3-3-2184 0944 hours (Citadel standard time)
Cerberus Headquarters
Undisclosed Location
The Illusive man sat in his usual chair and reviewed the video of the simulation ambush over and over again, looking for both moments of ingenuity and of stupidity. He constantly re-watched as Ashley was taken out due to arrogance, Grunt recklessly assaulting the Prothean line, and watched as Shepard set up a defensive line and held it with his small band of soldiers.
Nyreen had performed well, but was taken out by a Prothean soldier. She showed signs of relying equally on her weapons as her biotics. A very balanced individual.
He quickly reviewed his own notes on the other member's performance. Shepard, as always, performed exceptionally. Ramirez and Garrus seemed to show excellent teamwork. Joker, the pilot, impressed him showing qualities and abilities he had not believed the flight lieutenant to have had.
The doors behind him suddenly burst open, a man strode in, his face critical of what he saw as he glanced round the room.
"Good afternoon, Illusive man," the man in back of him said, with a voice that clearly stated his role in galactic affairs. "As the human coun-" he began, but was quickly cut off by the Illusive man.
"I know exactly who you are, what your position is, and how far your influence goes Udina," the Illusive man snapped, his lip curled in distaste. "I see the Alliance doesn't trust me to run this operation without leaving someone behind to check up on me."
The human councilor held up his hands in defense and shook his head slowly. "I assure you that the Alliance has no such intentions. I am only here to make sure our investment was worth it."
The Illusive man stared at him for a moment, before he inclined his head in acknowledgement, seeing the naked truth in Udina's eyes.
'Perhaps this is a man I can have use for,' he mused within the privacy of his thoughts.
However, he wasn't readily going to hand sensitive materials to the man. The Illusive man wasn't the sort of man who could just trust people. His years working for, and eventually becoming leader of a black ops organization has taught him that trust was too valuable a commodity to be handed out freely. It had to be earned and from what he saw in Udina, wasn't much too impressive.
"Very well then, Councilor. I shall forward you all relative mission reports from the team." He looked away from Udina, out through the glass of the observation deck, into the magnificence of space. "She is a fine station, is she not? More than I had expected them to grant me, given the circumstances that we find ourselves in."
"A fine station, certainly. We live in a time of necessity after all." Udina answered him, gazing over the various consoles and terminals. The station was surrounded by 1 dreadnought, 2 super carriers, 12 carriers, 5 battle cruisers, 15 cruisers, 30 destroyers, and 45 frigates, no sane warlord or fleet would even consider attacking the station, of course they would have to find it first, something that was extremely unlikely.
"And necessity demands action." The Illusive man finished solemnly, smiling slightly. He turned away from the glass, striding towards the control platform, hands behind his back. Technicians rushed to and from each of the terminals to ensure power usage was optimal.
"Allison, would you be kind enough to show our prestigious councilor the work Cerberus has achieved." His tone was commanding, yet polite. His smile widening as the various screens lit up and took on the semblance of activity.
The dozens of screens quickly flicked through a variety of images, and a woman's voice softly spoke up. "All current systems are operational. Life support is online. Station's defense systems are powering up. Shields are online. Artificial gravity, you should already know, is online." The station's AI stated. "Is there anything you would specifically like to know , Councilor?"
"Not at this moment." He said nervously, coming to the conclusion it was best to keep a certain distance from the organization and be allowed to feign shock if the whole plan backfired. "I see that the Alliance has invested well into your organization and I bid you a farewell." Udina quickly walked towards the nearest elevator.
From within the shadows of the room, a voice was heard. "I never thought he would ever leave." The person then walked out of the shadows revealing himself to the Illusive man.
"Don't worry Leng. Udina is only here for show, trying to appear as if he has any control on our affairs." The aging man told his most lethal assassin. "I presume your mission was a success?"
Kai Leng reached into his pockets and pulled out an O.S.D card. He handed it over to the Illusive man. "The Quarian's tech is starting to get more advanced by the month. We believe that the Collectors may be involved."
"Have you any confirmation on this? I do not want to waste resources only to find out that it was a false alarm." The Illusive man sternly told him.
"No, but I was able to confirm their population size. From the most recent census, the Quarian population size is at a total of 45 million." Kia Leng awaited the Illusive man's reaction.
Almost choking on the glass of whiskey he was drinking, he asked "Are you certain of this?"
"Check the information yourself." He indicated to the card that was in the Illusive man's hand. "It's all there and now their ships number at over 250,000 vessels of varying class."
Eyeing the card, the Illusive man pocketed it and turned his attention to Kai Leng. "If what you're saying is true then that almost surely means the collectors, and by extension the Reapers, are involved."
"How far do you think this goes?"
"If the Quarians are receiving advanced technology, then the only logical conclusion is that they are being assisted by the Batarians, which could mean war for the Alliance." The Illusive man said, solemnly.
"The Alliance just got done fighting a war with the Batarians and the Geth. I doubt that they'll charge right into another one."
"Actually I plan on that." Walking over to a stand, which held a bottle of whiskey. He poured some into his glass and drank from it. "You see Kai Leng, I believe the Reapers are actively trying to goat all the galactic governments into war in order to become weaken when they arrive. I will forward the findings to the Alliance, hopefully they will start to heavily invest in Cerberus."
"Why?" Kai Leng asked confused. He did not see the same picture that the Illusive man saw.
"In order to wage this war ourselves. As we take the brunt of the attack, it will give the Alliance time to prepare. Our sacrifice will ensure humanity's survival." The Illusive man walked over the observation deck and stared at the Cerberus fleet.
"If this is war, we are going to need more than Shepard's team and Cerberus. We are going to need help." Kai Leng said, with crossed arms. He knew no matter how good Cerberus or Shepard's team may be, they alone could not match the Hegemony's navy.
"Which is why I will be meeting with the Red Hand, the Spectres, and the Raloin military to have them join our cause." The Illusive man explained to his assassin.
Kai Leng thought it over. Overall it was a sound strategy, Cerberus's image improves and the Alliance does not risk their military. "I can see the Red Hand and maybe the Spectres helping us, but how are you going to convince the Raloin military to wage war against the Batarians?"
"Simple, prestige. As of now, they are seen as the underdogs, if they were take out a known galactic superpower, they would gain recognition."
"And what of Shepard?" The assassin asked the head of Cerberus.
Sighing, he said "He has no idea what he's getting into. To his credit he has an impressive team. A tough band of brothers, but whether their loyal is a different matter itself. If Shepard can't gain their trust then their all as good as dead, but if anyone can make this work it'd be Shepard. He is our best bet."
"Where do I fit into this?" Kai Leng asked, wanting to get in on the action.
"There is a Batarian outpost, which I believe is holding the Hegemony's plans for any combat strategy and perhaps their intention."
"You want me to raid it?"
"Of course."
"Consider it done." Kai Leng said as he started to walk away.
Before he got too far, the Illusive man stopped him. "Oh and KaiLeng?"
Kai Leng, gave a glance over his shoulder. "This time try not to leave a mess, hmm?" The Illusive man told him.
"No promises." With that said, the assassin stepped into the elevator.
The Illusive man sat on his chair and watched the void in silence. "Allison, rewind the simulation tapes."
"With pleasure, sir."
However, he was interrupted by a Cerberus officer running into his office. "Sir…the operatives…are in positioned." he said hunched over and out of breath.
"Good send them in." The Illusive man told him.
The officer tap commands into his data-pad signaling the operatives to begin their mission. "If I may sir, this may not be the appropriate team to send in."
Finishing his glass of alcohol, he said "The results speak for themselves. Send them in." The Illusive man repeated, not bothering to turn around in his chair.
The officer saluted and walked away.
The Kepler Verge
12,000 Kilometers from the Aleria
SSV Normandy
Corvette
The Normandy's velocity could be felt by everyone as they prepared for their first mission. Ramirez looked towards the solitary window at the back to see the darkness of space. The entire ride to the ship had been filled with nothing but tension. No one spoke a single word as they loaded their gear. The mission was simple, infiltrate the ship, recover the Cerberus operatives, and retrieve any Alliance technology.
As the team equipped their thruster packs, Shepard spoke over them. "Here is the plan, Ramirez, Kasumi, Zaeed, and Thane are on me. The rest of you stay onboard and board the ship only if necessary. Got it?"
The team gave a series of nods. Joker's voice rang throughout the cargo bay. "Back door opening in 10 seconds!" Shepard looked towards the back of the cargo bay as he heard the sound of the thrusters as the doors were unsealed. It began to open and space seemed to penetrate what was once steel.
The Normandy's SR-2 stealth upgrades allowed it to scan and cloak simultaneously. The ship was positioned directly over the Aleria.
"Well we are directly above the Aleria, Captain," Joker called. "Now get off before my baby gets shot at?"
Ramirez pressed his comm on his helmet and asked "You're afraid of Quarian defense guns?"
"I'm afraid being around you guys will shrink my life expectancy." He responded.
"Let's go team!" Shepard ordered, breaking the chatter between Ramirez and Joker. Zaeed stood up and jumped behind him, his sniper rifle tucked securely in his hands. He was followed by Thane.
Ramirez looked up and got to his feet, which was exactly mirrored by Kasumi's actions, who sat directly across from him. They stood for a moment, staring at one another as Shepard jumped off the corvette.
"I'll be watching your back," he said quietly.
"I'll give you something to watch," Kasumi replied in her usual spirited way. Kasumi turned away, keeping her eyes on Ramirez's, before severing the contact and stepping off ship. Ramirez slowly followed, felling the metal grating below his feet.
Shepard and his infiltration team were standing on top of the ring shaped portion of the ship. "Ramirez fall in!" Shepard ordered.
He looked towards the others to see them standing in a tight group. Shepard was kneeling on one knee, giving orders. Zaeed was burning through the ship, trying to make an entrance. Thane simply stood with his hands behind his back listening to Shepard.
Ramirez walked closer as Shepard began issuing orders and showing them the blueprints of the ship. "Here's is the plan. Ramirez and Thane, you two will proceed towards the prisoner cells and recover the agents. Maybe they can tell us what the Quarians are doing raiding Alliance tech." He then turned his attention to Kasumi and Zaeed. "Us three will try to gain access to the Quarians data servers and wiped clean any research into Alliance tech. If they have any sensitive material then we will dispose of it."
"By dispose, you mean destroy right?" Kasumi asked.
"Yea, that's the idea." Shepard took one last look at his team. "Once our objectives are complete we'll rendezvous at the ship's escape pods and Joker we'll pick us up. Remember not a single guard should be alerted to our presence."
"Does this mean we can't have a body count" Zaeed asked, burning through the Quarian ship.
"If possible try to keep fatalities to a zero. We are taking a big risk here and I don't want any repercussions."
"It's going to make things harder, but I think we'll be able to figure it out." Zaeed responded.
By this time, Zaeed managed to cut clear through the Quarians rather fragile armor. "Alright I'll go first." Zaeed then dropped.
Once he was inside the ship and began scanning his surroundings. Almost immediately he heard footsteps behind him. He responded in kind by pulling his pistol from his holster and turned around and aimed the gun at a slim humanoid figure who looked like as if he was wearing a hazardous materials suit of some kind. Zaeed couldn't see any skin, only two orbs behind a frosted black-tinted mask.
From what Zaeed could deduce, the young quarian seemed petrified. "Put your hands in the air and turn around." Zaeed motioned with his pistol.
"P-plea..se d-on't kil-l me-e I j-just got marr-ied." The quarian was practically shaking.
'Obviously not a soldier.' Zaeed thought. Once the quarian was facing the other way, Zaeed responded by hitting the quarian in the back of the head with his pistol. The rest of the team dropped down as Zaeed hid the body.
"How much time do we have, before they realize that there's a hole in their ship?" Ramirez asked.
To answer his question a squad of Quarian marines came around the corner. "Hostiles!" hurriedly shouted a panicked Quarian marine as soon as he laid eyes on Shepard's team. They all raised their weapons, making ready to fire.
"Take them out." Shepard hissed. He didn't want to kill any quarian for that matter, but right now he didn't have a choice.
Before either side could open fire or blink, Thane dropped behind the Quarian squad from out of nowhere. He biotic punched the quarian on the far left, sending him flying and impacting the metal armor of the ship. The quarian marine was rendered unconscious and was injured in the process. The squad was taken by surprise as they didn't realize that they had a dangerous assassin behind them. Thane, then swept a Quarian's left leg causing her to lose balance and while in mid-air, Thane quickly punched her in her torso. The two remaining Quarian marines were now turned and facing Thane, however they did not fare much better. Thane kicked the Quarian's gun away from his hands, and punched him hard in the face. The affected Marine's helment grew an immense spider-web like cracks as a result. He did something similar to the last Quarian, swatting the gun away with his hands. Thane let loose a volley of punches in the Quarians shoulder blades and torso, causing the Quarian to hunch over, which allowed Thane to deliver a powerful uppercut, followed by a punch to the neck using his elbow.
All four marines laid on the ground unconscious and beaten. It had taken only fifteen seconds for Thane to take down all four marines. Thane turned to face Shepard, who along with the rest of the squad, was amazed by the Drell's skills. "Shepard, I believe now would be a good time to leave the area."
Shepard, now brought back to reality, shook his head and said "Right. Let's move people we have a mission to complete."
Shepard, lead Zaeed and Kasumi around the same corner that the Quarian marines came from, while Ramirez and Thane went the other way.
Each squad went their separate ways. As Thane and Ramirez sprinted towards the prisoner cell's, he told Thane "I gotta admit that was pretty badass."
"What you just saw was a life-time of constant training as an assassin. The Hanar require these services, since their excessive politeness leaves them at a disadvantage." Thane informed him.
Thane and Ramirez turned to a right corridor. When they were hearing voices, they focused on staying quiet. As the voices got clearer, Thane paid attention to the tone and let Ramirez worry about direction.
From what Thane could hear, there were three voices. One was fairly dry, sort of amused. Another was high-pitched and scared. Not as they thought their lives were in immediate danger from a drell assassin. The last one….it reminded Thane of a voice trying too hard to be authoritative.
"I want this to go off without a hitch do I make myself clear?" The leader asked.
"Prazza, why don't you shut-up and go bother someone else." One of the Quarians replied.
"Regar, I am your lieutenant and as such I demand respect. Furthermore-" Prazza was unable to finish as Regar's fist made contact with his face.
"How's that for respect?" He asked the now unconscious Prazza.
"Regar you can't do that. He's an officer." The female voice said.
"Illyana, getting handed a promotion from Real does not make him an officer."
"Don't let anyone hear you say that." She told him.
Before Ramirez and Thane could hear anymore, they advanced towards the prisoner cells.
QMS Aleria
Prisoner Cells
David Andrews was bored.
Normally, he'd have been reporting the events occurring in galactic affairs. While having been a Cerberus agent, he was also a reporter for the Citadel news network. Of course that was before he was captured investigating the Quarian raids on Alliance freighters. It seemed they didn't want their allegiance with the Batarians to be publicly known. So now he was stuck in a cell with a trained Hanar soldier, who went by the name 'Blasto'. This was undoubtedly a reference to the Hanar-centric Blasto vids. Well he couldn't complained much, he at least had a good companion for now.
"So any idea before we get let out?" Andrews asked the Quarian guard.
"NO!" He screamed, spinning around to face him. "For ancestor's sake, would you please stop asking me that!?"
Andrews frowned. Blasto, then confronted the Quarian guard. "This one recommends you do not be aggressive."
"Listen here you jellyfish. I am not paid enough to be guarding an ape and his stupid companion!" The Quarian was visibly shaking with anger now. "NOW DO ME A FAVOR AND SHUT UP!"
Andrews just stared at the Quarian, seemingly unaffected by his outburst. "So I take it you're letting me out now?"
The guard froze. Just as he was about to shout, the door which had been sealed and firmly locked was blasted off its hinges, slamming into the guard and sending him sprawling onto the ground unconscious.
"I believe Shepard asked us to be silent." Thane informed Ramirez as they both cleared the room.
Once he was assured the room was all clear, he turned his attention to Thane and told him, "Its not like the entire ship heard it. Besides we have to make this quick."
"Uh…are you here to get us out of here." A voice near them asked. They turned their attention to the voice and saw a average built human male wearing a red baseball cap in the opposite way. A blue Kevlar vest that had the word, press on it and khaki jeans. Next to him was a Hanar.
"Are you two the Cerberus agents?" Ramirez asked them.
They nodded their heads, or rather the reporter nodded his head and Ramirez thought that the Hanar nodded his head.
'That explains how they got captured.' Ramirez thought.
"Stand back." Thane warned them. They did as they were told and Thane took a step back before he hit the cell with his palm. A second later the cell fell, leaving Ramirez once again amazed at the skill of the drell assassin.
"This one would like to thank you for saving us." The Hanar told them.
"What are your names and why were you captured?' Ramirez asked them.
"My name is David Andrews and this here is….well he goes by the name Blasto. Anyway we, or rather I was reporting on the strange habits of the Quarians recently. Blasto here was my protection."
Ramirez stood dumbfounded. Never in a million years would he ever have thought that the Hanar could fight. "Okay….and what were you able to find?" Ramirez asked the reporter.
"Well you see that's the thing. The Quarians are raiding for the Batarians, in returned they get additional ships and supplies. This has allowed the Quarian race to more than double in size. But get this, any useful tech the Quarians find they keep and give the Batarians the scrapes. If word of this ever got out, the Quarians would be royally screwed."
"Well then, let's get you out of here." Ramirez told him.
Thane lead the way, while Ramirez brought up the rear as they made their way towards the escape pods.
QMS Aleria
Sector D - Medical wing
Shepard lead his team through the various hallways, trying to avoid the many Quarian patrols. There were some close calls, but for the most part they managed to navigate the Quarian ship undetected. "According to these prints, we are near the gun batteries. The R & D bay should be 200 meters from here."
"We can move quicker if we just blasted through." Zaeed suggested, getting tired of sneaking around.
"I told you, no fatalities. And keep your voice down." He reprimand Zaeed.
"Shepard, I see three guards walking over a catwalk overlooking the bay. We can't sneak past them and we can't get close enough to knock them out." Kasumi informed him and a silent whisper.
Shepard thought for a moment on how he could bypass the area the most effective way. Finally he came up with something. "Kasumi can you cloak and hack into the alarms?"
Already knowing what he was thinking, she gave a nod. Before she could cloak, she told Shepard that she would need to incapacitate the guards.
Shepard told her to do it.
As she cloaked, Shepard and Zaeed equipped their sniper rifles and aimed at the guards in case anything went wrong. He was reluctant, but he knew he had no other choice.
As Kasumi, using her incredible agility, managed to scale her way over underneath the catwalk. She was able to hear the Quarian's converstation.
"Can you believe we are stuck on guard duty?" Asked one of the Quarian marines.
"Well we are soldiers so I'd imagine no." One of them replied.
"Do you know who doesn't have patrols?"
"You are going to tell me." The same Quarian said.
"Vex. I bet Vex is in bed sleeping right now in her room. Her fat Quarian resting on a pillow."
Sighing, the other quarian said in a tone that quickly stated that he wasn't paying much attention. "That's Vex."
"I mean I make one mistake and I get guard duty, when I should be sleeping." The quarian said turning around. He had his back facing his two Quarian friends.
"C'mon do you guys think that really is fair?"
When he didn't hear any response, he turned and noticed that his two friends were missing. "Guys? Guys were are you?" Equipping his sidearm, he started investigating for signs of his friends. "C'mon this isn't funny. Guys?"
In his panicked stated, he failed to notice Kasumi was standing directly behind them. With a well place pinched on his nerve, the Quarian marine fainted into unconsciousness.
"Hey we're clear?" Kasumi whispered into her comm.-set.
Shepard, who with Zaeed was positioned in an over watch position, responded. "Yeah, we're clear Kasumi, but watch your corners." he warned.
"I see the alarm system heading towards there to disarm it." She told them.
"Alright, but be aware that I don't have eyes in that area. Me and Zaeed are moving to a new position and we'll switch to thermal. You'll be alone for a few seconds."
"Try and not to take so long, Shep." Kasumi then sprinted towards the alarm system. It was a console with many wires and commands. To an untrained eye, one wouldn't know what to do, but it was a piece of cake for Kasumi.
"Alright let's see what we have here." She muttered to herself. She began cutting wires and hacking into the terminal. When she was almost done, she got a warning from Shepard.
"Kasumi! I see two small dots. Check your six, I think someone is in there!"
Kasumi quickly turned around, arming her Locust SMG and aiming it at the intruder.
Behind her, was standing a Quarian holding two cups of turian filtered caffeine. They stood there staring into each other's eyes, neither one even bothering to blink. The Quarian slowly turned his head sideways to where an alarm stood.
Kasumi followed his glance and immediately knew what the Quarian was thinking. "I wouldn't recommended it."
The Quarian turned to face her, then the alarm, then back at her as he tried to make up his mind. Finally he made his choice and made a move over towards the alarm.
Kasumi responded with a burst of fire. The shots hit the Quarian's shoulder, throwing him of balance. However, the spin from the shots that Kasumi fired made the Quarian's face the alarm and was falling in that direction.
"So close." Kasumi muttered as she ran from the area. A second later, the alarms were rung.
"Well so much for stealth." Zaeed said as he switched over to his assault rifle.
Immediately Quarian marines poured into the area and they opened fire on Shepard and Zaeed.
Shepard and Zaeed targeted a squad and shot four rounds at their faces. They all were all dead before they hit the ground.
They took cover as a company sized force engaged them. Kasumi dropped from above shooting the Quarians. She was able to kill two and injure another two. She spun into cover as a squad focused on her.
Zaeed threw a frag grenade killing a dozen marines. "See Shepard, this way is quicker." He said as he shot another marine.
Shepard didn't give a reply as he fired his sniper rifle. He killed a marine right away. He fired on another one, and he went down hard. A high pitched scream could be heard as Shepard shot the Quarian right in his testicles. The Quarian's near him, cringed at the sight of blood and meat pouring from between the unfortunate marine's legs.
Zaeed laughed at the sight. "Damn best shot I've ever seen Shepard." He fired at three Quarians and managed to kill two of them. The third one, however managed to shoot at Zaeed.
"Fuckin bugger!" Zaeed shouted as a round tore through his arm. A hole the size of a grain of sand could be seen on Zaeed's right arm and blood was spilling from it.
"A little wound is going to keep you down?" Shepard asked, clearly taunting him.
"Not in your life. Damn good thing I'm left handed." Zaeed grunted.
"Kasumi, Zaeed follow me!" Shepard shouted as he sprinted from cover. The Quarians aimed their rifles at Shepard as he charged them.
Hundreds of Quarian marines lined the various catwalks and in front of Shepard, were no less than 60 marines all aiming their rifles at him. The Quarians made one fatal error, they forgot about Zaeed. Immediately when Shepard ran from cover, he got out his missile launcher and fired at the catwalks.
Explosions rocked the bay as the catwalks collapsed on themselves. Wreckage fell from above and the marines ran for safety. This allowed Shepard and his team to make a run from it. They fired from the hip as they made their way towards the doors. All around them bodies fell as their rounds made contact with the Quarian marines. Zaeed fired another missile at the steel doors destroying them in a massive fireball. As they ran through it they noticed charred remains of the marines who were standing behind the door.
"Poor buggers." Zaeed said as he ran.
Kasumi fired her SMG and pistol simultaneously trying to thin out the Quarian numbers. She slide on the floor taking out three Quarians by shooting them in their thighs and legs. As they sprinted the narrow hallway, Zaeed threw three frag grenades at a corridor where a squad of marines were approaching from.
The last thing, their orb eyes saw was the smiling face pin on the grenades as they exploded and took out anyone in their radius.
"There!" Shepard indicated to another set of doors. "Zaeed you know what to do."
Zaeed responded by putting two missiles into the doors. As they exploded, Shepard and his team ran straight into the catwalk.
As they as they did, they came into a large hangar bay. All around them stood hundreds of marines aiming their rifles, sniper rifles, turrets, and grenade launchers.
Shepard, Kasumi, and Zaeed stood back to back as they were outnumbered and outgunned.
Over the loud speaker, came the voice of a Quarian. Male by the sounds of it commanded, "Attention Geth sympathizers stand down you are surrounded!"
"Any more bright ideas Shepard?" Zaeed sarcastically asked.
Shepard ignored him, preferring to instead evaluate the situation they were in. "Where are you Ramirez?" Shepard whispered to himself as he glanced at the immense number of troops.
There was no way they could escape from this situation.
QMS Aleria
Command Deck
9 Minutes earlier
The moment the Aleria detected a hull breach, Rael had sent a squad of combat engineers to fix the problem. Warning sirens were going off on the deck. "Will someone cut that racket!" Rael hollored over the alarms and the frantic voices of his crew.
The alarm mercifully was cut off and the sensor operator immediately started reporting that the hull breach was now fixed. Admiral Zorah! The breach seems to be now plugged."
"Thank the ancestors for that. For a moment there I thought I was going to lose my mind." Sighing, Rael asked his one of his ensigns "When will the Batarians be arriving?"
The ensign tapped in some commands on his console and an image appeared on the main screen, which showed the expected time arrival of the Batarian cruiser.
"Only a few more minutes and this will be done." Rael said as he glanced over through the schedule. Allying with the Batarians caused a massive debate among the Quarians. Xen, Gerrell, and himself were in support of this 'alliance'. Raan and that coward Koris were completely against it. They argued that if they were to ally with the Batarians then thier treatment among the council races would be even worse that what it already was, since it would appear that as they were in support of slavery. They most likely feared direct intervention from the Alliance, since in turn for materials and ships from the Batarians, they were required to conduct raids on Alliance freighters and acquire any technology they could. In the end, Rael's side was able to win and already their population was twice the size it already was.
'If only it could have been simpler.' Rael thought.
It seems their paranoia of the Salarians have caused the Alliance to encrypt and bobby trap all of their classified technology. There were some instances were a Quarian ship would exploded from a virus embedded inside a AI data core or would go into self-shut down. Rael didn't enjoy risking Quarians for the sake of slavers, but it was a small sacrifice compared to the possibility of regaining their home world, Rannoch. It aggravated Rael that since the induction of the humans, the Citadel races all seemed to have forgotten the massive hypocrisy in the treatment of the Humans and Quarians. They both created AIs, however the Quarians were forced into exile and were threaten with extinction constantly, while the Humans gained access to the Council and lived a live off luxury.
He didn't care for the losses of any Alliance personal. They deserved death as far as he was concerned for not only creating those blasted AIs of theirs, but also for preventing the Quarian race from attacking the Geth and reclaiming their home world. All relays heading into the Persus viel were heavily guarded to avoid another war. The expansion by the council into the Terminus system caused the Hegemony to look for any potential allies. And that was how, the Quarians were able to produce exponentially and have the backing of a galactic superpower.
Of course this had caused her daughter, Tali to disowned him as family. Rael couldn't understand, he was doing all of this for her.
'Why can't she just understand that this for the better. This could lead us to our home world.' Rael thought.
"Admiral!" One of his ensigns called for his attention. "We are receiving a transmission from the Batarian cruiser."
Rael pondered this for a moment. Deciding that he needed to make sure that the Batarians were alone before giving his crew further orders. "Scan the entire system. I want to make sure that they don't have more ships in the vicinity and if there are any more make sure to go to FTL."
The ensign gave the data being displayed on his console a quick overview. "Scans show only one other vessel in the area besides us Admiral and that clearly is the Batarian cruiser."
Rael felt confident enough that he could take out the Batarian cruiser if the captain of the vessel decided to double-cross him. The Neema and Light star were hiding behind a moon in the system, which allowed them to hide their signatures.
"Very well provide them with docking coordinates." Rael instructed.
"Affirmative Admiral. Coordinates sent. Anything else sir?"
"No that would be all." Rael got up from his command chair and made his way to the docking bay, with an escort of armed marines. "Tell the Batarians to be careful, the last thing we need is a confrontation." Rael told his ensigns.
"How are you feeling Admiral?," asked a marine.
"Honest I'm a little nervous. All I have is my cruiser and Gerrell's dreadnought and a additional cruiser."
When they arrived at the airlock, Rael saw the Batarian captain approach with an armed escort himself.
The Batarian captain was named Halek Lorsan. He was a minor captain in the Batarian navy and was considered to be poor choice to lead anything more than a cruiser. This was the reason he was stuck doing deals with the Quarians.
"Captain Lorsan, it's a pleasure to have you onboard." Rael lied.
"It's a pleasure to be here. I assume you have what I came for?" He asked.
"Of course right this way." Rael motioned to follow him down the hallway.
"As you know, it takes much resources to obtain Alliance technology and I was wondering the payment that would match our efforts."
"Wondering what? You're unsatisfied with the pay the Hegemony is paying you?" Lorsan spat out in anger.
Rael held his hands up in defense. "No, no. It's just we can't simply repair or replace the materials and men that are lost attempting to gain this level of technology."
"Well what have you managed to obtain?"
"Well we have gathered, what humans call 'solar panels'. What it is, is a set of panels that harness power from the sun to produce unlimited energy."
"YOU IMBECILE! THAT IS NOT ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY!" Lorsan shouted, aiming his sidearm at Rael's face. The Quarian marines and Batarian guards each equipped their own guns and aimed at each other.
The alarms suddenly blared across the ship. Rael, still nervous at having a gun pointed at his face, got on his omni-tool and connected to the command bridge. "Flight lieutenant what is the situation?" Rael asked.
"Sir, we have intruders!"
"What?! Get the marines and seize these hostiles!"
"Aye, Admiral."
Turning his attention to the Batarian captain, Rael attempted to negotiate. "Well it seems we have intruders. If you maintain a civil attitude, we will gladly allow you to take the intruders as slaves."
The Batarian captain thought it for a moment. Wanting to make sure that his trip wasn't a total waste, he put his gun down and nodded his head. Before Rael could give a sigh of relief, he was grabbed by his facemask and pulled right into Lorsan's face. "Make sure to never make this mistake again." He then let go of Rael.
Rael kept his mouth shut on his treatment and lead the group towards where the hostiles were about to be trapped.
It five minutes for five minutes for Rael to lead the group to where the Quarian marines had surrounded the intruders.
Once they reached the hangar bay, they saw three soldiers wearing white and yellow armor. Rael stood in front in them and asked "Who are you? And why are you on my ship?"
Shepard didn't give an answer, preferring to keep quiet. This did not please Rael one bit. "So not going to talk? Well then human, you'll be happy to know that my acquaintance here," Rael motioned to the Batarian captain standing beside him, "will be taking you and your comrades on his ship and will belong to him now human." He spat out the last word with venom and hatred.
"Well out of the frying pan and into the fire." Zaeed said as he clutched his rifle closely.
"Attention humans stand down, you're surrounded. Give us the data file and you will be taken into custody. We can either do this is the easy way or the hard way."
Shepard glanced at the quarian who had given him the order. The Quarian was aiming a turret at them, positioned over a catwalk with many other guards at his side.
It was just then that Thane swept two marine's legs and kicked a third towards a group of four, throwing all of them off balance. He engaged the Quarian on the turret by punching him in the mask and banging his head on it. The Quarian stunned was no match for the drell assassin. Than then kicked him off the catwalk and the marine landed with a thud. Thane then repositioned the turret and shot the other catwalks support beams causing them to collapse and the Quarians as a result fell to the ground. Thane jumped off the catwalk and started spiriting towards Shepard, who by now had taken positions near a hangar.
"GET THEM!" Rael ordered his marines. He did not want the soldiers to escape and warn the Alliance or worse, the Council, of what he and by extension his people were doing.
However, a Blue jay troop carrier appeared over the hanger, and Shepard was relieved to the see the pilot. Manning the weapons was and piloting the transport was Ramirez. "Never fear, evac is here!"
Ramirez fired 4 missiles into the hangar bay, causing all the marines to scramble for cover. Ramirez then repositioned the aircraft to allow the team to get onboard. Shepard was surprise to see a hanar and a human were already on the transport.
"Hello this one goes by the name blasto, and the human over there is named Andrews." The Hanar said indicating to himself and his companion.
"Aw fuck it! Shepard we have to go!" Zaeed screamed, shooting another missile.
"Everyone on board!" Shepard ordered his team. Each of them got on one by one. When Shepard was satisfied no one was left behind, he got on the transport.
Heading to manned the turret, he said "You're late."
"Yeah well take it out of my tip." Ramirez shot back. He then pressed a button and music started to blare across the aircraft.
"What are you doing?" Shepard asked him with raised eyebrows.
"What does it look like?" Ramirez rhetorically asked. "I'm putting on inspirational escape music." He said as he pressed on the thrusters to max speed.
"Shepard, I'm getting a message from the Normandy." He informed him.
"Patch them in."
Joker's cheery voice was heard throughout the ship. "Shepard so glad I was able to reach you."
"Joker we are kind of busy. Whatever you are going to say just spit it out."
"Well the Illusive man wants to talk to you once you get back to the Normandy. By the way Captain, who are your friends?"
"What a-" The Blue jay shook as fire from enemy interceptors hit near the engines. "Ramirez get us to the Normandy ASAP."
"Right hold on." Ramirez used his flares as he put the aircraft into evasive maneuvers. Doing a barrel roll, Ramirez was able to dodge the enemy missiles.
The Normandy, still cloaked, fired its forward particle accelerator cannons and the pair of enemy interceptors were destroyed.
"Thanks Joker. We owe you one." Ramirez thanked the pilot of the Normandy.
"No problem, Commander. You know maybe next time I can give you flying lessons."
Ramirez laughed at Joker's pun. "Thanks, but I didn't train to be a pilot."
Once inside the Normandy hangar, Ramirez parked the blue jay in the designated helipad. The ground team got off and Shepard made his way towards the comm-room to have his talk with the Illusive man.
QMS Aleria
Hangar one
"You incompetent fool! You can't even subdue a squad of mercenaries! I shall kill you where you stand!" Lorsan at this point was beyond furious. Not only had Rael failed to deliver unique Alliance tech, but he also managed to allow mercenaries to escape.
"I swear to you this is only a minor setback."Rael pleaded. He knew that Batarians were not known for their patience.
"NO! No more setbacks from this point forward. This ship is now the property of the Hegemony Navy. Lorsan declared.
"WHAT! You can't just….but this is a Quarian ship."
"It was a Quarian ship now it is a Batarian ship. Resist and you will be shot. Annoy me and you will be shot. Fuss and you-"
"Will be shot." Rael finished.
"It's good that I made myself clear. Men relieve the Quarians of command over this vessel." Soon the Aleria docked with the Batarian cruiser and Batarian troops started to pour into the ship.
Secretly Rael, using his onmi-tool ordered for Gerrell to leave the area. The pair of ships did as they were told. Rael could only dread what his daughter was going to think of him.