A/N: Thank you SerenityFalconNormandy, bioticnerfherder, ilvysm, ela11 and DustieRhoades for you reviews on the last chapter. Also thank you - and welcome! - to any new followers. And as always thank you VorchaGirl for beta reading! Enjoy!
Chapter 43. Aratoht
"Get us out of here!" Nick ordered, stumbling into the helm after Joker and listening as EDI counted down to the detonation of the Collector base. Grinding her teeth, she kept her eyes on the debris field between them and the mass relay, hoping they would make it out of the blast radius in time. She dug her fingernails into the headrest of the pilot's seat and prayed silently that the damage done to the Normandy would not cause her to break apart during the jump.
Calm down, she told herself, EDI would have told you if the jump wasn't safe.
She forced herself to relax, and watched as Joker wove the ship through the debris, but the tension in her rose again as the mass relay drew close. Reddish tendrils of corrupted dark energy reached towards the Normandy, snaking around the frigate before catapulting them back to the Omega 4 relay.
Nick let out an audible breath. "Well, that's done. Joker, set a course for Omega." She was about to leave when Joker informed her of an incoming call from the Illusive Man. She rolled her eyes. "I'll take it in the comm room. Patch the Illusive Moron through."
"Shepard," the Cerberus leader greeted her, sounding displeased, "you're making a habit of costing me more than time and money."
Nick snorted. "Nobody forced you to bring me back. That was your choice. And if you want to complain about the Collector base, you can spare the lecture."
"The technology from that base could have secured human dominance in the galaxy. Against the Reapers, and beyond!" He bristled.
"Human dominance?" Shepard laughed mirthlessly. "More like Cerberus dominance."
The Illusive Man rose from his chair. "Strength for Cerberus means strength for every human, Commander. Cerberus is humanity." He stepped closer. "I should have known you were too idealistic to make any hard choices. You will regret this!"
"Sorry, I didn't quite catch that. I'm getting a lot of bullshit on this line." Nick tapped her ear demonstratively. "And I don't care if you agree with me, or not. The Reapers are coming, and I'm going to fight them tooth and nail. You're either with me or against me, and judging from your attitude I'd say it's the latter." She turned, and walked out of the room ignoring the Cerberus leader.
"Don't turn your back on me, Shepard! You don't want me as an enemy!"
Nick flipped him the finger over her shoulder, and left. Outside she took a deep breath, a sense of calm filling her as she continued slowly through the Normandy to inspect the damage. The entire crew was busy doing minor repairs. When she passed Kelly Chambers she slowed down. They had never really gotten to know each other given Chamber's unwavering dedication to Cerberus, but Nick could tell the young woman was rattled by the events.
"Miss Chambers," she began, not quite at ease even now, "how are you?"
"Please call me Kelly, Commander." A sad smile passed over the young woman's face. "I know you never trusted me, you probably still don't, but you saved me nonetheless and … I'm grateful for that." She hesitated, her eyes darting around the room before looking at Shepard again. "I'm holding up, but I can't get the memories out of my head. Feeling trapped and slowly suffocating. Hearing echoes of faint sobs."
Nick shifted uncomfortably, the memory of the unfortunate colonist fresh in her mind, but the suggestion that she would even consider leaving someone she could save behind irritated her. "I would never leave anybody of my crew behind to die a horrible death, no matter if I like them or not. Personal preference has nothing to do with it. If you think I'd do that, then your psych profile of me is completely wrong." She paused. "But if you are willing to take my advice, Kelly, then talk to a specialist about this." Giving a small nod she left Kelly Chambers standing at her terminal, and took the elevator up to her cabin.
She wasn't sure if it could be compared, but both Elysium and Akuze still often held sway over her dreams, especially after coming in contact with the Prothean beacon. But Nick also knew that the counseling she had gone through had helped somewhat.
The cabin door slid open, and Nick stepped inside for the first time since returning from the Collector base. She glanced around, unbuckling the first strap of her armor. There was comparatively little damage in her cabin. A few of her models needed glueing, but other than that everything was in order. Even the fish were still alive.
As she unclipped further parts of her armor she realized she would have to inform the crew that they were no longer aboard a Cerberus vessel, and that she intended to hand the Normandy over to the Alliance. Gazing wearily at the pile of armor parts on her floor she pulled off the sweaty underarmor and tossed it on top of everything before heading under the shower.
One benefit of not being on a military vessel was being able to let the water run as long as she wanted. Leaning against the wall with one hand Nick let the jet of water patter onto her shoulders for a while before lathering and rinsing. She wrapped herself into a towel, and stepped out of the shower into the cool dark of her cabin.
"EDI," she said as she dried off, "what is our ETA for Omega?"
"ETA is three hours, Commander. Is there anything else?" the AI asked.
"Not right now."
"Understood, Commander. Logging you out."
Nick pulled a tank top over her head and sat down at the desk, her eyes on Kaidan's holo. Making up her mind she opened a shipwide channel.
"This is Commander Shepard speaking. We are no longer a Cerberus ship. We are enroute to Omega, where we will dock for repairs. After that I will be handing the Normandy over to the Alliance. Anybody that wants to leave and return to Cerberus has the chance to do so when we reach Omega. Shepard out."
She sat back. The cat was out of the bag now.
"EDI," Nick called, "please set up a channel with Staff Commander Alenko."
"There is an incoming call from Admiral Hackett for you marked priority: high. Do you wish to take the call first?" EDI asked.
Nick sighed, and rubbed her hands over her face. "Yeah, go ahead and patch the admiral through." She watched the image of Admiral Hackett appear on screen.
"Admiral, what can I do for you?"
"Veronika, thank you for your time. I'll keep this brief. I have to ask you for a favor," the Alliance admiral began.
"Veronika, huh? So this isn't an official call, Uncle Steve?" Nick lounged back in her seat, and poured herself some liquor.
"No, it's not official, but it's important. You might want to wait with your drink until you've heard what I'm asking of you. We have a deep-cover operative out in batarian space. Her name is Doctor Amanda Kenson."
Nick shifted uncomfortably on her seat. "Uncle Steve - ."
"Let me finish. Dr. Kenson recently reported that she found evidence of an imminent Reaper invasion. This morning I received word that the batarians arrested her. They're holding her in a secret prison outpost on terrorism charges." Hackett paused briefly. "I'm asking you to infiltrate the prison, and get her out of there. And I'm asking you to do it alone."
Getting up Nick paced back and forth before stopping and looking at Hackett. "Why me? I'm no infiltrator, remember? I'm just a regular soldier. There's got to be someone more qualified in the Alliance. And, fuck, the batarians aren't exactly crazy about me either!"
"You are far more than a "regular" soldier. You're a spectre and an N7, and you have a knack for difficult situations." Hackett waved her objections aside. "Kenson was investigating the rumor of a Reaper artifact in the system, and her last report said she'd found it."
A shiver ran down her spine at the mention of the Reaper artifact. "I thought the Alliance denied the Reaper threat. Why the change of mind? And can you tell me more about this operative?"
"Her team found a device out in batarian space which she believes is a Reaper device, and proof that the Reapers are indeed planning to invade. As for Kenson, she's one of our top scientists and an Alliance deep-cover agent in batarian space. A deadly assignment, if something goes wrong."
"And obviously something did go wrong," Nick muttered under her breath.
"More importantly for me is that she's an old friend. Amanda and I go back pretty far, and I'm not going to let her rot in a batarian torture camp. And if she says she has proof, then it's worth checking out."
"So you're going to send your godchild and best friend's daughter in to save her instead?" Nick wondered aloud. "The one that's like damn far at the top of some batarian leaders Most Wanted list because of the Blitz? I have a damn good team, why do you want me to go in without backup? And what about human-batarian relations? They won't take it lightly if the Alliance breaks into one of their secret prisons."
"First of all, if I send a squad of armed soldiers, the batarians will kill her," he answered. "You go in with discretion, or don't go at all. And secondly, it's not an Alliance operation. It's one person going in to save a friend. That's also the reason I'm asking my godchild and best friend's daughter to do this, even if your history with the batarians could make things difficult. You'll just have to avoid getting caught."
"God fucking dammit!" Nick growled. She wanted to say to hell with it, but she knew she wouldn't - not if she could gather evidence the Reapers were coming. "If I get caught you can explain this to mom and dad."
A smile crossed his face. "Don't worry. If you get caught, I'll tell John and Hannah the details myself. The prison is hidden underground at an outpost on Aratoht. I'll upload the coordinates now. Once you've secured Dr. Kenson confirm her discovery. We'll debrief you when you're back. Happy hunting, Commander. Hackett out."
Nick pulled up the coordinates, and stared at them. Things were not exactly going as planned. "Fuck," she muttered. "Fuck, fuck, fuck. EDI, can you set up a connection with Kaidan, I mean Staff Commander Alenko now?"
"I'm sorry, Commander, but I'm unable to establish a stable connection." EDI informed her.
"Fuck!" Nick drummed her fingers on her desk, and began recording a voice message. "Kaidan, we made it. We're heading to Omega for some repairs now, and then I have to take care of something for Hackett, but I hope that won't take much longer than a day or two. If things go FUBAR - ," she broke off. "Anyway, once I'm back we'll have our dinner, and talk. I - ," miss you, I wish you were here, I love you, " - look forward to seeing you soon."
She pushed send and got up, heading for her bed. Maybe she could catch an hour or two of shut-eye. "EDI, let me know when we're twenty minutes out from Omega."
"Understood, Commander."
Several hours later the Normandy left Omega again taking course for the mass relay. The necessary repairs had been quickly taken care of, Aria's second-in-command Bray had been there the entire time to supervise, and the costs had been lower than expected. Nick almost felt honored. Apart from that they had restocked and acquired parts for further repairs that could be taken care of enroute.
Now Nick sat in the mess checking the data Hackett had sent her about Aratoht. She glanced at her omnitool, and sighed. They would reach the relay soon.
"You seem worried," Garrus remarked, sitting down on a chair next to her. "Where are we heading?"
"Bahak system," Nick answered.
"That's … batarian space," he commented, surprised.
She nodded, but didn't offer any further information.
"Okay, Shepard," Garrus went on. "Why are we heading to the Bahak system? The batarians aren't exactly fond of you, or the Alliance. And I thought you'd want to meet with Kaidan first thing after telling the Illusive Man to bugger off?"
Nick scrubbed her face. "Of course I wish I could have met with Kaidan before going on a another mission. Hell, we've been trying to do that for months, but this is a favor for Hackett that is too important to be put off." She glanced at her friend. "Are you still mad at Kaidan?"
Garrus looked thoughtful, and shook his head. "No. Not really." He grinned at her. "He softens you, you know that. Even now."
Nick snorted, and scooted on her chair. "No he doesn't, Vakarian."
"Yes, he does," Garrus teased. "You're expression goes soft whenever you talk about him, and your eyes shine." He fell silent for a moment. "And what are we going to do in the Bahak system?"
"You're not doing anything. I'm in this alone." Nick smiled grimly. "I'm an N7 on a deep-cover mission. The mission objective is to infiltrate a batarian military prison and rescue an Alliance scientist."
"Shepard, that's completely insane!" he exclaimed.
"Maybe. Probably. But that's how it's going to be." She looked back at the data pad in her hand, gripping it tightly as she felt the inertia shift that accompanied a relay jump. "Joker, what's the ETA to Aratoht?"
"Thirty minutes, Commander," came the prompt reply.
"Let me know when we're ten minutes out."
"Aye-aye."
It was raining on Aratoht when the shuttle dropped her off not far from the facility, and Nick approached carefully, moving through the underbrush surrounding it with all the skill she had learned in her N7 training. To her relief there were no guards at the door, and she slipped quietly into the underground prison. The air was stale and muggy with a lingering rancid odor.
The facility was in a desolate condition; loose slabs covered the floor, water dripped out of poorly maintained pipes, a varren corpse lay on the floor.
This place is run down, even for a prison.
Checking the floor plan on her omnitool again Nick crept through the seemingly deserted halls, listening for any signs of occupation. A sudden growl and the sound of clawed feet running over the stone floor caught her attention. She stopped and listened, back pressed against the wall before rounding the corner to face the approaching varren. She frowned down at the dead animal, seeing how thin it was. Not starving yet, but definitely not taken care of either.
The poor beasts probably only get fed if the batarians want to get rid of a prisoner.
The thought chilled her, and she picked up her pace again, searching for the way to an inhabited level. Eventually she passed through a door leading to a courtyard. She heard voices, and crept carefully closer in order to make out what they were saying. Maybe she would hear something about Dr. Kenson's whereabouts.
" … They wanted to slam an asteroid into the mass relay," a voice said, muffled by the thin wall.
"Can they even do that?" a second one asked incredulously.
The first guard huffed. "What difference does it make? We caught them."
Nick wondered about this exchange as she snuck to the corner. Were the batarians talking about Dr. Kenson and her team? Pulling her sniper rifle she passed through a door leading to a courtyard and took cover behind the banister to scope out the area. There were at least two batarians, one at twelve o'clock, the other at ten o'clock, and possibly more. She waited, watching the patrols movements, and shouldered her rifle again when she realized she could get through here without being seen or heard.
Her heart hammered in her chest as she waited for the right moment to quickly change positions, expecting one of the guards to turn around and spot her, but her luck held.
"This place is a fucking maze," she muttered under her breath once she was certain they were out of earshot. Kneeling behind a stack of crates she open her omnitool, and pulled up schematics of the facility that EDI had somehow managed to procure. Knitting her brow Nick memorized what seemed to be to quickest route to the prison cells.
With a sigh Nick closed her omnitool again, and moved on. Of course she had to go back underground. She took a deep breath of the fresh rainy air and returned indoors.
Some time later she found a way through a hangar bay and a garage back to an underground level without attracting any attention. The air was damp again, and had an unpleasant smell to it. The palms of her hands were still slick with sweat, both from the heat and from the adrenaline surging through her after passing an occupied guard room. She continued warily, pausing at every crossing.
Finally there was the sound of voices up ahead, and Nick cautiously went closer. She took cover behind some boxes and listened for a moment. Peeking around the corner she saw two batarians with their backs to the door, talking about a prisoner. They were focused on a large observation window, and Nick's eyes widened when she saw the interrogation room on the other side. She quickly slipped past them while they were still oblivious of her presence, and headed down the hallway.
Nick entered the interrogation room just as the batarian finished adjusting the torture device; he never had the chance to activate it before Nick snapped his neck. Wordlessly she began inspecting the device Dr. Kenson was restrained in.
"Who are you?" the doctor asked wide-eyed. "What are you doing?"
"Dr. Kenson? I'm Commander Shepard." Nick looked around, the back of her neck tingling uncomfortably. "We have to get moving. Can you walk?"
"I can walk," the doctor confirmed. "And if we find a console I can hack security."
Nick nodded, and swore under her breath when an alarm went off. She had no idea who or what had triggered it, but the first guard to come down the hallway was greeted with a shotgun blast to the face.
"Move!" Nick ordered, and they moved on through the cell block searching for a security console. The found one shortly afterward, along with half a dozen guards.
"Doctor, do you have any tech abilities you can use?" Nick called to Kenson after sniping the first guard.
"Incinerate and Overload!" came the answer.
"Perfect!" Nick popped just far enough out of cover to take down the next guard. "Then get rid of that guard's fucking shields!"
As soon as they had taken care of the guards Dr. Kenson began hacking the security console, with a short reminder to Shepard to keep her safe while a voice ordered a suppression team to the cell block. Nick huddled down behind a half wall with a good view of the door, her sniper rifle at the ready.
By the time Kenson had hacked security Nick was running dangerously low on thermal clips, because the number of hostiles had been impressive. As soon as the last one collapse she picked up as many clips as she could find, and rushed to the elevator where Dr. Kenson was waiting.
"I couldn't override the hangar doors," the deep-cover agent let her know. "We'll have to open them the old fashioned way."
"I think we'll manage," Nick replied, her voice trailing off as they reached hangar. Her eyes roamed the room. It appeared the batarians were nearly there in full force, and more were coming.
She sent a Carnage into a group of guards before dropping into cover, and pulling her sniper rifle. As soon as the room was cleared they opened the hangar doors and climbed into the shuttle waiting outside.
Once aboard Nick listened closely as Dr. Kenson told her about the Reaper artifact her team had found in the asteroid field, and the resulting plan to launch an asteroid into a mass relay. With furrowed brow she took in the information about Object Rho, shifting uneasily when Dr. Kenson told her the evidence about the impending Reaper invasion had come from the object itself.
"If you're working near a Reaper artifact, how do you know you haven't been indoctrinated? Have you set up precautions to avoid it?" Nick asked.
"We're not children, Shepard. We know what we're doing, and we've been very careful," the scientist replied reassuringly.
Nick remained sceptical. She pursed her lips, and asked, "Just how exactly did this artefact give you proof of an impending invasion?"
"It showed me visions of the Reapers' arrival," Dr. Kenson answered. "Much like your Prothean beacons, I imagine. The Reapers are coming, Commander."
Narrowing her eyes Nick looked sharply at the scientist. The thought of a Reaper artefact giving someone visions made her uneasy. What if someone on the team had been indoctrinated, and tried to sabotage the project?
"I want to see the proof before we destroy a whole system over this," Nick said slowly. Dr. Kenson agreed immediately, and informed her team.
The first thing Shepard noticed after getting off of the shuttle at Project Base was the large clock showing a countdown. She inquired about it, and Dr. Kenson informed her it showed the time to the Reaper arrival.
"How do you know that's accurate?" Nick wondered.
"The object has been giving off pulses at definite intervals since we found it, and these intervals have decreased steadily," came the reply. "In two days the pulse will be constant, and the Reapers will be here."
"Then we have no time to waste." Nick gestured for Kenson to lead the way.
Something felt wrong here; something about the doctor's tone when she mentioned the Reapers, and it made the back of her neck itch. Nick shook off the odd feeling, and followed Dr. Kenson through the base. When the Alliance deep-cover agent opened another door, and pointed proudly at the artefact sitting in the middle of the room Nick's eyes widened incredulously. She whipped around.
"You have a Reaper artifact just sitting here out in the open?!" Nick exclaimed horrified. "Are you out of your fucking mind?"
"When we found it it showed me a vision of the Reaper's arrival." There was that odd note in the doctor's voice again. It sent shivers down Nick's back.
"Kenson, this is not good - ," she began, but Dr. Kenson told her to wait a moment. Warily Nick took a step towards the object, bracing herself.
Legions of Reapers approaching the mass relay flashed before her inner eye, and she collapsed to the floor. Dazed she tried to get to her feet again when she heard the sound of a safety catch being released, followed by the cold feeling of a muzzle being pressed to the nape of her neck.
"I can't let you stop the Arrival, Shepard!"
A/N: I hope you enjoyed it. Reviews are always welcome :)