A/N: Not super happy with this, because I don't think I did as much with this chapter as I could have, but I kind of ran out of ideas on how to make it more exciting, so this will just have to do.
Chapter 63 - The Esteemed Jacqueline Nought
The kids are getting better at this shit, but I'm worried. I don't think we've got enough time to pull this off and there's just no way they could really survive out there without way more training. Not without any field experience at all.
Doing my best to get them ready. Didn't think I'd ever care this much. But I won't let anyone hurt them. They're my kids.
MINE.
Shepard places the datapad back on the table in one of the partially ruined and slightly burning study halls. "Well, that's one hell of an instructor," she says. "She sounds slightly demented and utterly dedicated. Should be a fun combination."
EDI picks up the datapad and quickly scans it. "Oddly recognizable pattern of typing," she says a little mysteriously, and Shepard gives her an inquisitive stare. "Oh, do not mind me, Commander. If my assumptions are correct, and there is an 87% chance that they are, we are about to experience a very touching reunion within the next quarter of an hour."
"...EDI, I hate surprises, you know that!" Shepard glares at the AI, who just quietly says something that sounds suspiciously like 'tough' and gracefully moves away. "Anyway, looks like their teacher doesn't quite agree with Sanders about these kids being ready for frontlines."
"Whoever she may be, she is correct," Liara says sternly. "We are not yet so desperate to send our children into battle. And it is up to us to make sure that we never grow that desperate."
"Agreed on that, but perhaps we should move forward, Commander?" James says impatiently. "I can't stand the thought of them loading more of these kids into their shuttles, while we stand around chatting."
"You've got it, James," Morgan nods, knowing that Vega is right. She too hated the feeling of helplessness, watching through bulletproof glass how the Cerberus bastards dragged away a screaming youth no more than sixteen years of age. At least they managed to save another kid and his wounded sister, sending them back to relative safety with the director of this facility, Kahlee Sanders, holding her position in the security command center.
In the next classroom, they watch one of the kids getting brutally shot in the back for merely being a math genius, having no biotic potential at all and thus being useless to Cerberus. The Cerberus squad pay for this transgression dearly. Enraged by the sight, James seems to have undergone a transformation into a vengeful krogan, slaughtering Cerberus troops left and right with reckless abandon and total disregard for his own safety, and Shepard is forced to order him to slow down and regain his already not always dependable common sense.
Some of the Cerberus operatives carry with them files on each student that they have deemed attractive for their nefarious purposes. Several students are listed as high-priority targets, Tim demanding that they are taken alive at all costs. One of such high-priority targets is a student named Prangley, wanted for his top-level biotic abilities and leadership testing scores, making him prime candidate for indoctrination and subsequent long-term infiltration relocation. They don't even bother to hide it anymore, Shepard thinks. Does he actually still believe that these indoctrinated troops will serve him and Cerberus? He's just creating more shock troops for the Reapers in the end, and surely he would see it if he wasn't... hmm, indoctrinated himself? Hmm, I just wonder.
There's also another high-priority target by the name of Rodriguez, considered a vital retrieval subject due to her particularly high aptitude scores. Despite limited biotic ability, she is also considered prime candidate for indoctrination and enhancement under the Phantom initiative. What the hell is a Phantom initiative? Shepard wonders. Probably nothing good. None of the surprises prepared by Cerberus have been particularly enjoyable thus far. Other subjects are to be retrieved alive if possible, but they are to be salvaged even if killed, bodies deemed useful for use as genetic-testing materials.
Eventually they reach the so called Orion Hall, in which the largest group of students together with one of the instructors are trying to put up resistance against the Cerberus forces. As they enter, Shepard sees a very familiar figure glowing with biotics, busy ripping two Cerberus troopers apart with a well placed shockwave. "I guess you were right, EDI," she is forced to acknowledge the simple fact of the AI always being correct. "This is a hell of a surprise..."
"Shepard!" Jack exclaims, turning towards her, equally surprised. "Didn't expect the Queen of the Girl-Scouts to show up, but I'm not going to complain!"
"Hey Jack," Shepard nods. "I see you've finally let your hair down a bit," she chuckles, observing Jack's new hairdo, a patch of hair on top of her head along with a cute ponytail, leaving rest of her head bald. "Also, since when is a bit of tape wrapped around your tits along with a tiny leather jacket considered appropriate uniform for biotic instructors?"
"Ever since I took this post, Shepard," Jack snaps angrily.
"Well, it does look kinda hot," James pipes up, earning a glare from almost everyone present.
"Is that EDI?" the psychotic-biotic asks, looking at the AI's new platform. "Nice body, well done. Now you look like a proper sex-bot, not just simply sex-toy."
"It is good to see you too, Jack," EDI replies pleasantly.
"And that's the blue ass you like to squeeze, Shepard?" Jack turns to Liara, being her customary polite self.
Before Shepard can shut Jack off, Liara replies quickly. "And you would be miss Jacqueline? Jacqueline Nought?" she asks with a scarily sweet smile on her indigo lips. "Does your soul still burn with the fire of darkness?"
Shepard blinks, thinking Liara has gone completely mental, but then sees Jack's mouth flapping wide open in surprise. "Uh... yeah," the human biotic appears strangely humble and confused. "...let's just... forget I said anything, okay?" she manages a weak grin, as Liara for some reason looks victoriously smug.
The touching reunion is interrupted moments later, however, as Cerberus sends in another infiltration squad, this one accompanied by a heavy Atlas mech. "Get to safety, kids!" Jack immediately yells, ordering her students to dash for cover. "This one's a bit out of your league! Shepard... take that thing out, will you?"
Shepard sighs, diving for cover alongside Liara. "Sending a heavy mech to wreak havoc in a school?" she says in frustration, giving the asari a warning look. "Let's try to avoid our Sur'Kesh experiences, shall we?"
Liara looks annoyed at the reminder, patiently waiting in cover until EDI has finished disabling shields of the Atlas. The students launch salvos of biotic attacks at the Cerberus troops, encouraged by the knowledge that the enemy won't fire on them to kill, planning to take them alive. This allows Shepard and her crew to focus solely on the Atlas, their combined weapons fire eventually bringing the thing down, the dead Cerberus pilot falling through the shattered glass of the small cabin and toppling on the ground, the disabled piece of junk collapsing on top of the corpse and squishing it flat.
As soon as the last of the Cerberus troopers falls, Jack walks up to Morgan and before she can blink an eye, slaps her on the face, hard. "How many times did I tell you not to trust Cerberus?" she snaps.
Shepard shakes her head to clear it a little, before answering with the same, a heavy backhanded slap that Jack clearly does not anticipate. "I didn't trust them for a moment," she shrugs in reply. "I kicked them off my ship as soon as we were done with the Collectors, remember?"
"Well, in that case, that was for not letting me play with Miranda," Jack says. "Whatever. Right now, all I care about is getting my guys," she points towards the group of students, watching their exchange in awe, "out of here."
"How the hell did someone figure out it would be a good idea to let you anywhere near kids?" Shepard asks with disbelief.
"I know, right?" Jack laughs. "Someone among the Alliance brass knew I helped you against the Collectors. They offered me this job."
"That's even stranger. Being associated with me shouldn't have made you popular with the Alliance, quite the contrary," Shepard wonders.
"Morgan, considering Anderson's ties with Kahlee Sanders, I'm sure the connection is obvious," Liara points out.
"Dr. T'Soni is most assuredly correct in her assessment," EDI nods.
"Whatever," Jack shrugs. "Don't know how I got talked into this, but I ended up enjoying it... and the students responded well to my teaching style."
The students cheer at hearing their instructor's words. "The psychotic-biotic!" one of them yells. "I will destroy you!" another one adds.
"The positive response in the male students could be attributed to the scarceness of clothing," EDI suggests innocently. "Of course, it is merely a hypothesis."
"I don't remember EDI being such a smartass," Jack grumbles. "Anyway, I suggest you get me and my guys off this station, because I doubt that Cerberus are going to quit before they have captured all of them."
"Yeah, agreed. And I doubt they're going to run out of shock troops anytime soon," Shepard admits unhappily. "Any idea of the crew numbers on a Cerberus cruiser of this size?" she asks Liara.
"Up to eight hundred," Liara replies, James whistling and shaking his head upon hearing the answer. "Now you see why The Illusive Man is so very upset with me, Morgan," she adds with a wink.
"And why I adore you so much," Morgan grins back, amused at the way Jack makes gagging noises from observing their exchange. "Shame we don't have anything to overload with explosives and plunge into that cruiser... I'm rather too fond of the Normandy and the people onboard to suggest that!"
"I would have to protest in strongest possible terms," EDI says.
"Anyway, considering that cruiser and the fighters are back holding the blockade, we can no longer escape in the Normandy's shuttle. Cortez has already returned to the ship," Shepard starts to explain the plan, getting rudely interrupted by Jack.
"So, your heroic attempt to help us amounted to... getting stuck together with us on the Academy?" the psychotic-biotic snarls. "That's just fu... frigging brilliant."
"Eh?" Shepard blinks, surprised at Jack's strange aversion to her once favorite word. "Anyway, worry not, you of little faith. We're going to escape, and we will do so using a Cerberus shuttle, thus making sure they do not fire upon us. All we need to do is to clear our way to the docking bay and seize control of a shuttle. Piece of cake, yes?"
"Yee-haw!" James cheers with glee, piloting the stolen Atlas mech, snatched from a pair of Cerberus engineers prepping it for their own use. "Can we take this toy with us when we leave, Lola?" he shouts, cheerfully launching another rocket at the hapless Cerberus troops, trying to hide between makeshift barricades without much success. The mass accelerator canon rips through one Cerberus squad after another, the surprised foes late in realizing that the mech is no longer piloted by one of theirs.
"Doubt we'll have room for it in the shuttle," Morgan replies, carefully following James together with her squad, slowly carving their way to the shuttle bay. "Unless you're volunteering to be left behind?" Jack and all of the rescued students are staying at the back, keeping safe distance, Shepard advising the cautious approach, remembering Vega's shuttle piloting abilities.
"The shuttle bay is directly ahead of us, Shepard," EDI informs them. "I am detecting a large Cerberus presence in the area. Comm chatter confirms desperate demands for immediate reinforcements."
"It's nice to know we're making them miserable," Shepard chuckles grimly, looking ahead at James and his Atlas. "LT, you reckon that toy of yours can take much more?" she asks, noticing the cracked glass in front of the pilot's cabin and partly damaged armor plating.
"No idea, Commander, but I'm not getting out of it now, I can see the shuttles from here, and... oh, damn," he suddenly swears. "Those hijos de puta have their own Atlas... this is going to be rough."
"Focus on that, James!" Shepard shouts, watching dozens and dozens of Cerberus troops bursting out of the loaded docking bays, right into the path of their firing line and biotic attacks, having nowhere to hide, the only option to head back to their shuttles and discover what The Illusive Man does with deserters.
James forces the Atlas to crank out everything that it has left, ripping into the enemy mech as soon as it appears in the firing line, but despite suffering a great deal of punishment, the opposing mech still receives the chance to retaliate. As Shepard sees the incoming rocket barrage, she instinctively pulls Liara closer to her, ignoring the asari's swearing as Morgan interrupts her concentration. The rocket takes out the legs from under James' Atlas, and the remains of the heavy mech topple forward, crashing against the ground, Shepard hoping that by some miracle James has remained unhurt.
Fortunately, Jack has made the right call of judgment by leading her biotic students to aid them now, and with their support, the remaining Cerberus forces are whittled down quickly, few falling back to the shuttle bays for cover, taking some potshots now and then, desperate for more reinforcements.
"They'll just keep sending more and more troops," Liara exclaims. "We have a brief window to escape now, let's make the best of it!"
"Agreed, but we need to help James," Shepard says, trying to push the Cerberus mech over, but predictably failing to do so, until a smirking Jack gives her a hand with a simple biotic lift. James is very much alive in the pilot's seat, immediately unfastening the straps and trying to climb out through the hole in the broken glass, Shepard and EDI each grabbing one of his arms and pulling him through.
"That hurt," Vega says, as they lower him on the floor, noticing that his legs are a bleeding mess, armor impaled with countless metal splinters from the blast. "Can we do it again?" he then grins broadly, despite obviously being in pain.
"EDI would you do the honors again?" Shepard looks at her, and the synthetic AI picks up the heavily armed Lieutenant Vega. "You're getting good at carrying the wounded and the unconscious."
"I imagine EDI is already filing a complaint about your gross misuse of her potential," Liara smirks as they swiftly walk towards the nearest shuttle, occasionally having to provide some suppressive fire to discourage the remaining Cerberus soldiers from trying anything.
"So you want to carry him, Liara?" Shepard chuckles, seeing Liara vehemently shaking her head, and James nodding just as enthusiastically.
"On the other hand, I'm quite happy with the current arrangement," the asari says, laying down a singularity field just around the corner of the shuttle bay they are heading to, pulling a not particularly clever Cerberus trooper into it, and Jack immediately rips the indoctrinated bastard apart with her biotics.
"Alright, everyone into the shuttle!" Shepard shouts, together with Liara remaining outside the shuttle and watching EDI carry James inside, followed by the students, Kahlee Sanders and finally Jack, before Morgan quickly hurries to take her place in the pilot's seat, Liara dropping in next to her. "Joker, do you copy?" she hurriedly calls out on the comms. "We're leaving on a Cerberus shuttle. Don't blow us out of the sky, alright?"
"Right, got it," she hears Joker's voice. "Have you on the sensors. Should be just a minute... uh-oh..."
"Uh-oh? What do you mean, uh-oh?" Shepard asks nervously.
"Fighters breaking off and heading to intercept," Joker says hurriedly. "Looks like your little plan isn't fooling them, Commander."
"But we are a completely trustworthy and not at all suspicious Cerberus shuttle trying to sneak away from the facility," Morgan sighs. "A commonly used maneuver by Cerberus forces, I'm sure!" He is right, this was kind of a stupid plan. Then again, I'm not sure we had a lot of alternatives, short of killing all of the Cerberus forces, and I doubt we could last that war of attrition.
Joker manages a strained laugh. "Sounds like one of your plans, Commander. But despair not, cavalry is nearly there."
"Actually wasn't my plan this time," Shepard throws a quick glance at Sanders, then back to the consoles, watching the fighters quickly approaching.
"Got them in visual range," Liara exclaims nervously, tugging on her arm. Fortunately, the Normandy appears at the same time, the blue beam of the GARDIAN laser incinerating two of the fighters, but the third one manages to fire a few shots upon them, Shepard doing all she can to change their flight path in unpredictable ways, which mostly makes her look like she is flying under influence.
"Whatever happened to that 'capture alive at any cost' policy," Morgan complains, as the fighter's attacks just barely miss them. Then, the Normandy's weapons activate again, and the last fighter is no more, Joker quickly pulling up close and letting them dock, knowing that more Cerberus fighters are on the way.
"Should be safe now, Commander. Good luck catching us," Joker chuckles. "Oh yeah, good to have you onboard Jack. Say, now that you're military, you gonna wear uniform? Or are you just getting the officer's bars tattooed on?"
"Screw you, fu... f-flight lieutenant," Jack replies angrily.
"...eh... heh, what the... what the hell was that?" Shepard can mentally picture Joker rolling his eyes at Jack's tame retort.
"Jack agreed to watch her language in order to maintain the necessary professionalism we require from our teachers," Sanders explains politely.
Shepard chuckles inwardly at that, but Joker is predictably having a field day with this revelation. "Does she have s swear jar or something?" he laughs. "I bet if we would open that thing, we could afford another dreadnaught, or at least a cruiser."
"Alright, cover your ears kids," Jack tells her grinning students. "Hey, Joker! F-"