The Return of Archangel
Chapter Two
The Citadel, Immediately Prior to the Battle of London
Aria T'Loak had never believed that there were such places as Heaven or Hell. She had named her beloved nightclub on Omega 'Afterlife' for that very reason: the only life you had was the one you were living right now, and having the very best times in your life were the closest you would ever get to seeing Heaven.
She was at least half right, because there was no denying it as she took in the destruction before her: Hell was real.
The Reapers had arrived at the Citadel en masse, dispensing thousands of shock troops on to the station, while simultaneously moving the station itself using powerful mass effect fields.
The floors were slick with the blood of multiple species, limbs discarded carelessly by husks and cannibals. The power was failing, making the overhead lighting blink on and off, making the situation even more eerie.
C-Sec had been annihilated by the Reapers overwhelmingly powerful ground forces. The air was thick with screams, and the resonating thunderous blasts of ravage fire.
Aria had killed before, but it was always business. Shadow Broker agents or mercenary bands were her usual fare. This however was genocide. Absolute slaughter on a massive scale.
Another scream, shook Aria from her reverie. This scream was different: singular, close. Aria whirled around. A cannibal was looming over a small asari girl, arms drawn back, ready to strike. The asari child closed her eyes tight, expecting the end, but the end never came.
Aria charged her biotic field and held the cannibal aloft, before vengefully slamming it down. Her rage building, she threw it from wall to wall, sickening cracks punctuating her strikes. She continued smashing the Reaper drone into the floor, slamming it repeatedly, her biotic powers spiking.
"ARIA!" A voice boomed out.
Snapping out of her momentary bloodlust, Aria turned round to investigate. Her newest bodyguard, a turian employed when she reached the Citadel as a refugee, was standing behind her, his old army-issued Phaeston assault rifle primed and ready.
"Xihlus?" She queried. "I thought I told you to get to the ship!"
"As highly as I rate myself in combat, we're never going to survive this trip if both of us go solo, we'll have a better chance if we stick together." He replied. Normally, such a glib response would have been met with extreme force from the so-called Queen of Omega, but this was not the time. Besides which, he had a point. Aria made her way over to the girl and scooped her up into her arms.
"OK," Aria relented, "let's go."
Armando Bailey grimaced as he reloaded his Paladin heavy pistol. C-Sec was in pieces, the Citadel was being dragged through space and he'd seen refugees slaughtered in such a way that he'd have nightmares for the rest of his life, not that that would be very long. To top it off, he had been shot twice in the past half hour, as well as worsening the damage caused by his injuries during the Cerberus coup.
He'd been forced to split up with Kolyat Krios back in Zakera ward. While Bailey was determined to get to the docking bay and prevent the Reapers from landing more ground troops, the young drell had run off to fight the Reapers head-on. Bailey and his remaining officers made their way slowly to the docking bay, only to be picked off one-by-one.
Bailey looked round the corner. Two cannibals and a husk were picking over the corpses of what appeared to be a turian family. Bailey gritted his teeth as he unclipped his last grenade. He tossed it into the room, quickly ducking back round the corner. The wall he was leaning against shook as the explosive detonated. He readied his gun as he moved into the room, ready to pick off any stragglers.
The husk and the cannibals were no more. Bailey sighed as he holstered his weapon, and proceeded to the terminal. He punched in some commands.
'INITIATE FULL LOCKDOWN OF DOCKING BAY?' The display prompted.
Bailey paused as a thought occurred to him. If he locked down the docking bay, Reapers wouldn't be able to get in, but any refugees who made it this far wouldn't be able to get out to their own ships, and possibly escape. People already in the docking bay had managed to escape when the Reapers arrived. Presumably, the capital ships moving the Citadel were too busy to deal with a few transport vessels.
"Shit." Bailey exclaimed, as indecision overtook him. "Shit, SHIT!"
Xihlus kept up suppressing fire as he and Aria made their way to the docking bays. Aria was able to produce biotic throws with her free arm while she kept the asari girl close to her chest, and his Phaeston was doing a pretty good job of keeping the husks at bay.
The horrors throughout the corridors were never-ending, with every corner unleashing a new nightmare. Xihlus and Aria helped where they could, leading Xihlus to note that the Queen of Omega wasn't such a heartless bitch after all. They had already saved a small group of humans from husks, and helped some C-Sec officers take down some cannibals trying to get to one of the larger groups of refugees. However, the worst was still to come.
Aria's group was making good progress. Xihlus reckoned there was around half a mile to go to the docking cradle containing Aria's newly-purchased ship. Holding the Terminus mercenary bands in the palm of her hand turned out to be very profitable, even in such desperate times.
A vicious, piercing war cry stopped them in their tracks. Xihlus turned to his employer.
"Is that a Banshee?" Aria asked, her voice low. Xihlus merely nodded in response.
"It's right in our path, and this is the only way to the fucking bay that won't take us a million years." He spat.
Another scream pierced the air, but this was different. Aria and Xihlus peered into the hallway.
A Banshee had impaled a young human woman with its talons, cradling her head with its free hand. Aria shuddered. Like all asari, the Reaper variants constructed of asari sickened her. She looked to Xihlus, and was surprised to see his face contorted with rage this time, as he loaded a fresh thermal clip into his assault rifle. It was sad, she agreed, but they had seen far worse mere moments ago. Had she missed something?
She looked back, and immediately spotted what had enraged Xihlus so much. A human infant – no – a human baby was laying, wailing, on the floor. It was possible the banshee hadn't spotted it as it slaughtered the child's mother.
"Shit, Xihlus, wait!" She exclaimed, but it was too late. Xihlus had stood, battle-ready, and begun firing at the banshee. The constant stream of fire started to drain the banshee's barriers as Xihlus readied an overload, unleashing it with a scowl on his face.
The banshee definitely took notice as its barriers were drained. The human woman slumped off its claws and collapsed to the ground. The banshee began charging, warping from spot to spot as it replenished its barriers. Xihlus managed to get some shots in, but the semi-random nature of the banshee's movements made it difficult to do any real damage: Xihlus was in big trouble.
"Shit." Aria exclaimed under her breath as she set the young asari down. "Stay here." She commanded as the little asari stared up at her.
Wasting no time, Aria unleashed a biotic charge right at the banshee, momentarily knocking it off balance. She leapt back gracefully so that she was out of range of its talons as it turned to face her, and Xihlus took the opportunity to unleash a volley of fire right into its back. Aria grabbed her twin pistols and started firing as her biotics recharged. The banshee's defeat seemed certain, until it pulled out the last trick in its arsenal.
The mutated Asari hunched down, charging power, then unleashed it all at once. Xihlus and Aria were thrown in opposite directions, hitting the walls of the corridor hard. Aria looked around, Xihlus had been knocked unconscious by the biotic shockwave, and the banshee was advancing on her. The banshee drew back its arm as it looked at the asari, and Aria looked on.
"This is what I get for being a good Samaritan." Aria whispered, preparing for the worst.
There was a loud bang as the Banshee's head exploded and it slumped to the floor. With nowhere to go, its own intense biotic energy cremated it, sending wisps of ash into the air.
Aria looked for her rescuer. Xihlus was only now stirring. She turned to the left to see a uniformed drell holstering a Phalanx heavy pistol. Without turning to look at her, he ran to the human woman on the floor. Aria dusted herself off and ran to Xihlus.
"Nice going turian." She smirked. "They teach you how to run in blind and get knocked unconscious in turian boot camp?" She extended a hand to help him up.
"Yep." He replied, groaning. "First day, right before lunch."
They crossed over to the human woman, and the drell kneeling over her. She stirred slightly.
"Shit, she's still alive?" Aria asked, surprised.
"Yes, but she doesn't have much time." The drell said somberly.
"Ethan.." She whispered. "Where's… Ethan?"
"Who is Ethan?" The drell asked softly.
"My baby." She replied, a tear running slowly down her face.
Aria felt something nudging her leg. She turned to see the little asari holding the baby tightly. Aria gently pushed her toward the drell, who took the baby from her carefully.
"He's here." The drell said, gently passing the baby to his mother.
"Oh, thank goodness." She sighed, stroking the baby's head as she kissed his forehead gently.
Aria was instantly transported back to the day Liselle was born, and how she felt as she held her for the first time. She looked down at the woman's abdomen. The drell was right, she was bleeding out fast. More than ever, Aria hoped that Shepard was going to stick it to the Reapers, and make it fucking hurt.
Aria kneeled down next to the drell, and spoke to the dying human, running her fingers through her hair.
"I'll look after Ethan for you sweetheart, I promise. No harm will come to him on my watch." Aria said softly, trying to be as soothing as she could.
"Thank you." The woman said weakly. She gave the baby boy one last kiss as she closed her eyes.
"I love you." She said softly.
Aria took the baby from his dead mother.
"Kalahira, wash the sins from this one, and set her on the distant shore of the infinite spirit." The drell said, his hands clasped in prayer. He turned to face Aria and Xihlus.
"My name is Kolyat Krios." He said. "I suggest we leave."