SHIMA DISTRICT, OMEGA, AUGUST 31
"Garrus, what happened?"
Tali and Kal were either side of Natasha as she put a hand on the agitated Garrus's shoulder.
"I was betrayed, that's what happened!"
"Woah. Slow down. From the beginning."
Garrus took a deep breath and slumped against a wall.
"Alright. Remember when we took back the Normandy, I mentioned Sidonis was missing? Turns out he was selling us out to the Blue Suns. We got back to the base just in time to watch Tarak put a bullet in his head when he realised we weren't where Sidonis said we'd be. Then I got this."
He tapped his Omnitool and played a saved message. An older Turian voice came out of it, sounding tired.
"Garrus, I'm sorry. I know I don't deserve forgiveness for what I've done. I have a daughter who is very sick and when the Suns made their offer I couldn't help but take it. The money they were offering is enough for her entire treatment! I don't expect you to understand, not until you have kids of your own and maybe not even then."
There was a brief pause, the background noise of Omega the only sound in the room.
"I'm going to lead them to our base now. If you get this message before they kill you ... I'm so sorry. If it's any consolation I fully intend to eat a bullet once this is done. Goodbye, Garrus."
There was a long silence as the message ended.
"Keelah, Garrus ..."
Garrus clenched a fist and slammed it into the wall.
"How didn't I see it!"
As usual, Natasha was able to calm him down.
"Aside from Sidonis, how many members of your squad died?"
"... None."
"Injured?"
"None."
"Scuffed their knees?"
"None."
"You got very lucky, Garrus. Stop and appreciate that before you make a bad judgement call because you're pissed."
As usual, her voice calmed Garrus down.
"Okay, you're right. I sent most of the team off station already, to their respective homeworlds. Myself, Erash, Sensat and Krul got made though, we won't make it past the docks without the Suns or Pack recognising us and calling in the cavalry. We're stuck."
Tali peered past to the agitated looking individuals behind Garrus, a Batarian male, a female Drell and a very large Krogan. Natasha looked at them, the beginnings of a plan already forming.
"Okay, we're going to be doing a spot of drama. Tali, how much Omnigel do you have?"
She blinked, surprised.
"Quite a lot, why?"
"I'm going to need all of it."
DOCKS, OMEGA, AUGUST 31
The Blue Suns stationed around the docks had very specific orders. Four individuals, travelling together, a Batarian, a Turian with blue markings, a Krogan with a green crest and a Drell female, armed and probably hostile.
The guards paid no attention to a Krogan with a dirty brown crest carrying an enormous duffel bag over his shoulder and loudly arguing with somebody on his Omnitool as he passed the checkpoint. Likewise, the three lightly drunk women, the Human and the Drell in glitzy party dresses and the Quarian supported between them drew no scrutiny whatsoever. Neither did the barefaced Turian and the Batarian wearing blue uniforms of off-duty Blue Suns troopers, chatting to a male Quarian about armour modifications as they went. Each one of those groups boarded an unmarked shuttle at a different portion of the docks that headed out at different times, presumably to different ships.
It wasn't until Tarak himself reviewed the day's security footage that he put two and two together. Of course, by then it was too late.
CAPTAIN'S CABIN, NORMANDY SR2, AUGUST 31
Garrus looked around the cabin, impressed. He was sure that when Cerberus had been running the show the cabin had been almost spartan in its decor, most likely with the hated Cerberus logo stamped across everything. Now, however, the cabin was decorated with richly woven Quarian tapestries, making it feel warm and homely in comparison to the rest of the ship. Lighting was provided largely by the artificial candles favoured among the Migrant Fleet for their portability and aesthetic value and Garrus had noticed the portable decon unit set up in the doorway. If that wasn't enough clues to tell him something was going on between Tali and the Commander, there was the fact that the Quarian girl was sitting on the sofa with Shepard's head in her lap, gloved fingers gently running through black hair as the Commander lounged on the sofa, reading a datapad. Without looking up, Shepard spoke.
"Come in, Garrus."
He stepped fully into the room as the low purring noises Tali had been making suddenly stopped with a cute little hiccup sound and she slid herself out from under Shepard's head, perching on the edge of the sofa. The Commander levered herself into a sitting position and gestured to the sofa.
"Have a seat, Garrus."
Still looking around the room, he sat down.
"Good to see you again, Garrus. I assume you'll be wanting me to drop you off at Palaven or the Citadel?"
He anxiously laced his fingers together.
"That's the thing, Commander. I want to stay with you."
Shepard didn't look all that surprised, but then again he assumed she had known his intention all along and was giving him an out.
"Archangel's finished no matter what and I need to be doing something more than busting sand addicts on the Citadel. If it's okay with you ..."
"Glad to have you back, Garrus. I already had your stuff moved to the main battery. I figure that's where you'd like to start."
He started but quickly recovered.
"If you'd like I can look into some upgrades. I reckon we're going to need more punch if we plan on taking on any more Collector ships."
She smiled and nodded her head.
"That would be much appreciated. The Migrant Fleet have already upgraded our shielding and I'm looking into an armour blueprint Cerberus sent before we had our little disagreement. Better guns would complete the set."
He paused for a moment, unsure how to continue. Finally he just plumped for bluntness.
"Sensat, Erash and Krul want to stay as well."
"Why?"
Garrus shrugged and spread his hands.
"They don't have anywhere else to go. Erash's entire family were caught smuggling slaves out of Hegemony territory and executed, Sensat's parents both died of Keprel's syndrome and Krul has a price on his head on Tuchanka. I worked with them Shepard, they're all good people."
There was a long pause, Garrus fidgeting anxiously as Natasha thought about it for a good while.
"I'll want to speak with them individually."
"Of course, Commander. I'll send them to the briefing room."
BRIEFING ROOM, NORMANDY SR2, AUGUST 31
"Hello Sensat."
The Drell woman sitting opposite Natasha projected an air of calm confidence. The untrained observer could be forgiven for comparing it to the aura of serene unstoppability surrounding the human she was facing. They couldn't be more wrong. Natasha could instantly tell the difference. Whereas her own calm was projected from the centre of her soul, lending her strength, Sensat emitted it from the edge to hide her weakness.
"Hello Shepard."
"When your parents died who took care of you?"
To her credit she remained unruffled by the abrupt query.
"My master, a Hanar named Holhoon."
"How did you come to be part of Archangel?"
She blinked twice, then glanced down at the table before replying.
"My master got into debt and sent me to run some errands on Omega. When I showed up where he told me to go I was snatched by slavers. Four months later Archangel busted down the auction house I was being sold at and I joined up. Then I found out Holhoon had deliberately sent me to the slavers to clear one of his debts."
"What role did you play in the team?"
At that question she became slightly more animated.
"I was a scout. My job would be to go in, sometimes in stealth and sometimes in disguise, and recce the area before we attacked. I'm also a stealth combat specialist and I was in charge of the base's supplies along with Melanis and Weaver."
"Thank you. Can you show Erash in, please?"
She left the room and moments later the Batarian entered. Natasha's first impression was that he carried himself with a great deal of pride, already a bad sign.
"Erash, was it? Take a seat."
The Batarian sat, his body language indicating respectful attentiveness. Natasha noticed that he kept his head perfectly vertical, showing he was treating her as an equal. A definite improvement over most Batarians she met.
"So you ran a slave smuggling operation?"
His face instantly took on a cant of righteous indignation.
"Slave smuggling? I'll have you know I was liberating those poor captives and returning them to their families."
She recognised his accent as noble-born. Interesting. Thus far, Erash was coming across as a well meaning yet naive rich boy.
"So what went wrong?"
His face fell. Clear emotional scar.
"I don't know. I was on Omega overseeing repairs on one of our blockade runners when the rest of the ring was busted. I spent the next six months ducking the SIU before Archangel gave me a new identity."
Natasha raised one eyebrow, her estimation of the Batarian rising several notches. To spend six months on the run from the Batarian Special Intervention Unit, their equivalent of the N7s, showed a remarkable amount of either skill or luck.
"So Erash isn't your real name."
"Just because I wasn't born with it doesn't mean it isn't my real name."
There was a slight pause as Natasha reassessed Erash. Behind his spoiled rich boy persona clearly lay an intelligent and careful individual.
"So what did you do for Archangel?"
"I was tech. You need something hacked, I'm your man. I also know a fair bit about shuttles and aircars - it was my job to keep ours running."
"Thanks, that's all I need. Can you show Krul in?"
The Krogan entered and Natasha could instantly tell he was different. He had scraped the Omnigel-based brown pigment off his crest, returning it to its forest green coloration that matched the slightly paler green of his eyes. His body language was surprisingly guarded, looking at her like she was a sleeping thresher maw. Most Krogan were brash, arrogant in their belief that they were as close to invincible as they could get. She was looking at a man who was painfully acquainted with his own mortality.
"Grundan Krul. How did you come to have a price on your head?"
He stared at her for a moment, eyes boring into her. Then he grunted out his response.
"Killed a female. Accident."
Touchy subject, then. She didn't press.
"What was your role in Archangel?"
"Sniper. Also maintained weapons."
She was surprised.
"Why a sniper?"
"See everything. No collateral damage."
Clearly whatever this accident was, it was a very touchy subject indeed.
"Thank you, that will be all. Please show the others in."
Moments later all three filed in.
"Sensat and Krul, you two are in charge of the armoury. We have several prototype weapons so I hope you're fast learners. Erash, you're in charge of shuttle maintenance. Any questions?"
There was a brief pause. Nobody spoke.
"Okay then. Report to your duty stations."
NEEMA, MIGRANT FLEET, SEPTEMBER 1
The Neema moved into station with the Heavy Fleet, preparing for relay transit. The task force designated for the assault on Cronus Station would jump through first, arriving prepared for combat in the hope that the Noveria border patrols wouldn't make any trouble for the heavily armed armada. The remainder of the Migrant Fleet's armed vessels would escort the Civilian Fleet through in stages once the task force had completed their operation.
Aboard the Neema, Admiral Rael'Zorah checked the disposition of his battlegroup. Major elements of the Heavy fleet, his own Carrier fleet and the Patrol fleet were all present, as well as six cruisers stuffed to bursting with Marines and a pair of electronic warfare frigates from Xen's special projects division. He was confident that whatever defences Cerberus had in place, his fleet could break them.
CARGO BAY, NORMANDY SR2, SEPTEMBER 1
Natasha looked over her ground team manifest for the mission. Herself, Tali, Kal'Reegar, Garrus, Sensat and Krul were all cleared for combat operations. At the moment she was down in the cargo hold with them, drilling them to fight in a unit. She had set up a maze out of crates and was staging mock 2 vs 2 skirmishes, getting them used to working with the differing fighting styles of the members of the unit.
Tali carried a compact yet powerful automatic shotgun, the same one Natasha had made for her back on the Normandy SR1, and along with that she used two Phalanx hand cannons, wielding her pistols akimbo style like her girlfriend. She backed up her arsenal of weaponry with a formidable array of tech attacks and her ever-present combat drone, Chik'Tikka vas Paus.
Kal wielded an anti-personnel missile launcher and a Reegar carbine with an Arc pistol as backup. He took great pride in pointing out to anyone who would listen that the Reegar carbine was named after his father, Berr'Reegar, who invented the weapon. Even Natasha was impressed by the ingenuity of the design. Along with those weapons he sported a Quarian Marine standard issue Omnitool loaded with tactical scan, overload and incinerate programs and usually carried a brace of arc grenades across his chest.
Garrus still had the weapons Natasha had made for him on the SR1 - a scoped five shot burst assault rifle with an underslung concussive shot launcher and a high powered yet surprisingly compact silenced sniper rifle. He also carried a Tempest SMG for close range work, a basic arsenal of tech attacks and impressive hand to hand capabilities.
Krul, interestingly enough, carried two sniper rifles - a Viper semi-auto model and an enormous Widow anti-material weapon. He had a very strong shield but surprisingly light armour and interestingly enough he used a tactical cloak.
Sensat also used a tactical cloak but that's where the similarities ended. The Drell girl had basic biotics but preferred to use stealth to get the upper hand on her enemies. To that end she had a very unusual weapon set - her primary weapon was a compound bow boosted with eezo to the point where it could fire an arrow clean through the plating of a heavy mech, backed up by a pair of long daggers and a set of throwing knives.
Each one of her squad members was unique. She didn't know what they would face on the Cerberus station but she was confident her team could handle anything the Illusive Man could throw at them.
CENTRAL COMMAND, CRONOS STATION, SEPTEMBER 1
"Is it ready?"
"Yes sir. It's ready."
The Illusive Man looked down at the woman lying on the table.
"And you're confident she will be just as effective as the original?"
"I can't guarantee the control chip won't negatively affect her, but I believe she will be."
"Excellent. Get her prepared."
"Yes sir."
The Illusive Man paused for a moment to ponder the irony of sending Natasha Shepard's clone to kill her.