The squad bolted down the hall the moment the platform landed. The sounds of the Collectors homing in on their position alongside the ship powering up echoed through the halls as the squad ran down the slope and around a corner to a crossroads.
"Around the corner. Take the door on your right." EDI chimed.
The door on the right opened and the squad ran on through. They ran down another slope and encountered more Collectors as they moved through. Kacey opened fire and tried her best to dispatch the insect like aliens with as much efficiency as possible, silently hoping Harbinger wouldn't make an appearance.
"Jack! Watch your flank!" Kacey shouted as she fired a concussive shot at a Collector in front of her.
"Got it!" Jack said as she threw a Collector back several feet into a wall.
Kacey remained in cover and directed Tali to get her combat drone back out onto the field as a praetorian and Harbinger made an appearance. Kacey pulled out the grenade launcher to fire at Harbinger, whose words were starting to piss her off quickly. She could hear Garrus shouting at Jacob to cover him as he tried to fire his sniper rifle at the praetorian. Clearly, there was some type of tension there, and Kacey could feel it across the squad, tension, distractions. It wasn't a good thing.
"I am opening a door on the far side of the room." EDI chimed as the last of the enemies went down.
The squad bolted towards the door that EDI opened, not wanting to stick around for more enemies to arrive. However, by the time Miranda reached the door, the door closed, locked tight.
"EDI? We have a problem here." Kacey said.
"A temporary setback on firewall 3217." EDI replied, "Rerouting commands through firewall 7164. One moment. I have successfully opened a door on the opposite wall. I will keep it open as long as I can."
"Let's move!" Kacey ordered.
"Down there!" Garrus said as they ran through the door, "That's where we came in."
"Getting close to the end." Mordin mused.
"And hopefully we won't run into any more problems." Miranda said.
They ran along the halls, dodging, shooting and biotically tearing apart the horde of husks that decided to rush up on them. The squad then entered a much larger space, where several Collector drones were waiting. Sticking to their pairs, and following Kacey's leadership, they managed to handle to the drones well enough, although Kacey had some concerns regarding Miranda and Jack as well as Garrus and Jacob.
"Uh Commander?" Joker said via the comms, "Hate to rush you, but those weapons are about to come online. Might want to double time it. You know, so we can leave before they blow the Normandy in half. Again."
"Yeah, yeah we're on it!" Kacey said.
The last line of defence from the Collectors seemed to be a huge horde of husks at the bottom of a slope. Kacey didn't need to say anything before Grunt gave a sinister laugh and jumped right in, mauling, and obliterating them in an instant. The squad ran down past Grunt, who followed as Kacey saw the exit up ahead.
"We're out of time, Commander!" Joker said, "We have to go!"
"You heard the man!" Kacey shouted, "Everybody onto the Normandy! Move!"
Everyone bolted back onto the shuttle, which took off the moment Kacey had stepped foot on the vessel. The shuttle quickly flew onto the Normandy and, once it landed in the shuttle bay, Kacey raced towards the CIC.
"Strap in people!" Joker said, as Kacey approached, "Gonna make them work for it this time!"
Joker steered the Normandy out of the line of fire, causing the Collectors' laser to miss several times. The ship rocked back and forth as Kacey held on tightly to Joker's seat, trying not to be thrown off by the violently and sudden movements of the starship.
"Can't dodge this gut forever, EDI." Joker said, "Get us the hell out of here!"
"Specify a destination, Mister Moreau." EDI replied.
"Anywhere that's not here!"
"Very well. Engaging mass effect core."
"And just like that, we managed to escape by the skin of our teeth. What we had uncovered there was both surprising and horrific. Not to mention that it gave the squad more of a reason to complete the mission successfully. However, the team was not ready. There were too many distractions and problems that needed solving. That ship was a good enough stress test to put the team through their paces.
After we escaped, I was left to confront the Illusive Man again. I wasn't going to let that bastard off the hook for walking us into a trap."
…
"Call coming in from the Illusive Man, Commander." Joker said over the intercom, "Figure you've got a few words for him, too."
"You bet your ass I do." Kacey grumbled as she stormed off towards the briefing room.
"Shepard." The Illusive Man said the moment Kacey had connected the call, "Looks like EDI extracted some interesting data before the Collector ship came back online."
"I knew you were going to stab us in the back, asshole." Kacey said angrily, "EDI told us the distress call originated from the Collectors. You betrayed us. Just like I knew you would."
"We're at war." The Illusive Man replied firmly, "The Collectors are taking humans, and every second we waste is one more we give the enemy to prepare."
"I know the stakes. But you can't just throw me and my squad under the bus out of desperation." Kacey snapped back, "We apparently supposed to be on the same side, and you have yet to give me a reason to trust you."
"Without that information, we don't reach the Collector homeworld. And you and every other human may as well be dead. It was a trap…but I was confident in your abilities. And don't forget EDI. The Collectors couldn't have anticipated her."
"Is that right? You spent two years and over two billion credits to bring me back, say I'm important and yet you sure try hard to get me killed. Why the hell didn't you say anything?"
"I needed the Collectors to believe they had the upper hand." The Illusive Man said, standing up, "Telling you could've tipped them off in any number of ways. Besides, I wouldn't have sent you in if I didn't think you could succeed."
"I don't risk people." Kacey replied sharply, "There is always alternatives."
"You may not like to be on the receiving end, neither would I, but the facts are with me. As much as we try to avoid them, these decisions need to be made. I assumed that, after Virmire, you would already have learned that lesson."
"Fuck you."
"Regardless, it all paid off in the end." The Illusive Man said, dismissing Kacey's comment, "EDI confirmed our suspicions. The Reapers and Collector ships use an advanced Identify Friend/Foe system that the Relays recognise. All we need to do is get our hands on one of those IFFs."
Kacey groaned, "I was just on the Collector ship! Why didn't you say anything about finding their IFF?"
"As I said, EDI just confirmed it. Besides, you wouldn't have had the time to find and extract it. But we have options." The Illusive Man replied, "An Alliance science team recently determined that the 'Great Rift' on the planet Klendagon is actually an impact crater from a mass accelerator weapon. A very old mass accelerator weapon. I sent a team to find either the weapon or its target. They found both. The weapon was defunct, but it helped us plot the flight path of the intended target—a 37 million old derelict Reaper. We found it damaged and trapped in the gravity of a brown dwarf."
"You want me to go crawling around inside a dead Reaper?" Kacey scoffed, "No chance. We'll all end up indoctrinated or worse."
"It is stable, and the chance of indoctrination is low, since I imagine you won't be spending several days there to grab the IFF." The Illusive Man dismissed, "However we did lose contact with Doctor Chandana's team shortly after they boarded. Initial reconnaissance revealed no clues, and it was too risky to commit more resources, but now we need that IFF. I'll forward the coordinates to Joker. In the meantime, I suggest you tell your crew I didn't risk their lives unnecessarily. It will make things easier going forward."
"Thanks, but no thanks." Kacey scoffed, "Bye!"
Kacey promptly hung up, a grin on her face. She could hear Joker loudly laughing from the bridge.
"Oh, that was perfect." Joker laughed.
"It was, wasn't it?" Kacey laughed, "Anyway, EDI? Tell the crew to assemble. We've got a lot to talk about."
…
"So, the Illusive Man didn't sell us out?" Jacob said in disbelief, "Could've fooled me."
"That's what he says, but I don't buy it." Kacey replied.
"Lied to us. Used us." Mordin said while pacing around, "Needed access to the Collector databanks. Necessary risk."
"I still don't like it either way."
"I have also determined the approximate location of the Collector homeworld based on navigational data from their vessel." EDI said.
EDI pulled up a galaxy map and highlighted the location. It was surprising to say the least.
"That can't be right." Miranda mused.
"EDI doesn't make mistakes." Kacey sighed, "The Collector homeworld is located somewhere in the galactic core."
"Can't be." Jacob replied, "The core is just black holes and exploding suns. There are no habitable planets."
"Could be an artificial construction." Mordin speculated, "Space station protected by powerful mass effect fields and radiation shields."
"Even the Collectors don't have that kind of technology." Miranda added.
"Sovereign did." Kacey replied, "The Collectors are just servants of our real enemy. And we've all seen what their masters are capable of. They built the Mass Relays and the Citadel. Who's to say they can't build a space station surrounded by black holes? No wonder nobody's ever returned from a trip through the Omega 4 Mass Relay."
"The logical conclusion is that a small safe zone exists on the far side of the Relay." EDI explained, "A region where ships can survive. Standard Relay transit protocols would not allow safe transport. Drift of several thousand kilometres is common and would be fatal in the galactic core. The Reaper IFF must trigger the Relay to use more advanced, encrypted protocols."
"Just because we can follow the Collectors through the Relay doesn't mean we can go after them." Kacey said, "This team isn't ready and until it is, we aren't going anywhere near that IFF."
"Sooner or later, we need that IFF." Jacob said, "I say, why wait?"
"Because we aren't ready." Kacey said, "This team has got some issues to sort out and until we are focused and can work together, we aren't going forward with the mission."
"I agree with the Commander." Miranda said.
"Okay. Whatever you say, goes Commander." Jacob said before leaving the room with Mordin and Miranda.
…
"Still can't believe you said that to the Illusive Man." Kaidan said, "That reminds me of when you hung up on the Council."
"Good times, good times." Kacey laughed a bit.
Kaidan however, had his thoughts go elsewhere. He still didn't quite understand the Illusive Man, or what his game was. The rumours were one thing; they were simple, easy to understand. The Illusive Man was a terrorist. Simple as that. But hearing the way Kacey spoke about their interactions, word to word, it wasn't as clear cut.
They did something about the Collectors while the rest of the galaxy, the Alliance included, did nothing. The Illusive Man was the reason he was sat next to Kacey again, laughing away with her after two years of pain. But they still did terrible things. Jacob had mentioned that some parts were as bad as the rumours, but Kaidan wasn't as sure.
"Kaidan? You okay?" Kacey asked, a concerned look on her face.
"Hm? Yeah, I'm fine." Kaidan said, before deciding to be honest, "You know, I've just been thinking…"
"Uh oh." Kacey said, "Okay, hit me with it."
"So, those Cerberus scientists. They were good people."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, Doctor Cole and her team, they seemed like…like good people." Kaidan mused, "Knowing that, what do we do? What if there are more like them, trapped inside Cerberus, struggling to get out?"
"What do you think?" Kacey asked honestly.
Kaidan sighed, "I don't know, Kacey. These are the hard calls. The decision to 'sacrifice the one for the many'. The choice to leave someone behind…until you're in that moment. So yeah, you know, I don't know."
"It's a hard one. That's for sure." Kacey said, "Hell, I don't know if I got it right each time."
"You've been there more than once?"
"Yeah." Kacey replied, "Before, it was like I made those choices on a gut feeling. An instinct maybe. I just had a feeling that this choice was the right one and that I couldn't live with myself if I picked the other. Then, Virmire happened. And that was probably the only time I had hesitated to make that choice.
"How so?"
"Before, you were just considering numbers. It was easier to think like that, not knowing the people behind it. Makes those choices easier to swallow I guess." Kacey explained, "This time, I knew you. I knew Ashley. I cared about you both. And in an ideal world, you'd both be here. But in the end, after everything, I couldn't let you go. Even for as corny as it sounds. After everything we've been through, maybe I just wanted to be a bit selfish and admit that I was in love with you."
"It does sound a little bit corny, but it's reassuring to hear all the same." Kaidan replied.
"Thanks, although I think we've went a bit off topic." Kacey mused, "As for those stuck in Cerberus? Anyone who comes forward, like Doctor Cole and her team, we help. No matter what. That's all we can do."
"I know." Kaidan replied quietly, thinking things over.
"Sometimes the best we can do won't feel like enough, but it's all we've got."
"So, the scientists that put you back together, that saved your life, they were good people?" Kaidan questioned.
"They were professionals or at least I hope they were." Kacey said, "I didn't know them all."
"Miranda? Jacob? Were they good people?"
"Jacob? Yeah, I'd say so." Kacey replied after a long pause, "Not perfect, a bit too trigger happy in places, but he is. He pulled through in the end."
"And Miranda?" Kaidan asked, "She saved your life."
"She was the head of Project Lazurus yes." Kacey replied, "And while at first, we didn't see eye to eye, she isn't a bad person. I don't agree with all her methods, and she can be a bit icy but, at heart, I'd say she is good person."
"And the Illusive Man?"
"Was he a good person?"
"Once? Ever?" Kaidan mused, "Sorry, I'm not sure what I want you to say here. I guess I'm looking for some insight into the Illusive Man…something."
"It's complicated." Kacey said, "Remember what I said about how 'The road to Hell is paved with good intentions'? That applies to the Illusive Man, I think. Maybe, once upon a time, he cared about humanity, maybe he had admirable goals. He might still do. But somewhere along the way, he lost sight of his humanity. When you do things at any cost, you find that there is no cost too high for you pay. I didn't trust him. Sure, he brought me back. Sure, he rebuilt the Normandy. Sure, he had the spare resources to fund a suicide mission to save humanity. Maybe he truly did care about those colonists. But I think he was more interested in the Collector and Reaper technology than the colonies given what's been going on now."
"So you never saw this coming from them?" Kaidan asked, "From him?"
"Not really." Kacey replied, "I knew he was asshole who told me that instead of torching the Collector base, it would've been better to study it. He was a self-centred, human-centred person, I knew that. And I knew he was capable of some horrific things. But this? No, I didn't see this. I didn't think anyone was capable of going that low, even him."
"I see. So, its not as straight forward as I thought." Kaidan replied.
"No. Desperate people do desperate things." Kacey replied solemnly, "After what happened in the Collector base, I told the Illusive Man where to shove it. He might've tried to kill me between the end of the mission and the Normandy being impounded but right now, all that matters is that we take them down. And that we end Cerberus as soon as we can."
"I agree." Kaidan said, "Although that 'self-centered asshole' as you call him, did bring you back, so I guess I can't complain too much."
"If it makes you feel better, thank Miranda instead." Kacey replied, "She's way better."