Chapter 12 - Bugs and Purges
Everything seemed to kick off at once. Less than half an hour from leaving dock, Shepard had received two messages. The first was a pre-recorded message from Kohoku. He had discovered that the ambush of his marines was orchestrated by a group called Cerberus, an Alliance Black Ops organisation that had now gone rogue. He claimed the group were conducting illegal genetic experiments in order to create some kind of super-soldier. He had no proof, but he did have the co-ordinates for one their research sites. He had uploaded them to her, stating he'd done all he could. He was on the run from Cerberus now.
Shepard had been about to give Joker the order to head there, when her father had contacted her over official channels with intel about geth sighted around Noveria. She had no choice. It was the break they'd been waiting for. There was no telling how close Saren was to finding that Conduit. They had to go.
-x-
-x-
Shepard hated Noveria. The welcome was as cold as the climate, and as usual, nothing was easy. After jumping through hoops to get access to the facility where they now knew Benezia herself was currently located, they'd had to deal with a ton of geth on the way. Then they'd had to get the facility back online and functioning so they could get across to the station, made all the more difficult by more geth and some kind of large acid-spitting insect-like creatures they'd never seen before. It took only a single hit from one of those creatures to make them all realise that these were serious predators - though the acid wasn't as potent as a thresher maw's, she could attest. Shepard didn't know what the hell the scientists were doing in this facility, but if these creatures were anything to go by, it wasn't good.
They exited the tram as it arrived at Rift Station. Only a small elevator was unlocked, which appeared to lead to the living areas, and Shepard, Liara, Tali and Wrex went up first. The doors opened to the view of a barricade, the security guards' weapons poised to fire until their leader held up his hand to signal they stand down. Shepard approached, noting the exhausted men.
"Sorry about that, but we need to be prepared for anything with these bugs. Captain Ventralis."
"Commander Shepard. What the hell are they?"
"I dunno. Everything's hush-hush here. We're just paid for security. The first I knew about them was when they were ripping apart my men. Can I ask what you're doing here? It's just that we weren't expecting a rescue. Protocol is clear. In the case of trouble, it has to be dealt with internally, and last I checked, the Alliance ain't internal."
"I'm looking for Matriarch Benezia."
"She came through here all right. The board sent her to clean out the Hot Labs. That's where these things came from. Damn crazy scientists. She went in there yesterday and we haven't seen her since. Considering the amount of creatures that are spewing out of that place, it doesn't look good."
"Regardless, I need to check it out."
"It's your funeral. I can't spare any men. It's all we can do to hold this barricade. We've got civilians back here."
"Understood. We can handle it."
Kaidan, Garrus and Ashley had now joined them.
"Okay then, here. You'll need this pass to access the emergency elevator, " said Ventralis. "It's back the way you came," he gestured.
Shepard took the card from the captain, remembering the second elevator on the tram level. "Thanks. We need to get going."
"Yeah, I hear that-"
The sound of inhuman squealing signalled the arrival of more creatures.
"Oh no! Man the perimeter!" shouted Ventralis.
They all ran behind the cover that the barricade offered just as two of the creatures burst up through the floor vents. It seemed to be their favourite tactic. The large bugs had so far proven sensitive to biotics, so Liara scooped them up in a singularity, and Wrex sent a biotic throw that had them splattered on the far wall. Once they were happy that no more threats were lying in wait, they relaxed.
"Thanks for the help," breathed out Ventralis. "They do that every so often. I don't know why, unless they're just hoping to wear us down. Not sure they can think like that, though."
Shepard looked them all over again. "You've done well to hold up so long."
"Yeah," Ventralis gave a bitter laugh. "Except we're all running on stims."
She made a decision. "I'm leaving some of my people with you."
Ventralis protested. "You don't have to do that, Commander. You're going to need all the help you can get going down in those labs."
"You're all exhausted. A fresh soldier or two can make a big difference." She considered her team. She needed to leave someone who knew Alliance protocol but she'd need Kaidan's biotics on her own team, and she wasn't about to force Liara into a confrontation with her own mother, so she signalled to her and Ashley. "You two stay with Ventralis."
"Aye, aye, Commander," came Ashley's immediate response.
"But Commander! Will you not need me? To talk to Benezia… Maybe I can get through to her!" Liara implored.
"And if you can't?"
"I… I will deal with whatever is necessary. If she is that far-gone then I will gladly end her suffering."
Shepard was conflicted. She doubted it would be that easy for Liara in reality, but she also couldn't deny that Liara's biotics would be a huge bonus against these things.
"Okay. Vakarian, you've got Williams' back."
"Of course, Commander."
She waved the two closer. "Some of these civilians must be the scientists involved with whatever they were doing here. See if you can get any information from them about what the hell those creatures are."
They nodded and ambled past the barrier to take up position, and Shepard led the others back to the elevator. The five of them squeezed in.
As the doors closed, Shepard turned to look at Liara who was standing behind her. "Are you sure about this, Liara?"
"I appreciate your concern, Shepard, but please do not worry. I am prepared for the worst."
Shepard was unconvinced and exchanged a troubled look with Kaidan.
He didn't like it either, but the mission was key, and the fact was, Liara could be crucial. Kaidan just hoped they wouldn't regret it when it came to Benezia.
-x-
They'd agreed that, given his investigative background, Garrus would go talk to the civilians, whilst Ashley helped Ventralis maintain the barricade. She now leant back against the crates, the captain pacing with nervous tension nearby. Ashley decided that it would probably be safest to keep behind this lot - they were so jumpy she'd end up being shot in the back. Ventralis paused when he saw her staring at him.
"So, your commander… Think she'll be able to handle whatever's down there?"
"She's a Spectre, so she has more chance than most."
Ventralis seemed agitated at that. "Spectre!? Since when was there a human Spectre?"
"Since the Council saw sense and sent Shepard after their rogue agent, Saren."
"So why come here looking for the matriarch?"
"She's working with Saren."
"Why would Benezia come here?"
Ashley felt a flash of irritation. "I don't know. That's why we're here." She watched Ventralis run shaky hands over his head, and she frowned. This was more than stim over-use. This guy seemed genuinely freaked out. "You don't need to worry. The Commander will get things straightened out."
He regarded her. "You seem pretty sure of that."
"Yeah. I am."
"Great," he answered, but his tone was the opposite.
Ashley studied the guy. Something wasn't quite right here.
x
Shepard and team had entered the Hot Lab to find only one injured scientist, slumped in a chair. Shepard could see the evidence of acid burns down one side of his body.
"Are you... here to secure the situation?" The man spoke through gritted teeth.
"I guess you could say that. Are you okay?" Shepard stepped aside to allow Kaidan to drop to his knee beside the man, but when he went to apply the medigel his patient stopped him.
"Please… do not waste it on me. I… I am the Operations Director. We must… contain our mistake, or they'll drop bombs on this whole facility."
"That sounds bad," commented Tali.
"What the hell is going on here?" asked Shepard.
"The company, Binary Helix… found an egg. It was rachni."
"What!? Impossible! My people wiped them all out!" Wrex growled.
"Not all."
"But all this is recent," voiced Shepard. "You mean to tell me that they found an egg, thousands of years old, and they actually managed to hatch it!?"
"Yes. They discover this is a queen. After she lays eggs… they move her to Rift Station, thinking that without her, they can train the young… to be obedient. Create an army."
"Don't you need a male to get eggs?"
"Queens are born with genetic code of their fathers. They can lay eggs within hours… and create a colony in days. It's how they spread so quickly."
"And you say she's no longer here? She's back at Rift?"
"Correct."
"Well, separating them from their mother didn't work," frowned Kaidan.
"It seems like that was exactly the wrong thing to do. I am thinking, without the queen, rachni do not develop properly. They are uncontrollable."
"No kidding." Shepard was disgusted by the whole thing. "These things seem intelligent, and I don't know of many species who would grow up sane without a parent to guide them. I don't suppose bringing the mother here now will do any good?"
"I am afraid… they are likely beyond saving. The only way to stop them is to initiate a neutron purge. It is a blast of radiation that kills… everything within these Hot Labs. The controls are nearby." He pointed a shaking finger to a room at the back. "All you do is insert… the key, and give the VI the destruct codes."
"Okay, give them to me and we'll get that done, but first I need to know where Matriarch Benezia is."
The man went to stand, and Shepard and Kaidan helped him to his feet where he began to pat the pockets of his jacket. "I do not know of anyone by that name."
Kaidan looked at Shepard in confusion, before speaking to the man in front of them. "We were told she came down here to help deal with all this."
The director was now fumbling inside his pockets. "You are the first to come to the Hot Labs since the facility went into lockdown."
Shepard and Kaidan looked at each other again. They both knew what that meant.
"Why would they send us down here?" Liara questioned.
"Because they want us out of the way," Shepard answered.
"Benezia's back at Rift Station," clarified Kaidan. "And considering what we know about this queen being there, I'd guess it's the reason she's here."
"It also means Garrus and Ashley are in danger." Shepard keyed her comm. "Williams." She got no response.
"Here." The director produced the key and codes, which Kaidan reached for just as the vent behind the man flew up. In a split second, a rachni burst up and punched a clawed tentacle straight through the director's chest and towards Kaidan.
Shepard reacted, shoving Kaidan out of the way but was unable to dive back in time. The claw caught her side, cracking her armour with the impact, and sank into the flesh there. Shepard fell backwards and the rachni flung the dead director across the room. Liara and Wrex dealt with it just as they had with the ones on Rift Station, and Tali and Kaidan ran to Shepard, who was now clutching her side and cursing profusely.
"You have got to stop doing that, Commander!" Kaidan tried to joke as he hurriedly ran a med-scan over her torso.
"Agh, shit that hurts! Okay. You can take the next one. So long as it doesn't guarantee your death - that's a deal breaker."
Kaidan was relieved to see that it hadn't hit anything vital. "Noted." He slathered on medigel to seal the wound, but that would be one hell of a scar. She needed medical treatment, a proper surgical seal, but she was already getting back on her feet. "Commander, you need to take it easy. That's a deep wound. Too much movement and you'll break it open. The doctor's going to need to see to that."
"No time. We have a purge to set off and Benezia to deal with." She keyed her comm and tried to contact Ashley again, then Garrus. No response from either.
Suddenly, the vents that lined the room all began popping open. "Go, go, GO!" shouted Shepard as they raced to the far room, Kaidan first grabbing up the key and codes that had fallen to the floor where the director had stood. They sealed the door behind them.
x
"Rachni!? How can they be rachni!? They're extinct!"
Garrus had meandered through the living areas gently interrogating. Most were on edge, clamming up immediately. A few made bad jokes to cover their anxiety, others were complete wrecks - all perfectly normal responses. No one would say just what they had been doing here, but he managed to ascertain that a volus named Han Olar was right in the midst of it all when it kicked off, and now Garrus was down in the scientists quarters with the volus, who was clearly in shock. Garrus didn't get a response to his question, because a gun was then pressed into the back of his head, and he froze.
"You really should learn to shut up, Olar."
Garrus recognised that voice. The asari scientist. That one, he had been suspicious of. She was far too calm and cold. She had appeared to be meditating, but he had a feeling she was watching him. With nothing else to go on he had pushed his concerns to one side and headed for Olar. That was a mistake. "Let me guess. You're not a scientist."
"I'm here to keep an eye on everyone. Make sure they're playing their parts. Ventralis got rid of the rest of your team - the rachni will deal with them. Now Benezia just needs us to eliminate you and your friend."
Garrus wasn't about to stand there waiting to be executed. His muscles coiled, then he swiftly spun, knocking the asari's arm aside as she pulled the trigger, the shot just missing him. Then grabbing that same arm, he twisted, and the asari yelped as her arm broke. She began to call up her biotics, but Garrus' head was already coming at her. His plated forehead struck the asari's hard, and she fell to the ground. He released his own pistol and shot her before she could regain control of her biotics again.
With the asari now dead, he raced towards Williams, the volus now forgotten. "Chief!" he called into his comm. There was nothing but a strange buzzing noise. He pulled the unit from his head and noticed the damage. The shot from the asari's gun had seared through it. Spirits! That had been closer than he'd have liked! And now he couldn't warn Williams…
x
When Ashley had heard the first shot from within the area behind them, she'd jumped to attention.
"What the hell!?" She'd reached for her comm, but Ventralis had stopped her, yanking the unit from her head.
Another shot rang out from the living area.
"Sorry, Chief Williams, but we've had our orders. The turian's been dealt with," stated Ventralis.
"You have got to be kidding me! We came to help you!" Ashley was full of rage and disgust. She knew there was nothing she could do against Ventralis and his men. She'd be dead before she even touched her gun.
"Matriarch Benezia has the situation under control."
"Benezia!? You son of a bitch! Well, good luck with that! 'Cos you're just a pawn, to be used and discarded."
One of Ventralis' eyes squinted briefly, his jaw clenched. "We'll see. But that won't help you." He raised his gun. "Goodbye."
"Screw you!" Ashley was determined to have the last word. At the same time the door behind her opened to reveal Garrus. He sent out a wave of energy from his omni-tool that overloaded all of their guns, and Ashley dived for cover. Garrus had shot every single one of them before their weapons had even recovered.
"Damn, Vakarian!" Ashley exclaimed, getting back on her feet. "I thought you were toast!"
"I have no idea what that is, but if you meant 'dead' then, please, Williams, give me a bit more credit than that! It was one asari! Besides, someone had to come save your ass!"
"Yeah, well, don't get too used to it," she mumbled. "And… thanks."
"Hey, the Commander told me to have your back. The last thing I want is a pissed-off Spectre on mine!"
Ashley had to grin at that, then reclaimed her comm unit, and put it on speaker.
"Commander, do you read?"
"Williams! Thank God! You're in the lion's den! Ventralis is protecting Benezia!"
"We've already had a run-in with them, Commander. That's why I couldn't respond, and Garrus seems to have wrecked his comm unit. There's still a few more of the security detail to deal with inside the complex, though."
"Just hold tight. We've got a neutron purge to set off and a room full of rachni to get through, then we'll be with you."
"Understood, Commander. Holding tight." She signed off, and looked at Garrus. "Damn! Suddenly this feels like the better end of the deal!"
"Agreed!"
x
Kaidan quickly activated the VI, inserted the key, and looked to Shepard as she finished talking to Williams. She joined him at the console.
"How long from activation until the purge is executed?"
"One hundred and twenty seconds," replied the VI.
"That's not a lot of time!" exclaimed Tali, nervously.
Shepard understood her concern. Shields were useless against these things and a single breach in Tali's suit could be disastrous. She chastised herself over bringing Tali down here. She'd made the decision based on having to deal with Benezia and her geth, never considering the implications of the large rachni presence. Her concern over Liara had over-ridden everything else. That wasn't acceptable to her.
"It's plenty of time," responded a nonchalant Wrex. "Run fast."
"I doubt it will be that easy, Wrex," advised Liara.
"There's no reason why it couldn't be," debated Kaidan. "They're confined in a single area. If the three of us can muster a strong throw, each in different directions, most of them should be hit. It should at least clear a path long enough for us to get back to the elevator."
"Then it's decided," said Shepard. "Kaidan will take centre, Wrex left, Liara right. Tali stay right behind them - they can be your shields, and I'll bring up the rear." Shepard nodded for Kaidan to start the process and he instructed the VI to initiate the neutron purge, reading out the codes.
"Verified. Code Omega execution in 120 seconds," chimed the VI.
They were already at the door, getting into positions. Kaidan unlocked the door and they ran full-speed down the small corridor that separated the two rooms, those with biotics drawing up every bit of energy that they could. The number of rachni in the room beyond was jaw-dropping, but no-one faltered. Kaidan, Wrex and Liara entered the main room and unleased their biotics. Rachni flew into the walls, and the path ahead was cleared. They didn't stop running until they were inside the elevator, Kaidan hitting the button to get the door closed as soon as he passed it. Shepard was the last in, her gun firing, but the doors were taking too long to close. The rachni were recovering. Liara initiated a singularity which stopped them from getting too close but beyond them, more rachni were sensible enough not to try, and they reared back to spit acid. Finally the doors started to slide shut but not before a stream of acid was sent flying towards them. The lift wasn't large enough to move out of the way, and Kaidan was about to grab Shepard, to spin them so he could take the hit, but Wrex's bulk knocked him as the krogan moved.
Wrex was having the same thought as Kaidan, and figured he probably owed her one, so he grabbed Shepard and yanked her into his place as he stepped into hers, placing his back to the door. He heard the sizzle of the acid as it hit his hump, then felt the burn. He growled at the pain.
Thankfully, the doors were now closed. The countdown at 90 seconds remaining. No one could relax. They all wanted out of this elevator. The doors opened onto the tram station and they exited in relief. The sound of the purge and the squeal of rachni followed them out, then there was silence.
"Wrex. You shouldn't have put yourself in harm's way for me, but thank you." Shepard patted his arm as they made their way into the second elevator that would take them back to the living areas. She thought he probably wouldn't appreciate a big show of appreciation.
Wrex shrugged. "You're soft, I'm not." He swatted Kaidan away when he tried to administer to the wound. "Leave it be. A little pain helps focus the mind."
"Really?" Kaidan answered in disbelief. "Because that sounds like stubbornness to me. You don't have anything to prove here, Wrex. I'm sure we'll all acquiesce to your superior strength and pain tolerance."
"Speak for yourself, Alenko," smirked Shepard.
Wrex's rumbling laugh filled the small space. He slapped a heavy hand on her back, nearly sending her face-first into the doors. "I think I'm starting to like you, Shepard."
"Yay," she replied dryly, but she couldn't help the smile that followed.
The elevator arrived to reveal Garrus and Ashley, back to back, and guns ready. Ashley was trained on them, and Garrus covered the door leading to the rest of the living areas.
"Well done, everyone. You two uninjured?"
"We're good to go, Commander," declared Ashley.
"Uh, Commander… did you realise you have a hole in your side?" Garrus asked, cautiously.
Shepard looked down. She'd opened the wound during the mad dash in the Hot Lab. She had to admit it was really beginning to sting now.
Kaidan frowned. "Commander, you can't take on Benezia like this. You need a doctor."
"There's a medic inside. Dr Cohen. Not a doctor in the medical sense, but he's the closest thing," offered Garrus.
"The closest thing? Why don't we just let the krogan operate on me and be done with it?" Shepard joked.
"She's fine," Wrex stated.
"There, see?"
Kaidan shook his head in scepticism. "Commander, that's not easing my concern," he said seriously.
Shepard laid a hand on his arm. "Lieutenant, we can't afford any more delay. Do what you can."
Kaidan nodded reluctantly and took Liara's offered medigel. While he tended to her, she nodded over at Ventralis.
"Williams, pass the Captain's earpiece, would you please?" Williams grabbed it and passed it over. Shepard swapped hers with the Captain's and activated it. "This is Commander Shepard, Alliance Navy and Council Spectre. Captain Ventralis and those with him have been taken down after hostile action against us. Those of you who remain have two choices. The rachni creatures are no longer a big threat. So… do the job you were supposed to do, lead these civilians out of here, and thereby live to see another day, or stand your ground and face a full team of very pissed-off soldiers. You have ten seconds." She began to count down.
By three, the door slid open and Garrus did a mental count as the scientists, followed by the remaining guards filed through, hands held high in surrender. Ashley and Kaidan disarmed them as they passed.
"Good decision," declared Shepard. "Wait for each other in the tram station, then go as one group. You shouldn't meet any resistance."
"That's all of them, Commander. I'm sure of it," confirmed Garrus.
"Then let's go find Benezia."
-x-
