Reviews:
Eye of Sauron:
I'm trying my level best to update more often, but real life has to take priority. Unfortunately.
lilnudger82:
Hope you enjoy it just as much the second time.
coduss:
Hmm, you know some of those might be interesting to do. I'll have to think on it.
The Shadow 750:
Allow me to explain. While I am aware of the whole Pilgrimage, the idea that they never left the fleet just never sat well with me. Sure, they could grow their own food in a hydroponics bay or something like that and recycle the water, but eventually, they would need parts for the ships considering they usually get old ones and I could never see them relying solely on salvaging for those.
star:
Yes, I admit that after I posted that chapter, I reread it and wasn't completely pleased with it, so I can promise that I will do my level best to make sure the future chapters are better.
CrashThisOne:
Glad you like it. I hope these future chapters live up to your expectations.
frankieu:
Glad you like it so far. Hope that keeps up. As for your BrainiacxEDI idea, I can promise that there will be a connection between the two, I like the JokerxEDI idea too much to do that.
Lancelot Du Loc:
Yes, Tali. Tali's one of my favorite characters from Mass Effect. You know, now that I think about it, I tend to like the aliens more than the human characters.
A/N: READ THE AUTHOR'S NOTE AT THE END OF THE CHAPTER. Also, please remember to review with any comments, question, concerns, or constructive criticism that you might have.
Chapter 14:
Family Reunion
Reaching Rift station, they moved down the halls slowly, their weapons drawn, keeping an eye out for rachni or geth.
After a few minutes, they opened a door to find a group of guards protecting a barricade.
"Hold your fire!" one of the men behind the barricade ordered before he approached Shepard's group, "Sorry. We couldn't be sure what was on the tram."
Shepard waved off his words, "I'd only be upset if they had fired."
Only Shepard's squad realized just how true that statement was.
"My people know the rule," the captain said, "Two legs good, four legs bad. You're human and that's enough that I won't shoot, but I'd like to know who you are."
"I'm Commander Shepard, a Council Spectre, and this is my team. We're here to track down an asari matriarch named Benezia," the kryptonian spectre said, "So, what's the situation?"
"The aliens overran the hot labs last week. Only Han Olar got out, and he ain't all there any more," the captain said, sighing, "The first we knew, the bastards were clawing into my command post. We had a lot more staff then."
"You were taken by surprise and had civilians to protect. You did a good job, Captain," Shepard said, reassuringly.
"Yeah? Sure doesn't feel like it. You said you were looking for an asari? The board sent one to clean up the mess," the captain said, "She went to the hot labs yesterday. We haven't heard from her since."
"We'll check it out," Shepard said, before he and his squad headed to leave.
"Wait," the captain said, getting the commander's attention again, "There's an emergency elevator out by the trams. This card will let you activate it," he said, holding out the card, "It can take you down to the hot labs."
Shepard nodded his thanks, grabbing the card, but before they could head to the elevator, the captain ordered for the barricade to be manned as a couple of rachni came out of the tunnel to launch a short-lived attack against the soldiers, who easily took them down. After receiving thanks from the captain and his squad, Shepard and his team headed to the elevator.
"Do you think my mother is really behind this?" Liara asked as they rode the elevator down, "I know we haven't spoken in a while, but…I'd like to think she wouldn't do something like this."
"I guess we'll just have to find and ask her," Shepard said, "Who knows? Maybe there's something we don't know."
"I hope so, Commander," Liara said.
Ashley scoffed, "Figures you'd try to defend her."
"Are we going to have a problem, Chief?" the commander asked, looking at the woman.
"No sir, I'll follow your orders," she said, thought she clearly didn't like it.
"See that you do. We need to trust each other on missions," Shepard said, not look back at her.
"I understand sir," she said, "One of us needs to be trustworthy."
"Do the Alliance soldiers usually talk to their superior officers like this?" Garrus asked.
"No and we will discuss it back on the Normandy," Shepard said simply as they reached their floor and stepped out to find a mostly empty room save for a single Binary Helix scientist, who gave Shepard and his team some shocking information.
The rachni didn't just attack the facility, but were bred in the labs from a single egg they found on a derelict spacecraft; all so that they can create an obedient army, and they didn't escape accidently. They were released intentionally.
That wasn't the worst part, however. If the rachni weren't taken care of soon, the entire facility would bombed from orbit. When Shepard suggested using the queen to bring them under control, the scientist admitted that such a solution was no longer possible and only a neutron purge would solve the problem now.
Before the scientist could give the full explanation about how to activate it, another rachni dropped from the air duct and impaled the man before attacking the squad. The squad fought their way through the attacking swarm to the nearby room where Shepard used the codes to activate the neutron purge, giving them only 120 seconds to reach the elevator before they joined the rachni in fiery, plasma annihilation.
"Follow right behind me!" Shepard said as he ran out the door with his squad, using his own body as a battering ram to bash straight through the rachni blocking off the elevator. Once they reached the elevator, Shepard pulled each of his squadmates in before heading in himself. Some of the rachni tried to keep the doors open to reach the squad inside, but Shepard used his strength to wrench the doors closed, taking off the heads of the rachni.
As soon as the doors were closed, Liara punched the button and the elevator started moving up to the floor where the captain was in the hopes he could show them the way forward, but when they reached the barricade again, the captain and his forces had grim expressions on their faces.
"I'm sorry, Commander. We have orders from Benezia," the captain said before he and his team opened fire on Shepard's team.
While his squadmates moved to cover, Shepard drew his rifle and moved forward, ignoring the rounds smashing against his armor.
With a single burst, he killed the captain with a headshot, while his team took down the others with ease. Shepard noticed another doorway that had been blocked when they first arrived, but the lock was damaged in the firefight. After taking down a few more guards and moving down the halls, Shepard made a gesture to stop the group before they went through the door in front of them.
"I can hear multiple people behind this door, some are trying to move and breathe softly," Shepard whispered.
"Ambush?" Garrus asked.
"Be my guess," the Commander said, "So, keep an eye out."
With that, the squad went through the door to see an asari dressed in all black waiting for them.
Without looking at them, the woman spoke, "You do not know the privilege of being a mother. There is power in creation. To shape a life. Turn it toward happiness or despair." She turned to look at a large rachni, which Shepard figured was the rachni queen, "Her children were to be ours. Raised to hunt and slay Saren's enemies. I won't be moved by sympathy," she said, before looking at Liara, "No matter who you bring into this confrontation."
"Liara's here because she wants to be," Shepard said, "Not because I asked her to."
"Indeed?" she asked, sounding genuinely curious, "What have you told him about me, Liara?"
"What could I say, mother? That you're insane? Evil? Should I explain how to kill you? What could I say?" Liara asked, her eyes watering against her wishes.
Benezia, rather than answer her daughter's rhetorical questions, turned Shepard, "Have you faced an asari commando unit before? Few humans have."
'Fewer than you realize,' Shepard thought before saying, "I'm guessing that is what makes up the asari hidden around the room?"
"You're rather perceptive," she said, as other asari came out from where they were hiding.
"I can't believe you would kill your own daughter," Shepard said, keeping an eye on the other enemies out of the corner of his eyes.
"I now realize I should have been stricter with her," she said, uncaring, before using her biotics to try and freeze Shepard in place, but he used his superhuman strength to break free.
The squad ducked for cover and as they opened fire on the commandos, Brainiac contacted Shepard via a personal comm. channel.
"Kal-El, a protocol has been unlocked," Brainiac said.
"What does the protocol do?" he asked, moving behind cover.
"A being under a condition known as Indoctrination has been detected," Brainiac said, "Make contact to the one known as Benezia with your omni-tool and I will activate the protocol."
"Brainaic, we'll need to talk about this more later," Shepard said.
"Agreed, but I recommend ending the firefight first," Brainiac replied before cutting off the comm. channel.
"Guys, focus on the commandos. I'll deal with Benezia!" Shepard ordered as he ran towards the asari martriarch, shrugging off the biotic attacks that the matriarch sent at him.
Reaching her, he slammed her against the wall, making the woman see stars, before he pressed his omni-tool against her head, resulting a trio of green lights came out of his omni-tool to connect to her head. She screamed out as the her veins turned bright green and her eyes began to glow, growing brighter until the entire room was filled with the light before it disappeared and Benezia collapsed to her knees.
Panting from exertion, Benezia said, tears in her eyes, "Th-the voices…they're gone! They're completely gone!"
"Mother?" Liara asked, as she and the rest of the squad joined Shepard and Benezia, who was rising to her feet.
"Yes, Little Wing. Goddess, forgive me for the things I've done," she said.
"Shepard, what's going on here?" Ashley asked, not liking that they're now having a conversation with someone that just tried to kill them.
"You want to explain it, Benezia?" Shepard asked.
"Saren, he has this way about him. People aren't themselves around Saren. You come to idolize him. Worship him. You would do anything for him," she said, sadly.
"It's not him," Shepard said, to the surprise of her, "It's the Reapers that he's working with. They gave him some kind of mind control technology."
"That would explain a lot," Benezia said, "Sovereign, his flagship, is a dreadnought of incredible size and its power is extraordinary. I've never seen the like, but while I was with him, I heard of the Reapers and their advanced technology. I don't know where or who they are, however. I just know the longer you stay aboard his ship, the more Saren's will seems correct. You sit at his feet and smile as his words pour into you. It is subtle at first. I thought I was strong enough to resist. Instead, I became a willing tool, eager to serve."
"Why would he send you here?" Shepard asked, "Seems kinda random."
"He sent me here to find the location of the Mu Relay. Its position was lost thousands of years ago," she explained.
"And someone on the planet found it?" he asked.
"Two thousand years ago, the rachni inhabited that region of our galaxy. They discovered the relay. The rachni can share memories across generations. Queens inherit the knowledge of their mothers. I took the location of the relay from the queen's mind. I was not gentle," she said with shame.
"You can still make it right," Shepard said, "Give us the information."
"I was not myself, but…I should have been stronger," she said, sadly before handing Shepard a tablet, "I transcribed the data to an OSD. Take it. Please."
"Knowing the relay's coordinates is not enough," Liara said, "Do you know where he planned to go from there?"
"Saren wouldn't tell me his destination, but you must find out quickly. I transmitted the coordinates to him before you arrived," she said.
"Thanks, do you need help getting out of here?" Shepard asked.
"No, Commander, I will be fi-unnh!" she groaned as her legs gave out and she dropped to her knees again.
"Mother!" Liara said, moving to her mother's side.
"I'm alright, Little Wing," Benezia said, "Just…just a little tired. I suppose whatever the commander did took more out of me than I thought."
Shepard moved to the cage holding the rachni queen, thinking about what he should do with it, when he Garrus called out, making the squad turn to see a commando they thought was dead rise back to her feet and walk towards them.
"Hold your fire," Shepard ordered, curious as to why the former corpse wasn't attacking.
The dead asari moved to stand between the squad and the cage, her back to the cage, before saying in an emotionless, empty tone, "This one. Serves as our voice. We cannot sing. Not in these low spaces. Your musics are colorless."
"Musics?" Shepard asked.
"Your way of communicating is strange. Flat. It does not color the air. When we speak, one moves all," she said.
Shepard looked between the woman and the rachni queen and back again, "You're using the corpse to speak with us."
"Correct. We are the mother. We sing for those left behind. The children you thought silenced," she said, "Our kind sing through touchings of thought. We pluck the strings and the other understands. She is weak to urging. She has colors we have no names for, but she is ending. Her music is bittersweet. It is beautiful. You are not in harmony with those who hoped to control us, like the one there," she said, looking at Benezia.
"I…am sorry. I was not in control of my actions," Benezia said, sadly.
"We know your song was soured and sickly. We understand," the Queen said before looking at Shepard again, "What will you sing? Will you release us? Are we to fade away once more?"
"There are acid tanks rigged to tank. I say we set them off. The last thing we need are for these things to come back and cause us even more trouble," Ashley said.
"I'm with Ashley on this one," Garrus said, "If the rachni come back, millions could die."
"They made a mistake. They let the krogan go too far. This is a chance for us to atone. She has done nothing to us," Liara said.
"I agree, if I might have a vote," Benezia said.
"Your companions hear the truth. You have the power to free us or return our people to the silence of memory," the Queen said.
"Will you seek revenge for the ones we killed if we let you out?" Shepard asked.
"No, their song was soured and dark without their mother. Their song had to end. It is unfortunate, but necessary," she said, "We will leave and hurt no one. We will begin anew to live away from those that would seek to end our song."
"I won't destroy your entire race," Shepard said, "You'll go free."
"You sure Shepard?" Garrus asked, "You know the number of lives that were lost in the last Rachni wars?"
"Are we any better if we kill them all?"
"Whatever you say, commander," Garrus said, figuring the situation could be handled later if necessary.
"You will give us a chance to compose anew?" the queen asked, surprised, "We will remember. We will sing of your forgiveness to our children."
"Bugs writing songs about you, yeah, there's no way this won't come back to bite us in the ass," Ashley said sarcastically.
Ignoring her words, Shepard moved to a nearby terminal and pressed some buttons to open the cage and allow the queen to escape. Once that was done, the squad left the labs, taking Benezia with them back to the main facility with Shepard and Liara helping her walk.
The squad headed back to the Normandy, leaving Benezia at the hanger where she said she would find her own transportation, but promised to help Shepard anytime he asked.
Once they were back on the ship, Shepard called his officers to the meeting room to discuss the previous mission.
"So, what's the plan now, Commander?" Jenkins asked, "Head for the Mu Relay?"
"Not just yet," Shepard said, "The Mu Relay could link to dozens of systems. Unless we know exactly where Saren's going, we'd just be wasting our time."
"The commander is right. We cannot rush off blind. We still need to learn more about Saren," Liara agreed.
"Who put you in charge? The commander resign when I wasn't looking?" Ashley asked sarcastically.
"We're all on the same team here, Williams. She's just trying to help," Shepard said sternly.
"Sorry, Commander," she said, half-heartedly.
"We need to talk about this later," Shepard said, "Everyone go get some rest. Crew…dismissed!"
As the crew left, Joker came over the PA telling him that the Council was ready to speak to him about Noveria. Upon Shepard's order, Joker patched him through to the galaxy-leading trio.
"Is this report accurate, Commander?" the asari councilor asked, "You found rachni on Noveria?"
"Yes," he said simply.
"You released the queen!" the Turian Councilor shouted, "Do you have any idea what you've done? How many generations until they overrun the galaxy?"
"My job is to find Saren and stop him. Not commit genocide," Shepard said, "This queen is different than the ones you know. She understands why her kind had to be wiped out last time around. I stand by my decision."
"I hope you're right, Shepard," the turian councilor said, "Our children's children will pay the price if you're not."
"Enough on this. Is the report true that Matriarch Benezia was being forced to aid Saren?" the asari councilor asked.
"Yes, Saren was using Reaper technology to control her," Shepard said, "She had no say in what she was doing."
"Again with these Reapers of yours. It is getting tiresome how you repeat these unsubstantiated claims," the turian councilor groaned.
"Regardless, it makes far more sense that Benezia was being forced into this rather than doing it willingly. I'm sure she will not suffer any significant consequences as a result," the asari councilor said.
"If that's all we will wait for your ne-just a moment," just then, the salarian councilor was seen being handed something, "It seems we've received some crucial information about your mission against Saren. We've received information from one of our infiltration units in the Traverse, specifically one assigned to find information about Saren. While the message was little more than static, the fact that the message was so garbled is a message in itself as it likely means they are in a situation where they can't set up proper interstellar communications. In addition, the message was sent on a channel reserved for mission-critical communications. Whatever they were trying to tell us, we know it was important."
"Where were they sending the message from?" Shepard asked.
"Virmire. We need you to find out what happened to our team and secure whatever information they've gathered," the salarian councilor said.
"We'll look into it," Shepard said, feeling like the mission might just end soon.
"Good luck, Commander Shepard," the asari councilor said, "We will keep you advised if we learn anything else."
With that, the Council disconnected their communications with the commander, who preceded to contact Joker in the cockpit.
"Joker, set a course for Virmire!" Shepard ordered.
"Yes, sir, commander," Joker said, doing as his superior ordered.
A/N: And there's chapter 14! So, I still can't decide who I'm going to pair Shepard with, so I'm going to leave it to you all to decide. The choices are: Tali, Samara, or both. Make your vote in the comments or in a pm. Also, please remember to review with any comments, question, concerns, or constructive criticism that you might have.