The trip to Mars was quick. A few million miles is nothing to a ship with Mass Effect drives. Shepard jumped out of the transport onto the rust coloured sand. It felt good to have his armour on, his weapons on his back, and his trusty Avenger M-8 in his hands.
"We only have 30 minutes before radio contact is broken by the storm and I don't want to take any chances. Maintain constant radio contact so that we can't be surprised. Let's move people."
"Will do Commander but I think you're a bit rusty." Ashley dryly responded at the unnecessary repetition of standard insertion protocol.
"What? It was meant for the rookie." Shepard joked.
James replied with swaggering confidence.
"You really should try reading my-"
"Cut the non-mission essential chatter soldier." Shepard cut in.
James just harrumphed into his helmet. Shepard laughed. The newly reinstated commander led the way, constantly scanning the rocky landscape for movement. He glanced down a small jump and groaned.
"What is it?" Ashley asked.
Shepard jumped down amidst the bodies of Alliance soldiers. Dead Alliance soldiers. He knelt to examine the two bodies. A few moments later, he removed their dogtags.
"They're KIA." Shepard announced.
"It doesn't look like they put up a fight in the end." Ashley said as she analyzed the area. "There are bullet holes in the area but the kill shots are to the top of their heads… execution style."
"We'll get the bastards who did this." James hissed.
Shepard nodded but knew he had to keep them focused. After seeing their world burn, James seemed to be the most prone to becoming a loose cannon.
"Don't get ahead of yourself. Don't let this get under your skin."
Shepard concluded his statement as he attached the sniper rifle of one of the fallen soldiers to his back. James muttered a quiet profanity or five in regard to the executioners but Shepard motioned them onward.
"Keep a low profile. We don't know where these guys are."
"Roger that." James reassured him.
As the three warriors made their way along the ridgeline a shot rang out. All three dove behind some short barriers on the road for cover. They all looked further down the road where the shot had emanated from. A group of Alliance servicemen were kneeled in a row as a group of soldiers in different uniforms, with a strangely familiar colour palette, patrolled around them.
"Any idea who those guys are? James muttered.
Four of the strange soldiers simultaneously raised their weapons to the heads of the kneeled soldiers and fired.
"Shit!" Shepard hissed into his helmet.
"Fuck this!" James bellowed and attempted to stand up to fire at the executioners.
Before he rose more than a few inches, Shepard grabbed him by the helmet and shoved him back down.
"Stay hidden!"
"Like hell Commander! You saw what they just did!" James shouted.
There's that loose cannon coming out.
Ashley had fought alongside the commander enough to understand. She put a hand on James' shoulder from behind him in case he tried to rise again.
"We need to ambush them properly" she explained. "There are too many of them to just run in guns blazing."
Shepard picked up where she left off.
"We''ll kill them soon James, but we'll do it like the well trained soldiers we are, not like thugs in Chora's Den."
Ashley nodded at him, catching the reference. James shrugged off Ashley's hand.
"Fine. What's the plan?"
Shepard peeked out from behind his cover and observed the enemy combatants as he spoke.
"They don't seem to be on patrol. They are just a clean up crew, removing the survivors of the initial assault."
The rock formation by the cliffside caught his attention.
That is the best place in the area to spring an ambush.
"But nothing is as it seems with Cerberus. Ashley, you can move up along the cliffside. There's plenty of cover. That will bring you around to their left flank. Flush out any soldiers in cover you can. I'll hang back here and put this sniper rifle to good work."
"Only fitting." James remarked.
"Wait Commander, why would they be in cover?" Ashley asked.
Shepard smiled and patted James on the shoulder. "You get to charge at them just like you wanted to. You're a walking tank, just fulfill that role here. I want you to suppress this whole area. Scare these bastards behind cover. Got it James?"
"Oh hell yeah Commander."
Shepard held up a hand.
"Wait until Ashley is in position."
The enemy soldier who had been aimlessly watching the road finally looked away. They were gathering around the dead Alliance servicemen. With the raised hand, Shepard motioned Ashley toward the cliff. Ashley ran while keeping her body as low to the ground as she could. She weaved behind cover toward the large rock outcropping. Her back slid into the side of the cliffside and she waited. Now it was James' turn. James turned his back to Shepard and prepared to bolt out from behind cover into the open.
1, 2, 3!
Shepard tapped James' back once. James was gone before he could tap him a second time. Carnage spewed forth from James' omnitool and he screamed
"Hey motherfuckers!"
The soldiers reacted surprisingly quickly and many ducked behind their vehicles or low rock walls before the Carnage impacted. Two weren't so lucky. The Carnage impacted one soldier's chest. He exploded in fire and pain. Charred and bloodied bits littered the ground. The small shockwave knocked back his nearby comrade. Automatic fire spewed out of James' Avenger killing the downed soldier and pockmarked the low walls and vehicles the enemy was using for cover. Soon enough though, the enemy realized that it was only one soldier they were facing and many leaned out to return fire forcing James to duck behind a rock wall.
"Okay!" James yelled. "I think I got their attention!"
Shepard removed the recently acquired sniper rifle from his back and got into a prone position with it. His cover was at the top of the low hill descending to the enemy so he had a clear line of sight at whomever he wanted.
At this range, they will be easy pickings.
His eye hovered near the reticule so he could still see the entire area until Ashley did her job. Suddenly, an enemy soldier stumbled out from behind the rock walls near Ashley, bullets peppering the back of his armour. Shepard leaned his head in, brought his crosshair up, and fired in one fluid motion. The bullet entered the back of the stumbling soldier's neck, bore through the man's Adam's Apple, and exited into the vehicle behind him. One clean shot. One gruesome kill. James leaned out as often as he could to return fire but he was the most exposed. Several shots impacted James' shields. His audacity led him to get his shields depleted and his armour damaged before he ducked back behind cover. Now that Shepard had a much closer look at the enemy, a repulsive thought hit him.
Those colours. They're… they're Cerberus colours!
Shepard couldn't help himself. He hissed into the radio one word.
"Cerberus."
Fire entered his veins. His bloodlust rose at the thought of Cerberus executing his fellow soldiers. Shepard always hated Cerberus. He could never forgive them for what they had caused on Akuze. Their planted distress call had lured his soldiers to the damn Thresher Maw just so Cerberus could study the giant creature. Shepard was the only survivor. This was the first time Shepard had the chance to kill a member of Cerberus. Each bullet he fired was vengeance for his platoon. Cerberus soldiers quickly died by his hands. The sights of his rifle fell upon one soldier and he pulled his finger against the trigger. The man's armoured head exploded and painted the side of the vehicle behind what was left of the body. The now empty shell fell lifeless to the ground. But Shepard didn't notice. He was too busy setting his sights upon the next Cerberus soldier. There was no anger, no hate, only focus. Only the target. The well trained team was somewhat uncoordinated due to the fact that they had never fought together before but their individual skill more than compensated. The ambush quickly ended as the last Cerberus soldier fell, screaming his last breath before he choked on his lifeblood pouring forth from his mortal wounds.
"Looks like you were right sir." James reported as he kicked over a bloodied body of a fallen soldier. "These guys have Cerberus markings."
"What the hell is Cerberus doing here?" Ashley quickly put in.
Shepard knew what she was getting at. She had already made her feelings toward Shepard's temporary partnership with Cerberus quite clear.
"Good question."
"You don't know?" came her calculated response.
"I'm not with them anymore Ash, if that's what you're asking" Shepard replied with exasperation. "And even when I was, I isolated myself from the Illusive Man and the rest of Cerberus as much as I could."
Ashley realized that a battlefield was not a good place for this discussion and retreated her inquiry.
"It wasn't, but you have to admit, this is a coincidence."
A new wave of Cerberus soldiers soon found their blood seeping into the ground. It was a suitable outlet for Shepard's frustrations. James shrugged off a few close calls but no one, besides the Cerberus soldiers, was seriously injured. The group jumped onto a waiting freight elevator at the entrance of the facility. Shepard closed the doors behind them and activated the decompression system. Atmosphere flooded the chamber and the squad removed their helmets. Peripheral vision will be important in the tight quarters of the facility. Unsurprisingly, Ashley broached the touchy subject again.
"I need a straight answer Shepard."
James knowingly backed away from the two of them and busied himself with his rifle.
"What exactly have I been giving you?"
Ashley ignored this and continued with her aggressive questioning.
"Do you know anything about this? What is Cerberus doing here?"
"Judging by your second question I think you've already made up your mind about the first one."
Ashley crossed her arms and waited expectantly despite the quip so Shepard continued.
"Why do you think I know what the hell is going on here?"
"You WORKED for them Shepard. You worked for terrorists. How am I supposed to believe you've cut all ties?"
"I know firsthand what Cerberus has done Ash, and I will never forgive them. They killed my brothers and sisters, and nearly killed me! But I put aside my feelings and partnered with Cerberus temporarily to stop the Collectors. I never followed Cerberus. I ran my operation no matter what the Illusive Man told me to do. That's it."
"But they rebuilt you" came her meek response.
"They gave you a ship, countless resources-"
Shepard cut her off before she became too caught up in her emotions.
"Let me be clear. I have had no contact with Cerberus since I destroyed the Collector base. I completed the one goal we had in common and then I moved on. I have no idea why they're here or what they want. Got it?"
James jumped in to assist Shepard.
"The Commander has been under constant surveillance since coming back to Earth. No way they've communicated since then at least."
"Sorry Shepard" Ashley began but Shepard was having none of it.
"Save your apologies until this issue is put into the ground LC."
"Right…sir."
Reuniting with Liara was a great morale boost for both Shepard and Ashley after seeing their world burn. Her personality was more strained than Ashley remembered her but Shepard had worked with Liara right after he took down the Collector base. He was accustomed to her less naïve more realistic attitude about the universe. She had effectively grown up over the course of her journey to the position of Shadow Broker. The horrors of the galaxy frequently pass through her omnitool due to her position but she retained the strength to fight for what she believed in. And their journey through the facility certainly added to the amount of horrors each would witness in their lives. The suffocated scientists. The cold blooded executions. The huskified Cerberus soldiers were particularly mind blowing. This discovery reinforced Shepard's hate for the organization and the man who leads it. Ashley didn't take the discovery with as much grace but its effect upon her worried Shepard.
This might lead her to think that they did something like that to me. It might lead credence to her idea that I am being controlled. …Fuck.
Finally, the Prothean artifact loomed above them in the center of the circular room. The eerily glowing tower was alive with green energy. Shepard felt chills along his spine as he remembered the Prothean beacon on Eden Prime. The green energy had sucked him in and shoved nearly incomprehensible alien images into his brain. He did not want to have a repeat performance. Shepard sent Ashley to search the room for any remaining Cerberus troops. Liara quickly stepped up to the Prothean control panel while Shepard followed cautiously behind.
"Hurry Liara! I've got a bad feeling about this."
The air behind the nervous pair shimmered with artificial light. Shepard's cybernetically enhanced ears twitched as they caught a sound. The sound of a hologram blinking into existence. Shepard had only heard that sound in the SR2 and only in a very special place. Instincts kicked in. Shepard whirled around and raised his pistol to the now fully formed holographic avatar of The Illusive Man. The Illusive man raised an eyebrow at the weapon uselessly pointed at him and greeted Shepard with a straight face.
"Shepard."
Liara quickly mimicked Shepard's reaction as she realized The Illusive Man, or at least his projection, was here.
"Illusive Man" Liara said accusingly.
The Illusive Man ignored the alien and spoke directly at Shepard.
"Fascinating race, the Protheans. They left all of this for humanity to discover, but we squandered it. The Alliance has been in these archives for more than thirty years and what have they done with it? Nothing. No developments for the good of humanity have ever come from this place."
Shepard was annoyed to say the least and stared daggers at the terrorist before him.
"What do you want? We're busy trying to save the galaxy."
The avatar looked at him with pity and then shifted its gaze to the majestic archives.
"What we've always wanted, Shepard. The data in this artifact holds the key to solving the Reaper question."
"The problem is Illusive Man, your solution is to join the Reapers, or at least have your soldiers do so. Your people are turned into monsters."
Shepard was getting antsy. This exchange was taking too long. Where is Ashley?
"Hardly" the Illusive Man interrupted his thoughts. "They are being improved."
"Improved?" Shepard shot back.
He sounds way too much like Saren. I wonder if he's indoctrinated.
The Illusive Man continued, unruffled by Shepard.
"That's what separates us Shepard. Where you see a means to destroy, I see a means of control. To dominate and harness the Reapers' power." Pride entered the Illusive Man's usually neutral voice. "Imagine how strong humanity would be if we controlled them. We could make this galaxy better. The galaxy will greatly benefit from our leadership. Despite our amateur status, we have advanced farther in a shorter amount of time than any other race in the galaxy."
Shepard's eyebrow steadily rose at that.
"Humanity couldn't maintain a stable or unified government on our own planet for millennia. We can't handle the entire galaxy! We need support. We need allies and friends. We need others, nonhumans, to help us or we will fall apart."
"You know nothing Shepard. We are strong. I am humanity; therefore I know what is best for humanity and what we can do."
Liara looked nervously over her shoulder at the console. Something was wrong with it. She turned and began to access the Archives for her much needed data while Shepard continued the discourse with the lunatic leader.
"Earth is under siege and you're hatching yet another scheme to control the Reapers? Humanity's home is under attack!"
The Illusive Man sounded frustrated, as if he was reasoning with a child but he quickly became accusatory.
"You've always been short sighted. Your decision to destroy the Collector base proved that."
Shepard almost screamed at the holographic avatar of the man he hated most in the universe.
"That base was an abomination! Hundreds of thousands of humans were murdered there. Besides, it was far too risky to leave such a large piece of Reaper tech, hell, even a Reaper, lying around. It would have indoctrinated many more people. The base certainly had defenses that we didn't know about. It would have most likely harmed us in the long run."
Holographic smoke billowed forth as the Illusive Man exhaled. They both had further words exchanged; trying to reason with the other but in the end, both remained stubbornly fixed in place.
"Stay out of my way Shepard. You're risking more than your own life here."
Shepard narrowed his eyes at that.
"And what does that mean exactly?"
The Illusive Man smiled and took another drag from his cigarette.
"You have feelings for your former crew. For some, more powerful than others."
A red spark at the very center of Shepard's pupils flashed for a moment when the Illusive Man uttered the concealed threat. Shepard knew who he was talking about. He was threatening Tali. It was no surprise that the Illusive Man knew about their relationship. Miranda certainly kept replacing the bugs that he found on the SR2 faster than he could remove them during the Collector mission.
Shepard quietly but strongly asserted "Careful Illusive Man, those emotions may make me forget about the Reapers and focus my attention on something, or someone, else."
The Illusive Man smirked due to the success his verbal attack on Shepard.
"Not to worry Shepard. As of now, your former crew is irrelevant to my plans."
Shepard took a step forward, two more red sparks lighting his eyes.
Stay back asshole. "As of forever."
Shepard turned away from the holographic display in disgust as the Illusive Man did the same.
"Shepard!"
He quickly joined Liara at the console.
"What?"
"The data!" she moaned. "It's being erased."
Shit! That bastard was stalling the whole time!
Before he said anything else, Shepard pointed his pistol at the still active holographic display the Illusive Man's avatar had occupied moments ago and fired several rounds into it.
Might as well not have him eavesdropping on us.
"How's he doing it?" Liara's eyes zipped through the lines of information streaming along the console as only the Shadow Broker could.
"It's local. Someone's uploading the data from the Archives."
Shepard immediately keyed his radio and contacted Ashley. "Ash, you there?"
"Sure thing Commander."
"There is a Cerberus presence still here. They are stealing the data. Find whoever is doing this now!"
Little did he know, that command was going to nearly cost Ashley her life.