…
"I am you, and you are me. And we are here. I am the dreamer and you are the dream."
(Whitley Strieber)
…
Tayseri Ward, November 20th, 12:48 PM, 2186
…
We ran through the ruined sections of the ward, careful to keep our flashlights turned off as the other squad followed behind us once the coast was clear. For once, the power being out was a good thing, even with the occasional spotlight from a nearby ship shining down through the large overhead windows. We had gotten off lucky, Cerberus still had no idea we were here.
"If Shepard and his team are still here somewhere, his ship must have gone to ground." Reegar remarked, crouched next to me as we scanned the area ahead of us with thermals. "Those Phantom-class ships have the visual cloak, right?"
"Yeah, but they can't stay hidden forever, especially if they're masking their emissions too." I shrugged, looking up into the space between the wards and failing to catch any ship profiles that matched the Normandy. "Hopefully they're alright."
"Shepard is one tough customer, maybe tougher than you." Reegar joked, getting a good chuckle out of me and adding a moment of levity to this situation. "Hopefully he's closer than we are."
The moment was cut short as voices could be heard further ahead, amplified by a set of loudspeakers. It was clearly human, and it didn't take a genius to deduce it was coming from the C-SEC station.
"Yaelo, Son, get up on those rooftops and give us some overwatch." I ordered, watching them immediately grab the nearest overhang and pull themselves up with zero effort. "The rest of you, stay low."
We moved up another block into a section of the station that had been repaired, finally getting eyes on the C-SEC station. There was a crowd of people lined up outside of the station as Cerberus played some pre-recorded PR bullshit over the station's loudspeakers. In front of the station was a small square where a pile of corpses sat, most of which were wearing C-SEC uniforms. I wanted to be outraged, but I had finally reached the point where Cerberus could no longer surprise me with their brutality. There was no time for outrage now.
The square was surrounded on all sides by buildings and merchant stalls, offering more than enough opportunities to snipe from and take cover. The front of the station itself was a mostly standard affair, other than the mounted gun and fencing that had been hastily erected to protect the front. Two fireteams, a handful of upgraded LOKI mechs, and three human C-SEC officers were all that stood between us and the inside. The civilians outside were the real wildcards, though. There was no telling what a bunch of panicked people would do once the shooting began.
"Reegar, take your men behind the buildings and set up in that shorter one over there." I pointed out, highlighting the red-plated one that appeared to be a Serrice Council vendor of some kind. "We'll push up once Yaelo takes out that heavy gun. Provide us with covering fire, and make sure there are no civilians in the crossfire."
"Understood. ORIONs, move out!" He finished, moving surprisingly fast with his men following closely behind as me, Largos, and Jallere with her two Rachni soldiers waited with the rest of the men behind us.
The pre-recorded asshole on the loudspeaker was urging humans specifically to come forth and submit themselves to Cerberus processing, while the "aliens" were being urged to remain in their homes and await further instructions. It was easy to guess why, but part of me still couldn't believe how blatant they were being in their intentions. Part of it didn't seem to be working though, considering the mixed crowd in the square.
"If these individuals had not been so short-sighted, relinquishing the right to defend themselves, this may have never happened." Largos spoke, one of the rare moments he did such a thing. "Why any sentient individual would depend on anyone else but themself to ensure their own survival, I cannot fathom."
"Back on my world, that was the hot-button issue of our day." I replied, looking back at him with a smirk. "I'm happy keeping my guns, thank you very much."
Before more could be said, the distinctive crack of Yaelo's anti-material rifle could be heard shattering the helmet of whatever poor son-of-a-bitch was manning the mounted gun, sending the civilians into a panic. We pushed up, using the cover between us and the station to its full effect as the outside guards fell under a wall of fire. The engagement hadn't even lasted more than twenty seconds before the gunfire had subsided.
"Good work, keep moving!" I yelled over the shouts and screams of the crowd, all of us moving in unison towards the station's doors as the ORIONs caught up with us, stacking against the walls behind us. "Largos, I want a barrier up before we open this door. Give me everything you have. Once we're through the door, take out anyone armed with a weapon, even if they have a C-SEC uniform. No prisoners, we don't have time to run security."
My men readied their weapons as Largos nodded his head, eyes glowing a brilliant blue as his body pulsed with a biotic field, sending up a sheer barrier that covered the width and length of the entire doorway. I opened the door as a hail of gunfire began pounding the barrier from inside. Several Cerberus commandos had taken cover behind the reception desk, using it as a reinforced position.
Largos slowly walked forwards, clearly straining under the stress as he began panting heavily. We moved closely behind him, firing our weapons past the edges of the barrier as we got as much of a foothold as possible.
"Hold it, hold it… go!" I yelled, getting him to blast the barrier forwards, ripping apart most of the reception desk as we all broke off for other pieces of cover. We fired on the move, keeping them suppressed as we flanked around the position. I aimed up as I fired, taking down a woman with a marksman rifle of some kind as I jumped into a nearby office alcove. I heard the rush of footsteps on the other side of the wall, so I armed two grenades and threw them around the corner, hearing the yells of two more commandos as I smiled.
Jallere used her biotics to create barriers for her Rachni, which quickly charged towards several commandos and proceeded to rip them to pieces right in the middle of the lobby. Bits of metal and flesh flew through the air as one of them spat a glob of acid at another unlucky soldier, melting straight through his armor and into his chest. He died screaming as it boiled his chest, leaving me with a pit in my stomach. Jallere herself used her free hand to shoot her Carnifex at the quickly-fleeing commandos, using it with surprising accuracy.
The ORIONs were tanking most of the gunfire with their advanced shields and armor, especially since most of the commandos were still using the older modified "Harrier" Mattocks. Some of them were equipped with pulse rifles, but they were the first to be targeted the moment they were identified. Once a foothold into the station had been established, the rest of my Marines started moving in, clearing the corners and executing anyone that was still moving. It was an ugly situation, executing the survivors, but considering what was happening right now, we didn't have much of a choice.
"Lobby secure, sir." One of the squad leaders announced, walking up to me as I checked my ammunition levels. "Orders?"
"Hold this position and make sure no one comes in this station except Bailey and his men. We'll deal with those civilians once we control the station." I laid out, gesturing towards the front door which was peppered with dozens of bullet holes.
"Yes'sir." He saluted, moving back towards the front as I ran towards the gunfire. Jallere propelled herself and her two soldiers up to the second level as Largos followed me, having inserted a drinking tube into his mouth.
We carefully entered the storage areas, mostly holding cells and evidence storage. There was still plenty of evidence showing what Cerberus had done in here, including a few post-mortem stains on the floors from bodily fluids. Three commandos quickly turned around the other end of the hallway, forcing both of us into cover. Largos was still too tired and overheated to use his biotics, so we had to do this the old-fashioned way.
"Cover me!" I shouted, getting Largos to pull out his rarely-used gun and fire it down the hallway. I ran across with my head ducked, leaping into an open storage room. Before I could fully process my surroundings, a lightly-armored commando who had been in the same room kicked me in the face, cracking my visor and knocking me to the floor.
I was clearly dazed, unable to move for a moment before I saw him raise a Talon towards me, about to execute me where I lied. Without thinking, I quickly grabbed the gun in his hands, pulling him to the floor with me as the rounds shot past my head, missing by less than an inch. We wrestled with the gun for a few moments as he began to overpower me, stronger than he looked. He let go of the gun with one hand, repeatedly punching me in the side of my ribs as I yelled out in pain.
The gun slipped out of my hands as he tried firing it again, only for it to click instead. It had overheated, much to my incredible luck. I quickly pulled my knife out and swung at his face, leaving a large gash on the side of his cheek as he fell backwards, dropping the gun. I forced myself to my feet as quickly as possible as he drew his own knife.
"Gah, you little bitch!" He yelled in rage, blood pouring from the side of his face as he lunged towards me.
I quickly drew my Carnifex and put three shots into his chest, dropping him before he could reach me. As my senses came back to me, I breathed heavily noticing there wasn't any more gunfire in the hallway.
"Largos? Report!" I shouted through the doorway, briefly poking my head out into the bullet-ridden hallway.
"I am fine, Admiral." He spoke calmly, peering down the hallway towards me. "The soldiers appear to have fled, rather than fight."
"Come on, we're not letting them get away." I urged as we walked back out, getting one of his signature nods.
We ran through several offices, still strewn with fallen papers and various other items. The few commandos that had escaped our initial push seemed to be fleeing towards the other end of the station, likely in an attempt to escape. We burst into the shuttle bay, seeing several of them quickly gathering in one of their Kodiak shuttles. Another burst of gunfire forced us into cover, getting me to breathe deeply. I wasted no time arming a grenade.
"Don't let them take off, they'll try to warn their friends!" I ordered, running back into the open with Largos as he launched a wave from his staff and I threw the grenade, managing to get it right in the crew compartment.
The commandos tried to grab it and throw it back outside, but whoever was piloting the shuttle must have panicked, closing the doors and immediately lifting off. The grenade exploded a second later, knocking out the shuttle's mass effect field and sending it crashing it right into a metal riot barrier, flipping it over.
"Nice toss, sir." Reegar remarked, having arrived just in time to see my handiwork. "The station is secure. Bailey and his men are arriving now."
"Good. Gather your team and do one more sweep. We'll meet back here in five minutes." I nodded, turning back to the crashed shuttle.
I walked down to where it had crashed, seeing it had caught on fire and was quickly burning out of control. One of the commandos, a woman, crawled out of the burning wreck, having survived both the grenade and the crash. She was badly wounded, and was leaving a clear blood trail behind her. I walked over, watching her try to raise her Talon towards me. I simply grabbed it out of her hand, crouching down next to her.
"Tell me where your boss is and what he's up to, and this medi-gel could be all yours." I negotiated as she looked up at me with a bloodied face.
"What makes you think… I'd listen… to a traitor like you?" She panted, barely able to hold herself up as matted black hair hung over her face.
"My men are under orders to shoot to kill, no prisoners. I can make an exception for you if you tell me what I need to know." I reiterated, realizing I was dealing with another one of those types. "You don't have to die here."
"Heh...heh… it's already too late… to stop what we have… planned." She grinned, obviously feeling very pleased with herself despite her condition.
"You mean your little plot in the Omega Nebula? I've already put a stop to that. The relay is going to remain very much intact." I remarked as part of a ploy, getting a shocked look from her very suddenly.
"W-what? How did you…?" She stammered, all superiority melting away in an instant. "You've… doomed us all! The… Reapers will flood in… once they discover what we've done!"
"We'll deal with that when the time comes. Thanks for confirming my suspicions, though." I finished, standing back up and tossing the Talon pistol aside.
"You… bastard!" She yelled, trying to grab my leg as I took a step to the side, putting myself out of her reach. I looked back down as her arm hit the ground with a heavy thunk, seeing she had stopped moving, the blood loss having finally taken its toll on her body.
Shaking my head, I opened my omni-tool as some of my wireless connections came back. I was happier now, knowing we could communicate again and that I had made the right decision to send Lenlo and Reegar out to Omega. I had no way of knowing if their mission was actually going to be a success or not, but it had clearly been a step in the right direction.
"Sir, we've found civilians locked up in the holding cells. All human." Jora remarked, running up behind me. "What should we do with them?"
"Let Bailey's men deal with them. Right now, we've got bigger fish to fry." I said with finality, looking up through the environmental shield above us at the specks of light across the Wards.
It was time for some creative driving.
…
C-SEC Shuttle C-114, November 20th, 1:23 PM, 2186
...
After discussing our vague plan in more detail to Bailey and briefly communicating with the other squads, we piled into three of the shuttles and prepared to move out. Jallere had agreed to stay behind to coordinate her Rachni and defend the station until the rest of the platoon showed up, who would follow us if conditions permitted it. 4th Squad would remain in the station to defend Bailey and his men while he continued to try rallying his surviving security forces. It wasn't a perfect plan, but it was all we could do at the moment.
Reegar, his ORIONs, and Largos were packed tightly in the back of the shuttle, barely fitting in the compartment. I looked back at the burning shuttle as we lifted off in our new blue/white C-SEC Kodiak variant, mostly filled with small arms and riot gear. The door closed as I walked into the cockpit, Gata sitting firmly behind the controls in a seat that was clearly too small for his armored frame.
"I didn't know you were a pilot, Gata." I smiled, sitting down across from him to act as his navigator.
"Not really a pilot. I have a basic certification, and that was only after failing the test once beforehand." He shrugged, turning back to face me as I narrowed my eyes. "Don't worry though, sir. I'll get you where you need to go."
"Hopefully in one piece." I smirked, turning back to the panel in front of me and connecting to the encrypted channel Bailey made us. "Alright, comms check. 116, 120, you guys read me?"
"We read you loud and clear, Admiral." One of them confirmed, getting me to reflexively nod.
"Good. Listen up, we're going to be taking the transit tunnels that snake through the ward to the Presidium." I explained, remembering what Bailey had told me in the station. "With the power out, navigation will have to be done manually, and could be difficult. Follow my shuttle closely, but watch your spacing and keep your eyes open for any sudden changes. If we're attacked, break off in different directions."
"Yes'sir." They confirmed, causing another burst of static to ring out through the comm line as I strapped myself in. I knew better than to rely solely on the inertial dampeners, especially in a shuttle that would immediately turn into a deathtrap if the mass effect fields failed.
"You do know that if something happens in those tunnels, we won't have much room to maneuver, right?" Gata pointed out as we lifted through the environmental shields, the holoscreen in front of us giving a good view of the Wards.
"Have a little faith, Sergeant." I smiled, opening the navigation interface as Reegar braced himself in the doorway behind us. "Proceed 541 meters forward until you've passed the ruined portion of the Ward. There should be an access tunnel that'll connect us to the main transit system."
He nodded, turning on the holoscreen as we began flying towards our objective.
Gata's reservations weren't unfounded, of course. The closer we got to the Presidium, the more cramped those tunnels got, and the more shops there were just sticking out into the open. It was intended for people using automated skycar transportation, not manually-controlled shuttles. We'd likely meet more resistance near the outer docking rings, but it was a poor area to defend in any situation and wasn't expected to be much of a problem.
Following my instructions, we entered the "underground" tunnels, which were cramped even now. Gata lurched the shuttle slightly as we leveled out near the bottom, but he quickly reined it in and kept us steady.
"Alright… take us all the way through this quadrant, then take a hard left. We should enter a curved transit tube passing through one of the residential districts." I continued as we dodged through the tunnels, the mounted spotlights our only source of light other than some scant red emergency lights.
As we pulled into the tube, a skycar suddenly appeared moving somewhere between 80 to 100mph right towards us. It nearly slammed into us as Gata pulled up just in time to dodge it.
"Asshole!" I yelled at the top of my lungs, feeling as if I was back in the driver's seat of my old Toyota RAV4 for a moment. I steadied my breathing, feeling a familiar tightness in my chest.
"What a bosh'tet…" Gata remarked, breathing just as heavily as me as he let out a nervous chuckle.
"Hell of a rush, huh?" I shook my head, realizing how odd it was that I felt I was in more peril in that one moment than all the times I had been in gunfights the last two years. "Uh, keep following the tube, sergeant. Once we're through the residential block, we'll enter the commercial district between the two halves of the ward."
"Yes'sir." He nodded, once again moving through the narrow transit system, though now with heightened adrenaline.
We flew through the residential block, seeing many of the apartments had caught on fire. There appeared to be lots of looting occurring in the absence of both C-SEC and power, and I always thought it was an ugly thing, seeing people revert to this destructive state.
"I hope they don't expect us to stop and help." Reegar remarked from the doorway, sounding just as disgusted as me.
"Even if we could, we don't have the time." I dismissed, knowing better than to entertain the thought.
Moving past several more apartments, we finally entered one of the commercial "strips", basically a sideways tunnel filled with shops and restaurants on either side of the sloped, canyon-like chasm. Normally a place like this would have been filled with holograms, movement, and color, but like the rest of the Wards, it was completely dark. We were lucky that it was mostly abandoned at the moment, aside from the parasitic looters who always took advantage of situations like this.
Before I could chart our next course, the radar pinged as two hostile signals were detected quickly approaching. I looked up, seeing spotlights just like ours zooming towards us. Cerberus Kodiaks armed with mounted weapons.
"Scatter! Evasive maneuvers!" I yelled over the comms as we sharply dipped forwards, barely missing a high explosive shell meant for us as we picked up speed. The other two shuttles shot off in different directions per my orders, creating a flurry of engines and high-speed metal. Reegar hopped back into the crew compartment and closed the door, likely to get everyone secured.
"I'm not a pilot!" Gata yelled in pure frustration as the inertial dampers fought against our velocity, creating a pit in my stomach as one of the two Cerberus shuttles gave chase. "What kind of weapons does this bucket have?!"
"All we have is the electric discharge ram on the front." I answered, bringing up the controls on my end. "It's meant for taking down skycars, I'm not sure it'll work on a military-grade shuttle."
"Bosh'tet!" He continued to yell, quickly leveling out and shooting into a much narrower stretch of tunnel. According to the map, we were quickly approaching the entertainment district. "Charge that ram as far as it'll go, I have an idea."
"Fine…" I mumbled, quickly overriding the charge safeties to give us a better chance of knocking out their shuttle.
We burst through some glass signs as we flew above the entertainment district, briefly obscuring our view as we nearly ran out of room again. The strategy of the Cerberus shuttle seemed to be to follow us as closely as possible, firing wildly with their cannons.
"Gata, we need to move. If we stay in a straight line he's going to nail us!" I urged, checking the rear-view camera as he closed in, nearly hitting us.
Without another word, he quickly pulled the shuttle up, flying between the structural girders holding the upper sections of the district together. I felt like I was on a rollercoaster at this point.
"What the hell are you doing, sergeant?!" I shouted over the whine of the engines, feeling my center of gravity shift as we dodged from side-to-side, nearly slamming into a support each time.
"I dunno… sure hope it works." He muttered calmly over the noise, rolling the shuttle forwards and back down through the girders as we entered near-freefall.
Before we could hit the suspended pedestrian platforms below, he corrected our orientation and blasted the front thrusters, crashing through an apartment window. He immediately turned back around and accelerated out, smashing the front of the shuttle into the Cerberus Kodiak dead-on. There was a flash as its thrusters flickered, dying as its mass effect fields went out. The ram had worked.
"How do you like that, you pricks?!" I yelled out of pure elation, watching it crash into another apartment further below and explode. Gata pulled off his helmet, breathing heavily as we looked at one another and smiled. "That was pretty fucking ninja, sergeant."
"I don't know what ninja is, but I'll assume that's a compliment." He grinned, still breathing quite hard as I leaned over and gave him a friendly pat on the shoulder.
"I think it's safe to say you've qualified yourself for an upgraded certification." I joked, feeling the sweat drip down my face as Reegar opened the door to the cockpit, looking at both of us silently.
"Gata, next time… please give us a little warning." He growled, understandably shaken from the quick maneuvers as Gata sat back in his seat with his eyes closed for a moment. I returned my attention to the radio, knowing we couldn't stay put for long.
"116, 120, this is 114. Do you read me?" I asked over our encrypted line, hoping they would pick up.
"114, this is 120. We managed to shake our pursuer, but 116… they didn't make it, sir." The sergeant on the other end replied, sending me into a barely-contained form of tranquil fury.
"Understood, 120. Follow our signal through the entertainment district. We'll rendezvous right before we hit the Presidium." I ordered, keeping myself steady as the elation I had felt moments ago was replaced by grief and anger.
I shut off the radio, turning back to the navigation screen without another word. Gata slipped his helmet back on, turning to me for directions.
"329 meters ahead, we'll re-enter the main tunnels. Let's get moving." I focused, watching him nod as we flew away from the carnage we had created.
…
C-SEC Shuttle C-114, November 20th, 1:57 PM, 2186
…
We finally neared the Presidium after several more minutes of, thankfully, uneventful driving. The docking ring was close now, hinted at by the lack of tunnels, and more fully-enclosed shopping and living areas. Once we were through the docking ring, it would be easy reaching the Citadel. The power in most of the sections were on now, giving us better visibility. We parked near the edge of one of the market promenades, beginning our dismount.
"I'm glad to be off your wild ride, Sarge." Jina joked as we walked into the abandoned promenade, weapons held cautiously. "No offense."
"None taken, Private." He returned with zero enthusiasm as 120 also began their dismount.
I opened my omni-tool, trying to get an idea of where exactly we were. We were very close to the bottom of the docking ring, only a few floors below it. As badly as I wanted to put us on elevators, I suspected Cerberus would either have them locked down or covered with turret guns. We couldn't risk it. Using one of the maintenance areas to climb up would be the best course of action.
"Alright, I've got a route that should get us where we need to go." I announced, turning back to my men. "Follow me."
Beginning our walk, I realized how strange it felt, seeing this place completely devoid of life. Normally this part of the Citadel was one of the busiest, with high levels of food traffic due to its proximity to the docking ring and Presidium. There was also something else, a weird sense of familiarity, like I had been here before. I shook it off, chalking it up to nerves. We had already been through quite a lot already at this point, and not knowing where we were in the galaxy didn't help in the slightest. We still had no idea how many people Cerberus still had running around out there, or what kinds of surprises they had brought with them.
The loss of several of my men was certainly enough motivation to kill them as quickly as possible, as if I needed more motivation than I already had before. And with no word still from Shepard or the Normandy, I was becoming a barely-controlled emotional trainwreck.
Suddenly, as we opened the doorway that led towards the maintenance areas, I realized why this place felt so familiar. It was the same alley Dan and I had ended up in nearly six years ago after the SDD accident, down to the red and white lights that lit it. I almost couldn't believe it, walking slowly as I took in the sight of the walls around me, the shiny polished floors and storage crates stacked near a store's back door.
In that brief moment, all the feelings and memories from those last few days years ago rushed back, managing to tear me up as I remembered the grief I felt for the loss of my father, anger at not being allowed to leave, and the fear as Dan and I were trapped inside that centrifuge, facing certain death.
It had been so long since I thought about it, that day… not since the beginning of the war at the very least. I forced myself to breathe, realizing I had stopped for a few moments.
"Sir, is there something wrong?" Reegar asked, snapping me back to what was happening around me.
"Yeah, I'm fine." I nodded, rubbing the gap between my mask and torso armor. "Just remembering the last time I was here."
I sucked up the ball that had formed in my throat, turning back around to face my men.
"No matter what happens up there, I want you all to watch each other's backs. The only way we're going to make it through this is if we all work together." I pepped up, taking my Pulse Rifle back out. "Check your targets, clear your firing lines, and kill any son-of-a-bitch with white armor. Understood?"
"Yes'sir!" Most of my soldiers said in unison, several of them saluting as well.
"Good. Let's do it." I finished, opening the door towards whatever was out there.
We were so close, and we wouldn't stop now.
…
A/N: We're moving right along, once more with feeling. A lot of this one I wrote in a drowsy daze due to working at night in 90F heat, so if there are any major mistakes please let me know. We're inching closer to something big, and I thank every single one of you for sticking with me on this.