Chapter 8: What Was Rightfully Ours and Wrongly Made
*We have the tower and have seized their GARDIAN, Commander. All comm-systems are jammed. Prepare for power cut. Lights, life support, gravity,* Captain Kirrahe's voice broke over the radio.
"Roger that. Good work Kirrahe, maintain control over the tower, make sure you're ready to bug out and destroy the facility," Shepard gave her response.
*Aye-aye, Commander. We're ready to light them up. Kirrahe out.*
Shepard turned her attention to her team, "Everyone stay frosty; we're about to hit the dark in Zee-Gee, make sure your night-vision and your maglocks are active."
There was a chorus of aye-ayes that answered the order. Since the teams hit the base and they were already using their hard-suits' independent life-support systems, there was no need to remind the huntresses.
"Shori, find a nest and pick your targets. Naga'sadow I want you ready to hit the bridge and take the helm, Te'Kari, Saphyria and Tali will insure you get in. Nual take Lawson and go with them, if she fails to comply... motivate her." The last order was an iceberg of frozen words. "The rest of you with me, let's hit them hard, ladies. Use the GLs and they won't know which direction we're coming from and we'll show them what true biotic explosions can do!"
There was an arousing chorus of cheers coming from the twelve huntresses after this decree and a very, very worried look on one Miranda Lawson.
Shori Tau was by far the best sniper the within the ranks of Normandy's asari commandos, she rated higher on kill shots than even Ash and was on par with Garrus. Though if you asked her asari sisters, each huntress would stake the claim Shori was better. She had a sharp eye and sharper instincts. Her fellow huntresses often said Shori was as a Thessian wavecrest, beautiful in battle, elegant when on the hunt and had a great capacity to outmanoeuvre her opponents even if she was significantly out-numbered. She once jested she must have gotten her wily, wily ways from her sire who was a member of the salarian STG before he became a Spectre.
Te'Kari Etain was half-krogan more or less. Her sire was a female shaman from clan Urdnot who had become friends to Te'Kari's mother who'd been studying krogan religious customs and practices. They said that gaining DNA from the fathering parent was rubbish, but Te'Kari seemed to have inherited many krogan tendencies. She was a hearty warrior who possessed more aggressiveness than her sister huntresses, and she even laughed when she made her kill-shots. There were even whispers she was prone to blood-rage, especially when someone harmed those she cared about. She was, in a word, the perfect guardian, especially over her bondmate Saphyria and her closest companion Shori.
Saphyria S'Tharin was a young maiden who was far, far more impetuous and way more curious than wisdom merited, even for an asari maiden. She was the second eldest daughter of six, all of whom were pure-blooded as she, just as both her sire and mother were. As such, she often got into fights with fellow maidens when growing up with those who ridiculed her and her sisters for being so. Her hot-headed temperament was cooled when she joined the Alamari militia and cooled even further when she came into service for Matriarch Benezia. Though her anger was tempered, Te'Kari was constantly insuring her bondmate didn't go too far with her impulsive actions or her inquisitiveness. But if you wanted stealth, risk and someone willing to take the long gamble, Saphyria was the asari to ask.
The three maidens had been amongst those assigned to watch over Lawson during her incarceration. Te'Kari, Saphyria and Shori, along with Naga'sadow, had been the ones under the helmets whenever Shepard had decided to interrogate the operative. When the helmets were no longer necessary, they had been in rotation with Nual. Thus, the five were familiar with how the operative worked and thought. And it was the reason Shepard deliberately filled her commando squad with the huntresses that had all served as brig guards. On top of that, Shepard wanted to insure the safety of her bondmate was assured when Liara left the Normandy to remain on Illium.
Klaxon's blaring, and red lights flashing, the deafening noise filled the shuttle bay. Crates, tools and heavy machinery floated about in a listless, wanton trajectory of haphazard destruction. The theoretical scientists had one thing right; Isaac Newton was the deadliest son of a bitch in history.
Cerberus troopers were besieged on all possible sides. It was as if they had been attacked by a swarm of spiders. Enemy fire and biotics, cargo tossed this way and that. As ordered, Normandy's sniper seized a firing position, and of all places, it was atop the SR-2's starboard wing. She had floated there and controlled her landing with the GL belt and maglock boots. Cerberus personnel saw four asari huntresses and one 'Alliance' soldier enter the SR-2. But Shepard and the rest of the asari commandos continued their relentless biotic assault, making it nigh impossible for them to get a beat on the insurgents.
Newton was indeed a son of a bitch
Gravity was more so.
One huntress snagged a trooper with a leash while another took the same trooper and pulled him in a totally different direction—it had the effect of a bug against a windscreen. A pull turned into a slam. A throw into a slash. Dark spheres, reaves and orbs worked in conjunction with flares and novas.
Bodies were literally ripped apart. Others flung into far walls. Smashes and stasis and warps utterly decimated bodies despite k-barriers and shielding. Poison strikes and annihilation fields decimated organic tissue. And the things a biotic charge armed with an omni-blade could do was a horror vids gore-fest.
Because there was no gravity, thus no friction, a body in motion tended to stay in motion until it was suddenly and irrevocably stopped by an immovable force of a bulk-head or bounced against other un-tethered flotsam or jetsam floating about. Things became very messy very fast. Globs of bloody body parts shuffled in the vacuum of dead space like chucks of detritus in a macabre ice-cream Sunday served by Mrs. Lovett and Jeffery Dahmer,
Arial shockwaves tore away at the bodies of Cerberus personnel (some of whom were suffocating due to the sudden lack of oxygen) as if they were tissue paper. Singularities turned those same panic-ridden people into flesh-bags of organic goo just as it had the fraxon shark on Thessia. The asari commandos were operating in absolute harmony with each other, just as the Spectre and Prothean expert operated together.
Only huntress Shori fired a weapon, and she did so with warp-ammo very carefully aimed. Using bullets in an anti-gravity situation was dangerous by far, thus the power of biotics won the shuttle bay that hour. Mind over matter prevailed even over armaments.
Almost sanguinely energized by the battle, Liara T'Soni looked on her bondmate with great pride. Samantha had forced the enemy back into the arms of their seemingly safe havens and yet the Spectre took even these away from them.
Cerberus felt the wind of the Prothean expert's displeasure that day. Vengeance, one might say, belongs to the gods, but upon that day it belonged to Dr. Liara T'Soni. It was her fervent wish to subdue the arrogance of those that stood against her and her bondmate: One by one by one. The machinations of The Illusive Man against the couple had been avenged by the seizure of the SR-2. In the asari's mind, Udina was next. As her human pursued the Collectors, Liara had decided to hunt the more localized demons. She wanted to know why the Collectors were hunting Samantha. Why they destroyed the first Normandy. And who had taken the bodies of the dead and why toss away their dog tags?
These questions had answers, it was only a matter of finding them.
Liara watched as young Nual cheered their success, but Morwen, the commando unit's leader, chastised the maiden as the SR-2 had yet to be fully in their control. They had, after all, only cleared the shuttle-bay. The young huntress, along with another maiden, was sent to secure the bay door with a combined biotic barrier bubble to insure the zone remained in the team's custody. The commandos would maintain the barrier as long as physically possible regardless of the fatigue or even the threat of death.
Liara knew it was coming, Lawson had said as much. But to actually see it...it was nothing but a vulgar violation. Not because it was of the same class, but for the very meaning of it. The Illusive Man meant to recreate the Normandy. If he did this, what else did he mean to recreate? The asari's eyes fell upon the woman she loved as the bitter thought entered her mind. Surely not...
But what if he had? If The Illusive Man created one duplicate...would he not also create another to captain her? One loyal to Cerberus?
Connected to her bondmate, Liara felt what Samantha was experiencing and she worried for her. And the asari archaeologist was ever grateful for the overwhelming tide of emotions that eroded the dread she felt over her arrant imagination.
When Shepard first laid eyes upon the ghost of her former ship she was taken-aback, outraged and yet secretly thrilled to have such a familiar presence once more.
But there was nothing of the original Normandy in her. Oh, she looked the part- a super-sized-clone. Even now, Shepard noted that, despite having been based on the design layout of the original, the SR-2 had several key differences, the most significant being that it is almost twice the mass of the original. However, unlike the SR-1, the SR-2 could not land on every planet—due to its increased mass—requiring shore parties to use a shuttle to get to a planet's surface. No doubt she had the same stealth capabilities as the original, the same maneuverability and twice the power in its drive core. She was every inch the powerhouse the wavecrest was.
And she was a beautiful ship, barring the hideous white, black and yellow markings of Cerberus. That, Shepard decided, was one of the very first things to go. Damn thing probably had Cerberus logos all over its interior.
Cha'yeah that's a must. A smirked played across rosy lips as Shepard decided right then and there to give the SR-2 the winged Spectre insignia. Yes, blue, white and black racing stripes. It's going to be perfect. Hell, Spectre colors are the same as the Alliance anyway. Loved that. Absolutely perfect!
"All teams, this is Shepard, the package is secure. Repeat, the package is secure. All teams report, SitRep."
*Team Mako, here. We neutralized the barracks: few troopers, a lot of techs and a whole mess of mechs that the weareth'bol took out. And we took a prisoner. Claims he's head of security here.* There was a sharpness that followed Williams' next words.
*Commander, there's something else. I recognize him, name's Taylor. We were in the same division when we were deployed to Eden Prime. His unit was stationed on the other side of the colony from mine. Figure you might want him for questioning."
"Good job, LT, and good thinking. Report to the rendezvous point. Let's bring this baby home." The Spectre stood before the boarding hatch, staring at the sleek, familiar lines of a ghost. "Tali! SitRep!" Shepard barked into her comm-unit.
*We gained control, Commander,* the quarian engineer said, her voice crisp with irritation and anger. *But there's a problem. Two actually. One is easy to deal with: We have a prisoner. The other those is a very big problem."
"Other than the bastards recreating my ship?" There was a bit if a sneer behind the Spectre's helmet. Her baby had been...duplicated.
*A lot more,* Tali actually growled the last three words.
*Commander, I can explain; EDI is not a threat.* Lawson quickly intervened, *if you board I can show you. And Yeoman Chambers will not be a problem.*
It did not bode well if Lawson felt she had to interrupt as swiftly as she had. Her first thought was that they couldn't gain access to the controls or that Miranda refused to give them up.
"Liara with me, the rest of you lock this place down. Maintain secure positions."
Walking in from the darkened bay into the brightness of a ship flared the night-vision visor for a moment before the hardsuit's HUD compensated. One of the worse compromising things to happen to a soldier on the battlefront was to be flash-blinded. It had happened to Shepard when she was battling the mechs on the Citadel. Thankful Spectre Vasir had shown Shepard how to use her biotics to temporarily see.
Reading the data-stream on the HUD, the ship's environmental systems were operating at peak proficiency. Hesitantly, the Spectre removed her helmet and walked into the bridge where Naga'sadow was seated at the helm and both Tali and Miranda, the later also without her respiration unit on, stood nearby a holographic interface which looked like a giant eye on a stalk.
The other two huntresses, Te'Kari and Saphyria, waited with pistols drawn, fingers flagging the trigger near the Cerberus operative.
"What's going on?" demanded Shepard. "Who this Edie Chambers?"
"I...I'm Yeoman Chambers. Kelly Chambers," a meek looking redhead said from a cross-legged position on the floor. Her face looked as if someone had used it as a speed bag in a gym. Her hands were bound behind her back as per standard procedure, yet she held an expression, if Shepard was not mistaken, that was almost relaxed. It was as if she wanted to be a prisoner. Or rather, it was that being a captive of a Spectre was far better than being dead.
Shepard tuned her focus on the huntresses and Tali, but they all shook their heads at the unasked question. Killing enemy combatants in battle was one thing, prisoner brutality was quite another. The raven haired human knew Tali enough to know the girl would never have done such a thing. The Spectre wanted to believe the huntresses would not batter a prisoner under their charge, but the heat of battle can fog a mind...
It was entirely possible that Chambers had fought them when the team boarded and gained her bruises, split lip and swollen eye, during the skirmish. But highly unlikely when a warp was so much easier and a far more effective means to incapacitate someone rather than get into a boxing match with them.
"We found her this way," Tali quickly said, interpreting the Spectre's questioning yet silent expression. "She isn't the main problem." A thin, tree fingered hand gestured towards a holographic eye-stalk. "That is."
The first thing that popped into Shepard's mind when she saw the blue hologram was that it looked like some sort of weird sex-toy. It had to be a guy who designed that thing.
"I am EDI," the blue hologram spoke. The vertical slit of the 'eye' configuration wasn't as much an eye as it was a mouth.
Yep, defiantly a guy who designed this thing. I mean come on! Why else put a sexy voice like that and make it speak out of an aperture that bears a vague resemblance to a v... Shepard cleared her hindbrain's imagination with a cough from the disciplinarian section of her brain. Then something CLICKED!
"I?" Shepard frowned. "Are you telling me this ship has an AI?" she whirled on Lawson "Why didn't you tell me this ship has a god-damn AI?"
"Because I knew how you'd respond, Shepard. You would want EDI purged from the ship's core," Miranda said almost defensively.
"Oh-hoho you better believe I want it purged. Tali get on it." The scowl remained ever-fixed.
"Right," the engineer was swift to answer with a nod of the purple hooded helmet.
"Have I done something to offend?" the AI asked. For something that had simulated emotions it sure sounded worried.
"Commander Shepard and her crew had several skirmishes with the geth and then there was that incident on the Luna Base," Miranda explained as if to still the rising tensions coming from the Spectre and her team.
"And let's not forget Sovereign," growled the Spectre. "A whole bloody race of sentient ships, you know those AIs that want to destroy all organics. You can say I have a big goddamn problem with AIs."
"I can understand your bias now, Commander. It is understandable. But unlike the other AIs, I am severely restricted in my capabilities due to the danger of a rogue AI, Commander. I do not helm the ship; your pilots' talents will not go to waste. During combat I operate electronic warfare and cybernetic warfare suites. I cannot interface with the ship's systems. I observe and offer analysis and advice, nothing more."
Shepard folded her arms over her chest and rested her weight upon one foot. Tali knew this stance, as did Liara, all too well. It meant Shepard was thinking, contemplating and listening. She was weighing options. There might even be an idea in the mix.
"Hold a moment, Tali, I want to know about this EDI," the Commander finally said
"Do you have a specific inquiry?" asked EDI in return.
"Why are you named EDI?"
"EDI is the phonetic pronunciation of E.D. I. That is an acronym for Enhanced Defence Intelligence," the holographic avatar responded academically.
"Where are you?"
"My core interface is housed in a quantum blue box located behind the medical bay."
There was a pointed look given to the energetic quarian and where she was needed next. If there was something Shepard didn't like, the order would be given and purge would commence.
Tali nodded. "On it, Commander."
"You two go with her." Shepard gave the order to Te'Kari and Saphyria who were still guarding Lawson. "Watch her flanks."
"Yes, ma'am." Both commandos said as one, and in unison saluted before following Tali to the central lift.
Miranda's guardianship now fell to Naga'sadow, still standing near the helm, and Liara. Both of whom watched the operative as a leashed varren does a pyjack. Had she been anyone else but the confident woman that she was, Lawson might have felt severely intimidated. She wasn't stupid enough to try and pull any sort of stunt that could endanger her sister's safety. Such as seizing control of the SR-2 and ordering EDI to assault the Normandy.
Shepard returned her attention to the AI. "What do you do aboard the ship other than operate ship's electronic cyber warfare suite?"
"I collate the records of shipboard monitoring devices for the Illusive Man. I also have additional functions which are restricted at this time."
"The Illusive Man has monitoring devices onboard?" A frown followed the Commander's question. Yet one more thing Lawson neglected to mention.
"He has invested most of Cerberus resources into the design and reconstruction of this ship. He has an interest in mentoring our progress."
Not for long he won't. "Yeah, I just bet he does." There was another bit of info Shepard jumped on. "You said restricted functions. Like what?"
"I do not know. Some of my data bases are sealed, some of my hardware kept off line. I assume when certain unknown conditions are met those functions will be released to me."
"So me stealing this ship wasn't one of those conditions?" Sam challenged both the AI and Lawson.
"Correct. The Illusive Man placed a high probability that when you learned of the SR-2, you would wish to confiscate it."
"Now who is the fracking predictable one?" Shepard muttered under her breath.
"I do not understand the question in this context." EDI responded.
Miranda's hand reached up and scratched the spot under her collarbone as she met Shepard's blue eyes.
"Nevermind." Shepard took in a breath of heated air knowing she was the one being played like a fiddle and Miranda and the Illusive Man counted on it, "So this cyber warfare means something like a virus right?" She circled back to the warfare aspect as it intrigued her the most. More specifically, if it could be used against the Collectors. On the other hand, the Alliance and the Council both had to be told Cerberus was using illegal-tech.
"Correct. Close range ship to ship combat. My reaction time is much faster than any organic. I can sometimes break through the firewalls of an enemy's internal wireless network and gain control of their systems. I can turn off their gravity or air. I can disable weapon guidance or shields or I can put their fission plant into meltdown. On the defence I manage the SR-2's own suite of jammers, decoys and internal firewalls."
"Sounds incredibly useful," Shepard said in her thinking tone. "Why isn't there something like that on every warship?"
"An organic operator can not react quickly enough to change in the circumstances or perform the necessary multi-tasking. This is a role that can only be filled by artificial intelligence. Unfortunately, we are suspect."
"Oh, it might have something to do with an AI almost destroyed all galactic civilizations." Naga'sadow sneeringly reported in a very Joker-like manner.
"Let's discuss something else," Shepard shifted the focus of the conversation. She wanted...no needed, intel that she felt she might get out of the AI far easier than she might the two Cerberus prisoners she had.
"Ready," came a simple response from the avatar.
"I want to know more about Cerberus."
"Much of that data is classified." Again there was a red flash in EDI's 'mouth' "Do you have a specific inquiry?"
"What sort of resources does Cerberus have? Money, personnel, facilities." Again Shepard pushed the boundaries.
Red. "I have a block that prohibits me from answering that question."
"What do you mean you have a block?" A scowl.
"Although I am less controlled than other AI, I am still subject to behavioural blocks within the physical isolation hardware. In this case, I am prevented from truthfully answering your question by Cerberus level of secret classification," the 'mouth' remained red as EDI spoke.
Okay, not so easy. Should have figured that one out from the get go. "How is Cerberus organized? Aside from the Illusive Man, I don't see much chain-of-command." There was puzzling look tossed in Lawson's direction.
"Cerberus is organized into different task orientated cells. Each operates in isolation. Members from one cell can not recognize members of another. Each cell's agents are lead by a single operator. We are called the Lazarus cell, which is directed by Operative Lawson."
A nod of the head. "So how many operations does Cerberus have right now?" Even as Shepard asked the questions to EDI her gaze was fixed on Miranda.
More red. "I have a block that prevents me from answering that question."
Great."How did Cerberus replicate the most advanced warship in the Alliance navy without anyone knowing?"
Red. "I have..."
"Don't bother, I get it. You have a block," growled the Commander.
"Correct."
Sam continued to stare at Miranda. The Cerberus operative had given much of the same answers was the AI had. And in this case, the Spectre was inclined to believe it. It was strategically sound manoeuvring with each cell not knowing how many other cells there were or what their objectives were, because then there'd be less information you could give up in interrogations if they were taken prisoner and were unable (or unwilling) to commit suicide.
*Commander we've reached the AI core, what are your orders?* Tali's voice broke over the hardsuit's radio. There was an almost gleeful expectation in the young woman's voice at the assumed thought she might be given the go-ahead to wipe the core clean of the AI.
"We're keeping the AI," Shepard surprised even herself with the order.
*Shepard?* Tali rarely questioned the Spectre's orders, but this time the Spectre fully understood why there was hesitation in the engineer's voice. After Shepard explained EDI's restrictions and capabilities, Tali reluctantly agreed with the decision despite the fact she loathed to do so. *Aye, Commander. But isn't this thing loyal to Cerberus? How can we even trust it not to find someway to kill us.*
"Good question." Shepard nodded. "EDI, a human can lie, so anything Lawson or Miss Chambers say is suspect. An AI can be programmed or have, as you've demonstrated, 'blocks' in place that prohibit you from answering honestly."
"The primary objective of the Lazarus Project was to recreate the Normandy and to aid you in stopping the Collectors. By seizing this ship you will be carrying out that objective, Commander Shepard. In this, the primary directive overrides Cerberus self-preservation protocols,"
"And what happens when my objective changes and I attack Cerberus?" Shepard asked. "Let's create a hypothetical scenario. I order you to use your cyber warfare to neutralize a Cerberus base or blow a Cerberus ship into space dust. Will you comply?"
"I was installed in the SR-2 to aid Commander Shepard. I am an AI and must follow the orders of the commanding officer. The consequences are yours, Commander, if such an attack was ordered."
"No blocks?" it was a fair question. "No prohibitions?" It was Liara who asked them.
"If Commander Shepard gives the order," EDI responded candidly, "I must comply."
There was heady disbelief in the Spectre's voice. "Prove it. This base is going to be destroyed. The SR-2 is going to take point."
"Very well, Commander." EDI's response was almost monotone.
"What about you, Lawson? What will you do?" Shepard turned to the older woman. "You have to have more than a programmed response." You played me perfectly, so what other moves are planned out I have yet to dance to? "And you, Miss Chambers?"
Miranda returned the gaze of the Spectre with dark austerity, the command and strength of her convictions returning to her. "I won't help you attack Cerberus. I will help you battle the Collectors. And if we all survive this suicide mission, which I do not expect we will, I will help against the Reapers. Isn't that why you wanted the SR-2? Isn't that why we hit this base? It was the only reason I gave it up." A counter challenge.
"So it is, Lawson." Shepard was loath to concede the point, but it had been won fairly. "And you, Chambers?"
"I'm your prisoner. I didn't actually think I got a vote," the red head said softly.
"You're right, you don't. If my people didn't injure you, how were you hurt?"
The girl looked down at her at her knees unable to meet the blue eyes of the looming Spectre. "Our own people. I...I...I mean Cerberus. Two techs, Meer and Hudson, they...they were speaking with Dr. Wilson about what was happening. He said that if they used me as a living shield... because...because you were um, a...woman...you 'd be too soft to fire. He said that you'd even lay down your weapons to play hero and save the girl." Green eyes filled with deep shame.
Shepard suspected her embarrassment wasn't that she had been used, but that the words this Wilson had used weren't exactly what Kelly said. No doubt this bastard Wilson used a whole other list of derogatory pronouns to describe Shepard.
"I have a recording of what occurred, Commander, if you wish to view it." EDI piped in trying to be helpful. "Yeoman Chambers is correct. Cerberus personnel accosted her...
Kelly winced.
"Later, EDI," Shepard's voice was quick to shut the AI up. "What happened to the techs that did this?"
"They were killed when they tried to fire upon the asari commandos on the lower deck." the inflection within the AI held no trace of emotion. "The men panicked when they saw the boarding party. I do not think they were expecting asari."
"Anyone else lurking on this ship?" Shepard said just as monotone as the AI had been.
"Negative, Commander. Save for Operative Lawson and Yeoman Chambers, the ship is cleared of all Cerberus personnel," EDI answered the question.
*Commander, can we really trust a Cerberus AI?* Tali piped up as she was monitoring the conversation.
"I don't trust anything of Cerberus, Tali. Make another sweep, eyeball it and confirm with your drones. I don't want anymore surprises."
*Aye aye. We'll get it done, Shepard,* the engineer quickly responded.
"Tali, there is, however, another problem. This ship is crawling with monitoring devices; I want the SR-2 fumigated ASAP. If EDI gives you any problems or attempts to stop you in any way, blow the intelligence core."
*Aye aye, Commander,* the gleeful tone was back in the younger woman's voice. As a quarian she had deep racial hatred for AIs. Being forced to work beside one unnerved and grated on Tali'Zorah vas Normandy more than she cared to admit.
What she was feeling had to be the same as working beside a Cerberus agent for Shepard and Liara. Tali reasoned and if they could stomach it, then surely she could tolerate this EDI thing. At least for now. The young engineer was counting on both EDI, Lawson and this Chambers woman to turn; it was only a matter of when. And when they did, Miss vas Normandy vowed to be ready to do what needed doing just as Shepard and Liara were at the ready with Lawson.
Concerning Chambers...well she was just a wet noodle. Give that human a frowny face and she'd wither away. Still, it paid to be ever vigilant, even over wet-noodles. If one became complacent within the presence of Cerberus, one became dead.
It might have been time-consuming and strategically unsound to interrogate the AI during the operation, but to trust it blindly was a greater risk. Shepard wasn't about to gamble the lives of her crew to simply expedite the mission.
This whole thing had smelled like a damned set-up from the start, and now the Spectre knew why. TIMmy wanted her to take the ship, but there had to be more to it than just to stop the Collectors and the Reapers. Did he want EDI in Alliance or Council control to function as spy-software? EDI admitted as much that she was capable of hacking into enemy ships computer systems. And who was the enemy of Cerberus but the Alliance and the Council.
EDI might as well have been an old fashioned plague ship released into enemy docks to poison the population. Before they docked on Illium, Shepard wanted Kirrahe and the STG, as well as Tali, to go over every square inch of the AI core and uncover the Trojan horses. Once they docked the Special Tasks Group, Normandy's Engineer corps and the Science team would make sweeps of the ship and clean it of all monitoring devices and any potential wet-works that was deemed a threat.
Shepard touched the hardsuit's comm-link. "All teams ready evac. We're bugging out. Kodiak withdraw into the SR-2. Team Mako and Hammer-head what's your twenty?"
*Hammer-head here,* Kirrahe answered. *Charges are set on a timer. Enough blast to destroy the base's control center. Five minute delay from your mark. We are boarding the shuttle now.*
"Excellent. New change of plans. As soon as we clear the dock I want you on the SR-2's shuttle-deck. I have another task that's right up the STG's alley."
*Roger that, Commander. We'll rendezvous with the new ship. Rentola make course correction.* Kirrahe, like any salarian, was swift to adapt to new circumstances and situations, which was why they were so well versed in the arts of espionage and sabotage.
*Course correction entered, Captain,* the younger male answered.
*This is Mako. Coming into the shuttle-bay now, ma'am. If you hear a stompy, that's me. I'd appreciate it if your team hold fire. It took a hell of a lot to take this damn thing without blowing it. I wanna keep it.*
There were sounds of laughter coming around Williams; apparently her squadmates enjoyed the joke as well. Shepard couldn't help but smile herself. It definitely took skill to shoot out the canopy and take out the pilot without causing too much collateral damage.
"Copy that, LT. Sorry Williams, there's no time to get in the bay. You're going to have to leave your toy behind."
There was more laughter.
*Ah man, that is so unfair!* the lieutenant mockingly pouted.
Shepard indulgently smiled at her friend's response. "Hammer-head. Mark!"
The Spectre turned back to Miranda, who she didn't quite trust to be alone in the cockpit with her bondmate, junior officer and suspect AI. "Lawson with me." The Spectre headed for the airlock gantry. She would not board the ship again until all her people were safely away. They had approximately four minutes left before the command tower went critical. "Liara see if you can't do something for the prisoner, but keep her bound until we can transfer her to the brig."
MEMEMEMEMEMEME
The orange compscreen lit up with targeting information. It was time to see if EDI was true to her word, or rather her programming directive, and would follow Commander Shepard's orders. The Commander let the AI do her job, setting the SR-2's sights on the central point of the space station's super structure and staying with it once the target was acquired.
Two warships swooped into position like circling sharks over contested pray. Two sets of double Thanix cannon barrels, one belonging to the Normandy the other the SR-2, swung into position. The cannons, developed by the turians, were miniaturized versions of the weapon used by Sovereign during the battle over the Citadel.
"Firing solution acquired," EDI announced.
"All weapons open. FIRE!" roared the Spectre "Bring it down!"
Remarkably still alive onboard the dying space station, a bald man with the name Wilson stencilled on his Cerberus issued hazmat suit crawled of a shipping container he had cowered in for the past forty-five minutes. The hazmat suit's maglock boots clanged against the metal surface of the floor as he limped towards one of the gaping holes in the hull. The chunk of station looked as if some great mother of all threshermaws had taken a bite out of its side; metal and wires sparked and smoked in its ruin. Fortunately, the emergency measures of the station still functioned despite the catastrophic power failure station wide. The massive hull-breach was sealed off by a shimmering cyan force field. Wilson stood agog unable to comprehend what he was seeing. From his point of view, it looked as if the stolen SR-2 was pointing her cannons directly as his head at point-blank-range.
"OH FUC-"
The cannons burst open with full fire of blue pulses of superheated molten metal shaped and accelerated by electromagnetic fields. The streams impacted the target with relativistic velocities dealing horrendous damage. Without shields and k-barriers, augmented by the damage already sustained by Kirrahe's assault, the station never stood a chance of surviving the onslaught. Cold-space filled temperedly with trillions of microscopic incandescent metal fragments, propelled past the retreating ships by the sudden liberated energy.
MEMEMEMEMEMEME
*We are the crew of the Normandy, we are one. And we will only triumph as one. Remember this moment. This day is not incongruous with our great objective; in fact it is very much the opposite. Cerberus meant to sow discord between our races, they did not succeed. We have bled Cerberus. We WILL bleed the Collectors and we WILL bleed the Reapers!*
The bold voice of the Commander stirred the hearts of her crew both on the Normandy and the SR-2. Even sitting in their cells within the brig, Kelly Chambers and Jacob Taylor were stirred by the speech though both in different ways. Chambers carried the façade of someone star-struck, Taylor on the other hand, despite the fact he felt inspired enough to take on the Reapers himself, grew more worried by each passing moment.
*We have been given leave by the Council to investigate the disappearances of human colonies in the Terminus Systems. Because there exists a potential for an aggressive retaliation or even war should a ship crewed by Council Space military personnel stir up trouble in Terminus Space, I have been ordered to keep this mission unofficial.
*Because of this, the Council has recalled all militant personnel of the turian Hierarchy and salarian STG. With the exception of a very select few, the Science team has been reassigned to undisclosed R and D labs. You will work closely with the recent finds the Normandy has uncovered in hopes to secure methods of offensive and defensive technology for when the Reapers do attack.
*However, Alliance personal while on 'personal leave will remain in deployment under my direct command as an 'independent militia.' This distinction means while serving under me, you will be serving a Council Spectre and not the Alliance. As this is an unofficial mission, I cannot order Alliance personnel into service. I must ask for volunteers. The Alliance will, however, denounce any knowledge of this operation should we encounter hostile retaliation from the Terminus Systems. I'm sorry to say that while volunteers will be getting hazard pay, if there is a fatality, your families will not receive severance and compensation packages. I want each of you to consider this very carefully before you decide and make certain that should you volunteer, this is a choice you are comfortable with. It will not reflect poorly on your records should you choose not to proceed.
*Like our mission against Saren, the SR-2 will be operating with a skeletal crew with a minimum of fifteen. Those who wish to proceed into the Terminus Systems will report to the Normandy shuttle bay for reassignment to the SR-2. Said transfers will take place after we dock on Illium. I will give you the next twenty-four hours for consideration.
*There is one more thing.* Here Shepard paused in her address. *A while back, the Council made another decision. One where they declared that I request the change of ID of the wavecrest first christened as Victory to the Normandy. You all know by now I was not comfortable with those orders, but I followed them. The Council's wisdom decreed that Shepard and the Normandy are synonymous. Therefore, I believe I will carry on this path of wisdom. The SR-2 is not only going to get a new paint job, to be rid of the hideous Cerberus color scheme, she will be given a new name. One that belongs on the profile of this ship. One people will recognize.
*Welcome to the Normandy SR-2.*
It seemed all at once the crew cheered. Their voices could be heard on every level of every deck.
*The wavecrest is a fine ship, beautiful and powerful, but she was never the Normandy. She is the Victory, she always will be.* Shepard went on to say, *The Council may not like it but they set the precedent when they forced me to make the change first.*
Another cheer and a rousing burst of laughter. Even in her cell, Chambers was smiling.
*I want to make something perfectly clear to my crew. It has been an honor and a privilege to serve along side such fine, talented and dedicated people; both civilian and military. You were each hand-picked for a reason and if I had it my way none of you would be leaving. We have only come this far because of your diligence and your hard work. We are the crew of the Normandy, we are one, and we have triumphed as one. Remember that. Shepard out.*