"I'm sorry Shepard, we have no new intel on the situation" Hackett said to Shepard as he paced up and down his officer. He had been two weeks since the incident at the Plaza, two weeks since Tali had been snatched away from him by Cerberus. "We've sent envoys to the special forces of most races, even from a political view this is important to everyone. Both Tali and the Normandy are icons to the galaxy, and to be in Cerberus hands will be very.. damaging."
Shepard hated that politics had been brought into it, but he kept his mouth shut. If it meant getting Tali back sooner he couldn't care less at the moment about who got involved.
Hackett sighed, "Theres little else I can do for now im afraid, you know this better then anyone. Tracking the Normandy is a big challenge.. I don't think we'll see it again untill Cerberus wants us to."
"Have we found out yet how so many Cerberus troops managed to infiltrate the Plaza right under our noses?" Shepard was still furious at how Cerberus took everyone for fools.
"Believe me Shepard, I am as shocked as you are that this was able to happen.." Hackett reached into his desk and pulled out a data pad, he then handed it to Shepard. "Special forces came up with this intel on the women you saw on the hanger video feed."
Shepard began to study the information, this was the person responsable for taking Tali away, and she would pay when he ever found her.
"She goes by the code name "Operative", she real name is unknown. Hell, we dont know anything at all about her really.. you remember Rear Admiral Kahoku? Well we believe that she may of orchestrated the events leading to his death, as well as some of Cerberus most darkest moments. I don't surpose you ever heard of her when you had your dealings with Cerberus?"
Shepard handed the pad back, "No, never seen or heard of her before what happened.. I'll try contact Miranda, she used to be close to The Illusive Man. Maybe she knows more."
"If you could that may be a big help. Hmm, and how is EDI?"
Shepard sighed. "She's trying to get back to normal, but she's still in shock, or whatever the synthetic equivalent is.." Shepard lost alot that day, the Normandy, James, EDI nearly, and above all, Tali.
"I know this is hard, being stuck here on Earth.. we've decided also to commision a new Normandy for you"
Shepard gave Hackett a sharp look, "That won't be necessary Admiral, we'll get both the Normandy and Tali back."
"I appreciate you may be upset with the idea Shepard, but if you are to retrieve the "SSV Normandy SR-2", you are going to need the best, and the project is already underway"
Shepard noticed how Hackett used the Normandys full name, meaning that he was now looking at this from a matter of Alliance security. They were then interrupted as Hacketts view screen flickered on.
"Admiral we have a.. erm Geth here who wishes to speak with you." Came a female voice.
"A Geth? Well what does he want?"
"It said it has information to a possiable location of "Creator Zorah", shall I send it up?"
Shepard and Hackett looked at each other, "Send it up right away." Hackett replied.
It wasn't long before the door opened and a Geth Prime stepped inside Hacketts office. It stood before both Shepard and Hackett, "Shepard-Commander, Admiral." It said acknowledging them.
"Well, err and you are?" Hackett asked, this wasn't the first time he had spoken to a Geth unit since they had started mixing peacefully with races, but he still never knew how to address them.
"I do not have a designation. But you may refer to me as "Prime". Prime replied.
Shepard spoke up eager to hear what the Geth had to say. "You said you had news on Tali?"
"We have news on Creator Zorah yes, we received your envoy approximately 39 Earth minutes ago. We then analyzed the complete Geth network for any data collected on either the Normandy or Creator Zorah in the past two weeks. The relevant data was then copied to the nearest Platform, which was me." Prime then stepped forward and handed a data pad to Shepard. "I apologize for the delay."
Shepard quickly flicked through the data. "Ok, I need the rest of the team up here."
. . . . .
All the team had gathered in a conference room not far from Hacketts office, Joker, Garrus, Liara, Ashley and EDI who had insisted to be present, were all there. The Geth Prime was also standing at the top of the room with Shepard.
Shepard wasted no time getting stuck into the mission details, "Ok everyone, two days ago the Normandy passed through the Dholen system and landed at this point.." A holo view of Haestrom appeared. "On Haestrom."
"Haestrom?" Garrus asked, "Why does that planet sound familiar?"
"Haestrom was the planet where we picked up Tali for our fight against the Collectors." EDI informed Garrus.
The team gave each other concerned looks. "Dosn't that sound abit.. you know... odd?" Joker asked.
Shepard looked around at the worried faces of his friends. "I don't believe its a coincidence either, Cerberus is up to something.. but if that's where Tali is, then thats where we need to be."
"How did the Geth even detect the Normandy? They didnt have a clue what hit them last time." Joker looked at the Geth. "Err no offense."
"Automated asteroid mining facility 316 detected the heat emissions from the SSV Normandy SR-2, the ship was not running in stealth mode." Prime stated.
"This whole thing stinks of a trap." Ashley said sounding defeated.
"Look I know how this looks.. that is why we are going to spring a trap of our own, Prime?" Shepard deferred to the Geth.
"The Dholen system is a high traffic ship lane for Geth mining transports. We have come to the conclusion that you could infiltrate Haestrom by using one of our transports. A ground mining facility is closeby to the last known location of the SSV Normandy SR-2."
"A trap within a trap? Clever" Liara said with a smile.
"I thought the Geth only mined asteroids?" EDI asked Prime.
"This is correct. The ground facility is used for repairs and storage of excess ore."
"What about the sunlight? Will be difficult if we have to attack Cerberus head on if we have to worry about our shields overloading in the sun." Garrus asked while stroking his chin.
"We'll be landing at the facility once the sunsets, hopefully we can be in and out before the start of the next day." Shepard replied then turned to Prime, "How long untill you can have a transport here?"
"One moment Shepard-Commander" Prime replied as his flashlight blinked a few dozen times in rapid succession. "Transport will be arriving shortly."
. . . . .
The squad was uneasy as they entered the Dholen system, they had no idea if Cerberus would fall for this, if they didn't then they'd have to escape quick. The transport would be no match for a dogfight against a Cerberus ship, or the Normandy for that matter. Even although the craft has been fitted abit more to accommodate organics, it was still a tight squeeze for everyone aboard, everyone was very restless, it hadn't been a long trip but by these standards, 5 days was along time. They moved nervously in thier seats, having to remain quiet untill they landed on the surface, as to improve thier chances of passing as a Geth ship.
Since the craft had no window's they couldnt check to see if the Normandy was about or any other Cerberus ships, Joker had to bite his lip to keep him from making a wise crack about Geth and windows. Shepard could guess how they felt, he had the same feeling when they flew blind through the Omega-4 relay, but atleast then he had the Normandy to feel abit safer in and the comfort of Tali.
The ship rocked about abit more violently then they had expected as they descend through the planet's atmosphere, they all fastened there safety harnesses and started putting on their helmets and breathing apparatus. Even Joker was suited up, Shepard tried to convince him to stay aboard the transport but after what had happened to EDI, he didn't want to be too far from her. Shepard understood how Joker felt, afterall, he'd lost Tali.
Everyone braced themselves as the ship landed, it's cargo ramp at the rear lowered down and hit the floor. No gunshots came. They all let out a sigh of relief, they hadn't been detected it would seem and they proceeded of the ship and onto the planets surface.
After everyone was off, Shepard turned to them "Ok everyone, were all going to split up and do abit of reconnaissance. We need to find locate where the Normandy landed and we don't have much time till the sun comes up so we need to be quick. Garrus those old ruins up there will make a good observation post, you should be able to see everything around us from up there." He paused to test the comm's device. "Ok comm's are working, so keep in contact at all times, as soon as you find something, call it in. Ok move out people."
Everyone then split up and headed into different directions, while Garrus headed into the old ruins and made his way to the top.
. . . . .
Watching from the distant shadows, her new jet black suit almost completely hid her from sight, the only thing that made her show slightly was the glimmer of her new crimson visor. She watched as they all went off into different directions, "Mmm they are going to make this too easy for me" Tali thought to herself. She raised her hand slowly to her visor and activated her ear piece.
"They've landed" Tali said quietly into her comm's device.
"Shepard is more foolish then I thought, I would of expected someone of his caliber to show more caution." The Illusive Man replied in a snide tone.
"Well with me as the bait... how could poor Commander Shepard resist."
"Apprently he could not. Did you get all the data?"
She reached for a pocket in her suit and pulled out a data disk. "Got it right here."
"Good, then you have your target. Eliminate it then bring me that data." He replied coldly.
"Yes sir." Tali ended the transmission, she placed the data disk back into her suit. She then typed into her omni-tool fast, jamming nearby comm devices. She began to stalk her target from the shadows...
. . . . .
Joker moved through the darkness,his bad leg slowed him down abit, but least he wouldnt be running into any trouble at this pace. He kept his assault rifle at the ready as he rounded a corner, something dropped in the darkness behind him, he turned on the spot abit too fast and fell backwards. He kept his rifle up and pointed it in the direction of the noise, then he saw some sort of small rodent. "Oh god dammit, I hate rats.. or whatever that is... no one told me there would be alien rats scurrying around.." He picked himself up slowly and looked slowly around. "Now I remember why I like waiting on the ship" He thought to himself, but he wanted to be near EDI, or as near to her as he could be at the moment. Joker felt uneasy, he had the strangest feeling he was being watched..
. . . . .
Shepard scanned the area with his omni-tool, hoping he could pick up something that would point him in the right direction. But he knew it was pointless, Cerberus may of given away where they were going to be, but that didn't mean they would make it easy to pinpoint. According to the Geth they were somewhere in this radius so spreading out had been the best idea, still he couldnt help feel if that had been a bad decision. "No" He thought to himself, "Each one of them were more then capable, they could hold thier own easy till backup arrived, even Joker. Also with Garrus up high, he could back up anyone form his position. He sighed, "What if were too late, it had been a week since the Geth picked up the Normandy.. " Shepard thought as he kicked the ground abit, this had been thier only lead since Tali had been kidnapped. As Shepard walked through the dark, sulking to himself, he couldnt help feeling someone was watching him..
. . . . .
Ashley got tired of looking for abit and decided to take a rest and sit on some rubble, she was feeling moody about the whole situation, Shepard dragging them off into the devils arms without any sort of backup or ship that could even handle itself in combat if needed. A suicide mission by all means, and this was all for Tali. She couldnt help feeling abit jealous and bitter over it, would Shepard do this for anyone else? Would he do it for her? She remembered when they used to be close, an item by all accounts.. then he died, and whatever feelings they had for each other died with him. She sighed, what was she thinking.. Tali and Shepard were made for each other, and she had always thought of Tali as a little sister. "Maybe it's this place" she said to herself, something about it didn't seem right, she felt eyes on her..
. . . . .
Liara moved slowly through some of the ruins, her pistol by her side at the ready. Any other time and she would love to study these ruins in depth, the Quarian architectural style here was unique, it exsisted no where else in the galaxy. She traced her fingers over what seemed to be ancient text on some of the walls. She carried over moving through the ruins, her eyes getting distracted by different aspects of this anicent history. "Well one things for sure, Shepard certainly takes us to alot of intresting ruins... still, a beach would be nice now and then also." She said quietly to herself, she turned quick to look outside as she heard a flutter of wings, her pistol was raised. "By the goddess.. this place certainly has a ominous feel to it" Out of the corner of her eye, just for a split second, she thought she saw a shadow moving..
. . . . .
EDI moved fast through the darkness, her pistol was constantly at the ready, her hips and aim sweeped to each side as she moved. Nothing would escape her gaze, she saw the rodents and the bat-like creatures that most wouldnt see sheltered in the dark. Ever since she had been detached from the Normandy, she had honed her platforms sensors and optical readings so she could never be taken off guard again. Or so she hoped. Without the Normandy, she felt incomplete, naked, like half of what she is was ripped away from her. For the first time since she had came online, since she came into existence. She had felt fear, fear of that existence ending, fear of lossing Jeff. In her trail of thought she had become distracted and nearly missed something that was lurking in the shadows not far from her. She pointed her pistol at the hidden figure..
"Come out." EDI commanded. "Slowly."
"EDI? Is... that you?.." Tali asked, stepping out of the shadows.
"Tali!" EDI said, immediately lowered her pistol. She inspected Tali for a second, she noticed the change of attire. "Did Cerberus do something to you?"
Tali didn't speak, she just nodded her head, and hanged it in shame.
"Hold on, Shepards here, I'll call him over." She activated her comms device, but all she got back from it was static. "We got interference from somewhere, come this way! Hes not far."
But Tali didn't move, "Theres just something I got to say first." She said quietly.
"What is it Tali?"
"I've always hated you... you synthetic bosh'tet!" Her words were cold and empty, before EDI could reply, Tali pulled out her Eviscerator shotgun. A loud shot broke the nights silence.
. . . . .
Garrus had seen the whole thing through the scope of his rifle, he was comletely speechless, frozen to the spot. "Tali.. how could you" He said to himself, He looked back down through his scope, Tali was standing over EDIs body. Despite the change of colour, Garrus would recognize her from anyway, she had a certain way about her as she walked, the way she handled her shotgun, he'd had plenty of pactice watching her from a distance. As he watched down the scope to see what she was doing down, she looked right at him. Even from his distance, she gave him a mocking salute then ran off into the shadows. "Shit" He said to himself, he climbed down the ruins as fast as he could and ran towards where EDI was.
Garrus heard pained sobbing as he got closer, then he saw Joker, kneeling next to EDIs body cradling her. It wasnt long till the others had arrived, gasp's and crying came from the girls. Shepard moved closer to them, he had to try his hardest not to look away. It was not a pretty sight, whoever had attacked EDI had done so at close range, with what must of been a very powerful armour piercing weapon. The blast had ripped her chest wide open, right through to her core, even although she was synthetic it was a messy sight. Joker kept her close and mumbling to her.
"Garrus, did you see what happened from up there?" Shepard asked.
"I err think we should talk about this in private sir.." Garrus said looking away, which had gotten Jokers attention.
"If you know something! Tell us now!" Joker shouted at Garrus.
"Jeff..." Came a voice that was barely louder then a whisper.
"EDI!" Joker looked back down at her, "Im here baby.. see look, your fine.. just a scratch.."
EDI made noises that none of them could understand, she was close to the end, "Jeff... I.. I love you.." And with that, EDIs body went limp in Jokers arms.
"EDI!.. NO! NO NO NO NO!" Joker yelled and punched the ground hard.
Shepard turned back to Garrus, "Look if you saw something you got to say now!" He was getting frustrated at the idea that Garrus could be holding information back.
"It was Tali ok!" Garrus blurted out.
Everyone went quiet. Garrus sighed and looked away, "I saw it... I saw her kill EDI.. in cold blood.."
"You saw it? And you didnt shoot her?" Joker yelled and stood up.
"I didnt know what was going to happen till it was too late! Then she was gone!" Garrus shouted back.
Before anyone else could speak, the all to familiar sound of the Normandy taking off. They all looked over to where the noise was coming from. The Normandy appeared over the tops of some of the ruins. It moved slowly towards where they were standing, turning showing its side to them, they could see the cargo ramp was down and standing on the edge looking down at them, was Tali.
Shepard studied her, she had a new suit on, black with a red visor. In her hand was her shotgun, the weapon she had used to kill EDI. Her head was tilted to one side, "Keelah, I'd love to stay and play... but I got places to be" She called out down to them, "It was so nice of you to come all the way out here to visit me." Tali laughed.
"Why you little bitch!" Shouted Joker, he reached down for EDIs pistol and aimed it at Tali. Shepard saw what he was about to do and pushed Jokers arm out the way, just in time as he fired. Joker dropped the pistol and swung at Shepard, his fist catching the side of his jaw. Garrus quickly moved to hold Joker back. Even with his helmet on, he felt that.
"Why did you do that?" He yelled at Shepard.
"Thats Tali!"
"That bitch killed EDI!" Joker managed to get out before breaking into tears.
Shepard looked up at Tali, she was laughing. "Well time for me to go... catch you later, my love." She walked up into the Normandy, her hand on her rear as disappeared inside. The cargo ramp closed up and then just like that, the Normandy was off.
Everyone was left speechless, staring up at the night sky. All except Joker, who was now back over EDIs body, sobbing.