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Slaves of Cerberus	By : NakedOwlMan Category: +M through R > Mass Effect Views: 138070 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 2
Disclaimer: Mass Effect and all the characters in it are owned by people that are not me. I have not made a cent off this work of fiction

Chapter List
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"We're never going to find them," a disgruntled crewman muttered as he walked down the hallway of the Orpheus. Unaware that he was not alone as he spoke, a cloaked figure observing his aggravated exclamation from the shadows. "This is a waste of our fucking time."

Kasumi hated to admit that he may have a point. The Orpheus's recent mission in the Hawking Eta cluster had been no more successful than their visit to Mindoir. As Jacob had figured, word of their first attempt to root out Cerberus had spread back to the rest of the scattered cells, who had done their best to cover their tracks and stay off the radar. But a few clues from the Mindoir facility and other sources had led them to an old, previously considered abandoned facility on Presrop, where Cerberus had set up shop.

They had tried their best to go in stealthily. Kasumi had even managed to pull some files out of the Cerberus facility's computer banks before they had noticed and started wiping their data. But still, in the end they had come up with the same results: a building full of dead Cerberus agents, and no solid leads on what to do next.

There was a disheartened attitude throughout all the ship as Kasumi invisibly roamed the halls of the Orpheus. On the CIC deck, she stepped out of the way to allow Michele to walk by and sit down at her workstation. "Word is the mission might be a failure," she said to Lisa at the station next to her.

"Tell me about it," Lisa said with a sigh. "I've been sending Grunt so many signals, too. Asking him if the krogan have any special mating rituals, pretending to mistake the cargo bay he stays in for the women's showers. I almost thought he had finally caught on when I offered to help 'polish his weapon.' Ended up spending three hours on the firing range with him. My wrist is still sore from the recoil."

Michele gave Lisa a withering look. "I was referring to the ship's mission to rescue Shepard and her friends from Cerberus. But thanks for the status update on your little fuck quest, anyway."

"Michele, this is more important than just me getting a little krogan cock," Lisa said, inhaling deeply. "You've seen what's going on lately? Humans and aliens are starting to get angry at each other. Tensions are rising, people are fighting. I'm just doing my part to show Grunt, and by extension the entire alien community, that humanity loves them all."

"Oh, well, pardon me, then," Michele said with a smirk. "I wasn't aware that you were doing such noble work by trying to get a krogan in the sack. Carry on, Ambassador Mason."

Lisa looked over at Michele. "You really think we won't find her, though? Shepard?"

Michele shook her head. "From the reports the commander has been sending back to the Alliance... I don't like our chances. He can sugarcoat it all he wants, it's obvious that we're floundering here. We'd have a better chance of finding Cerberus by randomly visiting Alliance colonies and knocking on doors, than what we're doing right now."

"Well, maybe that's the Commander's next plan," Lisa said. "Although, better hope we don't go knocking on the wrong door on Aldion colony, unless Commander Taylor wants to get nagged to death."

Michele looked quizzically at Lisa. "Huh?"

"Aldion Colony, Horsehead Nebula?" Lisa said. "Isn't that where you said your mother is living right now?"

Michele blinked, and then recognition dawned on her face. "Oh, right, right," she quickly said. "Yeah, that'd be a bad idea. I'd probably get twenty messages afterward complaining how I didn't warn her that the Alliance was coming to visit, and how the place was an absolute mess."

The monitor in front of Michele blinked, and she opened the message that appeared. "Oh, that's the Commander's report on the mission," Michele said, standing up from her seat. "I'd better go send this off to the Admiral."

Lisa looked confused. "Can't you just do that right there from your station?"

"And have you gawking over my shoulder at classified Alliance documents?" Michele said. "Don't think so."

"Hey, I only did that once!" Lisa protested, but Michele was already walking away.

Kasumi considered following Michele as she left, but it would have been pointless. She had already been there for the Presrop mission. No need to sneak a peek at the report about it.

Continuing her roaming of the ship, she paid a visit to the gym next. She stepped inside to the sound of Vega talking excitedly.

"She was seconds away from escaping," he was saying to the other occupant of the room, talking while throwing jabs at a heavy bag. "If Cerberus had gotten away, we would have never gotten the plans for the Crucible. And here I am, in a shuttle with no damn guns. So what else am I gonna do? I just rammed the damn thing right into her!"

"Seriously?" Rooker said from her seat on a weight bench. "Did it ever occur to you that you might have blown up the data along with the woman who'd stolen it?"

Vega gave her a slight shrug. "Wasn't thinking too clearly at the time. All I knew was that Cerberus had valuable data, and I figured it'd be better it be blown up than in the hands of those pendejos. And as it turned out, a little bit of fire wasn't enough to stop her. Mostly just pissed her the hell off."

"Right, the infiltration unit," Rooker said, leaning forward to listen to Vega's story. "So what did Shepard do then?"

"Well, I land just in time to see that crazy robot kick open the shuttle door and start wailing on Ash. Uh, Commander Williams, I mean. And after nearly killing her, the thing turns on Shepard next." Vega shook his head as he thought back on it. "I mean, can you believe that? All the shit that's just happened: a shuttle nearly crashing down on top of her, one of her best friends gets beaten to a pulp, and now this loco robot comes charging straight at her with murder in its eyes. Or optical sensors, or whatever those things have."

Rooker said nothing, just listening to Vega with her eyes wide and her lips slightly parted as he spun the tale.

"But Lola didn't even flinch," Vega said, holding his arm straight as he spoke. "She just pulled her pistol, took aim, and bang! Bang! Bang!" he jerked his wrist to mimic the recoil. "She dropped that thing like it was nothing. It was one thing back then, to hear all the legends about Commander Shepard, the amazing shit she's done. But seeing it for yourself for the first time, in person... that's when you finally start believing."

"She's a remarkable woman," Rooker agreed, awe in her voice.

Turning back to the heavy bag, Vega started throwing hard punches. "Just pisses me off that... that I'm here on this ship and I can't do a damn thing to help her. All the times she's had my back and..."

"Hey," Rooker said, her voice firm as always but with the slightest hint of compassion. "We're going to get her back, James."

Vega delivered a frustrated blow to the heavy bag. "But how can you be sure? I mean, carajo, we don't even know if she's still alive or not."

"She is," Rooker immediately replied, no trace of doubt in her voice. An odd look came to her face then, almost like she was ashamed of what she'd just said. She averted her eyes from Vega down to the floor.

Glancing over his shoulder at her, Vega had a pained expression. "Wish I could be as positive about that as you are, chica. Considering we're going up against a double of Shepard, I wouldn't be surprised if they ended up disposing of the original, you know?"

Rooker stood up, turning away from Vega. "Look, I know this is probably going to sound silly. But there are times that I... I just get these gut feelings. Like, out of nowhere, I just know something for sure. And right now... I've just got this strong feeling that Shepard's still alive out there. That's she's alive, and we're going to end up finding her." Her cheeks flushed a little. "It's stupid, I know. To put so much faith in nothing but a hunch."

"No, I think I believe you," Vega said, turning his attention away from the heavy bag towards Rooker. "Cuz, the thing is, I've been getting a feeling like that myself, lately."

Rooker turned back to face him. "Really?"

"Yeah, really. Not about Shepard, though," Vega gave Rooker his best charming smile. "About somebody a lot more... intimidating than her."

"Really," Rooker said, giving Vega a slightly annoyed look. "More intimidating than Commander Shepard?"

Vega whistled between his teeth. "Most definitely. But underneath that tough skin and armor of hers, I've got a hunch that just maybe, she might be feeling the same thing I am."

Rooker let out an exasperated groan. "Just when I thought you were being serious for a second. Don't you ever give up?" she asked him.

"Hey, already told you, chica," Vega said. "Just tell me you're not interested, and I promise to never say another word about it."

"What, and miss out on the entertainment of watching you fumble through another seduction attempt?" Rooker said. "I wouldn't dream of it." Grabbing up her things, Rooker turned her back on Vega and started walking away. "Good night, Commander."

"You leaving already?" Vega called out to her. "I've got a lot more Shepard stories I could tell you. Hey, like the time she told me to disable an AA gun, that was a crazy one."

Pausing in the hallway, Rooker paused to stare back for just a second. "Maybe next time," she said, before shutting the door behind her.

Kasumi had followed Rooker out into the hallway, and walked behind her until she saw that the XO was making her way to the showers. And while part of her couldn't help but admit a slight desire to see what sort of embarrassing tattoos the Alliance marine might be hiding in her most intimate places, she had a lot more ship to visit before her final appointment for the evening.

Turning down another hallway, Kasumi strolled into the mess hall. The off-duty crew were all watching a large viewscreen, where the latest edition of Westerlund News was currently broadcasting.

"For those just tuning in, the story that broke just several hours ago: a massacre at a human colony on Chasca," al-Jilani was reporting. "After officials at the colony failed to report in, representatives from a nearby settlement arrived to find a slaughterhouse. Dozens of colonists murdered, and a strange symbol put on display in several locations."

The video footage switched to a crude, hastily-drawn insignia on a wall. Kasumi had been through enough horrors over the past few years to know immediately what substance it had been drawn in: human blood.

"Not long after the massacre was discovered, several major news outlets, including this station, received communications from the anonymous leader of a group calling itself H.S.E.M., or the Homo Sapien Extinction Movement," al-Jilani said, as the report cut to a staticy image: the same symbol from the wall flickered on the screen, while a distorted voice spoke behind it.

"Humanity has treated the other races of the galaxy as its inferiors for far too long," said the voice on the video. "How many of us died to save Earth, only to be answered with hatred, anger, and violence? We, the proud members of the H.S.E.M., will not rest until every last member of this violent, warlike race is eradicated from the face of the galaxy. The colony on Chasca is only the beginning. We will not negotiate. We will not show mercy. We will cleanse the galaxy of humanity, once and for all."

The video feed switched back to al-Jilani. "In the interests of rooting out the cause of this slaughter, the Alliance and Citadel Council have launched a joint investigation into the attack on Chasca. Alliance investigators will be assisted by Spectre agent Jondum Bau, in order to determine who is behind the H.S.E.M., and bring them and their associates to justice. In the meantime, however, Alliance and Citadel defector Anna Shepard has released a statement in the wake of the attack."

The image of the Shepard clone filled the screen. "Let Chasca be an example of the warning I've been trying to deliver to the human race," she said, her voice loud and forceful. "For everyone who thought that the Reaper War was an end to our struggles, and that humanity and the rest of the galaxy could live in peace, let the blood that stains the grass of this colony be a harsh reminder that humanity can only put its faith in itself. That in the end, we will never be able to cooperate with the other races. And that until every last alien is purged from Earth and from the Citadel, we will always be in danger."

"With the deaths on Chasca, and the speech by Anna Shepard, tensions on Earth and the Citadel have only risen," al-Jilani reported. "Incidents of violence against aliens are increasing, and now further reports of alien retaliation against humans are coming in as well. What will it take to relieve these tensions? We at Westerlund News don't have an answer, but we'll be bringing you up-to-the-minute coverage of any further developments. This is..."

At a table to the side of the mess hall, Garrus sighed wearily. "Reapers had the wrong idea. No need to kill us themselves. All they had to do was sit back and let us do it to each other."

Across from him, Cortez furrowed his brow. "Things keep going like this, it's going to be rioting in the streets within a week. How did all this escalate so quickly?"

"Times like this, people need someone to blame. The Reapers are destroyed, and the war is over... but things aren't even close to being back to normal again," Garrus said. "Earth is rebuilding, but there's still a lot of people in need. And if things weren't bad enough, they're forced to compete for food, for living space, for everything they can, with aliens. They need someone to be angry at, and the Reapers aren't around to fill that role for them anymore."

"I know, but... is this really all it takes? For just one person to supposedly turn anti-alien to break down the peace we'd built together all these years?" Cortez asked.

"It was only one small skirmish that almost led to open war between our races," Garrus mused. "Sometimes things that seem small at the time have a way of building on you."

Cortez leaned his face against his hand. "We need to get Shepard back," he said. "She could calm all this down. People would listen to her."

"Yeah, that's the problem, unfortunately. They're 'listening' to her right now. Or someone they think is her." Garrus grabbed his glass and tipped it back, only to find it empty. "I'm going to go pour myself another. Lucky for me Commander Taylor keeps some dextro liquor on hand for turian guests. Want me to get you something?"

Looking back over his shoulder at the vidscreen, Cortez exhaled deeply. "Yeah, a shot of whiskey. Actually, on second thought, bring the bottle."

As Garrus stood up and headed for the ship's liquor supply, Cortez's eyes suddenly locked on the other side of the mess hall. Kasumi followed his gaze to see Riggs sitting by himself in the corner. The dark-haired marine stared at Cortez intently for several seconds, before abruptly standing up and quickly exiting the mess hall.

Curiosity piqued, Kasumi followed the taciturn marine as he entered a side stairwell and descended down into the lower decks of the ship. For a moment, Kasumi hesitated: the last time she had visited this part of the ship on one of her nightly explorations, the newest resident of the lower decks had actually spotted her through her cloak. And tonight especially, she wasn't exactly interested in getting sniffed out.

But her interest in the mysterious member of Jacob's crew overcame her caution, and she followed him down into the engineering section of the ship.
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Slaves of Cerberus