Once Tali had left, Kacey avoided Miranda's questionable glare as she led the Cerberus agents outside and downstairs towards another small building. She was so happy to see Tali, to know that she was okay. However, as relieved as she was, it only made her more anxious to discover the fate of the others; with one in particular at the top of her list.
"Be careful, Shepard." Tali warned through the radio, "There's a squad of security drones up ahead."
"Thanks Tali."
"Yeah, thanks for the warning." Jacob said, "We'll take care of them."
They ran through the small kitchen area of the building and out onto another walkway where the drones were waiting. Miranda didn't hesitate to use overload as Kacey shot them down. More mechs joined the fray as the three humans shot each metallic enemy in front of them. Once the last mech had blown up, Tali's voice rang through the radio.
"Shepard!" Tali said worried, "Prazza and his squad rushed on ahead. I told them to wait, but they wouldn't listen! They want to find Veetor and take him away before you get here!"
"We should have expected this." Miranda said.
"Pessimistic much?" Kacey replied, "What did you do to piss them off?"
"That doesn't matter." Miranda responded bitterly, "Come on, let's get going."
Kacey bolted through another dark building and ran down the outside stairs. Once at the bottom, she was met with more mechs coupled with flying drones. The Commander dived behind cover, shooting as many mechs as she could. Once the final drone had crashed into the icy ground below, Tali radioed in again.
"Hurry! We're inside the loading docks," Tali said, adding, "Veetor reprogrammed a heavy mech! It's tearing Prazza's team apart!"
"Shit" Kacey murmured.
"Well, they did want to get to Veetor first," Miranda said coldly.
Kacey shot Miranda an icy glare as Tali continued.
"Get into cover and I'll open the loading bay doors."
"Got it, Tali." Kacey said, "You heard her, get into cover!"
Kacey ducked behind crates on the left while Jacob did the same on the right. Miranda was behind a railing as the heaving banging of metal began to grow closer. Once in position, Tali opened the door. The three soldiers entered the loading dock, where a few dead quarians littered the ground as the hulking mech made a beeline towards them. Both Jacob and Miranda used Overload, which destroyed the shields. As mech closed in on the Cerberus agents, Kacey ran around and shot the mech from behind. The mech promptly blew up shortly thereafter.
"Well, that went great!" Kacey said, causing Jacob to laugh a bit and Miranda to glare at her. They then walked up and entered the warehouse.
The inside was lit up red as a quarian typed rapidly on the computer muttering away to himself crazily.
"Monsters coming back." Veetor said, his voice cracking, "Mechs will protect. Safe from swarms. Have to hide. No monsters. No swarms. No-no-no-no-no-no."
"Veetor?" Kacey said.
"No Veetor. Not here. Swarms can't find. Monsters coming. Have to hide."
"Hey, you're safe now." Kacey said in a comforting voice, "No one is going to hurt you."
Despite her reassurance, Veetor continued to mutter away to himself incoherently.
"I don't think you're getting through to him, Commander." Jacob said concerned.
Kacey quickly brought out her ommi-tool and used it to disable to screens. Once she was finished, Veetor quickly stood up and turned to face her, shaking.
"You're…not one of them. You're human." Veetor said hesitantly, "They…they didn't find you?"
"Who didn't find us?" Miranda asked.
"The…the monsters. The swarms. They took everyone."
"We're not survivors." Kacey replied solemnly, "We just got here."
"You don't know." The quarian rambled, "You didn't see. But I see everything."
The nine computer screens Kacey had turned off were back on again, play footage from what appeared to be security cameras. Thousands and thousands of bugs flew everywhere.
"Looks like security footage." Miranda said, "He must've pieced this together manually."
"What the hell is that?" Jacob asked, looking at the footage.
"Way too many bugs." Kacey murmured.
Veetor then paused the footage, showing a more humanoid bug on the screen next to a coffin-shaped box.
"My god, I think it's a Collector." Miranda gasped.
"What's a Collector?" asked Kacey, confused.
"They're a species from somewhere beyond the Omega 4 Relay." Jacob explained, "Only a few people have ever seen one in person."
"They usually work through intermediaries, like slavers or hired mercenaries." Miranda elaborated, "If they're involved with the Reapers somehow, it could explain what happened to the colonies."
"Collectors have advanced technology." Jacob mused, "They could have a weapon that disables an entire settlement at once."
"The seeker swarms." Veetor finally said, "No one can hide. The seekers find you. Freeze you. Then the monsters take you away. Then the monsters load people onto the ship and then they left. The ship flew away. But they'll be back for me. No one escapes!"
"I see. So the swarms paralyse you, then the Collectors take you away?" Kaidan asked.
"Pretty much." Kacey replied, "You and Veetor were lucky; everyone else not so much"
"I think that's probably all we're getting out of him, Commander." Jacob said.
"Thank you Veetor," Kacey said politely, "We appreciate what you told us. You were very helpful."
"I studied them." Veetor said quickly, bringing up his ommi-tool, "The monsters. The swarms. I recorded them with my ommi-tool. Lots of readings. Electro-magnetic. Dark Energy."
"We need to get this data to the Illusive Man. Grab the quarian and call the shuttle to come pick us up." Miranda said bluntly.
Kacey turned as the door opened and Tali walked in, turning to face Miranda.
"What?" Tali said shocked, "Veetor is injured! He needs treatment, not an interrogation!"
"We won't hurt him." Jacob explained calmly, "We just need to see if he knows anything else. He'll be returned unharmed."
"Your people tried to betray us once already. If we give him to you, we'll never get the intel we need." Miranda remarked.
"Prazza was an idiot and he and his men paid for it." Tail shot back, "You're welcome to take Veetor's ommi-tool data, but please. Just let me take him."
"Veetor goes with Tali." Kacey said.
"What?" Miranda replied, "but—"
"He's traumatised, and he needs medical care." Kacey said firmly, "Tali will give us the omni-tool data and take him to the flotilla."
"And you trust her to do this?"
"With my life." Kacey replied sternly, "Tali is a close friend of mine. I trust her."
"Understood, Commander." Miranda relented.
"Thank you, Shepard." Tali said, "I'm glad you're still the one giving the orders. Good luck out there. If I find anything that can help you, I'll let you know."
"No problem, Tali."
"We're ready for pickup." Jacob radioed in.
…
"Shepard." The Illusive Man said coolly, "Good work on Freedom's Progress."
Kacey didn't particularly want to report to the Illusive Man, mostly because she felt uncomfortable talking to him. She'd never show it, obviously, but it didn't change how she felt.
"The quarians forwarded their findings from Veetor's debriefing." the Illusive Man continued, "No new data, but it's a surprising olive branch, given our history. You and I have different methods, but I can't argue with your results."
His statements immediately set off red flags for Kacey. Whatever this 'history' was, she betted it wasn't pretty.
"Having friends pays off." Kacey remarked bluntly, "Have you ever thought about playing nice once in a while?"
"Diplomacy is great when it works," he responded, "but difficult when everyone already perceives you as a threat."
"Geez I wonder why they think that?" Kacey said in a snarky tone.
The Illusive Man ignore her comment before continuing, "But more importantly, you confirmed the Collectors are behind the abductions."
"You don't seem very surprised." Kacey remarked, "Why do I get the feeling you knew about them already?"
"I had my suspicions," the Illusive Man said stoically, "but I needed proof. The Collectors are enigmatic at best. They periodically travel to the Terminus Systems, looking to gather seemingly unimportant items or specimens. Usually in exchange for their technology. When their transactions are complete, they disappear as quickly as they arrived, back beyond the unmapped Omega 4 Relay. Until now, we've had no evidence of direct aggression by the Collectors."
"What aren't you telling me?" Kacey said, "You're holding something back, how does this involve the Reapers?"
"The patterns are there, buried in the data." The Illusive Man said bluntly, "The Council and the Alliance want to believe the Reaper threat died with Sovereign. You and I know better. I won't wait until the Reapers are on the march. We need to take the fight to them."
"While I agree with the sentiment." Kacey said bitterly, "I'm not your solider. So, if that's all, I'm heading back to the Citadel."
"No, you are not," the Illusive Man said, "You work here until the situation has been resolved."
"You can't stop me."
"I can," he simply replied, "Are the Alliance and Council aware of your relationship with a subordinate? Are they aware that you let the Rachni Queen go? Or your other unsavoury activities on Noveria? The favours you did for any and everyone who asked? No, I didn't think so."
"He blackmailed you?" Kaidan said shocked, "Over me?"
"Yeah, and all that other stuff too," Kacey sighed, "When I told you I wasn't working with them by choice, I meant it."
Kacey was shocked. She didn't know what to say. How the hell did he know about any of that? It seemed that her silence had answered for her as the Illusive Man continued.
"So, it's within your best interest to cooperate with me," he said, "Now back to our previous topic; I've complied a list of soldiers, scientists and mercenaries. You'll get dossiers on the best of them. Finding them and convincing them to work with you could be challenging, but you're a natural leader. I'll continue to track the Collectors. When they make their next appearance, I'll notify you and your team. Be ready."
"Keep your list." She spat, "If I have to do this, I'm doing it with those that I trust, my old team."
"That was two years ago Commander. Most of them have moved on or their allegiances have changed."
"Really?" Kacey said, "Where's Kaidan Alenko?"
"Of course, you'd ask for him first," the Illusive Man said, "He's still with the Alliance. Promoted if I might add. His file is surprisingly well-classified."
"Tali?"
"I need more intel before I'll commit to that."
"Garrus Vakarian."
"The turian disappeared a few months after you were declared dead. Even I haven't been able to locate him."
"Urdnot Wrex."
"On Tuchanka trying to make peace between the clans."
"Liara T'Soni"
"She's on Illium. My sources say that she's working for the Shadow Broker. If so, she can't be trusted."
"Okay, I get it. They're not available." The Commander replied bitterly.
"You're a leader, Shepard. You'll get who you need. Two things before you go," the Illusive Man said, "First, head to Omega and find Mordin Solus. He's a brilliant salarian scientist. Our intelligence suggests he may know how to counter the Collector's paralysing seeker swarms."
"I haven't even started, and you're telling me what to do."
"I'm giving you direction; what you do with it is up to you. I'm sure you'll make the right choice."
"And the other thing?"
"I've found a pilot I think you might like. He's one of the best."
"Oh I'm sure." Kacey responded sarcastically.
"He's someone you can trust."
"Oh really?"
The Illusive Man ended the meeting before Kacey could respond with more snarky comments. She was pretty pissed off. A suicide mission with a bunch of strangers? Being blackmailed into helping Cerberus? And Kacey knew this probably wasn't the worst of it.
"Hey, Commander. Just like old times, huh?"
She was broken out of her thoughts immediately by the sound of that voice. She wheeled round to see Joker standing behind her with a smile on his face.
"Joker?" she said in disbelief. She ran up and hugged him gently, with him returning the favour. After letting go, the pair walked back upstairs.
"I can't believe it's you Joker." Kacey said, happily.
"Look who's talking," Joker remarked, "I saw you get spaced."
"Got lucky, with a lot of strings attached."
"I heard; can't believe they're blackmailing you."
"Don't worry; I'll sort that out soon," Kacey replied, "How'd you get here?"
"It all fell apart without you, Kacey," Joker explained, "Everything you stirred up, the Council just wanted it gone. Team was broken up, records sealed, and I was grounded. The Alliance took away the one thing that mattered to me. Hell yeah I joined Cerberus."
"You really trust the Illusive Man?"
"I don't trust anyone who makes more money than I do, and for once I agree with your trust issues." The pilot joked, "But they're not all bad. Saved your life. Let me fly—and then there's this. They only told me last night."
Outside the window, Kacey could see the ship that awaited them. she smiled as did Joker who was downright giddy about it.
They remade the Normandy.
"It's good to be home, huh, Shepard." Joker said.
"Damn right." She laughed, "I guess we'll have to give her a name."
…
"Welcome aboard the new Normandy, Commander." Jacob said.
They were standing in the Bridge, and Kacey couldn't deny that the Normandy looked great. She walked towards the Galaxy Map, her crimson hair becoming more noticeable under the bright lights. While the crew paid no mind to it, Miranda and Jacob looked at her weirdly for a brief moment.
"I've been looking over the dossiers." Miranda said, "I'd strongly recommend starting by acquiring Mordin Solus, the salarian professor on Omega. We know the Collectors using some type of advanced technology to immobilize their victims. We'll need him to develop a countermeasure to protect us."
"Without that countermeasure, we'll be helpless if we run into the Collectors."
"Acquiring Professor Solus seems like the most logic place to start." An automated voice rang out.
"The hell?" Kacey responded.
Kacey turned around to see a holographic blue sphere appear on the table.
"I am the Normandy's artificial intelligence. The crew like to refer to me as EDI"
"Helmsmen aren't happy when someone takes control of a ship away from them, especially Joker."
"I do not helm this ship. " EDI corrected, "Mr Morneau's talents will not go to waste. During combat, I operate the electronic warfare and cyberwarfare suites. Beyond that, I cannot interface with the ships systems. I observe and offer analysis and advice. Nothing more."
EDI promptly disappeared, leaving Kacey, Miranda and Jacob in the CIC.
"Jacob and I should return to our stations, come find us if you need any questions." Miranda said as she left.
Jacob saluted before leaving to his own station leaving Kacey to pinpoint the course.
"All right Joker, head for Omega. Let's see if we can find this Mordin Solus and Archangel."