Location: Hive Apartments-Presidium Residential district
Miranda cupped her ear as she stepped over the fallen trio of geth juggernauts. "Who's leading the charge?"
"It appears to be Saren Arterius, ma'am," the voice of Hope Lillium filtered into her ear. She was impressed with the other woman, not only was the small Cerberus squad alive but they were actively defending her escape route. "We've had some run-ins with the geth but it was nothing we couldn't handle."
"Good," Miranda spoke as she jogged the rest of the way over to her rented apartment block. "Recover the body of Armistan Banes and standby as we planned. I'm coming to you."
"That will be a problem, ma'am," Hope's voice dipped momentarily as the girl tried to find the right words. "We were unable to retrieve his body. It was not at the Stand."
Miranda nearly froze at the revelation but forced her fingers to enter the right code and stepped inside the sunlit apartment. Thankfully Saren hadn't hacked into the atmospheric cycle system yet. "Keep looking, we're not leaving without that specimen," Miranda commanded. "I will rendezvous with you as soon as I can."
"Yes ma'am."
Miranda cut the link and leaned back against her shut door. This penthouse was one of the first things she bought off-grid after joining Cerberus. It was a comfortable hideout and had a panoramic view of everything the Citadel had to offer. Now all it showed was the station in its fiery glory.
Her intact windows were a silent justification for the reinforcements she had done on them the moment she took possession. The loft was a haven, the one place where she could truly retreat, re-group, and recuperate. But there was no time to enjoy any of that as a vicious war waged outside.
She took a moment to look out below. Civilians were brutally getting slaughtered by squawking geth troopers with red lights. C-SEC officers were trying their best, but their tactics were no match for the mathematical precision of the geth and guerrilla attacks from the husks.
She backed away, feeling the warm carpet beneath her bloody feet, a small price to pay for running around without heels. Miranda made her way to the dresser, peeling her battered dress off until she was naked as the day she was born only to disappear behind the blinds. There was no need for modesty now, but there was plenty for haste. Grabbing her white uniform she snapped it on with memorized precision before entering the keycode to open a nearby safe. The M-9 Tempest gleamed from within as the sun cycle caught it in just the right amount of light. It was one of the few heat-sink prototypes developed after the Alliance started mass producing to experiment with Selina York's thermal weaponry.
Miranda picked it up and marvelled with pride at having the only weapon of its kind on the Citadel. Loaded with disruptor ammo, it was ideal for her mission.
Gathering her gear and donning the EVA mask, Miranda solemnly bid her apartment goodbye and hoped it would still be standing once the dust settled.
It was easy to find the last of the C-SEC officers, just by following the gunshots. Unlocking the safety mechanism she got right to work, throwing a group of geth troopers aside and hitting the juggernauts with a paralyzing burst of disruptor ammo before detonating all of them to hell.
The mixed bag of officers stared back to her with jaws agape. She could see the symbols of the special response squad on two of the members, both armed with rocket launchers and heavy weapons. The rest were a rag-tag mix of uniformed patrol officers and customs agents that scanned guests at the gate, there was even a salarian tech in their midst.
"I guess we owe you our thanks," Armando Bailey said, stepping out from the gaggle with his own assault rifle in hand. The barrel tip was still steaming from recent use. He was the closest thing to a leader she recognized among the squad.
"Grab your gear and follow me, we're taking back this station," Miranda announced. Not surprisingly there was a low grumble and reluctance to comply with her 'outrageous' demand that they actually do their job.
"Just a moment," Bailey said, holding a hand to pacify both sides. "You're way too powerful to be a merc but I don't see any Alliance symbols on you either. Who are you?"
"We don't have time for a meet and greet. Either do as I say and survive or stand there and die," Miranda said, checking her thermal clip, astonished to find its capacity was double that of a regular weapon.
Bailey seemed to chew on her words, it wasn't distrust in his eyes but she could see the gears turning as if trying to place her from somewhere. Miranda began to storm away, there were other groups that could be convinced into the fight. No use wasting time.
"Wait!" Bailey called out and made her stop. "We're with you."
She smiled to herself before looking back to them with determination. "Glad to hear it. Now let's move, we haven't got all day."
o~O~o
Location: CIC—Cerberus Frigate Albatross—Orbiting Citadel Station in Stealth Mode.
General Oleg Petrovsky felt powerless as he was forced to sit out one of the most interesting surprise attacks of all times. Techs hurried around him, some scowling at their monitors, others barking his orders through the comms, it looked chaotic but everything was carried out with the calm efficiency of a well balanced team. Oleg admired them all. Even as the Citadel, the heart of the intergalactic empire, fell around them, his people never lost their professional demeanor as they carried on their tasks.
The arms of the space stationed opened to reveal an arachnid like creature at the center. Petrovsky remembered the briefings on the reapers, many reports circulated his desk detailing young John Shepard's findings on such beings. It was a pity those warnings fell on deaf ears. Reaper tactics were strangely familiar to the rachni, everyone moved as if under the united front of one conscious mediator. In fact there was little difference between the way those geth pulled the trigger and his own people executed his commands. No questions, no protest just people-driven results.
"General, we received transmission from Miranda's crew," Dima said, standing at his right hand side as he handed Petrovsky a data pad.
The feed showed the small squad of Cerberus agents successfully control the docking bay. Geth lay at their feet, but Petrovsky bristled when he saw some innocent civilians among the dead, perfect symmetrical bullets between their eyes. The mission parameters called for no witnesses, that much was clear but it didn't mean he had to like the casualties.
"They are under operative Lawson's command, keep me apprised of their status and ensure we will cover their escape vector with our main cannons," Petrovsky ordered and watched Dima get to work, jumping on a console and directing the others around him.
That left Petrovsky with Sveta on his left who was aiding the second unit in locating Armistan Banes' missing body. As if on cue she turned back with a neutral expression, "General, we are expanding the search to the Factory district. I'm also listening to Alliance chatter on their offensive against the reapers."
"Excellent." Petrovsky waved his omni-tool into the air and projected a timer onto his ship's glass cockpit. Everyone stopped what they were doing and watched the countdown begin at T-20minutes.
"General?" Dima asked, not much out of protest but to understand the action.
"Bring up the South-East quadrant of the station, directly below Sovereign," Petrovsky ordered.
The display showed a familiar ship on fire, docked in the lower bay of the Citadel. Petrovsky felt his heart strings coil along the ventricle every time that beetle leg scraped the bottom of the tower. "Directly below that reaper is a pirate ship carrying a nuclear payload." Everyone's eyes went wide as they stared at the reaper, scrambling its way to the top but dipping ever so slightly towards the bottom. "It will take that fire 20 minutes to spread to the cargo bay, that is if the reaper's mechanical leg doesn't pierce it first. The blast will destroy the station if it detonates in the bay."
o~O~o
Location: Council Chamber Lower Staircase—Presidium
Miranda cupped her ear and shielded her head from a nearby explosion as she listened to Petrovsky's explanation. Thankfully Dimitri decided to keep his line open to her and for that she was grateful. Not only did it change the battle parameters, it put a ticking clock on her mission. If that fire was not contained, Shepard's outcome behind her wouldn't matter.
A C-SEC officer popped up and lobbed a grenade. The squad of geth troopers flew into the air, bits and pieces raining down as the next wave commenced attack.
Miranda used the advantage of high ground and spaced the officers near all the exits to the council chambers. Now the twelve of them were all that stood between John Shepard and an army of geth.
"I hope you're getting good news?" Armando Bailey inquired as he hunkered down next to her, occasionally giving cover fire over their shield. For an older man she was quite impressed with his resilience on the field. The people of C-SEC respected him and she was under no delusion that they were following her willingly.
"Change of plans. I'm needed elsewhere,"
"Just when we were getting to know you," Bailey joked with a shake of his head. "Take some of my people."
"That won't be necessary; you need every man you've got." Miranda threw an overload at a geth juggernaut and finished him off with another spray from the M-9 before ejecting the clip.
"I'm not sure I like that plan," Bailey grumbled, but waived Eddie Lang over to his side anyways.
"You don't have to. Good luck, Commander." When both men were in position Miranda leapt from cover and ran towards the utility tunnels. Bailey and Lang kept the geth engaged; giving her plenty of time to swoop down the shute. She only hoped there was an end attached and not the vast vacuum of space.
The shute twisted and dropped, it was meant to drop cargo and not people so the ride was bumpy. Eventually ending on a pile of suitcases and parcels. Miranda buffed her stop with a biotic shield and rolled off the heap with a running start.
Three docks down stood her objective, the pirate ship had flames licking its hull but otherwise looked mostly intact. A few geth mulled about in the bay area, stepping over dead civilians, human and alien alike.
She hunkered down next to a cluster of benches and opened her comm. "I'm nearing the pirate ship. What's the status of my crew?"
"They are assembled and ready to fly on your orders, Miranda," Dimitri replied into her ear.
"Good. I will attempt to set the ship's autopilot controls away from the Citadel, if I'm not out in two minutes tell them to leave without me."
"Understood. Be advised that the Alliance Arcturus fleet is moving in on the Citadel," Dima informed, "good luck."
Miranda smiled crookedly and vaulted from cover. She didn't need luck.