I've heard it called teh Conduit before, but I'm niot sure if that's the official name. oh well. Moving on. I also just realized how similar my Salarian's name is to Maelon and Morlan *headdesk* That's what I get for naming characters during PSSAs, I guess.
"Calm down, Commander, you're only aggravating your injuries!" She snapped her eyes open through a thick fog of blurring shapes and met a pair of large Salarian eyes. Mordin? Shepard calmed down enough to prove her theory, only to find a nameless Salarian instead. He had a soft teal scale colour, and his appearance was very young, but his eyes were reflective of the intelligent Salarian she'd known. The Salarian who'd died to make sure she had enough support in this last fight.
"Lucky to be alive. You were hit directly with laser, after all. Not sure how you managed to survive. Applying fourth coat of Medigel- Hold still commander, you've already reopened the wounds three times!" She barely registered what he said, or the cooling effect the medigel had on her burnt body. Above her was the conduit. She'd never made it to the Citadel. Harbinger must have knocked her out beforehand. Everything she'd just witnessed, the Catalyst, The Illusive Man, Anderson's death, was it all a part of his mind game?
If so, was the Illusive man somewhere safe, waiting for the end of the fight, or was he really on the Citadel, prepared to kill her and take control?
"Help me up..." She demanded through clenched teeth. "I need to reach the conduit... I need to open the arms..." There was time to doubt or think about what had just happened.
"Movement is not advised," the Salarian started, halting when an explosion went off not too far away, crouching over her body to protect the gaping wounds, still knitting themselves together with the medigel, covering her body from a thick storm of dirt and debris. "But desperate situation says otherwise. Will help you to the conduit while the Reaper is powered down." He nodded towards Harbinger, who was still, and his eye blinking as if in need of a replacement light.
She sighed in relief, silently thanking the nameless Salarian for pulling her to her feet. She realized his appearance was a blessing. She was unable to walk on her own. Looking down, she was alarmed to see her foot was twisted to the side and hung limp, and a shard of metal had broken through the skin of her leg, exposed after most of her armour had been burned off in the laser strike.
"Open puncture wound on right leg, non problematic," The Salarian explained. "Also noticed swelling of ankle region. Appears to be broken, or at very least, badly fractured." She must have been hit pretty hard if her reinforced bones had snapped.
"Well isn't my day just going great." Shepard muttered. "Help me to the conduit, we don't have much time." She reminded.
"Of course." The Salarian draped her arm around his neck and ordered her to use him as a crutch, keeping all pressure off the injuries in her right leg. The new task, now that Harbinger was no longer prodding her mind, had cleared her thoughts, allowing her the strength to think clearly. Whatever happened, she needed to get to the Citadel, and she needed to open the arms. It was a good thing the conduit wasn't far off, or she was worried they'd never make it. Several times the pair tripped up over a fallen ally. Every body they passed, a sickening worry filled her mind. She hadn't Seen Javik or Liara since Harbinger had knocked her out. What if they were dead?
"Commander, incoming hostile." The Salarian warned. Snapped out of her thoughts, she immediately reached for her Paladin, the only weapon she still had with her, and though her aim was terrible with her left hand, she managed to take out the husks that were coming for them. The closer they got, the more husks arrived to slow them. She ran out of clips, cursing her weapon for having such a low capacity, and resorted to defence, by setting up a barrier around the Salarian guiding her to the Conduit.
It was hard to hold it up for so long, and the condition her body was in already made it infinitely harder, but she was able to hold it long enough to reach the Conduit. They were sucked into a bright white light and her organs felt like they were being squeezed slowly out of her body, but it was over in seconds. She was now in a room she didn't recognize at all. It was pitch black, and the only source of light came from the combined efforts of their omnitools.
"Where are we?" Shepard asked, hoping the Salarian knew. He shook his head. The room was small, and littered with bodies at various stages of decomposition. Immediately after the stench and the sight registered in her brain, she lost it and gagged uncontrollably. She was glad she'd been running on an empty stomach for the last few hours, or she'd have coughed up more than a mouthful of stomach acid.
"All this decay. Need to find a way out. Could cause infection and further illness." She was in no hurry to disagree. Increasing the power of her omnitool, the glow was enough that they were able to locate a door, and quickly burst through it, gasping for fresh breath. They now stood on a metal walkway hanging over a churning metal compartment that spanned the perimeter of the large cavernous space. A dark blue haze clouded her eyes and made her squint as it flickered back to white, and blue again over and over, reminding her of the many trips to Asari Dance Clubs on Illium.
"I guess we're headed this way." She grunted and urged the Salarian to move forward. They passed through the pulsating space for what felt like hours to her tired body, skirting around an uninterested Keeper who nearly pushed them over the railing trying to get by. At least her leg had gone numb from the pain, she thought. But in the past that was never good. Unless the Medigel was working that well, it normally meant something bad was going to happen if she wasn't fixed right away.
"Commander, there's a door here." The Salarian pointed out. She held back the urge to yell 'no kidding,' and nodded. She leaned against the railing as the Salarian set to work on the door panel, closing her eyes against the pulsations.
"What's your name? I never thanked you for helping me."
"Mannovai Ildreria Sael'Isar Vian Maelorn. And you are welcome, Commander." Shepard blinked at the long name. Salarians and their titles.
"I'll just call you Maelorn to keep it short, alright?"
"Acceptable." Maelorn agreed. "Door is open. Ready to continue?" Shepard nodded and grabbed hold of his shoulders again to hobble into the room, glad to see the console standing in the middle.
"There..." She collapsed against the console, using it for leverage before setting to work, dismayed at the strange language presented on the keyboard. It wasn't Prothean, and it wasn't something her translator knew, either.
Most likely it was in the language of the original builders of the Citadel.
"I don't understand a word of this." She growled. "Translator won't pick it up either." So what would she do now? Press buttons, and hope for the best?
And explosion rattled the citadel and she clutched the console tightly. Pressing buttons was the only thing she could think of at moment, so that's what she did. Press buttons. But of course she did nothing but turn off the lights, sending them into a darkness only broken by the soft glow of the console's screen.
"Perhaps the keeper we passed has valuable information." Maelorn suggested hopefully.
"That sounds better than pressing random buttons and hoping for results. But how would we make the Keeper help us?"
"You see the packs they carry on their backs. I could download the information from them to my omnitool. Maybe. Should I try?"
"Yes. I'll be here." The Salarian nodded, and turned, heading back out the door. She couldn't think of a way to thank this Salarian for all the help. Keeping her alive, helping her to the Conduit, and taking her this far was almost too good to be true. "Good luck." But she didn't think he would be successful.
"Will be back shortly, commander." Maelorn was gone, then. The door slid shut with a hiss and Shepard sighed, taking the moment to rest on the ground. She rested her back against the console. Her head drifted down and she felt her eyes sliding shut, but was resolved to stay awake long enough to see this mission through.
The door slid open and she expected to hear Maelorn's voice, but was surprised instead by the rough purr of a Turian.
"Commander Shepard." She groaned and looked up. Was this another mind trick? Standing before her was someone she never expected to see again. "I didn't think you would ever be defeated after that stunt you pulled last time you died."