Slaves of Cerberus

Delaana took one last look through the forcefield at the area outside of the cellblock. "Alright. Think we're clear."



Kasumi watched the asari from her bunk in fascination. It had been some time since her new cellmate had claimed to have a plan to free them all. Immediately after that, however, some of the Cerberus guards had approached the cell, leering and taunting the women inside about all the disgusting things they were going to do to them. Kasumi had tried her best to block it all out, but the thought of what was to come for her and her friends over the course of their captivity sent a shiver down her spine.



Sitting back down on the bunk across from Kasumi, Delaana leaned in close enough to talk softly. "Okay, the folks they brought you in with? We got any more biotics on the team?"



Kasumi nodded immediately. "Yeah. Pretty powerful ones, too. The things I've seen Jack and Samara do are..."



"Yeah, yeah, I'm not looking for names. Give me numbers," Delaana interrupted her.



Counting on her fingers, Kasumi finally said, "Seven in all. Pretty much all of them except for Miranda's sister, I think."



"Shit, this is going to be easier than I thought," Delaana said with an eager smile. "Alright, here's what we're going to do. We..."



"Wait!" Kasumi said, glancing up at the ceiling. "You sure they can't hear us?"



Delaana shook her head. "They can't." When Kasumi started to protest, Delaana held up her hand. "We'll get to that. First things first. You see my stack of books over there?"



Kasumi looked at the small pile of old-fashioned paper books near the cell's forcefield. "Yeah. What about them?"



"Don't look too close, but that one all the way at the bottom with the red cover... has a knife hidden in it," Delaana said. "When those dumbasses finally went to my old ship and brought me some of my books, I guess they didn't think to take a look inside them first. I always kept a backup weapon hidden in a fake book, just in case. Lucky me, they happened to grab that particular one."



Kasumi immediately looked away from the stack, not wanting to draw suspicion from anyone watching on the camera. "You've had a knife all this time? Why haven't you tried to use it?"



Delaana's shoulders slumped. "These idiots may have gotten sloppy over the years, but they know better than to ever come fetch me alone. It's always at least two of them, and usually more. And by myself, even if I managed to get in a good slice at one of them, one of his buddies would be able to take me out before I could get too far." She pointed at Kasumi. "But now that you're here, I've got somebody to watch my back."



"So, what's the plan? You take one of them out with a knife and I..."



Delaana shook her head. "Nuh uh. I'm not the one who's going to be using the knife. You are. I've got other defenses. You ever heard of an Ardat-Yakshi?"



"Sure, Shepard and Samara ki..." Kasumi started to say, then realized what she was saying and quickly stopped herself. "I mean, we've run across one of them in the past."



"So you know what we're capable of," Delaana said. "I'm not on the top of the spectrum, but a meld with me should be enough to knock any one of those bastards right on their ass." She pointed over at the forcefield door. "So here's the play. Next time they come for us, we take a look and see how many there are. If it's three or more of them..." Delaana shrugged. "Well, remember what I said about going limp, because whatever they plan to do to the two of us, they're going to do."



Kasumi shuddered. "But if it's just two of them?"



"Then that's when we make our move," Delaana said, her voice steely and determined. "Once the forcefield is down, I'll leave the cell first. The second you see me lay hands on one of them, you get that knife out of my book pile and stick it to the other one. By the time you've gutted the fucker, I should have the other one knocked out on the floor."



Kasumi considered Delaana's plan, then frowned. "So, we take out the guards. What then? Just the two of us against an entire base of Cerberus soldiers?"



"Let me finish, human," Delaana. "Because it isn't just going to be the two of us. It's going to be all your buddies as well. You asked before about how I knew nobody was listening?" Kasumi nodded, and Delaana gave her a cocky smile. "A while back, not long after those bastards shoved me in here, I was outside of my cell when Bowers deactivated the forcefield on one of the other cells. Grabbing one of the other prisoners for a little extra fun."



Kasumi shuddered, not wanting to think about what Bowers and his comrades considered fun.



"Anyway, the code for the cell door back then was 4827," Delaana continued. "Since then, I've tried to keep an eye out for whenever they would open one of the other cells on the block. Turns out the code for all of the cells is 4827. And as far as I can tell, for the past three years they've never bothered to change the codes."



Kasumi gave Delaana a confused look. "But what does that have to do with whether or not they're listening to us?"



Delaana shot a quick glance up at the camera, then back to Kasumi. "Because not too long after I figured the cell combinations out, I spent an entire day repeating the code out loud, over and over again in my cell. '4827. 4827. 4827.' The only time I stopped was when Bowers or one of his boys were actually in the cellblock in person. And the moment they left, I'd start again. '4827. 4827.' I'm pretty sure that if somebody had been listening in, they would have thought to change the combination on the cells as a precaution. But the next time I saw one of them deactivate a forcefield after that... sure enough, 4827. So once we take out the guards, we'll be able to open up all of the other cells and free your friends."



"So we get the cells open, and then?" Kasumi asked. "Instead of two of us unarmed and naked against a bunch of Cerberus guards, it'll be ten of us. Still not sure I like the odds."



"Unarmed? I don't think so," Delaana said. Reaching up, she tapped a finger against the biotic inhibitor around her neck. "Most folks think these things are inescapable. That unless you've got the key, the only way to get them off is to hack them off. But here's the thing: I spent quite a few decades as a fugitive Ardat-Yakshi. Always on the run from justicars ready to tie me up and toss me into a goddamn monastery for the rest of my life. And you know the first thing a justicar does when she's got you? She slaps one of these around your neck. So, if you want to survive long as an Ardat-Yakshi on the run, the first thing you learn is how to pop one of these babies off without a key."



Kasumi thought about all of her friends in their cells. Nearly all of them biotics. "You really can get the collars off?"



"In my sleep, pet," Delaana said with a cocky smirk. "Of course, you need something sharp to do it with. Like, say, a knife hidden in a book. So once we've taken out the guards, it shouldn't take me long to get off a few of your friends' collars. And if they're as powerful as you say they are, we should give those Cerberus bastards one hell of a fight."



Seeing the dubious look on Kasumi's face, Delaana continued. "Look, if you're still not convinced... when me and my team took this place the last time, we found the station's armory. Pretty sure I still remember where it is, too. So while us biotics hold up our barriers and keep Cerberus from shooting us full of holes, we can get to the armory and load up with enough weapons to really deal with these assholes. I'm not gonna guarantee that all of us are going to make it out of this. But I think we've got a damn shot. And it's damn sure a better plan than sitting around here for another few years hoping that somebody else comes along to spring us."



Kasumi was ready to say more, but just then the door into the cellblock slid open. Delaana and Kasumi both watched as Roth and Okoru stepped into the room. As the door slid shut behind them, Kasumi tensed. Two of them. And they were heading straight for Kasumi and Delaana's cell.



"Look, you're either with me or you're not," Delaana quickly whispered to Kasumi as the two men approached. "I'm making my move either way, so you can either back my play, or sit on your ass and watch those bastards fuck me over."



A surge of adrenaline rushed through Kasumi. It was a dicey plan, with questionable chances of success. But as Delaana said, the alternative was to sit around and let Cerberus use her and the rest of them as their playthings for God knew how long.



Making her decision, Kasumi nodded at Delaana. "I'm with you." Taking a deep breath, she turned to look at the forcefield holding them in their cell, as the two Cerberus guards approached.



Well, Keiji... if this doesn't work out, I guess I'll be seeing you soon.