A/N, hello there! Had a lot of fun writing this - chapter is definitely M rated for violence. The squad cuts loose, hope you all enjoy it - let me know in a review! Theodur, thanks for proofreading.
As for the title, I simply couldn't resist :) Happy easter y'all!
Chapter 21, For whom the bell tolls
Garrus was the first out of the shuttle, even with Grunt trying to push past him. What did Eva call him? Right. "Don't worry youngling, you'll get your fight."
"Too slow old man!" Complained Grunt, as he looked in all directions, eager to find a trace of the opposition. Dimin and Mera stalked the small shuttle bay in the direction Garrus had indicated.
Checking his omni-tool, Garrus commented, "Jeremy has landed two levels above us. No opposition there either. We'll start moving towards the belly of the ship, control room is about five hundred metres away - Dimin, Mera, don't get too far ahead."
The asari paused for a second while the Spectre caught up and it was then that they all noticed the depressing state of their surroundings. At least half the lights were broken, giving the shuttle bay and corridors a gloomy feeling. Piles of dirt and dust littered the place and there were some obvious old blood stains on the walls, along with many bullet holes. The entire ship breathed decay, and the somber atmosphere seemed to dampen their mood. Mera winced as she noticed a corpse behind a few grey crates - it appeared to be salarian, but Garrus urged them on before she could investigate.
Coming to a closed door, Garrus simply held his omni-tool next to the electronic lock. "EDI?"
"Not a problem Commander," came her voice, and only a fraction of a second later the door slid open.
"This ship is in terrible shape," said Dimin, tip-toeing around a ruptured floor plate, "they don't take much pride in their vessels, do they?"
"The batarians were almost wiped out by the Reapers," sighed Garrus, "their homeworld was virtually destroyed and they are in serious need of outside help. I almost feel bad for them, but with the continued slavery no government will aid them."
Dimin thought about this for a second, while she ducked under a low hanging cable. "So one could argue that without slavery the batarians would be better off?"
"Absolutely," Garrus agreed. "They could petition the Council for help, and knowing their desperate situation, would probably receive it quickly."
The asari thought out loud, "Let's bring this to their attention, perhaps they could be persuaded to abandon slavery all together."
"Ah, that's nice," grinned Garrus sarcastically, "your optimism reminds me of Shepard."
She shot him a confused look and he decided to explain. "You considered what's best for their side, something I've often seen in Shepard." Mmm, she's a young maiden and a commando but very perceptive and definitely a thinker.
He waved his squad forward."It's way too quiet, be very alert!"
Grunt laughed to himself and hit the wall with his fist. "If they're smart, they'll attack the group without a krogan."
Jeremy's group moved a bit slower with Tali doing extensive readings on the vessel while the Spectre used his cloak to scout ahead. One step behind Tali, Eva and Lithu held a conversation without uttering a word, the two asari using a shallow meld to communicate.
I haven't seen the grey haired man for a while, is he too far ahead?
Spectre, Eva, he's a Spectre, surely he knows what he's doing?
Oh I'm aware of that Li, but why all the sneaking around? We'll run into them sooner or later. Hopefully sooner.
Grinning, Lithu lovingly touched the other's shoulder.
Patience, tir'semmae, let's follow him, he will lead us to the enemy - and then we'll rip 'em apart.
Tali found it hard to focus as she observed the sorry state of the vessel. This thing is ready for the scrapyard - what a depressing ship! It's hard to imagine the batarians have the ability to feed and water all the slaves, hope those poor souls are doing alright. The thought of all the prisoners aboard the ship fed her anger and her muscles nearly cramped as she held her shotgun tightly. Suddenly, her scanner went nuts.
"Jeremy!" She softly whispered towards the dark corridor in front of her, "there is movement about thirty metres ahead of us!"
"Finally!" Eva and Lithu spoke together, looked at one another and burst into laughter. The three women increased their pace and found Jeremy standing next to a filthy grey metal door.
"Twelve bio-signatures, it must be an ambush," reported Tali.
"Here's the plan," spoke Eva as she readied her biotics and grabbed the door handle, "we kill them."
Opening the door, she projected a biotic sphere that protected the entry, and all four of them hurried through. Gunfire erupted - an intense barrage of incoming fire from shotguns and assault rifles blasted away at the barrier. Lithu pointed at some cover; Eva started to move in that direction when over a dozen grenades fell all around them.
Tali froze. Keelah!
"To me!" Screamed Eva while she took two steps to the left. They all dove at her position as she pulled in her sphere, leaving the grenades just outside the blue bubble.
Showing complete trust in her protection, Lithu studied the enemy's position. She only had a single second before the grenades detonated - the entire room shook violently from the multiple explosions, and all combatants were deafened for a few seconds. Jeremy exploited this. He nodded to the two asari to continue going left while he nudged Tali to the right.
"Our turn," grinned Lithu. She threw a singularity at the nearest enemy and a second later two batarians floated helplessly around the glowing blue sphere. Eva had waited a long time, and was delighting in the moment. "They could at least try to be a threat."
A blur of light sped forward and ignited the singularity, resulting in a spectacular biotic explosion. "Hell yeah!" screamed an ecstatic Eva, standing in a slippery mess of blood and flesh, her barrier easily deflecting incoming gunfire.
Lithu let go of another singularity, and with a wolfish grin Eva charged it, utterly destroying the helpless batarians caught in the field.
Jeremy moved through the room cloaked, while Tali released a drone to distract the opposition. Suddenly he heard biotic explosions to his left, and laughed as he noticed the wild tactics of the maidens. Just girls having fun...
All the batarian's focus was now on Tali's drone and the two commandos, making his part ridiculously easy. Uncloaking just behind their backs, he took out his serrated knife and efficiently slit the throat of the nearest batarian, placing his left hand over the man's mouth to ensure the action would go unnoticed.
He hardly needed to bother as the gunfire and screams drowned out the noise from the gurgling man. Within a few seconds, he'd killed two more, and suddenly an eerie silence filled the room.
"Is that all of them?" asked Eva disappointedly. Surrounded by dead and dying batarians she stretched her back, her black armour covered in the enemies blood. Casually strolling the battlefield like a magnificent Goddess of war, she appeared two metres tall in the dim light of the ship.
Lithu stepped over a corpse and fondly squeezed the other asari. "We did good, tir'semmae!"
Eva grinned and addressed Jeremy. "That was a nice start, now lead us to more."
"Incoming, " mentioned Garrus calmly. His brand new thermal scope had proven itself as he could identify movement in the otherwise nearly dark hall.
"Finally!" Grunt rumbled happily, as he tried to pierce the dark with an intense stare. Dimin and Mera initiated their biotics, a blue glow enveloped both asari.
Their corridor had opened into a very large hall, a slave holding bay from the sight and smell of it. Garrus tried not to let it bother him, but when they stumbled upon large cages with a few corpses in it, he nearly lost it.
This is repulsive, don't they have any decency?
"Yes, it's upsetting, now we clearly see what we are fighting for today."
With a grim face Dimin nodded while Grunt appeared furious. "Letting them rot in cages, cowards! I will fight for those that died without a chance!"
He pounded his fists together and took big strides leading the group to the other side of the hall. A shot rang, and a sniper's bullet ripped through the krogan's shoulder. A second one, and his left leg was hurt just above the knee.
Grunt was already mad, but now the blood-rage possessed him. "Wraaaagghh!" Like a madman he charged the batarian's position. Garrus quickly got down on one knee and peppered the enemy with bullets while Dimin pulled two of the batarians from their entrenched position; they harmlessly flew through the air.
Three more shots hit the krogan before he charged the first batarian. He delivered a massive head butt; with a sick crunch the skull of the man cracked and he fell to the ground howling. Grunt had already turned his attention to the second one who tried to raise an Eviscerator at his face.
His multiple wounds slowed him down, and when he ducked, the blast caught the top of his armour. The batarian tried to reload, which made the young krogan chuckle. "Heh heh heh..."
He jumped on the man and viciously punched his thumbs through the upper set of eyes, and then the lower. "Leaving them in cages, cowards!"
"Now you die," hissed another batarian while he pointed his rifle straight at the krogan. Grunt prepared to charge, but before he could even move the man was completely shredded by an extended barrage from Garrus' Revenant.
Mera sent a warp at the floating batarians and they were ripped apart in a violent biotic detonation. Blood and guts rained down all across the hall and particularly on poor Garrus who sat directly underneath. He blinked to get the filth out of his eyes and glared at the two asari.
They bared their teeth in a cheeky grin. "Sorry!" Snickered Mera while she raised her hand in an apologetic gesture.
Trying to lift another group, Dimin was quite shocked when they didn't move. She repeated her action, but instead of taking off, the batarians started firing at her. "I can't lift them," she shouted, "they have some kind of protection!"
After a few seconds, Mera confirmed her findings. "We can't move that group," she reported to Garrus, pointing at the heavily fortified position. The turian nodded, but was too busy supporting the enraged krogan tearing through the other group. Pulling out their pistols, the asari simply returned fire.
Grunt didn't let up; he broke bones and smashed kneecaps, and when he got to the last enemy, he simply picked the man up and hoisted him in the air. The krogan laughed as Garrus riddled the bastard.
At that very instant, Dimin's left leg was struck by a salvo and she shrieked as she fell to the floor. "Semmae!" shouted Mera, immediately reaching for her pack of Medi-gel.
Garrus rushed over and quickly realized the asari would not be able to continue. "Can you escort her back?" he asked Mera, who nodded.
Motioning Grunt to stay put, the Spectre radioed the other team. "Jeremy, heads up. Some of them have protection against biotics."
"Yeah, we found out the hard way." Came the quick reply, the sound of gunfire behind Vettock's voice. "Eva's convinced their heavy armour gives them the extra protection against biotic attacks. However, her charge will still knock them out."
Garrus nodded before asking his fellow Spectre, "please come down to our position. Dimin is hurt and Mera will escort her to the shuttles. Grunt needs some time to regenerate, and there's a very persistent group of hostiles here."
A few minutes later the two groups had joined, and Eva's biotic charge and Grunt's reckless attacks had made short work of the enemy. The two warriors met in the middle of the fortified position and smiled at each other. "You're OK, for a squishy one," chuckled Grunt.
Eva pounded him on the back. "Youngling!" She exclaimed with a huge grin on her face.
Looking the filthy Spectre up and down, Jeremy tried to hide a smile as he commented, "Goodness Garrus, did you take a batarian shower?"
"It's all the asari's fault," groaned the turian, "again."
"The control room is less than fifty metres away - let's end this."
To their surprise, the walk was completely uneventful. It was almost as if the batarians had abandoned this section of the ship.
"This is odd," mused Jeremy as the group rounded the last corner to come to the entry of the control room. Eva threw up her barrier but she didn't need it. The half lit room was completely deserted, only the many flickering lights of the computers greeted them.
Tali moved quickly. EDI had prepared an OSD and she wasted no time inserting it in the main unit. Two seconds passed. "I have control," came the AI's voice, "life support, navigation, propulsion. Please hold - I have found a direct link to the other ships. The entire fleet is ours, Commander."
"Mmm, good. What about - "
"Danger!" EDI spoke in an urgent voice. I have detected an armed nuclear device in a small cargo hold. Three batarian life signs. Shall I cut off their oxygen?"
"No!" Exclaimed Jeremy, "don't do anything. They might use their last breath to detonate the bomb. Tali, you and I will take care of it."
The two quickly left towards the front of the ship. "Sooo," commented Eva, "we just wait here?"
"Alert!" EDI's voice sounded even more concerned than before. "Hostiles have invaded the Normandy. Enemy forces present on the bridge."
"Okay, Traynor, out with it! What's with that mischievous grin on your face?"
Samantha couldn't hide her excitement as she turned to face Shepard and Liara. "Em, I escorted the maidens downstairs?" she started, "and it's safe to say they were very... interested in meeting me."
Smiling, Shepard turned towards Liara. "Are these girls that wild? How come you didn't jump on me when we first met? "
"Oh no," mentioned a lightly blushing Liara, "these are likely typical asari maidens. I am not the norm, I was way more reserved." She took three quick steps towards Traynor and lightly touched her dark hair. "They are intrigued by you being different, Sam. Physically we are remarkably similar, but the differences - human hair, your skin tone and texture, is fascinating to us."
"That sounds right," mused Traynor as she reflected on Liara's words, "they certainly liked my hair. Dimin and Mera were continuously touching it! And it works both ways of course, I'd love to... err, nevermind."
All three laughed at that, and Shepard came over to gently caress the asari's crest. "They have the weirdest thing on their head, but other than that they're OK, I guess."
Liara pushed her away in faked indignation, "Just OK? That's not what you said in our cabin... " She managed to make herself blush as she noticed Samantha's inquisitive stare. Karli laughed out loud and quickly placed a kiss on Liara's cheek while tenderly rubbing the asari's belly.
That gesture wasn't lost on Traynor either, and she stammered, "Oh! Are you... I mean, Liara?"
"Oops," gasped Shepard, but through the gift of Irrulun she could clearly feel Liara was not bothered.
"Yes, Samantha, I am expecting, and you are actually the first to know. Let's keep this between us, agreed?"
"Of course," whispered Sam, swallowing hard, "I am so happy for the both of you!" She embraced Liara and gave her a careful squeeze, "Congratulations!" After hugging Karli, she took a step back and inspected the couple. "When will...?"
"She's going to be more then eleven months," answered Liara, "the asari gestation period is nearly twelve months, a bit longer than humans. Scientists believe it has to do with the development of biotics and other mental skills."
Karli rolled her eyes. "They're obviously much smarter than us mere humans..."
Grinning, Liara prodded Karli's side. "Did you finally accept reality?"
"Shepard!" The frantic tone in EDI's voice startled them all, "a small shuttle has attached itself to our hull. They are attempting - they have blown the airlock. Location deck 3, just below the cockpit."
"Goddess," whispered Liara while all three quickly looked through the long corridor at the cockpit. A hatch flew open and a fully armored batarian climbed up right next to Jeff.
"Joker!" Shouted Shepard, while she sprinted forwards. The first batarian grabbed the pilot's arm and yanked him out of his chair; Jeff cried in pain as he hit the starboard panel, remaining in a crumpled heap. By the time Karli realized she was unarmed, a second and third batarian climbed up through the hatch. Sam yelped in fear and dove under the Galaxy map.
Shepard turned around and ran back into the CIC, when a shot rang and she fell to the ground, clutching her side where blood started to show through her shirt.
"Karli!" Screamed Liara as she threw a singularity at the approaching batarians. To her shock, they kept coming, passing through the glowing blue orb. Liara yelled out and a large stasis field appeared around the three men, but as before, they simply ignored it. Oh Goddess! Biotics have no effect and I'm unarmed...
The asari quickly ducked under the main panel when they fired two shots at her.
Desperately climbing to one knee, Shepard locked in on the intruder and initiated her charge... Please don't fail me now!
In a blur of light she flew towards the enemy and the mass effect field protected her from the impact while the man was violently knocked back. Yes! She grinned determinedly. Gotta protect Blue!
Jumping for cover she took a second to target the next one. But as she started her charge, the lights faded and she stumbled into dark nothingness.
Liara put a hand in front of her mouth not to scream when she saw her bondmate go down. The asari was not the focus of the batarians, however. They took of their helmets and viciously kicked Shepard's hurt side; she grunted in pain even while unconscious. One grabbed a handful of dark brown hair and slowly hoisted her limp, bloodied body upright.
"Butcher," he grinned, studying her face, "justice will be served today."
Unable to breathe, Liara stood there, paralyzed. As in slow-motion she watched the other man cock his shotgun; he placed it right on top of her bondmate's heart.
"Do it," commanded his friend. "Kill her."
Dictionary.
Karli Shepard has decided to learn the asari language, so there will be a sprinkling of asari words throughout the story. I will start a dictionary of words used, and keep them all in one place.
Semmae - sister
Tir'semmae - my sister, indicates an intimate relationship
Mandein - honored warrior, 'the right hand of Thessia'
Arlas - main asari language
Irrulun - rare spiritual connection between bondmates
Munde - giver (father)
Kunde - taker (mother)