Chapter 10: Enemy Mind
MEMEMEMEMEMEME
*Look, Shepard might be some god-damn war hero but she's still a cunt. They're weak and soft when it comes right down to it. Even thems that forgot they have a pussy and walk around like that have a fucking pair of balls. I'm telling you, put a gun to that little red-haired cunt and use her as a living shield and Shepard will drop her weapons, she likes to play the hero. Use that. Rough up that little chatty bitch to sell it,* a gruff voice of a balding male in Cerberus fatigues ordered the two grunts. His image was projected on a small vid screen on the bridge.
Watching it, Shepard was just able to make out Dr. Wilson in his BDUs. The men he was speaking to were wearing identical uniforms; one was Meer, the other Hudson.
"You sure about that?" Meer asked. "I don't think Shepard can be that easily manipulated. She gave up a lot of human lives to save those freaks, after all."
*Trust me. Just make it look good.* Wilson growled, *You bring her in and The Man will make you fucking rich.*
"Roger that, Wilson."
The other technician stalked towards the rear of the ship to a shaking young woman.
"I will remind you that deliberate aggression to a superior officer is against Cerberus regulations and is a court-martiableoffice. I will have to report this to the Illusive Man if you proceed," EDI's voice chirped in.
"No one's talking to you, toaster," Hudson retorted. "We bring in Shepard and the Man will forgive anything. He's big on scarifies for the greater good."
"Please don't do this," Kelly begged. Her pleas were unheeded as Meer grabbed her from behind.
She started to struggle but Hudson backhanded her with the butt of his riffle. She crumbled in an instant, but Hudson didn't stop there as he delivered another two blows to her abdomen with his boot. "Maybe your precious Shepard will rescue you. I heard you talking in the mess saying that you trusted her so much that if you were to close your eyes and fall back, you know Shepard would be there to catch you. Bet you want her to do more than just catch you. "
The other laughed at his friend's jib. "Yeah, you still trust your freak loving hero to come to your rescue?"
Hudson shook his head. "Pathetic dyke wanting to munch the carpet of a race traitor." He was about to raise his fist again when of a part of his head was blown right off his skull. He toppled over, the gun clattered from his hands to the deck.
Kelly screamed as Meer jumped up, firing his M-96 Mattock as he moved, but his bullets ricocheted off hard suit shields. His body was biotically lifted off the ground and slammed into the doors of the elevator. He was crushed under a warp field so powerful it ruptured his internal organs. "Te'Kari secure the hostage," ordered a new voice. Coming into the camera's view was Huntress Saphyria. It was she who had targeted Meer as her partner took out Hudson with the headshot.
As the elder huntress policed the weapons, Te'Kari turned to Chambers, running her omni tool over the human inspecting the medical damage. She found heavy bruising and a few lacerations but nothing too serious that medi-gel couldn't cure.
"How many more operatives are on this ship?" Te'Kari demanded even as she was applying first-aid.
"There is...was only us," Kelly managed despite her fear of the powerful asari huntresses looming over her.
"That makes no sense." Saphyria shook her head. "Even dry docked, why doesn't this ship have a larger security detail?"
"They...were more...but they... we redeployed to secure the hanger on Operative Lawson's orders."
"EDI, end playback." The vid-screen projectors in the middle of the table dimmed then went black. Shepard's back was to the rear of the room so that she might see Chambers enter with her guards. She wanted to see the yeoman's expression on the younger woman's face when she witnessed the recoding.
"Yeoman Kelly Chambers... interesting group of people you work for," greeted the Commander.
Green eyes looked away unable to meet Shepard's blue gaze. "They're...they're not all like that."
"That hasn't been my experience, Yeoman." Shepard looked to the red head then motioned for her to have a seat on a chair that had been brought up especially for the integrations. "This organization has a dark reputation. Do you have any concerns working for them?" her tone of voice was almost the same as a CEO's during a job interview. All business and very neutral.
A gratefully expression flittered across Chamber's face as she was still recovering from her assault despite being seen to by the squad's corman. "Not at all. Our methods can be harsh, but Cerberus has noble objectives. We look out for human interests, advance human technology that saves human lives. They are good goals."
"Harsh methods like beating their own people? What is so noble about that?" Countermeasure—the CEO now sounded like a JAG officer.
"There will always be some that take measures too far," Kelly said, half convinced she was right, another part of her wincing at the bitterness of it.
"Really? If that's what you need to believe, Miss Chambers. To me it sounds like Cerberus wants to dominate all aliens and put humankind on top." The 'JAG officer was apparently staying in residence.
"Cerberus looks out for humanity but that doesn't mean we hate aliens. My sister started a dog shelter but she loves cats too. I love humans but I also love asari, quarian, turian, salarian, hanar. That isn't inconstant with Cerberus ideals."
Shepard quirked an eyebrow. "That is a very positive attitude, Miss Chambers."
"What can I say, I'm a people person." A tentative smile.
"Several of your colleagues are not so positive when talking about aliens. In fact they call them freaks." Blue eyes became frosty.
Once more shame filtered across Kelly's bruised face. "But...but there are those not in Cerberus that do that too. You will always find prejudice everywhere, not just in our organization. Long ago we humans judged people based on skin color, gender, homosexuality, religion or nationality...or even what region of the same country a person came from. There will always be haters, Commander. Some of that same prejudice still exists but it isn't as bad as it was." Kelly was becoming more and more defensive. Her words sounded well rehearsed, causing the Spectre to wonder if she had been the first to have heard them. "And those that don't."
"So how do you feel about being stationed aboard the Normandy?"
The sudden change of topics made Chambers head spin. She wasn't at all ready for the side-swipe ambush. For a moment she felt like someone wading in the ocean that suddenly got skidded by a shark. It left her floundering. Or perhaps that feeling came because there was such an earnest expression in the Champion of the Citadel's eyes. Chambers felt obligated to be equally earnest.
"I was hand picked by the Illusive Man to help fight the greatest threat known to humanity. How do I feel? Honored, excited, exhilarated, terrified. I also feel encouraged. I know that under your leadership we can't fail."
"Even after I stole the Normandy?"
Was this another ambush or true curiosity? Kelly's psychology training started to kick in, and she knew now what game the famous war hero was playing. The Commander wanted, needed, her to remain off balance so her answers were more true, not the prepped responses Cerberus would have wanted. "But you stole it to fight the Collectors, Commander. Right?"
A nod.
"I...I know what's been said about what happened to you're baby. And I'm so, so, sorry. I know you must hate Cerberus and that's why you took this ship. Commander, I want to fight with you against the Collectors. I trust you explicitly."
The Spectre's mind flashed back to the thug's words about Chambers saying something about if she were to close her eyes and fall back, Shepard would be there to catch her.
"You don't even know me, Miss Chambers."
"But I know what you stand for, what you fight for. I know what you've done, and I'm not just talking about the Skyllian Blitz. You had to make really tough calls and they were all good. Not a lot of people agree with me but you had to save the Council. We're the newcomers and we're slowly gaining respect, but if we dominated the Council now we'd only gain resentment and contempt from all the other races. You took the long view, Commander. And that will help us-humanity become stronger."
This completely surprised the Spectre. "Before being reassigned here, you served Lawson, correct?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"What were your duties?" The 'CEO' was back once more.
"I kept Operative Lawson apprised of any messages or appointments she might have had. If any of the Lazarus team had important business to discuses I made sure she was made aware of it."
"Isn't that the type of tasks better suited for a VI?"
"Yes. But being a yeoman was just my official role. Unofficially I observed the team. Everyone knows how risky our mission is, many of our people may not be coming back. That's a lot of pressure. I have a degree in physiology, so I'm good at sensing when people are overly taxed."
Intriguing. "You make sure the crew's mental health is sound."
"Yes. I look for warning signs, I listen. It's not a full time job and most effective when done informally."
"She was lucky to have someone with your skills, Miss Chambers." It surprised Shepard she actually meant those words.
A smile brightened the still healing face. "Thank you, Commander. I'd like to offer them to you...that is...if I'm allowed to stay."
The raven-haired woman shook her head. "And have you report to the Illusive Man about me and my crew? Not exactly a good idea."
Kelly bore the expression as if Shepard had come up and kicked one of the puppies in her sister's dog shelter. "What is going to happen to me?"
"Technically, you're a PoW. You have certain rights according to the Council Convention as well as the New Geneva Convention that prohibits undo harm coming to you. As a Council Spectre I should by rights hand you over to the Alliance or to C-Sec, as being a part of Cerberus is a capital office. Granted, as a Specter, if needs be, I can administer justice here and now. Given that you're Cerberus, I have to admit I was a bit surprised to find that you did not have a cyanide capsule in your person when you were searched, unlike your cohorts Lawson and Taylor. Is cyanide issued to the upper echelons only or are you not as dedicated to Cerberus ideals as you claim?"
Chambers looked positively ill, in fact she had paled so rapidly Shepard thought she was going to faint. The red-head's sudden change from being overly bubbly to completely deflated must have alerted the guards as well, as each gave a questioning look to their commanding officer.
"Private, I do believe Miss Chambers could do with a bit of water," Shepard said matter-of-factly.
"Yes, ma'am," the guard on the right said and departed through the door to swiftly carryout his orders.
"You said Cerberus sometimes takes harsh methods." Shepard called up a still holopic of Veetor's desiccated and tortured body. "I hate to see what methods you would call detrimental."
"Oh my God!" Kelly's pallor took on a decisive shade of green.
A man-child no more than twenty, was taken by force by a team of Cerberus agents led by Lt. Jacob Taylor. He led the mission to Freedom's Progress, he allowed this boy's brethren to be slaughtered when they tried to reach him first and then, Taylor allowed this traumatized kid to be abducted and handed over to your 'integrators.' This was what was left when the quarians were told of it. Cerberus agents tried to blame the Collectors for his torture but, Veetor being the clever lad that he was, sent an encrypted transmission to the Flotilla detailing the Collector attack and the transmission of his abduction."
Kelly was openly sobbing. She covered her face with her hands, her body shaking. The guard that had departed returned and placed a bottle of water before the young red-head.
"Harsh methods. Now tell me again how Cerberus doesn't hate aliens." Shepard's voice had become calcified.
Kelly looked up, her eyes and nose watery. She shook her head unable to speak. Her hand shakily took the bottle of water, if only to distract herself and give her something to do.
"If you truly want to help, Miss Chambers, if you want to help me stop the Collectors, if you are honest about loving other races, you know what you have to do. I will give you asylum. I will protect you. And we will defeat the Collectors."
The Spectre said no more, but gave a slight nod to the guards to remove Chambers and bring her back to her cell. Before the door closed Shepard called out. "See to it she is fed, Private Winters. And have Peeks send up Taylor. He is to be escorted by a mix of commandos and at least one STG member flanking him."
The same guard that had fetched the water saluted giving acknowledgment. "Yes, ma'am."
Granted, all of the STG team members along with Tali were still scouring the ship for monitoring devices, but a message had to be sent to the man that had allowed such crimes to be committed that all eyes were on him. Humans, asari, turians and salarians would witness his interrogation.
MEMEMEMEMEMEME
By deliberate act Shepard left the close up of Veetor's tormented corpse on the monitor. And just as she had planned with Chambers, the Spectre also chose to play a certain excerpt of data to be 'overheard' by the time Taylor arrived.
The vidshot was taken via a drone which obviously been placed in the corner of the room just out of notice of those that entered the darkened room. Several scenes displayed piecemealed shots of the Collators abducting the populous of Freedoms Progress. Seated before the array of monitors was a young quarian male in a red and white environmental suit.
Coming in were a trio of males in black, white and yellow hardsuits, as well as another quarian female in a purple suit. When Shepard first saw the footage weeks ago, she could have sworn it was Tali in the shot. But obviously it wasn't.
The kid Veetor was so engrossed in his work that he paid no mind to the intruders until Taylor raised his hand and commanded his omni tool to shut down the monitors. This caused Veetor to pause and turn to face the human men.
"Why didn't the Collectors take you?" quarried a hard looking male with a shaven head who was nearly two meters tall.
"Swarms didn't find me. Monsters didn't know I was here," the young quarian said, wringing his three fingered hands looking from each scowling human face to the next.
"Collectors aren't known to be careless. Maybe his enviro-site kept him from showing up on their sensors," questioned a tall African American male. Lt. Jacob Taylor offered a plausible explanation.
"Or they have technology specifically designed to detect humans. Only human colonies have been hit," a blonde man said, looking at the quarian.
"Tell me more about these swarms," Taylor demanded, yet his voice was just soft enough to have made the vague attempt of trying to sound less intimidating than his counterparts.
"It's how they find you. Seeker clouds," Veetor said worryingly. "Machines-like tiny insects. They go everywhere. They find you. Then they sting you. Freeze you." He was shivering now. Clearly the boy was completely traumatized.
"Sounds like miniature probes maybe. Find victims then immobilize them with some sort of nerve toxin," Blondie offered.
"I want to know more about the Collectors." Try as he might, Taylor's voice took on the harsh edge once more.
"Nobody knows much. They are so rare most people don't even know they exist," said Blondie.
"More importantly, why are they abducting human colonies? What are they after?" Crew-Cut pondered.
"Maybe the Illusive Man can figure it out," Taylor commented. "What happened next?"
Veetor looked as if he wished to hide under the covers of his bed and hold a plush toy close to his chest. "The monsters took the people onto the ship and they left. The ship flew away. But they will be back for me. No one escapes!"
"I think that's all we're getting out of him, Lieutenant," said Crew-cut.
"We appreciate what you told us. You were very helpful." Taylor managed this time to make his voice sound softer.
Apparently this worked on the lad for he spoke again, though the wavering notes still lingered in his throat. "I studied them, the monsters, the swarms, I recorded them with my omni tool, lots of readings. Electromagnetic, dark energy."
"We need to get this data to the Illusive Man. Grab the quarian and call for the shuttle," Crew-cut ordered.
"What? Veetor needs medical help not an interrogation!" squealed Purple.
"We won't hurt him; we need only to ask him some questions to see if he knows anything else. He will be returned unharmed." Taylor made the attempt to sooth the frustrated and angry young woman.
"Plus, your people tried to betray us once already. If we give him to you, we'll never get the Intel we need," said Blondie
"Prazza was an idiot and he and his men paid for it. You're welcome to take the data off Veetor's omni tool. But please, just let me take him! Let us go!" the young woman pleaded.
"Sorry, but we can't risk it. The data and what he saw is vital to saving other human colonies. I will promise you he will not be harmed." Taylor shook his head.
Crew Cut snorted, thrust the quarian female to the ground and shot her point blank in the head.
"Was that necessary?" Blondie quipped, disgusted that some of the woman's purple blood now stained his armour.
"She went for her shot gun. Self defence. Just grab the suit-rat and let's leave. The Illusive Man will determine what is next."
Shepard turned off the recoding and looked to Taylor. "I promise he will not be harmed," she said to Taylor, who was now standing before the table in same spot Kelly had been. Her eyes fell on the picture of Veetor's remains. "Not harmed." The Spectre moved quickly around the table sizing the man up.
Like Miranda, he was fitted with a neurocollar that would negate his biotics, his amp had been confiscated and his hands were also bound behind him in shackles that would hold a krogan .
"Should I make you the same promise, Taylor?"
"I can explain..." he started.
"I didn't give you permission to speak, prisoner," Shepard said with as much venom laced ice as the man who had shot the girl in the recording possessed. "Viewer off."
As predicted, the atmosphere around the four guards who had not been privy to the pictures of the tortured Veetor or the recoding shifted and became increasingly more volatile. Each one of them wanted to tear Taylor apart with their bare hands.
"Not harmed," Shepard repeated. "Cerberus must be reading a different dictionary than the rest of us do. Malevolent teacher's edition perhaps, or is it the Inquisition's special edition? What do you think, Huntress Te'Kari?"
"I think we space him," growled the young asari huntress.
"And the rest of you? Options." Shepard looked to each of the guards. She approved of Peeks' choice of escorts.
Karrahe offered his own advice, "Or make him relive it though the child Veetor's eyes. Many sims capable of this. Common amongst salarian penal systems. Criminal endures what occurred to the victim though sims."
"I say we just shoot the bastard," Ash said. "Fucking traitor."
"Humans onboard ancient sailing vessels used to keelhaul their traitors, didn't they? Perhaps we should do the same. Fitting end to a tormentor of children: eye for an eye sort of thing," Garrus said
"Taylor, Jacob, Lieutenant. You will restrain yourself to questions asked of you. Do you understand?"
The tall Cerberus agent looked as if wanted to say more, to try and justify himself, but he was wise enough to know a military tribunal when he saw one, even if this was unofficial. He was no longer in the Alliance military and technically neither was Shepard, but she was a Council Spectre and she was holding a, in all sense of the term, Captains' Mass, which was an informal legislative inquiry of naval personal. He knew that, by rights, with the evidence she had right now, Shepard could execute him if she wanted to. Spectres were above the law. And they had the power to administer Council Justice when needs be.
"Yes, ma'am."
"You are a ranking member of the terrorist origination known as Cerberus."
He winced. There was more to it than that. Why do they always call it a hearing when the judges and prosecution don't want to hear everything? "Yes, ma'am."
"Within military organizations, even illegal ones, the commanding officer is responsible for the actions of his or her soldiers, correct?"
Jacob knew exactly where this line of questing was headed. And he didn't like it. Hell, he hated forced talks as it was, he was never one for chatting.
"Yes," he said.
"You commanded the team on Freedom's Progress, sent there by the Illusive Man to survey an alleged Collector attack. You found no human bodies," Shepard pressed.
"Yes...but..."
Shepard held up her hand. "You encountered a team of quarians who were trying to locate one of their lost crewmates on a pilgrimage. During the course of the search, a man known as Prazza and his men were killed by mechs reprogrammed by an adolescent quarian pilgrim known as Veetor'Nara."
"Yes. I managed to talk their leader, a Dara'Brian, into cooperating, but her man Prazza wasn't going to collaborate. They-"
"Yes or no." Williams elbowed Taylor in the ribs. "If the Commander wants you to explain, she'll tell you to."
Taylor glowered at the other Lieutenant but snapped his mouth shut.
"You found Mr. Veetor'Nara, questioned him, murdered the quarian CO and took Veetor prisoner, promising him no harm. You then handed him over to Cerberus interrogators," Shepard continued.
Taylor didn't want to answer, but Williams nudged him, not so softly, again.
"Yes," he ground his teeth. "What do you want me to say? That I was responsible for what happened to that kid?" He dared to take a step forward but was held back by Garrus and Kirrahe's hands. "I wasn't even in the room when they did that!"
"You were in command of the mission that took him prisoner," Shepard roared standing up. "Are you or are you not responsible for your men's actions, Lieutenant!?"
"Yes! Alright yes, yes I'm responsible for their actions."
"Then you are as guilty as the men who did that to him. You abducted a member of the quarian flotilla; you held him without cause and allowed his torture, then conspired to withhold the truth from the quarian people of how he came to his end."
"Commander, you have to believe me, I never meant that to happen! Not all interrogations go that way. I've conducted a few in the past... it didn't have to happen like that. I-"
"Tell that to his parents," Shepard said coldly. "Desperate actions to stop impending disaster are one thing because sometimes there are no good choices. Sometimes you have to go the hard way. But all out torture is never, ever acceptable; not in the Alliance, not in the Spectres, not in C-Sec and not in Cerberus. There are always other ways." Returning to a more calm facade, the raven haired Spectre reclaimed her chair. "Tell me, Lieutenant, what more did you learn from Veetor before he died?"
Taylor shook his head. A deep sadness crossed his face. "He...had nothing more to offer. Everything was right there in his omni tool. He...went catatonic by the time we reached the base."
"You served in the Alliance." Shepard suddenly switched gears, startling both the prisoner and the guards.
"Five years in total, stationed all over the galaxy. Even spent a couple of years as a Corsair." He was boasting, hoping it would help his case.
"Ah yes, an Alliance initiative, the rough version of Spectres. Hire independent starship captains and use their permission to work outside of the law and jurisdiction. Technically, not a part of the Alliance." Kirrahe supplied. "Very clandestine."
"He's right. If we ever got caught, the Alliance could disavow any knowledge of us. We were supposed to be free from restrictions and rules, but there was still enough red tape to sink a cruiser." Taylor sounded bitter about the whole affair. "I finally just gave up."
"So you like going outside the law, rules and jurisdiction. Not surprised you fell into Cerberus. No rules, restrictions, no moral obligations. Turn colonists into husks here, unleash thorian creeps there, poke around the rachni and assassinate admirals and torture quarian kids. All in a days work." Shepard's eyes narrowed. "If it all goes to hell, just say it was a rouge operation. What a sweet deal. And you walk away free and clear.
"What it sounds like is that you gave up on the Alliance to join the Corsairs, and when that didn't work for you quit them too. I see a pattern here, Lieutenant. So why did you join Cerberus?" Shepard's voice had none of the softness it held when she had been speaking to Chamber. There was no bouncing between CEO and JAG officer; it was all the swift strikes of an ocean predator.
"Guess I just got tired of not making a difference. So much of what we did in the Alliance seemed pointless; I thought things would change after the attack on the Citadel. Humanity was finally invited to join the Council. Nothing changed. Politics, bureaucracy, the same bullshit, different leaders. Cerberus is different, when colonists go missing we don't commission a team to write a report to figure out what the hell to do about it, we just go and find out." Somehow the man was able to be bitter and aloof at the same time
"As long as the Illusive Man walks his talk we don't have issues. That has been the condition of my service so far.
"And you have no problem with their actions?" Another strike, not a shark, but a ray.
"NO. I mean yes. They have done a lot, Commander. They have been called terrorists, and for good reason. I doubt you could find an organization with a more chequered past. You named a lot of the sins and there are more. Akuze to name one, but none of that was on me. But if the Collector threat is real and we do something about it, Cerberus will be remembered differently or we may all be tired and executed anyway."
Shepard's movements were so swift Taylor didn't even see her move until she had. "Or you could be executed right here." Suddenly there was an N7 Eagle's muzzle pointed directly at his skull. "I have enough evidence and authority according to Council regulations to do it. Spectres are above the law, technically we don't answer to rules or regulations, only to the Council itself but we are accountable. I am accountable for my own actions. That's the difference. From the sound of it, Taylor, you're just making excuses for your own failings, that you're unwilling or unable to own your mistakes. Learn that from your daddy, did you? You've been tested and found wanting." The gun was holstered, almost reluctantly.
Taylor looked away for a moment, Shepard could almost read his thoughts, Are we done here? His indifference to the chain of command was beginning to grate on her.
"Now let's play a hypothetical game, shall we? Assuming the Illusive Man had actually convinced me to work with him you would have been on my crew."
"Yes. Master-at-Arms"
Shepard broke out laughing. "You actually think for one moment that I would let you anywhere near the armory or let you be in charge of maintaining rules and regulations? YOU! HA! Not only no, but hell no. I'd bust you down so fast you'd think you'd be back in Basic. I maintain a tight ship. A thing you despise. If you can't follow commands you're no good to the uniform. Whatever uniform you're wearing, Mister!"
He snapped to a more ridged stance.
"What do you really what, Taylor?" demanded the Spectre.
He didn't even hesitate. "I want to figure out the real threat. I've got no problem with risk, I just need a clear goal."
"A goal? Really? I read your file. Your real file. Seems you made quite the impact once you left the Alliance."
He nodded but he had no idea what sort of game the Hero of the Skillian Blitz was playing at. Her questions while direct, seemed to be coming from all sides, like a pack of wolves or a frenzy of sharks, always assaulting the blind-spots. As soon as he thought he had a handle on how the interrogation was going to go, Shepard struck from another angle. It was more than difficult to keep up. Which he assumed was exactly how she wanted it.
"I did some things that caught some attention, but that was after the Alliance put me on leave, though. I didn't drive a Mako through a relay or take down a Reaper, but we did some good. Miranda and I stopped a batarian plot to release a biological agent on the Citadel. That's when I first met her. The batarians were going to release a weaponized virus to kill the Council. Miranda and I stopped it. The plan took us out to the NemeanAbyss and back. Saved the Citadel like you. What's the saying? 'A good deed is like pissing yourself in dark pants; warm feelings but no one notices."
Shepard wasn't impressed with the metaphor that he obviously thought was funny. The smirk on his face vanished very quickly. He took her silence as a liberty to continue his narrative, though.
"The whole thing was hushed like they're good at doing. Same that they did with you. But I know what I did. I'm proud of it. They said its best that people don't know how fragile the system is or how close the bad guys can get. But you know that."
"Why Cerberus?" Shepard pressed once more, changing her tactical line of questions. Once more Taylor felt tossed into the stormy sea.
"The Alliance sidelined me after Eden Prime, that's when I landed the job with Miranda and Cerberus, they treated it like an audition and here I am. I couldn't go back to the Alliance, not after the cover up."
"Sidelined, that's bullshit. We both know what that means. You had so many reprimands in your jacket and you were given a choice; either muster out or join the Corsairs. But it wasn't exactly as advertised on the tin was it? They had rules, regs and once more you started up again with whining and breaking them all over again. I'm thinking you were a CAT Six."
Jacob shifted on his feet.
"Yeah, you're a CAT Six. Cerberus has a history of taking the CAT Sixes. No wonder they started sniffing around you. What I want to know is if Cerberus' history ever bothered you?"
He shrugged. "Maybe that's all true. I joined Cerberus because the Alliance is all politics. Somebody has to take down the bad guys. As long as Cerberus keeps that line I'm on their side."
"Funny, I never thought of quarian pilgrims or asari babies in the womb as bad guys before. I must have missed the memo," Garrus interrupted the prisoner's audacity in praising Cerberus.
Taylor shifted on his feet once more, wishing he could have taken back that last line. He knew as soon as he said it that one of the aliens would probably jumped on it if not Shepard herself.
"You bounce back and forth between rallying to Cerberus's call and mistrusting them." It was then that Shepard went in for throat ripping kill. "Not exactly consistent, are you? A man who doesn't want to follow rules or regulations, but joined the Military... That escapes me. Why'd you do something like that? You could have joined any merc group. Unless you were going to prison and you made plea bargain with the authorities to serve the Military instead.
"See, there are four types of people who join the military. For some, it's a family trade. Others are patriots, eager to serve, eager to see what's out there. Next, you have those who just need a job, those looking to make ends meet. Then there's the kind who want a legal means of killing other people. That you, Taylor?
But before he could open his mouth and answer for himself she continued without pause. "Nah, you don't strike me as a results-at-all-costs kind of guy. You're a wash out. It's more than the fact that you had no place to go, no prospects causing you to join up. You're running from something." She stared long and hard at the tall man before her.
"When a man like you goes for the military it's because he's running from something. It's either the law or his father. So what is it about daddy that you don't like Jacob? You running from him? His legacy? Wanted to be seen as more than what he was? No matter how far you run, you'll never run from Daddy's shadow. That prick will always haunt you; whatever he did will always linger in your soul. You'll see him every time you look in the mirror.
"Daddy made an impact on you which caused you to start ignoring the rules and laws. Nothing too felon-serious, not like dear-old-dad, but enough to get you on the radar." Shepard watched him closely.
Jacob felt as if he were drowning and there wasn't a thing he could grab onto to save himself. He was dead in the water and the sharks were closing in... fast.
"That's it, isn't it? It was either prison or Military. Rules and Regs-that's why you don't like them, why you're always breaking them. Testing them? Pushing the limits. So you get the Military. You didn't like it, saw the chance for the Corsairs who promised no rules and you went for it. But you saw red tape and you bailed the first chance you got. Then you jumped into bed with Cerberus despite their reputation because they don't press you with rules and regs. Bet you're the sort of guy that tells a woman he loves her, beds her, but as soon as she gets into trouble you dump her ass without so much as a Dear Jane letter and then you hook up with the next chick to cross your path. I think you've got real commitment issues, Taylor.
"And when you couldn't muster it in the Marines, you slid into another role, one the Brass thought you might have talent for. The icing on the cake is that they thought you could still be salvageable but you can't. You're damaged goods, Taylor."
"My father owned his mistakes, he taught me to do the same," Jacob snapped. "You want me to own up? I'll own up."
Shepard stood up once more and walked up to the prisoner. "You admitted you were responsible for the abduction of Veetor'Nara which led to his tortuous death. You are also Cerberus, and for those offences alone I have the authority to execute you. As a Spectre I will carry out the sentence myself. However if you turn States' evidence I will rescue you of that sentence."
She pulled from the one of the small pouches on her utility belt a tiny capsule filled with white powder and placed it on the table. "Or you can follow Cerberus protocols. Cyanide. SOP of higher Cerberus echelons is to take it rather than be caught and divulge Cerberus intel. I know you're not big on rules and regulations, but rules are rules. Just swallow the pill and save us the all problem."
There was not a face in the room that did not carry the expression of astonishment. Of all the things coming out of the Commander's mouth that was not what any of them expected to hear. Her reactions to Lawson and Chambers had been radically different than to how she reacted to Taylor. There was an instant dislike and complete distrust of him from the Spectre.
Garrus and Ashley, who knew Samantha Shepard best, could read her body language as clearly as if she had written it down on paper. She wanted to tear Taylor apart with her biotics. It was as if in Taylor she saw all of the failings of humankind: those that gave up when things turned sideways, turned their backs on promises, and betrayed those closest to them. He was a quitter and a traitor-a man who couldn't commit. Jacob Taylor was the worst kind of turncoat—a man who didn't even know who he was.
"Get him out of here," Shepard ordered.
There was a nod of compliance from all four acting guards. Garrus and Williams grabbed either side of the prisoner's arms and started to haul him out of the briefing room.
"Wait!" Shepard called out. She moved like a shark though silent, dark waters of a black ocean. A hand reached out, picked up the pill and thrust it into Williams' hand. "Give him the option." She then turned like a manta ray in the shallow of a tidal pool to the tall male. "Do the right thing, Lieutenant Taylor, or do the Cerberus thing, your choice. You want to help stop the Collectors, then man up if you're capable. If not..." she shrugged, "go to hell." Now standing nose to nose with Taylor the Commander added, "In fact, you can go to the same hell you sent that quarian kid, when you tortured him Cerberus bastard.
MEMEMEMEMEME
The remainder of the trip to Illium was uneventful. Both the Normandy SR2 and the Victory docked in the same bay as when Shepard had first landed. The Spectre disembarked the Normandy fully prepared to board the wavecrest. Her eyes followed the eloquent, beautiful lines of the asari made ship.
How strange was it that she was feeling something akin to buyer's remorse over gaining the Normandy. She was so adamant about taking the SR2 from the Illusive Man that she had ignored what she might be losing. The Victory was a gorgeous ship, powerful and with the new upgrades she was capable of withstanding a ship to ship confrontation with a Collector ship.
Fortunately, the Illusive Man's network of spies worked in Shepard's favor this time as the Normandy had the same upgrades to her shields, plating, weapons and scanning systems. She was every part the equal to the Victory. The Normandy was capable of withstanding a confrontation with the Collectors for a time, but how long for was another story. Frigates like the Normandy and Victory weren't designed for a stand-up fight, they were made for stealth, recon and guerrilla strikes.
The Spectre's lips curled into an odd smile and it slid onto her face as she thought about how much alike frigates and asari huntresses were. Hell, the ships were a lot like the Spectres in that way too; hit quickly and hard from the shadows and slip back into dark.
Her eyes fell on the now familiar lines of the new Normandy and her mind took another turn. How all of this was going to look to anyone not in the know. Here was humanity's only Spectre dismissing the vast majority of her alien crew, taking a Cerberus ship and taking on Cerberus 'crew'. It was going to look like she was a damned turncoat. The worst part of it was that the Council would allow it and TIMmy would take advantage of it. As soon as she laid out the plans to trap the Illusive Man to the Council, they approved of the risky manoeuvre and gave her the authority to go ahead with it. That being said, Sam also knew she was going to be hung out to dry if and when the plans came to light.
Hell, Mr. Illusive was probably spreading the lies now, hitting the pertinent media hounds, sympathetic admirals and politicians, anyone Cerberus had leverage on to in-force the idea that Shepard had abandoned the Alliance and the Spectres. No doubt he meant to rob her of everything, but perhaps in all his Machiavellian schemes he had forgotten that should he do such a thing that, he would no long have power over her.
Proactively Liara had already started on damage control both in the private sector and the public eye. This was one time Samantha would not be 'taking one for the team' or be swept under the rug. A part of Liara's initiative was to send a transmission to the extra-net conspirator guru The Wizard, who was told to sit on it for a while until there was concrete confirmation the Collectors were indeed involved in the abductions of human colonies. Liara decided to tag the largest sensationalist journalists that loved nothing more than seeing Shepard's career careen into oblivion because the Specter was an ardent advocate of interspecies corporation Khalisah Al-Juhani might actually become an asset for once.
Sam was already tagging Anderson, Hackett and her mother in the data packs. They may not be able to do anything in the open, but at least on the peripheral they would all be well prepared for what was surely going to be a massive political shit storm.
There was also another storm she had to contend with upon her ship. The loss of so many of her crew didn't sit well with the Commander. Had she a choice, Sam would have taken both ships through the Omega-4 relay to confront and defeat the Collectors. Naga'sadow was every inch the pilot that as Joker was and she could have handled the challenge
With two such powerful ships and with a crew especially created for the situation, the Collectors would have fallen easily and the Reapers would have followed their servants soon after. But it was not to be since there was to be only one ship and a thinned crew made up almost entirely of humans.
But which humans? The answer lay in the Normandy's shuttle bay. She had given her crew twenty-four hours to make up their minds once they docked on Illium. Between then and now Shepard needed to handle matters with the Council, as well as the tedious tasks of transferring the armory, tech research and crew manifest from one ship to the other.
Not to mention a detailed accounting of the Normandy's stores, munitions, cargo manifest etcetera, etcetera. Perhaps she was being overly paranoid, but Shepard wanted the ship scrubbed from bow to stern at least twice more, if not a third, to make sure that all monitors, bugs and other surveillance equipment were found.
Sam also wanted to install a new pair of subatomic particles in the QEC that would allow her to communicate with the Council with the same effectiveness as with the Illusive Man.
There were other arduous tasks that needed to be handled as well, such as the moving of her personal belongings, including her model ships, the fish and, of course, Little Guy. Shepard also wanted the Normandy to have a new paint job, something that reflected both the Alliance as well as the Spectres. Blue racing stripes rather than the black and yellow of Cerberus. The white could of course stay. It wasn't going to be exactly like Alliance frigates, which would have added silver-gray lines, but it was going to be a damn sight better then flying Cerberus colours. Shepard also wanted the Spectre wings to be displayed within and without the ship. There was a lot of work to be done, but fortunately the crew was up to the task and would handle the forthcoming challenges as they had thus far.
There were decisions to be made about the Cerberus prisoners, which included an AI, along with the three humans.
Another issue that needed addressing was the finding and recruiting of Justicar Samara and the assassin Thane Krios. On top of that the promise to keep Oriana Solheim and her family safe from both Miranda's father and from Cerberus. Sam wasn't about to allow TIMmy to use Oriana as leverage over Miranda...not anymore.
Oh, and let's not forget stopping the Collectors from harvesting anymore human colonies.
Shepard blew a puff of hot air out of her mouth that caused the unruly forelock draping across her nose to flutter up and resettle. Yeah... It was going to be a busy twenty-four hours.