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Interval 2 – Reunions
"That is unfortunate Miranda." The Illusive Man said as he took a puff of his cigarette. "I'll see that we take proper measures to fix the problem."
"It's his focus I'm worried about. If he believes he's going insane or these visions distract him…" Miranda said before the Illusive Man interrupted.
"Then make sure they don't. I'll do what I have to do, you do your Job. Now send Shepard down."
"Yes sir." She said and left the holographic pad and moved up the stairs. Shepard was sitting in deep thought looking out into space. She couldn't blame him; it's not every day you wake up after being dead for two years. "Shepard, the Illusive Man will see you now."
"Thanks Miranda." He said and left down the stairs Miranda came from. He entered the holographic projector and looked around as his vision changed to a large office with a sun close behind. The Illusive Man sat in a chair in the centre.
"Commander Shepard." He acknowledged.
"Illusive Man. I thought we'd be meting face-to-face." Shepard said.
'Some do deserve to die.' A voice suddenly whispered. Shepard recognised it as the same one from the girl on Lazarus station. He also saw her standing behind the Illusive Man pointing at him before turning to ash. Shepard blinked and shook his head in disbelief. I must be going insane. He thought.
"A necessary precaution. Not unusual for people who know what you and I know." The Illusive Man said.
"You might be the reason I'm still alive, but that doesn't mean I trust you." Shepard said.
"You need to put your personal feelings aside. Humanity is up against the greatest threat of our brief existence." The Illusive Man said.
"The Reapers." Shepard answered.
"Good to see your memories are still intact," The Illusive Man. "How are you feeling?"
"You need to earn the right to ask me those kinds of questions. But if you must know I've just discovered I'm an undead cyborg who's missed two years off his life and is in the hands of terrorists. Also I'm seeing a little girl who keeps appearing in random places and speaks to me. Besides that I'm fine." Shepard said in a sarcastic matter-of-fact tone. The Illusive Man flinched when he mentioned the girl.
"This is no time to make jokes, Shepard. Cerberus isn't as evil as you believe. You and I are on the same side; we just have different methods." The Illusive Man lied.
"Cut to the chase. What are the Reapers doing that made you decide to bring me back?" Shepard asked.
The Illusive Man stood. "We're at war." He said "No one wants to admit it, but humanity is under attack. While you've been sleeping, entire colonies have been disappearing. Human colonies. We believe someone is working for the Reapers. Just like Saren and the geth aided Sovereign. You've seen it yourself. You bested all of them. That's just one of many reasons we chose you."
"You could have trained an entire army for what you spent to bring me back." Shepard said.
"You're unique, very unique. You're ability's surpass anyone else, also your experiences. But on top of that is what you represent. You stood at a key moment. You're more than a prot… soldier… you're a symbol. And I don't know if the Reapers understand fear, but you killed one. They have to respect that." The Illusive Man answered. Shepard could tell he was trying to hide something.
'Remember!' A sinister man's voice whispered to him. The same as the shadow's after Wilson's death. He looked to his right and as he suspected saw nothing. Shepard ignored it and continued to question the Illusive Man's motives.
"If what you say is true… if the Reapers are behind this… I'd consider helping you."
The Illusive Man gave a smug smile. "I'd be disappointed if you accepted any of this without seeing for yourself. I have a shuttle ready to take you to Freedom's Progress the latest colony to be abducted."
"Is this a volunteer job, or am I being volunteered?" Shepard asked.
"You always have a choice Shepard. If you don't find the evidence we're both looking for, we can part ways. But first go to Freedom's Progress. Find any clues you can. Who's abducting the colonies? Do they have any connection to the Reapers? I brought you back. It's up to you to do the rest." The Illusive Man finished and closed the comm link.
Shepard found himself back on the Cerberus station, he turned and left.
The shuttle touched down on Freedom's Progress. Shepard, Jacob and Miranda stepped out. 'Almost as cold as Noveria.' Shepard thought. "Miranda, Jacob, doesn't Cerberuses provide you with more protective uniforms?"
"L-let's just go Sh-Shepard." Miranda shivered.
They approached the first building and entered. It was pitch black inside, the lights flicked on when the group entered. In a flicker Shepard saw the girl in the red dress by the door at the far end. 'Note to self, see a physiatrist.' He thought.
"It looks like everyone just got up and left right in the middle of dinner." Jacob said.
The group continued out the outer side of the building and stepped onto a balcony and walked down to the ground. "Strange, no bodies, not structural damming, no singes of battle." Miranda observed as they approached a large door in a rock face.
When it opened two mechs on an opposite platform activated and opened fire on the team. "Strange. Security systems were disabled at the other colonies." Miranda said as they took cover. They took out the opposite ones when then they were flanked from the building on the right. A short will later the mechs were taken down.
"Those mechs shouldn't have been hostile. They should have recognized us as human." Jacob said.
"Someone's reprogramed them to attack on sight. We're not alone here." Miranda responded.
Shepard entered a housing unit and after searching and 'requisitioning' some credits and medi-gel they turned and stepped outside. A LOKI and a FENRIS mech attacked from the steps of another structure. They quickly met a similar fate as the others.
Shepard approached the door and it opened to revile a darkened corridor. Shepard turned to find Jacob and Miranda only to meet a metal wall where the door was. Shepard was shocked. 'What the hell! No way is this just a hallucination.' He thought as he began to walk down the corridor. "Jacob, Miranda, can you her me?" He said down his comms only to receive nothing, not even static. In the shadows he saw what appeared to be a body. Slowly he approached and to his shock found it to be a geth.
"Where am I?" He asked out loud. He continued down the hall and came across many more bodies of geth and quarians. What shocked him the most was when he found a window, he looked out upon a huge armada of ships of all types and sizes. He only knew of one fleet like this. "The Quarian Migrant Fleet?" He asked in disbelief.
He jumped when he heard a woman scream "Farther!" He approached a door where the shout came from. On the other side he could hear a woman crying. The door slid open to revile a dark expanse in the centre there was a shaft of light illuminating a purple suited quarian woman crying over the lifeless body of a red suited quarian man. He recognised this quarian; her voice and suit patterns were familiar. "Tali?" He whispered only to be met with a blinding white light.
He found himself standing back on Freedom's Progress with Jacob and Miranda behind him. In the room a squad of quarians shot up with the weapons primed. "Stop right there!" A grey suited quarian ordered.
"Prazza! You said you'd let me handle this." Said a purple suited quarian, the same as the one just saw, Tali. Tali moved between Prazza and Shepard. "Wait… Shepard?" She asked in shock and disbelief.
"I'm not taking any chances with Cerberus operatives." Prazza said.
"Put those weapons down." Tali ordered before turning back to Shepard. "Shepard? Is that… you're alive?" She asked.
Shepard couldn't believe it. Tali was here. "Remember when I gave you that geth data, Tali? Did it help you complete your Pilgrimage?" He said. Still worried about that vision he just had, so many questions were running through his head. But first he had to convince Tali it was him. Get her to trust him again.
"Yes, it did. Prazza, weapons down. This is definitely Commander Shepard." Tali said.
"Why is your old Commander working for Cerberus?" Prazza asked as he and the others lowered their weapons.
"I don't know. Maybe we should ask." Tali said.
"I nearly died, Tali… I did die… I don't know how but Cerberus spent two years rebuilding me. Now they want me to investigate attacks on human colonies." Shepard said.
"Likely story. No organization would commit so many resources to bring back one soldier." Prazza said in scepticism.
"You haven't seen Shepard in action, Prazza. Trust me, it was money well spent." Tali responded. Shepard smiled and was joyful that Tali still believed him. He never got a chance on the Normandy to tell her what she meant to him. "Perhaps we can work together. We're here looking for a young quarian named Veetor. He was here on Pilgrimage." She said.
"Isn't that a little strange? A quarian visiting a remote human colony?" Shepard asked.
"Quarians can choose where they go o Pilgrimage. Veetor liked the idea of helping a small settlement. He was always… nervous in crowds." Tali said.
Prazza then went on to say Veetor's unstable and delirious. Tali continued to say where he's hiding and that he reprogramed the mechs to attack anything on sight. Shepard was also shocked to find that Cerberus attacked the Migrant Fleet. He also was angry at Miranda for defending Cerberuses actions. 'Kill her, kill them all.' A man's voice whispered to him but Shepard shook the thought off. Soon after Shepard and Tali agreed to work together to find Veetor and they parted ways in search of him.
As they left the building Tali warned them of drones up ahead. True to her word Assault Drones engaged Shepard and his team. They had successfully fended of the drones when Tali came over the radio again. "Shepard! Prazza and his squad rushed on ahead. I told them to wait, but they wouldn't listen. They want to find Veetor and take him away before you get here!"
"We should have expected this." Miranda said.
"Come on! We can still catch them." Jacob responded.
They continued through multiple housing units and down to the ground. More Assault Drones engaged them as they took cover. Miranda sent out multiple overloads whilst Shepard and Jacob fired their weapons and the drones. They flew around dogging there attacks but eventually the last drone fell.
"Hurry, Shepard! We're inside the loading docks." Tali called over the radio. "Veetor reprogramed a heavy mech! It's tearing Prazza's Squad apart!" She said in a panicked voice.
"They did want to get to Veetor first." Miranda commented.
"Get you squad into cover and I'll open the loading bay doors." Tali said.
"We'll take cover by the doors. Shepard, you take point." Miranda said.
They approached the large door in the rock face. Miranda and Jacob took cover on ever side as Shepard took point, crouching down behind a concert barricade. Tali opened the doors, as the Point Man, Shepard entered first closely followed by Jacob and Miranda, they were just in time to see a YIMAR mech engage Prazzas squad. Shepard watched in horror as the quarians were gunned down. He flinched when he witnessed one quarian woman get crushed below the mechs leg and shot several times in the head. What made it worse was that he heard disembodied menacing laughter at the sight. The mech fired a missile and machine-gunned the remaining quarians. Shepard was relieved to see Tali had gotten to safety inside a nearby building.
"That mech's got heavy armour plating. Those quarians never stood a chance." Jacob said.
"This is going to be one tough son-of-a-bitch to take down." Miranda commented.
"Miranda, Overload its shields and move that building. Jacob use your Incendiary Ammo." Shepard ordered. As he opened fire on the mechs shields with his assault rifle using Disruptor Ammo. It was a long and tough fight but eventually the mech fell to Shepard's, Miranda's and Jacobs's combined fire power.
"Is everyone ok?" Shepard asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Jacob said.
"So am I, come on lets go get Veetor." Miranda said.
"Let's check on the quarians first." Shepard said and headed into a building. Inside were four quarians including Tali. "Tali, are you ok, do you need any help?"
"Yes, I'm ok Shepard, and everything under control. Please go and get Veetor, I'll catch up in a bit." Tali said as she patched up a wounded quarians suit. Shepard nodded and turned to find Veetor. "Oh, Shepard." Tali called.
"Yes Tali."
"Thank you for saving us… and me again."
"I'm always happy to help, Tali." He said and left.
The door opened to revile a room bathed in an orange glow from the consoles and screens. A lone quarian sat typing away and muttering to himself. "Monsters coming back. Mechs will protect. Safe from swarms. Have to hide. No monsters. No swarms. No, no, no…"
"Veetor?" Shepard asked.
"No Veetor. Not here. Swarms can't find. Monsters coming. Have to hide." Veetor responded and continued not fixed on the screen as if Shepard and his team weren't there.
"Nobody's going to hurt you anymore." Shepard said but Veetor didn't respond.
"I don't think he can hear you, Commander." Jacob said. Shepard bought up his omni-tool and after a few commands he waved it over the screens which locked down.
Veetor sat back and looked in wonder at the flashing screens. He then noticed the humans and stood up. "You're human. Where did you hide? How come they didn't find you?" He asked.
"Who didn't find us?" Miranda asked.
"The… the monsters. The swarms. They took everyone." Veetor said.
"Why didn't the colonists fight back, Veetor? What happened?"
"You don't know. You didn't see. But I see everything." Veetor said and typed away at the consol.
The screens changed to security footage of the colony. Large bugs flew across the screen, as insect like aliens transported organic containers.
"Looks like security footage. He must've pieced it together manually." Miranda said.
"What the hell is that?" Jacob asked.
Veetor froze the screen as Miranda got a close look at one of the Aliens. "My God. I think it's a Collector."
Shepard recognized the name. They are an apparently mythical species from beyond the Omega 4 Relay that trade technology for unique subjects of species. "I thought the Collectors kept to themselves." He said.
"They usually work through like slavers or hired mercenaries. If they are involved with the Reapers somehow, it could explain what happened to the colonies." Miranda said.
"There technology is advanced. They could have a weapon that disables an entire settlement at once." Jacob suggested.
"The seeker swarms. No one can hide. The seekers find you. Freeze you. Then the monsters take you away." Veetor said.
Why didn't the Collectors take you?" Shepard asked.
"She hid me." Veetor said.
"Who hid you?" Miranda asked.
"The little girl. When the swarms came she took me here. Told me it was safe from the monsters."
"What happened to her?" Shepard asked.
"She was here. She didn't leave. Monsters didn't find us." Veetor said as he looked around for her. The room was empty apart from them. "She told me to fix video for others. Where is she?"
"What did she look like?" Jacob asked.
"Her hair was black. She had yellow eyes. And she wore a red dress."
Shepard's eyes widened as Miranda and Jacob looked between him and Veetor in shock. 'No it's impossible. It can't be the same girl. WHAT'S GOING ON?' He thought. Shepard was more confused and unnerved then he has ever been.
"Shepard didn't you say that you saw a girl like that on Lazarus station?" Jacob asked.
"Y-yes I did. It can't be the same, it's impossible. It must be a coincidence, a very big coincidence." Shepard said still in shock. "Did she have a name?"
"She didn't tell me. She said it was dangerous."
"Why can nothing be easy?" Shepard muttered.
"We haven't seen her Veetor. I'm sorry, we'll tell the Alliance and they'll look for her." Miranda said. Shepard shook of his shock; he still had a job to do. He continued to ask questions about what Veetor saw.
"We appreciate what you told us. You were very helpful… mostly" Shepard whispered the last part.
"She told me to study them. The monsters. The swarms. I recorded them with my omni-tool. Lots of readings. Electro-magnetic. Dark-energy." Veetor said whilst he viewed the data on his omni-tool.
"We need to get this data to the Illusive Man. Grab the quarian and call the shuttle to come pick us up." Miranda said.
"What?" Tali said as she entered. "Veetor is injured! He needs treatment, not an interrogation!"
"We won't hurt him. We just need to see if he knows anything else. He'll be returned unharmed." Jacob tried to reassure.
"Your people tried to betray us once already. If we give him to you, we'll never get the intel we need." Miranda said.
"Prazza was an idiot, and he and his men paid for it. You're welcome to take Veetor's omni-tool data, but please. Just let me take him." Tali said.
"You don't have to take Veetor and go. We could work together. Just like old times." Shepard suggested.
"I want to, but I can't, I've got a mission of my own. It's too important for me to abandon, even for you. When it's over, and I'm still alive, we'll see what happens." She said.
"That sounds dangerous. What are you doing?"
"I don't think Cerberus needs to hear about it. But it's in geth space. That should tell you how important it is."
"Of course Tali, if you need any help, give me a call." Shepard said and Tali nodded, he then turned to Miranda and Jacob. "Veetors traumatized, and he needs medical care. Tali will give us the omni-tool data and take him to the flotilla."
"Understood, Commander." Miranda responded.
"Thank you Shepard. I'm glad you're still the one giving the orders." Tali responded.
Shepard then herd menacing lathered. He tried to move but couldn't. Everything seemed to have frozen. "It's all about the pretty girl, isn't it Shepard." A man's voice said. The same as the one after Wilson's death. A man appeared behind Tali, his face looked similar to Shepard's only clean shaven and his mid-length hair was combed back. The most shocking feature was a bullet hole in his forehead.
Shepard tried to speak but couldn't. "Don't bother trying to speak, Shepard." He said and moved to stroke Tali's veil. "You should forget about her, you don't want something bad to happen do you?" He asked with a sinister smile.
Shepard attempted to fight against him and his threats, but it proved useless. "Stop!" A woman's voice suddenly demanded. Shepard couldn't see who it was but the man behind Tali looked over her shoulder to Shepard's side.
"Oh come on mother, can't I have a little fun?" He said.
"Leave them alone, you know what's at stake." The woman said.
"Of course I do. You know what, why don't I just te…" The man started to say before he disappeared into a cloud of ash.
"I'm sorry John, ignore him. I can't always control him; he's insane but not stupid. I know you're confused, but you're not going crazy. I want to tell you what's happening but it's not safe. You must find out on your own." The woman said still out of Shepard's view. Then the girl in the red dress walked from his side to stand in front of him. "I'll help you when I can." She smiled and turned to ash herself.
"Good luck out there." Tali continued to speak as if nothing happened. As far as the others were concerned nothing did happen. "If I find anything that can help you, I'll let you know."
Shepard was still in shock about what just happened. He didn't notice Jacob calling for a pick up or Veetor transferring his data to Miranda with Tali's help. It wasn't until Tali stepped back into his view that he snapped out of his thoughtful trance. "So… it was good to see you again Shepard, I still can't believe your relay back." She said.
"I can't believe it myself. It was good to see you again too, Tali. I guess I'll see you some over time then."
"Yes, goodbye Shepard. I wish you luck on you mission."
XXXXXXXX
"This is disturbing News Miranda." The Illusive Man said as he received Freedom's progress' report from Miranda. "If it relay is what we think this could be very dangerous indeed."
"What shall we do?" Miranda asked.
"I've ordered the ships defences increased. Also I've sent extra teams to ground zero to attempt to contain the problem. I've also gave EDI a clear set of Instructions on what to do if she even detects anything what could be related. Your job Miranda is to make sure he doesn't remember anything."
"Of course sir, I'll see right to it." Miranda responded.
"You better do so. If Shepard even begins to remember then we could lose everything, and I've spent far too much for then. I'd hate to have a repeat of that incident."
Shepard proudly strolled onto his ship. The Normandy SR-2 looked beautiful and was impressive. Even better was that Joker was the helmsman. It was good to have a familiar face. The inside was even more impressive. "Welcome aboard the new Normandy, Commander." Jacob said as Shepard approached the holo projector with a hologram of the Normandy proudly glowing.
"I've been looking over the dossiers. I'd strongly recommend starting by acquiring Mordin Solus, the Salarian professor on Omega." Miranda suggested. "We know the Collectors use some type of advanced technology to immobilize their victims. We'll need him to develop a countermeasure to protect us."
"Without that countermeasure, we'll be helpless if we ever run into the Collectors." Shepard agreed.
"Acquiring Professor Solus seems like the most logical place to start." An electronic voice said making Shepard jump. Ever since he'd woken up yesterday morning he's been jumpy and people sneaking up on him and unexpected noises.
"Who's there?" He said.
"I am the Normandy's artificial intelligence. The crew like to refer to me as EDI." It said as a blue holographic ball appeared behind Shepard. To his relief this was real.
Later that day Shepard had set a course for Omega and moved around the ship getting to know the crew. He was glad to find the ships Yeoman Kelly Chambers was also the ships physiologist. He was sure he'll need her with everything that's been going on. He stepped into the med-bay and to his surprise saw a familiar face at the desk.
"Commander Shepard. I watched the Normandy crumble with you on board. It's good to see you alive." Doctor Chakwas said as she turned to face him.
After greeting her and asking about her affiliation with Cerberus Shepard asked a question he was waiting for all day. "Doctor, could you possibly give me a brain scan or something?"
"Why, what's wrong?"
"I've been seeing things lately, and hearing things. Things that don't exist."
Chakwas hummed in thought. "Alright Commander, if you would please lie on the bed here." She said gesturing to a bed. Shepard complied. Chakwas scanned Shepard with multiple pieces of equipment. "Interesting." She eventually said.
"What's wrong doctor?" Shepard asked.
"Nothing's wrong. Miranda really did a good job putting you back together. I suggest you see Yeoman Chambers."
"…and now I'm here." Commander Shepard finished. He was lying on his couch in his cabin. He'd just told Kelly about all his visions. To say she was speechless was an understatement.
Miranda had watched this over the surveillance bugs she'd placed in the cabin. What she had heard surprised and worried her. She never fully understood he berthing the Illusive Man had given her. She didn't believe it until she saw the evidence. She had to stop this. She pulled a vile of a blue liquid form a secret draw in her desk. All she had to do was what until Shepard came to eat.
It was now late on the Normandy. Shepard was feeling slightly better after Kelly's counselling, though it didn't help much. Most of the crew were in the mess receiving the food when Shepard entered. "Commander, I've got a meal for you." Miranda said as she handed him a meal.
"Thank you Miranda." Shepard said and took a seat with the meal. Miranda watched with a smug smile, but inside she thought that what she was doing was wrong. She only hoped it removed the correct memories. "What the hell!" Shepard suddenly screamed as a commotion broke out amongst the crew in the mess. Miranda looked in shock as Shepard's meal had burst into flames. When the fire died out leaving only a melted tray the room stood in a stunned silence. The crew suddenly decided that they weren't hungry and left.
"Ah, God damn it." Gardiner shouted form the kitchen as he threw his ladle into a pot. Shepard slowly stood up and turned to Miranda with an equally shocked face.
"I think I'll get my food next time." He said. Miranda could only nod and began to walk to her room only to stop when she felt someone slap her on the back of the head. She turned in anger only to find nothing. Miranda paled and sprinted to her room locking the door behind her.