Chapter 38: Cogito ergo sum
"Shepard, Major Lawson is attempting to reach you via the QEC," EDI's voice said in his ear, only seconds after setting foot in the CIC.
"Understood, I'll be there in a moment."
A three-fingered hand gripped his forearm and he could see the frown in Tali's eyes.
"You should have Chakwas check you out first. Your face was covered in blood…those things could have done something that will have lasting effects."
He reached up and pulled his helmet off, flashing the worried quarian a tired smile.
"I'm fine, I promise. If it had wanted to destroy my brain or damage me I couldn't have stopped it. I don't think the bleeding and pain was even intentional. Their kind of communication is just so far beyond what we comprehend; like the rachni, but a thousand times more powerful. Let me see what Miranda needs and then I'll stow my gear and check in with Chakwas."
"Alright, but you'd better head straight to Chakwas afterwards," Tali said, crossing her arms.
He gave her another grin and a mock salute.
"Aye aye, Ma'am!"
As he walked he began to unlock the latches on his gauntlet, pulling them off slowly and flexing his fingers as they were once again exposed to the open air. The sudden exposure felt cool on his skin and he shivered, unsure whether it was the actual temperature, or the lingering impression of icy cold from his conversation with Leviathan.
"EDI, what's our ETA?"
"Jeff has already plotted a course for the relay. We will arrive at Omega in approximately sixteen hours."
"Thanks," he said and stepped into the communications room. "Link her in."
A second later Miranda's hologram materialized. She had apparently already located an appropriately sized Alliance officer's uniform, or more likely modified it herself, and stood there with her arms behind her back.
"Blue suits you, Lawson."
"This suit could be pink for all you know, the hologram makes everything look blue," she replied. "But I didn't contact you to discuss fashion. A few minutes ago an Alliance frigate jumped through the Omega relay."
He arched a brow at her.
"You're going to have to elaborate, because that sounds like a fairly normal occurrence to me."
"It would have been, if not for the fact that it was the S.S.V. Kharkov using codes that were phased out of circulation a month after the Battle of the Citadel. The Kharkov was presumed destroyed with all hands by the geth at approximately the same time the SR-1 was destroyed by the Collectors."
"Two shuttles of mixed marine units boarded and found the majority of the crew alive and unconscious. The captain was on the bridge, holding a crystalline sphere, and informed the marines that he had been sent by 'the apex of this galaxy to assist would be vassals'," she continued. "The frigate is under quarantine now, a medical team is evaluating the crew and there are a team of technical experts reviewing the Kharkov itself. From what they're telling me its databanks are full of data that has nothing to do with the Alliance or anything else they've ever seen."
For a moment he was too surprised to form a coherent sentence, but after a moment of reflection it made sense. Leviathan clearly was capable of faster than light communication with the beings under its control. It seemed that the Mahavid asteroid hadn't been the only 'experiment' that had taken place. Shepard frowned and rubbed the bridge of his nose.
"Keep the ship on lockdown and get the unconscious crew to medical facilities. They're likely unharmed but if I had to guess they won't remember the last three years," he said. "You're seeing the results of a successful mission. I encountered Leviathan, or the Leviathans I should say. They're on our side…or at least they're against the Reapers. Do not allow that artifact on the station. Allies or not they're dangerous. I'll give you the full story when we make it back to Omega."
"So they're real," Miranda said, as much to herself as to him.
"Frighteningly real," he agreed. "And frighteningly powerful. The Reapers indoctrinate, they destroy and warp minds…they leave scars. Leviathan just takes control like it's as natural as breathing is to us. The way they addressed you is how they see themselves: the apex species of the galaxy."
"I look forward to hearing all the details then. The Kharkov will remain under guard and I'll send some geth over to reinforce the marines there. Has there been any indication that they can influence synthetics?"
He shook his head.
"None that I've seen and I'd assume they can't for the same reason the Reapers didn't indoctrinate the geth. It's a biological effect. Tell the geth to keep anyone from harming themselves, leaving the ship, or otherwise endangering the safety of Omega. I doubt they'd betray us at this point but I'm not going to take the risk."
"Understood. Lawson out."
The hologram disappeared, leaving him in the dim light of the communications room. Another few dozen lives that Leviathan had simply stolen years from as part of its endless scheming. There was little question that he had made a deal with the devil. No, the question was whether, when the time came, he could afford to pay the price.
It was deep in the Normandy's night cycle when Garrus returned to the gunnery bay. Centuries of technological advancement couldn't change the fact that technology, especially weapons with precise moving parts that were acted on by extreme physical forces, didn't care for planets of constant rain or drenching sprays of salt water from primordial seas.
Despite Shepard's assurances, Garrus could tell that whatever had occurred at the bottom of the sea between himself and the Leviathans had drained him. His movements hadn't been nearly as precise and whereas normally he would have been right next to Garrus in the hour following a mission giving his gear a thorough cleaning and oiling, that step had been almost completely skipped aside from a quick wipe down.
He'd taken it on himself to make certain every rifle, pistol, and submachine gun had gotten a complete disassembly, cleaning, and calibration. The last of the oil on his talons that he was wiping away with a cloth thus caused him to take a few seconds before identifying other scents in the air as he entered the gunnery bay sometime later. Clean cloth, a faint hint of a flowering plant. Garrus' head immediately turned to the narrow bed against one wall.
His mandibles quirked slightly at the small lump that was laying there with a blanket completely covering it. The turian left his own sidearm on the nearby console and removed his armor with deliberate care, placing it into the locker that he'd set up for just that purpose, until he was back in his regular jumpsuit. Finally, he moved over to the bed, dropping into a crouch and lifting one corner of the blanket. A pair of dark brown eyes blinked at him and then a sleepy voice emerged.
"Heya, Scars."
"I know I keep a stylish bachelor pad, but your bed in the lounge has to be more comfortable than this thing," he said, tapping the metal frame with the tip of one talon.
"Mine is softer," Kasumi agreed. "But I couldn't get to sleep."
He simply waited, staying crouched, as she sat up with the blanket was wrapped around her shoulders. That same jet black hair that the turian had awkwardly been running his talons through on the shuttle fell about her shoulders appearing somehow darker in the dim red light of the gunnery bay. The thief tucked her knees under her chin and sighed.
"It was the same as before. This time as soon as I fell asleep… all I could hear is that sound. That horrible throbbing sound they make when they're about to fire."
Kasumi shivered and he moved, settling onto the bed next to her.
"Like after Mahavid?"
She nodded, hands balling into fists.
"Except instead of monsters in the dark it's a Reaper hanging over me. You know, right at that moment, it didn't even bother me. I just… knew there was nothing I could do about it. I accepted it."
"Looks like you managed to get a little sleep at least," he pointed out.
"Because…" Kasumi said slowly, her pale skin darkening slightly. "It's the smell."
It was his turn to hesitate, cocking his head. Turian senses were generally keener than those of humans, part of evolving as an almost exclusively predatory species. Finally, he just gave her a small twitch of his mandibles and kept his voice inquisitive.
"The smell?"
"You have a smell," she stated firmly, lifting the corner of the blanket. "A little bit of gun oil, a little bit of something else. Like a spice or warm leather. I don't know just… sit there and be warm."
A moment later the petite human pulled the blanket from one shoulder and shifted, pressing herself against his side. He tensed momentarily. Ever since their first mutual kiss on the asteroid facility they had been… experimenting. Neither of them knew much of anything about how interspecies relationships were supposed to work and, as much as it grated his mandibles to admit it, Shepard's little joke in Mordin's file had actually been informative. If very, very straightforward and more than a little graphic. The old scientist never had been one to let propriety get in the way of relaying information.
By now he was much more familiar with human females, all his previously knowledge having been restricted to C-Sec manuals and military training on how to kill them. But he was still hesitant to initiate contact. No matter how many times Kasumi assured him she wouldn't break, that was exactly what he was afraid of. Turians were not a soft species. His talons, even carefully maintained, could tear flesh and his body was angular and sharp.
It also meant that, logically, there should be nothing attractive about a human to a turian. Turian females prized a well-defined waist and sharply angled hip bones. They worried about how their shorter, but still carefully maintained fringe caught the light, if their face plates were symmetrical enough and how they matched with their colony markings.
Despite that he did find himself all too interested in the contrast Kasumi represented. She didn't have the sharp lines of a turian female, everything was still very slender but also gently curved, each shape flowing into the next. The marking on her lips and around her eyes that he learned was carefully applied each day reminded him in a way of another turian's markings.
In the end, he would never have the exact same kind of physical attraction to Kasumi that he would to a turian woman, but the desire was most certainly there. And where their physical differences were stark, their personalities were surprisingly much more complimentary. A culture of order and rules that they instinctually bridled at, a tendency to joke and tease at the slightest provocation, an eagerness to take action and do what they personally thought was right and damn the consequences.
While he had been rolling those ideas around in his head, it seemed Kasumi had been doing some contemplation of her own, moving slightly until she was looking up at him searchingly.
"You know what I don't understand? Tali. Like you said back on the Migrant Fleet. You and Shepard are professional soldiers… you've learned to deal with the fear. The stress. But Tali? She's a year younger than me and all the times we've talked she'd never even mentioned having a bad dream."
Garrus couldn't help it and let out a low chuckle as Kasumi bit her lip in frustration. Her look turned sour and he quickly held up his free hand to forestall the coming retort.
"Did you forget that Tali has over a year on you when it comes to fighting a war? Spirits, I thought Shepard was insane when he offered to let a quarian join his crew, especially one that young… obviously it worked out, but it wasn't easy. She'd been on the run for days when we met her and then we got her into a pitched battle barely a week later. She barely slept. I think she would have cracked if it hadn't been for the crew."
"By the crew, you mean Shep," she said with a little smile, relaxing against him more now.
"Not just him. Kaidan and Wrex probably did just as much. Kaidan treated her like a little sister. He knew what it was like to feel isolated. Wrex was… well, Wrex. For some reason he took a liking to her and practically adopted her. I wouldn't call anything about him gentle, but he taught her tricks with her shotgun, kept telling her stories of being a merc nights when she couldn't sleep."
"What about you?"
His mandibles flattened against his face and he sighed, feeling embarrassed.
"She and I didn't really get along all that well at first. I still had some… hang ups from my time in C-Sec and she wasn't fond of turians either. My people are some of the worst offenders when it comes to treating quarians poorly. Shepard forced us to work together in what I still think was a sick joke. By the time we were really friends she'd gotten herself together."
Gently he moved back, pulling Kasumi with him until his back was pressed against the bulkhead and continued to speak.
"You were never trained to be a soldier even. You just became one because you stuck with us. Tali did the same thing… and whether or not you two have talked about it, I'm sure she's had her share of nightmares. And eventually even the best soldiers burn out."
They were both silent for almost a minute before Kasumi's next question caught him off guard.
"Why haven't you?"
A memory flashed through his mind in an instant and his breathing immediately changed along with it. He could almost feel the stock of the rifle pressed against the injured side of his face, the tingle of pain only stoking his anger. He looked down the sight to line up the crosshairs over Sidonis' head. And then Shepard had interfered. The pure, white hot rage that had thundered in his veins in that moment had threatened to blind him. In the deepest, darkest part of his mind he knew for a brief second he had wanted to squeeze the trigger anyways.
"Garrus?" Kasumi asked, voice laced with concern.
His expression must have been particularly harsh to warrant his actual name instead of one of the half dozen nicknames she'd come up with for him.
"I think I did, on Omega. Right after. When we first met I woke up angry every day. Thankfully Shepard pulled me back from making a decision I'd have regretted."
"And now?"
Garrus' first instinct was to simply say something reassuring. But he knew that Kasumi would see through it. The turian instead gave her a sad smile, his flanged voice low.
"Now we both don't have time to burn out. There was a human quote Shepard told me once: 'One death is a tragedy, a million deaths is a statistic'."
He looked away and sighed, shaking his head.
"We both look at the numbers, see the death tolls. But you feel a little numb, seeing them day after day. I try not to feel guilty when I search casualty reports and skim past a thousand names, then feel relieved when my sister or my father aren't on the list."
Small, soft fingers touched the side of his face, fingertips tracing along the rough scars that marred his jaw and mandible.
"You and Shep have done more to save people than anyone in the galaxy. If I'm allowed to have nightmares and hide under your blankets no one can blame you for feeling relief that your family is okay."
They both knew that survivor's guilt wasn't nearly so easily dispelled, but it still didn't hurt to hear the words. For a few long minutes they simply sat there in companionable silence with the back of Kasumi's head resting against his shoulder. He lightly stroked her side with the flat of his talons, enjoying the moment. As strange and confusing as his feelings had become over the last few months Garrus had to admit he understood a little better now why Tali affected Shepard's mood so. The turian method of 'stress relief' could certainly calm the nerves, but it didn't offer nearly the same level of comfort the simple contact he enjoyed now did.
He let out a low hum of simple contentment. A few minutes later Kasumi spoke again, her voice soft, a little tired, but he could hear an underlying edge of tension.
"Garrus?"
"Hmm."
"This is probably… premature, but what happens if we win?"
"Reapers get blown up, we make millions of credits on the holovid rights, retire to some planet that's primarily beaches," he said, letting a smile cross his face at the pleasant if unlikely fantasy. "Sleep for a few weeks straight too."
The thief gave a short laugh and then reached out, grasping his three-fingered hand in her own and interlacing her much smaller fingers between his own.
"Not a bad plan, but I meant more… this," she asked. "I've done some research. I know that turians have a much more casual approach to fraternization in their military."
He sobered quickly and looked down at her, but she was still sitting with her head against his shoulder and staring at the shadows of the gunnery bay.
"Turians are casual about sex," he replied bluntly. "We're not casual about relationships."
That did get her attention and he found dark brown eyes, pupils wide in the near darkness and glittering as they studied his face. This time it was his hand that reached up, running the back of his talons along her chin. He swallowed, throat suddenly dry, and forced himself not to revert to his usual tactic of humor and diversion.
"I don't know how this all ends up, but if you're still interested in keeping company with a banged up turian Spectre… I think I'd like that," he concluded lamely.
A smile turned up the corners of Kasumi's mouth and she pushed herself up to eye level with him. Her eyes glittered more brightly now and he realized that there were unshed tears there. Before he could rack his panicked brain for what he'd done wrong the woman leaned close and pressed her lips against his. He tightened his arm around her, once again noting the differences in their bodies in the way her supple curves formed against him, but quickly the thought was scattered.
Yes, as interspecies experiences went… the human ritual of kissing was definitely one of the ones that he was finding increasingly appealing. One that he hoped they would have a great deal more time to explore.
Hackett's hologram looked around pensively.
"The engagement in the Exodus cluster cost us a dreadnought, three cruisers, and a frigate. It also nearly cost the Kwunu and one of our best military leaders."
"There is no victory without sacrifice, Admiral," Victus replied. "My ship and my crew fight on, even if we are going to be stuck undergoing repairs for the better part of a week. What's important is that by acting decisively we were able to save the remnants of the Hegemony's fleet. And accounted for two of the Reaper capital ships in the process."
"God help me if we had the numbers… I'd say it was worth it to trade one dreadnought for two of theirs," Hackett said. "But we don't. I'm leery of welcoming the batarians with open arms. Even in the face of annihilation there is a great deal of blood between our people."
A rumbling grunt came from Wrex's image.
"Their backs are against the wall. Batarians are cowards, but even a pyjack is vicious if you corner it. They've lost more than any race so far. Means that they are going to be all hate and vengeance. Send them in first. They'll thank you for the privilege of dying."
"They might hate us, but they have to hate the Reapers more now," Shepard agreed. "How much of their fleet survived?"
It was Victus' turn to look pensive, but he gave a somewhat more optimistic assessment than Shepard expected.
"More than we had thought. Two dreadnoughts survived along with about twenty combat ready cruisers. Around fifty lighter craft such as frigates and troop carriers. They've also got around half a dozen modified heavy transports filled with refugees that weren't able to make it out of the Hegemony borders when the Reapers attacked."
"So five minutes of engagement with any Reaper forces before they're wiped out," Hackett said but held up a hand. "I know, we can't look the gift horse in the mouth. As useful as those two dreadnoughts might be we're still in the red. Other than what was stationed as part of the Citadel Defense Force the Asari navy has been effectively wiped out. The survivors that we've linked up with represent only fifteen percent of their initial forces."
"Just leaves the Salarians. Been all quiet since Shepard told their Dalatrass to shove it up her cloaca," Wrex added.
The first time since the meeting began Shepard smiled. Not just from Wrex's always refreshing bluntness but because for once he actually had good news. He tapped his omni-tool.
"Quiet, but not passive. I got a communication from an old friend recently that you might find heartening," Shepard said. "Gentlemen, this message is from General Kirrahe."
A new hologram appeared, a salarian male with rough features and a dour expression with his hands clasped behind his back.
"Greetings, Shepard. I realize that we have not communicated since the incident on Sur'kesh. My apologies, but I could not risk jeopardizing our plans. It would seem the late Doctor Solus had many, many plans that were set in motion both before and after his death. By some… turn of events the Dalatrass' demands of your during the mission on Tuchanka were leaked to numerous high level government functionaries and military leaders. I also found myself with yet another promotion. While this has not garnered the unified support of the Union… it has gained the support of the STG."
The salarian's posture straightened even more, a feat that Shepard hadn't thought possible.
"You were there for us in our hour of need and neither I, nor my men, will ever forget Virmire. Now we will stand with you. The First Allied Defense fleet will be arriving at the Omega relay by the seventh of May by Alliance timekeeping. The rest of our forces will attempt to support you in any way we can. Together we will hold the line. Kirrahe out."
"Seventh... " Victus trailed off, looking puzzled. "That was over twenty four hours ago. Was this transmission compromised by the Reapers? No major fleet movements have been detected according to reports from Omega."
"No, Primarch. It was not. It would seem the salarians really have been holding out on us," Shepard replied and tapped another button on his omni-tool. "Captain Wicks. Thank you for your patience."
"Not at all, Praetor. The doctor would have appreciated the theatricality."
The hologram of Kirrahe was replaced by the sensor readings of the apparently empty sector of space surrounding the Omega relay… until sensor blips began to appear. First one, then two, ten, and even more until over a hundred new contacts appear at the edge of the system. A view overlaid the hologram to show the external camera shot of the Normandy.
Flanked on all sides by sleek craft, cruisers, frigates, carriers, and even half a dozen dreadnoughts that all shared similar designs looking like something that would just at home gliding beneath the sea as they would in space. He heard Victus mutter something about spirits and nodded.
"Our salarian allies haven't been idle. They've just been perfecting something we never even considered possible. The Normandy was the first stealth frigate. The Vision of Sur'kesh? She's the first stealth dreadnought. And every other ship in the fleet is equipped with the same technology."
Wrex's low rumble of pleased laughter echoed through the stunned room. Shepard gave them a broad, victorious smile.
"Gentlemen, the Reapers are knocking at our door. Each of our peoples have been battered by their assault, but for the first time in history the entire galaxy stands united. Asari. Human. Krogan. Salarian. Geth. Quarian. Turian. Now even the Batarians, weakened as they are, will be part of the fleet. The Reapers may have been doing this for a billion years… but I don't think they've faced an enemy that could unite against them. Soon we'll show them that together we are more powerful than they could ever have imagined."
Each time they emerged through the Omega relay it felt as if months of progress had taken place. The defensive perimeter had been further upgraded and much of the floating wreckage had been cleared from the immediate area to make room for the fleet stationed around Omega. Behind Omega itself he could see the Crucible under construction, already having went from a skeleton to something that was beginning to take on a clear shape.
One of the quarian's precious liveships was also docked against Omega, clearly a custom system had been designed and built to accommodate the ship's massive size. Much like the Crucible the vessel was shielded from the relay's entrance by the bulk of the station. A wise decision. With little in the way of resources that were not wreckage at the galactic core the vessel would be one of the few ways to provide edible food in the event of a siege.
Or, in a more depressing possibility, if the station was all that was left should their final confrontation with the Reapers end in failure. A hand squeezed Shepard's forearm and he looked over at Tali with a quizzical look.
"You had that… angry frown again. What are you thinking about now?"
Shepard took a deep breath and forced his features to relax.
"Just possibilities."
"Mhm?" she hummed expectantly.
He should've known she wouldn't let him off that easily.
"I was just thinking about how important the liveship will be if the worst happens."
"Then don't."
"You know I have to," he said with a grimace. "As much as I'd like to just believe we're going to win-"
"That's not what I meant," Tali interrupted, poking him in the bicep. "You've already done the planning. Now you're just worrying."
He couldn't help but feel the beginnings of a grin tug at his lips.
"Tali'Zorah vas Normandy who once worried that buying special food would endanger supplies for the rest of the crew telling me not to worry. I'm not sure how to take that."
"From someone with plenty of experience," she stated firmly. "I've spent my entire life worrying about… everything. If this is really the end then I don't want to spend what's left of it worrying too."
One of her three fingered hands wrapped around his in a tight grip and he returned the squeeze. Silvery eyes met his own with a fierce determination. Maybe it would all fall apart or maybe they would stand triumphant in the end but at the very least he would not be doing it alone. He felt a rare sense of contentment as they docked and exited the vessel, heading up to the station's new heart.
That feeling quickly washed away as he entered Omega's briefing room and saw Miranda standing there, arms crossed and face expressionless. It was the same sort of look she'd virtually always maintained when they had first met. Miranda would never be accused of excessive displays of emotion, but at least as time had worn on at least some had slipped through. A quiet laugh, a controlled smile or sigh of frustration.
Which meant these days that her flat expression was a far more significant indicator that something was wrong. Garrus was already sitting at one of the seats and gave him a lazy salute as he entered. The grim set to the turian's mandibles told him that his assumption was correct.
"Miranda. It looks a little more civilized every time we return. Amazing how much can change in the matter of a week," he said, taking the chair across from Garrus and watching Tali slip into seat to his left.
"We have plenty of help. Between the rachni and Omega's remaining civilian population it's hard to find a more dedicated workforce," the dark-haired woman replied.
"Which leads me to the question of what else is wrong. You should be pleased at this level of efficiency."
Garrus was the one to answer.
"Cerberus."
His hands immediately tightened into fists and it took an effort of will to unclench his jaw.
"I was hoping that after their disastrous attempt to take over the Citadel and then losing Omega that we'd have cut their legs out from under them. What has the Illusive Man done now? How can Cerberus even keep this up? The Normandy was supposedly a massive investment just a few years ago. Now we've taken out enough troops to qualify as a proper invasion force and an entire fleet of cruisers."
"Because after the destruction of the Bahak relay Cerberus became much less subtle," Miranda said. "The Illusive Man knew that I no longer belonged to him after you destroyed the Collector base, but he still tried to bring me back into the fold. What I saw worried me at the time… it should have terrified me."
The briefing room's display came to life and was accompanied by the image of a prothean woman, the image a small construct of yellow light. Shepard felt his eyebrows raise. The form wasn't the vaguely prothean form of the AI's previous manifestation but looked as organic as Javik save for the monochromatic tone of the hologram.
"Vendetta has compiled everything we extracted from the databanks of the Kharkov. The Illusive Man has gone to great lengths to conceal Cerberus' assets and isolate the various cells from each other… but even his anti-indoctrination protocols couldn't account for the Leviathan ability to much more subtly control their thralls."
"Subtle? The people on that station of horrors seemed less together than, say, the Thorian's victims," Garrus interjected.
"Those thralls had been under the direct influence of one or more Leviathan entities for extended periods of time," Vendetta said. "Based on the data I have examined it would appear that they are capable of much more refined manipulation. While their available pool of agents was limited, once connections were made they had access to vast amounts of information."
Images began appearing on the display. First a massive station, nothing nearly as grandiose as the Citadel or Omega but it was still a vertical spire easily the size of the now destroyed Arcturus station. Around it appeared dozens of smaller vessels of the same general size and silhouette as an Alliance cruiser. Vendetta continued to speak, listing assets.
"Based on this information Cerberus has, at a minimum, thirty-two Ascendant-class cruisers. These vessels are based upon the standard Geneva-class but incorporate Cerberus developed technology including thanix main batteries, limited stealth drive, and heavier cores. Each vessel's ground assault compliment is full battalion of Cerberus assault troops supported by Kodiak shuttles, Mantis gunships, and Hammerhead anti-gravity tanks. Fighter craft appear to be standard Trident-class vessels of an unknown number, but estimated between thirty to forty-two squadrons."
He sat for a moment in stunned silence. The force that had assaulted the Citadel hadn't been Cerberus' entire force. It hadn't even been a majority of it. Tali managed to find her voice before he recovered, but asked the same question that was on his mind.
"But… how?" she asked in disbelief. "That's… thousands of troops. Hundreds of technicians just to maintain the drives and systems on those cruisers. Especially if they're all running advanced technology. Where does a terrorist organization even go to recruit that many people?"
"They go to my father," Miranda said, her voice suddenly filled with vitriol.
He looked at her, confused. Something didn't add up.
"What? I know that your father was a powerful industrialist but that is a staggering amount of resources and personnel. Surely most of them would have fled with the rest of the Alliance evacuations?"
Miranda gave a bitter laugh.
"Why not? If you're working in a factory or a plant and the billionaire owner promises to get you and your family to safety, away from the Reapers, why wouldn't you take up his offer? Human beings are herd animals. They look up to the leaders of their communities and follow them out of a sense of safety in numbers even when those leaders are heading for a cliff. He provided transport, a promise of safety and security. By the time they figured out something was wrong I am certain it was far too late."
The image changed again, this time showing autopsies of the various Cerberus troops they'd encountered during the battle of the Citadel. Each looked much like the unfortunate casualty on Mars: frightening abominations of fused organic and inorganic features, veins traced with cold blue and vacant faintly glowing eyes.
"He didn't recruit an army. He enslaved one. What you see here… this is the result of the experiments that occurred when Cerberus first uncovered the so called 'Dragon Teeth'. Perfect soldiers. Perfect slaves," she concluded, voice cold.
"Keelah," Tali said with a shudder. "All those people… and your father knew? How could anyone do that?"
"It gets worse," Garrus added. "Remember those ads that kept popping up around the Citadel, advertising this 'Sanctuary'?"
"Oh no…"
The turian nodded.
"From what Miranda has already told me those trace right back to Cerberus. They didn't just get the people working for one conglomerate, they've been trying to lure in every desperate refugee they can get their hands on."
Shepard eased back in his chair and let the information sink in. Maybe the Illusive Man wasn't warping aliens into bio-organic monsters like the Reapers did with their captive populaces, but in a way this might be worse. He was taking his own species and turning them into cybernetic slaves, riddled with half-baked Reaper technology. The man's ruthlessness had never been in question but this… this seemed far beyond even the Illusive Man's brutal pragmatism. He let out a long sigh.
"Unfortunately we're fighting a war against the Reapers, not Cerberus. We need to make every effort to shut down this 'Sanctuary' trap but even as monstrous as this is we can't afford to turn our attention to Cerberus when we're already fighting a losing war," he said bitterly. "If we don't stop the Reapers it won't matter what he's done, Cerberus will be wiped out too. We have to focus on completing the Crucible and unlocking its secrets."
"Normally I would agree with you, Shepard, but Kai Leng's actions on Thessia has made certain that we will have to engage with them," Miranda said.
This time the image that appeared on the screen was of the Crucible itself, a cylindrical device half again the length of an Alliance dreadnought. It was surrounded by a makeshift dry dock that encased it, making it appear like some kind of massive beetle in the orange-red glow of the galactic core.
"With the help of the rachni we've been able to almost complete construction in a matter of weeks. During this time some of the best scientists in the galaxy, myself included, have been trying to discover its origin and purpose. Unfortunately learning about this device is like reading a book that has been translated into a thousand different languages, one after another. Which means what information we have is far more basic than I would have preferred. Vendetta?"
The AI took over less than a heartbeat later.
"The device known as the Crucible was discovered in the databanks of the Insuannon and considered an object of curiosity until the appearance of the Reapers. Based on my data the schematics for the device were complete at the time the Empire discovered them, but its exact purpose was difficult to determine. Further research lead to the conclusion that the device had not been designed by the Insuannon or by any single species. Various components exhibited unique design characteristics to indicate scientific theories and designs of dozens of different alien races. We theorized that a species dozens or even hundreds of cycles in the past had designed the device and passed that information down. As the cycles continued different species were able to achieve further completion of the physical design by building upon the work of the previous cycle."
"Interesting history lesson, but what does this have to do with Cerberus?" Garrus asked impatiently.
"I am arriving at that data point," Vendetta replied, a note of reproof in the synthetic voice. "My research team was able to complete the physical design of the device and begin destruction. It was never completed. Indoctrinated forces betrayed us, destroyed our facilities and the prototype. The protocol that led to… my creation was enacted."
There was a momentary pause, as if the AI was having to gather itself. Shepard found himself considering the possibilities. If Vendetta had once been the prothean named Yasira… maybe this wasn't as analytic a topic as the AI's manner would suggest. It was a question he'd have to ask at another time as Vendetta continued.
"The final stage of our research was into the nature of the Crucible. We know that it is capable of staggering power generation. Once activated the device will begin a reaction that will create power equal to the birth of a small star."
He arched a brow.
"A bomb?"
"No," Vendetta said immediately and raised a hand to move the hologram until the image was directed at the 'front' of the cylinder. "While the reaction, if uncontained, could result in significant release of energy it would be undirected. The resulting blast would destroy any vessels in proximity there is no indication as to how this would stop the Reapers as a whole. We finally concluded that an element was missing."
The image zoomed in on a circular port at the front of the Crucible.
"The reaction itself has no identifiable way to be triggered. We called the final component the Catalyst. Clearly the Crucible is meant to engage with the Catalyst which will trigger the device's activation."
"But we still don't know what will happen when we actually activate it," he pointed out.
"Correct."
"Reassuring," Garrus muttered.
"The alternative is annihilation and the continuation of the cycle. Even if the result is a catastrophic detonation that results in galactic devastation it is preferable to the harvest of organic life by the Reapers," Vendetta said. "Your people still fight. You have not yet witnessed the harvest."
A shudder passed through Shepard and he felt Tali's hand suddenly gripping his forearm as memories rushed to the forefront of his mind. Screams of pain and terror, amplified by their sheer helplessness. Blurry half-images of dead-eyed abominations herding their own people to be butchered, modified, or liquified. With an effort of will he pushed the images away.
"They never will," Shepard said through clenched teeth.
His voice came out more guttural and angry than he intended. Even Vendetta's hologram turned with all the eyes in the room towards him. He took a deep breath and held up a hand in apology before speaking again.
"What is the Catalyst, then? And what does it have to do with Cerberus?"
"The answer to that question is what has to do with Cerberus. My memories are… fragmented. Your AI was able to save the majority of my code when I completed the emergency upload but Cerberus captured it in its entirety before destroying the beacon that contained my original 'self'."
"That gen'ro'sa has the key to defeating the Reapers and he's just keeping it?" Tali snapped out. "He hasn't even tried to contact us to bargain? Is he insane?"
He met Miranda's eyes and saw a flash of uncertainty there, one of the few he'd ever noticed in the woman.
"Maybe he is," Miranda replied. "I thought… I believed in what Cerberus was doing. But the more I learn, the more I look back at the actions that were taken I begin to see a pattern. The Illusive Man's actions were supposedly to stop the Reapers at all costs. But even during the mission to stop the Collectors I noticed that more and more projects focused less on defeat and more on manipulation. Control. Exploitation."
"That little speech on Mars," Shepard said suddenly. "He wasn't just talking in hyperbole about using the Reapers' technology against them. He actually thinks he can control them somehow. He doesn't want to jump a few rungs on the evolutionary ladder: he wants to take the express elevator to the top."
"Which means he can't risk us using the Crucible if it would destroy them," Garrus concluded. "That's why he hasn't offered to make a deal with us for the Catalyst. Whatever that is."
More wheels turned in Shepard's head, remembering conversations recent and years ago. The conversation with the VI before they confronted Saren. Sovereign's words. Stolen memories for the beacons. It all made sense. The cycle never ends. He stood.
"Where is this station?"
They emerged from the Relay at speed, the Normandy bringing up the rear flanked by two of the massive salarian dreadnoughts. Just ahead of them were over three dozen frigates. They were a mix of Alliance Normandy-class vessels, turian frigates based upon the same design, along with half a dozen squat, rounded vessels of geth design.
"You sure about this?" Garrus asked.
"I'm no naval tactician but Hackett agreed after looking at the specs on the Cerberus cruisers. They've got the same ultraviolet frequency GARDIAN batteries that the salarians and the geth use which means they'll tear fighters apart, but their main armament is clearly geared toward engaging larger targets. Ironically the Normandy was their 'old' design but might also be their perfect counter."
"Come in with the stealth drives active, hit them with a sucker punch, and then try to pick them apart while the Salarians provide a firebase," the turian said with a nod of agreement. "You've had worse plans."
Shepard gave him a tight smile and then activated his comms.
"Normandy, ready. All battlegroups report in."
"Dreadnoughts standing by to engage."
"Frigate groups on target, time to engagement seventy seconds," a flanged voice said.
"All geth runtimes battle ready," came the final synthetic reply.
"Deactivate stealth systems and engage at will."
The frigates' drives flared brightly as they surged forward like a pack of wolves falling upon an unsuspecting herd of cattle. Cerberus' cruisers reacted with admirable speed to the flurry of contacts that suddenly appeared on their scopes and sent proximity alarms blaring to life, but physics is a harsh mistress. There is only so fast that thousands of tons of polymer and steel can change its heading.
Lances of azure erupted amongst the vessels, catching the first ships in a literal firestorm of hyper-accelerated tungsten. Three were destroyed almost immediately, their hulls cracking open; venting plasma, oxygen, and shrapnel into space. Others reeled, not destroyed but visibly crippled by how they spewed debris and drifted at odd angles. Just as quickly as the strike had happened the frigates pulled away and the dreadnoughts opened fire, their massive main guns shattering the back of another cruiser in a brutal double hit.
"That's our cue. You know the plan, Joker," Shepard said.
"Fly the massive spaceship through a pitched battle and line up with an unreasonably small target all at unsafe speeds. Your typical Tuesday," the pilot replied. "One day you're going to ask me to do something actually difficult."
"That's what you get for just being so damn good."
"You know it," Joker shot back before hesitating a moment. "Hey Commander? What if Cerberus has like an off switch? For you know… EDI?"
He paused, watching as the pilot managed the vessel's complex maneuvers even as he asked the question. Shepard gave a reassuring smile even if he was certain Joker couldn't see it.
"If they had one they would have used it long before now. I'll bring her back in one piece, don't worry."
"You better… ah, sir."
The Normandy slipped gracefully through the firefight as the battle began in earnest. He noted with a worried expression that the return fire from the Cerberus cruisers struck out with crimson lances of metal and energy all too similar to those used by the Reapers. But there was nothing he could do the effect the outcome standing there in the cockpit and he quickly turned to meet the rest of the team. By the time he reached the airlock the others were ready and waiting.
"Forty-five seconds. You're only going to have about fifty seconds to cycle the airlock and make it inside. We've got fighters on our tail," Joker said over the intercom.
"Copy that, Joker," he replied. "Everyone ready? Miranda?"
His usual team stood ready at the airlock, Tali and Garrus each on one side with Kasumi just behind the turian's much taller frame. EDI was also present in her mobile platform fully geared for combat. Their sixth member was Miranda, who nodded in response.
"My father has cast a shadow over my life since I was born, Shepard, and I'm not interested in running from him any longer. Liara is perfectly capable of handling Omega in my absence. Either way you need a biotic to provide support."
"Understood. So is it a bad time to ask about the armor?"
"Oh thank the spirits, I was going to ask if you didn't," Garrus chimed in.
The dark haired woman rolled her eyes behind the visor of her helmet. Her gear was indeed outside of the operative's normal look; a ballistic plated hardsuit that while still giving her a slim profile, was clearly meant for combat much like Tali's combat environment suit. Studded across it were half a dozen holsters equipped with pistols, knives, and at least one set of fragmentation grenades. The plate itself was a deep orange-red while the mesh suit was jet black.
"Aria T'Lok was scum, but she wasn't one to exaggerate her accomplishments. This was apparently her commando gear that was modified after she took control of Omega. A contingency for if things got particularly violent, I suppose. Our… proportions aren't exactly the same but they were close enough that our geth allies were able to made rapid alterations. The specifications are above even N7 issued hardsuits. I saw no reason to let it go to waste."
He flashed a smirk at her and then sealed his own helmet.
"Told you I'd get you in proper armor."
"Go go!"
Joker's barked command and the heavy metallic sound of the airlock engaging cut off any indignant reply. The door slid open and they quickly stacked up inside as the door locked behind them and initiated a rapid cycle of the airlock. A few heartbeats passed before the exit opened and the six of them poured out with weapons raised.
They found themselves in a sterile gray corridor that looked very similar to the design of the station that Shepard had awoken on what was, literally, a lifetime ago. Despite being spotted it appeared that even Cerberus' communications weren't fast enough to allow the enemy to be prepared for their boarding action as a pair of armored soldiers that came jogging around the corner skidding to a stop in surprise, scrambling for their weapons.
Rifles never made it above waist level as paired shots caught both soldiers directly in the face plate, sending them to the floor in a boneless heap. Shepard gestured for Garrus to cover the left approach while he took up the right.
"Based upon the station's architecture we are directly below a hangar," EDI said.
"She's right. There's an elevator fifty meters in either direction, the main hangar for shuttles and fighter craft is one deck above," Miranda confirmed.
He shouldered the M-15 and nodded.
"Let's move, Miranda you know the layout. Take point with me. We need to make it to the control room. Wherever the Illusive Man is we'll find that data. No way he would let it out of his control."
They moved quickly through the barren hallway, meeting minimal resistance. Moving to the next level they entered a hangar bay, an almost uninterrupted plane of smooth deck plating after the launch of so many fighters in defense of the station. Only a handful of shuttles and attack crafted remained.
"Something is wrong here. Cerberus defense protocols should have had this area locked down the moment a breach was detected," Miranda said, gesturing to the far door and the ladder leading up to the overhead walkways and control tower. "There should be snipers on the gantry with fortified positions being established at the exit to isolate any attackers."
"So… trap?" Kasumi offered.
Shepard nodded.
"Trap."
As if on cue, the metallic sound of magnetic locks engaging echoed loudly through the nearly empty hangar and an all too familiar voice carried over the station's internal speakers.
"Shepard… I knew it would only be a matter of time until you came crawling here. I didn't expect you to also bring the traitor with you. Fitting."
"Leng?" Miranda said. "Leng, I always knew you were a psychopath, but this is too far even for you. Slave soldiers, Reaper technology running rampant. You have to see that this is spiraling out of control."
The assassin's mocking laugh rolled out of the speakers.
"Out of control? This is only the beginning. You have all been nothing but chaos, crawling around in your own filth. You wouldn't understand true order. Purity. You should have been the first to understand this, Lawson. A human engineered to be perfect but apparently your father's work was flawed. The next one will be better I'm certain."
He saw Miranda's lip twitch, but she didn't give Leng the satisfaction of a response.
"This is over, Leng," Shepard said instead. "Your fleet is being taken apart. There's no quick escape this time. Cerberus ends here. You can stand these men down and you can at least live out the rest of your days in a cell."
Leng's laugh this time was a harsh bark of amusement.
"Words can't even express my contempt for you, Shepard. I will not roll over so easily like a dog, like you. You know where I'll be… enjoy the tour along the way. Here's the first act. I'm sure it will bring back memories."
He looked around in confusion at Leng's words. Soldiers didn't come pouring into the hangar, though, as he expected. They moved towards one of the doors carefully, weapons up… that was when he finally picked up on the low sound. A hiss. Air. Specifically, air escaping into the void of space.
"He's venting the atmosphere! Check your seals and oxygen levels," Shepard barked. "EDI, get us out of this hangar."
"This is a really roundabout way to deal with boarders," Kasumi commented.
He ground his teeth in frustration. Quite intentionally the assassin had opened the hangar doors to space only slightly and he could hear the air beginning to rush out with a whistling howl.
"Leng is playing games. He wants to remind me of how I died when the first Normandy was destroyed."
Miranda was shaking her head while EDI worked at the control panel of the door.
"None of this makes sense. Leng was always a brute, a murderer, and insufferably arrogant… and I realize how that sounds coming from me. But he wasn't stupid. There's no way he expects this to actually kill us."
"You're using logic, Lawson. They were rare, thank the spirits, but I've seen these kinds before with C-Sec," Garrus said. "He's not operating on the same level anymore. You can hear it in his voice. Something's changed. Leng isn't looking for the efficient kill, he's moved onto the next part: he wants to inflict pain."
"Well he's a few months too late if he wanted to leverage that trick," Shepard grunted. "I'm not going to start hyperventilating just because there's a vacuum."
It seemed an eternity that EDI was forced to wage a war in miniature against Cerberus' security systems. Tali didn't reach out but he did feel her move next to him, resting her arm against his with a little bump. He switched over to their private frequency.
"Hey."
"Hey," she replied, giving him a little cock of her head. "Are you really okay?"
"I'm not thrilled with the situation but… yeah. I've relived those minutes a thousand times. I'm never going to volunteer to do an EVA for fun, but I'm not going to let it distract me. It just means that putting a bullet in that smug bastard is going to be more satisfying."
"If anyone deserves it he does."
Finally, the door locks disengaged with a clang and the door slid open, letting out another long rush of air into the rapidly depleting hangar. They made a quick exit and sealed the door behind him. Shepard let out a breath he wasn't aware that he'd been holding and nodded down the hallway.
"Lead on, Miranda."
The climb up to the next level via the service tunnel was another unpleasant experience, simply because there was nowhere to go if they were attacked, but he wasn't going to risk taking the elevator after the level of control Leng had shown over the station's internal systems.
Just as with the hangar no assault came. He reached back to give a hand up to Tali and then Garrus before turning to examine the corridor more carefully. It was the same sterile metal as the hangar, though there was a white placard sign that stated 'processing' on the wall. He glanced to Miranda.
"What is this level?"
She shook her head.
"I don't know."
"How can you not known?" Garrus asked, irritation lacing his sub-vocals.
"Cerberus hierarchy is based upon cell and task isolation. No single operative except for the Illusive Man himself has access to all data and personnel," EDI interjected. "It was against regulations to access any area on Cerberus facilities that were not directly involved with an operative's current cell or mission."
They slowly advanced down the hallway in the direction EDI indicated would lead to the next maintenance junction.
"Which is the same reason I didn't know where this station was before," Miranda said, giving Garrus a dry look. "Even when I met the Illusive Man in person the transport shuttle I arrived in made multiple jumps and all passengers were confined to the rear compartment."
"And Lawson was always the perfect little operative, following every rule to the letter. The Illusive Man's favorite pet. Until, like every pet, she gave into her base instincts and bit the hand that fed."
Shepard suppressed a visible start at Leng's sudden interruption and made a quick sweep of their surroundings but the corridor remained vacant. The assassin's monologue continued unabated.
"But he learned. Most people are too weak to do what needs to be done. You showed us that, Shepard, when you wasted the opportunity of the Collector base. For all your weakness you taught us valuable lessons… even before you woke up. Lawson knows all about that."
A screen appeared on the otherwise featureless wall. It showed a team of men and women in scrubs, Miranda among them, along with half a dozen armed Cerberus guards. He recognized them easily, all wearing the old mercenary style armor with only the smallest details that indicated they were Cerberus. The same kind of operatives that he'd encountered during the hunt for Saren before Cerberus had begun branding everything they touched with their logo. Between the soldiers was a capsule.
"Shepard, you might not-" Miranda began.
"He does, Lawson. Let him see the truth," Leng's voice interrupted over the intercom and the video sped up.
The capsule snapped open and a hiss of steam emerged from the seals. Sharp intakes of breath echoed one another around him as the contents were revealed, but he'd already connected those particular dots.
It was, if one was generous, a human shaped mass of mangled flesh. The body was cradled in a floating vat of gel. Shepard noted immediately that the right arm was little more than a charred stump from just below the elbow and reflexively touched his forearm. Warped, equally charred N7 armor still encased the chest, literally melted into the flesh of his upper body while most of the lower body was submerged in the gel. Tubes were protruding from ruined flesh, pumping something that was clearly not blood. And the face… well there wasn't one. There was a ruined mass, sockets without eyes with bone showing through in a dozen places, teeth blackened.
"Oh Keelah," Tali gasped.
"The Hero of the Citadel… more like a sack of flesh, only preserved from decay by the Collector's technology," Leng said, his voice filled with vicious laughter. The audio feed over the speakers actually crackled with static at the sound.
The screen view changed, the mass that he couldn't even recognize as himself in a different gel like hospital bed with those same tubes still protruding from his body. Miranda on the the recording gave a nod of her head and something new pumped into them, glittering and blue. The mass of flesh twitched and strained in sudden life… or agony.
"They were nanites that we had researched for years," Miranda said tightly, just to his left. "Originally found in the dragon's teeth. It was reverse engineered, controlled… we needed some way to jumpstart the process. Your body was too far gone to support itself even with modern medical assistance."
He continued to watch, discussions of his progress. Of his physical state. Words like 'clinically brain dead' and 'barely human'. Discussion of cybernetics that now laced his bones and muscles, even his skin. In a brief montage he watched as he was literally pieced back together with advanced cloning, cybernetics, and nanotechnology.
"This is what you wanted me to see, Leng?" Shepard asked. "I knew already. Very little of the man that died in space woke up on that operating table."
"I'm doing you a favor, Shepard. I'm showing you the truth. The first corpse resurrected with Reaper technology and human ingenuity."
He gave a tired, humorless smile to the recording as it continued to play.
"Maybe I'm not the same man that died over Alchera. Maybe he died and I'm what they pieced back together. A VI that just thinks its Commander Shepard or nothing more than a clone. But whatever I am… is going to enjoy snapping your neck, Leng."
The mocking laughter ended and Leng's tone became cold.
"You'll be dead before you ever get that chance, Shepard. Enjoy the rest of the tour. I'm certain you'll appreciate all of the advances Project Lazarus led to."
They were left in a silent corridor as both Leng's transmission and the recorded video cut out. Tali was the first the move but he held up a hand.
"It's alright. Like I told him I've always known. I never… saw, but I knew. If Cerberus could control me they already would have. Whatever I am is real enough to do what needs to be done. That's what matters."
The quarian ignored his gesture and stepped closer, gripping his raised hand in both of her own.
"No it's not," she said. "What matters is that you're real to me. You are not a VI or a clone. You're John Shepard… the same one that saved me on the Citadel."
"And the same one that taught me the difference between acting outside the law because it was easier and doing so when it was necessary," Garrus added, placing his hand on one armored shoulder.
He gave them both a grateful nod of his head, voice a little thick when he gave the order to proceed.
"Let's move."
The next section of corridors led them to an intersection, and then finally a pair of heavy security doors. For the first time they encountered actual resistance as a pair of guards manning the checkpoint immediately opened fire when they rounded the corner. That resistance lasted little more than seconds, however, as a few quick bursts of fire left both men slumped over their consoles.
It took EDI only a few seconds to get the security doors opened and they stepped inside. This corridor was similar to the others except for another security checkpoint at the end of the hall. They entered with the same precision as always but stopped in shock seconds later.
Rows and rows of individuals were strapped to semi-vertical racks that were attached to a track system in the floor, slowly moving them through a massive room that appeared filled with medical equipment. A few scattered individuals in scrubs and face masks moved between them, checking monitors attached to the side of the racks. On the opposite side he could see a raised observation room looking down on what amounted to an assembly line.
An assembly line of enslaved human beings. Each of the restrained individuals' skin was an unhealthy pallor and pulsing blue ran through the veins that showed through their pale skin. Their eyes were glazed and tainted with the same blue glow as they gazed upward at nothing, mouths opening and closing in hoarse moans.
"Oh no…" Kasumi said.
One of the techs noticed them and turned to run. Without hesitating Shepard reached out and extended his biotics, yanking the man backwards through thirty feet of open air and slamming him into the now closed door where he fell into a heap, moaning in pain. With a rough jerk he pulled the tech to his feet by his collar, eliciting another gasp of pain.
"What is this?" he demanded.
For a brief second Shepard thought the man was going try and hold back. But another hard jerking, jostling an arm that had clearly be fractured by the impact into the door, knocking any thoughts of playing the 'loyal footsoldier' out of the man's mind.
"M-main processing," the man hissed between clenched teeth. "Getting all the new recruits to the baseline before implantation and training."
"Recruits?" Miranda said over his shoulder. "The Cerberus I remember actually recruited. They didn't make slaves."
"They're refugees… they were… they were going to die anyways!" the tech stammered. "This way they can fight back. Stronger, faster…"
It was everything Shepard could do to resist the urge to slam the man's body violently into the door again. His voice came out as a barely controlled snarl of rage.
"As mindless, soulless things robbed of free will. Sound familiar? It's exactly what the Reapers do to their victims. How do we shut it down?"
"Control room. Director Lawson… only one with the control codes," he gasps out.
"Now what?" Garrus asked, looking down at the man with a cold glance. "And what about this one?"
Shepard dropped the man to the ground.
"He has nowhere to run and we'll need to know as much as we can about this… atrocity. The Alliance will take him into custody once we take the station. EDI, can you get us a route to this control room?"
"I've located an access point but unlike the rest of the station it has been heavily secured with both physical fortification and cyber-defenses. It will take time to break through these defenses," EDI explained.
"I'll go myself. Henry Lawson is my responsibility," Miranda said, checking her weapons.
"Not alone," Shepard replied and gestured at Kasumi and Garrus. "You two watch her back. Keep in touch via the QEC if you run into any problems while EDI and Tali go with me to deal with Leng."
Garrus' mandibles pulled tightly against the side of his face.
"And when we find Lawson?"
"I'll leave that decision up to Miranda. I think you know my opinion, though," he said. "Good hunting."
With a few long looks and curt nods the two groups split off, Miranda leading the way towards the observation room while EDI directed he and Tali towards the opposite end of the room. A service elevator would take them up to near the top of the station. From there they would have to climb through the maintenance walkways and shafts to reach the Illusive Man's sanctum. Shepard eyed the elevator skeptically.
"Are you sure we're not going to be trapping ourselves?" he asked EDI.
"This elevator is isolated from the rest of the station's primary systems. It was intentionally designed to prevent potential assassination attempts via manipulation by the Illusive Man himself," the AI explained.
"At least his being a paranoid bastard works out in our favor for once," Tali said.
The elevator doors opened to reveal a hexagonal elevator barely big enough for the three of them to stand in. Clearly the Illusive Man also never intended for this particular access point to be capable of moving large amounts of personnel either. Shepard glanced to each side at the odd pair, smirking behind his helmet. A year ago Tali was practically foaming at the mouth at the idea of working with an AI. Now one was standing inches away in the flesh, albeit of the synthetic variety.
"What?" Tali asked, noticing his glance.
"Just thinking of how things change."
"You mean Cerberus betraying us? That's not a change," the quarian replied in her most sardonic tone.
"I believe Shepard is referring to the fact that your animosity towards synthetic life would have made working with me more difficult."
They both looked to EDI in surprise.
"That was… oddly perceptive for you, EDI," he said.
"Jeff has been teaching me to pick up on 'context' and social cues rather than rely solely on biological scans."
Tali shrugged.
"Good for Joker I guess. And I guess at some point it became clear that synthetic or organic didn't matter as much as the choices people made. Legion taught me that."
The elevator gave a dull tone that cut the conversation short. He shouldered his weapon once more and took a step forward as felt the other two shift into a ready stance on each side of him. A few seconds later the door opened to reveal an area far different than the rest of the station.
His first step out of the elevator placed Shepard on a landing made of metal grating. Overhead the ceiling stretched upwards for a dozen meters. Catwalks, industrial cables, and tubing lined the walls, with the only source of lighting being the contrasting blue glow from some of the cables and red pulse of emergency lights overhead. Tubing junctions every twenty or thirty feet gave off a low hissing sound as pale mist trickled out.
"EDI, what is this?"
"I do not know, Shepard. This was not in the original design specifications. It would appear it has been modified for industrial production or possibly research and development."
The catwalks, with their utilitarian bare metal railings and rough construction, seemed to go on forever as they advanced through the winding corridors. A few diverged off into smaller rooms that contained various pieces of machinery, operating tables, and a dozen other variations that led credence to EDI's theory that the entire area had been modified into a research and development center. Shepard saw disassembled geth platforms, dead husks, ship parts, and things he couldn't even identify.
It was the final main room that offered the final shock of their ascent. The corridor opened up into a much larger chamber. Within, hanging from massive cables and surrounding by catwalks and terminals, was the malformed head of the larva Reaper he had thought completely destroyed when the Collector base had torn itself apart. The left side of its skull-like visage was blackened and the metal had run like hot wax from the raw heat of the micro-fusion detonation that had struck it down.
"They're insane!" Tali hissed immediately. "They've been keeping its head like some kind of prize? The Illusive Man knew what happened to the team they sent to the derelict Reaper! Why would they bring it here?"
He shook his head in disgust.
"Because to Cerberus people are expendable. A few scientists get indoctrinated and have to be removed? Just recruit more. The technology was worth more to the Illusive Man than lives."
Leng's laughter echoed oddly through the large chamber, a faint static buzz giving it a harsher and more manic cadence. The laughter trailed off, becoming a low, contemptuous sound of disapproval.
"Lives? Finite, pathetic existences, destined to end without note or significance," the assassin asked. "You were always too weak to the make the necessary choices, Shepard. The Collector Base was just another example. A thousand dead colonists? A million? Irrelevant. Did homo sapiens mourn the existence of the neanderthals or did we climb atop their bones to reach the next step in our evolution?"
"If you think that's true you're stupider than I thought. But then I never expected you to be much of a scholar," Shepard said. "I'm done playing your game, Leng. I'm going to do what I should have done when Cerberus first woke me up and destroy everything the Illusive Man has ever built."
"This was never a game, Shepard. This was an education. I wanted you to see just how much you had failed, your hypocrisy. Your weakness. You are a false prophet, a dead man that should never have been allowed to walk again. Come and face me. Your final lesson awaits."
Shepard stepped around the suspended derelict Reaper larva to see a set of blast doors opening with a hiss of pressurization. He glanced back at the other two before motioning for them to advance, keeping his rifle at the ready.
"Shepard, I do not understand Kai Leng's actions. This station was designed to be difficult to take without application of overwhelming boarding actions on multiple levels," EDI said over the internal comms. "Even with the Normandy team's own significant capabilities and the information available to myself and Major Lawson I calculated that reaching this level of the station would take over two hours. Kai Leng has allowed us to pass each of the designated strong points unimpeded while not attempting any significant delaying tactics or ambush maneuvers, thus completely negating any value to this station's design."
He shook his head, taking up position to the left of the now open double doors. The corridor ahead was fifty meters long and completely unadorned with another set of open double doors providing the only visible light: a dull reddish glow coming from the room beyond.
"Because he's not using logic, EDI. Whatever is going on in Leng's head is far beyond even basic tactics or planning. I think he's just plain crazy. Something in him needs this confrontation… and he can't get any satisfaction just from having soldiers gun us down. He needs to do it himself."
"The only one dying here today is Leng," Tali muttered darkly.
"Agreed, but don't assume because he's insane that it means he's incompetent. Keep your eyes open and don't hesitate to take him down," he ordered.
Taking a deep breath Shepard advanced down the corridor. Without needing a prompt Tali was just behind him, watching for an ambush from the rear. Insane or not it wouldn't pay to be lax now. As he suspected, though, no assault came. They exited the corridor, weapons raised, to see an almost completely darkened room.
The only light shone into the room from the massive window that made up the entire far wall, showing an admittedly breathtaking view of the smoldering star that was the only celestial body in the system. Its reddish-orange glow made the polished floors glint with a baleful glow. The room itself had to have been twice the size of the Normandy's cargo hold with the only feature that he could discern a single desk and a high-backed chair in the center.
"Finally."
Shepard immediately paused and trained his rifle on the chair. The voice sounded as if it came from within the room, but there was still a synthetic reverberation to Leng's tone. The console would make obvious bait in the open room if Leng was still playing games and decided to hide himself else, still taunting them through the comms. But Shepard was done playing games.
He squeezed the trigger and pumped a three round burst directly into the back of the high-backed leather chair. For a heartbeat the room was silent and unmoving save for a hint of smoke that trailed from the trio of holes in the back of the chair.
"Really, Shepard? You thought it would be that simple?" Leng spat.
The chair spun… and revealed Leng, seated casually. A flickering reddish shimmer revealed the presence of kinetic barriers surrounding the man. In one fluid motion the assassin stood and drew forth a single-edged blade that hummed with trapped energy. Shepard blinked in surprise and sudden realization.
"Keelah… Shepard he's…"
"Perfect?" Leng suggested.
The Spectre stared for a long moment. It had never been the comm system that had made the assassin's voice so harsh and metallic. Angry red-lines pulsed beneath Kai-Leng's skin, trailing up the exposed skin of his neck and outward from his eyes. Or at least where eyes should have been. The photo-visor that had always covered the man's eyes on the occasions Shepard had faced him wasn't simply worn… it sunk into the flesh of his face and the optics pulsed with that same burning bright red glow.
He wore no armor. He didn't even appear to be wearing clothes. His chest was bare, with metal bands wrapped around his torso like an enormous spider clinging to his back. Each strip of metal was as his visor, sunken into his flesh with veins of reddish energy pulsing out from the site of implantation. His arms appeared to be completely cybernetic and his legs not far behind, encased in an exoskeleton of implanted cybernetic supports.
Leng's face split into a smile, showing teeth that were all too white and glinting in reflected light. It wasn't a smile of joy, amusement, or even satisfaction. It was a smile that showed only complete and utter madness.
"As I said, Shepard. Your final lesson. Commitment. You would never take that final step. Never make the choice that needed to be made."
He spread his arms wide and Shepard could hear the faint whine of cybernetic servos.
"I thought that I could beat you with my own two-hands… but I was too arrogant. I was making the same mistake that you were and I hated myself for it. But now? Now it all makes sense."
"Mistake? Look at yourself, Leng!" Shepard said. "You're barely even human."
The assassin's nostrils flared and his smile grew even more manic. His words came out as a sibilant hiss of excitement.
"Exactly! That was your mistake, Shepard. You pathetically clung to your humanity, even while you sullied everything it means to be human. But I finally saw the truth. To embrace advancement, salvation, elevation to something more than human."
"You're not insane," Tali said finally, her voice flat. "You're indoctrinated."
"Indoctrinated?" Leng replied with a sneer. "No, I'm a survivor. I understand more than any of you pathetic creatures. Crying out in the dark, struggling against inevitable extinction out of a misguided sense of nobility."
"I can't believe the Illusive Man would allow this. He knows the danger of Reaper technology," Shepard said.
"Allow it? I followed that fool for too long. He's gone,; on his own foolish quest."
"Quest?" EDI asked. "The Illusive Man has been involved in long-term planning to stop the Reapers for decades. It seems unlikely that he would simply abandon his most secure and powerful base of operations."
Leng shrugged and gestured around him.
"This? Another piece of the machine. He has what he thinks he needs to enact his deluded plans. Do not worry about the Illusive Man's failings. He will suffer in his own time for his arrogance, but this is your time to learn the error of your ways, Shepard."
Around them the shadows came to life, glowing red slits of visors appearing like candles in the darkness. The nearest pair emerged into the stars faded glow, revealing a lithe female form with similar implants to Leng's own and a full face mask, holding a similar sword and a pistol in the opposite hand. Seconds stretched out into an eerie silence before the room seemed to erupt in movement.
"EDI, Tali, flank left! Move, don't let them get behind you!" Shepard barked.
Without hesitation he opened fire, pumping three more rounds into Leng that slammed into kinetic barriers that didn't even waver under the assault. The nearest of the hidden killers leapt towards Tali only to be sent flying back into the shadows by an overcharged blast from the quarian's shotgun. Two more rushed past Leng directly towards him.
His first burst of fire went over the enemy's head as she tucked and rolled forward with preternatural speed, but it wasn't the first time Shepard had dealt with a fast moving target. With the next squeeze of the trigger he dragged the burst of fire in a diagonal line. The woman tried to twist aside, the first round streaking past her hip, but the next two caught her directly in the chest and punched through her barriers and right into her armor, sending her tumbling to the floor.
Fire erupted from all sides as the second assassin charged in. Shepard sent a surge of biotic energy through his arm and instantly the crackling blade of biotic energy sheathed his left arm, catching the woman's overhand swing and giving him an opening when she hesitated at this sudden interception. More than enough time to bring the assault rifle up tucked against his side and release two quick bursts from inches away into her abdomen.
Rounds ricocheted off his barriers and he watched as another clipped EDI's shoulder. Thankfully she had agreed to wear armor despite her studier inorganic form, the bullet doing little more than gouging the armored plate of her forearm and giving the AI all the warning she needed to turn and place a single shot directly through the faceplate of the charging assassin. Just like the others she collapsed into a heap on the mirrored floor, a mixture of blood and some more unnatural fluid pooling beneath her.
"Do you like them?" Leng asked conversationally. "The codename given to them was 'Phantoms'. Much more efficient than shambling monsters like husks. The key is to take away only enough to make them effective: remove the fear of death, curiosity, morality. Leave the rage and sense of satisfaction for a job well done behind. What is left? A perfect killing machine."
The phantoms circled around them now like wolves stalking a herd of buffalo. Shepard gave a derisive laugh.
"Your perfect killing machines aren't doing so well."
"That is the beauty of them. For all their use they're still expendable. All you need is a body, in this case a human female between seventeen and thirty years of age for the best results. And if you lose a few along the way? It only matters in the short term."
Leng's newfound love of pageantry was certainly an advantage. He saw the moment Leng issued the silent command, the way each of their attackers tensed in unison as their 'master' finished his sentence.
"Tali, skip'em!"
Much like the trick of forcing an extra round to cycle through her shotgun that Wrex had taught her, the pair had devised numerous other interesting little tricks with their beloved shotguns during the hunter for Saren. And when it came to dealing with the Geth coming at them from unexpected angles always proved successful. Shepard began to snap off quick bursts to the right and EDI had already come to the same conclusion with her faster than human brain, firing off a steady stream of rounds in the left flank.
As the pack of assassins dodged inward Shepard dropped to a knee and heard Tali's shotgun cycle furiously over his head as she emptied the entire thermal clip in a single long hail of shot. The lithe phantoms attempted to dip below… only to realize too late that Tali wasn't aiming directly at them, but at the floor directly in front of them. As he suspected the mirrored floor was hardened steel and the hyper velocity rounds caught it at an angle, impacting the steel and ricocheting upwards like a wave breaking against the shore.
The charge became a tumble of limbs and bodies as shrapnel tore through barriers and body suits. Only three of the nearly dozen phantoms managed to bound over the mass of bodies to continue their rush. One managed to make it within steps, still firing her pistol, before Tali's pistol was in hand and tapping out two quick shots that caught the woman in the neck and shoulder.
Cybernetic killing machines didn't seem nearly as impressive as they sounded and through it all Leng just stood there with his same unhinged grin in place as if he was watching a play. He realized something was off in the same instant that he caught the tiniest shimmer in the air, lashing out with a controlled blast of raw biotic energy at Tali's feet.
More human forms snapped into view with swords raised to strike all around them. Phantoms. Of course they would have stealth fields. His biotic surge knocked Tali's feet out from under her just in time for the sword blade to slice through the air where her neck would have been. Two more phantoms leapt forward with downward stabs to his right, forcing him to roll on top of Tali, straddling her back as he lashed out again. This time there was no control, merely a solid wall of biotic energy slamming into both of the attackers and hurling them across the room.
"EDI!" he yelled in warning.
The next two had appeared on either side of the AI. With precision only a synthetic was capable of EDI twisted her wrist and snapped off a shot that caught the one to her right in the thigh, and then two more shots pierced her visor as she fell. But even an AI could only move so fast. The phantom ducked under the wide swing EDI made with her left arm and drove the sword upwards with a vicious thrust. It caught EDI just under her arm, the blade hissing as it made contact and erupted from her back in a spray of lubricants and other fluids. The synthetic jerked, her glowing optics blinking and sputtering.
"Yes," Leng hissed, the look on his face one of almost sexual pleasure.
Another phantom appeared from thin air behind him, barely giving Shepard time to manifest his biotic blade and catch the blow with his arms arched overhead. Tali spun beneath him, drawing the pistol at his hip and firing the pistol. The heavy round sent the phantom tumbling backwards. His raised arms and awkward position left him open, though, and the second of the pair of phantoms materialized as well at a dead run, slamming into his chest with a shoulder and sending him tumbling backwards.
The phantom spun aside as Tali fired again, lashing out with a kick that connected with her wrist and sent the gun spinning from her hands to clatter a few feet away. He shook his head and scrambled to his feet, Leng's laughter filling the air.
"You needed to see. To be taught a lesson," Leng said, slowly walking closer as the phantom dropped her sword to rest against Tali's visor. "Friends. Allies. Weaknesses. I left all those behind. But I will take nothing but pleasure from watching your face as they die. This is your penance for failing the human race, Shepard. Which one first?"
"Leng," EDI said, her voice scratchy and full of reverberation, but still intelligible.
The Cerberus assassin's brows rose, his smile widening to make the sickly red glow beneath his skin further exaggerated.
"Are you volunteering, EDI? I'm sure you've noticed that this room is sealed. No signals going in or out. I wonder what happens if this shell is destroyed while part of your personality matrix inhabits it with no way to transmit back to the Normandy?" Leng asked. "So what will it be? Sacrifice? Mercy? What does an AI want?"
EDI's head tilted backwards.
"I wish to…"
Leng crouched as her optics flicked again and her vocal systems gave a scratchy burst of static.
"So perfect. A tool that thinks it deserves to be treated as an equal. What do you wish?"
"I wish… to remind you… that synthetic lifeforms…"
And then he actually watched as EDI formed a perfect, human smile.
"Do not feel pain."
EDI's synthetic body lurched downwards in a surge of movement. The hyper-vibrating sword ripped through her shoulder like rice paper, completely slicing off the limb. Even as her left arm tumbled to the floor her right lashed out with terrifying speed, gripping the phantom's wrist in a bone shattering grip. With a twist of her hips and the high-pitched whine of mechanical servos pushed to their limit she physically hurled her attacker sword first into the phantom standing over Tali.
Her movement didn't stop, using the momentum to do a complete spin and deliver a driving kick to the center of Kai Leng's chest that lifted the cybernetically enhanced assassin from his feet and sent him smashing into the leather chair hard enough to snap the piece of furniture off the metal stand that held it bolted to the floor. EDI staggered once before collapsing to the floor, her ruined left shoulder leaking copious fluids and giving off small electrical sparks. The second phantom could only look down at her ally's sword piercing her chest in shock, before her ally yanked it free and turned to attack.
"Chatika!"
A hovering blue orb appeared in front of the phantom's face, lashing out with an arc of electricity that traveled directly into the visor that covered her face. Still not uttering a sound the phantom staggered backwards as her body convulsed, giving Tali the opening she needed. Rolling once to close the distance she grabed the sharp little knife strapped to her ankle and struck upwards as she rose to drive the blade to the hilt straight under the phantom's chin.
"EDI? Can you hear me?" Shepard asked immediately, eyes fixed on Leng as he untangled himself from the ruined mass of the leather chair.
"A-Affirmative, Shepard. This platform has experienced extreme damage… I do not believe it will remain… operational for long."
"Tali?"
"Already on it," she cut him off, dropping to her knees next to EDI with the drone hovering at her shoulder and one of her many toolkits appearing as if from thin air. "You finish this."
"Gladly."
Leng had managed to get back to his feet and the cybernetic veins that ran beneath his skin like some kind of parasite were pulsing wildly. His expression wasn't gleeful any longer. It was a rictus snarl of pure rage.
"Shepard-"
A blast of biotic force slammed into the assassin's barriers. It didn't do more than send him staggering backwards. Something told him that those barriers would be almost impenetrable against mass accelerator rounds and biotic blasts. But it had interrupted him and that's all he really cared about.
"No more speeches, Leng. No more babbling from an insecure psychopath," Shepard snarled. "I'm done listening to you justify your own pathetic weaknesses. You're an animal, killing because it fills you sadistic need to feel power because you never really had any."
Leng's response was a roar of anger. The assassin reached down, grabbed the crumpled remains of the chair, and hurled it at him. Shepard simple sent another blast of biotic energy at the man, smashing the chair aside.
"You hate me because I'm everything you could never be. Your unit hated you because you were an arrogant bastard. You never had friends because you only saw people as things to be used. You don't hate Tali and I just because she's an alien. You hate me because she loves me… something your sick, twisted little soul can't even understand no matter how much you want it for yourself."
The assassin's entire body was quivering like an engine being revved in idle. Shepard felt his own lips curl into an animalistic snarl.
"You want to teach me a lesson? Then come on!"
Shepard let that anger burn through his veins and focused every ounce of it through himself, a rush of biotic energy pouring out and forming a pair of biotic energy blades that cracked into existence like living bolts of lightning.
"School's in session."
The howl that emerged from Kai Leng's lips was completely inhuman. It was a screeching, metallic sound like metal being sheared open as the assassin leapt forward. Shepard met the charge without flinching, both of his blades crossing to catch Leng's sword. The impact trailed down his arms and into the floor, his feet sliding a few feet on the slick plating.
"I'm better than you!" the assassin roared. "I'm stronger than you."
Leng sprang backwards, coming in with a feint to the side that turned into an upward slash. Shepard stepped into it again, knocking the strike downwards so that Leng's sword tore into the plating at their feet with a shower of sparks before snapping his head forward to deliver a vicious headbutt to the bridge of Leng's nose.
"No. You never have been. You never will be."
Once again Leng charged, delivering a flurry of slashes that Shepard knocked aside one by one, delivering quick jabs of his own that forced Leng to leap backwards.
"I am. They showed me! They showed me how they were in your head! They showed me all your weaknesses, all your vulnerabilities!"
Another savage overhead blow. Once again he raised his blades to catch the strike… and then withdrew the energy for a split second and stepped back. Leng's strike caught open air and kept going sending the assassin stumbling forward and into Shepard's waiting left hook that snapped his head around hard enough that without the cybernetics that braced his body would have broken his neck.
"They showed you what they wanted you to see. The Reapers? I've beaten them at every turn… your boss did everything to stop them. Crossed every line. But you?"
Shepard shook his head, slapping aside another hasty thrust of Leng's sword without even using his biotic blade and delivering a hard knife hand to the side of the man's head. He continued to speak as he advanced, now forcing Leng into a series of parries as he struck out with each blade, one after another.
"The moment you knew you couldn't beat me in a fair fight you turned yourself into a monster without hesitation. You betrayed that human race you were so fucking proud of. For what? For this?" Shepard snarled.
With his right he knocked Leng's sword up and away, driving his left first forward. The biotic blade tore through the metallic bicep of the man's cybernetic arm, ripping free with a spray of smoldering metal, lubricants, and dark blood. Leng staggered, his right arm hanging uselessly at his side.
"No," Leng choked out. "No… they told me..."
"They lied."
Leng raised the sword in a feeble attempt at a slash, only to make it only halfway through the movement before Shepard lashed out again. The biotic blade warped and twisted catching the assassin neatly at the wrist and tearing through the metal there with ease. Leng's sword, hand still gripping it tightly, clattered to the floor.
"You're right about one thing, Leng. The Reapers were in my head. They wanted me to feel despair. They wanted me to give up. To accept that they were unstoppable. Do you know what I told them?"
He reached down and grabbed Leng by his neck, lifting him bodily to from the ground with every ounce of strength his frame and his own cybernetic enhancements. His blood thundered in his ears and with his free hand he reached up, squeezing the releases on his helmet and yanking it off. With trembling muscles, he brought his face close to Leng's and snarled out his next words.
"Go to hell."
Shepard drove his right first forward until his knuckles hit flesh. The shimmering blade of biotic energy speared Leng directly through the center of his chest. Leng's body spasmed, the veins of angry red energy surging brightly like lines of fire snaking through the assassin's body. He eased the man's convulsing form down to his knees. Shepard gave a grim, vengeful smile.
"Not this time," the Spectre said, withdrawing his right arm and igniting the blade on his left arm once more.
With a single violent motion, he crossed his arms at the assassin's neck and yanked outwards, the blades taking Leng's head clean off. Before his headless body had even hit the ground the angry red glow that coursed through the man's body had faded into nothing. Shepard stood over it, his breathing coming in long, ragged gasps as his heartbeat finally began to slow. A few seconds, or maybe even minutes, later he felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see Tali there.
"It's over," she said quietly.
Behind her he saw the others. Garrus looked down at the body and gave him a grim nod of approval while Kasumi simply bowed her head slightly. Miranda's right hand and forearm was covered in a spray of blood but she seemed otherwise unharmed. Shepard took another deep breath and shook his head.
"Not yet. We still need to know what the Illusive Man found," he said, glancing back at Leng's body. "But at least there's one less monster in the universe."
"I believe I have the answer to that question," EDI said.
The synthetic was standing, her ruined left arm a mess of patches likely meant to seal minor hull breaches, but otherwise seemed mobile. A testament to Tali's abilities at the very least. EDI gestured at the console with her functioning arm.
"The Illusive Man did not attempt to encrypt the information."
"I don't understand, he wanted us to find it?" Kasumi asked.
"Or did not care if we did," EDI replied.
"Spit it out EDI, did he figure out how to build the Catalyst?"
She shook her head.
"No, Shepard. The Catalyst isn't something to be created, it is a location," she said, and tapped the console.
A collective intake of breath left the room in silence. The image that hung on the screen was familiar not just to each of them, but to every member of the galaxy. It was a symbol of hope and order in a chaotic universe.
"The Illusive Man learned the truth and has already left this station permanently. The Citadel itself is the Catalyst and he means to control it and thus the Reapers themselves."
It's been awhile, but hopefully a much longer than average chapter helps make up for it. We've reached the endgame so this will be one of the final chapters of Requiem! Thanks to all my readers, I know there is a long gap between chapters but hopefully the payoff will be worth it.
