COCKPIT, NORMANDY SR-2, AUGUST 21
Aboard the Normandy, Joker checked his Omnitool for the umpteenth time. This harebrained scheme was either going to get them all killed or get Cerberus assassins on their tail, but he was going through with it anyway.
The ping came, just a meaningless string of letters and numbers but he knew what it meant.
"EDI, I just got a message from the Commander that got distorted. Can you run a full diagnostic on the secondary comm router?"
"Of course, Jeff."
He waited exactly six seconds before shouts of alarm sounded in the CIC. Every screen blanked, replaced by an error message as EDI stumbled into a logic prison carefully laid by the Commander in the comm array. It was one of Tali's design, used to trap Geth programs. It wouldn't hold EDI indefinitely, but then again it didn't need to.
A deck below, Dr. Chakwas left her desk in the medbay, heading into the AI core after ensuring the medbay was locked down, using a bypass provided by the Commander to make it look like a door malfunction. Acting quickly, she manually severed the hard links between the ship's real and digital environments, hands veterans of hundreds of surgeries making swift work of the fiddly electronics and removing the link boards, stashing them in a container marked with a biohazard symbol and hiding it in a vent. That way, even if it was discovered Cerberus would assume it was a bioweapon of some sort, buying her and the Commander a few precious minutes while they suited up in hazmat gear.
With EDI locked out of the system and crewmembers running around trying to figure out what to do, nobody paid Joker much heed as he hobbled over to the airlock.
Outside the now blinded and paralysed Normandy, Commander Natasha Shepard waited with a contingent of Krogan loyal to Wrex, Tali and her squad of Migrant Fleet Marines and Garrus's ragtag band of ruffians. Garrus told her there was one of them missing, a Turian named Sidonis, and that the team was worried, but they had more pressing issues now. Joker and Dr. Chakwas notwithstanding, there were twenty two Cerberus personnel on board that needed to be subdued.
"Remember, we want them all alive. Don't kill them unless you have no other choice. The pilot and the medical officer are with me so leave them be."
With a wry smile hidden behind her mask, Tali noticed that the Commander had addressed all of them but kept her focus on the six Krogan sent by Wrex. She had already loaded her shotgun with stun rounds but was keeping her pistol loaded with shredder rounds just in case.
Natasha tapped her Omnitool and Joker hit the emergency airlock release from the other side, the independently powered hydraulic system levering both sets of doors open and setting off a cacophony of blaring alarms as Shepard's strike team stormed into the ship.
The CIC filled with roars and screams as Krogan and Quarian soldiers appeared, gathering up the crew and making them kneel in the centre of the room, hands on heads. A Quarian shoved a shotgun in Joker's face, only to have it slapped away by another one. Hobbling back to his seat, he thought he recognised the lithe figure in the violet exosuit.
"Good to see you again, Tali."
"You too, Joker."
Then her gaze settled on the insignia on his breast.
"Joker?"
He glanced down at the Cerberus symbol.
"Yeah, Cerberus claimed they were bringing Shepard back. Me and Chakwas joined up because we knew that if it wasn't really Shepard we'd need to stop her, and if it really was she wouldn't be able to pull this off alone."
Tali started in shock, then turned away as Joker pulled the Cerberus uniform shirt over his head, replacing it with a plain black pullover jumper.
"That's better."
On Deck Three, the descending elevator disgorged three angry Krogan, backed up by a motley crew of assorted species that stormed the area, rounding up the Cerberus crewmembers as Dr. Chakwas re-powered her door to admit a familiar face.
"Garrus Vakarian. Now you're here I suppose I'm going to be much busier."
Garrus had swiftly acquired a reputation as the most injury-prone member of the original Normandy ground crew, resulting in him developing a very close friendship with the ageing doctor. He greeted her with flared mandibles, a Turian smile.
"Good to see you too, Doctor. Nice place you got here."
Kal'Reegar was primarily a Marine, but he was also Quarian. So while he didn't quite cream his envirosuit when his team stormed the Engineering deck, it was a close thing. Rifle aimed squarely at the two engineers, he noted with satisfaction their shocked expressions and swift raising of hands.
"Get them down to the cargo bay with the others."
CARGO BAY, NORMANDY SR-2, AUGUST 22
The Cerberus crew of the Normandy SR2 had a rough night. It had taken Engineer Kenneth Donnelly until five A.M. to fall asleep due to a mixture of abject terror and noisy Krogan, and being woken up an hour later by the bellowing of said noisy Krogan was less than fun. Now he was being herded into a line with the rest of the crew, shaking himself awake. Gabriella, beside him, was clearly terrified but didn't say anything, instead slipping her hand into his as they stood on the line.
"Good morning everybody. I trust you slept well?"
The crew didn't respond, instead glaring at the annoyingly chipper Commander Shepard walking out of the elevator, flanked by a Turian and a Quarian.
"First off, I'd like to apologise for the manner of my little coup. I couldn't trust anyone. Cerberus is an insidious creature, after all. Now then."
She paused for a moment as the Quarian girl beside her handed a pistol to the Commander.
"You all have a choice to make. Two options. Option one: I drop you off on the Citadel with enough creds for a travel ticket to wherever you want to go. Option two: You disavow Cerberus and join my crew, then we prosecute our original mission. Take down the Collectors. If you lie to me, join me intending to sell me out to the Illusive Man, I'll shoot you down myself. Chambers tried to psych profile me, if she wasn't paralysed with fear she could tell you that I know exactly when you're lying and I don't make idle threats."
The cargo bay was quiet for a while. Gulping, Ken stepped forward, desperately trying to keep calm.
"I'd like to join you, Commander."
She scrutinised him for a moment, then nodded and gestured for him to stand beside her. Gabby was swift to follow.
"Me too."
Again after a moment of scrutiny, Gabby was standing with Ken. Five more crew followed - Hadley, Hawthorne, Goldstein, Patel and Rolston. The rest elected to remain loyal to Cerberus.
CAPTAIN'S CABIN, NORMANDY SR-2, AUGUST 22
The crew remaining loyal to Cerberus had been removed, being dropped off on the Citadel by Wrex's soldiers on their way back to Tuchanka. The remaining crewmembers were integrating back into their roles on the Normandy, apparently still trying to adjust to the sudden change. The holes in the crew makeup were being filled by Quarian Marines temporarily and Garrus's team were heading back to their base. In the Captain's cabin it was just her and Tali.
Tali was exploring the room, soft exclamations issuing forth from her mask at every new wonder she uncovered.
"Ships like this one shouldn't be in the hands of terrorists like Cerberus. It's not right."
From her position on the sofa, Natasha nodded her agreement.
"I know. I'm so glad you managed to come. It wouldn't feel right kicking Cerberus butt without you either."
Tali chuckled at that as her wandering led her to Natasha's model case. She stopped abruptly, one hand reaching out to trace over the model of the SR-1.
"You were gone ..."
Natasha got up from the sofa and rounded the corner, getting a clear read on Tali's body language.
"Tasha, you were dead ..."
Natasha reached out her arms, catching Tali as she broke down. Her Quarian girl clung to her like a lifebelt, sobs wracking her small frame.
"I missed you so much ... I missed you ... Oh Keelah ..."
Natasha thought back to their night, that one night back before Ilos where Tali shared for the first time everything she was, body and soul given over to another. It had been years since Natasha allowed herself to lose control like that, hours upon hours of ecstasy and pure love like she had never felt before. Growing up in the slums of New York, every man Natasha had allowed into her life had used her abilities with little thought for the girl behind them. Was it any surprise that when she finally found happiness it was with a woman? That was why she never reciprocated Kaidan's obvious crush on her. He had been a fine male specimen, she just couldn't bring herself to trust him.
Rubbing her girl's back, she picked her up and carried her to the sofa. As she sat down she pulled the sobbing Tali onto her lap, rocking her gently as she felt tears prick at her own eyes. Even Commander Shepard had emotions, she just kept a tighter lid on them. In the presence of her love she allowed them release.
The two girls on the sofa cried for a long time.
RAYYA, MIGRANT FLEET, AUGUST 26
Admiral Rael'Zorah vas Rayya rushed to the bridge of his ship, still in the process of clasping his overwraps to his suit as he burst through the door.
"Status report?"
"Unidentified frigate holding station two thousand kilometres from the kill boundary. They just appeared on our scanners out of nowhere three minutes ago."
Rael squinted at the display. The frigate had a smooth, predatory shape, her lines clean and sharp. She reminded him of the vessel his daughter had served her Pilgrimage on. He zoomed in the display to the symbol on the side of the vessel.
"Cerberus. Sound the alert, prepare the interceptors for launch."
"Captain, we're being hailed."
Rael frowned beneath his mask. Some form of trickery, no doubt. Nevertheless, it would be entertaining to goad the Cerberus bosh'tets as his interceptors chased them away.
"Put them through."
The tech nodded at him.
"This is Admiral Rael'Zorah vas Rayya. We are ..."
"Hi Father."
You could have heard a pin drop on the bridge of the Rayya.
"Tali? What are you doing on a Cerberus ship?"
There was a slight pause.
"Um ... I might have accidentally stolen it."
On the other end of the line, Tali motioned at Natasha, who took the comm, going with their agreed-upon fiction. No way they'd believe her if she told them she was a cyber-zombie.
"Admiral Zorah, my name is Commander Natasha Shepard. For the past two years I was a prisoner of Cerberus, who attempted to brainwash me without success. Tali rescued me from their facility and stole this ship, along with a team of Migrant Fleet marines and a group of humans who went undercover in the Cerberus cell."
Rael raised one eyebrow.
"Verify."
He listened carefully as Tali spoke the code phrase. There was only one word difference between the positive and negative phrases, but she recited the correct one.
"Very well. Why are you here?"
Tali spoke through the comm unit.
"First of all, we need to repaint this ship. We can't have a Quarian vessel flying around with Cerberus colours. Then we've got some errands to do."
"Define errands."
There was a soft musical chuckle from his daughter.
"Take down Cerberus. Permanently."