A/N: Just want to say a huge thank you to Yestare70, who has volunteered to proofread my chapters. So hopefully, no more silly spelling or grammar errors.
Chapter 13: Hello Mother
"You do not know the privilege in being a mother. It grants power, to create a life, to influence the world through its actions. Her children were to be ours. Raised to hunt and slay Saren's enemies." The dark female figure said from the platform ahead of them before turning to face the team. "I won't be moved by sympathy, no matter who you bring before me. In fact, I consider this embarrassment an insult."
Liara felt her fists clench as blue energy slowly twisted it's self around her arms at the insult.
"Liara's here because she wants to be, not because I ask her to." Shepard replied defensively.
"Indeed? what have you told her about me, Liara?" Benezia drawled.
"What could I say mother? That you're insane? Evil? Should I explain how to kill you? I haven't spoken to you in decades, what could I possibly tell her, mother?!" Liara exclaimed.
"Have you ever faced an asari, Commander? Few humans have."
"I can't believe you're going to kill your own daughter?" Shepard asked, resisting the urge to pull the trigger on her assault rifle.
"I'm only grateful that you have given me the opportunity to correct my mistake." Benezia hissed while flaring her biotics.
Shepard didn't have time to react before a powerful blue wave of energy swept towards her from Benezia. Liara, in anticipation of the attack, threw a large barrier up around all of them, shielding everyone from the attack. With the brunt of the attack stopped, it only succeeded in knocking them all back several paces, leaving them slightly stunned. As they all recovered, several doors around the room opened to let a large group of asari and commando's in, followed by as many geth.
Shepard placed a hand on Liara's arm, trying to give her a comforting look through each of their helmets. Shepard gently pulled Liara into cover behind a pile of crates, before she opened fire at the geth and asari starting to surround them. Wrex quickly followed Shepard's lead and added his biotics and shotgun to the fray.
Shepard dropped back into cover, looking at Liara as she reloaded. "Can you give me and Wrex time to take out the others?"
Liara looked back towards her mother, glowing with biotic energy, before she reluctantly nodded to Shepard. Liara leapt out of cover as Shepard resumed firing, sending waves of energy at her mother. Benezia easily blocked the energy, seemingly effortlessly, before throwing a far stronger wave back. Liara hesitated as she saw the attack coming, leaving herself too little time block the attack. She managed to quickly throw herself back into the cover Shepard had pulled her into, finding she was now the only one behind it. She took a second to look around, hearing gunshots from towards where the commandos and geth had been positioning themselves.
Quickly regretting the time she took to look around to Shepard, Liara found herself quickly exposed as the crates were thrown to the side. Reacting on instinct, she threw another barrier up around herself, before a warp field collided with it. Seizing the chance as her barrier detonated, Liara threw a wave at her mother, knocking the elder asari off her feet, giving her time to recover. Liara quickly reached the top of the steps to the platform in front of the large tank. Benezia managed to get to her feet, and projected a barrier in front of her before a stasis field collided with it. Liara paused, finally able to see the blank emotionless expression in her mother's face, getting her own barrier up in time to block another powerful wave of energy directed at her.
With the two now face to face, Liara maintained a barrier around herself. Benezia focused increasingly powerful attacks at her daughter, forcing Liara down to the ground with en every shrinking barrier. A brief pause came in the onslaught as Benezia charged another attack, before three gunshots managed to pierce the noise filling the room.
Liara looked up to see her mother clutching her stomach. Purple blood was running down the front of her dress from three gunshot wounds as she keeled over, grabbing onto the handrail around the platform for support. Shepard stepped up from behind Liara, pulling her up to her feet, not releasing the grip on her pistol.
"This is not over. Saren is unstoppable." Benezia hissed from in front of the two.
"You've already lost. Why are you doing this?" Shepard asked, pulling Liara beside her.
"I... I won't betray him. You will... You..." Benezia gasped before pain appeared to overwhelm her. The asari collapsed on the floor, before looking up at them with what somehow appeared to be clearer eyes. "You must listen. I still hear the whispers in my mind. I can fight the compulsions, briefly, but the indoctrination is strong."
"So you could attack us at any moment again. To try and kill your own daughter?" Shepard asked holding Liara.
"Yes, but that is not my will. You... lose yourself around Saren. He has ways to break down your mind. There comes a point where you will do anything for him." Benezia gasped, visibly growing weaker. "The key is Sovereign, his flagship. It is a dreadnought of immense size and unimaginable power. The longer you stay aboard, the more Saren seems right, you start to agree with his decisions. You sit and smile as his words pour into you." Benezia sighed, somehow appearing happy at the idea. "It was subtle at first, I thought I could resist. Instead I became his willing slave."
"Why did he send you here?"
"He wanted the location of the Mu Relay. It's position was lost thousands of years ago. Two thousand years ago, the region of the galaxy containing the relay was inhabited by the rachni. Only they could have the location of the relay. Each rachni queen is born with the memories and knowledge of their mother. This queen knows the location of that relay, and now, so does Saren." Benezia appeared to be regretful at her admission, despite slowly losing herself again. "I took the information from her mind. I wasn't gentle. I... I don't know why he needed the information."
"You can make up for your mistake. I need the information to stop Saren." Shepard adjusted the grip on her pistol, lifting it towards Benezia as the asari shifted to her feet.
"I have it on this OSD, I have already sent a copy to Saren."
Liara shifted against Shepard and spoke up to her mother. "The location of the relay isn't enough, do you know where he planned to go from there?"
"I never knew his destination. You must find out quickly, I sent him the coordinates before you arrived. He ordered me to kill you all." Benezia said, slowly lifting an OSD out of her dress, but didn't hold it out. "You have to stop me... The... voices..." Benezia shuddered, dropping the OSD to the ground before she lit up in blue.
Reacting on instinct, Shepard pulled Liara against her chest, burying the asari's face against her neck before her pistol fired a single shot into Benezia's chest. She watched as the aggressive look that had filled Benezia's face drained away, leaving only fear, Liara shuddering against her.
"I'm sorry." Shepard whispered, just loud enough for Liara and Benezia to hear.
Shepard didn't lower her pistol as Benezia fell backwards to land against the tank.
Liara peered round, pushing herself away from Shepard. "Mother!..."
"I'm sorry, but I'm not myself. I never will be again." Benezia rasped, before coughing up blood. "Good night, Little Wing. I will see you again." Benezia looked up from Liara to Shepard, her eyes pleading to the Spectre. "Please."
Liara flinched at the sound of a gunshot, pressing herself back against Shepard as she grabbed onto Shepard's armour. Shepard's pistol fired only once, placing a single shot in Benezia's head. The small calibre left the skull intact with only a single line of blood running down her forehead.
Shepard dropped her pistol as a sob came from Liara. She placed her arms around Liara as Wrex came up from behind them. "I forgot how much fight asari can have in them. Certainly much more than those geth."
Shepard quickly waved the krogan back, easing her grip on Liara. She quickly moved over to her mother, picking up one hand, unable to look at the blood soaked body as tears flooded her eyes. "Goodbye... Mother."
Shepard picked the OSD off of the floor and slipped in into a pocked and stowed her pistol, not taking her eyes off Liara. A shout from behind her, made Shepard jump. She managed to turn around in time to see Wrex trying to pull his shotgun off his back to shoot an incredibly unstable, and almost dead, asari. Shepard quickly gestured for Wrex to lower his weapon as the asari continued slowly, causing the krogan to give her an annoyed look, but didn't fire.
The asari eventually came to a halt beside Benezia, just in front of the large tank, causing Liara to scramble back in surprise. The rachni behind the asari shifted, pressing it's self against the glass as the asari started to talk in a slow pained voice. "This one serves as our voice. We cannot sing, not in these low spaces. Your musics are colourless."
"I don't understand? Musics? Who am I talking to?" Shepard blurted.
"Your way of communicating is strange. It does not colour the air." The asari replied, struggling, and appearing to grow weaker. "We are the mother. We sing for those left behind. The children you thought silenced. We are rachni."
"How can you speak through her?" Shepard asked walking up tot he glass.
"We sought for a mind to touch, to sing to. She is weak. Her life is ending. Her own musics are bitter-sweet. We sooth, and she sings for us."
"Why are you... singing... to me?" Shepard asked, looking round at the asari. "Do you want to ask me to release you?"
"First, we have a request. The children we birthed. They were taken from us before they could sing. They are forever silent." The rachni shifted in its cage, looking Shepard directly in the eyes. "Please, end their suffering. They can only cause harm."
"If it's the only way. What about you?" Shepard asked, looking back at the queen.
"We stand before you. The rachni do not wish conquest. We wish peace. We will go, hide, burrow. What will you sing? Will you release us? Are we doomed to fade away once more?"
Shepard looked around at the two behind her, not sure how to react. The rachni were a problem while humans were still running around fighting each other with swords.
Wrex started towards the tank, still pointing his shotgun at the asari. "You can't let this thing loose. The rachni almost conquered the entire galaxy."
Liara stood up, trying to straighten herself out as she glared at Wrex. "The council let the krogan go too far. They shouldn't have wiped out the rachni. This is a chance to make up for their mistake."
Shepard turned back to the rachni. "She's done nothing wrong, and I won't condemn her species to extinction, or her to death, for something she hasn't done." Shepard moved over to the controls for the cage, starting the procedure to open the seal.
Wrex stepped closer, glaring at Shepard. "This is a mistake, you can't let her go!" He didn't have a chance to say anything else as alarms started ringing through the lab while the tank started to rise towards what appeared to be a service tunnel to the mountain's surface. "You're going to regret this Shepard."
With everything in the lab now resolved, Shepard started towards the lab's entrance. "We need to go, we've still got the rachni problem in the hot labs."
Wrex followed Shepard without question, but Liara paused for a moment, staring at her mother's body before following them.
The ride down to the hot labs proved arduous. The elevator wasn't meant to be used to reach the lab in anything other than an emergency, so It was small and slow. The security personnel had been able to give them security codes for the lab's systems, once Shepard had informed them that Benezia was dead. Apparently she'd ordered them to send Shepard to the hot lab, before leaving them petrified fighting the hoard of insects coming up through the shaft, presumably trying to find their queen, or food. Surprisingly, the shaft appeared empty, despite the expectation of the shaft to be filled with rachni, leaving them nothing to do except wait.
Half way down the shaft, Wrex was the first to say anything. "You pack a punch asari. Matriarchs are powerful."
Shepard gave Wrex a glare, or as much of one as she could through her breather mask, not happy with him bringing up Liara's mother. Liara however reached out to grab Shepard's hand, but replied calmly. "My mother always saw I received the best tutoring, that included biotics."
"Just glad to see you know which side you're on." The krogan grunted as the look on Liara face soured slightly, Shepard's shifting to fury.
Before anyone could say anything, the elevator came to a halt and the doors slid open. The lab was a large open space, hovering deep in the mountain, connected to the outside by only the elevator shaft they had come down, and a tram line, which appeared to have been caved in. A single walkway led from the elevator towards a small room at the far end of the lab, and what appeared to be an elevator running to various floors in the lab. The walkway was encased in glass, or had been. Shards lay scattered across the metal floor where sections had been shattered, presumably how the rachni were getting out of the hot lab.
The three started walking towards the far end, quickly, but quietly, trying to avoid stepping on glass. The walls, floor and ceiling of the large lab were crawling with insects, barely visible in the dim light. Several minutes later, they managed to walk into the room unobstructed, finding themselves face to face with Mira, the VI.
"Hello again Commander Shepard, is there-" The VI chimed before Shepard interrupted.
"Set your volume to the minimum setting." Shepard hissed. "I need to activate the hot lab's security system, and cleanse the lab."
"This facility is equipped with a short range neutron bomb for emergency sterilisation." the VI replied, barely audible. "Full security clearance is required for activation." Shepard pulled up the code the security personnel had given her, reciting it to the VI before it continued. "Neutron purge activated. Warning! Detonation will occur in two minutes."
Shepard breathed a sigh of relief, stepping back towards the rooms exit before an alarm filled the lab. Shepard froze, cursing under her breath as the noise of what sounded like thousands of legs all started rushing their owners towards the only exit.
All three of them broke into a sprint towards the elevator at the far end. Wrex and Shepard each pulled their shotguns out, firing at rachni starting to pour through the glass. Liara tried to help, but after the beating she had endured fighting Benezia, she was worn out. With the path filling up in front and behind them, Wrex and Shepard were forced to switch to just keeping the rachni away, rather than making progress, leaving them stranded, with a ticking clock moving closer to zero.
Mira announced through the PA system as the clock reached sixty seconds, causing panic to grip Liara. She looked around, panting, from the floor, watching as the rachni inched closer. Pushing herself to her feet before the asari bathed herself in energy. Liara stepped up beside Wrex with a look of determination on her face, before a large wave of energy swept along the walkway towards the lift, clearing the path. Liara slumped, exhausted, collapsing against the shocked krogan. Not missing the opportunity Wrex threw Liara over a shoulder and grabbed Shepard by her arm, pulling her back towards the elevator. They both broke into a sprint, only coming to a halt once they were inside the elevator, and firing back towards the swarm. The two only stopped firing once the doors had sealed, and the elevator was moving up towards Rift Station.
Thankfully, the doors appeared to be shielded, while the rock and ice surrounding the facility reduced the effective range of the bomb. Relieved, Wrex dropped Liara to the floor, before he and Shepard collapsed on either side of her.
"Are they okay?" Ash asked, concern filling her voice as she looked at the still bloody leg of Tali, and Liara, who appeared to be half asleep.
"They'll be fine. Tali could use some care, but Liara should just need something to eat, and a rest." Shepard answered, helping Liara out, followed by Wrex carrying Tali.
After dropping the two of them off in the sick bay, and collecting Garrus, who had only suffered a minor fracture that was easily repaired, they moved up to the CIC and comm room to join the rest of the team to go over the mission.
"So, what's next Commander," Ash asked once everyone had sat down. "head for the Mu Relay?"
"The Mu relay could link to dozens of systems. It would take could take us weeks, or even months to search them all." Shepard stated. "If Saren already knows where to look, we've missed something. If he doesn't, we still have time to find out."
"Still, we don't have any more leads. We need something to point us in the right direction," Ash protested.
"Something will turn up. It can't be easy of that flagship of his to pass by unnoticed. You saw that thing." Shepard insisted. "Look, we're all tired, it's been a hard day. Let's all go take a break."
Everyone got up to leave, looking pleased to get a chance to relax, but Garrus appeared unable to resist a joke. "So, giant, ancient, sentient plants just aren't good enough for you. You had to go find the greatest threat the galaxy has ever face. Rachni."
"You know me Garrus, I had to go one bigger," Shepard laughed. "Still, the reapers seem to be vying for the top spot on that list Garrus."
"Always after a bigger fight." Ash laughed, passing the two of them on her way out of the comm room.
Shepard sighed, grinning, as everyone filed out before Joker's voice came over the comm. "Guess who feels like giving you a pat on the back, Commander."
"Put them through." Shepard sighed, turning round to face the Council as their holograms formed. "Good evening, Councillors. What can I do for you?"
The turian Councillor glared at her in response. "What can you do for us? You released the rachni back into the galaxy. Do you have any idea how long it will take them before they can overrun the Citadel Fleet?"
"I don't know, Councillor, but this queen isn't interested in conquest. She even seemed to regret what her ancestors did." Shepard replied calmly.
"Or so She claims. You took the word of an insect, Shepard, a bug. The rachni are a blight on the galaxy." He argued.
Before Shepard could interrupt, the Salarian Councillor cut in. "It is unlikely the rachni would be able to pose as significant a threat as they did in the past. The galaxy is far more populated, with more wide-spread colonies. To build a force capable of invasion in secret would be almost impossible."
Having remained silent so far, the Asari Councillor moved to close the comm. "We have a lead on Saren that might interest you, Commander. We believe we have the location of a facility he controls on the planet Virmire. We have a STG team on the planet that has been investigating Saren's activities. We received a message from them several hours ago."
"Unfortunately, what we received was merely static." The Salarian Councillor explained. "They are obviously in a situation where they cannot set up proper communications, but this was sent on a channel reserved for mission critical information. We thought you would like to investigate."
"Of course. Thank you Councillors." Shepard replied before two of the holograms faded, leaving only the Asari Councillor. "I will need to speak with you later about the circumstances of Benezia's death, Commander. Her involvement with Saren has been kept quiet thus far, it would be best if we could avoid a political incident."
"I will do my best Councillor." Shepard stated before the last hologram faded, leaving her in the comm room by herself. She quietly moved back to a seat, cupping her head in her hands as she exhaled. I killed her mother. How could she ever forgive me.
Without thinking, Shepard marched off the ship, deciding she needed something to drink.
Liara looked up at the loud knock from the door to her room. Chakwas had quickly dismissed her from the medbay, only insisting that she ate, and got a good night's sleep. The food however, sat untouched on her desk, while she was curled up on her bed in the corner of the room.
"Come in." She said quietly between sobs.
The doors opened to reveal a rather unhappy looking Wrex, who surprisingly, didn't appear angry. He slowly stepped into the small room, looking around for a seat, deciding the was better off not trying the flimsy chair at the desk, and settled on a storage crate in the corner of the room opposite Liara. She watched him quietly with large eyes as he entered, but didn't move from her spot on the bed.
Looking remarkably uncomfortable, they both sat in silence for a few moments before Wrex finally managed to work out what he wanted to say. "I'm sorry I didn't trust you. To a krogan, clan is meant to mean everything."
"I understand Wrex. You are not the first person here to not trust me because of my mother." Liara answered, smiling weakly. "Just the first to try and kill me because of it."
"You fought with us against Benezia, kid. I've fought asari before. You might not look like it, but asari can really back a punch, especially with your biotics." Wrex paused as Liara looked down, appearing to be more upset. "Look, I know what you're going through, kid. I killed my own father, back on Tuchanka."
"What happened?" Liara asked through a layer of tears.
"He betrayed me. The krogan have all betrayed each other after the genophage. I was in control of a small tribe a few centuries ago, trying to rebuild what we once were. I told everyone we should focus on breeding, but Jarrod just wanted to fight. Turians, Salarians, other krogan, it didn't matter to him." Wrex sighed. "To put it simply, he was pissed. His own son telling him what to do, jealousy doesn't suit warlords. He arranged a meeting for us at an old burial ground, The Hollows. It's as sacred as any location can be to the krogan. Violence is forbidden."
Liara shuddered. "He laid a trap?"
"He did, I expected as much, but I couldn't say no. As soon as it became clear I wasn't going to change my mind, the shooting started." Wrex growled. "They quickly killed those I had taken with me, I barely got out of there alive, but not before I sank my dagger deep into my father's chest." He paused as Liara shuddered at the image. "Jarrod and Benezia both had to die to do what was right. The krogan need to stop fighting, and we need to stop Saren. Take comfort that Benezia wanted to die, an end to Saren's control over her."
Liara managed a faint smile at the towering krogan. "Thank you Wrex. You are right, her death was a mercy. I'm just sorry she's gone."
"You should speak to Shepard." Wrex said as he stood up. "She'll be beating herself up over this, and she doesn't deserve that. She did the right thing. The Doctor asked that I make sure you've eaten as well. I'll tell her you're about finished?"
Liara sighed, looking at the full plate. "I suppose I really should eat something. I'll see you later Wrex, thank you, again." She replied giving him a warm smile.
Shepard had managed to wander into what she assumed was the corporate world's version of a convenience store, or Noveria's version anyway. Given the high prices of most of the alcohol in the store, Shepard ended up picking up a bottle that appeared to be a local speciality, and offered the most alcohol for her money. Not waiting to go to the check out, she opened the bottle and took a swig, while continuing to browse the store. The salarian behind the counter appeared rather unhappy about the situation, but the armour and weaponry she was still wearing appeared enough to convince him not to do anything. Unable to find much in the way of junk food she could eat without throwing her military diet off, she ended up grabbing a box of what she knew were expensive chocolates and went straight for the checkout.
Five minutes later, she strode back onto the Normandy, ordering Joker to set a course to Virmire and disappeared down the crew deck, and her quarters to try to forget about the day. Half way down the bottle, and defiantly drunk, a knock at the door caught Shepard's attention.
"Who's there?" Shepard shouted from her bed at the opposite side of the room, pushing herself up to sit at the foot of the bed. Panic hit her as Liara replied, but deciding that the worst option would be to not let her in, Shepard called for her to enter, squinting in the dim room to make out the figure standing in the bright doorway.
Liara stared into the dark room, barely able to make out the shape of Shepard sat on the bed, clutching at a bottle. Closing the door behind her, she slowly walked in, letting her eyes adjust to the dim lighting of the room. Grateful Shepard wouldn't be able to see how swollen her eyes were from crying, she decided to do what she came for before her nerve failed. "I... just wanted to say thank you, Shepard, for what you did for my mother. It was terrible to see her like that, being forced to obey someone else's will." Unable to come up with any other possible response, Shepard just held out the bottle she was holding to Liara. She took the bottle, but sat down next to Shepard, staring at the contents. "She used to be such a loving person. We may have had our differences, but she was always kind. She never tried to stop me from doing anything I wanted, even if she did disapprove."
"She was your mother, of course she loved you. It was her job to encourage you, to want what's best for you" Shepard stated.
Liara took an eager drink from the bottle, before choking on the strong, and completely alien taste of the drink. She could swear she could feel it burning her throat after she swallowed it, although decided it was probably an after-taste.
"I... I just want to remember her the way she was, my mother. Not what Saren turned her into." Liara sobbed, handing the bottle back to Shepard. Shepard took another swig from the half empty bottle, before passing Liara the open box of chocolates from somewhere behind her, having barely touched them once the alcohol had started to take effect.
They both looked at Shepard's omni-tool in surprise as it started ringing, the display identifying the caller as Tevos. Curious, Shepard answered the video call, to find a life size version of the asari councillor appearing in her cabin. "Councillor, erm... Hey." Shepard managed, struggling to think clearly with this much alcohol in her system.
The councillor frowned, taking in the image of the half empty bottle in Shepard's hand not supporting her omni-tool. "Please Shepard, I am not calling on behalf of the council... You do know Noverian Rum is illegal in council space?" Tevos waved her own question off, wanting to get to other matters. "Call me Tevos, I am calling on behalf of the Asari Republic. One of our most prominent matriarchs has died, and under terrible circumstances. Unfortunately, I need to ask how responsible she was for the circumstances in which you found her?"
Shepard looked over to Liara beside her, who was sniffing a chocolate after a decidedly unpleasant experience with the contents of Shepard's bottle. Suddenly feeling very self-conscious as she saw the Councillor's gaze shift to her.
"I think Liara might be better able to answer that question." Shepard answered reluctantly, laughing to herself as she saw Liara blush. She quickly regretted putting Liara in the headlights, as Liara appeared to grow closer to tears again, forcing Shepard to answer. "Benezia was completely under Saren's control. She was able to overcome his influence for a short period of time, and provided us with valuable information to help us stop Saren."
"I'm pleased to hear it Shepard. I shall do everything I can to see to it that Matriarch Benezia, and yourself, Doctor T'Soni, are not cast in a bad light by these events." Shepard could swear there was a small smirk growing on Tevos's face as she talked. "I assume Noveria's administrators will see to it that her body is preserved correctly?"
"We left instructions, but you will probably want to have someone contact them directly." Shepard replied, starting to feel uncomfortable as Tevos's smirk continued to grow.
"If it's okay with you, Doctor T'Soni, the Matriarchs would like to arrange her funeral? She is a prominent figure, and it would go a long way to maintaining her reputation." Tevos asked.
Liara only managed to hum a response, causing Shepard to look round at the asari next to her, finding Liara trying to lick her fingers clean. The box of chocolates sat on her lap, empty, while Liara looked incredibly guilty. Shepard and Tevos both burst out in laughter, not making any attempt to hide it.
Liara felt her cheeks turning a dark shade of blue, wishing she hadn't just devoured the whole box in front of the asari Councillor. "I would like to insist on several details, but I have no objections if the Matriarchs wish to organise it. It is probably they who knew her better these last few decades, rather than myself."
"Very well, I will contact you once arrangements start to be made. Good night to you both." Tevos finished with a slight bow of her head before the line closed, leaving Shepard giggling at the embarrassed asari next to her, still trying to clean her fingers.