Noveria, 2183
Commander Shepard scanned the interior of Port Hanshan. There wasn't much to look at. The entire place's design was so boring and grey it would have made the 20th century Stalinist designers beg for variety and daring. The weather outside made the Soviet winter look positively delightful to boot. Still, he was here because it was the only way he could reach Peak 15, the navpoint the Commission had told him Benezia had gone to, without causing a diplomatic crisis. He needed to get his hands on the Matriarch and her intel on Saren. He had decided the garrison of Noviy Sverdlovsk on Therum could protect the renegade asari's daughter a while longer; sad as he was to say some GALOCOM intel from a fellow-traveller was less important than nabbing Saren's second in command. Salarians couldn't be let to know the asari presence here was more insidious than it appeared. As he walked forward he was greeted by a group of human mercenaries, no doubt the bought corporate thugs of the mining megacorp which owned the planet. This was the dark side of the informal Brotherhood-Salarian Alliance: human tolerance of the Union sheltering and abetting human ex-pats who didn't like the socialist system. Fist had been an independent case; the hard eyed men and women in front of Shepard were more typical. They would all be hardened killers and hostile to a Commission member on principle, Spectre status be damned. The Commander's intuition did not let him down; he and his squad had not advanced more than five paces before the White Guardist humans had levelled their weapons at them and shouted a command.
"Halt!" cried the leader.
Shepard kept walking. He didn't listen to counterrevolutionists and traitors. Anybody could leave the Brotherhood space... but to take up arms with bourgeois powers or for coin – that was an unforgivable sin in his eyes. He felt his troops tense behind him, and Kaidan whispered a warning in his ear. Ashley's hand rested easily on the pistol at her side. Shepard hoped his big aliens would intimidate the mercs; it only seemed to piss them off as again the head henchman yelled
"I said, stop, you Red scum!"
Shepard stopped again and dramatically looked behind him. Then looking at the docked Dzerzhinsky he responded.
"Ohhhh, you mean my ship? Missile racks on that thing could tear through this bunker. Just destroy it. Not that it would cost the corpo much, looks like they spent about as much on building this place as they do on their luxury timepieces." Shepard gave a wolfish grin in response to the merc sergeant's grimace and went on. "Really, it would probably be an aesthetic improvement to this place. But alas I am here on Brotherhood business, not that any of you would know an iota about duty and loyalty to your race. That does mean, however, that you're going to be getting out of my path because, let's face it, you may have left human space to become some kind of badass capitalists but, at this moment, I am so very higher on the food chain than all of you and your immediate superiors combined. I'll be taking my weapons too, of course, unless you want to answer to comrade Wrex over here."
The krogan leered in a smug sort of way. Shepard smiled. Wrex had been coming over to the human way of thinking recently. At first he had mocked and derided socialism and humanity for being weak, for being stupid and egalitarian. But over time Shepard had shown him strength, leadership, loyalty, and honour. The krogan could respect that. Maybe the clan system wasn't the best for his dying race, maybe they needed to plan the economy rather than not have one.
Now Wrex was a happy enforcer of his adopted commander. And he did his best to scare the wet-eared pyjaks in front of him. In this he was successful, as the merc leader had raised only a small objection in a shaky voice before he was interrupted by his omni-tool.
"Let them in, Riles! Now!"
As the Dzerzhinsky Special Operations Allied Task Force (as it was known officially), or Superfriends as they now called themselves, filed past the guards they all took a moment to really smirk at the human exiles. It wasn't ideology, at least for the non-humans, that motivated this: it's just there was no novelty in the universe like triumphing over a broken customs agent. As the group entered into the main portion of Port Hanshan, they were greeted by another human woman. This one evidently had achieved the fame and fortune so sought after by most exiles, as she was clad in the most modern Asari gown. Her auburn hair and garish makeup were done to perfection, and she moved over to them with the right amount of swing in her hips to attract the attention of all the men in the group, even Wrex.
"Showoff," muttered Ashley.
"Ah, Commander Shepard," said the woman in an airy voice, "We've been expecting you. I am Gianna Parsimmon, personal assistant to Administrator Vedele, the head of our little operation." She paused a moment to put on a theatrical pout. Ashley responded with a dismissive snort, but the woman ignored her and continued.
"I am so, so sorry Commander but we can't allow the Brotherhood to be running around here with armoured vehicles. We're going to have to impound your ship and vehicle until you can speak with the Administrator." She made a point of putting her – perfectly manicured – hand on Shepard's forearm. The air filled with the noise of Ash's grinding teeth. Shepard gave his winning smile though and said
"Don't worry, Miss Parsimmon. I'm sure he and I can do business. I'm red but that doesn't mean I'm not savvy." He finished this retort with his best wink. Observers later wondered why a hole was not born through the back of his neck by the agitated gaze of his chief infantier. Before leaving, the woman whispered in Shepard's ear
"Meet me at the bar about that," she said before turning around and performing her hip-swinging saunter again. All male eyes were on her as she left, and Tali grunted.
"Men," came her words.
"Men," came Ashley's response.
Turning to the group, Shepard beamed.
"Well comrades, looks like I have some vital mission intel to gather so if you all would please do a bit of a recce down here, maybe chill out a bit, I will be back in a drink or three!"
Garrus and Wrex laughed while Kaidan just smiled and started taking bets on how long Shepard would be gone. The ladies made a point of staying silent, not that it got them any attention. That Gianna's walk couldn't be forgotten that quickly. Once the Commander had left though, they all set about finding things to do. Ashley and Tali disappeared for what they dubbed "girl-talk" while Wrex and Garrus set about fulfilling Shepard's orders and scouting out the place. Kaidan just found a chair, austere like the rest of the design, at down in it, and closed his eyes for a rest.
When he awoke, Shepard was back. Looking at his watch, he realized Wrex had won the bet. Krogan bastard. Garrus seemed to be in the middle of telling the Commander something frantic, and Kaidan rubbed the sleep from his eyes before going to the group. It seemed serious. Wrex was wearing his war-face while Tali and Ash had ceased chattering like excited schoolgirls. Something big was going down.
"You're sure, Garrus?" asked Shepard.
"Marat, I swear upon the ghosts of Marx, Engels, Lenin and the Party line that what I saw is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the ugly, awful truth. That bastard, sitting in the businessman's chair, is Dr. Saleon. The same bastard who I know paid off my superiors at C-Sec to overlook his vivisections and organ harvesting. And now he's sitting here, enjoying himself."
Shepard responded with a smile, but there was no humour in his dark eyes. After a time, he spoke again.
"Right, comrades. Looks like we're in a pickle. Besides my 'date' being business..." at this a groan went up from the two women, "...we just found out that a scumbag is the same salarian big-wig sitting over there that can release our vehicle. What are we going to do about it?"
He hadn't expected the cacophony that followed. Wrex and Ashley were all for shooting up the place. Garrus was also for this plan but with some gruesome added details in regard to the individual masquerading as a respectable aquatic being. Tali wanted to hack into the Port security systems and drive off. Kaidan didn't see the point in any of this. He said as much, and told them that given a couple hours at the bar with Ms Parsimmon he'd have all the credentials they needed and a ruffled uniform to boot. The sting of Tali's slap reminded him that in the future he ought to phrase such suggestions more appropriately in the presence of his female teammates.
Shepard stopped their bickering and outlined his plan.
"Comrades, as enthusiastic as you all are I think we can kill three birds with one stone. Why? Because of what my ladyfriend told me. She's this Saleon's assistant, but is here on behalf of her corporation. She explained to me some complicated plan to get testimony for her to use against him from corruption, involved a turian businessman and hanar merchant. Seemed dumb. Instead, I suggest we do the following: Kaidan, you tell Ms Parsimmon that 'Vedele' has found out who she is. Don't give me that pouty face, there are another twelve billion women in the galaxy one of 'ems gotta be stupid enough to trust you for a night. OK, then I'll tell him that she's spying on him. We know both are killers because of their pasts, so they ought to do each other in. Then all we have to do is let Wrex knock out the White Guards and steal Saleon's credentials."
"And then we take the Swordfish up the Peak, Shepard? I hate that thing, its air doesn't agree with me." moaned Tali.
"Why bother, comrade quarian? We have the Dzerzhinsky."
The plan went off better than any of them had expected. The firefight in Saleon's office had been fun to watch, but Wrex won his bet again. He seemed to do so all the time. It was Saleon who against all odds put a fatal shot through the more experienced Parsimmon's chest. Then he had, in a fit of despair, turned his weapon on himself. Garrus was disappointed he couldn't finish the job himself but, hey, as the humans said c'est la guerre. Then Ash and Wrex had proceeded to open up another can of whup-ass on the charging guards. With a left Wrex dropped a guard while Ashley got flashy, doing a round-house kicked that knocked one merc into the other before backhanding a third to the ground. Wrex had made quick work of the remaining one.
Now the path to Peak 15 was clear, and whatever was in it. Back in the fighter bay of the Dzerzhinsky, Shepard briefed his crew. This time, it wasn't in the political instruction room. Instead he gave it with the fighter ramp down,while each of his companions gripped to a support rail, ready to jump onto the target at his command. He shouted at them above the raging blizzard:
"The Commission knows for a fact that Matriarch Benezia is down there! We don't know how or why, simply that she is. We know for a fact she's in there with a full Asari cruiser's complement of troops- that means at least a platoon of commandos! On top of that she's likely to have geth dets armed with anti-armour missiles because they know we have Wrex and a Swordfish. The Commission also says she has krogan warriors, probably mercs. In the end, comrades it doesn't matter I know you'll kick ass. Just follow the words of the ship's namesake and be wary and vigilant and I'll see you on the other side!"
With that he jumped off the side of the ship. His helmet fed him his descent: 1000 meters. 800. 400. At 50 meters, he powered his armour's boots and engaged the mass effect fields on them. He landed light as a feather. A moment later, Garrus landed beside him nonchalantly.
With a grin the alien said "Turian Recon taught me to do that; C-Sec never had the funding."
Soon after, Ash and Kaidan landed, just as carefree as Garrus had. Next came Wrex who landed on his ass.
"You OK, comrade krogan."
Standing up, the hulking lizardman let out a roar.
"I fight better when angry Shepard! Let's kill some asari... err, after the quarian has joined us."
A second later, she did but her entrance was not half as dramatic as the rest of theirs. She landed on her front and remained in the snow, face down. Ash and Shepard hurried over, dragging her right side up. They sighed in unison and looked at each other with relief as they realized she wasn't squished. The quarian coughed.
"Oh, don't worry comrades I'm not here. Just give each other the goo-goo eyes before we go and fight our way through half Saren's army. I'll just lie down in this snow bank."
The companions laughed save Wrex.
"Hey, whose idea was it to put a quarian teenager with no training on a special operations team to save the galaxy in the first place anyway?"
They all observed him. Kaidan spoke up first.
"You know, Wrex, that's an astute observation. Too bad the decision was made by the Council, who don't know how to do anything in the first place. They must have thought her presence would get us killed. Fortunately for us, their decision was so good it gave us the best tech specialist this side of the galaxy."
The business of landing settled, the group set about their mission now. They had landed a few hundred meters further than Shepard had wanted and so they had to move through the blizzard, uphill, on foot. It was not a pleasant task. The firing asari guards didn't help either.
The group panned out and performed a section attack, one man (or woman, or xeno) covering the other who then went prone and covered them while they advanced, until they crested the ridge line. The asari, despite their elite nature, had not expected this. What kind of insane enemy moved toward a commando team? What Benezia's followers didn't realize was that they were against the strangest squad in the galaxy: three Brotherhood hardliners, an ex-cop, a teenage girl, and a very, very angry Urdnot Wrex. They didn't stand a chance.
With a roar for his clan Wrex blasted down two black-clad commandos with his rifle while Tali took a bound. She lobbed a grenade while her combat drone buzzed overhead, raining death upon Saren's lackeys. On the right, Alenko threw an asari back before narrowly dodging a biotic lift while Shepard sprinted forward. In the middle, Garrus counted off dead enemies and matched Ash kill for kill. At last they got over the crest line, spraying fire in all directions. But there were no more enemies to kill. In their shock, the foe had even forgotten to radio their commanders. An amateur mistake, and Shepard beckoned that they all enter the research facility before the enemy could react. The wouldn't get a second chance; they needed to nab Benezia, and they needed to do it yesterday.
Tali placed a detonation charge on the side entrance to the labs. Shepard knew this would alert the defenders; therefore he needed to move fast. Through map recce of the building's schematics he planned to move via the maintenance tunnels toward the control centre where the Matriarch was suspected to be. What she wanted there was anyone's guess; but she had been given clearance by Saleon to go there days before. Shepard guessed she would be fortified in there; the plan was to go in and get her, and bomb side they had approached from to crush any unaware defenders. Then they would fight their way out the opposite direction before climbing in a fighter aircraft and booking it to the next system ASAP.
It was a risky plan, but as the charge blew Shepard knew it was their best bet. And his team were behind him. Wrex and Garrus stormed into the room, their weapons pointed to cover inside where the suspected there would be defenders. But nothing came, not a peep. The lighting was out, too and they could not see. Shepard ordered them to turn on their lights, and only then did they see the grisly scene. On the ground of the base were corpses. Asari and krogan both lay there, but there were human and batarian mercs in company colours as well. All of the corpses still clutched weapons in their hands and showed vicious laceration marks. As the companions moved their lights, Ashley's fell upon a monstrosity. A hulking, fleshy insect-like creature lay at the centre of the room its body pierced by dozens of shots.
"What the hell is that?" Demanded Shepard.
"Rachni..." whispered Wrex.
Looking closer, Shepard realized the krogan spoke true. The alien matched all descriptions of the vile beasts that Wrex's race had wiped out centuries before. But if they were dead, why were they here now. He asked Wrex the same question.
"Beats me, comrade Commander," came the curt response, "I say we get out of here. Some of these are Benezia's, and they never stood a chance. She'll be dead too. Let's just glass this mountain top and get out. You can tell your Commission and the varrens who run the Citadel what was here and they'll deal with it."
Shepard was tempted to do just that. As he considered it, a captured asari radio blared into life on Tali's belt.
"Come in, Huntress section. This is your Matriarch. You are needed here immediately. Some of the test subjects are growing rowdy again; some of your idiot comrades failed. Come at once and put these disobedient things down."
"Well, I guess that answers some of our questions," commented Kaidan.
Shepard again was torn. He needed Benezia. But krogan, asari, and rachni? He had an understrength section. They might be the best he'd served with but this could be a slaughter. He decided on a good old Bolshevik way of doing things.
"Comrades, I won't take you anywhere I wouldn't go myself. We need Benezia but I'm not sure we'd make it out of here alive like this. We could bomb this place and be done, or go forward. Vote on it, because this is the one time in my career I don't want to order you forward no matter how well I know you'd follow."
"Well, Commander, I for one signed up to kick ass!" snarled Ashley.
"I'm with the PC," said Tali loyally.
One by one, the remaining section members agreed to go forth. At last Wrex gave a great sigh.
"Alenko, comrade, you said something before about going to an early grave around this Shepard? Well, looks like I'm in to see just how early it's gonna be..."
Shepard nodded. He knew they wouldn't fail him. He beckoned forth for them to follow into the tunnels.
At first the advance was easy, and they encountered no enemies. Despite the darkness and random corpses the section kept up its cheeriness and joking. Shepard didn't bother telling them to keep the noise down; the rachni would be able to hear him moving and it sounded like Benezia's asari and krogan had problems of their own. They continued. Finally at a t-intersection, they moved right to get to the central control lab. Last in the order of march was Wrex, and they all turned when he let out an anguished cry. Behind him a rachni had latched him by the leg and was trying to drag him down. Alenko, who had been in front of wrex, set about rending the abomination with biotics while Wrex struggled; Tali, who had been in front of him set about cutting the rachni's tentacle. As they did so more of the creatures moved toward them. On a shouted command, the other section members levelled heir weapons and fired a volley. A few of the rachni exploded but more kept advancing. Finally back in the fight, Wrex grabbed his shotgun and poured a hail of death into the oncoming aliens. Even when it was clear they were dead he kept shooting until Shepard ordered him to stand down. For the remainder of the march he remained grim; muttering about how the krogan may have been too weak to end the rachni but he, Urdnot Wrex, had enough honour to not leave another job half done.
It seemed their contact by the rachni had alerted the Matriarch's soldiers. Another two hundred meters into the tunnels, after despatching small swarming rachni, the party heard the movement of heavy thudding feet. Shepard indicated for his troops to stay quiet while Garrus, the most experience tunnel-fighter, peaked around a corner. Turning back he said
"Looks like five or six krogan, comrade commander, a full patrol. They don't seem too bright though, otherwise they'd be making less noise and would have noticed by now. Still, they'll be tough even if we have the jump on them."
Shepard nodded and indicated at Ashley.
"You ever heard of Molotov cocktail, Garrus?" he whispered.
"No, Marat."
"It was invented by a bunch of White Guardists on Earth to ridicule a revisionist communist leader. It was a crude bomb. Technology has since improved."
Turning to the rest of the team he said "When you hear the boom, run forward into the tunnel each shooting and taking up cover on the sides until we're all through. Then we can keep moving. Miss Williams?"
With a determined expression on her face, Ashley took what she had been assembling in hand and pulled the pin. Waiting a second, she stepped around the corner and lobbed it like a baseball down the tunnel before executing a combat roll to the opposite rafter.
A second later, Garrus experienced his first earthquake. He and Shepard ran into the tunnel spraying fire and taking cover, and were followed by Tali and Kaidan, and finally Wrex. But their ammunition was wasted; all five krogan had been laid waste by Ash's bomb.
"Where'd you learn to do that?" asked Wrex, impressed.
"Family's got Provo blood, comrade krogan," she said simply.
"I'll have to look up who those were an apply their skills when I get back to Tuchanka."
Shepard indicated them forward again. They weren't being attacked again although the enemy would have had to be deaf not to hear that. At least it seemed to have scared off the rachni as the section encountered no more of the beasts on their way to the lab. Finally they saw a light around the corner and Garrus indicated for them all to stop.
"Corners are where they always get you. By my navpoint that's where Benezia's dug in and her troops will give us hell if we try to do a frontal assault. Leave this one to me."
Without waiting for a second word from Shepard the alien sprung away, quieter than any of the had suspected he could be. A moment later they heard half a dozen quick-succession sniper rifle shots and some confused fire from the other end of the tunnel.
"Run forward now!" yelled Garrus, and the companions hastened to fulfil his words. Launching forward they stopped their pretence at stealth and let out battle cries as they charged, firing wildly. This was a battle within less than 50 meters and would be determined by the bravest and fastest shots. The asari in the room tried to respond in kind but were overwhelmed by the ferocity of the party of misfits. Shepard dashed right, covered by Kaidan who lifted two asari in the air, where they were shot down by Ashley. He gunned down a krogan who was sneaking up on Tali, turning the lizardman's face into a mess with his rifle. Wrex and Garrus fought back-to-back, firing at asari marksmen in the rafters while Shepard continued his mad dash. At last he saw Matriarch Benezia, who was cackling like a mad scientist in one of the comics he'd read as a child.
"You fools!" she shouted over the crossfire, "You're too late! Saren will bring them back! And he will obey them! This time it will be different. We'll all flourish. And he'll do it with me at his side – me and my rachni army!"
With that she leapt in the air and unleashed a flurry of biotic attacks. Armour peeled off some of the squadmates, and for a mad moment Shepard looked at Tali hoping her mask wouldn't be torn away and her exposed to the elements. The quarian was being lifted, but she battled on. However Ashley seemed was now being attacked by a charging krogan, who out of ammo was now chasing her. Unlatching his omni-tool blade, Shepard ran up behind the xeno and thrust the blade deep into its back as his strength would allow, piercing through armour and flesh. Withdrawing his hand he saw the PC's relieved expression and muttered "any time, Miss Williams," before going back into the fray. All around him he could see that he was winning. Dead asari and krogan littered the ground, but Garrus, wounded, sat upright, returning fire with his pistol. Tali lay unconscious not too far from him, the massive figure of Wrex standing over her protectively, raining death from his gun. Kaidan remained at the back of the room, lifting enemies to the ceiling before crushing them back on the ground.
Shepard shot one enemy, then another, then a third. At last, the room calmed. The only sound left was Benezia's laughter. She wasn't even trying to launch any more attacks at them. All she did was laugh.
"Shut up, you bitch!" shrieked Ashley
The laughter continued.
"Shall I end her, Commander?" asked Wrex.
"Not yet, comrade krogan, see to Tali and Garrus," said Shepard. Turning on the Matriarch he snarled "Benezia, you're under arrest for everything in the damn book! You're coming with me and you better know my Commission has ways of making even you self-righteous blue space elves talk!"
Now her laughter stopped. Her face was robbed of its madness and clouded with... doubt? Fear? Contrition? Shepard thought he saw a glimmer of each. When she spoke again it was in a gentle and matronly voice.
"Comrade Commander. You've come a long way to stop me, and you still should. I... am not myself. You must have seen this before. Saren can – he can get into your mind. Make you a prisoner in your own mind. Even if you take me I do not know what I will do, what I will say. For now... you must end my tale. If you find my daughter, tell her... tell her her mother is sorry."
"And why should I believe you?" snapped Shepard
She smiled now, the lines of her mouth filled out suddenly with age and weariness. "You don't have to Commander. But I will show you I mean well. Actions, not words, is as much an asari virtue as a human one."
Taking a pistol from her belt she put it to her head and squeezed the trigger. Or at least tried to. A moment later, the beast she claimed had possessed her was back inside. Her shriek of laughter only died as Shepard riddled the asari with rounds. Maybe she had been telling the truth. If so, the Commission needed to study the process by which this was done. But for now he didn't care about the dead Matriarch, his concern was for his wounded comrades. Turning around he saw Tali and Garrus were alright as Kaidan and Ashley helped them. Wrex came up and growled again.
"What, Wrex?"
"Look behind you, Commander."
Swinging around, he saw the krogan's source of anger. Where Benezia had been standing was a tank on a raised dais. Inside the tank was a massive rachni, terrible yet beautiful at once.
"What is that, Wrex?
"I'd wager it's their queen, comrade Shepard. And by the looks of it that tank's hooked up to enough acid to dissolved through half the station. I suggest we use it."
Suddenly, Benezia was back on her feet. Wrex reacted faster than Shepard, blasting the asari full in the chest with his shotgun, ripping it apart and splattering them both with gore. Yet still the Matriarch advanced. When another inhuman voice spoke through its mouth, Shepard realized he was talking to a vessel. Somehow, the queen was using the body to communicate! It said
"Shepard. You are from a race that values life and opportunity. We have been taken off the face of the map, our songs extinguished for none to hear. Do we deserve that?"
"You're damn right you do!" roared Wrex, "You are a pest, a scourge. Millions of my people died to put you down!"
The body spoke, "And yet, krogan of the clan Urdnot, did they not become a pestilence in turn? Commander, I ask you on my behalf, and all my children's behalf, to give us another chance. Not to kill us, or force us to be slaves of Saren. If you wish, I will even let you study me. That will give you a weapon – one you need against the Reapers, will it not?"
Shepard looked upon the beast. For a moment he felt doubt. Humanity was socialist because it believed in advancing the common good. Did not this alien deserve that?
But then he looked at the devastation around him, the anger in his krogan friend's eyes. Wrex was an angry man but this rage burned deeper and shone brighter. Hating one's enemy was not always the wrong approach. And here, the enemy deserved hate for its actions. For what it did. Humans, asari, even krogan did not wantonly destroy all in their path. They wanted to create more life, and could even coexist. But these...things. They cared about naught but themselves.
Shepard turned to Wrex. Krogan respected strength. Shepard knew that. And they were a proud people, a warrior people, even someday a civilized people. Under Wrex and an adapted socialism, they would make better allies than these monstrosities. Better than allies, they would be friends. Narrowing his eyes, he nodded his head.
"Comrade Wrex, please do the honours."
With relish the krogan carried out the sentence.
Back aboard the Dzerzhinsky, the crew's faces were once again grim. Garrus and Tali nursed their wounds, and their grievances. Despite the outer warmth between Garrus and Wrex, there was no love lost between turian and krogan and that ancient grievance was more raw now then ever, for the ex-cop had a kind soul and had wished to save the queen. This only enraged Wrex, who accused the former officer of being willing to spare a race of monsters when Garrus' own people had sterilized the krogan. Tali, though thankful to Wrex for saving her, still could not help but side with the krogan. Before Ash and Kaidan could take sides, Shepard broke up the discussion.
"Comrades. We have faced a moral quandary of the greatest magnitude for the first time. This can't split us in the future. Follow my directives and well will do better. Garrus, I understand your concern. But I like the human attitude: we have friends, not servants, and the rachni would never be friends. Wrex, cool it. Vakarian is not guilty of the sins of his race and, with the positions switched, would you have not done the same? It doesn't mean it's right but it is the reality. We found out today Saren was breeding an army. We stopped that today by getting rid of the queen and glassing that facility. But what we now know is that the Reapers can control people even as strong as Benezia from a distance. We need to watch each other's backs and make sure that doesn't happen to us."
Seeing angry faces in the crowd he changed his tone, pleading a little more.
"You're not just my comrades. You're my friends. You use the socialist appellation as a title, a mark of respect of you toward me and toward each. Don't lose that now. We've gone through more than most groups of would-be convicts and we're going to be going through many more. All the way until this bastard is stopped. The Brotherhood, the Council, the Commission – who cares about them? Right now, I need strong friends. Brave friends. If you want out I'll find a way out for you now. But if you have the guts to see this through, and try to save all our people, you can stand up now."
Lying in his bed that night, he reflected the reaction was the best impression of the film Spartacus that he had ever seen.
