9. Shepard is Purgatory's Worst Nightmare

"Normal" : Conversation

"Italic": Internal thoughts

"Bold" : Computer voice/ VI/ PA system

"Set course for the prison ship Purgatory."

Joker responded with his trademark snarky sarcasm.

"Prison Ship? Commander, you take us to the nicest places."

"I assume everything is going well up here?"

Joker spun around, "We're just having an argument over personalization of my workspace."

"Cerberus regulations are clear, Mr. Moreau. 'Personalization' does not include grease on my bridge cameras."

Joker turned back to Shepard, "It's just mad that all it's footage of me looks like a dream sequence."

Shepard rolled his eyes, clearly everything was fine. "That's it for now."

"See you, Commander."

– -

Shepard was going over the dossier for Jack while doing some routine maintenance on his armour in his cabin.

Jack (no last name known)

- Exceptional biotic ability
- Note: Criminal background, currently in custody

Jack is rumoured to be the most powerful human biotic ever encountered. Very little additional data regarding Jack is available, except that the subject has a history of violence and should be approached carefully. Currently, Jack is being held on the turian prison ship Purgatory Cerberus has negotiated for the prisoner's release.

Well, this dossier was definitely missing key information, it was rather suspicious that they had such little information.

The ship intercom crackled, "Commander, we're coming up on the Purgatory. We'll be in comms distance shortly."

Ah well. Time to add to the crew. Maybe. Perhaps. Mayhaps?

– -

Well, they seemed to have gotten the name right, Purgatory indeed. It did resemble a weird creepy-crawly from old alien movies. Into the belly of the beast.

"Mordin and Miranda, with me. Jacob, Garrus, Zaeed; stay on standby, prep for a firefight."

Garrus's flanging vocals gave voice to the question everyone had,

"Expecting trouble, Shepard?"

Shepard gave him a deadpan look, "Really, Garrus? How many missions have ever gone to plan? We're going on a ship full of imprisoned convicts. 10 credits says there's a prison break while we're on board."

"…... We'll be ready."

– -

A Turian with a Revenant assault rifle watched the Normandy get into position to dock with the ship he was on. This Turian also happened to be the one calling the shots aboard said prison ship. Like a typical B-grade movie villain, he made an overly military-esque heel turn, and began making his way to the docked ship, all the while followed by a convenient henchman.

– -

Shepard jogged towards the closest bunch of guards in a chamber that led to where the Normandy had docked.

Hmm, 3 visible guards and some more on the level above, which looked like an observation deck of some sort.

The closest guard started speaking as Shepard came closer, "Welcome to the Purgatory, Shepard. Your package is being prepped, and you can claim it shortly. As this is a high-security vessel, you'll need to relinquish your weapons before we proceed."

Before the guard noticed what was going on, Shepard had drawn his pistol; his actions mirrored by Miranda and Mordin picking their own targets.

"I'll relinquish one bullet. Where do you want it?"

The door behind the guard opened, and a turian walked in. Before the situation could devolve into good old gratuitous violence, the new arrival started speaking.

"Everyone stand down. Commander, I'm Warden Kuril, and this is my ship. Your weapons will be returned on the way out. You must realize this is just a standard procedure."

Shepard raised an eyebrow. Did he really expect that to work?

"It's my standard procedure to keep my gun."

This proclamation was followed by a stare off between Shepard and Kuril. Narrowed eyes, unblinking stare, the works.

Shepard won.

"Let them proceed. Our facility is more than secure enough to handle three armed guests."

As the cannon-fodder guards stepped out of the way, he continued, "We're bringing Jack out of cryo. As soon as the funds clear, you can be on your way. If you'll follow me to Outprocessing for the pickup, Commander."

Shepard holstered his pistol. "Let's go."

– -

"Cellblock Two. As you can see, we keep tight control over the population."

This was said while what looked like tiny storage containers were being moved about by some giant ass dual pronged forks as they travelled along the walkway to Outprocessing.

"Each prisoner's cell is a self-contained unit. I've blown a few out of the airlocks as an example. The ship is made up of 30 cell blocks identical to this one – we house thousands of criminals. We can put the whole place in lockdown on a moment's notice. Nothing goes wrong here."

At this, Kuril spun about to face Shepard, obviously expecting a comment of some kind. Clearly, Kuril hadn't noticed that Shepard couldn't possibly care less about the workings of their outfit.

"Mmh. Tell me about Jack."

"Cerberus hasn't told you? Jack is the meanest handful of violence and hate I've ever encountered. Dangerous, crazy, and very powerful. You'll see soon enough."

Well, that seemed to add up with what was mentioned in the dossier.

"Alright. Let's get on with this."

Miranda decided to pick up the conversation, "Have you had any escape attempts?"

This seemed to revitalize the warden, as he twirled around again, and continued along, "We're in space – they have nowhere to go, and they know it. But still-"

Shepard tuned him out as they continued on their way to Outprocessing.

"Outprocessing is right down this hallway, just keep going past the interrogation rooms and the Supermax wing."

Kuril turned to leave, "I'll catch up with you later… Shepard."

Warning lights began flashing in Shepard's head. Separating this close to Outprocessing? And who's the genius that put something as mundanely administrative as Outprocessing next to the Supermax wing? The hell?

An ordinary person wouldn't have thought too much about it. But Shepard was expecting to be ambushed at every corner since being revived by Cerberus. It's not paranoia if they're really out to get you.

"Shepard to Normandy. Prep for emergency extraction, and move fireteams to readiness level one."

Joker's response was crisp and immediate, "Aye aye Commander. Conveying orders to fireteam leaders. We'll be ready."

"Take no chances. Prep to power up the ship's guns. Shepard out."

Finishing his transmission, Shepard turned to Mordin and Miranda with a terse order, "Be ready."

Getting nods from both, they continued with heightened caution, where they came across an inmate being savagely beaten by a guard, as another looked on.

"Inhumane. Unacceptable. Violation of basic organic dignity." Mordin's sharp intake of breath and incensed tonality was enough to make clear what he thought about the situation.

Shepard… knew that the prisoners weren't exactly paragons of virtue, but the violent beatdown seemed a bit much, so he stepped up to the guard that was watching the beating.

"There's no excuse for beating a prisoner that isn't being interrogated. I doubt you even asked questions."

"No need. He's guilty. That's why he's here."

"I wasn't asking."

The guard turned to face him, "You're in a high security area with guns and cameras everywhere – and you're threatening me?"

Shepard activated his Gaze of Doom, and his cybernetics flared an ominous red.

"I told you to stop."

A beat. Then, "Call it off…. At least, for now."

Shepard continued along, briefly stopping to chat with prisoner 780, shedding some light on Kuril's rather unsavoury activities, the repulsive one being what looked like trafficking of sentient organic beings. Shepard was seriously considering putting a bullet through Kuril's skull even if the deal went through without a hitch.

"I should go."

Prisoner 780 sadly responded, "Wish I could go."

Heh. Prisoner 780 had potential to be a comedian. If only he hadn't killed a bunch of people.

Finally reaching the door leading to Outprocessing, it opened… to reveal a chamber with another door on the other side.

'Oh for fuck's sake.'

"Outprocessing is through the door on the far side of the room."

'Ah, captain obvious, I didn't see you there.'

– - One completely unsurprising betrayal later - -

"Drop your weapons and proceed into the open cell. You will not be harmed."

Shepard sighed. Where did these clowns learn persuasion skills from?

"Go the hell. I'll send you there myself."

Shepard acted quickly, "Shepard to Normandy. Fireteams status."

"Fireteams 1,2, and 3 are ready Commander. Team leaders are patched in and awaiting your orders, sir."

"Fireteams 1 and 2, secure the docking bay, use of deadly force is authorized. Team 3, you're on standby within the Normandy, relieve either Fireteam if necessary. Shepard out."

Confident that his orders would be followed without issue, Shepard turned back to the foolish mercenaries that were now entering the "Outprocessing" room. Some gunfire, Overloads and Incinerates later, they were no longer a problem.

The PA system blared, "Reinforce Outprocessing! Shepard is loose!"

Shepard took umbrage to the insinuation that his glorious awesomeness was ever contained in any way, shape or form. Something he expressed with extreme prejudice on the next batch of dumbass mercs that dreamed of stopping his way forth.

- - -A trail of deceased mercs later - - -

Only vaguely noticing the dying gurgles of the technician in the room that tried to shoot him, Shepard stepped up to a desk with a console in what looked like a prison control room.

"If we hack that control, every door on the cellblock opens."

Dafaq?

"How did you come to that conclusion, Miranda? We've been in this room for barely 10 seconds."

"I….. may have looked up the schematics of the vessel before we started. This was originally an Ark type vessel meant for livestock, not a prison. The removal of any animals… well, in this case, any person was supposed to only happen at the destinations. I believe it was a cost constraint in the design that caused this…. limitation", Miranda explained, her voice was hesitant to start with, but gradually gained confidence with every sentence.

Shepard could admit it, he was impressed with her. Perhaps it was time for the carrot over the stick? "Well done Miranda, that's some great initiative. Any suggestions before we pop open all the gates?"

Miranda tried hard to not resemble a smug cat. Tried.

"Well, if you can give me a few minutes, I should be able to jettison all the escape pods on this ship, so no one can escape."

Shepard considered. "You're on the right track, but cutting off all means of escape from this ship will mean everyone on board will try to get on to the Normandy instead. That is unnecessarily dangerous. Instead, jettison half the pods, the ones closer to the Normandy, and leave the rest."

Motioning Miranda towards the console, Shepard stepped aside and opened a comm channel to the Normandy.

"Joker, there's going to be a bunch of empty escape pods launching, ignore them. We're opening up all the cells, I want tracking and targeting solutions every single escape pod that starts launching after that. The minute we disengage from here, they need to be taken out with extreme prejudice."

"Un… Understood Commander." Joker's response was a little shaken, but he acknowledged the order.

"EDI, patch in the Fireteams on this channel."

"Yes Commander." A beat. "Fireteams are patched in now."

"Alright, we're about to open every cell block on this ship. Put down everyone that charges towards the Normandy. Shepard out."

"Jettisoning escape pods. Opening all cell blocks now." reported Miranda, her fingers flying over the console she was hunched over.

- - One rather impressive biotic display later - -

Jack's …..interesting choice of clothing aside, she seemed like a pretty powerful biotic. Might even be useful if she didn't turn out to be a loose cannon. Convicted loose cannons were of no use to him.

"EDI, can you gain access to this ship's surveillance system and track Jack's location?"

"It may take some time to gain access Commander. Getting to an access point would make it much faster."

"An access point, like this conveniently placed console in front of me?"

"Indeed, Commander. Very convenient, sir."

Shepard smirked as he opened up access to EDI from the console, "We'll have you as snarky as Joker in no time, EDI."

"I genuinely hope not, sir."

– -

Ah well, time to follow the trail of battered mechs and general destruction.

Warden Kuril blared over the PA again, for some reason. Couldn't these guys afford radios?

"All guards, restore order! Lethal force authorized! But don't kill Jack! Techs, lockdown, lockdown!"

"EDI, where's Jack now? Any luck finding her?"

Before EDI could respond, the ship computer or VI blared out, "Sectors 7, 9, and 11 have lost life support. No survivors"

"Well I guess that answered that…"

"Jack is currently blazing through squads of guards and the occasional prisoner, heading towards the docking bays where the Normandy is located. She does not seem to have realized that the escape pods in that area are gone."

Well damn. "Shepard to Fireteams, there's a crazy biotic headed your way, the one we planned on recruiting. Mop up any opposition in the docking bay and fall back to the Normandy. If she cannot be reasoned with before we get there, put her down. Copy?"

Getting the acknowledgements from the Fireteam leaders, Shepard turned back to his squad. "Double time, lets go."

– -

"Impressive Biotic ability. Could be problematic on the Normandy." mentioned Mordin as they stepped into an open area, the scale of destruction was far greater here.

Shepard silently agreed. If Jack couldn't be reasoned or negotiated with, she'd be put down. These convicts were definitely here for a reason, he wasn't going to risk releasing them out into the galaxy scot-free.

EDI piped in, "Commander, the warden has locked down the area behind you. You must find another exit route."

"Got it EDI. Map out and send possible paths to get back to the Normandy from here."

"Yes Commander. Sending."

"Miranda."

"On it, Commander."

Taking down some more prisoners and a YMIR mech, they pressed onwards, with Miranda keeping an eye on the available paths.

More warnings blared out over the PA, these being slightly more concerning.

"Warning: power plant damage has led to overload. Core systems failure imminent."

They continued hammering their way through the prison ship, and finally ended up in a big-ish room where Kuril was perched in, with a bunch of guards.

- - An underwhelming boss battle later - -

"Commander, Jack is rushing towards the docking bay on the level above, she will reach the Normandy before you do."

"Stall her as best you can EDI. Lock doors, redirect any mercenary cannon fodder to her, whatever you have to do. Miranda, Mordin, haul ass, lets move!"

Jack finally burst into the docking bay, tired and almost at the end of her tether, after ploughing through an uncountable amount of locked doors and mercenaries. Shepard hopped off the crate he was sitting on, they had made it back to the docking bay with time to spare for the confrontation.

"Hello, Jack."

Jack responded with words instead of biotics for once, probably because Shepard looked like someone that knew exactly how to use every weapon he carried.

"What the hell do you want?"

Diplomacy was key, deep breaths, Shepard told himself. "You're in a bad situation, and I'm getting you out of here."

"Shit, you sound like a pussy. I'm not going anywhere with Cerberus."

Shepard sighed internally. He really needed to have words with Miranda about her Cerberus emblazoned catsuit.

Why, oh why, was he planning on recruiting another person in stripper attire?

"Alright, first off, thank you for the compliment. You clearly have never gone up against a pussy, they are damn near indestructible. I mean, a human being comes out of there, and it still works as intended. Second, I'm not working for Cerberus, we've got a temporary ceasefire going on. They give me the resources I need, and I don't kill them all. For now."

"With them, for them – I don't care. You show up with a Cerberus team to take me away somewhere. You think I'm stupid?"

Shepard's tone became drier with every word, "This ship is going down in flames, I've got the only way out. I'm offering to take you with me. And you're arguing. You tell me."

Jack scoffed, "Look, you want me to come with you, make it worth my while."

Now we're talking. "Tell me what you're thinking."

"I bet your ship's got lots of Cerberus databases. I want to look at those files. See what Cerberus has got on me. You want me on your team, let me go through those databases."

"That's…. surprisingly reasonable. But… that's not how these databases would work? The Normandy would have access to a bunch of Cerberus databases, true, though none would be stored locally. Ahh, nevermind."

"I'll give you full access."

Miranda cut in, "Shepard, you're not authorized to do that."

"And she was doing so well too… I'll deal with her later."

"Oooh, it upsets the Cerberus cheerleader – even better."

Shepard snorted, despite himself. Cerberus Cheerleader, that was hilarious!

Jack may have misinterpreted the origin of the snort, she took a step forward, and glared, "You better be straight up with me."

Shepard simply nodded in reply. That seemed to have appeased Jack, for she continued with "So why the hell are we standing here?"

In reply, Shepard raised his hand to his earpiece, "Fireteams, stand down. We're clear." At this, Shepard made eye contact with Jack, "Aren't we?"

Before Jack could reply, she saw a turian rise out of nowhere with a sniper rifle in his hands from a dark corner. Hearing movement behind her, she spun around to see another human with a sniper rifle coming out of an alcove behind her. The realization that she was in the sights of not one, but two snipers and would have been injured and/or killed fairly easily had her breaking out in a cold sweat.

"….Yeah. We're clear."

"Move out."

– -

"Before we get you settled in, I want to show you something, Jack." said Shepard as they entered the Normandy, and turned into the cockpit. Not waiting for an acknowledgement, he addressed Joker, "Tracking solutions?"

"All escape pods with life signs are being tracked, sir; they'll be on the screen in just a moment, as soon as we finish disengaging procedures."

"Good. Add the Purgatory to the targeting too. Tell me when we're clear to begin."

Not turning away from the display, Shepard continued, this time addressing Jack.

"The prison ship Purgatory. A jail for those that we can't really let roam freely in the galaxy. As you can see, they're now fleeing, and will most likely continue murdering, raping and so on unless stopped once more."

Jack watched with slowly growing trepidation as Shepard spoke, the cold sweat from before returning with a vengeance.

"Targeting solutions locked and ready Commander."

"Fire when ready. Sensors, confirm eliminations."

"Firing!"

The next few minutes were filled with watching all the escape pods blow up, followed by the Purgatory being fired on and destroyed, with a crew member at Sensors confirming kills and supplying the occasional targeting corrections.

These moments also served to awaken the sense of mortality within Jack, knowing things could have gone to shit really fast.

Once the screen was clear, Shepard turned and smiled coldly at Jack, sending a deathly chill up her spine. "Let's get you settled in now, shall we?"

On that day, the Cerberus-affiliated crew of the Normandy SR2 made a united decision.

Don't. Piss. Off. Commander Shepard. Period.

Note: It is in my head that there just HAD to be some weapons-trained personnel on board any ship, thus the splitting into Fireteams. Like who the hell would limit their firepower to specific people on the ship? That's just stupid.

And I realize that some of you may question the harshness he's showing with Jack and what happened to the Purgatory. But my counter is that why wouldn't he? All information currently points her as a callous criminal, just like the others imprisoned on the Purgatory. He's taking a huge risk already, with Cerberus operatives on his team, and the only one he can truly count on would be Garrus, at this point in time. Zaeed is just a mercenary, he wouldn't count. I don't know military procedure for operating in enemy territory, but I'd imagine ruthlessness would be required. He's an N7, they don't give that rank to anyone, so crème de la crème of special forces at the least.

Next chapter would be Okeer, then Horizon and for the one after that…. Well it's kinda upto you guys if you want to read about the Arrival DLC. I mean, sure, there's ways to make it slightly crack via Shepard's commentary, buuut I've only played it once, so….yeah. There should be a poll on my profile, so please do weigh in on that, guilt-free.

My apologies for this extended delay, I just found myself very unsatisfied with the first version, so I took more time and this happened. No, I was not expecting the fate of the Purgatory either.

PS: Shepard's response to being called a pussy comes from a stand up special from Trevor Noah. I just HAD to put that in there, once Jack said that.

As always, thanks for reading, let me know what you think of this chapter, and please take a look at the poll I've posted.