The following day had been a less eventful one than Kaidan anticipated. Kacey had recovered quicker than expected, and the crew seemed to be more…aware about what was going on between them. Kaidan knew this for sure; James had already confronted the pair about it, and it seemed that everyone, including Liara and EDI was aware. All but Joker.
Nothing against the wise-cracking pilot, but the last time the news came out, it was torture. The jokes that Joker cracked annoyed the living daylights out of Kaidan, and while Kacey did eventually manage to get Joker to stop, he still threw in the odd sly comment or two. Understandably, after everything that had happened between them, Kaidan understood why Kacey was hesitant to spread the news; they still had things to work out and with the war on, they couldn't afford to get distracted.
Kaidan had barely spoken to Joker since he arrived; for the most part, he spent his time in the Starboard Observation Deck and, more recently, the Captain's Cabin. It wasn't like Kaidan was intentionally avoiding the pilot, he simply had more pressing issues on his mind than he'd care to admit.
It was one of those off-chances that he was on the CIC that Kaidan had eventually caught Joker's attention. Joker had called him over and Kaidan relented, if only to let the others on the CIC work in peace.
"Hey, Kaidan." Joker said, "You know, I honestly thought the Commander had chucked you out the airlock, you know, since I haven't seen you around at all."
"I've just been busy, that's all." Kaidan replied.
"Busy. Right." Joker said sarcastically, "Wait. The Commander hasn't put another dent in the wall, has she?"
"What? No!"
"Good. Because the last thing we need is for the Alliance to get mad at the dents she's put in their new toy." Joker mused, "So, have you two made up yet?"
"Why'd you ask?"
"Because it would really help morale." Joker replied slyly, "Hey, I remember when it all came out the first time. Ahh, good times."
"Good times? Weren't you happy with those leather seats Cerberus put on this thing?" Kaidan smirked.
"Yeah but—wait. How do you know about that?"
"The Commander told me."
"Of course, she did. You're her favourite." Joker replied, "Or maybe not. Depends on whether or not she's forgiven you yet."
"Well, I'm here, aren't I?"
"I suppose."
"Hey Kaidan." Kacey said, walking towards the pair, "I need a word if you don't mind."
"Sure." Kaidan replied.
"Aww, are you two going to kiss and make up?" Joker smirked.
"Careful, Joker. I might put another dent in the wall." Kacey teased, knocking on the wall.
"Oh, please don't Commander!" Joker shouted after them as they walked away.
"So, should I be worried?" Kaidan asked.
"Depends on how you feel about diplomats." Kacey replied, "Hackett's told me the quarians want to talk. We need their ships."
"Makes sense." Kaidan mused, "They do have the biggest fleet in the galaxy."
"Not to mention, that we could run into Tali." Kacey added, "I just hope she's okay."
"She will be. I know she will." Kaidan reassured Kacey.
"I hope you're right." Kacey sighed, "Anyway, I wanted to go over the part with the Collector ship before we need to talk to the Admirals, that is if you're not too busy?"
"Sure. Garrus mentioned it briefly just before you came back on dry land." Kaidan said, "You're giving me a lot of reasons to hunt down the Illusive Man, you know."
"Oh, I know. And honestly, you'd be doing me a favour." Kacey said as they got into the elevator, "So, after we came back with Tali and Jacob was done antagonising her, I went down and explained the situation to her. She was pretty eager to help as you can imagine."
"She didn't give you a grenade, did she?" Kaidan laughed.
"Tempted to, but we needed to be subtle." Kacey replied, exiting the elevator, "Once I was back on the CIC, I was told the Illusive Man wanted to speak with me, and given how the last time he wanted to talk, it was about Horizon, I wasn't too keen at the time."
"I don't blame you."
"Yeah? Well, this mission? Way worse."
…
"Commander, we've got an urgent message from the Illusive Man." Joker said through the comms.
"I'm not here!" Kacey said, "Tell him to leave a message and call back another time, preferably never!"
She could hear Joker snicker through the comms. She knew she'd have to, at some point to get out of this stupid mess. Not to mention, her conscience wouldn't let her avoid the task forever.
She went into the Briefing Room anyway, if only to speed things along. She sure as hell was going to continue to antagonise the Cerberus leader; if she was forced to cooperate, she was going to do what she wanted. Once the call was patched through, she saw the Illusive Man standing, smoking.
"Shepard, we caught a break." The Illusive Man said, "I intercepted a distress call from a turian patrol. They stumbled on to a Collector ship beyond they Korlus system. The turians were wiped out, but not before they crippled the Collector vessel. I need you to board that ship and get some hard data on the Collectors. Find us a way to get to their homeworld."
"How convenient." Kaidan said.
"Very." Kacey replied.
Kacey scoffed, "Hard to imagine a turian patrol could take out a Collector ship."
"Reports indicate the hull's intact, but all systems are offline." The Illusive Man replied, "They could be making repairs as we speak. I'm not saying it won't be dangerous, but we can't let an opportunity like this slip by."
"If they had a patrol out there, why aren't the turians sending a recon team in?"
"They will. Eventually. But I intercepted the transmissions. In the meantime, we're feeding them false reports. You're close enough that you can be in and out before the turians learn the truth."
"Fine, fine. Whatever ends this conversation quicker." Kacey dismissed.
"Good. Once you're aboard the ship, establish an uplink with EDI. She'll mine their data for information regarding the Omega 4 Relay. Given the severity of this mission, its best that you bring your entire team with you. Good luck Shepard."
"Coordinates punched in. Let's go find us a Collector ship." Joker said as Kacey ended the call."
…
"We have a visual on the Collector ship, Commander." Joker said.
"Very low emissions." EDI mused, "Passive infrared temperatures suggest most systems are offline. Thrusters are cold."
"That thing's massive. How the hell did the turians take it out?"
"Maybe they didn't." Kacey mused. Something about this didn't feel right to her.
"Ladar scans do not detect any hull breaches on the side facing us." EDI explained, "I detect no mass effect field distortions. It appears the drive core is offline."
"Rendezvous in thirty seconds Commander. Good luck."
Kacey headed down toward the shuttle, where the entire team was waiting inside. She was probably very lucky that Cerberus had designed these large enough to fit them all. Not to mention that by taking everyone, she could have a better idea on how well the rag-tag group would work together.
Upon Kacey's arrival, the group was mostly quiet, although Miranda and Jack continued to glare at each other as Kacey filled the group in. The plan was to stick together for the most part; they had no idea what could be waiting for them inside the ship.
As the shuttle landed, Kacey was more optimistic; she really wanted to put the squad through its paces. And while she was already aware of Garrus and Tali's capabilities, the rest were still a bit of a mystery to Kacey. As the group began to put on their helmets or breathing devices to deal with the vacuum of space, Kacey began to feel some slight unease. It wasn't unusual for Kacey, not by a long shot. But it was a little weird that she had began to feel, almost nervous about setting foot in a place with no air. Something about it unnerved her, and she didn't understand why. She double-checked that her helmet was on correctly; once, twice, three times. Then again. And again.
"Kacey, are you okay?" Garrus asked, his voice quiet, "You keep checking your helmet."
"I'm fine." Kacey replied quickly, "Just making sure."
"Okay. If, you're sure."
Garrus didn't press the matter further and Kacey could breathe a sigh of relief. Once everyone was ready, they left the shuttle, entering the Collector Ship.
"I love what they've done with the place." Garrus quipped.
"It looks like an insect hive." Tali mused.
"Penetrating scans have detected an access node to uplink with Collector databanks." EDI chimed as Kacey led the squad forward, "Marking the location to your hardsuit computer."
The ship was eerily quiet; too quiet. Tali was right; it looked exactly like an insect hive. Made sense in retrospect; the Collectors sure did seem like an insect race. The place was mostly dark, with weird creepy orange lights that give the interior a sickening orange hue. Thin, crusty smoke hung in the air like an odour, and odd mix of organic material and technology within the ship was making Kacey feel sick the more she thought about it.
"And then, EDI dropped the first major bombshell on the mission. Those suspicions I had? Very much justified."
"Shepard, I have compared the ship's EM signature to known Collector profiles." EDI said suddenly, "It is the vessel you encountered on Horizon."
"Maybe the defence towers softened it for the turians." Kacey mused.
"The missing colonists might be abroad." Miranda chimed, "If they are still alive."
"An optimistic thought." Samara mused, "But not a realistic one."
"Look over there!" Jacob said pointing at the Collector containers.
Mordin ran over to the containers and scanned it with his omni-tool, "Same containers as on Horizon. Only empty. Humans previously inside not long ago."
"Horrible." Garrus mused, "Trapped in these pods. Completely at the mercy of the Collectors."
"And Mordin's countermeasure is the only thing between us and that fate." Kacey mused.
"Mordin developed it?" Tali asked.
"Yes. Had to be me." Mordin replied quickly.
Despite the interactions of the squad, Kacey's nerves had not settled. Not one bit. The odd clicking noise and squishing noises were making Kacey nauseous. She hoped that this would be over quickly but knowing her luck, things were about to get a hell of a lot more complicated.