Mass Effect - A Hero Rises Ch. 24

Book 2, Chapter 5 -- Prison Break

*****

Waking up next to Kelly the next morning was a nice feeling. She was certainly in a good mood, waking up with a smile and a rather nice kiss. Watching her get up and stretch, showing off her body was certainly an even better way to start the day, as she turned around and asked if I wanted to join her for a shower before heading downstairs. Best idea I've heard since I woke up -- both times!

Twenty minutes later, we were dressed and standing in the elevator. Sharing a brief last kiss, we walked out into the mess together. There were a few stares but no-one said anything as Gardner had cooked some bacon and eggs, and with a mug of coffee, it was a good way to start the day. Add some toast and some fruit, and I'd have plenty of energy to burn.

Taking a seat with everyone else, Garrus looked at me so I returned an innocent glance. "Something on your mind?"

He looked at Kelly then back at me. "So..."

"Spit it out, Garrus."

I was expecting a question. Instead, he simply leaned back and laughed to himself. Better reaction than I expected. I thought I was going to get a million questions or innuendos. Perhaps he knew better nowadays, or he was waiting until we were in private before I received a grilling. I did notice Miranda had joined us, though 'joining us' meant in the mess, at a table by herself, and she left before any of us were even halfway through our meal.

"I'll be dealing with her this morning," I muttered so only a select few could hear.

"About what?" Garrus asked.

"Everyone is terrified of her. That isn't how you run a ship. The crew need to find her approachable. She wants to have the title of Cerberus Officer, or Executive Officer, then she can bloody well act like one. Walking around like your shit don't stink only causes resentment. I'll deal with it once the rest are at their stations. I don't want a shouting match anyway." I glanced down the table, pleased to see Joker could hobble his way to the mess nowadays. "How much longer to the prison?"

"Just after lunchtime, Commander. We'll be at the final relay in an hour, then it's a hop, skip and jump to the system we need."

Finishing breakfast, those around me were smart to leave quickly, while the regular crew had to be at their stations by a set time anyway. Once the mess was empty except for Gardner, who would now clean the mess, start preparing lunch, and do other odd jobs around the ship, I headed to Miranda's office. It opened as I approached and she was busy at her terminal, though when she looked up and noticed it was me, she was definitely taken aback. Her fingers stopped moving. "Commander?"

"We need to talk, Miss Lawson."

She was immediately on the defensive. Her posture told me everything, but she remained calm. "What about?"

"Well, considering I have experience as an Executive Officer, I'm actually here to give you some advice."

I was expecting some sort of sarcastic retort straight away. Instead, she gestured to the empty chair across from her, and pressed a button, hearing the door into her office lock. Settling her forearms on the desk, she leaned forward slightly. "Advice, Shepard? Why do you think I need advice?"

"Honestly?"

"I'd rather you be honest than anything else."

"Your attitude around and towards the crew stinks. You walk around with a stick up your arse all the time. You treat them with barely concealed contempt, and quite frankly, your arrogance seems to know no bounds. You were offered a chance to come join us last night, to come meet the crew, sit down and actually get to know them as people, and you throw the invitation back in all our faces."

"You've made your feelings clear about Cerberus personnel, and myself, Commander."

"I was there last night, Miss Lawson, getting to know the people I will be working with, getting to know who they are as human beings, actually looking past that symbol you proudly wear."

"I had work to do, Commander."

"Bullshit. I have plenty of work to do myself but I was still there last night enjoying myself."

"What you choose to do with your time..."

"Is none of your business," I interrupted, "You're damn well right it is. But as this ship's Executive Officer, one of your primary functions is being the go-between myself and the crew, and you are ineffective if you, putting it bluntly, terrify them. Do I need to tell you what your role is?"

"I'd be thrilled to hear what you believe it is, Commander."

"Sarcasm will get you nowhere with me, Miss Lawson. Chapter 9, Section 901 of the Alliance Naval Guidebook regarding officers of the Alliance Navy, position -- Executive Officer. The Executive Officer is the Second in Command. Her or she is responsible to the Commanding Officer for the general organisation of the ship and for the discipline, morale and welfare of the whole Ship's Company... Which one of those words do you think was important, Miss Lawson?"

"Discipline."

I smirked. "While true, this is not a military vessel, and even then, there are caveats. We are a civilian ship, and therefore are not bound by military regulations. And while discipline is important, officers and servicemen are generally disciplined internally as it is ingrained in them during training. What is important on missions such as this is morale. And while I may lead, they need to know that I have people around me who they can approach. You strutting around this ship like your shit doesn't stink doesn't help matters. You acting like you're better than them will do nothing but piss them off."

She shrugged. "I am better than them. I've been preparing for this role..."

I raised a hand, surprised she stopped talking. "Are you seriously that arrogant? To believe it or not isn't the point. To actually say it is something else entirely. Do you have no idea how to actually deal with people?"

"My main priority is the mission, not the crew."

I made a sound like a buzzer. "Wrong! So completely and utterly wrong, Miss Lawson. You claim to be the Executive Officer, correct?"

"Yes, because I am the XO as positioned by the Illusive Man."

"Expect a message with a series of attachments. Read them over and you will soon learn what the priorities of your role are. The mission and the safety of this vessel are my main priorities as the Commanding Officer of this vessel." I rose to my feet so I could look down at her. "I'm not actually expecting you to listen to a word I've said, but you will learn to fulfil your obligations correctly. I will be asking a colleague of ours to start monitoring your attitude towards the crew. If your poor attitude continues, measures will be taken."

Now she smirked, leaning back and looking confident. "If you think the Illusive Man..."

"You think I'll talk to him about it? I will deal with the issue personally." I pushed the chair I'd been sitting in back into position. "We're done here, Miss Lawson. Mission briefing will be fifteen minutes before docking." I turned and strode out of her office, confident I'd got my point across. Had I been professional? Apart from one or two jabs, I think I'd held my tongue rather well. I didn't actually have anyone ready to watch her, though I was fairly sure word would filter through if her attitude improved or not.

I headed upstairs, noticing Kelly disappear and return within a couple of minutes with two mugs, one for me and one for herself. Otherwise, she was completely professional, as I would expect, heading back to her own terminal to carry on with her work, though she'd glance my way every so often and smiled. Figuring I still had a little time until we needed to depart, I headed into Mordin's lab to see how the salarian was getting on.

He was busy at work doing something though looked up as I approached. "Ah, Shepard. Glad you are here."

"Why?"

"I'm busy working on the samples you gave me. Lucky you found them. Different tech. Not organic. Not geth. Indicates outside interference."

"The Reapers?"

"Possible Collectors are Reaper constructs. Perhaps used in emergency in case vanguard ship fails."

"I'm sure there are plenty of other questions but all I'm worried about is a working sample to protect us from the swarms. Can you do it?"

"Of course. Lab provided excellent. All the materials I require. Oh, you are aware of monitoring devices?"

"I figured there would be some around. You found some?"

"Yes. Found six in this lab alone. Four more in personal quarters. Can give you machine to find more."

"Can you make a few of them?"

"Yes. Easy to make. Based on signal. Short zap, the bug stops working. Can hand pile to Miss Lawson if desired."

"Get Garrus and Kasumi to help you. Search the ship, top to bottom, finding every single monitoring device you can find. Let me know when you're done, then I'll have another word with Miss Lawson. I knew we'd be spied on, but if I can put a stop to it, you'd better be damned sure I will."

"Likely AI also spying on us too."

"Yeah, but not a lot I can do about it. And EDI might prove its worth. Just focus on the monitoring devices for now. Is it video and sound?"

"Yes. Hard to miss the bigger cameras. Smaller cameras considered invasion of privacy."

"Thanks for letting me know, Mordin."

"No problem, Shepard. Working for Cerberus unexpected. Knew they'd spy though. Need me for anything else, I'll be here."

I crossed the ship, past the conference room, to visit Jacob. I wasn't there to shoot the shit with him though. I asked if he could help with some training. He seemed to appreciate the fact I'd come to ask him, so he stopped what he was working on and we headed down to the hangar bay. I checked my watch, and we had a couple of hours, so he put me through my paces, first showing me the basics of just being a biotic, how it all worked, and then he told me the gestures and movements I could make. What he told me was that, in the end, it would just come naturally. I'd think it and it would happen. To begin with, it was simply going to be awkward because I wasn't used to it. And, apparently, with my implant, I'd be able to learn even more powerful skills with further practice.

The one thing I learned is that biotic takes up a hell of a lot of energy, and made me sweat even harder. But I was soon doing charges easily, throwing warps, pulling and throwing objects, and even shooting what he called a shockwave. Apparently there were other skills, but they would take more practice to learn and required even more effort. He suggested I focus on easier skills for now, until they were almost second nature, then add more skills to my repertoire.

Cooling off with a bottle, we were just shooting the shit, nothing too personal, when Joker reported over the comm that we were approaching our destination. Heading upstairs in the elevator, I admitted, "Jacob, this is a flawed design right here. Armoury should be in the hangar bay. More often than not, we'll be leaving by shuttle, not the docking bay door." He shrugged helplessly, so there was my answer. "Still, I think we're docking directly with the prison this time, so at least it's not too much of a problem."

I was taking Miranda, Jacob, Garrus and Zaeed with me. We'd been informed that the Blue Suns operated the prison, known as Purgatory, but I'd already had a quiet word and Zaeed assured me he would behave himself for now. I took the man at his word. Miranda turned up as I was preparing my weapons. She didn't say anything, simply clipping a shield pack to her hip while grabbing a pistol and sub-machine gun. The air wasn't tense but I think word has spread about my visit that morning.

Heading to the airlock, Joker was bringing the Normandy into position, listening into the communications between us and the prison. "Everyone ready?" I asked.

"Aye, Commander," was the reply.

"Now, while we are expecting a smooth handover of the prisoner, stay ready for anything. Garrus, watch out six as always. Miss Lawson, you have the details, you'll lead with me. Jacob, Zaeed, watch our flanks."

"Don't trust them, Shepard?" Zaeed asked.

"No. These guys are mercenaries, nothing more. I've done a little research on this prison. I'm sure it breaks just about every galactic law in Council Space, but as it's out here, nowhere cares"

The ship docked, the air cycled and pressured, and we walked out onto the docking harm. No-one was there to meet us, so we headed in the only direction we could until we were met by four turians in Blue Suns armour. One of them raised a hand, indicating we should halt.

"Welcome to Purgatory, Commander," stated the guard. I simply nodded, so the guard continued. "Your package is being prepared. It should be available to collect shortly." He then looked over all of us, particularly at the fact we were all heavily armed. "While on board the Purgatory, I must ask that you and your team relinquish your weapons. It's standard procedure."

"Not happening, Chief. I'm here to pick up a dangerous prisoner, and I'm about to be surrounded by heaven only knows how many Blue Suns mercenaries. Do I really look that stupid to you?"

"It's standard procedure, Commander. Without it..."

"Fuck your procedure. I'm not handing over my weapons."

The guards looked between themselves. I just folded my arms, waiting to see what they'd do next. I was a patient man and in no hurry. I could stand there all day if required. However, the impasse was broken quickly as a fifth turian walked through the door behind them. "Commander, I'm Warden Kuril. This is my ship and these are my rules. As the guard has already stated, this is simply standard procedure. Your weapons will be returned once you have collected your package."

"No. Do I have to continuously repeat myself? I. Will. Not. Give. You. My. Fucking. Weapons. Capiche?"

"My translator didn't pick up that last word. What?"

"Capiche. It means do you understand. As in, I will not give you my fucking weapons. Do you understand?"

He glanced over the five of us again. Armed. Armoured. And generally not going to put up with anyone's bullshit. He eventually relented. "Let them proceed. Our facility is more than adequately equipped to deal with five armed guests. Just keep your weapons holstered, Commander. Don't want to go frightening the prisoners. Or the rest of the guards..."

"Yeah, fair enough."

We all relaxed as Kuril gestured for us to follow him into the prison. As we walked along, flanked by three more guards, the warden told us more about the prison, pretty much I think we all expected to hear. The worst the galaxy had to offer was dumped in Purgatory, the governments wiping their hands of them. Of course, the Blue Suns extracted money from the governments by threatening to release said prisoners if they were not paid for keeping them. Serial killers, mass murders, terrorists, the sort of people I might even have to deal with were housed in the prison. Scumbags was my main thought. I grew up on the streets but even we lived by some sort of code. Most of the people in Purgatory broke even the few codes I had.

As for Jack, apparently he was the most dangerous and powerful biotic in the galaxy. A complete psychopath. Ready to kill at the drop of a hate. A powder keg ready to explode, and god help you if you were in his path. To be honest, sounded perfect for the mission, long as they followed orders.

Jacob was the first one to mutter something about the cruelty on display. I certainly heard a lot of yelling, screaming, complaining. One or two prisoners copped a beating but I found it hard to sympathise. I had little doubt they were the scum of the galaxy but even Garrus started to mutter. "This all really necessary?" I finally asked.

"We live on a knife-edge every day, Commander. This is the literal scum of the galaxy. If you've read of some atrocity anywhere, families wiped out, murder sprees and massacres, bombs and explosions, there's a pretty good chance they've been dumped on us. After reading what some of these people have done, you would find sympathy is in very short supply."

Garrus wasn't particularly happy but I wasn't inclined to involve myself. "Have they all been convicted in a court of law?" he asked.

"Of course. They are escorted from Council Space to the edge of the Terminus Systems, where we review their crimes, the judgement handed down, and only then will we take charge of the prisoner, with the adequate payment, of course." He stopped and turned. "Look, the prisoners who behave, who follow orders, who simply see out their time? I won't say they're happy, who would be on a floating prison. But they accept their lot. If they behave, they receive privileges. Maybe send a letter home to mum and dad, or receive a call from a loved one, maybe even their kids. Don't behave? Then they'll either end up in the fridge or they'll be beaten until they do co-operate. Life is harsh here, people."

Moving on, some prisoners wanted to be noticed, banging on their doors as we passed by. There were threats that bordered on ludicrous. Miranda certainly received plenty of comments, plenty of then so vulgar, even I felt sorry for her. The guards would bang the doors with their sticks, forcing the prisoners back, but it was certainly loud. Probably louder than usual.

Kuril stated that Jack needed to be processed so to just proceeded through the next door. There was a lone mercenary at a terminal who gestured to a door on the far side. Kuril and the other guards disappeared, leaving us alone. Zaeed muttered it was all wrong. Garrus was agreeing. I felt something slightly off, so thought Fuck it and took the shotgun from my back.

They were proven right seconds later. The door opened to reveal an empty cell. I could only stand there and laugh. One, because I should have known better. And two, because I was about to cause a prison riot.

"Are you seriously going to try this on, Kuril? I figured you would be smarter than this?" I yelled out.

"You are out-numbered and out-gunned, on one of the most secure facilities in the galaxy, Shepard. So just save yourself the trouble. Drop your weapons and walk into the open cell. I promise that you and your colleagues won't be harmed."

I flipped the bird and showed it to any cameras I could see. "Very mature," Miranda muttered. I ignored her as we spread out into the limited cover. Blue Suns mercenaries soon arrived and that's when I put my training to immediate use, charging straight into three of them, knocking two of them down, blasting the head off the third. I quickly blasted the other two, gaping wounds in their chest, as I turned and charged at another Blue Suns approaching. Blam! Another hole in the chest of a turian as he went flying backwards.

"Leave some for us, Shepard!" I heard Garrus call, just as I had to leap into cover as I came under fire. I glanced at the rest and gestured, the five of us moving out together.

"All personnel, apprehend the fugitives at once."

"Well, hopefully they come to us and make this easier," Zaeed grunted, "Bunch of fuckin' pussies. Call yourself Blue Suns, you worthless cunts!" he yelled out.

More Blue Suns flooded forward and it turned into nothing more than a shootout. I used one of my new abilities, sending a shockwave in the direction of a trio hiding behind an overturned desk, sending all three of them flying. "Oh fuck, he's now got biotics!" Garrus yelled, "That's all we need!"

"Commander, Jacob and I can work together. You can help out. You pull or lift them like Jacob, I can warp them. Or send a shockwave, and I can add my own."

"Good thinking, Miss Lawson. But I do like my charging as well."

We moved out after mowing the bastards down, Zaeed slapping some medi-gel on a wound, but otherwise we'd managed to get out relatively unscathed. We had no schematic of the prison so were currently blind, but found a room nearby that had what we needed. Miranda got to work at a nearby terminal, keying a few commands. "Okay, I've got the layout, Commander. And I've located Jack. Now, I can simply release him or I can open every door in the place."