I heard the faint blip at my communication terminal, telling me I had received a message. I looked at my wristwatch, 2315, only the Illusive Man would send me a message this late. I swung my legs out of my bunk with a soft groan, I’d only been asleep for about an hour. I ignored my terminal in favor of my personal shower. I had just gotten home from assignment and I’m sure there was a new one waiting so I was going to take a hot shower before reporting in. 

I turned the water on to a temperature almost too hot to stand, it helped my aching muscles. I had been out in the colonies collecting “recruits” for Cerberus. It certainly wasn’t the worst thing I had ever done, before Cerberus I had been a mercenary with no purpose. At least now I served to protect humanity and Earth. I let the water cascade down my long chestnut brown hair, rinsing out my vanilla scented shampoo and conditioner. I turned the water off once it became cold, grabbing a black towel from my counter and quickly drying off. It would be best to not keep the Illusive Man waiting too long. I pulled my hair back into a ponytail to keep it out of my sea green eyes. My fingers lingered over a small scar under my right eye, I hated that scar. I turned my attention back to my closet, quickly pulling on my white and black Cerberus shirt and matching pants with my black combat boots.

The message at my terminal was in fact from the Illusive Man. I smirked when I read that he told me to come see him in his office after my shower, he knew me so well. I briskly marched to his office, letting my hand rest on the scanner to open the door. I was one of the few people with access directly to his office, thanks to my position as part of Cerberus Special Forces Squad.

“You wanted to see me, Sir?” I stood at attention, waiting for his response.

The Illusive Man was sitting in his chair, and per his usual was smoking a cigarette. He took a drag before answering me, “You’ve done good work, Tahra. I know you were looking forward to some R&R but I have another mission for you.”

“I’ll get R&R when I’m dead,” I said as I dropped to parade rest.

The Illusive Man continued on as though I had never spoken, “Geth have been spotted outside the veil. I’d like for you to find out why they left the veil and what they’re doing. Make sure they don’t post a threat to humanity.”

“Understood,” I said, turning to leave when the Illusive Man spoke again.

“You won’t be alone on this one, I’m having Operative Decasta accompany you. She should be here shortly.”

“I work alone,” I said as my jaw clenched, I didn’t like working with others. Especially because most of Cerberus was scared shitless of me since I wasn’t the most personable of people.

“Not anymore you don’t,” the Illusive Man’s tone made it clear that this was not optional. “She has expertise that you do not. You can’t always shoot your way through every situation.”

I held my tongue, it was not the time to argue. Instead I was mentally making a checklist of things I wanted to pack for this mission. I had run out of medi-gel on my last mission and did not want to repeat that mistake again.