Chapter 45

Tiberius Towers – Presidium – Citadel

As his day wore on, the captain stretched his arms as he reached his door. Opening it with his electronic key, he stepped inside before taking his uniform jacket off and hurling it down the hall next to the laundry basket that sat outside of another doorway. Unbuckling his pants, he tossed the belt and the pants down that way as well, leaving his shoes right where he stepped out of them. Now only sporting his boxers and undershirt, he walked over to the bar and activated his playlist of classical jazz. As Miles Davis' legendary trumpet began playing over the speakers, he reached over and grabbed a glass.

Shimmying his way over to the ice cooler, he shoveled some ice into the glass before turning back to the bar and grabbing a bottle of cognac from the dry storage. Turning around with a bit of a clumsy spin in beat to the music, he popped the cork before reaching over and pouring some of the golden liquid into the glass. Jabbing the cork back into the bottle, he put it away and headed over towards his couch as Billie Holiday began playing after the last song ended. He sat on the couch in front of his fireplace, activating the crackling flames with his remote before letting out a sigh and sitting back.

Taking the glass, he sipped at it gently, allowing the warm burn of the cognac to swirl in his mouth before he leaned back even further, allowing his head to rest on the back of the couch. But his brows furrowed in annoyance as he felt his head touch something solid. Sighing to himself, he leaned forward and took another swig of his cognac. "Couldn't even let me finish my drink, could you?" he asked in annoyance.

"Sorry Captain, but I'm short on time," said the mysterious voice from behind him. "Now, stay where you are, and tell me where I can find Doctor Philip Kavanaugh, and you can finish your drink in peace."

"You know I can't do that," said the captain as he swirled the liquid around in his glass.

"I don't want to hurt you, Captain. I don't want to hurt any of the Alliance personnel. But if you refuse to give me his location, I'll have no other choice," said the altered voice.

Anderson rolled the small device Shepard had given him around in his hand, out of view of the assailant. "Why don't you tell me what happened? Why you're doing what you're doing, then maybe I'll consider your offer."

The altered voice of the figure behind him chuckled for a moment. "I know you better than that, Captain. You're an Alliance lifer. Even if I told you my story, you'd stick to your laws."

Anderson sighed and squeezed the small device until it ruptured, unbeknownst to the shadowy figure. "Then what made you think intimidation would work?"

"Because, inevitability always moves the tongue," said the figure. "You're a good man, Anderson. You shouldn't have to get hurt protecting a monster like him."

"You know I've got cameras all the way up and down this place. You've managed to hide before, but you won't be able to this time," said the captain before taking another drink.

"Once I have Kavanaugh, I won't have to hide anymore," they said as they pressed the pistol against the back of his head. "Now, Captain, if you would-" started the assassin. But the sound of the door opening cut him off. He spun around and aimed at the doorway, waiting for something to happen. Suddenly, the pistol he was holding flew from his hand as something smashed into his wrist. "Fuck!" he shouted in pain as he backed away from the couch.

Anderson spun around and looked at the man that had intruded into his home. He wore black armor from head to toe, but not heavy armor like Williams. This was more like Shepard's armor, slim, enough space for maneuverability, and primarily built for silence. Over his head, he didn't wear a conventional helmet. Instead, he wore one that covered his entire face from top to bottom. Instead of a slot for the eyes to see out of, there were two luminescent red orbs where his eyes should be.

Diving for the edge of the couch, Anderson pulled out a hidden pistol. But before he could raise it to fire, the shadowy figure swooped in on him again and jerked the weapon from his hand just short of breaking his wrist. But as the assassin went to raise the weapon, his arm twisted over his shoulder, and he felt a blow to his stomach that made him double over in pain. The twisting made him drop the gun again, but he opened his hand wide, exposing a small device on his palm that let out a bright, disorientating flash.

With his attacker stunned, the man lashed out with a leg and swept the attacker's feet out from under them. He stood up again and flexed his sore arm as the cloaking wore off his opponent's armor, revealing the spectre, who had rolled back to her feet to meet him face to face. Shepard glared at him through her glowing visor, her face no longer visible through the plasteel, and only a gentle glowing blue instead.

"Very clever, Spectre. You truly had me believing that you had left on the Normandy," said the figure as he cracked his knuckles under the armor.

"I had you figured from the start," she said as the two began circling each other like a pair of wolves. "Nobody accomplishes what you have without either high level blackmail or some pretty invasive hacking," she said as she eyed him through the visor. "Blackmail doesn't seem like your game."

"Badass and smart. No wonder they made you a Spectre, Shepard," said the figure as they eyed her up and down. "It's really too bad you had to show up. I wanted to get this done and over with before they involved you."

"Why? You knew I'd catch you?" she asked curiously as she finally stopped in front of Anderson, who was just looking between the pair in awe.

"Catch me? No no no, after this, I was going to turn myself in," he responded, surprising her slightly. "You just don't get it, do you Spectre? None of you do. None of you know what kind of garbage you're dealing with," he growled through the voice filter.

"Then tell us so we can get it too. Why are you killing them? What did they do to you?" she asked, spreading her arms wide.

"You…" he said as he pointed directly at her. "You're a wild card, Shepard, you know that? Him?" he said as he pointed over to Anderson. "I know he'd put Alliance law before sense. But maybe you won't. I know you have a unique sense of justice when it comes to the scum of the galaxy."

"Only one way to find out," said the woman as she crossed her arms.

He nodded, then looked down as if deep in thought. "Get the location from him first. I don't want you siding with me and him getting cold feet," he ordered as he pointed to Anderson.

She sighed and stepped over to Anderson behind the couch. Looking him up and down, she shrugged. "Alright, Captain, type out the location of Doctor Kavanaugh on my omni-tool," she said before looking back at the intruder. "Don't bother trying to read or hack into this. You're good, but you're not that good."

"Wouldn't dream of it, Spectre," said the man as he gave a mocking curtsy.

Anderson looked up at Shepard, unsure of what to do. But he knew he had to trust her judgement. Reaching up with one hand, he typed in [Kepler Newton Ontarom]. Looking at the information, she nodded before deleting it off her omni-tool. "Done. Now, tell me why you're after these men."

He stared at her, his glowing orbs seemingly piercing her blue visor as he paced back and forth. "Six years ago, Akuze was a small settlement on the edge of Alliance Space. They weren't guaranteed safety like the inner colonies, but they worked hard and were growing fast. All the sudden, everyone in the colony vanished overnight," he said as he snapped his fingers for emphasis. "All communications gone, not even a whisper to be heard."

"Supposedly Kavanaugh was there working when this happened," said Shepard as she leaned against the couch. Despite her relaxed demeanor, she never closed her omni-tool. She already had him in her sights if he tried to pull a fast one.

"Yeah…" he said with a sour note in his distorted voice. "So, the Alliance sends us in. Fifty marines from the 109th Battalion. We flew in, found nothing. Not a damn person in sight. No men, no women, no kids. We decide to make camp before flying out into the mountainous regions to looks for some signs of migration, but our scout kept saying they were getting weird seismic readings. Nobody took it seriously until…" he paused for a moment, even his movement stopping.

"The thresher maws," responded Anderson, who now wore a pair of sweatpants he had taken from under the couch.

The assassin looked at him. Anderson wasn't sure if it was a glare, but he was sure the man wasn't smiling at him. "Damn worms. They attacked just as the seismic readings spiked," he said before looking away and pacing again. "We were directly in their path. A quarter of us were hit with a shot of acid strong enough to corrode steal. They died painfully. I tried to run and find cover, but soldiers were trampling soldiers to get away. Someone stepped on my head, knocking me out."

Shepard uncrossed her arms as she stepped forward. "You're telling me you're a survivor of Akuze?" she asked, getting a nod from the man. "They said only one man survived. He retired with a medical discharge due to acid burns."

"Well, the Alliance isn't exactly the greatest at recovering their dead. Some of the bodies there were never recovered. Written off as 'worm food.'" He had a biting tone as he mentioned the record of missing soldiers. Stopping, he looked at Anderson again. "As it turns out, your little lab rats had gone rogue. They gathered the soldiers that hadn't died in the battle and transported them to a base on Akuze's moon."

"Akuze's moon? There aren't any Alliance bases there…" said Anderson with a confused expression.

"No shit, Sherlock. It wasn't an Alliance base, it was a Cerberus base," he growled angrily, causing Shepard and Anderson to look at each other wide-eyed. "They took us there and kept us there. They experimented on us. Used thresher maw acid on us just to see what it did." Suddenly, he reached up and released the seals on his helmet. The pressure escaped, and he gently opened the upward swinging mask. Anderson nearly fell backwards at the sight, but Shepard just stared wide-eyed at the face. "Look what they did to me, Shepard. For six months, THIS IS WHAT THEY DID!" he shouted as he pointed to his deformed face. The skin on his face had suffered serious chemical burns, leaving holes in his cheek that allowed you to see his teeth inside. His nose was practically melted into the face itself but had two snake-like slits in them so he could breathe properly. And his mouth was a deformed slash across his face. Any other features he may have had were now gone.

Anderson found himself wondering how his bulging eyes were staying in place. Perhaps his helmet was necessary, a life-saving device to keep him in one piece. "Holy hell…" Shepard groaned as she stared at every inch of his face. "How did you get out?"

Reaching up, the man secured his mask in place, the seals hissing again before his helmet was locked. "They used some kind of gas to knock us out in our cells before bringing us to the operation table. I guess I got used to it, so it wasn't as effective. I pretended I was asleep while they carried me into the room, and as soon as one of them went to tie me down, I took the vial of acid and shoved it in his mouth before punching him hard enough to break it. The other three in the room scrambled for anything to defend themselves, but I didn't feel pain anymore," he said as he held up his hand and clenched it into a fist.

"You're sure this is Cerberus?" asked Shepard curiously.

"Of course I am," he said as he pointed to her. "Why do you think I'm such a big fan of you? You burned three of their bases to the ground and took down a main facility by kicking in the front door," he said with a chuckle as he continued to point at her while he walked. "That was some good work, Shepard. I had a toast to you that night."

"Uhhh… thanks," she said awkwardly.

"In any case, Kavanaugh is the last surviving member of that team. The others died in the base when I got my hands on them, or were made an example of out here," he said as he stepped up to Shepard. "So, Shepard, how about it? Are you going to help me track him down? Or do I have to get it out of you the hard way?"

She glared at him through her visor. "We need every Cerberus asset we can to find other hidden cells. If you know for a fact that this man was Cerberus, then we need to bring him in for questioning," she said as she matched his stance. "If you really want to help me kill Cerberus, then help me bring them in alive."

He sighed and reached up to rub his masked head. "Sorry, Spectre. Not going to happen. Maybe I'll let you squeeze some names out of him before I finally pump him full of acid, but he's not getting a cushy cell in Niflheim. When I find him, and I will find him, he will die."

Shepard sighed and shook her head. "Sorry, but I can't allow you to do that. Any Cerberus asset that helps us get rid of them for good needs to be taken. We can't allow you to kill him while he has important information," she said sternly as she realized that the man reminded her a little of Garrus.

"I was hoping you'd see things my way, Shepard. You're a Spectre now, you handle things differently. But with this, you're treating it like a by the books arrest," he said as he shook his head heavily. "Well, I guess the hard way it is then," he said before thrusting his palm forward and attempting to blind her with his flash pulse again.

This time, she had adjusted her helmet to compensate for the flash. Thrusting her arm forward, her omni-tool made contact with his armor, sending a neural shock directly through his body. His head jerked to the side for a moment before he sent a full force punch directly to her visor. She hadn't expected it because he was supposed to be paralyzed by the electricity. But she rolled backwards over the couch and slammed through Anderson's table. Shaking her head, she got back to her feet and glared at him as he held a pistol up. But she ground her teeth as she realized who he was pointing it at. "Damn you…"

"Sorry, Spectre, but I told you before that I no longer feel pain. Now, I have a scientist to kill, and you're going to tell me where he is within the next ten seconds or Anderson is going to die. Then I'll have to find him the hard way," he said as he scratched his chin thoughtfully. "I'm sure Udina has access to the classified files I need…"

"You turn your gun towards me, you coward!" shouted Shepard angrily. There was no way she could get to him in time to block the shots from the man's pistol.

Instead of talking, he shot the cognac glass out of the captain's hand, making him dance backwards in surprise. "Son of a bitch, that was part of a set!" shouted Anderson angrily.

"Last chance, Shepard. Tell me or Papa Anderson gets one through the heart. And you've seen enough of my work to know I won't miss," he said threateningly as he turned his head towards Anderson.

Shepard gritted her teeth and was planning on potentially hitting him with another neural shock to throw off his aim. But instead, she heard Anderson shout out to the assassin. "He's on Ontarom, Newton System, Kepler Verge."

She turned and looked at him wide-eyed. He just shrugged at her. "Now, was that so hard?" he asked as he held his arms out wide. "Now, I said I wouldn't kill you, but I do need to knock you two out long enough to finish what I've started," he said as he aimed for Anderson's knee.

Shepard threw her arm forward again and the man's head jerked to the side. As she predicted, the shot went wild and chipped the corner of the bar. The spectre used the couch as a booster, hurling herself through the air before latching her armored legs around his neck and using the momentum to hurl him towards the wall. Swinging down, she launched him upside down directly at the nearby window. His body crashed through the glass. "Shit!" shouted Shepard as she scrambled to her feet and looked out the window to see where he fell.

They weren't too high up, he likely landed on the street below, but there were too many people to tell. And given that there weren't people standing around an unconscious body, the chances of him being immobile were almost zero. Turning around, she glared at Anderson. "What?" he asked curiously.

"Why the hell did you tell him the location?" she asked with a growl.

He simply smirked as he shrugged, his hand still covered in cognac. "Because I trust you, Shepard." She lowered her face protector so he could see her glare. He simply chuckled. "I know you'll get him before he gets to the doctor. And I didn't want you mourning over me while trying to stop him. So, it looks to me like he's got a head start," said the man as he nodded towards the door.

Shepard, letting out an understanding sigh, turned and bolted for the door. "Normandy, meet me at the Serpent Relay asap! I'll be piloting a shuttle to your position!" she shouted as she left the door.

Anderson walked over to the window and sighed as he stared down at the Silversun Strip below. "That's coming out of the security deposit…"

Combat Information Center – SSV Normandy SR1 – Ontarom

"Thousands of ships left the relay by the time you got to us. It took you an hour to get a shuttle out here," said Garrus as he eyed the holographic planet that was hovering above them.

"C-Sec were being stubborn assholes. Apparently, they had a major traffic accident due to Skyway monitoring agents falling asleep. They didn't have any shuttles available," she growled as she stared at the planet. "Regardless, Kavanaugh is here. There's really only one location on the planet itself that's inhabited."

"Calling someone a bodily orifice is an insult, correct?" asked Tali curiously as she looked over to Kaidan. He chuckled and nodded silently.

Ash cut in as she reached forward and zoomed in on the surface, focusing on a facility that was miles long with massive satellite arrays on it. "It's a comm facility that helps ease the flow of data from the traverse back to Alliance space."

"Is that really the best place to put a facility like this though?" asked Kaidan curiously, getting looks from the others. He looked between them all before smirking slightly. "Sorry, that's my science major getting the best of me. I took a course in climate science," he said as he did the same as Ash and turned the focus of the hologram. "See here, the moon is in a decaying orbit. It's slowly getting closer to the planet. It's already far too close to consider Ontarom for colonization. And because of its proximity, it creates massive super storms that could not only interfere with the data flow from the facility, but if a lightning strike from one of those super storms hit the facility, no surge protection in existence is going to save it."

"Well, it works for now," said Shepard as she eyed the facility. "Regardless of all that, the facility is where Kavanaugh is located. So, we need to find him and extract him with as little incident as possible."

"So, who's going with?" asked Garrus curiously.

Shepard looked over their faces below, noticing that Wrex was once again absent from the meeting. She sighed and shook her head. "Ash, Kaidan, Garrus, suit up. It's a human facility. We shouldn't need more than that to get him and I don't want any questions at the door slowing us down. So Garrus, you're guarding the shuttle." Nodding, the three two left their consoles and headed for the elevator with Tali following behind Kaidan. Shepard stepped down from the galaxy map and was about to follow them until she saw the asari fall in line next to her. Turning to the woman, she nodded briefly. "Once we're done here, we'll head to Thessia. I know you've got a lot to take care of when we get there."

Smiling softly, the asari gently nudged Shepard with her elbow. "The thought is appreciated, but you do not need to concern yourself. I'm well aware of the importance of your work."

Shepard returned with an appreciative smile before stepping onto the elevator with the others. "See you when I get back, Doc," she said as she gave a quick salute right before the doors sealed shut. As the elevator sank into the belly of the ship, she turned around towards the rear door and found everyone looking at her curiously. "What?"

"Sooo, you two are awfully close," said the lieutenant with a sly grin.

Shepard's eyes narrowed at the man. "You're one to talk, Casanova," said the redhead as she looked over at Tali, who was right next to the man.

"Touché," he replied as he raised his hands.

Tali looked between them curiously. "Touch? What does this mean?"

"A human expression of concession to her point. Originally came from French sword fighting," said the lieutenant.

"So, are you two… a thing?" asked Ash curiously as she leaned against the elevator wall.

"We've talked. Is everyone that fascinated with my love life?" asked the spectre as she eyed the woman.

"Not really. Just keeping up to date, Spectre," said the woman as she looked away.

Shepard's brows furrowed at the remark. She didn't think her response sounded too strict, but even if it had, the chief was acting as if she had taken it personally. Normally, the gunnery chief called her Shepard, Commander, or even Skipper if she was feeling properly out of office. But to forcefully use her formal title like that felt like her mother calling her by her full name when she was in trouble.

Whatever the case, it'd have to wait until they were finished here before she could figure out what the elephant in the room was. The elevator opened and they all stepped out onto the cargo bay floor.

Alliance Comm Facility – Ontarom

Things weren't looking good as they approached the entrance of the facility. There was a small landing pad just outside the front entrance surrounded by what the humans affectionately called 'space cows.' And next to the entrance door were two guards, one sagging against the wall with his weapon over his knees, and the other face first in the dirt.

Shepard immediately jumped out of the vehicle as they swooped in for a landing, not even waiting for the vehicle to stop before she rushed over to the guards. "Son of a bitch! How the hell did he get here before us!?" asked the spectre as she checked on the guards.

"Looks like they're still alive. Just unconscious. We should keep moving, Commander," said Kaidan as he checked their vitals on his omni-tool.

"Alright, keep your eyes open. This guy is no joke," said the commander as she raised her rifle and moved towards the door.

Opening it, she motioned for Ash to move in. The gunnery sergeant sprinted in first and sought the first cover she could find, which happened to be a bunch of communication equipment packed into convenient crates. Afterwards, Kaidan followed her in, then Shepard herself.

Garrus watched them go before turning and scanning the horizon. The planet was covered in dark clouds that would intimidate even the hardest of turians. Storms on Palaven got pretty bad, but this was apocalyptic bad. He stared up as lighting flashed on the horizon, relentlessly striking at some helpless tree on a mountain three times in a row. "It's probably a good thing those are covered in snow…" he remarked as he made his way around the vehicle.

Looking out again, this time he focused on the creatures surrounding the landing pad. He wasn't exactly sure if they were for food, or if they were just curious creatures who enjoyed snooping around the human structure. But at the very least, he thought they were kind of odd in a dumb, blank expression kind of way. He recalled back in the pet shop how some of the human pets had this same blank stare. Perhaps humans thought that was adorable. He personally didn't understand wanting a pet with no personality.

As he stepped around the backside of the vehicle, he looked over at one of the closer cows. He was slightly unnerved at it, as it stood perfectly still, eyeing him from a few feet away as if petrified. Suddenly, lightning struck nearby. He turned and looked as the flames that ignited on the grass fizzled and burned out in the humid air. Letting out a sigh, he turned back and looked at the cow again, but this time it was holding something.

Looking at the object, Garrus looked down at his own belt before realizing that one of his heatsinks was missing. Looking back up at the creature, he glared. "Hey! Give that back!" he shouted before stepping to the edge of the platform. As soon as he did, he heard fire from within the facility. Activating his comm, he called to his teammates inside. "Heard fire. You alright in there?" he asked as he reached for his weapon.

"Nothing we can't handle. Stay there, this shouldn't take long," responded the commander.

"Yeah, I figured," he said silently after closing the comm. Turning back to the suspicious cow, he now found it holding his heatsink as well as a familiar looking credit chit. "What in spirits name…" he growled as he checked his secured pocket. Sure enough, his chit was gone. "Alright, get back here!" he shouted as he chased the cow, who turned and bolted off into the fields of Ontarom.

Alliance Comm Facility - Ontarom

"I don't like this. This place should be swarming with people," said Ash as she scanned the empty room briefly.

"I wonder what he's done with them," pondered the lieutenant as he donned his biotic barrier.

"The game is over, Shepard. I've got him right where I want him, and you've got an army of mercenaries between you and me," came the voice over the intercom.

Shepard smirked slightly. "Well, I guess we can all go home then. You know, considering you've already killed him."

"Yeah, I guess so," said his voice with a slightly amused tone. "You're not half as dumb as the Alliance thinks, Shepard."

"Mind telling them that?" she asked as she waved for the others to move forward. "So, here's the thing Corporal…" she started, allowing a brief pause. She wasn't disappointed by his response.

"So, you figured out who I was?" he asked, the amusement now gone.

"I figured out who you are, Toombs. And you've got two choices. First, kill the asshole, and then I kill your mercenaries, and potentially you if you resist. Second, you let me get Kavanaugh, and I squeeze his testicles until he tells me everything he knows about Cerberus. Then I destroy Cerberus once and for all. Make your choice," she said as she reached up and activated her omni-tool.

"How do you know I haven't already killed him?" asked the man, his tone returned to normal.

"You said you had him right where you wanted him. If that were true, he'd be dead. You don't play with your food, Toombs," she said as she stepped out of cover and opened her comm to the other two, "Don't move yet. Ash, project my voice from your helmet." Nodding, the gunnery chief did as she was told.

Sneaking forward, she slid through the easily ambush prone control center of the facility. Each step she took, she marked more and more of the mercenaries she found in hiding. "Hmm, clever. But you'll never get through them before I get to him. So, what are you gonna do?"

"I gave you your options, Toombs. Take the offer and maybe watch Cerberus burn. Reject it, and they'll survive to do to others what they did to you," she said in her silent mode, her comm projecting her voice through Ash's helmet to throw off the mercenaries.

"You really think you can stop them?" asked the man, his voice now a tone of no-nonsense. "They're everywhere, Shepard! They're like an infestation! A good chunk of the Alliance, maybe even people you know. Are you comfortable with killing some of your closest Alliance acquaintances?" he asked as Shepard finally moved up to the door at the far end of the room. "Maybe some are on your ship. Maybe some are even closer than that. Perhaps Anderson?"

"If you think Anderson would betray the Alliance, then you're dumber than I initially thought," she said as her brows furrowed. Technically, there was no way she could prove that Anderson wasn't with Cerberus. But she trusted him more than she trusted anyone in the galaxy. Even her own mother didn't hold her trust like he did.

"Answer the question, Shepard! If you found out Anderson was in Cerberus, would you arrest him? Would you make him pay for his crimes?" asked the man curiously.

"Of course I would. Nobody who allows that kind of abuse and torture should walk free," she snapped angrily.

He let out a small chuckle over the intercom. "Well, I guess we'll see then. If you can make it through the mercenaries into the next room, we'll talk."

Suddenly, the intercom shut off. One of the men who was hidden beside her stood up to get bearings on the intruders. Shepard rolled her eyes and laid her hand on him, sending an electric shock straight through his armor. He spasmed briefly before falling over with his leg twitching madly. "Ash, Kaidan, use non-lethal if you can. I don't think these morons knew who he hired them to take out."

"You got it, Shepard," came the lieutenant's cool voice over the comm. She passed the marker information to their HUDs and immediately Kaidan jumped up and reached out with both hands, his biotic aura jumped out to grab two of their hiding places. The biotics picked up the crates they were hiding behind as well as the mercenaries themselves before slamming them together with incredible force, knocking them both out.

Ash stepped out of cover and was fired on immediately, but the only rounds that got through her kinetic barrier bounced off of her heavy armor shortly before she punched one of them so hard that he literally spun on the spot before dropping to the ground. Another tried to grab her, but she used her strength to slap his arms wide open and then slammed her elbow into the side of his unarmored neck, sending him crashing through a comms console before her hand whipped out a baton that was about as long as her forearm. "Come on boys, you should know better by now."

Another tried to fire at her from his cover further into the room, but Shepard pulled him backwards onto his hind end before kicking him across the helmet hard enough to stun. Then she bypassed his armor and once more sent a neural shock into his system, putting him out of commission. "You didn't put much effort into hiring these goons, Toombs. What are they, a month into their new gig?" asked Shepard as she walked past another of the mercenaries that had been hurled into the wall by Kaidan's biotics.

It took less than ten minutes to clean up the entire mess of mercenaries in the facility. They all laid unconscious from Ash's brutal assault, Kaidan's biotic slams, or Shepard's taser. She rallied them together before entering the last room together. She imagined this is where all that communication equipment would be if it weren't for these mercs setting them up to try and ambush them.

In the center of the wide-open space was the man that brought them here sitting in a chair with a cowering scientist at on his knees in front of him. In the back of the room were all of the comm facility staff that were missing, all of them staring wide-eyed as the assassin watched her enter.

Shepard held her rifle aimed at him as she entered. He, on the other hand, simply waved towards another chair that was directly across from him. "Have a seat, Shepard."

"Why would I do that when I can see you better from this angle?" she asked curiously. To her surprise, he moved his chair over slightly, giving her a clear shot at him from the seat itself. Sighing, the commander lowered her weapon as she stepped over to the chair and sat down. "Alright, Toombs. I'm here, I'll play your game."

The assassin spun a small vial with a needle-like point at the end. "Amazing, isn't it? The only material in the known universe that thresher maw acid can't eat through. Chemical incompatibility," he said as he stared at the vial before spinning it in his hand again, the sour green color of the liquid held in place by a plunger.

"If you were going to kill him, you'd have done it already. So, what's the deal?" asked the spectre curiously.

He turned to look at her with the red glowing oculars in his helmet. "You're the deal, Shepard," he said as he stood from his seat. Kaidan and Ash both raised their firearms, but Shepard held up a hand to stop them. "You have a way of getting into people's heads, you know that?"

"Who, Shepard? Nooo…" said Kaidan with a chuckle as he stood at the spectre's eight o'clock. Ash matched his position on the opposite side.

"Very funny, Alenko," she said in an amused tone before turning her attention back to him.

"It's true. Coming from anyone in the Alliance or Council Fleet, the words you said to me would ring hollow, and this scum…" he said forcefully before shoving the battered doctor face first onto the floor. "He would have this buried between his ribs," he said as he tossed the vial of acid across the floor, where it landed at Shepard's feet.

Shepard was surprised at the move and sat forward in her chair. "That's… humbling," she said as she looked from the vial up to his masked face.

Sitting down again, Toombs reached up and released the mask, pulling it away and allowing the others to finally see him. Ash's brows furrowed, and if Kaidan had a reaction, he didn't show it. "Make a vow to me, that if I hand him over to you, you will tear Cerberus limb from limb until there isn't a single scrap of them left in the universe. I want every Cerberus base torn apart, every agent seeing nothing but the darkness of a cell for the rest of their lives. I want every last one of them to suffer for what they did to me, and to my team!" he shouted as he pointed down to the man, his horrifically marred face now scowling at her.

She stared down at the doctor, then back up at him and stood up from her seat. Reaching up, she removed her helmet and stared directly into his bulging brown eyes. "You still hear them, don't you?" she asked in a solemn tone.

He snorted as he looked down at the floor. "Every time I close my eyes, I see their faces as the acid was injected into their veins. Every time I try to sleep, their screams wake me up. I can never go back to the way I was. This is what I am now. They made me into this monster," he said before finally looking back up to her. "You, you can't undo what they did to me. But you can keep them from doing it anymore," he said as he pointed directly at her. "So, do we have a deal?"

She stared at him long and hard for a moment before finally nodding. "With or without him, I'd still do my best to rip them open and expose them."

He chuckled for a moment before reaching up to rub his marred forehead. "Do your best, huh?" he asked before letting out a loud sigh. "Funny enough, even though you chose your words carefully, I still believe you. I've seen your work, and I believe you're capable of destroying them." His very skeletal smile vanished, leaving what looked like a grim, mummified face in its place. "Now, I'm going to walk out that door and leave you to your work."

"You killed five Alliance scientists. Cerberus or not, you're still a criminal. What makes you think I'd let you leave?" she asked as she slapped her helmet on and raised her rifle to a ready position.

He smirked at her before reaching up and putting his mask back into place. "Because I need to stick around and make sure you live up to your end of the bargain," he said as he pulled another device from his gadget-holding belt. "Oh, and if you don't let me go, then they all die." Shepard followed his gesture and glared as she saw some of the comm workers with vests strapped to their chests.

"Some avenger you turned out to be…" growled Kaidan from behind Shepard.

"Save me the guilt trip, Lieutenant. It's called leverage. You let me go, I fly out of here and you save them all. Then, I watch and wait," he said as he shook the small device.

Ash contacted her over their private channel. "Shepard, can you disable the bombs?"

"No. They're old school with a radio detonator. My tech is too advanced. There's literally nothing to hack into," she griped as she turned to look at him again. "Fine, Toombs. You're free to go. But don't think that this deal we have will prevent me from tracking you down in the future."

"As titillating as that offer is, you won't find me. Just remember your promise, Shepard. Or I'll be there to remind you," he said as he walked past her with the detonator gripped tightly in his hand. She could try and stun him again, but he warned her previously that he barely felt pain at all. Kaidan could lock him in a stasis field for a short time, but then they wouldn't be able to access him, and as soon as he was free, he could slam his finger on the button. She felt truly helpless as he walked past all three of them. Balak's face flashed in her mind as she heard the door behind her close.

Brig – Sub Deck 4 – SSV Normandy SR1

The man looked up with a terrified expression on his face as Shepard stood in the doorway. He scrambled backwards against the wall as she stepped inside with an asari following in her steps. "Move another muscle and I'll put so many volts into your system that you won't be able to feel your body for a week," snapped the spectre.

He listened and stayed deadly still as Shepard sat in the small, built-in stool that the cells provided. Kaidan and Ash stood in the doorway with death glares on their own face, making him well aware that there would be no escaping. Liara sat next to him on the bed, an unpleasant look on her face as she did. Still, he didn't move.

"So, I assume you haven't capsuled yourself into an early grave because the Alliance would spot it in medical scans a mile away. So, Cerberus only implants them on soldiers that work very close to home. Correct?" she asked curiously as she stared daggers at him from her seat. He said nothing, and each second he didn't answer her smile grew. Finally, after a full minute, she uncrossed her legs and leaned forward. "Here's how we play this game, doc. I'm going to ask questions, and you're going to answer. My friend here…" she said, nodding to Liara, "is going to read your emotions to tell me if you're lying or not. And if she detects even a hint of deception from you, then I'll personally hook you to a tow cable and drag you from the end of my ship all the way back to Alliance Space. Do I make myself clear?"

Now shaking in his coat, he nodded frantically. "Take my hand," ordered the asari in a snippy tone. The man looked up at her wide-eyed for a moment before he placed his trembling hand in hers.

"Good. Now, answer my question. Does Cerberus only implant agents that work on Cerberus specific sites?" she asked as she leaned back into a relaxed position again.

He nodded. "I-I-I believe so, yes. A-As you said, the Alliance consistently test their personnel for abnormalities related to exposure to alien cultures. So, a capsule in the brain would be easy to spot."

Shepard smiled as she stared him dead in the eyes while her hands opened a package of dehydrated cranberries. "Good start. So, you were on Akuze?"

He looked back at the asari for a moment before closing his eyes and nodding. "I was."

"And you were responsible for what happened to the Corporal, weren't you?" she asked before popping one of the fruits into her mouth.

"Not responsible. My task was gathering the acid from thresher maw eggs we found on Akuze and preparing it for weaponization. I had no hand in what happened to those men," he said as his brow perspired.

Shepard's glare deepened and her grip on the small package tightened. "So, what happened to the settlers that were there prior to the marines coming in?"

Letting out a loud sigh, he simply gazed up at her with a defeated look on his face. "The Cerberus cell triggered a colony-wide warning for an invasion. All of the colonists were led into underground tunnels that lead towards the mountains, but…" he said as he trailed off.

"I'm not putting the puzzle together for you, doctor. Answer the question," snapped the redhead as she kicked the bed next to him, making him jump in fright.

He slowed his breathing before continuing. "The tunnels had already been blocked from the thresher maws themselves. As soon as a bunch of screaming, frightened citizens were in the tunnels, it was like dunking a bug in a fishpond."

Shepard could see from her peripheral that Kaidan and Ash both were seconds away from coming in and grinding this man into dust with their bare hands. "So, tell me, do you know of any other Cerberus cells?" she asked before slowly popping another of the berries into her mouth.

"I know of plenty," he said as he looked up at her nervously.

She eyed him suspiciously. "What's the catch?"

He sighed and buried his face in his free hand. "I've only ever seen the insides. Once I was finished working, I was forced to wear a death mask."

"What the hell is a death mask?" asked Ash curiously from the door. "Like the old Egyptian effigies?"

Shepard shook her head gently. "It's a mask designed to block all light and sound. You put it over someone's head, and they can't see anything or hear anything until it's taken off," she said as she fished around in the bag. "They were created for religious meditation believe it or not. But they had obvious uses in other sectors. Such as using them for hiding locations of hidden corporate labs."

Shepard looked over at Liara, who nodded to her. The man continued. "All of their locations are isolated from anyone who leaves the base. No windows, no nothing that may give someone an idea of where they are. The only people able to see daylight in them are those above a certain paygrade, or those who are stationed there indefinitely."

Shepard sighed as she ignored the cranberries for the moment and reached up to rub her head in frustration. "So, you have nothing you can give me? The leader's name, any names, any locations, anything at all?" she asked with ice lacing her voice.

He shook his head and shrugged. "I… I'm sorry, but I was only ever used on three assignments. Two of them were related to the cellular reconstruction of dead tissue, which the Alliance itself is working on. The only one you would be interested in; you already know about."

"He appears to be telling the truth. I detect no deception," said Liara with a crestfallen look on her face.

Shepard sat for a minute before reaching up and dumping the entire bag of cranberries into her mouth. "Get crmfy, doc. Yur gnna be here a wile," she said with a mouthful as she got to her feet and left the cell. The others followed until they were all stacked in the elevator again. After a minute, Shepard finally managed to chew and swallow the remainder of her snack. "They're certainly good at giving us fuck all to work with," she growled angrily as she clenched one of her fists.

Liara's eyes widened at the language she used and Kaidan leaned against the wall. "Yeah. Looks like we'll have to keep looking for leads elsewhere," said the lieutenant, his face just as grim as hers.

As the elevator opened, the others marched off into the CIC on business as Shepard stepped out and looked over at Garrus curiously. The turian was standing over a human sergeant by the name of Addison, complaining about something. She couldn't help but smirk as she overheard him.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Vakarian. The comm room is off limits to anyone without the Spectre's permission," said the human nervously as he stared up at the towering turian.

"Okay, first, I'm not a Mister. Alright? Second, I just need to use it to call my credit union. It's an emergency!" urged Garrus as his arms sagged at his side.

"I'm afraid I'm not allowed to let you in Mis- er… sir," said the sergeant as he shook his head firmly.

The turian groaned as he turned around to leave but went rigid as he saw Shepard watching. "Something wrong, Garrus?" she asked with her eyebrow cocked curiously.

"I… don't wanna talk about it," said the turian as he turned and left her staring after him.

CODEX ENTRIES

Death Mask | Technology | Military
A mask made of specific materials that allows it to block out all sound and sight around the wearer. Though it was created as a meditation tool for some religious sects on Earth, it has since been used as a method of taking hostages to keep them from being aware of their surroundings, and are commonly used as torture devices to drive victims to the brink of sanity.