Arashu's Gift

Chapter 4

A suicide mission. Thane had never considered that possibility. A suicide mission was the perfect solution. He wouldn't have to die in a hospital connected to a respiratory machine – instead, he could die like a hero on the battlefield. A shy smile appeared at the corners of his mouth.

As soon as he entered Life Support, which would be his private quarters, he studied it for weaknesses in case he had need of an emergency exit. Just above the table, a ladder stuck out of an opening that connected with the second deck. The window that overlooked the drive core seemed solid, but nothing he couldn't break with enough strength and the right tool. The artificial intelligence had been right, the air here was a lot warmer than in the rest of the ship. Both his scales and his damaged lungs thanked him for it. Even the metallic walls and the surface of the table were warm to the touch. He took a seat looking at the great sphere fed with Element Zero through the glass and, supporting his chin on his crossed hands, he meditated on the events of the past cycle as if they were holo vids perfectly played from his memory.

Thane had recognized the Commander long before she and her team had made it to the Dantius Towers penthouse. As he climbed the building floors through air ducts, emergency stairs, and the elevator shaft away from Nassana's mercenaries, the shooting and the trail of bodies Shepard left behind inevitably caught his attention. From the shadows he had watched her advancing against hordes of mercenaries without any hesitation in her gaze through the visor of her helmet. Her teammates, a turian sniper and a salarian, perfectly complemented her attacks. She had a relentless as well as chaotic style. One moment she neutralized an enemy with a biotic attack and the next she shot an obscene amount of ammunition with her submachine gun, leaving them pierced and unrecognizable on the floor.

Later, it had been his turn to fight by her side as they recruited the asari, Samara. He had been aware that throughout the mission, he was being observed by her, as if his first operation as part of her team was a test of his skills. Thane believed he had passed the audition with flying colors.

He had heard stories of Commander Shepard, hero of the Alliance and savior of the Citadel Council. The happenings of a little over two years ago had reached Omega through the filtered editing of batarian anti-human propaganda. Nevertheless, the mere fact that the Citadel, the most advanced space station in the galaxy and seat of the only interspecies political power, had been attacked had left very few indifferent.

Back then, the story was of a new ship of overwhelming power named Sovereign which, according to Shepard, was a Reaper whose only purpose was to take control of the Citadel. There had also been reports of a rogue turian Spectre who had facilitated the conspiracy against the Council. The human commander had led the battle to defend the Citadel. The news of her victory had reached every corner of the galaxy – however, at that time, Thane had been too busy with his target on Omega to have paid more attention. Shortly afterwards, the news of Shepard's disappearance had alerted more than one interested party, as the Commander had forged herself a reputation attractive enough to awaken the interest of mercenary gangs, privateers, and pirates.

When she was officially declared dead, the communications in encrypted channels of spies, infiltrators, saboteurs, and secret agents skyrocketed. That was why when he saw her in the Dantius Towers, Thane didn't believe his eyes. He had thought that perhaps it was a clone or an extremely advanced AI that looked like her in every detail.

As he had boarded the Normandy, the unmistakable logo of Cerberus left no doubt how much money had been invested in this operation. It wasn't just the technologically-advanced ship or the types of professionals they were recruiting; Commander Shepard being alive and functioning was in itself a Cerberus project. He had suspected it when he discovered the discreet scars that cracked her face. He knew it for certain when he looked into her eyes and noticed they were bionic. They had resurrected the biggest heroine of the Alliance, and it had only taken two years and who knew how many billions of credits.