Survival of the fittest chapter 18
"What the hell is going on? Where's Anderson? Where are we going?" Vega asked jane almost shoving into her.
"We're leaving," jane replied tapping into the console not looking up at him, she was hurt enough as it was without him shouting in her face.
"Leaving?!" Vega scoffed
"What's going on?" Kaidan asked in disbelief.
"Anderson wants us to go to the Citadel," she replied bluntly, "Get help for the fight."
"Bull shit! He wouldn't order us to leave," Vega snapped
"Did you not hear him on the docks?! That's exactly what he said!" Jane yelled back, the tears were already brimming, "We don't have a choice! Without help this war is already over."
"Forget it, drop me off some place!" James sneered
"Don't you think I'd rather stay and fight too?" jane pressed quietly, "We're going to the Citadel. If you don't like it, you can catch a ride from there." She felt the tears prick at her eyes "I left my fucking sister down there Vega"
"Jane" Kaidan breathed looking at her ashen face, her emerald eyes brimming with angry tears.
Jane was defeated, Vega had been her companion for the last six months, she thought they had an understanding, they got on well, but here they were at a pinnacle moment at each other's throats.
"Commander," Jokers voice echoed over the comms.
"Joker! That you?" Jane smiled, how good it was to hear his voice.
"Alive and kicking. I've got an emergency transmission from Admiral Hackett for you."
"okay-Patch it through."
The transmission was sketchy as best, static breaking through… it was hard to understand, dropping in and out, "Shepard-sustained heavy losses-force was overwhelming-no way we can defeat them conventionally."
Jane frowned, "Anderson's already ordered me to the Citadel to talk to the council."
"First I need you to-outpost on Mars-before we lose control of system." He ordered
"Yes, sir," Jane replied.
"-researching Prothean archives-T'Soni-found a way to stop the Reapers-only way to stop them-contact soon, Hackett out."
"Joker, set a course for the Mars archives," Jane stated inhaling deeply, back to the grind.
"Mars? Roger that."
Jane walked past Vega and Alenko, her face a mask of determination, a way to stop the reapers, she stopped looking down to the N7 armour that was on a table.
James looked at Kaidan, "This is loco." He breathed angrily
Jane shot him a look and shook her head.
"Why Mars? What does he think we'll find there?" Kaidan asked Jane.
"I don't know, but if it helps us win this war, so be it. Grab your gear," she nodded to them.
Vega flew the shuttle down towards the outpost.
Jane stood over him, she wanted to talk… to say something to make her friend less maddeningly hostile.
"I've been trying to reach Mars on secure channels, no one is answering," Joker said over the comm.
"Any sign of Reaper activity?" Jane pressed
"Negative."
"EDI?"
"The base appears to be online," EDI responded, "It's possible the inhabitants were evacuated."
"We'll know soon enough," Jane sighed, "Be ready, Joker, just in case."
Jane walked back to take a seat when she caught eyes with Kaidan who eagerly anticipated her taking a seat next to him… she couldn't do this right now, Liara, the way to stop the reapers, aki down on earth, she needed to banish everything and focus.
That's all she could let herself think about, she lingered beside him, there was a thick air between the two.
"We're almost there," vega stated as they approached the base, he managed to land the shuttle and they geared up before exiting.
"Still no contact from the base but we've got a massive storm headed our way," james frowned
"How long until it hits?" kaidan responded
"Half hour - tops. After that we're going to have trouble keeping contact with the Normandy."
"Understood. We better work fast then." Jane nodded
They made their way down the cliffs, Jane was fast… she wanted to find Liara, make sure she was safe but more so she wanted something that would decimate the reapers, Jane frowned noticing a dead Alliance soldier.
"Doesn't look like he put up a fight," Alenko murmured examining the body briefly.
"Something's not right here," Vega muttered on high alert.
"Keep a low profile until we know what's going on," Jane urged
As they around the corner, they heard two gunshots go off in the distance the sound reverberating wildly through the vast emptiness, looking ahead they could see Cerberus forces, one of them was standing in front of a row of Alliance soldiers, he put his gun up to the last soldier's head and pulled the trigger, execution style.
"Holy shit! They're executing them!" Vega gasped at the scene before them.
Jane quickly took to cover, "Let's take them out! Kaidan, reave! James, fire at the left! I'll take right"
It was Jane's first time back in action in little over six months, it felt good to be back in the saddle... she watched her team, watched the precision, Vega was good his skills almost made her forget about his arseholeness back on the ship.
"Those guys were Cerberus, weren't they?" James asked with a frown
"Yeah, they were," Jane replied shaking her head.
"What's Cerberus doing here on Mars?" Kaidan pressed, as if she'd know.
"Good question," Jane responded with an arched eyebrow, what were they doing here? The illusive man was clearly up to no good.
"You don't know?" Kaidan asked surprised
Jane shook her head, back to the same thing, "I'm not with them anymore, Kaidan, if that's what you're asking," she kept her voice level, hiding the disappointment.
"It wasn't…but you have to admit - it's pretty convenient." Kaidan summarised, they had barely started their first mission together after so long and he was already insinuating. After another wave of troopers, they made it up to the facility entrance controls. Vega activated the elevator and they each holstered their weapon for the ride.
"I need a straight answer, Shepard," Kaidan demanded crossing over to her
"kaidan-" she inhaled "About what?"
"Do you know anything about this? What is Cerberus doing here?"
"What makes you think I know what they're up to?" please just trust me.
"You worked for them, how am I supposed to believe you've cut all ties…"
"We joined forces to take down the Collectors, that's it." She just couldn't get it through to him… it was an alliance for a better cause, it was for the missing colonists…
"They rebuilt you from scratch, gave you a ship…resources…"
"Kaidan, let me make this perfectly clear…I've had no contact with Cerberus since I destroyed the Collector base. I have no idea why they're here now or what they want." She couldn't say anything else; she had no answers to give… if the truth wasn't good enough then maybe there was no hope.
"Shepard's been under constant surveillance since coming back to Earth; no way they've communicated since." Vega added in.
Kaidan sighed heavily, "I'm sorry, Shepard…I just…"
Jane waited a moment "you of all people should know what I'm about kaidan"
The elevator arrived at the top level, Jane stepped off first and looked over her shoulder at Kaidan, "I need you to trust me," jane stated sternly,
"I do trust you, I'm sorry- I didn't mean…" There was a noise in the venting shafts above cutting Kaidan off.
Jane grabbed her assault rifle, Kaidan and Vega pulled out their guns as well, they could hear gun shots in the vents, a skirmish.
They saw the venting gate explode outward and down fell a familiar face, Liara T'Soni. Closely behind her were Cerberus assault troopers, Liara turned threw a biotic pulse their way, she pulled out her pistol and shot a round into each of them… The troopers fell to the ground, Liara walked over to the fallen and shot two rounds into each of their heads.
Jane grinned getting out from cover and running over to the asari, "Shepard!" Liara beamed, "Thank the Goddess you're alive."
"You too," Jane replied as she gave her a quick tight hug
"I was worried when I heard the reports…I'm sorry about Earth," Liara stated sadly,
"Yeah…it was difficult to leave." Kaidan murmured
"I'm sorry, Kaidan," Liara replied
Liara looked back at Jane, "But why did you come here?"
"Hackett ordered us to - he said you'd know what was going on."
"I do," she nodded as she started to walk off.
"Hallelujah," Vega whooped as they followed after Liara, "Some answers…finally."
"Maybe. I've discovered plans for a Prothean device. One that could wipe out the Reapers." Liara admitted
"Here on Mars?" kaidan pressed
"In the Prothean archives, yes."
"We've known about the archives for decades…why now?" Jane asked
"Process of elimination, mixed with a little desperation. When you destroyed the Alpha relay, you bought us some time. But then you were under investigation, I knew I had to do something. Hackett knew it too; he contacted me and asked me if I would use my resources as a Shadow Broker to find a way to stop the Reapers. My search led me here. Hackett gave me access to the archives and kept me up to date on your status. In any case, the research paid off - I think I found what we need."
"I guess I'll believe it when I see it. Where is this weapon?" Jane asked allowing herself to feel the smallest glimmer of hope.
"It's not a weapon, not yet. It's plans for a device; a blueprint."
"It's more than we had a minute ago," Jane shrugged, "How do we get it?"
"The archives are just across that tramway, assuming Cerberus hasn't locked it down."
"What are they after?" kaidan asked
"Yeah, they seemed hell bent on catching you," Vega added.
"They want what I'm here for what we're all here for," Liara replied sternly.
"But why?" Jane asked, what was he up to? Damn illusive man!
"The Protheans came close to defeating the Reapers. They had plans to destroy them but ran out of time."
"Anything powerful enough to destroy the Reapers sounds like something Cerberus would be very interested in." kaidan stated, he had a bloody past with them… he'd never forgive them.
"it's a race to the archives then," Vega smiled
"James, I need you to go back to the shuttle," Jane had been formulating her plan
"What?!"
"If Cerberus beats us to the archives, I need you to cover the exits."
"But…"
"Now, Lieutenant!"
Vega grumbled as he ran to the elevator and headed back down.
Jane looked over at the others, "Let's move out!"
They made their way to a communication hub.
"Shepard, see if you can get access to the pedway," Liara asked as she took a seat at one of the consoles, "I can't seem to unlock the live feeds but…"
"Hey, did you see that?" Kaidan asked as he looked at the video recordings, "Who's that woman in the vid?"
"That's Doctor Eva Corѐ. She got here about a week ago," Liara replied unfazed, she looked over at Jane, "Any luck?"
She shook her head, "Pedway's been locked out."
"Alright, it looks like there's construction nearby on the roof, we can find a way out from there."
"Great, let's move."
They made their way outside onto the catwalks, the wind was causing quite the little dust storm, that would more than likely interfere with comms…. Anything else!
"Commander-you copy?"
"Barely, James," Jane replied struggling to hear.
"-lost contact with the Normandy-your position-"
"I didn't read that. James, repeat! Damn it!"
They made their way into the cafeteria, the power to the room had been cut off.
Without the environmental controls in place, the people in the room had suffocated and died. Jane saw a data pad on the ground the screen flickering, she scanned the contents before tossing it to Liara.
"Looks like that Eva was causing trouble," Jane frowned, "Let's keep moving."
They reached the next control hub and Liara activated the environmental controls giving them access.
"There we go…we have access to the labs - they'll take us right to the tram station," Liara smiled.
"Hey! Looks like there's a recording of what happened here!" Kaidan said as he pointed to a nearby console,
Jane pressed the play button, the three of them gathering around the screen.
Eva…
"Guess we know how Cerberus got in," Jane ground her teeth
"I should have noticed it when I met her," Liara sighed guiltily, "I was just so focused on trying to stop the Reapers."
"Stopping the Reapers is the only thing we should be focused on…it's not your fault." Kaidan stated
"he's right… you being focused could save billions of lives"
"But what if we're wrong? What if there is no way to stop them? What if these are our last days and we use them scurrying around to fix a problem we can't fix."
"Liara…"
"I know, I shouldn't think that way. I don't know how you do it. You've always stayed focused even in the worst situations."
"When there's so much at stake, I think about my friends, my loved ones, what I would lose if I failed. We'll stop them, Liara. We've got this." Jane assured her
"I believe you…or I believe that you believe…maybe that's enough."
Liara approached the controls, "Okay, doors open…we can get to the labs and then the tram station."
"Perfect, let's move out."
They fought their way through more assault troopers as they made their way through the labs. More forces waited for them down the corridor to the tramway, biotics hurling through the air, kaidan charging in, jane incinerating armour, bullets splattering blood and chunks of flesh….
They cleared them inch by inch and made their way to the tram station, "No doubt Cerberus has it locked down, hopefully we can override it at the security station," liara told Jane
Jane ran down the corridors and rounded the next corner, a heavy gun turret was set up at the end of the hall, the rounds whipping through the air,
"Fuck!" Jane yelled as she ducked back behind cover narrowly avoiding becoming a pin cushion
"Is that the only way in?" Kaidan asked Liara.
"The only way I know of," Liara replied solemnly.
"Let's move up, Kaidan - take cover in the next corridor!" Jane ordered
"On it!" he replied as he ran forward. He ducked and rolled and landed with his back against the next half wall.
Jane was the next to run up, Kaidan kept pace ahead of her and Liara was closely behind her
They made it past the turret and into the next room where Cerberus troopers were waiting for them, they didn't last long. Once they cleared them out, Jane approached the terminal, it showed Dr. Eva again, instructing Cerberus troops to set up a perimeter, to make sure no one else got through.
"Looks like they've made it to the archives," liara looked to Jane
"And they won't be sending a tram any time soon," added Alenko.
"Can you override it?" Jane asked Liara.
"The archives are on a separate network; I'm completely locked out." Liara looked mad, her features laced with anger.
"Not completely," Kaidan thought for a moment, "What if we could find a short-range transmitter…helmet to helmet."
"And?" jane asked
"And then we convince them that we're with them and that the Alliance forces have been taken care of."
"Good idea" jane smiled, "See what you can find,"
Kaidan nodded and walked away. Jane turned around to see Liara staring at her, her blue eyes shining with mischief.
"What?" Jane asked.
"The Major has become very…capable," she replied with a smirk.
"that he has," Jane replied with a furrowed brow,
"shepard, I found something!" Kaidan said as he signalled for Jane to follow him into the other room.
"What have you got?" she asked as she followed him over to a Cerberus trooper that was dead on the floor.
"He's got a transmitter in his helmet," Kaidan replied. "If I can…"
The visor to the helmet opened, exposing the troopers face, his eyes were nothing but a blue glow that were blackened around the edges, the skin an odd hue…
"Oh God," Kaidan gasped. "He looks like a husk."
"Yeah…not quite…but they've definitely down something to him," Jane said as she knelt in front of the trooper.
"Engineered? By Cerberus? They claim to stand for humanity, and they do this to their own guy? Is this… is this what they did to you?"
Jane felt herself faulter, she looked at him in disbelief, Kaidan swallowed hard… he saw the look, the absolute betrayal that flashed across her features, those gleaming emerald eyes dripping with sadness, "how could you compare me to him?" she meant her voice to be cold… instead it broke half way through… he thinks I'm one of these monsters.
"I don't know what you are or who…not since Cerberus rebuilt you, for all I know you could be their puppet controlled by the illusive man…"
"kaidan-"
"just don't. don't try and explain it- I don't think I would understand anyway I just want to know is the person I followed to hell and back- the person I loved, are you still in there, somewhere"
Jane walked to him, her hand subconsciously moved to his cheek, her eyes were vibrant, she smiled softly, the more he looked the more he felt the emotions stirring… he'd mourned, he'd tried to forget her "they didn't change me kaidan, or how I feel about you" she dropped her hand, "but words wont convince you will they"
"probably not Jane"
"I didn't think so, you were always stubborn"
"me"
"come on let's see what Cerberus are up to" Jane opened the comm channel, "Hello? Come in, this is…delta team. Anybody there?"
"Where the hell have you been? Never mind…what's your status?"
"We're at the tram station, waiting for extraction. All hostiles terminated."
"Roger that. Echo team will ride over and secure the station."
Jane closed the channel, "Let's get into position, be prepared to flank them when they arrive."
They swiftly took out the troopers and loaded into the tram, "The storm's getting bad, we better wrap this up quickly," Jane told the others,
The explosion rocked the tram-
Charges had been set to go off and their tram came to a sudden halt, another tram approached filled with Cerberus forces. Jane and her squad took them out and hopped into their tram.
They finished the journey to the other side and quickly exited the tram to take cover from the troopers waiting for them, "they really don't want us here" liara frowned
"Let's take these guys out fast! We don't have much time!" Jane yelled over the gunfire.
They cleared the room and walked into the back where the Prothean archives were, they approached the terminal and a hologram of the Illusive Man appeared.
"can we not get rid of this guy already?!" jane ground her teeth
"Shepard."
"Illusive Man."
"Fascinating race, the Protheans. They left all this for us to discover."
"What do you want?"
"What I've always wanted, the data in these archives holds the key to solving the Reaper threat."
"I've seen your solution! Your people are turned into monsters."
"Hardly. They're being improved."
"Improved?"
"That's what separates us, Shepard. Where you see a means to destroy, I see a way to control - to dominate and harness the Reaper's power. Imagine how strong humanity would be…if we controlled them."
"You've gone too far. The Reapers will kill us all if we don't stop fighting each other."
"I don't expect you to understand, Shepard. And I'm certainly not looking for your approval. You were a tool, an agent with a singular purpose. And despite our differences, you were relatively successful. But like the rest of the relics in this place, your time is over."
"Enough talk."
Jane nodded at Liara to download the data.
"Don't interfere with my plan, Shepard. I won't warn you again."
"Duly noted." She hissed
"Shepard," called Liara.
"What?"
"The data, it's not here. It's being erased."
"Good-bye, Shepard." The illusive man sneered
"Damn it! How's he doing it?" Jane yelled
"It's local…somebody's uploading the information."
Kaidan begun to sweep the area and had the unfortunate meeting with Dr. Eva standing at a concealed console.
"Hey! Step away from the console, now," he said as he aimed his gun at her back.
She quickly spun around and delivered a side kick to Kaidan who was knocked to the ground. She turned back around and destroyed the console and began to run off.
"Damn it! She's got the data!" Kaidan yelled angrily, why wasn't he prepared, as if Cerberus just give in.
"Go! Go! Go! We can't lose her!" yelled Jane.
They ran after her as she fled out of the room, she was fast.
They shot round after round into her back but to no avail, her shields were too strong.
They followed her out of the facility and onto the roof tops, her shuttle was flying over to a nearby roof top for extraction. She picked up her pace as Jane struggled to keep up, the bitch was slippery.
"Vega, you read me? If you can, radio the Normandy…get them down here now!"
Jane and the others chased the doctor down the catwalks and up the ladder to the next roof over. Eva ran faster as her shuttle came in closely to pick her up, "Damn it! She's getting away!" Jane yelled as Eva took a running jump and landed into her shuttles open doors jane was pissed, she was within an arm's length… just a little bit more!
"God damn it! No! James?! Normandy?! Anybody?!"
As the shuttle flew off Jane noticed a blue shuttle headed directly for Cerberus' shuttle…they collided head on; the Cerberus shuttle crashed back onto the roof top where Jane and her squad were standing. The blue shuttle circled around, landing near them, Jane walked over to it as James was exiting.
"The Normandy's in route," he said. "It should be here soon."
Kaidan was helping a previously felled Liara over to the shuttle, Aki frowned spotting Eva appearing from the wreckage behind them. She was on fire, it burned through her camouflage and revealed her android shell.
Kaidan pulled out his gun and started firing, she charged at Kaidan and grabbed him by the throat. She swung him effortlessly and started bashing his head against the wrecked shuttle, she dropped his limp body and turned around to charge at Jane. They took a step back, "get Kaidan" jane demanded as she fired at Eva, emptying her assault rifle into the robotic body- the determination laced on her features, this bitch was going down, she grunted as the body thudded against the floor. Jane ran to kaidan's battered body grunting as she supported his weight as the Normandy approached.
"We gotta go," said Joker over the comm. "We've got Reaper signatures inbound."
Jane pulled Alenko's body over her back and ran towards the Normandy's ramp, don't die kaidan
"Get us out of here, Joker."
"Aye aye, Commander."