Chapter Ten
The Illusive Man's Office, Cronos Station, 1131h
After passing through an extremely long corridor, the two teams finally arrived upon their destination. Everyone except for EDI and Miranda gawked at the office's tenebrous atmosphere. The view of the colossally brilliant star right in front of them was amazing as well as was the battle going on in between the Alliance fleet and Cerberus'.
Shepard glanced upon the floor at the QEC platform as he passed over it; his armored boots scuffed along the black glossy tiles as he made his way to the console in front of him. This holographic interface was more impressive than Liara's set up in the XO office. Whereas she was limited by monitors, this holo interface was interactive via touchscreen or omni-tool; it almost rivaled her original system.
"I'll buy you one for your next birthday, Ms. Shadow Broker," he laughed as he noticed the asari's mouth partially open in awe. He approached the chair that was facing the giant terminal and sat in it. "Let's see if that Prothean V.I.'s on this console."
"It's been three years since I've seen the inside of this place, and it still smells like cigarettes and bourbon," Miranda commented with a slight wrinkling of her nose. "He can't be that far away."
Suddenly, the familiar sound of the QEC's animation rang through their ears, and all squad mates raised their weapons readily. The Illusive Man's likeness appeared. "Shepard, I believe you are sullying my chair," he spoke and lit a cigarette.
The Alliance marine hopped up from the seat and was about to draw his shotgun but halted once he saw that he was speaking to yet another holo. "That chair is about the only thing you've got left of Cerberus. If you call it quits now, you might spare yourself a nasty and gruesome death."
"Still thinking like a soldier, I see. Step outside the box, Shepard; you might learn something new," The Illusive Man retorted and took a drag. "Contrary to what you might think, destroying Cronos Station is yet another pointless battle."
"And your fleet is still battling the Alliance's. Don't you think that it's time to stop fighting one another?" Miranda piped in. "Divide and conquer; it's the oldest tactic in the book. You're playing right into the Reaper's hands."
"Miranda, don't you understand what I'm trying to do for us? For humanity? Shepard wants to destroy the Reapers. Doing that would be the greatest mistake that anyone could ever make. If they wanted to, they could utterly annihilate us. But they're just trying to stop us from doing that to ourselves!"
"You've forgotten everything that you used to preach to me or to the rest of us. All that you've recently done is to stab humanity in the back. This kind of end does not justify the means by any account. How many colonists' lives alone made that monstrosity that you've got hanging in your central lab like some kind of trophy?" She pointed to the facility behind his image.
The Illusive Man calmly pulled away at his cigarette and blew out a cloud of smoke. "I hope that your sister is being properly watched wherever she is now. Keeping her under the same hospices after leaving Cerberus was very unwise. Or were you pre-occupied with someone else?" He transferred his eyes from hers to Shepard's.
Miranda's poise never faltered as she held her gun steadily at him. "Hmm…well, I suppose I should congratulate you for finally stepping away from your father's shadow, Miranda. I assume the reason that you're standing here is because you were finally able to exact your revenge upon him and don't know what else to do with yourself. Unlike the sabotage you wreaked upon Sanctuary, his work will save trillions of human lives."
"Don't you hear how illogical your words are?" Shepard took a step forward towards the image. "The Reapers were the ones who did that; Miranda was cleaning up your mess and trying to prohibit them from doing any more damage."
"The surveillance footage I saw says otherwise." He shifted his stance and took another drag. "EDI, I'm surprised at you. You're working so hard to bring about the destruction of the Reapers."
"Don't listen to him." Shepard's glance turned towards the android.
"You could've destroyed Eva's body, instead you chose to use it."
"It was necessary," the AI replied neutrally.
"Precisely," the Illusive Man stated with a nod. "Understand my goals now, Shepard?"
"If there's any part of you in there that isn't completely tainted by the Reapers, then you'll see how disillusioned you truly are. Controlling those husks you had Henry Lawson create is a completely different matter than controlling the Reapers. And I think you've been spending too much time with them to understand how wayward your judgment has become."
"And what about yours, Shepard? You've never truly believed in Cerberus, unlike Ms. Lawson here." He made a gesture with his cigarette towards her. "Cerberus has always been an idea, not a place or a person. You cannot and will not destroy that. The most powerful weapon that you could ever build cannot defeat a person's beliefs, specifically, the dogma that has sustained us for the past thirty years. You can break a person's will or turn him into a pathological liar, but once you've planted an idea into his head, that alone is true power. The Prothean V.I. has shown me that through the Catalyst, what I've been doing here has been worth it all."
"What is this Catalyst? Tell me what it is, and let's work together."
"Our time is limited, Shepard. But our goals are polar opposites of what they should be to work together, and I'm done helping you. Ask the V.I. yourself; you're free to leave here whenever you'd like if you can walk out that door." The Illusive Man's holo disappeared.
"Damnit," Miranda exclaimed as she lowered her weapon and holstered it. "Well, he wouldn't listen to reason like I thought, so…" she switched on her omni-tool and began to tap onto the holo screen. EDI traveled over to the console and started to access the files.
"What're you doing, Lawson?" Williams inquired.
"Making EFTs from the rest of Cerebus' counterfeit corporations. I only drained the resources from the Milky Way Foundation before, but now that I've witnessed the complete breakdown of that man's mind, it's only logical that those funds go somewhere else to further the cause of humanity."
"And what about the other races in the galaxy?" Vega wondered.
"I'm sure that the resources will assist them as well. You don't know me, Lieutenant; don't accuse me of being a xenophobe."
Before Vega could defend himself, EDI spoke. "I've got it."
The jade hue of the Prothean V.I. appeared in front of the Illusive Man's console. "You are attempting to recover me from indoctrinated forces?" the V.I. directed its question to Shepard.
"Yes. Tell me, what is the Catalyst, and how do we use it to stop the Reapers?" Shepard ordered.
"The Catalyst is the Citadel. It coordinates the dark energy of the mass relay network. The Crucible was not designed by the Protheans. It is a result of millions of years of study and all of the previous races' work. When we realized that the Crucible was not powerful enough on its own, we decided to take drastic measures."
"You had to utilize the Reapers' own technology against them," EDI nodded with understanding.
"Yes. However, we were never able to regain control over the Citadel. If you recall, that was our first significant loss concerning our own war with the Reapers. Our empire was too spread out, and communication with other worlds was impossible. The scientists who worked on the Crucible project could not contact any outside fleet to request assistance; the one that was protecting their own work was consumed with protecting the Crucible alone."
"What? We have to contact Hackett immediately. EDI, get me-" Shepard began to demand but was interrupted as the blade of a sword nearly came into contact with him. Kai Leng's cloaking field dissipated, and he gave Shepard a cocky grin.
"That was completely intentional, Shepard. I never miss. You'll be crawling on your knees by the time I'm done with you," Leng smirked and glanced about the room at his opponents. "Good. A re-match with two previously defeated opponents will do perfectly."
"You're not the only one who doesn't like loose ends. I don't leave jobs unfinished," Miranda declared with a scowl and drew her submachine gun pistol from her weapon belt. "Do you know what scum is, Mr. Leng?"
The assassin lifted his blade over his head for his first slash, but Shepard raised his gauntlets up to block it, and shoved all of his weight into his parry to knock Leng off of himself. "It's classified as the lowest end of the food chain. Even plankton won't consume it," Miranda continued. She aimed her omni-tool at Leng and fired a charge into his shields to overload them. "Consider yourself as part of that phylum until further notice."
He staggered backward and lifted a fist to punch his hand through the tiled floor. With a terrifying growl, his armored glove made contact, severing it into thousands of pieces. Twelve assault troopers dropped down from the ceiling. Williams, Vega, Liara, and EDI wasted no time in decimating the extra forces that Leng had brought in.
"Fighting the Reapers will end us all! Control is the only way we'll ever win this war!" the Asian man shouted and flipped about the room, evading both Shepard's and Miranda's shots.
"I'm trying to help humanity, and you're doing nothing but helping the Reapers conquer us all," Shepard yelled back.
"We evolve or we die. That's the way it goes, Shepard. Doing this will bring us to the pinnacle of human evolution!"
"Are you naturally this moronic, Leng, or do you practice this talent?" Miranda scoffed. Shepard let a biotic field loose towards the Cerberus operative, and she followed through with a warp projectile. Unfortunately, both of them missed him by a hair and hit a soldier instead.
Even more soldiers, centurions, and even phantoms joined the fight. Thankfully, because of Shepard's foresight, they did not impede his goal much. His teammates provided all the support he needed. "You're slowing down, Shepard," Leng taunted him from across the room.
"I don't need to run away from you," Shepard replied. "You won't blindside me or Miranda like before, coward."
"Cowards destroy what they fear." He cloaked himself, and thankfully, Shepard heard his footsteps behind himself, because that's exactly where Leng reappeared. He took a swipe at the nano polymer suit that Shepard wore in between his shoulder and neck. The material separated, and blood poured forth onto the blade then onto the floor. Shepard bellowed angrily in pain, spun around, and biotically lunged himself at Leng. Miranda sent another charge from her omni-tool at his shields and ran towards the both of them.
"You ran away at the Citadel, at Thessia, at Sanctuary away from Miranda, and now you're still running!" Shepard shot him and this time made an impact through the assassin's armor. "You won't get away this time!"
"Now let's finish you off!" Miranda yelled and fired off another powerful warp field. This one landed upon Leng as well, and that completely sent him to the ground.
"Winning this war takes guts that neither of you will ever have!" Leng shouted and panted as he did a partial back flip to get back onto his feet.
"Wrong," Miranda announced and discharged her submachine gun upon him. Once more, he evaded her shots, but this time, he did not see Shepard in his peripheral vision. The commander lifted himself off of the ground and brought his fist down onto Leng's body with an almighty biotic blast. Bullets from Miranda's gun nailed him this time, and he fell to the ground in a slump of blood still grasping his sword closely to his body.
As Shepard's barrier eventually recharged itself, he arose from his knees and gave Miranda a smile. "I know that we were hoping to get the Illusive Man here, but, I guess he'll do," he said and ran a gloved hand across her cheek.
"For now, yes," she nodded, holstered her gun, and turned her attention toward the gunfire behind them that had eventually died down. "Come on, we should see if we can get any more data from the Prothean V.I."
"We'll head back to the shuttle, Shepard," Williams announced and led Liara as well as James out through the open door. "Need us for anything?"
"I think we'll be fine, thanks, Williams. Great job, everyone," he replied.
Shepard settled himself into the chair again and began to move windows around with his omni-tool. Miranda joined him on his left side and folded her arms across her chest as they both scoured the terminal for a command to retrieve the Prothean V.I. once more. EDI also went to work a few feet away from them. No one noticed Kai Leng gradually pull himself up from the floor by means of his sword and slowly trail his wounded body towards Shepard. He lifted the blade above his head again with two hands; Miranda saw him out of the corner of her eye and yelled Shepard's first name.
The Alliance marine ducked away from Leng's final attempt to stab him, seized the assassin's hands, and rammed the sword all the way through his body like he was a vegetable on a skewer. "I've been asked to deliver you a message from the sick drell who prevented you from killing Valern. You're a shame to your profession, Leng. And you sure as hell won't be going to the same place that he is, you son of a bitch," Shepard hissed.
Miranda had been charging up her implants all throughout this time, and she threw him not only across the office but out the door and eventually like her father, several stories to his death.
"I didn't think that he was truly dead," Miranda noted and rolled her head around her neck. The sapphire field that previously encompassed her body eventually subsided, and Shepard gave her a cavalier grin. "Shall we try again?" she wondered.
"There will be no need," EDI told them as she backed away from the terminal.
The Prothean V.I. made another appearance. "Security protocols have been overridden; I will cooperate," it stated.
"Why didn't you include the information about the Catalyst in the plans for the Crucible?" Shepard asked.
"It was to protect ourselves from the indoctrinated forces that had risen among our ranks within our own empire. It was feared that should this information come to the Reapers' attention, then all would be lost."
"That sounds all too familiar," Miranda remarked. "We should inform Admiral Hackett about all this. Since the Illusive Man isn't here, then that means that the Citadel is in danger. It needs protection."
"You are unfortunately too late. The one you call the Illusive Man, the one who disabled my security protocols, has already informed the Reapers of the Catalyst's existence. They have already taken control of the station and moved it."
"Where?" Shepard questioned it.
"To Reaper controlled space, in the system you refer to as 'Sol'."
"Goddamn it!" He slammed his fist into his palm, and Miranda's head sunk into her fingers. "Let's move out, people!" EDI and Miranda fell into step with him as they turned around.
"I recommend a means to preserve information for future species, in order to warn the next cycle-"
Shepard swiveled his body around to glare at the V.I. "I'll stop them."
Normandy SR-2 Shuttle Bay, 1249h
The majority of the two teams piled into the elevator to head up to the crew deck for lunch, while Shepard stayed behind with Miranda and Cortez. As usual, the lieutenant brought his omni-tool to life and began to do a scan over the shuttle for repairs. Shepard removed his helmet and studied it carefully underneath the work bench's light. "Well, I guess that this will need a bit of TLC."
Miranda's eyes followed his as he slowly rotated it. "My god, Shepard, what in the hell…?"
"Took a rocket to the side of the head like Garrus. But this time," he chuckled, "I was wearing my helmet. If I didn't, well, we might not be talking. It didn't touch any of my ruggedly handsome features, did it?"
"Sometimes, I grow weary of being the adult all the time in our relationship," she murmured and moved the flap of his suit that Kai Leng had slashed away from his shoulder to gaze upon the wound. The medi-gel had sealed most of it, but he would still need some stitches for a complete healing. "Would you rather I do this, or Dr. Chakwas?"
"I think you already know the answer to that question," he said. The corners of one side of his mouth pulled away to give her a tiny smirk. His eyes gave her the once over. "And you came away unscathed as usual. What do you mean by saying that you're the adult in our relationship? It was pretty damned irresponsible of you to go off to Horizon all by yourself without help!"
"Not here, Shepard. Come on, let's stitch you up in the med bay, and we'll talk there." With a soft grunt of impatience, Shepard left his helmet on the work bench, and followed her into the elevator.
Chakwas was studying the wound Liara had taken in the leg as both Shepard and Miranda entered; she frowned with concern as she observed the rip in his protective suit. The British physician halted her work and ran her omni-tool over Miranda. Finding few results to worry about, she went back to T'Soni.
"How's that little scratch you took, Liara? Are you going to be ready for combat again soon?" Shepard asked and began to disrobe his torso.
"Indeed so, but I'll leave that decision up to her, naturally. The bullet grazed her flesh but did not make a true entrance or exit. That medi-gel upgrade really did the trick. All I have to do now is to give her another clean bandage," Chakwas returned.
"Sorry I didn't warn you earlier, Liara."
"It was foolish of me to think that I could make it to that wall in time with all the gunfire still going on," the asari disagreed. "This time I was the one who was being careless. It's just a little sore now, don't worry. When are you planning on ordering the Sword fleet to Earth?"
"Tonight. The Illusive Man has forced us to move up our timetable," Shepard groaned. "By the time we get Sword as well as the Crucible all through the Charon relay, it'll probably be morning."
All throughout this conversation, Miranda had been washing her hands. She now rummaged through the cupboards and found some medical thread as well as a needle. Liara picked up the greaves that she'd removed from herself and hopped down gracefully from the bed. Chakwas rolled the stool away and arose. "I've warmed a place for you already," Liara said to Shepard with a beam and patted the area.
"Gonna partake in another celery dinner?" he teased.
"Perhaps I'll try some of that cream cheese as you suggested." Both ladies left, and Shepard held up a hand to dismiss Miranda's curious eyebrow as he sat down on the gurney.
"Can you believe that the Asari don't use cream cheese?"
"No," Miranda said and her eyebrows furrowed slightly. "Especially since there were several hors d'ouevres I've partaken of in Asari restaurants in Nos Astra that included it. T'Soni's mother may have simply not introduced it into her diet, and as a result, Liara never knew about cream cheese until you mentioned it."
"How bizarre. She went through an entire century without ever hearing about it either," he mused and watched Miranda as she scooted the stool behind him. She next wheeled over the tray with her supplies and fiddled with the stool's pneumatics to pump it up to the correct height that she needed. As soon as she sidled herself onto it, he turned back around and folded his hands in his lap. "And I thought that I was the bumpkin who didn't know much about gourmet food."
"Well, you did liken Mess Sergeant Gardner's penne alfredo to anything better than what you had back on Earth or at home," Miranda reminded him. "I rather doubt he could have properly made a souffle or a batch of croissants from scratch." She sighed as she began to clean the wound. "What I wouldn't give for a crepe slathered in Nutella, banana, and whipped cream now. The Asari did replicate them authentically on Illium."
"Aren't all those things hard to make?" he inquired.
"They aren't easy. Pie crusts are quite difficult to master as well."
"Wait a minute, didn't you tell me that your father didn't give you any gastronomical talents?" He gasped through his teeth as he felt a tinge of discomfort.
"He didn't, but I certainly ate well, and up until last year, that was a definite priority of mine. You don't have to be a professional chef to appreciate great food."
"No, you don't," Shepard agreed and shifted around as she applied a tad of some medi-gel. "Miranda, I have a question for you."
"Is this one where you're going to need to make eye contact with me and fidget? Because I'm getting to close to a point where I'm going to need to operate with extreme precision as I insert the needle, and if you move around, you'll upset what I'm doing."
"Sitting still in front of the woman I love is pretty dang hard. Have some mercy, Ms. Lawson."
"Well, you'll just have to exert some self control for the next fifteen minutes, Commander, lest you want to be pricked several hundred times. And after that, some more caution will need to be exercised while the stitches are keeping your flesh together."
He remained silent for a moment as she prepared the needle and thought. "No, I don't think that it will require any movement on my part. Have you used the general anesthetic yet upon the entry point?"
"That's what you just felt a moment ago, yes." Once again, he paused for a great deal before continuing. "I hope that that wasn't the question."
"No, it wasn't. Um…Admiral Anderson asked me to ask something of you. I said that I would when we blew Cronos Station to kingdom come, so…"
She inserted the needle below his skin. "He wants me to join the Hammer forces on Earth, doesn't he?"
Shepard nervously swallowed a lump in his throat the size of a krogan dumpling. "Yes," he replied. "As much as I want you desperately by my side again down there, I…I know how much the Alliance could use biotic support. And you're nearly a better shot than I am, so you'll damn well scare the hell outta the Reaper troops."
"Nearly, hmm?" Miranda momentarily ceased her stitching as one of her knees went to poke him in the back. As he flinched upward, she gently shoved him back down by the shoulders and went back to work. "Sorry, Shepard, that was my fault."
"You know, Jack's down there, in London. Maybe you'll even get a couple of shots in at her and finish what you both started down there in the cargo hold or in your office?"
"The thought had occurred to me." Before he could start to turn his neck, she pressed down upon his shoulder firmly with the palms of her hands to discourage him. "But to win this war, we need every single ounce of strength that humanity has. And if that includes using a childish woman with impressive biotic powers that rival the Asari, I can put aside my dissimilitudes. You won't need to interfere with us again."
"Uh-huh, and what if the two of you survive it? Who'd win in a fight?"
"That depends upon the circumstances. Being a soldier, I don't think that I need to explain them to you."
"What if they were in your favor? I mean, could you still kill Jack?"
"I'll only fight one war at a time, Shepard. Pondering how to wage the next one is not how I'd like to spend my future," Miranda stated. "And to answer your question, tell your Admiral Anderson that yes, I'll go. I don't want to leave your side either, but I owe you for Sanctuary. If that's how I can repay the favor to you, then-"
"It's not for me, it's for Earth," he interrupted her. "And I'll make sure that Oriana is safe, unless you'd rather keep her here on the Normandy."
"She's an adult, Shepard; she should make her own choices now. I'll never stop worrying about her, but I need to step away from this one."
"Speaking about worry, we should talk about what you did on Horizon."
"Why? What's done is done."
"Because the first time we met on the Citadel after the invasion on Earth began, you told me that you'd call me if you needed to have a door kicked down. To my knowledge, you didn't even try, Miranda, and that's what makes me upset." He pursed his lips together and rubbed his knuckles with the pads of his fingers. "I realize why that confrontation needed to happen, but I wanted to be there with you every step of the way. The reason why I got shot up so much during that mission was that I was running around like a goddamned idiot trying to get to you as fast as I could."
"You're right, Shepard. I should have called you." Miranda paused from her work and placed her lips upon his left cheek. "Asking for help is still a huge struggle for me. Back during the Collector mission, it took me two whole days to decide whether to ask for your help with Ori or not." She then continued to mend his shoulder. "But I'm glad that I did."
"As am I. But please, no matter how insignificant the problem might seem to you, even if it requires me to wear a damned formal suit…I want to be there for you, Miranda. Can you promise me that?"
"As long as it's mutual. You may have a team of squad mates here on the Normandy who have been with you from the beginning and now a myriad of both organic and non-organic fleets at your command, Shepard. However, I know that to a degree, you still feel alone. We're both such independent people, but now…we need one another more than ever."
"Yes, we do," he admitted.
She withdrew herself from finishing up the stitches long enough to peer over his shoulder at his hands, which were clenching. "Now what I'm doing here couldn't possibly be causing you any pain."
"You're not. I'm just restraining myself from turning wildly around, throwing my arms around you, and pulling you into my lap with the hottest kiss you'll ever get."
"Hmm…lofty promise, Commander. Would you mind the audience?" she whispered into his ear. Both of them turned their attention to the mess, which was absolutely full of both humans and aliens.
Shepard exhaled deeply and pointed to his shoulder. "Yes, because it means that once I start, I won't be able to stop. Are these stitches waterproof?" he asked with a lopsided evil grin.
"They might be," Miranda replied noncommittally and went back to her work.
"Miranda Lawson, you'd better answer the question or else audience be damned." He jerked his thumb towards the mess.
She laughed through her nose at his impatience. "That's a yes. I might have purloined some of the Shadow Broker's body wash yesterday, too."
"You did what?"
"Chamomile and tea flowers. If I remember correctly, lavender's the one that really will get you going for hours upon end. Pity that she didn't have any." She shrugged, cut some gauze from a roll, and held it steadily as she reached for some tape.
Chakwas came back from the mess and gave them both a large beam. "Hmm, with the looks that I've been seeing from the two of you, I suppose that you won't be having lunch with the crew anytime soon, will you?" she wondered.
"It's a safe bet," Miranda nodded and tapped his shoulder after attaching the last piece of tape to it. "For being a good patient this time, I have no intention of dismissing his desires."
"Nor do I of yours, Lawson." He bent over to collect his armor from the floor but did not catch the fact that he actually did make her blush upon her exit from the infirmary.
"I never actually did mention this before, Commander, but, those windows can actually be tinted for privacy. It was another convenience that Cerberus added, and one that the Alliance didn't bother to modify," Chakwas commented and motioned a finger to the windows. "It's accessible through my terminal here, as is a secondary command to lock the door." His mouth opened slightly, and he was rendered completely speechless. She shrugged and gave him a cruel grin. "Mind you that my omni-tool can still override the terminal. Well, let's have a look at those stitches."
Shepard obediently walked over to her and let her inspect Miranda's handiwork. "How'd she do, Doc? Am I gonna live?"
"I couldn't have done a better job myself, Shepard. That doesn't give you a license to get yourself injured on purpose, though. I'll pull rank if necessary."
"Miranda's not part of the Alliance. What're you-"
"I was referring to you, Shepard," Chakwas chortled. "My service record with the Alliance dates back to before your birth. Go on, now. Get some R & R; Doctor's orders."
"It's been an honor to serve with you, Karin."
"Likewise, Commander Shepard," she bowed her head. "The journey has been long and difficult for both of us, but as I've said before, I have no regrets. Blessings be upon you, old friend.