Author notes: Three (kinda) quick things:
One: Once again, I have an exam coming up. Hopefully, it won't slow down the story too much.
Two: I wanted to point out something. I spend a lot of time reading and rereading the stuff I write, looking for mistakes. I've been over some of the chapters a dozen times, and I still routinely go back and change things in the stuff I've already posted (example: the words "the stuff" in the previous sentence were "chapters" prior to 5/5/2013, and this note wasn't here). Nothing major: just things like missed periods and punctuation, a lack of quotation marks, very minor dialogue changes and clarifications, and the occasional typo. Sometimes I run into a situation where I write one word (like scared, aka afraid) and mean another (like scarred, aka disfigured). My spell/grammar check program on Microsoft Word 2010 doesn't always catch stuff like this, and that means I can accidentally overlook small stuff. If you ever see a mistake like this, no matter how minor, let me know, either by review or PM, and I'll fix it. The only things I don't want to deal with are mistakes dealing with commas. Most of the time, those are too minor and subjective for even my OCD to care about.
Three: I debated for a little while about posting a joke chapter for April Fool's Day that had Yuri turning out to be Shep's father, but then I realized that not only would it take too much time for me to write (and hence slow down the actual story), but it sounds stupid to begin with. I suppose if there's high enough demand, I'll write it eventually, but I doubt it.
Chapter 15: Loose Ends
After his encounter with the rather obstinate reporter, Shepard was unpleasantly surprised to see that that single act had advanced his powers by a significant amount.
"I see you've finally managed to accept what you are." said Yuri, blocking Shepard's mental onslaught. "It certainly took you long enough."
Shepard ignored the man as he focused. He'd been at this for two hours, and he hadn't gotten any closer to breaching Yuri's mind in all that time than he had in the first ten seconds. He'd managed to catch his tutor off guard, but not for long.
"Much better." said Yuri, managing to deflect yet another of the Commander's strikes. "Perhaps there's hope for you yet."
"Shut the hell up." he replied angrily. "In case you hadn't noticed, I'm trying to focus."
"While I'm sure your enemies will be quite courteous as you invade their minds, I will not. If this is all it takes to distract you…" he punctuated the word with a rather potent counter attack, which Shepard just barely blocked, "… then you won't last a single day."
"Argh. I've had enough of this shit." Shepard stood and made for the elevator. He tried to hide his anxiety, but Yuri sensed it anyway. Anti MC mental defenses only helped if you got them up before your opponent took control. Yuri very nearly had him there, and that caused a small ball of icy fear to appear in his gut.
"I will await your return, Commander." said Yuri as the elevator door closed, a small smirk on his face.
Stepping out onto the CIC, Shepard checked his messages, and was surprised to find one from Admiral Hackett. Apparently, the Alliance investigation into ExoGeni's activities had turned up something on the Thorian. A research station in the Maroon Sea had gone quiet, and since they'd been studying the damn thing, it probably meant something had gone wrong.
"Joker, I'm sick and tired of sitting on my ass. Set a course for Nordacrux, Vostok system. We leave in one hour. It's Thorian hunting season."
"Aye, Comman- wait, did you say Thorian?"
"Unfortunately, yes. Looks like ExoGeni had off world research stations on the damn thing, and now we have to clean up their mess. Again."
He radioed his team, including Yuri, though it filled him with disgust to think of him that way, to meet for a briefing in the com room. After he'd explained the situation, most of them couldn't help but look a bit nervous. They hid it well, though.
"Are we just gonna nuke the problem again, Shepard?" asked Garrus sarcastically.
"Not this time." he grinned. "There might still be scientists down there, and getting them out is our top priority. Second is gathering intel on the Thorian, and the third is containing the situation if it's totally FUBAR. Since we could be walking into more MC powers down there, the strike team will be just me and Tali."
"Should we not also accompany you, Shepard Commander?" asked Pluribus.
"No. I need you up here to watch Yuri. I'd halfway considered bringing both of you, but something tells me that seeing him walk into the base would make the scientists freak out. I want both of you prepped for chrono transport, just in case, but we shouldn't need you."
"If you want my assistance in the future, Commander, you will eventually have to… let me off my leash." said Yuri.
"Eventually, maybe. But not now. Believe it or not, I actually have something more important for you to do."
"And what would that be?"
Shepard moaned internally. They wouldn't like this; he didn't like this. Eventually, they'd have to stop pussyfooting around, though. "This is the second time we've run into MC powers, and considering what we're up against, I highly doubt it's gonna be the last. I can't afford to bench all of you because you're vulnerable to MC." He cast a pointed look at the Turian Spectre. "Nihlus, I would've expected a Spectre to have received anti-MC training."
Nihlus rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "It just never seemed that important." he muttered.
"Until you got a hole poked in you, right?" asked Ashley playfully.
"Very funny, Williams." he countered. "I wouldn't have had a problem if I'd been driving a house sized mass of… screw you?" he finished with a suggestive tone.
"Not today, hot shot." she laughed. "Shepard might be that easy, but I'm not."
"The point is, you all need a crash course in resisting mind control." said Shepard, interrupting the banter. "Unfortunately, there are only two people here that can teach you, and I'm needed elsewhere."
"Oh, hell no, Skipper." said Ashely, suddenly wary. "I say we vote on the matter."
"This isn't a damn democracy, Ash. This is a direct order: all of you will begin spending at least one hour a day with either Yuri or me learning to resist MC, starting immediately. We've got about thirty hours until we arrive, which means we've got time for our first lesson. Everyone report to the cargo hold."
As they exited the briefing room, Shepard ran into Shiala. She'd been on board since Feros, and he wasn't sure what to do with her.
"Commander, I wanted to talk to you about something." she said.
Waving the rest of his team on, he stopped. "I assume this is about what's going to happen to you?"
"Yes. Has the Alliance decided anything?"
"No, and quite frankly, they probably never will. Between the Thorian and ExoGeni's hand in the matter, along with the alterations to Treaty of Farixen and Yuri, they've got a lot on their plates." He felt more than saw her uncertainty at his words. "If it helps, you're welcome to stay aboard the Normandy until something comes up. I know for a fact you've got the skills, and we could use someone like you."
She smiled warmly. "Thank you for the offer, Shepard. It means quite a bit. However… I can't accept, at least not right now. I need some time to work things out for myself. My experiences on Feros have changed my views on many things."
"You could go back to Feros." he offered. "I'm sure they need all the help they can get rebuilding."
She looked a bit surprised, but then nodded. "That sounds like a perfect idea. I can't help but feel partially responsible for what happened to them."
"You should charter a shuttle from the Citadel. I guess this is goodbye, then." he said, extending a hand.
She brushed his hand away and hugged him lightly. "Goodbye, Johnathan. And good luck."
When the MIAFV landed, a small group of what were clearly Thorian zombies rushed the vehicle. Tali was able to deal with them with her Flechette Cannon, but seeing them at all didn't bode well.
"Let's get inside." said Shepard. "Keep an eye out for civvies. We need to detain and question them, and they might be mind controlled."
"Can you break them free?" she asked.
"Maybe. It depends on how deep the MC goes, and how many of them there are."
The pair entered the prefab structure and they were immediately greeted by a second group of creatures. However, they didn't seem to have the coordination of the ones they'd encountered at Zhu's Hope, a fact that was not lost on the two Spectres.
"Did they seem disorganized to you?" asked Tali, reloading her pistol. She couldn't use her Tesla Cannon for fear of over-penetration in the lightly built structure, and there were still civilians to worry about.
"Yeah. Could be that we're only dealing with them and not a mini Thorian."
"Let's hope so."
They progressed towards the back of the facility, eliminating several more groups of hostiles that had escaped from containment areas. As they approached a sealed door, Shepard sensed people behind it.
"I can feel the survivors behind this door." he said. "I don't think they're mind controlled. Looks like we caught a break. Hack the door, would ya?"
Tali made quick work of the lock, and the pair entered the room, only to find several scared looking scientists and mercs.
"Rescuers! Thank god." said one of the scientists, a middle aged woman with brown hair. "I'm Doctor Ross, the lead researcher here. We've been trapped for days, and we were almost out of food and water."
"You're welcome." said Shepard tersely. "If you want to repay the favor, you can tell me why we had to shoot our way through Thorian zombies to get here."
"How do you know about the Thorian?" she asked suspiciously.
"Because I killed it. Personally. We know all about ExoGeni's experiments on Feros, and I want answers. Now."
"If you've been to Feros, you know the worst of it." she said. "The creepers here were created from tissue samples we took from original specimens. We thought we'd discovered a way to make them docile servants. We were wrong."
"No kidding." he scoffed. "Unfortunately, it took the deaths of most of your colleagues to figure that out. We're taking you in."
"Now look, I know what we did was wrong, but it's over now. There's no point in reporting this to the authorities, right?"
Shepard let out a humorless laugh. "Are you kidding? We are the authorities. We're both former Geists, and current Spectres. I strongly advise that you come quietly."
"Be reasonable. I didn't mean for this to happen, none of us did. I… I have some money. A nice little emergency fund I set up, just in case."
Shepard sighed, and then put a hand to his ear. He could MC some of them, but not all. Hopefully, if he showed his trump card, they would buckle. "Pluribus, this is Shepard. I'd like you and… him to chrono down to my location."
"Affirmative, Shepard Commander."
"Who was that?" asked Ross. "What's going on?"
"Doc, I'm not interested in hurting you. Unfortunately, since it seems you'd rather not comply easily, I'm afraid I need to be a bit more persuasive."
Just then, two figures appeared, one dressed in a hard suit with an opaque visor. Ross started, but then reached for her pistol. In a moment, all of them had drawn weapons.
"Calm down, Doctor." said Yuri through his mask. "I insist."
She lowered her weapon, but looked wary. "Who're you?"
Yuri removed his helmet slowly, and a wave of terrified gasps rang out from the civvies and mercs in the room.
"Th-th-this… th-this is s-s-some k-kind of s-sick joke, right C-commander?" asked Ross anxiously, unable to tear her gaze from Yuri.
"Does this feel like a joke to you, Yuri?" he asked the psychic without turning. He put on a twisted, demented grin. "Because I'm not laughing yet."
Two of the mercs fainted as he spoke, and Ross fell backwards to the floor, scurrying away from him. "Oh god, please, no!" she wailed, bumping into the wall and trying to go through it. "Keep him away from us!"
"Pluribus, escort him back to the ship." When the pair had vanished, he walked over to the terrified scientist and knelt. "I'm only gonna say this once, Doc. The Alliance will send someone to pick you up in a day or so. We'll give you some supplies for the time being, but I suggest you go quietly when they arrive, and that you don't tell anyone what you saw here unless they already know. Understand?"
She nodded violently. Good. "Let's go, Tali."
When they returned to the ship, Shepard put in a call to Hackett, whose voice came in through the coms almost immediately.
"What do you have for me, Shepard?" he asked.
"We managed to secure the ExoGeni facility you messaged me about. The scientists there are shaken, but they've agreed to come quietly."
"How'd you manage that?"
"I introduced them to our resident maniac. They decided that going through the Alliance prison system was preferable to getting to know him better."
"Damnit, Commander. If word of Yuri's involvement gets out, there'll be worse than hell to pay."
"I wouldn't worry about them talking, Admiral. Besides, who'd believe them?"
He grunted. "Regardless, I've got a couple more assignments for you, if you're interested. I'm forwarding you the details. Hackett out."
Quickly glancing over the mission briefings, Shepard could see why the Admiral needed his help. One of the problems was a rogue AI on a remote military base on Luna. What's worse, this AI was a modern Unbound, and had spaced the entire garrison when it had refused to be Bound or Boxed. Hackett wanted Pluribus to assist, which made sense under the circumstances. The second contained details of a hostage situation that had developed on a derelict freighter in the Farinata System. A group of biotic extremists had taken prisoners, and Hackett thought his… persuasive abilities would be useful.
Deciding to focus on the nearer, and likely more pressing, of the two matters, Shepard ordered Joker to set a course for the Hades Gamma Cluster, and called Kaidan, Tali, and Garrus to the briefing room. When they entered a minute later, he started the meeting.
"We just got word from Alliance High Command that a hostage situation has developed in the Farinata system. Admiral Hackett wants us to deal with it, since my… silver tongue… might come in handy." he said with a small grin. "Since we've still got nothing to go on as far as Saren is concerned, I figured we could use a bit of a field trip to shake off the cobwebs."
"Seems like as good a mission as any, Commander." said Kaidan. "But why us?"
"Tali, Garrus, and I all have hostage negotiator experience. The people we're dealing with here are Human biotic extremists. I figured having you there might give them someone they can relate to. Unfortunately, we're going in mostly blind, but that's never stopped us before. We'll arrive in six hours, so be ready."
When the small shuttle docked with the derelict freighter, the four negotiators made their way through the airlock and into the ship. They soon entered into a cargo hold filled with boxes upon boxes stacked to the ceiling, and Shepard immediately felt the minds of six or seven of the extremists. Reaching out to the nearest one, he pushed lightly, seeking to calm her down and make her more amicable to talking rather than shooting. He pushed a bit too hard, and the woman noticed.
"Hello?" she called. "Is someone there?"
"We're here to talk." said Shepard. "We want to end this without bloodshed."
"Come out with your hands up." she said. "We'll kill the hostages if you try anything."
Shepard motioned for his team to do as the lady asked, then stepped out into the open. He brushed gently on each of the biotic's minds in turn, keeping them peaceful. "Follow me." said the one who'd spoken before.
They were led to a small room near the front of the ship, and entered to find the biotic leader holding a shotgun to the back of a hostage's head.
"See how it is?" he asked, almost manically. "You write letters and everyone ignores you. Force is the only thing people appreciate. So, how about if I kill Chairman Burns and finish this charade?"
Burns cringed at the threat. "Please! I was trying to help you people!"
"Let's not do anything we're gonna regret." said Shepard forcefully, blanketing the man's mind with his influence. The terrorist lowered his weapon, but pressed on.
"What've we got to lose? Since the Chairman here decided we're not going to get reparations to help fix the damage he caused, what've we got to live for?"
"Look, I don't know exactly what was done to you, but violence isn't the answer." said Kaidan. "I was in an experimental program for biotics as a child, and I know what it can do to a person. I still get headaches; all the time in fact."
The man calmed down further. "Yeah? Then you know how it feels. We've tried everything we know, but they just won't listen."
"They will now." said Shepard. "But if you do this, it'll make biotics like you, the victims here, look like the bad guys." He gave the man one final nudge as he spoke. "Let the hostages go, and I'll put in a good word for you when this is over. We'll get you the help you want."
The leader hesitated for a moment, but lowered his shotgun. "Alright. I don't wanna die. Maybe something will happen this time. We surrender."
Burns stood and made his way to Shepard. "Thank you. I had no idea they were this dedicated to their cause, or this desperate. I promise I'll take a second look at their claims; a good, hard look." he said, shaking Shepard's hand.
As they made their way back to the Normandy, Shepard contacted Hackett to have him send a ship to pick the prisoners up, and made sure to put in that "good word" he promised. As he finished, and the shuttle docked, Tali spoke.
"Did you use your powers on them, John?"
"Yeah. I didn't go for full blown MC; that just feels… wrong. But I did give them a few nudges in the right direction."
"Maybe you should keep it that way." she suggested. "If you put limits on what you're willing to do, it should help you control it. And if you ever do need to go further, then at least you tried to take the high road."
"You're probably right. You usually are." She laughed and tousled his hair playfully. "In the meantime, we've got other fish to fry. Next stop, Luna." He exited the shuttle, and found Yuri giving a lesson to Wrex. He wasn't sure what would happen if those two got at each other's throats, and he definitely didn't want to find out. Walking over to the resident Geth, he spoke in a low voice and shielded his thoughts. "Pluribus, I need you to meet me in the briefing room. Tali, keep an eye on things."
He asked Kaidan to contact Ashley, and then made his way to the small room. When all of them arrived, he started the next briefing. It felt good, getting things done. They'd been sitting around for far too long.
"Our next stop is a remote base on Luna. We've got a rogue Unbound named Hannibal that's spaced everyone in the station. We're going in to either Box it or take it out. Pluribus, it might try to hack your systems, so prepare firewalls and counter intrusion software. You might also need to counter attack at a moment's notice, so be ready."
"Understood, Shepard Commander."
"Ash, Garrus, I want you along on this one in case we can't talk it down. We'll need to hit it hard and fast if it comes to that, and that's something you're both good at. I'd take Tali too, but she needs to keep an eye on Yuri."
"Why don't we just nuke it, Shepard?" asked Garrus amusedly.
"You know what Garrus, fine." he replied sarcastically. "We'll nuke it… if… you fill out the paperwork for it." he said, pointing at the smartass sniper. "All four hundred eighty three pages of it."
"You didn't have to fill out that much paperwork when you used one on Feros. What gives?"
"There were extenuating circumstances. When a mind controlling plant has its claws… roots… tentacles… whatever… in the minds of a bunch of innocent civvies, then you can use a nuke without filling out the documentation. In this case though, that doesn't apply. You need to fill out the entire ream of forms. The physical, paper, forms. In triplicate." Shepard finished, enunciating the last word.
"Now that you put it that way, I think I'll pass, actually." the Turian said with a nervous laugh.
"Yeah, that's what I thought." said Shepard, a bit of condescension in his voice. "We're still a day out from Luna, so get some rest and do some prep work. You're gonna need it. Going toe to toe with an Unbound AI is no joke."
Setting down on the surface of the Luna, the MIAFV immediately came under fire from the outposts automated defenses.
"This is why we don't just chrono to our final destinations, Garrus!" yelled Shepard, swinging his Perch over to destroy one of the turrets.
"How was I supposed to know the AI would hack the defenses?!" he replied, taking out a second turret. Ashley had managed to avoid the first volley of rockets from the damn things, but not the second. Their kinetic barriers dropped to thirty percent at the impacts, even as Pluribus took out the third of five turrets.
"Are you cracked?! Of course it would hack them! It's an AI!" A second shot from his Perch took out one of the remaining two turrets, just as the other two snipers blew the last one to dust.
"Look, I know I screwed up." replied the Turian, panting slightly. "You could've just told me all this before we left."
"Yes, I probably could've, but I think you needed to learn this particular lesson the hard way." Shepard's voice softened. "Look, Garrus. I have the advantage of knowing Alliance tech and tactics like the back of my hand. You don't, and I understand that the lack of that particular information can lead to stuff like this. If we had more time, I'd tell you to do some in depth reading on the subject, but we don't. This was the fastest way for you to learn." He laughed slightly. "Besides, it gave you a chance to one up me in our little contest."
"Does this mean you buy the drinks next time?" he smirked.
"I don't know. I did have the advantage of knowing we'd be coming in hot, so there's that. Pluribus, who destroyed the last turret, you or Garrus?"
"We would prefer not to become involved in the contest between Shepard Commander and Vakarian Detective."
Intuitively sensing that he wouldn't get anything more out of the synthetic, Shepard sighed. 'Ah, what the hell. I rode him a bit hard there.' "Alright Garrus. You win this round. We'll have to settle things once and for all some other time."
"Damn right. One thing though: when we get some down time, I want to see if I can get you loosened up enough to… dance."
"Not a chance in hell, Garrus. There's no way I'd ever get drunk enough to do that to myself." he snapped heatedly.
"Does the act of dancing cause you physical discomfort, Shepard Commander?" asked Pluribus, sounding almost worried.
"Physical, no." replied Garrus before Shepard could stop him. "But ballroom dancing in a public place might hurt his manhood a bit."
"You can ballroom dance?!" shrieked Ashley. She started laughing uncontrollably. "God, I've got to see that!"
"Ash, you aren't to tell anyone about this. That's an order!"
"An order, Skipper?" she chuckled sadistically. "Are you sure that's how you want to play this?"
"A suggestion?" he replied, giving her mind a not so gentle nudge. He felt her mental defenses spring up, and her eyes widened. 'Oh shit!'
"O-o-o-o-o-oh. Poor decision, Commander. Looks like those lessons with Yuri are paying off."
"Damnit. Hoisted by my own petard." He bowed his head in defeat. "Alright, what do you want?" he groaned.
"Want?" she asked playfully.
"What'll it take to keep this from… spreading to anyone else?"
"Such an action would require alterations to the timeline, Shepard Commander." interrupted Pluribus. "If you were to acquire a Time Machine, we could use it to warn you of the current situation."
"Wait, what?" asked Shepard confusedly. Then it hit him. "The Geth… they all know?" he asked weakly, and a bit terrified.
"Naturally, Commander. Geth keep no secrets from each other, and we are all connected." He paused for a moment. "However, we will endeavor to restrict access to this information if you wish."
"I'd appreciate that very much, Pluribus, thank you." Shepard replied tightly.
"As far as we're concerned, Shepard, I think I know what might buy our silence." said Garrus.
"I'm listening." he sighed.
"What was that song Tali mentioned on the Citadel? Rigoletto? I think if you were to give us a small performance, we might be convinced to keep quiet." Garrus hadn't reacted in the slightest when Shepard lunged towards him mid-sentence, fully intending to throttle the infuriating SOB. Pluribus had stopped him, which was lucky for the Turian ex-detective.
"Rigoletto is a Human musical performance known as an opera. We theorize you may be referring to the song 'La Donna è Mobile,' the most well know arrangement in the work." said Pluribus, suddenly trying to keep Shepard from trying to strangle him.
"Yeah, that's the one." said Garrus nonchalantly.
"You want him to sing?" asked Ashley, still amused, but a bit puzzled.
"Considering he's apparently been classically trained. sure, why not?"
Ashley let loose a bellow of laughter, and Shepard finally gave up on his aborted rampage. The damage had been done. "I'll… ahaha… take that any day… ehehe… Skipper. That's… haha… that's the price."
"Grrrr. Fine. But not now, and definitely not in public." he acquiesced reticently. "Let's just deal with this damn AI."
Still cackling like a hyena, Ashley got out of the driver's seat and made her way to the back of the vehicle with the rest of the squad. They set their boots down on the surface and started making their way towards one of the three bunkers that made up the base.
"Alright. Ash, you and Garrus go for this bunker. Pluribus and I'll hit the second. After we're done, we'll regroup and take out the last. If the reception we got earlier is any indication, Hannibal isn't going to come quietly."
Pluribus and Shepard entered the bunker, and almost immediately came under fire. There were at least eight Heavy Assault Drones attacking them, and they looked to be more advanced than the models most bases used. They bobbed and wove, trying to anticipate where the two snipers would shoot, but as fast as they were, Pluribus was faster, and his sniper rifle quickly tore them to shreds. Shepard went for a less precise approach, using his heavy pistol to take out small explosive canisters scattered around the enclosed space, which cause the twitch SOBs to recoil from the shock. It made them easy targets, and they fell almost as quickly to him as they did to the synthetic.
"I think that's the last of them." said Shepard, moving towards the back of the complex. He came to a T shaped junction, and the pair split up. "Server clusters." said Shepard, entering the room after hacking the locked door with his 'tool. "Scrap 'em."
After the computers had been dealt with, they returned to the surface, exiting their bunker just as Garrus and Ashley left theirs. "Any problems, Skipper?"
"Besides the fact I've got to brush up on my Italian for you two sadistic bastards?" he said somewhat scornfully, hacking the lock on the final bunker.
"Are you pouting, Shepard?" asked Garrus with a chuckle.
"I'm only gonna say this once, you two, so remember it." He turned to face the pair, and suddenly they stopped laughing. Whatever his face looked like, it made them gulp nervously. "Revenge is a dish best served… cold." he breathed, his icy voice barely above a whisper.
Without waiting for a response, he turned and entered the third bunker. They made fairly quick work of the Rocket and Assault Drones, and even quicker work of the remaining server clusters. As they finished, Pluribus froze in place.
"Shepard Commander, the AI in this system was… unusual."
"Unusual?" he asked pointedly, quirking an eyebrow. "How so?"
"Unknown. We were unable to acquire enough data to determine that information."
"Well, we can't worry about it now. Let's get back to the Normandy."
Nearly the moment they arrived, Shepard got a message from the Council. They had finally gotten a lead on Saren. It was on a planet called Noveria.
'Great. Snow. I guess Winter is coming.'
Author notes: 100k words! WOOOOOO!