Chapter Text
The Taking of Normandy One…Two…Three
One:
Cerberus Frigate Normandy:
Looking out at the empty galley, Mess Sergeant Rupert Gardner heaved a sigh as he poured himself a cup of the coffee he had just brewed. Preferring his coffee black, Gardner sat down at one of the tables, soon losing himself in his thoughts. His family killed or abducted by batarian pirates…Dixie’s treason…the possible fate of his good friends Hawthorne, Jackson, and Markham—all three now languishing in an Alliance prison somewhere.. Lastly, and what worried the former eezo miner the most, the nagging feeling he kept on getting that something was off on the Normandy…something serious. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but it was there just the same.
“Hey, Rupert! Coffee fresh?”
“Sure is!” Plastering a grin on his face, the mess sergeant pointed at the coffee pot, “Help yourselves, gentlemen. Just brewed a fresh pot for you guys coming off second shift.”
“You’re the greatest, Rupert.” Crewman Hadley grinned as he and the ship’s weapons specialist, Crewman Matthews, walked over to the coffee pot and, after pouring themselves fresh cups, sat at down at the table with the grizzled cook. “So…how are you holding up, Rupert.”
“Okay, I guess.” Gardner replied, trying, but not quite succeeding, to strike an upbeat tone.
“You don’t sound okay.” Matthews commented with a note of concern in his voice as he took a sip of coffee. “What’s wrong?”
His gaze drifting up to the surveillance device that was recording their every word and action, the mess sergeant ambiguously replied, “It’s just been a long week…that’s all.”
At once spotting the reason for his friend’s circumspection, Hadley remarked in an equally guarded tone, “Yeah. A lot of stuff’s happened. We could all go for some downtime I think.”
“So has anyone heard anything about…” Hadley began to ask before trailing off, as if unable to utter the words he wanted to.
“Dixie?” Matthews interrupted, anticipating his comrade’s question with a shake of his head, “No. No one’s found a trace of her or the shuttle she stole.”
“Heard they’re planning on putting Markham and Jackson on trial for treason.” Hadley growled as he poured creamer into his coffee.
“Yeah.” Matthews confirmed, “Caught it on Westerlund News last night. According to the vid, there was a survivor on Fehl Prime who could identify them and Hawthorne’s testifying against them in exchange for immunity.”
“Hawthorne and Dixie were good friends.” Hadley stated, his voice tone reflecting an odd mixture of sympathy and disappointment, “Maybe Dixie’s desertion caused him to snap?”
“Maybe.” Matthews acknowledged, “I remember that he was really upset when Dix took off and when he returned from Fehl Prime. Something must have happened down there to really shake him up.”
“What do you think, Rupert?” Hadley asked, drawing the old mess sergeant/handyman into the discussion.
“What do I think?” Gardner replied guardedly, making a point of quickly glancing at the surveillance bug watching and listening to their conversation, “I’m just the cook and janitor. All that stuff’s way above my paygrade.”
Taking the old man’s hint, Matthews replied, “Yeah…you’re right. Best to leave that stuff to the ones in charge.”
RRW Gallena
Still under cloak, the Romulan warbird drew closer to its unsuspecting quarry. “We’ll be within weapons range in two minutes.” Solana declared from the tactical station.
“Launch the second Scorpion.” Centurion Kev ordered from the center chair.
“Scorpion Two launched and is moving into position.” Specialist Traynor announced in her clipped posh Oxford accented voice. “We’ll have to move quickly and smartly before they have time to activate their defenses. Otherwise, we’re going to have a real fight on our hands.”
“Affirmative.” Solana grimly acknowledged as she recited the results of her tactical scan. “They’ve upgraded their GARDIAN system and have torpedoes capable of bringing down our fighters and even giving us a problem. If we don’t take them out quickly, we’ll have no choice but to carry out an attack with full power to our torpedoes and weapons.”
Tovan nodded his head in agreement with his tactical officer. “That will, of course mean the destruction of the Normandy and probably the loss of all onboard. So let’s try to avoid that, shall we.”
“Aye, Centurion.” Solana acknowledged as Tovan further outlined his attack plan.
“The fighters will knock out the Normandy’s defenses and engines. Once they have been neutralized, transport the anethezine gas canisters and the assault teams, Solana. Remember our orders—we want to minimize casualties, but if necessary—do what needs to be done.”
“Understood, Centurion.”
Toggling the comm, the executive officer spoke, “Chief Adams? Are you and your prize crew ready to beam over?”
“Aye, Sir.” The Alliance engineering chief responded, “Just say the word.”
“We’re in weapons range, Sir.” Joker announced as the Cerberus frigate grew larger in the viewscreen.
With a single nod of his head, Tovan commanded, “Begin the attack.”
Two:
“Roger that.” Steve Cortez replied on hearing the go order. Speaking to the Romulan engineer seated next to him, the Alliance pilot grinned, “Time to retake the Normandy name, Rodek. Scorpion One to Scorpion Two. Begin attack run. Remember…quick and clean. We’re not going to get a second chance if we want to take the ship and everyone on board it alive.”
“Understood, Scorpion One. Beginning attack run. Targeting weapons hardpoints.”
“Plasma cannons charged and adjusted for pinpoint targeting…torpedo ready to launch.” Rodek replied in a grim tone.
“All right.” Steve took a deep breath. “Beginning attack run. Decloak and fire.”
Green bolts of plasma shot out from both fighters, striking the frigate’s mass effect drive and its javelin launchers and GARDIAN defenses, a plasma torpedo adjusted for low yield from the second fighter simultaneously impacting on the Thanix cannon, knocking weapons systems and engines out.
“Their engines and weapons are down.” Satra announced from her station.
Heaving a sigh of relief at the good news, Tovan barked out his commands. “Transport anethezine canisters and assault teams. Take the Normandy.”
“Retake the Normandy you mean.” Joker muttered under his breath as a slow smile appeared on his face as he gazed at the Cerberus frigate on his viewscreen. “You might not be the original article, but welcome home anyway old girl.”
Normandy:
Coffee spilling all over the table and himself as the ship shook violently, knocking pans and cooking utensils off their shelves and hooks, Mess Sergeant Gardner exclaimed, “What the…”
“We’re under attack!” Hadley, jumping up from his seat, announced in a loud voice.
“How?” Matthews, his lap also damp from spilled coffee, cried out as a green column of light appeared and just as suddenly vanished, leaving behind a strange cylinder. “What the hell?”
His eyelids growing heavy as he coughed, Hadley, activating his comm, groaned “Gas” as Rupert and his friend collapsed on the table and two more green pillars of light appeared, this time leaving behind two human appearing aliens in their wake. With one last gasp before slipping into unconsciousness, the Cerberus crewman spoke into his comm, “Boarding parties in the…”
Surprisingly, the capture of the Normandy took only a few minutes. Nodding her head in satisfaction, Solana answered her chirping comm.
“Boarding party…status.”
“Frigate secured.” Solana reported, “No casualties with the boarding party and only a few injured Cerberus commandoes who were wearing hardsuits at the time we attacked. There were also minor casualties as a result of our attack that knocked out their engines and weapons. We are purging the ship of gas now. Give us a couple of minutes, then you can send the prize crew over.”
“Understood and job well done. Once the gas has been purged, transport the prisoners to the brig until they can be transferred to Alliance custody.” Tovan commanded as he spoke to the prize crew waiting in the transporter room. “Chief Adams? Are you and your people ready.”
“Aye, Centurion.” The Alliance chief engineer replied, turning to his two proteges, “Gabby…Ken…we’re up to bat. The time to bring the Normandy name back where it belongs.”
“Ready to go, Chief.” Donnelly responded in his usual thick Irish brogue, his partner in crime nodding her head in agreement.
“Come on then…” Adams grinned, “We’re wasting time.”
Three:
“Is there anyone that you recognize?” Tovan asked the ship’s counselor, Kelly Chambers, a former employee of Cerberus, as the pair gazed on the Normandy prisoners languishing in the Gallena’s brig.
Pointing to a cell containing three men, she nodded her head. “I’ve seen those two. Their names are Hadley and Matthews. I remember Hadley telling me once that he had a brother who was a colonist on a world in the Traverse.” Her voice now taking on a more somber quality, she explained, “I think his brother was one of those taken by the Collectors when they attacked. He felt that the Alliance wasn’t doing anything so…”
“A Cerberus recruiter got to him.” Tovan finished, Kelly nodding her head in confirmation.
“Correct. He has a chip on his shoulder where the Alliance is concerned.”
“Is he going to be a problem?” The executive officer asked with a frown.
“No.” Kelly shook her head, “I don’t think so. You’re not planning on any extensive interrogations—are you?”
Tovan replied with an reassuring shake of his head. “There’s no need. We’ll just turn him and his mates over to the Alliance authorities when we rendezvous.” After a momentary pause, he further inquired, “What about the others?”
Her mood lightening somewhat as the Romulan XO changed the subject, the redheaded counselor quipped, “Matthews won’t be any problem. He was always talking about setting up an appointment with Sha’ira…the Asari consort…the next time he was on the Citadel.”
“What about the third one?” Tovan inquired
Squinting, Kelly looked closely at the monitor, her eyes widening as she recognized the grizzled bald man sitting alone in the cell. “I don’t believe it! That’s Rupert Gardner! He was a cook and handyman while I was working for Cerberus. Like me, he was slated to join the Normandy with Shepard. After she was killed, the Illusive Man changed his mind and I was given the choice to either resign or transfer to a receptionist’s spot. So…I chose to resign and Councilor Anderson recruited me soon after that. I guess the Illusive Man decided to send Gardner to the Normandy anyway.”
“I get the impression you would like to see him.”
“If it wouldn’t be too much trouble.” Kelly responded with a warm smile. “We used to grab a cup of coffee together when I was on my break. He’s a good man—but he’s had it rough.”
“How so?”
“He used to work on an eezo mining rig out on the Attican Traverse while his family lived on a small colony world close by. Then one day the colony was hit by batarian pirates and…”
“His family were either killed or kidnapped.” Tovan finished, Kelly grimly nodding her head in acknowledgement.
“He’s never really recovered from it.”
“It’s not something you can easily recover from.” The Romulan XO replied, hearkening back to the destruction of his home by the Tal’Shiar and Elachi. “Do you think he might benefit from counseling?”
“It couldn’t hurt, Sir.” Kelly pleaded, “If nothing else, seeing a friendly face might make it at least a little easier on him.”
“Very well.” Tovan agreed, “I’ll have him brought to your office.”
“Thank you.” The human counselor grinned, “Oh…hmmm…I don’t want to push it, but…”
“Go ahead.” The Romulan officer encouraged with an incline of his head.
“Well…Centurion…I was thinking that it also might not be a bad idea to send Hadley, Matthews and a few of the others to see me…under guard of course. I don’t think they’re lost causes. Not most of them. With a few exceptions, the majority of them are more like Hawthorne than the combat specialists Aria had given over to us. I think they can be reached if it’s handled properly.”
“A good idea.” The executive officer concurred, “It will also prevent your friend from being branded a traitor by his shipmates if they see that he is not being singled out for special treatment. When would you like to begin the counseling sessions?”
“Give me a couple of hours or so and then bring Gardner by my office, please.” Kelly responded, further requesting, “It might not be a bad idea if his escort was human given his experiences.”
“Understood.” Tovan nodded, “I’ll have a couple of Starfleet officers bring him to you when you’re ready.”
“Thanks.” Kelly smiled back, I appreciate it.”