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[Bluenose]

While Shepard Watched, the trailer

Being a continuation of my Mass Effect playthrough, started here.


One week after the Battle of the Citadel

On a space station somewhere in the galaxy.

"Shepard did everything right, more than we could have hoped for." A woman is walking in front of a window that looks out at a nearby star. "Saved the Citadel, even saved the Council. Humanity has the trust of the entire galaxy. Humanity's place in the galaxy is more secure than ever.." She pauses and looks back towards the centre of the room where a man sits in a chair surrounded by projected data screens. "And still it's not enough."

The man taps away some of the ashes from his cagerette. "Humanity may have a place on the Council, but Shepard remains our best hope."

"But they're sending her to fight Geth. Geth!" The woman sounds frustrated as she stalks towards him. "We both know they're not the real threat. The Reapers are still out there."

"And it's up to us to stop them." He sounds calm about the existence of an ancient race of god-machines with omnicidal intentions.

"The Council will never trust Cerberus. They'll never accept our help." She doesn't seem able to stop fidgeting, crossing her arms and walking from side to side. "Even after everything humanity has accomplished. But Shepard," she pauses, contemplatively. "They'll follow her. She's a hero, a bloody icon. But she's just one woman. If we lose Shepard, humanity might well follow."

The man stubs out his cigarette, before giving an order. "Then see to it that we don't lose her."

Incoming quotes:

"Shepard, you're dead."
"I am the very model of a scientist Salarian."
"I am a great biotic wind and I will strike you down... like a great biotic wind"
"You humans are all racist."
"A hospital. Not a good place to have a fight."
"It can taste like mighty fine ass."
"I love the sight of humans on their knees."
"That means Sir Isaac Newton is the deadliest sonnuvabith in space!"
"That was cruel. But damn funny." Jack
"There's only one rule. Don't fuck with Aria."
"Leather seats!"
"Michelangelo's David....Just wow. You think we can get this through the door?"
"Your species has the attention of those infinitely your greater."
"We all expect you can do impossible, Shepard. No pressure".
"Damn good weapon."
"When do we read him his rights?"
"Then we will fight in the shade... but no hiding!"
"I have a shotgun."
"Puberty? Ah, he is entering the maiden stage."
"No ship has evere returned."
"And now you're back."
"I'll relinquish one bullet. Where do you want it?"

[Bluenose]

While Shepard Watches, Prologue

From the journals of Miranda Lawson

Commander Shepard's body has been retrieved. Damage is worse than we originally estimated. Surface cellular degradation is severe, and internal damage is also pronounced. Nevertheless, Wilson assures me full repair is possible. The Lazarus Project will proceed.

Flesh is blackened. Blood vessels burst. Bones are shattered. Micro-cameras roam freely through a shattered body, and other scanners impersonally catalogue and record other damage.

Then the machines go to work. Microsurgery robots repair cellular walls. Artificial bone replaces missing and shattered skeleton. Blood is replaced. Muscles are rebuilt with a mix of natural tissue and enhanced fibres. Nanobots restore nerve connections. Damaged organs are rebuilt or replaced by biotechnology.

From the journals of Miranda Lawson

Skin replacement has commenced. In the interests of efficiency, we're experimenting with a mix of skin grafting and biosynthetic fusion. Initial results show promise.

A damaged body lies on an operating table, as a man and a woman move around the monitoring stations that are analysing it. The woman takes a second look at one of the monitors. "There. On the monitor. Something's wrong."

"She's reacting to outside stimuli. Showing an awareness of her surroundings." The man sounds stunned.

I open my eyes. The woman is moving towards me where I lie prone. Dark hair, tight clothing, rather a pretty face. The man joins her, bald, with a short beard and a moustache. The woman sounds faintly Australian, and also rather annoyed when she speaks again. "Damn it, Wilson." That must be the man. "It's too soon. Give her the sedative!"

I don't want to be sedated. I try to reach out to her to get her to explain things. She grabs my arm. "Just lie still. Try to stay calm."

"Heart rate still climbing." The man is off to the right somewhere, and the woman looks over at him. "Brain activity is off the charts." Well of course it is, I'm trying to get you to explain what's going on and you're ignoring me. "Stats pushing into the red zone." The woman leaves me, heading over towards him. "It's not working."

She sends him away from a monitor, and takes a look at it. "Another dose, now."

He does something I can't see, and my vision starts to blur. He sounds a bit more relaxed. "Heart rate dropping. Stats falling back into normal range." I'm too tired to argue, and my head drops back towards my pillow. The woman appears again, leaning over me. The man sounds relieved as he says, "That was too close. We almost lost her."

"I told you your estimates were off. Run the numbers again." She sounds snappy and peevish. I don't know if I like her. Though she is looking at me with concern as I close my eyes for a little rest.

Edited by Bluenose, 21 February 2012 - 06:28 AM.

[Bluenose]

While Shepard Watches, Chapter One

Shepard, Undead

?Shepard.? A voice penetrates my consciousness.

?Commander Shepard!? It?s that Australian woman, and she?s shouting at me. ?Wake up.?

When my eyes open, she?s not actually present but talking to me over the intercom. I open my mouth to reply and feel a strange pain in my cheek. When I reach up to feel it, the skin feels cracked. That isn?t how I remember it. The woman now sounds impatient. ?Your scars aren?t healed, but you need to get up. Now. This facility is under attack.?

I?m lying on a table in a medical facility, one that I don?t recognise. I sit up and swing my legs off the table, and feel a sharp pain in my ribs. I don?t think it?s just scars on my face that aren?t fully healed.

At least the woman sounds a little more pleased with me. ?There?s equipment in the locker in the corner, both body armour and a weapon. You?ll need to get it on. Security is being overwhelmed. I?ll guide you to the exit, but you?ll have to fight in places.?

I move over to the locker, where there?s a full set of N7 combat armour waiting for me. I start pulling it on, and look at what else is in there. There?s an omnitool, some night vision gear, and a biotic amp? And a pistol, with a gaping hole in the grip. I stare at the pistol. Ammunition is there, so what?s missing. And then I remember some technical reports from a year or so ago, where various manufacturers were working on prototype weaponry that used heat sinks. Apparently some people weren?t happy that firing continuously led to weapons overheating and shutting down, and people were experimenting with ways to have a heat sink system that needed reloading but didn?t lead to weapons stopping firing at critical moments. That indicates to me sloppy fire discipline, but I?m only a Special Forces officer, what do I know? Still, a gun that won?t fire will be a problem. I indicate this to my Australian friend. ?There?s no heat sink in this pistol.?

?I?ll find you one.? She sounds somewhat stressed. ?Get your gear on, and get moving. Time is a factor here. The door is to your right.? Which is something I noticed before, to be honest. I head for it, useless pistol in hand and with my shields powering up.

Beyond there?s a short corridor with another pressure door at the other end. There?s a dead guard, in a grey uniform with black trim, on the floor. The Australian directs me to him, as he?s got an unused heat sink on him. Finally, I have a functional weapon. I head out the next door where an improvised barrier has been set up, though there are no defenders. ?They must have tried to set up defences against the mechs.? The Australian seems determined to keep me informed, even when something seems obvious. But mechs? That?s a surprise.

I vault over the barricade, into a larger room. There isn?t an obvious exit, but then I hear a door slide open at the far end of the room. The Australian interrupts my observation. ?Find some cover. One of the mechs is heading your way.?

The room is probably a cafeteria, given the arrangement of tables and chairs. I overturn one of the tables as cover, and await the threat. Which turns out to be not all that threatening. Loki mechs are used for security at places where the threat isn?t regarded as great, or occasionally in hostile environment facilities. Humanoid, lightly protected, and usually armed only with non-lethal weaponry, this one actually has a pistol with real ammunition. Although it doesn?t have much chance to use it, even after announcing, ?Intruder detected. Lethal force authorised.? I line a pistol shot up and put two rounds into its chest, following up with a third that shatters its head. I think I like this pistol, it certainly has decent hitting power.

My Australian supervisor comes on again. ?Good shooting, Shepard. Check the mech for any spare heat sinks. There?s a lot more of them around.?

It does indeed have a spare heat sink ?Loki?s aren?t much of a threat,? I comment to the woman. ?At least not singly.?

?There?s more, and some of them come in packs.? She manages to sound relentlessly downbeat. I move across the room, and take another corridor into a room which I can?t actually identify the function of. There are no tables or chairs, but a display of some sort in the centre of an open area at my end of the room. There?s a ramp up at the other end, with three visible exits, so I suppose it?s probably just some sort of junction room and the display would normally show art. Though one wall has some computer stations, so perhaps it is functional.

Not that I really have much time for observation. I get a few seconds warning, and it?s very helpful having someone monitoring the immediate area, before a larger number of Lokis clank into the area and start shooting at me. Let?s hope the display wasn?t valuable, as they manage to hit it repeatedly without doing me any harm where I hide behind it. Two fall under pistol fire, before the survivors start down the ramp towards me. Concentrating, I attempt to push them away biotically. So it?s a bit of a shock when the one I?m concentrating on crashes into the ceiling before slamming back down into the floor and flying apart. I blink, and the two survivors manage to take pot shots at me. Which gives me a reason to concentrate again, and a few shots later they?re both down.

?What the hell was that?? I still don?t know why my biotic push worked so strangely.

?When we were operating on you, we gave you an L5 biotic amp. You might see some side effects. If we hadn?t had to wake you early, this could have been worked out properly. I?m sorry, Commander.? She actually does sound it. ?When you reach me, I can explain things better. For now, keep moving. Up the ramp and take the exit to the right.?

I follow her directions along corridors and up stairs, till I arrive on a balcony overlooking another hall full of machinery. I suspect she?s trying to guide me through less used areas where there are fewer mechs, but this time I think she may have blundered as there?s a corpse on the walkway. ?Shepard, there?s a large group of mechs closing in on your position. Grab the grenade launcher off the body and get ready for them coming through the door opposite.?

I do as she says, loading it and taking position where I can see the door. Just then the door opens. At least six mechs start through, but a grenade in the centre of them leaves bits flying around. She continues as the noise dies down. ?Take the cargo elevator down one floor, and go out through the door the mechs came in.?

As I do so, some of the machinery decides to send a jet of flame across the passage. I don?t need her order to dash, and duck as much as I can beneath it. A little singed, I reach the exit.

On the other side, there?s another corridor. I wait for instructions, which follow. ?Go right and? <crackle> Shepard, I?ve got mechs closing in on my position. Evacuation <screech> shuttle bay. <crackle> <explosion>.

I head right along the corridor, and follow it round a corner and up a flight of stairs. There?s a glass window in the wall at the top, and another resident notices me through it. ?Shepard!? He waves to attract my attention. This doesn?t do him much good, as it also seems to attract the attention of something much more dangerous than a Loki mech. The last I heard the Ymir was a prototype heavy combat design, armed with a minigun and a rocket launcher. It fires the former at the moment, and I instinctively duck as bits of him splatter the window ? which is clearly tougher than glass, since it only faintly splinters under the impact of the bullets. I head through the door before it can decide to try a rocket, though it seems to have made the choice to move away itself.

In the next corridor I notice a room which looks to be used for administration. There are several desks with chairs and computer consoles, assorted displays and printouts, and a safe on the wall. Hoping that there?ll be a floor plan available, I check around. While I don?t find a plan, I do manage to crack the safe open using a technique Tali taught me. And one of the computers was left logged on in someone?s personal journal, so I cycle back to a previous.

A bald man with a moustache and beard is speaking a journal entry. ?Shepard is at last breathing on her own again. Miranda should be delighted, but she?s still the same old ice queen. Perhaps she?s afraid she?s creating the new favourite. Or maybe she?s just a cast iron bitch. I can?t tell with her.?

I check the most recent entry. ?The cost of this project is astronomical. Over four billion credits so far and still counting. The overruns have been enormous, yet it doesn?t seem to bother the boss. Anything we need is just provided, regardless of cost. I wonder where he gets it all, but mostly I wish he?d shift a little more of it my way.?

Without any idea which way to go, I head back out into the corridor. And with no better idea, when I hear firing break out up a set of stairs, I head that way. At least there?s likely to be a human present, as long as they don?t end up dead before I get there.

He?s not dead. A large man with dark skin, dressed in gear that I hesitate to describe as fetishistic (but it?s pretty much skin tight black leather with a lot of buckles, at least on his torso), is engaged in a rather erratic shootout with a trio of Loki mechs. Since he?s on a bridge lined by ?glass? walls, and they?re on a landing opposite with the same protection, fire shouldn?t be particularly effective. The mechs appear to have no idea of the concept of cover, so they?re much easier targets, but they keep up a steady stream of fire which means he can?t fire frequently at them. My sudden appearance changes the odds, especially when I shoot one of the mechs? arms off on entering the room. ?New target detected.? That?s nice of them to notice, and I duck behind the glass as the two that still have guns switch to firing at me. This of course lets the man shoot again with time to aim, and we manage to finish off all three by taking it in turns to shoot and duck as the mechs switch between the current threat. Someone should explain tactics to them, but not me and not until I know I won?t have to shoot more.

When they?re down, he turns to me and does a double-take. ?Shepard.? He sounds astonished to see me. ?What are you doing here??

?Good question.? I give him a half-hearted glare. ?This isn?t something I was planning.?

He shakes his head. ?Things must be worse than I thought if Miranda has you up and running around.?

?Miranda?? I pounce on the name. ?Is that the Australian woman who I?ve had talking at me over the intercom.?

?Yeah. Miranda Lawson. She?s in charge of this facility. I?m Jacob Taylor, head of security. I?m not exactly sure what?s going on either. I?d gone to bed to get some rest when an alarm woke me up and the mechs were going crazy. What happened to Miranda? Is she still in contact with you??

?She said mechs were closing in on her position, and the communications went down. It didn?t sound too good.?

?Miranda?s tough, she can take care of herself. But I hope she?s all right.? He looks around. ?We need to get you out of here.?

?I think I?d like to know more about this situation first.? I give him a rather more determined glare.

He looks as if he?s swallowed a lemon, but obviously wants my cooperation. ?All right, What do you want???

Before he can finish, the door on the landing opens and more mechs come through. ?Damn.? Jacob is nearly as fast as me when it comes to ducking for cover. ?I?ll tell you what. You help me with these mechs and I?ll play twenty questions all you like.? I nod quickly in his direction. ?I?m a biotic, so when you want me to let loose with the good stuff let me know.?

I move away from Taylor, making sure the mechs will see us as separate targets. A couple of quick shots from his position make them focus their fire on him, and this lets me take several aimed shots that shatter the chest plate of one. As they focus their fire on me, I wave at Taylor. A moment?s concentration and one of the mechs is floating upwards and towards us, before he releases it to fall into the gulley and shatter. Interestingly, it doesn?t seem to attract their attention the way gunfire does, which is a fault in their programming. I make sure with more shots that they keep their attention on me, while Jacob sends them dropping one after another. Once we?re done, he moves over to me.

?All right, I said I?d answer your questions. Fire away.?

?So, this place is?? I wave vaguely at the walls.

?A space station.? I?m sure he sees my eyes roll, as he quickly adds, ?We?re in an out-of-the way system in the Verge, which you probably haven?t ever heard of.?

?Miranda??

?She?s in charge of the station, and the whole Lazarus Project.?

?You.?

?I?m Jacob Taylor. In theory I?m Miranda?s second in command, and I am head of security, but in practice what they?re doing here was way over my head scientifically, and security was never a problem. Not until now. Normally I only fire a shot when I?m on the practice range.?

?Me. What am I doing here??

?The doctors were fixing you. Your ship, the Normandy, it was attacked in the Terminus systems and you were killed. We spent two years fixing you up here.?

?Killed.? That part doesn?t sound right. ?As in, dead.?

?Dead as dead can be. When I first saw you, you were nothing but meat and tubes. Anywhere else they?d have put you in a box, but the Lazarus Project was different. Cutting edge science.?

?Cutting edge science. Am I a clone, or something else??

?I?m pretty sure you?re not a clone. Our job was to put you back together.?

?So, what happened to the other subjects??

?There were no other subjects. The Lazarus Project was all about you, Commander.?

?So there?s this space station, dozens of researchers, security mechs, all for me.?

?Two years of work and billions of credits.?

My mind doesn?t want to take that concept in. So I rush on to another subject. ?What happened to my crew? Did they survive??

?Most of them. Commander Pressley was killed, and some of the crew from the lower decks didn?t make it out, but the aliens, the asari T?Soni and the quarian lived.?

?Where are they now? Not here??

?It?s been two years, Commander. You were reported dead. People have moved on.?

?So a secret project takes two years and spends a shed-load of money to bring me back from the dead. What for? And who is it??

Jacob looks at me for a moment and then grimaces. ?Let?s move on, Commander. I?m not the one to answer those questions.?

[Bluenose]

While Shepard Watched, Chapter Two

My last job interview wasn't like this

?Hello. Can anyone hear me?? Jacob?s communicator crackles to life as I wait for him to start leading us out.

?Wilson? This is Jacob. I?ve just taken out a wave of mechs in D-Wing with Commander Shepard.?

?Shepard?s alive!? He sounds surprised. ?How the hell?? And now he sounds almost disappointed. ?Never mind. I?m in Server Room B. Try to get here through the service tunnels.?

?Roger that, Wilson. We?re on our way.? Jacob turns to me. ?Service tunnels are this way, Commander.?

We move carefully through the tunnels, but not carefully enough. In a generator room we?re ambushed by a small group of Loki mechs, though they aren?t too much of a problem. Jacob though sounds annoyed when he contacts Wilson immediately afterwards. ?Damn it, Wilson. Try not leading us into an ambush.?

?I?m doing my best, but there are mechs all over the station. There?s someone directing them.? His voice rises. ?There?s some right outside my door now. Hurry!?

?Wilson, hold on, we?re on our way. Come on, Commander, let?s move.?

We hurry through the service tunnels and out into the main passages again. Jacob directs me up some stairs, towards an ominously silent room. I?m a little surprised thought when we open it.

?Over here.? The man bleeding on the floor is bald, with a short beard and moustache. I recognise him immediately.

?You?re the man who was there when I woke up the first time.?

?Yeah, that was me. How about we hold off the reunions until you?ve got me patched up.?

Jacob is trying to watch both doors at once and tend to Wilson. ?There?s a medigel dispenser over there on the wall, Commander.?

I move over to it, replenishing the reservoirs on my armour and recovering some to treat Wilson. His leg injury, when I treat it, isn?t too serious, and he?s soon back on his feet.

?Thanks, Shepard. Never thought you?d save my life. Guess that makes us even.?

?Where have you been, Wilson?? Jacob sounds suspicious, which certainly matches my feeling.

?I came up to try to stop the mechs. I thought I could hack them, but someone else had them under control. All I could do was monitor them.?

?I didn?t ask what you were doing. And you don?t have security mech clearance anyway.?

?It doesn?t matter now, does it? They still shot me. And someone who did have clearance must have been in control of them. My money?s on Miranda. She?s got all the clearance and the computer skills to lock others out.? So he?s shot, carefully non-fatally, and is now throwing blame at other people. Personally I suspect I?ve got another prime suspect.

?No way would Miranda sabotage this project.? Jacob doesn?t seem to have thought it through as far as me, though he?s defending Miranda anyway. And from the way he talks about her, I suspect a romance of some sort.

?If she was a traitor, why was she talking me through the halls towards the exit?? I decide to throw him a problem and see how he deals with it.

?Well, maybe it?s not her. But that could just mean she?s dead. You haven?t heard for her in a while, have you??

?Miranda?s tough.? Again, Jacob defends her. ?A bunch of mechs won?t take her down.?

?Well, we can?t wait for her. We need to get to the evacuation shuttles.? And Wilson seems perfectly happy to discard her. Though it is the practical suggestion, and it?s where she suggested I go which I don?t think I?ll mention to Mister Wilson.

?Which way?? I confine myself to the practical question.

?Through there.? It?s Jacob who points us to the door opposite the one we entered through, but the clanking of mechanical feet stops us before we get there.

?More of the mechs. Get to cover.? It?s almost instinctive to me to give the orders in a combat situation.

?Have you got a gun I can have?? No, Wilson, I haven?t. Instead I offer him another role, as I?ve noticed something we can take advantage of.

?Keep your head down and have your omnitool ready. When the mechs come through the door, overload that power junction by it. They should be destroyed.?

That?s what we do, and as the mechs enter the room and start firing on Jacob and me, Wilson manages to explode the junction and blow them all apart. It?s as he?s scavenging for a weapon that Jacob decides to answer one of my earlier questions.

?Commander, if I tell you who we work for will you trust us??

Wilson seems unhappy. ?That?s not your choice to make, Jacob.?

?We won?t get far if the Commander is expecting a shot in the back every step of the way.?

?It?s you choice, Jacob. It?ll be your ass on the line if the boss doesn?t like what you say.? With that, Wilson folds his arms and leans back against a wall to observe.

?All right.? Jacob looks earnestly at me. ?This station, this whole project, is a Cerberus operation, Commander.?

?Cerberus.? I remember their experiments with Rachni, with Thorian creepers, and other things. ?I?ve heard of them. A pro-human splinter group, right.? I?m not going to call them deranged terrorists just yet.

?That?s what the Alliance calls us, yes. But there?s more to it than that. The Illusive Man is dedicated to human advancement, and he wanted you for a particular task.?

?The Illusive Man? That?s your leader.?

?Yeah.? Wilson doesn?t seem like the type to stay out of conversations he finds interesting. ?It?s not his real name of course. No one knows who he is. But it was used in an Alliance press briefing, and the name stuck.?

?Anyway, that?s who we work for, Commander. Hope you?re OK with that.?

?We need to work together.? I?m as neutral as I can be. ?Let?s get to the exit.?

?Right with you, Commander.? While I was as non-committal as possible, Jacob seems pleased that I didn?t immediately denounce everyone.


We carry on along a few more corridors, where I hack someone?s forgotten datapad and steal their pay. There?s no more contact with mechs until we reach a room which is just outside the shuttle bay. A few are near the entrance, and we deal with them easily enough. Unfortunately when we move up the stairs, there are two groups on either end of the landing. And they seem slightly more competent in combat than most of the others, as they are spread out enough that my grenade launcher would be a waste of ammunition, and even though we can get cover from one direction the ones at the other end of the landing have shots that don?t have to get through cover. It?s not until we move as a team against the nearer group of mechs and finish them off that we?re safer, as the others are then firing the length of the landing with relatively inaccurate pistols. With one group defeated, we close on the others taking as much advantage as we can of the cover to let our shields replenish, and finish them off too.

As we approach the door to the shuttle bay, Wilson hurries past me. ?The shuttles are just through here.? He fiddles with the controls for a moment, and the door hisses open. A quite striking woman is standing on the other side. He blanches. ?Miranda? But you?re??

He doesn?t finish the sentence, as she raises her pistol and shoots him. But she does continue it. ?Dead? Not yet.?

Jacob checks Wilson?s body while I keep my pistol trained on Miranda. To give her due credit, she doesn?t seem the least worried about this. ?What did you do that for?? Jacob sounds shocked.

?Wilson was a traitor.? She says it as if it?s the most normal thing in the world. ?He needed to die.?

?Now we can?t take him with us and ask him any questions.? I keep my gun trained on her.

?Too risky. I couldn?t guarantee your safety if he was alive.?

?You really think Wilson could betray us?? Jacob still sounds a little doubtful.

?Not any more.? You know, I think I like Miranda?s sense of humour.

?I knew there was something wrong about him.? I admit that now to Jacob.

?Good instincts.? Miranda sounds slightly impressed. ?Come on, let?s go. My boss wants to see you.?

?The Illusive Man.? Even though I?ve lowered my gun, I make no effort to move. She looks slightly surprised. ?I know you work for Cerberus.?

?Ah, Jacob. I should have known your honesty would get the better of you.? She can do sarcastic, too.

?Keeping the Commander in the dark isn?t the way to get her to help us,? Jacob argues back.

?Well, if we?re telling Commander Shepard what she wants to know, is there anything you want me to tell you??

?Where are we going??

?Another space station.?

Not that I really expected her to say more. I look around. ?Let?s go. I?ve had enough of this place to last me a lifetime.?

?Or two, in your case.? Yes, I think I like Miranda?s attitude and sense of humour. Though I suspect it will cause trouble too. ?Come on, lets go.?

[Bluenose]

While Shepard Watched, Chapter 3
Meet the new boss

The shuttle speeds away from the station under autopilot, heading to where I?ll meet the head of Cerberus. I hope he?s used to meeting people just out of combat, who have no real reason to be polite to him. On the other hand, he wouldn?t have had me brought back from the dead if he didn?t need me, so I?m pretty certain I have some leeway in how I behave.

Miranda and Jacob are sat on the opposite bench in the passenger compartment, looking quite solemn. When I look away from the window, Miranda seems to think it?s a good time to start asking me questions.

?So, Commander, how are you feeling??

I shrug. ?Not at my best, but that will come. Can?t expect to come back from the dead at one hundred percent immediately.?

She frowns. ?I?d hoped you?d be back to what you were before your death. That?s what the Illusive Man demanded, and that?s what I was trying to get.?

?It?s just a matter of practice, I think.? I?m not sure why I?m trying to reassure her. ?I haven?t been firing a gun for, what was it, two years. Muscle memory is a big part of it, and I just don?t have that any more. I was having to think about aiming a lot more than I was used to. It?ll come back, probably quite quickly. The muscles forget but the brain remembers how it all used to work.?

She may well have been leading me into that, as she pounces on the statement. ?Perhaps we should test that memory, then, if you?re feeling up to it.?

?Oh, come on, Miranda.? Jacob doesn?t seem to think much of that idea. ?The Commander did perfectly well on the station. And she?s certainly lucid enough.?

?We need to be sure. The Illusive Man wanted Commander Shepard as she was when she beat Sovereign, and I won?t settle for anything less. Ask the questions.?

He shrugs. ?All right. Early life. You grew up without any parents, had a tough life.? I nod my head. ?Joined the Alliance at 17, came up through the ranks.? Again, I nod. ?Then you commanded a unit at Torfan. A lot of them got killed. Why??

?The Batarians were dug in deep in that bunker. It was kill or be killed, and we did what we had to do.? That?s a memory I wish hadn?t been dragged up, and I glare at Jacob for a moment. He looks away from me.

?Satisfied, Miranda??

?Not yet. Let?s try something more recent. Virmire. You used a nuke to destroy Saren?s base there. One of your team was left behind.?

?Lieutenant Kaiden Alenko was killed in action on Virmire. Why did you choose to leave him behind.?

I look away. How can you explain that sort of choice to someone who wasn?t there? Especially when you were never sure it was the right one. Eventually, I give it my go. ?The situation on Virmire was bad. I couldn?t see any choice that didn?t leave someone dying. In the end, I went with the one that I thought was best, that gave us the best chance of destroying the base and getting most of my people out of there alive. Kaiden understood. He died, yes, but he died a hero and that?s how he should be remembered.?

?Easy, Commander. No-one?s judging you. Everyone at Cerberus knows that base had to be destroyed.?

?Shepard,? Miranda comes in with another question. ?Think back to the Citadel, after the Alliance fleet saved the Destiny Ascension and you killed Saren. What happened next??

?The Council offered humanity a seat. I suggested Captain Anderson for the position, which certainly annoyed Udina.?

?Yes.? Miranda seems to have a slight smirk about it. ?Captain Anderson is now Councillor Anderson, though I understand he?s not entirely happy about the position.?

?Still, at least it?s good to know humanity?s representative won?t let military preparedness be entirely neglected.? Jacob seems pleased enough about it.

?There are still more tests we should run?? Miranda trails off, looking at me speculatively. It suddenly occurs to me that for the last two years she?s had me in a position where she could do whatever she liked with me, and all of a sudden I?m in a position to argue about it. I bet she?s feeling frustrated right now.

On the other hand, Jacob may not have picked up on this. ?Come on, Miranda. More tests. You can see the Commander?s memories are all right, and I can vouch for her combat skills personally.?

?I suppose so. We?ll just have to hope the Illusive Man will accept our little ?field test? as adequate.?



The space station we reach is a very different design, and much larger than the one we left. A central spire, almost certainly an engineering hub, has four spokes and a broad wheel around it. Rotating, too, which may suggest it?s meant to be able to operate without artificial gravity in some places. The shuttle approaches one of the docking bays, and lets us out into a room that?s probably a briefing room normally. While Jacob disappears somewhere on another errand, Miranda directs me to take a passage down on the other side of the room, where I?ll be talking to the Illusive Man.

I get a surprise when I do go into the room at the bottom of the slope. There?s no one present. I advance into the centre of the room, slightly warily , and a scanner starts to map my body. For a moment I?m puzzled, before I realise what?s happening. So in the end it isn?t a surprise when the scanner finishes it?s work and a hologram springs up around me.

The Illusive Man is a male human, and if I was estimating his age I?d put it at mid 40s. He?s dressed in expensive but slightly old-fashioned clothing, and has somehow picked up a serious chain smoking habit. When I got a closer look, I realise his eyes are cybernetic. But he?s polite enough to stand when he greets me.

?Commander Shepard.?

?Illusive Man.? I match his courtesy with a slight bow. ?I though we?d be meeting face to face.?

?A necessary precaution. Not unusual among people who know what you and I know.?

?And what is it that you and I know that most people don?t.?

?Humanity seems to have a prominent place in the galaxy, a really secure position. Yet we?re currently facing the greatest threat to our brief existence.?

?The Reapers.? I whisper it.

?Glad to see your memory is intact. How is your body??

?I noticed a few upgrades.? I smirk. ?I hope you didn?t replace anything really important.?

?Everything should be fully functional. That?s certainly what I paid for.?

?So what did you spend all that money on me for? You must have had something in mind.?

He turns away, and looks out a window at a sun. ?The Reapers are coming. I don?t know how to fight them, but I?m determined that humanity will survive them. And I think we?ve a better chance with you alive.?

?You could have trained a whole army for what you spent on me.?

?Yes, I could.? He takes a long drag on his cigarette before stubbing it out and starting another. When he?s got it going to his satisfaction, he continues. ?But they wouldn?t be you. You?re more than just the greatest soldier alive today. You?re a symbol. And I don?t know if the Reapers know fear, but you killed one of them. They have to respect that.?

?All right.? He sound sincere enough, though there?s nothing specific involving me yet. ?But what do you want me to do?? Because I certainly won?t be nothing but a Cerberus figurehead.

?Humans are being abducted on outlying planets. Nobody is taking it seriously, yet. But I think the Reapers are behind it.?

?The Reapers were after wholesale galactic extinction. I?m not sure a few disappearances is in that style.?

?Three hundred and fifty thousand people have vanished. I think that meets the definition of wholesale. Colonies simply disappear, everyone on the planet, with no evidence left behind. But it?s mostly out in the Terminus systems, where the Alliance can?t get officially involved, and there are several plausible explanations.?

?So why do you think it?s the Reapers??

?The signs are all there, if you look at the patterns.? he puffs away on his cigarette for a moment. ?We caught a break with the timing of your awakening. A colony in the Terminus systems just dropped out of contact. Freedom?s Progress. we?ve got a chance to be the first people there, for once. I want you to take Miranda and Jacob there and find out what you can, see if there?s any evidence of who?s involved.?

?Am I in charge of this??

?Entirely. I?ll make sure they know that.?

?What do you expect me to find??

?If I knew that, I wouldn?t have to send you.?

?And if I don?t find any evidence of Reaper involvement??

?Then you come back and tell me that, and we go our separate ways. But I?m confident you will.? As he turns away from me, he flips a switch in his chair and the holofram switches off.



Back up the ramp, I notice Miranda is waiting for me and Jacob is back with a small cart. As I approach Miranda, she speaks to me rather coldly.

?The Illusive Man was impressed by you, Commander. He doesn?t speak to many people in person, and as far as I know you?re the only person who isn?t a member of Cerberus who he?s spoken to for years. You should feel privileged.?

I consider her for a moment. ?You know, Miranda, I get the impression you don?t like me very much.?

?I have the utmost respect for you achievements, Commander.? And I suspect she actually means that. ?It?s your loyalties I don?t trust. You aren?t part of Cerberus, and I don?t know how reliable you are.?

?That cuts both ways. But you can?t have Commander Shepard, and expect me to be an obedient stooge.?

?If I?d been in charge of this project, I?d have done things differently. I?d have implanted a control chip in your brain. But I wasn?t in charge. The Illusive Man was. And he wouldn?t allow it. He feared it would somehow affect you, stop you being as competent as he wants you to be.?

?Well, I?m glad it was him in charge.? I consider her a little more, and change the subject. ?Tell me about yourself, Miranda.?

?Worried about my competence? I can shoot a can at one hundred metre, crush it with my biotics nearly as far away, and overload and electronics in it. I?m extremely well trained.?

?Where did you get that training??

?Some of it at home as a child, some on the job, and some since I joined Cerberus.?

?All right. Sounds like you?ve got a lot of the skills I don?t. We?ll see how it works out on Freedom?s Progress.? I turn away, then turn back as I think of something. ?This colony we?re going to, Freedom?s Progress. Do you know anything about it??

?A small colony, about 30,000 people. Typical of the Terminus systems, really. And now almost certainly vanished.?

?What do you think we?ll find there??

?A big mystery.? With that, she turns away to a computer screen and I wander over to Jacob.

?Commander. I?ve got you a range of gear.?

For a few minutes, we check over a variety of weapons. I load up with the grenade launcher from the station, assault and sniper rifles, a shotgun that I realise I don?t like very much due to it?s light weight, and a nice heavy pistol. Meanwhile, I take the chance to chat to Jacob.

?So, Jacob, you were with the Alliance.?

?Yes, Commander. Served for a few years. Even did a stint in the Corsair program.?

?The Corsairs? I don?t think I?ve heard of them.?

?It was a new initiative. Nominally civilian ships, only with an Alliance crew. In theory we operated outside direct Alliance control but used Alliance bases for logistic support and carried out deniable missions. In practice there was just enough paperwork and control to be frustrating, and not quite enough freedom. So that?s why I left.?

?And then you joined Cerberus.?

?Not directly. There were a frew other things first.? Strangely, he seems reluctant to say more. Everyone I suppose deserves their own secrets. ?I don?t regret it. When a colony disappears, Cerberus doesn?t set up a study team to look into the problem and decide what to do. We send people to investigate and act.?

?I suppose so.? My reluctance is obvious even to me.

He lowers his voice. ?Do you trust Cerberus, ma?am?? I shake my head slightly. His voice lowers even further. ?Do you trust me??

I consider my answer. ?You seem like a nice guy, Jacob. I?m not so sure about the company you keep.?

He straightens up. ?Understood, ma?am.? At that, there?s a ping from a communicator. He looks at it, almost with relief and raises his voice. ?Our shuttles ready, Commander, Miranda. We should be heading out.?

So we do.

[Bluenose]

While Shepard Watched, Chapter 4
Old Friends and Quarians

There?s an uneasy silence in the shuttle on our way to the mission, which Miranda eventually breaks. ?Do you have any orders for us, Shepard??

?You?re happy obeying my orders?? I make it a question, though I?m confident of the answer.

?The Illusive Man didn?t bring you back to have us second guess you, Commander.? Jacob sounds as serious as usual. ?When he put you in command, it means you're in charge.?

?You?ve visited the other colonies that have been attacked, I assume.? At Miranda?s nod, I continue. ?What did you find there??

?A lot of empty buildings and silence.? Miranda sounds frustrated. ?Nothing to indicate who or what took the residents, not even biological residue.?

?Of course,? Jacob adds, ?Before we?ve always got there after either official investigators or even scavengers or raiders have been through. This time we?re hoping to be the first on the scene.?

?All right. It sounds extremely unlikely there?ll be anyone friendly present, but I still want you to make sure to check your fire. The ideal solution for evidence is a survivor, so that means no firing on movement until it?s identified.? I hold my hand up. ?I realise this increases our risk, and I?ll modify these orders if we run into a party of raiders, but until we do we?re beign careful.?

?Understood, Commander.? Miranda sounds composed about it.

?Be nice if we could find someone, though.? Jacob by contrast sounds like he?s getting into a combat mindset.

?Make sure your omnitools have the latest map data from the colony, and we?ll do a comms check five minutes out in case we have to split up. And get some rest before we land. One hour out.?



An hour later, our shuttle lands at a pad near the edge of the urban area. I move out first, with Jacob and Miranda flanking and slightly behind. From the shuttle pad, a wind blows through the colony, but other than that there?s no sound apart from our footfalls and the whine of the shuttles engine dying down.

When we enter the nearest building, a half eaten meal is on one of the tables. A few papers are scattered on the floor, and a video screen shows static. Jacob comments, ?It?s as if everyone just got up and walked out.? It?s the same feeling I?ve had investigating a few abandoned spaceships, and there?s the same instinctive feeling that something is just round the corner waiting to pounce.

We move on, along abandoned walkways and down staircases. Although we try scanning available surfaces, the only biological residue we find is local animals. The only sound apart from us is the wind, and we?re pretty much silent apart from footsteps, moving on hand signals. So it?s a shock when Miranda suddenly speaks up. ?This is so frustrating. It?s as if no one was ever here.?

Through a large warehouse, we suddenly spot movement. A couple of Loki mechs unfold from their crouched positions. I recall that they?re being used for security at some outlying colonies, and Freedom?s Progress certainly qualifies. Even so, they should recognise us as human. So when they start reporting our position I?m not worried.

When they start firing on us, I am shocked. We quickly duck into cover. The first two are soon joined by two more, and another pair appears up a ramp to our right. This pair is accompanied by a pair of Fenris mechs, small four limber mechs often compared to dogs that attack with an electroshock bite ? normally to stun, but when overloaded it can be lethal. They have a nasty habit of exploding when damaged, which can do more damage than their bite.

Awkwardly, the initial pair of mechs and the two that joined them are some distance away on a balcony. Our walkway is lined with a solid wall, but there?s a sizeable drop to the road between us. With Jacob armed primarily with a shotgun and Miranda using another short ranged weapon in a sub machine gun, I?m the only person able to engage them with a weapon. I let them handle the Fenris mechs and the two Lokis that are on our side of the road, while using disruptor ammunition to overload the mechs circuitry. While I don?t destroy any of them, hitting them stops them firing for a few seconds and assault rifle bursts stop most of the group from getting off more than a few shots.

Checking my companions, I notice Miranda has overloaded the circuits on both Fenris, and while they were still Jacob blasted one with his shotgun, with the other being set of in a chain reaction that also damages both Lokis. They are quickly finished off, and then we turn our attention to the four I was engaging. While Jacob lifts one up and drops it onto the road, I switch so I?m concentrating fire to destroy first one, then another. Miranda overloads one, and then throws it back against the wall with her biotics.

Once we?ve destroyed them, Jacob sounds as surprised as I was. ?Those mechs should have recognised us as humans. They shouldn?t have been hostile.?

Miranda has an explanation. ?Someone must have reprogrammed them. There has to be someone still alive.?

Now that we know what to look for, scanning does detect a few signs of things that aren?t the local wildlife. Even the best maintained mechs leave a certain amount of residue behind, and we find signs that they?ve been through a lot of the area. We even encounter two more, one Loki and on Fenris, which we quickly destroy. But the building they were outside is more interesting. When we approach the door, I can hear voices inside. Signalling to my companions for silence, we approach it with pistols drawn.

We burst in, and fan out just beyond the doorway aiming our guns at a group of ? Quarians? ?Halt where you are.? I almost stumble over the suggestion, and it doesn?t seem to persuade them to obey me. One who I take for the leader stands and aims his rifle at us belligerently, ?We don?t take orders from you, Cerberus.?

For a moment it seems like there?ll be a nasty close range confrontation, when another Quarian who was at the opposite side of the group pushes forward. ?Prazza, stand down. I said I?d handle this.?

I recognise the voice, although her suit is a bit different to her old one. Tali Zorah nar?Rayya finishes getting her soldiers to take a step back and turns towards us just as I?m pushing Miranda?s pistol down; Jacob lowered his when I did. Tali sounds stunned. ?Shepard. How? Is that really you, Shepard??

?Did the Geth data I gave you help you complete your Pilgrimage, Tali.? I don?t try to keep the pleasure out of my voice.

?It is you.? She sounds almost reverential, before she turns her head back towards her soldiers, ?Weapons down, Prazza. This is definitely Commander Shepard.?

He still sounds belligerent, even as he slowly lowers his rifle. ?What is your old commander doing working with Cerberus.?

?I don?t know.? Now Tali sounds a little doubtful. ?Perhaps we should ask her.?

?Cerberus recovered my body, Tali, and put me back together. I?m investigating the human colonies that are disappearing. But I?m not a Cerberus agent.?

?We?re here for a missing Quarian.? She sounds reasonably satisfied with my explanation. ?He?s here on his Pilgrimage.?

?Why would a Quarian come here as part of his Pilgrimage?? I?m puzzled by the idea.

?Prazza liked the idea of helping a small colony. He was always nervous in crowds.?

?She means,? Prazza doesn?t seem able to say anything without a belligerent tone, ?That he was unstable. Couple that with damage to his suit and overloaded CO2 scrubbers, and he?s probably half delirious by now.?

?We think it was him that reprogrammed the mechs to attack intruders,? Tali adds.

?We want to know what happened to the colony, and it seems like he?d be the best source for this. Can we work together to get him back?? I address the plea to Tali, though keeping my eyes on Prazza.

?Of course. Two teams will help us split the mechs attention.? Tali sounds pleased.

Prazza doesn?t. ?We?re working for Cerberus now.? The disgust in his voice is obvious.

?No, Prazza. You?re working for me.? Now Tali sounds annoyed with him.

?Sounds like you?ve got some history with Cerberus. What happened between them and the Flotilla that has you all so unhappy?? I try to watch Miranda out of the corner of my eye as I ask this, and notice her wince slightly before returning to her normal composed face.

?They attacked on of our ships, and brought infection on board the flotilla.? Prazza sounds pretty angry about it.

?That isn?t quite how I?d have described it. It was nothing personal.? Miranda by contrast remains composed.

?We can still work together for this, though.? I?m a little surprised it?s Tali taking charge. ?We?ll move round the settlement one way, you take the other. Keep in radio contact.? She starts to turn away and lead her team out, before turning back for a moment. ?And Shepard. Whatever happens, it?s good to have you back.?

[Bluenose]

While Shepard Watched, Chapter 5
The one that didn't get away was |-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| big

A few minutes later we?re working our way through the deserted residences when Tali comes over the radio. ?Shepard, there?s a group of drones heading your way. Get ready to fight them off.?

We take cover on the balcony overlooking a cargo loading bay as they arrive. There?s a group of six, some armed with automatic rifles and a couple with rocket launchers. They aren?t particularly tough,, with shields that Miranda can overload with one surge from her omnitool and which I?m able to destroy quite conveniently with my rifle. On the other hand, a rocket hit can drop our shields in one blast, and the others keep up a steady stream of fire as well as manoeuvring aggressively onto rook tops and other surfaces. I?m working with Miranda taking them down one at a time, with her taking out the shields and me finishing them with rifle shots, when I notice Jacob moving.

He seems to have become frustrated at his inability to have much effect on the battle. His shotgun and pistol aren?t effective at this range, and his primary biotic ability involves lifting or pulling things and letting them fall to the ground, which is obviously ineffective against flying enemies. Rather than simply stay in cover, he?s moved forward to get within shotgun range of a drone that?s sat on top of a crate near our position. It goes appallingly wrong. Just as he reaches a firing position, the drone lifts off again and moves away, leaving him in the open and exposed to fire from all the drones. Almost immediately, a rocket hits him in the back. He grunts, and then fire from more of the drones impacts him and he drops to the ground. I hit my omnitool and activate his medigel dispensers, but if he gets up now he?ll just become a target again.

I move out firing into the open myself, giving them a more obvious threat. Miranda targets the surviving rocket drone to overload its shields, and I spray bullets in its direction in the hope that one will hit somewhere vital. My shields are failing fast with three drones putting bullets into them, and a rocket hit might just be fatal.

And then I do hit something vital. The drone explodes in a shower of sparks, and I throw myself into a bit of cover. Even now I?m not safe, as one of the drones is directly behind me, but at least the other two can?t shoot through steel girders. I switch to the one drone that can engage, hammering its shields flat with a sustained burst of fire that would have jammed most of my older rifles. Maybe I could get used to these clips after all. Before I can get another loaded, Miranda hits it with an overload and it blows apart. Rather stupidly, but that?s something I?m coming to expect from these enemies, a second lands in the same spot a few moments later. I fire on it, Miranda adds a few shots, and then Jacob opens up with his pistol having obviously decided his shotgun isn?t suitable for anything but close range work. We finish this one off, and the last soon follows. When Jacob moves into the open, he looks a little abashed. He mumbles, ?Sorry, Commander.?

I?m about to tear a strip off him anyway, if only to make me feel better about nearly losing another of my team, when a frantic Tali comes over the communicator.

?Shepard, Prazza and his team ran on ahead. They?re trying to get to Veetor before you can take him. Hurry.?

?Typical.? Miranda mutters something behind me, though I?m sure she meant me to catch it. ?We should have expected something like that.?

Since I?m not actually in the mood for an argument, I hurry us on. After a brush with a couple more drones, we find ourselves outside a loading bay door in the middle of some warehouses. Tali comes through again.

?Shepard, Veetor must have reprogrammed a heavy combat mech. It?s tearing Prazza and his team apart. Get your people into cover, and I?ll open the loading bay.?

I send Miranda and Jacob to either side of the door, while I move behind a loading track. Beyond, we can hear the chatter of the Quarian rifles and the roar of the heavy machine gun on the combat mech. As the door opens, I notice Tali making a dash for a building on the far side of the bay. We move in, catching the last of the combat as the Ymir mech dismantles the unfortunate Quarian team. The first to fall is a female Quarian, trying to act as the rearguard while they retreat, whose legs are shot from under her. As she tries to crawl away, the mech treads on her back quite deliberately, and lowers it?s rifle arm to shoot her in the head. Two more Quarians fall as it fires a rocket into the crates they were using as cover, and as Prazza retreats towards one of the buildings a hail of bullets from the mech fells him.

We move into the area, trying to avoid notice as long as possible. Miranda looks over to me.

?That mech has heavy shielding and armour. The Quarians never stood a chance.?

I slide my assault rifle into its back-holster and pull out the grenade launcher. ?I?ll try to draw it?s attention while you work on the things shields. Jacob, you?ve got incendiary rounds which should be good against armour, get ready to use them. And don?t use the crates as cover, it can blow them apart with one rocket shot.? I watch as Miranda gets behind the base of a crane, and Jacob finds a ceramacrete wall. With a quick hand wave, I step out and inform the Ymir it has more company, with a grenade. And just to prove I?m not ignoring my own instructions, I dash for some solid steps and duck behind them.

The next minute is hectic. While the Ymir is a solitary target, it?s also a very tough one. Despite my earlier orders not to use crates as cover, we do have to move around as the Ymir changes position, and a couple of crates get destroyed in the process as it tries to track fire across us. In the end, with its shields collapsed and its armour in tatters, the Ymir steps around a pile of scrap which Jacob had ducked behind. As it pauses looking for the target, he slips through a gap in the pile, places his shotgun against the rear of its torso, and pulls the trigger. And then has to duck away as its ammunition and power plant blast the heavy mech to pieces.

Afterwards, we head for the building Tali ducked into. To my surprise, she already has a couple of the other Quarians with her and is treating their injuries. ?Go on, Shepard. This is your chance to talk to Veetor while I tend to these idiots. He?s probably in the building at the back.?

Taking Miranda and Jacob I head towards the building Tali suggested, the one that Prazza and his people retreated from. On the way, I notice another Ymir mech, though this one is destroyed. I?m fascinated, as is Miranda, by something that?s been attached to it. Even though the mech is missing its head and two of its limbs, the armour seems to be slowly knitting itself back together. We both scan the odd device that?s attached to the wreck, which seems to be the catalyst for this.

When we do go into the building, there?s a Quarian in there. He?s gazing at a cluster of computer monitors on the wall, of the sort you?d normally only see in either a newsroom or a large security centre. In this case, I assume we?re dealing with the latter. I holster my gun, since he doesn?t seem to be any sort of threat.

?Monsters coming back. Mechs will protect. Have to hide. No monsters. No swarms. No, no no no.?

?Veetor??

?No. No Veetor here. No Veetor.?

?Nobody?s going to hurt you.? I try to project reassurance in my voice, but he ignores me and continues watching his screens.

?I don?t think you?re getting through to him, Commander.? Jacob is apparently trying out for the role Captain Obvious. Rather than do anything more drastic, I raise my omnitool. If I can reach the controls of the screens, I can turn them all off.

As they turn off Veetor stares at the blank screens. Then he turns in his chair and appears to take notice of us for the first time. ?You. You?re human. Why didn?t the monsters take you??

?We weren?t here, Veetor. We just got here.?

?They didn?t take you. But they?ll be back. No-one is safe.?

?What happened here, Veetor?? I try to keep my voice a soothing as possible, with the Quarian on the verge of panic.

?Monsters came. Seeker swarms. They took the colonists away.?

?How come they didn?t take you?? Jacob takes over the questions for a moment.

?Hid from them. The seeker swarms couldn?t find me.?

?Wait, they have a weapon that can disable a whole colony without enough time for it to send a distress call.? Miranda sounds sceptical. ?That doesn?t make sense.?

Instead of answering directly, Veetor turns back to the screens and starts to tap in instructions. ?You weren?t here. You didn?t see. But Veetor sees everything.?

Behind him, the screens start up again, this time with all nine showing one series of images. At locations around the colony, aliens with insectoid heads on vaguely humanoid bodies are moving some sort of pods around, or loading still humans into those pods. Some sort of insects are flying around, closer to the cameras.

Miranda seems impressed. ?He must have pieced it together from the security footage.?

?What are they?? Jacob doesn?t recognise the aliens, and they don?t stir my memory either.

?They?re Collectors. At least I think they are. I?ve never actually seen one.? Miranda does have an idea.

Her reminder actually does stir up my memory. ?Don?t the Collectors normally avoid contact??

?Generally. They travel through the Terminus systems sometimes, trading with various groups for oddities and then leaving. That doesn?t explain how they?re able to disable a whole colony, though.?

?The seeker swarms.? Veetor sounds positive, and more rational, though also scared. ?They seek you out, find you, sting you, and then you can?t move. Then the monsters take you away and load you into their ship.?

?So why didn?t they take you?? I look at Veetor, puzzled, but all he does is stare back.

?Maybe they couldn?t pick him up through his suit,? Jacob suggests.

?The Collectors aren?t known for being careless.? Miranda doesn?t sound as if she agrees with that idea. ?Maybe their sensors are only looking for humans. Only human colonies have been it.?

?I studies them.? Veetor waves his omnitool at us. ?The seeker swarms. Lots of readings. Electromagnetic. Dark energy. They?ll be back. No-one escapes.? He sits back down in his chair.

?I think that might be all we?re getting from him, Commander.?

?Thank you, Veetor. You were very helpful.?

"Call the shuttle to pick us up." Miranda orders Jacob around calmly. "Then we grab the Quarian and get out of here."

Such great timing she has. Just as she's saying it, the door opens and Tali comes in. "What! Veetor is injured. He needs treatment, not an interrogation!"

Tali looks at me, but it's Jacob who answers. "We're not going to hurt him, we just want to know if he knows anything else."

"Your people already tried to betray us once." Miranda is more accusing. "If we let him go with you, we'll never get the information we need."

"Prazza and his men were idiots, and they paid for it." Tali directs her appeal to me. "Please, take hs omnitool data but let me take Veetor back to the Flotilla."

"You don't have to leave, Tali. Stay and work with us on this."

"I can't. Even for you." I think saying that made her unhappy. "I have other things they need me to do. When they're finished, and I'm alive, we'll see."

I look at Miranda. "Veetor goes with Tali. He needs treatment, and we'll get all his data."

"Understood, Commander." Miranda is back to her normal cool self.

"Thanks, Shepard. I'm glad it's still you giving the orders. If I find out any more information, I'll pass it on to you." Tali moves over towards Veetor. Jacob calls the shuttle in. "Three for pickup, shuttle."




"Shepard." The Illusive Man is still in his chair, still smoking. "Good work on Freedom's Progress. The Quarians forwarded the omnitool data, and our scientists are finding it very useful. A surprising olive branch, given wheir history with Cerberus."

?Have you ever thought about being nice to people once in a while?? Though coming from me, that might be hyporitical.

?Diplomacy is all well and good, but when the other side expects you to be trouble it often doesn?t work.? He puffs on his cigarette. ?Anyway, we have the data and it confirms the Collectors are behind the disappearances.?

?Confrims. Why do I get the feeling you already knew??

He shakes his head. ?I had suspicions, but that?s all they were. You confirmed it.?

?I don?t know much about the Collectors.? I don?t mind admitting it, especially as being known ignorant about one thing can make people think you?re ignorant about others. This is a man I don?t expect to trust.

?Not many people do. They?re isolationist enough that some people even think they?re a myth.? He stubs out one cigarette, and starts on another. ?The come through the unmapped Omega 4 relay every so often, travel through the Terminus systems recovering things they have an interested in, and leave. Most people have nothing to do with them.?

?So what do they get from these deals??

?Hard to say. They come through, contact various mercenary groups or bounty hunters to recover something they?re interested in, and usually pay for it with advanced technology. But the things they?re after a usually strange biological anomalies, such as left handed Elcor, tone-deaf Krogan, or infertile Hanar. But the quantities have always been low, a dozen at most. They?ve never taken so many from a single species before.?

?Why is the Omega 4 Relay unmapped??

?No ship, apart from Collector ones, has ever come out of it. Ships have gone through from this side, but they never return.?

?What makes you think it has anything to do with the Reapers??

?This pattern of behaviour only started after you and Fifth fleet destroyed Sovereign at the Citadel. Obviously this would have attracted the interest of the Reapers, and if the Collectors are a client species of theirs that would explain their sudden interest in humanity. And, there?s the Relay. It obviously reacts differently to Collector ships, but the only people we know of who can manipulate relays are the Reapers. It isn?t proof, but it suggests a connection.?

?Well the threat is real enough.? While I don?t trust him, he may have a point. ?What are you going to do about it??

?If the Reapers are attacking humanity, Cerberus will stop them. While the Council and the Systems Alliance dither, we have to find a way to stop them.?

?If I?m going against the Collectors, I can?t do it on my own, or even with Miranda and Jacob with me.?

?No. You?ll have to create a team. I?ve collected a list, of the best scientists, mercenaries, and others available. I?ll forward their dossiers to you. It?s up to you to recruit them.?

?Keep your llist. I had a team. I want them back.?

?It?s been two years, Commander. They aren?t the same people any more. They?ve moved on.?

?Chief Williams.?

?Working on a mission for the Alliance, one that?s surprisingly highly classified.?

?Tali, I met on Freedom?s Progress.?

?Yes. That was a surprise. I?ll try to find out more, but she wasn?t willing to go with you then.?

?Wrex, Garrus, Liara.?

?Urdnot Wrex is on Tuchanka. He has some idea of uniting the krogan clans, so that takes up most of his time. Garrus Vakarian dropped out of sight a couple of months after you were reported missing. Even we haven?t been able to locate him. And Liara T?Soni we can locate. She?s working as an information broker on Illium, but she?s got some involvement with the Shadow Broker, and if she works for him she can?t be trusted. The Shadow Broker is connected to the Collectors.?

?All right, I get it, they?re not available. Send me your list.?

?Good. It?ll be hard but you?re a natural leader and you?ll get them.? He puffs on his cigarette, a satisfied expression on his face. ?Two more things. First, go to Omega. One of the people on your list is there. Doctor Mordin Solus, a brilliant Salarian scientist. If anyone can produce a cure for the Collector?s swarms, it?s him.?

?And the second thing.?

?I believe I?ve found a pilot you?ll like. You can trust him, and they say he?s one of the best.?

As the hologram fades out, I hear footsteps behind me, and someone speaks to me.

?Hey, Commander, just like old times, huh.?

?Joker.? I?ve a big grin at my old pilot, even in if he is in Cerberus uniform.

[Bluenose]

While Shepard Watched, Chapter 6
The same, but different

?I can?t believe it?s you, Joker.? My mood remains bubbly as he leads me through the base, and up a set of stairs towards a hanger.

?Tell me about it. Last time I saw you, you were getting spaced.?

?I got lucky, with a lot of strings attached. So how about you, how?d you get here??

Joker knows what I?m really asking, even without me saying it. ?Everything you stirred up, Commander, the Council just wanted it gone. Records sealed, team broken up. ?

?Joker.?

?The Alliance grounded me, Commander. They took away the one thing that really mattered to me. Hell, yeah, I joined Cerberus.?

We stop next to a window that looks into the dark hanger. ?Do you really trust the Illusive Man?? I ask the question quietly, but firmly.

?Well, I don?t trust anyone who makes more money than me. But they?re not all bad. Saved your life. Let me fly.? He stares out of the window into the hanger, where light reflects of the surface of what I assume is a spaceship. ?And then there?s this. They only told me about her yesterday.?

He presses a button on a control pad next to the window. A spotlight comes on in the hanger, showing the bow of a ship. It has a bridge with a squared-off nose, with two sensor panels beneath it. Another light comes on, and a long neck sweeps back from the bridge. A third, and the main section swells out into a smooth curve with two delta wings. The fourth, and there?s the tailfins and the engines beneath the wing. White, with black and an orange-gold trim, under the number SR2. This part of the station must have something wrong with it?s environmental systems, as some irritant in the air is making my eyes water.

Joker pretends not to notice. ?It?s good to be home, huh, Commander.?

There?s a section of black paint where the wings join the main body, where a name would normally appear. It remains blank. ?I guess we?ll have to give her a name.?




The following morning, I go on board my new ship with Miranda. Jacob is waiting for us. ?Welcome aboard, Commander.?

I look around. The entrance shaft is just behind the cockpit, where Joker is wheeled around in his pilot?s chair watching me. The bridge corridor is lined with workstations, only half manned at the moment with four crewmembers who I wave back into their seats as they start to stand. At the end, the CIC, larger than the old one. Some crewmembers move around it purposefully, even in dock as we are. At the rear is the commander?s main plot with a couple of workstations, one manned, on either side. I stand at the end of the bridge corridor for a few moments, before taking a couple of paces forward into my new domain. On the old ship, that was Pressley?s normal station, and that?

?I?ve a few suggestions for our mission, Commander.? Miranda manages to interrupt my memories. ?I suggest we travel first to Omega. Doctor Mordin Solus is running a clinic there. He?s one of the best medical scientists in the galaxy and if anyone can develop a countermeasure to the Collector?s seeker swarms it will be him.?

?And if we run into the Collectors we?ll be helpless without it.? The point makes obvious sense.

?Recruiting Doctor Solus seems like the logical course of action.? A synthetic female voice enters the conversation.

I turn around, looking at the console which the voice just spoke out of. ?Who are you??

A blue sphere projects from the console. ?I am the ship?s AI. The crew refer to me as EDI.?

I cross my arms and stare at the sphere. ?Helmsmen don?t like it when someone takes control of their ship from them. {b]Especially[/b] Joker.?

?I do not manoeuvre the ship. Mister Moreau?s talents will not go to waste.? With that the sphere blanks out., though I don?t doubt an AI has sufficient processing power to monitor our actions from elsewhere and interrupt if needed.

I stand for a moment, breathing in the atmosphere. Miranda seems to take this as a dismissal. ?If you?ll excuse us, Commander, Jacob and I need to get to our stations.? She moves away calmly, and Jacob, after saluting me smartly, does the same. If I?m remembering correctly, Miranda has an office and quarters on the next deck down in the location of the Captain?s cabin on my last ship. I wonder if that?s a hint about who is really in charge. Jacob is in charge of the armoury, which is through the right hand door at the back of the CIC - the left hand one leads to a laboratory, assuming the plans I went through last night are accurate. I take a deep breath, and plunge into inspecting the ship and meeting the crew. First though, to get us moving and active rather than reactive. I move to the galaxy plot. "Joker. Set us a course for Omega."

As the hanger bay doors open, Joker slides the ship out smoothly and orientates us onto a vector for the local Mass Relay. And the new Normandy sets off to save the galaxy.

[Bluenose]

While Shepard Watched, Chapter 7
My crew in all its glory

The redhead at the console near my command station seems to be trying to catch my eye, but I ignore her temporarily. If I?m going to talk to the crew, Joker will be my first port of call. Him, I know.

He seems extremely happy, turning his chair round when he hears me coming.

?Commander, can you believe this? It?s my baby, better than new. And leather seats! Military may set the hardware standards, but civilian sector, comfort by design.?

?The reproduction was not intended to be perfect, Mister Moreau.? EDI?s blue bubble springs to life on a console to the left. ?Seamless improvements were made.?

Joker?s face falls. ?And there?s the downside. I loved the Normandy when she was beautiful but quiet. Now there?s this thing I don?t like talking about. It?s like ship cancer.?

?Enjoy it, Joker. While we have to stay here, we might as well let them pamper us.?

?Is it all right if I get that on a T-shirt? ?Cause, this is the best, ?you have no choice? choice ever.?

?This is technically a civilian ship. I should probably be thankful you still have trousers on.?

?Yeah, like I?d do that with an AI watching us all the time.?

?Don?t get too comfortable, Joker.?

?Uh, leather seats.?

?I?ll leave you to get acquainted with the ship.?


Back down the ridge corridor, the redhead is still watching for my return. As I approach, she snaps off a civilian version of a military salute which she?s clearly been practicing for hours. I don?t have the meanness in me to tell her all the things that are wrong about it, since she looks so happy to see me.

?Commander Shepard, it?s wonderful to meet you at last. I?m Kelly Chambers, your yeoman. And may I say it?s such an honour to be working with you.?

?The pleasure is mine, Ms Chambers.? So is she the main spy for the Illusive Man, or is EDI passing it all to him anyway? She is at least making an effort to be pleasant.

?Please, call me Kelly.?

?All right, Kelly.?

?So, what can I do for you, Commander??

?Do you have a moment to talk?? I keep my tone pleasant, but it?s not likely she?d say no to the ship?s commander on the first day.

?I always have time for you, Commander.? And if I?m not mistaken, there?s an undertone of sexual attraction in the way she talks and her pose.

?So tell me, how do you feel about being on the Normandy??

?The Illusive Man,? I?m going to start thinking of him as TIM in my head, ?Hand-picked me for a mission crucial to the survival of humanity. How do I feel? Proud, exhilarated, terrified.? At least she?s honest about the last. ?But most of all, I feel encouraged. With you in command, I?m sure we?ll succeed.?

?Don?t worry. The Collectors are history.? That comes out sounding harsher than I meant it.

?As soon as I met you, I knew I was safe with you. I know if I fell backwards and you were there, you?d catch me.?

?You want to be careful about that. If I got my hands on you, who knows what I might do before I let go.? If she?s going to flirt, so am I.

?Now there?s an enticing thought.? And she returns with interest. ?Is there anything else, Commander??

?What do you do here??

?I handle all your routine paperwork, notify you when you?ve important messages, and arrange things when you need to speak to a member of your crew.?

?Isn?t that a task better left to a VI??

She flushes slightly, and then beckons me into a corner of the bridge away from the other crew. ?I do that, yes, but it?s just my official role. My other job is to look after the mental health of the crew. This is a dangerous mission, and a lot of them have civilian backgrounds. My job is to look for warning signs of stress, and make sure it doesn?t become a problem. I have a degree in psychology, so I know what to look for. It?s also a job best done unofficially, so I mingle with the crew and chat to them as necessary.?

?So, you?re a Counselor. We?re lucky to have someone with your skills on board.? And I?m impressed, because she didn?t give off that impression to me. Of course, being very good at that would be an advantage for her job. ?If you need anything, let me know. I?ll back any decisions you make on psychological issues.?

?Thank you, Commander. Is there anything else??

?Not for now. I?m going to make the rounds and talk to the crew, informally. Comm me if anything urgent comes up.?

She salutes, and heads back to her console. I wander off through the ship. Jacob in the armory is just starting an inventory of our supplies, so I don?t interrupt him. The lab is sealed, since it?s intended for use by a scientist, and while EDI offers to unseal it I?m damn sure I wouldn?t know what to look for to identify any possible problems. Between those two rooms is the communications centre, where I can talk to the Illusive Man as necessary. For security reasons Cerberus are often unwilling to use the commercial Comm-buoys network associated with the Relays, and the new Normandy has a state-of-the-art quantum entanglement communicator linked directly (and solely) to one in the Illusive Man?s office. Mentally, I add another billion to the amount the Illusive Man has spent on this project.

One deck down are the main crew quarters, life support, a couple of observation bays, sick bay, the mess, Miranda?s office and quarters, and the main weapon station. I wander through the mess, and hear the tail end of a conversation.

?Come on, Rupert. Chef?s surprise again.? Someone at one of the tables doesn?t seem impressed by his meal.

The man they?re talking to behind the serving counter scowls at him. ?I?m sorry, Princess. Caviar and Filet Mignon coming right up.?

If people are complaining about the food, I should probably do something about it. There?s not much that?s worse for morale, and I have to eat it myself. I go over to the counter, and the man behind it snaps to a sort of attention.

?Mess Sergeant Rupert Gardner at your service, ma?am. What can I do for you??

?You?re the mess sergeant, yes??

?Among other things, yes. I do just about any job on this ship that doesn?t require any formal training. I worked as an Eezo miner and can turn my hand to pretty much anything, from fixing the plumbing to cooking the meals.?

?So the man who fixes the toilets also cooks the meals.?

?I wash my hands. Usually.? He looks around a little furtively. ?Confidentially, the food here is crap. I?m really not a bad cook, but with the ingredients I?ve got there?s only so much I can do. If you... But no, you?ve got serious work to do.?

?If there?s something I can do to help you, tell me. That?s an order.? I add the last as he seems to be about to get stubborn about it.

?Well, if some time when you?re on one of the bigger stations like the Citadel you could buy some better ingredients, I could do a lot better. I?ve a list of things under the counter, here.?

?Give it to me. Next time we?re around a station, I?ll see what I can get delivered.?

?Yes, ma?am.?

?So you were an Eezo miner. From what I hear, it?s tough.?

?That it is. Hard work, but there?s always a chance to strike lucky. I did it for twenty years. Had a family and all. Then Batarian raiders hit us and I lost damn near everything but my life. That?s what made me join Cerberus. I wanted to make a difference. I may not have formal qualifications, but Cerberus recognized I could do free up people who do.?

?So you?re proud to be in Cerberus.?

?I?m damn proud. Cerberus gets the job done. The Alliance and the Council have got their heads buried so deep up their asses they can?t see squat.?

I shrug mentally. ?I?ll see about getting you ingredients.? With that, I wander off for a chat with Miranda.

When I enter her office she?s at the desk doing some work on a console, and blanks the screen as I come in. ?Commander. How can I help you??

?Since we?re going to be working together, I want to know a little more about you.?

She stands up, and starts pacing around while I sit on the edge of her table. ?I suppose that?s only fair. I?ve spent the last two years getting to know everything I could about you, so I should return the favour.? She pauses for a moment I consideration. ?The first thing you should know is that I?ve been heavily genetically engineered. My father is one of the richest men in space, and he wanted a dynasty. So I was designed to be superior to random humans. I?m stronger, have more stamina, more intelligence, a better memory, hardly ever get sick, and of course there?s my biotics.?

?So you were engineered to be ?perfect???

?Perhaps, but I don?t think I came out the way he wanted. He wanted someone he could control, and that he didn?t get.?

?I?m not hearing much about a mother in this. Was it a temporary arrangement, some sort of proxy parent??

?No.? She sounds disgusted. ?I don?t have a mother. My father had a set of his chromosomes altered to remove the Y-chromosome, so he could provide both the maternal and paternal genes. Can you believe the arrogance of the man??

To be honest, I can?t. I think my expression gives that away. Just as I think Miranda is about to say more, her computer beeps and she looks at it.

?Oh. Sorry, Commander. Can this wait? I think this is a message I was expecting.?

?Sure. We can talk some more another time.?

While she takes her message, I take a quick look at the weapons bay. While it?s sealed, this is something I have EDI unlock for me. Our main guns are the same as the old Normandy, and we also have torpedo launchers. Personally, I?d like something with more firepower. The new Normandy, the ?big? version, has considerably more power and we certainly will need upgrades if we?re going to face a Collector ship considering how the last Normandy fared.

My last stop on this deck is the sick bay. An older, grey haired woman who seems somehow familiar is sat in a chair facing away from me. And then she turns round.

?Hello, Commander. It?s good to see you again.?

?Doctor Chakwas. You?re alive.? She did survive the death of my old ship. ?It?s good to see you.?

?And you. I?ve just been going over your medical notes. It?s amazing that you?re alive. But I?d really like to have a look at you myself.?

?All right.? I go over and lie down on one of her diagnostic tables, and she starts the scanner up.

?So what happened to you after the Normandy was destroyed??

?Well, after the debriefing the crew was split up. I don?t think the Alliance was really happy with your recruitment of aliens, Commander. And they certainly weren?t happy having a group of people who didn?t agree with the party line about Sovereign and the Reapers. So they split us up and filed us away in out of the way areas. I ended up at Mars Medical.? I know the site, one of the Alliance military sites where enhancement programs are carried out on marines and spacemen. ?Important work, but not fulfilling.?

?You liked being in space.?

?I suppose so. There?s something different about it, the hum of the engines, that slight vibration in the deck plates. In space I never knew what would come up from one day to the next. By comparison, Mars Medical was predictable, safe, and boring. So I left.? She frowns at the monitor as it passes over my right side, where nearly all my ribs are artificial bone.

?You?re not really the Cerberus type, Doc.? I keep my voice soft.

?I don?t work for Cerberus. I work for you. On a mission which might be critical for the survival of humanity.?

?It might be lethal.?

?I?ve had a good life, Commander. Lots of friendships, lots of achievements. I?d like to think that I can give some of that back to the younger crewmembers.? She runs a hand along one of the scars on my face, looking fascinated. ?These scars, do they hurt. They seem almost like cracks in the skin, glowing orange on the inside.?

?I don?t really notice them, myself. They don?t distract me. I think they might distract other people, mind you.?

?Fascinating. I?ll see what I can read up about healing skin damage, see if there?s anything relevant in the literature. Otherwise, you?re in fine physical shape. I leave the mental side to you.? She smiles at me. ?All right, Commander. You can go.?

After Chakwas throws me out of her sickbay, I head back to the lift. There are two decks I haven?t visited yet. First, I head down again to engineering. Directly opposite the elevator is the main hold. While there are a lot of crates packed in, my eyes are drawn to the combat shuttle hanging from the ceiling.

?EDI, what have we got an assault shuttle in the hold for??

?Landing operations. The new Normandy has a loaded mass 342% greater than that of the previous ship. Atmospheric maneuverability is compromised. Accordingly, the Normandy was provided with a UT-47 Kodiak Drop Shuttle.?

?I qualified to fly on a Cockroach. At least it?s something I?m familiar.?

?A cockroach, Commander?? I think EDI sounds puzzled.

?Yes. Marine slang. Sometimes, the Combat Cockroach, or the Roach for short. Because it?s ugly and hard to kill.?

?I see. Thank you for the clarification, Commander. Is there a time when the term is inappropriate to use??

?Officials don?t like to hear it. Outside the Alliance military, hardly anyone recognizes it.?

There are two more rooms at the end of this corridor, both sealed, both currently sealed. Engineering is directly behind the lift shaft. When I walk in a man and a woman in Cerberus uniform are looking under a panel. The woman is first to notice me, and blanches slightly. She starts scrambling to her feet, announcing, ?Officer on deck.?

With that the man starts moving, and soon they?re both braced at attention in front of me. Clearly, they?re ex-military.

?So who are you?? I know they?re my engineers, but I am curious where they came from.

?I?m Engineer Kenneth Donnelly, responsible for power systems. This,? he jerks a thumb to his left, ?is Gabby.?

?That?s Engineer Gabriella Daniels. I?m responsible for engine systems.?

?You?re both ex-military, aren?t you.?

?Yes, Commander.? Ken seems eager to talk to me, in a broad Scots accent. ?We graduated in the same class from Camp Faulkner about ten years ago. I?ve been looking after her ever since.?

?Pffft.? Gabby is quick to correct him. ?Without me, he wouldn?t remember to put his shoes on the right feet every morning.?

?Yeah, right.?

?So how did you end up working for Cerberus, if you were in the military till recently??

?We served on the Perugia at the Battle of the Citadel.? Gabby sounds really proud of it.

?We saw Sovereign first hand. That?s why, when the Alliance brass tried to bury your reports about the Reapers, we weren?t ready to keep quiet.?

?So you were vocal about it??

?I?ll say.? Gabby snorts. ?Ken was really aggressive about it. If he hadn?t been such a good engineer, they might have court-martialed him for insubordination. As it was, they made it clear he had to shut up or leave.?

?And that?s when I left the Alliance, see. Because I wouldn?t stand for the brass bad mouthing you, when we?d seen what you were saying was true with our own eyes.?

?So how did that lead you to Cerberus??

?Well, they apparently heard about what I was saying, and came looking for me to crew a new Normandy soon after.?

?And I came with him. He?d never manage without me.?

?Yes, mum.?

?So how?s the Normandy? Have you got everything you need??

?Aye, she?s a fine ship, Commander. Not that there aren?t things that could be improved. I don?t want to bore you with tech, but the phase convertors on the level 2 manifolds in the Karpov arrays??

?Kenneth,? he?s interrupted by Gabby. ?You?re boring the Commander with tech.?

?So what?s the problem with them??

?Well, I don?t want to complain, but maintenance on them takes far longer than it could if the interface between the terminal on the reflex??

?Kenneth, you?re complaining.? Gabby shuts him up. ?In short, Commander, what we really need is a set of T6-FBa couplings to replace the existing connections. It would make maintenance a lot more efficient.?

?Why aren?t they fitted already??

?Aye, well, they cost more than normal couplings, and they don?t make the power supply any more efficient. It?s a maintenance issue. And the company that made them was bought out by another, which stopped production, so you can?t buy them new.?

?Commander.? Gabby sounds uncertain. ?I?ve heard we might be going to Omega. The markets there have all sorts of second-hand material. Could someone try to find them for us??

?I?ll see what I can do. Dismissed.?

As the door starts to shut behind me, I hear Ken whispering. ?I can?t believe she came all the way down here to talk to the likes of us.?

?It?s Commander Shepard. I told you she would.?


And last, it?s the top floor. The only room up there is the Captain?s cabin. When I open the door, it?s a bit of a shock. It?s big. And there?s a water filled tank on the left hand side of the room, stretching most of the length of the wall.

?EDI, what is this??

Her bubble sparks up next to me. ?This is the Captain?s cabin.?

?It?s a bit larger than I?m used to.?

?This is a Cerberus vessel. Extensive scope for personalization of personal space is a design requirement. In this case, extra space is available as the area is directly beneath the outer hull. The construction crew referred to this space, when its use had not been finalized, as the loft.?

Looking around, I?ve got the aforementioned fish tank. There is a pair of wardrobes, one of which contains a variety of Cerberus-style uniforms and civilian clothing. The other holds body armour. Not just the N7 gear I wore on Freedom?s Progress, but several other suits. All look quite heavy, but that suits my combat style. There?s a rather nice sound system, a double bed (and I wonder what they expect me to use that for? actually, I don?t), and a display cabinet with a model of the Normandy B in it and space for more. I?ve also got a working space, with space for paperwork as well as a terminal for communications and other work. And on that desk is a photo. For a few moments I stare at the picture. Doctor Liara T?Soni smiles at the camera. I remember exactly where and when that picture was taken. And I?m just a little angry with Cerberus for reminding me of her absence. I wonder where she is, and what she?s doing. I know TIM spoke of Illium, and work for the Shadow Broker, but can I trust him to tell the truth.

It will have to wait. If our path takes us there, then I?ll see Liara again. But work that matters more than my personal life.

[Bluenose]

While Shepard Watched, Chapter 8
A wretched hive of scum and villainy

With ship?s night approaching, I decide to read any messages I have and the dossiers on the people TIM thinks I should recruit. In the process, I solve my ignorance about the extra suits of combat armour in my wardrobe. Apparently it wasn?t that much of a secret in Cerberus that they were reviving me, and some of their divisions decided they wanted to get involved in equipping me. The rather strange suit of armour with the short spikes and funny-shaped helmet comes from the research department, who were working with recovered Collector technology and used some in the design - which also comes with a rifle, that I?ll have to look at later. One of the other suits is standard Cerberus assault armour, which all their heavy infantry wear, and would probably suit my combat style. The most interesting is something that TIM ?acquired?, a suit of armour used in Earth?s Urban Combat Championship. It bears the Edmonton Blood Dragon logo, and there are signatures from their current squad inside the armour some of which make it clear that they knew it was intended for me.

Another message also interests me. It appears the Illusive Man isn?t relying solely on my efforts to recruit a team. He?s in the process of negotiating with a ?few? people who he thinks would be a valuable asset, but who he also believes are more likely to work to a contract for money than the ones he has sent me to recruit. He?ll let me know when and if the negotiations are completed, and how to contact the people involved.

With the messages checked, I start looking through the dossiers. There are four of them at present.

Archangel is a Turian vigilante working on Omega. He doesn?t appear to work for hire, spending a lot of his time attacking groups that engage in activity that outside the Terminus systems would be illegal. He?s broken up smuggling rings, protection rackets, and slaver gangs. It?s though it might be possible to recruit him, both because of his apparent interest in helping people and because he?s become very unpopular among the smugglers and thugs of Omega. Since in many ways they are the government, he may want to take a break from the area.

Doctor Mordin Solus is a Salarian bioscience expert. He had tenure at one of the most prestigious universities in Salarian space at 17, and then gave it up to work with the Special Tasks Group. He?s apparently an expert on military application of medical technology. Currently he?s running a free clinic in the slums of Omega. Recruitment would be desirable, and he does have a reputation for assisting when people are in need.

Jack is possibly the most powerful human biotic in existence. Also a notorious criminal and mentally unstable. Currently incarcerated in the prison ship Purgatory. Should work in exchange for release, which is being negotiated.

Warlord Okeer as Krogan. Apparently he?s a famous military leader and a scientist interested in biological research. Currently he?s on a planet occupied by the Blue Suns mercenary company, and has put out a few feelers to groups that might be interested in helping him leave.

They don?t sound much like my last crew.


The following day, I settle down in the mess for breakfast (what it is I can?t tell, but I?ve eaten military rations for years) and find Miranda settling in the seat opposite. She wants to talk to me about Cerberus, to ?allay my suspicions? about the organisation. They?re not as evil as I seem to think, apparently.

We have quite an interesting discussion in the end. From what Miranda says Cerberus is very much the Illusive Man?s brainchild and pet project. He?s the only person who knows where they get all their funding from, he?s the only person with oversight over all the projects, and ultimately everything goes through him. The main goal of Cerberus is the preservation and advancement of humanity. Miranda is quite certain about this, claiming she?s really good at reading people even on short acquaintance and she is sure that TIM isn?t lying when he says that to her. It?s actually not something I doubt. She also tries to tell me that Cerberus is the human equivalent to the Salarian STG and the Asari commando units, conducting the same sort of covert tasks. Except in this case, without a government behind them. I get the feeling I?m dealing with a true believer, but I?ve also seen the other side of Cerberus. I think I?ll make it my pet project to get her to admit Cerberus isn?t as reasonable as she is trying to claim. That will take time, so for now I restrict myself to nodding, asking a few questions designed to illuminate particular points, and listening as much to how she says things as what she says.



Almost immediately afterwards, I get into an interesting discussion with Jacob in the armoury.

?Commander.? He?s already told me he?s ex-military, but his salute and the way he comes to attention would have given it away anyway. ?I?ve completed the basic inventory, everything seems solid. Looking forward to some action.?

?I don?t doubt we?ll get some.? I lean against a workbench. ?Though if we end up like the old Normandy, you might be wishing we avoided it.?

?Maybe.? I don?t think he believes it. ?As long as you walk your talk, and the Illusive Man does the same, I think we?ll do well. That?s been a condition for my service, and so far I haven?t been disappointed.?

?You have some doubts about working with Cerberus.?

?Some. They?ve been called terrorists before now, and with good reason. I doubt if you could find a more chequered past. But if we succeed in this, Cerberus is going to be be remembered differently.? And then he grins slightly. ?Or we?re all going to be taken away and shot when we reach civilisation. Can?t expect everyone to be rational about it.?

?Maybe they?ll make a publicity film about us.? I can?t resist being sarcastic.

?Wonder if they?ll get Alison Mortimer to play you again.? He looks away, with a slight smirk on his face.

?What?? I mean, what!

He looks at me in obvious surprise for a few seconds, then he remembers something. ?Sorry, Commander. I forgot, you wouldn?t now. She, Alison Mortimer, is playing you in a movie called Citadel, about the hunt for Saren and the Battle of the Citadel. Big budget, everything. It?s out soon.?

?And the person they got to play me was Alison Mortimer. Alison ?oh, did I forget to put my knickers on again, I hope the press don?t take too much advantage, can you see from this angle? Mortimer. The blonde bimbo who gets in every scandal rag in the galaxy!?

Jacob looks slightly alarmed. ?Yes, ma?am. That Alison Mortimer.?

I glare at him for a few seconds, until he starts squirming. Then I move over to one of the weapon racks, and load up with a pistol and ammunition. ?I?ll be in the practice range for the next couple of hours. I need to get back to a stage where aiming is instinct.?


Later that day, we approach Omega. The city grows ?downward? from the old mining asteroid like a coral protrusion, in places almost doubling the diameter of the asteroid. Random colours, small runabouts darting in between towers, and an ostentatiously lackadaisical attitude on the part of traffic control suggest a place without much in the way of law or authority. This shouldn?t fool anyone, but it does. Omega is lawless, yet there are plenty of authorities and most of them are heavily armed. I make certain that there?s a guard on the access hatches when we go ashore, a heavy one at the normal docking ones and someone at every airlock. And, before I go ashore, Kelly informs me that there?s a message for me.

From: The Illusive Man
Shepard. We?ve reached agreement with Zaeed Massani. You may have heard of him. He?s a very successful mercenary and bounty hunter. He?s on Omega, and will join you when he?s completed some business of his own there. His pay is very high, but you?ll find his skills useful.


I take Miranda and Jacob with me out into the passages of Omega, fully armed and armoured. Outside the Normandy we move along a narrow corridor that really could do with being cleaned. It appears we have a reception committee, as a Salarian comes towards us with his arms outstretched. ?Ah, newcomers. I can always tell.? A rather well armed Batarian is coming up behind him. ?Allow me to be the first to welcome you..?

?Enough.? The Batarian has caught up with the Salarian, and glares at him. ?Leave, Fargut, now.?

?Of course, Moklan.? The Salarian seems thoroughly cowed. ?Anything she wants.? He backs up a few paces before turning and hurrying off.

Moklan watches him go. ?Damn scavengers.? Then he turns back to us, looking at me in particular. After a moment sizing me up, he greets me. ?Welcome to Omega?. Shepard.?

?You know who I am?? Not that I?m really surprised, but I?ve found acting stupid helpful in the past.

?Of course.? Moklan seems like the sort to gloat. ?We had you identified as soon as your ship entered the Terminus systems. You?re not as subtle as you seem to think. Aria T?loak wants to know what brings a dead Spectre to Omega.?

According to the databases, Aria T?loak is the closest thing Omega has to a head of station. And she doesn?t like people interfering with her control. Not that I?m intending to do so, unless she gets in my way. I decide to start with some truth. ?I?m meeting some people, in relation to things that are happening a long way away from Omega. It shouldn?t concern Aria T?loak.?

?Aria decides what concerns her. You will go to Afterlife and meet her, let her decide whether your business matters to her. Now.? He pats a gun for emphasis, before leaving.

?Guess we?d better see what she wants.? Jacob doesn?t sound enthusiastic about the prospect.



Along the corridor, there?s an odd scene. A Batarian, not Moklan, is on the ground being beaten by an armoured human. When we get closer, I recognise him.

?Zaeed Massani??

He pauses in his beating. ?Who wants to know??

?Please, help me.? the Batarian seems to think this is his chance to get some help.

?I?m Zoe Shepard.? Suddenly the Batarian doesn?t seem so interested in attracting my attention any more. ?If you?re Zaeed Massani, I?m expecting to meet you here.?

?That?s right.? He settles a club onto his belt, and turns away from the Batarian. ?I?m going to be working with you to save the galaxy, or something like that.?

?Something like that, yes.? I look past him. ?Who?s your friend.?

?That.? He smiles, derisively. ?A bounty I was called in on. He annoyed some Turian big shot, who wants him delivered for a bit of justice. Seems they couldn?t track him down themselves, as he was making a run for the Terminus systems. Stupid bastard. I came straight here. They always run for Omega.?

?Most mercenaries wouldn?t be willing to sign on with a suicide mission just for money.?

?I?m not most mercenaries. And your Illusive Man can shift a lot of credits around.?

?Fair enough.? I look him over. He?s quite a bit older than me, in good shape physically, though he?s obviously been hit in the face at some point. ?Welcome to the team, Mister Massani.?

We shake hands . ?I?ll just finish with this,? he jerks his thumb backwards, ?And I?ll report to your ship.? He starts turning towards the Batarian, then turns back. ?I assume the Illusive Man told me the rest of our deal.?

?It must have slipped his mind.? My tone is very dry.

?What a surprise.? So is his. ?An ex-partner of mine leads a merc group. They?ve seized a Hahne-Kedar refinery and are running it as a slave camp. Hahne-Kedar are offering a big reward for taking it back and getting the workers out. I want my old partner. So it?s part of the contract that we do that.?

I think for a moment. We?ll be moving around the galaxy a lot, so there should be no problem taking on one mission that?ll keep a crewmember happy. ?We?ll do it.?

?Good. Get that done, and we can go be big goddamn heroes together.?

Jus then, the Batarian makes a dash for the exit. Zaeed groans, draws a pistol, and a shot rings out. ?You?re not running away from me that easily.? He turns back, and I look where the Batarian is groaning on the floor with blood pooling around the back of his knee. ?I?ll be at your ship next time you want something shot.? He heads down the corridor and picks up the Batarian by the back of his collar, dragging him off.

Well, that?s one recruit. I hope the others are as easy.

[Bluenose]

While Shepard Watched, Chapter 9
Send her victorious, happy and glorious

As we?re leaving the docking ring, EDI reports in. ?Shepard, I?ve checked the population news reports. Doctor Solus has a clinic in an area of Omega that is currently shut off owing to a plague. You will have to find some way around the quarantine.? Well, we have guns. ?Also, I have been monitoring communications between several mercenary groups. They are planning to take action against Archangel, as soon as they can gather sufficient force. It appears that he has caused sufficient damage for several groups to ally against him. There is a recruiting post at Afterlife where you may be able to gain additional information.?


The plaza outside the Afterlife club is the cleanest bit of Omega I?ve seen so far. Of course this is where residents come who have the money to spend on frivolities such as entertainment. The club gives of the impression that Flux on the Citadel tried for, and didn?t quite pull off; a dangerous and sophisticated place to come and play of you?re also dangerous and sophisticated. Although I am amused to see that they also have an alien bouncer. Though while Flux had a krogan heavy, Afterlife have an Elcor on the door. I ignore the queue and head straight for the door. There are other guards there, who hold me up long enough for me to overhear the Elcor dealing with a rather pushy human.

Human: ?Come on, let me in.?
Elcor: looks the other way
Human: ?Aria?s expecting me.?
Elcor: ?With disdain; If Aria were expecting you, you would already be inside.?
Human: ?You?ve let ten people in while I?ve been standing here.?
Elcor: ?Uncaring; They were VIPs.?
Human: ?Don?t you know who I am??
Elcor: ?Matter of factly; No. Get in line.?
Human: ?There?s a hundred in it for you if you let me in.?
Elcor: ?With apparent interest; Double it.?
Human: ?Two hundred.?
Elcor ?Wondering how far he can go: Double it again.?
Human: ?Four hundred, then.?
Elcor: ?Amused: Double it again.?
Human: ?What? Alright, eight hundred, but that?s my limit.?
Elcor: ?Aggressively: No. Get back in line.?
Human: ?I?ve had enough of this. Let me inside or I?ll smash that smelly ass you call a face.?
Elcor: ?With barely contained menace: Try it.?

Décor inside is interesting, since it seems to be based on human mythology of an afterlife, with flames projected on the walls, orange devils with pitchforks, and succubi in the form of scarcely-clad asari dancers. Sadly for their chance of picking up tips, I?m here on business. And that business is on a dais at the back of the club, behind a sheet of armoured glass, and with armed bodyguards on standby.

Aria T?loak is a tall asari, in an expensive tailored suit that shows off a figure that some of the asari dancers should try harder to match. Anyone imagining she?s soft would be advised to take a look in her eyes, though. This is a dangerous woman.

She?s also got some aggressive bodyguards. They glare at us as we approach, but at first it doesn?t seem as if they intend any action, until Aria announces, ?That?s close enough.?

Almost immediately, several of the guards draw their guns, and Miranda and Jacob follow suit. Aria quirks an eyebrow at me when I don?t, and then nudges one of her guards. ?Scan her.?

The batarian pulls out a scanner, and starts tapping away at the controls. I wait while he does it, but when he moves closer I politely explain why that might not be the best idea. ?Get any closer with that, and you?ll be scanning the inside of your colon.?

Aria smirks, audibly. ?I?d almost pay money to see that. But it?s not an option. You want to talk to me, you get scanned.?

?All you had to do was ask.? I smirk at the batarian, who completes his scan before announcing, ?They?re clean.?

I ignore him, even as he and his comrades lower their weapons, addressing Aria. ?I was told you?re the person to speak to if I have questions.?

?Depends on the questions.?

?You?re in charge of Omega??

She laughs, and turns to her nightclub, spreading her arms wide. ?I AM Omega.? Then she turns back. ?But you want more. Everybody always wants more. I?m the boss, CEO, queen if you?re feeling dramatic. Omega has no titled ruler and only one rule.? She sits down. ?Don?t fuck with Aria.? And she smirks at me.

?Easy to remember.? And I really should try to, no matter how amusing it would be starting an all out gang war.

?If you don?t, someone will remind you.? Aria looks, pointedly, at one of her guards, who nods quick affirmation.

She gestures to a seat to my left, and once I?m sat down asks, simply, ?What do you need??

?You must know what?s going on around Omega.?

?Everything worth knowing. Of course, I don?t usually give the information out freely, Knowledge is power. For mundane things, ask around. In a dark alley, or but a merc a drink at the bar. Better yet, pay one of the entertainers. They give great? tours. Just don?t waste my time.?

?Where can I find Mordin Solus??

?The salarin doctor? Last I heard he was trying to help plague victims in the quarantine zone.? She sounds slightly nostalgic. ?I always liked Mordin. He was as likely to shoot you as heal you.?

?You know him, then.?

?Yes. He used to be with the Salarian Special Tasks Group. He?s brilliant,? she smiles again, ?and dangerous. If you really need to find him, take a shuttle to the edge of the quarantine zone. No guarantee they?ll let you in, of course.?

?Guess I?ve got some travelling to do.? I stand up. ?I?ll be back.?

?Just try not to bring the plague back with you.?

As we?re heading out of the nightclub, I notice the mercenary recruiters EDI suggested. If they?re recruiting, it doesn?t look like they?ve got much success yet. For now, that means Archangel is probably safe. I can deal with the mercs later.


We leave Omega by the back entrance, into the dingy back alleys of Omega. If the passage from the docking bay was dirty, this is worse. It looks like waste disposal consists of throwing anything broken out into the street. Worse, the people lying among the rubbish look just as broken and disposable, staring at passers-by without fear or hope.

Jacob sounds disgusted. ?How can these people be thrown away like this??

By contrast, Miranda knows what she?s looking at. ?You don?t undestand, or you don?t want to?

?Does it really matter??

?No. Omega has worked this way for a very long time. There?s no changing it now.? She catches my eye. ?Omega. What a pisshole. I?ve had to come here before on business. I always feel like I need a shower afterwards, as well as normal decontamination.?

It reminds me of home. Though with more aliens.

We start working our way through the streets, avoiding the worst of the rubbish, and come across a shop. One that?s actually neatly kept. What?s even more surprising is that the person running it is a Quarian. Who is polite enough to address us, when I stop. ?Hello there. I?m Kenn. Might I interest you in some salvaged tech? Every credit goes towards a ticket to get me of this forsaken rock.?

?Well, I can buy a lot of parts and equipment. Maybe we can make an arrangement.?

?Well, you seem like a decent enough sort. But you can?t breathe a word of it to Harrot.?

?Of course.?

?Then we have a deal. Maybe I?ll at least sell something to you.?

?How did a nice kid like you end up here.?

?I came to Omega on my Pilgrimage. My ticket money was stolen within a few hours. So I decided to sell reconditioned parts. You can see how that worked out. Harrot forces me to sell high, and I can?t even afford a ticket of this station.?

?Why should Harrot control your prices??

?Well, when I first came here Harrot made me swear not to undercut his prices. He was here first, so it?s his right. But with my prices being so much hire, I can hardly sell anything. I can hardly break even.?

?I can have a word with Harrot for you. Get him to ease off.?

?Anything you do to help would be greatly appreciated. I might even be able to save enough money to get a ticket of this station. His shop is up the ramp, just beyond Marsh?s. But could you look at my terminal? It?s got a list of the things I can sell you.?

I check his terminal, and am immediately pleased. The T6 connectors Ken and Gabby want are available. I buy those, with a few hardware upgrades for omnitools, and a overcharge chamber usable with shotguns. And then, we head up the ramp.

On the news: The Destiny Ascension has nearly completed it?s twenty colony victory cruise. Council members on board thanked human soldiers for their assistance in repelling Saren?s invasion two years ago.

Harrot is an Elcor entrepreneur, selling reconditioned and second hand material and therefore in direct competition with Kenn. To my amusement, he?s smoking, though a cigar rather than the cigarettes the Illusive Man chain smokes. At first he seems pleased to see me.

?Tentatively excited: Welcome human. What can I get for you??

?I?d like to talk about your ?deal? with the Quarian down there.?

?Suspicious: I do not know what you are talking about. Accusatory: and if I did I would not see why it was any concern of yours.?

?How about you and I make a deal? You let the Quarian set his own prices, and I don?t break your legs.?

?With barely concealed terror: You do not need to do that.?

?I haven?t even started.? I crack my knuckles a couple of time.

?With resignation: Very well. I will release the Quarian from his promise. Conciliatory: to show there is no ill will, I offer you a discount on my wares.?

"Thanks for your time."

"With pride: I sell some of the best reconditioned equipment on Omega, nearly all of it legal. You will find it very desirable."

He is in fact right. Most of what I can use is small electronic items, including an enhanced hacking module for omnitools and a sniper's visor of human manufacture, which I can't help thinking is out of place here. After clearing Harrot out of anything I'd find useful, we head off to speak to Kenn.

[Bluenose]

While Shepard Watched, Chapter 10
Kill it with fire! It's the only way to be sure

Kenn seemed pleased that we'd politely persuaded Harrot to ease of on him. When I asked how much he actually needed for a ticket out, he initially refused my help claiming it was his Pilgrimage and his problem. Then I gave him the money anyway, and he thanked me more than I deserve. I suppose I've a soft spot for Quarians.

In the News:The destruction of the human colony Freedom's Progress has drawn a confused response. Aid vessels have been sent, but it is unclear whether there are any survivors. The Council has expressed its sympathy, but regrets that it cannot become involved in a puely human matter.

We made our way to the station where shuttles go to the quarantine zone, finding that there was a Turian guard outside. He's talking to a human woman.

"Look, lady, my orders are not to let anyone in or out."

"You jackass. I'm human, I can't get the plague. Now let me in. All my stuff is in there, and I want to get it away from looters."

"I can't do that. I've no idea who you are."

At which point we've reached the guard post. I glare at the guard. "Who do you work for?"

"New off the shuttle, huh. Everybody knows Aria T'loak runs Omega. She's the one who hired us. Doesn't want to risk the plague getting out. It'd be bad for business."

"I need to see Mordin Solus."

"The Salarian? Yeah, he's got a clinic in there. Crazy bastard.You still can't go in until the plague dies down. Once it does, we'll go in, put down the fighting and deal with looters."

I pull my grenade launcher off my back, and start checking the sights and ammunition feed. "Take a good long look at me. Do I look like a looter?"

He sounds nervous. "Er, no?"

"That's right." I give him a smile with my teeth showing. "Now, I'm going in. If I meet any looters, I'll kill them. If anyone tries to stop me, I'll kill them too. Do we understand each other?"

His mandibles click together once. "Sure, no problem. I'll call ahead and see that they let you through."

"That's good." I wave him aside, while Miranda murmurs to me, "At least humans can't get this plague."

Behind, I hear the human woman cursing at the guard. "What, they can go in but I can't!"

"You haven't got a grenade launcher, lady. Clear off."

On the shuttle, I turn to Miranda. "I'm an ignorant bloody soldier, but a disease that affects multiple species doesn't sound likely to be natural to me. Salarians and Turians can't even eat the same food, why would a disease affect both?"

"It certainly sounds like it's artificial." Miranda seems to be thinking about something. "There are diseases that cross species barriers, but they're quite rare even when the species evolved on the same planet. Something like this is almost certainly artificial, perhaps a weapons test. Commander, if humans are immune, it's quite likely we're being blamed for this. I recommend assuming residents who aren't human will be hostile."

"Could it be? I suppose it's a pretty good place for a bioweapon test, crowded, lacking state-of-the-art medical facilities, people who perhaps aren't in the best health anyway because of the environment."

She looks at me with some respect. "And a wide variety of species to test on. It makes sense. I'm not sure who'd be doing it, mind you."

"Let's see if we can find out."

At the other end of the shuttle ride, we dismount. There are more Turian guards at this end, but they respond to their leaders command not to engage us. One is guarding the main door into the quarantine zone. "Good luck in there. It's a war zone. The Blue Suns and the Vorcha are shooting at each other, and at any humans they see." I check the sightson my rifle. "Still, you three look ready. I'll only open this door again if you can provide proof that the plague is gone, mind."

"We will. Move out."

The three of us move into the district in a loose formation, with me on point. It isn't long before we come across our first body, a Turian in blue armour with a white sunburst symbol on it. There's no physical injuries, but after Miranda scans him she's able to tell us his respiratory system has internal damage, which we assume is from the plague.

Moving on, we encounter two more armoured turians. As soon as they spot us, they start firing. I hit cover, and pin them down with rifle fire, while Miranda and Jacob move around the flank. Once they're in position, biotic powers lift them out of cover exposing them to fire, or warp them directly. While our shield take a few hits, those quickly regenerate. we take advantage of their death to loot the area, at which point I realise that I've claimed the intention of shooting looters. Well, if Miranda and Jacob won't tell, I won't. Both Miranda and Jacob comment on the open fires, Miranda observing that they're burning corpses on them to try to halt the spread of the plague.

Just round the corner, we find a Batarian on the ground. He spits at us as we approach. "Humans. I should have guest. Bad enough you infect us with this plague, now you aren't even waiting till I'm dead before you come to loot me."

"You think humans started this?"

"Who else? The plague affects everyone, except for you and the filthy Vorcha." He starts to cough hard, flecks of blood on his lips. I watch dispassionately as he slowly dies.

Miranda watches too. "I don;t suppose he could have told us much. But it proves humans are being blamed, and that locals think it's artificial."

I empty the batarians credit account off his omnitool before we move on. Along the way, we investigate a few side rooms. Some of them have their occupants inside, dead. At least a couple left messages, suggesting they were shut in deliberately by the Blue Suns. One batarian at first believes it's a protection racket ot extort more money from him, while in a room with two dead mercs one of them leaves messages which effectively describe the course of the disease; at first it was a simple cough, then they start coughing up blood, and finally the lungs give out.

Further on, we reach an open plaza. A group of Blue Suns at the far end notice us, and promptly start firing from behind their barricade. We have much less cover, and are fewer in number. I notice that there's a cafeteria balcony overlooking the position, so leaving Miranda and Jacob to pin the Turians as best they can I move to the side and climb the stairs to it. Once up there, my sniper rifle lets me pick off Turians easily, especially since they've left a couple of fuel tanks for their generator in the open. Forced out from their now burning barricade, we pick them off quickly. One has a rather interesting modified rifle, which I have Miranda scan in case we can use it on the Normandy.

Near the barricade, I notice there's a sealed door. We quickly hack it, and head into the apartment. For a moment it looks as if it's unoccupied, yet has avoided being looted. Then a human voice sighs with relief. "Thank God. We were worried you might be Turians."

I move over towards them, a man and a woman with a nice homey apartment. “Why should that bother you? Don’t the Blue Suns run the district.”

“Yeah, normally. It’s a reasonable place to live.” He doesn’t sound too enthusiastic about it, mind you.

“Provided you pay your protection money, of course.” His wife makes the picture clearer.

“Since the plague, though, things have got bad. The Blue Suns blame humans for it, and they shoot any they find. And then there are the Vorcha. There were never many of them around before, but since the plague started they’ve been appearing all over the place. With the Turians dying of plague, the Vorcha are too much for them to handle.”

“What can you tell me about the plague?” I notice Miranda taking a keen interest, while Jacob guards the door.

“It started about three weeks ago. Just a few coughs at first, but after about a week everyone who gets it dies. And it spreads rapidly. Within three days there were fifty people affected. That’s about the time people noticed humans weren’t getting it.”

“What happened?”

“The Blue Suns started quarantine the victims, locking them in their homes, and burning the bodies. They don’t have the numbers left to do that now. And anyway, it was too late. The plague had already spread too far.”

“I’m looking for a salarian doctor, Mordin Solus.”

“Him. He runs a clinic further down the wards. It’s crawling with Blue Suns and Vorcha down there. There’s no way he’s just a doctor, though, not with military grade mechs guarding his clinic.”

“They say he takes in humans and protects them.” I get the feeling the woman may have argued this before.”

“You don’t turst Doctor Solus?” I’m interested in their opinion of him.

“When a group of Vorcha came round looking for humans, he killed them, pop, pop, pop, just like that. Then some Blue Suns heard he had humans inside and went looking for them. He killed them too. Not the mechs, him. And then he went back inside as if nothing happened. He’s got to be some sort of Salarian special forces.”

“You can’t stay here. You should try and get down to his clinic.”

“What, are you crazy?” He doesn’t seem to like the idea. “The area is crawling with Blue Suns and Vorcha. We aren’t soldiers like you, we haven’t even got a pistol.”

“You think we’re cowards, don’t you.” The woman looks accusingly at me. “Just because we aren’t able to fight.”

“You can’t stay here. Either someone finds you, or you run out of food. It’s not bravery, just common sense. Now me, I’m going to the clinic. If I run into any Blue Suns squads or Vorcha gangs, I’ll kill them. But I can’t stay here or escort you around.”

“Michael, she’s right.” The woman sounds determined.

“Okay. We’ll try. We’ll give you a bit of a start, and then follow. Maybe? maybe we’ll see you at the clinic.”


More corridors follow. While they aren't as nasty as the back alleys, they make it pretty plain that this isn't an affluent area. We work our way through, occasionally coming across more corpses. Then I notice an apartment with a trolley outside it. Again, I hack the door. This time, when we enter the main section, there’s an immediate reaction. “Hey, we were here first. Find your own stuff.” Two humans are going through the place, with a Turian dead on the floor.

I head towards them, and one draws a pistol “Didn’t you hear? I said, we were here first.” I don’t think he actually took in how we were equipped at first, and he suddenly lowers his gun. His partner isn’t paying much attention, commenting, “This place is a waste of time. There’s nothing valuable here.”

“Did you kill that Turian?” I don’t expect it, but you never know,

“Nah. The plague got him. We’re just taking an inventory.”

“I think I might have a little problem.” I smile at the one who is standing up, and he takes a step back. “I got through the quarantine promising I’d kill any looters I came across. Are you two looters?”

“What? You’re killing looters.” The two of them stare at me.

“That’s what I said I’d do, yes.”

“What for? No-one needs to know.”

“Well, that’s the thing. At some point this plague will die down, and then people are going to start thinking about what happened here. And if they start thinking humans were taking advantage of the situation to loot their dead friends stuff, they’ll probably not like us much. So if I go around executing looters, human or not, maybe that’ll change their opinion of us for the better. So, are you looters or not?”

“Not.” I glare at him, sceptically. “Well, we hadn’t really thought it through. We just thought, dead people didn’t need their stuff, right. We’ll just stop here for a bit. Not taking anything. Just, to get a rest.”

“Smart boys.” I turn my back, and take Miranda and Jacob away with me.

A little ahead, I hear firing. A pair of Turians survive from a larger patrol. They're engaged with a group of Vorcha, and aren't doing too well. The Vorcha have greater umbers, and their peculiar biology lets them regenerate rapidly from anything but a killing shot. Although fire doesn't let them regenerate, which means it's extremely stupid of them to carry and use flame throwers. I snipe one, whose fuel tank promptly explodes burnign both him and several of his comrades. Unfortunately this attracts the attention of the Turians who promptly start firing on us. For a time, there's a three sided shoot out going on between three groups. Unfortunately for the Turians they're heavily outnumbered and outgunned. After they fall we concentrate on the Vorcha. A second flame trooper advances on us, with the same result as the first. Unfortunately as it seems like we're winning two krogan advance to join the Vorcha. They add toughness and resilience, and whle we manage to drop one at range a second advances and then charges straight into Miranda, who he knocks to the floor. As he raises his gun to shoot her, I smash into him. My new body turns out to be pretty damn good at hand to hand combat, although I've done that with krogan before. This one doesn't last long. Nor do the few surviving Vorcha who try to face us, as we work through their position quickly.

And then we turn a corner and head down another flight of stairs, and there’s a sign, in multiple languages. Clinic.

It looks like we’ve reached Doctor Solus.

Edited by Bluenose, 26 July 2010 - 04:52 AM.
spelling

[Bluenose]

While Shepard Watched, Chapter 11
Doctor Solus, I presume

?The clinic is a refuge. Start any trouble and you'll be dealing with the mechs.?

That?s the friendly greeting from the guard at the front entrance to the clinic, who emphasis the point by having his guard mechs raise their weapons. Since we?re already stashing our weapons in their back or belt mounts, I ignore him. Instead, we sweep into the clinic. It isn?t pleasant. Inside, most of the available space is taken up with sick people. Turians, Batarians, Salarians, lying on cots, or benching, or in some cases the floor. There are a few upright aliens, a Turian sat near one entrance and a Batarian pacing around. The Batarian glares at us as we come in. ?Humans.? His tone is one of disgust.

?You?ve got a problem with humans?? I loom over him, but he doesn?t back up.

?On the way here I saw humans looting the apartments of the sick. You make me sick.?

I?d love to refute him, but I can?t do so honestly. And beating the hell out of him wouldn?t endear me to Doctor Solus, or make me any happier. So I turn to the human receptionist, who is watching us with alarm.

?Where?s Doctor Solus??

She looks at our guns for a moment. ?He?s in the back somewhere.?

?Thank you.? If a little politeness can mollify her, it?s worth trying. We head into the back rooms. More patients lie on beds in the corridors, but then we hear a voice drifting from one of the rooms. I pause to listen.

?Doctor, we?re running low on Cipoxin.?

?Use Malanarin. Plenty on hand. Almost as good.Causes cramping in Batarians.Supplement with Butemerol.?

?Malanarin and Butemerol. Got it.? A human comes out of a room to the right and heads into a climate-controlled room packed with storage crates. We head the other way. A Salarian in a white coat with a stiff collar is leaning over a workbench while his human assistant hovers nearby.

?Professor Mordin Solus??

He looks up and blinks at us, then pulls out a scanner and starts analysing us. ?Don?t recognise you from area.Too well armed to be refugees.No mercenary unifrom.Quarantine still in effect.Here for something else.Vorcha?Crew to clean them out?Unlikely.Vorcha a sympton, not a cause.Investigating use of plague as bio weapon.Not scientists!Too many guns, not enough data modules.Soldiers,not scientists.Ah!Looking for someone.Someone important.Someone with special expertise.Me!Looking for me!? He blinks at us. ?Why??

?Don?t you ever pause for breath?? I could have explained, but there wasn?t any space to interrupt.

?Sorry.Will attempt? to? talk? more? slowly? No.No,no,no. No time.Too many demands on time.Who are you from??

?It?s a covert and privately funded human group??

?Few humans would know of me.Uniforms not mercenary.Equipment not Alliance standard.Terra Firma too disorganised.Only one possibility.? He pauses, and looks at us. ?You work for Cerberus.Why interested in me?Plague not a human issue.Cerberus not known for working with aliens.?

?You know about Cerberus?? I?m surprised, both by his knowledge and his ability to make connections between data.

?Crossed paths on occasion.Wasn?t always a doctor.Some work for Salarian Special Tasks Group.Don?t know much.Illusive Man a mystery.Why request Salarian aid??

?Human colonies are being abducted by the Collectors. We?re going to stop them, and we want your expertise.?

?Interesting.Problems may be linked.Suspected Collector involvement with plague before you arrived.Bioengineered.Collectors one of few groups with technology to design this.seems experimental in purpose.Causes mutation in respiratory system.Makes sense to use humans as control group.Testing effects of mutation in different species.Horrific,but feasible for Collectors.?

?So will you help us?? Miranda sounds impatient.

?Yes.But must stop plague first.Already have a cure.Airborne,like virus.Needs distributing through environmental plant.Held by Vorcha.Need to kill them.Busy here.Need to deal with patients,Vorcha,mercs.?

?We?ll get the cure to the plant.? That?s a promise, too.

?Good.Here,take pplague core.Also,bonus in good faith.? He hands me a heavy pistol of a model I?m not familiar with. ?Taken from dead Blue Suns merc.Useful against vorcha.One more thing.Daniel.One of my assistants.Missing.Went into Vorcha territory.Distributing medical aid.Hasn?t come back.Would have gone myself,but no time.Look for him on way to plant.?

?He?s probably dead, if he ran into any Vorcha.?

?Yes.Unfortunate.Heard about group of sick Batarians.Forbade him from going.Too dangerous.Snuck out anyway.Proud of initiative.Worried about safety.?

?Can you tell us anything about the Vorcha??

?Cowardly,opportunistic scavengers.Not tactical or aggressive.Scale of attack unusual for them.Suspect working for Collectors.Distributing virus,collecting data.No proof.But theory fits evidence.?

?Alright.? I turn to Miranda and Jacob. ?Let?s head for the environmental plant.?

?Good.Deal with plague." Mordin turns back to his workbench. We head towards the rear exit of the clinic, replenishing out medigel on the way. And then, weapons ready, we move out.

Almost immediately we run into more Vorcha and Krogan. It?s even possible this group was assembling to attack the clinic. We engage them among the concrete stalls of an open market, moving from position to position and harrying them into a retreat. I snipe two carrying flamethrowers, setting off their fuel tanks and splashing the whole group with liquid flame. Miranda and Jacob combine their biotics against one Krogan after another. As they fall, the Vorcha, some still on fire either from exploding fuel tanks or incendiary ammunition, fall into confusion. Some attempt to rush us directly, into the teeth of our fire. Others attempt to regroup, failing to provide the fire support they could have. A grenade launcher round into the middle of the group scatters them, and the few survivors we quickly fell.

We move on through more corridors. The Vorcha seem to have deserted them, and we don?t find any other survivors. I rather suspect that we?re heading for a mass ambush. I?m proved right. At the end of one corridor we come out onto a balcony overlooking one of the main thoroughfares if the district, which seems to be lined with shuttered shops. From the balcony on the other side, Vorcha with rocket launchers start firing on us. Others, and a few Krogan, start filtering out of the shops and taking cover amongst the street furniture.

We move forward. Using the balustrade on the edge of the balcony as cover, Miranda and Jacob begin firing and using their biotics on the targets below. With a longer range weapon, I start sniping the Vorcha rocketeers. Any time one pops up to fire a rocket, I take a shot at them. It?s only when several rockets are incoming that this is too dangerous. One falls, then a second. Finally all four are finished. Drawing my shotgun, I head for the stairs down to the lower level. A Krogan trying to sneak up behind us gets a nasty surprise as I turn the corner, as I?m just a fraction quicker firing than him. The shotgun blast knocks him back down the stairs, and as he lies stunned at the bottom I pump two more shots into him.

Stepping over the dead Krogan, I move forward. The Vorcha don?t seem to be paying much attention, as they?re exchanging rather ineffective fire with Miranda and Jacob. Since they?re also using solid cover as best they can, even biotics don?t do much. They really should have been paying attention to me though. I slip around some of the cover, and spray a group of Vorcha with burning lead at close range. Scattering in panic, they?re suddenly much more vulnerable to Miranda and Jacob. It does mean I?ve attracted their attention, but at the same time most are injured ad they?ve scattered in every direction. I move after them, one after another, with my Cerberus team mates keeping the others pinned down. Just as I think I?ve got them all, there?s a roar from behind and a shotgun blast topples me forward.

I?ve no idea how I missed seeing a Krogan. Fortunately I?ve got backup. As he?s moving in to finish me off, a biotic field forms and lifts him into the air. Another biotic field warps his torso, shattering some of his ribs and twisting one of his arms. As he flails helplessly in the air, I recover my breath. Raising my shotgun I can see the panic in his eyes as I aim at his torso. One, two, three incendiary shots, and as the biotic fields release he drops to the ground, dead. This time, I take a good look around. Anything else that might oppose us has left. I hear Miranda and Jacob coming towards me.

?Are you all right, Commander?? Jacob sounds worried.

?We didn?t spend all that time and money putting you back together for a Krogan to kill you.? Miranda sounds quite annoyed with me.

?I got careless. It won?t happen again. And, I don?t think he penetrated my armour anyway, thanks to you two.?

?See that it doesn?t.? My, Miranda does sound determined.


Again, we head further into the district. Though here, we do notice signs of life. A home to our left in one corridor has a light on. We close on it, and I push it quietly open.

Three Batarians hold a human on his knees at gunpoint. He?s trying to explain why they shouldn?t shoot him.

?Please. I?m telling you the truth. I work for Mordin at the clinic. I came here to help you.?

?We know you?re spreading the plague. We found the vials in your bag.? The nearest Batarian sounds grim.

?No. those vials contain the cure. You have to believe me.? He?s almost in tears, more I think frustration than fear.

?Maybe we should cut off your fingers. That should loosen your?? Before the Batarian can continue, another notices us and nudges him. After one startled look, he aims his pistol at the doctor.

?Don?t come any closer, or I?ll shoot him.?

?And then, I?ll shoot you and you?ll be breathing through a hole in your face.?

?If we let him go, you?ll shoot us anyway.?

?If you let him go, I?ll let you leave. If you don?t I will kill you.? I smirk at the Batarian, hoping he?ll behave rationally.

He thinks about it for a few seconds, then lowers his gun. ?Let him go.? He gestures to his colleagues to put their guns away, then looks at us again. ?You got what you wanted, human. Are we free to go??

?We had a deal. You can go.? I watch at his obvious surprise.

?Human nobility. I didn?t know there was such a thing.? He gestures to his comrades, and they head out of the door with Jacob watching them. I turn to Daniel.

?Thank you. I really think they might have been going to kill me.? He stands up and starts brushing himself down. His brow furrows. ?Who are you, anyway? Did Doctor Solus send you??

?you?re Daniel? The Professor could use your help right now. He?s got too many patients and not enough volunteers.?

?Yeah, okay. I?ll go right away. Thanks again. I owe you? well? everything.? He heads off. How safe it is for him I can?t say, but I can?t spare anyone to escort him.

Across the hallway, we reach another set of stairs. For the first time since the ambush, a couple of Vorcha and a Krogan try to ambush us. With the distinct lack of cover, a short range firefight proves exceptionally lethal. Though more for them, than for us. We turn a corner, and there?s a door.

The exterminators have reached the environmental plant, and the Vorcha are on the pest list.

[Bluenose]

While Shepard Watched, Chapter 12
it smells like victory; apparently, victory stinks

The receptionist at the environmental plant is an angry and heavily armed Vorcha. He isn’t happy to see us.

“Arghh. You not come here. We shut down machines, break fans. Everyone choke and die. Then Collectors make us strong.”

“I’ve had enough of this.” I aim my rifle at him.

“Collectors want plague. You work for doctor, turn on machines, put cure in air. We kill you first.” He raises his rocket launcher and finds a bullet burning through his chest, making the shot go wild.

Other Vorcha start firing wildly at us, while one with a flamethrower attempts to close in. They do like settings things on fire. I really hope I never turn a corner and find one of these lunatics waiting for me. In this case we’re able to take advantage of the flame thrower to target the fuel tank, giving the Vorcha some of what they like, and finishing them off with biotics and shotguns.

EDI gets in touch with us with the fight over. “Shepard. I’ve scanned the room. The central control systems are in an alcove at the back wall. You can inject the cure and reinitialise the systems there.”

“Right.” We make our way to the rear of the room, where there’s a complex control panel. Fortunately EDI is able to explain where to insert the cure, and how to run the start-up procedure. Once it’s in and working, Jacob breathes a sigh of relief.

“All right. Now we just need to get the fans on.”

“Shepard!” Miranda sounds alarmed. “We’ve got more Vorcha incoming.”

Several of them, in fact. What makes it particularly dangerous is that there’s a balcony around the room, and some of the Vorcha are up on it. With rocket launchers. Two are firing from the end of the room back towards us. I direct Jacob and Miranda to handle the Vorcha at our level, who include another with a flame thrower, and haul out my sniper rifle. And then I play ‘duck-the-rocket’ successfully, while they try and play ‘avoid-the-sniper’ with a lot less success. As the second collapses over the balustrade, I look around and see that Jacob and Miranda have dropped three Vorcha, and are flanking the last one where it’s trying to hide behind a pillar. As it pokes a head out for a moment, I shrug mentally and send a sniper round into it. We haven’t time to mess around. The Vorcha and their Krogan leaders obviously know we’re here, so lets get the fans going and see whether they will give up.

We go down the stairs to our right, into a corridor where a group of Vorcha are spilling out of a machinery room. There’s some cover behind pillars and machinery, so we duck into that. The rifle armed Vorcha do the same, while two more with flame throwers move forward. One starts to float in the air almost immediately, as Jacob puts his biotics to work. I focus, and the other is suddenly lifted and smashed down against the floor. While it lies there stunned, Miranda surpasses our efforts; her biotics smash the containment on the fuel tank of the one Jacob lifted, and the explosion not only kills that one but sets off the fuel tank one the other. Two exploding flame throwers wipes in immediate succession suddenly leaves us without opposition, though with the smell of burnt Vorcha and gasoline to deal with.

Though since there’s no help for it, we move along the corridor. The machinery room at the end holds one of the fans, and we activate it. One to go. Some more come down the stairs after us, and we blast them away quite quickly. I hurry up the stairs towards the other side. This might not have been the smartest thing to do, as there’s a Krogan moving towards us. Cover is sparse, but I duck into what I can find. Miranda and Jacob, behind me, aren’t as close as I am to it and end up retreating to the bottom of the stairs. To make things even more fun, I can here Vorcha screaming at each other as they close in.

This is going to be fun. I hunker down, swapping my rifle for the shotgun. Bullets smash into my cover, and the Krogan mutters something guttural that my translator doesn’t catch. As he looms round the barricade, I step right in front of him and land a stiff right hook into his throat. As he staggers back, I let him have three shots, two into the chest and one the head, from my shotgun. The Vorcha look decidedly shocked as their leader goes down in the first few seconds of combat. By now, Miranda and Jacob are moving up, and Miranda hits a Vorcha fuel tank with another biotic warp. Part of me wishes she hadn’t, as bits of exploded Vorcha rain down over me. I’m going to need a shower after this.

The corridor to the next fan is a mob scene, with fireworks too. Vorcha on the catwalk fire multiple rockets at us, while the others seem to be massing for a charge. I rather think the second will prove more dangerous, so while Jacob and Miranda start thinning the herd with their biotics, I pull my grenade launcher out. One shot into the middle of them sets off their fuel tanks, and suddenly the ones up on the catwalk are the only problem. With biotics to lift and drop them from Jacob, Miranda able to injure them with her warp field, and my sniping we soon deal with them. A short walk through the gore, and the fan in the second equipment room comes on.

Jacob states the obvious. “Both fans are on. We should return to Mordin.” He does like to say what we all know.


Mordin is pleased with us at the clinic. “Atmospheric situation stabilising. Virus levels dropping. Patients improving. Vorcha retreating. Well done, Shepard. Thank you.” He seems rather more relaxed, less frantic in his speech.

“And thank you from me too.” Daniel has made his way back here. “Those Batarians would have killed me” He hesitates for a moment. “For a second there I thought you were going to kill them even after they let me go.”

“I thought about it. But in the end I didn’t think they deserved to die.”

“Merciful of you. Risky.” Mordin sounds as if he disapproves slightly. “Would have killed them myself.”

“Professor, how can you say that?” Daniel takes the Hippocratic Oath rather seriously. “You’re a doctor. You believe in helping people.”

“Many ways to help people. Sometimes cure their illness. Sometimes execute dangerous people. Either way helps.” I think he can see from the way Daniel looks that he doesn’t agree. “Go check on the patients. Many still sick. Need your help.”

Daniel leaves, glaring at me as he goes past. Hey, I didn’t change your Professor, he was always like that. I just gave you a different view of him.

“Good kid.” Mordin waits until Daniel has left before giving his assessment. “Bit naïve. He’ll learning. Leaving him the clinic. Can handle job now that Vorcha are gone.”

“Are you willing to come with us now that the plague is gone.”

“Of course. Looking forward to it. Need to finish up here. Won’t take long. Meet you at your ship.”

Which is our cue to leave for the docking ring. “We’re heading out. See you on the Normandy.”

In Batarian news: 2Another human colony, Freedom’s Progress, has been destroyed, in a sign of the Alliance’s pitiful attempts to protect it’s citizens. Aid and resuce vessels have been sent to the region. Raiders and slavers await them in the shipping lanes. Record windfalls are expected.”


On the Normandy, Jacob brings Professor Solus to the communication/briefinf room. “Welcome to the Normandy, Professor. It’s an honour to have you on board.”

“Yes, very exciting. Cerberus working with aliens. Unexpected. Illusive Man branching out maybe? Not so humanocentric”

“You’re very well informed.” Or perhaps I’m easily impressed.

“Salarian government well connected. Espionage experts. Had top level celarance once. Retired now. Still hear things. Informed of name only. No knowledge of man behind it.” Mordin sniffs. “Anti-alien reputation listed as problematic.”

“Don’t kid yourself, Professor. Humans still come first in the Illusive Man’s eyes. But this mission is too big for them to handle alone.”

“The Collectors are abducting human colonists out on the fringes of Terminus Space.” Jacob decides to explain the problem.

“Not simple abductions. Wouldn’t need me for simple.”

“Entire colonies disappear without a trace. No distress signals are sent out. There are no signs of any kind of attack.” As Mordin paces around, Jacob does the same on the opposite side of the display. “There’s virtually no evidence that anything unusual happened at all; except every man, woman, and child is gone.”

“Gas, maybe. No, too slow to spread. Airborne virus, no slower than gas?”

“You don’t need to guess, Professor.” I interrupt his speculation. “We recovered sample data from one of the colonies. I’d like you to analyse them and figure out how the Collectors did this.”

“Yes, of course. Analyse the samples.” He turns to the door, then stops and looks back. “Going to need a lab.”

EDI’s voice comes out of the speaker. “There is a fully equiipped lab on the combat deck, Professor Solus. If you find anything lacking, please place a requisition order.”

Now that gets Mordin’s attention like nothing else. “Who’s that? Pilot. No, synthesized voice. Simulated emotional inflections. Could it be.. no.Maybe. Have to ask. Is that an AI?”

“This ship is equipped with an artifical intelligence.” I confirm it for him.

“An AI on board. Alien crewmembers. Cerberus more desperate than I thought.”

“The Collectors have taken tens of thousands of colonists. We’ll do whatever we have to do to find and stop them.” Jacob sounds grim.

“Yes, of course. Can’t risk being captured like the colonists. Need to identify, neutralise technology. Need samples. Which way to the lab?”

“Come with me, Professor.” Jacob heads out with the Professor in tow.


I check out the ship before heading out again. Zaeed has establihsed himself in one of the rooms on the engineering deck overlooking the hold. It doesn’t seem to bother him that it’s not a proper stateroom, which I suppose is understandable in a veteran mercenary used to sleeping anywhere. I tell him we’ll be going out tomorrow when we’re looking for Archangel, and he claims he’s always ready.

When I look at my face in a mirror it’s a bit of a shock. I thought the scars on my face would be getting better, but if anything they’re worse. I wonder what’s doing that. It might help with intimidation, but suppose I want to be nice to someone? Someone with orange facial scars that glow from the inside might find it a little difficult getting people to think they’re trustworthy, unless you’re dealing with a Krogan.

And the next day, we go hunting for an archangel.

Edited by Bluenose, 28 July 2010 - 04:35 AM.

[Bluenose]

While Shepard Watched, Chapter 13
A positive mental attitude

There?s a new message on my console when I wake up.

From: Chief Medical Officer Chakwas
Commander,
I?ve done further research concerning your facial scarring, and the old adage of ?mind over matter? holds true. Negative attitudes and aggressive acts create adverse reactions with your cybernetic implants, while peaceful thoughts and compassionate actions promote healing. If you maintain a positive outlook, I believe your facial scarring will heal on its own. Otherwise, there is surgical equipment we could use to insulate your cybernetic implants and accelerate your healing regardless of your mental outlook.
I?ve updated plans for the new medical equipment to your research terminal in the tech lab.
Sincerely,
Chakwas

So, if I?d shot those Batarians yesterday, I?d be looking worse. This might be a little problematic. Ever since Torfan, I?ve been better at intimidation and threats than charm, and compassion isn?t something I?m famous for. Bloody slaughter, well, that?s another matter. Not that I enjoy it particularly, so I suppose I?ll have to give it a try. I won?t be wasting resources on medical equipment to soothe my vanity.


Zaeed and Jacob head out with me. I think we?re agreed that Professor Solus looks like an academic rather than a mercenary. He says so himself, suggesting he can get the drop on people simply because he doesn?t look like a threat. And Miranda has an appearance and fashion sense that will draw the sort of attention she?d draw is something I?d like to avoid.

Off to Afterlife, and EDI informs us that she?s been monitoring news reports on Omega. The plague has died down really rapidly in the affected district, more evidence that it?s artificial, and Daniel is dealing with people showing complications. Meanwhile, mercenary recruitment to take down Archangel has shifted into high gear. So three more hard cases could well get in.

I do think it?s worth speaking to Aria first. She was helpful with the professor, and could well know more about the mercenaries we?re dealing with. Anyway, the recruitment station is in her club. Even as early in the morning as we are Afterlife is busy, people drinking, flirting, dancing, and discussing ?private performances? with the Asari dancers. Zaeed surveys the crowd.

?Knew a bar like this at the front, once. One night me and some of the boys got in a little scuffle. Threats got thrown, and then pistols were drawn. Apart from Yuri, we all made it out. Places like this are as much slaughterhouses as nightclubs, I shit you not.?

Before we speak to Aria, one of her Turian guards accosts me.

?Aria has a job for you, if you?re interested.?

?Why me. Her own muscle not up to the job?? Peaceful thoughts, Zoe, peaceful thoughts.

?What business is it of yours? You want the job, or not.?

?Hey, if Aria wants me to do it rather than her own people it doesn?t necessarily sound as if it?ll be good for my health.?

?Fine. There?s a group of mercs going after an old acquaintance of Aria?s, a krogan called Patriarch. If Aria has her people protect him, it looks like a weakness and someone might want to exploit that. If you do it, well, it?s just a random act of kindness.?

Random act of kindness, eh. Positive outlooks. ?All right. We?ll do it.?

?Good. You?ll probably find Patriarch downstairs, talking to his ?fans?. Get him out of here to somewhere safe, until the heat dies down.?

Downstairs there are some private rooms off another bar. I ask the Batarian bartender if Patriarch is in one of them.

?Buy a drink first, if you want me to talk to you.? He smirks slightly.

?All right. Hit me.? I flash a credit chit at him.

He ducks under the counter, and comes out with a glass and a bottle of some blue liquor. I take a shot, and he gestures towards one of the side rooms. We set off over towards it, as he bends over to slip the bottle away, smirking slightly. He?s presumably happy that he got me to spend money I wasn?t planning to. On some really strong liquor. That?s making me feel strange. The rooms spinning around. And for some reason I seem to be falling asleep.



Funny, I don?t remember lying down on such a dirty floor. Whose boots am I looking at? What is Jacob talking about.

?She?s coming around.?

?Never seen that before.? The second voice is a stranger. I look up at him, a rather dirty bearded human.

Zaeed is standing, rifle up, watching the crowds ignore us. ?What, no human women pass out drunk on Omega? She only had one drink.? He sounds a little disgusted.

?One drink is all it takes. Never seen a human take a drink in Omega and survive.?

?What are you talking about?? I lift my head off the floor, and then raise my torso. A headache is disappearing amazingly fast, probably something to do with my cybernetic medical implants. ?Omega doesn?t hate humans, does it??

?It?s just that one Batarian bartender. The rest are all right, but order from him and it?s your last glass. One of my friends did that, took him three hours to die. But your friend, well, it looks like she survived.?

?So I was poisoned.? Jacob reaches down as I try to stand and helps me to my feet. Positive mental outlook, right. The local takes a step back, now that he can see my expression.

?Yeah. I?ll tell you what, if you go back inside he?ll get a hell of a shock.?

?I think that?s just what he needs.? I slide my arm out of Jacob?s grasp, making sure I can stand on my own. And then I head back into Afterlife.

The bartender looks up as we approach. All four eyes blink. ?Do I know you? No, no, all humans look the same to me. Have a drink,? he reaches under the bar for a glass and a bottle of blue liquor, ?On the house.?

I raise my voice. ?Don?t like humans, do you??

He looks astonished, and then recognition passes over his face as well as disbelief. ?But? you? you should be dead.?

?Hey, if you poison humans because you don?t like them, how about,? I look round and see the nearest alien. ?How about Turians? Do you like Turians??

?What?? The Turian stares at me and then at the bartender. His mandibles flare out.

?I, I didn?t? I don?t?? I think the Batarian is still too shocked at my survival to react sensibly.

?Answer the damn question, Forvan.? The Turian by contrast doesn?t seem pleased.

Pulling a gun on three heavily armed soldiers might not be a wise move. Forvan tries it, though. He aims it at me, his hand shaking. ?I?ll kill you. I?ll kill all three of you. You can?t??

BAM!

The Turian shoots him. ?Not taking any chances.?

I shrug mentally. Not sure whether that?s a positive attitude or not, but I feel pretty positive about the result. We head off into the side room. A rather elderly Krogan is holding court to some fans, specifically to an Asari.

?No, no. You said he had family? If you kill him, they?ll come after you for revenge. Kill the family first. Then, he?ll come after you and he?ll be angry as he does it and will make mistakes. That?s the way to do it.?

?You Patriarch?? I interrupt this charming chat.

He turns and looks at me. ?I don?t think I know you, human. I?m Patriarch. Aria?s Patriarch. What can I do for you??

?Know any people who might want you dead??

?There might be a few. I know things. This used to be my station. I still know where you can dig up a floor to find a body, a few old secrets, things like that. They wouldn?t be after me, of course. I?m one of Aria?s advisors. Kill me, and you weaken her, just a little.?

?Apparently someone cares enough to have you killed. Come on, we?re taking you somewhere safe.?

?Ah, of course.? He looks at his fans. ?Aria wouldn?t want me killed. It would make her look bad. But maybe, maybe I don?t care about that any more. Maybe I?d like to die like a Krogan, rather than be a trophy.?

?You?re going to just stop and die. What sort of a Krogan are you??

?An old Krogan. A Krogan without allies.?

?So let us be your allies. We can deal with these assassins for you.?

?You would do that? You could, you could be my krantt. And maybe I?d be someone who people took seriously again.?

?We?ll deal with them for you.? Though I suppose finding them might be a problem.


Rather than spend time looking around Omega for a group of people with a label ?assassinating Patriarch today? attached to them, we hang around the nearest entrance to afterlife. It doesn?t take too long before a couple of battle-ready Krogan turn up. I push off from where I?m leaning on the wall and stand at the top of the steps.

?You boys looking for Patriarch?? I make it a question, though I guessed the answer.

?What?s it to you?? Answering a question with a question, how annoying. No, think positive thoughts, Zoe.

?We?d rather you didn?t.? Zaeed and Jacob have by now moved up behind me.

The second Krogan looks a little surprised. ?You?re the old man?s krantt. I didn?t know he had one.?

?Doesn?t matter.? The first is dismissive. ?Get out of the way, human, or??

?Or what? You?re gonna try and take me?? I make it sound as derisive as I can.

?You asked for it.2 The first Krogan starts to bring a flamethrower up.

I duck below the muzzle, and sweep his legs out from under him. He falls back, and crashes down stunned. His colleague is still trying to catch up with the action when Zaeed and Jacob open fire. For I moment I wonder what to do with a pair of dead Krogan, but I doubt if this is the first fight near Omega. Someone will loot and dispose of the bodies.


When we get back, it?s clear Patriarch was watching.

?You killed both of them.? He slams his forearms together in Krogan appreciation. ?And everyone knows that the Patriarch is not to be crossed.?

?Use this. Don?t let people think you?re weak enough to kill easily again.?

?Thanks to you, I am a Krogan again. Perhaps even someone Aria will take seriously as an advisor, or maybe a threat.?

?You?re welcome.? I start to turn to go, but he interrupts me.

?Be careful around Aria. She will approve of what you?ve done, I think, but not of the way you?ve altered the balance of power on Omega. It reminds her a little of herself, I think.?

?What happened between you and Aria??

?When she first got here, she had nothing but the clothes on her back. I ran Omega then, and I thought she was just another dancer. She soon showed me she was more than that. We went into business together, and soon we dominated Omega. And then we fell out, and she?d turned half my men to her side before I realized what was happening.? His eyes grow misty in recollection. ?We fought near this very spot, just her and me. One little Asari wench, and a Krogan warlord. And she beat me. Broke half my ribs, stopped one of my hearts, and beaten for good. And then she let me live.? He sounds nostalgic for it.

?Stay strong, Patriarch.? I turn to leave.

?Patriarch. For the first time, I like that name.?


When we get back to the main floor, the guard who stopped me before won?t pay me. ?You need to see Aria. She?ll deal with you.?

Aria is, as before, up on her dais surrounded by guards. This time none of them attempt to scan me. Aria glares at me, though there?s an amused smirk on her lips.

?I hear Patriarch?s krantt took down the would-be assassins. I didn?t know he had one.?

?Maybe your information is a little old.? I smirk right back at her.

?Well, with such powerful warriors at his call, I doubt if anyone will be challenging him any time soon.? Suddenly she turns business-like. ?It?s not what I asked, but you got the job done. Payment will be forwarded. Now, you were coming here to see me before. What?s on your mind??

?Archangel.?

?You and half the mercs on Omega, it seems. Are you after him too.?

?In a sense. I?m assembling a team, and he?s on the list.?

?Well, aren?t you interesting.? She seems rather amused by this. ?You won?t make any friends around here when it turns out you?re on Archangel?s side.?

?Can you tell me anything about him??

?He came here, oh, a year and a half ago. If you make your own laws on Omega, and everyone does, he makes trouble for you. He knows enough to stay away from me, but anyone else is fair game. The mercenaries have had enough of him. They?re hiring anyone with a gun to go in and take him out.?

?That sounds like our ticket in.? Captain Jacob Obvious strikes again.

?They?d certainly take a liking to you, on appearance.? Aria agrees carelessly.

?Which mercenary groups are after him??

?Blue Suns, Eclipse, Blood Pack. The three big players on Omega. Normally you?d only see them together if they were at war, but for Archangel they?ve made an exception.?

?Sounds like we don?t have much time.?

?You?ve got all the time in the world.? Aria disagrees, mildly. ?Archangel, not so much.?

?Thanks for your time.? I stand to go.

?You?re welcome. Good luck dealing with the mercenaries, when you find you?re not on their side.?

[Bluenose]

While Shepard Watched, Chapter 14
And took their wages

?We?re looking to sign up.?

The mercenary outside the recruitment station hardly looks at us. ?Down the stairs.?

Waiting by the door, the recruiter sounds bored as he goes through a speech he?s obviously used before. ?You?ll be paid your five hundred credits when the jobs done. If you die, your share does not go to your partners. And no, this does not make you a member of the Blue Suns, Eclipse, or Blood Pack. You are a freelancer, period. Send in the next group.?

The Batarian raises two of his eyes to meet me as we come in. A smile crosses his face. ?Well, aren?t you the sight. You?re in the wrong place, honey, Strippers quarters are upstairs.?

My pistol is in his face before he finishes the sentence. ?Show me yours, tough guy. I bet mines bigger.? No, Zoe, remember. A positive mental attitude.

?Impressive.? The Batarian takes a closer look at us. ?So, you?re here to fight.?

?Sure. If this is the place to get Archangel.? Though who I?m fighting I don?t need to mention.

?This is the place. You need your own armour and weapons? I guess you?ve got that covered. You?ll be paid five hundred??

?Yeah, I heard the story. Seems like a lot of effort for one guy.?

?He?s one guy now. Used to have a team, but we got them. Now it?s just Archangel, holed up in his lair. And we?re going to get him too.?

?So where is it??

?Take a right out of the club. We?ve got drivers waiting at the transport hub. They?ll take you where you need to go.? He raises his voice. ?Send in the next.?

As we?re leaving, a human comes in who looks barely old enough to be shaving. He sounds excited. ?Is this where I sign up??

?How old are you?? I don?t think this ?boy? adds much value to a mercenary team.

?I?m old enough.? His voice cracks, for a moment sounding like a child before he deepens it again. ?Besides, I grew up on Omega. I know how to handle a gun.?

?You know enough to get yourself killed.? Unexpectedly, Zaeed?s gravely tones interrupt us.

?I can fight. I just paid fifty credits for this gun,? He pulls an old pistol out of his jacket to demonstrate. ?I want??

I interrupt him, reaching out and twisting the gun out of his hands despite his protest, ?Hey!?

?Get your money back.? I check the gun, and grin. The mechanism breaks easily with a twist, here, and slamming the heel of my hand into it. there. I give the boy his broken gun back. ?Trust me, kid. You?ll thank me for it later.?

As we go, Zaeed mutters to me. ?Good thing you did there.? He seems to catch himself, though. ?We don?t need that sort cluttering up our battlefield anyway.?



At the transport park, we find another Batarian in a Blue Suns uniform, who takes us through the ?streets? of Omega at dangerously high speeds until we reach another roadway. There, yet another Batarian is waiting for us. ?About time they sent me someone who looks like they can fight.? At least his first comment isn?t sleazy.

?So what?s the plan?? How do I get to Archangel, without getting killed, and how many mercs will we have to kill so we can leave?

?Easy, tiger. How much do you know about the situation??

?The recruiter was a little vague.?

?If he?d told people about the situation, we?d have a lot less people joining up.? He sounds grim. ?We?ve got Archangel holed up in a building at the far end of that boulevard.? He waves at a road heading off at right angles to this one, where hastily erected barricades are manned by a mix of people in assorted gear - obviously other freelancers. ?Problem is, the only approach to it is over a bridge. There?s hardly any cover. It?s a killing ground for you freelancers.?

?So this is a suicide mission.? Zaeed sounds disgusted.

?Not exactly. We?ve got a team ready to infiltrate the building. When they go, we need a distraction. You just have to stay alive until they get to him. Tough, but doable. Report to Sergeant Catchka. He?s coordinating the assault for you freelancers.?

?Can do.? And if that gives away my military background, I don?t care.


We head in the direction he gestures. Quietly, EDI fills us in over our earpieces. ?Shepard, I?ve scanned the area. There are currently no approaches to Archangel other than the bridge.?

?Guess we go with the mercs, then.?

?That is logical. In addition, the mercenary units have a number of mechs and one gunship with considerable firepower. Disabling them would increase survival chances.?


With barricades erected as firing positions, it isn?t possible to move along the street. Instead, we have to slip through buildings along the side. In one of these, we interrupt a Salarian giving a briefing.

?What do you want, freelancer?? He sounds unfriendly.

I check out his uniform. ?You the leader of the Eclipse??

?Worked that out on your own, did you? I?m Jaroth.? Friendly guy.

?So what do the Eclipse do on Omega??

?Since you ask, we?re involved in the import and export trade. Nothing moves through Omega without us getting a share of the profits. That?s why we?re here. Money.?

?So what has Archangel done to get you going after him.?

?He?s interfered with our shipments, run off with our profits, ruined my operations. We?ll get him, and things can go back to their proper state.?

?Sounds personal.?

The Salarian is more and more annoyed. ?He hit one of our shipments two weeks ago. Killed two of my top lieutenants. One of them was my brother. So yes, it?s personal.?

I give him a slightly mocking salute. ?Guess we?ll be on our way.?

?You do that, freelancer.? He turns back to his briefing display. As we head out, I notice something. Someone?s being careless, leaving unsecured data pads lying around where anyone could casually slip them in their pocket and walk off. I assume it?s related to the attack on Archangel; it isn?t.

Tarak:
I?ve spoken to Garm, and he and his men are on board. Assuming this operation is successful, we can count on high morale and extensive buy-in from the men. From the losses we?ve already taken, possibility exists that we won?t have the men needed to continue to the next objective. It?s clear though that none of our organisations would be ready to move on Aira without the assistance of the other two.
Jaroth

I think Aria might like to see that.

Just round the corner, we find the Eclipse?s mech storage bay. With no one watching, I slip inside. An Ymir mech looms sullenly towards the back of the room, but it and the smaller ones are currently shut down. I check on the targeting systems. With a little work, I remove the IFF targeting protocols. Zaeed likes the idea. ?Switch that mech on, and it won?t know friend from foe.?


Out of that room, we pass another. A Vorcha hisses at us. ?Go away, human.?

Since I don?t take orders from Vorcha, I go inside. A big Krogan is sat on some crates, looking utterly bored, while Vorcha squabble beyond him. ?What do you want, human?? While the Krogan doesn?t exactly sound friendly, we may be making him less bored.

?You?re the Blood Pack boss.?

Name?s Garm. I run the Blood Pack on Omega. You want someone dead, or someone protected, come to us. We?re the muscle on this station.?

?So what?s your plan.?

?Plan? Sit around and wait. I?ll be the one to get Archangel, you?ll see. I?m the only one to have tangled with him before.?

?How?d that go down?? Sounds interesting.

?The bastard ambushed me when I was away from my team. Tough, but he?s a Turian so he?s even more ugly than you. He thought he could take me when I was alone, but couldn?t quite manage it. When the rest of my team showed up, we chased him half way across Omega. But he slipped away in the end. This time though, there?s no slipping away. We?ve got him cornered. But I have to sit here while you freelancers play at war and Jaroth plays with his mechs. Go on, get out of my sight.?

I guess we?ll do that. We head out into the road, behind another barricade. One of the mercs pops his head out, and fires a long, inaccurate burst from his assault rifle towards a building along the way. His reward is a head shot, which encourages us to cross the road at speed and in a crouch. We sneak into a mercenary storeroom on the other side, doing a little looting and scanning some of the less common gear in case it?s usable for research.

Looking for the mercenaries, we find the Blue Suns leader. Not the friendliest person, but then it?s yet another Batarian. ?Get this freelancer out of my face.?

Zaeed knows him. ?Tarak, you old rogue, how are you keeping??

The Batarians expression is one of surprise. ?Zaeed. Well, that?s different. Not so bad. But what are you doing chasing such penny-ante sums of money.?

?You never know what the next job will be, do you.?

?Look, sorry about shouting at you before.? He sounds embarrassed about it, amazingly. ?Look, I?ve got a lot to do co-ordinating this assault. Talk to my assistant. Jentha! Answer any questions these three have.?

A human woman gestures us over. ?Sorry about that. Tarak?s been on edge for a while. What is it you want to know??

?What?s wrong with Tarak? Sounds like more than normal nerves.?

?Yeah, the whole Blue Suns are on edge. Normally, we can get on with things on Omega, security, combat mechs, some minor combat, without much interference. But Archangel and his gang have us all on edge. Is this mission an ambush? Who won?t be coming back this time? Will out supplies be booytrapped? Tarak?s had enough.?

?So he decided to go after Archangel. How do the other groups fit in??

?You wouldn?t believe it to look at him now, but Tarak is a pretty savvy negotiator. He managed to get Jaroth and Garm to go aling with this. They wouldn?t admit it, but this [b]is[//b] a Blue Suns op in every way that matters.?

?So, why?s he so on edge.?

?Somehow Archangel identified our safe house. He went after Tarak directly, and nearly got him. He?s been paranoid ever since, and it?s made my life hell. I?ll be glad when we finally gut that Turian.?

?Sounds like people are pretty determined. Got a plan??

?The freelancers are going in first, but you?re just a distraction.? She looks around, worried. ?Listen, I know you and Tarak go back, so I?ll warn you. Watch yourself. Not only are you being used as cannon fodder, but Jaroth doesn?t intend paying you. His men are backing up the first assault, and once Archangel goes down he?s going to send in his mechs to clear up any survivors among the freelancers.?

?He?ll find that harder than he thinks.? Zaeed?s voice is hard.

?He?s got a lot of mechs. Though it only matters if the first assault gets Archangel. If you can go to ground somewhere, once the rest of the hired help is down it?s Jaroth?s turn. Eclipse have got their mechs, and a fair few asari biotics, but they aren?t that heavy. Personally I don?t think they?ve got a chance, but they will make Archangel work.?

?And the Blood Pack??

?Tunnels.? She snorts. The tunnels into Archangel?s base were blocked years ago, and the Blood pack have Vorcha digging them out. They intend going in that way and taking it up close and personal. In Archangel?s own base, with god knows what in the way of booby traps and surprises waiting for them. If they make it, they make it, but I expect it?ll fall to us?

I quirk an eyebrow, encouraging her to continue.

We?ve got a gunship, but it?s damaged. Sergeant Cathka is working on getting it ready. If the other assaults fail, we?ll be lifting troops to abseil in through the windows, while the gunship gives fire support.?

?Solid plan.? I sigh. ?Suppose we?d better go do our part.?

?Look for Cathka. He?s in the room opposite. And keep your heads down when you cross the road. Archangel?s a hell of a sniper.?


As we leave, I pause near the edge of the cover. A mercenary notices us. ?You looking for Cathka.?

?Yeah.?

?He?s opposite. I ain;g going to find him.?

?Why not??

?He?s the guy co-ordinating our assault. When he gives the word, we have to go. Not looking forward to that. There?s hardly any cover on that bridge.?

?He can?t shoot us all.? Captain, make that Lieutenant Obvious doesn?t sound too worried.

?I ain?t going first.? The merc turns away, and we dash across the road. There, a group of heavily armed Blue Suns are standing in front of a gunship. I go up to their leader. ?Sergeant Cathka??

He gestures with a thumb behind him, and they move off. I duck under the weapon sponson of the gunship, while Zaeed and Jacob close up to provide a little privacy. A Batarian is working with a palette of equipment on an open panel on the side of the gunship.

?Are you Sergeant Cathka?? He?d better be, because... positive thoughts, right.

The Batarian straightens. ?I?m Cathka.? He taps the side of his helmet, where the visor had polarised while he welded, and it clears. ?You must be the group Salkie told me about.?

?Salkie??

?He met you when you were transported here. Said you stood out from the run-of-the-mill hirelings. He was right.?

?Are you providing fire support from the gunship for us?? I know he isn?t but that isn?t why I ask. I just want to keep him talking for a while.

?No. Tarak?s the only one who flies her. Besides, she?s not ready. Archangel really did a number on her yesterday. Tarak wants her in top shape if we have to use her.?

?So we?re going in without support.?

?Pretty much.? It?s not really his problem, I suppose. ?You?re only supposed to cause a distraction while the infiltration team gets into place, anyway.?

?Are you on that team??

?Normally, but not today. I?m co-ordinating with you freelancers as well as fixing the gunship.? At that, a communication panels beeps. Cathka looks over at it. ?That?s your cue, anyway.? He raises his voice. ?Team One, Team Two, go, go, go.? The freelancers start to move out of whatever cover they?re in towards the barricade. ?But, that also means I?ve got to finish the repairs. And you have to join the assault.? He turns away, and darkens his visor again.

I notice he?s left one of his tools, an electrowelder, lying in the open. Picking it up, I saunter over behind him. ?You?re working too hard.?

He looks up. ?Eh...Arrgh!? With the welder jammed between two of his ribs with the power on, it?s hard to tell what he means. As he collapses on the floor, I duck back beneath the wing. That?s one gunship that won?t be at full power.

On the bridge, freelancers are lining up to go over the barricade. As they move over, they open fire on the opposite building. The facade is already showing signs of fire, but it doesn?t seem to be stopping Archangel. One of the mercs fires a grenade launcher, and as he pauses momentarily to reload and armoured figure appears in a window. One shot is all it takes, from an expert sniper, and the grenadier is down.

I shrug, mentally. Either he gets us or he doesn?t. We?re also not the front rank, so perhaps a little safer. Behind the other mercs, we dash across the bridge. Bodies collapse in front and beside us, but although a couple of rounds hit me my shields absorb most of the impact. Soon, the three of us are across the bridge. The building has a large central area which appears to have been used as a living area, with stairs up at the back to the floor Archangel is firing from. Pillars support the upper floors, and there?re also some low walls that we could shelter behind to fire on the bridge from this level. The room is strewn with paramilitary equipment, heat sinks, communicators, medipacks, heavily modified omnitools, and other gear.

A small group, the infiltration team, has beaten us there. One is setting up explosives, directly beneath Archangel. I stroll towards him, holding my shotgun nonchalantly. The others are moving cautiously towards the rear stairs. Behind, I can hear the crack of Archangel?s rifle as he eliminates more of the hired help.

Since I really don?t want Archangel to be blown up before I speak to him, I raise my shotgun. The mercenary on the explosives doesn?t even have time to react, blasted in the back at point blank range and sent flying. The other mercs halt, momentarily confused.

One is quickest to react. ?She?s with Archangel. He?s got allies.? They duck for cover, and start to fire on us.

Zaeed moves up, firing short bursts from his rifle at anyone who shows themselves. I swing out to the left, and Jacob goes right. Mercenary by mercenary, we pin them down, outflank them, and our shotguns speak the language of war and death.

And then there are no more. We make for the stairs ourselves. This might get a little difficult, if Archangel is nervous about us. I?m not looking forward to being shot by a potential ally. So as we reach the upper landing, I make sure our guns are pointing somewhere which isn?t towards him.

As it happens, I think he was aware of us. Archangel is a Turian, wearing heavy blue armour with a full-face helmet. As we enter the room he holds a hand up. He doesn?t want to interrupted, as he aims down at the bridge. Curious, I move to a position where I overlook it. A single surviving freelancer is hiding behind a pillar. For a second he glances around, perhaps hoping for a chance to run. Archangel fires again, and suddenly Jaroth won?t be shooting any survivors. There are none left.

The Turian seems to relax. He moves away from the window, and perches on the edge of a table in a quite deliberately nonchalant pose. And then he removes his helmer.

I know Archangel.

[Bluenose]

While Shepard Watched, Chapter 15
Roast Shepard is off the menu

?Shepard.? Garrus doesn?t sound too happy to see me. ?I thought you were dead.?

?Garrus. What are you doing here??

?Just keeping my skills sharp. A little target practice.? Yes, this is definitely not the Garrus I used to know on the original Normandy, who never sounded depressed. Homicidal, occasionally, but never as if he wanted to give up.

?You okay??

?Been better, but it sure is good to see a friendly face. Killing mercs is hard work. Especially on my own.?

I put two and two together. The recruiter claimed they?d eliminated the rest of Archangel?s team, and that means Garrus is the sole survivor. No wonder he?s down. Maybe I can cheer him up a little. ?You nailed me good a couple of times, by the way.?

He snorts. ?Concussive shots only. No real damage done. Didn?t want the mercs getting suspicious.?

?Uh huh.? I fold my arms, and smirk at him.

?If I wanted to do more than take your shields down, I?d have done it. Besides, you were taking your sweet time. I needed to get you moving.?

?How?d you end up on Omega anyway?? If he?s prepared to crack a joke, maybe he?s not as depressed as I thought.

?I got tired of the Citadel. All the bureaucratic nonsense. I thought I could do more good somewhere else. Here, it?s easy to find criminals. All I have to do is point my gun and fire.?

?And you still somehow managed to piss off every major mercenary group on Omega.?

?It was easy. I really had to work at it. I am amazed that they teamed up to fight me. They must really hate me. ?

?So what now, ?Archangel?.?

?Please. Archangel is just a name the locals gave me for, ah, all my good deeds. It?s still Garrus to you.?

?Well, we got here, but I don?t think getting out will be as easy.?

?No, it won?t.? He stands up and moves closer to the window. ?That bridge has saved my life, funnelling all those witless idiots into my scope. But it works both ways. They?ll slaughter us if we try to get out that way.?

?What, so we just sit here and wait for them to slaughter us.? Zaeed doesn?t sound happy with the idea.

?It?s not that bad.? Garrus is at least thinking tactically. ?This building has held them off so far, and with three of you... I suggest we hold this location, wait for a crack in their defences, and take our chance. It?s not a perfect plan, but it?s a plan.?

?Let?s kick some merc ass.?

?Glad to see you haven?t changed. Now, let?s see what they?re up to. ? Garrus looks through the scope of his sniper rifle. ?Hmm. It looks like they now their infiltration team failed. Take a look.? He hands over his rifle. ?Scouts. Eclipse, I think.?

Through the scope, light mechs are deploying over the barricade and onto the bridge. I focus on one squeeze the trigger. ?More than scouts. One less now.?

?We better get ready. I?ll stay up here. I can do a lot of damage from this vantage point. You, you can do what you do best. Just like old times, Shepard.?

?Eclipse. Light and heavy mechs, light infantry troopers, biotics. Zaeed, Jacob, downstairs with me. Don?t hog all the fun, Garrus.?

I head downstairs. And I can hear Garrus ignoring my instructions already, sniping away at the mechs. We dash across the living quarters and take position behind the wall and pillars where we can cover the bridge. The light mechs are still moving across, but rifle fire soon stops that. This was just a test. The real assault is still to come.

It starts with Garrus? warning. ?They?re deploying snipers.? They take position behind the barricade. More troopers cross it, and start crossing the bridge. Unlike the mechs, they use cover as best they can, and have support fire. As they slip forward, we engage them. The snipers return fire, though Garrus starts to whittle them down. More Eclipse move in, these being Asari ex-commandoes. Thinking that they?re the only biotics around, they move forward confidently. And foolishly. After rifle fire drops their biotic protection, Jacob and I use our biotics against them. Several Asari float into the air, where they?re easy targets for Garrus and Zaeed, and some get dropped over the edge of the bridge. The assault fails, with a few stragglers being shot down by Garrus as they retreat.

Then Garrus comms me in alarm. ?Shepard. They?re deploying a heavy mech.?

?That problem should take care of itself. Don?t fire on it.?

I suspect he?s confused, but he does as I ask. At the far end of the bridge, Jaroth yelsl over to us. ?You think you?re so tough, Archangel. See how you deal with this.? A crane lifts the Ymir mech over the barricade, and it activates on the bridge. More Eclipse start forming up behind it, to back up it?s attack.

When the Ymir fires on them, surprise is complete. Hacking the targeting systems was a good idea after all. The battle at the end of the bridge is between the Eclipse mercs and their mech, and we contribute to it a little, picking off unfortunate mercenaries. Even a heavy mech can fall, though, and there are enough troopers firing at it that eventually its shields and armour fail. At which point, I remember that a headshot into one of these usually leads to an explosion. My first shot misses the mech, skimming just past its head and coincidentally hitting a mercenary on the barricade. The second is a direct hit, and the ensuing explosion clears the bridge again.

There?s one more wave to this assault. The last of the Eclipse mercenaries include Jaroth and his command team, and they?re the best fighter. We snipe them as they advance, but then I call for a slight withdrawal. Jacob and Zaeed fall back to the far side of the living area, and I join them after a slight modification to something deployed earlier. Jaroth doesn?t lead the charge into the base, but he?s directly behind the Asari who does. This means he?s well within the blast zone when I detonate the explosive charge the earlier infiltration team were emplacing. Tamped, it scatters body parts everywhere. When a survivor staggers through the smoke, I?m surprised enough not to fire. Zaeed makes up for that. And Garrus calls in. ?That seems to be the last of them, Shepard. Come up here and talk to me.

I do. Garrus is watching the bridge. ?Good work getting rid of Jaroth. I?ve been after that bastard for years.?

?Years? How come??

?He was shipping tainted Eezo across Citadel space. When I worked for C-Sec, half the smuggling came from his gang here on Omega.?

?So, what now??

?They aren?t making another attempt on the bridge immediately. The other side has been reinforced, but they seem to be digging in.?

?Have you got tunnels around here? Because the merc I talked to said the Blood Pack were trying to get through some.?

?Into the basement.? Garrus stares at me. ?There are emergency blast doors, but they?re open. Shepard, get down there, quickly. They have to be closed manually.?

?I?m not leaving you alone up here.?

?You sure? You don?t know what you?ll find down there.?

?Zaeed, stay with Garrus. Keep him alive.?

?Roger that.? The big mercenary has a determined look on his face.

?Where?s the basement anyway?? It suddenly occurs to me I don?t know my way around.

?There?s a door behind the stairs.? Garrus settles in, watching the bridge, Zaeed nearby. With Jacob, I head out along the landing, down the stairs, and find that there is indeed a door behind them. As we?re heading for it, the building shakes and alarms go off. ?Shepard.? Garrus sounds worried. ?That?s the intruder alarms. They?re breaking in.?

Through the door, we go down another set of stairs into the basement. Opposite us is one of the blast doors, standing open. Rooms off to the left and right presumably have the others. The passage opposite is currently unoccupied, so I start trotting towards it. That turns into a dead run when a Vorcha appears, carrying a shotgun. He squeals in alarm on seeing me, as I slam into the wall by the blast door. I fire my shotgun at him, hitting the big red button on a console by the door at the same time. An artificial voice announces, ?Blast doors closing. Ten, nine, eight, seven...?

The Vorcha wasn?t alone. ?Six.? More appear, and I fire on them. ?Five.? Two duck into cover and return fire, and Jacob?s lets off a shotgun blast into another. ?Four.? A Krogan looms into sight, and I let him have a shot in the chest. He staggers. ?Three.? The Krogan rights himself with a roar. A Vorcha slips past him, and raises a flamethrower. ?Two.? Jacob reaches out, and the Vorcha spins in the air as his biotic lift takes hold. The Krogan lowers his head to charge us. ?One.? I step out from the doorframe, and fire an incendiary round into the floating Vorcha. As his fuel tank explodes, the Krogan staggers away. The door shuts in their faces.

?One down, Shepard. Two to go.? Garrus sounds more cheerful but he should considering I?m the one doing the work. I mentally toss a coin, and we take the door to our left.

Vorcha are already in the room, which is a large garage. An interesting place to fight, considering the number of things that can explode. I hit a fuel tank with an incendiary round in the first few seconds, killing three Vorcha that were sheltering either behind it or behind a pillar next to it. We leap-frog forward with Jacob giving covering fire when I move and vice-versa. Even the Krogan that comes in with them can?t stop us, when we both use our biotics to lift him, and then slam him against the floor. A couple of Varren attack us, and I end up beating one that we hadn?t seen coming to death with my rifle butt. And then, we?re near the door. Outside, a group of Vorcha and Krogan are massing to come in as a group. When they were moving piecemeal, we could handle them, but they think a mass charge might work better. I smirk, and unload my grenade launcher. Mass against that, suckers. I hit the door control, and let a grenade fly into the midst of the group. Sadly for the Krogan, who might have survived even that sort of blast, a couple of the Vorcha have flame throwers. In the chain reaction, the Krogan also die. Although a couple more Vorcha appear before the door closes, we shoot them down easily.

?Shepard, hurry. They?re going to break in to the base.? Normally it?s Jacob who announces the obvious, but this time it?s Garrus. We hurry across back to the other door.

I?m slightly surprised. It?s not actually a room, but a long corridor with a right angle in it. Vorcha are already moving along it. Fortunately , there?s enough cover for us to survive. Unfortunately, surviving alone isn?t enough. We have to push forward to find the blast door. Vorcha fire on us as we move into the open, and my shields start to deplete rapidly. Firing back, a lucky shot takes out one Vorcha, and then I close in and get into melee with another. Savage but smaller and weaker, it?s soon on the ground. To finish it, I shoot it in the head with my shotgun. And then we?re at the corner. I peer round it.

The Vorcha waiting there has a flame thrower. I duck back as fast as possible, just avoiding being roast Shepard. The problem is I need to turn the corner. The answer, as it often is, involves grenades. A grenade goes round the corner. Even a Vorcha isn?t quite suicidal enough to stand in the open with a fuel tank strapped to its back when a grenade is exploding nearby, so its astonishment when I turn casually round the corner can be imagined. When the grenade doesn?t go off, it was probably momentarily disappointed, but it?s hard to tell after I shot it repeatedly in the head. We head down the corridor a little further, and after shooting a few more Vorcha slam the blast door shut. ?Last door closed, Garrus.?

?Shepard, get back here.? It?s Zaeed. ?There are Krogan in the base.?

How did that happen? Jacob and I hustle back to the basement, only to find a couple of Vorcha stragglers. We shoot them, and rush the stairs. In time to see Garm announcing, ?Take care of these interfering busybodies. I?ll deal with Garrus.?

We shoot down the Vorcha, suicidal maniacs that they are, and one of the Krogan that Garm brought with him. The other followed him upstairs, and is waiting for us at the top. From the noise in Garrus? room, I think he and Garm (and of course Zaeed) are having a little reunion. Since I don?t want to miss it I don?t take long over the Krogan, rushing along one wall with my shotgun ready and hammering three rounds into him, before following up by lifting him biotically and dropping him off the landing where Jacob finishes him off. I?m already in the room, and Garm turns out to be one of the few biotic Krogan. He throws me against a wall, and somehow I lose my shotgun. Garm wheels on Garrus, only to find Zaeed hammering him with rifle bullets. He ducks down for a moment, then another biotic throw levels our mercenary. All Garm?s legendary toughness can?t save him though, as I spray him from behind with heavy pistol rounds, Jacob puts incendiary shotgun ammunition into him, and then Garrus quite appropriately is the one to finish him off with a sniper round to the head.

Garrus looks at me. ?Damn, this day just keeps getting better and better. First Jaroth, now Garm.?

?He said you fight him one time.?

?I did. Caught him alone, away from his Vorcha. I nearly had him, but I?ve never seen a Krogan regenerate so fast. I couldn?t hit him enough times to keep him down. When his Vorcha showed up, I had to leave. Got him now, though.? He sounds satisfied, and more like his old self.

?How?d he get in here anyway? I thought we shut the blast doors.?

?You did. I think he must have been here already, and let you close the doors so he wouldn?t have to share the glory of killing Archangel with any of his followers.? His mandibles flare momentarily. ?You know, I think we might have done enough damage to make a break for it. Go downstairs and take a look at the barricades, and gather up any gear you can use.?

I move off to do that, before remembering something. ?Watch the windows. The Blue Suns were talking about getting teams on the roof and abseiling in.?

I head downstairs with Jacob and Zaeed in tow, and we start collecting the supplies strewn about. And then there?s the roar of fan blades, and a voice like thunder comes over a loudspeaker. ?Archangel!?

It looks like the Blue Suns got their gunship working after all. And Garrus takes a rocket in the head to prove it.

[Bluenose]

While Shepard Watched, Chapter 16
Revenge! What? Oh, OK. Kill them anyway.

When we reach the room upstairs Garrus is lying behind a block, a pool of blood slowly forming beneath his head. The Blue Suns gunship hovers outside, and it?s obvious immediately that they were desperate to get it into action. The shields are inactive. Which makes it a lot easier to get some payback.

I drop into cover behind, of all unexpected things, a planting bed. Someone went to a lot of trouble to get it up here, and there?s a small number of shoots already showing. Jacob moves behind a pillar, while Zaeed drops behind a sofa. I?m about to yell at him, when he notices me watching. ?The furniture has armour inside. They were ready for an assault.? At least we won?t be shot through the seats.

I pop up, and fire a couple of rounds into the gunship. The armour holds, but it won?t forever. We just need to keep up some fire on it. The return fire is a spray of bullets, that slam into the cover or whine over it. Zaeed adds some fire. I focus my eyepiece for a moment, and take a quick glance. The cockpit already shows some damage. Get a few more rounds into it, and the pilot is going to be very nervous. For a moment I consider having the Normandy send it?s assault shuttle. But this?ll be done before it could get here.

Before I consider any other alternatives, Jacob gives us a warning. ?Commander, they?re coming in through the windows.? Right, that was the Blue Suns plan.

Our friend Jentha comes in with them. These people are good at this. Unlike the Eclipse, they aren?t light infantry; and unlike the Blood Pack, they aren?t after individual glory. They use the available cover, among a set of bunk beds, and support each other with fire. They?ve even got a gunship firing in their support, and more on the way done. Unfortunately for them, we?re also heavily equipped, and we?ve got two people with biotic ability. While Zaeed concentrates on using his assault rifle to keep people pinned down, Jacob and eye play biotic tag with them one after another. Lift, slam, and shoot them with shotguns when they?re prone. Or if their shields protect them against biotic powers, shoot, lift, slam, and shoot.

For a while, regardless of our tactics the tide of bodies threatens to overwhelm us. I swap my shotgun out for the grenade launcher. Grenades, the infantryman?s best friend since the sixteenth century. I send one into a group of Turians. Wonder how long they?ve been used around the galaxy? Wrex would have known. I let off another at an armoured officer, and his chest plate shatters. I miss Wrex. Noticing the gunship manoeuvring outside the window, I let it have a grenade too. Why is my mind wandering in the middle of a fire fight? Never used to do that. I slam another floating mercenary, and Zaeed finishes him off. I look around for more.

There aren?t any. How did that happen when I wasn?t looking? Though the gunship is still around. From the engine sounds, it?s moving towards that window. Let?s see, we?ve hit the cockpit glass with multiple bullets, it?s had a grenade go off, and it wasn?t in perfect condition before. So it just might be possible to get a round through. I drop the launcher, and ready my sniper rifle. As the gunship slides into view, already firing randomly, I fire, once, directly at the pilot. For a moment he looks shocked, and then he starts to swing the nose around for a rocket shot.

My second shot goes straight through the weakened cockpit, and his head jerks back. AS he slumps, the gunship goes into a spin, it?s engine whining without anyone controlling the throttle. It plunges forward, and there?s a thunderous explosion as my small contribution to Omega?s urban renewal scheme takes effect against the side of the building. I look around, smugly.

?Garrus!? There he is, lying on his side behind the furniture, a pool of blue blood beneath his head. I drop to my knees next to him, and the eye facing me blinks, once. ?Garrus, hold on, we?re getting you out of here.?

?He?s hurt bad, Commander.? As if on cue, Jacob states the obvious. Almost as if it?s in response, Garrus closes his eye.

?EDI!? I hit the communicator. ?We?re incoming, one casualty, severe, Turian. Have Doctor Chakwas prep for surgery.?

?He?s not gonna make it.? Zaeed has probably seen more battlefield casualties than most humans, and sounds regretful. Which doesn?t mean I don?t suddenly want to shoot him.

?We?re getting Garrus to a vehicle. Jacob, help me with him. Zaeed, watch out for stragglers, and a fast car. When we get to it, I?ll hotwire it.? I deploy all the medigel I have into Garrus, hoping it can keep him alive.

?Hotwiring vehicles, huh.? Zaeed sounds amused, as Jacob and I lift Garrus carefully. ?You obviously did some interesting things before you were military.? He leads us down the stairs, rifle at the ready. Fortunately for the mercenaries, the two or three that are still around flee once they see us coming. Zaeed picks out a vehicle, and turns back to us. ?Get Garrus in the back. I?ll drive.? He leans in through the window, and does something that makes the engine roar to life. ?You aren?t the only one who can hotwire cars.?



I pace around the Normandy?s briefing room. If Omega had traffic laws, Zaeed would have broken the lot getting us back here. Omega doesn?t have such laws, and anyone thinking of arguing with us about it probably noticed the dying Turian and the heavily armed and armoured humans and made the wisest decision. Now Garrus is in surgery. I trust Chakwas implicitly, and Professor Solus seems like an expert. But the image I can?t get out of my head is Garrus lying on his side, bleeding his life away in a grubby building on Omega.

The door slides open, and I spin around. Although I don?t dislike him, I still feel a surge of resentment when Jacob comes in. Possibly he doesn?t notice it, but he does seem a little uncomfortable. I make a serious effort to calm myself down. ?They?ve done what they can for him, Commander.? He sounds unhappy. ?But that was a bad hit he took.?

I nod jerkily at him, and he seems to take it for permission to continue. ?Chakwas and Solus think he?ll recover fully, but no-one was willing to say when he?d be on his feet again. They didn?t say that you shouldn?t go and../?

He halts, as the door swishes open. I round on it, prepared to give whoever is interrupting a proper yelling, regardless of the consequences. When I see it?s Garrus looming there, that yell doesn?t come out. I suspect I look really stupid, standing there with my mouth open and a big grin on my face, and I don?t care.

?Shepard.? Garrus walks in, back in the blue armour he was wearing before. There?s a hole blasted in the front right of the collar, and a smaller one at the back behind it. ?No-one would give me a mirror. How bad is it??

I say the first thing that comes into my head. ?Hell, Garrus, you were always ugly. Slap some face paint on it and no-one will notice the difference.?

His mandibles flare in amusement, and then close in pain. ?Oh, don?t make me laugh, damnit. My face is barely holding together as it is. Of course, some women like men with facial scars.? He pauses, and I wait for the punchline. ?Of course, most of those women are Krogan.?

Out of the corner of my eye, I notice Jacob salute, and head out towards the armoury. Garrus waits until the door closes behind him. ?Frankly, I?m more worried about you. Cerberus, Shepard? You do remember those horrific experiments they were doing.?

?That?s why I?m glad you?re hear, Garrus. If I?m going into hell, I want someone I can trust with me.?

?Heh. You realize this has me walking into hell with you. Just like old times.? He sounds pleased enough about it. ?I?ll be in the main battery, Shepard, seeing what I can do with the Normandy?s guns.? He gives me a Turian salute, and heads out.


With a little time to spare, I go to see Professor Solus. He is, as I expected, working in the lab. I pause as I enter. ?Professor Solus. Can you spare me a moment??

?Of course. Running a test now anyway, no need to watch until it finishes.?

?Is the lab satisfactory? Anything else you need??

?Yes. Most excellent, in fact. EDI is very helpful. Wonder if I could get AI for other labs. Found a few bugs when I first got here, of course. Destroyed most. Returned expensive one to Miranda.?

I can feel my face heating. ?Sorry about that.?

?No need to be. Not your bugs. Expected it. Would be disappointed if none present. Fun to search, find new designs.?

?Talking of designs, I?m thinking about our equipment. It?s not bad, but there?s a lot of prototype material around. Think we can pick up anything useful.?

?Have some things I can do for my omnitool. Scans of gear always helpful. Upgrade existing gear, find new things. Jacob, Chakwas, me, other crew, all have ideas for improvements. Normandy has mini-fabricator, some stores of material. Can build or upgrade equipment we find useful easily enough. Lack authority to order it, or would have. Miranda refused too. Says it?s your decision.?

?If there are things we can do to improve our chances, I?m for taking doing them.?

?Good. Will send list. Also, list of resources in hold. Some require rare metals, Eezo. May have to do some prospecting, recover samples, sell locations.?

?All right. I?ll look forward to it.? I wave a vague salute at Mordin, as he goes back to analyzing data.



It turns out to be an interesting read, Mordin?s list. We?ve got extensive stocks of Paladium, Platinum, and Iridium on the Normandy, as well as some Eezo containers. Some of the things he lists we can implement immediately, and I do so. The fabricator will soon be turning out chamber upgrades to increase the damage of our shotguns, improved emitter arrays for our armour?s shielding, and Mordin?s own omnitool is being upgraded in a way I don?t quite understand. He also lists Chakwas? idea for a face regenerator, and I whistle at the cost. It consumes more resources than anything else on the list, just to satisfy my vanity. I?ll just have to remember to think positively more often.


In addition to Mordin?s communication, there?s another which I wasn?t expecting. It seems rumours of my reappearance have got further than I would have expected.

From: Councillor David Anderson
Commander Shepard
I don?t know if the rumours are true, or if you?ll ever see this, but if you do I need you to come to the Citadel. Things have changed in the last two years, and I need to explain them to you in person. Don?t reply to this message. Head for the Citadel, and let me know when you arrive. I?ll set up a meeting immediately you do.
Anderson

Well, we had to go there sooner or later. There are a few things to do on Omega, but once they?re done, it?s off to return their wandering Spectre to the Council.

[Bluenose]

While Shepard Watched, Chapter 17
Officially, undead.

Heading into Omega, Miranda asks to come with me. ?Shepard, I need to talk to you. Can we do that on the way to see Aria??

?Course. What?s on your mind?? I gesture at Jacob to follow along. I?ve no desire to expose Garrus? survival, Mordin is busy in his lab, and Zaeed finds it boring.

?Where are we heading next?? I look at Miranda in surprise, as the airlock cycles. ?It?s not out of idle curiosity, Commander. Cerberus has some equipment we?d like to test; Normandy is going into all sorts of dangerous places, so we?d like it aboard. It?s not dangerous,? she holds a hand up as I glare at her, ?but the gear has been tested in labs and in the field, but not in actual combat. We really need to see what can be improved, and frankly you?re one of the best soldiers alive. Your insight is likely to help a lot.?

?I?ll see what I can come up with.?

?Thank you, Commander.?

As we exit the ship, EDI reports in. ?Shepard, I?ve been monitoring news reports and communication among surviving mercenaries. It appears they believe Archangel is dead. Also, reports on people assisting him do not identify you.?

?Good news.? Jacob sounds pleased. ?Won?t have to watch our backs all the time.?

?Please, Jacob.? Miranda sounds offended. ?This is Omega. You always have to watch your back.?


When we enter Afterlife, Aria is as usual up on her dais. Does the woman, OK Asari, never sleep? ?Hmm, Shepard. I see you survived. Despite the ?death? of Archangel. What do you need??

?Actually, at the moment I don?t need anything. On the other hand, I found a data pad among the belongings of the mercenaries. You might find the contents interesting.? I hold it out, and an elegant blue hand takes it from me.

At first, Aria looks amused, but her face gets noticeably darker as she reads the data pad. ?Interesting. So they were coming for me after they finished Archangel.? In a flash of rage she throws the data pad at one of her guards. ?Would someone like to tell me how this information slipped the net??

The Batarian flinches. ?I?ll get right on it.? He hurries off.

Aria turns to me. ?Thanks, Shepard. I owe you something for that. And I just might have that something.? She holds out her omnitool, and taps some instructions in. Mine beeps in response. ?That?s the coordinates to a cache of Blue Suns supplies. We recovered that off another mercenary. I was going to let my boys have it, but after this I think you deserve it more.?

?I?ll take any help I can get on this mission.?

?You might want to be careful. There?s probably security.?

?Dealt with ?security? before, guess I can again.? My voice sound slightly tired. ?Suppose I have to be going.?

?See about getting a nice handsome man, or whatever you prefer. You sound like you could use some stress relief.? Aria sounds amused, as she makes her parting shot.

On the Batarian news channel: ?The Menchar corporation is planning to petition the Citadel council to ease unfair restrictions on the intergalactic slave trade. A Menchar spokesman had this to say. ?Slavery is an integral part of the Batarian caste system. By restricting the trade, the Council is restricting our cultural expression.? The hearing is scheduled for three weeks time. Hegemony officials state that they do not expect the Council to take the culturally sensitive option.?


Back at the Normandy, Joker is waiting for us. While Miranda and Jacob head the other way, I go to speak to him, but he gets the first word in. ?Hey Commander. Isn?t it great that we got Garrus back. He was always my favourite, with that stick up his ass.?

?How are things going up here??

?Can we shut this thing off?? He gestures with a thumb towards EDI. ?Cause it?s driving me crazy. And it?s not that useful.?

?Cerberus disagrees.?

?Well, it won?t be that useful when I get ten minutes with an electro welder and some circuitry.?

?No sabotage, Joker.?

?I get it, no breaking the bosses toys.?

?The Citadel, Joker. Take us there.?

?Will do, Commander.?


I wander the ship for the next couple of days, chatting to various crew members. Zaeed has made his home down in a room on the engineering deck, where he?s commandeered a bunk. There?s a variety of personal souvenirs laid out around the room, as well as his combat gear. When I reach out towards an ancient combat rifle lying in pride of place on one tale, he stops me. ?Hey, don?t touch that. That?s Bessie. The first rifle I ever used. She?s been to hell and back, that rifle. I?d give every weapon I own for one more mission with her, broken down shitty old thing she is.?

I leave him to it. Ken and Gabby in engineering are a lot more welcoming. ?Commander, it?s good to see you.?

?Aye, that it is.? Ken sounds extremely Scottish today. ?Thanks to you, we can get the maintenance done in a couple o? hours every week, instead o? every day. Gives us more time for a little poker. Want to be dealt in for a hand or two??

?Kenneth.? Gabby hisses at him. ?The Commander didn?t come all the way down here just to play cards with a couple of grease monkeys like us.?

?Actually, it sounds like fun.? I mildly disagree. It?s not as if anything else needs urgent attention while we?re travelling FTL.

?Great! I?ll deal. It?s Skyllian Five.? Just for a moment Ken sounds doubtful. ?Do you know the variant??

?I think so. But you?ll go easy on the rookie, won?t you? I haven?t played for a couple of years.?

?Och, no worries. It?s a friendly game, Commander.?


Two hours later, Ken stares at the hand I lay down in dismay, before pushing over the last of his credit chips. ?Go easy on the rookie, she says. Then she wipes us out.?

Gabby seems to be enjoying it. ?It was worth it, just to watch the smug expression being wiped off your face.?

?You?re all right, Shepard. You?re all right.? Shaking his head, Ken gets up and heads over to his console. ?But I don?t think I?ll be playing cards with you any time soon.?



Doctor Chakwas is in medbay, of course. Everything is to her satisfaction in terms of equipment, but she admits to one problem. ?My private supplies are gone with the old Normandy. I even had a bottle of Serrice Ice Brandy that I was saving for a special occasion.?

Impulsively, I tell her, ?I?ll get you another one.?

?Oh, you needn?t bother. It?s expensive and hard to find. But thank you for the offer.?



As we approach, the Citadel, I?m hanging around CiC. It?s the first time I?ve done this on a private vessel, since the Normandy was always officially on Systems alliance business and could use Alliance facilities. As a vessel officially registered to a private corporation, one which only exists as a shell in the Terminus systems, I suspect we won?t get quite such rapid access. While waiting, though, we download incoming messages from the communication buoys. While Kelly is going through them and routing them to their destination, she looks over at me. ?Commander, you?ve a couple of private messages waiting for you.?

I check the terminal.

From: Illusive Man.
Shepard. We?ve been in contact with Kasumi Goto. You?ve probably never heard of her, she tries very hard and with a lot of success to stay out of any news reports. She is perhaps the best thief currently operating in the galaxy. We?ve managed to contact her, and after some negotiations she?s agreed to join your mission. You?ll need to check an advertising station on the Citadel, which she?ll contact you through. She insisted on a password, ?Silence is Golden?. I think you?ll be able to use her talents appropriately.
The Illusive Man

From: Cerberus Command.
Commander Shepard.
We understand you?re operating in the area of the Omega Nebula..One of our operatives has gone missing. He was involved in investigating Blue Sun activity, and failed to report in on time. We?d like you to check a location for us. Some of our other agents report the Blue Suns may have captured him. Check it out, and report the results.

The Citadel looks much like it did when I first came here, but there?s a distinct change in the guard force. While previously it consisted almost entirely of Turian vessels, apart from the Destiny Ascension, now there?s a sizeable contingent of human cruisers and escorts present. I look at them with mixed feelings. Certainly they aren?t out of place here, but even half the force deployed would provide security for a dozen fringe colonies that are currently vulnerable to the Collectors. I wonder how Anderson feels about it?


We end up with a berth in Zakera Ward, which is an intersting choice by traffic control. Three of the Wards are occupied primarily by one of the long-standing council races, the Salarians, arsari, and Turians. The others are much more mixed, and Zakera has a sizeable human population. Either they?re being sensible in keeping vessels among their own species, or they?re trying to segregate people more. I hope it?s the former.


Security is more obtrusive than previously. Garrus and Miranda both comment on it, while we?re waiting in the immigration queue.I even remark on it to the human woman on the desk. Apparently it?s because of the Geth attack two years ago. Yes, I think I might have heard of that. They?re trying to prevent Geth infiltration. And apparently, you can?t be too careful about it. ?Assumptions are dangerous!? I hear her arguing with a Turian as we move past, telling him that he has to hand over any biotic amp he has. When he asks why, she claims there are restrictions on weapon carriage on the Citadel now and he has to hand over his amp. He isn?t biotic, but he doesn?t like the idea of being disarmed. I take a quick inventory; between us we have a grenade launcher, three pistols, two sniper rifles, two assault rifles, a shotgun, and a sub machine gun, plus two biotics and three overcharged omnitools with military software. That might make us hard to disarm.

In the corridor beyond, we pass through a scanner. It beeps frantically, and I prepare myself for an argument about weapons, and whether being a Spectre allows me to ignore the rules ? which it should. Instead, the Turian on guard looks at the scanner in disbelief, then yells to someone, ?Shut that thing off.? As the alarm fades, he looks at me. ?Sorry about that, ma?am. The scanners seem to think you?re, well, dead.?

?I was only mostly dead. Try finding that option on government paperwork.?

His mandibles flare. ?Well, we need to sort this out. If you could step into the office, Captain Bailey, my superior, will see to what you need.?

As we go through, Garrus mutters to me. ?Bailey is a human name. There weren?t any human Captains in C-Sec a couple of years ago.?


Captain Bailey is a muscular human man with short cropped hair. When we go into the office he?s talking to one of his subordinates, a human woman. ?Look, you?ll have to make him scream a little. He won?t tell you anything just because you ask him nicely. If you don?t have the stomach, or you?re worried about being reported, I can handle it.?

?No sir. I can handle it.? She sounds nervous to me, but Bailey seems satisfied by the response. He looks my way, and his eyes widen.

?What seems to be the problem, Commander?? Something catches his eye on his computer screen. ?Ah, I think I understand. You?re officially listed as dead.?

?Yeah, and it?s a nuisance. Can you do something about it??

?Well, normally you?d have to go to the Records Office to establish that you weren?t dead. And the Immigration and Customs, to get access to the Citadel again. And probably Revenue and Finance, spending a year dead is a popular tax dodge. But I can see you?re a busy woman. So I can handle all that, just by pressing this button here.? His hand hovers over the keyboard.

?That?d be great.? I?ve got no desire to spend days wandering through the Citadel bureaucracy, as even if I?ve hardly ever encountered it myself I?ve heard the stories.

?Right.? His hand taps in a command. ?You?re officially alive again. You might want to check in with the Council, though. I?m sure they?d like to know one of their missing Spectres is still kicking.?

?I?m seeing Anderson. No doubt they?ll want their say.?

?Well, if there?s nothing else, Commander.? He looks down at the pile of papers on his desk.

?If you could tell me about Zakera Ward, it would help. Haven?t been here before.?

?It?s one of the mixed wards on the Citadel. Elcor, Volus and Hanar are commonest on the census,. There are some Krogan, I think I saw a Quarian the other day. Housing, shops, warehouses, entertainment, a human commercial zone down in Shin Akeba. It?s a pretty rough and tumble area. I come from New York City back on Earth, and policing Zakera is like policing that.?

?What did bring you here??

?I was in the military,? and that explains the ship tattoo that?s slipping out of his sleeve; Buenos Aires is a cruiser, ?And I wanted to settle down somewhere. Military life, you never know where you?ll end up next. It?s no life for a family. I looked for somewhere I could settle down permanently, and C-Sec valued military personnel. It seemed like a good match.?

?There weren?t any human Captains in C-Sec, last time I was here.?

?The Geth attack caused a lot of casualties. Especially in the Rapid Reaction teams. They needed experienced bodies, fast, and there were a lot of humans with experience around. I got the promotion.?

?I won?t take any more of your time, Captain. Thanks for the help.?

?Any time, Spectre.?


It?s after we?ve left, with my aliveness still shiny, that I realise we need to get to the Presidium, and I don?t know my way around. Rather than bother Bailey again, I head over to the nearest Avina terminal.

?Greetings, Shepard. It has been two years three months and seventeen days since you last used this facility.?

?How do I get to the Presidium ring from here??

?Take the corridor to your left and follow the curve to your right. The transport terminal is on the left, and transport to the Presidium ring is accessible there. Please be advised that weapons restrictions are in place throughout the Citadel following the Geth attack two years ago.?

?The ?Geth? attack??

?Yes. Two years ago, the rogue Spectre Saren Arterius led an attack on the Citadel by a force of Geth. His force was defeated by the combined efforts of the Citadel Defence Force and the human Fifth Fleet. Since then, weapon restrictions have been in place on the Citadel as part of a drive against organised crime.?

?Has it worked??

Reported crime has fallen twenty-three percent, and homicide has declined forty-one percent.?

?Thanks for your time.?


When I reach the Presidium, I head straight for the human embassy, which Anderson now uses as his office. He?s got a communication link with the other Councilors.

?Really, Anderson, this meeting would be more productive if Udina was present.? And it appears the Asari Councilor has her preferences.

?My advisor is unavailable. As Councillor, mine is the voice of humanity and the Alliance.?

?Very well. Will Commander Shepard be here soon??

?Already here, Councilor.? Anderson looks quite weary, to me. He perks up when I come in.

?Commander, it?s good to see you.? He moves towards me, hand held out.

I shake it. ?Good to see you too, Anderson. I hope the last couple of years have treated you well.?

?There have been rough spots. But it?s good to have you back.?

?Indeed.? Now that?s a worried Salarian Councillor. ?Though some of the reports about your return are.. Unsettling.?

?We called you here so you could explain your actions, Shepard.? And not a happy Asari. ?We owe you that much. You did save our lives two years ago in the battle against Saren and his Geth.?

?I?m investigating missing human colonies in the Terminus systems.? I suspect that isn?t a surprise to any of them. ?The Collectors are certainly involved, and there?s evidence they?re working for the Reapers.?

?Ah yes, ?Reapers?.? Did the Turian just make air-quotes at me. He certainly sounds derisive. ?The immortal race of sentient warships supposedly waiting in dark space. We have dismissed that claim.?

I suspect Anderson notices how my fist clenches at this, as he?s quick to turn to me. ?Shepard, you have to realise that only you and members of your crew spoke to either the hologram on Ilos or to Sovereign. I believe you, but without evidence from another source, the others think Saren was behind the attack.?

?So talk to Vigil, or examine the wreckage of Sovereign. That should make it pretty obvious what sort of technology we?re dealing with.?

?The V.I. on Ilos was no longer functioning when an expedition got there.? So the Salarians sent one, although that seems to surprise some of the other Councillors. ?As for Sovereign, there?s no indication it was anything more than a Geth creation.?

?The Geth are capable of remarkable technological feats; probably why Saren recruited them.?

?This Reaper theory proves just how fragile your mental state is.? I wonder what the penalty is for punching Turian councillors. It is just a hologram, though. ?You have been manipulated, by Cerberus and before them by Saren.?

?Saren was an organic. Why would the Geth follow him? It doesn?t make sense.?

?Saren was a compelling and charismatic individual. No doubt he found a way to reach the Geth.?

?His invention of the Reapers was just part of his plan to attack the Citadel. He fooled the Geth, as he fooled you.?

?We believe that you believe it, but that doesn?t make it true.?

?So I?m on my own with this. Again.?

?We are in a difficult position, Shepard. You?re working for Cerberus, an avowed enemy of the Council. That is treason, a capital offence.?

?That?s too far.? Anderson comes to my defence. ?Shepard is a hero. I won?t let this go unchallenged.?

?Perhaps there is a compromise. A personal gesture of some kind.? Both the Asari and Salarian look at the Turian?s hologram.

?Shepard, if you keep a low profile and confine your activities to the Terminus systems, the Council is willing to offer you reinstatement as a Spectre.? The Turian looks as if he?s bitten into an apple and swallowed a worm.

?Does that mean I?ll have to start filing reports again.?

I think the Salarian remembers some of mine. ?That won?t be necessary. Think of it as a gesture of good faith on our part.?

?We can?t become officially involved in an investigation regarding the missing colonies in the Terminus systems. But Spectre reinstatement shows our support for you personally.? A typical Asari compromise, letting them take credit for anything I achieve while leaving me to hang if I fail. For a moment I?m tempted to tell them where to stuff their offer. The expression on the Turians face stops me, since he?s obviously hoping for exactly that.

?In that case, I accept.?

?Good luck with your investigation, Shepard.? The Asari fiddles with a few controls. ?We hope for a quick resolution? and a quick end to your relationship with Cerberus.? The holograms turn off almost as one.

Anderson breathes a sigh of relief. ?That went better than I expected. You realise, that the Council won?t actually do anything. Their offer is just symbolic.?

?It?ll do. Just keep them out of my way.?

?I?ll do that. Is there anything I can?.?

The door opens, interrupting Anderson. Walking in as if it?s own office comes former-Ambassador Udina. ?Anderson, we need to talk about? Shepard.? He does a double take. ?What are you doing here??

?I?ve a long list of people I really didn?t want to see, and your name was right at the top.?

?The feeling is mutual, believe me. Your return is a bureaucratic nightmare for us.?

?I invited Shepard here.? I think Anderson doesn?t want a fist fight in his office. ?We?ve just been talking to the Council.?

?What? Councillor, do the words ?political shit-storm? mean anything to you.? Udina sounds like he thinks he?s still in charge.

?Relax.? Maybe that?ll push his blood pressure further up. ?They agreed to reinstate me as a Spectre, provided I stay out of the way.?

?Yes, I can see how that might work out.? Udina actually seems to think about it. ?For both sides. Still, you shouldn?t have taken such a step without consulting me first, Councillor.?

?I make the decisions here, not you.? Anderson slaps him down. ?Why don?t you go to your office and think about that for a while.?

?Of course, Councillor. Commander.? He smirks, even as he gives a small bow and withdraws.

?Sorry about that.? Anderson moves over to the window overlooking the Prsidium ring. ?Udina never got over the fact that I got the Council seat and not him. Sometimes I need to remind him who is in charge.?

?He?s just doing his job.? Suddenly I?m tired of the bureaucracy and politics. I think I know how Garrus felt.

?True enough. He?s got his uses. And if you want something done on the Citadel, he knows who can make it happen. Plus, he?s always happy to attend all those functions I can?t be bothered to.?

?How have you been??

?Knowing the truth about Sovereign has been brutal. You just heard the others, they don?t want to believe it. it?s like beating my head against a brick wall. This isn?t how I planned on spending my retirement.?

?You sound like you need a break. Why don?t you come with me, on the new Normandy??

?I can?t do that. Someone needs to keep the fight going. Besides, yours is a young persons job. I don?t like to admit it, but I?m getting too old to run around the galaxy with whatever the Alliance military is involved with now.?

?Last I knew, we were still fighting holdout Geth.?

?They?re not the threat they once were. They?re getting increasingly disorganised. You can?t discount them, but we haven?t had serious casualties in months. A civilian ship will spot an enclave, and we?ll send in a squad to deal with it. They?re still a nuisance, but they aren?t the bogeymen they once were.?

?Can you tell me what happened to Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams after the Normandy was destroyed??

?Operations Chief Williams is on a special assignment.? I wait, but he shakes his head. ?I can?t talk about it, even to you. Not with the company you?re keeping.?

?I better go.?

?If you need advice, or just someone to talk to, come and see me.?



On the way back to the Normandy, I remember the food supply. Zakera Ward has a food store, that according to reviews is highly regarded. The Turian running it certainly seems to agree.

Overheard in the store:
Human customer: ?I hear this is the best place for food in Zakera Ward.?
Turian shopkeeper: ?You heard wrong. This is the best place for food in the whole damn Citadel.?

I check the store console, check off the ingredients from my list, and order them for delivery to the Normandy. That should make some people happy. And some unhappy, since some really like having something to moan about, but they?ll be moaning and hopefully eating properly at the same time. Then, I look for an unusual advertising board.

We find it near the entrance to the area. As I close in it, it?s message changes. ?Commander Shepard, enter your password for a free gift.?

I?m amused. Raising my omnitool, I type in ?Silence is Golden?.

The board changes again, now showing the upper body of an Asian woman in a hooded top. ?Good to finally meet you, Commander Shepard. Kasumi Goto. I?m a fan.?

?You?re sure it?s me?? Plenty of people would be doubtful. I?m wondering where she?s observing the exchange from.

?Oh yes. I mean, we?ve never met, but it?s clearly you. You have a look about you, someone who?s seen things other people haven?t.?

?How did Cerberus get in touch with you??

?They didn?t.? Behind me, Miranda seems to bristle. ?I noticed they were trying to track me, and followed them. Once I found what they wanted, I introduced myself. I?m surprised they didn?t contact me sooner, but that?s my own fault for making myself so hard to find. I?m the best thief in the galaxy, not the most famous. They agreed you?d do a little task for me, and here we are.?

?A little task, eh. Mind telling me what it is?? Same thing that happened with Zaeed. I hope it?s not a habit.

?I suppose it must have slipped their mind. My partner, Keiji Okuda, was killed recently, by a man called Donovan Hock. I want to recover his greybox.?

?A greybox is some sort of hardware, I assume.?

?Yes. It?s a direct neural implant, for storing memories and information. Illegal in some places. Keiji had one, and I want it back. So we?ll have to get it off Hock.?

?This Donovan Hock, what does he do??

?Oh, he?s a fine upstanding mercenary and protection racketeer. Has an estate on Blenkenstein, and lots of money.?

?Sounds like a lot of trouble to go to.?

?Apart from Keiji?s memories, there?s something else in the greybox. Something even I don?t know what it is. But Keiji warned me about it. He recovered some data on one of his heists that scared him. Said it might lead to war, and if the data ever got out it would mean big trouble for the Alliance. But he didn?t want to destroy it, either. So he mixed it in with all the memories and other data on the ?box.?

?We?ll find time for it.?

?Good. It?ll be fun. And if we?re lucky, you won?t even need to draw a gun.? Suddenly, Kasumi appears on a catwalk above us. ?We should wrap this up. You look pretty silly talking to an advertisement. See you on your ship, Shep.? She walks away, activating her stealth field generator to fade out of sight. Now she seems like an interesting person. I?ve got a little shopping done, we?ve presumably had our new Cerberus test gear delivered, and I?m both officially alive and a Spectre again. And if the Council aren?t going to be any help, at least they won?t be getting in my way. Let?s be heading back. 

On the Normandy, there?s one more new message come in for me.

From: Jonn Witson
Hey, Aria gave me this address. I think I met you at Afterlife on Omega. You stopped me joining up with those mercs who were trying to take out Archangel.
Man, I was so pissed at you. I got blind drunk, and it was a few days later before I got it together enough to check the news vids and find out that nearly all those mercs had gotten killed by Archangel.
I don?t know who you are or if you got out of there yourself, but thanks. I felt really stupid when I heard about the body count, and how I could have been part of it. I?ll make the most of the chance you gave me.
Jonn Witson

[Bluenose]

While Shepard Watched, Chapter 18
Dead people are so messy

So, next on the list of possible recruits are a biotic convict, and a Krogan warlord/mad scientist. They sound like interesting people, not at all disruptive to crew efficiency. I think we?ll get a couple more missions under our belt, establishing a record of success, before we try to pick them up. Fortunately, there are missions available in the Omega Nebula.

One is the Cerberus operation to track down their missing agent. The other pops up on my message terminal an hour or so after we return to the Normandy.

From: Admiral Hackett, Alliance Command.
Commander Shepard.
We?ve got something you might be interested in. When the original Normandy went down, the Alliance was more concerned with recovering survivors than searching for the wreckage. Now, we?ve found it, or rather a tramp freighter crew found it and sold the location to us. The planet Alchera is in the Omega Nebula, outside Alliance territory. We don?t want to risk an incident that might provoke some of the groups in the Terminus systems to start raiding, but we?d like the wreckage investigated. There are still twenty crew members unaccounted for, and if possible we?d like their dog tags recovered for the sake of their families. Also, we want to set up a memorial to the ship and crew. I?m having the plans sent to the Citadel, where it can be put together in a few hours. Travel to the site, find any dog tags you can, and put the memorial up somewhere you think is appropriate. There?s no one better suited to the task, or in a better situation to perform it.
Hackett

Part of me really, really, doesn?t want to do this. Seeing the wreckage of my old ship, visible proof that it?s gone, and then collecting the dog tags of people I knew and trusted. On the other hand, Hackett is absolutely right about the need to find out what happened to them for the sake of the families. Maybe it?s my special forces training, but leaving people behind is not something I feel comfortable with. So the Omega Nebula is our next stop, and I so communicate to Joker.

While we?re travelling there, I pop down to see Miranda at one point. As I?m travelling past the mess, I hear a comment being shouted. ?Rupert. You?ve done something different with the meals today. Seems like you put in more food and less ass.? My cook doesn?t sound to unhappy, even as he replies. ?Ha ha, very funny.? It seems like he was telling the truth about being a pretty decent cook. Instead of Miranda, I head over to speak to him. Though he notices me first.

?Commander Shepard. Thanks for getting those supplies for me. Now I can make some of the great recipes I know. Here, try some of this. One of my specialties, Calamari Gumbo.? He dips a serving ladle into a bubbling pot, and lifts a generous sample towards me.

?Thank you. I?ll give it a try.? I?ve eaten military rations for ten years, how bad can it be? The answer is, actually pretty good. He leans over towards me, conspiratorially.

?Truth be told, it?s an Asari recipe. Seems a little cannibalistic to me, with those head tentacle things of theirs, but if there?s one thing you can say about the Asari, they know their grub.?

It seems in fact that the new, higher standard of cooking, is one of the main topics of conversation on the ship. It?s got down as far as engineering, as I overhear wandering through.

?I hear Rupert is doing some good things in the galley these days.? It seems Gabby is surprised.

?Ach.? Ken sounds dismissive. ?That scunner couldn?t cook a good haggis if his life depended on it.?

?I don?t know how you could tell. All haggis tastes like ass anyway.?

?Aye, but in the right hands it can taste like might fine ass.?

I must look ?scunner? up at some point. It sounds like a useful word to describe someone in the right circumstances. Zaeed also remarks on it, claiming it?s not good because he?s used to military rations and eating this well gives him indigestion. So improved food has exactly the results I expected.

Though not entirely with Kasumi. She?s holed up in the port observation lounge. She?s scrounged up a bed from somewhere, and also has a nice array of personal belongings around one end of the room. There?s a nice view out through the windows, which Kasumi remarks on. ?I?m not used to travelling like this, but I love looking out at the stars. Normally I sneak aboard ships and travel in the cargo hold, or even in a shipping container.? I?m most amused by her comment about the cooking. ?That Rupert in the galley is some sort of evil genius cook. Emphasis on the evil.?


Eventually, we pass through the Omega Nebula mass relay and head to the fuel depot. I also finally remember I was going to talk to Miranda. She has a scheme. She?s been reading reports on technological advancements, and also paying attention to the items we?re developing and producing on the Normandy. While we?ve got a variety of rare metals on board, and Element Zero, everything we research uses some of it, and replenishment is quite erratic. Normandy has excellent scanners, and she has the plans of a scanner recently developed by a Cerberus front corporation that enable orbital sensors to scan for a mix of minerals. Add the Normandy?s probe bay, which can land a variety of probes capable of returning samples to orbit, and we have the makings of a ship which can recover the necessary material for any upgrades without depending on buying them or recovering them from our enemies. Also, sale of the locations to mining firms would give us a potential source of revenue. I authorise Miranda?s proposed alterations to our scanners, and make sure that we buy both fuel and data probes at the fuel depot.

Once we?ve bought what we need, Joker sets a course for Lorek, in the Fathar system. It?s where the missing Cerberus agent should be found. Since we haven?t used them before, I decide to do some scanning on the planets in the system, as well as Lorek itself, looking for minerals. Tedious work, but probably necessary. Terrestrial planets are certainly better choices than gas giants, and habitable garden worldsand post-garden worlds seem to be the only sources for element zero. It solves our mineral resource problems, even if it does take a lot of time.

After the successful tests, we move on to Lorek. Again, we scan the planet. This time though we?re searching for a mercenary base, both with the scanner and listening in on communication frequencies. EDI eventually pinpoints it, based on directional analysis of the comms chatter and scan data, to an artifical structure built into the walls of a canyon. I head for the shuttle, and Garrus falls in with me. ?Shepard. I?m coming with you.?

?All right.? I suspect this is for a chance to talk where there aren?t any Cerberus people listening in, although EDI monitors our communications. That?s why I suggest Zaeed join us. He, I?m sure doesn?t care about Cerberus one way or another.

The shuttle drops us at a dusty landing pad at the end of a canyon, with a walkway taking us intoan isntallation partly tunnelled into the cliffs and partly erected on the edge of them. There?s no one around. While we?re there, I take Garrus aside for a moment. ?Something you wanted to say to me, Garrus??

?Not really, no.? He seems startled. ?Just wanted to stretch my legs a bit.?

?Okay.? I?m still a little doubtful. ?Not having any problems with the crew. They do work for Cerberus.?

?They don?t seem like it. Half of them know less about Cerberus than I do. They don?t seem much different from the crew of the old Normandy. Just.. different people. Mostly.?

?So you aren?t having any problems settling in. That?s good.? Also, to me, surprising.

?No. Now, if you asked if I thought there were any problems, that?s a different matter.? Ah, now I think I know why he wanted to come down.

?Hit me.? Suddenly, I realise Garrus is peraps not familiar with that expression, as he?s looking decidely confused. ?I mean, tell me what you think needs doing, hit me with the problem.?

?Strange expression.? His gaze turns slightly wistful. ?On a turian ship, that would be an invitation to spar.?

?There?s a lot of sparring on Turian ships.? That doesn?t sound exactly military, or at least it isn?t the human military style.

?Some. Come down to the gunnery station, and I might tell you about it. But that isn?t what I wanted to ask about.?

?So, what is??

?It?s the weapons on the Normandy. They?re the same as on the old Normandy. Now, I?m not saying anything against the old version, but this Normandy is quite a lot bigger and has more power to use. The main guns could be upgraded significantly without compromising other systems. And there?s one other thng.? For a moment, he looks quite hesitant.

?Garrus??

?When we destroyed Sovereign two years ago, a lot of wreckage was spread around. Now some of it hit the Citadel; I hear they?re still recovering the odd piece. Some of that was recovered by people who didn?t return it to the authorities, and some that missed the Citadel was recovered by ships that were in the area. I?ve got contacts, still, in C-Sec and in the Turian military. And the Turian military has one of the cannons from Sovereign. They?ve adapted it so we can actually fit them into our vessels. If you want, I can put out some feelers, see if I can get the plans. I?m not too happy about giving that technology to Cerberus, but it?s your decision.?

I think about it. I can understand not wanting to give Cerberus anything, but I also want this mission to be survivable. Better armanent would help, considering how the old Normandy got dismantled by that Collector ship. ?See what you can find out, Garrus. I want every edge we can get.?

?Will do, Commander.?


After that conversation, the raid on the base is a bit of an anti-climax. When we enter the initial room, a group of startled mercenaries react by coming out of the back room, if not one at a time at least not with any sort of organisation. The Eclipse retain their inadequate protection, and with plenty of cover the biotic effects some of them throw around don?t achieve much. As the last of the initial group fall, we push forward. The room they came out of is some sort of lounge, with no other exits.

After a little safe breaking, we return to the main room. The computer terminals there reveal more information. The logs show, apart from a series of routine entries about supplies, that this group were specifically for the Cerberus agent in question. Three entries are most relevant.

Interrogator: Cpl. Geero
Subject: Cerberus Agent Tyrone Rawlings
Eclipse targeted Agent Rawlings some time ago. We know Rawlings is connected to the encrypted data we acquired. The data could conclusively prove Cerberus' involvement in rachni experiments. We believe Rawlings possesses a cipher that can be used to decrypt the data. Without his cipher, the data could take years for Eclipse to decode.

Interrogator: Cpl. Geero
Subject: Cerberus Agent Tyrone Rawlings
Agent Rawlings proved difficult to capture. Having insinuated himself on a ship bound for the Attican Traverse, he had won over the loyalty of the ship's crew who believed him to be a human dignitary on a mission of discovery. Our own agents managed to disable the ship and hobble its defenses long enough to extract Agent Rawlings.
We lost a lot of men to obtain this asset. This data had better be worth the expense.

Interrogator: Cpl. Geero
Subject: Cerberus Agent Tyrone Rawlings
The interrogation has failed. Despite some of our most advanced interrogation techniques, Agent Rawlings managed to evade our questions. When we applied more invasive methods, he proved resistant to those as well. Eventually Agent Rawlings' resistance caused tempers to flare. We consider it unfortunate that Agent Rawlings did not live to pass on the cipher.
We have men working to decipher the encryption now. As long as we control this data, its mere existence remains a powerful tool against Cerberus.

So, it looks like we?re looking for a corpse, and for an interrogation cell. None so far. I check the console, and realise there?s an interrogation room in the facility, through a locked door on the other side of the chamber. It?s easy enough to unlock.

Unfortunately, this time the Eclipse mercenaries are ready for us, and they?ve had time to make a plan. While the lightly armed troopers fan out, trying to pin us down, the biotics hold back to target anyone who pokes their head up, and a couple of engineers activate their combat drones to move against us.

It isn?t an easy fight, but the combat drones are easily dealt with when Garrus overloads them with his omnitool. With him at the back of the room, sniping, I get Zaeed to fire from behind the computer console to help keep their heads down. I slip forward, before going over one of the plastisteel walls and hiding behind a pillar. I?m carrying one of Cerberus? experimental heavy weapons, the Arc Projector. If I can target someone, I can hit them with an electric charge that will then leap to anyone nearby. One of the mercenaries is trying to work into position to fire on me. Rather than stop him, I prepare the projector. It whines for a few seconds, and as he begins firing my shields start to deplete badly. Before it?s too serious, there?s a flashing discharge of energy. As the trooper I?m targeting starts to spasm, three more jerk in response to secondary bursts. Two shots ring out, one from Garrus and another from Zaeed, who has also switched to sniper rifle. The two of them finish the others before they can get back into cover. Suddenly, one enemy flank is gone. Unfortunately it?s the one we can?t really get at, and Zaeed pays for it, spinning backwards as biotic shoves throw him against a wall. Fortunately, there isn?t really anyone in position to fire on him, and the one who tries to get somewhere they can walks right in front of me. A quick kick and the Asari in question is sprawled on the floor in the open. Zaeed gets up, slightly painfully, and moves back into position. With him and Garrus covering, I move backwards. The mercenaries are a lot less willing to expose themselves long enough for the Arc Projector to fire, which means it?s something that needs careful tactical planning. I start composing a report in my head explaining its advantages and disadvantages, and suggesting possible improvements, even while I switch to a shotgun. Zaeed fires a burst from his rifle, Garrus snipes one of the mercenaries, and I duck around a corner and crouch against a wall. One quick shot and I rush down the edge of the wall. Ducking behind a section of armoured glass, I grin at the mercenary on the other side of it. I don?t think he?s as pleased with the situation as I am. After we got rid of several of the other Eclipse, they spread out wider in what I think is an attempt to stop us outflanking them down the other side of the room. That was probably a mistake, as they don?t quite have enough firepower anywhere to stop us closing in.

With a quick pull, I go over the wall before the mercenary can get imaginative. The other one that?s joining him gapes at me, and then starts to backpedal furiously. I suspect it was Garrus that sniped him in the head, though I?m more concerned with the one I?m fighting. An elbow in the ribs, a quick drive into the face with my knee, and then I raise my shotgun and smash it into the back of his head, twice to make sure he isn?t getting up. As I get up, I realise the Eclipse are trying to funnel around the room to get away from me. But with me near one wall and Zaeed close to another, they haven?t really got anywhere to find cover from both of us in that corner of the room. Although the leader is unusually tough, having both biotic shielding and heavier armour than is typical of the Eclipse, we shoot them to pieces in the corner without much more difficulty.

With them down, we check the last rooms. One is, as expected, the interrogation chamber. I avert my eyes from the corpse on the table; it?s not a matter of squeamishness, but leaving bodies lying around seems horribly undignified. Instead, I head straight for the computer. Connecting my omnitool, I download the data to EDI. In moments, she?s back in contact. ?Shepard, the Cerberus data is present but encrypted. It would be embarrassing to Cerberus if the data was released to the public. What do you wish to do with it??

I hesitate. I?m not a Cerberus fan, but I don?t want to give them the impression I?m working directly against them right now. ?Upload it to Cerberus Command, EDI, please.?

?Cerberus Command confirmed, Shepard. Data sent.?

?Not the Alliance, Shepard?? Garrus questions me, quietly.

?Nor keeping it for yourself, either.? Zaeed seems mildly interested.

?No, to either. We still need their resources to deal with the Collectors. That has priority.?