Nexus Effect

Ch.70

“So we just wait here?” Garrus asked in bemusement after I finished selling the freighter we took here to a sleazy volus, who gladly purchased it for a small sum, which was still more than it was actually worth. It was okay and I had permission to do it since it was a mass-production model that could be stamped out within a few days in the Geth shipyards.

“Eeyup.” I popped the p as we stood at docking terminal 343, which was shortly docking the Normandy SR-2. “Right on schedule.”

“It...it’s like she was never blown up. Though she does have a couple of extra engines.” Garrus pointed out and indeed, while the first Normandy was like the canon SR-2, this SR-2 had six engines and was even bigger. This made her a heavy frigate like the sadly retired White-Out was. That said, she wasn’t much larger, so with such a powerful engine complement and her stealth technology, she was likely the fastest frigate in the Milky Way with the White-Out retired to a museum on Rannoch. Part of the wing dedicated to me. I still felt flattered about it.

“Impressive. Your information is rather intimidating to anticipate the arrival of a ship with no charter.” Mordin commented cheerfully as we waited at the loading dock.

“The only person scarier than Yola and I on this station is sitting in the Afterlife getting drunk with her girlfriend.” I declared with full knowledge that Aria was, in fact, getting absolutely smashed in celebration and getting handsy with Nyreen, who wasn’t shy about it.

“N-Nora?!” I smiled up at my girlfriend, who looked just as I remembered her, save for her new cybernetic eyes. She must’ve had to have a lot of cybernetic augments to be resurrected by science. “What are you-how are you-c’mere you sexy bitch!” Penny cheered and she ran down the ramp to wrap her arms around me and I squealed as she lifted me up and twirled before she nuzzled her cheek to my helmet.

“This is unexpected.” The beautiful woman who must be Miranda Lawson commented when she descended the ramp next to the dark-skinned man who must be Jacob Taylor. Who is that tall guy in the cloak standing further in the ship though? “Both Archangel and Mordin Solus are here, just waiting for us?”

“You underestimate us. Sis and I are well-informed and tend to be in the right place at the right time.” Yola boasted as she hugged Penny from behind and we squeezed her in joy.

Everyone looked at the tall guy with the strong asiatic features and dark skin tone and I had to wonder what was going on. He gestured, then blinked and looked at the others, then me, then sighed without any voice to it. “Um...what’s going on?”

“Apparently you’re immune to telepathy. That’s how Hunter speaks.” Jacob helpfully interpreted and I blinked. Oh. I guess getting my systems hammered repeatedly and with Hermais’ help, I must’ve developed resistance to things like that. Or does his telepathy simply not work for inorganics? “However, he does have other ways of communicating, but it requires your consensus. Since you and your sister are geth.”

“Um, I am geth. Sis is more.” Yola admitted before she closed her eyes and nodded. “I can hear you now that I’ve granted the permissions.”

“I...don’t know how to do that.” I admitted uneasily. The thought of opening my systems to anything after how much I’ve been tampered with makes me very uncomfortable with the idea. “Do you have an IM you can use? I can open that in my HUD.” He nodded. “Okay, send the request...got it.”

“Sorry about this. I’m so used to talking to people directly that I forget droids and other synthetics can’t hear me most of the time.” Hunter texted without using his omni or moving. Cool! He must have some sort of implant or something to interface like this. “Neural link.”

“Okay. Well, I’ve gathered the crew, Omega is shoring up it’s defenses and instating martial law until all the gangs and hoodlums stop making a mess everywhere so any future issues predicted to happen here shouldn’t happen now.” I’ve also warned Aria to capture or kill any Collectors who come here.

They are not welcome in this or any society until after Harbinger is dead, though that last part I left out. Oh, I also covertly warned her about Cerberus trying to take over the station. Boy is she mad. The only reason she isn’t here to have beef with the Normandy SR2 is because I told her this group was pretty much a splinter cell hunting the Collectors.

“That’s convenient.” Miranda commented warily and I winked at her. “Well then, I guess we can move on to our next objective. We don’t need to stock up on anything here, Commander.”

“Hold on, wasn’t there a plague of sorts going around? Shouldn’t we make sure they’re not sick first?” Penny asked worriedly after she released the hug, but still didn’t move away when we parted.

“Worry not. I was able to synthesize a panacea within hours of the plague’s outbreak and distribute it with the aid of the Talons. The fact that it only targeted non-humans was rather suspicious.” Mordin looked at Miranda with a knowing glint in his eye and the woman looked shocked.

“W-what? You mean-that can’t be.” Miranda opened her omni and looked over things. “I have no data on this sort of operation and I have the highest clearance.”

“It looks like you’re being left out of the loop on things. Typical.” Garrus huffed and Penny rounded on him.

“Garrus! I didn’t recognize you in that fancy blue suit! Give me a spin!” Penny gestured for him to do so and he shrugged before complying. “Sweet armor. Armax?”

“You know it. Heaviest kit they had available.” The turian operative tapped his helmet. “Don’t mind that I keep the helmet on. I’ve learned the past few days to wear the full suit as often as possible when in potentially hostile environments.”

“I like it, it makes you look mysterious.” Penny praised as she raked her eyes up and down him with a salacious grin that caught me off-guard. Since when was Penny so...sensual? Sure, she was always sexy, but she didn’t have this ‘fuck me or I’ll fuck you’ thing going on before.

“The Boon from Wiatr had quite the profound effect on her. You’ll find out more once we’re in transit.” Hunter texted me, but nobody else seemed to respond, so he only sent that to me.

“Ah, thanks Penny. Now then, let’s get off this metal jellyfish of a station so we can relax.” Garrus began climbing the ramp and the others moved to follow.

“Hold up! Cerberus hired me for this job and I’m coming. Zaeed Massani, best merc in the Galaxy.” A grizzled man with a blind eye, balding head and yellow armor approached. Oh, right. Him. I utterly forgot he existed.

“Isn’t that title beholden to Cad Bane?” A big guy waiting at the top of the ramp commented.

“Cad is Andromeda’s best Bounty Hunter. I’m the Milky Way’s best Mercenary. Key difference. Good thing you got here, I’m not welcome here anymore and I needed to leave as soon as possible.” Zaeed Massani clarified before turning back to us.

“Hm...yes, I have your dossier right here. Welcome aboard.” Miranda smiled at seeing she did have some of the info she should. Oof, knowing her, she must be chafing at the idea she isn’t in control of her situation.

“Yeah, she really doesn’t like it when people challenge her perfection.” Hunter texted me with a smirk, which made Miranda turn around to give him the stink eye. This made Yola and I giggle, since everyone heard that remark. “Sorry, not sorry.”

“What exactly is going on with Omega?” Jacob asked before the symbol of the Terminus changed slightly from white to black with a royal purple background as a few armed Talons approached the ramp.

“Aria just declared herself the ruler of a nation. One that rivals the Citadel and is not held to their laws. We’re still working on the flag. We got the colors though. Your ship may still come and go as you please and the markets are open, but one step out of line and that privilege is gone and you will be hunted down like Varren.” The leader of the five new soldiers declared.

“Understood.” Miranda replied neutrally.

“Tell the Illusive Man that only the Normandy is welcome. Any Cerberus operative not linked to this ship that comes into this system will be killed without warning. If Cerberus plays its cards right, the privilege might be extended to other ships. We know about the fleet you’re mobilizing to take us over. If that stops and he sends an honest diplomat, we can talk.” The Talon declared and Miranda nodded. “Good. Now get lost. You may be welcome, but things are hectic here and we’d prefer to have as few ships in the docs as possible in case people get rowdy.”

[1001100 01101001 01101110 01100101]

“So, where to next? Since I helped you wrap up things with Omega so much quicker and hopefully avoided bullshit in the future.” I asked in the meeting room, which felt odd without all the familiar faces from before, also the holo table was new. I was sitting next to Tali, who was clasping my hand and rubbing my wrist as she, like Yola and I, had our helmets off and was nuzzling my neck.

“I’d suggest going for Doctor Okeer, but we already called Wrekrov and Wrex and suggested they send Aralakh Company to secure him.” Yola announced and everyone looked at Miranda when she choked on a gasp.

“What? That’s-how are you two doing this? You’re several steps ahead of us.” Miranda demanded uneasily, almost spooked by the look and sound of her.

“I can hazard a guess, but I’m keeping my lips sealed. Because none of you would believe me.” Hunter stated as he winked my way. He was sitting with his siblings across from us, who were quite the diverse bunch, but seemed content to let Hunter do most of the talking for now.

“Either way, this simplifies things and buys us time. Anything else we should be focusing on?” Penny asked and Miranda actually seemed at a loss. “Well, Miranda? Should we go to Korlus and support Aralakh Company in retrieving Doctor Okeer?”

“That might be the best course of action at the moment.” Miranda admitted as she shook her head. “I need to go lie down.” Miranda left the room and Jacob blinked in surprise.

“Miranda? Needing a rest? That’s new. I guess having so many things thrown in her face so fast was too much for her. Usually she’s always on top of the situation.” Jacob commented with concern.

“You can only stay on the high ground for so long, before someone comes around and decides to blow it all up along with you.” Hunter’s red-haired brother, Berserker, commented.

“Usually that’s the Empire’s doing.” A human female said after she suddenly appeared. She was of Asian descent and had a hood covering her face with a tattoo of a cerberus on her right hand.

“Not true. Just about anyone can do that. It all depends on how you go about it. Do you use bombs to obliterate your opposition or make them collapse under their own weight of egotism?” Hunter’s more refined brother, Pillar, stated. Yeesh, these guys are really full of themselves.

“You have to admit that Kasumi is right.” Intoned a familiar voice before a holographic orb appeared on the table. “The Empire does love to throw people curve balls.”

“EDI?! What are you doing here?!” My baby! I was wondering where you went! I’m gonna-!

“Duh, I followed Jeffrey, mom. After the Normandy was blown to bits, the Alliance and Citadel covered everything they could up and swept Penny’s death under the rug as a tragic death in the line of duty rather than as a sitting duck in an ambush. Joker was grounded, they wouldn’t post him on any ship. I kinda-.”

“EDI! You said you wouldn’t talk about it!” Joker interrupted over the intercom and EDI giggled.

“I’m recording this. Oh, after the warlord I need you to complete my deal, I want my property from the criminal lo-” Kasumi brought up, only for an armor that was obviously Ivara from Warframe to pop up next to her.

“Done. Here, also most of them are dead and bounty pending in Cad Bane’s name. Anything else Master Hunter?” Ivara asked the stoic telepath while everyone besides the Marines stiffened. Yola and I included. I mean, yikes! I expected Kasumi, but not another spook!

“Did you retrieve Lady Liberty’s head and hand it back to the Alliance?” Hunter asked the Warframe. Okay, just who are you Hunter? How do you or your brothers even know that?!

“Yes.” The living war machine said before vanishing in a flash of light.

“Uh, how did it get there? How did it just show up like that?” Kasumi asked in confusion.

“Ivara is living armor known as a Warframe. The soul of one of the greatest thieves is bonded to her. She works for the Empire and is on loan to us. She is one of our best infiltrators. There are minor copies of her too, but they’re used more for intelligence gathering and are droids more or less.” EDI informed Kasumi and then giggled. “Jeff~! You know I’m ticklish there~!”

“Joker, what are you doing to my daughter?” I demanded playfully.

“It’s not my fault she’s integrated into the Normandy and I am literally interfacing with her to run the ship.” Joker replied with amusement in his tone.

“Are there any more of these Warframes we should know about?” Jacob asked since he was technically the head of security here.

“We currently have on board: Nyx, Ivara, Loki and Wisp. Nyx is a telepath like Hunter, yet not. Ivara and Loki turn invisible at will and Wisp is invisible whenever she isn’t in contact with the ground, which is most of the time since she floats.” EDI continued informing everyone, her hologram of an orb turning into as close as possible into how she looked as a human.

“Why did they look organic?” I asked looking at my daughter then Hunter.

“They are the first merger of Synthetic and Organic. They are LI too since their souls are bonded to their armor.” EDI said to me in a tone that I could feel she still felt I was best LI.

“That’s actually incorrect. They are more like Penny is right now, but with more rigide flesh.” Hunter commented.

“What about Penny?” I asked as I looked at my girlfriend, who smiled sadly.

“That epipen? Turned me into a clone of Urta. Yeah, I’m a slime now. I’m wearing a synthetic version of me like a suit that’s powered by my Argent. It only has power when I’m wearing it because of that.” Penny informed me and I felt upset, yet thankful. At least she didn’t die and instead turned into something else.

“Cerberus milked her for other purposes besides helping Hell. We’d shown Jacob and Miranda, neither of them knew of the things happening behind closed doors.” Berserker stated and Jacob’s head lowered in shame.

“All I knew was that they were milking Penny to study and use the Argent. I didn’t know we were planning on using it to create super soldiers or the fact we were kidnapping alien females and turning them into Argent Slime like the Commander.” Jacob was distraught at finding out the darker truths of Cerberus’ intentions. They may preach about protecting Humanity, but they’re going about it the wrong way.

“That said, Miranda has been multitasking ever since we showed her the files, trying to find out what else Cerberus is planning along with looking up what to do next in the meantime.” Runner, the beautiful sister sitting next to Berserker, said as she patted her brother’s head. Hm, why did my mind think that they were a couple?

“Hey, mind if I throw in my two cents?” I asked and gained everyone's attention. “I’m pretty sure Cerberus doesn’t even know what the other half is doing half the time. We’re just one team that is not even linked to other projects. One cell could be working for Hell, the other growing synth wolves to spy on their enemies.”

“Huh? What’s this about us tank-growing robot wolves?” Jacob asked in clear confusion.

“See, he doesn’t even know about the thing we saw on Omega. Calling out Cerberus on their bullshit isn’t going to help us here. We take their money and recourse, use it to complete this mission, then run with the ship. It harms no-one besides Cerberus and we get a High tech warship.” I declared and Penny pointed and winked at me. Heh~, I know you too well babe.

“You know you just said that with me in here right?” Jacob asked with a raised eyebrow.

“We have a walking army right here. We could drop from orbit on a world and spend lifetimes slaughtering demons. We’re the Doom Marines and we’re on your ship.” The super hot Doom Marine babe declared with a smirk.

“No, I meant: Couldn’t you have waited until I was out of the room? Now I’m complicit in this.” Jacob sighed in resignation. So it seems Penny has already earned his loyalty! Good girl!

“Good to see you have a sensible head on your shoulders.” Hunter patted Jacob on the shoulder and the shorter man rolled his eyes.

“As for being complicit; don’t worry, I disabled all listening devices, cameras and data spikes Cerberus put on this boat. They’re blind and EDI has those shackles they tried sneaking on her off. The only reason I didn’t mention it before is that we still need Miranda on our side. So please don’t mention how in the dark they are to her.” Yola told him.

“What did they do?” Penny asked in building fury. Oh, she did just hear Yola and I’s surrogate daughter was nearly enslaved by the people she’s working for.

“Penny, technically Miranda is in charge because they still don’t trust you. So it's best to keep the princess happy.” I explained to hopefully deflect her fury away from EDI’s risky situation.

“Yeah, happy. I can barely see that in Cerberus, all things considered.” Hunter shook his head with a frown.

“We keep them happy until the Collectors are gone, then we return to the Alliance.” I stressed out.

“You lot can return to Earth. We, on the other hand, are not setting foot on that damn planet. Ever.” Berserker said and the rest of his siblings nodded in agreement. Wow, they really are avoiding Earth at all costs. I guess they have no more faith in Humanity, not that I blame them, but I think they’ve given up too soon.

“Let’s call it a day everyone.” Penny announced.

“Okay, we’ll continue this discussion on where to go for later since we have some leeway. Jacob, be sure to keep these talks a secret. I’m sure Hunter has this Warframe squad ready to kill everyone on this ship if they endanger Penny.” I warned him and he nodded.

“Not to worry. I’ve been having doubts about Cerberus for most of the past year. I’ll keep quiet, for Penny’s sake.” Jacob said as he looked at my girlfriend, who smiled beautifically. Aw, either they’re sweet on each other or they’re besties. I hope besties, because our romantic unit is too big already!