Location: Combat Information Center (CIC), SSV Dublin.
"Commanding Officer on deck!" one of the bridge crew barked just outside the conference room. It was followed by the distinct sound of boots on metal, stepping to attention.
Admiral Hackett, flanked by two Alliance soldiers armed to the teeth, entered the conference room. The doors barely closed before everyone including Captain Flores gave him a united salute.
"Stand down, everyone. Have a seat," the Admiral ordered once the door sealed. His two guards remained standing.
Liam sat between Vega and Preston. Across from him, Casey, Gordon and Hunter watched the Admiral as he remained standing, his gaze lingered on Captain Flores directly across from him at head end of the conference table.
"Thank you for letting me borrow your ship, Captain."
"I had to let a critical bogey get away," she replied, without batting a lash of her sharp brown eyes.
If the comment stung, Hackett didn't show it. That legendary veneer of confidence inspired Liam to keep his own and trust that someone would explain something eventually.
"I'm not here to waste your time, Captain," Hackett paced his end of the table. "You have the dossier on Ontarom?" Hackett asked, though his question sounded more like a statement.
Captain Flores glanced to the Chief on her right. "Hunter."
The young chief waved his omni-tool and aimed a holo-projection of a blue planet bearing a close resemblance to earth but too dark in its hue to be the home planet.
Hackett gave it a weary look before speaking, "Firebase Dagger is launching a comm. satellite. It will provide a significant boost to Alliance communications across the galaxy."
"And you want us to play patrol," Captain Flores said, glaring her own daggers at the little blue planet.
"Yes," Hackett continued, "They're in a critical phase and personnel are stretched thin as it is. We need that base secured and that satellite safely guided to our orbital defence system."
"Sir," Hunter spoke up, drawing curious looks from everyone except Hackett and Flores, "if I may?"
The Admiral inclined his head. "Go ahead son."
"We've been surveying Ontarom. The moon of Thonal that's orbiting in Ontarom's system is decaying. Its accelerated revolutions and advancing proximity is starting to generate increasingly powerful electrical storms."
Impressed, Liam added a few notches of respect to his disposition on Hunter. It was rare for anyone below the rank of Commander to say two words at these meetings, and not without hesitation. Liam was starting to feel underprepared for the whole damn thing not to mention a little disappointed.
Before his guard duty at X-19 he was doing infiltration and sabotage missions, leaving that dreaded post he thought more interesting missions would once again come his way. Patrol duty was far from anything exciting or necessary where comm. stations were concerned, they usually had their own detachments and fleets already securing the place.
Hackett gave the Chief an amused smile, before glancing to the Captain's own indulgent one. "Yes, we're aware of the problem, but haven't made the knowledge public yet," Hackett held up a hand when the Chief straightened in his chair. "You were very thorough. That's a good sign." He turned to everyone else, "ExoGeni and the Delta Pavonis Foundation have already been contracted to outfit the base and Ontarom's two human colonies with shields against the storms. It's the best they can do at this point."
"They tell me it's a band-aid solution," Captain Flores said. "Why would the Alliance risk a billion credit project on an unstable planet?"
"Only because the real solution requires the cooperation of the entire galaxy," Hackett said in acknowledgement. "We're sure as hell not there yet. But once those satellites are up they may change their tune."
"I see," Flores crossed her arms and sat back. Something about her inquisitive gaze called to Liam, wondering just how much of the Admiral's visit was about patrol duty.
"Is your crew ready, Captain?"
Flores wore a look that said 'get on with it' but was smart enough to stay respectful. "I don't think they have a choice, sir."
Hackett smiled lightly before his eyes fell on Liam and Vega. "Before I forget, there is one more reason I'm here." Pulling three envelopes from his suit, Hackett handed one to Liam, Vega and slid one over to Hunter who stared at him in confusion. "Congratulations to the three of you. I wanted to do this in person."
Liam's eyes widened as he pulled Lieutenant Commander lapels from his envelope. Beside him, Vega held the new ones of a 2nd Lieutenant in awe.
"Sir?" Chief Hunter questioned when he raised the lapels designating him as Operations Chief. "I'm grateful, but I was a Service Chief—"
"There's no mistake," Hackett said, "you jumped two ranks son and I can see why."
Hunter gave Flores a look of gratitude and barely restrained joy as she watched on from behind a happy smile. "Thank you, ma'am."
"Don't thank me. You earned it Hunter," Flores replied simply. The lieutenant they called Gordon patted the kid's back in congratulations as Casey crushed him in a sudden hug. Even Preston looked less sullen and cracked a smile.
Hackett's voice brought attention to Liam. "Shepard, it's been four years since the Skyllian Blitz. I think you're long overdue for a promotion, Commander."
"Thank you sir," Liam said, showing the admiral an appreciative smile as he fought back some burning questions. This was going to be a day to remember for Hunter, he didn't want to bog it down with inquisition.
"2nd Lieutenant Vega, you're a damn good marine according to your old CO. I'm inclined to agree."
"It's an honor, sir," Vega said, still staring at the ranks in his hands as if lost in a dream.
Hackett turned back to Flores. "The SSV Dublin will secure the area immediately. Your ship has the personnel and firepower to police the human colony and defend that base until eighth fleet returns with upgrades to relieve you."
"Defend sir?" Gordon blurted, ignoring Preston's look of warning.
"This is a precaution." The projection of Ontarom zoomed in to indicate three human colonies forming a trident alongside the firebase. "We just need to make sure everything stays peaceful."
"Understood, sir." Gordon sat back and all eyes returned to Flores.
A charged moment passed between Admiral and Captain before Flores spoke, "Everyone, you're dismissed." The crew started to get up. "Stay behind, Commander."
Preston's smile grew as he sat down but it was short lived when Flores shook her head. "Sorry, Preston. I meant Shepard."
Liam stilled, exchanging a cautious look with Preston then Vega before retaking his seat. Flores didn't meet his eyes until the three of them were alone. Even Hackett's guards stepped out.
The tension radiating from his new Captain seemed out of place. No one was tense around Hackett, he was generally an easy guy to get along with if he liked you and there was no hidden malice towards the Captain.
Growing tired of the silence he looked between them and spoke. "I'm guessing I stayed behind for a reason?"
"Yes," Hackett answered but kept his eyes on Flores. The lights must've been weird since they showed the Admiral with what looked like a sad expression.
Flores leaned back, closing her eyes as she ran both hands over her face, releasing a tired sigh of frustration.
"Commander, I apologize for keeping you in the dark but this is a sensitive situation." Hackett took a seat. "Have you heard of Cerberus?"
Shepard frowned. Back at the villa trainees swapped stories about this secret black ops organization that had carte-blanch extending all across the galaxy. They sounded plausible until ridiculous stories of experimentation on sentient life forms and controlling thresher maws hit the feed. The drill sergeants squashed those rumors and so did most news evidence. No black ops group had that much power. Stories of Cerberus died after he graduated from N7 but the headlines detailing their alleged activity didn't stop hitting the garbage news. "Cerberus doesn't exist, Sir."
"Well neither did Aliens," Flores said with resigned irritation.
Both men glanced her way before Hackett continued, "Until six months ago, Cerberus was a black ops branch operating under ghost protocol."
The confirmation wasn't earth shattering, but it unsettled him nonetheless. He wondered what other absurd rumors about Cerberus were true.
"Echelon was an Alliance command group that oversaw Cerberus activities. We lost contact with them six months ago," Hackett said dropping his gaze, "we tried contacting operatives directly but none responded. That means they're either part of the defection or completely unaware that their command has been sabotaged. Cerberus has been blacklisted and Alliance High Command initiated 'Clean Sweep Protocol' of anything even partially related to Cerberus."
The tension strained as Liam took it all in. Some of the big wigs on X-19 once said the clean sweep protocol is the Alliance's ultimate weapon of deniability. The authorization called for immediate termination of any rogue project, personnel or base. Any dirty little secret was annihilated and vanished into Marine lore, it was a useful tool but one the Alliance tried to deny they even had. Hearing about it so openly made his blood boil. How many innocent marines would be slaughtered for their relation to Cerberus?
"I'm sorry, Sir. But how does an entire branch just vanish?" Liam asked, bewildered. "There has to be someone on inside Cerberus who still reports to Alliance?"
Hackett's weary eyes asked the same question. "We don't know. What we do know is that Cerberus is officially considered rogue now."
"What the admiral is trying to say is that Cerberus was allowed too much slack and now they lost control," Flores set her sharp eyes on Hackett, "or at least that's the best case scenario."
The hostility in the Captain's voice didn't seem directed at Hackett, leaving Liam more confused than when he walked in here.
"The worst case scenario has already been confirmed," Hackett responded to Liam's unasked question. With an apologetic look to Flores he continued, "Those same six months ago, an operative attempted to establish Communications with high command from Ontarom. She hasn't been heard from since."
"Did she say anything about Cerberus?" Shepard asked, noting the Captain's downcast eyes and slumped shoulders.
Flores shook her head looking equally wistful and disappointed. "No. It was supposed to be an extraction. She had classified intel that couldn't go on comms. The Alliance took their sweet time and let my sister slip through the cracks."
The hostility finally made sense. A pang of sympathy hit Liam as he watched the Captain, wondering how anyone could keep it together when their sibling was caught in the middle of a shit show.
Hackett didn't argue and turned to Liam instead. "The Alliance is trying to contain the situation."
"By shooting anything with a Cerberus logo on sight," the Captain bristled with disdain.
"They're not willing to risk sending another black ops branch to investigate," Hackett continued, ignoring the Captain. "This is where you come in, Shepard. Her last transmission was from Ontarom. I'm sure the Captain could use one our top tier infiltrators to locate Major Elena Flores and bring some clarity to the situation while it's still salvageable."
The pieces fit perfectly now and it barely took him a moment to realize the ramifications of this operation. This was an unsanctioned op right behind the Alliance's back. History repeats itself...It would've been funny if it wasn't so sad.
"I'm sorry about your sister, Captain. I'll do anything I can to help you," Liam said slowly, as he glanced between his superiors.
He thought it would at least earn him a thanks, smile or any form of gratitude but the Captain's arms remained crossed and she stayed silent, studying the wooden table as if it were a battle map.
After what seemed like an eternity she finally spoke in a low voice. "Commander, give us a minute."
Exchanging a cautious look with Hackett, he rose abruptly for the door. Not sure who or what he was angry with now.