Chapter 40: No One Rides Off Into The Sunset
"Shepard, good work on Horizon." The Illusive Man's congratulatory tone did nothing to ingratiate himself to the Spectre. "Hopefully the Collectors will think twice before attacking another colony." As was his fashion he was seen with the ever present cigarette.
He should be called Cancer Man. he's never without one smoldering away. Shepard mused through her frustration and ire at his very presence. Probably some diversionary tactic. You grow increasingly irritated at the aloofness of him sucking away at his death stick and not at the game he is playing, his machinations moves and countermoves. She thought. Like Aria using her cleavage...
Shepard would not be distracted; her anger was a smoldering as the ember end of TIM's death stick. "It was not a victory. We only interrupted the Collectors. They still abducted nearly half the colony." her blue eyes frozen. TIM like Councilor Sparatus was trying to make her ring the bell, to take the walk of shame. Shepard had not done so at Arcturus Academy in all her years of N7 training, not once did she think about during Hell Week, nor when the Council had the Normandy in lockdown. She sure as hell wasn't going to do it now. And she wasn't going to allow TIM to posture over the debacle of Horizon.
"That's better than the entire colony, and more than we've accomplished since the abductions began. The Collectors will be more careful now, but I think we can find another way to lure them in."
Shepard wasn't going to jump. The things Ash said...Had her friend, her former team's 2IC truly forgotten the plan for Shepard to get to TIM and eliminate him? Had she forgotten that it takes time to turn someone, especially someone like Lawson? Or was there something more at play here? Why was Ash so convinced that Shepard had been the one to have been turned? And she was so insistent that not only had Shepard been turned, that she was indoctrinated. Of the latter, Shepard had had her own doubts of how much influences all those Prothean devices had on her, but that was another matter entirely. The one that was clear and present could be answered now:
"Ash said the Alliance got a tip about me and Cerberus. Was that you?"
"It's not uncommon knowledge that you have one of my ships, Shepard or that you have a couple of my people working with you of their own volition. I may have let it slip that you are with Cerberus."
"You risked the lives of my friend, my crew and that entire colony? Just to lure the Collectors there?" There was no masking the anger in the Spectre's voice; she made no effort to disguise it.
The Illusive Man crossed his legs and responded in a blasé tone. It was an unending
Game between them: her torrential emotions to his steadfast machinations. "A calculated risk. I suspected the Collectors were looking for you, or people connected to you. Now I know for certain. I told you, I wouldn't sit and wait while the Reapers and Collectors gather strength.
"Besides they would have hit another colony eventually. And without a way to predict which one they would have abducted everyone."
She was loath to admit his strategy was sound, he was right, it galled her. Her face became frozen once more; she would not proclaim this to him openly. This too was part of the Game. Shepard knew deep in her gut he had gained something more than just Intel on the Collectors movements and it had nothing to do with saving half the souls of Horizon. There was something much more at play here. Something he didn't want her to see. Of course the only reason the Collectors had been stopped was because Cerberus was watching that Colony very closely.
Cerberus wasn't the only want watching it, the Alliance were too, but for other reasons. The suspecting nature of Ash and the allegations that Cerberus and the Collectors had formed their own 'alliance' wasn't far from Shepard's own speculations. But right now that was all they were…speculations. And speculations led to jumping prematurely into reactions and assumptions, which ultimately led to hasty and unwise actions.
"We have to make sure they don't abduct anyone else." she said.
"I want the Collectors stopped for that very reason. That's why we're doing this, Shepard." There was something in the way he said it that had Shepard wondering, and second guessing him. He was definitely trying to placate her 'heroic' side. The side of her that stood one against many in that final battle of the Skillian Blitz that turned a fresh N7 into a war hero.
"I'm devoting all resources in finding a way thought the Omega 4 relay. We have to hit them where they live." he shifted his weight in his chair, "Your team will need to be strong...as will their resolve. There's no looking back. The same goes for you." he was speaking now almost as if he were Shepard's CO or rather as if she one of his willing operatives. Expecting her to obey him as surely as Lawson would have done. "Can I assume you put your past relations behind you."
"That is none of your damned business." Shepard snapped.
He flicked the ash of his cigarette off almost symbolically to his next words. "If it affects the mission, better you should leave it behind." there as a hidden warning there. Cold and deadly. "Shepard, once you find a way though the Omega 4 relay to the Collector homeworld...there is no guarantee you'll return."
Shepard fought the chill crawling down her spine, Liara and their daughter... the idea of creating a gray-box for her Angel Eyes and their babe was growing increasingly more important. She had to leave something for her baby to remember her by, some way for her daughter to know the parent she may never meet.
If he saw her inwardly flinch, he made no move on it. "To have any hope of surviving you...and your entire team...must be fully committed to this."
"They are as am I. You have no cause to lay any doubts before me, TIM. Your part in this alliance of ours is not playing the role of my Admiral, or the Council but to find a way through the relay. The functionality of my team is my concern, not yours. We will be ready."
He seemed to concede the point just for a moment. "I trust you know what you're doing. I just want to be clear about your odds."
"The odds are never in our favour. But I've beat them every time." she held a hand up. "Do not waste time telling me not to be overconfident. I'm not. I am however veryconfident in my team and how I run my crew."
"As you say." he brought the cigarette to his lips and drew in a deep breath of smoke, causing the ember on the end to flare to a brilliant red-orange, as brilliant as the dying sun behind him. "Be careful Shepard, the Collectors will be watching."
They are not the only ones. Shepard couldn't help but think.
She left the comm-room, her mind a turbulent storm, circling like a whirlpool around and around. She was once asked what game is it that all the players use the same pawn? Which Game was The Illusive Man was playing at? Yes he had no desire to be crushed under the tyranny of the Reapers, their immeasurable power. Surely he could not be naive enough to believe that power was his to take? He was the sort of man who lived by the philosophy that sometimes the galaxy no longer needs a hero. Sometimes what it needs is a monster. People do not fear guns, but they fear monsters, they flee from it. With the tools and weaponry of the Reapers, the true monsters did he think to save all humanity. With the technology of the Reapers and the Collectors did he truly mean to shift the balance of power from the aliens who had long before humans arrived in the greater galactic scene dominated the galaxy? Of course he did. But what would he barter for such power? What Faustian bargain had he made? He would not question the price.
Hope versus despair and the entire galaxy held in the balance. There was no way Shepard was going to allow TIM such dominion—such power. She had made her own Faustian agreement with Cerberus when she took the bait of the new ship. The payment it seemed was her integrity. It must be so if Williams was questioning it even now, where before she never had doubted Shepard's word, her honor.
And if one of her closest friends-her one time Trusted doubted her, what of those that knew only the Spectre by reputation alone? Rumors would be abounding throughout the systems. Project Caesar apparently was a rousing success. All she had to do was to take the SR2 and christen her the Normandy. It sealed the bargain now TIM was making it known that Shepard was the pet of Cerberus Her word would never be trusted now, not about the Collectors, not about the Reapers and not about the truth about her connection to Cerberus. What alliances could she foster now that her integrity was stained?
First things first. Stop the Collectors. To do that she had as reluctant she was to admit it, TIMmy was right, Shepard had to ensure her team was sound. Despite what the Illusive Man thought as distractions such as families, they were important to her crew, to her. A family offered hope, offered strength. Loved ones gave a soldier the courage to fight on, to do what was needed to finish the mission. Family gave one the power to do the impossible.
There was nothing Miranda would not do for her sister, including selling her soul to Cerberus to protect Oriana. Thane would do the same for his son. As Shepard was for Liara, Garrus and for Tali—her family, she would fight on for them, defy death, defy the odds. Kasumi had her gray box, her memories of Keiji forever preserved. It gave the thief the courage to face the insurmountable challenges. And there would be many to come.
Zaeed had his vengeance, and now like any soldier of fortune was loyal to his contract, to Shepard and the cause. Seeing what he had on Horizon cemented it. Tali and Garrus were sound; she need not worry for them. But what of Samara or Jack? The matron—had seen centuries of conflict. As a Justicar she was trained to hold true to herself, to stay solid under any possible condition. Shepard didn't even know if the woman slept, she slipped into deep meditations, deeper then even Shepard had gone. If her mind was ever unsettled Sam had not seen it. The same went for enigmatic Morden Sulas. His knowledge had saved their lives on Horizon, true enough but of the man himself, Shepard still knew so little of, other then the fact the science guy loved Gilbert and Sullivan. She would need more on him than that to be certain of his loyalties.
Jack hid nothing. Anything that upset her she made it very clear. Of anyone Jack was the most unstable, highly volatile; she was like nitro-glycerine. Shepard was still working up the trust in the young woman, not only in her but for the team. It would require a few more short missions together in the like she and her team had gone on during the hunt for Saren. Back then it was to build up the trust between a krogan and a turian who were always going to be at odds, an asari who wasn't trusted because of her mother, and a quarian who everyone took as a thief all but Shepard, who took the kid under her wing. They were forged under fire and became strong, and indomitable.
It had to happen again. It was happening, but slowly. Shepard had to find it in herself to trust her team as well. Again her relationship with Garrus, and Tali was as sound as it ever was, they had been through hell and back and was about to do so for a second time. But of the others—without talking to them more, she'd learn nothing more then their capability on the battlefield. That might be enough for trench warfare where you didn't want to get close to the fella next to you in case he took a bullet or you did. Just easier to say goodbye to a person you knew had your back in a fire fight but had a face of a stranger. It was an old soldier's proverb.
As sound as the one: 'Never run when you can walk. Never walk when you can stand, never stand when you can sit and never sit when you can lie down. Never lie down when you can sleep.' They don't teach you that in Boot, but you learn it on the ground when you're heavy in the Theatre.
But this was wholly different. Trust wasn't enough. Not nearly enough. Despite his words, The Illusive Man was constantly undermining the mission by his admissions of how the odds were completely against their survival. It seemed he liked his people like Kleenex-strong, soft and disposable. Shepard would not allow his debasing to diminish the crew or the mission. It was a good way to lose the battle before it even began. For a megalomaniac overlord TIMmy seemed woefully inadequate in the ways to inspire his people for success. He preyed on their insecurities building up traits such as xenophobia and proclaiming it true power rather than build up personal strengths and inner-team cohesion. To be united in hate is a fragile alliance at the best of times. That was something any competent leader understood. That could not be the foundation for the Normandy's crew.
She would bring them home. All of them. All of them alive.
ME~ ME~ ME~ ME~ ME~ ME~ ME~ ME
As was her habit after every major objective Shepard patrolled her ship. Her hands trailing along the struts, bulkheads—feeling the rivets-the hum of the engine core, the low buzz of chatter amongst various crewmembers off and on duty.
Her first priority was to head to the medbay to check on the injured. While the others had bruises and minor injuries that required little or no attention, both Jack and Miranda had been caught in the cusp of the 'death choir'. The bio-mechanical titan wasn't anything anyone of them had ever seen before. The natural armour was near impenetrable nearly as strong as any starship added the biotics barriers and K-shields and it made it them almost indomitable. Almost but not quite. The particle beams and death choir...what they did to those on the ground demanded more study.
For now her people needed attention. Several doses of medigel had kept Jack and Miranda mobile and functional on the battlefield. But now they were back onboard Shepard and Chakwas were insistent they get a full medical check-up. This was not well received by either woman but neither disobeyed the orders.
"The death cry..." Chakwas stalled over the word as if she smelt embalming fluid, "Put simply the creature emanated very powerful sonic wave that can shatter solid objects. It's amazing they were in such a sound condition as they are. The cry perforated their inner eardrums which destabilized their equilibriums. Had those two been at the brunt of the wave it would have shattered their bodies. Their biotic barriers also helped to suppress the effects, but not by much.
"Remember that when you're on the field Commander. Your hardsuits can take a great deal of damage but not all of your people are wearing the same protection. If they are going to face more of those creatures..."
"Understood. Believe me Doc it's become a priority. Morden right now is harvesting everything we can get on that beast. We lacked serious Intel when we hit dirt." she looked disgusted mostly at herself then anything. "That will not, can not happen again."
"Commander how could you have known, how could have any of us have known about the scions or that praetor creature?"
"I bet you my next pay-cheque Cerberus knew...TIMmy knew." there was venom in the voice of the Spectre deep resounding unforgiving venom. "He knows a lot more then he's giving us. He's spoon feeding us scraps so we become more and more dependent on him. His withholding that information nearly got my people killed. I'll make damn sure it will not happen again." her teeth set hard. She drew in a deep steady breath Shepard looked over to the two women laying on the med beds, their cubicles dimmed and the privacy bulkheads engaged to give them a sense of solitude. Nothing made a person feel more exposed then laying on a hospital bed for all to see.
"What is their recovery time?"
"I'd prefer they get three full days' complete rest, Commander. One will suffice. The restorative procedures I used to repair their eardrums need time to fully heal. The eardrums are extremely delicate, Commander, the longer they are on down time the better.
"You got it." Shepard looked to her crewmates; the down time wasn't going to be an issue. The restorative procures Chakwas spoke about was not so dissimilar to the procedure used to graft cloned skin and bio-synthetics and tissue along Shepard's torso after being eviscerated by the Saren-husk.
"How did you get Jack to stay put? You got her sedated?"
"I didn't need to. I told her once you saw her, she was free to go back to her hidey-hole. She was most agreeable though she had a few choice words about having to wait for you."
The Commander grinned. "I'll bet." she clapped the elder woman on the shoulder, "Thanks doc for patching up my crew." Nether one pointed out that was what Chakwas was there for, to patch up the crew after a battle in order to keep the butcher's bill as low as possible.
Shepard stepped around the partition rapped on the bulkhead and stood at the foot of Jack's bed.
"'Bout time you got here, now tell the Doc to spring me." Jack was sitting with her back resting against the headboard her legs stretched out in front of her and crossed at the ankles.
"I was going to ask how you're doing, I can see well enough." jibbed the Spectre. She moved closer to the bed and swatted the tattooed woman's legs indicating she should move them. Almost immediately and most of all surprisingly Jack did so thus allowing Sam to take a seat. "You know now that you're a crewmember on the Normandy, you're going to have to get used to this sort of crap."
"What sort of crap?" Jack's petulance was offered only because it seemed expected of her.
"Team-mates looking out for your scrawny ass. Giving a damn that you walk off the battlefield, or if you can't they carry you and put you in one of these beds rather than end up on a slab. You and Lawson made a hell of a team down there making sure I didn't get my ass shot off. You did real good." She lowered her voice so that only Jack could hear her, "I think that sometimes it is the people who no one imagines anything of who do the things no one can imagine."
They both shared a smile, however brief it was true. "Yeah whatever. You're welcome I guess." As quick as it came the grin sobered. "That thing, Shepard, what the hell was it? Those were the colonists inside that fucker, weren't they?"
The Commander was silent. She didn't have an answer. Were they? It was possible, maybe not from Horizon but possibly from one of the others that had been taken?
"Fuck!" Jack snapped gaining the attention of both Chakwas and Lawson. "Shepard, you gotta promise me one fucking thing, I ain't going to end up like that. You do me before it happens. You too Cheerleader, and I'll do the same damn thing for you both. We ain't ending up some god-damn mother-fucking zombie thing."
Shepard nodded. "Of that you have my word, Jack as do you Miranda. I will not let my crew fall. We will not become abominations." She rose and as she did slapped an affirming hand on Jack's leg. "Chakwas said as soon as I saw you, she'd release you. Consider yourself stood down. And excellent work out there."
Feeling the growing kinship made her feel strange and gooey inside, Jack pulled back behind the safe confines of her walls. "Hang on there Q.G.S, not so fast. You said as soon as were back on the Normandy you'd explain that trick you did out there. Those Cerberus fuckers made me the most powerful biotic humans got but I ain't never seen any shit like that before. They fuck with you too?"
"No. At least not in the way you're thinking." Shepard shook her dark head. "Though her boss tried to pull all manner of crap with me, still is. But that's not how it happened. The short story is that it's Prothean more succinctly it's a technique their adepts use, it came to me though the Cipher and I had more understanding of how to use it from another device we discovered that was called the Vinculum, which was more or less a vast store house of Prothean memories. I was lost in them for a while until Liara pulled me out. There's more to the story, and if you want to know I'll tell you but not right now."
"Prothean hey? So no chance on someone else learning it that wasn't plugged into the memory thingy?"
"Liara can do it, but then again we share a unique bond. I could try if want or at least give you the theory of how it is accomplished. Right now however I have to check on the others. "
"Yeah yeah I get it. You have to go play mother hen to all your little chicks."
"Part of being a good commander, Jack is making sure your people are in top form and if they're not you get them there—whatever it takes. Sometimes you yell at them, sometimes you just make sure they're acclimatizing to the situations as quickly as they can to survive. Above all you just make sure they know you believe in them."
For a moment Jack was silent, there was that fucking goo again. Shepard making crap into butter. God damn Queen of the Girl Scouts. "I just wanna know how you did that thing you did back there, I don't need a damn lecture on commanding anybody. I'm not that kinda person. Tell that shit to the Cheerleader."
"As you say Jack. I believe you are dismissed." Shepard said not ruffled by the taciturn retort from the younger woman. She half expected it truth be told. Jack did not respond well at least outwardly to introspective cross-examination of her existential self. Not simply because the young woman was completely unaccustomed to anything positive, but because anytime she allowed herself to trust someone they always betrayed her. She learned a hard lesson years ago: one that wasn't going to be removed with a few soft supportive words or gestures.
The fact she had listened however was a very good start. Shepard watched as the bald woman jumped from her bed or at least tried to. Her equilibrium was still a little wonky; her feet gave way from under her. She looked to the Queen of the Girl-Scouts and to the Cheerleader but they pretended not to see what happened even though they clearly did. They let her save face, and for that she was grateful.
She didn't say noth'en as she left the Doc's patch-up joint and went to the her safe hole. The darkness, the hum of the engine core, it was all safe. Best of all ain't no one but Shepard that came down there. And she already did her mother hen girl-talk bit, so Jack knew at least she have some peace and quiet for a time.
Miranda watched as the Commander interacted with Jack. It was strange to reflect upon it now but somewhere along the battlefield on Horizon the tattooed woman ceased being Subject Zero and became Jack. Lawson didn't know if it had something to do with the bravery of the younger woman, of them both being under the assault of that mysterious creature. Of Jack taking the brunt of it. Whatever it was they shared something on Horizon, something neither one of them was willing to even approach let alone speak of.
Once more Miranda watched the Commander connect with her people in a way the Operative never could. Had no talent for it, to make people follow her on word alone. To relate to them on their own terms, Miranda had no idea how Shepard managed to do so. To wax nostalgic with Zaeed, to talk the dirt with Jack or Grunt, philosophize with Thane or enter into existentialist conversations with Samara. Of course the past experiences with Saren created its own bond with Garrus and Tali. Hell Shepard married them. It was whispered amongst the crew despite not being openly named so that Vakarian was Shepard's true Trusted. Was it any wonder she called him the Archangel? Miranda knew she'd never have that skill, it wasn't something that could be learned, it was a natural born talent.
"You jumped in to cover Jack down there. I won't forget that, Miranda. Either will she. She won't want to talk about it, but she knows. You proved yourself to this crew...and yourself down there." Shepard said as she approached the bed. "You're solid in a real fight, I'll give you that. And you adapt to situations swiftly. Maybe it's your perfect genes, maybe it's just you. For the record, I think it's you."
Despite herself Miranda found herself smiling at the complement. Months ago she would never had thought it possible. Hell she was sitting on the other end of the bars of a brig, a hated enemy of Cerberus treated as a P.O.W. Now she was a valued team-mate, a full member of the Normandy crew. Trusted by Shepard. Trusted by some extent by the Archangel and Tali the young woman who the Commander loved as a little sister. That spoke volumes.
"Thank you Commander." Was Miranda surprised more of wanting Shepard's praise, and grateful for it when she received it. Unlike Jack, Lawson was accustomed to accolades being showered down about her. It was always the Operative knew soul deep it was only because of her superior tailor made genes, to her excellent schooling that made it so. Shepard was the only one to give such commendations to Miranda for being herself. Not even her boss and mentor The Illusive Man made her feel like a true person not like this woman—this legend standing before her bedside did now.
How in the blazes did Shepard do it?
Shepard only nodded her 'welcome.' "Get some rest, Miri. I know Jack won't say anything; she's too prideful and too damned stubborn to admit to any further discomfort. You, however I trust are intelligent enough to know if you do it needs to be reported immediately to Dr. Chakwas. We have no idea of the lasting effects of that sonic blast you both took and you weren't even in the full wave of it."
"Do not worry, Commander, I'll let her know. Right now I feel only very dizzy and have a splitting headache, like no migraine I've ever felt before."
There was sympathy in the Spectre's eyes. "I'll leave to your rest then."
"Commander...once I'm on my feet I want to work upgrading our hardsuits shielding against sonic assault. I doubt much could be done against its practical beam but I'm not ruling it out. Maybe some sort of cyclonic shielding to our K-barriers?"
There was a smile on Shepard's face. "Excellent thinking, Miranda. Make it so. Start brainstorming on it tomorrow if you're up for it. As for the rest of today and tonight I'm giving you a direct order to stand down and take some rack time. I know I can't stop you from thinking or generating ideas, but I will order you to your bunk if needs be."
Miranda offered a mock salute. Mother hen indeed. I would never have fussed over any of my people like she does hers. I would have ordered them sedated by the medics if I knew they wouldn't stay in beds. I would never have visited them in their sick beds. And I would never speak to them on their level. Or try to relate to them. I would have told them to do they could either talk about a mission or do it. I would never have made time for them like Shepard does. Never take time to visit each crew member; I would expect them to do their jobs. I'd never want to be their friend, never go to lengths, jump through fires, or the hoops or face death for anyone under my command like she does for hers.
"No need. Dr. Chakwas gave me some pain meds for the headache; I doubt I'll be able to piece together anything remotely coherent in the next few hours even if I wanted to Commander."
"Good to hear." Shepard gave pause before she spoke. "Miranda... I need full disclosure, the question is going to seem more then indecorous, but there it is. I've been a career officer for more then a decade. I know when the Top Brass must withhold information vital for the success of a mission. But when vital information is not passed along the lines of Command to the people that need it in order to carry off the success of the mission that I will not hold too.
"I need to know all you know, all TIM ever gave you on the Collectors. If you told me, and you tell me that right here right now that you nothing more, I'll believe you."
There was no hesitation in Lawson's voice. "Shepard, I swear to you I had no idea of what was happening on Horizon. Or the creatures we encountered there. Are you saying The Illusive Man knew?!"
It was then Shepard played back the recording of the meeting she had with Cerberus's leader. After Miranda unconsciously scratched at her collarbone. Something Shepard saw and jumped on. "Tomorrow I want you to use the QIC and get in touch with TIMmy. Get him to tell you what he knows about the Collectors. Tell him whatever you need to, but get that information from him, Miranda. You know him best. You see through his deceptions his redirections, you know his tells. As easily as he knows yours."
To this Shepard leaned down for the Operative's ears alone. "You have a major one. I watched it, for some time now. You display it whenever you are exceptionally morally challenged, or challenged with something Cerberus dogma has conditioned you with. Beware of that because TIMmy will be looking for it. Make sure you display it when appropriate and keep it hidden when most needed."
Miranda froze.
Her grey eyes staring into Spectre's blue.
"I spotted it back when you were my prisoner. When I challenged you on your beliefs, confronted you with the crimes of your organization. You only do it when you are deeply concerned about something, something deeply rooted. Almost seems like a programmed reflex, I can't say for certain.
"My money is on its some sort of control device TIMmy put into you, something he put into all his high level operatives. "
"Dr. Henrico Vorschslagg." Miranda snarled. "Has to be."
"Who?" Shepard crossed her arms over her chest, one of her own tells, of her stalwart stubbornness.
"Director of Cerberus's medical team. He created test-subjects that were preconditioned with the WNISCE-White noise indoctrination stimulus control experimentation. It was meant to leave a subject open to suggestion and control without the invasive procedures of an implanted control chip in the brain. The solution Vorschslagg developed gave our neo-soldiers incredible strength, tenacity of combat, they were unparalleled. Perfect ground forces to accompany Cerberus biotic Special Forces."
"I take it like most great machinations of Cerberus projects it failed."
Miranda tried not to take the dig too personally. "You're standing in one of its successes, Commander."
"Noted." Shepard returned evenly. "I want to know all you have on this WNISCE." she held up a hand. "But it can wait. Get your rest" she turned to leave but before she left the bay she turned, "For the record I still trust you Miri."
She almost made it to the door. Almost.
"Commander Shepard. I believe we have an appointment."
Shepard could face down TIMmy, face down creatures from hells beyond imagining – but a smiling Dr. Chakwas? She was so screwed.
ME~ ME~ ME~ ME~ ME~ ME~ ME~ ME
Half an hour latter: Shepard was free and clear.
Down in the cargohold, Mordin had set up a mobile clean room converted from one of the emergency settlers the military used for long drops in order to set up a base camp. It was the only place viable for a full exam of the bodies brought back from Horizon.
The dissection of the scion was a priority followed by the new husk. Full comprehension of the enemy was essential if there was any hope to defeating them. On the field the husks seemed particularly vulnerable to biotics as had the geth-made variety. Of note there was one aspect Shepard was very keen in understanding, how the Reaper took control over the Collectors. When Harbinger did, his host's powers were magnified, their biotics, their abilities all-enhanced nearly tenfold. The damn things were difficult enough to kill before but when they were possessed they were far more then formidable.
Blue eyes studied the creature at her feet, its mutilated body; a ghoulish amalgamation of human bodies. Who where they before they were taken? What lives did they have before the nightmare they became? Was this what the Collectors were doing? Experimenting? No there had to be more reason behind taking only human subjects. There had to be more to it then creating abominations.
Shepard's mind flared back to what Miranda spoke about, the Cerberus WNISCE, creating neo-soldiers to pit against any heavy opposition. Maybe it was as simple as that. Didn't Mordin say human physiology was more adaptable, offered more variables? It was why the plague was unleashed on Omega, to test viable subjects for…this? For the praetorians?
"Give me answers Mordin. Tell me you have something on our friends here."
"Only cursory knowledge on the Collectors so far Commander. Collector DNA shows sides of extensive genetic rewriting. Including three fewer chromosomes, reduced heterochromatin structure and eliminated 'junk' sequences. Need more time to study."
"What do you mean junk sequences?"
"Need more comparative samples for Collectors. The husks Mark II are as suspected, Reaper created. Correction: Geth recreations poor copies. Inferior duplicates. Perhaps the use of dragon's teeth…"
"Professor!" Shepard snapped though not harshly. "You can give me the thesis later; right now I want to know about that." She pointed to the scion. "And its big brother the praetorian. What can you tell me about them?"
Mordin blinked his eyes several times for the interruptions, for the small indignity shown to him. But he quickly recovered and went on as if the incident never occurred.
"Scion also vulnerable to such. They are a collective of three husks grafted around a single mass. The left arm has a single mass effect biotic weapons. Like the krogan and vorcha they have redundant organs. Housed in the blue sack along with its element zero source it used to power its weapon and biotics. It is strong but has no other defensive armor, barriers or shielding. Weak points are the heads, the blue sack and the bulbous tumours. Vulnerable to stasis, flashbangs, singularities and charges. Also easily distracted by combat drones. Incineration also very handy. Crossfire with remote turrets is suggestible."
"Pretty much anything is vulnerable to being set on fire Mordin." Shepard stated dryly. "What about cryo rounds? They sure as hell work wonders on the husks." she recalled using such against those Saren had used. cryo-rounds and singularities and shockwaves had saved her team from being overwhelmed on more then several occasions. Add the new bow-caster tripwires and was even a more lethal means to keep the enemy at bay.
"Yes. Quite effective." Mordin agreed. He had to admit he loved seeing the monsters solid state shatter into dozens of fragments and disintegrate.
"We don't have any samples but what about that big one?"
"The Praetorian. Most disconcerting of the three." Mordin. brought up a holographic image of the creature on his omni tool. They had all made recordings of the battle, leave it to Mordin to actively get comprehensive close ups and stills of the damned thing.
"Very interesting construct. Effective, efficient. Made out of thirty husks fused together. As we witnessed praetorians can withstand constant firepower. Vulnerable to cobra missile strikes, and crippling of the legs to make it immobile and flip upon its back. The human heads in the maw also weak point. Also witnessed the pounce has excellent range. Quick to execute. Claw attacks powerful, best to stay at long range. Durable and fast attacks, basic mobility slow. Twin particle beams and sonic attacks through death choir which has a three meter AoE. The biotic barriers only created during the death choir.
"Watched on Horizon. Its focus was entirely on you Shepard. When Jack and Operative Lawson engaged, it triggered the ground-strike attack and death choir. Also noted it is essential to keep mobile when engaging the creature. The particle bean will destroy all shielding and biotic barriers as we saw. Stun radius has larger AoE.
"Noticed pattern in its attacks. Not intelligent enough to outmanoeuvre opponents taking cover. Could have easily flown over the crates and vehicles we sheltered behind. It did not. Suggests lower animal intelligence. Like the husks. Single minded. Likely Harbinger commanded it to target you alone."
"That's just peachy. So it's safe to assume if we encounter more of those things they will behave the same way and go after me."
"A sound deduction, Commander." the salarian smiled as if a student had answered a question put to them correctly in one of his lectures rather than talking about the Spectre's ultimate demise.
"Best tactics whilst engaging are the use of warp and incendiary ammo and Tali's geth plasma shotgun are extremely effective. Warp ammo also effective against the scion." Mordin continued his dissertation. "As for biotic attacks the praetorian also susceptible to warp attacks. Reave is effective against the barriers. Heavy weapons or the M-300 claymore useful."
The claymore was what Jack had shot the beast with made one hell of a hole in one of the heads before it slammed down on the ground and screamed out. Shepard should have kept a closer eye on the young woman. Should have known she'd take the thing head on like she did the heavy mechs on Purgatory. Jack trusted entirely in the power of her biotics and not enough on her team. It made her reckless and unpredictable.
But working alone was all the ex-con truly knew. Once more Shepard was reminded that half the flagship team was so accustomed to working alone in the field. Samara, Thane, Zaeed, Jack. Mordin had teams but those were confined to the lab not in the theatre of combat. But then again back in the day so was Tali. A team on a ship to make sure the thing ran smoothly. She came to Shepard a virgin in the means of battlefield tactics. Garrus was C-Sec detective...a lone wolf as they say, Wrex said it himself he was used to being alone or working in very small groups of three or four at the most.
"Keep at it Morden. I want a full comprehensive report when we submit it to the Council and to the Alliance."
"Of course. Excuse Commander. Much work to do." the Salarian tuned back to the corpses humming something under his breath which sounded 'the offspring of asari and vorcha were lactose intolerant', and Shepard didn't press for clarification of what she thought she might have misheard. Some days it was better not to ask.
She moved around the bulbous body of the scion. For a micro-second Shepard felt a pang of sympathy for the creature. It looked like it suffered from protean disease. A horrible confliction that mutated the body with large fleshy growths at in the nineteenth century it was misdiagnosed and given the name elephantiasis. One of the most famous sufferers was a man named John Merrick. He had other names of course one of the least kind was 'The Elephant Man'
The scion may at one time have been three different people before they were converted into mindless husks. To add to the horror the Collectors now meshed these husk bodies together to create this new horror. Steal hardened the Spectre's heart. Every husk she saw was once a person, a scion-three, the praetorians were thirty. Thirty of her own people taken and made into that behemoth abomination. What other horrors were the Collectors doing to her people?
She made it her duty to put every last one of them down slay the beast and maybe just maybe the souls they used to be could be freed. She owed it to her people to annihilate them all—to free them. Before she wanted to stop them out of duty, her sense of obligation, now it was a personal conquest. This could not be allowed to continue.
This righteous anger must be instilled into her people: all of them human and alien alike. They had to burn with fires of retribution and resolve.
ME~ ME~ ME~ ME~ ME~ ME~ ME~ ME
All across the Normandy, on every display screen, on every omni-tool on every loudspeaker Shepard's voice carried.
"This is Commander Shepard speaking. You all know the mission, find a way to pass through the Omega 4 relay and stop the Collectors. We knew from the start it was going to be a challenge. We have all seen many battles, faced the creatures made by the geth under the directives of Sovereign."
On the screens pictures of the husks were displayed. Along side the old version were the new, as well as the scions and the praetorians. With almost certain deliberate choreographic drama Shepard chose to replay much of the final battle to take back the Horizon.
"The Collectors pervert our people into monsters. Monsters that no longer have human souls. If they are to have one each and every husk, scion, and praetorian must be extinguished. See them! See what they are truly. Allies pray to your deities this madness does not touch yours and pervert their form and take from them their mind. If it does remember they are your people no longer. Nothing is left of them; they must be destroyed—utterly."
The battle continued to be played out drawing every eye on the ship. They watched as the flagship team disseminated the Collector forces, pushing them back.
"We have seen the dawn and wondered if it would be our last. If this galaxy falls, we are lost too, my friends. I can tell you in the darkest moments I came to believe there was nothing left to fight for. But I have been shown through the wisdom of others that there is, that there is one more battle to be waged. Against tyranny and against the slaughter of innocence. Let us defend to our last breath this galaxy against those from the darkness that would tear at its heart and soul. And those that come after us will remember there was such a thing as a soldier's hope, with a soldier's oath, weapon and perseverance. That we defended to the last. We will hold the line, we will not fall back. The Collectors will be done and dusted and it is we who will make it so."
The video stopped playing after the Collector ship was driven off but before the confrontation with Williams. The goal was to motivate the crew, to make this conflict mean something to them. Sun Tzu spoke of honing the army so their dispositions were that of pent-up waters ready to be released to plunge the enemy into the abyss.
The nature of water is that it avoids heights and hastened to the lowlands. When a damn is broken the water cascades with irresistible force. Now shape of an army resembles water. Take advantage of the enemy's unpreparedness attack them when they do not expect it; avoid his strength and strike their emptiness, and like water nothing can oppose you.
The video feed, the speech were the floodgates and now they were opened. They all tasted it, it burned within them. The enemy had a face; they were no longer phantoms from beyond. The crew wanted blood. That's exactly how Shepard wanted them.