Shepard Likes Rocket Launchers
~Chapter 7~
"Shadow, this is Hammer," Shepard said into his radio. "We've broken through the frontal defenses. Can you give us a status update?"
There was no response.
"Damn," Shepard cursed. "Alright, team. Assume the worst, that the salarian team has been neutralized and has not completed their primary objective. We'll have to go for the AA towers ourselves. Hammer One will go for the closer one. Hammer Two, you'll take the one on the far side of the facility. Everyone copy?"
The six of them, huddled in cover behind the captured geth defenses, nodded. With a swiftness and coordination that only experience working together could produce, they advanced deeper into the base.
Kirrahe held up his hand, bringing his unit to a halt behind him. The seven of them were deep within the bowels of the facility, farther inside than any of his reconnaissance teams had made it. They lined up against a wall next to a door leading to what he assumed was a cloning laboratory. He turned and nodded to Rentola, who triggered the door and tossed in a flashbang.
WHAM!
The seven infiltrators streamed into the room, one by one. However, the room contained no geth or cloned krogan. Instead, standing shakily and holding pistols, were three salarians. Kirrahe immediately recognized them and lowered his weapon.
"Lieutenant Edas? Your unit went missing two days ago. What happened? How did you get a pistol?"
Edas shuffled forwards unsteadily. "I… Kirrahe? I thought… never mind. When the alarms came, the voices… There were voices… They told me…" He took a breath. "I have to get out of here," he whispered fiercely.
Kirrahe frowned. Obviously the three had been through a lot during their detainment here. "We're destroying this facility. You'll have to come with us. Can you walk, and can you shoot?"
Edas stared at him blankly. "I… The whispers… They're in my head… They're… telling me..." He fell silent suddenly, turning his head to stare at the pistol in his hand.
Behind him, one of the other salarians spoke. "I'm sorry," he said, and, as one, the three of them raised their weapons and fired on their comrades.
The radio crackled with static. "-mer, this is Shadow. Come in, Hammer."
Shepard peeked out of cover and saw an enraged krogan charging at him. He raised his rocket launcher and spat a volley of three at the lizard before ducking back into cover. He heard three explosions, and then roars of rage followed by silence.
He grinned, and then opened his communications channel to respond. "Shadow, this is Hammer. What's your status? We lost contact quite a while ago."
"Good to hear your voice, Shepard," Kirrahe said over the radio. "The part of the facility we were in must have been signal-isolated. We encountered… resistance. We're down two men and have multiple wounded, but are still operational. Do not trust any salarian captives you come across. I repeat, do not trust them. I can explain more when we link up."
That explains the radio silence, Shepard thought. "We copy, Shadow," Shepard replied. "We assumed you had been delayed or neutralized. We've split into two teams and are advancing towards the AA towers."
"Clean copy, Hammer," Kirrahe said. "We'll move to assist in taking the rear AA tower, and then attempt to clear the bomb site."
"Roger that. Hammer out." Shepard clicked off his radio.
A four-legged shelled creature waltzed merrily along the beach. Minding his own business, he spotted a tiny hole in the sand which signified the presence of a shellfish, burrowed beneath. Crouching down, he began to dig, looking forward to a sweet, stringy dinner…
The air cracked, and then pulsated, as if a strong breeze had blown by, but for less than a second. The shelled creature jumped, startled, and turned toward the source of the noise. He saw the odd rectangular structures that had appeared in the area recently. And above them, a trail of smoke had begun to stretch into the sky.
The frightened asari researcher dashed out of her office in a mad panic, feeling extremely lucky to be alive yet extremely unfortunate to be in a facility that was about to be blown to bits.
"This is Hammer Two," crackled Kaidan's voice over the radio. "The rear AA tower is down. We've linked up with the Shadow and are proceeding to the bomb site."
"Understood, Hammer Two," replied Shepard. "Hammer One is still pushing towards the forward AA gun. We've come across Saren's personal lab, however. We think it's worth investigating. Hold the bomb site until the gun comes down."
"Solid copy, Hammer One. Good luck."
The black, monolithic structure glowed with an eerie green, pulsating softly.
"Is that… a beacon? Like the one you found on Eden Prime?" Tali said, breathless.
"My god," Shepard whispered. "If he's had this one here, intact, who knows what he might have learned." He took a breath. "I have to try it. We have to know more."
He took a step forwards, and was lifted into the air, ready for the blitz of images that he knew was coming…
Deathfleshmonstrousterrifyingtwinedmachinelawsreta liationtheconduittwistedmutatedwithsteelhorrifying massivebodiesburnpeoplehopesleepilosweaponsfailure firehousescitiesworldsburnreturnallislost ALL IS LOST ALL IS LOST
Shepard dropped to the floor, and Wrex moved to steady him. "You alright, Shepard?" he grumbled. "That didn't look… pleasant."
Shepard breathed heavily. "I'll be okay. I'll sort it all out later. Let's go. We've got to shut down that AA gun."
They climbed the stairs back up to the door, but before they could turn to leave, a hologram flickered into existence above the previously inconspicuous terminal facing the beacon. It formed in the shape of the ship that had touched down on Eden Prime…
"I get the feeling something bad is about to happen," Wrex said warningly.
"You are not Saren." A deep, mechanical voice boomed from the console.
"What is that?" wondered Tali. "Some kind of VI interface?"
"Rudimentary creatures of blood and flesh. You meddle with that which you cannot understand. You fumble in your ignorance, incapable of understanding."
"Ooookay…" said Tali carefully. "I don't think this is a VI…"
"There is a realm of existence so far beyond your own you cannot understand it. I am beyond your comprehension. I am Sovereign."
"The hell," Shepard muttered. "Sovereign isn't just some Reaper ship Saren found. It's an actual Reaper!"
Deep within the Normandy, Benezia crouched over a data pad in the med-bay, tapping in the last few coordinates needed to locate and track the Mu Relay. Beside her, her daughter watched over her diligently. "My daughter, I am finished. Doctor, would you please?"
Chakwas nodded, stood from her work station, and prepared the IV drip.
Liara frowned. "We've had so little time. Are you sure this is what you want?"
Benezia sighed. "You know it's not what I want. But it's what they are willing to do. What you're willing to do."
A tear rolled down the younger's cheek. "I…" She let out a sob, gathering her mother in a hug. "I've missed you, Mother. I will miss you."
Benezia smiled sadly. "Do not worry, Little Wing. I will see you again, with the…" She suddenly froze. "No."
Liara looked into her eyes, alarmed. "Mother? Are you alright?!"
"I hear it again," the Matriarch whispered. "Like metal on metal. Squealing and reverberating…" She doubled over suddenly. "You should not have brought me here," she hissed, backing away from her daughter slowly. "You should have taken me away. Far, far away… You have to stop… I can't… His teeth are at my ear. Fingers on my spine… You should… You must…"
Benezia collapsed to the floor of the med-bay. Chakwas quickly rushed over, and, helped by Liara, hauled her unto a cot.
Raising her medical omni-tool to the Matriarch's head, Chakwas ran a preliminary scan. "Her brain activity has skyrocketed. Liara, put the IV in. Now."
The asari rapidly followed the doctor's instructions, inserting the IV needle carefully into her mother's arm. The sedative immediately began to flow.
Liara tapped her foot impatiently. "What's the problem?" she demanded. "What's happening?"
Chakwas breathed in quickly. "The sedative, it isn't working. Her brain activity is still rising. Double the flow rate. Quickly." The calmness in her voice was chilling.
Liara adjusted the valve as she was told, but Chakwas's expression did not change. "She's… she's still not responding. She's going into cascading cell necrosis."
"What does that mean?" hissed Liara.
"Her body's gone into shutdown mode," Chakwas explained sadly. "She's dying."
"What?" cried Liara. "Why? Is there… something? Anything we can do?"
Chakwas shook her head. "I can't explain it! For some reason, she's undergoing the same process that asari go through when they pass away naturally. There's nothing we can do."
"No," sobbed Liara. "No…"
The form of her mother shuddered slightly on the cot before her.
"Reaper? A label created by the Protheans to give voice to their ascension. In the end, what they choose to call us is irrelevant. We simply are."
"Organic life is nothing but a genetic mutation, an accident. An imperfection in a sea of harmony. Your lives are measured in years and decades. You wither and die. We are eternal: the pinnacle of existence, the epitome of balance. Before us, you are nothing. Your extinction is inevitable. We are the end of everything."
"Goddamn arrogant is what you are," rebuked Shepard. "Whatever your plan is, it's going to fail. I'll make sure of that."
"Confidence born of ignorance. The cycle cannot be broken."
"Cycle?" chirped Tali. "What cycle?"
"The pattern has repeated itself more times than you can fathom. The Protheans did not create the Citadel. They did not forge the mass relays. They merely found them, the legacy of my kind."
"It's a trap," Shepard realized. "They give us something too good to pass up, and we make it integral to our society. But it's not ours. It's theirs. They control it all!"
"That is correct," the voice boomed. "We impose order on the chaos. You exist because we allow it. And you will end because we demand it."
"What do you want from us?" demanded Shepard. "Slaves? Resources?"
"My kind transcends your very understanding. We are each a nation, free of all weakness. You cannot even grasp the nature of our existence. We have no beginning. We have no end. We do not endure, for we have no need for endurance. The time of our return is coming once more. Our numbers are legion. We will be the tide, flowing as one over every world. You cannot escape your destiny."
Shepard leaned back and crossed his arms. "You're not even alive. Not really. You're just a machine. And machines can be broken."
"Your words are as empty as your future. I am the vanguard of your awakening. This exchange is over."
With that, the hologram fizzled to nothingness. The terminals lining one side of the room beeped in warning before overloading, the small blasts shattering the windows.
The three stood, immobilized by the revelations that had just been forced unto them. They might have stood there for a while if not for a crackling in their radios.
It was Joker. "Commander? We've got trouble."
Shepard put his hand to his ear. "Lay it on me, Joker. I love bad news."
"Long range sensors picked up something big in the system. Must be Saren's monster ship. It's coming this way, and coming fast. Sensors indicate it's travelling at speeds that would tear any Alliance ship to shreds. At the rate it's travelling now, it'll be here in less than an hour. You need to wrap things up in there, fast!"
Shepard nodded. "Understood, Joker." He turned to the others. "Alright people, we're on the clock now. Let's blow this AA gun, plant the bomb, and get out of here."
The crab-like creature, reassured that the world was not ending, once again looked to the sand, hungry for some juicy mollusks. Spotting another cluster of tell-tale air holes, he started digging, only to be interrupted by another vicious blast. The air itself seemed to split once again. He turned to gaze at the odd structure, and saw as a second plume of smoke rose to join the first…
"This is Hammer One," Shepard spat into the radio. "Forward anti-aircraft gun is down. Bring in the bomb."
"Roger that," replied Joker.
The squad of three descended down into the trench that led to the bomb site. "Hammer Two, this is Hammer One. What's the status of you and Shadow?"
Kaidan's voice came through. "We're at the bomb site. Everything's clear, for the moment. Everyone who's here is still in one piece. Normandy's coming in now."
"Good," Shepard said. "Set the bomb for five minutes, and make sure it can't be disarmed. We should have plenty of time to get out of here before it blows."
Aboard Sovereign, Saren growled. His facility, under attack! Why did these soldiers continue to pester him? Did they not realize what he was doing? He was going to be the one to save them all, and they were fighting him?
A status report from the geth on the ground appeared before him on a view screen. He read it. Then he read it again.
He let out a roar of rage. A bomb had been planted, and there was no way of disarming it. The perpetrators had then fled in a stealth ship. The same one that had been on Eden Prime.
Shepard.
He growled again. These humans were getting on his nerves. There had been so much information in that facility. He had been so close to a discovery. So close to knowing.
He stepped into a chamber that had been prepared for him. As the mechanisms in the walls altered him, changed him, enhanced him, his doubts vanished. Sovereign was right. The indoctrination did not matter. The ascension was inevitable. There was no escape. Aiding them was the only way.
Sovereign speaks to me, but does not control me, he was reassured. I am still in control. This is the best way. The only way. We will be the chosen for their ascension.
No one was around to explain to him just how wrong he was.
The four-legged crab-like creature chirped in satisfaction. Finally, he had managed to dig up one of the elusive filter-feeders that resided within the soft sand. But as he cracked open the critter's shell, he felt a sudden heat behind him. He turned, and the last thing he saw was his world evaporating and a wall of fire barreling straight towards him…