Slaves of Cerberus Prologue: Right Place, Wrong Time (9/14)
anonymous
November 18 2013, 05:17:27 UTC
"The Council... Ash, what's going on?"
Ash checked around them, making sure that nobody was within ear shot, before leaning close to Shepard. "The owner of this casino, Elijah Khan, has been making some very strange money transfers recently."
"That's hardly a secret, Ash," Shepard said. "We already knew he was involved in weapons smuggling."
But Ash shook her head. "It's more than that, Shepard. We think he might be funneling money to... to..." Ash gritted her teeth. "To Cerberus."
At first, Shepard thought it was a joke. But Ash's expression was dead serious. "Ash, that's impossible. The Illusive Man died on the Crucible. Cerberus is dead."
"That's what we all thought," Ash said, taking a drink offered by the bartender and knocking it back. "But about six months ago we've started seeing a lot of Cerberus chips going dark. Too many to just be a coincidence."
Shepard considered this. After the Crucible was activated and all Reaper tech was disabled, the indoctrination that many of the Cerberus troops had been subjected to was reversed. As a substantial number of Cerberus members were conscripted into service against their will, the Council and Alliance hadn't felt it would be appropriate to punish any members of the organization for crimes they may not have willingly committed.
On the other hand, they weren't about to just let these people completely off the hook. Any former members of Cerberus who were captured or came forward on their own were essentially put on "parole." They were implanted with tracking chips, and expected to check in with a designated Council representative on a monthly basis.
It wasn't a perfect system, but up until this very moment, Shepard had been under the impression that it was working out just fine.
"And those chips can't just be cut out by any average doctor," Shepard mused. "Tampering with them would send a warning signal out to the Citadel, unless..."
"Unless somebody with serious skills, or a lot of money to put into some very expensive tech took it out," Ashley said. "The type of money that somebody like, say, the owner of a casino might have to throw around."
Shepard shook her head. "Still, that's not proof that it's Cerberus. Maybe some of these folks are just sick of being tracked, and Khan's got a side business going helping them get unchipped."
"It's not just that, Shepard," Ashley said. "We've been seeing reports of recruitment fliers going out. Never coming right out and saying the name, of course, but a lot of talk about 'keeping Earth for humans' and 'paying the aliens back for waiting until the last minute to help us.' Lots of reports of people with known anti-alien sentiments suddenly going off-planet and then disappearing off the grid. It ain't 100%, but it's close enough that the Council has me looking."
"Dammit, Ash, why didn't you tell me about this?" Shepard said under her breath. "Why didn't the Council..." And then it dawned on her, and it took all of her resolve not to bark out every expletive she knew. "They can't be serious. I only..."
"I know, Shepard, I know," Ash tried to mollify her. "Listen, I may not have agreed with it at the time, but I understand why you did it. I'm sure the Council understands why you did it, too. If it was up to me, I would have told you as soon as we got the first reports. But in the end, for however short a time it was, you were a member of Cerberus. And the Council just doesn't want to take any risks on letting you be involved."
Shepard fumed. After all this time, and everything she had done, the Council still didn't completely trust her.
Seeing the anger on Shepard's face, Ash tried her best to change the subject. "So you being here... I assume it has something to do with that massive shootout earlier?"
Biting back her anger for now, Shepard nodded. "A gun that one of the mercs carried has ties to Khan. Liara intercepted a call he made to whoever masterminded the attack. Sounds like the two of them aren't on such great terms anymore. We figured we might be able to get Khan to talk."
"Damn, guess that explains why Khan hasn't been coming out onto the casino floor tonight," Ashley said. "So sounds like the attack on you might be tied up with Cerberus as well."
Slaves of Cerberus Prologue: Right Place, Wrong Time (10/14)
anonymous
November 18 2013, 05:20:45 UTC
"Maybe if we can prove that Cerberus is out to kill me, that'll be enough to convince the Council that I'm not going to join back up with them," Shepard bitterly said.
Ashley nodded. "So, I assume that means you've got a plan to get to Khan," she said, and then let out a short laugh. "Ah, who am I kidding? You always have a plan, don't you, Shepard?"
She should be angry with Ash for keeping things from her, but Shepard knew that she'd just been following orders. And it was good to see her again. "Of course I do. Right now it's a three-woman job, but I think we can fit in one more."
"Three-woman job, huh?" Ashley said. "I was pretty sure I spotted Liara as you were coming in, but who's the other one?"
"Maya Brooks. An Alliance analyst. I'll introduce you after we've gotten a chance to talk to Khan, okay?"
"Great. Let's do this," Ashley said.
* * *
"Let's do this!" Ashley called out, as she took point heading deeper into the Citadel Archives.
Shepard followed after Ash, her mind still processing what had happened over the past few hours. They had successfully penetrated Khan's panic room, but their only payoff for the scheme was a dead body and threats from the true mastermind of the attack on Shepard. Not long after they'd returned from the casino empty-handed, Glyph informed Shepard that someone was using her Spectre authorization to access the Citadel Archives.
That "someone," as it turned out, was the last person Shepard would have ever suspected: a clone of herself, created by Cerberus to provide spare organs for the Lazarus Project. And now, she and those mercs were out to steal the Normandy. For what purpose, Shepard couldn't imagine. It wasn't like she would be able to pretend to be the real Shepard for long.
They had split into three teams, Shepard going with Ash and Liara as they searched for the clone. Glyph had informed them that the clone was looking through the Citadel Archives for something, but couldn't tell what. Whatever it was, Shepard didn't intend to let her live long enough to put it to any use.
"Team Hammerhead, we're heading to the next level. What's your location?" Shepard called out over her comms to one of the other teams. There was no response at first, only static. Shepard tried again. "Hammerhead, do you copy?"
Still no response. Something was wrong. Up until now, the mercs they had faced off against hadn't posed much of a challenge. They couldn't have taken out the entire group already... could they?
Rounding the corner, Shepard saw the other group, who'd called themselves "Team Mako." "We'll try to clear a path, Commander!" she heard Brooks say over the comms. "Hammerhead's gone ahead!"
Shepard fired off shots at the mercs up ahead, while Liara sent out a wave of biotic force and Ashley sent a burst of assault rifle fire in their direction. It didn't take long for the mercs to be subdued, and as they started moving forward again, Shepard heard Tali on her commlink. "We see the clone, Shepard! Mako going in!"
After taking out a pair of cloaked snipers, Shepard led her team up the stairs after the rest of the squad. "Team Mako, we're coming up behind! What's your status?"
"We're under..." Shepard heard Brooks say, before her voice was swallowed by static.
"Mako, where are you?" Shepard called out, getting that unsettling feeling again. No response. Charging past several holographic displays, Shepard couldn't help but notice that there were no sounds of gunfire anywhere. No more enemies attacking.
It was, to use a tired cliché, too quiet.
Using her Spectre authorization to move through the next door, Shepard heard Brooks call out. "Commander, over here! Help! We're being cut off!"
Charging forward, Shepard stepped onto one of the moving platforms... and a blue forcefield flared in front of her face, trapping her and her two companions where they stood. "Brooks!" she yelled. "The vault sealed us in!"
"Is there an override?" Liara asked, staring around at the blue field that now encased them with concern in her eyes.
"Not seeing one," Ashley informed the group.
"Cortez? Brooks?" Shepard got back on her comms. "Do you read me? Is anyone on this frequency?"
Slaves of Cerberus Prologue: Right Place, Wrong Time (11/14)
anonymous
November 18 2013, 05:26:36 UTC
"The short answer is: no. They're not," said a familiar voice. The clone stepped around the corner, crossing her arms and fixing Shepard with a mocking grin.
Shepard fired off shots in anger at the forcefield, knowing it wouldn't do any good but unable to control herself. Dammit, she was smarter than this. How had she allowed herself to get trapped like this? Where was the rest of her team now?
As if sensing Shepard's question, the clone spoke. "The longer answer involves your friends trapped in iridium vaults and forgotten for... well, forever."
Shepard clenched her fists. "Others know about this. About you. The Alliance will stop you."
The threat didn't seem to bother the clone, however. "What do you think, Staff Analyst Brooks? Will the Alliance stop us?"
And from behind the clone stepped Brooks. Only not the awkward, nervous analyst that Shepard had met in a sushi restaurant several hours ago. But looking confident, self-assured.... and giving Shepard that same cocky smile that the clone currently was. "I wouldn't know. I don't actually work for them."
"Who the hell are you, really?" Shepard asked her. Remembering her conversation with Ash at the bar, she wagered a guess. "You're with Cerberus, aren't you?"
"Yes, but no," Brooks said. "Not the Cerberus you're familiar with, Commander. The Illusive Man let his obsession with your betrayal cloud his judgment. He turned Cerberus from the proud organization it once was into a group with only one goal: stopping the Reapers before you could. In the end it didn't matter to him whether or not the Reapers were truly defeated. All he wanted was to prove you wrong."
"We're bringing Cerberus back the way it was meant to be," the clone said. "An organization dedicated to the advancement of humanity. No more collaborating with aliens like your attack on the Collector base. Humanity went to aliens for help against the Reapers, and what did it get us? They would have gladly let Earth be burnt to rubble if you hadn't flew around the galaxy running all their little errands."
"We were under attack as well!" Liara protested.
Ashley spoke up. "You couldn't have expected aliens to prioritize human lives over the lives of their own species! Shepard helped them save their people so that they could help us save ours!"
"Of course you would take their side," the clone sneered at Ashley. "Just another lap-dog of the Council. And even if they did help us, look what we've gotten in return. Aliens infesting Earth. Crowding out humanity and trying to take our planet for their own. Now, more than ever, humanity needs Cerberus."
"You should consider yourself lucky," Brooks said. "We had originally planned this attack for some time before the Reaper War ended. But after some thought, I managed to convince my associate here that we should bide our time. Wait to see how things turned out. I figured either you would die, Shepard, and then we could have this other Shepard step in and come up with some miraculous story about how you cheated death..."
"...or you would live," the clone finished. "And then we could do what we had planned to do back then. Take over your identity, and steal the Normandy for ourselves."
"And how long do you think you can pull that off?" Shepard asked them. "You know you can't pretend to be me forever. I have friends out there, friends who would peg you as a fake in a second."
The clone and Brooks shared a smile. "Oh, don't worry about your friends," Brooks said. "We've got plans to deal with all of them. But first, we need to wrap things up here." She turned her attention to the clone. "Were you able to find the files we needed?"
"I found them, but they've been encrypted," the clone said. "It's going to take some time to get them decoded."
"Shouldn't be a problem," Brooks said. "Now, let's make a few corrections in the Council records, shall we?"
Walking over to a nearby terminal, the clone activated it and spoke. "Computer, update Council records. Subject: Shepard, human Spectre."
"Accessing record," the computer responded. "Please input new data."
Slaves of Cerberus Prologue: Right Place, Wrong Time (12/14)
anonymous
November 18 2013, 05:32:43 UTC
The clone pressed her hand to the console, and Shepard watched in dread as a scan of the clone's palm appeared on the screen. "Biometric identified updated. Good day, Commander Shepard."
"Now then," Brooks said, as the clone stepped away from the console. "I think it's time for us to be leaving. We've got a lot of planets to go to in our new ship, and a lot of your friends to pay visits to."
"And what about us?" Ashley snapped at the pair. "You going to lock us up in one of these vaults and leave us to rot while you steal the Normandy?"
The clone shook her head. "I think you misunderstand. When she says it's time for 'us' to leave, she doesn't just mean us two."
There was a muffled bang behind them, and the three of them whirled around to see a plume of green smoke emanating from a device planted nearby. Shepard tried to cover her mouth to block out the smoke, but soon she found herself tumbling to the floor, Liara and Ashley already unconscious beside her.
The last thing she saw before passing out was the air shimmering in front of her, and a group of Cerberus Phantoms appearing from out of nowhere, to grab her by the arms and drag her away.
* * *
"So, what are we supposed to do now, sir?" asked one of the CAT-6 mercs, as they loaded the last of Shepard's unconscious comrades onto the platform leading into one of the open Citadel vaults.
"Boss said to stick these fuckers away and then wait for further instructions," said the leader of the team.
The first merc shook his head. "You mean we're supposed to just stand around here, in the middle of a top secret vault on the Citadel, and just wait?"
"Hey, don't look at me. We're getting paid for the time, right?" the leader said. "Now, how the hell do you work this vault crane thing?" The leader fumbled with the controls, as the rest of the team of mercs leaned against walls, crouched down, and waited for the next set of orders.
"I dunno, man," said the first merc again. "I mean, something about this just doesn't smell right. Kinda feels like we've been left holding the bag here, you know? You got any way to contact the boss and figure out what we're supposed to be doing?"
"Would you stop distracting me already?" the leader snapped at him. "Can't figure out what button I hit to..." the merc pressed a button, and the platform that the group of defeated enemies were laid on started moving... in the opposite direction from the vault. "Dammit," the leader cursed, pressing another button and stopping the platform. "Look, she'll call us back, trust me. I mean, we're a highly skilled company of mercs, aren't we? She's not going to just leave valuable assets like us to rot."
"If you say so," the first merc said, not sounding assured. "Look, maybe we should just..."
"Goddamn it, Jackson," the leader barked out, not turning his attention from the console as he berated his underling. "If you say one more goddamned word, I swear to God I'm going to put a bullet in your head and split your take for this job with the rest of these fucking losers instead! You really want to test me right now? Seriously?"
Jackson said nothing in return, and after waiting for thirty seconds for any kind of retort, the leader let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you. Glad to finally have some fucking silence around here. Now, let me see if I can figure out this damn control panel already. Maybe if..."
"I think you'd want to hit that green button over there," said a voice from behind the leader.
The leader nodded. "Yeah, maybe that's what..." he said, before realizing that he didn't recognize the voice from over his shoulder.
He spun around to find himself facing down five Alliance marines, guns trained on him. Laying at their feet were the bodies of his team, all with headshots bleeding out onto the floor.
"If I were you," said a dark-haired, uniformed woman in the center of the group, a smoking sniper rifle in her hands, "I'd drop your weapons and come quietly."
As the marines moved to secure the leader, the woman moved around him to the control panel, and deactivated the forcefield keeping the prisoners in place. Walking among the group, she looked over her shoulder at the doorway they had walked through. "These the folks Joker sent us to find, Commander?"
Slaves of Cerberus Prologue: Right Place, Wrong Time (13/14)
anonymous
November 18 2013, 05:36:08 UTC
Stepping out of the darkness into the room, Commander Jacob Taylor surveyed the group of unconscious bodies. "Not all of them, Rooker," he said gravely. "I just hope the rest aren't already gone."
* * *
"They took the Normandy?" Joker exclaimed, as the former members of Teams Mako and Hammerhead reconvened in Shepard's apartment, joined now by Jacob Taylor and several crew members of his ship, the SSV Orpheus.
"Joker, in case you forgot, they also took Shepard, Ash, and Liara," Garrus said, rubbing at his head. "Maybe you need to get a little perspective here."
Joker let out a pained sigh. "No, I know, it's just... the thought of some strange merc with their hands all over my old ship..." Joker looked over at Cortez and pointed a finger. "Please tell me you at least left a hard copy of 'Joker's Official Normandy Handbook' in the cockpit before you disembarked."
"You mean that fifty page document you sent me after you transferred to the Orpheus?" Cortez asked in disbelief. "You actually expected me to read that whole thing?"
"You didn't?" Joker exclaimed in disbelief. "Oh, EDI, I don't know if you're looking down from robot heaven or wherever, but please forgive me for leaving your body in the hands of these... these..."
Jacob pounded a fist down on the counter. "Joker, enough! Right now we need to figure out how in the hell we're going to track down the Normandy, and rescue Shepard and the other hostages."
"Not going to be an easy task, Commander," said Jacob's XO, Lieutenant Commander Tara Rooker. The dark-haired woman's tone was calm and her expression stoic as she spoke. "The Normandy SR-2 was specifically built to be undetectable. If they keep the ship out of visual range of any planets, they could hide out there forever. And even if we got the entire Alliance fleet to comb the galaxy, it'd be like looking for the proverbial needle."
"And that's assuming the Alliance even believed our story," Tali said, having removed her battle armor to reveal a checkered green blouse and striped red slacks. "I mean, I was there, and I still have a hard time believing it. A clone of Shepard, teamed up with a former Cerberus operative who brought her out of a coma?"
Vega groaned. "Gah, still can't believe I let that puta catch me off-guard! I'll never forgive myself if something happens to the Commander."
"Look, we don't have time to worry about who's to blame for what happened," Garrus said. "We do have at least one lead. Don't we, Glyph?"
"I was able to determine what files the other Commander Shepard was accessing while in the Citadel Archives," Glyph flared to life in the midst of the group. "Unfortunately, she attempted to destroy the files after obtaining them. It will take me some time to reconstruct them, in addition to decrypting them once the reconstruction is complete."
"Any idea how long that's going to take?" Jacob asked the drone.
"My current estimates put the time of completion at around 94 hours and 42 minutes, with a margin of errors of 2.7 hours."
The entire room let out a collective groan. "Well, we'll put that on the back burner for now," Jacob said. "Right now, I think our first order of business is to go directly to the Council. If we can get the word out to the rest of the galaxy to watch for the Normandy, maybe that'll bring us one step closer to locating..."
In the middle of Jacob's sentence, the video screen on the wall of the apartment suddenly flared to life. "This is Commander Anna Shepard, and I have a Crucible Day message for all of you."
"What the hell?" Wrex said, jumping to his feet to turn and watch the monitor.
"Look, it's on out there, too!" Tali called out. Looking out the windows, the group of them saw that every video screen in the nearby area was broadcasting the same video: Commander Shepard, standing at the helm of the Normandy and speaking directly into the camera.
Slaves of Cerberus Prologue: Right Place, Wrong Time (14/14)
anonymous
November 18 2013, 05:40:26 UTC
"On the eve of this holiday, commemorating the day when the Reapers were finally defeated, I think it's important to talk about what this holiday is really all about," the image of Commander Shepard said. Down below in the streets, everyone stood still, staring up at the image of Shepard as she spoke. "A lot of people will tell you that this celebration is about remembering how the galaxy came together as one, to destroy an ancient menace and save us all from the threat of annihilation."
Shepard paused for a moment, and then said one word. "Bullshit."
"Let me tell you what we should really be remembering on this day. We should be remembering how I knew about the Reapers three years before they came knocking at our door, and how the Council refused to act. We should be remembering how I came to them again when the Collectors were abducting human colonists, and how they again turned me away. We should be remembering how Earth was being laid to waste, while the Council did nothing."
"'But the other races came through in the end, Commander Shepard,' you might say to me. 'We never would have beaten the Reapers if we hadn't worked together.'" Shepard paused, and then began slowly, sarcastically clapping. "Well, thanks a lot, turians. Salarians. Asari. Thanks for coming in at the very last minute, when you could have saved so many lives by listening to me when you had the chance."
"I say that humanity doesn't owe these other races any thanks. We don't owe them a damn thing. And we sure as hell don't owe them our home. I look down at the surface of Earth, and I'm disgusted by what I see. Humans are being pushed off of our own planet by these aliens. Yes, they might have helped us save Earth, but now it looks like they wanted to save it... just so they could take it away from us!"
"But I've had enough. I'm tired of seeing my homeworld be polluted by a bunch of ungrateful, undeserving invaders. I've made a decision, humanity. The only decision I could make under the circumstances, and the only decision any self-respecting human could make."
Shepard's face faded away from the screen, replaced by a dreadfully familiar logo. "As of this date, I want to formally announce, to the people of Earth and to the entire galaxy, that I have rejoined Cerberus. I no longer consider myself a Spectre, aka a tool of the Council, and I officially resign from the Alliance military. When the Council refused to act against the Reapers, and when the Alliance drug their feet and refused to upset their alien masters, there was only one organization that knew what the true threat to our galaxy was, and fought to stop them. I wouldn't be alive today if it wasn't for Cerberus, and it's time for me to pay back the debt I owe to them."
As the crowds in the streets murmured and gasped in shock, the Cerberus logo on screen faded away, replaced with Shepard's face. "Some of you may be remembering the Cerberus you saw during the end of the Reaper war. Indoctrinated agents, slaughtering humans and aliens alike, all in the service of some inscrutable goal. Let me assure you that the days of that Cerberus are over. With my help, Cerberus will come back to the reason it was founded: to advance the rights of humanity, and humanity alone, and to no longer follow the whims of some useless Council, that demands compliance and provides nothing in return."
"To all Earthborn humans who have seen what's been done to your planet and have had enough. To all human colonists out there living among the alien wretches and feeling like you're losing who you truly are. To everyone out there who considers themselves a true human, and not a traitor to our species, I deliver this message: Cerberus is coming to help. And to all aliens listening, I only have one thing to say:"
Shepard leaned forward into the camera and almost snarled, "Get off our planet, before we make you leave."
All at once, the screens blinked off. In Shepard's apartment, everyone was silent.
Finally, Joker spoke up. "So... about that whole 'talking to the Council' idea..."
* * *
Alright, set-up is over. Next time, Shepard and Liara meet their new masters, Ashley makes a surprising discovery, and Jacob assembles his team.
Re: Slaves of Cerberus Prologue: Right Place, Wrong Time (14/14)
anonymous
November 18 2013, 07:04:28 UTC
Your laundry list of kinks got me excited, but not nearly so much as when I figured out who you are. Holy shit, you're back! ASOAP is my favorite MassEffect fanfic, and though I'm quite surprised to see that it's #1 for hits on AO3 you definitely deserve it.
The care you bothered to put into the prelude inspired me to get off my ass and continue my Slave!Fic, btw. You can write honest scenes just as well as you can write smut. I should really try branching out...
Re: Slaves of Cerberus Prologue: Right Place, Wrong Time (14/14)
anonymous
November 18 2013, 09:40:07 UTC
Fucking A++, anon, thank you so much!
I almost slobber about that kink list of yours :D Nevertheless, it is very good thing you wrote that prologue as well. It establishes the characters well, what they have and what they are about to loose... for me, it is much more enjoyable this way.
Also, I kinda suspected you were the A!A of ASOAP :) Congratz on that!
Re: Slaves of Cerberus Prologue: Right Place, Wrong Time (14/14)
anonymous
November 18 2013, 19:53:21 UTC
Clone Shepard and Brooks sound really xenophobic there... And they have Shepard with alien LI and said alien LI captured... ouch :) Also looking forward to Ashley's surprise :)
Re: Slaves of Cerberus Prologue: Right Place, Wrong Time (14/14)
anonymous
November 19 2013, 01:27:03 UTC
A!A here: Yeah, Liara could be in some trouble. And she isn't going to be the only non-human who ends up in the clutches of the resurrected Cerberus.
And as far as Ash's surprise... ugh, no. Ain't going to spoil it. I'm just gonna say that it took at least partial inspiration by a recent, somewhat off-topic discussion that happened in the midst of another fill. If nothing else, the things I have planned for Miss Williams are probably going to keep me writing more than anything...
God, it's been so long since I've written for the KM, I've forgotten about the evil, evil thoughts it puts into my head. You know, it's kinda messed up when you start saying to yourself, "Hmm, wait... I think there's a good spot here to work another rape in..." >:D
Ash checked around them, making sure that nobody was within ear shot, before leaning close to Shepard. "The owner of this casino, Elijah Khan, has been making some very strange money transfers recently."
"That's hardly a secret, Ash," Shepard said. "We already knew he was involved in weapons smuggling."
But Ash shook her head. "It's more than that, Shepard. We think he might be funneling money to... to..." Ash gritted her teeth. "To Cerberus."
At first, Shepard thought it was a joke. But Ash's expression was dead serious. "Ash, that's impossible. The Illusive Man died on the Crucible. Cerberus is dead."
"That's what we all thought," Ash said, taking a drink offered by the bartender and knocking it back. "But about six months ago we've started seeing a lot of Cerberus chips going dark. Too many to just be a coincidence."
Shepard considered this. After the Crucible was activated and all Reaper tech was disabled, the indoctrination that many of the Cerberus troops had been subjected to was reversed. As a substantial number of Cerberus members were conscripted into service against their will, the Council and Alliance hadn't felt it would be appropriate to punish any members of the organization for crimes they may not have willingly committed.
On the other hand, they weren't about to just let these people completely off the hook. Any former members of Cerberus who were captured or came forward on their own were essentially put on "parole." They were implanted with tracking chips, and expected to check in with a designated Council representative on a monthly basis.
It wasn't a perfect system, but up until this very moment, Shepard had been under the impression that it was working out just fine.
"And those chips can't just be cut out by any average doctor," Shepard mused. "Tampering with them would send a warning signal out to the Citadel, unless..."
"Unless somebody with serious skills, or a lot of money to put into some very expensive tech took it out," Ashley said. "The type of money that somebody like, say, the owner of a casino might have to throw around."
Shepard shook her head. "Still, that's not proof that it's Cerberus. Maybe some of these folks are just sick of being tracked, and Khan's got a side business going helping them get unchipped."
"It's not just that, Shepard," Ashley said. "We've been seeing reports of recruitment fliers going out. Never coming right out and saying the name, of course, but a lot of talk about 'keeping Earth for humans' and 'paying the aliens back for waiting until the last minute to help us.' Lots of reports of people with known anti-alien sentiments suddenly going off-planet and then disappearing off the grid. It ain't 100%, but it's close enough that the Council has me looking."
"Dammit, Ash, why didn't you tell me about this?" Shepard said under her breath. "Why didn't the Council..." And then it dawned on her, and it took all of her resolve not to bark out every expletive she knew. "They can't be serious. I only..."
"I know, Shepard, I know," Ash tried to mollify her. "Listen, I may not have agreed with it at the time, but I understand why you did it. I'm sure the Council understands why you did it, too. If it was up to me, I would have told you as soon as we got the first reports. But in the end, for however short a time it was, you were a member of Cerberus. And the Council just doesn't want to take any risks on letting you be involved."
Shepard fumed. After all this time, and everything she had done, the Council still didn't completely trust her.
Seeing the anger on Shepard's face, Ash tried her best to change the subject. "So you being here... I assume it has something to do with that massive shootout earlier?"
Biting back her anger for now, Shepard nodded. "A gun that one of the mercs carried has ties to Khan. Liara intercepted a call he made to whoever masterminded the attack. Sounds like the two of them aren't on such great terms anymore. We figured we might be able to get Khan to talk."
"Damn, guess that explains why Khan hasn't been coming out onto the casino floor tonight," Ashley said. "So sounds like the attack on you might be tied up with Cerberus as well."
Reply
Ashley nodded. "So, I assume that means you've got a plan to get to Khan," she said, and then let out a short laugh. "Ah, who am I kidding? You always have a plan, don't you, Shepard?"
She should be angry with Ash for keeping things from her, but Shepard knew that she'd just been following orders. And it was good to see her again. "Of course I do. Right now it's a three-woman job, but I think we can fit in one more."
"Three-woman job, huh?" Ashley said. "I was pretty sure I spotted Liara as you were coming in, but who's the other one?"
"Maya Brooks. An Alliance analyst. I'll introduce you after we've gotten a chance to talk to Khan, okay?"
"Great. Let's do this," Ashley said.
* * *
"Let's do this!" Ashley called out, as she took point heading deeper into the Citadel Archives.
Shepard followed after Ash, her mind still processing what had happened over the past few hours. They had successfully penetrated Khan's panic room, but their only payoff for the scheme was a dead body and threats from the true mastermind of the attack on Shepard. Not long after they'd returned from the casino empty-handed, Glyph informed Shepard that someone was using her Spectre authorization to access the Citadel Archives.
That "someone," as it turned out, was the last person Shepard would have ever suspected: a clone of herself, created by Cerberus to provide spare organs for the Lazarus Project. And now, she and those mercs were out to steal the Normandy. For what purpose, Shepard couldn't imagine. It wasn't like she would be able to pretend to be the real Shepard for long.
They had split into three teams, Shepard going with Ash and Liara as they searched for the clone. Glyph had informed them that the clone was looking through the Citadel Archives for something, but couldn't tell what. Whatever it was, Shepard didn't intend to let her live long enough to put it to any use.
"Team Hammerhead, we're heading to the next level. What's your location?" Shepard called out over her comms to one of the other teams. There was no response at first, only static. Shepard tried again. "Hammerhead, do you copy?"
Still no response. Something was wrong. Up until now, the mercs they had faced off against hadn't posed much of a challenge. They couldn't have taken out the entire group already... could they?
Rounding the corner, Shepard saw the other group, who'd called themselves "Team Mako." "We'll try to clear a path, Commander!" she heard Brooks say over the comms. "Hammerhead's gone ahead!"
Shepard fired off shots at the mercs up ahead, while Liara sent out a wave of biotic force and Ashley sent a burst of assault rifle fire in their direction. It didn't take long for the mercs to be subdued, and as they started moving forward again, Shepard heard Tali on her commlink. "We see the clone, Shepard! Mako going in!"
After taking out a pair of cloaked snipers, Shepard led her team up the stairs after the rest of the squad. "Team Mako, we're coming up behind! What's your status?"
"We're under..." Shepard heard Brooks say, before her voice was swallowed by static.
"Mako, where are you?" Shepard called out, getting that unsettling feeling again. No response. Charging past several holographic displays, Shepard couldn't help but notice that there were no sounds of gunfire anywhere. No more enemies attacking.
It was, to use a tired cliché, too quiet.
Using her Spectre authorization to move through the next door, Shepard heard Brooks call out. "Commander, over here! Help! We're being cut off!"
Charging forward, Shepard stepped onto one of the moving platforms... and a blue forcefield flared in front of her face, trapping her and her two companions where they stood. "Brooks!" she yelled. "The vault sealed us in!"
"Is there an override?" Liara asked, staring around at the blue field that now encased them with concern in her eyes.
"Not seeing one," Ashley informed the group.
"Cortez? Brooks?" Shepard got back on her comms. "Do you read me? Is anyone on this frequency?"
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Shepard fired off shots in anger at the forcefield, knowing it wouldn't do any good but unable to control herself. Dammit, she was smarter than this. How had she allowed herself to get trapped like this? Where was the rest of her team now?
As if sensing Shepard's question, the clone spoke. "The longer answer involves your friends trapped in iridium vaults and forgotten for... well, forever."
Shepard clenched her fists. "Others know about this. About you. The Alliance will stop you."
The threat didn't seem to bother the clone, however. "What do you think, Staff Analyst Brooks? Will the Alliance stop us?"
And from behind the clone stepped Brooks. Only not the awkward, nervous analyst that Shepard had met in a sushi restaurant several hours ago. But looking confident, self-assured.... and giving Shepard that same cocky smile that the clone currently was. "I wouldn't know. I don't actually work for them."
"Who the hell are you, really?" Shepard asked her. Remembering her conversation with Ash at the bar, she wagered a guess. "You're with Cerberus, aren't you?"
"Yes, but no," Brooks said. "Not the Cerberus you're familiar with, Commander. The Illusive Man let his obsession with your betrayal cloud his judgment. He turned Cerberus from the proud organization it once was into a group with only one goal: stopping the Reapers before you could. In the end it didn't matter to him whether or not the Reapers were truly defeated. All he wanted was to prove you wrong."
"We're bringing Cerberus back the way it was meant to be," the clone said. "An organization dedicated to the advancement of humanity. No more collaborating with aliens like your attack on the Collector base. Humanity went to aliens for help against the Reapers, and what did it get us? They would have gladly let Earth be burnt to rubble if you hadn't flew around the galaxy running all their little errands."
"We were under attack as well!" Liara protested.
Ashley spoke up. "You couldn't have expected aliens to prioritize human lives over the lives of their own species! Shepard helped them save their people so that they could help us save ours!"
"Of course you would take their side," the clone sneered at Ashley. "Just another lap-dog of the Council. And even if they did help us, look what we've gotten in return. Aliens infesting Earth. Crowding out humanity and trying to take our planet for their own. Now, more than ever, humanity needs Cerberus."
"You should consider yourself lucky," Brooks said. "We had originally planned this attack for some time before the Reaper War ended. But after some thought, I managed to convince my associate here that we should bide our time. Wait to see how things turned out. I figured either you would die, Shepard, and then we could have this other Shepard step in and come up with some miraculous story about how you cheated death..."
"...or you would live," the clone finished. "And then we could do what we had planned to do back then. Take over your identity, and steal the Normandy for ourselves."
"And how long do you think you can pull that off?" Shepard asked them. "You know you can't pretend to be me forever. I have friends out there, friends who would peg you as a fake in a second."
The clone and Brooks shared a smile. "Oh, don't worry about your friends," Brooks said. "We've got plans to deal with all of them. But first, we need to wrap things up here." She turned her attention to the clone. "Were you able to find the files we needed?"
"I found them, but they've been encrypted," the clone said. "It's going to take some time to get them decoded."
"Shouldn't be a problem," Brooks said. "Now, let's make a few corrections in the Council records, shall we?"
Walking over to a nearby terminal, the clone activated it and spoke. "Computer, update Council records. Subject: Shepard, human Spectre."
"Accessing record," the computer responded. "Please input new data."
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"Now then," Brooks said, as the clone stepped away from the console. "I think it's time for us to be leaving. We've got a lot of planets to go to in our new ship, and a lot of your friends to pay visits to."
"And what about us?" Ashley snapped at the pair. "You going to lock us up in one of these vaults and leave us to rot while you steal the Normandy?"
The clone shook her head. "I think you misunderstand. When she says it's time for 'us' to leave, she doesn't just mean us two."
There was a muffled bang behind them, and the three of them whirled around to see a plume of green smoke emanating from a device planted nearby. Shepard tried to cover her mouth to block out the smoke, but soon she found herself tumbling to the floor, Liara and Ashley already unconscious beside her.
The last thing she saw before passing out was the air shimmering in front of her, and a group of Cerberus Phantoms appearing from out of nowhere, to grab her by the arms and drag her away.
* * *
"So, what are we supposed to do now, sir?" asked one of the CAT-6 mercs, as they loaded the last of Shepard's unconscious comrades onto the platform leading into one of the open Citadel vaults.
"Boss said to stick these fuckers away and then wait for further instructions," said the leader of the team.
The first merc shook his head. "You mean we're supposed to just stand around here, in the middle of a top secret vault on the Citadel, and just wait?"
"Hey, don't look at me. We're getting paid for the time, right?" the leader said. "Now, how the hell do you work this vault crane thing?" The leader fumbled with the controls, as the rest of the team of mercs leaned against walls, crouched down, and waited for the next set of orders.
"I dunno, man," said the first merc again. "I mean, something about this just doesn't smell right. Kinda feels like we've been left holding the bag here, you know? You got any way to contact the boss and figure out what we're supposed to be doing?"
"Would you stop distracting me already?" the leader snapped at him. "Can't figure out what button I hit to..." the merc pressed a button, and the platform that the group of defeated enemies were laid on started moving... in the opposite direction from the vault. "Dammit," the leader cursed, pressing another button and stopping the platform. "Look, she'll call us back, trust me. I mean, we're a highly skilled company of mercs, aren't we? She's not going to just leave valuable assets like us to rot."
"If you say so," the first merc said, not sounding assured. "Look, maybe we should just..."
"Goddamn it, Jackson," the leader barked out, not turning his attention from the console as he berated his underling. "If you say one more goddamned word, I swear to God I'm going to put a bullet in your head and split your take for this job with the rest of these fucking losers instead! You really want to test me right now? Seriously?"
Jackson said nothing in return, and after waiting for thirty seconds for any kind of retort, the leader let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you. Glad to finally have some fucking silence around here. Now, let me see if I can figure out this damn control panel already. Maybe if..."
"I think you'd want to hit that green button over there," said a voice from behind the leader.
The leader nodded. "Yeah, maybe that's what..." he said, before realizing that he didn't recognize the voice from over his shoulder.
He spun around to find himself facing down five Alliance marines, guns trained on him. Laying at their feet were the bodies of his team, all with headshots bleeding out onto the floor.
"If I were you," said a dark-haired, uniformed woman in the center of the group, a smoking sniper rifle in her hands, "I'd drop your weapons and come quietly."
As the marines moved to secure the leader, the woman moved around him to the control panel, and deactivated the forcefield keeping the prisoners in place. Walking among the group, she looked over her shoulder at the doorway they had walked through. "These the folks Joker sent us to find, Commander?"
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* * *
"They took the Normandy?" Joker exclaimed, as the former members of Teams Mako and Hammerhead reconvened in Shepard's apartment, joined now by Jacob Taylor and several crew members of his ship, the SSV Orpheus.
"Joker, in case you forgot, they also took Shepard, Ash, and Liara," Garrus said, rubbing at his head. "Maybe you need to get a little perspective here."
Joker let out a pained sigh. "No, I know, it's just... the thought of some strange merc with their hands all over my old ship..." Joker looked over at Cortez and pointed a finger. "Please tell me you at least left a hard copy of 'Joker's Official Normandy Handbook' in the cockpit before you disembarked."
"You mean that fifty page document you sent me after you transferred to the Orpheus?" Cortez asked in disbelief. "You actually expected me to read that whole thing?"
"You didn't?" Joker exclaimed in disbelief. "Oh, EDI, I don't know if you're looking down from robot heaven or wherever, but please forgive me for leaving your body in the hands of these... these..."
Jacob pounded a fist down on the counter. "Joker, enough! Right now we need to figure out how in the hell we're going to track down the Normandy, and rescue Shepard and the other hostages."
"Not going to be an easy task, Commander," said Jacob's XO, Lieutenant Commander Tara Rooker. The dark-haired woman's tone was calm and her expression stoic as she spoke. "The Normandy SR-2 was specifically built to be undetectable. If they keep the ship out of visual range of any planets, they could hide out there forever. And even if we got the entire Alliance fleet to comb the galaxy, it'd be like looking for the proverbial needle."
"And that's assuming the Alliance even believed our story," Tali said, having removed her battle armor to reveal a checkered green blouse and striped red slacks. "I mean, I was there, and I still have a hard time believing it. A clone of Shepard, teamed up with a former Cerberus operative who brought her out of a coma?"
Vega groaned. "Gah, still can't believe I let that puta catch me off-guard! I'll never forgive myself if something happens to the Commander."
"Look, we don't have time to worry about who's to blame for what happened," Garrus said. "We do have at least one lead. Don't we, Glyph?"
"I was able to determine what files the other Commander Shepard was accessing while in the Citadel Archives," Glyph flared to life in the midst of the group. "Unfortunately, she attempted to destroy the files after obtaining them. It will take me some time to reconstruct them, in addition to decrypting them once the reconstruction is complete."
"Any idea how long that's going to take?" Jacob asked the drone.
"My current estimates put the time of completion at around 94 hours and 42 minutes, with a margin of errors of 2.7 hours."
The entire room let out a collective groan. "Well, we'll put that on the back burner for now," Jacob said. "Right now, I think our first order of business is to go directly to the Council. If we can get the word out to the rest of the galaxy to watch for the Normandy, maybe that'll bring us one step closer to locating..."
In the middle of Jacob's sentence, the video screen on the wall of the apartment suddenly flared to life. "This is Commander Anna Shepard, and I have a Crucible Day message for all of you."
"What the hell?" Wrex said, jumping to his feet to turn and watch the monitor.
"Look, it's on out there, too!" Tali called out. Looking out the windows, the group of them saw that every video screen in the nearby area was broadcasting the same video: Commander Shepard, standing at the helm of the Normandy and speaking directly into the camera.
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Shepard paused for a moment, and then said one word. "Bullshit."
"Let me tell you what we should really be remembering on this day. We should be remembering how I knew about the Reapers three years before they came knocking at our door, and how the Council refused to act. We should be remembering how I came to them again when the Collectors were abducting human colonists, and how they again turned me away. We should be remembering how Earth was being laid to waste, while the Council did nothing."
"'But the other races came through in the end, Commander Shepard,' you might say to me. 'We never would have beaten the Reapers if we hadn't worked together.'" Shepard paused, and then began slowly, sarcastically clapping. "Well, thanks a lot, turians. Salarians. Asari. Thanks for coming in at the very last minute, when you could have saved so many lives by listening to me when you had the chance."
"I say that humanity doesn't owe these other races any thanks. We don't owe them a damn thing. And we sure as hell don't owe them our home. I look down at the surface of Earth, and I'm disgusted by what I see. Humans are being pushed off of our own planet by these aliens. Yes, they might have helped us save Earth, but now it looks like they wanted to save it... just so they could take it away from us!"
"But I've had enough. I'm tired of seeing my homeworld be polluted by a bunch of ungrateful, undeserving invaders. I've made a decision, humanity. The only decision I could make under the circumstances, and the only decision any self-respecting human could make."
Shepard's face faded away from the screen, replaced by a dreadfully familiar logo. "As of this date, I want to formally announce, to the people of Earth and to the entire galaxy, that I have rejoined Cerberus. I no longer consider myself a Spectre, aka a tool of the Council, and I officially resign from the Alliance military. When the Council refused to act against the Reapers, and when the Alliance drug their feet and refused to upset their alien masters, there was only one organization that knew what the true threat to our galaxy was, and fought to stop them. I wouldn't be alive today if it wasn't for Cerberus, and it's time for me to pay back the debt I owe to them."
As the crowds in the streets murmured and gasped in shock, the Cerberus logo on screen faded away, replaced with Shepard's face. "Some of you may be remembering the Cerberus you saw during the end of the Reaper war. Indoctrinated agents, slaughtering humans and aliens alike, all in the service of some inscrutable goal. Let me assure you that the days of that Cerberus are over. With my help, Cerberus will come back to the reason it was founded: to advance the rights of humanity, and humanity alone, and to no longer follow the whims of some useless Council, that demands compliance and provides nothing in return."
"To all Earthborn humans who have seen what's been done to your planet and have had enough. To all human colonists out there living among the alien wretches and feeling like you're losing who you truly are. To everyone out there who considers themselves a true human, and not a traitor to our species, I deliver this message: Cerberus is coming to help. And to all aliens listening, I only have one thing to say:"
Shepard leaned forward into the camera and almost snarled, "Get off our planet, before we make you leave."
All at once, the screens blinked off. In Shepard's apartment, everyone was silent.
Finally, Joker spoke up. "So... about that whole 'talking to the Council' idea..."
* * *
Alright, set-up is over. Next time, Shepard and Liara meet their new masters, Ashley makes a surprising discovery, and Jacob assembles his team.
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The care you bothered to put into the prelude inspired me to get off my ass and continue my Slave!Fic, btw. You can write honest scenes just as well as you can write smut. I should really try branching out...
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I almost slobber about that kink list of yours :D Nevertheless, it is very good thing you wrote that prologue as well. It establishes the characters well, what they have and what they are about to loose... for me, it is much more enjoyable this way.
Also, I kinda suspected you were the A!A of ASOAP :) Congratz on that!
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Also looking forward to Ashley's surprise :)
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And as far as Ash's surprise... ugh, no. Ain't going to spoil it. I'm just gonna say that it took at least partial inspiration by a recent, somewhat off-topic discussion that happened in the midst of another fill. If nothing else, the things I have planned for Miss Williams are probably going to keep me writing more than anything...
God, it's been so long since I've written for the KM, I've forgotten about the evil, evil thoughts it puts into my head. You know, it's kinda messed up when you start saying to yourself, "Hmm, wait... I think there's a good spot here to work another rape in..." >:D
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