"ExoGeni has denied the order was issued by them, but so far has had no comment on the new pieces of evidence published. Thousands of protesters still surround the ExoGeni HQ at..."
Shepard zapped through Earth's news channels at his omni-tool and grinned. Mission accomplished. It was the same feeling of achievement as after a successful combat mission. He felt proud and victorious, and as nothing could ever be the matter. He had landed a major blow against a criminal megacorporation. Now, matters rested with Anita Goyle. The ex-ambassador to the Citadel would make sure this thing would be seen through.
His mood had darkened a bit when he had found out quite unpleasant facts about her, and he had had to force himself through the official dinner afterwards. He still felt uneasy cooperating with her, but she was the best choice to take over the battle against ExoGeni on Earth.
Normally, Shepard automatically judged and evaluated every person he met. This was difficult with Goyle. She explicitly did not abdicate any responsibility for her role in the crimes committed at BAaT, but offered no justifications for her actions, either.
She had offered him to claim no more status than that of a 'co-belligerent', not necessarily one as an ally. This has to be enough. At least that meant she she would finish his job. And the joy about having done his part in this had gradually cast aside any uneasy feelings about Goyle's part. What Shepard felt now was the thrill of victory.
"You just can't get enough of it, do you?" Tali asked.
He turned his face to her and smiled sheepishly. "I, ah, like to keep up with the news."
It had been a strange feeling to return to New York, even though he had stayed away from those parts he had grown up in. Even stranger was that he was accompanied by Tali. It had been two days since the prisoner transfer, and the Normandy would depart again in a few hours. For Shepard, those two days had been filled with annoying social functions. It seemed every two-bit politician wanted to share some of the spotlight of the first human Spectre, especially after he just had gotten into the news again. However, at least most crew members had been able to use the time to visit their families.
Tali had used it for a mind-bogglingly quick world tour across climate zones and biotopes. In fact, Shepard had made her first trip possible, using his connections to get a transport for her to Macapá. Since the Commander had possessed no time to accompany her himself, Alenko had gone with her. The Lieutenant had family on Earth, but was strangely reluctant about visiting them. Instead, he had travelled with Tali to let her see the first true jungle, the most lively biotope Earth had too offer.
It had been a bit too lively for her, or so she had told Shepard afterward. The Commander supposed that after the sterility of the Migrant Fleet ships, seeing a real jungle must have been a shock indeed. From there, she and Alenko had travelled to China and India and from there back to the Normandy in Europe. And this day, she had been in the Arab desert and the East African savanna already, this time alone. A world tour in mere hours.
He kind of regretted that it could not have been him showing her Earth, but that was a silly sentiment, or so he thought. After all, it was as much Alenko's homeworld as it was his, and the Lieutenant had possessed free time while he had not. Besides, Alenko had seen more of Earth than Shepard had, so he was probably the better guide anyway. Still, the Commander wished he would have some time after the whole crisis to show Earth to Tali, as silly as that wish maybe was.
"News about your own successes, you mean" Tali pointed out.
"The best kind of news," Shepard replied with a shrug.
They were sitting on a bench in Manhattan's Central Park, a domed enclosure of green surrounded by mile-high skyscrapers, they themselves surrounded by a dam that warded off the Atlantic Ocean after sea levels had risen so dramatically throughout the 22nd century. New York these days actually lay below the sea level, and unless one lived above the third floor one so to say lived below the ocean. Only the dams, themselves wonders of engineering, kept the water away. For New Yorkers, though, that was just normal life.
Shepard had managed to keep at least some time on Earth for himself, and had used that to arrange a meeting with Tali. He had put on casual clothes and a deep-seating hat that would hopefully obscure his far too prominent face and had flown from Frankfurt to New York, where Tali had already been waiting for him. He had shown her some of the city's landmarks, though just like her entire world tour that was very hasty and compressed, as they only had some hours before they would have to return to the Normandy.
Shepard had not managed to build up enough courage to actually visit those parts of the city that once had been his 'home', and Tali had never directly asked about it, either, something Shepard was very grateful for. In retrospect it made his threat against Finch back on the Citadel almost laughable: Most likely he would not even manage to find any Reds any more, never mind fighting them. But then, that threat had merely been a bluff anyway.
Thus, he and Tali had kept to the touristic places of the city, rushing through them at a dazzling speed, and now were spending the remaining time resting in Central Park. Tali was a quite an outstanding sight here, and many people gave her glances or were openly staring at her. However, few of those looks were truly hostile. In space, the other races' ideas about quarians had quickly spread to humans, but here on Earth few had even ever heard of them, let alone seen one. Tali was a curiosity to people here, not an object of hate or contempt.
At least, to most people.
Just as Shepard and Tali were getting up from the bench again, a group of people approached them. Shepard counted eight people, male and female, and guessed them to be all in their twenties. Some smirked, others looked angry.
"It's fucking quarian right here in New York," one of the angry ones spat out.
"Their pet geth killed thousands at Eden Prime," another stated. "It's their fault."
Of course. The mere seventeen million remaining quarians normally would just be a footnote of the galactic scene, especially so to a newcomer such as humanity – were it not for the fact that geth were attacking human colonies in the Traverse. And thus, outraged and panicked, many humans did not only consider those synthetics to be the enemy, but also began to hate the quarians for having created the geth. Never mind what the geth had done to their creator race.
Neither Tali nor Shepard paid the group much heed, and simply made their way through them. However, the humans would have nothing of that and began to push Tali around, who however simply walked on.
A surge of anger rose in Shepard, and immediately a dozen different strikes and punches from the Marines' near combat manual came to his mind. Tali did not deserve such a treatment just on account of her race, and that it were fellow human doing this angered the Commander in particular. He wanted to lash out at the group – but then realised that Tali really did not need protection. She had stood against geth, mercenaries and a millennia old, planet spanning, mind controlling plant super-being. She probably could have wiped the floor with all of the group.
She's far too accepting of popular attitudes against her race. Far too used to it. He positioned himself between one of the harassers and the quarian, and spoke quietly to her: "You're a member of my crew. I don't tolerate such behaviour towards members of my crew."
Tali stopped, looked to him, and nodded. At the same time, one of the harassers tried to push her again. She immediately sprung into action as response. She took a slight step backwards, setting her attacker off-balance, and then rose her left leg. Shepard watched fascinated. Quarian lower legs were from a human point of view 'backwards'. That, though, only made Tali's moves all the more interesting. Her knee hit her opponents upper left leg, which was thus forcefully pushed away. The attacker lost his balance for good, and fell down. All in a matter of maybe two or three seconds.
The other harassers backed off slightly, but remained in place, and blocked the way for Shepard and Tali. The Commander sighed and said: "That's enough for now. Let us through."
"Oh look!" one of the group shouted. "The dirty quarian has a love-boy."
Shepard's hand went to his forehead. Why do racism and dirty thoughts always go hand in hand? He removed his hat and asked: "Do you really not recognize me?"
"Shit," somebody hissed, apparently the first to recognize him.
"It isn't really him, is it?" another asked.
The group did not come to a conclusion, just stood there confused – which gave Shepard and Tali plenty time to make their way through them and leave them behind. Shepard donned his hat again and smiled.
"Sorry," Tali apologized after a while. "I didn't want to cause any trouble. We could just have passed them by."
"I know," Shepard answered, "but sometimes I think you should be far more willing to cause trouble. There's really nothing you need to apologize for."
Tali skewed her head to the side and said slightly amused: "Normally we quarians are sent out on pilgrimage to prepare us to become productive members of Flotilla society. However, I don't know if your influence on me is really helpful in this."
"Bad influence, eh?" Shepard answered grinning. "Maybe you should take care with what sort of people you associate."
"I do," she protested in good humour. "That's after all why... why I'm aboard the Normandy ."
Shepard did not notice the slight stumbling in her answer.
...
When Shepard and Tali had returned to the Normandy, Pressly had told the Commander that Admiral Hackett wished to call him in about just under two hours, and best private. The Executive Officer had also mentioned that Hackett thought his information would not make Shepard happy. Thus, Shepard had coordinated the ship's departure from Earth, and then withdrawn into his cabin. There he now paced up and down and awaited the call.
Hackett had promised to look into the matter of Admiral Kahoku's dead recon unit, an entire unit of marines lured into a trap on Edolus. Thus Shepard assumed the call was about that. But what did he mean, that this information won't make me happy?
The call arrived not long after the Normandy had passed the Charon Relay.
"Commander Shepard?" Hackett's voice sounded through Shepard's communicator.
"Right here, Admiral," Shepard confirmed his presence.
"I've received some information I thought you'd want to see, Commander," Hackett said.
"That's good to hear, sir," Shepard answered. "You found a lead regarding the Edolus case?"
"In a way. It might not make you happy, though, Commander," Hackett explained, making Shepard even more anxious about what that meant. "Somebody is killing former Alliance scientists. There have been four deaths in the past month. All four worked on a classified project several years ago. On Akuze. I think you're familiar with the planet and what happened there."
He was. He definitely was, even though he had never been there himself. His mind raced. "I am. Are you telling me... are you saying what happened back then..." He did not even dare to finish the thought.
"An entire marine unit wiped out by Thresher Maws," Hackett went on. "It was classified as a natural hazard, but to me it sounds very similar to what happened on Edolus."
"But Edolus was a trap," Shepard stated. "Sir, are... are you telling me what happened to..." What happened to Sarah, "...what happened to the unit on Akuze had been done deliberately, too? By the Alliance?"
"I'm not sure what I should think," Hackett replied. "But the project dates coincide with the attacks. Commander, those thresher maws killed dozens of soldiers. And dozens more were killed on Edolus. If Akuze was more than just an accident we need to know, and if Edolus is connected to it we need to know, too. "
However, Shepard was not fully listening to the Admiral any more. There was only one thought racing through his head. "The Alliance did it..." he said absent-mindedly.
"I'm not sure on that," Hackett answered, "But you now have the chance to find out. There is one last surviving scientist of the project, Dr Wayne. I sent him to an installation in the Kepler Verge, officially for his security. Unofficially, I'm trying to prevent Akuze being covered up. You should go to the facility as quickly as possible, to make sure Dr Wayne is alive. I'm transmitting the location as we speak." He paused and hesitated. "Commander... Shepard... What you do then is up to you. You're a Spectre, after all. But I thought you should know about this."
The Admiral would know of his relationship to Service Chief Sarah Schäfer, the sole survivor of Akuze. He would know what this hence meant to him personally.
Shepard struggled to formulate a clear answer:: "I... Admiral... I appreciate it" If the Alliance has done this, then I'll tear it apart from the inside out! "I'll... look into it. And I'll get this Dr Wayne, oh yes, I will." And if the Alliance is behind that... That thought fully dominated Shepard's mind now. He would look up the matter first of course, but it had been an Alliance project, apparently, so at the moment everything pointed to them. And if it has been them... That went through Shepard's mind again and again.
"Remember that we might still need him for interrogation," Hackett pointed out, "However, it's up to you. Fifth Fleet out."
The call left Shepard behind angry and confused. For five years now he had thought he had failed Sarah, that he had not been able to support her after the catastrophe that had befallen her. He still thought so, but now it looked like it had not been a catastrophe, a natural disaster at all. Somebody had been responsible for it. Shepard wanted to go right now and utterly destroy those who were, turn them into ash and cinder.
However, of course the Normandy had to reach the Kepler Verge first, and then Dr Wayne would have to be questioned, and the whole issue had to be investigated first... it frustrated Shepard. It frustrated him almost to the point of physical pain. He ordered Pressly to set course for the coordinates he had received from Hackett, gave him command over the ship and then just collapsed on his bed.
He rarely ventured outside his cabin the next two days, leaving command entirely in Pressly's hand. It was not exactly something responsible to do or something that a Commanding Officer should do, but Shepard felt utterly unable to lead the ship as if nothing had happened. What if it has been the Alliance? In that case he could not now command an Alliance vessel.
Shepard was only sure of one thing: Whoever was responsible, regardless of whether it was the Alliance or somebody else, the Commander would hunt them down and make them all pay. His actions against ExoGeni had been due to a deep rooted sense of justice. This, though, was different. This was personal.
When his mind was a bit clearer, he began to wonder about Hackett's role in that. The Admiral had refused to make a call on whether it in fact had been the Alliance, but it must have looked very probable to him, too. And yet, he had sent somebody with a personal relation to the Akuze incident to uncover the story. That certainly was interesting and revealed much about Admiral Hackett. It reveals many good things about him.
The only reasons why he ventured out of his cabin at times were to gather food and to visit the toilets. It was on one of his tours to the mess that Garrus intercepted him.
"Commander. I need to talk to you," the turian said.
"What is it, Garrus?" Shepard asked warily. He had no wish to actually talk with him, but he did not want to simply tell him to go away, either. There was no reason to vent his bad mood on others.
"I'm not quite sure what our next mission will be," Garrus began, "Rumour is it has something to do with what we found on Edolus. I realise it's important, and I can see it's troubling you, meaning no disrespect..."
Shepard sighed. "Come to the point, please."
"I've heard we're heading out to the Kepler Verge," Garrus stated. "I have some unfinished business there."
"You?" Shepard asked, a little bit surprised. "What do you have to do with that cluster? It's a dead end on the far side of the Attican Traverse."
"It relates to my work at C-Sec," Garrus explained. "One of my most... disturbing cases. Dr Saleon, the salarian geneticist."
"Let me guess - he's in the Kepler Verge now," Shepard concluded.
"I strongly assume so, yes," Garrus confirmed.
"What did he do?" Shepard asked, even though he was only mildly interested in what Garrus actually had to say.
"Organ smuggling," Garrus answered. "It was a really confusing case. I was tasked with black market trade at that time. Most of it was harmless, nothing I needed to pursue. But during the course of my investigation, I noticed an increase in the trade of body parts. Organs, mostly. We usually get a few of those, but not the numbers I was seeing. We weren't sure if it was a new black market lab or if some freak was harvesting organs from citizens."
"If the case was so bad I assume it was the latter," Shepard guessed, "Though it usually doesn't take a geneticist for it."
"No. Usually the black market labs aren't nearly as bad the psychos," Garrus stated, "There was this one elcor diplomat in the my first year of C-Sec - but, ah, that probably won't interest you, Commander."
"Another time, maybe Garrus," Shepard promised, "At the moment, it's just... I have a lot on my mind."
"I understand, Commander," Garrus answered, "I'll keep it short. We got a sample of one of the traded organs and ran DNA tests. Standard procedure. The weird thing was, the match led us to a turian who was still alive and very convinced he'd never lost his liver. After a bit of digging I discovered the turian had briefly worked for Dr Saleon. That's how he entered the scope of our investigations. However, I couldn't find any evidence for cloned organ development in his lab. So instead I brought in some of his employees for interrogation. When I was interviewing one of them..."
Despite only listening half-heartedly, Shepard noticed how Garrus had pronounced that word. "Interviewing?" he asked.
"Well, I might have turned up the pressure a bit. It paid off, though," Garrus justified himself, "One of my detainees started bleeding profoundly..."
"Bleeding?" Shepard interrupted again, though he did not raise his voice. He was too detached for that. Still, what Garrus said just did not sound right to him. "I'm beginning to doubt just who's the bad guy in the story."
"It wasn't just the pressure we applied," Garrus defended himself, "Let me finish. We offered to patch him up and he got frantic. Freaked out. I ordered a full exam, to find out what was going on. Our medics found incisions all over his body. Some of them fresh. And some had started to bleed again. This was our big break. Those people weren't just Dr Saleon's employees. They were test tubes. Walking, living test tubes."
"He was growing parts inside those people?" Shepard asked.
"Exactly," Garrus confirmed. "He cloned their organs right inside their own bodies. Than he harvested them and sold them off. Most of the victims were poor. He'd pay them each a small percentage of the sales, but only if the organs were good. Sometimes an organ wouldn't grow properly, so he'd just leave it in them. Most of them were a mess, but only on the inside - hidden, so nobody could see it."
"And seeing as he's in the Kepler Verge now, Saleon got away with it?" Shepard concluded.
"Yeah, that's the worst part," Garrus answered, "He blew his lab, grabbed some of his employees, and headed for the nearest space dock. By the time I found out, his ship was already leaving. He threatened to kill his employees if we tried to stop him."
"Ah. A hostage situation," Shepard commented half-heartedly "Ugly."
"I ordered Citadel defence to shoot him down," Garrus continued his tale, "but C-Sec headquarters counter-mandated my order. They were worried about the hostages. Worried about civilian casualties if the ship was destroyed so close to the Citadel. I told them those hostages were dead anyway. He'd just use them to make more organs. But they wouldn't listen."
"There is the issue of civilian casualties to consider," Shepard insisted. "That's what the police exists for, after all. To protect the population."
"It would've been a risk," Garrus admitted, "But at least we would've stopped the bastard responsible for the whole mess."
This did shake Shepard out of his detachment. He remembered his first talk with Garrus aboard the Normandy, and became a bit annoyed with him. "A risk not justified," he argued. "If you care more about hunting down your prey, about getting what you want, than actually protecting people, then you're not better than he is. Then you're just a terrorist with a badge." He sighed. Not that I've acted fully according to the rules on Feros, either. "That's what I worry about sometimes in my own line of work," he added.
"Yeah. maybe you're right," Garrus admitted quietly. "It doesn't make it any easier, but I'm sure you know how that is. I don't think you need to worry, personally. I see your point, and I think you keep to it most of the time."
"Most of the time?" Shepard inquired weakly.
"None of us is perfect, Commander," Garrus stated. "Not me, either."
"Yeah, I guess," Shepard said. "So, now you want to catch this Saleon? Do you even know where he is?"
"Yeah. Or at least I think so," Garrus confirmed. "According to what information I have he changed ships and now goes by the name of Dr Heart - his idea of a joke, I guess. I found out just before I joined up with you, so I couldn't do anything with the information yet. And it's not verified, so C-Sec won't act on it. Especially since they'd have to ask the Alliance Navy for help. It's your jurisdiction, after all. C-Sec won't make such requests unless they're absolutely sure. They're just too afraid of embarrassing themselves."
"Yeah. I know what that's like," Shepard commented. "Political considerations about showing strength, no matter who gets to suffer under it."
"Exactly," Garrus agreed. "But as a Spectre you have universal jurisdiction, and you are in fact a System Alliance Commander..." His voice trailed off.
"All right," Shepard said. "If it will give you some peace... hah. I guess it's just fair enough. Maybe this Cluster will get us both some peace." Not that Garrus will know what I'm talking about. "What's his ship?"
"It's the MSV Fedele, an Alliance-registered cargo freighter," Garrus explained. "I was able to track it for a while, and the last signal I got from it was from the Herrschel system."
"Okay, I think we can check that out en route," Shepard promised.
"Thank you, Commander," Garrus answered, "Please, take me with you when you go. If it is Saleon, I want to be there when you find him."
"As said, if it gets you some peace of mind, then fair enough," Shepard agreed.
"Thank you," Garrus replied, "Well, I don't want to further disturb you, so..."
And neither did Shepard want to be further delayed by him. Rather, he wanted to return to his anger and isolation. "So long, Garrus" he thus said, and resumed his way to the mess.
...
The MSV Fedele was indeed found in the Herrschel system. It was a standard freighter of the Kowloon class, and registered to a 'Dr R. Heart'. In addition to the standard cargo bay, there were several biological research modules attached to the hull. So far, it all seemed to add up. However, the ship was adrift and with only minimal power. Something must have happened to her. Shepard drew together his Spectre entourage as boarding team, and entered the ship.
Given what Garrus had told him about Saleon, Shepard expected the worst. However, the squad could find nothing in the ship's docking entrance area, which looked reasonably clean and well-lit, showing no sign of any machine malfunction and no evidence of Saleon's crimes. Nonetheless, he had Garrus record everything with his visor. After Feros, that had become a standard procedure of the squad: Missions and deployments were recorded, pre-emptively so to say. If the footage turned out to be unimportant, one could always still delete it afterwards, but if need be Shepard wanted to have evidence for everything. The battle against ExoGeni had shown to him the need for that.
It proved to be a wise decision as soon as Shepard had opened the door to the cargo bay.
A strange creature leaped at him with a muffled shriek. The Commander was shocked and reminded of Feros. The creature looked like a Thorian creeper. The entire squad retreated some steps and started firing. Whatever the creature was, it went down quickly.
"What the hell..." Shepard muttered, and took a closer look at the corpse. He could see why he had been reminded of the creepers, but it was not one. It was a horribly distorted salarian. His head skin was terribly stretched and pierced, and the rest of his body so densely covered in tumours that they formed a sort of second, thick and uneven, grey skin. It was a horrible sight. Shepard could hear Liara breathing heavily. When he looked up, he saw that she had paled to really unhealthy levels.
"Now we know what the bio-research modules are there for," Wrex stated flatly. "I wouldn't make a bet against this being Saleon's ship any more."
"You're right" Garrus answered tersely, "But you could show a bit more respect for his victims."
"If all victims are like that, we'll have to kill them anyway," Wrex commented unmoved, "Not much respect in that."
"We'll show them respect by stopping Saleon," Garrus replied heatedly.
Shepard observed the tense exchange wordlessly. He and Garrus often held different opinions, yet could work together, and Garrus and Tali, too, seemed to have found some middle ground. However, the relationship between Garrus and Wrex appeared to remain constantly frosty. That was potentially something to worry about. However, at the moment Shepard simply did not care for such details. Maybe after I've found Dr Wayne.
In contrast to the entrance area, the cargo bay showed several signs of malfunction. It was poorly lit, and all its electronic terminals displayed error messages. Several huge crates filled the room. The squad moved through stacks of them that reached up to the ceiling and which turned the middle of the cargo bay into something resembling a maze. Shepard felt uncomfortably reminded of the MSV Cornocupia, another Kowloon class freighter, which the Normandy had found in the Maroon Sea star cluster and which had been filled with husks.
Shepard moved through the crates with his shotgun drawn. He pointed it in all directions in an attempt to watch and guard as much space as possible. While he felt uneasy, his training, as much as he had loathed it, and his years of experience gave him some security and comfort. He was a professional and thus knew how to handle such environments.
"Enemy sighted," Liara transmitted through the communicators. She sounded calm, her voice as soft as always. She's getting experience, too. And that fast.
Shepard ran towards her position, and found her and Wrex shooting at three heavily deformed people who were rushing towards them. By the looks of them Shepard guessed it were two turians and one human or asari – it was difficult to tell. Most likely they had been the victims of Saleon's crimes; people turned into mindless monsters. They were not at fault for what had happened to them, not at fault for their aggressivity, and yet they had to be put down.
More of them came rushing from every direction. However, they were uncoordinated, coming one after the next, and so they were shot down one by one. Shepard managed to put aside any thoughts about the innocence of those people - and people they were or at least had been. He had been trained to focus on the battle and only on the battle, and that was what he was doing now.
After a while, the battle faded down and no further horribly disfigured persons came running towards them any more. By then, the ground was covered in liquids of different colour – red, blue, green. Blood. Of all the different species. However, Shepard noticed those liquids even in locations where there had been no battle, and in some cases they had even already dried to a stain.
"Commander," Tali spoke up, "you might want to take a look at this."
She stood besides one of the corpse. Upon closer inspection, Shepard saw that the person had been human, male. His arms and legs extended from him in really weird angles, and their joints seemed to be severely disfigured. However, he was less covered in tumours than the rest of Saleon's former test subjects.
Tali pointed to the right hand of the man, which was entirely free of tumours, still showing normal human skin. "Do you see that symbol?"
Shepard looked closer and saw a branding mark, which appeared to be a stylised version of the letter A. "A slave mark?" he asked. He knew how slavers operated, how they treated their victims like cattle. Including branding.
"That symbol was one of the things that were transmitted to your omni-tool, by the women you had arrested," Tali said.
Shepard remembered. Helena Blake. She had told him her partners in a crime syndicate were in the slavery business, and that he should hence find and eliminate them. However, Shepard had just seen it as a pathetic ploy to get him to kill her rivals in the syndicate, and had hence arrested her. "So she was right on that point at least," he said quietly. "Seems like her partners do slavery indeed."
He looked up again and shook his head. "That would explains how Saleon could continue his... 'work', even after his escape. We need to find him."
Fortunately, Kowloon class freighters were not all that large. After having passed the cargo bay, they pretty quickly found a locked room. Inside, there was a salarian. An unaltered, unhurt salarian, with dark reddish-brown skin.
He spoke up before Shepard could say anything: "Thank you! Thank you for saving me from those... things!"
"Things?" Shepard asked enraged. He had no doubt this person was in fact Saleon. "They were once people!"
"I..." the salarian began in response, but Shepard paid him no need.
"Garrus, is it him?" he asked.
"Yes," the turian answered. "That's Dr Saleon."
"What?" Saleon exclaimed. "My name is Heart. Dr Heart. Please get me out of here."
Garrus raised his weapon in response and pointed it at the salarian. "There is no escape this time, Doctor," he said. "I'd harvest your organs first, but we don't have the time."
"You're crazy," Saleon shouted and then turned to face Shepard. "He's crazy. Please, don't let him do this to me."
"I will get you out of here, Saleon," Shepard promised. "And right into a holding cell."
"What? But... we have him!" Garrus protested. "We can't let him get away. Not again?"
"We won't let him get away. I promise, Garrus," Shepard reassured the turian. "But it's the court's business to decide about his fate, according to the laws on the book - and not ours. We uphold laws, and don't create them." Shepard felt the need to cling to that doctrine, in order to not become as rotten as Saren had, or as bad as some corrupt cops he had known during his youth. "Besides, if that doesn't convince you - we need to know just what's he's been up to, how he did it, what his partners in the organ trade were. They all need to be brought to justice, too, after all."
"I've... Okay, you're right," Garrus conceded and then addressed Saleon: " You're a very lucky salarian. You owe the Commander your life. "
Saleon, however, was less impressed. :"Oh thank you so very much," he said scathingly sarcastically. Then he threw a tech proximity mine at the squad and jumped behind a crate.
Immediately afterwards, it became clear why Saleon had fled to this particular room: Several automated guns, worked into the wall plates, revealed themselves and began firing. A heated fight began, which sorely tested the surprised squad's shield. By the time all guns had been destroyed, Wrex' and Shepard's shield had faltered, and the krogan had suffered several minor shot wounds. However, given his krogan anatomy, that was not much of a problem to him.
The last two guns went out with surprisingly large explosions – and Dr Saleon had been right next to them.
"And so he dies anyway," Garrus complained, "What was the point of that?"
"I would've liked to catch him alive," Shepard protested. "Sometimes, it just doesn't succeed. But that's no reason not to try it. It was still right to attempt it, for all the named reasons."
"This time, maybe," Garrus argued "But such attempts are always a risk. What if your targets can flee because you tried to haul them in alive?"
"I know what you mean, but..." Shepard began, hesitated, and then attempted a new formulation: "You just can't predict how people will act, Garrus. You can only choose how you will react. In the end, that's what really matters."
"Yeah..." Garrus replied. It sounded surprisingly convinced. Shepard must have hit an issue important to the turian. "I don't think I've met anybody like you, Commander."
"Heh. Glad to know I'm unique," Shepard answered, surprised by Garrus' sudden change of mind, "Take some more records of the Fedele, and then we're gone from here."
…
Shepard felt ill. He knew it was just his nerves, but as the Mako landed on Ontarom he felt physically ill. He had feared something like this might happen, and so had let Garrus drive the vehicle. The Commander realised he would most likely find out very soon just what had happened on Akuze, but suddenly part of him recoiled at that. What if it had been the Alliance? The answer to that question now lay so near, so terribly near.
The planet's science facility, the location Admiral Hackett had sent Dr Wayne to, was not responding to calls from the Normandy. That was a bad sign, a portent that whoever had committed Akuze had been faster, and now would finish their cover-up work. As the Mako approached the facility, the squad further tried to initiate contact, but received no answer.
The facility itself looked very much unremarkable. It was a standard model for such installations, not different to several Shepard had already seen. However it turned out to be completely empty, as if abandoned by any personal. It was eerie, walking through the halls and corridors of the facility and finding nobody. How far would anybody go for a cover-up? Have they all been killed? But why are there no signs of combat then?
Those were not Shepard's main concerns, though. His mind was occupied by what he would find here. While there was the real possibility Dr Wayne was already dead, he was far more worried about the possibility of finding him alive. Scenarios ran through his head - what he would do if it had been the Alliance, or desperate ideas on who else it could have been.
It was Tali who solved the mystery of the missing personal. She hacked into one the facility's computer system and found out somebody else already hadit with a false evacuation order. This explained why the squad had found nobody, but - The Alliance would have no need to issue false orders. Unless of course it had been planned as a measure of plausible deniability... He really wanted to know, but at the same time feared knowing.
He had taken only his Spectre entourage with him. If it turned out the Alliance was responsible - he was not yet entirely clear on what he would do in that case. Most likely he would expose their actions, and would hunt down those persons directly responsible. In any case, though, it was maybe prudent not to have other Alliance soldiers around.
He heard shouts from down the corridor he was currently waking in. Immediately the entire squad ran towards the source of that shouting. It came from behind a closed door. Garrus quickly opened it, and the squad entered a hall - and saw two people, one in a scientist's outfit, the other in a space suit or armour. The latter one was aiming a pistol at the head of the former.
"Stay back!" the armed man shouted to the squad. "I've got no grief with you! All I want is this bastard!"
"Please! He's a madman!" the scientist pleaded, and then turned again to the other man: "Mr Toombs, you're insane! You need help."
"It's Corporal! Corporal Toombs!" Toombs shouted back, "You don't get to lie! Not today! Today it all comes out!"
Corporal Toombs... is it really him? The surprise hit Shepard like a blunt object."Toombs? Corporal Toombs?" the Commander asked. "My god... Sarah... I mean, Service Chief Schäfer, she used to tell me about you." She used to tell me about all of you. Of everybody of her dead unit. Whenever she fell to despair again. "I thought you died on Akuze!"
"Schäfer? She... is she alive?" Toombs asked and hesitated.
That question, even though it had been obvious to come, still felt like a further hit to the guts for Shepard. Quietly he answered: "She survived the thresher maws. People thought her to be the sole survivor of Akuze. But she... she just..." He trailed off, and feared not being able to talk further. Pull together, man. He looked down, shook his head and continued in a very quiet voice: "She couldn't cope with it." He looked up again and saw Toombs right into the eyes. "She died three years later. By her own hand."
"Another live ruined by those people! Just like mine!" Toombs exclaimed.
"'Those people' were an Alliance science team," Shepard pointed out, "Tell me, what did they do, Corporal?" I need to know.
"The thresher maws... the scientists were studying them," Toombs explained. "They let them hit our unit, just to watch! I woke up in a holding cell. The scientists were delighted I'd survived. Now they had someone to run tests on."
Tests. That sounded bad, given the context. I need to know. All of it. "Tests? What kinda 'tests'?" Shepard asked.
"You can't believe Toombs!" the scientist, most likely Dr Wayne, exclaimed. "He doesn't have any proof! I demand a fair trial!"
"Shut up!" Shepard ordered. He shuddered slightly. Given what he had heard so far he had no reason to doubt Toombs.. The Commander turned to the Corporal again and inquired further: "What did they do to you, Corporal?"
"Ever had thresher maw acid in your veins? I have," Toombs stated, "They wanted to see what it could do. They tortured me for years, treated me like a lab animal! So... this is justice. This man deserves to die. So, are you to kill me or not?"
I'm going to bomb Arcturus Station into dust... Shepard breathed out. He was not, actually. What he would do was expose what the Alliance had done, even if it gave Udina further screaming fits. Besides, he had to approach this rationally, step for step. "You're a soldier, Corporal. You still are," he told Toombs. It's obvious it's important to him, a way to cling to his previous life. "So think tactically. This man might deserve to die... hell, he does. But so do his superiors, and their superiors, and everybody who has ordered the project or was in any way involved with it." He became agitated. "It was an Alliance project, for god's sake! We need..."
"The Alliance?" Toombs asked. The question had been rather quiet, yet it was enough to interrupt Shepard. "Is that what they told the galaxy? No, that wasn't the Alliance."
"What?" Shepard asked, surprised. He had accepted that it had been the Alliance. He had invested so much emotionally into it to reach that acceptance that Toombs' claim now took him aback.
"It was Cerberus," Toombs explained, "A secret organisation, a conspiracy. I did see much Alliance equipment at the Akuze facility, and the scientists were Alliance personal. And I did some investigations afterward. Cerberus has much influence, especially within the Alliance. It doesn't surprise me they could label one of their projects as belonging to the Alliance." He began to shout again and took closer aim at Wayne again: "But it wasn't the Alliance! It was Cerberus! It was people like him!"
"Wait!" Shepard shouted. "Corporal, stop! You're doing Cerberus' work!"
"Explain," Toombs answered through gritted teeth. "Quickly, or you're next." He began to wave his pistol back and forth between Shepard and Wayne.
"I... fuck." Shepard began and rubbed his forehead. He needed to explain everything now, but it was difficult, especially as he himself was still confused about the matter. "I had assumed it was the Alliance. It fit so well. But I've heard of Cerberus. They killed an entire pioneer settlement on Chasca, to study the effects of geth technology. The same pattern, all over again! So, that fits damn well. But that just means Cerberus needs to be brought down. Hell, Corporal, have you ever thought about how the Cerberus bosses, whoever they are, might see your actions? They probably cheer you on; what superb way to cover up one of their crimes!"
"I... I..." Toombs stuttered, "But what else can I do?"
"Listen, Corporal, I'm a Spectre," Shepard explained, "I can arrest the man and interrogate him. The truth will come out. The main thing now is hurting Cerberus, not hurting him."
"Weren't you listening?" Toombs asked. "Cerberus is too powerful. They would never allow themselves to be exposed. No Alliance Court would ever sentence him, Cerberus has their moles everywhere!"
"That just means we can't hand him over to the Alliance," Shepard replied, "But I'm above the law, never forget that. I can get the truth out of this many any way I want to. Any creative way I want to. It's just too bad I probably won't be able to purchase thresher maw acid anywhere."Am I bluffing? Or am I serious? He really did not know himself any more.
"You... you can't do that!" Wayne exclaimed, "Do you have any idea who you're dealing with?"
"Dead people," Shepard responded icily.
"I... you're right," Toombs conceded, "I'm still a soldier. I need to think tactically. And Cerberus needs to go down."
"You have contributed to it," Shepard assured him. "If you hadn't killed the other scientists, then there wouldn't have been worries and reports at Navy Command, and without that my... source inside it would never have been able to tell me about all this here. Good work, Corporal, you did a fine mission."
"Thank you," Toombs said. "It's good to know." He held his head between his hands, "Maybe the screaming will go now. I don't know. "
"You're home now," Shepard replied. "The Navy will take care of their own. Garrus, Wrex, secure Wayne. Don't injure him... but be rough with him."And I thought I could be fair play cop. Always do what's right, never be the law. But they... they killed Sarah's unit. They drove her to suicide! I'll kill them all, and to hell with my restraints! If that makes me a hypocrite, then I am one! " Come on, Corporal. My ship will take you away from here."
Shepard stayed in the hall for a moment, while Wayne was transported away and while Liara led Toombs outside. Tali looked back to him for a moment, but then also followed the others.
The revelation he just had been given was world changing for him. He had not been able to save Sarah, had not been able to bring her back from despair, even though he had felt and still felt that he should have been able to. They had been in a relationship for nearly two years, and during this time Shepard had seen her coming ever closer to the abyss. No matter his actions, his support for her, his love, he had not been able to turn her back from it. She had not been able to deal with what had happened on Akuze, and eventually had committed suicide.
Shepard still thought this as a failure of himself, but now also saw a chance to at least partly redeem himself. He could at least avenge her now. He remembered her despair and her recollections of the event, and thus felt a burning need for revenge himself. Added to that was the revelation that it had not been the Alliance: Shepard had a target for his desire for revenge now, a very clear cut target for his revenge. He would hunt down that target and make it pay. Whatever Cerberus actually was, Shepard mentally vowed to utterly annihilate it, no matter how.
He clenched his fists and gnashed his teeth. Then he followed the others.
…
Shepard sat on his bed and held his head in his hands. He had showered, changed into his regular uniform and generally calmed down for a while. Now it was time to deal with the issue of Dr Wayne. He had been led to the ship's brig, and Garrus and Wrex had been tasked with guarding it - people only Shepard could give orders to, not the Alliance. Given how Admiral Kahoku had been obstructed, Shepard had no doubt about Cerberus' influence inside the Alliance, so he had to take care in that regard.
However, he really did not want to deal with Dr Wayne. Or rather, he did want to, but he also feared to. To a large degree that was because he did not quite know what to do with him. He did not know if he had bluffed when he had threatened him with harsh interrogation or not. Just days ago he had called out Garrus over the issue, and it would totally compromise his moral stances - But by all gods that may be out there, do I ever want to hurt the bastard!
He sighed and rose. He needed to deal with Dr Wayne, no matter how. Whatever had happened on Akuze, it was imperative that it got out into the open. Also no matter how? With heavy steps he left his cabin and made his way to the brig.
He encountered Garrus on the way. The turian seemed to have waited on Shepard, and immediately approached him.
"Commander," he said, "if I may ask, what are you planning to do now?"
Of all people on the ship, Garrus was probably the one Shepard had the least desire to talk to. Not due to any fault of the turian, but rather due to his own faults. The difference between how he had ordered Garrus to treat Saleon and how he had addressed Wayne were glaring. "Going to the brig," Shepard answered truthfully, but rather non-informatively.
"What you said to Dr Wayne..." Garrus said, and began to walk besides the Commander, "About 'creative ways' to get information from him - "
"It helped to convince Corporal Toombs, didn't it?" Shepard interrupted him, before the turian could stumble out an accusation of hypocrisy. Now if only I knew whether that was indeed the only reason I said so, whether it was in fact a bluff.
"Is that all there is to it?" Garrus asked.
Shepard kept silent in response. He just did not know, and he feared he would not be able to convincingly lie on the matter, either.
"You told me not to usurp power from courts, to respect everybody's basic rights" Garrus continued. Strangely, his voice remained entirely neutral, free of any accusations, "I could see you really believe that. Do you want to throw this away now?"
"No," Shepard answered curtly but truthfully. He did not want to, not really. However, it was possible he would.
"If you want to... apply pressure on Wayne I can't condemn you," Garrus said, "However, I'm really not sure anymore what to think of it. After your earlier talks with me and now... this."
That was probably as close as the C-Sec agent would come to a true accusation. I know Garrus. Trust me, I know. "Follow ideals, not people," Shepard advised coolly. He really did not want to have to further listen to the turian. His inner turmoil was bad enough as it was.
"You have done a lot of good so far, Commander, but you would..." Garrus obviously searched for the right words, "...you'd lose a lot of moral authority that way,"
"So noted," Shepard replied and left Garrus behind. The turian apparently gave up on the matter and remained behind, to the great relief of the Commander.
He could not keep his mind from thinking about what Garrus had said, though. No matter his desire to see Cerberus exposed and destroyed, no matter his earlier conviction to achieve that regardless of how, Shepard still felt very much uncomfortable about interrogating somebody using - Torture. That's what I've been thinking of, even if I've been too afraid to consciously name it so. As Garrus had pointed out, it would be a major compromisation of his morals. The problem, though, was that his emotions came to an entirely different conclusion.
And if that inner conflict, heated on by Garrus, was not bad enough, Lieutenant Alenko was standing just outside the holding cell. He very obviously was waiting on Shepard, too. However, he did not speak up immediately as Garrus had, which gave the Commander time to ask ironically: "So, what do you have to tell me, Alenko? Did you coordinate yourself with Garrus?"
"Ah..." Alenko began surprised. "No. What did he do?" It sounded sincere.
"Never mind," Shepard replied, "So, what do you want?"
"Commander... Shepard..." Alenko said, "I don't know what you plan to do with Dr Wayne, but there seem to be personal issues involved." Observant. "I just wanted to give you an advice, an advice to a friend: Don't become sloppy because you're too involved. Don't cut corners."
Shepard blinked several times. Damn. It was a reference to an earlier conversation he had held with the Lieutenant. "I... see what you mean, Alenko," he answered. He wanted to say more, say anything, but nothing came to mind. Alenko remained silent, too.
Shepard shook his head and entered the holding cell.