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Garrus lead his team out of the bloodied commissary and into a long hallway, flanked by dozens of smaller, personal doors. Each had a name-plate beside it, ranging from doctors to scientists and even, of all things, a botanist. All the doors were sealed shut, and, like the walls, some were pitted by long, thin gouges of mass accelerator fire. And splashed by long swathes of blood and something grey and sticky smeared in long stretches along it. He peered through a door into a sparse, but nice enough, room and saw a woman laid out in bed, facing away from him with her hands around her own throat and her legs splayed out tensely, lit wickedly by the red emergency lights.

"No oxygen." He murmured, looking at the card-readers beside the door. It, like the others he could see, had been smashed open and its wires had been tampered with. "And reader's been hacked. To lock them inside."

"How awful…" Penny murmured, "To die this way."

"I doubt it was the slavers' intent." Thane offered weakly, pacing to the end of the hall, where it split off to either side and humming as he kept watch, "Instead, it was likely to keep them separated and isolated from the leadership here. More rooms line these halls. They are opened, however. No doctors here."

"Keep the important staff hostage for cooperation." Garrus mumbled, "Effective. So what went wrong?"

"We could search the quarters?" Penny suggested, "We may find useful information. Even security-"

She was cut off by the lights suddenly coming on, and the slowly building sound of air whooshing in through overhead vents. After a few moments, Garrus raised his Omni-Tool and nodded, "Air pressure's safe, no sign of contaminants."

"Wonderful!"

"Helmet stays on, Polendina." Garrus chuckled, "Could depressurize again. And not-" The station rumbled around them and they all sank to their knees, anxiously watching the walls, ceiling and floor until it stopped. And Garrus finished, "Gently."

"Could have been the others…"

"Hopefully not." Garrus said, "That would mean they've hit contacts, too. And I'd rather our friend back there be a bit more unique than that."

"A thought." Krios murmured from his self-imposed post at the corner, "How did our team in Maintenance get the power running before we brought down the security lockdown? Do Cerberus lockdowns not inhibit such?"

"They do." Garrus answered, "Lawson briefed me on them."

"Then how do we have power operation?" Penny posed, "Oxygen systems, too. Someone must have brought the lockdown down. But if not us, then who?"

The question hung for several long, quiet moments. None of them had answers, of course. And that fact made them all just that bit more anxious. Aside from Krios, at least, who, as always, seemed absolutely at peace. In complete control. He appreciated that, appreciated that the man's aim would be steady if a fight came again…

Even if it made him a bit more anxious, somehow.

"Schematics have security just past the dorms." Garrus finally said, "Whatever happened to the protocols, we lift lockdown and board the Reaper. Bravo team should be exfiltrating now power and systems are operation, and Charlie should already be en route to where the IFF was supposed to be being studied on board the Reaper itself."

"Understood."

"Aye-" Krios hissed and ducked back as a heavier round seared by the space his head had just occupied. He leaned around the corner to fire two quick shots and hissed, "Contact - Batarian weapons fire!"

"Copy." Garrus answered, rushing over to lean against the wall beside him. "You go, I'll cover. Polendina, prepare for hallway breach. Once I signal, you put two lances down the hall. Accuracy doesn't matter, just push them back."

"Aye."

"Understood."

The Drell slipped out of cover with two more snap-shots down the hall and a smooth duck under another large round that seared by, impacting the corner behind Garrus with a heavy 'thunk'. He turned, eyeing the long rod of near-molten metal with a flick of his mandibles, then leaned around the corner to pepper bursts of automatic fire down the hallway to buy himself a moment to see. There were three figures down there, one leaning around the far door that lead out and the other two leaning out of dorm-doors, bringing blocky rifles to bear.

Long bursts of energy-weapons fire slammed into the bulkhead just in front of both doors before they could, buying Krios a moment to hurl his Biotics around in an arc, Pulling the sharpshooter at the back out of cover. There was only a moment to catch sight on his broad back as he drifted by the door, pushing off with a hand to try and throw himself back into the room beyond.

Garrus' rifle put four rounds clean through his back and one more into his throat as he drifted away, into the room.

"Damn!" One of them swore in a cleaner, clearly not even Batarian, voice, "Since when can they do that?!"

Garrus' eyes narrowed and he slid back into cover, instincts driving him to key their comm-line and grunt, "Hold fire." Neither spoke, but both obeyed, Krios leaning into cover as Penny dropped her blade-sets toward the floor and propelled herself back and then to the side, into one of the open doors. Before the others could press what they'd probably see as an advantage, he called out, "Hold fire! We're not… Whatever those things are!"

"Yeah?" The voice called out, "Prove it! Cuz only thing that way is the fucking monster!"

"We killed it!" He called back, cueing his comms and murmuring, "Cover me."

"Done."

"Affirmative."

"I'm coming out!" Garrus called over, "Please, do not shoot me!"

"Yeah, well, we'll see." The man called out, "You shot one of ours first!"

"You shot at one of mine." He rolled his eyes, "Look, we can play the blame game after we know who each other are. Alright? I don't exactly fancy fighting another one of those things anytime soon."

"Yeah, well… Came to the wrong place." The man called back, sounding exhausted and then letting out a long breath that laced his audio-speaker system in static. "Fine, forget it. Come on out, we won't shoot unless we confirm hostile."

"Alright." He sighed and lowered his rifle, stepping out into the hallway. Two rifles were aimed square at him as he did, stepping forward under a light and turning slowly so they could see him. "See? All Turian."

"Turian doesn't mean non-hostile." The man called back, "Who sent you?"

"We're part of a Cerberus strike team meant to-"

"Cerberus doesn't employ Turians." The man cut him off, rifles steadying in their grips as they took aim. "Try again."

"I…" He paused, staring at the rifles, and grimaced, mandibles clicking agitatedly as he thought. Finally, he said, "Look, I know who Cerberus are. Why would that be my lie? It doesn't make any sense. I'd be better off saying I was a mercenary or something, here looking for someone to pay me to get 'em out. But instead, I say that. Why?"

"You tell me."

"Because it's so ridiculous it has to be true." Garrus answered, "A con says something you might believe. That's the focus. I'm saying something ridiculous. We;re a Cerberus strike team, here to get the security lockdown lifted for another team securing the Reaper IFF while another secures your data-cache, which we were briefed is just inside the Reaper. One of ours also cut the power back on just a bit ago, so… Some proof, at least."

"Well…" The man paused, "You're in the right place. So either your intel is good, or you're who you say you are."

"And either way," Garrus pressed, "we can help you."

"Yeah, I guess you- Heads up!"

Garrus' eyes widened as metal screamed in protest and came undone, showering him in metal plates, sparking wires and duct-work. Huge cables surged down, wrapping around him in the same moment, winding around each arm and crushing around his stomach, too, as it yanked him off his feet and drove the wind out of him. Mass accelerator fire ripped through the air, but more of the thick, blue, mechanical tendrils descended swiftly, yanking up metal panels from where they'd fallen and using them to block what they could of the oncoming fire, all while he was dragged, kicking uselessly, up towards whatever had him-

Until he heard Penny shout,"Mister Thane, I need them still!" He heard Penny call

And suddenly, everything froze in place, with him held horizontally and on his side, his skin tingling as Biotics crawled across it. It only lasted a moment before the girl leapt onto him, blades spinning as they melted through the other tendrils blocking the soldiers' fire from further up, and Krios dropped the Stasis. In perfect timing, her lasers flashed, searing away at the tendrils across his arms and then across his stomach. As he fell, she grabbed his armored shoulder and pulled, flipping them mid-air and firing a pulse of energy off to push them back up and buy enough time for her to plant her feet, turn, and catch him in her arms.

He blinked, held up like a bride on her best night, and turned to her as she beamed, "I have rescued you, Friend!"

"Uh huh." He nodded, "Put me down and melt whatever's up there?"

"Of course." She turned, pitching him up onto his feet and he staggered a bit, winded, and leaned against the wall while she peppered the opening in short bursts of particle fire.

Metal and fleshy bits fell through the hole around her, but she mostly ignored them. Only ever paying them enough mind to duck to either side to avoid getting hit. Two more tendrils shot out, curving towards her, but rifle-fire from behind him ripped into them as they came and fell. Until, finally, something screamed, shrill and pained and just far enough away from Human for his stomach to twist and…

A man fell through, or what was left of him. He was missing his legs, swallowed up by a mass of meat, bone and machinery just below his waist, and an arm, too. And his skin had greyed, pipes and metal plating protruding haphazardly throughout it in a mess that made his stomach turn. He spasmed and pushed up on his good arm, glazed over eyes turning to him as a thin chord pushed out of his mouth, segmenting out into dozens of little pieces-

Then, his head detonated with the crack of a heavy pistol, and Garrus turned.

"Mercy." Krios murmured, lowering his weapon and frowning. "For whoever that was."

"Right." He nodded, straightening, "Polendina, melt it. Won't smell nice, but…"

"Understood." Penny nodded, looking past him as footsteps approached and asking, "You are alright with this as well?"

"Burning, or melting, them is the only way the Maker can't collect them and get them running again." The older man said, shrugging as he came up. He was darker skinned and bald-headed, just visible through the same wide-faced maintenance suit Penny was wearing, and more scarred than Garrus had expected. But seemed relieved enough, even managing a small smile, "Guess you ain't with her, then, though."

"The 'Maker'?"

"Mhm." The man nodded, grimacing and turning to snark, "Why don't you tell us about the Maker, Krenek?"

"Fine." The Batarian, armored the same way as his dead fellows had been before, growled. "But not here, Human. We should withdraw, back to Security."

"Right." He nodded, "Now our 'Cerberus'," he drawled the world to make the sarcasm clear, "friends are here, we can revise our escape plan. Assuming you all are fine with it?"

"Yeah." Garrus nodded, "We're fine with it. How many are we pulling out?"

"Half-dozen." The man answered, gesturing at the Batarian and then himself as he turned. "You've met Krenek, my name is Diesel. You, uh, killed Danvers-"

"Sorry."

"We fired first." He shrugged, sounding and looking exhausted as they made their way back towards the far door. "And… Well, she was already in rough shape. Maker turned her wife into one of those things, we call 'em Grabbers', before we could get out of Maintenance. Tagged her, too. Got her right through the thigh. Shouldn't have been fighting but… Well, we're all in rough shape."

"Yeah." Garrus nodded as they reached the door, "I bet."

Through the door was a wide, boxy room, with a raised section to one side lined by cubicle-console set-ups. 'Security' was plastered in red across the wall behind them and, on the other in the lower area, 'Waiting' was plastered in blue. The waiting area was a mess of tables and chairs overturned and piled at the far end, against another door, while a small handful of people milled about the room anxiously. One was a Batarian, limping on a bandaged leg with an arm in a sling. But the rest were Cerberus, wearing maintenance uniforms.

"Up here." Diesel grunted, leading them up and into the cubicle areas. He fell into a chair with a grunt, laid his Batarian rifle aside, and pulled out a card he slotted into the frame of the monitor with a muted 'click'. A few button presses later and a video popped up. He gestured at it and sighed while Krenek leaned against the wall behind him, "The Maker."

'The Maker' was little more than a teenage girl, dressed in slave rags and walking with a limp that would have worried him.

If she was being escorted by one of the four-armed monsters they'd just fought, and stopping to lean over a bloodied, bound Batarian in messy armor. He was laid against a hall wall, one of the simple prefab ones stations had everywhere, and grunted as she came close. "No…"

"I didn't get to say no to your friends." The girl rasped, voice sounding… Altered, somehow, as she stood. "You don't get to say no to mine, Mister."

"No…" He rasped as the handsy monster reached for him, voice rising, "No! Aaagh!"

Slowly, she cocked her head and turned, until she looked up into the camera-

Her eyes were wide and silvery, under a mop of black hair matted to her head. Her nose had been crushed at some point, and her jaw sat at an angle, with a strange hose coming out of it and slithering down her neck to punch into her flesh just above her heart. The tendrils from earlier descended from above her, gently cradling her as they lifted her up and away and she smiled, flicking a hand at the camera.

A tendril cut the feet from its end, and Garrus flinched.

"A child…" Krios murmured, turning to face Krenek and growling. "In slave garb."

"You saw our ships." The Batarian shrugged, "You know who we are."

"Yes, I do." Thane rumbled, "And-"

"Who is she?" Garrus asked, "Why is she here?"

"She's a tech-slave." Krenek explained quietly, watching the Drell warily. "We brought her from base for her technical skills. Then, shit hit the fan."

"How so?"

"The team with her vanished. Her, too." Krenek explained, "Then another, and another team, into the derelict ship. Few hours, and those things started coming for the closer-in salvagers, guards, slaves, whatever."

"Pass a day," Diesel sighed, "and here we are."

"A day?" Penny murmured, "You've been out of contact for many days, Mister Diesel."

"Many days…?" He blinked, confused, "But… The Maker only said we'd been playing for a few. She wouldn't lie to us."

"Wait…" Garrus blinked, "She… You're playing…"

"Vakarian!" He heard the Drell shout as he moved, slamming shoulder first into the Batarian as he tried to bring his rifle up. Diesel turned at the same moment and leapt for him, Omni-Blade flaring to life as he did, but Garrus was fast enough to backpedal and bat the strike away, his own rifle snapping up to spray automatic fire into the man's flank as he staggered by and into the wall of another cubicle.

"They're indoctrinated!" He barked, "Polendina, Krios, take care of them quick!"

"Understood!" They both clipped as he turned, raising his rifle and drawing a line on the rest of them.

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"Come on!" Jack grunted, hefting the boxy IFF container onto her shoulders and turning to watch Samara hurl away a handful of Husks and two of those spindly, fat fuckers while Lawson leapt onto the shuttle and turned, peppering the oncoming Reaper things with fire from her Shuriken. "We gotta go, Mega Milk!"

"You first." The Justicar said, backing into her, "You have it."

"Fine." She leapt, grimacing as the Cheerleader stepped over and caught her, pulling her in before she turned to provide Samara with more support. "C'mon, c'mon!"

The Justicar didn't answer, slamming her hands down into the plating and ripping it and the oncoming Reaper abominations apart in sprays of metal, blood, bone and oil. Leaving the survivors to collect themselves, the women turned and stepped out into the empty space between the shuttle and the Cerberus-built scaffolding, propelling herself along with a Biotic field. Graceful as always, she stepped into the shuttle and turned to watch it close.

"Fuckin' show-off." She muttered, reclining against a seat and sighing, "Lawson, let Shep know we got the package."

"I already tried." The Cheerleader turned to her, frowning, "No response."

"Well." Jack frowned, "Fuck."

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Ran long again. Hope you all like it - and yes, I know, the indoctrination 'twist' is fairly obvious. XD

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Torrent AB :

Noice.

Alank2 :

Glad you like it!

Saif Omar :

I actually didn't consider that, my bad. Also, she wasn't the only one planned to - Garrus' tentacling was written at the same time, it just would have been too long once I added the rest of the chapter.

Guest W :

That there is some fuckery happening here. Reaper related fuckery, that is.

STeelrain66 :

I'm worried about everyone in Ever After tbh.

Also, I am drawing SOME inspiration from Alien, too. Hence the vent traps, and the 'Maker'. Though the latter is, admittedly, a VERY loose incarnation of the idea of a Human being connected, somehow, to the Aliens.