From Across the Galaxies
Chapter VI: What a Mess
Cerberus Operative Miranda Lawson swore as she tossed a datapad onto her desk, having finished reading its bleak contents. The mission in the Purgatory space station had not gone well and that was putting it very lightly. The Warden had betrayed them, tried to take Shepard hostage so that he could be sold into slavery, and the escape attempt had ended with the Normandy's commanding officer in a comatose state. The only consolation that she could take from what had happened was that their objective had been met. Subject Zero had been brought aboard the ship. Whether or not that could be considered a good thing remained to be seen. For once, Miranda felt glad to have Revan as a part of the team. He was below deck on the engineering level, keeping Jack in check. The "psychotic biotic," as Joker had nicknamed her, had been raging ever since leaving the Purgatory. Apparently, the woman had some issues with Cerberus and being a part of one of their black ops teams didn't suit her particularly well.
Everything that had happened made Miranda the senior most officer aboard the Normandy. She had to take on the role of acting captain, in addition to all of her other duties. Moreover, the Illusive Man had already contacted her regarding the failure. Apparently several Cerberus backers also had stocks in the prison space station and he was feeling repercussions for its loss. He had chastised her severely for letting things get so out of control and had threatened to have her replaced with another operative if she couldn't handle her obligations. The conversation had rattled her to say the least. Disgraced agents were rarely simply reassigned. Anyone with internal secrets who failed to perform within expectations disappeared. There wouldn't be any trace or track to follow. The galaxy would wake up one morning and that person would be gone. The idea did not seem appealing to her.
With that unpleasant thought, Miranda stood up and crossed to the door of her office. It slid open for her as she approached and it was just a short walk across the mess hall before she reached the medical bay. Inside, Dr. Karin Chakwas stood over a medical bed where the unconscious Commander Shepard slept. His N7 grade red accented black armor had been stripped away and piled up on a dormant medical probe's table. The good doctor had connected an intro-veinous tube to his forearm and currently moved up and down the length of his body, her omni-tool taking medical scans as she went. Miranda came to stand beside her.
"What have you found out?" she inquired as she crossed her arms.
"It's his biotic implant," Chakwas replied. "Something is wrong with it."
"His implant?" Miranda repeated. "That's not possible. I repaired his unit myself."
Dr. Chakwas turned her head to look at Miranda. "Clearly, you didn't do a very good job," she replied bitterly. "It's shorting out. It's been giving off small electrical discharges every few minutes."
"Alliance research encountered that problem years ago. The discharges were deemed benign to the human brain."
Dr. Chakwas scoffed and moved towards her laptop. She keyed in a few commands and then did the same with the holographic interface of her omni-tool. The more sophisticated computer began to download the scans from her wrist mounted device. A moment later, when it had finished, the Alliance medical officer turned to face her superior completely. "To the human brain, yes, it's benign. You probably live with similar discharges from your implant from time to time. You also don't have cybernetic implants rooted to your central nervous system. The implant is damaging the synthetic material that you put in his head to keep him alive. That L3 needs to be removed!"
Her tone nearly reached a shout as she spoke. Miranda raised an eyebrow, which promptly informed the medical officer that she had crossed a line. The ship's XO turned her gaze to the unconscious man on the medical bed. "How long before you can remove the implant?" she asked, changing the subject to what needed to be done.
"Remove it here? This facility was designed for short term care. A procedure like this needs to be done in a hospital; someplace that is well staffed and not in danger of hitting gravity patches in space!"
"We don't have a choice," Miranda countered. "We can't afford the delay in our mission and we can't trust any of the nearby medical facilities."
"This isn't a sterilized operating room!" the doctor retorted.
"EDI?" Miranda asked, turning to the ship's holoprojector.
The device activated and the blue holographic sphere popped up. "I agree with Dr. Chakwas," the artificial intelligence stated. "This medical bay is not ideal for such an operation. However, I could change the artificial atmosphere in this room to compensate. By bringing the temperature down approximately six degrees and changing the composition of the air in the room, I can make it more hostile to certain forms of bacteria while keeping it habitable to Commander Shepard and a medical team."
"And what about the gravity? It would be deadly to perform brain surgery at faster than light travel!"
"We'll put the ship down on Korlus. Someplace remote. The ground team will take the Kodiak shuttle to the Blue Sun's base where Warlord Okeer is being held. Meanwhile, you and I can go in and remove the L3 implant."
"Are you insane?" Chakwas exclaimed, literally taking a step back in shock at what she had just heard. "You want me to operate on a hostile planet?"
"There are various areas across Korlus that aren't controlled by hostile forces, Doctor," EDI chirped in. "Various recycling and star ship retirement yards are scattered across the planet. Furthermore, there are several land masses capable of supporting the Normandy that are completely uninhabited."
Dr. Chakwas bit her lip. "I don't agree with this," she muttered as she turned back to her laptop.
"It doesn't matter," Miranda stated as she started for the door. "It's an order."
With that, the Cerberus agent departed the medical bay, leaving the disgruntled doctor alone with her thoughts. Dr. Chakwas glanced over at Shepard and closed her eyes. "I'm so sorry," she whispered to him.
"Asshole!" Jack screamed as she used a biotic field to hurl a fire extinguisher towards Revan. The deposed Sith Lord simply side stepped the attack and crossed his arms. Jack marched right up to him and jammed her finger into the chest piece of his armor. "Let me off this Cerberus hellhole right now!" she ordered.
"We're in space," he reminded her dully. "Where would you like us to let you out? The airlock?"
"Pull this ship over and let me off!" she screamed.
"Calm down!" he bellowed back at her.
The force of his voice did little to relax her and Jack simply let out a feral growl as she turned around and tossed another large piece of equipment aside with her biotic field. "God damn you! You tricked me into coming onto a Cerberus ship!"
"I did no such thing," he replied calmly as he moved to lean against the stairwell to upper engineering. "I wasn't lying when I said you wouldn't get off of the Purgatory alive without this ship. Besides, how was I supposed to know that you have issues with Cerberus?"
"How were you supposed to know?" she repeated angrily. "Go screw yourself. You work for them and you just happened to want me on your little dream team? I'm not an idiot!"
"Well I don't work for them," Revan pointed out. "I've spent the last two years in cryo. They only brought me out a few days ago. I don't know who you are or what you past is. I don't care."
Jack's eyes narrowed and she ran a hand over her shaved head, a habit from back when she had hair. "Then what is your stake in this? Why are you helping Cerberus?"
"Their resources brought me out of stasis," he answered with a shrug. "Until I can gather a few of my own, they'll keep me safe from the Alliance. I'm wanted for the murder of a Salarian science team."
For some reason, this seemed to relax Jack. She calmed down a bit, or at the very least stopped hurling objects about, and stopped to listen. "Salarian science team, huh? How'd that go?"
"I'm standing here," he answered mildly. "They're not."
"You shouldn't be too proud of that."
Both Jack and Revan glanced up the stairwell in time to see Miranda coming down towards them. She stopped between the two and turned her attention to the ship's newest recruit. "How are you settling in?" she asked.
Jack snarled and turned away. "Fuck off you petty little Cerberus cheerleader," she snapped.
Miranda turned to Revan, who raised his eyebrow at the comment. "Apparently she has issues with your team," he told her.
The Cerberus operative turned back to the heavily tattooed woman and gave her a questioning glance. "What's this about?" she bid her.
Jack's temper started to flare again. She stepped towards Miranda, a soft blue aura starting to form around her, and growled. "Cerberus held me captive for years, you dumb bitch! Experimented on me. Shoved needles in my eyes and asked if it hurt. You tell me how I should feel?"
"If anyone in Cerberus performed those sorts of experiments, it wasn't authorized. It was a splinter cell. We work to help humanity. We don't torture people."
Before Jack could retort with any more expletives, Revan crossed to put himself between the two. "I think what matters here is that someone in Cerberus did torture her. I've been tortured before, Miranda. I don't typically care if it was allowed or not." He turned his attention to Jack. "Look, you're a tough woman. I think this team will probably need you before this mission is over. Rather than wasting time and resources letting you kill our acting commanding officer, why don't we cut to the heart of the matter. What do you want in exchange for your loyalty on this mission and cooperation on this ship?"
Jack didn't answer for a moment. She looked down and contemplated her feet before beginning to pace the lower engineering deck. She looked back at Revan and then to Miranda. Her face contorted into a scowl. "I want everything that Cerberus has on me," she stated, looking the other woman right in the eyes.
"What?"
"You heard me. I want every file from every Cerberus database that mentions my name or any name I've used since escaping your facility. Every news article you've collected. Every note that your scientists have. Every God damned thing!"
"Absolutely not!" the Cerberus operative responded quickly. "I don't have authorization to release that sort of information."
The soft aura around her intensified and the biotic took an intimidating step towards Miranda. While tempted to step aside and simply let Jack have her way with the idiotic agent who couldn't tell that she was staring death in the face and poking it with a sharp stick, Revan kept himself firmly planted between the two woman and shook his head at the shorter one.
"Move!" Jack shouted.
The former Lord of the Sith glanced over his shoulder and met his superior's gaze. "I would really recommend that you release those files to her," he told her calmly. "Diplomacy is half of leadership."
"I'll put in a request with the Illusive Man," she offered. "Anything he authorizes, you can have."
Immediately, Revan turned back to Jack. "It's the best deal that's on the table. Unless you want to end up with nothing or in the airlock, I recommend taking it."
The young woman groaned but nodded. "Fine," she sneered at the other two. "Now leave me alone."
Jack took a seat on a stray toolbox and rested her chin on her fist. Not bothering to argue, Revan started up the stairs, followed closely by Miranda. "Thank you," she told him as soon as they had reached the elevator and she was relatively certain that they were out of earshot.
"Deck five," Revan told the elevator as the doors closed. "You're welcome," he responded as he leaned back against the door. "What's the next mission?"
"Another recruitment run," she told him, a little nervousness creeping into her tone. They were trapped together in an enclosed space. The last time that they had been together hadn't gone well and the idea of a repeat of that experience made her blood run cold.
Revan could sense her discomfort and waved it off with his hand. "Relax. You're not as incompetent as I thought."
The door opened into the cargo bay, allowing the two to step off. Revan walked over to the small setup that had made for himself and took a seat on his footlocker. Miranda followed, ignoring the offensive comment. "There's a Krogan warlord on Korlus that we're hoping to recruit. He's one of the oldest alive and still going strong."
"Krogan," he repeated. "I'm not familiar with their species."
"I'll send some data down for you," she offered.
"It would be appreciated."
Miranda nodded. "Commander Shepard needs invasive surgery," the acting commanding officer explained. "He won't be up to lead the ground in time and I'll be working with Dr. Chakwas."
"You want me to lead the strike force?" he guessed as he turned his eyes up on her.
"Yes," Miranda replied. He nodded. "I want you to take Jack and Garrus. Jacob will stay here an act as security officer while I'm indisposed."
"What kind of resistance are we looking at?" Revan's tone had suddenly become serious. He was interested in the mission. This was the first time since Coruscant that he was being put into a position of authority but the old mentality came back immediately. In the short moment since Miranda had said that the Turian and Cerberus soldier would be joining him, he had already started calculating their strengths and weaknesses and how the three would balance out as a team. He saw that working well. Jacob had a fair amount of military training, which meant that the two would coordinate together very well. The man actually kind of reminded the Dark Lord of Carth Onasi. While they had worked together, the pair had formed a deadly team. The only reason that Revan had been able to escape the Sith occupied world of Taris while his mind was still damaged by the Jedi Council's mind wipe was because of the now dead Republic soldier.
Garrus on the other hand had combat smarts that the military didn't teach. His style wasn't bound by honor or a code of ethics. He fought to survive. Some organized style, most likely beaten into him by his days at C-sec, was apparent but his more recent time spent on Omega seemed to have hardened him. He reminded Revan of his former Mandalorian Neo-Crusader ally, Canderous Ordo. It was odd having two people so similar to his old task force squad mates working with him. He vaguely remembered an argument that Canderous and Carth had once had about soldiers and warriors. The same principal could be applied to his current situation. Jacob, unlike Carth however, understood the need for both. He wasn't quite so idealistic, which probably had something to do with why Revan liked him a great deal more than the late Republic soldier.
"The Blue Suns control that world. They're a mercenary group with outposts and bases across the Terminus Systems," Miranda spoke in response to his previous question. "A few of their men were aboard the Purgatory. You may have... encountered one or two."
"Can't say that I'm particularly worried about that," he stated casually.
"Don't get anyone on our side killed," she rebuked him. "We really can't afford to lose another soldier here."
"Understood," he replied with a mock salute at his superior officer.
Miranda turned to leave, giving Revan an opportunity to role his eyes at her. The attractive woman stepped into the elevator and then she was gone. The Dark Lord then turned to his small cache of possessions and tried to decide what he should do next. He didn't exactly have an estimated time of arrival on how long it would be before the Normandy reached Korlus and there weren't any schematics to go over before the infiltration mission. All in all, he didn't have much prep work to do. He glanced down at the armored hard suit that he wore and eyed it with distaste. It had been inefficient aboard the Purgatory. It limited movement and the weight made it cumbersome. He wondered idly if he could do anything to modify it to remove such problems, though he didn't see how right away. The design seemed fairly simplistic, which meant that without adding components that he didn't currently have, there probably weren't many options.
He sighed and drew the M-4 Shuriken submachine gun that Jacob had requisitioned for him the previous day. This weapon, on the other hand, he could work on. He began by ejecting the thermal clip, placing the small shell on the floor beside him and then proceeded to open the barrel. Looking inside, he saw a small device that he didn't recognize. Curling his lip in fascination, the former Sith Lord touched it, trying to understand the mechanics before him.
Half way across the galaxy, Operation's Chief Ashley Williams wasn't happy. The young woman sat in an Alliance Kodiak shuttle, legs crossed and arms folded over her chest. Her tongue clicked impatiently as shifted uncomfortably in her military dress uniform. The navy blue two piece suit itched terribly and she had never been one for formality. The very fact that she was wearing a skirt and stockings might have merited a celebration if she hadn't gotten the impression that something was very wrong when Councilor Anderson had ordered her transfer off of Horizon. Not only had the message been heavily encrypted, the very fact that he had pulled her from the colony suggested bad news. Her promotion to Operation's Chief had been a necessity so that she could lead the small Alliance force that had been assigned to protecting the civilians there. Why would they pull her out after putting so much work into getting her that job?
Eventually, the shuttle reached an exterior landing pad on the Presidium Embassies aboard the Citadel. The hatch popped open and she stepped out. Two C-sec officers, both rather nondescript looking human, approached her as she exited. They saluted her as she approached, which she returned politely.
"Ma'am," they said in unison as she stopped before them.
"Councilor Anderson is waiting for you inside," the one to her left stated.
"Lead the way," she acknowledged with a nod.
The two soldiers turned and silently started towards the door. They led Ashley into the building and navigated several corridors before reaching Anderson's office, which stood directly opposite his assistant's office. The two C-Sec officers took their place outside the door and beckoned their charge to enter. The soldier did so and found herself in a spacious office with a beautiful view of the Presidium. Councilor Anderson sat behind his desk, going over paperwork. He glanced up as Ashley approached and a smile broke out across his lips.
"Chief!" he exclaimed as he stood up and rounded his own desk, pulling the young woman into a hug. They broke it off a moment later and Anderson gestured for Ashley to follow him towards the balcony. She did as told and the two rested there, looking out at the beautiful view that stretched out before them. The great artificial river that coursed through the Presidium flowed softly at an easy pace. Men and women of all species went about their business like normal. It was hard to believe that the last time that she had been on the Citadel, it had still been in ruin from the Geth attack. The repair crews and the Keepers had done a marvelous job getting things back to normal. The flip side, of course, was that the damage and destruction of the war seemed behind them. Nobody wanted to believe that the worst may have still been to come. She shook her head as she looked out at the people.
"I know what you're thinking," Anderson cut into her thoughts. "I think it too every time I'm up here. The fools!"
"You can't really blame them," she responded. "It's what people do."
"I suppose," he muttered, more to himself than to her. "In any case, some of us have to be smarter about it. That's why you're here."
"Councilor," Ashley began.
"Bah!" he snorted as he waved the title away with his hand. "It's me, Williams."
"Anderson," she started again. "I need to ask you something. It's... I've heard a rumor."
"That's part of why you're here," he replied. The dark skinned man turned to his friend and nodded. "It's true, Ashley. Shepard is alive."
The impact his words hit her with the force of a physical blow. She couldn't speak for a few moments. Ashley turned away from him, stepping towards the door. She rested the palms of her hands on his desk, somewhat inappropriately, and ran a hand through her dark hair. At first, she shook her head. Upon first hearing the very whisper that her commander might have been alive, the operation's chief had refused to believe them; refused to let her hopes get up. It had been two words without any word. His body had never been recovered. Most had assumed that it had completely burned away in the atmosphere. The old Normandy crew had grieved and in time, they had all accepted it. John Shepard had died.
Now this? How could he have been alive all this time? Why wouldn't he have contacted her? Damn the secrets of being a Spectre. They had shared something. It had been real. He wouldn't have just thrown that away over another mission and they could have fought the Reapers together. She would have been there for him. He had to have known that.
"Damn it!" she swore, beating her fist against the desk. "Damn it!"
"It's not what you think, Chief," Anderson said as he put a hand on her shoulder.
Ashley turned and batted his hand away. "Did you know about this?" she demanded, venom seeping into her tone as she fought to hold back the tears that were stinging her eyes.
"Not until he showed up here about a week ago. Same as you. I heard rumors. I didn't want to believe it. But it's true. I've seen him."
"Don't lie to me, Anderson!"
"Ashley, I'm not!" he swore as he put both hands on her shoulders. "I need you to focus. He's different. He's not the man that we knew! He's fighting the Reapers and if he's not careful, he's going to get us all killed!"
Again, she broke away from him, though this time she put the desk between them. "What do you mean?" she urged him.
Anderson paused for a moment. He opened a drawer in his desk and pulled out a datapad. Looking down at it, he began to speak. "What I am about to tell you goes way beyond classified. If word gets out, humanity could lose everything. Our seat on the Council. Our embassy on the Citadel. Any aid we have from the other races out there. Everything. Do you understand?" He met her eyes, which hardened. She nodded her response and he continued. "Two years ago, the council launched an investigation into Shepard's report about the Reapers. We locked down Ilos and a Salarian research group was sent to recover the VI known as Vigil."
"We were told that they didn't find anything," the woman interjected.
"They didn't find anything that could convince the Council of the existence of the Reapers, it's true. Vigil had gone offline by the time the Salarians got there and the Conduit didn't do anything. But they did find someone there. One man was found on Ilos. A human." He stopped long enough to take his seat and look up at his old friend. "The Salarians brought him aboard their ship and tried to treat his injuries. When he woke up, he attacked them. More than a hundred Salarians died trying to subdue him. The council ordered that he be executed and that's where the report ends."
"But," she urged him to continue.
"But that man was the only evidence that Saren and the Geth weren't behind the attack on the Citadel! I couldn't lose that. I ordered him to be put into stasis and hid him from the rest of the council. Nobody knew any better."
"He's loose?" Ashley guessed.
"Not quite. About a week ago, I got reports that a ship with the registry name 'Normandy' had docked here on the Citadel. Sure enough, John was in my office an hour later. He's working for Cerberus."
"Cerberus!" the soldier repeated, a shocked expression dotting her facial features. "Bullshit!"
"From what I can piece together from our sources on Illium, an information broker managed to find Shepard's body on Alchera. She sold his body to Cerberus, believing that they could bring him back to life. Believe it or not, it looks like they succeeded. He works for them now."
Ashley shook her head again. "Then that isn't him. They're controlling him or something! The man I knew wouldn't work with terrorists."
"It's a possibility. And it's why I called you here, Ash," the councilor stated. "Cerberus knew about the man from Ilos. Revan is his name. Claims he's from some other galaxy or something. I don't know. In any event, Cerberus knew. Shepard showed up and demanded that I hand him over. He's putting together some sort of a team to fight the Reapers and he took that psychopath with him."
"Shepard's putting together a team?"
"He asked about you," Anderson admitted. "Wanted everyone from the old team back."
"And what did you tell him?"
"The truth. Your mission on Horizon was classified and I told him as much. But I can't leave it at that. I can't risk whatever Cerberus is planning. That's why I need you!" His voice had practically reached a shout by the time he finished his sentence. His breathing was heavy for a moment before he looked back at his friend and held out the datapad that he had pulled from his desk.
She took it and skimmed the contents for a moment. As she did, her face warped from curiosity, to compelled interest, and finally disbelief. When she had finished, she looked back up, her eyes probing Anderson's face for any sign that this all might have been some great big joke at her expense. No such sign existed.
"Spectre status?" she asked him.
Anderson nodded. "I brought my concerns before the Council after he left. I didn't include a few choice details of course but they shared my worries. If you accept, you'll be granted all of the resources and privileges of the Special Tactics and Reconnaissance force."
"I-I..." She was dumbfounded. "I'm not sure what to say."
"It's a lot to ask," he confessed. "I know that it is. But I can't trust anyone else, Williams."
She nodded her understanding. It took several seconds before she could speak but at last, she smiled. It was a real and true smile. Her family had a history of military service. The very idea of being asked to join the Spectres was an honor. She could see the look on her grandfather's face at the notion of a Williams joining the prestigious ranks of the galaxy's finest men and women. For the minute, she was able to forget about Shepard and Cerberus and the Reapers. She thought only of herself and the entire Williams family.
"Yes," she said, putting her thumb on the bottom of the datapad and applying her bioprint. "Of course."