A/N:
This took a lot longer than expected, not just due to personal issues and medical issues but because the scenes just wouldn't gel together. Not sure I'm entirely happy with the results, but having scrapped it four times already a fifth scrap didn't promise any improvements. So here we are.
As usual, thanks to the Editing Gang for their efforts, corrections, clarifications and fixes. They deserve more credit than I do. Extra credit to Quintin for addressing some weaknesses in several sections...although I'm not sure I fixed them enough.
Aberron has added quite a few chapters to Living an Indoctrinated Dream. Much like me, the poor guy has had to endure some stupid shit this year, and I remain amazed a work of the complexity as what he's written has so few comparative reviews. Along those lines, RED78910 has a Legend of Korra story up that is shaping up to be interesting if you read that fandom.
'Being aboard the Butcher's ship, wounded and alone, was probably even more terrifying than facing down the gangs of Omega. I knew, intellectually, that she probably wouldn't harm me. But I also knew who she really was...and Shepard was never a friend of batarians. Even today, she claims I'm the only one of my kind she can stand. I don't know if that's an honor or an indication something is wrong with me.'
- Sensat Vhaelk, 'Recollections of a mere Angel'
Bray often wondered, when he had time between juggling the disorganized chaos that made up most of his average day, if there was something about Omega itself that made people do stupid things. You would think after countless examples of what happens when you break Aria's First Rule that people would begin to understand that doing so wasn't a good thing.
And yet it always happened, again and again.
After long years of observation, he was leaning toward the theory that perhaps, since Omega's Black Concourse was made of the same stuff as the Citadel, that the metal emitted rays of stupidity that gradually lowered the intellect of lesser species, like humans and turians, while leaving the facilities of the superior races, such as batarians and, perhaps, some asari, untouched.
Maybe it just made the asari crazy, he mused, thinking on all the crazy blues from the station – Aria herself, Sederis, Relli's Kiss, the Night Sisters... the list went on and on.
As he watched the various warlords bicker in the lavishly appointed 'war room' above Afterlife, he sourly noted that his theory was on target so far. More than a few of them wanted to try and chase the Butcher down, and a few were basically accusing Aria of being in league with the Archangel.
Generally speaking, accusing Aria of anything was likely to end up with someone dying, if Aria was feeling generous or amused, and end up being slowly tortured to death or eaten alive by vorcha if she was feeling nasty.
Based on the slight crook to her lips, he went ahead and sent a TTL message to Captain Gavorn - to get the vorcha pit ready and make sure they were nice and hungry. More than one of these warlords would end up there tonight if they got too mouthy. As he sent the message, Aria merely laughed.
"I understand your concerns. But the ones who have betrayed me are dead, and whatever happens to Archangel and the Butcher now isn't my concern. I doubt very strongly that they will come after any of you, but if they do I will of course provide assistance as needed." She made a languid gesture of dismissal. "For now I will do nothing, until I know the reaction of the Council – acting without intelligence strikes me as stupid."
The most powerful of the warlords, Warcaptain Ymoosk, nodded in a clipped fashion. Even among krogan, Ymoosk was something of an anomaly for his sheer endurance and longevity, having lived well over two millennia. "I tend to agree. Chasing this female and the Archangel is likely to make us look like fools if we fail, and success brings a glorious battle... but one we may not win."
The human warlord, Smith, gave an exasperated snort. "It's all fine and good for Aria to say the Butcher isn't a threat, with all of Omega to protect her. But those of us on the edge of the Traverse aren't so fucking laid back about this. She went through Rythek and his group like they were fucking vorcha, and now she's working with Archangel." His scarred, dark features compressed in frustrated anger. "I get the fact that even if we find them taking them out wouldn't be easy, but if we do nothing she'll surely strike at us one by one. What good is this Circle if it won't fucking act?"
Aria's eyes narrowed. "The value of the Circle is that it allows you freedom. It allows us to stand off the forces of the Citadel who would otherwise hunt you down and kill you. The Butcher didn't take out Rythek just to kill slavers - she hasn't hit any of the Bright or Dark Rim groups, or even the batarian separatists. There was a reason behind it, just like there was a reason for her going after Okeer, and for rescuing the Archangel."
She stood. "And I did not survive this far by acting in haste. Two of your number are dead now, because they threw in with the Eclipse in planning to kill me. I haven't forgotten the fact that some of you took a risk in alerting me of that - and if the Butcher does come after any of you, I will respond with all the force I have."
Her voice became softer, colder. "But for now, I'm inclined to not poke a stick at the crazy bitch. At the same time, I'm preparing for the day where she will no doubt come after us, or even me."
Warlord Vrusak, an older turian separatist, shook his head. "Aria, we follow your lead because it benefits us. Leaving this crazy vithak alive doesn't benefit anyone. Am I to assume if she does assault us you'll make good our losses, or are you really saying if she comes after someone it won't be you and we're on our own?"
Aria's smirk became a bit thinner. "If there is an attack, the Black Fleet will hunt her down and kill her. But keep in mind that such a large fleet movement is going to spook the Citadel, and could draw us into an open war - one we're not ready for yet. If it's a choice between a few of you losing a slave world or two or all of us losing everything, you can do the math yourself."
Bray tuned out the next five minutes of arguing, when it was clear that the majority of the warlords - those who had territory behind Omega and away from the frontier - were perfectly happy to let the border warlords take the brunt of any of the Butcher's actions. Aria did promise to deploy some of her own ships toward the border, and to pay the Blue Suns and Blood Pack to do additional patrols - probably as a way to get them off the station, Bray figured.
As warlords began filtering out of Aria's meeting room, clearly unhappy, he shifted his attention back to the security displays, reviewing the footage of the fight. Many of the video segments were disjointed and the monitoring overlays in Niftu and Gozu were shit at the best of times, much less after a good third of the district was incinerated. Some of the video wasn't even from Aria's systems, but footage from the Blue Suns databanks that Aria's pet human hacker Avrensis had obtained.
Despite the missing segments in some places, there was more than enough to see the general pattern. Aria had ordered him to scan the video of the fight in Niftu for 'irregularities', whatever those were. There were too many weird things - the hacked gunships, the huge hack that took out most of the mechs and hundreds of other systems - that indicated something else was going on besides one vigilante rescuing another.
From what he saw, the whole assault on Niftu was going fine until the entire district exploded. And pretty much kept exploding, to Bray's sour amusement. The Archangel had clearly planned to try and take down as many of his enemies with him as he could. Bray still had no idea how Archangel could have gotten access to so much high-end military hardware, even if he had, as Aria surmised, taken over the warehouse of a noted gun runner.
For all their talk of hunting, turians were never much for ambush tactics more complex than spring and leap. The fire lanes and sniper tactics were almost salarian, while the rigged up bombs and most of the traps were straight out of the SIU's guidebook, from what little he could see of them.
The aftermath of the attack on the Archangel's base was ugly – Relli's Kiss, Garm, Durm, and Tarek were all dead, along with almost a third of the strike force. Most of the heavy equipment was destroyed, and except for the Blood Pack, most of the senior officers were killed. Of course, Durm had been killed on Aria's orders... not that the Blood Pack cared very much.
He mused sourly that the lack of care was the problem.
Having three PMCs on the station was a Very Bad Thing in Bray's mind. While each had always maintained a force aboard, that force was usually not several thousand strong and heavily equipped with war robots and siege gear. Having them without any kind of leadership or guidance was even worse. He'd already dispatched more of Aria's greensuits and his own armsmen to herd the idiots back toward the docks and get them off the station, and thankfully they were cooperating for now.
Of course, given how stupid they were, he didn't know how long such cooperation would last. Thinking along those lines, Bray had decided against removing the nerve gas array installed in the docks. As Aria always said, it was better to be unnecessarily prepared than to be unprepared with the necessities.
Realizing he'd distracted himself with his thoughts, he scowled and refocused on the Blue Suns recordings, specifically where they nearly killed Archangel before the Butcher's arrival. As he scanned the footage, something strange caught his eye. With a grunt of irritation he rewound the video snippet once again, frowning as he refined the images and zoomed in.
"What in the name of the Dark Gods…" He tapped several controls, pulling up sensor readings, such as they were, and then shook his head in perplexity. After a long moment, he spoke in a quiet tone. "Aria."
She was giving quiet orders to two of her own people, but turned to face him, standing and walking towards him as she did so. "You have found something?"
The batarian gave an uncaring shrug. "You wanted something weird. I found something but I don't know what it is. Here." He zoomed into a grainy shot of the battle at the Archangel's hideout, just after the Butcher had exploded out of the ceiling - using an eezo drill of all things - and focused on the glowing spheres hovering in the air below the hole.
He tapped the panel, showing the sensor logs. "I have no idea what those things are, but the moment they showed up is the moment Blue Suns' entire robot force and most of their armor assets went haywire. At the same time, sensors recorded huge EMP spikes, and the datanets crashed in a dozen places. Whatever these things are, they were generating huge amounts of energy. " He pulled down a different haptic screen. "The same spikes show up here - when the Broker's damned gunships were hacked and taken out in seconds. No normal hacker or even a team could pull that off, and the identical signatures seems like an odd coincidence..."
Aria narrowed her eyes at the screen, tracing a finger against the thin plastic. "...And we know there are no simple coincidences. Good catch, Bray." There was an odd note in her voice that Bray could not remember hearing before, troubled sounding and almost worried. "This... changes things entirely."
Bray's four eyes blinked in confusion, suddenly feeling very itchy even as he kept his voice level. "What is it?" He tried not to imagine just what could worry Aria.
Aria's expression was grim. "More trouble than I want to think about. I've had some reports about something like this, and it's not good. If the Butcher has this … device … she could take us out whenever she felt like it."
She paused, her voice hard. "Set the sensors on highest gain and have them alert if those EMP spikes show up again. Get Avrensis on the line, have him scrub the Blue Suns footage storage databanks of anything that has those spheres in it. Tell him to do it freely and quickly, and I'll overlook the fact that my people saw him talking to certain parties I have animosity with."
She turned away, then paused. "...And Bray? Once you're sure Avrensis has completed that, take a group of your boys and have him thrown out the airlock. He was talking with Tazzik during this rampage, and frankly I can't find anything good about one of my leading data specialists talking with people who are trying to kill me."
Bray grunted and nodded. He never liked that guy anyway.
O-TWCD-O
"Queen Matriarch? There is a priority message for you, with a signature of 'Memory', on your primary circuit."
Thana T'Armal, matriarch of the House of T'Armal, managed to conceal her spasm of surprise, then swallowed slowly as she turned to look at the comm panel on the desk.
Her office, atop a spiral tower overlooking the ancestral holdfast of the family carved into the Mountains of Light, was richly decorated if somewhat spartan in design. Aside from the desk and her various haptic screens the only furniture was a pair of reclining couches and a stylized waterfall on the far wall, trickling into a meditation pool. Far below, the splendor of the Thousand Falls of Ervas sounded, a dim roar from the three rivers cascading into huge waterfalls that descended almost a thousand feet to crash into the Lake of Mirrors.
She turned her attention to the comm panel. "Double check the identifier." Only one person used that particular call sign, and it was one she had not received a call from in over three centuries.
"Yes, my Queen. The encryption is verified."
Thana could not even imagine what kind of event would result in this contact. Taking a deep breath to master her emotions, she made sure her voice was steady before tapping the control with an elegant finger.
"I am here."
"As am I... mother."
The voice of her daughter Aleema, who now styled herself Aria, was hateful and cold, as it had been every time the two of them conversed. A tiny, sick, and perverse part of Thana was immensely proud of the nightmare her daughter had become – who had single-handedly carved an empire from nothing and made it strong enough to even bring dread and caution to the Citadel.
Aria, who had survived dozens of assassins when she was only a slip of a girl. Who had driven away and shattered an entire Council war-fleet with nothing more than the dregs of the Terminus and clever thinking. Who had killed the most dedicated of Justicars to become perhaps the most feared person in space.
The rest of her just wanted to slap the girl for getting so wrought up over a stupid clanless piece of trash that she would abandon her own house. Granted, the idiots who had been dispatched to fix the situation had erred, but the trouble her stunt had caused had weakened the House greatly, and the thought of how powerful T'Armal would have been with Aleema as its matriarch left a festering sense of failure and resentment.
As she looked at the image of her eldest on the vidscreen, thought, she set both of those thoughts aside. There was a look in her eyes that troubled Thana, one of worry and a trace of something like fear. "You would not contact me unless the matter was of dire urgency."
Aria narrowed her eyes, but bit her lip at the same time and gave a grudging nod. "It is. Normally I would use a courier or... some other method. Unfortunately, time is of the essence, and what I've learned is a threat both to me... and you."
Thana pursed her lips. "I am listening."
Aria's voice had an edge to it as she spoke. "I'm sure you know I have my own agents in place in the Citadel, just like you have your little spies watching me. My people reported some time ago, after Benezia went crazy, that the human Shepard had recovered an old VI of some kind, of Inusannon make. Rumor has it that it was actually an AI... a silvery sphere called Vigil. If the rumors they gathered were correct, this device out-hacked the Council Science Advisory team in seconds."
A reluctant, thin and bitter smile crossed Thana's face. "...Your agents are very good. We tried to keep that as quiet as possible, but yes, the device exists. It is almost certainly an AI of immense power that saw us and our technology as primitive. It was otherwise... uncooperative."
Aria inclined her head and sneered. "Thank you. Not the point. Later on my agents said the device was destroyed by indoctrinated turians or something. That it was gone."
Thana nodded, not mentioning that the memories of the quarians on Freedom's Progress had indicated Vigil might still exist, instead focusing on Aria's face. "And?"
Aria transmitted a file. "During the... battle earlier this morning, the one known as the Butcher penetrated my space station and managed to rescue the vigilante Archangel. During the process, the Broker tried to interfere, but his strike force - a group of advanced gunships - was hacked by unknown parties and taken out. And when the Butcher arrived to save Archangel, over five hundred war robots, mechs and other systems were hacked along with thousands of armor suit and vehicle VIs – at the same time, in a matter of seconds."
Aria's voice tightened. "Anything that powerful could undoubtedly deactivate the defenses of Omega, or even turn them against me. And it certainly could pierce the Veil of the Goddess and find the truth about the Temple of Athame."
The file Aria sent loaded, as she spoke. "That image is what one of the troopers recorded as he was following the Butcher."
Nine glowing orbs, each one identical to the orb in the center, hovered in midair. Aria's voice was cool, but tinged with worry. "Either the Butcher and her backers have found more of these things, or the original was never destroyed and can make copies of itself. Or whatever was destroyed was a copy, designed to fool you. In any event, it's in the hands of someone extremely dangerous"
Thana leaned back, eyes narrow and mind racing, and then grimaced before speaking. "There was evidence on Freedom's Progress, where the Butcher landed and took out a super-heavy mech with a throw, that Vigil was... involved." She took a deep breath. "Why are you telling me this? I understand the danger Vigil represented already. I fail to see why you need to communicate in this manner."
Aria's eyes narrowed. "Two reasons. First, I know the encryption on this line is secure. Almost no one knows about it. I can't afford for the person behind this to know I'm aware of how dangerous they've become."
Aria's voice dipped. "And it's not just the fact the Butcher has Vigil - it's that I know who the Butcher is working for. This person says they want my cooperation. And if that person has a powerful AI in their possession that can do what I saw today, then I don't have much choice but to cooperate – even if I suspect that party may end up betraying me."
Thana nodded. "Cerberus."
She suppressed her smile at Aria's shock, barely visible for a split second. "Yes, we knew. This is hard confirmation, however, and it raises a number of very ugly questions, such as how Cerberus managed to get their hands on Vigil and why is it helping them and not the Citadel. As for the Butcher, the leading theory is that she is Liara T'Soni, working for Cerberus to... gain some kind of revenge."
For some reason, Aria's expression flickered into vast amusement for a second. "I think you've guessed wrong on that. Liara T'Soni died. My people found her and that cop after they fell ten stories into a chop shop."
Thana said nothing, and merely nodded. "I see. That still doesn't explain why you need to talk personally."
Aria shook her head in exasperation. "Obviously you don't. An AI that powerful could uncover things I can't afford to get out. And I have no doubt the Illusive Man will use that to the utmost, to find out my vulnerabilities."
Thana understood. "Ah. Liselle." She leaned back in her comfortable chair, her mind racing. "Now it becomes clear. A perfect method of blackmail against you."
Aria snorted. "And against you, no doubt." She exhaled. "The last message I got from her was that she was being hounded by a Justicar."
Thana nodded slowly. "Indeed. One of the Justicars discovered the fact that she is your daughter. The Justicar sent a transmission out requesting heavy reinforcement and a blockade of the little colony she was at."
Aria's eyes narrowed, and Thana continued. "...Sadly, the Justicar's ship had a warp core failure before she could localize her, and the transmission never made it to the Justicar Order." Thana's face set into a cool sneer. "I appreciate the warning, and if Cerberus attempts to use the AI against us to uncover our secrets I'll deal with that at the appropriate time. The fact that you have a vulnerability to this … device is not my problem."
Aria snorted. "Oh, but it is. If it comes down to it, I'm sure I could tell him several very interesting things about, say, the Temple of Athame, or the slaves you buy from my markets, or the little spy whores you've littered Alliance space with."
Thana grimaced. "And what am I to do? We have no leads on where Cerberus might be." Her voice hardened. "As for your statement of attempting to throw me to the shallows... it wouldn't take much for me to point the Justicar Order in the right direction when it comes to your daughter."
Aria's voice was thick with anger. "Is there no level of depravity you won't sink to? Isn't what you've done already enough?"
Thana gave a weary sigh. "The problem with your outlook on life is you are utterly and completely selfish and self-centered. You took actions you knew I disagreed with and you paid for them. And if you take the actions you talk about now, your daughter will pay for them."
There was a longer moment of silence. The expression on Aria's face shifted several times, finally almost settling into something tired and weary. "...The sins of the mother down to the daughter and all that, I suppose?" Aria's voice hardened. "I suppose I should thank you for not having her killed and for moving the Justicars away from her. After what you pulled I half expected you to kill her yourself."
Aria's voice hardened. "Then again, you probably did it so you could use her against me at a time of your own devising. You always choose what's best for you, after all."
Thana's voice turned to ice. "If you think I had any choices in what I did after your fool stunt in your youth... then you are more blind to the reality of the Thirty than I thought, daughter. I never wanted to kill you. I never wanted to ruin you, or break you. But I could not simply allow what you were doing to happen, leaving aside that you were on the wrong path. And sullying yourself with a clanless and having a purebred child would have ruined us."
"Oh, of course. Goddess forbid you put your own child before the needs of a House that is the sickest group of murderers ever, and before the endless lies and plotting of the rest of that pack of murdering, thieving tramps you call the Council of Matriarchs. Jona was right about you, the only difference between us is that at least I have the crests to admit I'm a fucking criminal."
Thana stiffened, but Aria merely shook her head. "I've done my good deed for the century, and so have you. Thanks for looking out for Liselle better than you did me, but this changes nothing."
Thana's voice became almost faint. "You will not bend? Even in the face of this threat from Cerberus?"
Aria lifted her chin. "Would you? Will you? I called you to warn you and hope that, maybe, you could see a way to aid me instead of stabbing me in the back again, but that was a waste of effort. I'll only bend if you will."
Thana felt that thrill of sick pride again, and pushed it down. "I cannot. But you can, and if you don't; are you prepared for what that will result in? Even if it costs you everything?"
Aria turned to a panel out of view even as she spoke. "If you aren't willing to give up anything for me, why should I be any different?"
Thana's voice hardened. "So that Liselle, at least, will not suffer due to your actions. Do you care nothing for her?"
Aria's eyes narrowed hatefully, but her tone was sickeningly sweet. "Like mother, like daughter." The signal cut out and faded to a blank screen, and Thana sighed and rubbed her temples.
After several minutes of regaining her composure, she tapped a control. "Get me Tevos, now. Highest priority. And get Admiral Vesha and Admiral Ty'ala as well."
She leaned back in her chair, thinking furiously. Aria was no fool - if Harper figured out they knew about Vigil he would no doubt become blatant in using the device instead of subtle. But Aria didn't know everything - the report from the Council Science Advisory team said that Vigil was probably more than a mere AI, possibly some kind of advanced nanotech or picotech engine. Goddess only knew what kind of trouble the man would get into by putting it to use.
She tapped the comm panel again. "Have Tela Vasir contact me as soon as possible. I need a consultation with an old friend of hers."
O-TWCD-O
The Normandy escaped the Omega system without much trouble, making three quick jumps then looping back to the Vina System to rendezvous with the pinnace, a process that took roughly four hours. Most of this time was spent by making sure no one was following them and leaving a decoy trail leading towards asari space.
Given how badly wounded most of Garrus' people were, Shepard wanted to link up with the pinnace as soon as possible. While the smaller vessel had some medical equipment on it and even extra supplies, as well as both Miranda and Sedanya, it wasn't going to ever be as good as the Normandy's sickbay. With that in mind, Pressly hastened to make contact as quickly as he could and figure out a good rendezvous.
Garrus and Melenis were taken to the Normandy's sickbay immediately, the latter being taken out of his armor once he got there, revealing he was more wounded than he let on. Shepard wanted to hover, but Mordin needed space to work, and so instead she went down to the starboard cargo bay and helped set up the expanded medical facility there. He rapidly demonstrated he was a very competent medical doctor, stabilizing them both quickly.
Given the number of times the old Normandy had heavy casualties beyond its capacity to treat, one change that Cerberus had made to the new ship was enabling the cargo bays to be converted to fully equipped medical bays of their own. This wasn't a quick process – Shepard and Grunt did most of the removal of panels and pulling down medical beds, while Kelly helped out where she could. Jack was still in sickbay herself, having dangerously strained her biotics and body during the escape.
By the time the secondary medical bay was ready, Joker was docking with the pinnace, and the survivors of Archangel's team were lead aboard and to the medical treatment areas for the most part. Shepard sent Miranda and Sedanya to help with the injured, then glanced up as the mostly uninjured Angel walked up to her. "...I still can't believe we all got away. Thank you... very much."
Shepard waved it off. "No need for thanks. You people were doing good work, and Garrus... is probably the closest friend I've got. Or had. If I'd known he was still alive I'd have torn Omega apart to get him." She gestured to the elevator. "If you're hurt you should check in with the medical team."
The ex-Marine shrugged. "A couple of grazes your asari doc already fixed up with medigel back at the warehouse. I'm just exhausted, not hurt." He exhaled. "No, I think I need to talk to you, in private if possible."
Shepard arched an eyebrow but nodded. "Alright, follow me." She lead him to the elevator and then up to the top deck, where she lead the way into her quarters. "Make yourself comfortable. Scotch if you need some."
Angel laughed and shook his head. "Not right now, thanks... although probably later on I'll want to get drunk enough to pass out." He paused, glancing around the room, before frowning and sitting on the sectional couch. She sat as well, hands on her knees, and faced him.
For several seconds, he said nothing, as if searching for words. When he spoke, his voice was rough but clear. "Ma'am... Garrus brought us through some shit I can barely believe we survived. For a long time I led the Angels, but when he took the lead is when things changed on Omega. Most of us went to Omega in the the first place expecting to die, and all of us certainly expected to die this morning."
He looked down at his hands, then back up. "Some of us did check out, but the rest of us are alive. We owe you that. I'm pretty sure if you hadn't gotten us out when you did we'd all be corpses by now, or worse, in the hands of the gang leaders."
He smiled, but it was thin and worried. "But I'm not stupid. This ship, all this high powered gear, you coming back from the dead. Whatever you're doing it's big. Big enough you can't afford things going wrong. You didn't go to all the trouble of making everyone think you were an asari if you were going to let it be known to one and all you were really a human who is supposed to be dead. So I need to know... are we loose ends?"
Shepard snorted. "Absolutely not. I didn't go through all the trouble of rescuing your entire team just to have you eliminated later on."
Angel nodded slowly. "Omega has a way of making people doubt in the motives of others."
She nodded. "I get that. Look, I'd rather wait until my people patch yours up and Garrus is back on his feet before I go over the whole story. But the short version is that shit like the Broker, Aria, even the fucking Batarian Empire is small change against the bigger problem we have coming our way. I'm going to need all the help I can get, in every discipline."
She poured a glass of scotch, pushing her black hair out of her face and drinking. "And I'd be fucking stupid to throw away a group of badasses who took on all of Omega for over a year and came out alive."
Angel nodded slowly, and she frowned. "I'll go ahead and tell you that if you or your people don't want to get involved... I'm not sure how well that would go down. You're right – I can't afford just yet to be exposed. But I'm pretty sure Garrus is going to stick around... would that mean your team would as well?"
Angel laughed. "It's more Garrus' team than mine now. But... most likely yes. Almost none of us have anywhere to go, and the Broker wanted some of the team dead even before they worked with Garrus. If Krul actually pulls through, she's the only one who might leave. And she won't talk."
Shepard nodded. "That's the female krogan, right? I... might actually need her help most of all. I, uh, have an adolescent krogan on board."
Angel nodded. "Really? Related to the giant one you've got who one-shotted a battle suit?"
Shepard ruefully pinched the bridge of her nose. "No. That is the kid."
O-TWCD-O
It took two more days to get back to the asteroid base, but only eleven hours to get all of Garrus' people stable and awake. Although most of them were still badly wounded, none of them were going to die, which was certainly cheering news for Garrus. Sedanya had carefully laid in special equipment and supplies of blood plasma and extra blood for every known race except hanar, just on the off chance it was needed.
Shepard sourly reviewed the datapad from the asari doctor listing out the injuries, which read like something out of the good old days when she was going after Saren.
Garrus himself had multiple gunshot wounds, and his plating had been cracked in several places from his throw down with the mech that almost killed him. Melenis had been shot a dozen times and had severe blood loss and some ugly damage to her knee. Both of them were showing signs of malnutrition and low level infections, and Melenis had badly overstrained her biotics in her attempt to save Garrus.
Erash had been purged of the infections that were killing him, but was disoriented and extremely weakened. On top of that he'd been badly wounded before he'd become sick, and had some nerve damage in his legs. The infection had scarred his lungs; which were probably never going to fully heal. Butler had to have a leg removed, and was going to need additional cybernetic correction to his spine and possibly an artificial lung. Sensat, to his horror, nearly lost his eye, but Sedanya was able to repair the optic nerve.
Krul, Sidonis, and Mierin were the most critically injured. Krul awoke from a healing coma, but was missing an arm, a foot, and sported a dozen wounds that would have killed most krogan. Her hump had been ruptured in three places, while several direct hits had taken out one of her hearts, and a good half foot of her lower spinal column, paralyzing her (at least temporarily) below the waist. Mierin's hand was gone and she had a hole blasted through her torso, requiring major surgery, while Sidonis had been shot and blasted in a number of places and was still in serious condition.
Shepard stood next to Garrus' medical bed as Sedanya and Miranda ran down the list of injuries, Sedanya finishing up. "Overall, the fact that any of them survived at all is frankly miraculous. If we didn't have extensive medical technology on the ship I'm not sure Mierin or Krul would have made it. Your people are going to need quite a bit of cybernetic augmentation if they plan to fight again."
Garrus flicked his mandible. "Our cyberdoc, Ripper, got killed on Omega. Makes that a bit tricky, unless you seriously think your Illusive Man is going to spend millions on a bunch of aliens."
Shepard snorted. "He will if he knows what's good for him." She glanced at Miranda, who shrugged and turned to the turian, her voice sharp.
"Mr. Vakarian, the Illusive Man is interested in acquiring your assistance. As is Shepard, no doubt. Given the billions we have already expended on this project already, I assure you a few million more will not even register."
Shepard smirked. "And we have the facilities to fix up your people at my base of ops."
Garrus nodded, but his good eye was still narrowed, and his mandible flickered in poorly concealed agitation. "I'll... have to think about it. Not sure exactly what my team is going to want to do, and I don't want to make decisions for them." Shepard could hear the underlying reservations in his voice.
She glanced at the two doctors. "Is he good enough to talk for a while, doc? We need to discuss some things."
Sedanya frowned. "Yes, but he still needs rest. Talking is fine, walking around or anything else is not."
Shepard made a shooing motion. "He's not going anywhere , I promise. Make sure the others are comfy and let me know how Jack is doing, or if any of Garrus' team needs anything. Miranda... for now, please make sure no outgoing comms get out. I don't think his people are dumb, but better safe than sorry."
The dismissal in her voice was clear, and after trading a look Sedanya and Miranda turned to leave. She watched them head out of the med bay, past the sleeping forms of Melenis and Erash, and then sat down next to Garrus on the counter-top.
For long seconds, she wasn't sure what to say. The two of them examined the other, searching for differences, clues, hints.
To Garrus' vision, Shepard looked almost exactly how she did in the past, perhaps a bit more muscular in the arms. But he could smell metal and oil, the faint burnt electrical tang of cybernetics, and something else. She stood different, almost stolid, and her breathing was almost silent. He could still hear her heartbeat, but it sounded faint and muted. Most of all, she looked... almost as if she was about to snap. There was a hard line to her jaw, a narrow bitterness to the eye, that spoke to him of repressed white-hot rage, perhaps shoved down for the moment but only waiting to explode.
To Shepard, Garrus looked different. Part of his plating on the right side of his face was scarred and shattered, probably where he'd been blasted during the Burning of Omega, and his cybernetic eye looked almost out of place, glowing blue and bright. The once-proud C-SEC tattoo on his arm had been altered with a brand or something into the Archangel's symbol, and what she could see of his torso and arm was littered with badly healed scars and burns. His whole demeanor was tired and almost aged, as if the bright-burning young hotshot cop she knew had died and been replaced by a bitter old man - already frayed at the edges.
An old saying of Rachel came to mind: It's not the years that matter but the millage.
She remembered snorting inwardly at what she thought was little more than fortune cookie philosophy but seeing Garrus right now she decided there might be something to what Rachel said. Her head dipped forward and she pressed the heel of her palm to her forehead, suddenly feeling weary herself. The sigh that escaped her lips was louder than she expected; the words that followed a jumbled, broken mass.
"...holy fuck, Garrus. I'm... glad you here, but... a lot has changed. I don't know exactly what to do." She paused, trying for a semblance of composure. "I didn't expect to find you alive, much less fighting off three mercenary companies."
Garrus gave a grating chuckle, then coughed wetly. He picked up a cloth laid over his chest, wiping blood from his mouth and sighed. "It wasn't easy. I really had to work at pissing them off." He paused, plates shifting slightly. "But I know what you mean. I woke up this morning expecting not to see another day, much less you."
He gestured with his hand at the sickbay. "This... all seems crazy. Or a really spirit-twisted dream. The fact that I crushed the worst of Omega is almost buried under the realization that I survived it. And I still can't get my head around them bringing you back from the dead."
She nodded. "You... get past it. Or at least I did. When I woke up it took me a bit to realize I had died. I'm not totally sure it has really hit me yet, I just keep functioning." Her expression twisted. "Like a good little machine."
She sighed, running a hand through the long black hair, and then looked back at him. "It's funny. Or depressing, really. I don't remember heaven... or hell. Or anything. It was like... going to sleep and waking back up." She pushed her hair back roughly. "I wonder if I'm a fake or not. Maybe they genned me up in some lab... to actually think you can come back from the dead – "
Garrus shook his head. "Your smell is off, but most of it's still you. A clone would smell different... and besides, clones don't have memories." His tone lightened. "Not sure why I was stupid enough to think even being blown out of space would kill you. I told you the spirits were watching us, way back on the Citadel when that salarian tried to kill us in that doctor's office and they stopped those sirefucking bullets."
She snickered, then nodded. "Maybe. It... god, it has been hard and fucking miserable, Garrus. I don't even know where to start. Going after Saren and Benezia was easy compared to this."
She began to pace. "The fucking Reapers... what little Vigil has told me about them is worse than I even dreamed. Having seen some of the tech of the Protheans, and the Inusannon... and realizing they got beat badly... it's an ugly wake up call. I have no clue how the fuck to unify the galaxy to get ready and the only guy in my corner is motherfucking Jack Harper, alien-hater and nutjob extraordinaire. He seems more than competent, but... that won't help much when it comes time to convince people to listen."
Garrus nodded. "And... no one can help?"
She snorted. "Who? The people you and I needed the most to keep us fucking sane, Liara and Telanya, are dead. Anderson... is in a looney bin. Von Grath got cashiered. President Windsor is exiled. I can count on a few people, but frankly, Garrus? You're about the only one I can trust fully, besides Pressly."
Garrus frowned. "Tali? Joker? Your marines? This doctor?"
She shrugged. "They..." She paused, then sighed. "Tali and Joker basically had their lives saved by TIM. I'm sure I can trust them, but a voice in the back of my head makes me wonder how far that goes. With Cerberus, they have jobs, security, safety. They leave, and what? They could never go back to the Systems Alliance, or the quarians. The marines were never briefed on the totality of the mess we were in, and while I trust them to back me over Cerberus, a lot of them are so pissed off at the Alliance they might end up thinking Cerberus is the better deal. Sedanya knows some of it … but even then, Cerberus saved the life of her mate. Not sure if her loyalties aren't divided."
She sighed. "Pressly I trust because I went and got him myself. When I found Pressly, he was in a fucking lift chair with cheap ass alpha silver that didn't work half the time. I got him fixed up and the first thing he told me – after Cerberus docs made him able to walk again – was that he still didn't trust Cerberus and I should be careful."
Garrus nodded. "...having just come from Omega, where trust in others is an excellent way to be betrayed and shot in the head, I can understand. But in that vein? You keep that lack of trust up and you end up a paranoid wreck."
She looked down at her hand, making a fist. "I'm already a wreck, Garrus. I have... pretty much nothing fucking left. They woke me up and showed everyone I loved dying... and then they drop more bullshit on me. I have to save the fucking galaxy. Sure, I have more resources, more help, more... stuff. But what I don't have is... the spirit. I have plans but... getting them to the end point never seems to happen fast enough."
She sighed. "Everything is important. But it feels pointless."
Garrus nodded. "I know how you feel. When they woke me up... when I realized Tel was dead, my family thought I was dead, my body was wrecked... I almost just wanted to off myself. Why was I even bothering to live anymore? I'd failed. Failed to protect my friend, my mate, my comrades. Failed my family." He looked up. "But I had to get back at the Broker before I could do that."
He smiled. "I thought I wanted justice." For a moment he was quiet. "But after spending two years in the hellhole of Omega, I came to an ugly realization. Law, ultimately, is meaningless. It's always going to come down to whoever is the strongest makes the rules, and people suffer because the rules end up being more important than people's lives. I had to fight for something more than law, and order. Something more than blind obedience to orders."
He looked up. "I fought to make people remember hope. I fought because I wasn't going to let those vile bastards get away with their sirefucking petty evils without reminding them there was a cost. And yet in the end I just turned into yet another worthless boogeyman."
The turian took a breath. "You have to fight for that. For ourselves, it's over. We fight to keep the light going a little longer, for the people who haven't lost it all, who haven't felt this pain, so that they don't have to. That's what I tell myself."
She smiled. "Hope, huh?"
He lifted his arm, making a weak gesture before letting it fall back down. "It's better than just rage. As for the situation... my father, no doubt, would say that when all options but one are taken from you, it is more productive to spend time figuring out how to use it than complaining about it. If they can recreate the Normandy and bring people back from the dead, they have deep pockets and a long reach – things we'll need to kill Tetrimus, and the Broker."
She nodded, and he gave another jerky shrug. "And I'll admit a group like this one certainly has no red tape to get in the way, nothing to slow us down. They could be very useful." He sharpened his voice. "Even so... I'm not sure I like the idea of working with Cerberus. Don't get me wrong. I understand what's at stake. Against the threat of the Reapers, morals mean nothing. Ethics is just a word. But I won't give them a free pass to commit the kind of atrocities we saw in their HQ."
She shrugged. "I've made that point pretty clear to TIM and the rest , more than once. But when it comes down to allies, I didn't have a lot of useful options, Garrus. TIM made a pretty good point that the only people in power would hardly trust me without something hard to offer them, even if they weren't both blisteringly stupid."
The turian nodded, wincing as he did so. "I figured. The Systems Alliance... well, some of the people who I saved were exiles and they told me some pretty ugly things. The fact that you've found out more ugly things isn't much of a surprise. And the Council, well. You already know my opinion on those people."
He slowly raised his arm, using the tip of a talon to force a loose piece of fringe back into its seating. "On the one hand, Cerberus and the Illusive Man could be really useful, and help us get at the Broker a lot faster than the way I was trying to do it. On the other hand, I don't trust the Illusive Man. He's dangerous, and I doubt a guy like that decides to live off of eating krellfish after a lifetime of vakar steak."
Shepard snorted, and Garrus continued. "But ultimately I'd be a fool to let that stop me from getting back at the Broker, Shepard." He smiled. "I find myself not really caring what he's up to if he can just let me get to Tetrimus, and kill him."
Shepard shrugged again. "Kind of the situation I was in. I don't like it, and I've warned him several times if I catch him doing something fucked, he's going to need a really good mortician when I'm done with him. At the same time, the entire galaxy is snorting down idiotball tea as fast as they can. He's the only one making the right moves."
Garrus nodded. "I figured. And I hate it, but... spirits, if the man is right, if the Reapers are coming and the Council is sitting around with a talon up their chute, what fucking choices do we have?"
Shepard gave a bitter smirk. "Shitty and none, chicken. That's... why I'm going along with this." She smiled. "But hey, if I'm walking into hell, I at least got you with me. Right?"
Garrus rolled his eyes. "You had to ask, sheep? Might have me walking into hell with you, but hey – you have to have someone to keep you from being taken out. Spirits knows you can't even spell self-preservation, much less practice it."
She smiled at that. "You might be surprised. After I got command of the Kazan, Admiral Ahern spent a month fixing up my fighting style. I came to realize a lot of the things I did were..." She trailed off, looking away for a moment, then the smile twisted. "...well, not good." She glanced at Garrus and arched an eyebrow. "You look upset."
Garrus flicked a mandible. "Ahern. I guess I could say he's not real popular in turian space after what went down at Dalthos. Made us look like clowns." He settled back into the medical bed a bit more, and gave a jerky shrug. "Not the biggest fan of turians either, I suspect."
She shrugged. "True. I didn't really talk to him too much about that. Frankly, he gets points from me for the fact he backhanded Saren off a dam."
She sighed. "Look, Garrus. Back to what I was saying... what we've found out... the shit we're in... it's a lot worse than just the Broker's crimes, or even the things going down on Omega. Just before we went in to get you, we came across a lot of intel that made us realize we're running out of time. The batarian empire may be indoctrinated, and if Mordin is right, the Collectors are working with the Reapers, and so is the Broker. The human government is probably aware of this and has done nothing – there's every possibility our own leaders may be... if not indoctrinated, influenced."
She took a deep breath. "Worse, the Council is listening to the Broker and thinks the Reaper threat is decades or more away, when according to Vigil we may have years... or months."
Garrus sighed. "Well, that's just fucking wonderful. Do you have any good news?"
Shepard smiled faintly. "Except that my best friend is alive, not right now."
O-TWCD-O
Arrival at the base and offloading the teams was a somewhat lengthy affair. Garrus was still in the sickbay, but Angel was up and about, and his face tightened as the ship jumped into the system, taking in the ships in ordered patterns and the heavy defenses visible as they soared past the asteroid monitors.
"...This is a kill zone for anything trying to get in." His voice was quiet, and Shepard nodded.
"That it is. Not much reason for anything to come here, after all." She straightened. "For now, your people will be moved to our medical center. Once everyone is conscious, I'll brief you all, including Garrus, as to what we're doing and the options you have. Until then, we're keeping a comms blackout going."
He nodded. "Understandable." He folded his arms. "Where should I go once we dock?"
Shepard gestured to Kelly. "Doctor Chambers will get you settled in." She glanced at the status repeater, seeing the Normandy's wing configuration shift to docking mode. "If you'll excuse me, I unfortunately have a report to make."
Shepard made sure that everything was moving smoothly once they docked, and then tapped Miranda on the shoulder. "You and Pressly get everyone settled in, and then give me a report on Jack and if she hurt herself. Send one of the frigates to blow up the pinnace we left behind before someone finds it - normally we'd salvage it, but Aria's people cleanly ID'd it and we don't need loose ends. And tell Ezno to go to condition one for data security - hopefully Garrus and his people won't try to commlink or TTL out, but make sure they don't."
The younger woman gave a brisk nod, and Shepard left the ship. Ten minutes later she was in her office, and sat down before tapping the QEC link.
The glowing image of the Illusive Man appeared almost instantly. Dressed in a pair of dark slacks with heavy cuffs and a squared off, layered suit jacket, his shirt was open slightly and missing the usual tie. He gave a sardonic smile and nodded. "Shepard. I see you've succeeded at rescuing Archangel. A surprising turn of events, given his identity."
She shrugged. "Miranda said you didn't know who he was."
Harper nodded. "No, I didn't. To be honest, my presence on Omega has always been very weak, and most of my intel is focused more on Aria herself,and fleet movements. If I had known Mr. Vakarian was Archangel we would have moved to rescue him even before you awoke."
She nodded sourly. "I just bet." She gave a huff. "We also rescued his team. I'm guessing that's acceptable?"
He lifted up a glass of scotch and drank. "Shepard, as I told you when we first met, how you go about building your team to accomplish the mission is up to you. Certainly, a force which generated as much chaos on Omega as they did might be helpful in some aspects." His expression flickered. "What happens to them is up to you."
Shepard folded her arms. "Fine. Anything new I need to know about?"
Harper gave her a slightly troubled look. "Two things. One, the reactor explosion on Ilium that killed a hundred and thirty thousand people and destroyed the Redeemed Sisterhood seems to have been the handiwork of the Broker, in an attempt to draw out and kill the Sisters of Vengeance. Someone meeting the description of Tazzik was killed two days after the explosion – someone overwrote an FTL plotter and crashed an ore freighter into the fortified estate used by the Broker's people on Ilium. While this does mean the Sisters of Vengeance are still alive, their methods are getting more extreme."
Shepard grimaced. "There's a limit to the amount of crazy I'll work with when it comes to terrorists, Harper. It's one thing to blow up a bunch of pirates or shoot the shit out of gangers...killing thousands of innocent people to get at a single target is pretty fucking sloppy. How many people did that kill?"
The Illusive Man shrugged. "At least ten thousand dead, and more wounded or homeless. The entire planet is under martial law, but there's power struggles going on between certain asari corporations and agents of the Thirty that are making the situation chaotic. The Second Asari Fleet is moving towards the system – it is unlikely we'll have localized the Sisters before they enact full lockdown of the entire system."
He paused to sip at his drink before continuing. "As for the Collectors and the colonies, I've placed real-time packet drones, each with a simple QEC transmitter, in each of the systems that the Collectors can reach with one of their 'jumps'. So far, nothing has turned up. The minute the systems get a detection, you'll be alerted. You may consider taking the Normandy and any needed support ships to a location closer to the Traverse so you can respond more quickly."
She nodded. "That's a good idea. Any chance your people could set up a forward base or some place to lay low?"
He narrowed his eyes, tapping at something to one side of the chair, and nodded. "I'll have some assets put together."
She folded her arms. "How is the Council reacting so far to what went down on Omega? The Alliance?"
Harper leaned back. "So far, the Systems Alliance has not made any public statements about Omega. Privately, my people inside tell me the Admiralty is disturbed. There's enough evidence from what you found on the Rythek's group of pirates to implicate the Alliance in buying slaves and looking the other way, so they are unlikely to say anything one way or the other."
He pulled out a cigarette and lit it. "The Council, on the other hand, is... divided. Obviously Sparatus was overjoyed, and Udina seemed amused by the chaos. The fact that you were able to get in and out of Omega itself without being taken down – and the antics of the entire chase – seem to have made Tevos even more worried. Valern revealed that Dr. Solus has gone 'rogue' and joined your cause, which was an unusual action for him."
Shepard grunted. "I guess being double crossed and shat on by your government isn't just something that happens to me."
Harper puffed on the cigarette. "As for the revelations we discussed prior to Omega, my people are in the process of confirming what we've discovered, and processing the files. Each file has attached metadata, transmissions logs, etc. I don't have deep penetration into the AIS, but what little I have doesn't seem to indicate the Alliance is aware of what we have."
He sipped his drink again. "For now, concentrate on integrating Mr. Vakarian and his people, and making sure they are medically fit. Miranda has already queried me regarding expenses in terms of medical work or cybernetics – I have no objections to those, although I would strongly recommend making sure they plan to join or otherwise be of service before wasting money on advanced augmetics for any of them."
Shepard rolled her eyes. "Figures. Anything else?"
Harper leaned forward. "One final thing. Commodore Anderson is having a medical review next week, to determine if he's fit to return to service or not. I haven't been able to get anyone inside the place where they are holding him, but I can confirm the personnel there are not merely medical techs, but most likely HADES. The hearing will be in Vancouver, so there isn't much chance of us getting to Anderson prior to the meeting."
Shepard nodded. "I see. Will you let me know what happens?"
He nodded. "I will. Have Miranda contact me when she's finished with the rest of her duties – we've managed to completely isolate yourself from the rest of Cerberus now, so I need to set up front companies and dummy accounts to allow you to receive supplies and funding."
She nodded and clicked off, leaning back to think.
O-TWCD-O
Given how badly Garrus' team was hurt, Shepard expected Sedanya to take more than a few days to clear them to move around, but was surprised to hear the next morning that all of them were in the clear except Erash and Krul.
Of course, that didn't cover how they felt about the entire event. Prior to gathering them all together, she did a short walkaround of the medical bay with Angel, and considered the situation, speaking with each one of them at short length.
Melenis was recovering nicely, but seemed more than a little troubled by the fact she was still alive. Shepard got the impression of a gentle person struggling under a heavy load of guilt, and it wasn't hard, even for Shepard, to see how much she doted over Garrus.
The batarian, Sensat, was jittery and nervous around her. Given her reputation among batarians, that was hardly surprising. He didn't act like most of the batarians she knew, and listening to his story - the disgust he had toward the Hegemony, his relationship with a drell woman, being hounded and outcast from most of his own species. Shepard had never really thought of what the 'average batarian' was like, and Sensat's fear made Shepard feel vaguely guilty.
Likewise, Mierin and Sidonis both came off as somewhat nervous, and both were worried about the other's health. They were both now dealing with the fact they'd nearly died, and while Mierin was determined to keep up what she called 'the good fight', Sidonis' brash bravado came off sounding somewhat thin. Shepard knew, from talking to Garrus, how much value turians put into protecting their mates - and being surrounded by killers and unsure of what was going to happen to them probably made the kid a nervous wreck.
Butler seemed depressed, and listening to his words about the deaths of several others on the team made her realize that the man had almost wanted to die fighting. With no cause to fight for, Butler seemed almost drained of energy and interest in much of anything.
All in all, most of Garrus' team struck her as fundamentally good people, trying to do something that should have been impossible. And having succeeded and escaped alive, they were now floundering, unsure of their purpose, and deeply worried about if they were a liability or not.
Shepard reviewed the medical findings one more time with Sedanya. It would be another month before Krul's savage injuries healed naturally, while Erash would have to wait until cloned bionetic cultures of his lungs could be grown and implanted. Several other team members were going to need cybernetic adjustment, and Sedanya was already working with the medical team to prepare those implants, which in the case of Mierin's hand would also require additional nerve surgery.
Given that they were all at least conscious, however, Shepard had them gathered together in the medical level's open lobby later that afternoon. Having been fed well and having a chance to clean themselves up and not worry about being killed had helped, but all of them still retained a haunted, gaunt look to them.
Garrus himself was on his feet, which drew a murmur of admiration from Jacob about the turian's sheer toughness. He had his arms folded and was wearing a somewhat down at the heels looking armor undersuit, since he'd hardly had a chance to gather his belongings in their flight. Sprawled on the couch next to him, Sidonis wore much the same thing, although his undersuit was at least clean and well kept.
Mierin, Melenis, Sensat, Butler and Angel were wearing Cerberus jumpsuits, without the logo, while Erash was wearing a spare suit of clothes Mordin gave him. Krul was still in the sickbay critical care unit, in a regeneration creche, but had a vidlink right by her bed.
Shepard looked over the group, then gave a faint smile. "Before I get started, is there anything you guys need? My people are repairing your gear and armor, and I've sent off for some generic jumpsuits and jackets in turian and salarian styles, but if you have specific needs, let me know."
Butler muttered something about a drink, and Shepard nodded. "After our talk we'll show you the mess deck and get you settled into some rooms." She took a deep breath.
"I'm not sure what Garrus has told you about me, but I'll go over the parts that matter to you now. I was killed. The Shadow Broker did something to my ship that allowed it to be detected, and a ship that may or may not have been a Collector vessel blew it up. My body was taken from the wreck and put in stasis, and the Burning of Omega happened while my friends - including Garrus - tried to stop the transfer from happening."
She glanced at Garrus. "Whatever was left of my remains was given to Cerberus, who used very advanced technology to basically jumpstart my brain again. Most of my body is now augmented with various cybernetics. At present, there are... issues... with simply announcing my survival, not the least of which is that the Broker is still active and would just try and get me killed again."
"As such, I've been pretending to be an asari. One of the side effects of my resurrection is that my biotics are a lot stronger in terms of pure force than any human. And there is an exile Priestess of Athame who has taught me some of the asari specific tricks."
Mierin gave a rather stern frown at that. "You mean like the fact you can use a warp sword?"
Shepard nodded. "The deception is necessary. Cerberus did not have the most... upstanding reputation after I got done taking most of it apart, and until I have rock hard evidence of what I need to find out, it's best if no one outside of my group knows I still live."
She glanced around the group. "I'm sure you're wondering why I'm working with Cerberus, a group of alien-hating asshat terrorists. The short answer is that they've changed. As you can see, we have quarians, salarians, asari and krogan in our ranks. The longer answer is that this section of Cerberus is under my direct control - with one exception, everyone on this station answers to me and me alone. If the leader of Cerberus pisses me off or does something unethical, we go our separate ways and I keep control of these forces."
Angel looked skeptical. "Not to put too fine a point on it, but I've heard stories of the Illusive Man... that doesn't sound like his MO, ma'am." He shrugged. "I don't claim any of us are saints ourselves, and I'm sure you have your reasons, but I don't want to be a loose end."
Shepard gave a faint exhalation. "And like I said... you aren't. As for what you have heard…well, you've probably heard the stories about me as well. As I recall, those usually had me killing my own men, eating babies and all other kinds of exaggerations. While the Illusive Man is certainly dangerous in his own way, this is MY operation."
She paused. "Besides, the Illusive Man is more of a banker and spy than any sort of mortal threat. He needs me as much as I need him. Despite the bad taste it leaves in my mouth, as long as he keeps his word and his act clean, I'm inclined to cooperate with him since I need his resources. Likewise, he doesn't have anyone well known enough and trusted enough by galactic society as a whole to convince them Cerberus has changed."
Erash's voice was dry and somewhat sarcastic. "And has it changed?"
Shepard gave a shrug. "Given that it isn't doing crazy experiments or blowing shit up, yes. Most of the operations now are spying, comms hacking, economic crap. I don't have anything to do with any of that. My job is a lot harder."
"You all remember the giant warship that attacked the Citadel during the Benezia Incident, yes?" She saw the nodding heads. "Well, that wasn't a geth warship. It was much older technology, and it had an AI onboard."
She explained to them the situation - the Reapers, the Council's decision to hide the threat and use the geth war as a cover to build up forces, the Broker's information that had resulted in them thinking the threat wasn't immediate. And of the connection to the Collectors, and finally of her overarching goal - to kill the Broker, determine the truth, stop the abductions of humans, and use the evidence to convince the Council to go to full war mobilization before it was too late.
Garrus chimed in here and there, particularly about the horror Sovereign invoked in him, but was mostly silent. Shepard didn't go into the disturbing information they'd recently found, or into her own worries. She took in the shocked and alarmed looks in their eyes, and the tone of their questions was underlaid with horror.
She answered what she could, and then took another deep breath. "Given the situation... the question now becomes how we proceed? The answer is simple. We're going to war, against the Broker. It is going to be a pretty ugly operation and I'll need all the help we can get. Both Garrus and I have... personal reasons to want the Broker dead."
She exhaled. "I don't know your situations, or if you have families you've left behind, or things you wanted to do. Before I waste my time and yours, is there anyone who has any objections to working with us?"
Melenis' eyes narrowed. "That depends on who we answer to."
Shepard shrugged. "Garrus, for most things that don't involve Cerberus resources or equipment. If you're acting as an element in the supporting operations force, then you'd follow the BDO - Mr. Taylor, former Alliance captain. Ultimately, though, you answer to me - and I have no plans to make you do anything you are uncomfortable with."
Garrus shrugged. "You already know I'm along for this ride, Sheep. Just, please - from now on, let someone else do the driving."
Shepard rolled her eyes. "And the rest of you?"
Mierin glanced at Sidonis and spoke. "I'm clanless and the Justicars are after me for offending the House of Storms. The Broker also has taken out a contract on myself and Sidonis. Assuming you provide us with shelter and a chance to live without having to look over our backs, I have no problems working under you."
Sidonis' voice was sarcastic. "Nothing left for me back home except a quick execution for dishonorable conduct. Those are always fun."
Angel shrugged. "I doubt any of us have family to go back to. Most of us went to Omega because they were killed by people on Omega." He paused. "I'm certain that what you've described is the most horrifying thing I've ever heard of. To not participate in fighting it would be betraying everything I believe in."
Erash glanced at the slim figure of Mordin Solus, leaning against the wall. "You have no issues working with Cerberus, Pitchfork?"
"Would not be here if I did. Sad day when Cerberus more palatable than STG. Also, warned you about nickname. Aggravating your doctor prior to lung replacement unwise."
Shepard arched an eyebrow. "Your nickname is Pitchfork?"
The doctor sniffed. "Told you was handy with farm implements."
Erash cackled, which turned into a wet-sounding hacking cough. "Ugh. If Mordin says you're legit I'll be happy to lend what expertise I have, although I don't think I'm cut out for field work."
Butler had no issues, nor did Sensat, although he was amused at the idea that he would be working for the Butcher of Torfan. Melenis rolled her eyes at the question and said her place was with her friends, here.
Krul was silent for long seconds before speaking. "I am unsure of the... wisdom of giving myself over to a human battlemaster. With Angel, I chose to be there. And I could leave when I wanted. My goals were to make the lowers a better place to live."
Her expression over the vidcomm was dubious. "Having a fertile female as part of your krant would give you a certain level of influence over my people, and I'm not sure if I'm ready for that."
Shepard shrugged. "I would think killing Okeer in single combat would give me a certain level of influence."
Krul snorted. "Over the males, perhaps. As vile as the Eternal was, he was sadly right in his disgust over the way our people have fallen. The fact that he murdered tens of thousands of krogan in his experiments and cursed us with the genophage does not alter the fact that my people are prone to following strong and charismatic leaders who lead us into further ruin. Can you promise not to attempt that?"
Shepard nodded. "Urdnot Wrex is my friend. I killed Okeer because he was walking filth, but mostly because he killed Wrex's son. I don't plan on attempting anything with the krogan he wouldn't approve of..."
Krul nodded slowly. "Perhaps. Although you should remind yourself that the name of Urdnot has caused even more ruin than Okeer for our people thus far."
"Maybe so. But I don't turn my back on my friends."
Krul nodded slowly. "...for now, I will work with you. These … Reapers … threaten everything. That much is clear. If you aim to stop it, I will do what I can to aid you."
Shepard glanced around. "If none of you have any objections to working with us... then welcome aboard." She turned to Garrus. "For now, I'd suggest you sit down with Miranda and determine where your people would do the most good."
Garrus rubbed his chin, a habit he'd picked up from Angel. "Angel, Sidonis, Mierin and I are all combatants. Butler and Erash are good hacks and comm analysts, although Butler also does electronic repairs. Melenis is a crash medic and Krul is good with... several things. Teaching, training, mechanics and heavy combat."
Shepard glanced at Miranda. "I'd suggest placing Garrus' combative team-mates with your marines, Shepard. Butler and Erash would be valuable assets in Ops with Trudy. Perhaps Melenis would be capable of working with and learning from doctors Sedanya and Solus." Her mouth quirked into a faint grin. "And perhaps Krul would be useful in helping you deal with Grunt."
Shepard shrugged and turned back to Garrus. "Right now, we're sort of in a holding pattern... waiting for either a lead on the Sisters of Vengeance, or for the Collectors to pull something. That gives us time to get your people healed up, and see about re-equipping them." She smiled. "And, of course, patching your battlesuit up. Which reminds me..."
She turned to Miranda. "Why don't I have a battlesuit?"
Miranda's tone sharpened with exasperation. "Beside the fact that you can punch through case hardened steel with your bare hands and run down an aircar on foot? The primary reason is that it would interfere with your biotics."
Garrus found a laugh from somewhere. "Jealous, Shepard? Really?"
"Shut up, chicken." Shepard smirked. "I guess you do need some sort of help to expect to keep up with me."
