The Normandy slipped silently into the system but Shepard waited until EDI gave the all clear before she relaxed.
The stealth systems had been holding up so far, but the first Normandy had proved that they weren't infallible. And Cerberus had been the one to build the SR-II in the first place so it was reasonable that out of all organisations to have something that would counter those systems when even the Reapers had trouble finding them while they were running quiet, it would be them.
Shepard still didn't dismiss the possibility that Cerberus had a counter, but if they did – it hadn't made it out to such a remote system.
Which was definitely a good thing for her crew because Cerberus did happen to have several cruisers instead, along with a handful of smaller vessels. Clearly they were using the previously unreported system as a staging ground for their operations in addition to their prison.
"Shit Commander, you really want to get close to all that?" Joker asked even as he drifted the ship closer to the planet they were told about. "If we get spotted, that's a lot of firepower to go up against on our own."
"Better hope your clumsy flying doesn't get us spotted then." Shepard shot back lightly. "Besides, if everything goes to plan, Cerberus will be too busy to deal with us."
"Right. Because things always go to plan with us."
"That's the spirit." Shepard shot him a grin. "Okay, EDI, let's let our friends know we're here. Go ahead and send the comm burst over to the planet. If our friends are where they said they were, we should get a call pretty soon after. Once we get confirmation forward the connection to my omnitool."
"Afirmative, Shepard. Sending communication now. EWAR and stealth systems ready at maximum operational levels." EDI reported.
Minutes trickled by while they waited to hear from their contact with Joker and EDI obsessively checked for signs they had been discovered by Cerberus. Shepard had hovered behind them for a bit, but when it became clear it was going to take a while to get a response back, she left to take her place back in the CIC until they got word just in case they needed to scuttle the mission and come back with a different approach.
Shepard was actually moments away from ordering the Normandy to move to the secondary position and send another comm burst when EDI forwarded an active call to her station.
"Hey, Shep. I'd say sorry for taking so long to respond, but you got here a hell of a lot faster than I expected. I guess you managed to cash in some favors if the Alliance was willing to send a battlefleet so quickly." The voice of Kasumi Goto greeted her. There was no video since they were trying to keep any chance of interception as low as possible, but it was still good to hear the infiltration specialist and thief's voice.
The Commander even said as much, "Good to hear from you too, Kasumi. No luck on an Alliance battlefleet though, everything they have is tied up somewhere else."
"Well I hope you have a good backup plan then. Because once things get loud down here I don't think even you can deal with everything in orbit."
"I have one. We were just waiting on your call to make sure everything was in place before calling them in. Once they show up we'll be on a timer to release all of Cerberus's prisoners and clear the facility, plus whatever side-mission you have that convinced you to call me in the first place."
"...I'm not getting predictable now, am I? How'd you know?"
"You're not the type to hang around unless there was something you wanted, Kasumi." Shepard replied. "If all you found was a Cerberus prison facility, you would have dropped me the coordinates and moved on before they caught wind of you. The fact that you're still there means they have something you want and can't sneak out with that fleet in orbit."
"If it was just an issue of getting it out you would have just asked for my help slipping out on the Normandy, not ask me to bring a battlegroup. That means whatever you're after is sensitive enough that even getting to it is going to grab the attention of the ships in orbit or big enough that the Normandy can't sneak it out. That sound about right?"
"You know Shep, if you talked like that all the time people wouldn't keep assuming you're just another soldier good with a gun. Garrus better watch out or you'll steal his detective title away from him."
Shepard smiled. "Can't make it to N7 without picking up a few tricks along the way. So how close was I?"
"Almost spot on. There's a database in the prison facility that has all kinds of juicy records Cerberus wouldn't want getting out. Transfer manifestos for prisoners, arrival and departure records for their ships, locations of more hidden outposts, and even some info on some backers financing their operations."
Any one of those things getting out would be a blow to Cerberus's operations, especially the hands of the right party. It only made sense that something like that was locked up tight to prevent someone exactly like Kasumi from getting to it.
"And while Cerberus is occasionally stupid about security, this time they went all out. The database is airgapped and secured in a vault that rivals Hock's in paranoia. And unlike his, this one is nearly physically impossible to open without at least two people. Even trying will trigger a facility-wide alert and probably an even wider reaching one if no one clears the first."
Well that certainly explained why the thief needed a distraction for the ships in orbit. If Cerberus was being that serious about security there was almost no way she would be able to grab everything before someone noticed her.
And with that kind of info, Shepard wouldn't put it past them to simply destroy the facility to make sure nothing got out if it seemed likely. It was the kind of callous 'for the greater good of Cerberus' thinking she would expect from them.
"So what's the plan then?"
"Well the original plan was to have your Alliance friends hit the group in orbit while your team snuck down here. The facility will still go into alert but Cerberus shouldn't send reinforcements if they're kept busy enough. We'll still be on a timer though. If we wait too long the database will purge itself and all that information will be gone. Poof, just like that. So I hope whoever you brought along is good enough to cover for us."
"Don't worry about that, they'll be more than enough." Shepard assured her. "Does that mean you're ready to go whenever?"
"Ready whenever you are. Just don't keep me waiting too long."
The call ended and Shepard stepped away from the CIC.
Time to make a call and get her team ready for a ground assault.
-o-
Revan stood silently on the bridge of her Harrower as she watched the blue whorls of hyperspace swirl past in the ship's transparisteel viewports while she thought about what she had learned from her new acolyte.
There had not been enough time to properly delve into the Order's history like Revan would prefer when learning about a new Force sect, but she had managed to at least to get a clearer understanding of what was set against her.
And a definite blessing since aside from some parts regarding the structure and some teachings around the nature of the Force, the Order in this galaxy could not be further from the Jedi Order in her own.
Both were led by a High Council made up of several Masters and were generally separated into four categories of aspirant, padawan, knight, and finally master. But while the Jedi in the Skyriver Galaxy had several paths to mastery, the Order here only officially recognised a member as a master if they successfully trained a padawan to knighthood.
That was it.
And while that was certainly a recognised path to mastery in her old order, here, even being the best blademaster in the organization would mean the individual would only be a knight. Something that made sense when Revan compared the two 'masters' she had encountered and found them not much more powerful than the knight that ambushed her and made her aware of the Jedi in the first place.
Beyond that the two orders were as different as night and day.
Her old order promoted cooperation between different species as equals while this newer one was very blatantly Asari supremist. Her order venerated the Force and openly debated various interpretations on its nature, while this one claimed the Force came from a singular Goddess and non-Asari were unworthy of its use. Where her order operated out in the open, this one worked mostly through the shadows or using the Justicars as a shield for their activities.
Revan would almost call it Sith-like if it wasn't for the complete rejection of anything 'Dark' and the unwavering dedication to the Code they swore to – an extension of the Justicar Code even, but seemingly more relaxed in places from what Lymrase briefly explained.
Instead their teachings and attitude reminded her greatly of the ancient Pius Dea religion from millennia ago.
And if that was the case, Revan would need to assume these Jedi as a whole would default to seeing any other species as somewhat lesser at least and only useful so long as their use benefited Asarikind.
She would have to continue talking with Lymrase about the Order later to confirm her opinion and the attitude she would need to take when interacting with these Jedi soon, but there had simply been no time when Shepard had sent an urgent message regarding a Cerberus facility she was about to attack and needed support with.
Revan might not have been able to justify being so quick to come to her comra…friend's aid when the Reapers were not directly involved, but Cerberus was proving to be a destabilizing element wherever they popped up. A few more instances like what happened on Surkesh and Citadel space would be more interested in securing their own territories instead of cooperating against the invaders until it was too late.
And the Empire could not survive the full attention of the Reapers alone. They did not have the ships.
So Revan would gladly leap to deal the terrorist organisation a blow like removing a few of their void assets even if she hadn't been informed of the prison facility they were guarding.
"Lightspeed deceleration in twenty seconds, ma'am!" One of the bridge officers called out behind her.
"Sound the ready alarm for all shuttles then." Revan ordered calmly. "We'll do a microjump in-system and then use sublight engines to approach the planet. Once we establish air cover the marines will deploy to the surface and secure the prison facility."
That being said, Revan turned and started walking for the hangar herself. This time she was not trying to lure out a meddlesome jedi so she would lead the assault from the beginning.
Shepard hadn't had the full details of what the facility contained when she had called for help, but Revan had a feeling that there was plenty to be found inside that Cerberus would very much prefer neither she nor the human Spectre got their hands on. And the Empress was keen on making sure they would be disappointed in the end.
Plus, she had an acolyte to evaluate.
"Lymrase, find Admiral Tali'Zorah and meet me in hangar bay one. We will be joining the first wave of the assault."
"As you command, my Master."
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