The Last Voice
By Ostronaut
-1-
An End
"This is the admiral. We've got reports that someone made it to the Citadel."
Despite the roar of Reaper fire ripping through the Normandy's armor plating and the explosions reverberating through its hull, Admiral Hackett's voice came over loud and clear over the comm, stopping Liara dead in her tracks, halfway to her quarters on deck three. Through a haze of shock and exhaustion, a shot of adrenaline coursed through her body as one thought filled her head.
Shepard made it.
Turning on her heel, Liara dashed toward the elevator from which she had just emerged, Garrus close behind her. They had both just limped their way up from the shuttle bay, having been forced out of the mission by Shepard at the last second. A solemn rage still burned in Liara's chest as she looked back on her last memory of Shepard, running into pure chaos in a desperate attempt to reach the Conduit. She should have been there with him, she thought angrily.
She hammered the elevator call button with a fist. It was always notoriously slow.
"All ships," Admiral Hackett's voice continued as the elevator arrived, "converge on the Crucible. Protect it at all costs."
The Crucible. Liara had spent countless days studying the schematics they had extracted from the Mars Archives. Fighting the Reapers had always seemed like such a long shot, but every time Liara looked over the designs for the Crucible, she held out a little bit of hope.
"Do you really think he made it?" Garrus asked quietly, as the elevator ascended.
"It has to be him," Liara said determinedly. "Who else could have done it."
Garrus closed his eyes and looked away, nodding once. "You're right. Our Shepard's done the impossible more times than I can count. We've got to believe in him."
Just as the elevator stopped at the CIC, the Normandy lurched to one side, and Garrus and Liara tumbled out of the elevator, slamming against a wall. Garrus let out a loud curse, while Liara hissed in pain. Once the Normandy had righted itself again, Garrus offered a hand to Liara and helped her back to her feet. Together, they hurried down the length of deck two toward the bridge.
Major Alenko was already in the cockpit, seated at one of the secondary control consoles behind Joker. "Destroyer on our starboard flank, watch it!"
"What's the situation?" Liara asked. "Have we heard from Shepard?"
"No," Joker replied. "We haven't heard from him since he ordered your extraction."
"Meanwhile, the Reapers continue to lay siege on us," EDI said with alarm. "The Crucible is taking a concerning amount of damage. If Shepard indeed made it to the Citadel, he will have to hurry."
Holding tight to the support rails, Liara and Garrus stared through the Normandy's viewports, awed by the chaos and destruction erupting around them. Liara had never seen so many different ships in a single battle, but even the massed fleets of the galaxy were proving to be less of a challenge for the Reapers than she had hoped. A rumbling explosion to their left—a turian dreadnought, one of the most intimidating sights in the galaxy, was ripped in half by a Sovereign-class Reaper. A red blur streaked off to the right—a swarm of Oculi chased down an Alliance fighter squadron. And amidst all the dogfighting, several Reapers kept a sustained attack on the Crucible.
"This is awful," Garrus said. "We're being slaughtered out there!"
"I don't know how much longer the Crucible is going to hold up," Joker said. He gasped suddenly and banked the Normandy hard to port. "Come to think of it, I don't know how much longer we can hold up. EDI?"
"Please standby, Joker. My cyberwarfare suite is pushing my processors close to capacity."
The fact that EDI's voice was starting to lose the humanlike intonation she had been developing was a foreboding sign, in Liara's mind. She cursed silently to herself. Watching the battle unfold was brutal.
A Reaper Destroyer swooped toward the Crucible, its main laser getting ready to fire. Liara cringed, waiting to see it blow a part of the Crucible off, when it was suddenly thrown off course. Something had just collided with it—something much larger than a Reaper. Liara realized with dumb fascination that a Ward arm had just pushed the Reaper out of the way. The Citadel was opening.
She let out a gasp as cheers went around the bridge.
"By the Spirits," Garrus breathed. "He did it."
They watched proudly as the Crucible began its approach. The Normandy followed close behind with the rest of Sword and Shield teams, forcing back any oncoming Reapers.
The Crucible moved slowly, it's massive hull rotating gradually on its longitudal axis as it drifted toward the Citadel Tower. As it drew closer, several large plates protecting its main power source were jettisoned, and four long arms slid out to clamp onto the edges of the Presidium. With a final flash of light, the Crucible stopped. It was finally in place.
Liara didn't have long to appreciate the sight as the Normandy resumed its assault on the Reapers, but she felt an immense relief wash over herself. The Crucible, a technological marvel millennia in the making, was finally complete.
"Be ready to disengage," Kaidan said. "As soon as the Crucible fires, we hit the mass relay and get to the rendezvous."
"What about Shepard?" Joker exclaimed. "We can't just leave him!"
"Admiral's orders," Kaidan said. "We don't have a choice, Joker."
"Hammer team took heavy losses," Garrus announced, "but there were still a few shuttles left on the ground. With any luck, Shepard can get out with them."
"He'd better," Joker grumbled.
Liara let her shoulders droop as the tension in her body dissipated. The battle wasn't over yet, but they were close now.
"So," Garrus said, sounding relieved as well, "what's the plan after this, Liara? Retirement?"
Liara chuckled. "Not on your life, Garrus. With my luck I'll be well into my matriarch years before I catch a break."
"Well, I don't know about you," Garrus said, "but this turian could sure use a vacation. I hear Virmire's lovely this time of year."
Suddenly, a burst of static crackled through the Normandy's comm, making them both jump. "Shepard? Commander?" Once again, they heard Admiral Hackett's voice.
Liara felt her chest inflate when a muffled, distorted response came back. "I… What do you need me to do?" It was Shepard.
"Nothing's happening," Hackett replied.
Liara didn't want to admit it, but he was right. The Crucible had been docked for several minutes now, and while they were busy fending off the Reapers, she was still waiting expectantly for it to activate.
"The Crucible's not firing," the Admiral continued. "It's got to be something on your end."
The fighting continued. Reapers were holding nothing back now, converging full force onto the Crucible and what few ships remained to defend it. Joker did what he could, putting the Normandy through a intricate dance to dodge oncoming fire as he tried to get in a few shots himself. The vacuum of space filled with red. Every Reaper was firing on them now.
"Commander Shepard!" Hackett growled.
There came no reply.
Liara locked eyes with Garrus, his gaze desperate and unblinking. Liara felt her stomach drop. She had never seen Garrus scared before. Another ten minutes passed. Then twenty.
"Goddess," Liara gasped. "Why is nothing happening?"
A deafening explosion rocked the Normandy, sending Liara flying into Garrus. She whispered a hasty apology as she found her footing again.
"Kinetic barriers at thirty percent," EDI said.
From behind her, Liara heard Kaidan sigh. "I never thought it would come to this," he said, every word heavy with remorse. He turned away from his console to look at Joker. "I—" Kaidan hesitated, furrowing his brow. He thought hard for a moment, wrestling a thought in his mind before he cleared his throat and spoke up again. "I have to give the order, Joker."
"What?" Joker exclaimed. "No! It's not over yet!"
"Joker," Kaidan said solemnly, "We can't wait for it to be over. Not at this rate."
Liara frowned. "What is he talking about? Kaidan, what's going on?"
Kaidan avoided Liara's eyes. "I'm sorry, Doctor, but… I have to order you to evacuate the Normandy."
Liara felt her chest compress as all the air left her lungs. Her blood ran cold for a split-second, before angrily boiling up again. "NO!" she shouted, clenching a fist.
Kaidan bent over his console again and brought up a comm window. As he did, another explosion rocked the Normandy, and EDI announced that kinetic barriers were down to ten percent. "Lieutenant Cortez," Kaidan said into the console. "Prep the shuttle for immediate evacuation. I want all nonessential crew off—"
"No!" Liara repeated. Suddenly, her hands were on Kaidan's shoulders and he was ripped away from his console. Liara was only vaguely aware of what her body was doing as she stared hard at the major. "You can't order me off this ship!" she said. "I won't abandon Shepard!"
"Stand down!" Kaidan barked. "As executive officer of the Normandy, I order you to evacuate."
"Don't pull rank on me, Kaidan!" Liara cried. "I've served on this ship just as long as you have. I deserve to be here. I won't leave Shepard," she repeated. "He can still make it."
"He will," Kaidan said, and his eyes softened a little. His squared shoulders relaxed, and he let out a long breath. "You're right," he said struggling to keep his voice level. "We've all served together for a long time. You and I both know, if anyone's going to pull this off, it's Shepard. And when he does, we'll need you on the other side of that relay. We'll need people to pick up the pieces when the war is over."
Liara continued to stare at Kaidan, the hard edge to her glaring eyes easing a little.
"If the Normandy doesn't make it," Kaidan said regretfully, "Shepard wouldn't want you to go down with the rest of us. He'd want you to keep going for the rest of the galaxy. You're one of the only ones who can make a real difference."
"Come with us, then," Liara said. "He wouldn't want you to die anymore than us."
"I have a duty to my post as executive officer," Kaidan said. "Besides, I'm not a Shadow Broker or a prothean scholar. I'd be useless to the galaxy."
Being ordered to abandon ship was no easier the second time, Liara realized as she came to grips with what Kaidan was telling her. The first time she was forced to evacuate, she had to watch the Normandy SR-1 go down in a blazing inferno. She didn't want to have to see that again.
"Don't make me repeat myself, Liara," Kaidan said. The anger was gone from his voice; he almost sounded defeated now.
"Kinetic barriers are offline," EDI said, her voice deadened and robotic. "Heat diffusers are critical."
Liara forced her arm to salute. As much as she hated it, there was no arguing the issue. The Normandy was sustaining massive amounts of damage now, there was no time to waste arguing. "Aye aye," she said, looking at Kaidan sadly. He offered her a small, reassuring smile in response.
"Make the galaxy proud, Liara."
"Come see it for yourself when you get out of here," Liara replied, forcing herself to return the smile. She felt a pull on her arm. Garrus met her eyes and nodded toward the elevator. She drew a heavy sigh and followed.
Even the simple task of getting back to the elevator was a challenge with the Normandy being shaken up by Reaper fire, but they made it as quickly as they could. As soon as they were in, Liara hit the button for deck five. At the same tine, Garrus reached for deck three.
"Garrus, what are you doing? Kaidan said to evacuate."
"I'm still needed in the main battery," Garrus replied. "You heard EDI, the Normandy's weapons are being overloaded. I have to stay."
Liara felt another stab in her gut. She didn't know how much more she could take. "Not you too," she said, fighting to keep her voice straight.
"This is what I signed on for," Garrus replied. "Besides, I'm pretty sure I'd go to turian hell if I just abandoned my post."
Liara laughed in spite of herself. Even in the face of danger, Garrus was still making jokes.
"Kaidan's right, though," Garrus said, more seriously. "If we have to go down fighting, so be it, but we need you out there." He took Liara's hand in his own, and looked her in the eyes. "A thousand years from now, the galaxy will be a better place. And it'll be because you're still in it, fighting the good fight."
Liara squeezed Garrus' hand. "Thank you," she said. The elevator stopped at the crew deck, and the doors slid open. Garrus stood tall and marched out of the elevator, proud and unafraid, a turian through and through. Before making his way to the main battery, he turned to face Liara.
"It's been damned good serving with you, T'Soni," he said.
Liara straightened her posture and looked at Garrus proudly. "Give them hell," she said, with just a hint of a smirk.
"For Shepard," Garrus said.
Liara nodded. "For Shepard."
By the time Liara got down to the shuttle bay, the last of the crew were climbing into the shuttle.
"Liara!" a voice called out.
She sprinted toward the shuttle as Steve Cortez beckoned her, anxiously waving his arm.
The shuttle started to lift off the ground as she clambered in, the door sliding closed behind her. Liara took a cursory glance at the people surrounding her as she stumbled into her seat and strapped herself in. Specialist Traynor was huddled at the far end, trying hard to mask the obvious fear on her face. Beside her sat Dr. Chakwas, who was holding together significantly better. Javik was seated next to Liara, silent and stoic, and James Vega took the helm with Cortez.
"We're about to fly through Armageddon, so sit tight!" Cortez called out.
As everyone pulled on their safety harnesses, the Normandy's shuttle bay doors opened up to a ghastly panorama of destruction. It was, without exaggeration, Armageddon.
"Let's hope you fixed those inertia dampener coils, Esteban." James said as he and Cortez steered the shuttle out. "We're gonna need to pull some insane G's to get out of this one."
Before Liara's eyes could linger too long on the carnage around them, the shuttle rocketed away at a blistering speed.
Seeing the battle from the Normandy's bridge was one thing, but Liara could barely stand looking at anything from their shuttle as it weaved through battling ships at a nauseating pace, and her only comfort was that she knew Cortez was just as competent as Joker when it came to flying. The denseness of the battlefield eventually started to dwindle, though, as they got farther out, but Liara was surprised to see Reapers as far out as Neptune.
"Approaching the relay," Cortez said. "Everyone, prepare for transit."
As they made their approach, a bolt of energy lanced out from the relay's eezo core. The world disappeared from around them as they were rocketed down the relay corridor.
Liara let the back of her head hit the shuttle wall as she let out a long sigh. She didn't know whether or not to feel relieved that they were now out of the Sol System, but she was at least grateful they weren't surrounded by Reapers. She jumped when a loud sob punctuated the silence.
Glancing at the rear of the shuttle, she saw Specialist Traynor holding her head in her hands. Dr. Chakwas patted her arm consolingly.
Traynor flinched. "Oh god, look at me" she groaned, lifting her head. "I'm sorry, I just... I don't know what to make of all this."
"I wouldn't blame you if you're in shock. The level of destruction was ghastly. It's not something any of us would wish to see."
Traynor laughed thickly through her course throat. "No, it's not. Especially not a lab tech." She closed her eyes and sucked in a calming breath. "God, I just hope the others make it."
"They will," Chakwas said reassuringly. "Jeff has pulled the Normandy out of a lot of sticky situations. As he should, as it's usually him who gets us into those situations." She glanced at Liara and grinned knowingly.
The shuttle finally cleared the relay. Dense, violet plumes of gas filled its virtual windows as they glided through the heart of the Serpent Nebula. The shuttle slowed to cruising speed, and both Cortez and James relaxed in their seats.
"Made it," Cortez sighed.
"Now what?" James asked.
Cortez glanced at James and shrugged. "I guess we just wait here for the others. The order was to rendevous at the Citadel—well, where the Citadel used to be—as soon as the Crucible fires."
"Which should be very soon," Liara said, trying hard to mask the desparation in her voice.
"All right," James said, nodding. He cleared his throat and breathed into an imaginary microphone. "Aaattention passengers, this is your captain speaking. It is now safe to remove your seatbelts, and you are free to move about the cabin." He grinned at Cortez, who rolled his eyes.
"You should work at a spaceport, you're a natural at stewardessing."
"Aw, you think I'm pretty enough to be a stewardess? That's sweet, Esteban."
"I don't think you're pretty, period," Cortez retorted.
James chuckled, shoving Cortez's shoulder lightly as he pulled himself out of his seat. He plopped into the seat beside Liara as she undid her harness.
"Hangin' in there?"
"I'm alive," Liara replied.
"That's all any of us could ask for right now," Cortez said, sitting down across from James.
A collective sigh went around the shuttle as everyone slumped in their seats.
"All right, so, what's the first thing you're gonna do when you get back home?" James asked the shuttle at large.
Dr. Chakwas snorted. "What, you mean besides rebuild the entire planet?"
"You're telling me you're gonna hop out of this shuttle and get straight to work, Doc?" James said skeptically.
"I might," the doctor replied. "I'm certain I wouldn't want to do anything else."
"All right," James said, shrugging. "What about you guys?"
"Sleep," Cortez said.
"Seriously?" James groaned.
"Shower," Traynor replied. "Then sleep."
"You guys are boring."
"Well, what about you, James?" Liara asked.
"I'm gonna get laid," he said.
"Oh, goddess," Liara mumbled, turning away from James. She leaned her head against the virtual window on the shuttle door, staring out at the Serpent Nebula absently. What would she do when she returned to Thessia, she wondered. Whaetever was left of it, anyway.
Liara started, snapping out of her idle thoughts when something caught her eye.
"Something troubles you, Liara?" Javik asked
"I thought I saw something just now," Liara said squinting her eyes. "Out the window."
A few people crowded around to see for themselves.
"You sure it's not just your eyes?" James said, peering at the virtual display.
"Positive," Liara said. "At first I thought it was, but when I looked I saw it again. I think it's another ship."
"Uhh, not just any ship," Cortez replied, sliding back into the pilot's seat and surveying the scanners. "It's a dreadnought."
"A dreadnought?" Liara repeated vaguely. "Why would—" Her breath caught in her throat when she saw another shadow glide through the clouds, only this time, she caught a distinct blue glow radiating from the metallic black surface. "Goddess have mercy," she gasped.
"REAPER!" James shouted. He clambered to the front of the shuttle and fell clumsily into his seat. Without any prompting, the others followed suit, scrambling to their seats and buckling up.
"Not just one," Javik said, still staring at one of the windows.
Liara could see them now too. They were barely discernable through the dense nebula, but every so often she caught the unmistakable silhouette of a Reaper through breaks in the clouds. It almost looked like they were circling the shuttle, like sharks stalking prey in murky waters.
"How many are there?" Liara asked in alarm.
"Too many!" Cortez replied as the shuttle accelerated. "The system is crawling with them!"
"We got a plan?" James asked frantically, as he and Steve swiped madly at the controls.
"Give me a sec," Steve said distractedly, squinting at another display. "Oh, yes!" he said in relief.
"Que pasa?" James asked.
"The closest relay to us is a secondary mass relay."
"Meaning?"
"Meaning it doesn't have a fixed exit. It's a short range relay that connects to any others within several hundred lightyears. Unless Reapers can read minds, our little friends won't know where to find us once we're through."
"And if they just send one down every path?" James asked worriedly. Cortez didn't answer. "Esteban!"
"Keep an eye on those Reapers," Steve ordered. "I have to set the destination coordinates."
"Make it snappy, hombre," James replied.
No matter how many times Liara came face to face with a Reaper, there was nothing like the dread that filled you seeing one, let alone dozens, looming silently in the distance, closing in with uncanny speed. Thankfully, they weren't far from the relay, and they made it long before any of their pursuers got within firing range.
"They were waiting for us," Cortez said in disbelief as their shuttle flew through the relay corridor. "Council space isn't safe anymore."
"What about the Crucible?" Traynor asked. "Shouldn't it have stopped them? Even the ones in the Serpent Nebula?"
"We've gone into this fight blind," Liara said. "We still don't know how it works. Maybe it didn't have time to reach them yet."
"In the meantime, we can't take any chances," James said. "We have to get as far out of Council space as possible."
"There will still be Reapers in the Terminus Systems," Javik said morosely.
"Not if we get out far enough," Cortez replied. He didn't slow the shuttle at all once they had cleared the relay, and he was already plotting the next jump.
Liara considered Cortez's words and wondered what his definition of 'far enough' was. "Do you know where you're going?" She asked tentatively.
Cortez glanced over his shoulder. The look in his eyes when his gaze met Liara's betrayed worry, but there was confidence in the steadiness of his voice.
"Yeah. I've got an idea."
Author's Note: Hey there. Thanks so much for checking out this story, and I hope you enjoyed this first installment. The concept here is pretty simple: what if Liara survived the Refusal Ending? The idea was partially inspired by the summary quote, how Liara could live to see the end of the cycle. Once I wrapped my head around the idea of her surviving, my imagination got to work thinking of how she would use her time, thus this story took form.
This is an idea that's been stewing in my head for a good long time, and this first chapter in particular went through many iterations to get to this point. Any and all critiques you have on the story and writing are very appreciated, and will definitely inspire me to finish future chapters sooner!
Given the length of these chapters and my limited free time, I can't guarantee speedy updates, but I am dedicated to finishing this story, and I hope you'll be just as eager to read along. In the meantime, leave me a review and let me know what you think!
Oh, and before I forget: this story contains major spoilers for Mass Effect 3 and its DLCs, including the extended cut DLC. This story may also contain spoilers for the trilogy at large and the movie Mass Effect: Paragon Lost.
Thanks again! 'Til next time!