In Infinitum
Chapter 23
Mars
SSV-Upon Reach, en route to Mars Archives. 0700 Hours.
Commander John Shepard, N7 Operative and Spartan-IV, stood at the bridge of his ship. Hands behind his back and eyes forward, staring at the blackness of space as they moved at full speed towards Mars. The place where Humanity had first discovered the prothean ruins and jumped ahead thanks to their technology. Now, there was a research station dedicated to trying to find out more about the mysterious race that the Reapers had wiped out in the previous cycle.
It was also where a supposed Cerberus task force had been deployed, this irked Shepard to the point that he was half temped to just call up the Illusive Man and asked him to go suck on the barrel of a gun before pulling the trigger. But no, something wasn't right about this.
"EDI, tap into the Alliance probe system around Mars. Find out if it is really Cerberus," Shepard said flatly.
"At once, Shepard," EDI replied though the ships speakers.
"You don't think it is?" Joker asked as he glanced over at Shepard over his shoulder at the Commander.
"Just a hunch," Shepard replied vaguely before turning away and asking, "ETA?"
"Five minutes to Mars, let me guess, prep a shuttle and get the ground team down in the hanger, right?" Joker asked while doing his best Shepard impression… which wasn't that good.
"Yes, I'll be taking Ashley and James with me," Shepard didn't like how Admiral Hackett had assigned Ashley Williams to his ship. She and him weren't on the level anymore, she distrusted him and he was tired of her suspicious questioning. It was counterproductive to the team cohesion.
He wanted Valerie and Connor aboard, but with the reports from Palavan coming in. Shepard knew they and the Theta would be deployed to ground on Palavan soon enough. So far it looked like the Reapers were spreading their forces, taking smaller colony worlds first and harvesting the population to turn into husks.
He closed his eyes and walked into the elevator, letting the doors close and felt the inertia of its descent. He had received a message from Garrus as well, his friend had told him that Reapers were harvesting Turians to turn them into some sort of combat troop. Garrus had already seen their Batarian combat husks… they were usually sent in after a few hundred Husks assaulted a location.
The Reapers were clever alright, targeting colonies and taking the population to be converted into their ground forces and then deployed against the rest of the galaxy as monstrous freaks bent on killing everything that crossed their paths.
"Damn if I don't admire their brutality though," Shepard muttered as the doors parted and he marched into the hanger where Ashley and James were waiting for him. He spotted his ground team by the shuttle, James Vega was leaning against the side of his. His MJOLNIR armor still clean as it had been when they had been fitted with them hours ago."
"Hey, Commander," he raised his gauntleted hand. "So, how does the suit feel?"
"Like I'm wearing air that can flip a shuttle onto its back," Shepard replied as he raised his own hand and gave a simple high five to the Lieutenant. Turning to Ashley, who stared at Shepard through his un-polarized visor, her eyes flashed with emotions before she said.
"Commander," it was clear she wanted to say something else, but she held her tongue for now. Probably wait till they were groundside before asking more questions. She looked to James and him again before asking, "What happened to you two?"
"The war," Shepard replied before James could. "Onto the shuttle you two, we have to get down there and see what's up, if the research station is under attack, we've been authorized to use whatever force is necessary to ensure we take it back."
He finished informing them of the situation and soon they were off gong down towards the planet. EDI's voice sounded inside his helmet, "Shepard, I've run scannings of the planet, a storm is moving towards the station and will arrive in two hours, after that it will be difficult to maintain connection to the Reach. Extraction might not even be possible in the shuttle." She paused. "Another thing, I scanned some of the radio chatter. Encryption codes do paint the source as Cerberus."
"Illusive Man," Shepard growled and clenched his fist tightly before relaxing it again. "Anything else?"
"Nothing more. No chatter from the science teams on the station." EDI's voice went quiet and the connection closed.
"Alright," Shepard spoke up, making Ashley and James' heads rise. "EDI just confirmed it's Cerberus on Mars. We're getting no com chatter down there from any of the science teams or Alliance Security personal posted at the site. Shoot first, ask questions later. But watch your fire, could be survivors."
"Cerberus?" James replied, raising a brow behind his visor. "Your old friends not like you anymore, loco?"
"Apparently not," Shepard replied icily. "But they just made the galaxies worst mistake." he slid a thermal magazine into his Banshee. "They crossed me."
"You didn't know about this?" Ashley spoke, scrutinizing Shepard. "I mean, nothing at all?"
Shepard sighed, "No, Ash, I didn't."
She opened her mouth, then shut it again when the shuttle shook and they looked out the windows. They had broken the atmosphere and were descending down on the facility. A massive cloud of dust travelled over the orange-red landscape towards the facility. Shepard now saw why it would be hard to maintain contact, the cloud was huge and thick. He'd need point-to-point laser transmission strength to punch through it. Something his MJOLNIR had, but unless he knew the exact location of the Reach, he wouldn't be getting anything out.
"Only an hour window before that storm maroons us on the planet till its over," Shepard added without looking away from the viewing window. "So we need to be fast, try to keep up Ash."
James chuckled. "What's that supposed to mean?" Ashley huffed.
"You'll see, Lieutenant Commander," Shepard replied with a smug tone before the shuttle touched down. "Alright, move!" the door hissed open and the three jumped out onto the ground. She paused to order the pilot, "Set down somewhere out of sight, Cortez. If an hour and half passes without word, bunker down someplace safe until the storm passes, understood?"
Steven Cortez gave a thumbs up, then the shuttled lifted off into the sky and zoomed off opposite of the station. They had been put down on the outskirts of the station in the cliff area around it.
"Alright, lets move, I'll take point, James, take the middle, Ashley. Your on rear guard," Shepard ordered his team. James light winked green and Ashley nodded an affirmative, least should follow orders without questioning him in the field.
They jumped down onto another ledge then proceeded along the trail. They spotted a Mako class tank, several Alliance marines lay dead against the vehicle. "Check them," he ordered James as he and Ashley covered him.
"Dead," James said, looking at the single hole in their helmets. "Looks like they didn't put up a fight," he turned to Shepard. "That mean anything to you?"
"Inside job," Shepard replied flatly. It had to be, this place was defensible. Cerberus would need several platoons of troops to take it… unless they had one or two people on the inside to clear a path, remove alarms and scramble communications. Then it would take a single platoon and some careful planning. And planning was something Cerberus did very well.
"You don't say?" Ashley asked, a bit too harsh for Shepard's liking. He didn't pursue it though, it would only lead to another argument. So, he focused on the mission at hand.
"Gunfire," he said, straining to listen. Another shot echoed out, it was around the bend. "On your toes, people." he said into the com. Raising his Banshee they proceeded forward in a loose V formation with Shepard at its head, they stopped short of the turn and Shepard went prone and crawled slowly to observe what was happening.
Several Alliance marines were kneeling. Hands bound and heads down, a single Cerberus soldier stood in the center of their circle, there were seven of them. Each was a standard trooper from what Shepard could tell. The center one put his weapon the marines helmet. So close the kinetic barriers wouldn't snap up fast enough to stop the round. He fired and the marine slouched over.
Shepard narrowed his eyes and whispered into the com. "James, target the furthest two, Ashley, take the other two near the Mako. I've got the last three," he issued the orders and raised his Banshee, his aim was steady and he magnified the zoom to ten times. He could make out the enemies helmet.
"Take them."
His Banshee flashed in a short three burst, James' only twice and Ashley let out a stream of rounds. Their opening salvo of fire took out their intended targets, all but one Cerberus trooper stayed still, the last gripped for his weapon. It was out of reach, he sputtered… then died.
"Move up, secure those survivors!" Shepard barked and the three moved over to the two other kneeling marines. Beside them lay the bodies of four of their comrades. "You hurt, soldier?"
The marines looked up at Shepard and James with brief eyes of fear and awe before they saw the Alliance insignia on their chests. "No, sir…" one of them replied, looking to the dead Cerberus troopers. "They said we'd be handed over to the Alliance after they got what they wanted here if we surrendered…"
Shepard kept his temper in check. The fact they surrendered angered him, instead he asked. "What happened? How did Cerberus get here?"
That was also bugging Shepard. Cerberus couldn't have gotten here without the Alliance's knowledge, they had sent probes and a scout ship to the relay to make sure the Reapers didn't come through and surprise Earth. But the ship or probe had reported nothing entering through the relay. So how in the hell did Cerberus get to Mars without detection?
"I don't know, sir," the marine shook his head, "Scanners picked up some weird readings in orbit, then they were gone and an hour later our com lines went down, next thing I know my platoon and I were under fire. We surrendered after the sarge and LT bit it."
"Congratulations, Marine," Shepard growled as he stood, "You just put your Sergeant and Lieutenant sacrifices to waste, along with them." he gestured to the four other marines. "Now, get inside the Mako and wait for extraction, my team and I are going to retake the facility."
"Just the three of you? That's impossible, Cerberus has an entire platoon of forty strong, at least!" The marine protested. "Let us help you, sir."
"You've helped enough, now follow my order, corporal." Shepard barked, the marine nodded and they were unbound. They got inside the mako and Shepard and his team moved on towards the Facilities entrance.
"little harsh, don't you think, Shepard?" Ashley asked as they walked.
"Surrender is the cowards way out, better to die doing your duty then die failing it," Shepard replied with some ice. He realized that it was harsh, but Mendez, Fred and Jorge had constantly drilled into them the Spartan code. "Duty above all else." and it was now Shepard's duty to complete this mission and win this war to ensure humanity's safety.
"Yikes," Ashley muttered before scanning the area with her Banshee.
"She doesn't understand, huh?" James said to Shepard on the short com, chuckling.
"Not a bit," Shepard agreed. The stopped when they reached the entrance, there were multiple Cerberus shuttles parked outside, seven that Shepard could see initially. "Proceed slowly, you two, I don't like this," a funny feeling inside Shepard scream ambush.
They were in the center of the formation, then a voice yelled. "Now!"
Several grenades flew over the vehicles and landed in the midst of the team. Shepard's hand lashed out, caught one and tossed it back in one smooth motion before he grabbed Ashley and leapt up… eight feet into the air. James glanced around, then raised his arms to protect his face and crouched low.
The grenades exploded and a small cloud of dust scattered, shrapnel pinged off Shepard's shields and Ashley's barriers. They landed, Shepard put Ashley down and drew his Banshee in time to see to several Cerberus troopers move from their cover. They opened fire onto the pair, thinking James finished.
Shepard ducked low to avoid a few rounds, then returned with his Banshee on full auto. Two troopers went down as the rounds pierced their armor and caused decompression. The others took cover, taking turns trying to suppress Shepard.
There was a yell of "Hoo-yeaah!" As James burst from the dust cloud and sprinted at roughly sixty KPH towards the nearest trooper, tacking him full force into the side of one of the shuttles with so much force the shuttle shifted on the ground and its frame bent. "It'll take more then that to drops these shields!" The Spartan turned, raised his Banshee and fired at the other troopers in cover since his position gave him a good firing angle.
They didn't last long under the hail of rounds and soon only two troopers remained. Shepard put them down with his standard issue Predator and they entered the facility. "So, how did your shields hold?" Shepard asked James.
"Five grenades at close? They shook my teeth, but the shields only drained to half, guess that what happens when you put starship level shields on infantry armor, eh?" the man grinned and they entered the lift. The room pressurized and they could breathe, only Ashley removed her helmet and approached Shepard.
"Shepard, I need a straight answer," she said, tone serious.
"Ash," Shepard sighed and hung his head. They didn't have time for this.
"Don't Ash me, Shepard," she said, stepping into his field of vision. "Did you know anything about Cerberus being here? Anything at all?" she asked, suspicion clear.
"No, I didn't," Shepard decided he was going to nip this thing in the ass right here. He looked to her, hard. "Ash, I haven't contacted Cerberus, nor have they contacted me, since I was imprisoned by the Alliance." he glowered at her. "Now, if you don't believe me then write a report about it and send it to Hackett or Anderson. Or stow it." the elevator stopped and the doors opened.
Shepard turned and walked out of the elevator, raising his Banshee. "Now, as a direct order. Stow it, I'm done trying to explain myself to you." he proceeded forward. Leaving James and Ashley behind.
James leaned over to Ashley and said, "The Commander was under constant surveillance during his incarceration, not even extranet access. He couldn't have contacted Cerberus and no one got to him either. And believe me, there wasn't any time for personal calls while in the Spartan program."
"Am I just supposed to believe he cut all ties?" Ashley murmured. Shepard's words stung her heart. Had the flame they embraced so long ago died? She closed her eyes.
"Believing's up to you, Commander, personally? He's the boss, so I just follow orders," James jogged after Shepard. Ashley took a breath, wiped her eyes and raised her weapon. Steeled her features and moved after them.
"Movement!" Shepard called and aimed at a ventilation shaft that clanged and thudded as something moved through it. He waited, seeing the end of the particular vent. "Hold fire until certain it's friend or foe."
The team waited. Then the hatch was kicked open and out jumped a familiar Asari scientist.
"Liara…" Shepard said with surprise. This was the last place he expected to find her in. She turned, charged her biotics and fired a singularity at the opening in time to catch two Cerberus troopers, who began to float around the gravity distortion.
Liara calmly drew her pistol. Fired twice and killed them both, they hit the deck. She double tapped them for measure and turned to the team, she stilled. Then sighed with relief, "Thank the spirits, Ashley Williams, I'm glad to see a friendly face." she jumped down to them, smiling.
"No greeting for me, Liara?" Shepard asked, un-polarizing his visor to reveal his cheeky smile. "I'm hurt."
Liara stared at him, blinking once. "Shepard! By the spirits, that's you?" she moved and looked up at him. She scanned his armor and she said, "You look… different, what armor is this? It doesn't look like anything I've ever seen before…" she scrutinized it.
"New design, I'll fill you in later," Shepard replied with a wave of his hand. "what's the situation here?" he asked, glancing to James and Ashley. Both were weapons ready and sweeping the area in cautious patterns with their weapons. He knew they had his back, much as Ashley mistrusted him. She was still a soldier.
"It's bad, little over an hour ago our communications went down, before we knew it our security personnel on perimeter patrol didn't respond and finally gunfire erupted inside the facility itself," The beautiful Asari scientist took a breath and shook her head. "By the time we knew it was Cerberus more than half the facility was in their hands."
Shepard nodded. "And the archives?"
"Me and what was left of the staff sealed every door there with heavy encryption to stall them until help arrived, guess you're it?" she crossed her arms and raised a brow.
"You complaining?" Shepard replied easily before hefting up his Banshee and opening a channel to James. "Motion tracker has contacts at forty out and closing, you see em?"
"Yeah, got em. Looks we're about to have company," James tapped Ashley on the shoulder and gestured to a door on the second floor platform above their position. It would be a good firing position for Cerberus since it was the high ground. Too bad the early warning of the motion tracker painted them.
"Hold on, Liara," Shepard turned to the Asari and wrapped one arm around her lower back and jumped up with what strength he could. The MJOLNIR amplified his jump and he cleared the platform railing and landed on the other side with a small thud of his armored boots.
"Lieutenant what ar-Ah!" Ashley squeaked when James did the same. Landing on the platform while Ashley clung to him with arm around his neck and a face of surprise and awe on her face. "You… and Shepard… are scarier now." she mumbled as she was let down.
"Liara, singularity by the door, now!" Shepard barked as he raised his Banshee. James did as well beside him, Ashley took a minute to stare at them before the door controls turned green and they began to slide open. Revealing Cerberus reinforcements, five of them.
They saw the team and raised their own weapons before Liara's singularity took hold and they sucked into the vortex, one hung onto the door frame and fired off two rounds. Liara grunted and hissed when her shoulder spat blood as one round tore through it, her science uniform didn't provide shielding and she staggered back.
Shepard, James and Ashley put the Cerberus team down like a firing squad in retaliation. Once they were down Shepard moved to Liara's side and asked, "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine, Shepard. Just a graze," She replied, standing flexing her arm with a wince. "I'm still combat ready."
"Not fully, you're not," Shepard simply and turned to Ashley. "Ashley, you and Liara head to the security room, take it back and hold there. I want surveillance cameras on the archive room and Cerberus' progress into the facility."
Ashley immediately protested. "But, Commander-"
"Lieutenant Commander Williams, I just gave you a direct order," Shepard growled at her, not turning to face her. "You and doctor T'soni are to take and hold the Security room and use the consoles there to provide overwatch for me and James while we get to the core. Are these orders unclear?"
Ashley closed her mouth, swallowed and then saluted. "No, Commander! Sir," she sighed, turned to Liara and said, "Lead the way,," Liara nodded, then the pair left off to fulfill their orders. Shepard could already tell this was going to be a swimmingly fine partnership between him and Williams.
"Little harsh, eh?" James said as he and Shepard moved out into the hall towards the tram room to get to the part of the facility where the archives were being held.
"I can't have her second guessing my orders, James. You know that," Shepard replied. Not taking his eyes away from the hall as they moved.
"I know, just couldn't hurt to be a little less rough, y'know?"
Shepard frowned. "Maybe. I just can't be soft on her anymore, this war is going to push us all, I can't afford compassion for these things." he stopped, pressed against a wall and gestured James forward.
"I suppose," James ducked into the doorway and scanned the hallway, he paused then said. "Whoa!" he leapt to the side and pressed against the wall as several heavy machinegun rounds sheared past them. "Ceiling mounted machine cannon," he reported.
"What the hell is that doing in the tram room?" Shepard asked, perplexed. That was an odd thing to place inside a tram room. "Any chance we can take it out before it takes us out?" he asked.
"Hold on," James held out his arm, his fist curled. A series of loud shots rang out and whipped past them before one struck James; outstretched hand with enough force it made the Spartan real it back and shook his head, "Single round took my shields down to seventy percent." he glanced down the hall, then leaned back out of the way as more rounds peppered the wall beside him. "Any plans?"
Shepard shrugged.
"Great…" James drawled.
Ashley pressed her back up against the doorframe as Liara worked on getting the door to the security room open. "You'd think there would be more Cerberus here, I mean.. why not guard the security room instead of putting a lock on it?"
"They probably pulled them back to ensure Shepard didn't reach the archive until they've completed their mission," Liara replied with a bit of strain. Her shoulder stung and she was kneeling in front of the door and trying to get it open, but Cerberus wasn't sloppy with their computer security. "Goddess! Finally!"
The door blinked green, then they slid open to reveal the dead security personnel still at their desks. Slumped over onto their consoles, some on the floor beside their chairs. Liara stepped and Ashley stepped inside with weapons raised.
"Damn, Cerberus," Ashley growled and lowered her weapon when she saw it was clear. Liara began to lower hers, then caught a flicker in the air that quickly closed distance on them. She fired once, missed and then gasped hunched over as blood pooled at her back and stomach.
There was an electrical pulse in the air and the active camoflage of a black clad female stood before Liara, her shoulder supporting the Asari's head while a three foot blade shone in the light from her back, coated in blood.
"Liara!" Ashley shouted and raised her Banshee then fired a short burst. The woman's hand snapped up and her palm produced a barrier that stopped the shots cold, it turned its head. Then withdrew its blade from its victim and spun around in the same motion to deliver to a kick to Liara's midsection that sent the Asari flying out of the room.
Ashley fired again and the figure streaked right with inhuman speed and closed the distance on Ashley, its blade flashed and she raised her Banshee. Metal clanged and the assailant flipped over Ashley's head when her strike was parried, the Commander growled and spun around to slam the buttstock of her weapon into the enemies side as she landed.
The woman's kinetic barriers failed and her armor dented with the blow, she staggered back and raised her palm again. Instead of a barrier a powerful blast sounded and Ashley's own shields failed and she was sent back onto the floor. She barely caught her senses before she had to roll to the side to avoid being impaled by her attacker, she looked left and saw the blade had been plunged a few inches into the flooring.
She reeled her leg back and kicked hard. The blade snapped in half and the assailant jumped back, glanced at the weapon and tossed it away before taking out her knife. Ashley jumped to her feet and raised her weapon then fired.
The figure's barrier popped back with her palm.
Ashley glared and held down the trigger and fired a continuous stream of metal that pinged off the enemies barrier. Her ammo went down to a quarter before the barrier shattered and several rounds connected with the kinetic barriers of the other, who grunted lowly and jumped to the side with a wide spin and cloaked before the flicker shot out of the room and down the hall.
Ashley reloaded and moved into the hall. She fired and hit nothing, waiting a moment before she turned to Liara, grabbing the Asari's leg she dragged her into the security room and sealed the door. "Damnit," she kneeled next to the injured Asari check the injury. It was bad, "I'm no medic!" she yelled in frustration before pulling out some medigel.
She applied it, it wouldn't fix her. But it would keep Liara live until they could get her back to the Reach. She opened her com, "Shepard, Liara's down, but not out. Yet, we were ambushed by some super Cerberus ninja or something! She got away, but we took the security room. Orders?"
There was a bout of heavy gunfire before Shepard's voice came over the com. "Can you disable a heavy machine cannon in the tram room? It's got me and James pinned down and Cerberus is pushing on us, nothing we can't handle but we're on a time limit!"
"Uh, hold on, let me see," Ashley patted Liara's hand once before standing and moving over to one of the consoles. She swept it over, then said, "I have it, Shepard. Shutdown is fried, but I can alter its friend-or-foe routine." she typed in some commands. "And presto! Cerberus you just got turret jacked by Ashley Williams!"
"Good work, Ashley." Shepard said, "Now attend to Liara. We're moving forward. James! Sprint this!" the com went out and Ashley sighed, then returned to Liara's side.
"Now attend to Liara. We're moving forward." Shepard turned to James, "James! Sprint this!" he barked and reloaded his Banshee, then the two Spartans lunged out of their cover and rushed down the hallway while shots pinged off their shields from the Cerberus troops giving chase. Shepard watched as the Turret aimed past them, but didn't shoot.
"James, go left! I'll go right!" He said over the com when he saw several more Cerberus forces inside the tram control room. They gathered their weapons and spread out to move into both exits.
Shepard and James reached the end of the hall and went both directions. The cannon on the ceiling opened fire on the Cerberus forces and tore them to shreds inside the hallway Shepard and James had been trapped in not too long ago.
James grinned behind his visor and yelled. "Yeehaaaaw!" he raised his Banshee and held down the trigger as he sprinted. Downing two troopers who got in his way, the other four raised their Mattocks and combined fire. The Spartan's shields dropped to a quarter under the heavy fire and he pumped his legs to shoot seven feet into the air and flew right over their heads to land behind them.
He jumped into the security room. Turned and waved at them, they raised their weapons and were torn apart by the heavy turret that had swivelled to target them while they were targeting James. The Spartan lazily dusted his hands before turning to face the room, a single Cerberus trooper stood by the other door with a Falcon explosive launcher.
"Oh shit." James muttered and flew back when a round from the launcher struck his chest. His shields blinked and fell when he hit the wall and slid down. "That smarts…" he grumbled and stood. The Trooper fired again and the round streaked towards James.
The Spartan's arm snapped up and promptly "slapped" the grenade round to the side where it exploded on the wall behind him. "Packs punch, but that thing is slow as a snail, amigo." He said, then pointed behind the trooper. "Don't look, it's Shepard."
The trooper readied to fire again when two hands gripped his head and twisted it violently with a sickening crack. The now limp Cerberus soldier fell to the floor dead, Shepard stood over him and dusted his hands off. Behind him lay the bodies of seven other troopers.
"Told him so," James shrugged and moved over to the console.
"What we got?" Shepard asked from beside him while leaning down and taking the Falcon. He checked it over and then attached it to his back, it might come in handy. His thoughts drifted back to Ashley and Liara, worry mustered but he pushed it back. He'd ensure their status after the mission.
"Looks like a last ditch effort to stop us, they're sending fifteen strong across on a tram," James paused and then said, "One tram is still here. We can take that, or we gonna wait here and ambush them?"
"Onto the tram, I have an idea." Shepard replied while he stepped out of the tram control room and hopped down onto the tram floor. He moved over to the doors, they slid open and he stepped into the spacious tram.
"What's the plan, Commander?"
"We stop their ride." Shepard hefted the Falcon to bear. "I think this will clear a crowded tram nicely." he said with anticipation.
"It would," James held up a pair of Cerberus grenades in his hand. "These might help too." he stepped onto the tram and soon they were on the move. They cleared the small docking tunnel and saw the surface of Mars again.
And how close the storm was getting.
"Cutting it close, aren't we?" James said through the com.
"Just a little," Shepard replied and saw the other tram coming from the other end of the rails. He smiled, "There they are," he raised his Falcon and aimed carefully, he knew this thing arced at longer distances so he needed to take that into account. Then, his HUD adjusted and the targeting reticule became a range finder and drop meter per distance.
"Thank you, Halsey." the Commander whispered.
"Explosive on the track," James said, nodding down the track they were using. "I can take it out, but will take out the rail for this tram."
"Then we switch with them." Shepard replied easily and fired one, then two grenade rounds. They flew and smashed through the windows of the other tram, the troopers inside reacted instantly. They tried to reach for them, but both grenades exploded, flooding the tram with a flash of fire and shrapnel. "Get them in there, James."
James primed the two grenades, waited for the other tram to get closer then threw them through the same window Shepard smashed. They detonated and both Spartans were sure no one was left alive. The trams passed and they leapt across through the doors just in time for their tram to be stopped by an explosion, the railing it travelled on was severed by the explosive James picked up.
"Good," James quickly reset the tram controls and they were moving back the way it came towards the other side of the facility where the archives were held. They reached the other end and stepped out in the tram room, took out the two Cerberus who tried to ambush them from the top banister and continued towards the archives.
The doors were open when they arrived. They stepped inside, swept the room and saw a woman accessing the console. She paused, turned and saw them both. Raising a Carnifex hand cannon she fired. The heavy round pinged off Shepard's shield, draining to sixty, they took cover since she was an accurate shot with one arm.
She turned back to the console. Tapped a key and turned back to them, "You're too late, Shepard!" the woman's voice dripped venom. She leaned forward and sprinted towards them, James and Shepard raised their weapons and opened fire.
She leaned, ducked and zig-zagged out of the way of the rounds before she closed on them, James took a swing at her and she ducked under it before leaping over Shepard entirely, they spun around and fired at her retreating back. Her shoulder spat sparks and she faltered, but then continued. "Damnit! James. Get her! I'll check the data."
"Got it, Commander," James sprinted after the woman as fast his MJOLNIR enhanced legs could carry him. Which to say was incredibly fast.
Shepard turned to the console and ran to it. He accessed it and saw the data was being deleted at an alarming rate, "Damnit," he had to act quickly. "EDI, I'm giving you a direct uplink to the archives, take what data you can before its deleted!"
"Of course, Shepard." EDI replied.
Shepard's MJOLNIR ejected a small data tab, he plugged it into the console and it pinged green. EDI was in, slowly, the data that hadn't been erased was moved onto the file. In twenty-four seconds she was done and she reported.
"Thirty-two percent of the data retieved Shepard, I manage to also save the deleted strands for future reconstruction, As slim as it is, I may be able to recover more data." Her tone sounded a little annoyed.
"Alright," Shepard sighed and turned. He had to catch up to James. His com beeped again and James' voice though.
"Cerberus girl just jumped a shuttle and she's headed into space, sorry Loco. She's damned fast," He sounded as disappointed as Shepard felt.
"EDI, a Cerberus shuttle is leaving the planet, Track it!" Shepard ordered briskly. He wasn't failing this mission.
"Yes, Shepard. Tracking her now…" EDI replied,
"Cortez, meet us at the entrance of the facility for extraction, we're going after Cerberus," Shepard added into another channel as he and James doubled timed it back to the tram. This mission had gone south pretty quickly, they had neutralized all hostiles and cleared the facility, but even then they were too slow.
"Shepard, I'm reading an anomaly…" EDI reported.
"What sort of anomaly?" Shepard asked, narrowing his eyes as he and James began to moved back towards the main facility on the tram.
"If these readings are correct, it's a slipspace jump."
Shepard blinked. But the emotion inside his gut was pure surpise.
In order, EDI watched as a black colored behemoth of a ship easily two dozen Kilometers in length. Without accurate scans EDI could only speculate its full size, but if she could compare it to anything. She would compare it to a Reaper Flagship in size. It had bulbous sections of mostly alien design, but mostly the angular human style of ship making.
Soon, the vessel disappeared into the wormhole of Slipspace.
End of chapter 23
There it is people, Cerberus has a new ship! And it's a doozy. Hehehe, thanks to those who reviewed and showed their support, I appreciate it greatly. Now, if you would all be so kind as to leave a review, thanks! G'night/day!