it.
Pulling on her armor and loading a pair of weapons, she chose a Mantis rifle and a phalanx heavy pistol. Privately, she hoped she wouldn't need them. From the reports, nothing had been left at the other colonies that had been hit, so it was a safe bet that they wouldn't encounter hostile life forms. Still, anything was possible. Then there were the quarians, if they were still here. The thought crossed Shepard's mind that they may have been present when the colony had gone dark. If that was the case, they would be missing as well. As she ran a check on the seals on her armor, Shepard found everything to be in good shape. There was something about this armor set that was distinctly different from any that the others wore. Colours aside, it was made distinctly different.
"Spectre-grade armor." Jacob admired it. "Recovered from the SR1's crash site."
Spectre
That word struck a fuse in her mind. She'd noticed the silver emblem on one shoulder guard while gold accent bars were on the other.
"You are the first human spectre, Commander. This is a great accomplishment for both you and humanity as a whole. "
Udina, Anderson, and others stood by her. She could feel their presence around her. A flash of a spectacular view bloomed in hues of gray, amethyst, and white. She was on a dais, looking toward a high window. Three forms were visible on the other side: a turian, a hooded salarian, and…
Her.
"Hawthorne, Goldstein, wait by the shuttle. If anyone is here, I'd rather we not lose our way out of here."
Miranda's voice came across suddenly. The inside of the shuttle came back in dark gray and black hues. Shepard had to blink to adjust to it. As she did, the silhouette of an asari against those silver-purple nebula clouds appeared behind her eyelids. She knew her, somehow.
"Copy that." Hawthorne answered. He too wore armor now: black, gold, and white. "We'll keep the LZ clear."
"Good hunting." Goldstein added.
"Ready, Commander?" Jacob asked as he secured his pistol and assault rifle.
"Yeah. Let's go." Shepard stepped off the shuttle and drew down with her pistol.
Whoever she was, she would have to wait.
The initial search turned up nothing. Going through prefabs, Shepard, Miranda, and Jacob found what others had at previous sites. People were gone, but it seemed that they had left, mid-action, in some cases. Food was left uneaten, things were left partially cleaned, and so on. The most exciting thing they actually found were a few security drones that were flying about. A trio of them doubled back to attack, but they were sorted quickly. With Miranda's chain overloads deployed and Jacob and Shepard's sharpshooting, they didn't stand a chance.
"Those were actively searching for threats." Miranda scanned one of the downed drones. "Surely, whoever has been abducting colonists wouldn't have just left them."
"Someone else is here." Shepard agreed with her assessment. "Let's keep moving. Maybe we'll find them in the upper part of town."
They made it to a large building whose door was locked with a moderate encryption. Miranda and Jacob took up position on either side of it while Shepard worked with the lock. While they were waiting, she could hear movement on the other side. People were there, and by the sound of it, they were scrambling around. Finally, when the lock's interface turned green, Shepard hit the door. It opened, and she was met with rifles pointed at her.
"Stop right there!" The first to speak, a male quarian, demanded; his shotgun was trained on Shepard. After a second, it waved left and right. That told Shepard that Miranda and Jacob had stepped out of cover.
"Prazza, stand down." Another quarian, female, interjected. She crossed in front of him and blocked his shot. "I will handle this. The last thing we need is a fight." She turned around and froze. "Wait," She stepped closer. "Shepard? No, it can't be…"
"Tali?" While the suit was different, Shepard recognized the voice immediately. That actually surprised her. Still, she had to be sure. "Is that you?"
"You're alive, but you look different…" Before Tali could even move on from that point, the male quarian from before pushed her aside; his gun still raised.
"I'm not taking any chances with Cerberus operatives." He turned his shotgun on Miranda and then Jacob before it landed on Shepard again.
"Put those weapons down!" Tali stood between him and Shepard again. "How is this possible…"
"Your pilgrimage," Shepard spoke the first thought that came to mind, sensing Tali's distrust along with the others. "We found that data in the Armstrong nebula from the geth outposts there. Was it useful to you?"
"It was." Tali nodded slowly. "Very."
"What about the second stop, when we looked through the terminals. Did the geth return there after that?"
"They did." This time, Tali's nod was more confident. "Only to collect samples from the planets' surfaces and take geothermal readings." She turned to the one called Prazza and pushed his gun down with her hand. "Weapons away. It's really her."
"Your old captain is working for Cerberus." He was stubborn. Reluctantly, he replaced the shotgun into his weapons pack. "Why?"
"I don't know." Tali turned back to Shepard. "It's best we ask; preferably not at gunpoint."
Shepard knew what she meant. Holstering her own pistol, she motioned for Miranda and Jacob to stand down. They did.
"I don't know all of the details." She began. "All I do know is that they spent the last two years bringing me back."
"Likely story." Prazza scoffed. "No organization would spend that many resources or credits resurrecting one soldier."
"You never saw her in action." Tali cut across. "If this is true, it was money and resources well spent." She then addressed Shepard again. "What are you doing here?"
"Cerberus has asked that I investigate the disappearance of human colonists here. If I don't find what they're looking for, we'll likely part ways."
"Maybe we can help each other, then." Tali offered. "We came here to find a missing quarian. His name is Veetor. He came here while on pilgrimage, and we haven't heard anything since the colony went dark."
"You said he came here on pilgrimage." Distant echoes of conversations from Normandy's engineering section came back. They had discussed the rite of passage into adulthood that the quarians participated in. "Why did he come here?"
"Veetor was always nervous in crowds. He decided to come to this small colony and help them. While here, he thought he could learn something useful." Tali explained. "When we landed, he fled to a warehouse on the other side of town. We suspect that he also programmed the mechs and drones to attack anything that moved."
"Something scared him." Shepard voiced the obvious. "Could it have been who took the colonists?"
"That is what we were hoping."
"Just to be clear, when she says he is nervous in crowds, she means he is unstable." Prazza muttered. "Couple that with faulty CO2 scrubbers, damaged suit seals, and an infection from exposure… He's probably delirious."
"We won't know that until we find him." Shepard countered. "We'll aid in the search for Veetor while looking around the colony. With luck, he saw something that might help us."
"I'm not trusting Cerberus or their new weapon." Prazza made to turn away, but Tali took his shoulder and spun him back around.
"Watch your words, Prazza. You work for me." She addressed the other quarians present. "If you cannot accept my decision or follow my orders, then go and wait on the shuttle." When she received sharp nods from them, she turned back toward Shepard and her team. "Head west. There is a large security barricade that will take two teams to get past. Veetor is holed up in the warehouse on the other side of it." She motioned to her people. "We will go around to the far side and meet you there. I think there is a mech that is set to guard the warehouse. We'll all need to stay sharp to take it down."
"Understood." As the others prepared to leave, Shepard frowned slightly. "Your people really don't trust Cerberus. I know my reasons for it, but what did I miss?"
"They killed our people, used their suits as disguises, infiltrated our flotilla and tried to blow up one of our ships." Prazza snapped.
"He forgets to add the part where one of our own helped them do it." Tali added flatly. "Regardless of our history, I'm not working with Cerberus. I'm working with you. If they can't accept that, then they know where they can go."
"We'll meet you on the other side." Shepard passed on a comm frequency via omni tool. "Keep in contact. Good luck."
"Thanks, Shepard."
When Tali left with her people, Shepard headed out the opposite way. They would take the more direct route to the security barricade. Already, as she stepped out of the building where the quarians had been, she could hear the mechanical buzzing of security drones. They were on the move. She looked up and spotted six of them moving in a pattern around a courtyard ahead. Silently, she pointed them out to Miranda and Jacob, who were already eyeing positions in the courtyard. Miranda nodded and dropped down to take cover behind a supply crate. Jacob used some destroyed fencing for cover on the ground, and Shepard stayed up on the walkway. Removing her rifle, she nodded in Jacob's direction. He rose carefully and fired a shot to lure the drones closer.
"Deploying overload." Miranda muttered as they hovered nearby. The drones didn't seen who fired the shot, but they were in the right vicinity. With shields stripped, or damaged mostly, they were taken out. Shepard took out the ones with partial shields remaining using the mantis.
It felt different, holding a high-impact sniper rifle and firing from a distance. Every instinct she had was prompting her to use her biotics, but they wouldn't be as effective on drones with shields.
"LOKIs!" Jacob called out. Looking down, Shepard saw the human-esque mechs walking toward them from another prefab.
"Miranda?" Shepard collapsed the rifle and stood up; her barrier coming up as she did.
"Ready when you are." Miranda waited while Shepard sent a heavy pull field toward the four mechs. They were all lifted off the ground, their pistols firing frantically. Jacob had to duck down to avoid a shot or two. When they were clear of the ground completely, Miranda sent a heavy biotic attack toward them that collided with the pull field and detonated. "Perfect." She added as the pieces of the mechs fell in a clumsy shower.
"So, the biotics are still good." Jacob commented as he stood up. "Nice."
"Better than that." Miranda commented as she stood again. "Somehow managed a singularity field at the Lazarus facility." Turning to Shepard, she gave a satisfactory nod. "For that to be your first biotic attack after waking up, I'll admit that I was impressed."
"Not an easy thing to do either, trust me." Jacob quipped.
A half smile made it onto Shepard's face, but it was ruined by the amount of pain it caused. Minute though it was, the facial scars were pulling uncomfortably.
"Good to see that some things are coming back to you." Miranda added. She was studying one of the shipping crates nearby. "Seems situation-based, but they're there."
"I remember talking to her on the Normandy." Shepard shrugged. "About her pilgrimage, people, culture, and even how she got to the Citadel before we met. I remember she and Liara used to talk a lot after…"
"After?" Jacob prompted. He had joined Shepard where she stood near Miranda.
"After her mother died." It had taken a second to connect the thoughts, but Shepard remembered it. Benezia, Liara's mother, had died on Noveria. She had taken her own life, as opposed to being a slave to the reapers, and the two had become a bit closer after that. Tali had lost her mother at a young age, but the loss was similar enough.
"Heard about that." Jacob muttered. "She did what she could to stop Saren. The press didn't like the concept, but they didn't have a choice in it. The truth was out."
"Something is odd here." Miranda had looked over the crate carefully while they had talked. "These supplies are from the Alliance." She motioned to a few other crates. "They were unopened, but it seems the colonists knew what they were. There's a note here from an imports worker."
"What did they say?" Shepard turned to look at the datapad sitting on the top of the topmost crate. She could read it clearly over Miranda's shoulder.
"Apparently," Having already read it, Miranda elaborated. "They were sending supplies for something. The note doesn't say what, but from these supplies, it seems it had a good targeting system."
"You thinking defenses?" Jacob asked then. "The Alliance knew about these attacks."
"Possibly."
"What I don't get is how a whole colony of humans is abducted, and a quarian is left behind."
"Surely, you don't think he was the mastermind or in on it." Shepard said it as a joke, and Jacob grinned.
"Nah. They're good, but they're not that good." He shook his head. "Maybe his environmental suit kept him hidden."
"Highly likely." Miranda thought aloud. "From what we know of their suits, they are highly advanced. They could well be what protected him from whoever was here."
"Or they're just particular as hell and only wanted humans."
"So what Prazza mentioned was true." Shepard drew her pistol and began to move forward; Miranda did the same.
"Technically." She said simply. "One of their own people suggested it. I'm personally not aware of most of the details. From my understanding, most of it was over getting a talented biotic back so that Cerberus could study her."
"Probably not the whole truth, but it's all the Illusive Man would say."
"Smart man." Shepard muttered. "Limit information to keep all your ducks in a row."
"There is some truth to that." Miranda admitted. Right after that, her tone became more businesslike. "Right, something to look into later." She motioned toward the supply crates. "The security barricade is just through there. Hopefully, the quarians haven't encountered anything heavier than we have."
Shepard had to agree.
"Let's hope not."
Nearing the barricade, they all heard something that sounded like heavy gunfire from a chain gun. Shepard immediately motioned for the two others to find cover. Once they had, she prepared to override the lock.
"Tali, what's your position?"
"Prazza and his team went ahead!" Tali's voice came over her comm, along with the sound of more gunfire. "I told them to wait, but-" Her next words were drowned out by the sound of the gunfire becoming extremely loud. When it had died down a bit, she continued. "Shepard, they are trying to get to Veetor and get him out of here before-"
"Don't worry. We're here! Miranda-"
"On it." The other woman was already working with a decryption program on her omni tool. She stood on one side of the door, while Shepard had the other. "Ten seconds."
"Hurry, Shepard! They're getting cut down!"
"Almost there." Shepard ramped up her barrier. She saw both Miranda and Jacob doing the same. "You're a biotic, Jacob?"
"I am." He nodded. "Probably not as quick as either you or Miranda, but I get by."
"Brace for heavy fire." It didn't need to be said, but the others nodded. When the barricade came down, they were faced with a cluster of FENRIS mechs and a YMIR. It was the one doing the heavy shooting. Already, they could see snow flecked with light purple blood. The quarians hadn't fared well.
"Go!" Shepard and the others rushed in and started an all out assault on the large mech that had just noticed them.
Miranda immediately went to work stripping its shields with overload. Jacob opened fire with modded rounds to assist. This left Shepard to create an unstable singularity that caught the mech off-guard. While not strong enough to lift the thing off the ground, it was enough to make it stumble about. While it continued to fire, the projectiles got caught in the biotic field; they continued to circle it like a mad swarm of insects. Each time it tried to escape its trap, Jacob sent heavy biotic pulses toward it to knock it back into the singularity field. Eventually, the projectiles shot at it stopped bouncing off and made contact. Shepard then had an idea.
While simply letting a singularity fester was easy, there was another, more deadly form of the biotic attack. She had learned it from Liara later in their pursuit of Saren. If maintained and controlled, the singularity could be forced to implode; causing whatever was caught in it to crumble in on itself. Having attempted it once before, Shepard had made this her second practice run. She'd kept a tight hold on the field, and it had cost her. Her head was aching slightly with the strain. Still, as she closed her fist and gave it a violent jerk downward, the singularity went in on itself. All of the mech's projectiles that had been caught n it were sent crashing into the metal body of the YMIR mech. A harsh scraping of metal was heard, along with a heavy peppering sound from the rounds as they crushed glass and dented steel.
"It's not enough!" Jacob called out. Even with this happening, the mech was resistive. It attempted to regain balance; its turret firing at random.
"Preparing to fire a missile!" Miranda pointed. It's launcher was opening.
"Shepard, look out!" Tali's voice over the comm came as the rocket was released.
The projectile made a sheering turn and crashed into the YMIR's chassis; it exploded, showering the surrounding area with parts.
"What the hell just happened?" Jacob recovered first. He stood from where he had taken cover and went toward the mech. Its turret was still twitching, but it had stopped firing after the impact. "It fired on itself."
"That was one hell of an AI hack." Shepard and Miranda stood as well. The former turned to see quarians emerging. "Tali?"
"That wasn't me." She shrugged. "None of us, for that matter."
"Then who-"
A heavy clunk was heard behind where Shepard and Miranda stood. When they turned around, Shepard blinked to be sure that she was seeing correctly.
"Shepard, Commander."
"Geth!" One of the quarians shouted. This left Shepard to turn back toward them.
"Hold it!" She called out. Two had already raised their rifles, preparing to fire. "Weapons down."
"Shepard, it's a geth." Tali pointed out. "We fought dozens of them when pursuing Saren."
"I know," Shepard looked back toward the geth that stood on top of one of the prefabs. "But none of them called me by name." Addressing the geth, she spoke plainly. "You know who I am."
"Yes." It didn't move from where it had dropped down from the top of another prefab.
"Will you attack us?"
"No."
"Why are you here?"
"After your reported disappearance, we were sent to investigate." The geth answered, collapsing its rifle and replacing it into its place on its back. "We will disarm this platform, and have assisted in the destruction of this mech as a gesture of good faith. We do not wish harm to creators, Shepard Commander, or others."
"So you're the one to thank for this thing shooting a rocket into its chest." Shepard glanced back at the smoking YMIR. "Why did you want to find me? Have we met?"
"We have not met."
"I've fought hundreds of geth, maybe more." Shepard thought about it. "Surely you have heard of me before now."
"We are geth, and we have never met you." It slowly dropped down from the prefab it was standing on and stood in front of Shepard. "We oppose the Old Machines, we oppose heretics. Shepard, Commander opposes the Old Machines. Shepard, Commander opposes heretics. Cooperation furthers mutual goals."
"Old Machines…" Tali moved forward, from where she had been previously, and came to stand near Shepard. "You mean Reapers?"
"Reaper, a superstitious term used by Protheans." The geth addressed Tali directly. "Geth refer to them as the Old Machines."
"Geth that we encountered wanted to join the Reapers." Tali countered. "You oppose them?"
"Heretics wish for the Old Machines to grant them a future. We wish to establish our own."
"You say that you were sent to investigate after I disappeared." Shepard voiced a thought. "Just how far did you go?"
"We visited previous known locations." The geth answered. "Suggestion: We can discuss this matter at a later time. Priority: Lost creator is located in that structure."
"Veetor." Tali muttered. "How much do you know about what happened here?"
"Limited data available." The geth admitted. "We arrived after Creators' shuttle landed. We received information that Shepard, Commander would arrive here."
"We'll discuss the gaping hole in Cerberus' communication protocols later." Miranda muttered under her breath.
"You said that cooperation furthers mutual goals." A thought hit Shepard then. "Are you asking to join us?"
"Yes."
"Let's find Veetor first." Shepard could feel the tension from the quarians and even a slight hesitation from Miranda and Jacob. It was almost palpable. "We can discuss that once he's safe."
"Acknowledged." The geth remained where it was. "We will remain here. Creator Veetor'Nara is there." It indicated the warehouse that Tali had mentioned earlier.
"Come on." Tali said quietly to Shepard. "The sooner we get to him, the sooner we will both have answers."
"About what happened here or about the random geth that showed up?" Shepard asked in an equally low tone as they began to walk away.
"Both."
"Jacob, wait here with him." Shepard motioned toward the geth; its optic flashing once as if it were blinking. "We don't want any incidents."
"Copy that." He looked a bit uncomfortable, but Jacob did as asked.
They proceeded toward the warehouse, but Tali made a brief stop where her people were working to patch up the wounded. Seeing two of them dead, Shepard wondered what this would mean for Tali when she reported back to the fleet, if she reported back. Tali seemed to be thinking along those lines. She stepped in front of the one called Prazza and looked down at him. He was wounded and being treated.
"If you weren't suffering from a probable infection right now…" She began.
"We should have reached him before Cerberus." Prazza muttered defiantly. "You should not trust so easily, Tali'Zorah; especially not a ghost or a geth."
"You should have learned to follow orders." She countered sharply. "Don't think your captain won't hear about this. In the end, you risked the lives of your squad by moving forward without clearance." She left him there to be scanned and headed for the ramp that led inside the warehouse. Shepard and Miranda followed.
Once they got there, they found it to be dark. Most of the space was clear of boxes or debris. A wide bank of monitors was set up with various images and live feeds running. At the desk in front of them sat a quarian. He didn't look to be injured in any way, but he was muttering something to himself. As they got closer, they could hear exactly what he was saying:
"Monsters coming back… Mechs will protect. Safe from swarms, have to hide." He was shaking slightly in the chair as he spoke in a quavering voice. "No more monsters, no more swarms. No, no, no, no, no…"
"Veetor?" Tali tried first. He began to shake his head in response.
"No Veetor, not here. Swarms can't find… Monsters coming, have to hide-"
"No one is going to hurt you, Veetor." Tali tried again. This only resulted in Veetor tapping his fingers on the holo keys in front of him. When she looked back at Shepard, she shrugged.
"Maybe he will react to this." Shepard carefully used her omni tool to connect with the local network. In a slow swipe, she turned the displays off. After a few seconds' hesitation, Veetor turned his chair around to look at them. His focus was on Shepard and Miranda.
"You… You're human." He stood up then. "Where did you hide? How did they not find you?"
"How did who not find us?" Shepard recognized that softer tone when Miranda spoke to Veetor. Privately, she was grateful for it. The woman's usual, up front, manner would probably have startled him.
"Monsters." Veetor began. "The swarms… They took everyone."
"What do you mean, Veetor?" Shepard asked then. "What were these monsters?"
"You don't know…" He lowered his head. "You didn't see."
"We just arrived, Veetor." Now that he seemed to be paying attention, Tali tried again. It seemed to startle Veetor that someone else, a non-human, was there.
"Came to find me?" He asked then.
"We were sent to bring you home after the attack on the colony." Tali confirmed. "Did you see anything?"
"I saw everything." Veetor turned back to the monitors and began working with the holo keys again. When he was done, all monitors worked as one to show a full-length recording.
Small creatures, resembling insects, flew about in clusters or large swarms. At one point, they were a solid mass, blanketing an entire area of the colony. As the camera drones moved, Shepard noticed that the people in the sot didn't. Humans stood in the square, looks of fear on their face, and watched with wide eyes. They were in suspended animation. Walking among them was another creature, something that Shepard had only seen in her nightmares. It looked somewhat different from what she remembered, though.
"A prothean?" She indicated the creature. Immediately, Miranda turned to look at her with questioning eyes.
"You've seen them before?" She was genuinely surprised.
"Not them, exactly," Shepard looked back at the displays; the video feed was over, and a still of the creature standing beside one of the colonists was there. "But something like them. That thing resembles what I saw when accessing those beacons: a prothean."
"I think that's actually a collector." Miranda muttered. She used her omni tool to magnify the image slightly. "Did you piece this back together manually, Veetor?"
"Had to." He nodded shakily. "Someone had to see, to know."
"What exactly is a Collector?" Shepard looked the creature over carefully. It was similar, but there were distinct differences between what she had seen and what this thing was.
"They're a race of creatures that hail from beyond the Omega 4 relay." Miranda began. "We don't know much, but we suspect that they show up from time to time and trade tech for information. Very few people have seen them in person."
"The Omega 4 relay?"
"It's a relay in the Omega nebula." Tali took over. "People have tried to go through it, but they have never returned. A few of our more adventurous and foolish ship captains took vessels through it to try and improve our fleets. Unfortunately, we have never heard from them again."
"I studied them." Veetor said suddenly. "The swarms and the monsters. I took recordings with my omni tool. Lots of readings: High levels of electromagnetic charges and dak energy."
"What happened to the colonists, Veetor?" Shepard, while still looking at the thing that Miranda had called a Collector, finally asked. "Did you see where they went?"
"Seeker Swarms." Veetor indicated the tiny insects. "They find you. No one can hide. They sting and freeze people." He visibly shivered. "They took them away, onto the ship, and left. They'll be back for me… They don't leave witnesses."
"They won't find you here, Veetor." Tali assured.
"Shepard," Miranda turned to her. "I think this may be the link te Illusive Man was looking for." She indicated the collector and seekers. "If they are working for the Reapers, then that could explain why human settlements are going silent and their colonists are being taken."
"Veetor," Shepard carefully approached the quarian. He was still nervous, but he didn't back away. "After what you've been through, I hate to ask this of you." She gestured slowly toward the monitors. "Would you allow us to take a copy of all of the data you have here: the security footage and everything you recorded. I ask this because I know that data like this could be very valuable to your people. They deserve to have it as much as we need it."
"Do you think it will help?" The question was so innocent, Shepard couldn't help but feel a warm feeling rising in her.
"I think it will." Miranda caught on quickly. "Information like this could give us the proof we need to stop this from happening to anyone else."
"Take it, then." He activated his omni tool and turned to the console in front of him. After a moment, he turned back around and handed Miranda an OSD. "Everything I have." He looked from one human to another. "Make sure this doesn't happen again."
"We'll do our best." Shepard made that promise with the intention of fulfilling it. "Thank you, Veetor. What you've done here will help save lives. We greatly appreciate it." She then turned to Miranda. "Go ahead and meet up with Jacob. Get that back to the shuttle and take our new friend with you."
"Understood." Miranda got the meaning clearly. "Meet you back there." She then headed out of the warehouse and down toward where Jacob was still standing. Shepard could just see him in the reflection off one of the monitors. Once the door closed back, Tali approached Veetor.
"Are you injured, Veetor?"
"No, they didn't get me."
"We're here to take you back to the flotilla." Tali repeated. "Is that alright?"
"Yes, alright." Veetor took one last look back at the monitors before slowly starting toward the door. Tali and Shepard went with him. As the door opened again, he looked back at Shepard. It was good that he did, seeing as Miranda and Jacob were jus leaving with the geth.
"They were good people."
"We'll do what we can to try and find them." Shepard said quietly. "I'm not sure if it is possible, but I'll leave no stone unturned."
They made their way back to where the other quarians were waiting. Some of them gave Veetor reproachful looks, but nothing was said. It seemed that body language counted for a lot when it came to their people. Tali's movements and gestures suggested that they were not to say anything to or about Veetor at the moment, and when asked, she said that she would brief them later. From there, they began moving back through town and toward the shuttles.
"Tali, after he's settled, could I have a word?" Shepard hung back on approach to the shuttlepad. Tali, looking back, nodded.
"I was hoping we could." She went forward and left Veetor with another quarian. After having a quick conversation with her, Tali doubled back. They were alone. Miranda and Jacob were already inside the Cerberus shuttle. After a second's pause, Tali spoke again.
"That could have been a lot worse than it was back there. Prazza and his people could have been cut down by that mech." She turned to look at Shepard again. "Thanks for getting there so quickly."
"Not a problem." Shepard dismissed. "Just glad we got there when we did."
"Regardless of the flotilla's history with Cerberus, he made a terrible mistake." Tali wrung her hands furiously. "Honestly, as it is, we'll lose two of them, if not more. We can't afford that with the state of things."
"State of things?"
"The admiralty board is in a heavy debate at the moment, but I don't know what about. There are rumors that they are deciding whether to try and take back our homeworld."
"Is that wise right now?" Shepard knew nothing of the quarians' numbers. She couldn't remember Tali mentioning it before.
"No, but it would be a good thing if we were to engage the reapers." Tali muttered. "Consider what would happen if we were to engage the reapers with our entire species on our liveships."
"Yeah. It would mean your people would either be wiped out entirely, or there would be too few for repopulation."
"Exactly." Tali shook her head again. "I'm sorry." She finally shrugged. "Here I am talking about possible quarian politics, and I can't even imagine what is going through your head right now."
"Believe me, hearing that is better than paying attention to my thoughts that are running in the background."
"I wish I could go with you." The sudden admission made Shepard blink.
"What, sorry?"
"Given what I've just heard, back there with Veetor, you're lookin into disappearances and a connection between collectors and the reapers."
"Looks like it." Shepard nodded. "I think Miranda's right: this was what the Illusive Man was looking to find."
"I have responsibilities of my own now, but if I didn't, I would join you without question."
"I'd be grateful for the familiarity, but I completely understand." Shepard did. There was a lot going on, and she was sure there had been in the two years she'd been gone. "Just know that if there is a point where you want to and are able to leave, I'd be more than happy to have you."
"I'll remember that."
"I don't know what I'm doing here, Tali." It was Shepard's turn for truth-telling. "I know just enough that it's dangerous. I remember people, but I don't have that same connection to them as I'm sure I used to. On top of that, I'm surrounded by people who work for an organization that I know is terrible."
"I won't argue that Cerberus should get a second chance," Tali thought for a second. "But maybe they're not all terrible." She relented. "I don''t know anything about the two you're with, but they don't seem anti-alien."
"Miranda and Jacob were part of the team that brought me back." Shepard cast an eye back toward the shuttle. "Not sure what to make of them yet."
"You mentioned that you remember people, but you feel disconnected from them." Tali activated her omni tool. "I'm not sure if you have had any chance to look at your extranet inbox, but…" She began a data transfer, and Shepard's omni activated to receive it. "This is an archive of messages that were sent after you were declared dead." She said that last with a little hesitation.
"They left it open and active?"
"Someone thought it might be a way for people to…" Tali faltered. When the transfer was finished, she continued. "To say goodbye."
"Closure." Shepard nodded.
"Maybe." Tali regarded her friend and former CO carefully. "It wasn't easy. None of us could be sure, but at the same time, we were." She looked down at her omni tool again for a second. "None of us really kept track of it, but I know that there were a lot of messages sent. Maybe something in them can help to solidify those bonds again."
"Thanks, Tali." Shepard didn't know what to say. She knew her own situation was frustrating enough. Trying to imagine what it must have been like for others wasn't even on her radar. Still, it was a thought that grounded her. The extranet archive might hold answers; that was something she could look forward to.
"I should get back." Tali finally said. "Some of those injuries are too severe for our people to treat."
"I understand." Shepard glanced back toward the Cerberus shuttle again. "They'll be expecting me soon as well."
"Wherever this investigation takes you, " Tali said as she stepped closer. "Just remember that there is always a way back to where you began." She placed a hand on Shepard's shoulder before passing.
"I'll do what I can to keep in touch." Shepard turned to watch her go. "I'll avoid sending messages while in any Cerberus facilities or on their vessels. Not sure if they'll try and keep an eye on my correspondence." She added in an undertone. "And Tali, thanks. You don't know how much good it did to see you."
"I do, actually." Tali paused as she prepared to step back onto the shuttlepad, where the quarians were preparing to leave. "It meant a lot to me too. Good luck, Shepard."
She watched the shuttle take off and ascend from the shuttleport. Once they were out of visual range, Shepard approached the Cerberus shuttle. Everyone was already aboard. When she stepped up onto it, the door closed silently behind her, and she could feel it lift off from the ground. On first glance, she saw that Hawthorne and Goldstein were up front. Jacob was sitting near the door, and Miranda was standing near a terminal. Her omni tool was active, and there was a progress bar going across its display.
Veetor's data.
Making another visual pass through the shuttle, she spotted the geth standing in a corner. Its LED was dimmed, but its head was turned toward her.
"I take it we're heading back to the station we left from." Shepard moved past Miranda and sat down on the bench closer to the geth. Its LED was still on her, but she shrugged it off.
"We'll have to check in with the Illusive Man upon arrival." Miranda confirmed. The upload had finished. She took the bench opposite of Shepard, sweeping her hair away from her face as she did. "Assuming that we've found what he was looking for, I' sure he'll have further suggestions."
"I'm sure he'll have questions about him." Jacob pointed his thumb toward the geth.
"We will answer any query within respectable limits." The geth supplied automatically.
"We," Jacob looked up. "Don't you mean you?"
"We are all geth." LED blinking as the geth turned its optics on Jacob, it went on. "Though confined to a singular platform, there are over one thousand programs running simultaneously."
"How many of those programs voted on that piece of armor for repairs?" Jacob indicated something that Shepard hadn't noticed in her first inspection of the geth. It was a piece of armor from an alliance-issued chestplate. She could just see the N7 insignia. The red armor stripe was obvious, now that she actually looked.
"Good question." She nodded appreciatively toward Jacob before addressing the geth. "Where did that come from?"
"It was yours."
"What?" Miranda looked up then.
"After your disappearance, we were sent beyond the veil to investigate." The geth activated an omni tool that had a white-green overlay, as opposed to the normal yellow-orange. A model of a galaxy map appeared with several pins marking locations. "Previous known locations were visited: Eden Prime, Therum, Noveria, Virmire, Feros, and Ilos were initial targets."
"Can't say that people would have been pleased to see a geth on Eden Prime." Jacob frowned. "I know I wouldn't be."
"Avoidance of organics was paramount."
"I'd bet."
"Where else did you go?" Miranda asked, watching Jacob with a wary eye.
"Several other uncharted worlds, Intai'sei, and Alchera were final target sites."
"Alchera was where your ship went down." Jacob pointed out. "I take it that's where you found that armor piece."
"Encounter with Blue Suns mercenary band." The geth looked down at the piece of the chestplate. "A necessary repair."
"Why the N7 chestplate?" Shepard looked at the chestplate again. She remembered it well; the scratch on the number seven had been from when a geth crawler had latched onto her on Noveria. The scorch mark by the shoulder guard had been made by Saren after Sovereign had destroyed what was left of his corpse and taken complete control…
"We are still attempting to build a consensus. Please try again later."
"That's an easy way to avoid the question." Jacob quipped. Light had passed over his face, and he didn't look too comfortable with this conversation. The light had come through the shuttle's virtual windows, which were closing.
They were docking again.
"The Illusive Man will more than likely be waiting to speak with you." Miranda stood from where she had been sitting. "I've gotten confirmation that he has received Veetor's data."
"I'll speak with him and we'll go from there." Shepard rose rom her place as well. The shuttle had just touched down, and the hatch was released. At this point, she wasn't running off of directions, but she wasn't ready to take charge either. There were too many unknowns just now.
"We'll be here."
With Miranda's last words, Shepard went up the stairs and back toward the small and dark room where she had spoken with the Cerberus founder before. Once there, her conversation with him went just as she had figured: They had found what he was looking for, the Collectors were working with the Reapers in an abstract or direct way, and she was being asked to find a way to stop them. The Illusive Man went out of his way to prove that her old team was unavailable as of now. She knew this, but it didn't ease the gaping hole that they left behind.
As detached as she was, she felt the pull of their lack of presence.
In short, Shepard was to work with Miranda, Jacob, and other members of the Lazarus cell that she hadn't met yet. He had a list of dossiers that she should consult. These people were specialists in their own fields, and they would be helping her team stop the Collectors. As a bonus objective, they were to try and find out just why Collectors and Reapers were working together.
"Go to Omega and find Mordin Solus." Those were the Illusive Man's final words as their meeting ended. "I have a starship ready and waiting for you. Mordin's expertise will be key to finding a way to resisting the Collectors."
"Sounds like an order." Shepard remarked dryly. The man had his way of leading a conversation or manipulating a situation to suit him. She could already see that.
"I've given you a start. What you choose to do with it is up to you." He prepared to end the communication between them. "Oh, and I've taken the liberty of finding a suitable pilot. I think you'll like him."
The space around her went dark as the communication timed out. When Shepard turned to leave, she expected to see someone waiting there. Instead, she was met with an empty corridor and flight of stairs. When she ascended them, the others were waiting outside. Hawthorne and Goldstein were gone, and so was the shuttle. Jacob was sitting at a table nearby, and Miranda was leaning against a support rail.
"Orders?" She looked up when she heard Shepard approach.
"It is heavily suggested that we head to Omega to find a salarian named Mordin Solus." Shepard relayed the information. "There are others we'll need to find as well."
"I suppose it is time that I let you in on a little secret, then." Miranda stepped away from the railing and turned toward a corridor nearby. The door had a blazing red lock on it, but as she stepped toward it, she waved her omni tool over it, and the lock turned green. "I think you'll be pleasantly surprised."
"Pleasantly surprised, huh?"
"That is the hope, yeah."
As they walked through the door, Shepard was aware that Jacob had risen and joined them. The corridor ahead was dimly lit with what looked to be running lights near the base of the wall. Once they reached the end of it, they took a lift up to a large landing. Before the door to the lift opened, Miranda tapped her earpiece.
"Are final preparations underway?"
"Affirmative." It was Hawthorne's voice that came through clearly. "Ready when you are."
"Someone wanted to have a private word before we shove off." Jacob shrugged as the doors opened. They were looking out on a dark landing.
"Jacob and I will go ahead." Miranda picked up where he left off. "They'll be along in a moment."
"Didn't think theatrics were your style, Miranda." Shepard added as she saw the two head down the left side of the landing. "They don't suit you."
"Not my idea." She said over her shoulder. "Still, I think it will be worth it."
Shepard watched them go. She could just see them going along the side of the landing due to the continuing running lights. A moment after they had gone out of visual range, she heard uneven footsteps approaching from the other side. She turned to see who the newcomer was, and her eyes landed on a very familiar figure.
"Hey Commander," He stepped closer. "Looking good."
"Joker?" His voice immediately registered. Appearance-wise, he looked different. He was paler, beard was thinner, and he was dressed in combat fatigues that bore the Cerberus logo, rather than his Alliance Navy uniform. He was also sporting a back and white cap with the letters SR2 on the front. The meaning didn't register with her right from the off.
"The one and only." Jeff "Joker" Moreau shrugged lightly as he closed the distance between them. When he extended his hand, she took it and shook it carefully. "You don't know how good it is to see you."
"What are you doing here?" She was curious. "Thought you'd have stayed with the Alliance."
"The ones that just turned a bin eye when you disappeared?" He shook his head. "They grounded me and the others for a while; didn't really know what to do with us."
"I died, Joker." A dark edge cut across in her voice as Shepard said it. The thought struck her that he, of all people, would have known that.
"Believe me, I know." Joker's eyes moved to read her expression before he continued. "After that, things just fell apart. We were your crew, and with you gone, Alliance Command didn't know what to do." He motioned for her to follow him then. He had a decent limp, but he wore braces to keep him up and moving. "I got a call a few days ago, and Cerberus made me an offer."
"You know what they were like before, though."
"Yeah, but their selling point was that you were alive." Joker looked back for a second. They were heading in the same direction as Miranda and Jacob had. "I didn't know what to believe at first, but yeah." He stepped onto a platform and waited for her to join him. When Shepard did, he tapped a controller switch, and they were taken further up to another walkway.
"Then there's this. They only told me about it last night."
As they stood there, lights began powering on from above. They fell on chrome, white, gold, and black paint. Shepard stared as the full body of a sleek starship was brought out of the darkness. From stem to stern, she took in every detail. Larger in scale, the frigate was both a nod to the past and a step toward the future. Letters embossed in gold spelled out a name that both warmed her heart and chilled her spine.
Normandy.
"I know it isn't the same," He began. "But it's as close to home as I've been in the last two years." He finally admitted. "The others are already down there, but I wanted to be here for the big reveal."
"Seen the inside yet?" It was the best she could come up with. While the prospect of a return to Normandy was good, it hurt as much as it helped. Shepard had mixed feelings about it.
"Not yet." Joke shook his head. "Figured I'd wait for you."
"Let's see what she's made of."
