Normandy
Miona sat alone in the empty shuttle. Her body throbbed in unison to the thrum she felt throughout the ship. The air was slightly tinged with the smell of electronics, plastics, oil and metal. Voices muffled by the bulkhead were almost lost in the thrum.
Breathe. Breathe. She reminded herself. Her hands ran over the straps of her boots, leg and body fastenings of her hardsuit. It felt comfortable. Well broken in. It no longer had that unpleasant burnt tinge of a factory press when it was presented to her by Aria. Her hands went still over her chest. The small locket underneath the suit could hardly be felt but it seemed to whisper to her. Soon. Faces come and go.
"All hands, condition one. Relay translation in fifteen minutes."
Her eyes snapped open, easily adjusting to the dimness of the empty cargo compartment of the shuttle. Directly opposite her was the cockpit. She could hear the soft voices of the pilots as they went through their pre-flight check list. Through the open hatch, she could see a mixed crowd of humans, turian, salarian and asari spread around in the shuttle bay. Exactly where they were for the past hour. From the snatches of conversation from those nearest to the shuttle, she could hear the underlying cut of anxiety, consciously suppressed by forced calm.
She caught the eye of an asari commando looking her way; Osinae. The asari commander nodded slightly to her. She looked away. She had little interest in talking to Osinae or any of the asari commando unit. Not that they deliberately went out of their way to shun her. Rather, it was the opposite.
She picked up her helmet and put it on. Shepard had asked her to keep it on to prevent the others from seeing her face. Other than the asari and the Normandy crew, no one knew who she was. Under orders, they would not speak of her to anyone else. Alone in the dim cargo compartment, she had taken it off for a while. She checked her equipment again; rifle, pistol, grenades, spare thermal clips and an omni-tool that the arms sergeant signed over to her. The weapons were well maintained but weathered that spoke of much use. There was a word hand written on the rifle butt; Firebolt. It probably belonged to someone once. Retrieved from unknown battlefields in the Reaper War? Not kept as a memento. Perhaps it was necessity. Supply shortages in the war. Whatever it was, it was fitting it would be used to smite down the remaining Cerberus bastion.
As she clipped the pistol to her side, the slight dip of the deck warned her of a approaching presence. "Peace, sister." Osinae raised opened hands to her as the rest of the asari commando squad filed in behind her. "Would you like to join us in the observance of the Journey?"
"I am not one of you." Miona glanced at the squad. Curiosity in their eyes but no fear, no disgust.
"The trials of the Journey tries every one of us, sister," Osinae said softly, sadness shining in her eyes. "This dark is far reaching and leaves none untouched, but at the end of the night, we are one in the light. Will you join us?"
Osinae seemed sincere, invitation clear in her eyes and in those standing behind her. If she refused it, they would leave her alone without question. The fact they respected her unspoken desire for solitude without any sign of rejection in their attitude gave her some hope. This was a chance to gain some ground if she intend to return to Thessia. If they survived. Refusing this one door didn't mean there wouldn't be others but they wouldn't be the same. Miona stood up and offer her hands to Osinae who cradled them in her own. The others drew closer.
"From the whole we are cast forth to walk the path. Of light, of darkness. The grey and the shadows. The fires of the great consciousness is ours to perceive, to taste, to feel, to learn, to evolve. We are bound to its purpose. At the end of the Journey, we are all one..."
The familiar litany was soothing as Miona silently recited it. It brought back memories of such observances when she was young. When she was on Thessia with her family, her siblings, her clan before her restless blood called her away. Tears gathered beneath her closed eyes. Most of them were gone now. With effort, she concentrated on the litany and felt calm returning. If this trial should see her emerge victorious, she would return to Thessia. If nothing else, to add her account to the annals of the clan. As the litany came to an end, the shuttle bay speakers announced, "All hands, secure stations. Relay translation in 60 seconds. Mark."
"Excuse me," someone said at the hatch. The asari turned to see Kirrahe gesturing to the seats in the cargo compartment. "We're told to buckle down in the shuttle."
"Of course."
Osinae waved to the squad. They promptly removed themselves to one side of the shuttle. Those who didn't take a seat, stood and held on to the overhead handbar. The salarians filed in and took up the other half of the compartment. The humans must be with the turians in the other shuttle, Miona guessed. A soft whine could be heard. Miona wondered where it was coming from. The co-pilot came out to check everyone was on board before closing the hatch. The tension in the shuttle eased a little.
The whine grew louder. Miona realised it was coming from the ship itself. The deck shuddered gently beneath her boots. It spread to the entire shuttle before changing into a throbbing vibration that could be felt from her feet to her skull. What was happening? She glanced at Osinae. The commando seemed calm. The only signs of anxiety the salarians exhibited was rapid blinking. No one attempted to speak. The noise grew louder. What was happening was not normal, Miona felt. If anything went wrong, at least the shuttle provided extra buffer. Or probably not. The ship could shatter and they would all be scattered somewhere in some unknown system.
The shaking became so bad that it was blinding to look at anything. Reflexively, Miona closed her eyes and clutched the edge of her seat. Dimly she could hear someone over the shuttle speakers and realised it was a countdown to the jump. She imagined the Normandy approaching at great speed towards the relay. A relay that was clearly not normal.
"..three...two...one. Translating."
Her heart fluttered. She half wondered if the frigate would break. The whine was steadily building and became so strident it hurt to listen to it. Her eyes snapped open despite her terror. A few salarians clapped their hands over their ears, unable to bear it. It seemed to go on and on. This was surely what the lowest depths of the trials must sound like. The harsh tone peaked and suddenly fell away. She shook her head, certain she was deafened and was gratified when the loudspeaker on the shuttle announced, "Translation complete." The vibration eased and disappeared. Everyone blinked, as if waking up from a dream.
The co-pilot appeared again and opened the hatch as the speakers sparked to life again.
"All hands, this is the captain. We have arrived safely through the Omega Four Relay and proceeding to mission launch status. Maintain C1. Out."
"Major Kirrahe, Commander T'Flar," Lieutenant Banks said, looking in at the shuttle hatch. "Briefing on the flight deck."
Miona had to stiffen her shaking legs lest she fell flat on her face and trooped out of the shuttle with the others. Standing at the back of the crowd with the asari, she felt oddly less alone. Conversation was low as they waited. All sounds died away when Shepard appeared. Climbing onto one of the cargo boxes stacked nearby, Shepard waited a beat to be sure she had everyone's attention.
"As you all know, Dynius made the jump to the core ten hours ago and destroyed the embedded Cerberus defense network. There is no sign of enemy ships. The target zone is not sanitize enough for us to relax our guard. Anything can be lying in wait out there among the wreckage and on the station. Stay vigilant and in constant contact. No heroics. Our objective is to gather information, eliminate threatening hardware or presence. We have a job to do people, report to your respective shuttles and let's get to it."
"Short and sweet," one of the Marines nearby muttered as Shepard dropped down from the crates. "Eliminate hardware, does that mean we get plenty of booms?"
"Just watch your ass bro, yours might be the one getting boomed," his buddy returned.
"Skipper gets things done," another said as they headed for their shuttle, "ain't like some that didn't know when's the time to polish their metals and when to get down to dirt."
Their confidence settled the roiling in Miona as she waited for Shepard. She watched as the human came up to her, fully suited, with Hiaras and Cy.
"Ready?" Shepard asked.
"Yes."
Orsinae and Kirrahe had already checked off their squads respectively when they boarded the shuttle. Most were strapped in securely. After securing the hatch, Shepard had a word with the pilots. The shuttle swayed slightly as it lifted and headed out through the open shuttle bay door. The windows automatically dampened the glare from stars swirling in thrall around the core but could not hide the fierce intensity of the burning fire. The compartment screens blinked to life, showing the immediate area clear of debris. Miona stared in fascination at the spectacle of the far distant core.
"Ten minutes to target, " Shepard said as she grabbed hold of the handbar above her. "Claw and the rest of the teams are moving out from Dynius. We should all make contact with Avernus at the same time. Advance tech squads sent word they're having problems paving the way. It seems the airlocks are hepta-coded."
"Bang goes the theory of the open invitation to come as you pleased," Kirrahe remarked whimsically, bringing on a few grins among the asari.
"What happens if there are multiple security gates?" one commando queried.
"We break them of course," her seating companion said.
"I don't mean outside," she returned.
Shepard understood what she was concerned about.
"Deep seated security is anticipated," she said. "If a situation develops to stymie progress, the mission will be postponed and revised. We will not be held immobile for too long." Heads nodded. "If we can't establish a foothold on the station," she continued, "we'll release the probes-," she reached back and plucked a silvery globe from the dozen clipped next to her rifle, "into any breaches we can make. We aren't leaving empty handed." Can't really, but that thought was left unsaid.
"Will there be a permanent station?" a salarian trooper asked.
"That depends on what we find and if we can secure the base," she said and continued before he could voice the next obvious question. "It would be a joint operation, pending approval by Citadel Council. Cerberus is no longer a human province since they're allied with the Reapers."
"Strange that the Systems Alliance didn't hold to that view until they were attacked," the trooper said pointedly.
"Pursuing a spent adversary is not necessary when there are more immediate concerns that everyone has to address after the war," put in Kirrahe with a quelling note of disapproval before Shepard could answer.
The trooper blinked and looked away. Miona wondered if the trooper did not like that the humans foisted another problem amongst others in an already over full pot or that he was assigned to the mission. She looked away when the trooper sensed her gaze and turned in her direction.
Shepard's helmet comm beeped. "Captain, message from Tech1," the co-pilot said. She made her way to the cockpit and was pleased when the squads reported they had successfully cleared the security locks on the airlocks.
"The code is unique," the geth tech reported. "I'm sending all parties the key should the same problem crops up. We're now proceeding inside and sending through Farsight."
"Good work," she said as she downloaded the program into her omi-tool. "Stay in contact." Returning to the cargo compartment, she shared the data with everyone. A check on the screen and an update from the pilot revealed they were nearing the facility. Everyone sealed their helmets and checked their equipment one more time.
"You okay?" she said to Miona whose gaze was fixed on the screen as the shuttle approached the base. "You're not military trained so stay close-," she leaned in slightly so the asari could see her eyes, "and stay alert. You'll come out of this, Miona."
"I will. Thank you." What could she say otherwise?
"Drop in two minutes. Perimeter is clear," the pilot announced. "Venting compartment."
Shepard made a lifting gesture as she made her way to the hatch. Those seated unbuckled from the seats and stood up. A tiny hissing sound could be heard, rapidly disappearing as the air in the cargo compartment was suctioned out through the air vents.
Toggling her helmet com, she said, "Sound off." She pointed to the salarian next to the exit hatch. As they rattled off their numbers, she checked compartment readings. Vacuum. "Vent complete."
"Landing zone in three...two...one," the pilot intoned. "Contact confirmed." The shuttle trembled slightly as it settled on the hull.
"Popping hatch," Shepard said, hitting the door controls.
The hatch opened. There was no eye watering blaze from the galactic core for the bulk of the shuttle blocked it out. Shepard stepped out carefully, making sure her boots had traction on the hull. She made her way to the air lock hatch a few metres away. The rest followed her with suitable intervals among themselves and fanned out as she knelt by the hatch. Activating her omni-tool, she used the new decode program as she held her hand flushed against the hatch. Hiaras stood ready with the rifle as they waited.
"Is it working?" Hiaras asked after long minutes ticked by.
"It is," Shepard said as she watched the hacking progress. "And...open sesame." She grinned when the hatch slide aside. "Time for Farsight to do their jobs." Detaching the geth probe modules from her back, she rolled them into the dimly lit airlock. "Looks clear," she said after checking the scan the probes sent back. "Seeker to Lady, we're proceeding in."
"Lady copy. Good hunting."
"Let's go."
The airlock was large enough to accommodate all of them. Going through the inner hatch was easy too. They stepped into a locker room full of skinsuits with helmets hooked neatly on top. In the dull light, they looked as if they would come to life any time.
Palming the hatch of the locker room opened, Shepard looked out to a gloomily lit three-way four metre wide corridor. She spotted minute protrusions of security eyes and withdrew. Gesturing to the probes that followed her from the airlock, she muttered, "Get to work, fellas." Like obedient puppies, they popped themselves out into the corridor and then halted as if taking stock of where they were supposed to go. Oops.
"That way." She pointed to the corridor in front of her. As they scurried off, the other squads released their own probes respectively into adjacent corridors. They settled down to wait.
It didn't take long for the probes to send back scan readings as they moved further in. A few minutes later, scans from probes released by other teams infiltrating the lower decks was received. Shepard studied the layout of the interior as it became more detailed. Long empty stretches of corridors with every door recess marked. Some of the areas were big. Lighting was surprisingly sparse, leaving patches of area in gloom. Deliberate? Or because the station was powered down?
"It looks like the station is running on minimum power. Some areas could be without gravity. Disable any security eye you come across." Of course that would give away squad locations but leaving watchers blind wouldn't hurt. She paused to listen when her comm sounded a sequence. "All teams are in. Check any work console and drain it if it's working. Watch your step people. Let's move."
They split up into their respective squads in the corridor. Kirrahe led his team to the left while Osinae went right, flicking a signal to Miona as she did so; Athame watch over you. Miona returned it, feeling somewhat odd and yet comforted as she watched them go. Shepard waited until she had her attention and gestured; eyes peeled. Miona nodded and followed Shepard down the middle passage. Hiaras fell in behind. Taking point, Cy had already disabled the first security eye. The empty corridor stretched into the distance with an odd overlay on the surface, like a trail, showing up on their visors.
"Captain, there're blood tracks," Cy said.
"Copy that." The walls were smooth with some odd patterns on them. It took several seconds to register they were not visual pleasing designs. Shepard took a closer look. "Unnatural gouges." She pointed to the walls on both sides, the grooves clearly delineated on the surface.
"These look like blood too." Hiaras indicated tiny dried dots on the floor.
Miona looked back down the passage they had traversed. "There're none back there."
"They came from further in." Shepard looked up and down the corridor. "They were transporting some things maybe? Or perhaps they came in from the airlock, something happened around here."
She moved on and halted at a door recess and opened it. She peered in cautiously, her helmet visor automatically enabling image intensification in the darkness. Beside her, Cy's optics did a quick sweep.
"Maintenance room, tools, damaged skinsuits." It pointed out the remnants of torn skinsuits piled untidily on work tables. Shepard examined the suits keenly.
"Not the normal wear and tear." She carefully picked up the nearest suit with several jagged tears along the chest area. "More blood." She took care not to touch the dry dark crust on the tears. Tossing the suit back on the table, she scanned the crust with her omni-tool. "Normal human blood. Old. Looks like it's been here for a couple of years. There're traces of Reaper cybernetic cells."
"There're six suits." Cy pointed to the large swath of peeling crust further down before spreading out the rest of the skinsuits. All had large tears along the torso.
"Clawed by what?" Hiaras wanted to know, visually panning the room to be certain there were no hidden alcoves or doors. She eyed the ceiling warily.
Shepard looked at the floor to see a huge pool of blood with scattered splodges. Camouflaged by the dark grey of the deck plates, it couldn't be seen with the naked eye but with her helmet visor, she saw them clearly. "Take your pick of the usual suspects."
"If they're the usual suspects," Hiaras returned darkly.
"Let's move on. We've a lot of ground to cover," Shepard said, nodding to Cy who encrypted the door lock behind them.
"What did they do with the bodies?" Miona wondered. There were no bones or anything resembling a corpse in the maintenance room.
"Thrown out the airlock or taken elsewhere for whatever purpose they had in mind," Shepard said. "Maybe they were transporting something vile that turned on them. The other personnel tried to help the injured and left those suits behind." She took note of the smooth walls. "No more gouges."
"Attackers subdued or killed? The trail of blood is continuous." Hiaras pointed at the floor ahead of them.
Shepard nodded. "The question is, would they bring the injured to the infirmary?"
"Is there any point if they're infected?" Hiaras asked dryly. They halted when they came to a three-way junction. Another security camera was accordingly disabled. "Blood trail leads both ways."
Shepard headed for the right corridor where the trail was thicker. It ended at a large door. The metal plaque right next to it had decals she did not recognise. "Nothing I can read. Hiaras. Cy?" Both shook their heads. "Could be a private script they're using themselves. Anything behind that door, Cy?"
"No. I am not picking up any life forms inside."
"Let's take a look." Behind the door was a huge room and a familiar sight; rows of examination tables. They were not empty. Robotic arms hung limply above diagnostic tanks along the walls. "Looks like a laboratory."
Warily, Shepard approached what looked like desiccated human corpses strapped down on the nearest table.
"Definitely human. Probably the owners of those skinsuits," she murmured, noting the deep rents in the dried flesh. Internal injuries for certain. There were some attempts to seal the wounds before the effort was dropped. Too much blood loss? Large head wounds. She looked again at the torso injuries, running her omni-tool over it. "Contamination. They took hold fast which means they could have been transporting Adjutants. Shot in the heads to prevent the change."
"Why did they leave the bodies exposed? Aren't they risking more infections?" Miona wondered.
"Adjutant cells can't exist for long in a dried state. Exposed, they can live for thirty minutes and less, depending on the environment" Hiara said. "This is a cold room," she added when she checked the environmental readings. "I'm reading a sub-zero temperature in here."
Miona pointed to the banks of hatches covering both walls. There must be hundreds of them. The sight left her cold and angry. "Storage?"
Cy walked over to one and hit the control panel next to it. The hatch slid aside. An empty metal platform rolled out. It tried the next one and it was empty too. Its action was a mere formality since it already knew there was nothing in the wall vaults.
"They cleared everything out," Shepard said. Miona looked around and realised that there was not a single piece of medical equipment. Nor was there any cabinets. "They left these behind." Shepard regarded the corpses thoughtfully. "Not disposed, exposed. Overlooked? Were they in a hurry to be somewhere else?"
The gleam of cylindrical storage tanks at the back of the room caught her eye. As she made her way there, she opened several more wall vaults. They were empty. The safety covers of the tanks were down. As the others regarded the tanks warily, Shepard examined the large console beside them. Minimum power. Another reading caught her eye. She frowned as she brought the console online and ran through the main menu. She input the command to open the protective covers. The covers slid aside to reveal a mix of males and females floating in a pale green liquid. The asari stared. Cy cocked its head.
After giving the bodies a careful visual examination, Shepard returned to the console to check the status of the tanks. "The tanks are in storage mode, not life support. These people are dead."
"They look.." Miona shook her head, trying to decide what wasn't right and struggled to push away memories of Omega.
"Strange?" Hiaras was puzzled. There was no sign of any Reaper modifications on the bodies. "Something is a little off," she muttered as she strove to spot the difference.
"Old. They're old." Shepard tried to get past the command menu but couldn't. "Cy, see if you can pull anything out of this."
"They experimented on old people. They killed the old on Omega. Why would they do it differently now?" Outraged, Miona moved closer to stare up at the closest body, afraid of what she would see; agony and fear.
An old man with pale cream wrinkled sagging skin and silvery hair floating around his bent head. His eyes were closed. The serene expression on his face was startling. It was decidedly at odds with her memory of being a test subject. She looked at the next body, an old woman. Her expression was the same. In disbelief, she examined every body and could hardly believe there was no sign of any violence or distress.
Shepard's helmet comm beeped. "Storm1 to Seeker1," Thax rumbled.
"Seeker1 copy. Go ahead."
"Three merchant carriers in the pen."
That didn't make sense to her. The docks were on the first deck. Thax's squad was supposed to be on the fourth.
"Repeat that?" she said tersely. "You're not supposed to be near the pens."
"We went through our allotment. Just a whole bunch of empty rooms so we decided to check out the pens."
The idiot. He and his squad likely charged through the fourth deck without taking any precautions. She doubted they covered the entire deck or bothered to look properly. No, they bounced through several rooms and decided to take off on their own when they found nothing. There was a hundred and one things she would like to spit at Thax.
"No opposition?" she said instead.
"Nothing out in the docks. Place is deader than the reapers," he snorted. "Moving in."
"Loose the carriers if you encounter Ramparts."
"I wasn't sleeping at the briefings," he growled. "If there're Ramparts, it sure beats listening to the silence. Storm1 out."
That damn blood thirsty krogan. There was nothing she could do to rein him in. If the lower deck gave out, she knew who to blame. Perhaps that was why Wrex gave Thax the green light; he couldn't control him any better on Tuchanka. Turning back to the tanks, she gave the bodies a closer look.
"I'd say they're around 70 to 80 years old," she guessed.
"The ultimate goal of Cerberus was human ascendance and preservation of the species. Superiority of the soldier on the battlefield," Hiaras murmured. "Studying, experimenting on the old, were they thinking of surmounting ageing defects?"
"That's possible." Shepard shrugged. "How is it coming, Cy?"
"Don't you find it strange?" Miona blurted before the geth could reply. "They don't look distressed."
"They were probably sedated and never knew what was happening to them." Shepard regarded the calm faces thoughtfully. "Perhaps these are not Cerberus victims but people from Terra Firma."
"Is it possible they have given themselves willingly?" Hiaras suggested.
"That is plausible." Shepard nodded while Miona stared at Hiaras in shock.
"Willingly submit?" she said harshly when she found her voice. "That's preposterous."
"You made the observation yourself," Hiaras pointed out. "There're no signs of distress. Terra Firma seem to treat their own with far more gentle gloves than Cerberus."
"Why did they leave the bodies here?" Miona demanded. "Why not give them a decent burial or disposed off properly? No," she shook her head. "They can't be sympathetic if they left the bodies behind like trash. Cerberus or Terra Firma, these people meant nothing to them. They're just meat to be used and cut.," her eyes glowed brightly through her helmet visor.
"We can debate this later," Shepard said firmly, halting the stream of rebuttal before the younger asari become too worked up. "Our goal is to gather information for us to put a stop to their activities, remember?" She waited until Miona nodded her acquiescence. "Cy?"
"I have downloaded all data files. Do you want them decrypted now?"
"It can wait. Just give me the TOC (table of contents)."
"Project name Eosians. Medical procedures. Medical files of experimental subjects. Evaluation."
"All right. There's only one door to this place." Shepard thumbed at the entrance. "Let's get back out. Seal the tanks, Cy. We may come back for them later."
The geth turned back to the console as the others headed for the entrance. Shepard updated the map while they waited for him to rejoin them outside and sent it to the Normandy where it would be despatched to other teams. More details had been added to the topography when she checked. Garrus and two other geth teams on the other end of the same deck found what could be the administration section. Both Kirrahe and Osinae came across smaller laboratories. None had run into any signs of trouble or Cerberus presence. So far. She wondered how long it would stay that way.
They left behind a triple sealed door and a sensor. If anything should attempt to break out from the laboratory, the sensor would send an alarm. Backtracking to the three-way junction, they followed the other thinner blood trail. Just as they reached another door where the trail ended, Shepard received another call. It was Garrus.
"What did you find, Claw1?"
"Somebody's private playground." Garrus glanced at the opulent surroundings. "Could be where they hold meetings, along with all the lovely swanky fixtures of the hedonists. Bed, wine, food, drugs, music and sexy peripherals to blast your ears off. There's a diamond trim washbasin."
You're kidding. Shepard held her tongue before that remark jumped out. "You didn't call to tell me that."
"No." Garrus cocked his head at the tableau at his feet. "How about two frosty naked human males. Murdered."
"Repeat that, Claw1?" Shepard was not sure she heard him correctly. Murdered? Why would he say that?
"One guy was strangled, his balls were flattened. The other had his throat slit from ear to ear. I'm pretty sure they didn't do it themselves." Garrus did a mental count as he looked around the bodies. "They didn't finish their meal. The food is rotten so it must have happened while they were having their fun. The thing is I'm not certain if they were having fun with themselves or with other partners. I'm not seeing more than two glasses."
"How long?"
"They've been dead? Less than a year. Their killer left them here and locked the room in cold freeze."
"What about some ID?"
"Nothing in their clothes. Did the usual and sent the readings to the lady but it's going to take time. I'm not certain there's anything left of them back in the archives."
"What's your projection?"
"Power struggle among the puppet masters. Winner takes all." Garrus waited but Shepard didn't say anything. "It's got to be him, you know that," he said softly.
"Seeker1 copy. Let me know if you find anything else. Out."
Garrus bit back a sigh, knowing she was not happy to hear that Greenacres could be the one who killed the two men. Her relationship with the man might have been short but no one would forget their first affair. Knowing Shepard, she wouldn't have started one if she didn't feel anything. He wasn't sure what she would do if she met this Greenacres again. It was one thing to hunt him down, knowing he was probably the one pulling the strings on Cerberus now. It was another to learn he had killed with his own hands. Somehow that made it personal, a contradiction to the man she once knew. At least, that's what he figured.
He glanced at his team waiting for his order. "You guys done?"
"Yes, sir."
"Move out."