Sorry about the delay, hope you're all still following. I've been away with work for a few weeks so haven't been able to post. It actually worked out in my favour as I wasn't sure what to do with this chapter or how to approach the Miranda arc considering how little she bought to the third game. Anyway, diverts from the canon story a bit here but hopefully you'll enjoy it. Some gory fighty bits are ahead!


Shepard watched as the scene unfolded with thinly veiled horror. Beyond the glass, almost in touching distance, lay a row of distorted and disfigured refugees, faceless, genderless and completely lifeless, suspended between husk and human.

"What the fuck were they doing here?" Vega splayed his fingers against the glass as he peered into the room "I knew Cerberus were down with some fucked up shit, but this?" he looked across at Shepard "Tell me they aren't changing these people into husks?"

Shepard was about to respond when a piercing scream made her flinch and one of the refugees surged to life in a violent twist of limbs. Shepard heard Liara gasp behind her, heard Tali mutter something in Quarian.

The semi husk rolled off the bed, its mouth moving, arms swinging as its flesh changed from an already inhuman grey to a deeper, sickly shade of blue. A few clumps of dark hair fell down from the top of the husks head, flopping down to frame its face. Pinpoint lines of blue ignited and rippled beneath rubbery skin, accompanied by a sickening sound, like gristle being punctured and torn. The husk fumbled forward, its movements uncoordinated for a moment until its stuttering crawl became smoother, almost feline. With another scream, this time almost mechanical, it threw itself against the glass and climbed past them in a hideously inhuman motion.

"I don't believe it" Garrus growled "I can't believe it"

Shepard didn't say anything as her fingers flexed on the console in front of her, igniting a trail of lights that seemed too bright in the dim hall. She touched the activation switch and four squealing, blearing horns sounded, accompanied by a polite voice announcing the decontamination procedures had been activated. A thick cloud of gas filled the room for a few seconds before it was completely enveloped in flames and a warm rush of air from the overhead vents enveloped them. It smelt like fire and disease.

"Shepard" Tali drew the Commander's attention to another console where a red flashing light indicated an incoming transmission.

"Bring it up" Shepard made her way over and watched as Tali bought the video screen to life "Miaranda?" Shepard was shocked to see the other woman.

"Bloody hell Shepard, what are you doing here?" The video screen crackled "I should have known all this racket was you" Miranda grunted, wiping her face absently.

"Where are you?" Shepard took in Miranda's surroundings, noting the black smoke in the background and the muffled shouts.

Miranda sucked in a breath and sounded apologetic "Not too far from you, I seem to have bitten off a bit more than I can chew!" She slumped backwards, panting heavily "It's my father Shepard" she shouted above the noise, her voice resounding in the space around her "He's been conducting experiments, sanctuary isn't what it seems" her sweat stained face was ashen.

"Miranda" Shepard interrupted "We know, is the illusive man here?" she watched as Miranda rubbed her face, leaving a smear of blood across her cheek.

"No" She replied "No" Miranda closed her eyes as she repeated, shaking her head and rubbing her chin.

"Stay where you are, send me your coordinates" Shepard waited for Miranda to input her details, sighing with relief when she received them on her omni tool "I mean it Miranda, we aren't far from your position, stay put"

"Shepard, I can't just sit here, my father..."

"That's a god damn order Lawson" Shepard bought her fist down on the console as she growled out the words.

"I'm not Alliance Shepard" Miranda's voice was firm but there was a hint of a smile on her face "That said, I'm probably not in the best condition to be fighting" she winced "Hurry up Commander" and the video feed was cut.

"Shepard" Liara approached her from behind, her voice tentative "There's something else..."

"What?" Shepard got the feeling she wasn't going to like what the Asari was about to say.

"There's a video log, and more" She looked away and then back to Shepard "Thousands of science logs and reports, data on what they were trying to achieve here"

"And just what was that?" Garrus moved up between them, his hands clenched on his sniper rifle "What could they have been doing that was worth all this?" he indicated their surroundings with a wave of his hands.

"Trying to control the Reapers" Liara sighed.

"Well that's a damn surprise!" Shepard growled "The illusive man always was a fool there were never any barriers to what he wanted to achieve"

"No Shepard, that's the problem" Liara shook her head "He succeeded"

"What?" Tali interrupted "Not possible"

"The experiments were extreme, and in a limited area but..." She blew out a breath and wiped her brow with the back of her hand "but they were successful"

"That's why the Reapers attacked" Garrus muttered "The Illusive man has them running scared!"

"Shit" Shepard closed her eyes and let the information sink in. When she opened them, everyone was looking at her "Upload the data to the Normandy" a cacophony of protest bombarded her "Enough!" She yelled above the din.

"Shepard, you can't be serious?" Tali shook her head "This data is covered in blood, look what they're doing here!" she took a step back from the commander as if physically repulsed "All these lives, this is torture, murder!"

"Shepard she's right" Garrus interjected "We'll retrieve the catalyst, there's no need to use this. Plus who knows what we'll need to do to actually get it to work, you can't be advocating this?" he sounded horrified.

"And what if we don't retrieve the catalyst?" Shepard rounded on Garrus, her voice raising an octave "What if the catalyst doesn't exist or doesn't work? What then?" she pointed her finger at him "This data, no matter how soaked in blood, could represent a desperate last resort for us" she cleared her throat and when she spoke again her voice was even and calm "Do you think we have a choice in this? That we can afford to take the moral fucking high ground because this leaves a bad taste? Do you think I don't know how much this data has cost humanity?" Shepard shook her head angrily "This" now she jabbed her finger at the flaming room behind them "has the Reapers worried, and I'm not prepared to sit by and let trillions of people get slaughtered because I'm worried about the angle of my moral compass" Shepard turned on Liara now "Upload the data Liara, and if any one feels that strongly about this..." She scanned her crew, green eyes focussing on each of them in turn "Feel free to get off the Normandy at the next stop, understood?" To her surprise, there was no further complaint "Good, let's get this done" She reloaded her rifle and swallowed down a mouthful of bile. Morality, Shepard thought, sometimes is the only rule we have left, and she was painfully aware of just how close that one sinew that bound her to humanity, was to snapping.


Shepard could hear raised voices on the other side of the door.

"We need to hurry" Liara muttered glancing at the Quarian next to her.

"Kee'lah!" Tali input something into her Omi tool but the door lock remain stubbornly red "Nearly have it" there was an edge of cracked panic to her voice as she entered more commands.

A few minutes later the door finally stuttered open revealing a shocked looking Henry Lawson who reacted to the intrusion by leaping forward and levelling a pistol to the head of his daughter. He growled as he locked one arm around her throat, and turned wild eyes in Shepard's direction, his finger on the trigger, a trembling grin on his face.

"Don't come any closer" He shouted. Miranda clutched at his arm as he squeezed even tighter, his hands shaking, eyes darting back and forth between Shepard and Liara. "I'm warning you!"

"Miranda?" Shepard called out, ignoring Henry.

"Orinana..." Miranda slurred the word as her eyes closed and her hands stopped clawing at her father's arm. She didn't look so good. Her skin was abraded at the throat and black blood matted her hair, above her right ear. Shepard realized with sinking stomach that she was already on the verge of collapse.

"Shepard" Garrus indicated a heap on the floor with a jerk of his rifle and Shepard sighed.

Orinana's corpse was lay curled up in a foetal position, her eyes seemingly staring, unnervingly straight at her. There was a yawning gunshot wound to her stomach, her blood smeared hands laying either side of it, as though she'd died trying to desperately squeeze it shut.

Shepard sucked in a deep breath through her nose and looked back at Miranda. She shook her head once and clamped her jaw shut at the wash of defeated horror that passed over the woman's face.

"No..." Miranda whispered, slumping further in her father's grasp.

"Let her go" Shepard shouted, voice deep and steady.

"You aren't going to kill me" Henry replied with a sneer. The barrel of his pistol was pressed against Miranda's skull as he started to back away from them, dragging Miranda with him "I know too much, you need what I know"

Shepard poured over her options, her mind working overtime. With a snarl she raised her pistol a fraction and fired twice, watching dispassionately as Henry Lawson's head exploded in a mass of blood and bone.

Miranda slumped to the floor, but strong hands caught her before she crashed.

"She's dead isn't she?" Miranda's voice was very weak but her eyes were open. She seemed unfocused, her words barely whisper, blue lips moving only a fraction.

"Yes" Shepard held her steady as she answered "I'm sorry" she fumbled off her gloves and touched her fingers to the clotted mass of Miranda's head. Something gave and Miranda moaned.

"She's dying" Garrus knelt down next to her, his hand resting on Shepard's shoulder "The Reapers are just outside the door Shepard"

Shepard was knelt beside Miranda, awkward in her armour, caught between grief and a nightmare wave of approaching Reaper troops "I'm sorry" she fumbled for Miranda's hand "I didn't get here fast enough"

"You did" Miranda said gently "Shepard, I set a tracking device on the last Cerberus shuttle" she shifted slightly, blood welling on her lips "You can find them now"

Shepard cupped her hand and laid it against Miranda's cheek "Always thinking ahead" she reached up to the woman's brows, smoothing them with a feather touch. Miranda she shivered with a deep, intense pain, blood was matted in her thick hair and Shepard could feel the skull swelling "I'm so sorry" She felt Miranda sigh under her hand. She felt her die. With blood covered fingers she reached out, touched the woman's hair and then closed the blue veined lids of her eyes. A wave of sorrow and regret washed over her as she stood and stepped back from the body. More failure.

"Shepard..." Liara reached out to her but Shepard backed away and walked calmly to the other side of the room.

Shepard was simultaneously aware of the Garrus approaching rifle in hand, of the rest of her squad standing back slightly, of the noise from the Reapers shrieking closer beyond the door; aware of every muscle tensing as she flinched at the sounds. She felt her rage build, beginning to peak. It moved within her, below conscious thought, deep in her soul. It was the strongest of her reflexes, the greatest of her appetites and she couldn't help as a frightening pearl of hysterical hilarity spilt from her lips in the form of a burst of insane, rage laced laughter. She lifted her hand to the door seal and unlocked it. All hell broke loose. Someone screamed.


Shepard was hot, her skin prickling beneath her hard suit. She felt strange, dizzy almost and her nostrils were filled with the scent of cannibals, she could hardly breath for the stench of them. Sweat ran down her face. Garrus roared something at her but she couldn't make sense of the words, they echoed and bounced off the walls but wouldn't sink in.

A round of rifle fire ignited a console off to her side and it spat out a wave of stinging sparks and acrid smoke. The room was filled with Reapers, ragged, disjointed shapes moving through the heated air. The noise was horrendous, a furious din of growls and shouts punctuated by people shouting her name. She shook her head and flapped her hand in the direction of the voices. She had to have an outlet for her rage, she couldn't let it consume her.

She was breathing fast, in huge ragged gasps that she couldn't seem to calm and every lungful of air burnt her throat. She looked down at where her hand was bunched in a fist around her pistol grip, painfully tight, the knuckles pale with furious pressure.

"Shepard!" Liara screamed.

Shepard recognized the voice and turned to see the panicked Asari on the other side of the room.

"We have to fall back!" She shouted again.

"No" Shepard shook her head, her voice harsh as she fired her pistol into the face of the nearest cannibal "I'm not finished yet"

Anger was a powerful weapon in the right hands and the hottest burning hatred Shepard had, was for the Reapers. They'd taken so much from her, they'd taken her future.

She emptied her clip into the mass of churning Reaper flesh in front of her, pausing to rip her helmet off as gore and debris obscured her view. Another clip was slapped in, and another emptied. She shoved the pistol in its holster when the Cannibals were too close and switched on her omni blade. It hummed to life as she swung it through the air, leaving bright orange trails in its wake. The Reaper's screamed and chattered as pieces of them were scattered, sliced and divided.

Something dug into Shepard's back and her suit alarm sounded in her ear, but there was no pain. She showed her teeth and smiled at the depleting crowd as more bodies fell under the weight of gun fire from behind her. Someone shouted her name again but she ignored it as she shifted forwards, feigning to the left to avoid a Cannibals outstretched hands and retaliating with a savage slice that cut through the reaper from neck to groin. Black blood spilled out onto the bright metal floor as Shepard dug her fist into the wound, ripping out the Reapers insides as it toppled away and crashed onto its back.

There was a roar, a brute, too close. She had missed its approach in the chaos and noise. Shepard felt herself dragged into the air, limbs flopping. The Brutes clawed hand went up, black against the tube lighting and slapped down on her, dragging along her shoulder. It was like running into a wall and light burst open in Shepard's skull, her mouth filling with blood. She heard herself grunt and then she was flying. Gunfire, biotic bursts of light and terrified faces all became meaningless smears as she bumped off the wall and crashed, half senseless to the ground.


"Shepard!" Liara yelled as she unloaded the full might of her biotic power into the back of the Brute "Garrus cover us, Vega with me" Liara had not expected Shepard to get up from the Brute's attack, but she did. Blood stained her teeth pink, seeped from her torn lips and Liara could tell from the way she lurched forward that there was something, awfully, sickeningly wrong.

"Whatever your gonna do Doc make it quick" Vega shouted across at Liara "We're about to get over run"

Liara lunged forward and grabbed Shepard under the armpit, dragging her roughly backwards as Vega unloaded his Revenant into the creatures face. Shepard turned to her, ready to shake her arm free.

"Shepard!" Liara's voice was almost tentative, laced with concern and fear.

"What?" Shepard hissed, staggering and pulling away.

"The shuttle, we have to make it to the shuttle" Liara shouted. Shepard didn't move, she just looked at Liara her expression completely bland, her eyes empty, fearless and flat. Liara flashed back to last time she'd seen that expression on Shepard's face, on Thessia, as she was about to fall to her death. She grimaced, the memory of that look was like a wound that wouldn't heal "Go!" Liara shoved Shepard forward but the Commander just staggered and stumbled to her knees, moaning as a gaping wound on her shoulder pulled open "Goddess Shepard" Liara gasped.

"The shuttle?" Shepard staggered to her feet as the room spun, swam around her as she eyed the mass of bodies surrounding them. She stumbled, blinked and then fell to her knees again, welcoming the darkness.


Shepard moaned and fell down again. Pain was everywhere. She moaned until blood caught in her throat then coughed and gasped. Her world was a foggy smear as she gurgled up more blood and coughed it out, long enough to moan again.

A hand clamped over her mouth "Easy Shepard" Vega muttered softly "You're alright, you're ok" the hand moved away and air came out between her gritted teeth. Another hand fastened around her waist, dragged her arm up. She gasped as her shoulder stretched out, was dragged over something hard.

"Come on Shepard" This voice was soft but tortured, familiar but oddly cold.

She was lifted slowly, she pushed up with her legs, breath whistling, as a hot river trickled from her shoulder down her back. Her knee buckled, pain stabbed up her leg and she tumbled, about to fall but was caught in a warm, tingling biotic field. She couldn't focus, couldn't see.

"Shepard!" A hand grasped her face, twisted it and then she was looking into cool blue eyes, hard like steel but scared, a beautiful face "I need you to stay with us, focus, please, we're nearly there"

Shepard grunted as her squad ran ahead, Garrus shouting across at Tali to keep eyes on the landing zone. She couldn't remember what had happened.

"What did I do?" Shepard mumbled around a mouthful of blood "What did I just do?"

Vega just looked at her with a strange mixture of fear, awe and anger.

"What? I don't..."

"It's done now Shepard" Liara interrupted her "That is all"