The hunt for Cerberus launched at a glacial pace.
After Mycerra shared suppressed memories with the turian general, things changed between them.
She disregarded the subtle niceties as Deltano being conscientious of her emotional fragility. She expected him to return to normal Deltano in a few days. The longer he eased his hard knock standards, the more suspicious she became about his behavior.
She arranged a patrol of the streets to address the problem directly.
They walked the cleared streets in a known pattern. The quiet of the night disturbed her as much as it comforted her. The chirping of insect life, coolness of the air, and clear night sky soothed her anxiety in a way no medication ever could.
"I noticed, sir, that you've been less severe with me. I want to know why." She breached the subject once they parted from the other patrol group and headed along the west perimeter of the safe 'territory'. "I have my suspicions, but I want to hear it from you."
"I am not less severe, Colton. I hold you to the same standards."
"Then it is the tone you use and the manner you express yourself."
"I have not changed, Colton."
"I know I called you Dad offhandedly, but that was more tongue in cheek. You act like a father is supposed to and I know full well you're not my father. I was merely trying to lighte- "
"I took no offense to that, Colton." He stopped them at a corner and visually swept the area. He peaked around barriers to ensure no one was hiding and scoped out the balconies of a building the architectural team of Haven 11 declared unstable.
She checked the side alley, peaked around an old garbage can, and rejoined him. "Then why are you being nicer to me?"
"Have you considered that I don't need to correct your every action?" He countered.
She frowned. "What exactly are you suggesting?"
"That you've learned. And implemented. And continue to learn with less piercing instruction."
"If this is because I told you about my parents- "
"It is not." He faced her. "When I first arrived, I knew if I took charge of Haven 1, humans would revolt. They needed a human in charge. The teenagers looked up to you, with a reverence and respect that was undeniable. You were their shield, their rifle, their flag of hope. It had to be you to lead Haven 1. When you ordered, they jumped. You put yourself into the role full force. You were willing to die so that they could live. As a General, my responsibility is to oversee victory. If one turian remains standing, we were victorious. The war is different now. The war is people against nature. Survival."
She started walking toward the next side street, listening. The moonlight made their patrol easier, although she added working streetlights to the to-do list.
"Your goal is survival. Every decision you make is to ensure the survival of your people. To preserve the culture of them, the spirit of them, and more importantly, keep people healthy day to day. It has taken its toll on you, that is what leadership does, but you are stronger than you look. You know what you're doing. You don't need me to tell you how to make the tough decisions. You have other humans to help with that now."
"So, this has absolutely nothing to do with the fact I told you about my past?"
"None."
She didn't believe him. "So, Deltano, what was normal for you?"
His eyes flicked over the glassless windows and the destroyed offices they hadn't touched yet. Nothing popped out as suspicious.
Wind whistled through.
"My wife made the best meat pie on Palaven. I always told her to sell the recipe and she could retire to civilian service. She worked intel for the government. Classified above my pay grade."
"She alive?"
"No news. No news on my sons either, but they were soldiers. They died trying to defend Palaven. The ground war was brutal, on both our moon and Palaven. I suspect I am the only survivor."
"I'm sorry." She placed her hand on his forearm to help ground him to the now.
"What happened to your parents?"
"They decided to visit me, spend a week in the city. Were going to have 'the talk'." She air quoted and stopped to sniff a flower. "Told them I'd listen to whatever they had to say over dinner the next day. The next day the reapers attacked. The reapers destroyed my apartment building. My parents, veterans they were, didn't see the attack coming and died in the attack."
He hesitated. "Sorry for your loss."
"Don't be. They were assholes anyway. For all their talk about loving me and wanting the best for me, they still sold me off for a cushy retirement, fancy vacations, and a life of ease." She stopped and held up her hand. "Serious question, if the Reapers didn't bring the Citadel to our airspace, how do you think First Contact would have played out?"
He mulled it over in silence as they continued to sweep the area. They discovered no one encroaching on the area and crossed paths with the other group. Heading north, they'd soon cross eastward along the boundary.
"War. We would have tried to colonize your people. Conquer them."
"You would have landed on Earth and tried to colonize it?" She secretly glanced in his direction. Was he capable of that? Did she need to throw up a guard again? He gave no reason for her to retreat to the untrusting Mycerra. She should reconsider personal boundaries.
"No. Your relay wasn't activated prior to the Reapers. Humans would have activated the relay and set forth into space. Likely colonize a planet. We would have crossed paths, started a war with each other, and we would have conquered your people there and claimed that as our colony."
"So, you're saying the Reapers made our first contact more peaceful."
"Ironically, yes." He looked in her direction and walked between columns, clearing old storefronts.
"Another thing to thank the reapers for then." She said seriously. "I like the turians. They're more straightforward than the Asari and less shifty than the Salarians. I don't have much of an opinion on the Quarians yet."
They paused at the water fountain, base cracked, turned into a garden for spices. Mycerra wanted to see it filled with water again. One day.
"So, your wife's meat pies were the best? Did you manage to get the whole family around the table too? Or was that a struggle?" She asked as they passed what used to be a small shopping center.
They probed deeper into the darkness and found no spies or raiders in wait.
"My sons stationed in different regions of Palaven. I always said when we retired, we'd have a family meal together." His voice ached with yearning.
"Who says they aren't here in spirit with you?"
"It's not the same."
"Nothing will ever be the same again, Deltano. Nothing." She looked him in the eye. "Too much has changed for- "
A clinking sound cut her off.
Deltano stepped away, rifle raised. He nodded for her to proceed with the pincer tactic.
A bullet hit Mycerra in the shoulder. She ducked out of the way, her shoulder flaming in pain. Blood blossomed where the bullet pierced.
"I'm fine!" She shouted at Deltano.
Activating her omni tool, she ducked further into the nook. Bullets peppered the corner. Deltano returned fire, weaving through the benches for cover.
"Need assistance at the Shopping Center. Under fire. Number of combatants unknown."
She regulated her breathing to countermeasure the flaming pain in her left shoulder. Reluctantly she switched the M-3 to her right hand.
Keeping the omni tool on, she activated the video controls and started recording.
Peeking from the corner, she saw nothing except Deltano ducked behind a bench. Two weapons fired, although she spotted no one through the darkness.
They needed lights in this area.
With her shoulder blossoming blood, charging impossible without aggravating the injury. "Deltano," She tapped her visor communication controls. "I can cast a biotic protection shield. Surge forward as one? Split when drop the shield?"
"Two combatants." He replied via comms.
"Took a bullet to the shoulder. Bleeding. Still combat ready."
"Stay under cover. I have this."
"Don't get cocky, General." She warned him.
Ducking out of cover, she threw up a quick singularity. One person in black and silver armor floated out behind an old sales counter. Deltano placed two rounds in their head and kneeled behind cover again. "I need you alive."
She grew fond of him these past months. He was more of a father figure to her than Alfred Colton. She wouldn't tell him that. It might go to his ego, and he'd be bearing down her back again with micromanagement.
A metal cannister launched forward into their space.
Mycerra bolted across the ten-foot gap and threw up a shield.
Her omni tool sputtered to life.
"Help on the way, Boss. Five minutes out!" Heavy breathing blocked out the siren blaring in the background.
Mycerra pressed her back to the bench's edge. "I'm going to feel REALLY stupid if it's just two people."
The gas grenade expelled obscuring smoke. The smoke pressed against the biotic bubble.
"Protocol is protocol." Deltano said. "On count of three."
"One, two- "
"Three." He threw himself over her and fired multiple rounds at an armored human emerging from the smoke.
She punched the ground in front of him, knocking the figure off their feet. Her shoulder locked up in pain, the warmth of the blood against skin small comfort.
Another smoke grenade clattered into their immediate area. Thick smoke limited visibility to nothing.
Mycerra closed her eyes, allowed the biotics to take over regardless of the consequences, and grabbed hold of Deltano by the carapace armor. She biotically charged them out of the area next to the barrier. Deltano stumbled to his feet in confusion. Bullets striking the concrete behind them pulled him back to fully clarity.
He pulled her up by the arm and helped her to the opposite side of the concrete barrier.
"Capture the bitch!"
"Fuck! We're dead if we don't- "
"Helps here!" Bohai shouted, flanked by four more armed civilians wearing mixed armor.
Mycerra grit her teeth, dizzy from blood loss. "More than two." She informed Deltano and pushed herself upright. Clutching her M-3, she prepared to take a shot. The shot clipped the shields of the figure semi shrouded in smoke.
"You're famous, Colton."
"I'm not trying to be, General."
Bohai huddled next to her. "Through and through injury?"
"Feels like it." She answered.
"Applying medigel."
The pulsing pain lessened. She stopped him from applying more and took another pot shot at the smoke.
Wind thinned it out.
Mycerra's pistol lined up on a target flanked by eight more individuals. Scavengers? Or Raiders? Too well armored to be scavengers. Potentially raiders.
"Try to take one alive." She ordered the group.
"Stay down." Deltano ordered her.
"Over my- "
"The camp needs you more than they need me." Deltano said and fired more rounds in the enemies advancing toward them. They dived out of the way and took cover.
She inhaled sharply, the biotic energy welling within her. "I'm not an invalid." She shot back.
"Wei, get Colton back to camp. That's an order." Deltano laid down cover fire. "We'll deprive them of what they want!"
Mycerra flung a paralyzing bubble around one of the braver enemies.
"You better come back alive!" She shouted at Deltano.
Wei lifted her to her feet. She threw up a protective bubble to cover their escape.
Medic Schidmt patched her up, concluded the injury minimal all things considered. She snagged a sniper rifle from the armory and ran toward the nearest tower. Antonia Prima joined her demanding a sitrep. She gave Antonia answers en route.
She positioned herself on the tower with a sniper rifle.
The raiders appeared out of the rubble in staggering numbers.
Breathe, aim, fire.
Breathe, aim, fire.
Breathe, aim, fire.
"Clear a path for us!" A human shouted over the comms.
Her scope tracked the easiest route and the open stretch between the five stranded trapped by scattered gunfire. She tracked the farthest offender, foregoing the easier targets, and dropped them. Her scope followed the line of repressive fire and dropped each person with one round. Prima killed back up attempting to eliminate the lone five.
"Path is cleared. Move fast." She stated over the comms.
Keeping calm, Mycerra focused on the now. The raiders possessed superior fire power. They wanted her. Worst of all, Haven 1 lacked the defenses of the Haven 2, 9, and 11.
Her scope tracked Deltano and team streaking down the open gap.
She swept the view past them and picked off two in pursuit. Their bodies flew backward and lay still in growing pools of blood. Her scope froze on a gun truck racing right toward their camp. She lined up the shot and pulled the trigger.
The glass held.
"Deltano, you have a gun truck behind you." She said over the visor comms.
"Never noticed!" He replied sarcastically.
She almost smiled. Lining up another shot, she focused on the gunner. The kinetic shield flickered a moment. She reloaded rapidly and fired another exposing the gunner.
"Deltano, I NEED you at this camp. Your people NEED you here. Get your ass MOVING."
She glanced sideways and locked eyes with Antonia Prima. "What?"
"It's cute." She teased.
"Yeah, well, he's the only father figure I got right now. He better haul his ass back here or I'm bringing him back from the dead and lecturing him. To sundown next week." She whispered.
"He's faster than he looks." Antonia said and pointed to Deltano picking up considerable speed sprinting across the even stretch. The humans fell back several paces. Within reach now, those without sniper rifles aided the remaining humans in the open. The biotics lifted the barriers for the last of the humans before dropping them back into place.
She fired another shot at the gunner, hitting the armor's kinetic shielding.
"We have a problem, Hans. Get word out to the rest of the Havens we're under fire. Please." She said over the omni-tool comms. "Immediately. Ask for assistance. Casualties are unacceptable."
"Yes, Ma-am." Hans replied immediately.
Mycerra inhaled sharply, the pain significantly less after the medigel and bandages. "Prima, I'm on limited thermal clips. We knew they were growing in numbers, but I never thought it was this bad. I don't know how far they're willing to go, but if the turians needs to scuttle with Vasa and Dravis, do so. Better that you make it out of here alive and have another day to live."
"No."
"Depending on how bad it is, take as many children with you as you can, alright?" Mycerra asked seriously.
She nodded. "We're not retreating until necessary."
"Turians never turn their backs. I know. I'm not asking you to turn your back. Just- "
Deltano's head popped up into the tower platform. "They're after you."
"No shit."
"Working with Cerberus."
"How'd you learn this?" Mycerra lined up another shot on the gunner, this time taking their head off.
He tossed a sack of thermal clips to Prima. She caught it.
"You're not handing yourself over."
A loudspeaker nearly deafened her.
She turned down the comms on both the omni tool and the visor.
"ATTENTION, HAVEN 1. HAND OVER YOUR LEADER AND WE WILL NOT FIRE. YOU HAVE A HALF HOUR BEFORE WE BOMB YOUR GREENHOUSES AND SHUTTLES FOLLOWED SHORTLY BY YOUR CLINIC. IF YOU STILL HOLD OUT AFTER THAT, WE'LL BOMB THE REST OF YOUR HOLE IN THE GROUND."
The equally deafening silence irritated the ringing in her ear.
The forces stayed out of sniper range.
"Don't." Deltano ordered.
Her mouth twisted in anguished thought. "It may come down to that."
"No." Prima said.
Her stomach dropped. "You said I didn't need your micromanaging anymore. Have a little faith in what I do. Down that ladder. I need to reach Medic Schidmt now."
"What are you planning?"
"I'm going to hand myself over so no one else is hurt. And you're going to follow the tracker to bring me back and take out Cerberus." She answered. "You best make sure no one in this camp gets hurt on my leave of absence."
"Under no circumstances is that an acceptable strategy." He easily kept pace.
People cleared out of her path. No one tried to put a hand on her. She barged into the medical clinic. "Unless you want to watch a tracker be installed in my ass, you may want to wait outside." She warned Deltano.
He huffed. "This is suicide."
"One person versus 1,000." She almost yelled. "My one purpose, one mission after the end of the war was to help others survive. That's what I'm doing here today."
He stared her down. "If it looks like they're going to kill you, you fight back with everything. Do not hold back." He ordered.
"I'll be fine." She lied.
La'Quoia Schidmt opened a drawer filled and pulled out a small box. "This will hurt." She warned Mycerra.
"Things are about hurt a lot more." She escorted Deltano to the door and shut it. She stripped waist down, exposing her ass. Bracing against a bed, she grit her teeth pre-emptively. The brief sting hurt a lot less than she expected. Pants firmly around her waist again, she tightened the belt and inhaled sharply.
"Come back alive, Mycerra." Medic Schidmt ordered.
She saluted. "Do your best and give the Alliance hell before I get back."
Long strides lead her to the front barrier. Bohai tried to block her path. Yu pulled him out of the way. Tabitha and Diyal pulled Galaxy back. Mycerra stopped and tossed her the home-made dog tags. Galaxy ran forward to catch them.
"I'll be back." She promised.
Galaxy snapped to attention and saluted.
"Barriers high enough for me to crouch under." She ordered the biotics manning the defensive barriers.
"Good luck, Ma-am."
"I'll be back." She said casually. "Don't wait up."
Crouching under the cement barrier gave her a moment of consideration. She stood up on the other side. Lasers centered on her chest. She held her hands out at her sides, palms forward.
"Would you look at that…Shaving it close with ten minutes to spare." A gloating familiar voice said.
Mycerra left the visor comms open.
"Balencia. Thought I'd never hear your voice again."
"Walk. That way." The helmeted raider gestured with the rifle. Mycerra obeyed. She spotted the shuttle in the distance past the western boundary amid uncleared rubble.
She walked at a leisurely pace. "Nice shuttle, Balencia. Steal it or fix it?"
"Someone rip that visor offer her head." Balencia ordered.
"Paranoid much, Balencia?" Mycerra challenged. "Hey, hey- "Her head jerked as someone with a pistol a breath from her cheek prevented her from responding. The visor slipped off haphazardly. "Don't break that. A gift from the Alliance."
"Fuck the Alliance." The helmeted raider said and tossed the visor.
Mycerra winced as it skittered across the ground before Balencia crushed it with her foot.
Balencia leveled the rifle on her. The pistol hovered an inch from her cheek.
She walked toward the shuttle, her outlook on life rapidly worsening.
Deltano observed the shuttle departing from the sniper rifle scope.
His blood boiled in growing pride and rage. The raiders retreated into the rubble of the city like ghosts.
"No one leaves camp." He looked to Antonia. "Keep Galaxy Portman inside camp at all costs. Round up the biotics. Secure the greenhouses and shuttles. Check in with Everhart. When the Alliance arrives, we're launching a rescue mission."
"What if they make it off planet?" Antonia asked.
"They won't." Deltano stated. "We won't let it happen."
Prima slid down the ladder. Boots on ground, she opened comms with Tabitha Votham. "You have Galaxy Portman, yes?"
"She's cooperating for now." Tabitha answered. People shouted in the background, wanting an explanation for what just happened. Diyal's voices filtered in and out. "Is it safe now? What's happening?"
"Assume hostile forces surrounding camp." She set the Safety Alert Status to Red.
Everyone on Haven's email list received an urgent email announcing the immediate restrictions.
"Tabitha, run the camp." She ended the call and snagged Wei Yu and Wei Bohai. "Round up the other biotics and group up. Report to General Deltano. If anyone resists, tell them that the raiders are after them personally and it's for their protection."
"Yes, Ma-am." Yu complied immediately.
"What about the boss?" Bohai demanded. "What's going on?"
"Later, Wei." Antonia went down the checklist methodically. "Tulliver, Usman, grab up all the mercs you can, arm yourselves, if you're not and get down to the greenhouses and shuttles. Protect them at all costs. Someone's always on shift, no less than four people on shift for the area."
The gathered men parted ways the same time Bohai followed his sister.
She stormed into the comm's tent. "Everhart, are they on the way?"
The comm's chatter exploded.
"They're hitting everywhere." He answered her and held up a fist to silence any further chatter from her. "They attacked the biotic camp in the south, bombed it to the ground and escaped with ten individuals. Presumed alive for now. Casualties, thirty-six. Hit in the east at Refuge 3. Refuge 3 repelled the attack with sixty-eight dead. Raiders retreated."
"Colton just handed herself over." Antonia stopped him. "Are the Alliance on the way?"
"No." He answered her and faced her finally. "They're responding to Refuge 3 and the smaller camps."
"They're assuming the raiders won't come back here?" She nearly shouted.
He nodded. "I'll send word when/if they send people."
"Damned useless- "She stormed out of the tent.
She dispatched one the cook's assistants to tell Deltano the bad news and braced for the worst.
Everywhere she looked, she saw fear, anger, and confusion.
She stormed back into the comms tent. "Give me the loudspeakers for the camp." She ordered Hans.
He switched over to the local channel and handed her the microphone.
"Attention Haven 1. We are at Code Red. I repeat Code Red. Our leader Mycerra Colton handed herself over to the raiders to ensure our survival. Do not leave camp. Do not risk your safety or others for a misguided rescue attempt. We will resolve this situation to the best of our ability with minimal loss of life. Have faith in us and we will deliver you to a safer tomorrow. Your cooperation is imperative. Thank you."
She pat Hans on the shoulder. "I need to know if anything, and I do mean anything, crosses your channels about anyone defying those orders. My comms is open. The General is leading security. Tabitha Votham and Diyal Bakshi are filling Colton's boots."
"Yes, Ma'am."
"Good work, Hans."
"I'll keep you updated with the numbers." He shouted after her.
She rushed out of the tent, mag locked the rifle to her armor, and rushed to find the rest of her comrades. With no side of Calun Dravis or Vasa R'ila, she accepted they may try their own course of action. Acceptable losses with potential for unexpected success provided fortune fell in their favor.
The oppressive fear in the atmosphere sickened her.
She vowed to dispel it.
The Alliance marked shuttle flew away from Haven 1.
Hands cuffed and resting on her lap, Mycerra wedged between two beefy men in armor. Across from her, Balencia, Mathers, and another human woman sat. The pilot followed the flight path as planned.
"You love that hole in the ground that much. Admirable." Balencia jabbed and lit up a cigar. "I knew you'd be the easiest to retrieve."
Mycerra pulsed the biotics through both hands. "You're working for Cerberus."
"Is that a statement or a guess?"
"We fought together, Balencia!"
"And? At what point did you believe we were ever friends or loyal to one another?" Balencia said and blew a ring of smoke. "I don't have the heart like you, Mycerra. Once I get off this planet, which will be shortly, a trip through the mass relay and the world is ours. Best part of it is that there's nothing you can do. The galaxy is a big place."
A rifle barrel pressed to her chest. "Cease the biotics, freak."
"That's not nice, Henrique. Apologize." Balencia's own fist enveloped in blue biotic flames.
"Sorry, Ma'am, but she's using biotics."
"No, she's not. She's broken. Needs to do that to control the biotics or they'll damage her musculature ability." Balencia explained patiently. "She's a broken little biotic and we're giving her back to her parents. The legal ones."
Mycerra's jaw locked. "You don't- "
"Henrique won't shoot you. I will." Balencia produced a pistol mag locked to her leg and pressed the barrel to Mycerra's knee. "Cerberus wanted you back alive, not in perfect working order."
Mycerra fumed.
"Good girl." Balencia pat her leg before mag locking the pistol again.
"We'll be at the port in ten minutes, Ma'am." The pilot said. "Cerberus commandeered an Alliance Frigate."
"What's the window look like?"
"We have twenty minutes after landing. Cerberus is cooperating with the Blue Suns, a group from Omega. Said they'd help you integrate."
"Perfect." Balencia said. "Don't look so pale, Mycerra. Because of you, I have a fresh start and an opportunity for more power than I ever could have imagined."
It took everything in Mycerra to not leap across the shuttle and try to strangle the woman regardless of the present company.