Commander John Shepard, the first human spectre, hero of Elysium and son of Captain Hannah Shepard. His first assignment had been less than 'routine', Nihlus has been killed by Saren Arterius. The Prothean beacon had given him a vision and now after convincing the council of Saren's betrayal, he was now leading the manhunt on the former spectre. He had picked up plenty of team members since Eden Prime, yes he had lost Private Jenkins, but he had gained a squad he believed was fully capable of handling the task at hand.
Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams, a good soldier and the last surviving member of her unit after the events of Eden Prime. She was wary of the many non-human members now aboard the Normandy; however she seemed to be trying her best not to let those xenophobic tendencies get in the way of the mission.
The hot-headed C-Sec officer Garrus, a turian with a knack for sniper rifles and a lack of patience for red tape, something Shepard hoped he could work out of Garrus. Red tape and rules were there for a reason, and maybe this mission could help show the disgruntled turian why. Shepard knew that the turian wouldn't let Saren get away, Saren was a disgrace to all turians and wanted to stop him just as much as any human on the ship.
Urdnot Wrex, a team member the commander had never expected to end up on his ship. A very large, very powerful krogan was a powerful thing but Wrex was more than just a living weapon. His biotics perfectly complemented his skill as a warrior and his intelligence was almost un heard of amongst krogans. Wrex was definitely one of the most dangerous people amongst his crew, and Shepard planned to unleash all that krogan fury straight at the enemy.
Tali'Zorah nar Rayya, the quirky, eager to please quarian on her pilgrimage. John hadn't been sure about letting her join the team, she was young and had spent the majority of her life on the flotilla but she had shown herself to be capable in a fire fight both outside of Chora's Den and the fact she had managed to collect the information on Saren. He figured she deserved a chance and she had come through, both in the Normandy, much to engineer Adam's delight, and on the battlefield. Her technical expertise were second to none and her ability with a shotgun was also not be trifled with.
Liara T'soni had been a recent addition to the team. Therum had been a nightmare but they had gotten out with their lives at the cost of the dig site. She was young, relatively speaking anyway, and naïve with matters concerning the galaxy at large, but her biotics were powerful and she was fully capable of giving both Kaidan and Wrex a run for their money in sheer power alone. Plus her in depth knowledge of the protheans was proving invaluable, helping the spectre decipher his visions and follow the rogue spectre's plans.
The commander chuckled to himself in his quarters as he thought about the team he had pulled together; they were a rag tag group with as many different species as there were humans. The Normandy crew had been slightly suspicious at first, but his talk with Pressley had calmed the situation and after several weeks aboard the Normandy together. The crew was knitting together nicely, human or not. They were out to stop Saren and the Geth, motivations didn't matter and everyone was striving to beat the bastard.
However right now, their mission was not involved in hunting down the rogue spectre, but taking revenge on the death of Admiral Kahoku. Shepard had helped the admiral discover what happened to his team, they had been lured into a thresher maw attack. Something Kahoku was saddened, but surprised, to hear. It had been a while after reporting back to the admiral before he received another transmission; he had found bases belonging to an organisation called Cerberus on the planet Binthu, the commander was asked to take out the bases. No one in his team expected what they found. Husks, Rachni and then finally...the admiral himself; he had been executed, needle marks on his arms suggested he probably went peacefully and as much as a comfort that was to the commander. He wanted revenge. He hadn't known Kahoku well but the Admiral was a good man, a fine officer and a victim of this terrorist group. They found the details of the last base on the admiral's body and were well on their way.
The Destination; Nepheron in the Voyager system
They had time before they arrived, a few hours to kill until Shepard could put, what he hoped to be a permanent, end to the terrorists. But it wouldn't be that simple, he knew it…it never was that simple. He decided to make his rounds on the ship, checking on his crew. It wasn't necessary but he wasn't a captain and he knew the value of a commander who at least pretended to care. It kept morale up; it kept the crew believing in his command. You could be ruthless, you could command with an iron fist but ultimately, hope and belief in the man giving you orders is a better way of keeping your men alive. Fear shakes soldiers, it makes them nervous and in the end, those nerves can get them killed.
The commander enjoyed talking to his crew, Joker's….jokes.., Kaidan's stories of biotic boot camp, Wrex's mercenaries tales including his one about Saren, Shepard had been right. That man rubbed everyone the wrong way, including a battle hardened Krogan, it confirmed only one thing. Saren Arterius had to be stopped and he would be. Cerberus first, then onto Saren and the Geth. Garrus was also someone Shepard enjoyed talking to; the turian was headstrong and smart, a great shot and a skilled soldier. But he was naïve about many things, he had a gung-ho attitude and Shepard was straightening out bit by bit. Today Garrus told his story about Dr. Heart escaping, and how he had wanted to destroy a ship filled with hostages just to stop him, John immediately shot that idea down. No matter what you cannot endanger people's lives. As a soldier or a police officer, you protect the innocent no matter what and stand as a beacon they can look up to, killing is a last resort, always; there is no exception. Garrus looked like he was starting to understand, by the end of this mission Shepard would carve out a good soldier, Garrus would be one tough bastard one day and Shepard wanted to make sure Garrus would be a tough bastard who knew to always do the right thing if he could.
Ashley was a quick visit, a typical xenophobic comment, a line of poetry. Shepard liked her, she was a good marine but she was closed minded to the universe in many ways. Hopefully working with a non-human crew would help, he felt sorry for the legacy General Williams had left on her family but he had always felt the general had done the right thing. Win or lose he saved lives, lives that probably would've ended on Shanxi had the battle continued. His visit with Tali was quick, she was a very dedicated worker and as a quarian she told Shepard that she had to prove her worth on the ship. Adam's already told him that she had and told Tali many times that she was working too hard but her love of the Normandy was clearly flowing through in her work, the engine was starting to run even more efficiently and no one could deny it was all down to their resident quarian.
John left engineering and made his way up the painfully slow elevator, his final visit was to Liara. John had started to develop a close relationship with the 'young' asari, she was important to the mission but at the same time. She was a good person, young and naïve but a good person and this mission would take its toll on her. He had started out just making sure she was ok but it soon became more than just a commander and his crew member, they became quick friends and given the right circumstances…well who knew? The commander would let things take their natural cause and besides he enjoyed watching her mumble over her words, accidentally letting slip her wish to "examine him". He always left her room with a smile on his face.
But now, now was not the time for fun or relaxation or even small chats. They were arriving at Binthu, Cerberus was going to pay. Kahoku's death would be avenged and everyone involved would have a peace of mind. John hoped it would be that easy. He moved to his station and started to gather his equipment, calling for Kaidan and Tali to gear up and get ready. The rest of his squad would be ready, waiting in reserve just in case the worst happened. He chose Kaidan and Tali for simple reasons, the previous bases had heavy encryption and locks, Tali was perfect. It was also going to be close quarters, biotics would help massively and Kaidan had the experience to assist in a CQC situation. It would be tight and messy, Liara wasn't ready quite yet. The team collected their equipment and moved to the Mako.
"ETA on Nepheron, 5 minutes Commander" Joker's voice rang out through the ship as Shepard and Kaidan stepped into the elevator, Tali waiting at the bottom with her favourite shotgun. The three stepped into the mako and prepped for the drop. Something the commander and Kaidan thoroughly enjoyed, Tali never would understand why.
- Planet Nepheron, 20 minutes later -
"Commander, I see the base up ahead" reported Kaidan, as he looked down from his position in the gunner's seat "and by the way, maybe next time I should drive Shepard….we could avoid rolling around so much and I can take my helmet off if I vomit. Tali isn't so lucky"
Shepard just responded with a snort and Tali groaned, knowing it meant that she'd just have to eat less for lunch next time. Thankfully the rocking was over, the ground was flat and Tali was silently saying Keelah Se'lai over and over inside her helmet before suddenly the mako rocked violently again, followed by a loud boom.
"KEELAH!" Tali shrieked, jumping in her seat before quickly grabbing back at the hand rails.
"We've got incoming!" Kaidan shouted before his voice was drowned out by the sound of the machine gun firing, the mako vibrating as the gun rattled off round after round with the occasional thumb of a missile being launched. The gun fight was over before it started, the soldiers surrounding the base were trained but against the Mako they didn't stand much of a chance. "We're clear sir" Kaidan finally said, breathing a little heavier from the adrenaline rush of the fight, it was easy but that burst would help him in the upcoming assault, it would help them all.
The team dismounted, jumping out of the mako's main hatch and quickly running up to the door. Shepard and Kaidan mounting positions on either side while Tali went straight to the main console as she went to work hacking the encryption on the door, it would be easy, she'd already hacked several of these bases but something was wrong. "Err…shepard?"
"Having trouble Tali?" asked Shepard, a little surprised that the quarian had been stopped in her tracks by a lock
"No that's not it, I'll get through it but this isn't a normal lockdown. At least not like the other bases, this one is new. Someone else made this encryption and its good Shepard, it's very good. Whoever made this wanted time in the base" Tali said, her voice tickled with the sound of her being impressed, not many things slowed her down, not this much anyway
"Time? Time for what?" Kaidan asked "You make it sound like we're not the only people gunning for these guys but…there's nothing else here, no other team"
"Guess we'll find out soon enough" Shepard replied as the door suddenly opened, the team slowly moved in. Kaidan at its point, followed by Shepard and then Tali. The squad moved slowly through the hallway and down its stairs to be greeted by flickering lights, the squad then quickly stopped and crouched down aiming their weapons straight down the hall as a resonating sound of gunfire and screams where heard deeper inside the base. A single rifle was firing, fully automatic and it was hitting its targets, the responding gunfire was slowly dissipating as people died.
Kaidan looked back at Shepard as they crouched in the flickering darkness, waiting for orders as they all tried to figure out what was happening "what do you think commander? A traitor?"
"God knows Kaidan, but we'll find out pretty soon. Ok move slowly, as little sound as possible. Whatever is going on, let's not do anything hasty" The Commander quickly replied. Kaidan and Tali nodded in response and slowly got up to move, stopping at the sudden stop of gunfire. Someone was screaming in pain, they echoed through the halls before a lone crack echoed the base. "Ok move, now we need to get this under control"
The squad approached the door, opening it was much less of a challenge as this one wasn't encrypted; whoever locked the main door didn't care about this one. The doors slid open and the sight shocked them all, even Shepard who had lived through Elysium couldn't believe what awaited for them in that first room.
In front of the three stunned team mates was a hallway, littered with bodies. Cerberus had made a stand here but to no avail. There was blood splattered all over the walls and the dead men and woman were laying around the edges, some peppered with bullets and others sliced open with some sort of bladed weapon. The two marines were barely stomaching it, they had no idea how Tali was dealing with the sight. "Commander…whoever did this was coming out, look at the way the bodies are spread. Whoever locked the door to this base did all of this….so we must be dealing with a traitor right? I mean he came from the inside, locked the doors and then went back in" Kaidan appealed to Shepard, trying to make sense of this all. It was a mess and it was all fresh, the blood was still dripping down the walls and the bodies weren't even cold. They had only just missed this massacre.
"That must be it Kaidan, otherwise I have no idea…but this is just happened and those gun shots we heard earlier came from deeper in the base" Shepard quickly replied, keeping a level head, he could never say he was used to this but Elysium had been just as horrific.
"Keelah…there's going to be more of this?" Tali squeaked, clearly she had been hoping this was the worst of it; her words filled the hallway with silence. The only noise filling the atmosphere was the occasional drip, blood dropping onto the armour of one of the dead Cerberus agents.
"Well….no time like the present" Kaidan finally said, filling the deathly silence in the room as he lifted his weapon back into his soldier, striking the door switch and letting the doors slide open again, the team quickly burst into the room. Covering all their angles and stopping at the sight that yet again beheld them.
It was a large room, much like the others they had found in their hunt for Cerberus. A central chamber with some sort of device in the middle of it, and littered all around were consoles, all facing towards the central square. There was no trace of a kinetic barrier in place this time but the presence of the Cerberus team was quickly noted. The bodies of scientists and soldiers alike littered all over the place. Dents in the walls and consoles showed that whatever had killed these men, it had thrown them into the walls and machines with such force that the metal had bent under their own body weight. They worked away around the chamber, Shepard up the middle and his squad mates up either side, the commander slowly walked towards the device sitting in front of him.
It was a containment unit; it had shackles and a seat. It had been housing…something, whatever it was…it was about the size of a human being but it had broken out of this unit. Whatever it was, it was strong, not as strong as a krogan but still strong. And after it had broken out, it had massacred everyone in this room, before grabbing a rifle and killing anyway in the hall behind them. Locking the doors to the base with an encryption that even made Tali think twice. 'Jesus…what the hell are we dealing with?' Shepard silently thought. Shepard's train of thought was suddenly broken by the sound of two loud "Clear!"s
"Ok then team, let's get going, this base has more to it and we need to find out what happened here. Even for Cerberus…this is brutal" Shepard solemnly added, it was true. They had done terrible things to good people but these men and woman had been beaten, shot and ripped to death by something fast, strong and intelligent. He only hoped to god that whatever it was, he could reason with it and that it was on their side.
The squad moved slowly towards to the door at the back of the room, weapons aimed straight at the door as they edged closer and closer, stopping and tensing up as a loud, boom reverberated through the walls of steel. "Double time it people!" shouted Shepard, his squad bursting through the door to find the hallways relatively clean. The occasional bullet hole in the walls but no bodies, they quickly made their way down the hallway to the fork in the walkway. "Kaidan stay here, make sure nothing sneaks up on us. Tali you're with me" Shepard and Tali quickly stormed up to the door in front of them, smoke seeping through the slightly ajar door, the explosion bending the door and not letting it shut completely. They quickly forced it open and instantly regretted it, the sight of what must have been the Cerberus scientists in front of them…well what was left of them. Blood was smeared all over the room, the explosion was huge and the resulting mess was the only evidence anyone had even been there. Shutting the door as fast as they opened it, they stepped back in shock. Tali was barely holding herself together, all this blood, the tiny pieces of people splattered all throughout the base was taking its toll and she took a minute to lean over the railing, composing herself again.
Shepard quickly made his way back to Kaidan, tapping him on the shoulder as they slowly walked to the remaining door. "Bad?" inquired the biotic.
"You have no idea Kaidan, and you honestly don't want to know" quickly replied Shepard, looking at Kaidan to show how serious he was behind his helmet. "Now come on, last room. Computer mainframe…let's hope whatever we find is still in one piece" The two men walked up to the door, smacking the release button and raising their weapons as they stormed in. The sound of Tali's footsteps behind them as she caught her, taking her place in-between the two alliance soldiers as she raised her shotgun.
In the middle of the room was the base's main computer, and tapping away at the console was a single figure. Without turning around to look at the 3 heavily armed individuals behind him he said just 5 words, his fingers still working on the terminal as he stared at the screen in front of him.
"About time you caught up"