Sorry it took so long in-between chapters. I got totally blocked on the plot, but now we're back and there should be more regular updates.
Shepard let out a long sigh as the mission details were projected on the holographic display in the middle of the Normandy's briefing room. "So, we're pirates now?"
"If you would pay attention a moment longer," Miranda drawled, "You'll see that this is no ordinary military freighter we're attacking. As you know all too well, the batarians have been in contact with significant amounts of Reaper technology. Cerberus believes this ship is carrying an example of that technology and we're going to retrieve it from them."
Her eyes narrowed. "Retrieve it? We should be blowing whatever that thing is straight to hell. I've seen what prolonged exposure to Reaper tech does to people."
"And when you were the commanding officer of the Normandy, that was your call to make. Now, it's the Illusive Man's orders that we follow, and he believes that we need to study the Reaper's technology if we're going to defeat them."
"Just think of it as gathering intel," Jacob told her, trying to play the conciliator.
She snorted. "Yeah, intel that could brainwash everyone who comes into contact with it."
"Don't be ridiculous, Commander. We will be taking every proper precaution." Operative Rooker sounded genuinely offended by Shepard's concerns. The brunette was a true believer, highly intelligent but utterly myopic when it came to Cerberus and its leader.
"I'm sure the Alliance researchers on the Project Base thought they were taking precautions too, but hey, it's your show. So, how are we going to do this, Captain Lawson?" She locked onto the operative's eyes as she asked the question, trying to get a better read on her. In spite of her loyalty to Cerberus, Miranda had a brain of her own and Shepard hoped that this recovery of dangerous Reaper technology made her uneasy too.
It was hard to get a good sense of what she was thinking though; Miranda had an excellent poker face, and as she finished her briefing, Shepard could only hope. Hope that Miranda would come around. Hope that the mission wouldn't be too horrible. And most of all, hope that Liara would get to Jack sooner rather than later.
"So, this is Shanxi." Ashley ran her fingers through her hair, taking in a deep breath of the warm air.
Tali joined the marine on the curb, straining under the weight of all the equipment she'd packed for the mission. "Seems pretty nice to me."
"I know," the marine agreed. "It's kind of a letdown."
"A letdown?", Liara was checking her omni-tool as she joined the two of them. "What do you mean?"
"It's like… this place is such a big part of Earth's history, especially for my family. Now I get here and it's just like every other prefab colony spaceport in the Alliance."
"Did you expect something different?", Liara asked.
"Not really. I mean, I knew it didn't still look like a battlefield. I guess I didn't give it much thought though."
"I think I understand," Tali said, a wistful note appearing in her voice. "All quarians dream of going back to Rannoch someday. Keelah saleh, we say. 'By the homeworld that I hope to see again.' Sometimes, though, I wonder if we'd be disappointed. Would it really look that different than all the other planets I've been to?"
Ashley put her hand on Tali's shoulder. "It'll be your home. That's what will make it special." She couldn't imagine what it must have been like for her friend's people when they lost Rannoch to the Geth. It was inconceivable imagining that happening to Earth, humanity's homeworld being overrun by invaders, the people forced to flee to the stars…
The sight of a blue skycar pulling up to the curb shook her out of her thoughts. The doors popped open and from the driver's seat, Garrus flashed them that turian pseudo-smile of his. "Hop in, ladies." Ashley climbed in the front seat next to him, while Liara and Tali got in the back. "All right," he asked, "Where are we headed?"
Liara resumed checking her omni-tool. "That is what I've been working on. I don't have anyone inside Cerberus' operations here, but a base needs supplies and I've been able to track the deliveries coming from their front companies to this planet. The bulk of them have been going to an estate approximately 15 kilometers northeast of the colony's main settlement. According to official records, it's just a relatively modest house, if one built on a sizeable piece of land, but based on the materials Cerberus has been sending there, that's only what's on the surface. Underground, there's a much more extensive facility, which is probably where Jack is being held."
Ashley nodded. "Okay, then. So we've just got a hidden underground base to storm and presumably a small army of Cerberus troopers to take out. Back on the Normandy, we called that 'Tuesday.'"
Garrus laughed. "True enough. The only problem is, if we go in guns blazing, there's a pretty good chance they put a bullet in Jack before we can get close to her."
"Maybe." Liara closed her omni-tool. "But they probably wouldn't do it as a first resort. The Illusive Man needs her alive to use as leverage against Shepard, to say nothing of her unborn child, which was the purpose of their twisted experiments in the first place. They'd only kill Jack if they were convinced we were definitely going to rescue her."
"So, they can see us coming as long as they think we're going to fail?", Tali asked.
"Sounds about right," Ashley agreed.
"We'll need to survey the site," Garrus pointed out, "And hopefully find a way into Cerberus' computer systems too. I have a few thought on how we might do this, but it's going to be tricky."
"I agree," Liara nodded. "But we shouldn't take too long. Goddess only knows what they're doing to Shepard while we make our plans."
Shepard tensed as she stared at the airlock in front of her. Going into combat always got her blood racing, but doing it alongside people she didn't trust was far more nerve-wracking than usual. The Normandy had disabled the batarian freighter easily enough, but this assault might prove to be somewhat trickier. They had to secure the Reaper technology, avoid getting indoctrinated, and, she hoped, not kill too many people while they were doing it.
Operative Rooker stepped away from the hatch and as she closed up her omni-tool's cracking program, the gears in the door whirred to life. As soon as there was a large enough crack, Jacob tossed a grenade through it and a second later, the roar of an explosion was followed by the screams of the batarian soldiers who'd been waiting for them.
The airlock opened the rest of the way, and the Cerberus squad stormed out, quickly crushing the disorganized batarian resistance. Shepard took advantage of the ease of the fight to get a first read on the combat skills of her new "team." A soldier always needed to know the people she fought with, but that went double when there was a chance she was going to have to take them down herself.
Rooker wasn't much of a fighter, preferring to hang back and let her combat drones do the heavy lifting, which made her the complete opposite of Broderick. Clad in his heavy combat armor, the man was almost as large as Wrex, but though he was a devastating force in close combat with his shotgun and omni-blade, she could also see he was reckless. It was the tall, lithe blonde, Callis, that she found the most dangerous of the newcomers. Even though she was a biotic, she didn't over-relay on her powers, instead letting them complement her deadly aim with her heavy pistol.
Miranda and Jacob displayed their usual efficiency as well, and it wasn't long before the docking bay was emptied of resistance. "We're clear," Callis noted flatly, putting a bullet in the head of the last batarian as he lay bleeding from an earlier gun shot to the leg.
"Very good." If the cold-blooded execution bothered Miranda, her voice gave no sign of it. "All right, Broderick and Jacob, you take the bridge. Callis, you and Rooker secure the engines. We disabled them, but the batarians are probably effecting repairs. We don't want them to get moving again." Or blow up the ship with us still on-board, the commander added to herself. "Shepard, you and I will retrieve the Reaper artifact from the hold."
She was sure Miranda had paired them off so that she could keep an eye on her, but the commander didn't mind. Shepard didn't want anyone near that whatever the hell the artifact was without her there to keep an eye on the situation. The last thing she needed was someone else ending up indoctrinated and trying to kill them all. The three teams split up and headed for their respective targets without further comment and once more, Shepard missed her real crew. Cerberus had little use for banter.
The lights were flickering on and off as they stalked through the corridors of the damaged ship. She and Miranda hadn't met any additional resistance thus far, and Shepard decided she could spare the attention for a little conversation with her former XO. "What Callis did back there wasn't right."
Miranda turned her head, raising a skeptical eyebrow. "I hadn't realized you had such a soft spot for the batarians, commander, especially considering your history with them."
"I don't. God knows they've done their share of bad shit. But that doesn't mean it's okay to kill their wounded in cold blood." She tried to keep the anger out of her voice. Miranda was a proud woman, and if Shepard attacked her too strongly, it would just get her hackles up. Shepard had to get her to see for herself how fucked up all of this was, not try and browbeat her into submission.
Before answering, Miranda stopped in front of a reinforced door and activated the cracking program on her omni-tool. While it ran, she turned back to the Spectre. "Did you really think we were going to leave witnesses here, Shepard? Humanity's relations with the batarians are complicated enough without us being blamed for attacking one of their military transports."
Shepard's heart sunk down into her stomach. Miranda was right; she should have seen this coming. The commander kept wanting to minimize how bad working with Cerberus was going to be, but that was foolish. They were a bunch of murderous terrorists; being their accomplice wasn't going to leave her with clean hands.
The door slid open, and the two women immediately spun away from the burst of gunfire that sprayed out of the entrance. They took cover on opposite sides of the doorframe, and when the shooting stopped, Shepard stole a quick glance inside the cargo hold. There were two batarians with heavy assault rifles there, guarding several stacks of metal shipping containers.
"That's it. Run and hide, you hairy scum," one of them growled.
"Cover me," Shepard barked, and the operative leaned over far enough to hurl a biotic blast into the room. The batarians dove away from the attack, but Shepard followed it in, rolling up into a crouch and firing a burst into one of their heads. The batarian's body fell to the ground, and while his comrade pulled himself up to face her, Miranda stepped forward and dropped him with a series of well-aimed shots from her pistol.
Shepard gave her a brief nod of acknowledgement. She may not have liked the operative very much, but she did know her business. Miranda returned the gesture before turning her attention to the containers, surveying the numbers stamped on their outsides before settling on one near the right edge of the stack.
Miranda shook her head. "Ridiculous. There's no real security on this. They probably would've ended up indoctrinated before the voyage was over if we hadn't gotten here first."
"As opposed to ending up dead."
Ignoring her jab, Miranda reached into the pack she was wearing and took out a small metal cube which she affixed to the outside of the crate. The device flickered on and an instant later, a blue glow sprung up around the box. "There. These shields should effectively block any harmful effects from whatever's in there, at least until we can secure it more fully in the Normandy's science lab."
Shepard shrugged. "I hope so. Now let's get this thing out of here."
The crate had handles on it, and she took hold of one side while Miranda grabbed the other. It was quite heavy, but even as she grunted with the effort of lifting , her attention was drawn back to the two batarian corpses laying on the deck. Their blood was soaking into the stacks of boxes behind them, and all the commander could think was; What am I letting these bastard do? What are they turning me into?