A/N: Thank you zack24 for the favourite. I hope you are enjoying the story.
"You know what pisses me off? Calling this the cockpit. Alliance ships have bridges. Asari have cockpits. Oh wait. No they don't."
"Joker?" Kacey said, trying to hide her laughter.
She didn't expect to hear Joker talking with EDI, especially after all of their bickering.
"Commander?" Joker spun round in his chair, "Hey, did you collect stray cats as a kid? Because we really needed a mega-krogan. So thanks for bringing him home."
"I was born and raised in starships," Kacey replied, "You don't really see a lot of "stray cats" in space. Anyway, is everything going well in here?"
"It was, until the thing started questioning my every move." Joker grumbled, "It won't let anything slide."
"You were deliberately falsifying maintenance reports, Mr Moreau." EDI replied.
"Not falsifying. Tweaking." Joker protested, "I always round up on task times. Makes us look good when we come in under."
"Harmless self-promotion." Kacey replied, "EDI can ease off on that."
"Very well, Shepard." EDI replied.
"Yeah, go pout. I win."
"Joker."
"Right, right. No hard feelings. Good game." Joker said, "You know Commander, it seems like Garrus has finally worked that stick out of his butt but now he's trying to beat guys to death with it. I can't believe I like the old Garrus better."
"So you've noticed that too?" Kacey replied.
"Yeah. I wonder what happened to him." Joker mused, "Anyway, we're nearly there Commander."
"Good. Tell Miranda and Garrus to get ready to go." Kacey replied.
…
Something about the prison felt…off to Kacey. And it wasn't just the fact that Blue Suns mercs were the prison guards. The atmosphere was tense, and it was for that very reason she decided to bring Garrus, who she trusted, and Miranda, who she believed would be helpful in dealing with the guards.
"Something wasn't right. I know I've got some…trust issues but I didn't trust the situation. The guards didn't help matters, and I knew that I had to be careful."
"Welcome to the Purgatory, Shepard." The guard said, "Your package is being prepped, and you can claim it shortly. As this is a high-security vessel, you'll need to relinquish your weapons before we procced."
"I assume you didn't." Kaidan laughed.
"Obviously." Kacey replied with a smirk, "I didn't on Noveria, and I sure as hell wasn't doing it there."
"Sorry, I can't do that." Kacey replied bluntly.
"Everyone stand down." A turian appeared from behind the guard, "Commander, I'm Warden Kuril, and this is my ship. Your weapons will be returned on the way out. You must realise this is just standard procedure."
"It's my standard procedure to keep my gun." Kacey glared at the Warden.
"Let them procced." Warden Kuril replied, "Our facility is more than secure enough to handle three armed guests. We're bringing Jack out of cryo. As soon as the funds clear, you can be on your way. If you will follow me to Outprocessing for the pickup Commander."
"Let's go." Kacey replied.
Once the guards and Warden Kuril were out of earshot, Kacey stopped Garrus and Miranda.
"Stay sharp." Kacey said, "I don't trust this."
"Me neither." Miranda replied.
"Same here." Garrus replied.
They caught up before the Warden noticed they weren't following.
"Cellblock Two." The Warden said, "As you can see, we keep tight control over the population. Each prisoner's cell is a self-contained, modular unit. I've blown a few out the airlocks as an example. This ship is made up of 30 cellblocks identical to this one—we house thousands of criminals. We can put the whole place in lockdown at a moment's notice. Nothing goes wrong here."
"Sounds like a threat to me." Kaidan said.
"A thinly veiled one." Kacey replied.
"Maintaining a population this size in space can't be cheap." Kacey said.
"We can cut corners the government can't." Warden Kuril replied, "And each prisoner brings in a fee from their homeworld. These individuals are violent, and their home planets pay well to keep them here."
"And if they don't?"
"We explain that we can't maintain the prisoner without their help, so we'll be forced to release them back onto their homeworld. At an unspecified place and time."
"So it's an extortion racket." Garrus said.
"You don't have to agree with my methods, but don't question my motives."
"Well, then keep walking." Kacey replied.
The Warden turned around and kept walking, but Kacey already had a sense that the Warden couldn't be trusted. Garrus seemed to have shared the sentiment; Kacey noticed how he was poised to grab his gun at a moment's notice.
"I assume there is rarely any escape attempts?" Miranda questioned.
"We're in space." The Warden replied, "They have nowhere to go and they know it. But still, we exercise extreme caution. These are dangerous individuals. We have many ways to control the population. I'm going to confirm that the funds from Cerberus has cleared. Outprocessing is straight down this hallway. Just keep going past the interrogation rooms and the supermax wing. I'll catch up with you later…Shepard."
Warden Kuril left, and Kacey was now complete convinced that the Warden was going to turn on them. As the trio headed down the hall, they saw a guard brutally beat a prisoner with a pole. The sight was horrific, and the man's agonising screams reminded Kacey of something she wished she could forget.
"Interrogation is sometimes necessary, but this is just pointless cruelty." Miranda said disgusted.
"You don't even get good information that way," Garrus replied, clearly angry, "After a point, victims admit to anything to make the pain stop."
"It is something that cowards do." Kacey said loud enough for the guards to hear her, "You know, hit someone they know can't fight back. If anything, they are just outing themselves."
The guards glared at the trio as they walked by, but Kacey didn't care. Once they had reached Outprocessing a technician pointed them to the door at the far side of the room.
"This is a trap." Miranda said.
"It is so very clearly a trap." Garrus replied.
"Well, be ready for anything." Kacey said, "Cause if so, then all hell is gonna break lose."
Kacey opened the door, which revealed a single cell on the other side.
"My apologies, Shepard." Warden Kuril spoke over the intercom, "You're more valuable as a prisoner than a customer."
"Wow I'm so surprised." Kacey said sarcastically.
"Drop your weapons and procced into this open cell. You will not be harmed."
"No, I'm good thanks." Kacey replied.
"Activate systems!" The warden shouted.
The trio dived behind the tables as the guards came pouring through, and it didn't take long for them to make quick work of the guards. While Warden Kuril shouted down the intercom, the trio fought their way to the supermax wing. They had to get Jack out of cryo, no matter what.