The door opened with a soft hiss, revealing a dark room that formed the archives. Large boxes, the servers, hummed deeply, as if they were sleeping. Some kind of cooling fog covered the ground, reminding Elina of a swamp. The team poured inside, trying to make as little sound as possible.

Elina probed her surroundings. There were some catwalks, one floor up. From down here, it looked like the harbored more servers.

Before she could voice any commands, the lights erupted in a blinding flash of light. Kajira covered her eyes, as well as Kel and Alisa. Only Mr. Oran didn't, probably shielded by his helmet.

"Elina! How nice of you to join us!" A voice boomed. Cerberus troops filled the catwalks, training their weapons at them. She cursed under her breath, signaling her team to relax. There was no way they would walk out of this with brute force. They needed to negotiate. She turned towards the strangely familiar voice.

"You …" she hissed as she recognized him, her words pure poison.

"Aww, you remember me, Elly! And here I was, thinking you'd forgotten little old me!"

Blind hatred filled Elina. It made her arms shake with rage, her fingers tensing around the grip of her pistol.

"After I'm done with you, everyone will forget your name!" She answered, louder than she wanted. She was losing her composure fast. This man, this … thing. It made her blind for every muscle in her body screaming at her not to do something drastic. Her team around her had retreated into a circle, Cerberus soldiers all around them. They were looking back and forth, looking for a way out. Elina knew they needed her leadership now more than ever, but her mind was filled with other thought.

"Always the poetic. You know, I think that was why Eric liked you so mu-"

"You do NOT get to say his name, traitor!" She screamed, her voice nearly cracking. She raised her pistol, training it at the man in the shadows. In response, the soldiers did the same. She stopped, hesitating, her mind and experience screaming at her.

The voice in the shadow laughed. It was a warm and welcoming laugh, like someone enjoying the company of an old friend. The figure stepped into the light.

The man had a warm face. His hair was thin and blonde, but shorter than Elina remembered. She could barely keep her rage in check. Behind the man knelt someone in a lab coat, sniveling.

"Preacher …" Elina hissed.

"Du Pont …" Preacher imitated her in a mocking voice before crossing the distance between them., chuckling to himself.

"You know, I think I'll drink a toast to Eric, Jessica and us when I get home. For old time's sake, hmm? "

Elina was trembling from rage, her eyes focused on the ground in front of her instead of the man that now stood beside her. Preacher put an arm around her.

"I will fucking kill you. You think I care that these pawns of yours will shoot me? Killing you is a favor to the galaxy."

"Again with the poetics? Don't you ever switch up your game, Elly?" He walked back towards the far side of the room. "I know you would. I know you're so poetically ignorant that you would throw your own life away. But I also know that you have this adorable affinity for your friends there."

Only now did Elina realize that she wasn't only putting her own life on the line. Kel, Alisa, Oran and Kajira were all with her and in the crosshairs of Preacher's pawns.

"And, as careful as I am, I also organized myself an extra ticket out of here."

He pulled the kneeling figure in lab coat out of the shadow. It was a whimpering scientist. Elina would have laughed at how cliché he looked, hadn't she had the need to rip Preacher's throat out.

"All those scientists are loaded onto shuttles as we speak. So please, Elina." He crouched affectionately. "Please don't come after me. I assure you, I'll visit you soon."

He threw her an air-kiss. Elina felt physically sick. Preacher turned to leave, dragging the scientist with him.

"I will find you, Preacher! I will find you, and I will make you pay for what you did!"

"Already looking forward to it, sweetie!"

With that, he disappeared behind another door, leaving Elina and her squad alone with at least a dozen Cerberus soldiers. She took a step back into the ring.

"What now, Ma'am?" Kajira whispered. Behind her, Oran whispered something to Kel and Alisa.

"I have no idea …" Du Pont replied. She really didn't. She had walked right into a trap and knew no way out. Into the now abating anger mixed a slight feeling of shame.

"Commander …" Oran whispered.

"No talking!" A Cerberus soldier barked. Du Pont wondered why the hadn't shot them yet. Preacher probably wanted to be off the station before doing so. He always was a careful bastard.

"Commander!" Oran whispered with more vigor.

"What?!" Du Pont replied, slightly annoyed.

"Duck!"

"What?"

"DUCK!"

Before Du Pont realized what was going on, Kajira had already dropped down and taken her with her. The rest of the squad did the same, only Doran thrust an orange-glowing fist into the air.

Then, everything exploded into chaos as the shockwave fried every circuit in the room, including their hard suits. Elina's helmet split open, sparks burning her skin. The lights exploded, raining down shards of glass, the guards were screaming and firing blindly, and Elina's helmet caught fire.