Sorry it's been so long, people. Thanks for your patience.
When I started this chapter a long time ago, I hadn't played ME3. Even after playing it, I decided to go in this direction. No, the damn Crucible is not going to be in this story because I thought it was a crap way to fight the Reapers AKA *plot device*. But anyways, I'm sure you all have your own opinions about the game. If you want to hear mine, PM me. Enjoy the chapter. More to come. I see the the ending off in the horizon. Cheers, friends.
The Arrival Has Come
Chapter Fourteen: Checkmate
"You can't do that," Ashley exclaimed.
"What do you mean I can't do that?" Tiberius asked her, crossing his arms.
"It's illegal, Skipper. You can't do it."
"I'll do what I want, Lieutenant. Stand down."
Ashley threw her hands in the air. "Fine!" Then she flicked the king-shaped chess piece with her finger and sat back to pout.
"Checkmate," he crowed.
Shepard smiled, savoring his small victory in the game of chess. It had taken less than ten moves to put Ashley in checkmate.
"Ash, it's just a game," Tiberius reminded her.
"You didn't play fair. You can't move the knight like that." She crossed her arms and receded further into the cushions of the couch.
"I've never known you to be a sore loser," he laughed.
"How'd you even get so good at this game anyways?"
He shrugged. "Had a lot of free time running around the galaxy. Got good at it."
The lieutenant shook her head and rolled her eyes.
As Shepard collected the chess pieces and placed them back on their respective squares, he kept his eye on her. She was wearing one of his old N7 shirts. Her feet were bare, her hair was down, and much to Shepard's pleasure all she wore underneath were a pair of Alliance-issue boxer underpants. He had yet to judge the state of her upper torso and if there were any garments present or not.
As he watched her – eyes zoned out, her mind elsewhere drifting through a memory or thought – he couldn't help but wish that it had always been like this. He wished that time had never slipped away from them; that he had never died, that Cerberus had never recruited him. They could have had more time together. With the Reapers threatening the existence of every organic life form, time was short.
In recalling the fact, he set the last piece properly back on the board. With a smile on his lips and a predatory step out of his desk chair, he slid beside her on the couch.
"Hey," he said, grabbing her attention, "you okay?"
She sighed. "Yeah. I'm good. Sorry. I was just thinking."
"About?" Shepard asked.
Ashley stretched, flexing her fingers and kicking out her feet, and then curled up against Shepard's chest.
"Us," she sighed. "This is nice."
His arms wrapped around her. "I think so too."
"What are we gonna do once this is all over? Provided we're all still alive."
Tiberius shrugged. "I don't know. I think just being alive is a good start."
She nodded. With a smirk, Ashley looked up at him. "Well then, let's make the most of it, yeah?"
She pushed him down onto the couch. Shepard didn't fight her for dominance. One of her eyebrows shot scandalously upward as his hands began to slither up her toned thighs. She swatted them away.
"We're gonna play by my rules this time," she whispered before leaning into him for a kiss. "Checkmate."
Later on, Shepard, James, Garrus, and Jacob stooped over their workbenches making alterations to their respective weapons. James found a part on Rannoch to control the accuracy of his assault rifle. Garrus picked up a quarian-engineered scope to add to his sniper rifle, and Kasumi swiped a shotgun shredder from the geth hub base for Jacob. Shepard was in the process of cleaning Charlotte, his beloved Revenant assault rifle, in order to later tack on the scope that would provide the much-needed extra accuracy.
The weapon adjustments had gone smoothly and the company had been pleasurable, the four of them bantering back and forth. After the initial cleaning and modifications, they moved to the center of the work area in the shuttle bay and brought crates around to sit together. They talked about politics, Cerberus, their weapon mods, their relationships, and finally circled back to politics and the situation they were going to face on the Citadel.
"The Council won't like it," said Garrus, "that you decided to keep the geth instead of destroy them."
"Hell, when has the Council ever liked anything the commander's done?" Jacob snorted.
"I don't know about the Council, but the Alliance boys always gave you a good rap for when you saved the Citadel," James added.
"Unfortunately, it doesn't matter what the Alliance thinks of Shepard. In this mess, we're out on our asses. They're gonna flip when we arrive at the Citadel. No way they'll let us in."
"I've written a message to warn them," said Shepard. "Kasumi's going to help me get it to the geth."
"As if a warning will make it better." Jacob shook his head. "No way they'll approve. I got ten credits that says they pull their fleet just out of blind stupidity."
"Come on, they've got to know that we need everyone we can to fight the Reapers. I'll take your bet, Jacob. Ten credits says they freak but help anyways," said James.
"Deal."
Jacob and James shook hands.
"The whole galaxy's going to hell and you two are making bets about Council backing. Unbelievable," Garrus muttered. "Humans."
"So what now, Commander?" James looked down the sight of his Mattock to check the upgrade. "We just wait until the trip's over and we get to the Citadel?"
"For now, yeah. Like I said, I've got a message to relay to the Council. I also want to try to get in contact with Anderson."
"Sounds good to me," Garrus added. "Just tell me where to shoot."
The four of them finished their weapon upgrades shortly afterward and then dispersed to resume their duties aboard the Normandy. Shepard took the elevator to the crew deck. Once on the crew deck, he headed to the port side observatory, where he knew the Japanese thief was waiting for him to swing by.
"Kasumi?" he asked the empty room.
The door closed behind him and he stepped further in.
Off in the corner, light crackled as her tactical cloak disengaged. With a few touches to her omni-tool, Kasumi said, "It's about time you got here. What have you been doing this whole time? Canoodling?"
Shepard rubbed the back of his neck. "Not the whole time…"
Miss Goto shook her head. "Forget I asked. You here about sending the message via the geth?"
"Yes. Can we do it?"
She lifted a hand to her face, touching the dark purple paint on her lower lip. After a moment, she said, "Yes. We can, but we'll have to halt our trajectory towards the Citadel and find a cooperative geth platform."
Shepard spoke up towards the room's comm system. "EDI, do you know if Legion is onboard any of the geth ships?"
"Legion is piloting a solo geth fighter escorting the Idenna. Would you like me to send a message to the quarian and geth fleets?"
"Notify Tali and the admirals that we're making a pit stop, but tell them to keep going. We'll meet them at the Citadel. What's the nearest system not under Reaper control?"
"Scanning… The Eagle Nebula is free of hostiles. Warning: I detect Cerberus transmissions from Korlus."
"What kind of transmissions?" Kasumi asked the AI.
"They are simple broadcasting signals. A regular ship would register the signal as civilian. However, my knowledge of Cerberus code allows me to recognize this signal as false. There is also a large energy signature that I cannot register from this distance."
"How far to the nebula?"
"Three hours and fifteen minutes."
"Tell Joker to set a course for Korlus, and send a message to Legion to meet us planetside," Shepard ordered.
"On the way, Shepard. Anything else?"
"Have the team prep for a mission and meet in the comm room for a briefing. I want to find out what Cerberus is doing on Korlus."
"What about the geth fleet, Shep?" Kasumi asked. "You want them to just hang out in orbit or what?"
"No. Let's use the shock troops to our advantage."
"Never thought I'd see the day that Commander Shepard used geth to take out Cerberus," she mumbled before prepping her gear.
"Shepard-Commander," Legion acknowledged as he stepped out of his fighter.
"Hey Legion," Shepard replied.
"You're friendly with a geth? This is nuts," Ashley observed.
"He helped me destroy the Collectors. He's a friend, Ash."
"'Friend' is a sentimental term with no meaning to the geth, but this unit comprehends the implied meaning. What is the objective of our mission, Shepard-Commander?" Legion asked.
Shepard took a breath before laying out the plan. "We have two objectives. First, I want to find out what Cerberus is doing here. Second, use the comm buoy in this system to get a message to the Council on the Citadel. Legion, you're going to bounce the signal from buoy to buoy to get the message there. Before we do that, I want you to lead a team of your primes through the base and root out any Cerberus troops. If you find anything useful along the way, make sure you grab it."
The geth nodded. "Understood, Commander."
"I understand we are infiltrating a Cerberus facility, but to what end?" Miranda asked. "Why not just send in the geth or an Alliance team to clear the place out?"
"This could be a lead to the Illusive Man. It's a golden opportunity that I don't want to waste. EDI said that there's a large energy signature somewhere inside this facility. If anyone comes across anything, radio in. I want to know what Cerberus was up to."
Shepard examined the faces of his team members. They all appeared determined and up for the task. He could not have been more proud to be surrounded by such brave and honorable people.
"Alright everyone, we know what we have to do. Let's do it."
"Please don't shoot!"
Shepard lowered his Revenant from the man standing before him. "Who are you?" he demanded.
"One of the scientists on this station–" Shepard raised his gun again. The scientist cowered further into the corner. "But please, listen to me!" the man cried. "I can help you! Cerberus forced me to help them! I never wanted any of this!"
Shepard dropped his weapon to his side, but Ashley kept her Vindicator trained on the guy.
"How do we know he isn't lying?"
"I swear! I can prove it! I'll tell you everything you want to know, just don't shoot me."
"Sounds like that asari on Virmire in Saren's lab," Ashley growled. "Sure you're not indoctrinated?"
"Indoc-? No! I was careful!" The man shook his head. "I promise. Just…listen to me."
Shepard nodded. "What's your name?"
"Doctor Eric Hoch."
"What was Cerberus doing here?"
"We were… The Illusive Man wanted us to… We did experiments on the rachni."
"What a surprise!" Ashley snarled.
"The rachni queen is here?" Shepard asked.
Dr. Hoch nervously fumbled with his hands. "Yes. If your scanners picked up any large heat signatures, that's her."
"Where did you find her? Last I knew she was in hiding."
"I don't know where they found her," Dr. Hoch continued to explain, "but they brought her in and we started running experiments on her and her…children."
"To do what?"
"To integrate the rachni with Reaper tech, but to repurpose them to fulfill the Illusive Man's wishes."
"Cerberus has done experiments on rachni before," said Garrus, "but Miranda said that there was nothing definitive. Shock troops. What changed?"
"I don't know. I wasn't the head scientist, but I know that the Illusive Man's orders were to have them ready to go as soon as possible. He was going to deploy them along with his troops."
"And the Reaper tech? What does that have to do with the rachni?" Shepard asked.
"The Illusive Man now believes that he can control the Reapers. Blending the rachni and the Reapers together is his test to see if it can be done."
"As if we didn't think he was crazy before, now he's jumped off the ledge," said Shepard. He shook his head. "All right… So where is the rachni queen?"
"She's in the central holding chamber, but it's well guarded," the doctor told them. "I can open the way for you, but good luck getting to her."
"Great. Now unlock the doors so we can go through."
"You'll let me go?"
Shepard shrugged and patted the stock of his Revenant. "Unless you want me to kill you…"
Dr. Hoch visibly swallowed hard, nodded, and scurried over to the terminal to unlock the doors. His fingers were a blur, and five seconds later, he said, "They're open. I'm getting out of here. I've had enough of Cerberus."
"Me too," Shepard mumbled as he, Ashley, and Garrus left the lab and ventured into the next room.
They made it to the central holding chamber with a few scratches from the Cerberus troops. Before Shepard bypassed the door, the rest of the team fell in.
"Been one hell of a job getting through this place," Zaeed commented wearily. "Those Cerberus shits were everywhere. Think we killed enough of them, princess?" He nudged Jack, whose biotics still swirled about her from the last fight.
"Always ready for more, scarface."
Shepard gave the hold position command and assigned a few to enter the chamber with him. He slapped his omni-tool onto the door. The holographic gears turned. His anticipation mounted.
Stepping into the room with his Revenant raised, he scanned as he moved and kept an eye out for any unfriendlies. He determined that the coast was clear and motioned for Garrus to scan the perimeter.
Shepard, Liara, and Ashley moved towards the center of the room, where trapped inside a shielded box was the rachni queen. The team approached warily.
"We've got a few dead scientists up here," said Garrus from the upper level near the research terminals. "Hard to say how they died-"
"SHEPARD!"
Tiberius jolted suddenly when his name belted from Liara's lips. He stared at her. Her muscles were locked as if in the middle of a seizure, her eyes black as night, and she held her clenched fists at her sides, shaking and quivering.
"What the hell's wrong with T'Soni?" Ashley asked, training her rifle on the asari.
"Your friend is our mediator, Shepard," Liara spoke, in a voice unnaturally low, obviously not her own.
The commander then realized that it was no longer Liara speaking, but the rachni queen. He put a hand on Ashley's rifle to have her lower it. Then he walked closer towards the shielded box.
"How did you get here?" he asked the rachni queen.
"The indoctrinated ones found us, stole us from our peaceful new world, and brought us to this loud and deafening place," the queen responded through Liara.
"You mean Cerberus?"
"The indoctrinated ones. The ones who follow the sour yellow note."
"The Reapers."
"Yes."
"How do I know you didn't help them willingly?"
"They have taken our children! Used them for songs of death and chaos, destroyed them with needles and the blaring of sirens!" Liara yelled. "We would not hand over our children freely. You must believe us, Shepard. You must free us!"
"I'm fighting a war against the Reapers and I need help. You said before in your message on Ilium that I could count on you when the time came. Is that still true?"
"Free us, Shepard, and we will swear to help you end the song of the sour yellow note."
"What if she turns on us?" asked Ashley. "How do we know that Cerberus hasn't done anything to make her one of theirs, and that she's just lying to us before she kills us all?"
"We have been poked and prodded and heard the music of oily shadows and yellow notes. We only wish to sing melodies to our children again, songs of light and color. We will help you, so that those songs can be sung once again."
"And your children?" asked Shepard.
"They will follow the sound of our harmonies."
"Garrus, do you see any controls up there?"
"On it, Shepard. Although, I think you might want to tell the queen to have her uh, children, to back off."
Tiberius looked towards the upper level, where Garrus was pinned against the control panel by two large rachni. Their tentacles twisted around the turian's arms as if ready to pull him apart limb by limb.
Ashley aimed up at the rachni. Shepard turned back to the queen.
"Let him go, and I'll let you go. Help us, and you can raise your children in peace. I promise."
"Very well, Shepard. We will help, but this is farewell."
The queen's hold on Liara disappeared and the asari stumbled to her knees. Tiberius ran to her, put her back on her feet, and then looked back up at the control panel. The rachni receded into a nearby hallway. Garrus rolled his shoulders and then tapped a few commands into the panel. A large crane grabbed onto the corners of the shielded box and pulled it back into a tunnel. The tunnel door opened and as the shielded box containing the rachni queen disappeared within, the door closed once again.
"Well…that was invigorating, to say the least," Garrus laughed. "Now can we please get out of here?"
Shepard nodded and tapped his comm with a finger.
"Shepard to Legion, do you copy?"
"We copy, Shepard-Commander."
"Head groundside. We'll meet you there. It's time to get that message out."
"Acknowledged."
Once the message was away, the entire team and the geth unit boarded the shuttles back to the Normandy. There was a quick drop-off for the geth on their vessel, and then Shepard's team scrambled in through shuttle bay.
Vega and Garrus declared a drinking match and invited Zaeed and Jacob to join. Jack promised to drink them all under the table. Mordin tried to talk them out of it, but Miranda distracted him with a question about biotic upgrades. Liara climbed into the elevator intent on continuing her Shadow Broker work. The others decided to turn in early before the long ride back to the Citadel.
Legion, who had opted to join the Normandy team rather than board the geth frigate, stayed behind with Shepard.
"Shepard-Commander. We found information in the Cerberus facility that would be beneficial to your campaign."
"What did you find, Legion?" Tiberius asked.
"Files containing personal information and records on Cerberus command personnel, including the Illusive Man himself. We determined that you would find information on the operations specialist Kai Leng useful as well."
"Thanks, Legion. Any info we can get on them is helpful."
"Agreed, Commander. We would also like to tell you that the rachni departed from Korlus approximately 3.25 minutes ago, and will head to the relay on a course for the Citadel. The Citadel council has received your message. Confirmation was sent to this unit during mention of the rachni."
"Anything else?" Shepard asked.
"We will stay aboard the Normandy until we have reached the Citadel. We have promised information sharing with EDI and will be busy doing so for the duration of the trip."
"Don't get too carried away."
"That will be impossible, Commander, as the geth are incapable of carrying their units and we do not know of any systems aboard the Normandy aside from the shuttle cranes capable of doing so. This is therefore an irrelevant task."
Shepard shook his head. He was happy when EDI stepped in to explain the idiom over the comm.
Tiberius and Ashley finally found time for themselves after the debrief. They ate together in Shepard's cabin and talked about the day's mission. Afterward, they sat on the bed sifting through datapads with wartime information. They worked in silence until Shepard lost his concentration and turned his attention to the woman sitting across from him.
After a lengthy kiss, she whispered. "We're almost there, Skipper. Off to the Citadel with an army of geth, rachni, and quarians."
"And then we fight the Reapers."
"It all comes down to that, doesn't it?"
He kissed her again and then raised a hand and touched her face affectionately.
"Yes, it does."
R/R people. You know the drill. Thanks to all my readers.