The ride in the tramcar to Rift Station was quiet, everyone sat deep in thought as they approached the end. Shepard stood in the middle of the tram like a coiled spring, ready to leap into action. Liara sat to one side, determination still written across her face. Tali was busy playing with her shotgun, as was Ashley with her assault rifle. Only Wrex sat unmoving, appearing to be bored by the entire experience. Shepard looked over his team with some sort of pride. In every mission so far, his team had proven more than a match for any opposition they faced, and escaped virtually unscathed every time. He knew it couldn't last, but he'd do everything in his power to make sure they all returned home alive.
After a few minutes, the tram pulled to a stop at Rift Station. The five exited the tram, Shepard on point as usual, rifle already in hand, raised and searching the area. It was eerily quiet. Apart from the footsteps behind him, the only thing he could hear was his own breath. It was too quiet. In his gut, something he always trusted, he knew the situation was definitely wrong.
"Stay sharp," he quietly ordered his team. The lack of sound was disconcerting, the lack of people even more worrying.
Benezia may be here, but where the hell is everyone else?
The five walked carefully through the deserted station, checking through various doors for any signs of life. There was simply no-one around, alive anyway. But there were also no bodies, no signs of any struggle, no blood, no mess. It was as if everyone had simply disappeared.
The group eventually made their way to an elevator, a sign stating 'This Way to Barracks' above. Shepard gestured with his hand towards the door. The doors to the elevator opened once the ascent had been completed, and the group of five walked out to see a group of guards, with weapons at the ready, pointing straight at them. Shepard signalled to his team to keep calm, but stay on guard.
"Stand down," stated one of the guards, standing in the middle, obviously in charge. "Sorry, sir, we couldn't be sure what was on that tram."
"No problem. Had much trouble?" Shepard asked.
The guard almost laughed. "Trouble? Those creatures, whatever they are, have slaughtered my team. I can't remember the last time any of us slept. We're all running on stims at the moment. Those creatures never let up. They always seem to know when we've let our guard down, even if only for a moment. They're taking us out, one by one. But that's beside the point. You're human. So that's a good thing. But who are you?"
"Commander Shepard. Spectre. Or Alliance Navy. Take your pick. This is my squad," he stated, gesturing back towards the others, "So what's happened here?"
"Name's Ventralis. Those creatures over-ran the hot labs last week. No doubt those scientists were doing something completely stupid, which has now left us in the situation we're currently in. They've been on the loose ever since. Only Han Olar escaped with his life. But… he ain't talking a lot of sense. Other than that, we've been fighting off those things wherever we could. They're whittling down our numbers, slowly but surely."
"We're looking for an asari matriarch. Lady Benezia. My mother. Would you know anything about her?" asked Liara.
"Yeah, she arrived yesterday. She may be down in the hot labs at the moment. We haven't seen her come out, back through here, so I assume she's still down there."
"Good to know, thanks for the information," finished Shepard.
With a nod, the captain resumed his defensive role, while Shepard indicated to his team to follow as they moved further into the facility. They walked along a number of corridors, with no sign of any further life. Once again, all was quiet. The group eventually arrived in a larger room, where they finally found further signs of life. The group holstered their weapons as they walked into the room, taking note of the survivors.
The room was almost silent, pairs or small groups quietly conversing. Others walked around with a dazed look. Most of them looked frightened, some in tears, others simply staring into the middle distance. Most turned to watch as Shepard and his group entered the room but no-one made to approach them.
"I've seen this sort of reaction before," mumbled Shepard.
"Where?" asked Liara.
"After Elysium," he replied.
Shepard walked to the end of the room and climbed a pair of steps, turned around and faced back towards the survivors. He put two fingers into his mouth and let out a large whistle. That made everyone turn and look.
"Could everyone in this room come here please?"
No-one moved.
Shepard sighed. "Now please!"
Eventually people started to wander towards Shepard and, soon enough, all the survivors were standing in front of him. They looked at him somewhat expectantly, as if he had the answers. Shepard knew that he only had questions.
"Okay, my name is Commander Shepard. I'm a Spectre. I'm here to locate one Lady Benezia. She is an asari matriarch. Can any of you tell me where Lady Benezia is?"
A sea of blank faces. Shepard sighed again.
"Okay, has anyone seen an asari Matriarch come this way in the past 24 to 48 hours?"
No-one said a word. Shepard was getting slightly annoyed, as he opened and closed his fists a couple of times, but he remained calm. He could see that these people had obviously been through a lot. Most looked in some sort of shock. It wasn't their fault.
"Can anyone tell me where Han Olar is?"
A hand was raised in the crowd. A salarian. He looked like a doctor. "He's currently in the science team headquarters. He refuses to come up here. He's… not quite right. Not after everything that's happened."
"Okay, that's a start. Thank you. Now, can anyone tell me how to get through the hot labs?"
Another hand raised. "You may need to go speak to Doctor Cohen. He's currently in the medical bay. I believe he may have a pass to go through the maintenance area. Any other access to the hot labs is currently restricted due to the outbreak of those creatures."
Just the news everyone wanted to hear. "Great. Thank you all very much for your co-operation."
Shepard turned and gestured to his team to move out.
"Commander, are you here to help us?" shouted a voice from the crowd, slight desperation in the voice.
Shepard turned. The question caught him slightly off guard as his eyes opened wide in surprise. He looked at his team for a moment, telling them to halt, before he turned and walked to the top of the stairs again.
"Yes, we are here to help. I promise you, no more deaths. You will be safe. Just stay calm, stay together and you'll get out of this alive."
The sense of relief through the group in front of him was palpable. Smiles broke out on faces, he could see one or two break down in tears at the thought they may finally be safe. Shepard gave a slight smile before turning and gesturing at his team to move out once again.
"Okay, first we'll see what we can find out from this Han Olar. Then we'll go to the Doctor and see about that pass."
Shepard followed the signs to the science lab, first down another hallway before descending, once again, in an elevator, Wrex continuing to grumble about being stuck in confined spaces.
"Krogan don't like it, Shepard," he grumbled, Liara and Tali trying to stifle giggles.
Soon they came out into a large room, the science lab, occupied by only a volus and a couple of other scientists. Shepard raised his eyebrows in surprise. No-one had expected to find a volus.
"Er, Han Olar?"
"You came to find out about them, didn't you?"
"Them? You mean the creatures?"
"Yes, the rachni."
"What? Rachni?" growled Wrex, "We killed the rachni!"
"But the rachni are extinct," stated Liara, "The krogan wiped them out."
"They did. Or, at least, we thought they did. Binary Helix found a derelict ship. On board was an egg. They brought it here."
A scientist in the corner tried to interrupt. "Olar! Will you shut up…"
Shepard gave the man a fierce glare while Wrex raised his shotgun. The scientist soon quieted down, letting Olar resume what he saying.
"Olar, are you absolutely sure it's the rachni? This is all a little bit crazy," asked Liara.
"I wish I was crazy. It would be better than… this," replied the volus, gesturing towards the emptiness of the room.
"What about Lady Benezia? Is she still in the hot labs?" asked Liara.
"Hmmm. Such a thing would be possible. The rachni are susceptible to biotic attacks. It is possible she would be safe."
"Anything else?" asked Shepard.
"No… just… leave me be."
Shepard turned and walked away, his group falling in behind him. Once they were back in the hallway, Shepard turned to his group.
"Rachni! Do you believe it!? Who on earth thought this would be a good idea? Someone has to pay for this! Tali, take information from any console we can find. I'm taking this before the Council."
"Yes, Shepard," replied Tali.
"I knew they smelled wrong," said Wrex, "Rachni! I can't believe these eggheads would do this. Thousands upon thousands of krogan were sacrificed to stop those insect bastards. Their deaths will not be in vain."
"Why would they choose to resurrect the rachni?" asked Liara.
"That's the $64,000 question, Liara, and one we may have to ask someone. I have a feeling a certain Matriarch may have the answers."
Liara grimaced and lowered her head. "I have a feeling you may be right, Shepard," she said quietly.
"Are you okay, Liara?" Shepard asked softly, resting a hand on her shoulder.
Liara looked up and nodded, determination written in her eyes. "I'm ready to face her, Shepard. She must pay for this."
Shepard nodded his head in agreement. "Right, I think it's time we find this doctor."
The group moved out in silence, back up the elevator and through the never-ending hallways, eventually coming to the door designating the way down to the medical bay. A couple of flights of stairs, arriving in a room mostly full of cots, people laying on them, apparently in agony. The group had heard their cries on their descent. None of the patients looked well. In the middle of the room stood a middle-aged human male, who Shepard assumed was the doctor. He gestured to Liara towards the patients, Liara understanding and walking off to see if she could help at all.
"Doctor Cohen?" asked Shepard.
The doctor whipped around. He looked quite distracted. "Yes, what do you want?"
"Doctor, I'm Commander Shepard. I'm here to help."
"Oh…. Oh, that's… good…."
"You okay, doctor?"
"Yes, Commander. I'm just exhausted. Continuous casualties since the outbreak. Then there are these poor guys. All suffering from toxic poisoning."
"What happened?"
"There was an accident. Other than that… I really can't say."
Shepard sighed. "It's okay, doctor. I know about the rachni. I can put two and two together."
The doctors' eyes went wide with surprise for a moment, then he sighed as well. "I don't know what those idiots were thinking. All I know is that a lot of people have been killed, and more are lain up in here because of our stupidity"
"What can I do to help? Though I understand you have hot labs access. Perhaps we can do each other a favour?"
"Certainly, Commander. If you can go sort out an antidote for this toxin, I'll give you hot labs access."
"Perfect. How do I go about making this antidote?"
"The room is currently under quarantine. Tell the guard I sent you. Notes for the antidote are currently in the room. You should be able to put together the concoction from the notes. Return here, and I'll give you may pass."
"Sounds like a plan, doctor. I'll be back shortly."
Shepard gestured to his team to follow back upstairs to the main room. He didn't like the idea, but he thought that splitting up the team again would work to get two jobs done at once.
"Okay, Liara, Ashley, go down to the science labs and get that antidote sorted. Return to the doctor when you're done and see if there is any way that you can help him out. Tali, Wrex and I will go down to the hot labs and see what the story is. We'll hold off confronting Benezia until we're back together as a team."
"Okay, Commander," stated Ashley, who gestured to Liara and the two disappeared down the hallway to the science labs.
Shepard and his two companions were in the elevator, descending to one section of the hot labs. He knew they were nearing the end of their mission. Knew that they would soon have to face a powerful asari Matriarch. Knew that Liara would eventually have to face her own mother in battle. However, he was more concerned with Wrex at the moment, who looked utterly furious.
"All good, Wrex?"
Wrex turned to face Shepard. "Still can't believe it, Shepard. What are Binary Helix, Benezia or even Saren thinking? Have they not read the history books? Have they read about the utter devastation the rachni brought upon the galaxy?"
"We'll get Benezia in time, Wrex. Then we may get answers."
"We'd better."
The group exited the elevator to find themselves in a large room. In the middle of the room sat alone a human male. Other than that, the room was practically empty. Glass windows lined the room, looking out into a large cavern. Shepard walked across to look out. There was nothing there. Nodding once to himself, Shepard walked over towards the male.
"Are you here to secure the situation?" asked the human male.
"I'm Commander Shepard. Spectre. I'm here to resolve this… situation. Don't be coy, however. I know these creatures are rachni. I know what Binary Helix has been up to."
The human male sighed. "It's all our fault."
"Okay, so what happened here? Why are rachni on the loose? Who thought this would be a good bloody idea in the first place?"
The human male sighed again. "After we found the ship, we located eggs on board in cryogenic suspension."
"And Binary Helix chose to hatch a rachni egg?!"
"You should have destroyed the egg!" roared Wrex. He moved to advance on the human male, shotgun in hand.
Shepard turned to face the krogan. "Easy, Wrex. Easy. We need information from this man."
Wrex growled but stopped his advance. "These people had no idea what they were dealing with, Shepard."
Shepard returned his attention to the other human male. "So what did Binary Helix plan?"
"They wanted to clone the rachni. Mass-produce a clone army. But, when they hatched the egg, they found that the rachni was a queen. The plan changed. After the queen laid a batch of eggs, they were taken away, thinking that without the mother, the babies could be raised by the scientists."
"Why are there so many rachni?"
"Queens can lay many eggs, very quickly. They are very fast breeders."
"Well, whatever the case, clearly your plan didn't work. These rachni are a menace."
"You're telling me what I already know. We tried playing God. Now we will all pay the price. Without the queen, the rachni cannot be controlled. It is something we did not understand. Or chose to ignore."
"So how do we stop them?"
"Neutron purge. It is the only way."
"What will the purge do?"
"It is a burst of neutron radiation. Everything in the station will die."
"How do we set off this purge?"
"There is a control nearby. Then…."
The human male's explanation was stopped, as the claw of a rachni shot through his body, lifting him up, flinging him left and right before throwing him to the ground.
"Oh fuck! Open fire!" shouted Shepard, as three weapons were immediately raised and the lone rachni blasted into oblivion. "Fucking son of a bitch!"
"What do we do, Shepard?" asked Tali.
"Go search his body, Tali, and see if you find anything that may help us."
Tali walked over to where the human male lay and carefully searched his body. She reached into one of his pockets and pulled out a small datapad.
"Got something, Shepard," she said and handed the datapad to Shepard. These were the codes required. Wordlessly, Shepard started walking towards the control room, entering to find a VI interface. With a couple of keystrokes, the VI illuminated.
"Activate the neutron purge," requested Shepard.
"Proper authorisation code required," answered the VI.
"875-020-079. Code Omega local execution."
"Verified. Purge will initiate in t-minus 120 seconds."
"Right, let's get the hell out of here!" ordered Shepard, as he turned to get out of the area. He opened the door to find the room full of rachni.
"Oh, you've gotta be shitting me. Every time! Can a guy catch a fucking break once in a while? You know, solving a problem then walking out in peace."
Shepard got down on one knee, and started firing into the group of rachni that were preventing their escape. Tali joined him on one knee alongside, her shotgun firing in short bursts, each finding the intended target. Wrex… well, Wrex simply charged into the middle of the rachni, shotgun blasting away or being smashed into the face of whatever happened to be in the way.
Crazy son of a bitch…
The rachni were spitting acid towards them, but with Wrex now occupying most of their attention, the other two were able to focus on simply firing into the rachni, making sure to take out any who were approaching too closely. Shepard kept an eye on Wrex, who was simply blasting away creature after creature with his shotgun, though he was starting to take some damage.
"You okay, Wrex?" shouted Shepard.
"Just getting started!" barked the krogan in response, blasting away another rachni, not before he took a heavy blow to his arm.
Soon the number of rachni was dwindling, and Shepard started to advance, indicating to Tali for her to follow.
"How long, Tali?"
"30 seconds, Shepard."
"Right, let's hustle. Move! Move! Move!"
Stowing their weapons quickly, Tali and Shepard started running through the large room, avoiding whatever rachni forces remained, any acid being spat there way thankfully avoiding them. Shepard took a quick look out one of the windows. All he could see was an ocean of rachni.
There must be thousands of them down there!
Shepard ran past Wrex, who was busy using his shotgun as a club against whatever rachni remained. "Come on, Wrex, we need to go!"
"Right behind you, Shepard," answered Wrex, who blasted away one final time with his shotgun, before ambling towards the elevator.
Shepard pressed the button for the elevator, the doors opening and Shepard motioned for his team to board, before getting on last. The doors closed and the elevator started to ascend.
"Status report, guys."
"Few wounds here, Shepard, but I'll recover," confirmed Wrex. Shepard turned to check over the krogan, who did appear to be bleeding from a couple of nasty looking wounds on his chest.
"Sure, Wrex?"
Wrex just grinned. "This is nothing, Shepard. You should see me after a real fight!"
"Shields and armour took a beating, Shepard, but I'm fine," stated Tali, between gasps for breath.
Shepard quickly checked himself. No wounds, but his shields had taken a battering, and his armour had seen better days after all they'd been through. He made sure to covertly check over Tali. She appeared to be fine. Tali noticed he was checking on her, tilting her head slightly as he looked over. Shepard noticed and gave a small smile before turning his head forward again. Grimaced slightly. Things were only going to get more difficult.
Tali started counting down from five, with the three all shifting slightly, full of nerves, as the elevator shook as the neutron purge went off, a series of loud bangs exploding below them. Eventually the elevator arrived at the main level again and the team moved out.
"Commander, we have a problem," stated Ash over the comm.
Shepard came to a halt just outside the door to the barracks. "What is it, Ash?"
"It's Ventralis. He's working with Benezia. He has all the survivors locked up in their barracks as hostages. He's waiting for you to return. He's under instruction to kill us. Then he's going to start killing any survivors. They don't want any witnesses to what's been going on here."
"How many men does he have, Ash?"
"Around half a dozen or so left. They came under siege from more rachni after we met him."
"Where are you now?"
"We're hunkered down in the medical bay with the doctor and patients. Ventralis hasn't sent someone down here yet. Maybe he doesn't know we're down here."
"Okay, hold where you are. Ash, you'll know the signal to come up when you hear it."
"What do you mean, Commander?"
"Trust me, you'll know."
"Aye-aye."
"Did you get the card for the maintenance shaft?"
"In my pocket."
"Okay. I'll go talk to Ventralis. You'll know what to do."
Shepard and his two companions walked back through the waiting area where they had first encountered Ventralis. Ashley was right for now at least as the area was deserted.
"What's the plan, Shepard?" asked Wrex.
"I'm going to try and talk him out of doing utterly stupid. Be prepared, though, as I have no doubt he's been promised the world by Benezia. Weapons free, but stay cool when we enter the barracks."
Wrex and Tali nodded in agreement and Shepard led the way back towards the barracks. Taking one last breath, and one last check of his assault rifle, Shepard stepped through the door into the barracks, half expecting to be shot. He wasn't surprised to see Ventralis standing there, though, surrounded by five guards.
"Commander."
"Captain."
"I'm afraid we're at an impasse, Commander. I have my orders from Benezia."
"So I've heard."
"Yet you still come to confront me?"
"I'm not confronting you, Captain. I'm hoping you may see the error of your ways."
"You don't understand, Commander."
"Oh, but I do, Captain. You see, this will play out one of two ways. Either you step out of my way, leave Noveria and I go deal with Benezia. Or I kill you, and your friends, and deal with Benezia afterwards."
Shepard heard two shotguns readied behind him. In front, the five guards readied their own weapons. Shepard didn't move a muscle. To his credit, neither did Ventralis.
"You seem confident, Commander, that you can escape this situation unscathed," stated Ventralis with some amusement.
"I'm not sure about unscathed, but I always have a back-up plan. Isn't that right, Ash?"
"Correct, Commander," answered Ashley, who appeared with Liara behind where Ventralis and his five guards were standing. Ashley had her weapon primed and ready, aimed at one guard, Liara glowed blue in a biotic aura, ready to release some form of attack on the whole lot of them.
"You're still out-numbered, Commander," stated Ventralis, though any confidence he once held had disappeared.
"Let's see, Captain. You have me, a Spectre. And I'm in a bad fucking mood right now. You won't like me when I'm in a bad mood. Subsequently, I'm backed by an Alliance soldier just itching to shoot one of you assholes, a veteran krogan warrior who could probably deal with the six of you by himself, a quarian engineer with a shotgun and an attitude, and a fearsome asari biotic who will cause untold havoc with all of you. Opposing us, you have yourself and five extremely worn out guards. I see only one winner."
"I have my orders, Commander!" yelled Ventralis in desperation.
"Benezia will either be arrested or dead in a matter of minutes, Captain. If you drop your weapons right now, I'm willing to let you leave with your lives"
Ventralis sighed and stayed silent. His arms remained at his side, though he did not reach for his weapon. The guards behind him exchanged looks, shifting nervously, their weapons starting to lower.
"Are you really prepared to die over this, Captain, and sacrifice the men behind you for no reason?" asked Shepard, "Would it really be worth it? Life or death, Captain. It's your choice."
Ventralis looked up at Shepard, right into his eyes. And slightly nodded his head. He turned his head towards his team. "Lower and drop your weapons, men, and back away."
The guards followed his instructions, the clatter of rifles on the ground, hands raised up as the five moved to the other side of the room. Ventralis didn't move for a moment, then un-holstered his pistol, though didn't raise it at anyway, simply sat at his side, finger on the trigger. Shepard echoed his movement, aiming his pistol straight at Ventralis.
"What are you doing, Captain?"
"You think I can just walk away, Commander? They know who I am. They'll find me if I let you go. But that doesn't mean…"
The sentence remained incomplete, as Ventralis placed the barrel in his mouth and pulled the trigger. Shepard looked away for a moment, before he lowered his pistol and re-holstered it, as he looked down at the slumped form of the Captain, the blood starting to spread across the ground from the wound out the back of his head.
You never get used to seeing that….
Shepard looked across at the five unarmed guards. "You five. Leave now. The tram is sat waiting. Take it back to Central Station, then make sure it's sent back. I never want to see any of you again."
The five merely nodded their heads and silently walked past Shepard and his team. The other four holstered their weapons as they congregated back in the middle of the room.
"Well played, Commander," stated Ashley. Shepard just shrugged his shoulders in response.
"Time to end this," he said.
Shepard and his group were making their way down the maintenance hallway towards where they knew Benezia was located. The rest of the survivors had been released from where they were being held and sent back on the tram. Shepard didn't know how long they would be, figuring the tram would have returned, and just hoped they didn't take the Mako that was still waiting for them.
With the card from the doctor, the group were able to take the back way into the hot labs section where Benezia was supposedly at, a lone rachni the only opposition along the way. Before entering the assumed final showdown, Shepard stopped to speak to one member of his group.
"Liara, are ready for this?"
Liara gave a firm nod. "Yes, Shepard. You can count on me. Whoever that person is in that room, she is no longer my mother. Such a thing would not be possible. She has obviously been corrupted by Saren."
With a final nod, Shepard turned and opened the door.
Benezia stood at the top of a flight of stairs. She was tall. She looked powerful. She was illuminated in a blue glow. She oozed biotic power. She would be a formidable opponent. But, first, she spoke.
"You do not know the privilege of being a mother. There is power in creation. To shape a life. Turn it towards happiness or despair."
Benezia turned towards a creature sat in a tank. Shepard followed her gaze.
"The rachni queen," he muttered to himself.
"Her children were to be ours. Raised to hunt and slay Saren's enemies."
"Well, that sounds like a good fucking idea," Shepard said, mostly to himself. He heard a snigger or two from his team, quickly extinguished.
Benezia turned back towards Shepard and his group, moving closer with each careful step. Still, she did not attack. Instead, Benezia turned her attention to Liara.
"I won't be moved by sympathy, no matter who you bring to this confrontation."
"I'm here because I choose to be, Benezia. The woman I called mother disappeared long ago," replied Liara, determination in her voice, "I would try and understand. But there appears to be little point."
Benezia advanced until she stood with only the stairs separating herself from Shepard and his group. Shepard looked into her eyes. They had taken on a sinister edge. Shepard prepared himself mentally for what was about to happen. He could sense his team tensing up behind him, ready to explode into action.
"Have you faced an asari commando unit before? Few humans have."
"So I guess you can't be reasoned with?"
"No, there will be no negotiation. Only your deaths."
Before he could move, Shepard found himself trapped in a stasis field. His team moved around him into cover, as asari commandos moved in from the opposite side of the room. Shepard found himself under fire, his armour and shields taking a number of hits, but the stasis field only held for a matter of seconds. As soon as he was free, he searched for the nearest cover.
The commandos were powerful opponents, well-trained in weaponry with powerful biotics in reserve. However, Shepard could see the battlefield in his mind, he could already see a tactical advantage, if it played out as he hoped.
"Ash, Wrex. See if you can flank around to the other side of this platform, get in behind them," he suggested. Ash nodded her head, and with a tap on Wrex's shoulder, the pair moved off, staying out of sight, as Shepard, Tali and Liara kept their attentions focused on the commandos, hoping they would not notice.
Liara was flinging biotic attack after biotic attack - warps, lifts and the occasional singularity - at her opponents, her anger and fury at the situation clear in her eyes. The commandos wilted under her attacks, while Shepard merely played a supporting role in taking down their shields. Tali contributed with her shotgun where she could, while Shepard could see Wrex and Ash around the other side.
Benezia, though, was aware, and soon numerous geth troopers were charging into the room, alongside more commandos.
"Tali, there's some geth! You know what to do!"
Shepard slowly rose out of cover to provide covering fire for Tali, moving from cover to cover as Tali started overloading shields and weapons with the also the occasional sabotage. Liara continued with her biotic attacks, while Shepard could hear gunfire and roars from the other side of the room. Ash and Wrex appeared to have some of Benezia's forces pinned back on their own.
Shepard put a finger to his ear. "Ash, status?"
"All good here, Shepard. Wrex is a tank!"
Shepard chuckled for a moment, before resuming his own battle. Soon the floor was littered with the bodies of geth and asari commandos, unable to withstand the force of Shepard's team. He looked up to see Benezia on her platform, an increasingly concerned look on her face. Clearly this was not the outcome she had expected.
"Do you not think I plan for any eventuality, Commander?"
More geth appeared. Most appeared to be snipers, the pings of bullets ricocheting around the lab.
"Got anything else, Tali?"
Tali grinned behind her mask. "Actually, Shepard, this is a good trick." Tali keyed her omni-tool again. One of the geth started to spark, and followed that by starting to fire into its allies. The other geth turned and started firing at the hacked geth in return.
"Nice one, Tali. Keep that in mind for the future! When did you learn that?"
Tali had to speak up over the gunfire. "Something I've been working on recently. Figured it would come in useful eventually."
"Awesome." Shepard stood up to fire, before returning to cover. "You see, Tali, this is why I always bring you along. You're full of good ideas." Shepard turned to flash a quick grin at Tali. As usual, Tali blushed behind her mask.
Even in the middle of all this, he's still nice to me.
Soon the numbers of geth had been whittled down, with Ashley and Wrex working their way back to Shepard. With a final shot, the last geth fell at the feet of Tali, shotgun still smoking. There were no more enemies left.
Except Benezia.
The group of five advanced on the now ailing Matriarch. Yet, even though she appeared defeated, she was still defiant. Shepard had to admit a begrudging respect for her. Suddenly she fell to her knees and roared out a cry, her eyes closed in pain. Shepard made to move forward to help, but stopped himself. He didn't know if this was a ruse. Benezia suddenly opened her eyes, looking up at Shepard. They were focused solely on him. Crystal clear.
"Commander. You must listen. And quickly. Saren's indoctrination is strong and I only have a short time. I am powerless compared to him, the power he wields."
"Indoctrination? Is that mind-control?"
"Yes. I thought I could sway Saren from the path he has chosen. I was wrong. I wasn't strong enough. I don't have a lot of time, Commander."
Shepard nodded. "Okay, I only have one question, Benezia. Why are you here?"
"To find the Mu Relay. Its position is, or was, unknown. It was lost thousands of years ago. I found out from the queen that it was once the home of the rachni."
"I assume you found it?"
"I have, Commander. Please, take this information before… I lose myself again."
Benezia stood up and walked towards Shepard and handed him a small OSD. She pressed it firmly into his palm, trailing her fingers along his before removing her hand. She looked into his eyes, as he looked into hers. He could see only two emotions. Pain and fear. Benezia turned her head towards Liara. Her eyes suddenly shimmered with tears, before she blinked rapidly, beating them back.
"Commander, I must insist that you must find Saren. And quickly. He is already aware of the information on that OSD. Now, I must ask you to do one last thing."
Shepard raised an eyebrow.
"You must stop me. Please, before his voice returns. I cannot endure it any longer. Please, end the pain…"
"But mother…" pleaded Liara, tears rolling down her cheeks.
Benezia raised her hands to her head. She was clearly in pain from the indoctrination. She fought as hard as she could, but Shepard could tell it was hopeless. Benezia turned back to Liara, her own tears falling as she spoke her final words.
"You have always made me proud, Liara."
And then Benezia started to shimmer in blue again, her face once again turning into a sneer, her eyes full of rage and hate.
Five weapons were raised at the ready. Only one fired. A succession of bullets ripped into Benezia, as she stumbled back and fell to the ground, leaning back against the tank that held the rachni queen. Shepard turned with surprise, to see Liara stood there, gun raised, tears streaming down her face, her finger still on the trigger, still pulling, though the weapon had long since overheated. Shepard slowly raised a hand and placed it on the top of the gun, moving it down as Liara stopped pulling the trigger. She looked up at Shepard, her tear streaked face portraying only emotion on her face.
Liara quickly walked over to her mother, bending down to one knee as she held her hand.
"I am sorry, Liara. I wish we had more time. I'm sorry…"
Liara broke down in more tears. "Don't leave me. Please!" she pleaded in a whisper.
Benezia spoke more words, softly, that Shepard couldn't hear what was stated. Wails of grief from Liara soon echoed around the room as Benezia closed her eyes for the final time. Liara, shaking with sobs, grabbed her mother and held her now lifeless body in her arms, slightly rocking back and forth, her head buried into her shoulder. Shepard looked away, to see Ashley in tears of her own. Tali was thankful for her mask, as they hid the tears streaking down her own face. Only Wrex appeared unaffected by the scene playing out in front of him.
Shepard slowly walked over to Liara, giving her as much time as possible, before lightly touching her shoulder. He kept his voice quiet.
"Liara."
She looked up at Shepard. Her eyes wet, tears still streaming down her cheeks.
"We have to go, Liara."
Liara simply nodded. She let go of Benezia, lightly placing her body on the ground, taking one last look before standing up and walking over to stand beside Wrex. Shepard let out a breath as he looked at the rachni queen.
Now what on earth do I do with you?
The group of five sat in the Mako on their way back to Port Hanshan. Shepard grinned to himself. He knew he had done the right thing. Wrex had not been happy when he made the choice, voicing his inevitable opposition and concern, but he knew the krogan trusted him and his decisions. In the back of his mind, he just hoped he wasn't proven wrong.
"Are you sure you made the right choice there, Commander?" asked Ashley, "I don't mean to question your judgement, sir, but that was a rachni queen. The last one. We've read what the rachni were responsible for. That was one hell of a risk."
"I'm sure, Ash. You know me, I trust my gut. The queen seemed sincere. I'm willing to give her that chance. I wasn't going to judge her for the mistakes her race made a thousand years ago."
"I trust you, Shepard. If you think she deserves the chance, then I believe in her too," stated Tali, grinning behind her mask.
Wrex just grumbled. "Better not come back to bite us in the ass, Shepard. But… I see your point. You haven't been wrong so far. And I trust you. For a human."
Shepard chuckled. "Thanks, Wrex. I hope I keep that trust."
Wrex didn't say anything in response, just gave a simple grunt.
"Tali, how much information did you get about Binary Helix from the consoles we found?"
"An absolute treasure trove of information, Shepard. But all of this was outside Citadel space? What do you hope to do? The Council may just end up ignoring anything you prove."
"If the Council won't listen, I'll release it to the press. I think Ms. Wong would find all of this information delightful."
"Are you sure that's wise, Commander?" asked Ashley.
"It's the right thing to do, Ashley. These idiots thought that hatching a rachni egg was a good idea. Fuck knows what else they could be up to. It's clear Saren and Benezia both had a lot of sway on their board at the same time. No, they need to be taken down."
Silence descended in the Mako as they made their way back to the Normandy.