Chapter 41 - Secrets of the Mars Archives
"Damn that frigging storm," Shepard curses, trying desperately to reach both James and the Normandy on the comms, without success.
"I don't think that airlock should be open," Liara points at the open entrance in front of them as they make a daring journey across the rooftops in order to gain ground on the Cerberus forces, rushing towards the archives.
"Doesn't look like it was forced open," Kaidan states, having briefly examined the doorway.
They enter through the airlock to find themselves in a wide hall that Liara recognizes as cafeteria, sinking in darkness. They switch on their flashlights, the concentrated rays of light immediately revealing a gruesome sight, close to dozen scientists and Alliance guards lying dead in positions that suggest a highly uncomfortable and distressing demise. "Someone overrode the security protocols and vented the room, killing these people," Liara says. "This is brutal even for Cerberus standards."
"There are no depths of depravity that Tim and his merry bunch won't sink to, Liara," Shepard reminds her.
"How well did you know these people?" Kaidan quietly asks Liara.
"I recognized a few by their names, but not any better than that," the asari explains. "I mostly spent time all by myself, researching, trying to find all I can to help us."
"Yeah, that sounds like the shy, loner archeologist Liara I remember from way back," Shepard chuckles.
"At least I have something to show for all my efforts," Liara says, as they reach the station with the sabotaged environmental controls and swiftly enable them, pressurizing the room. "Good. This can also enable access to the labs, and the tram station behind them."
"Hey, there's a recording of what happened here," Kaidan suddenly says, bringing up the relevant vid on the screen before them. It shows one of the scientists, a dark-haired woman with looks slightly reminiscent of Miranda, walking up to this security post and ruthlessly executing the two guards whose corpses they had just carefully stepped over. Further on, the recording shows the mysterious woman overriding the security locks and without any hesitation, killing everyone inside the cafeteria. "Well, that explains it... they did have inside help, as I suspected," Alenko concludes.
"Dr. Eva Core..." Liara speaks, clenching her fists tightly. "Damn it. She was a recent arrival. There was something... odd about her. I should have investigated, but I just... dismissed it, concentrating only on the Reapers."
"I don't think anyone can fault you for doing that, Liara," Shepard says, putting her hand on the asari's shoulder as she turns away, upset.
"The Commander is right," Kaidan agrees. "Don't beat yourself up about it."
"You do realize that I could be wrong about this Prothean device?" Liara asks, still sounding distressed. "I only think that it can defeat the Reapers. Nobody has actually ever built or used it..."
"Why didn't the Protheans use it if they had the blueprints for it?" Kaidan asks.
"It appears that they simply ran out of time to complete it," Liara replies. "When they developed these plans, the Reaper invasion had already been in progress for over hundred years, and the Protheans were greatly weakened, with limited resources. Just like with the Conduit on Ilos, they probably knew that it was their legacy for the next cycle."
"Liara, that's actually a pretty reasonable explanation and I'm not a scientist," Shepard squeezes her shoulder encouragingly. "If the Protheans weren't sure that the weapon would work, they would not have left the information about it to the next cycle. There's no reason why you should believe that you are leading us all down the wrong path, Liara."
The asari turns around, looking at Shepard curiously. "Did you just... defeat me with logic?" she asks, a little stunned.
"It was easy. You were broody and depressive and not thinking straight," Morgan smiles softly. "But even if I could not find logical arguments why you shouldn't doubt yourself, I would still believe in you, Liara. Trusting you is just something I do without thinking."
Liara smiles, before allowing Shepard to embrace her, briefly resting her head against Morgan's chest. "Then that will be enough for me too," she says. "I will doubt myself no more."
"We have access to the labs," Kaidan tells them, having tinkered with the controls for a bit more. "Shall we go kill some more Cerberus?"
"You got it, Alenko," Shepard grins, releasing the now smiling Liara. "They won't know what hit them..."
Pushing past heavy Cerberus resistance in the labs, Shepard and her small team finally reach the tram station. "I was in the labs when the attack came," Liara says grimly, thinking back at the bodies of the dead scientists inside, the last look on their frozen faces that of shock and surprise. "A small miracle that I managed to hide and escape before they killed everyone. Oh, Morgan, if you could only see the Prothean treasure troves stored in these archives! And they only just managed to scratch the surface."
"I'm still a bit baffled that humanity has had access to such resources for who knows how many years and hardly anyone seems aware of it," Shepard wonders. "I don't suppose you knew about this, Major?"
"What? No, I didn't," Kaidan shakes his head, pointing ahead. "There's the tram station right in front of us. Hopefully we can override the lockdown at the security post."
"Going to be hard to catch Cerberus if we can't," Shepard reluctantly admits as they push on, towards the last pocket of resistance, a squad of Cerberus troopers and centurions holed up in the security station. Unfortunately for them, their cover proves woefully inadequate against Liara and Kaidan's biotics, pulling them out of their entrenched positions and making them easy pickings for Shepard's rifle.
"Alright," Shepard motions towards Liara, pointing at the security station controls. "Try to override the lockdown. We need that tram."
Liara fiddles with the console for a bit, before giving up. "This isn't going to work. The archives are on a separate network, we're completely locked out."
"Damn it," Shepard swears. "I doubt they will just send a tram over if we ask them nicely?"
"Well, actually... maybe they will," Kaidan suddenly speaks up. "They still think they have teams over on this side, right?" Shepard nods, slowly starting to understand his plan. "If one of these guys has a short-range helmet to helmet communicator, we could try to convince them that the Alliance teams have been taken care of."
"And they would send a tram to pick us up... good thinking, Kaidan," Liara smiles.
"Yeah, that's not a bad plan," Shepard admits.
"Let's see if we can find something," Kaidan turns away to start examining the dead Cerberus soldiers. "Looks like this one has a transmitter in his helmet. Let me just take this... oh shit!" he suddenly backs away from the corpse, forcing Shepard to step closer to take a look at what has suddenly disturbed the Major so badly.
"What the fuck..." she blinks, staring down in the face of the dead Cerberus trooper. The pupil-less eyes still glow in electric blue, the skin of his face is dark, covered with cracks, bruises, looking like decomposed in places, pale blue glow shining through the cracks underneath his eyes. "He looks like a... husk!"
"Cerberus would do this to their own people?" Kaidan asks.
"Why are you so surprised? You saw their experiments with the husks three years ago. This is exactly the kind of thing that The Illusive Man would do," Shepard replies. "Probably some kind of new modified implants, upgrades. They do seem a bit tougher to take down than the ones we fought previously."
"So, did they do something similar to you, Shepard?"
"Do I look like a frigging husk to you, Kaidan?" she snaps back quickly.
"No, but... they rebuilt you. I've heard you are full of Cerberus implants, Shepard," Kaidan explains, keeping his voice low, sensing that she is becoming incensed. "What if they have done something to you that you don't even know about yourself?"
Shepard feels a shudder of doubt quickly passing through her, forcing her to turn away from the Major. "You're right in that I can't know it myself, Kaidan. There's only what I can feel, and I feel that I am myself. But yes, there are times when I doubt that, too," she quietly admits. "If I cannot completely convince myself, then how could I possibly convince you, Kaidan? Why are you asking me for words of reassurance, if you know that words alone won't change anything?"
"I'm sorry, Commander," Kaidan appears apologetic, finally realizing how upsetting his constant questioning must be for her. "It's just that... it would be nice to know that the person I followed to hell and back is still in there... somewhere."
Shepard feels Liara taking a place at her side and wrapping a hand around her waist, giving Kaidan a fierce stare. "She's still with us, Kaidan," she says, passion burning her every word. "And I will follow her to hell and back again, if needed. And I hope you will, too."
"Alright... I think that's enough of that. Kaidan, you had a plan, let's get back to it. Get that transmitter and work your charm on them," Shepard finally says, briefly turning towards the asari at her side. "Thanks, Liara," she whispers with a soft smile.
"So..." Shepard stares thoughtfully at the highly familiar looking artifact placed in the middle of the archive compound. The battle to reach it has been fierce, but finally they have made it all the way to their goal, no more obstacles between them and the knowledge crucial to save the galaxy. "It's an actual Prothean beacon. Yeah, it's not like mentioning something like that would be important!"
"Such knowledge in the wrong hands could be disastrous," Kaidan says, also looking at the Prothean beacon with a degree of hesitation, remembering his first experiences back on Eden Prime.
"Let's not waste any time and get what we're after," Liara suggests urgently, pointing at the computer consoles in front of the beacon, then quickly hurrying there with Shepard in tow, Kaidan slowly circling around the beacon, making sure the perimeter is secure.
However, when Liara attempts to access the data, the screen in front of her shimmers, revealing an image of an old and hated foe. "Shepard," the holographic image of The Illusive Man speaks, drawing a smoke from his seemingly ever-lit cigarette. "Fascinating race, the Protheans. They left all this for us to discover and we've squandered it."
"Can you get rid of this idiot and resume downloading the data?" Shepard turns to Liara.
The asari turns back to the consoles and tries a few things, but to no effect. "Something is locking me out, Shepard, I can't seem to get through," she admits.
"You have an annoying habit of ignoring me, Shepard," Tim speaks. "I have made certain that you will not do so again."
"Should have figured you to be a little, sensitive attention-whore, Timmy," Shepard smirks, deciding to humor her old employer. "Something you wanted to tell me? Be quick about it."
"You might be surprised, but I still want the same thing as you do, Shepard," The Illusive Man says. "The data stored in this archive holds the key to solving the Reaper threat."
"Really? I guess those part-husks of yours I killed back there were also a part of that solution," Shepard remarks.
"Where you see monsters, Shepard, I see improvement, advancement of humanity," Tim lectures her. "Where you see means to destroy, I see a way to control, to dominate and harness the Reaper's power!"
"Still nothing, Liara?" Shepard asks impatiently. "I'm getting bored of this brainwashed shit."
"This block is something local... Kaidan, can you spot something? Someone at the other computer hubs?" Liara calls out over the comms.
"Got her!" Kaidan reports back a moment later. "Come out of there with your hands raised! Slowly!" they can hear him bark out orders. "It's that Dr. Core... I think she has been downloading the dat-..." suddenly, the voice turns into a pained groan and fades.
"Shepard! She's got the data!" Liara shouts, spotting the figure of Dr. Core on the opposite side of the archives, rushing for the exit as fast as possible. Liara is up and running in seconds, Morgan rushing after her.
"Sorry to cut this short again, Timmy!" she shouts, dashing after the Cerberus spy, noticing Alenko back on his feet, also hot in pursuit.
Dr. Core is irritatingly fast and agile, and catching her proves to be a highly difficult task. She reaches a ladder leading up to the rooftops and nimbly climbs it, Shepard managing to nick her a couple times with her rifle before she reaches the top of the ladder, but her shields hold easily, making Shepard exclaim a string of expletives before she rushes after the Cerberus spy.
Once on the roof, Dr. Core receives support from a Cerberus shuttle looking to pick her up, two troopers taking potshots at Shepard and her friends as they chase after their target. Liara's singularity hits the shuttle and drags the hapless troopers out of it, they flail uselessly in the air for a bit, before falling to their deaths in a deep ridge below. "Your biotics just turn me on so bad, babe," Shepard grins at Liara wickedly, stopping to take another shot at Dr. Core, only managing to graze her shields a bit more.
"James! James, do you copy?" she shouts into the comms, fearing that the spy will manage to find a shuttle and take off before they have caught up with her. "James, Cerberus have the data! Raise the Normandy, get your ass over here, just don't let them escape!" she shouts through the crackle of static on the comms, trying to pierce the distortions caused by the storm.
"Okay, James..." Lieutenant Vega tells himself, sitting in the Kodiak shuttle parked on the roof of the archives. "Try to think of something totally unsexy. Concentrate..." Let's see, something ugly... hanar in the nude... no, they're always in the nude. Okay, that works... that works. Volus outside their enviro-suits... damn, I wonder how they even look? Probably grotesque. Or maybe vorcha, now those guys are ugly.
For a while his imagination manages to maintain the images of disturbing looking aliens, but slowly and irreversibly, the image of vorcha before him duplicates and grabs the other vorcha, their forms slowly shifting into two slender, feminine figures, a human and an asari, tightly pressed against each other in a heated kiss. "Oh damn it!" Vega exclaims in frustration. "Shepard, I hate you, I hate you so much! Normandy better have vast reserves of cold cerveja." No wonder she wasn't interested in hitting on me back on Earth, with such a perfect ass waiting for her.
Suddenly, there is all sorts of commotion on the comms, he can't make out the exact words Shepard is yelling at him, but as he sees a Cerberus shuttle suddenly arriving, hovering in the air and its doors sliding open, James realizes that something has gone wrong, quickly bringing the Kodiak up in the air. There is a dark-haired woman, running like mad towards the Cerberus shuttle, with Shepard, the asari and Major hot in pursuit, but they have no chance of catching her.
As the woman jumps into the Cerberus shuttle and it starts to take off, finally the comms clear a bit for him to hear Shepard's voice. "James! Normandy! Anybody! Don't let them get away!"
The Kodiak's firepower is inadequate to quickly bring down another moving target. There is only one way to salvage this mission, and Lt. James Vega is aware of it. This won't be another fuckup just like Fehl Prime, he mentally braces himself, guiding the Kodiak towards the Cerberus shuttle, not ramming it head on but glancing it on the side enough to send it spiraling out of control, at the same time fighting hard to keep his Kodiak under control.
The Cerberus craft is unable to maintain its altitude and it crashes back on the roof of the archives, going up in flames as it explodes upon impact, hitting the ground frighteningly close to where Shepard and her group were standing just moments ago. As James brings the Kodiak in for landing next to the burning wreck, he quietly hopes he has not just contributed to the death of another of his commanding officers.
Shepard is back on her feet before Vega even lands the Kodiak. She looks at Kaidan, but he gives her a quick nod to indicate he is fine. Liara is much slower getting off the ground, but seems more stunned than actually injured, at least Shepard is relieved not to see blood anywhere. The Cerberus shuttle is overtaken by flames, anyone inside more than certainly dead, and Shepard allows herself to relax a little, assured the data will shortly be theirs.
She steps over to the Kodiak, watching James get out of the shuttle. "Not exactly what I meant, James, but you got the job done," she nods at the grinning Lieutenant.
Behind them, Kaidan is busy helping Liara up, the asari struggling against his efforts. "We need to secure the data," she insists, turning back towards the Cerberus shuttle.
Suddenly, with a loud crash, the doors of the Cerberus vessel are thrown off their hinges and a blackened figure of what remains of Dr. Eva Core emerges from the fire. Damn it, she's a synthetic! That explains everything! Shepard realizes, drawing her heavy pistol.
Kaidan pushes Liara aside despite her struggles and steps in Dr. Eva's way, raising his weapon and managing to fire a few shots, before the agile synthetic reaches him, grabbing him by the throat and then holding him hanging suspended in the air, like a shield between herself and the rest of Shepard's group. Effortlessly, she suddenly crashes Kaidan against the carcass of the shuttle, Major's body going limp from the first terrible blow, but the synthetic manages to follow it up with two more whacks before first shots fired by Morgan and James reach her. Dr. Eva tosses Kaidan's badly injured body aside and charges towards them, but the spray of bullets drop her a few yards away from reaching Shepard.
"Kaidan!" she exclaims, running towards her fallen squadmate, mind numb with worry. "Gods, don't you dare to die on me now. Not while you're still pissed off at me," she mutters at herself, dropping on her knees next to him. Alenko is unconscious, but alive, though she dares not to think for how long. "James, we need to get him out of here!"
"Normandy is en route, Commander!" James yells back at her, running closer to pick up Kaidan's limp body. "The comms are back up, at least for the moment!"
"Good, good," she nods, looking at Liara, hunched over the disabled synthetic. "She must have the downloaded data on her," Shepard says. Liara looks up at her and nods. "Okay, let's grab her too." Liara is still clutching her chest and grimacing in pain, so Shepard throws the former Dr. Core over her shoulder and leads Liara back towards the shuttle, James following them, carrying the injured Kaidan.
They are inside the shuttle, waiting for James to close the doors when Liara pulls on Morgan's hand, pointing at something outside. In the thick of the storm, they can see dark shapes slowly descending from the sky, tall and menacing. "Commander, we need to get out of here fast, I'm reading Reaper signatures in the orbit!" Joker urgently shouts on the comms.
"No shit... they are already landing at the base," Shepard replies, gritting her teeth. "Take us out of here, Joker. I've had about enough of this place..."