Sovereign's Gamble
Kiryuu could not believe that Shepard had given the order to move in. With everything taken into account he had hoped Shepard would take the logical choice of holding the ships back and saving the firepower for Sovereign. It would have meant the Council's demise, but at least it would have given the fleet a better chance to destroy Sovereign. Instead the Ascension had been saved, at the cost of hundreds of human lives. He prayed that Shepard knew what she was doing.
Suddenly, as he heard Shepard give the order to check that Saren was really dead, he felt agonising pain in his head, feeling as if it was about to explode. He doubled over, seething, feeling the chamber spinning around him. Gradually the view of the Council Chamber faded away, giving way to nothing but darkness. Nothing could be seen all around him, nor could any sound be heard. It was as if he was standing in the empty void of space itself.
Suddenly he felt the sensation of being tightly gripped, as something unwound from the darkness and tightened themselves around his limbs and his body. Looking all around him, Kiryuu saw that these tentacles were made out of a strange techno-organic substance, almost as black as the void around him. He tried to swat them away with his own bio-syntech blades, but to no avail. The tentacles shot out as quickly as Kiryuu could get rid of them. He knew this nightmare all too well as it was the same one he had been suffering for several nights now.
So the Turian has fallen... a grand, cold voice spoke from the darkness. No matter... I had hoped to have a chance to use my favourite puppet. I wonder if you will perform as admirably as you did on Pandora?
Kiryuu knew immediately who this was. This was known by many names; Sovereign, Gravemind, and mostly King Ghidorah. He saw the form attached to the dark tentacles. It was the familiar three-headed dragon that was King Ghidorah, except instead of being covered in golden scales, it was now covered in a dark, techno-organic, metallic shell, lined with glowing purple-blue lights.
No! Kiryuu barked in response, recognising the voice. I don't care what you call yourself now; I will never bow to you or your spawn again!
You speak as if you have a choice in the matter, my Acolyte, the cold voice responded. Kiryuu felt the tentacles begin to tighten, and they also started to wind around his snout, gagging him. Perhaps I will release control later so you can see your grandson's heart stop beating.
All of a sudden another set of tentacles lashed out of the darkness, but these ones were green. They struck at the dark shape holding Kiryuu, cutting the tentacles binding him away and lashing out at King Ghidorah's body. The hydra recoiled as the plant-shaped monstrosity known as Biollante emerged from the darkness to join the fight.
You never learn, do you? she hissed. Still trying the same old song and dance?
King Ghidorah snarled. Clearly Kiryuu's mental passenger was trying his patience. Kiryuu could sense that the hydra felt that he was running out of time; doubtless his spawn in the void were growing restless. More tentacles began to shoot out at them, but this time Kiryuu was ready. He struggled through the tentacles while Biollante spat at King Ghidorah with her acidic spray. As Kiryuu launched himself at him the tentacles shot out again, but Kiryuu swung out his blades and cut them away, eventually managing to slash the demon's body and send him reeling deeper into the darkness.
All of a sudden there was a loud noise, like a gunshot, and Kiryuu's vision went dark again. As other faint sounds could be heard around him, he soon realised that he had his eyes tightly shut. Opening them, he found himself once more in the Council Chamber, still crouched behind the low wall. He had fallen onto both knees and doubled over while he had been unconscious. As he blinked, trying to re-focus his sight, he heard King Ghidorah's voice in his head one last time:
Fine... I cannot claim you right now. You have left me with few options, but I still have one more weapon I can bring back into the game...
As Kiryuu tried to stagger to his feet, he suddenly felt the floor shaking beneath him, as if the Citadel had suddenly been caught in an earthquake. A loud sound resembling several thunderclaps reached his ears, as well as a strangled cry of pain. Half-running, half-stumbling up the stairs, Kiryuu now saw flashes of vivid red lightning shooting out of the rock garden, striking the walls all around them. As the quakes worsened and he reached the top of the stairs, he suddenly saw the walkway collapsing, sending Alan and Shepard plummeting into the garden below.
As the quakes subsided, lightning continued to shoot out everywhere, and Kiryuu now saw that it was definitely coming from the garden itself. He felt a great shiver run down his spine as he heard a new voice; a terrible, cold voice that sounded like a diseased cross between Saren's and King Ghidorah's:
"I am Sovereign... And this station is mine!"
0
Every muscle in Dorva's body ached. It seemed that there were endless reinforcements of Geth drones, and no end of places for them to take cover. He was now becoming deathly afraid that the barricade would soon be overrun; the batteries in his plasma rifles were running low, and he was sure that the C-Sec officers would be running low on ammunition clips by now. Yet the Geth still kept coming, and he knew that he was not willing to go down without a fight.
All the same, and as much as they didn't want him around, he could not help but worry about his reluctant shipmates; he had not heard any kind of communication with them since José had entered the hospital, though if he was being honest with himself he doubted that they would bring him in to confidence on any matters. Maybe it would be better for him that he not try to get close; José had already made it clear that he was not welcome.
Then again, why shouldn't he have been concerned? He owed Alan his life, after all, and he was sure that he would be doing his new Shipmaster a disservice if he didn't check on the welfare of the rest of the crew. If he was to prove his worth and function as a member of the crew, he couldn't do it in isolation. His anxiety was beginning to get the better of him, so he peered around him to make sure that C-Sec officers would be alright. They had lasted admirably long, with no casualties so far, so he decided it would be safe to leave and go check on the others.
Keeping his head low, he headed back inside the hospital; the officers were too pre-occupied with the Geth to notice his departure. As soon as he stepped inside he thought he could hear a sound coming from the floor above him, like something heavy was being thrown around, though he had to admit it was hard to tell above the gunfire from outside. Around him all of the hospital staff were taking cover wherever they could, some of them whispering frantic prayers to whatever higher entities they worshipped.
He quickly made his way up the stairs to the next floor, where the sounds of banging and crashing grew louder. Every now and then he also heard a sharp cry; a woman yelling in pain. Fearing the worst, Dorva ran along the corridors, following the crashing sounds, when all of a sudden he heard a yell as something was thrown out of one of the rooms, crashing into the opposite wall. It took Dorva a few seconds to realise that the thing was actually José, badly wounded and struggling to pick himself up from the floor. He groaned, clearly in a lot of pain.
Dorva was about to help the stricken marine to his feet when a new figure stepped out of the room. He barely recognised Alistair with the horrible scars that he had gained from the Thresher Maw attack, but the gargoyle was now on his feet, his eyes glowing with a ruby light. In spite of the glow his eyes looked strangely vacant; there was none of the focus that there would have been if he was completely possessed. It seemed that Sovereign had not considered him important enough to be possessed completely, but he was still now in the Reaper's thrall, as little more than a mindless husk. His dead gaze lingered on José for a moment before slowly turning to Dorva, the dead expression on his face giving Dorva the chills.
All at once he heard the same woman's scream coming from further down the corridor. At the sound he heard José seething, struggling to push himself up but not having the strength to. He almost looked on the verge of tears.
"Rachel..." he groaned. "I'm comin', babe..."
It seemed safe to assume that the shouts were coming from Rachel, as she struggled to bring a new life into the galaxy. As José tried to drag himself down the corridor, Alistair reached out his claw towards him, apparently intending to finish the job. However, Dorva shot out his hand and grabbed the gargoyle's arm, forcing it away. Dorva moved himself, standing firm between Alistair and his intended victim. Alistair slowly turned his eyes away from José and faced Dorva, his arm shaking as he struggled with the Sangheili's vice-like grip.
Suddenly Alistair's free hand swung out, trying to scratch Dorva's face. The sharp talons barely missed him as he jerked his head back. However, in that brief moment Alistair was able to wrench his arm free and kicked out at his midsection, with enough force to send him staggering back into the wall. Staggering to his feet, Dorva saw Alistair coming towards him, and raised his own arms, ready to fight. He still remembered his training as a Sangheili warrior, but he was very out of practice when it came to hand-to-hand combat.
Alistair suddenly charged at him, his fist raised, and Dorva barely dodged out of the way as the gargoyle went past him, punching a hole in the wall. Even in this relatively mild state of indoctrination his physical strength had been increased. Dorva grabbed him from behind and slammed him into the wall a few times, hoping to knock him unconscious, but no such luck. Instead Alistair managed to throw him off, breaking free of his grasp and sending Dorva into the wall instead. Even as Dorva tried to struggle to his feet he felt Alistair's fists connect with his face several times, until one last hook sent him reeling down the corridor.
Struggling to come to his senses, Dorva was able to get a glimpse behind Alistair as the gargoyle advanced on him again. He could see José dragging himself down the corridor and around the corner; soon he would be safe and would be with his wife in her hour of need. If Dorva died now, he knew that he would have done so trying to protect his shipmates. He had spent a long time looking for a place to die ever since he had betrayed Telek, living with the guilt of what he had done every day.
Yet now he had no intention of dying. He was determined to live and see this fight through to the end. He now fully understood what everybody was up against, and he wanted to do his part and finally redeem himself. So as Alistair came at him again he swung out his foot, catching Alistair's midsection and sending him staggering back. Understanding that he only had to subdue Alistair, he charged and tackled him to the floor.
However, Alistair was far from giving up. He managed to grab Dorva and throw the Sangheili off him, quickly jumping up into the air and raising his fist. Dorva barely managed to roll out of the way as Alistair came crashing down, his fist pounding a hole in the floor right where Dorva's head was mere seconds before. Dorva quickly sprang to his feet and continued to fight. As he and Alistair traded blows he wondered how everyone else was getting on, and prayed that none of them were fighting a losing battle.
0
Telek listened in on the comm. channels as the fleets moved in on Sovereign. He only wished that he could be down there himself, fighting that monster, but after the experience above Virmire he knew that he could not take the risk of being controlled again, especially not when his allies were already vulnerable. He had heard anguished cries and channels suddenly going dead as Sovereign had launched volleys of lasers at the attacking frigates, cutting each down instantly. The Sangheili ships fared a little better with their advanced shielding, but even they soon succumbed to the Reaper's might. All the ships fired no end of missiles and photon torpedos at the immense machine, but it was as if they were only tickling it. Telek knew that each of these creatures was essentially an incarnation of King Ghidorah; clearly the Reapers had the same strength as their creator.
"Sovereign's too strong!" he heard one of the Sangheili shipmasters saying. "We have to pull back!"
"Negative!" replied Admiral Hackett. "This is our only chance! Take that monster down no matter what the cost!"
"He's right!" said Telek. "We're not gonna get another shot at this! Divert all non-essential systems to reinforce your armour and shielding!"
"This would be a lot easier if we could just dislodge him from the damn tower!" said Garrus, who was manning the gun batteries on the Normandy. "Then you could probably fry 'im with the Wrath's main gun!"
"If I can get a clear shot, I'll take it," replied Telek. "I'm not riskin' any of you guys getting caught in the blast, and while I wouldn't miss the Citadel if it was gone there are still too many people on the station."
Joli, meanwhile, was at the helm, studying the ship's scanners. One blip amidst the many surrounding Sovereign fascinated him.
"Look at that Normandy go!" he breathed, his eyes wide. "I don't know who the pilot is, but he's damn good! He's dodged so many shots that would've taken out any other vessel of that size!"
"You ain't jealous, are ya?" drawled Telek smarmily.
"No, Excellency!" Joli replied, sounding worried. "I just..."
"Relax, Joli," said Tom. "He's just teasing ya."
"Am I, Tom?" asked Telek wryly, smirking. He then opened a comm. channel to Admiral Hackett. "Admiral, you got any news from that Shepard character?"
"Not since she called us in, Telek," replied Hackett. "Something must have happened to her on the Citadel. I'd guess it's not over yet for her."
"I'm picking up Reclaimer signals from the top of the Citadel Tower," said Joli, who had taken that as his cue to check the Luminary. "Two, just for the record. There are four others in the chamber with her."
"Ah reckon one of 'em's Saren," snarled Telek. "Ah hope she nails that bastard's head to the wall."
0
Alan slammed into the wall surrounding the rock garden, his whip flailing all over the place as he collapsed to the grassy ground. He had not been hurt badly, but he felt as if all of the air had been knocked out of him. He staggered to his feet, glaring up at his opponent; the resurrected Saren.
Even after Kaidan had put another bullet into Saren's brain, the corpse had suddenly raised, red lightning shooting everywhere. Saren's body had twisted, changed, and finally raised itself to full height. The implants in him had gone haywire, revealing the full extent of his modifications: his arms and legs had been lengthened and his flesh had been burned away. He was nothing more than a synthetic skeleton, the lights on his cybernetic implants glowing with a vivid blue light, his body crackling with the same red lightning that seemed to be radiating from his chest. Only his skull remained, minus the jaw, the eye-holes glowing with a blazing ruby light. Sovereign had revived Saren, and was now controlling him through the implants, forcing him to fight one last battle.
Alan had tried to strike at Saren, only to find himself grabbed and thrown aside like a rag-doll. As he watched, he saw Liara use her biotic abilities, her body glowing with a blue light, and she threw a fluctuating sphere in Saren's direction. However Saren was too fast, darting away and clinging to the wall, the sphere narrowly missing him. He moved at an incredible speed, scuttling around and leaping like a mutated spider. The only other thing that Alan had seen move so fast was Telek when he had been possessed. All the while the skeletal creature fired red lasers at the group, forcing them to dive for cover.
Shepard tried to fire at Saren, but her bullets were deflected by a powerful shield. Saren retaliated with one of his lightning bolts hitting her square in the chest. Much of the blast was absorbed by her shielding, but she was still sent sprawling to the floor. Saren advanced on her as she struggled to pick herself up, feeling as if her limbs were barely functioning. He raised one of his enormous claws, preparing to gouge Shepard there and then.
Suddenly his hand recoiled as it was struck by something from behind. There was a blue flash through the air as Saren was struck again in the back, by Alan's whip. The plasma line struck again, not hard enough to cause any serious damage, but enough to knock Saren away and allow Shepard to roll clear. Alan advanced on the walking abomination, lashing out with the whip again and again, hoping to finish off Saren before he had a chance to recuperate.
However, as Alan advanced on him, Saren suddenly released a red energy pulse that spread throughout the chamber. Shepard, Kaidan and Liara were far enough back for it to barely affect them, but Alan, who was the closest, was sent flying off his feet, landing in a crumpled heap on the grass. He muttered furiously as he tried to pull himself to his feet, cursing himself for not seeing that attack coming. As Saren scuttled towards him Alan tried to lash out at him again, but Saren was too fast, striking his arm and knocking the weapon out of his claw. With a vicious backhand, Saren sent Alan sprawling to the floor again. Shepard and Kaidan once again tried to throw Saren off with gunfire, but the bullets had no effect.
Blood spurting from a split lip, Alan tried to pull himself together, but Saren grabbed him by the neck and squeezed, intending to choke the life out of the mutant. Alan struggled for life, trying to pull Saren's arms away, but to no avail. Just as his vision began to grow dark, however, something grabbed Saren from behind and pulled his arms away. As Alan fell to the floor, gasping for breath, the figure pulled Saren away in a tight chokehold.
The attacker was Kiryuu, who had been observing the battle. He had teleported into the garden when it looked like Alan was in serious danger, his eyes blazing with an unfathomable rage. King Ghidorah, that monster that now masqueraded as a machine and was even now residing in Saren's body, had destroyed his family once; he had no intention of allowing it to happen again.
As Kiryuu pulled Saren away from the group, Saren managed to throw Kiryuu off him, tossing him over his shoulder and sending him crashing to the ground. Grunting in pain, Kiryuu rolled out of the way as Saren's claws lashed out. Without hesitation, Kiryuu pulled the Technomantic cords out once again, and immediately sent them towards Saren. The cords latched on, winding themselves tightly around Saren's arms and creeping up to the sides of his face, attaching themselves to his temples. Saren struggled, wrenching his arms fiercely, but Kiryuu gritted his teeth, determined to hold on. He sent several electrical pulses along the cords, trying to overload Saren's implants.
All of a sudden he felt a horrible burning sensation in the cords. Saren was peering at him intently, the red glow of his eyes burning brighter than before, and Kiryuu noticed that he was gripping the cords tightly in his extended fingers. As several dark pulses began to travel down the cords, Kiryuu's eyes widened in shock. Saren was trying to use the cords against him! By all accounts Saren shouldn't have been able to use them, for only Technomancers and Forerunner constructs could do so. It looked like he was trying to force a connection anyway and even seemed to be having some success. Kiryuu tried to sever the connection to stop himself from being overloaded, but the cords held fast. He began to furiously try to shake himself free as the pulses crept closer.
All of a sudden there was a blinding white light and a loud noise like a thunderclap. Saren was sent flying backwards, and Kiryuu staggered back, dazed, as the cords suddenly retreated back into him. Saren hit the opposite wall with a resounding thud, but recovered quickly, sending a volley of laser bolts in Kiryuu's direction. Kiryuu was still stunned, however, and Alan had to tackle him to the floor as the bolts shot over their heads.
As the two of them pulled themselves up, trying to get a bead on Saren, they saw that the skeleton was moving at a blinding speed. The shots from the others went wild, and Alan was sure that they had no hope of hitting him at that speed. Every now and then he would shoot a volley of lasers or his red lightning. Sprays of mud were sent everywhere, the rocks were split and even the garden's tree was snapped neatly in two by the deadly lasers, the leaves catching on fire. None of the group could get a clear shot in as Saren darted all around them, keeping them pinned down with his weaponry.
"We can't take much more of this!" Kaidan shouted. "He'll get a lucky shot in soon, and we're running outta cover!"
"There's gotta be a way to immobilise him!" Alan shouted.
"I can't hit him with a stasis field!" Kiryuu called. "He's moving too fast!"
It was then that Liara, who had been quiet to this point, started to glow again, her biotics powering up.
"I have an idea..." she said quietly. "It will take all of my focus, so I'll only get one chance..."
"Try anything!" Alan shouted.
After another laser shot past them, Liara stood up, taking a deep breath, her eyes glowing with a bright white light and her whole body seeming to be bathed in a blue fire. She shot her arm out and directed a stream of energy towards the centre of the ceiling. When it was just under the glass it suddenly seemed to explode, forming what looked like a small purple orb right in the centre of the ceiling. Alan felt a tugging sensation, as if an invisible string was trying to pull him up to the ceiling towards that orb. If Alan didn't know any better, he could have sworn that Liara had just created a black hole. Liara herself seemed to be struggling to maintain this singularity field, as her knees buckled and she gritted her teeth.
Mercifully her gamble paid off, for as Saren lurched towards the opposite wall he was suddenly caught in the pull of the singularity. He was thrown about, suspended near the ceiling, flailing about desperately fighting to escape the pull. He continued to shoot, but the shots went wild as he was disoriented. Seeing this, Shepard pointed over to Kiryuu.
"Mr. President!" she shouted. "Restrain him! Quick!"
"Hurry!" Liara shouted, her expression making it clear that her strength was failing her.
Without hesitation, Kiryuu tore the plating from his forearms, extending the silver bio-syntech tendrils that made up his muscle tissue. He had complete control over it, and he sent it to tightly bind Saren's arms and legs, rendering him immobile. For a while he floated in the singularity's pull, looking like a monstrous kite, until finally the glowing orb faded. Liara collapsed to her knees, looking completely drained. Kaidan rushed over to her and knelt over her protectively.
As soon as Saren hit the floor, he wrestled viciously, trying to escape from the syntech binding him. Kiryuu held on for dear life as Saren tried to spring out of his grasp, nearly throwing Kiryuu off-balance several times as he fought to free himself. It was as if Kiryuu was trying to lasso a wild animal, or had hooked a particularly monstrous fish. On top of that, Saren fired his lasers straight at Kiryuu several times, forcing him to raise his shielding, putting extra strain on him that became evident on his face.
"It's no use!" he gasped. "I can't hold him like this forever!"
All of a sudden Saren launched himself in the one direction he wasn't restricted; straight at Kiryuu. The syntech lines went slack as he pounced at Kiryuu, and the mecha was caught by surprise; he was tackled and toppled over to the floor, Saren standing over him.
"This ends now," Sovereign's voice rasped through Saren's mouth. "The Cycle will begin again!"
Kiryuu was certain that Saren would have blasted him there and then, but suddenly there was a loud gunshot and what looked like a large ball of electricity slammed into Saren. He released a loud yell as he shuddered violently, as if having an electric shock. Kiryuu was affected by this too due to his close proximity and the fact that he was still binding Saren, and he felt as if he had been punched in the gut. Looking over to the side he saw Alan standing there, the barrel of his Technomantic revolver smoking. He had fired a Medusa shell; a type of shot used for stunning targets and disabling shielding.
Saren was still reeling, trying to recover from the effects of the shot, when all of a sudden Shepard ran in, shoulder-tackling him and slamming his face with the butt of her rifle. Still addled by the shot, Saren didn't react quickly enough, and another strike sent him toppling over. Standing firm over him, Shepard saw that the red lightning that crackled all over him seemed to be coming from a spot in the centre of his chest. The rib-cage was exposed, showing what looked like a metallic orb, which doubtless contained the energy that was powering this zombie-like creature.
With grim focus in her eyes, she unloaded every round from her rifle into Saren's chest, piercing his chest and face liberally. She focused her aim on the sphere, and as she felt the bullets in her clip begin to run out she heard the sphere smashing, unable to contain the energies locked within any longer, damaged beyond repair. She quickly jumped back to avoid getting hit as the red energy exploded out from Saren, dissipating at it hit the walls. Saren's body was consumed by this energy, and before everyone's eyes he burst into flame, and whatever was left of his body was swiftly reduced to ashes.
At last, as Shepard lowered her gun and went to rejoin the others, she knew that it was finally over. Kiryuu looked at where the body had fallen, and wondered just how much of himself King Ghidorah had put into Saren, how much energy he had used in order to revive him. As the group moved to climb out of the rock garden, exhausted beyond all endurance, he hoped and prayed that it was all over.
0
The fleets continued their valiant struggle. They had lost several ships as well as the ones that had been destroyed in rescuing the Destiny Ascension, but they had never stopped fighting. Now, as they watched, they saw red lightning streaking all over Sovereign, and all of a sudden it leaned precariously. It took a moment for everyone to realise that Sovereign was now detached from the Citadel Tower, and was in free-fall. Its enormous arms writhed desperately as it fell away from the tower, the lights on it flickering and fading. This sudden weakness did not escape Telek's notice, and as he ran a scan on the Reaper he soon realised what had happened.
"Its shields are down!" said Joker over the channels. "Now's our chance!"
"Give 'em hell, boys!" shouted Telek to all the ships.
"Hit it with everything we've got!" commanded Hackett, in a somewhat more reserved tone.
"I'll try to move the Wrath into position!" called Telek. "If it's detached from the tower, I might be able to hit it with a low-output blast from the main gun."
"You got it, Squiddy," replied Joker, jokingly. "We'll soften it up for ya!"
"Only Johnson ever got to call me 'Squiddy'," Telek retorted grumpily, remembering the grouchy, larger-than-life sergeant.
Immediately the surviving frigates opened fire, torpedoes and plasma bolts rocking Sovereign from all sides. The shots gradually pushed it further away from the tower. With deliberate movements Joli steered the Silent Wrath into a position where Sovereign would be more vulnerable from the main gun, a position where they could hit it would hitting the Citadel.
"Hard on my flank!" Joker called. "We're going in!" As the Normandy swooped at the stricken Reaper, blasting off large chunks of it with its own main cannon, Joli called up from the Wrath's helm.
"We're in position, Excellency!" he said. "We've got a clear shot!"
"Well, waddaya waitin' for?" shouted Telek. "Blast that son-of-a-bitch!"
"Everyone get clear!" Tom called into the communicator. "We're gonna finish that thing off!"
"Copy, Jimenez," replied Hackett. "Our ships are outta the firing line!"
"Fire!" shouted Telek.
Joli didn't need to be told twice. He fired the main gun, and the energy streaked straight out of the front of the vessel, striking the Reaper right in the middle. The dreaded machine was torn apart by the gun; most of it was outright disintegrated, but large chunks were sent flying all over the Citadel. As it was destroyed, Telek whooped and cheered with the rest of the crew and the fleet survivors.
"How do ya like that, Ghidorah?" he shouted. "Now I'm gonna make the rest of yer star-spawn extinct!"
0
Alan helped to pull Shepard out of the garden and back into the main chamber, as she was the last to climb out of that makeshift arena. The chamber had been momentarily lit by the blast from the Wrath's main gun, and the explosion could be heard all over the station within the mass effect fields. It was then, and only then, did they realise that Sovereign was truly defeated; they had won.
However, even as they watched, they saw a huge piece of metal, the remains of one of Sovereign's arms, flying through space, straight at them. With wide eyes, Shepard turned to the others.
"Go!" she shouted, pushing Alan and Kaidan away. All five of them ran for it; Kiryuu was in the front while Shepard brought up the rear. Even as he ran, his muscles aching, Alan was sure that they could not hope to outrun the wreckage.
The next thing he knew, he was thrown bodily through the air, as the tower was rocked by a loud crash. Large chunks of flying debris smashed all around him, such a cacophony of noise the likes of which he had never heard before. He slammed hard onto the floor and rolled over several times, a particularly large piece of debris coming down dangerously close to his head. As he came to a stop, his ears began ringing so loudly as to blot out all other noise. He felt as if he was trapped inside a bass drum during a thunderstorm.
At last, as the noise died away, Alan tried to prise himself off the floor, only to find that he was pinned down by rubble. An emergency shield must have activated, as nothing was sucked out of the chamber into the void. He blinked several times, his sight very blurred. Around him he could now hear fires burning, and the faint sounds of movement coming from close by. As he watched, a piece of rubble was shifted aside, and it took a few moments for Alan to see Kiryuu, looking worried out of his mind, his face streaked with dirt.
"Alan!" Kiryuu shouted, forcing his way through the wreckage to reach Alan. With all of his strength he managed to lift off a piece of ceiling that had pinned Alan down, and was soon helping his wayward grandson to his feet.
"Alan, are you alright?" Kiryuu asked urgently. It took a few seconds for Alan to answer, as his head felt like a smashed pumpkin, like the morning after shore leave.
"No," he groaned, even as the pain in his legs began to die away. "I need a holiday. Maybe somewhere sunny."
Kiryuu couldn't help chuckling slightly, and as he helped to pull Alan clear of the wreckage they heard footsteps coming towards them. Looking back towards the stairs, they soon saw Anderson, Chellick and the C-Sec officers approaching them, each of them lowering their weapons as they saw the pair. All of them were covered in synthetic fluids; they had fought their way through a small army of Geth to get here.
"Mr. President!" Anderson called. "Are you alright, sir?"
"As well as can be expected, Captain," replied Kiryuu. He looked back towards the wreckage. "I'm worried about Shepard and her team. They were further back than we were..."
Without waiting for instructions, Chellick and his troops moved in, frantically pushing the wreckage aside. Alan coughed and nearly collapsed; though he had healed quickly, he still felt exhausted. Kiryuu helped to support him.
"Take it easy, Alan," he said. "At least it's all over now."
"Maybe..." Alan groaned. "That was just one of them, though..."
"I know," said Kiryuu. "We'll worry about that later. Right now let's just enjoy the small victory we have all achieved here today."
"Captain Anderson!" Chellick suddenly called. "Get over here! We've found 'em!"
Anderson quickly moved to the wreckage, helping to push more of it out of the way. Soon he was leading both Kaidan and Liara away from the wreckage, helping them to stay on their feet.
"Take it easy," he said to them. "You're safe now; it's over. Where's the Commander?"
The only response he got from them was silence. Both of them looked back towards a particularly large cluster of wreckage, with expressions of deepest sorrow. Alan and Kiryuu followed their gaze. Indeed, if anybody had been there, as Shepard almost certainly would have been, they were sure that they would definitely have been killed.
"No..." Alan breathed, hardly daring to believe it. This one woman who had performed so many minor miracles in the past few days was now gone. Alan saw that this had hit Kaidan the hardest; he looked completely torn apart. Kiryuu closed his eyes, and began to say a silent prayer. Anderson too looked stricken with grief; his protégé, the nearest thing he had ever had to a daughter, was gone.
"I saw her final moments, Captain," Kiryuu said with sincere sympathy. "She was a courageous and resourceful woman, dedicated to saving the peoples of this galaxy all the way to the end. You would have been proud of her."
"I am proud of her, Mr. President," replied Anderson sadly.
Neither Kaidan nor Liara said anything; the grief in their eyes said more than words ever could. The group began to make their way back towards the elevator, with Kiryuu supporting Alan while other C-Sec officers supported Kaidan and Liara. There was a very melancholy air hanging over them, and the victory felt bittersweet.
It was then that a faint noise could be heard behind them. On a whim Anderson turned to look back, and he saw something moving in the midst of the wreckage.
"Wait a minute!" he called. "Wait a minute!"
The group paused and turned back. Within moments they had seen what Anderson saw as well; a figure running along the floor, darting between the mounds of wreckage. The figure scrambled to the top of a pile of ruined machinery, and at last the group saw that it was Commander Shepard; bruised and battered, but very much alive.
Now that she had seen the others, seen the overjoyed faces of her companions and friends, her face lit up, and she hobbled over the wreckage towards them. After a few moments of stunned silence, Chellick and the C-Sec officers filled the hall with their cheers. Anderson, Kiryuu, Alan, Kaidan and Liara preferred to take a more dignified approach in showing their immense joy at seeing her alive, as she walked into the arms of those who she cared about, and who cared about her, the most.