Two weeks after the Collector base
"I guess this is my stop Shepard, thanks for the fun, the bonus of killing mercs was great too." Tom said before zipping up a rather large bag, which contained most of his combat gear.
"I had a great time with you Tom, also can I have that clip of me punching that reporter?" I suppressed a chuckle when he mentioned that.
"I'll send it to you later, think of it as a parting gift."
"Thanks for that, what are you going to do now?"
"I don't know, probably go pay a visit to the graves of my family, but that's enough of me, what are going to do after everyone is gone?"
"Turn myself into the Alliance, and the ship with it, I've had enough of Cerberus."
"Good luck with that, good bye Shepard, it was a good run."
"You too Tom."
Tom exited the shuttle which was near the outskirts of the city he set up in. He watched Shepard go with a forlorn expression on his face, but it quickly turned into a devious smirk. He quickly emailed Shepard the recording of that reporter getting her head getting punched in. But that wasn't all he sent. He also sent a free virus with that, which wouldn't have been found out because of the subtle changes he had made to the ship's firewalls, EDI didn't notice it because the firewalls thought it was just another piece of code in navigation.
By the time Tom had gotten home he had inside access to 45% of the Normandy's systems. No one knew that he had access to it, and it was unlikely that they ever would. Fortunately Tom didn't have any malevolent intentions, he was just there to watch, nothing more.
Just before Shepard turns himself into the Alliance
"Are we turning ourselves in now?" A curious crewmate asked Shepard.
"I have no further intentions to mess up my reputation, if you have any problems you can leave through the airlock now."
The crew member shivered when he heard that "umm no sir!'' He said fearfully and left the CIC.
Shepard walked into the lab, just surveying it a little. He sighed. It felt so empty after Mordin left, it almost felt like a dead room now, it lacked the energy Mordin had always exerted when he was working in the lab.
He left the lab and watched the Normandy approach Earth through the galaxy map. He hoped that it wouldn't end it him getting life in prison, as that was the typical sentence for any Cerberus people that had been caught alive, or at least so he thought, he didn't know that it was suicide on capture orders, or anything of that sort as he had never captured any of the ones had had fought. He hoped that he didn't a get court martial, for being with Cerberus or for blowing up the Balek relay.
After Shepard turns himself in to the Alliance
Shepard got off pretty easily all things considered, he only got relieved of command, and stripped of all of his assets. But they would need him for when the Reapers showed up, and when that time did happen he knew he'd get reinstated. He only had one thing he had to hope for after getting almost everything taken away from him.
The next Normandy better have some faster elevators dang it!
November 25th, 2185, Illusive man's office, Cerberus main base.
The Illusive man took another puffed his cigar as he watched Andius. The large star almost seemed alive, but that was just wishful thinking. He was glad he had positioned his office in just the right way, it would make him stand just far enough away where a little bit of reflective plating would prevent damage to his station, while also making it nearly impossible for any scanners to see the base, Andius was simply too big and exerted too much heat for scanners to pick up much.
He checked his email, he might've gotten a report from someone.
From: .invalid
Subject: Intel
As requested, I've gotten intel on all of Shepard's crew as per our agreement.
Name: Tali Zorah
Other alias: N/A
Tali Zorah is the daughter of Rael Zorah, she excels in close range combat with her shotgun and in most if not all forms of technology. Counter her with long range weaponry and biotics. She excels in hacking and engineering skills.
Threat level:3.7/5
Threat level to Cerberus: 3.6/5
Name: 'Grunt'
Other alias: N/A
'Grunt' is the name of a genetically perfect Krogan, he is incredibly dangerous in combat, being able to regenerate faster then most Krogan, he is armed with a powerful Claymore heavy shotgun and is incredibly deadly at close range. Counter him with high numbers and high power sniper rifles at long range.
He does not seem to make many tactically sound decisions though, and will charge head on into a battle without prior planning, so plan for unpredictable rushing.
Threat level: 4/5
Threat level to Cerberus: 1.4/5
Name: Jack
Other alias: Subject Zero
An escaped subject of a Cerberus project gone deadly wrong, Jack has more biotic power then some Asari Justicars, and she has some of the most advanced and experimental amps ever made, she is deadly at close and medium range, and her shockwave is particularly devastating. Counter her with very large numbers, and with high power shields.
Threat level: 3.8/5
Threat level to Cerberus: 3.4/5
Name: Miranda Lawson
Other alias: N/A
Miranda Lawson is a nearly perfect human, she's been genetically engineered to heal faster, keep her alive longer, increase her power with biotics, and to look aesthetically pleasing. She is a very accurate shot and can back it up with biotic support if need be. She is a former high ranking member of your organization, but I'm sure you already know that. She is very hard to engage at any distance, keeping her in cover is the best way to suppress her.
Threat level: 4.0/5
Threat level to Cerberus: 4.5/5
Name: Garrus Vakarian
Other alias: Archangel
An expert sniper and good hacker, Garrus Vakarian is extremely deadly at long range, he managed to hold off three merc groups alone and managed to stay alive for several hours, he is quite possibly the best sniper, second to none in terms of accuracy. He is also fairly versatile in tech powers, being able to wield the same powers that a standard grade Alliance Infiltrator would know. Engage at very close range and in large numbers, never engage at long range.
Threat level: 4.4/5
Threat level to Cerberus: 3.2/5
Name: Thane Krios
Other alias: N/A
Thane Krios is a experienced assassin, with dozens of assassinations, he is almost as deadly as Garrus with a sniper rifle, but also has powerful biotics. He is a very accurate shot at all ranges, and his biotics help him deal with armored opponents. Counter him with high numbers and agile opponents.
Threat level: 3.75/5
Threat level to Cerberus: 3.0/5
Name: Samara (last name unknown)
Other alias: N/A
Samara is an asari Justicar who is very potent in the way of biotics. Although she is weaker than Jack, she is much more tactical in terms of fighting, using more technique and less of the pure power that Jack has. She is moderately good with firearms, but her main strength is her ruthless efficiency with biotics. Counter with agile opponents and close range pressure
Threat level: 3.7/5
Threat level to Cerberus: 3.5/5
Name: Kasumi Goto
Other alias: N/A
The Illusive thief, Kasumi Goto is a very tactical opponent on the battlefield, she is very deadly because of her cloak, which allows her to flank almost all of her enemies, not much else about her is known, even less is known about her combat capability. Counter her with close range weapons.
Threat level: 3.65/5
Threat level to Cerberus 2/5
Name: Jacob Taylor
Other alias: N/A
Former Cerberus operative, Jacob is a good marksman and a good biotic, his efficiency with both guns and biotics makes him a very versatile combatant on the battlefield. Former Cerberus and former Alliance operative. He is very difficult to counter due to how balanced his loadout is.
Threat level: 3.7/5
Threat level to Cerberus: 4/5
Name: Mordin Solus
Other alias: N/A
Mordin is has several tech powers which make him a force to be reckoned with on the battlefield. He is a very accurate shot, preferring to get headshots over body shots and is very agile, preferring to dodge bullets all together instead of packing strong shields. He is a very slippery combatant on the field. Counter with high numbers and high pressure.
Beware of his tech powers such as incinerate and Neural Shock
Threat level: 3.6/5
Threat level to Cerberus: 3/5
Name: Unknown
Other alias: Ghost
Very little is known about Ghost. I haven't been able to find out his name at all yet, he is a very deadly combatant on the battlefield, his cloak is almost as powerful as Kasumi's and he has much more weapons than she does. Not much else is known about him, I don't know how to counter him as most of his arsenal is unknown, the only other thing I know of is that he is an incredibly powerful hacker, being even better than Tali, I don't know what weapons he'll be packing, I don't know how to counter him.
Threat level: Unknown
Threat level to Cerberus: Unknown
Name: Zaeed Massani
Other alias: N/A
Zaeed is the most dangerous operative in Shepard's team, beaten out by only Shepard himself in terms of combat abilities. He is a better shot then everyone besides Garrus, and has much more guns then almost everyone else, again beaten by Shepard. He is very knowledgeable of combat and tends to take up positions where he has the advantage. Counter him with biotics and extremely high numbers.
Threat level: 4.5/5
Threat level to Cerberus: 3/5
Name: John Shepard
Other alias: Commander Shepard
Shepard is more deadly than all of the operatives mentioned above, his skill is second to none, he may even be a better shot then Garrus, and has more guns to back it up. He has weapon training with every single gun class available, this makes him versatile in any situation, and he is extremely knowledgeable of combat and always takes up positions where he has the advantage. He is impossible to counter, never engage him conventionally. He has powerful weapons and abilities, and noted leadership capabilities, but I'm sure you already know that.
Threat level: 5/5
Threat level to Cerberus: 4.6/5
The Illusive man looked at this, and pondered. Analyzing it, seeing what he could do and what he couldn't do, this is the quality that had made him a billionaire, the ability to assimilate information faster then most people got him in a lot of favorable situations, he always held all the cards, it's what made his organization thrive.
He looked at the list for several moments, thinking of who might present the greatest threat to him, and to his organization at large. After about 15 minutes he made his decision.
"I need Miranda Lawson and Ghost taken out, use any means necessary, lethal force is now authorized."
The person on the other end responded malevolently. "As you wish."
Unknown to either of them, someone else was listening in.
...
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Tom sighed. This was getting annoying. He had just infiltrated the network of the Mars archives and it actually had decent firewalls, which meant he actually had to compensate for the virus to get into the system, it was by no means difficult, just an annoyance. He had limited time before Cerberus tracked him down.
He just had to insert himself as a security guard, and get on his shuttle that would get him to Mars. The one thing that was on grinding away on his nerves was that he didn't know how long he had before he was found, which was why he had everything already packed and a plan to erase all the data on his computer.
"Finally!" He shouted to no one in particular. He just cracked the encryption on the personnel list, it only took a bit of typing to make himself a cover story, he hoped it wasn't too suspicious. He made sure to add that he was in the process of transferring to the site as a security guard.
He proceed to equip the rest of his combat gear, which was sitting on a chair nearby. He was about to put on his helmet but then he felt the sudden urge to sneeze.
"Ac...CHO-" It was interrupted as a bullet which went right through a wall passed right next to him. He would've laughed at the fact of being saved by a sneeze if he wasn't being hunted at the time. He instantly grabbed his helmet and bag before diving through the door to his room.
"Screw my life, he had to choose NOW to try and assassinate me, fuck." Tom muttered to himself before running out the back door and running through his neighbor's yard, and then activating his cloak.
Tom quickly made his way to the rendezvous point where his shuttle was waiting for him.
"Please enter the pass code." A VI said.
Tom hastily entered the code, 1343457.
"Welcome aboard, we are departing in 5 hours, 41 minutes, 6 seconds and counting."
"Initiate protocol 'Only use this when someone is trying to assassinate you' please."
"Initiating protocol, purging data banks, starting shuttle."
Tom sat in the pilot seat and sighed in relief, he was lucky to be alive, if he hadn't sneezed he would've died, that widow round would've penetrated his skull and killed him saved by a sneeze was something he should add to his list of 'things I did before I died by mechanical space cuttlefish' he could almost hear himself writing it down now.
He knew Cerberus was coming for him, he just didn't expect it to come then, at least they didn't get a visual then, they were probably using a powerful thermal scope just to see right through a wall, the assassin had probably invested in armor piercing rounds too. That's how he knew it was Cerberus, he doubted any other group would have those kind of creds and be interested in killing him.
They failed though, they should've come earlier in the morning, or had taken the shot while he was at his desk, no matter. He didn't care about it now, he just had to make sure that Doctor Eva Core didn't instantly shoot him on sight. He hoped that she would at least restrain itself because of the whole 'stay undercover, no matter the cost' rule.
Tom grinned when he was alerted to someone else accessing his computer, a rookie mistake to be sure. He put on his helmet and activated the face cam on his shuttle.
It was Leng's stupid face that was on the other end of the line.
"Hello Leng, I believe that's far enough." Investing in that voice synthesizer was definitely a good investment.
"Hello, why don't you come out and fight me like a man?"
"A feisty one! I could laugh at that, I prefer doing this over a monitor, like your boss TIM, if he does, then why don't I? And I can too, and I'd rather keep my life thank you very much."
"You're arrogant." The fact that Leng was talking to me was his downfall, as I had snuck a virus onto my computer, and I activated it at that moment, which bypassed right through Leng's firewalls, and onto his Ocular implants. He didn't feel anything, but I had access to what he had seen in the past, everything. It also acted as a trace, this was a big mistake for him.
"This exchange is over, that weak trace you think you have has just been cut, good bye Leng, say hi to Jack Harper for me." I cut the connection.
All I had to do now was get out of my armor and equip the Alliance fatigues that I had stolen from an Alliance base, I'm sure they wouldn't mind. Now all I had to do was wait until my shuttle landed.
One week until The Reapers invade
Tom wiped a bit of sweat from his brow. That VI had been much harder than he had thought to code. He was just finishing up the last couple bugs that he had ironed out in the last week. "Glad this thing is finally done."
"How long has it taken you to get that VI working?" Adam asked, one of my co-workers in security.
"It feels like years, but I've gotten the dang thing working now, I hope there isn't any more bugs I have to fix, I've been working on this for the past two months."
"Well it all pays off in the end doesn't it?"
"It sure does, I-"
"Pearce, you're break is over, I need you to secure the transfer of a new arrival!" Tom's boss shouted. Smith Pearce was his cover name.
"I'll be right there!" Tom shouted. "Well, duty calls, see you later." Adam grinned.
"So who is this new arrival?" Tom asked.
"Her name is Doctor Eva Core, you ready?"
"Let me just grab my gear." I cringed when I heard that name. I guess now's the time everything get's set in motion, I'm just glad I'm ready for it.
The End