Log 22
Date: 9TH NOV 2186
Location: UNKNOWN
"Why do you write that thing?"
I looked up from the datapad, I'd been working on. The General was sat opposite me in our new cell.
"I like to think of it as a record of what happened here. A guide for the next cycle."
"Next cycle? I never really understood that stuff to be honest with you."
"The Reapers harvest civilizations. Every cycle they hide in dark space, out beyond the edge of our galaxy. One stays behind to monitor the next civilization to spring up. When it decides we're 'ready' it signals the fleet to attack again. "
"Then how long has it been going on for?"
"It's impossible to know for certain. As much as possible they try to leave no trace for the next cycle to find. Millions of years at least."
The General's face was grave.
"Then how can we win? If the Reapers have won hundreds, thousands of times before what chance do we stand?"
"It doesn't matter, it's our duty to keep fighting,"
"For how long? Anderson we can't keep this up forever. I see the same reports you get from Alliance command, we're being slaughtered!"
I hesitated but decided I had to give him something.
"The Alliance is working on something to turn the tide, top secret."
"Like a weapon?"
He wasn't getting anything more out of me.
"I'm sorry I can't say any more, it's classified at the highest level."
The General looked at me strangely for a moment but then shrugged it off.
"How the hell's that book of yours gunna survive 'till the next cycle anyway?"
I shrugged.
"I've been burying copies at every location we've been in vacuum sealed time capsules. Some of our contacts in the global resistance have agreed to do the same. Maybe it'll be low tech enough that the Reapers won't notice it."
"Seems like a long shot to me."
"When it comes to communication from one cycle to the next I'm guessing it's always a long shot."
"Y'know you really had me fooled for awhile there," I commented casually.
"'Course I did. I'm sure you thought I'd turn traitor at the first opportunity."
"I'm sorry, I-"
"Look, I did what needed to be done. I won't apologize for getting the job done. You might not like my attitude but it's kept me alive this long. Me and my men."
"Not in Vancouver," I reminded him gently.
"What do you want me to say Admiral? I screwed up in Vancouver, I know I did. What difference does it make admitting to it now? Everything's gone to shit in any case."
"I'm not trying to score points. I needed to know that you'd accepted your mistakes so that we could move forward. And I wanted to thank you as well. It hasn't escaped my notice that we wouldn't stand a chance right now if it wasn't for you. I do appreciate your help General."
He nodded but otherwise didn't acknowledge my comment so we sat in silence for awhile until an explosion sounded in the distance, the third we'd heard since we'd be thrown into the cell.
"Looks like the Reapers and Cerberus are keeping each other occupied," remarked Coberg casually.
I nodded slowly.
"How long 'till they decide to let us out d'you think?"
After I'd alerted Harbinger to the location of the Cerberus base Dr. Serov had initially wanted to kill us outright. It was the General who pointed out that to have the best chance of surviving this he might yet need the help of the resistance. Serov really wanted to execute us but eventually agreed we might be of use. Certainly he wanted to keep me alive in case he needed to trade me to Harbinger (always nice to feel wanted).
"An hour maybe? I've a feeling Serov will be pretty stubborn about it."
Another explosion sounded, shaking the room slightly this time, louder than the last one had been.
"Possibly less than an hour,"
By this point we were fairly confident the facility was underground, out of range of the Reaper weapons (of course if this assumption was wrong the first and last thing I'd know about it would be a sudden bright light).
We sat in silence for awhile, wrapped up in our own thoughts. We had stopped Dr. Serov (even if he survived the attack his abominations were about to be destroyed, along with his plans) but I expected to die soon. Would Cerberus let us out to fight against Harbinger? Or would they abandon us here to the Reapers to give themselves more time to flee. Either possibility seemed hopeless. I turned my thoughts to Kahlee and my son Jason. If the worst should happen I wanted to go the way Jeff did, my last thoughts being of loved ones.
I wished I hadn't wasted so much time with both of them. Too busy off on assignment to attend my own son's graduation, letting my duty get in the way of me and Kahlee. Years and years wasted, trying to protect them from what was out there. Every meeting, every lead I chased down, every preparation I made for the Reaper invasion I always thought I was protecting them.
And then the invasion arrives, every mission I go on could easily get me killed but I barely ever contact them. And even when I do I leave far too much unsaid. Well I could fix that one thing, do something right for a change. I picked up the datapad again and wrote something for them. I want it recorded here that if I don't make it and this journal is found, that entry is for them and only for them.
I'd barely finished when the door opened, I think it had been about quarter of an hour since I spoke with the General.
"You need to come quickly before any of Serov's guard come along."
It was a Cerberus technician standing at the door.
"I'm guessing Serov doesn't need to know that you're letting us out?"
"You said you could help get us out of this, was it true?"
Saving Cerberus operatives wasn't exactly at the top of my priority list at that point but it seemed sensible to keep this man on side for the time being.
"I'll try," I promised vaguely, not wanting to commit myself (the memory of the corpses we found at the last Cerberus base were still fresh in my mind).
"What's the current situation?"
"I- I'm not really sure. I'm sorry it's all been in chaos, the leadership isn't-"
"Start from the beginning. What happened?" Asked Coberg.
"About forty minutes ago two Reaper capital ships, three destroyers and a troop transport ship arrived at our main entrance."
"Two capital ships? They really want you badly, don't they?" Coberg remarked to me.
"I assume one of them is Harbinger?" I asked.
"Harbinger? No, no he's still in London though we have seen one of his controlled slaves here."
"London? What's going on over there?"
"No one really knows for sure, just that a lot of Reapers have gathered there and started heavily fortifying it."
"Any idea if-"
I was interrupted by another blast that shook the entire base.
"I assume this facility of yours is deep enough underground that the Reapers can't hit us?"
"Yes sir,upon arrival the Reapers began deploying ground troops which immediately laid siege to the main entrance. Serov's response was to order the deployment of several Adjutants to slow the Reaper advance so that we could make our escape."
"Leaving the rest of us trapped in our cells as a gift to the Reapers," grunted the General.
"Lovely. I presume something went wrong or you wouldn't be asking for our help."
"Ah- as it turned out there was a slight glitch with the command interface."
"What the hell does that mean?"
"It means they couldn't control the Adjutants," I said and then laughed bitterly when I realized what had gone wrong. It wasn't all that surprising really, Cerberus is known for meddling with technology they don't fully (or even slightly) understand.
"They immediately defected, didn't they?"
"Uh - Yes."
"Serov tried to create a new sort of Reaper soldier that would obey him. Guess he got it half right."
"With the Adjutants help they quickly overran the first couple of levels. Last I heard we were still holding them at bay but I'm not sure how long we'll be able to hold out."
"Are we in immediate danger here?"
"No they've a long way to go yet. The complex is actually massive,it was our main headquarters for Earth operations."
"How did Serov plan on getting out?" asked Coberg.
"There's a second exit that leads to part of the old subway tunnels. We can get quite a distance away underground if we're lucky. The Reapers have patrols down there but we don't think they're aware that the tunnels connect to this base."
"Then what's stopping him from just leaving? Or you?"
"Uh to get to that exit you have to go through Cold Storage Room 1."
"And what's in Cold Storage 1?" I asked, already having a sinking feeling that I knew the answer.
"That's where the Adjutants are kept, I mean the ones not currently being used in combat."
"How many?"
"Uh- well about five hundred in total."
Next thing I remember he was up against the wall with my hand around his throat.
"Five hundred people, you-"
I honestly couldn't find the words, I could have ripped his throat out I was so angry. Fortunately the General was on hand.
"We might need him alive Admiral."
"He killed-"
"I doubt he was personally responsible. We have to stay focused on getting out of here."
I dropped the man who slumped to the ground, gasping for breath.
"You're right, thank you."
"For what? Let's just get on with it, we need to find another way out of here."
I shook my head disagreeing.
"We have to destroy those Adjutants," I explained.
"To hell with them. Cerberus is finished and the Adjutants are just strange freaks of nature, irrelevant to us. Just let them all kill each other."
"The Adjutants don't need Cerberus to create more of themselves. Once the Reapers let them off their leach they'll swarm across the country. Infecting innocent people by the thousands, creating even more monsters for us to deal with."
Coberg swore softly.
"There's five hundred of them and we needed an air strike to handle twenty or thirty last time. How the hell are we gonna do this?"
I paused thinking about the problem for awhile then turned to the Cerberus technician (who had by this point just about recovered).
"Serov must have had a fail-safe in case something went wrong with the Adjutants."
He nodded wearily.
"He claimed there was, some sort of micro-explosive implant in each Adjutant I think. But Serov and his elite guard have locked themselves in his private quarters on level six."
"Have the Reapers reached that far yet?"
"I'm not sure, last time I heard anything their advance scouts were still bogged down on level five."
I sighed tiredly.
"Given the strength of the Reaper forces we have to assume it's a possibility then. Go and release the rest of my people and bring Lara, Daniels, Coats and Xi Chan here."
"I have to escort the Asari and Salarian here?" his lip curled at the thought.
"Only if you want to live," Coberg explained calmly.
"Have the rest brought to a secure area near the Cold Storage Room. And bring all of them, if anyone gets left behind I'll shoot you."
"And fetch our gear too," called Coberg.
We were assembled within fifteen minutes but even in that short time we'd already started hearing gunfire on the levels above. I'd just about had time to put Colonel Travis in charge of keeping the rest of the resistance and the civilians safe.
"So all we have to do is break into the most secure part of the base, beat Serov's personal guard and somehow force him to tell us how to activate the failsafe. All while avoiding Reaper troops that may or may not have reached that area already. Did I miss anything?" Asked Coats.
"And escape," mentioned Lara.
"Ah, knew I'd forgotten something. Good thing I don't make the plans."
"We need to focus people," I said, doing my best to hide a smile.
"Our friend here has told us about a backdoor entrance to the private quarters. Supposedly it's less well protected because by the time the enemy reached that point the base would have already fallen."
"But let's not take any chances," pointed out the General.
We headed along the corridor cautiously but in the end it hardly mattered. As soon as we got close the door swung open revealing Dr. Serov and about a dozen armed guards. Thinking back if we'd opened fire immediately it would have gone very badly for us. There was no cover at all in the corridor and the guards had full view of every one of us. Dr. Serov laughed as we appeared though it was devoid of all humor now.
"How nice of you to join us again Admiral."
He was a mess, that was my first thought when looking at him. Not just the wounds though he seemed to have taken several (you could see the gray metal of his implants sticking out of a couple of them) or his torn, ragged clothes and ruined haircut. No the worst was his eyes, wild, wide-eyed and staring, somehow oddly matching the strange grin that now seemed permanently fixed on his face. There was something chilling about that fixed grin, the way his eyes bored into you.
'He's broken,' I thought. 'Something in him has snapped.'
His insanity made a strange contrast to his civilized surroundings. We'd seen the doctor liked to be lavish with his labs but it was nothing compared to his own living space. His guards lived in cramped barracks no doubt and yet I could have mistaken his quarters for the interior of a mansion. But the benign setting did little to detract from the tension of that moment.
"I knew you were coming of course. People never think properly. Why leave a weakness in an impregnable fortress?" He laughed again.
"If you give the enemies and traitors hope of getting at you, hope of destroying the monster, they'll run into the fire. And they'll burn in their recklessness."
His speech was soft and mocking at every syllable, the whole thing a joke to him now.
"And now, I think I'll rob Harbinger of the pleasure. Kill-"
I'm not sure I can accurately record what happened next, it all happened so fast but the short version is: everything went mad. With a massive roar the main doors off to the side were ripped off their hinges and flung into the room. Behind them the massive bulk of a Brute charged inside. And following it in flooded Cannibals and Marauders firing wildly. The Cerberus guards quickly scrambled to respond their implant enhanced reflexes helping them escape the initial onslaught. We desperately charged forward into the room seeking any cover we could find (sofas, tables, bookcases anything available really). Once we finally had a safe (ish) position we turned our thoughts to fighting. For a moment nothing could be seen but the hailstorm of fire directed at the Brute from all directions by Resistance and Cerberus.
Our impromptu alliance disintegrated as swiftly as it had formed (as soon as we'd brought down the creature that could have ripped us all apart in fact). What broke out instead was a three way battle between Cerberus, Reaper troops and the Resistance. The Cerberus squad were a blur of motion as they struggled to avoid the incoming fire. The Reapers outnumbered the rest of us and were throwing themselves at us in an attempt to win through sheer weight of numbers. At the back I saw a Marauder writhing in pain and knew another one of Harbinger's puppets would be on us before long. As for ourselves, we held our own, our experience (and Lara's firepower) holding the invaders at bay.
As accelerated shot flew in all directions, I spotted Serov in the corner taking potshots at the room. One shot missed Daniel's head by an inch wiping any rational thought from my mind. I opened fire on Serov, chasing him down with gunfire his speed barely keeping him ahead until he dived for cover behind the sofa. I charged forward determined to reach him and collided directly with a Husk that was charging into battle. We fell, smashing the glass coffee table and it landed on top of me. We struggled briefly before I drove my omniblade into its chest and threw it aside to reveal a Cerberus guard aiming down at me. A blast from Lara caused him to stumble backwards and I managed to roll over to my rifle and finish him off with a quick burst.
I tried to drive over the sofa and grab Serov but something grabbed my foot and dragged me down. I looked back to see the glowing amber eyes of Harbinger's puppet staring back at me. As I planted a foot into the creature's face in order to break free of its grip I spotted Serov making a run for it through a side door. Getting up I switched to my shotgun (I'd dropped my rifle again and it was now lost in the chaos) and charged towards the door. A Cerberus soldier jumped in front of me, blocking my path. He was incredibly fast, avoiding my first two shots easily but the third caught him a glancing blow making him an easy target for the forth. Finally free I barreled through the door and saw just what I'd being hoping for, a computer console that might possibly control the fail-safe. Unfortunately Serov had been lying in wait on the other side.
He grabbed me and forced my gun downwards sending my next shot wild. I kneed him in the gut and rolled away before twisting round to aim my gun at him. We stood there aiming at one another at an impasse for the time being.
"Serov!" I shouted at him, he seemed well beyond reason but I had to try and reach him now. Activating the fail-safe without his help might well prove impossible.
"You have to activate the Adjutant fail-safe, it's the only way."
"You're going to die Admiral. No matter what happens here today we both know this war is going to kill you. My one remaining wish is to see it happen."
Well so much for diplomacy then. Attempting to catch him off guard I took a shot at him (aiming to wound not kill). My gun clicked uselessly like a child's toy, I was out of ammo. Unable to help himself Serov cackled loudly, savoring his victory before finally preparing to fire.
"Seems I get my wish afterall," he remarked.
Before he could fire however Harbinger charged into the room and flung him against the nearest wall.
"Anderson has valuable information, he must not be harmed."
It almost sounded as if Harbinger was giving Serov an order. Later on I speculated that Harbinger thought the doctor was indoctrinated (perhaps he even partially was). Regardless in his current mental state Serov was totally unpredictable.
"I do not take orders from you!" he screeched before throwing himself at us. And thus began one of the toughest, oddest fights of my long career. We each fought the others with everything we had. But Harbinger would not allow Serov to kill me for fear of losing the intel it had come for and I would not allow Harbinger to kill Serov in case we needed him to active the fail-safe. For his part the good doctor (who had a speed advantage over both of us) seemed unable to decide which of us he most wanted to kill. And so it went on with each of us gaining the upper hand sometimes only for scant seconds before losing it again (at one point I actually had to threaten to shoot myself to draw Harbinger away from Serov).
It only finally ended when Harbinger (whose puppet was now suffering from several serious wounds) faked death in order to gain the upper hand. Serov had me back up against a wall (I didn't want him getting round me with his speed) when Harbinger stepped up behind him and hit him on the head so hard I was surprised it didn't split his skull open. The doctor slumped to the ground and Harbinger stepped forward determined to capture me this time. A hope that was somewhat foiled as Lara blasted him so hard he cracked the wall (and probably most of his bones) as he hit it.
I looked up to see the rest of the resistance squad had managed to fight their way here, despite taking a few injuries along the way. Daniels and Coats covered the door with sprays of assault rifle fire to keep the enemy at bay.
"What's the situation?" I asked.
"Most of the Cerberus fighters are dead or fallen back. Think they may have more reinforcements fighting just outside the house but can't tell for sure. Either way I don't think they're winning, the Reapers just keep coming," as if to prove his point Coberg turned and fired towards the door, bringing down a wounded Adjutant.
"And that was the last of my ammo, how's things with you?"
I tossed my shotgun to him (luckily I had reloaded by this stage).
"I think the failsafe will be on that console but we may need Serov's help to activate it."
Coberg caught the shotgun and fired a couple of shots at the door.
"Ah Christmas comes early this year,"
"I'll take a look at the console Admiral," promised Xi Chan.
While he was working on that I went to check on Dr. Serov. To my astonishment he was already conscious although he wasn't going to be a threat for quite awhile.
"I've located the failsafe Admiral, it's protected by a biometeric scanner-"
"That's easy, we have Serov right here,"
"And an eighteen digit security code Admiral."
"Damn. Is there any way to bypass it?"
"Why bother? Just force Serov to tell us what it is," said Coberg.
I looked down at the doctor's unfocused eyes and dazed expression.
"He's in no fit state to tell us anything right now,"
"I may have found a way, Admiral. The system seems to have a flaw whereby it takes slightly longer to reject my guesses when I start getting digits right. A schoolboy error really, Cerberus should invest in better technicians. "
"So you can crack the code?" I asked, hoping for a clearer translation.
"It should be possible yes, it may take some time,"
"How much?" Asked Coberg.
"I'm afraid I can not be exact, the system is crude and slow."
"Hopeless, we should beat the information out of him,"
"Oh the brute rears his ugly head again, do you have any approach that doesn't involve hitting people?"
This last one was Lara but before long an argument was breaking out between everyone. It was the fear and stress of being trapped and surrounded by enemies that was driving it but it left me wondering how I ever thought this could be a team.
"Oh spare me another lecture on your almighty Code, I don't know if you noticed but the rest of us aren't prepared to die over it!"
"Watch where you're shooting Daniels! You almost hit me that time,"
"It's not about the code you stupid man. Serov is a monster but beating him up now won't gain us anything."
"Maybe a little gratitude next time for saving you from that Husk. You'd think by the time you got to 'Major' you'd be able to hold your own."
And on and on it went, the fighters yelling at each other, Xi Chan muttering to himself as he worked at the console. And me trying to wake up Serov with my headache growing ever worse. I could almost hear it, like a high pitched whine over their bickering voices. It was dragging me down, making me want to give up and just let them kill each other. Luckily I managed to throw off the feeling long enough to start shouting.
As a general rule any military officer has a good shouting voice for the parade grounds and making oneself heard in a battle, personally I consider mine one of the best.
"Stop it all of you. We are not going to resort to torture and that's final! Bastard couldn't even tell us his name right now in any case. Focus on keeping the enemy out of here or we will all die horribly. And Daniels if I ever hear you speak that way about a superior officer again, I'll leave you begging to hear the words 'court martial'. Do I make myself clear?"
That worked, for the most part at least. They returned their focus to fighting the enemy. I wasn't sure how long it would last but thankfully Xi came though for us as always.
"Done, the password has been 'hacked'. Place his hand on the screen Admiral and we'll be done."
I dragged Serov to his feet, he was becoming more alert now but he wasn't resisting yet as I led him over to the console.
"We still need a way out of here. Lara, Coberg make us a door," I called out as I pressed Serov's hand against the panel. On the screen a display flashed up: Activate Emergency Adjutant Failsafe Program? Y/N. I hit yes and the screen confirmed activation, there was a small explosion behind me.
"Anything happen back there?"
"Yeah, couple of Adjutants just had their heads blown off," Coats called back.
"Sounds promising," I muttered.
Meanwhile the others had not been idle. Coberg had gathered up the grenades we had left and thrown them against the wall. Lara created a Biotic barrier to hold them in place. With the barrier on one side the force of the explosion had nowhere to go except the wall which was blown to pieces. They headed through followed quickly by Xi Chan. I called to the others and they started backing away from the door, maintaining suppressing fire to keep the enemy at bay. I drew my pistol (only weapon I had left) and took down a few Husks so that they could get away.
As they ran behind me and through the hole we'd made Serov charged at me again. He was still weakened and slower than before, we tangled briefly but I was able to push him away straight into the path of a oncoming Husk. The creature grabbed him and started tearing at him as I backed away towards the exit. Behind him I spotted another Marauder being turned into Harbinger's puppet. I stopped at the mouth of the exit, hesitating for a moment. Not fully understanding why, I raised my gun and shot down the Husks surrounding Serov and tossed him my gun. He caught it and with a snarl tried to shoot me but I was already gone, racing down the corridor.
Still not sure why I did that, it was a spur of the moment thing I guess. Maybe I wanted to give Serov a chance or maybe part of me thought it was fitting to force Serov to keep fighting a hopeless battle. I've no idea what became of him after that. We escaped the base, some of those we'd arrived with still missing (probably converted) but with other escapees we'd never met also joining us. Not to mention more than a few Cerberus employees, not sure how I feel about that one but I guess not everyone in the organization will have been evil.
Author's Note: When I was reaching this point I realized I wanted to write what Mass Effect fans have been waiting for (in my opinion), a three way battle between the Alliance, Cerberus and the Reapers. Hope you enjoyed it and please review!