Dragon's Teeth: Mass Effect 1 (Shenko)

Chapter 17

Milky Way/Voyager Cluster/Yangtze System/Binthu

They set a course for Binthu, the coordinates Admiral Kohoku had given her for what he believed to be the centre of operations for Cerberus.

By the end of the mission, she, Ashley and Garrus had taken out three research bases. Each one served up a different genetic horror than the one prior, and with it Callie's determination to find those responsible.

She shuddered in revulsion when they found husks loose in the first building they searched. If it hadn't been for the talk she'd had with Kaidan, she wasn't sure she'd have been able to keep her cool. After that was Thorian Creepers and for the second time that day, Callie was glad she'd left Kaidan behind. As much as she liked having him in her squad, she knew he would've been alert to any sign of fear she might exhibit in the face of what they found. She didn't need that right now, she was already too self-conscious about it as it was.

She breathed a sigh of relief when the final building only contained armed Cerberus operatives and a handful of rachni. Rachni were cool with her, mindless animals that Cerberus had tried to control and failed. Killing them and the Cerberus agents were easy.

Garrus got clipped a few times with polonium rounds, but he assured her he was fine. Ashley was in her element, she'd finally had an opportunity to try out her new weapon mods on her assault rifle. She was pumped by the time they reached the final base, but sobered up quickly when they discovered Admiral Kahoku's body. There was no trauma, but Garrus found needle marks in his arm - proof he'd been executed.

Whoever this Cerberus group was, they weren't above killing anyone who got in their way, even humans. It was disturbing that a self-proclaimed pro-human group was willing to kill to protect their privacy and keep their existence secret. She didn't know who they were or what purpose their experiments served, but she was damn certain she was going to shut them down when she found them.

They left the planet and headed to another system in the Styx Theta cluster having come across an abandoned, drifting freighter, overrun with rachni. The data-logs of the ship led them to another planet where Cerberus had sent a shipment of rachni - it would have been untraceable if they hadn't found the ship first.

After eliminating a remote outpost in the Terminus System overrun with rachni sent from Noveria, Callie was pissed.

After all the bases and planets they'd been to, she'd found no information regarding who was running Cerberus. Someone was giving the orders, someone was covering the group's tracks and erasing evidence, but there were no leads left to chase. Whoever ran Cerberus, they did not want to be found.

Milky Way/Serpent Nebula/Widow System/Citadel

Having found all the Cerberus bases she could, Callie ordered them back to the Citadel. Everyone was exhausted. Traipsing about the galaxy, jumping from one system to the next through different relays - they all needed a break.

Garrus and Wrex took off to check out the markets, apparently getting along well enough they were willing to go together. At the last minute Ashley joined them, muttering about mods and scopes. Callie was more than a little surprised. Given Ash's dislike of aliens, it was not something she'd ever expected to see, even after what Ash had said. Maybe it was because she shared the cargo bay with them? Callie shrugged. It didn't really matter, she was just happy they weren't threatening to shoot each other.

Liara took off on her own. She didn't say much, only that she had someone she needed to speak to on the Presidium. Shepard didn't ask. She knew Liara was still feeling the loss of her mother and thought it best if she let Liara deal with it on her own. If she wanted Shepard's help, she would ask.