not_a_whiner | From the Normandy to the Red Planet, Wednesday (Reply)

The hangar doors had barely shut tight behind Shepard when the barrage of questions began. Vega stalked after him, barking one out after the other. "What the hell's going on? Where's Anderson? Where are we going?"

Shepard ignored him. They had bigger things going on right now. He moved across the shuttle deck fast, going for the consoles.

"Hey!" Vega snapped after him.

For fuck's sake.

Shepard looked over his shoulder. "We're leaving," he said flatly.

"Leaving?!" Vega shrieked.

No, seriously. They didn't have time for this. Shepard's fingers found the console and he tapped the buttons required to start setting up their armor, the ships... everything. They needed to be ready.

Kaidan	Kaidan watched the whole thing unfold. He recognized Shepard in crisis mode: antagonizing him wouldn't be doing anyone any good. But they did deserve to know what the next step was-- especially with Dean, Jack and Allie still hanging around the ship. "What's going on?" he asked quietly.
Shepard	How many times was he going to be asked that question? Shepard glanced at him over his shoulder. "Anderson wants us to go to the Citadel, get help for the fight," he explained. And every second they stood here talking about it was wasting time while Reapers overran Earth.
James	"Bullshit!" Vega snapped. Had Shepard lost it? Was he really gonna run away from Earth? "He wouldn't order us to leave!"
Shepard	Shepard forced himself to take a really deep breath - and even that didn't stop the words from coming out with clear underlying frustration with Vega. "We don't have a choice. Without help, this war's already over."
James	"Forget it!" Vega was practically in the guy's face now. He didn't care. He wasn't running. "Drop me off some place, because I'm--"
Shepard	Yeah, okay, the demands, the invasion of his personal space - that was about enough. "Enough!" Shepard jabbed a finger at Vega's chest, which had the positive side-effect of getting the guy to back off physically. "Don't you think I'd rather stay and fight?" he yelled, because fuck, he would, but he knew better, and he had orders. "We're going to the Citadel. You want out, you can catch a ride home from there." He shook his head and turned away from Vega, who let out an irritated sigh and stepped away.
Jack	Jack glanced to Allie and Dean uneasily. This was family business: his stomach twisted in discomfort at being present. But he was there, anyhow. He cleared his throat. "What do you need me to do?"
Kaidan	"Just hang back," Kaidan said, glancing away from the small drama that had been in danger of unfolding just ten seconds ago. "Okay? We'll get to the Citadel in no time, we'll drop you off at Portalocity--" "Commander?" That was the comm.
Shepard	Shepard blinked. He stared up at the ceiling, as if he could catch sight of the pilot that way. "Joker? That you?" Of all the people-- damn, he was glad to hear that voice. "Alive and kicking. Got an emergency transmission from Admiral Hackett for you." Hackett. At least he was alive. Shepard nodded curtly. "Patch it through." A video screen sprung to life in front of them, but the signal was garbled. He could just about catch sight of Hackett's worn face, but the words only came through in bursts of static. "Shepard... sustained heavy losses... Force... was overwhelming. There's no way we can defeat them conventionally." If even Hackett thought that way... stubborn, beat-the-odds Hackett-- "Anderson's already ordered me to the Citadel, to talk to the Council," Shepard said. "First, I need you... ience outpost on Mars... ore we lose control of the system..." Mars? "Yes, sir." "Been researching the Prothean Archives with Dr. T'Soni. Found a way to stop the Reapers... Only way to stop them... in contact soon..." One final crackle. "...Hackett out..." Shepard took a deep breath. "Joker?" he called. "Set a course for the Mars Archives." "Mars? Roger that..." Joker's voice sounded dubious over the comm. Shepard couldn't blame him, but orders were orders, and if Mars gave them any kind of shot... they had to take it.
James	Mars? Seriously? Vega stared. "This is loco," he said flatly.
Allie	Loco was definitely one way to describe. Since it seemed highly unlikely Shepard was going to make a stop at the Citadel to drop them off at the Portalocity office before heading to Mars, Allie figured the best thing to do was keep a low profile. In her case that meant finding the nearest corner where she could watch the goings on without getting in the way. In other words, lurking like a vampire.
Dean	"Awesome," Dean said tightly, even as he smirked. "Always wanted to see Mars. I can cross it off my bucket list."
Kaidan	Kaidan shifted his attention towards Dean. "What?" he said. "No-- you guys need to stay here, where it's safe."
Shepard	Shepard looked his way. "Your friends can stay in the crew quarters," he called, "Now grab your gear!"
Jack	Jack smirked at Kaidan,his expression suggesting a certain amusement his friend had been so thoroughly overruled. "I'll go get set up." Not that he had much to move in, but it gave a good excuse for exploring and getting to know the people on the ship.
Allie	Even though she'd expected it, Allie was still relieved at the confirmation that they were going to be tagging along. "Anything I can do to help?" she asked Kaidan. "Or is staying out of the way enough for now?"
Kaidan	Kaidan looked-- a little frustrated. He jammed his hand against a button, and a drawer slid out, presenting his new blue armor. Over in the corner, Vega was already stripping down to his underwear. "We're going down to Mars," he said. "You aren't. Elevator's over there, crew quarters are straight ahead from the crew deck stop. And stay there."
Dean	"Yeah, because I'm known for my cooperative and obedient nature," Dean replied.
Allie	"And by staying out of the way, I mean until we get to Mars and I go down with you," Allie clarified. "You didn't stay behind in the Fringe. I'm not doing it now."
Shepard	"Can they fight?" Shepard asked as he picked up his breastplate.
Kaidan	The hell? "Yeah, but--"
Shepard	"We can use all the people we can get," Shepard said flatly. He turned to Kaidan's friends. "Get to the crew quarters. EDI will show you where to find helmets and armor." He glanced back to Kaidan. "You get your gear on, Major."
Kaidan	Kaidan made a faintly irritated noise, but didn't protest further. This still felt like Shepard's ship - he slipped into obeying orders so easily. He had his armor on within a few minutes; Vega got to prepping the shuttle.
Jack	Jack reemerged from the crew quarters a few minutes later, still fastening gauntlets around his arms. The armor felt stiff at first but he'd quickly adjusted; it seemed far more comfortable than any armor he'd seen before. "Check me over?" he asked Kaidan. "I don't want to get down to Mars and then find out I have the bodysuit on completely wrong."
Allie	Allie had made a quick trip to the crew quarters and returned wearing armor. While she could take more damage then most, she'd need blood to heal, and she'd rather not have to ask for it. What was noticeably missing was any sort of helmet apparatus. "I feel all official now."
Dean	"This. Is. Awesome." Of course that's how Dean thought of his space suit. Because he was secretly a preteen boy at heart. "Someone get a picture of me."
Kaidan	Kaidan shook his head at Dean. "It's not a toy," he said. Spoilsport. He walked towards Jack and tugged on a couple of the individual components of the armor. "No, you're good," he said.
Shepard	Shepard had been checking up on James' work on the shuttle, but he looked up with the arrival of the newbies. "Tell her to put on a helmet," he called.
Kaidan	"She won't need one," Kaidan called back. "Trust me!" He shook his head. "Okay, let's just load into the shuttle, and for god's sake, be careful."
Dean	"You think I'd mess up a face this pretty?" Dean asked, shaking his head at him as he headed to the transport.
Jack	"I'm always careful," Jack said, which was a dirty lie, and tagged after Dean. The waiting and getting ready, when he had time to be nervous, were always harder for him than the actual fighting.
Allie	"I'll try," was all Allie had to add as she followed after Jack and Dean.
Kaidan	The shuttle took off with James at the wheel as soon as everyone got settled. They pulled out of the Normandy and burst into space-- and in only a few minutes' time, Mars's atmosphere, in as much as it had one. "We're almost there," James called. He squinted down at the readings he was getting. "Still no contact from the base, but we've got a massive storm headed our way."
Shepard	Shepard had gripped one of the ceiling holds in the shuttle. He glanced away from where Kaidan was seated and yelled, "How long till it hits?!" "Half hour, tops," James replied. "After that we're gonna have difficulty keeping up comms with the Normandy." Shepard nodded curtly. "Understood," he said. The shuttle hit the ground with a dull thud.
Kaidan	The doors of the shuttle slid open. Mars wasn't bathed too heavily in sunlight this time of its cycle - which was a good thing for Allie. It was a dusty pile of rocks with a large hi-tech center just a whiles ahead of them, down a cliffside. And to their right.. "That is a huge storm!" James called. "Looks even bigger in person!" Kaidan looked that way as well. "Pretty average for Mars, actually."
Dean	"Seriously?" Because that storm was looking a bit biblical.
Jack	"If it's average for Mars, you must know how to get us through it without anyone dying," Jack added, very much hoping this was the case. The storm was bigger than any he'd seen. "Right?"
Allie	Sometimes, despite two years in Fandom, Allie was forced to admit she was still just a kid from the Fringe who could still be awed by something new. This was one of those times. "Damn..."
Kaidan	Kaidan threw Jack a glance as he walked towards the edge of the cliff. They'd put in a ladder here, and the next ledge wasn't far down. "We've got Reapers invading Earth, the station here is offline..." He shrugged. "Trust me, a little dust storm is the least of our worries." "Fair enough," James muttered. He tested the ladder with his foot. It was solid.
Jack	Jack froze halfway down the stairs, realizing his sensitive nose was picking up a stench he'd never expected here. "Someone's dead," he said, and then raced forward to find the body at the foot of the stairs. It didn't smell like an old corpse; maybe he was smelling injury, not death, and whoever it was could be saved. Maybe. He glanced to Kaidan and Vega once he'd gotten a better look at the body. "They're in uniform. One of yours?"
Kaidan	Kaidan slipped past him, activating his omni-tool on the way. He ran it over the body - no vital signs. "He's Alliance," he said. "Sergeant Reeves. Didn't put up a fight before he died." He shot a questioning look in Shepard's direction.
Shepard	"Let's keep a low profile until we find out what's going on," Shepard said with a frown. "We--" A gun went off. Not near, but also not far. "Shit."
Allie	Well that couldn't be good. "Want me to check it out?" Allie offered. "I can move fast."
Dean	"Yeah, try not to eat anyone on your way there." Look, this was how Dean soothed nerves.
Jack	"Can you try not to be a dick for once?" asked Jack, who soothed his nerves by sniping at people. "We're in this together, and from what I can tell she's a damn sight more useful than you."
Allie	"Ignore him," Allie told Jack, rolling her eyes. "It's what I usually do." "Well? Should I go?"
Kaidan	"Move on ahead. Fast," Kaidan said, with a nod. "We'll follow." He shot Shepard a quick glance, but Shepard just gave him a nod of his own.
Dean	"Bitch, bitch, bitch," Dean muttered cheerfully, following after with his space gun at the ready. Space hun. Aw yeah.
Allie	Allie wasn't certain what the barriers she encountered going down the slight hill were for. Wind breaks maybe? All she knew was they made for convenient places to hide behind as she made her way closer to where the sound of the shot had come from. At the last barrier she paused, holding herself with the preternatural stillness Kanin had made her practice over and over again. After a moment taking in the scene she turned and made her way back to the others to tell them what she'd seen.
Shepard	Shepard listened, then gave another curt nod. "Kaidan?" he said, as he advanced on ahead. There they were, eight soldiers in Cerberus colors, clustered together around a body. He had a plan, and no time to explain it; he could only hope Kaidan knew what he was getting at. They needed to take these guys out and fast.
Kaidan	Yeah... yeah, Kaidan knew what he was getting at. He'd been training biotics for the past couple of months - this kind of maneuvering was basically second nature. He moved up front until he hit one of the wind breaks. Peeked over the edge. Okay. He'd trained for a long time to get a handle on his reave - since unlike his warp, it had no real tell that it was happening until it hit, that felt like the safest to go with. He stretched up and pushed his hand out, palm first, 'grabbing' one of the guys in the middle, getting into the space between his cells, yanking. The guy's skin suddenly got covered in shifting patterns of brilliant blue; blue biotic energy crackled off of Kaidan's skin in turn, not the brief spark of his other biotic attacks but an enduring shifting pattern that colored his eyes a deeply unnatural shade of blue. It was almost a pity they were going to detonate the reave field almost immediately - Kaidan always got a kick out of it, the way it fed back into him and strengthened his own cells-- almost vampiric, really.
Shepard	Shepard reacted instantly. He called up a blur of blue of his own, but instead of lashing out with it, hitting someone else with it, he focused it inward... ...and shot forward at an alarming speed, something that might as well have been a teleport were it not for the blue streak he left in his wake. He struck the man caught in the reave field hard. His own biotic field sparked off of him, the reaction violent, exploding outward-- killing several of the soldiers instantly, sending the rest of them crashing against the rocks by the force of the explosion.
Kaidan	"They definitely know we're here now!" James yelled, grabbing his assault rifle, aiming for one of the surviving Cerberus marines who was already scrambling for cover. He fired.
Jack	It was hard for Jack to take his eyes off the biotics in action; he'd seen Kaidan before, of course, but not in a while or when death was immenent. And what Shepard was doing, well -- For almost the first time, being a werewolf felt mundane. He crouched low and aimed his handgun at the remaining Cerberus troops,concentrating on getting off clean headshots.
Allie	One of the Cerberus troops made it to the edge of the fray. Allie dashed in, sword out. He wasn't going any farther.
Dean	And Dean was rather methodically laying down some cover fire for the people wading on into the fray. Because someone hadta, right? Right.
Kaidan	Between the six of them, it was no contest - the Cerberus troopers went down faster than they could even draw their own weapons. "Those guys were Cerberus, weren't they?" James panted, getting up from behind a rock he'd been using as cover.
Shepard	"Sure looked like it," Shepard agreed, popping the heat sink on his shotgun.
Kaidan	"Cerberus?" Kaidan echoed. He threw Shepard a questioning glance. Maybe even a little suspicious. "What are they doing here on Mars?"
Shepard	"Good question," Shepard said. He'd ignore Kaidan's tone for now - instead he wandered towards the abandoned combat vehicles left up ahead.
Kaidan	It was probably a good thing nobody could see Kaidan's expression through the helmet. "You don't know?" he said dubiously, following.
Shepard	Oh, for god's sake. "I'm not with them anymore, if that's what you're asking," Shepard said, his voice coming out irritated.
Kaidan	"I wasn't, but you have to admit," Kaidan said, his eyes drawn to the large symbols on the side of the vehicles, "It's a bit, ah... convenient."
Jack	"I don't think he's not lying," Jack piped up. "Besides, they were shooting at him as much as at any of us. Unless that was ruse..."
Allie	"It would have to be a really elaborate one," Allie pointed out. "With way too much left to chance."
Dean	"This whole moral ambiguity soap opera thing you've guys got going is fun and all, but shouldn't we get moving again?" Thanks, Dean. Thanks.
Kaidan	"Yeah, okay," Kaidan said, because okay, fine, Dean had a point, no matter how he felt about anybody else's points. They walked between the abandoned vehicles and up to the compound entrance - a very large elevator obviously meant for cars as well as people. Shepard walked up to the elevator's controls, shutting the large doors behind them and letting the elevator fill up with a breathable mix of air. "Shepard," Kaidan said, reaching up to take off his helmet, "I really do need a straight answer."
Shepard	Oh please let this not be about the Cerberus thing again. "About what?"
Kaidan	"Do you know anything about why Cerberus is here?" Kaidan asked. There, that was nice and non-accusatory, wasn't it?
Shepard	Sorry, Kaidan, but after the last couple of conversations-- the ship Non-Accusatory had kind of sailed. "What makes you think I know what they're up to?" Shepard said irritably.
Kaidan	Kaidan let out a breath. He walked over towards the railing and grabbed hold of it to give himself something steady. He measured his next words carefully. "You worked for them, for god's sake. How am I not supposed to think that?"
Jack	"For a great man, you're acting a bit dense," Jack said impatiently. "I don't think you're with them, but Kaidan's been clear about why he's suspicious." He kept staring at the elevator door as if he were expecting it to spring open at any moment.
Allie	Allie had nothing to add to the conversation. Other then a raised eyebrow that could probably be interpreted as her not finding Shepard all that impressive at the moment.
Dean	Well consider Dean over this Ross and Rachel bullshit. "I'm gonna start shooting at kneecaps if you two don't fucking stop. You're hurt, you're defensive. Now is not the goddamm time for this." Mediator Dean Winchester had it up to here with stubborn assholes.
Shepard	If Dean started shooting at kneecaps, he'd wind up with a biotic explosion in his face. Not that Shepard was eager to let it get that far, but... "You just had to bring the peanut gallery."
Kaidan	"You were the one who told them to come," Kaidan reminded him. "Either way... we have a minute. I want an answer."
Shepard	Shepard reached up and took off his helmet, taking a deep breath. Recycled oxygen wasn't as nice as real oxygen, but it was better than rebreathing what was in his tank. Again. "We joined forces to take down the Collectors. That's it," he said flatly. Could they move on now?
Kaidan	"There's more to it," Kaidan said. The elevator gave a jolt as it started to prepare for lift-off. "They rebuilt you from the ground up. They gave you a ship. Resources."
Shepard	Shepard's eyes darted briefly to Dean, just to make sure he wasn't actually going to start any shit. "Let me be clear," he said, stepping up beside Kaidan. "I've had no contact with Cerberus since I disabled the Collector base. Even your friends pointed out it's illogical for me to have any contact with them at this point."
Kaidan	Kaidan took a step back from the railing. The elevator jerked, then started to move. "Sorry, Shepard. It's just that..."
Shepard	"I shouldn't have to explain myself to you, Kaidan." The emphasis was subtle, but there-- and then the elevator slid upwards in earnest.
Jack	"So," Jack said, apropos of changing the goddamned subject, "what are the chances Cerberus will be waiting for us when this thing stops?"
Allie	Really Jack? Really? "Probably pretty damn high now that you've said that," Allie grumbled. She pulled her sword off her back and held it loosely in her hand. Better to be prepared and all that.
Kaidan	Shepard looked about ready to say something in response, but he was cut off by the sound of something skittering around the air vents above. Kaidan's focus snapped back to the present immediately. He drew his gun, pointing it up at the vents. Cerberus...?
Dean	"Oh thank god, that bullshit was gonna make me off myself," Dean added, rolling his shoulders for what would hopefully be fun times for all. Except the dead guys at the end. Less fun for them.
Liara	The loud thunking continued for at least another quarter of a minute-- then the covering shot off one of the vents above and out popped... ...a young blue woman in a white outfit. Her feet hit the ground, but she didn't even bother to look around. Instead she turned and slammed the front of the vent with a singularity. The three Cerberus troopers that came pouring out immediately lifted up into the air. She pointed her pistol at them and fired. One by one they dropped to the floor, very much dead.
Kaidan	Holy shit. "Liara!" Kaidan called, staring at her. Because that? That was definitely their Liara.
Jack	Not having to kill anybody right then was definitely a relief. Jack felt the tension in his body lessen. "So," Jack said with a significant glance to Allie, "I didn't jinx us after all." A beat. "Completely."
Allie	Like Jack, Allie relaxed a bit without an immediate threat at hand. "Technicality," she told Jack with a smirk.
Liara	Liara fired a few more bullets into the Cerberus soldiers' bodies, just to be sure. Then she turned around, her eyes immediately fixing on-- "Shepard! Thank the Goddess you're alive."
Shepard	Shepard offered her a small smile. "Liara," he said.
Liara	"I was worried when the reports came in," Liara said, striding towards them with grace. "They hit Earth hard?"
Kaidan	"Yeah," Kaidan said, sliding up beside Shepard so he could get a good look at her. She looked fine, thank God. "It was hard to leave like that."
Liara	"Kaidan," Liara said softly. Her head tilted towards him. "I'm sorry." She caught herself, turned away from both of them. "But... why did you come here?"
Shepard	"Hackett ordered us to come," Shepard said. "Said you'd know what was going on." He hoped Hackett'd been right.
Liara	Liara looked at each of them in turn - familiar faces and new ones both. "I do," she said after a moment, then turned and walked towards a nearby window.
Dean	"You gonna explain or just look dramatic?"
Liara	Ah, humans. They never changed. "I may have an explanation," Liara said, "Maybe. I've discovered plans for a Prothean device. One that could wipe out the Reapers."
Shepard	"Here?" Shepard said, dubiously. "On Mars?" He stepped up to the window. "I'll believe it when I see it," he said. "Where do we find this weapon?"
Liara	Liara shook her head. "It's not a weapon. Not yet. It's plans for a device. A blueprint."
Shepard	Damn it. Shepard pushed through his disappointment, though-- it turned into a shrug of his shoulders. "It's more than we had a minute ago. How do we get it?"
Liara	Liara pointed to the window - or rather, what laid outside, on the other side of the facility. "The Archives are just across that tramway," she said. "Assuming Cerberus hasn't locked it down."
Shepard	"What are they after?" Shepard asked.
Liara	"They want what I'm here for," Liara said quietly. "What we're all here for." She looked back out at the window. "The Protheans came close to defeating the Reapers. They had plans to destroy them, but ran out of time."
Kaidan	"And anything powerful enough to destroy the Reapers..." Kaidan said, stepping forward and squinting at the tramway. "...Just might be something Cerberus would be interested in," Shepard finished. "So it's a race to the archives," James summarized. "We--" A loud noise rang out through the room, and a shower of sparks suddenly sprayed forward from one of the doors upstairs. "We've got company! Bring it on!"
Shepard	Shepard shook his head as he checked over his gun. "Not this time, James." "What?!" "Get back to the shuttle," he said, looking up. "If Cerberus beats us to the Archives, I need you covering the exits." James managed a token "...But," but it was no use. Orders had been given. He retreated from the room.
Jack	Jack watched him go with narrowed eyes, trying to look inconspicuous so he wouldn't be the next ordered out of the way. He licked his lips and ventured, "Could some of us distract Cerberus while someone sneaks to the archives?"
Kaidan	Kaidan shook his head. "Mars Base is all small corridors," he said. "Not a lot of ways to sneak around... anything, really. We just have to move fast, hope we can cut 'em off--" Cerberus troopers burst through the door, but Liara smacked the first wave upside the head with a singularity, sending them all flying.
Allie	"Or we could just wait for them to come to us and take care of them here," Allie observed.
Dean	"Or we could stop the sharing and caring hour to shoot them," Dean snapped, taking aim and firing.
Kaidan	Thanks to the singularity keeping them in place, every one of Dean's shots was neatly on target. The dead soldiers fell out of the sky and hit the floor below; Kaidan winced just a little at the sound they made. "Okay," he said practically, "They cut off the elevator but we shouldn't have much trouble climbing on up to the first floor." In fact, he found as he started climbing, all it took was getting up on a couple of layers of boxes and then climbing over the balcony.
Liara	They had to fight their way through another squad of Cerberus troopers to get to the control room, but they made good time. "We'll need to unlock the pedway," Liara said, striding forward towards the consoles. "Controls should be nearby-- ah." She frowned down at one of the consoles. "Security seems to have been tampered with," she said. "Shepard, see if you can gain access to the pedway?" She gestured towards another console, then she sank into a seat. "I can't seem to unlock the live feeds, but..." One screen flicked on, showing a strange woman in a skin-tight suit with jet black hair bursting through.
Kaidan	"Did you see that?" Kaidan said, staring up at the screen. "Who's that woman in the vid?" In the vid, the woman's fingers danced briefly over the controls, then she sped away.
Liara	Someone interesting enough that Liara actually pushed her chair out of the way and got up again. "...That's Dr. Eva Coré. She got here about a week ago." She frowned, then looked towards Shepard. "Any luck?" Shepard looked up. "Pedway's been locked out." Liara reached past him to press a few buttons. "...All right. Looks like there's construction nearby. We can get out on the roof. We can find our way around from there." "Great," Shepard said, stepping away from the console. A door on the far end of the room slid open. "Let's move."
Kaidan	"Helmets on," Kaidan instructed the others. He immediately clicked his own on as well, then waited for the airlock to cycle. ...and open. The Mars winds immediately struck them straight in the face, and though they had a better view from here, it wasn't much encouraging. "That storm's getting close."
Jack	"I noticed," Jack said dryly. His visor was already getting pelted with tiny bits of sand, a byproduct of the storm. "Won't help to stand here talking about it." He pulled himself up onto the construction scaffolding, making his way to the roof and wishing as he did that wolves were better climbers.
Shepard	With difficulty, they made their way down to the next section of the station. Their comms had fizzled out now, and finding an airlock open without any signs of force-- that was not particularly encouraging. Neither was the room full of dead bodies that Cerberus had vented clean. Or the science lab where they'd activated the decontamination system with the scientists still inside. (Frankly, the smell of burnt human meat was going to be with Kaidan forever, jesus.) The further they went, the more Cerberus soldiers they found - and dispatched. Until finally... "We're here, I think," Shepard said. He stepped up to a console in the middle of the room. Downstairs-- that looked like a tramway. Another video popped up. Eva Coré, again. She was barking orders at Cerberus soldiers. "...Set up a perimeter! No one comes across! No one! And shut down those cameras!" The recording ended there. Liara frowned. "Looks like they've made it to the Archives."
Kaidan	Kaidan reached into his rifle to pop the heatsink. It bought him time to think. "And I doubt they'll just send us a tram," he said aloud. "Can you override it?"
Liara	Liara input a few commands on the console. It beeped. She shook her head. "The Archives are on a seperate network. We're completely locked out."
Kaidan	"Not if we can find a short-range communicator," Kaidan said thoughtfully. "Helmet-to-helmet."
Allie	"What? Like hot wiring a car?" Allie asked.
Dean	"I think more like walkie-talkies," Dean chimed in, looking oddly excited about that.
Jack	"Right," Jack exhaled, folding his arms and leaning back against a wall. "I'm the last person here to ask about technology, but I can keep watch while you work it out."
Kaidan	"Just keep an eye on the way we came in," Kaidan advised. He looked to Dean. "You want to come help me check this guy's helmet out? If we're in luck, we might be able to convince Cerberus we're some of their guys and we want to make it across." Without waiting for an answer, he headed onto the next part of the walkway, which contained at least one dead Cerberus trooper.
Shepard	That was... actually a really good idea. Shepard watched as Kaidan went on ahead. He'd missed a few things these past few years, hadn't he? He realized a moment later that Liara was looking at him. "What?"
Liara	Liara pursed her lips. Then she turned back to her controles. "The major has become quite capable," she said casually.
Shepard	Okay. "...Agreed," Shepard said, after a beat.
Allie	"You know," Allie said casually as she wiped bits of dead Cerebus troops off her sword. "It wouldn't be so surprising if you hadn't been off playing dead for however long."
Dean	Dean shot him a look before taking off after Kaidan. "Funny how that crap works, huh?"
Shepard	Well. That was. Uh. Shepard stole another look Liara's way, but she was busy over her console. "I wasn't playing dead," he told Allie defensively, eventually.
Kaidan	A couple of feet away, Kaidan had knelt down by the one fallen Cerberus soldier. "See this?" he told Dean. "This is where his voice communicator's supposed to be." He reached up to touch the buttons that would undo the helmet. Half of it fell away and revealed-- --an unnaturally pale human face with glowing blue eyes, two glowing blue lines of what looked like nanotech pulled straight over his eyes. "Jesus!"
Dean	"Well, that'd not something you see everyday," Dean muttered. "Why do I get the feeling this is gonna get messy?"
Jack	"Because it's been getting messy since we got here?" Jack suggested helpfully. He left his sentry post to get a look. "Jesus, what happened to him?"
Kaidan	"He looks like a husk," Kaidan said, appalled. His fingers found the inside of the man's... thing's... whatever he was's helmet. He pulled out the transmitter and handed it over to Dean.
Shepard	"Yeah, not quite," Shepard said, coming up behind them. He squatted down and gave the dead body a once-over. "But they've definitely done something to him." Thank you, Commander Obvious.
Kaidan	"And by 'they', you mean Cerberus? They did this to their own guy?" Kaidan said. He watched Shepard as he stretched back up. "...Is this what they did to you?"
Shepard	Shepard looked startled. And then, affronted. "How can you compare me to him?"
Kaidan	"Shepard, I don't know what you are," Kaidan pointed out evenly. "Or who, not since Cerberus rebuilt you." Because they had rebuilt Shepard. Maybe even from the ground up. "For all I know, you could be their puppet, controlled by the Illusive Man himself." Yeah, he knew the others weren't eager to see Shepard and him getting back to this topic - but he had questions. They couldn't wait.
Shepard	Predictably, Shepard sighed. "That's not fair, Kaidan." And he was getting a little self-conscious about being questioned over and over in front of Kaidan's friends, if he was being completely honest.
Kaidan	Okay, if Shepard was going to be like-- maybe this wasn't the best time to have this conversation, after all. Just the sight of that thing... Maybe he was never going to get this. Kaidan wiped the sweat off his forehead. "Don't try to explain it. I don't think I'd understand anyway," he said finally. "I just wanna know-- is the person I followed to hell and back still in there... somewhere?"
Shepard	"They didn't change me, Kaidan," Shepard said. "But words won't convince you, will they?" He'd been trying unsuccessfully for the past half hour.
Kaidan	"Probably not," Kaidan agreed, with some wry resignation in his voice.
Shepard	"I didn't think so," Shepard told him. His mouth twitched, then slid into a wry smile. "You were always stubborn."
Kaidan	Kaidan let out a soft laugh in spite of every last one of his efforts. "Me?" he said, as Shepard slipped past him. He shook his head, echoing wry smile still on his face. "Allie? Watch those big doors down there. Dean? You think you can convince the guys on the other side of the com-- walkie talkie that we're some of theirs, the evil Alliance types are dead and we want across?"