A/N: Apologies for the delay! One busy week turned into two busy weeks, and writer's block certainly didn't help anything, but kicking myself into overdrive, I finished chapters for both this and Old, Unhappy, Far-Off Things, so yay!
As always, a shout-out to those who have favorited or are following this story. Also, a big thank you to all those who have reviewed and your kind words (especially to Danie-Dono; I'm touched beyond words that my work has inspired you to write again :) ). It truly does make my day to see all these notifications come in and keeps me motivated!
-9-
"We're arriving at one of the eezo processing plant," Aria informed them when the short elevator ride ended with a small jolt on its landing. "It's been powered down so we'll have to pry open the door."
"I'll handle it," Shepard volunteered, already approaching the doors. It would give her a chance to refocus on the mission, not spend so much time worrying about the gangs or Toombs. Or how sidetracked Garrus looked.
"Access to the mine should be on the far side," Aria continued while Shepard ran her hand over the chrome doors, searching for the slit in the middle.
"And the reactor's beyond that for?" Nyreen questioned.
"According to the schematic."
Shepard was now able to push the doors apart. Garrus stepped over and helped her by taking one door to keep them separate long enough for everyone to get through.
Aria went first, turning her head to respond to the cross look that had morphed onto Nyreen's face. "I ran Omega, Nyreen, I didn't work the mines myself."
Nyreen followed closely behind her. "No, you had indentured servants for that..." She didn't get too far onto the catwalk, stopping in her tracks like she had seen a spirit standing before her. "Spirits…"
Only when Shepard made it to Nyreen's side did she understand what had caused such a start.
Shepard had seen enough dead bodies in her military career, some more bearable than others to behold. She had seen bodies littered with bullets from head to toe, throats slit, missing arms or legs, blue lips from suffocation, and bodies so charred that no defining feature was left to distinguish them as the living person they had once been. And those were only a few notable examples.
Seeing these Cerberus troopers like they were now, sprawled on the platform, scratch marks all across their armor, bodies mangled so brutally with organs and limbs ripped from them, Shepard found herself hoping they had been long dead and taken their last breaths before they suffered such agonies.
The rising rotting smell of the corpses hit her like a punch to the face, bile rising in her throat. She'd rather smell refuse piles day in and day out than smell this for even one second longer. Shepard pushed the urge down, crouching to look more closely, covering her face with the back of her hand to block out the smell.
"Relax, Nyreen, they're all Cerberus," Aria said, like that fact somehow made everything better, that what killed the soldiers wouldn't attack them.
"They've been ripped to shreds," Shepard remarked, noting what looked like claw marks across the breastplate of one man's armor.
She stood up from her kneeled position, unhooking her pistol as she did so. She directed the others forward, with Nyreen murmuring behind her, the anxious ringing from her dual-fling having only increased. "I don't like this."
They cautiously made their way forward between the platforms, the pinpoint of light from the flashlights on their weapons the only real source of light around them. Nyreen's suspicion only seemed more justified when Shepard tripped on the platform, unable to break her fall and landing face first into a blood pool of another body. She jumped back to her feet, cringing as she wiped the blood from her cheek. His comrades lay grouped together around him, except for one slung over a railing like a piece of cloth, yet stayed in place and didn't risk toppling over to the cavernous, almost endless pit below them.
Garrus flashed his light over the dead figures. "More dead," he said, taking in the same types of marks and injuries that had been on the others.
"It's a bloodbath," Nyreen insisted, rifle slightly shaking in her hands, head whipping around every which way. "I got a bad feeling. We shouldn't be…"
Shepard heard the sound while Nyreen had been talking. A whispering noise. Almost like the cicadas that had been so active during the summer days in Rio de Janiero, where she had her N7 training. There was also a scuffling noise on metal alongside it.
"What's that sound?" Shepard interrupted them, raising her hand to silence them.
She waited for the others to listen to it too, make sure it wasn't her ears playing a terrible trick on her.
And was her imagination or did she just see something that jumped between the pipes? She flashed over the spot, but came up with nothing.
"It's an Adjutant. I'd recognize that sound anywhere," Aria finally replied, her fingers tightening on her shotgun, despite no sign of visible emotion on her face.
"Oh no. The General must have locked this place down to keep it inside."
Judging by the number of claw marks and wounds they had seen on the bodies, they were probably dealing with more than one, but Shepard refrained from saying that aloud.
"The elevator's just over there," Aria pointed down the way to a more open area. "But we need to power it up. We have to find the master circuit breaker."
They figured out they needed to follow the pipes. As they walked to the upper catwalks, Shepard noticed the whispering receding, not as strong as before. She said as much to her companions.
"Maybe the Adjutant doesn't like its odds."
Nyreen was not amused by Garrus's attempts to joke away the tension. "Don't kid yourself, Vakarian. I've seen those things take down a squad of soldiers."
Shepard carefully hopped over onto a nearby pipe. "I've seen you take down squads too. Why're you so disturbed by these Adjutants?"
"I know fighting Reapers is old-hat to you, Commander, but these…what they do to people…They don't just kill their victims like the ones here, they turn them into more of them. If they return in full strength like they did before, I don't even want to think about what would happen to Omega's people," Nyreen finished with a barely contained shudder.
They eventually hit a dead-end, but with a ladder down to the side, leading them to the master circuit breaker. Garrus took the initiative to turn the systems back on, punching the various flashing buttons on the console.
"When this is over, there'll be a lot of repairs to make," Aria said, noting with satisfaction as the plant flooded with light, leaving no dark corners for Adjutants to camouflage themselves in.
"I hope you'll focus on the civilian areas first."
Aria didn't even bother to hide the eye-roll or frustrated sigh. "You are relentless!"
Shepard didn't even hear Nyreen's reply. She was busy dodging what was speeding through the window head-on at her. She barely managed to roll away in time, showered with pieces of broken glass when the Adjutant stormed through, letting out a snarling bellow, lifting its arm cannon to fire away at its closest target.
"Spirits!" Nyreen cried out, frozen in place.
Shepard scrambled to her feet, flinging an incineration blast towards the Adjutant (even though it didn't seem like it did much of anything), with Garrus and Aria opening fire. Nyreen still hadn't moved, body locked in position, feet rooted to the floor.
"Nyreen! Snap out of it! Now!" Aria's yell finally brought Nyreen back out of her fear-induced daze, assault rifle locked on her target.
Despite its size and blue sac on its back that should have weighted it down, the Adjutant was surprisingly agile and liked getting up close to them, even with a long range arm cannon grafted into its body. Between the four of them, it didn't take long to kill it, but it certainly didn't go down without a fight, leaving Shepard a little breathless at having had to maneuver away from it so many times.
"Spirits, I hate those things!" Nyreen exclaimed, hands on her knees, leaning against a nearby wall column, trying to catch her own breath.
"Hate should make you deadlier. That looked like fear to me. It really is pathetic, Nyreen," Aria couldn't help but chastise. "I've seen you fight. I know you have more grit than that. Just look at you. You tense up just at the mere mention of those abominations."
Nyreen didn't shy away from Aria's judging gaze, but Shepard had become proficient in reading turian body language to know what the tightening of her plates and mandibles to her face meant.
"Lay off, Aria. That's not what she needs right now." She could feel Nyreen giving her an appreciative glance.
"I'm trying to help her, Shepard," Aria defended, annoyed at the interruption. "Call it tough love."
"That's one way to describe it." Garrus apparently couldn't resist the jab.
"You should learn to quit while you're ahead. Or even better, keep your damn mouth shut. And remember that you owe me."
Garrus titled his head, acknowledging the veiled warning. "No promises."
Shepard didn't have the energy to act like mediator, still feeling a little drained, instead insisting they head out to the elevator.
Aria took point up the ladder and scouted ahead, in case there were more that hadn't made themselves known yet.
"Was it just me or did that look kinda like one of those Scions? Haven't seen one of those in awhile."
Shepard let out a low groan at their mention, remembering how many times she had been shot with that element zero fueled cannon, the force toppling her to the ground.
"Don't jinx it, Garrus. We've got enough to deal with."
Garrus tagged behind Shepard on the ladder. "Yeah, now that the Reapers have put their husk-producing factory into overdrive. With all those mutated humans, mutated asari, mutate turians. Oh, and let's not forget the human-batarian, krogan-turian hybrids."
Shepard couldn't begin to express how good it made her feel to hear him make these sarcastic remarks, even the one to Aria. That felt more like Garrus. Still a far cry from their flirting on the battlefield, but she'd take it.
"And how is that helpful, Vakarian?"
"You know this is my coping mechanism, Kandros."
They trailed behind Aria, kicking it into high gear when Aria warned of another one ahead on the catwalk that had jumped from the rafters. "Die you piece of shit!" Aria shouted, firing her shotgun as they all reached the end of the pipe and landed back onto the catwalk.
"Another one on our left flank!" Garrus called, spotting another off to the side.
Shepard sent out her own warning. "And on our right!"
This wasn't anything new. They had been surrounded by mindless husks who liked getting into their personal spaces more times than Shepard could count.
Least that's what Shepard tried to tell herself, but the thought of being infected and transformed into one of them was not far from her mind.
Shepard blasted the one on the right with incinerate, then showering its blue sac with cryo ammo, watching it eventually freeze in place, exploding like glass shards across the catwalk when she pumped a few more rounds into it. Nyreen and Aria had teamed up to take out the one in front of them, with a mix of lift grenades and biotic flares, while Garrus tried releasing a concussive shot at the one on their left. It didn't knock the Adjutant off its feet, but the shot did cause it to stumble, allowing Garrus to barrage it with armor-piercing ammo. It let out one final bellow as it died.
"We've got to get to the elevator!" Aria pressed.
"We can't let them escape!" Nyreen insisted, though she sounded like she wanted nothing more than to hop on the elevator and leave immediately.
"We'll seal the doors behind us! We've got to move!"
They barely took a few steps before strong vibrations shook the platform and they were blasted off their feet onto the floor, dazed and unable to move. Too similar to when Shepard came up from the deep after her encounter with the Leviathan.
It was closest to Shepard, wasting no time in approaching her. She lifted herself up, trying to clear the black edges from her vision. The Adjutant roared at her, flinging its clawed hand down on her head and part of her cheek, slicing the skin and forcing her back down onto the floor, her omni-tooled arm crushed underneath her. She was too stunned to get herself back up in time. So were the others.
As its tentacle face neared her body, she could only hope she could kill herself before she turned. So no one else would have to.
So Garrus wouldn't have to.
The Adjutant's blue sac suddenly exploded and splattered her with the ooze. It screeched in pain, its venomous eyes searching out the one who shot him.
It didn't get far when bullets with an almost pale green glow that characterized armor-piercing ammo pelted it. By the time it fell beside her with a final grunt, Shepard had gotten her bearings back, able to get herself up. As had Aria, who helped Nyreen up. Garrus came up beside her, firing round after round into the Adjutant, even though it was clearly dead.
"I think you got it, Garrus," Shepard assured, while shaking off the goo and applying medi-gel to her face. A long and thorough shower was definitely in her future when they got back to the Normandy.
Garrus didn't stop right away. When he did, Shepard saw the remains of an intense fire that had built in his eyes. She knew that look. The same one when he had roughed Harkin up. The one he wore whenever he had talked about Sidonis.
"Can't be too sure with these things," Garrus said with a rough rumble.
Shepard frowned, one she was sure he saw, but she still thanked him for watching her back.
A few more Adjutants were waiting for them at the elevator, but no more got the jump on them, allowing them to pick them off one by one.
"I think that's all of them," Shepard said when the last one fell, scanning the area. She didn't hear any whispering noises either.
"Alright, into the elevator," Aria said, wasting no time in entering it.
Once they were all inside and the door closed behind them, Nyreen had her omni-tool out. "I'll seal the door, just in case."
Smart thing to do, considering.
Once she was done, Nyreen pressed the button on the console, jolting them upward.
"On to the mines." Aria noticed the growing pensive expression on Nyreen's face when she turned back around. "What's eating you?"
"Just processing. It's clear the General sealed that area to keep the Adjutants in."
"Along with the poor bastards trapped with them," Garrus added, still a little tense from earlier.
"How many knew about that little detail when they were assigned here?" Shepard wondered, knowing the answer. Cerberus seemed to like throwing their people into the fire without giving a damn about what happened to them as a result.
"Something's off. Adjutants typically don't just kill their enemies. They turn them into more Adjutants," Nyreen continued, troubled.
"You're just spooked," Aria dismissed automatically.
"There's a rhythm to this place, Aria. To Cerberus, the Adjutants," Nyreen argued. "If you'd stuck it out here, maybe you'd feel it too." Though it was faint, she couldn't keep the accusatory note in her lower-flang hidden.
Aria answered with a dark scowl and narrowed eyes, but she didn't get into it with Nyreen, instead lamenting over the state of the drills.
"Damn it, they shouldn't be straining like this. They'll burn out in a month!"
Cerberus was obviously trying to milk the resources of Omega bone dry as quickly as possible so they could take full advantage of them and ensure their hold on the resources. But that would hurt them in the long run, if they ran out and needed more. Quite unlike Cerberus to think only in the short-term.
Speaking of Cerberus, there was no shortage of them within the mine. Shepard fell into the pattern she had fallen into so many times on the battlefield with her Widow. Activate tactical cloak, scope down the target, fire, duck behind cover and pop the clip. Rinse and repeat. Methodical in execution, completely predictable, but it had served her well when she had had wave after wave of enemies coming at her. She noticed Garrus sticking close by, never too far from her, but not moving to shoot beside her.
Once the area of the lower level they were on seemed clear, Aria guided them through the labyrinth of platforms in the mine, to the upper-level where the elevator to the reactor was located. It only took fighting through another wave of Cerberus soldiers and balancing over a narrow strip that passed for a beam to get to it.
"Why are you grinning, Aria?" Nyreen asked when they hopped on the elevator. Aria was wearing an almost euphoric grin on her lips while wiping away the blood that had splattered onto her shotgun.
"We're almost there. When the force fields come down, this war finally begins." None of what they had done could be considered part of a war? What were the fights with the new mechs and breed of husk? Minor skirmishes? Were they placating a possibly unstable merc leader just for the hell of it?
"For some of us it started months ago," Nyreen pointed out as matter-of-factly as she could manage.
"That wasn't war. That was just warm-up."
Shepard hoped this wouldn't last too much longer. If this was all just warm-up, she'd hate to see what one of Aria's wars actually looked like.
The elevator ride was another short one, the reactor soon in plain sight and hard to miss, outputting electric currents which crackled above them. Shepard took in its impressive size as they walked across the catwalk.
They didn't get far before a dome similar to the make of the force fields encased the four of them, trapping them, so close to their goal.
"I commend you. Your plan of attack was impeccable." Shepard spun around, Predator pointed at the source of the voice, but she lowered it when she realized it was nothing more than a holo-image of Petrovsky, a solid orb twirling around the center of his chest.
"Looks like we were expected."
"More like lured," Nyreen muttered while searching around them for a possible point of escape.
Petrovsky folded his arms behind his back. "I knew the reactor would be the hard target. I gave you no choice but this route."
He truly had all his bases covered. "It's too bad you're on the Illusive Man's side, Petrovsky." Shepard didn't mean it whole-heartedly, not after he screamed to all of Omega Garrus's identity, all the trouble that caused. Could still cause.
The repulsion on his face was hard to miss. "I'm on humanity's side. You're the ones trying to start a war, for the glory of Aria." His eyes fell on Garrus, eyebrows rising. "I'm impressed by your tenacity, Officer Vakarian. Between the gangs and Aria, I'd imagine you've had a rough going."
"I've faced worse. And I believe I have you to thank for that," Garrus replied, crossing his arms.
"It's nothing personal." That statement again, as if that negated any action taken against Garrus. "Despite the brutality I saw done by your kind during the First Contact War, your abilities are to be commended. I can see why Commander Shepard values you. But we all must do what's necessary."
"Your plan backfired, Petrovsky. The gangs have rallied under my command again. My influence is just as strong as ever," Aria sneered.
Petrovsky didn't seem fazed by the news. "Their loss, if they stay true to their word. Even if they do, I fail to see what good that'll do you now. You're trapped down there. You can't break free without dissolving into ash. It's over, Aria."
"This isn't over until your next of kin can't identify you!" Aria all but snarled, smugness replaced by vehemence.
"I love your bravado, but have the sense to know when you're beaten. You've been neutralized and I can leave you there to rot. You might as well give up." Petrovsky should have known it would not be that easy. "Aria" and the words "give up" were rarely together in the same sentence.
"Never! I'm not going out like this!"
Aria stalked over to the shield, biotic energy sparking in her hands. Without warning, she touched the shield, trying to rip some of it apart.
When was she able to do that?!
"What the hell is she trying to do?" Carving them an escape hole, it seemed. "Damn it, Aria, you're forcing my hand. We'll do it your way, then."
The orb and his holo-image disappeared, an on-slot of mechs dropping in on them a second later.
"Keep them off us!" Nyreen set up her own biotic shield to cover Aria while she worked.
Garrus flung an overload at a mech closing in on them, ducking behind a crate before it exploded.
Shepard was able to sabotage one when part of its shields were drained, becoming a temporary ally and allowing her to dart under cover beside Garrus.
"Shepard! I've almost got it! Get to the control room!"
Garrus nodded for her to go.
"No heroics," Shepard reminded him, brushing her head against his, taking comfort in that brief touch. Their unspoken promise.
"Same for you," he replied just as firmly.
Aria had backed away to give Shepard enough room, but still grip onto the shield. Shepard took off at a running start, diving through the opening and rolling onto the platform.
"Spirits, Aria! How did you know you could do that?" Shepard's communicator crackled to life, Nyreen's voice echoing in her ear.
"I didn't."
A few mechs tried to slow Shepard's progress, but she activated tactical cloak to bypass them and then shoot them or stab them in the back with her omni-blade. Nyreen came back online, warning her there was no let up. Shepard quickened her pace up the platforms, sprinting up the steps two at a time, until she entered the control room for the reactor.
Shepard literally pounced onto the console when it was in her sights, frantically trying to shut down the power before her squadmates were overwhelmed.
"You can't do this, Commander. There's more at stake than you know." Petrovsky's holo followed her up. Just for the pleasure of making things difficult, no doubt. "That reactor powers life support systems for dozens of wards across the station. Shut it down and thousands of people perish."
People wiped out just by a simple press of a button.
She couldn't.
She wouldn't let this become another Aratoht.
"You hearing this, Aria?"
"Yes, and I don't care! Shut it down!"
So there it finally was. After all those little prostrations and speeches that she was fighting for all of Omega, for everyone's liberation, here was the tangible proof she would willingly snuff out the lives of thousands of innocent people, just for the convenience, for the insurance, without even searching for another way.
"You're fighting to free those people!" Shepard objected harshly, not even bothering to hide her abhorrence.
"And what good am I if I end up killed in some reactor because you didn't have the balls to make the tough choices? Shut it down now, Shepard!" Aria repeated, anger growing.
"Shepard, don't!" Nyreen. Of course she would take the civilians' side and fight on their behalf. "Try re-routing power away from the force fields."
The red button that would shut the reactor automatically down was blinking at her, its glow trying to entice her to press it. But she wouldn't. Too much innocent blood had been spilled. She would not add more. She wasn't a terrorist with a badge. No one could make her one.
Shepard began furiously typing away at the console, already running into a block. "Damn it!" Where was Tali when they needed her? "Hold tight down there!" She could feel the sweat building on her forehead.
"Re-routing the power to maintain the other systems?" Petrovsky asked, tone conversational. "I admire your restraint, Commander. I expect nothing less from someone with your morals."
"Are you crazy?" Aria all but screeched through her communicator. "We're almost spent! Nyreen, watch your flank!"
"Cover them if you can, Garrus!" Shepard ordered, fingers flying as she bypassed a firewall, clenching her teeth when she hit another.
"I'm on it!"
"Why do you work for her, Shepard? Can't you see what she is? She doesn't care who gets hurt!" What the hell was Petrovsky playing at? What could he possibly hope to accomplish? Her partnership with Aria was already strained. How could he possibly add to it?
"What the hell are you waiting for? Just overload the reactor!"
"She'd just throw thousands of lives away. And Officer Vakarian...you know what she'd do to him if she could," Petrovsky continued as if Aria hadn't said anything. "Do you honestly think she'll willingly spare his life just out of debt to you? After what he planned to do to her?"
That certainly crossed her mind back on the elevator to the eezo plant, but Aria needed Shepard's help. She knew what it would mean if she negated her vow about Garrus. She may have threatened action, but she wouldn't actually go through with it.
Why delude yourself, Jane? You know he's right. Why else was she so vague before? You know she sees him as a threat, real or imagined.
She'd be damned before she'd tell Petrovsky any of that.
A pained grunt from Garrus almost made Shepard break away from the console. "You ok out there, Garrus?" She tried not to sound overly-worried.
"Bastard got me in the side. I'm fine. Just finish re-rerouting the power."
Garrus's encouragement fueled her, pushing her through another firewall. The sweat beads had found their way into her eyes and it took every effort to not stop and rub them away.
"Shepard, Nyreen's down too. I'm stabilizing her. You can't re-route the power in time. Hit the fucking overload! Now!"
Shepard knew that tone. It was one Aria had used the first time they met, when Aria told her about the one rule on Omega.
Guess she was going to have to break it.
"This shouldn't be that hard. Maybe something inside is holding you back. Maybe deep down you've started to think the galaxy would be better off without her. Maybe your Archangel has finally convinced you to join his quest to take down Aria."
She should have turned off her communicator or switched the channel, so the others didn't hear, but she couldn't break her concentration now that she was so close, now that she was struggling to stay focused with him trying to capitalize on her doubts.
"You know that's why he came back, Shepard. He had power and influence here, something he could never have under you. You think because he spared Lantar Sidonis it means he doesn't still carry Archangel and his desires with him?"
How could he possibly know all this? But then she remembered the Illusive Man read reports from Miranda on all their missions, reports he probably kept and Petrovsky had access to. He was certainly thorough, she'd give him that.
"Enough," Shepard said through gritted teeth, trying to sound convincing. She had to stop listening; she was stronger than this. She couldn't let him play into her doubts like this.
"Deny it all you want, Commander. Both of you can, but it won't make much difference in the end. If he has the opportunity, he will take it." Petrovsky's holo was close enough to her now that he was practically at her side, spouting these toxic thoughts into her ear. "Because you both know she's never going to learn. She'll never change. Even if you win, Omega loses. And you will lose him, one way or another."
What the hell was that supposed to mean? He couldn't know about their relationship too…could he?
"I said enough!" Shepard could only hope she appeared more certain, more unfazed than before. She breathed a deep sigh of relief when the holo-image of the reactor before her turned blue, giving the all-clear.
Shepard turned back, watching the force field around her squadmates shut down. Petrovsky disappeared without a final jab or attempt at mind manipulation. He had done quite enough already. Son of a bitch probably recognized that.
So what if Petrovsky was right about Aria? She was also the only one who could keep Omega semi-functional. Unless Shepard wanted the station to fall into complete anarchy and become the Wild West, she had no choice but to back her.
And she didn't even need to start with Garrus. Maybe his leadership skills were overshadowed under her as the old Shadow Broker claimed in his notes on Garrus, but he had proven himself capable beyond Omega. How he acted now, with the Primarch asking him for all that tactical advice, Shepard had spent many a time assuring Garrus he could make the right calls. And how flustered he had gotten when she suggested he could be the new Primarch if Victus didn't work out.
The most influential and powerful position in the turian hierarchy. How much more powerful could you get?
Yet...
Yet Aria's ruthlessness had been proven time and time again. Her willingness to sacrifice those people, seeing it in person, didn't set well with her. She couldn't make the feeling go away that Aria needed to be brought in line before this went any further.
Yet the look in Garrus's eyes when killing that Adjutant and his clear struggles with being back there.
And yet the cold, hard truth was she didn't trust Aria to keep her word about Garrus. No one crossed, or tried to cross, Aria T'Loak and got away unscathed to tell the tale.
Aria was right. Petrovsky was right. Garrus was right. Shepard could never change her.
Petrovsky's words had struck a nerve and she threw every single curse she knew at him for doing this to her at the most crucial moment of their assault.
She tried not display any of those doubts when she finally reached her companions, but the moment she saw the unadulterated fury on Aria's face, her whole body tense with rage, sending her a glare that would have had one of her underlings tripping over themselves to escape her wrath, Shepard braced herself for the incredibly heated argument she was sure was about to break out when they didn't have mechs dropping on their heads.
A/N: I remember when I saw this scene with Petrovsky and how disappointed I was it didn't lead to anything. How it was set up, it made it seem like Shepard might actually take his words to heart, if you so chose for Shepard to do (cause it is hard to claim what Petrovsky says in-game isn't true to some extent). Maybe not right then and there, but afterwards it could have led to some type of rift. Anyhoo, let me know what you guys think!
