A/N: And we're back with some more battling. This time, Saren takes the fight to the Citadel, so what do we do? We follow him, that's what. Ah, the final chapter of Mass Vexations is upon us. It's this, and then an epilogue. I plan on taking a break once I finish the epilogue, do some other things. And then, come September, I'll go ahead and start Mass Vexations 2. Oh, and if you guys haven't done so yet, go to the theaters and see Inception. Like, right now. I saw that movie yesterday... and holy shit. Words cannot describe how awesome that movie is. So go see it. Now. So yeah. Let's go kick Saren's ass!
Chapter 20: The Battle of the Citadel
The Citadel VI was about as helpful as it was in the game, I.E. very helpful.
But of course, I already knew we had to go to the Council chambers. So we're all clambered in the elevator, hoping to get to where Saren is.
I look up at the glass of the elevator. Wow, I feel like Leonardo diCaprio's character in that one teaser trailer for Inception where he just looks up and sees stuff. I doubt we're going to wind up in any hallways that seem to defy gravity, though... But still, it's a bit of a thought...
Wait, yes, yes we do! We're going into the Zero-G bit!
I look to Shepard with a strange look as I look around.
"Uh, Shepard?" I ask. "Are you sure taking the elevator is a good idea?"
With this, the Commander looks down, and all eyes are on me. We were pretty silent before I brought it up, so I guess it's my fault now. It's always my fault for disturbing the ilence, I guess.
"Yes," she says. "It's the best way to get to the Council Chambers in time. Even with how slow they are..."
Oh, yes, the speed. Well, Bioware certainly nailed the speed of these things. Jeez, my younger brother can walk faster than one of these elevators can! Seriously, I know it was to hide loading screens, but you're in trouble when 170 years from 2010 you can't make fast elevators in a city that practically demands fast elevators. Then again, the Reapers did build the station, so... Maybe they decided to make the elevators slow just to spite us? I guess it makes sense given what their day job is.
But still, the elevators won't be reliable too soon...
"Well, I mean..." I reply. "Saren's trying to activate the relay, right?"
"That's correct," says Liara.
"Well... if he's activating the Relay, then that technically means he'll gain access to the Citadel's systems, right?" I ask.
The others give me odd looks before Shepard crosses her arms. "Serviceman, are you implying something?"
"Well, I mean, if Saren needs to activate the relay, then he'll probably also get control of the Citadel's systems along the way..." I reply. "And if those systems happen to include elevator function..."
Okay, if that doesn't get my meaning across...
But it does, as I see Shepard's eyes widen. Everybody else does a double take, and suddenly we all realize that maybe the elevators weren't such a good idea after all. Shepard looks to the glass walls of the elevator, and then blinks uncomfortably.
And just before anyone can comment, the elevator comes to a stop. We look around, and I shrug at this.
"You see?" I ask, gesturing to the elevator walls.
Shepard shakes her head. "For once I wish things would just go according to need," she comments bitterly. "But we'll make do with what we have. Suit up, everyone; we'll be entering zero gravity soon!"
And with this, she takes her pistol in her good hand and fires a few shots at the elevator wall. The glass cracks considerably at first before the final shot causes it to shatter. The shards fly out... and then they seem to be suspended in the air. Whoah... I never thought I'd see that outside of maybe a few seconds in sci-fi movies...
Wait... shit, I never got training in zero G situations before! Granted, I've played Dead Space before and I think I know how to jump around a zero G environment, but still... I look at the vents nervously as everybody else seems to calibrate their omni-tools. I blink, and then look at my own. Okay, go to the suit menu... oh, my armor has magnetized boots? Jeez, I wish I knew about it earlier! Okay, I'm going to activate it, and...
Voila! I am now ready to travel in zero G. Right... Just don't lift your feet up or you'll have a hell of a time trying to get back to a surface. Right...
Somehow I know I'm going to forget that.
We all nod to Shepard as soon as our suits are calibrated and sealed. I never thought I'd use a helmet, but hey, what can you do, yeah? The commander goes to the hole in the elevator wall, and she is the first one to leave the elevator and enter into the zero G environment. Everyone else follows soon after, and I bring out the rear. As I float around in the zero G zone following the same trajectory as everyone else, I can't help but look around. Wow, I never imagined myself doing any of this... and yet, here I am, floating around in zero gravity. I feel like I'm flying somehow, only without the gigantic metal tube surrounding me. Planes do that to you; I swear I've never gotten on a single flight without thinking of an airplane... It feels nice to be floating outside of that for once.
This is actually rather invigorating... And I like it a lot!
I touch down on the ground, drawing my assault rifle as I nod to Shepard. Okay Art... keep one foot on the ground and you should be fine... Otherwise, just throw whatever you've got in your hands to touch down and pray to god it bounces back to you afterwards.
Everyone else draws their weapons of choice, and then we're going off. Right. I think it's time we brought the fight to the Citadel!
Shepard is the first of us to rush forward, and everyone else follows. I'm not too eager to fly off just yet, so I take a little more time. Okay... keep your foot on... Foot on, foot off... Foot on, foot off. I look up as I run...
Wow... the Citadel looks so majestic from here... If I weren't fighting to save the galaxy I'd stop and admire the scenery. Wow... this is quite a view. It's unlike anything I've ever seen before... But we don't have time for that... I should get going.
So I follow Shepard closely as she seems to go down a ramp. Well... how do you say going down a ramp going upwards in zero gravity? Okay, she's going up the tower. Right. We're right by an elevator shaft, of course, and things seem to go so slowly... It's so quiet here... So... ethereal...
Wait, isn't this...?
I suddenly see the elevator rise up in the direction we're going to crash against the stationary car. We see the glass crash a second later, and I nod as I see this. The only thing is it was a lot noisier in the original game. But, this is a vacuum, and this is what vacuums do. We see the geth rush out a second later.
But it's not too many geth. Only six of them. Wrex gets the sheilds of one and I shoot it down quickly. I look to Shepard afterwards. Her good hand comes up and fires the pistol at one of the geth several times before Liara kills it. Kaidan fires a throw that greatly takes two of geth off balance. Tali cocks her shotgun and fires at another one, which I promptly finish off with some assault rifle fire. As I turn to everybody else, Garrus is just getting the shields of another geth, and Wrex is taking down one of the ones that Kaidan threw off. I look to the last one and fire its shields, but not before it gets some rounds out at us. I feel my shields take a hit, but the Wrex has come in and shot it down.
All that... wow, that went by so quickly I don't know what to think... We continue down the... er... corridor, and we see a couple of stray geth as we go. Garrus and I have it under control, though. I shoot at the closer one while Garrus shoots at the farther one. Tali shoots the one I take down with a shotgun blast directly to the neck while Wrex simply rushes forward and melees the one Garrus shot at with enough force to cause its lights to go out. We continue down, and we eventually see another ramp-like thing going up.
Shepard rushes up this one, all the rest of us following behind very quickly. Wow... we're covering a lot of ground very quickly...
As soon as we go by, we're outside, and we can look upon the Citadel again. I feel a little creeped out here... Kind of like Isaac Clarke must have felt somehow... It does make this a hell of a lot creeper, as I can't hear anybody approaching...
But I can see them the way I see the krogan warlord bum-rushing us. We see three geth come up behind it, and it fires at us. Shepard's shields take the shot, but Kaidan is quick to act; he simply lifts the krogan biotically. Ah, yes, good thinking Kaidan! I watch the warlord float off into space, firing its shotgun wildly. But it's too far away to do stuff, so I concentrate back on the geth.
Wow, Shepard is efficient. She's already shot one of them directly in the head, the 'corpse' floating off as I see Liara throw another geth out. Eh, the geth and the krogan will probably kill each other off... I concentrate on the last remaining geth, seeing Garrus rush forward and shoot at it. Okay... I run forward just in time as Garrus gets shot at. His shields are still holding, I hope... Either way, I shoot the geth so that its 'corpse is then seen flying out into the void of space...
I blink and think about how eerie the silence is... Hm... Ligeti's Atmosphéres would be good listening right about now. Or maybe Tableau by Helmut Lachenmann would work. Hell, maybe even Prokofiev's Scythian Suite would sound good... Oh, what about Scott's action music from Heavy Rain? That would work too! Hm... Figuring out good fight listening is fun...
But I don't have time to work my playlist into the battle right now as we round the corner. We see quite a few geth, and Shepard rushes behind cover before firing. Understandable, given the state of her hand. I smirk at the geth, bringing up my assault rifle and firing into the crowd. Their sheilds get lower, which Garrus thankfully finishes. I see Kaidan execute another throw, sending a geth flying into the heart of the Citadel as Shepard fires her handgun again. Wrex rushes forward, hitting a geth straight in the face with a shotgun as his shields take a few bullets. I run forward, shooting at one of the geth that had fired at the krogan. Its shields are taken down, and then Liara simply shoots at it quickly.
As soon as we see the geth thin out, we rush up the ramp. Shepard is not far behind, and before long, she's taking the lead again. Her hand doesn't look too bad, thankfully, but she's being very careful with it, reloading slowly. We see a pair of stray geth attempt some pot-shots at her. Her shields take the hit, but those things won't last forever. Thankfully, Kaidan and Liara are both quick about acting, and then the two of them are thrown into the air, and as they drift away I smile in glee.
"Oh, I like the look of this!" I say with a smile.
We advance forward, with Shepard taking the lead once again. We come down to yet another area, and we see more geth in the place. All right, more firing time! I fire my assault rifle first at one of the geth. Liara promptly shoots it down as Garrus rushes forward. He takes down a geth's shields, and then I see Tali run forward quickly. It only takes a blast of a shotgun from her to put the geth down as another one comes out of its cover. Oh, so you wanna die too, eh? All right, that can be arranged. Shepard fires her pistol at the thing as soon as she finishes reloading. After a few shots, I grab my gun. Having rushed up to the geth... all right, here goes! I melee the geth with as much force as I can.
Eh, I didn't quite take its head off. That said, I think I did quite a bit of damage to him. Fun times.
Hm... we're not really facing up the Citadel tower... Wait... we're going to the left in relation to the top of the tower. So...
I look to the side. Yes, it is! Sovereign is there!
I pause briefly at this, taking a few seconds to look at Sovereign. Holy shit... there's something more menacing about seeing the Reaper ship up close and personal than while running up. Shit... This is crazy. I give it a look, taking a few deep breaths.
I finally turn to see the rest of the group running forward. Ah, right, better follow them.
I bring up the rear, and as we come out of that area and proceed to climb back up the tower we see a geth dropship come down. Okay, there's that dropship!
We also see a few defense turrets as the dropship rushes towards our location. Wow, Saren and Sovereign are not pulling any stops whatsoever. Okay... I look to Tali, who gives me a look herself. She nods, and activates her omni-tool. As Shepard and the others take positions, Tali and I rush to the nearest turret.
I stand by her as she works to bypass the turret's systems. The dropship lands as I feel a small, earthy boom at my feet. I look up seeing as Shepard and the rest of the gang take shots at the geth pouring out. Right... it likely won't cut off at 15 geth the way it did in the game, so it's up to Tali and I to get these turrets up and running.
The quarian gets the first set of turrets up, and she nods to me. I peer out, and then we're both dashing to the next turret. I almost forget about the rule of keeping my feet on the ground for a moment, however, and I nearly slip up. Thank goodness for Tali being close by, though, for she grabs my wrist and pulls me down, her own magnetic feet keeping her to the... er... wall? Yeah, the wall. She pulls me back down and then I fire at a geth that had taken a shot at me. It had missed, but still, I don't like getting shot at.
We both get to the next turret, and I finish off that geth as Tali gets to work on the next turret. She works quickly, and I look down and watch her work. Her fingers move extremely fast for a machinist, and it's spellbinding to see her work. She is completely focused, just the way I would be if I were playing my viola. It's what she does best, of course, and I find myself rapt with attention as she works.
So rapt, that my shields go down. I blink just before ducking back into cover.
Okay, that was colossally stupid of me. But fortunately I see it get taken down by someone. I don't know who at this point. I look to Tali as she stands up. All right, that's two turrets under our control! One more...
We both rush over there, and I fire at another geth that comes towards us. Its shields go down, and then I see blue surround it as it's biotically lifted into the air. Okay, thanks Kaidan! Tali and I rush to the last turret, the machinist working on the interface to bring the thing alive. I see more geth rush out and decide now is as good a time to rejoin the battle as any. So I take my assault rifle and fire the thing several times into the crowd. I see a geth's shields go down, with Garrus promptly finishing it as the group closes in around the outpouring of geth. We see the dropship begin to take heavy damage from the two turrets... two turrets, which is now turning into three turrets. We see the rockets fire at the geth dropship...
And soon enough, it's sent flying away from here, the flow of geth coming out stopping altogether. All right!
Shepard seems to be fine, thank goodness. I follow up behind her as she leads the way yet again, and we rush down a corridor. We see a couple of krogan, but Kaidan takes care of one almost instantly by lifting him again. (Kaidan's been lifting a lot of things lately... when did he ever get so cold?) I look to the other krogan as Wrex rushes forward and fires a shotgun at its armor. It doesn't kill the krogan, but Tali and I both rush behind our krogan and put a few bullets in. That takes care of that as it floats away.
We move forward a little bit, shooting up more geth and all that jazz as we go along. Eventually, we come out to a more open area where we see a bunch of things... Oh, dear, the geth-controlled turrets... Oh, this is going to be a problem!
I look at the turrets as Shepard gestures to us. I see a geth trooper off to the side and shoot at it just before it can do much. I see Tali finish it off with her shotgun as we quickly move forward.
But then, I see the turrets fire at us, the rockets barely dodging us as we get a move on. I look on and- holy shit, a rocket just flew right by my head! It just flew right by my head! Another inch, and I probably would've ended up like Garrus in ME2. I don't know what's scarier; that it almost hit me, or that I couldn't hear it.
Either way, I take this as my cue to duck behind cover quickly. I do so, and look as Shepard and Kaidan both stand up and fire at the thing. Liara fires a singularity into it as Garrus adds to that. I'm not too keen on adding things there, instead trying to find the other way into the tower. I spot where we're supposed to go, and then I see another rocket fly overhead. Wow... these rockets are powerful...
I then turn to the others, and with a final shot from Shepard the turret goes down. Shepard gestures with her gun hand to get a move on. Apparently, she's seen the passage too.
We rush after her, and then we come across yet another corridor-looking place. Jeez, why are there so many corridors outside of this freaking city? As we rush down this, we see two krogan warriors and someone in decorated armor race towards us.
Yeesh. A battlemaster. This is not going to end well for anyone. Although, with how fast we've been going, this should be good.
I see Tali fire her shotgun at one of the krogan warriors, taking its shields down in one shot. As Kaidan lifts the other warrior into space, I start to fire my assault rifle at the other warrior. Shepard finishes it with a blast from her own gun, though, and the krogan's corpse floats off.
This leaves the battlemaster with us. I see Garrus rush forward, but I see a light blue glow. Oh, right battlemasters are biotic... Shit, this could be a problem. It's a good thing they don't really throw stuff in the game. I mean, that would just be-
And suddenly, I find myself lifted off the ground.
... Shitfucker! I did not come all this way just to get myself killed by some battlemaster! Shit... I should've known they'd be able to do that stuff in real life! Damn it! This is why I really hate biotics in real life. I always seem to fail whenever I'm fighting against a biotic... Granted, this wasn't that asari commando bitch from Noveria, but still. This is troublesome...
The world spins around me as I look down at Shepard. Right, every action has an equal and opposite reaction. And if astronauts get stuck in space, they toss their packs... So...
I do the only thing I can think of. I throw my assault rifle out into space.
Somehow, it manages to get me to stop mid-flight. It's not enough force to send me back to the tower, though. I see myself then float over the tower in a stationary pose, watching the battle with the battlemaster unfold below. I see the battlemaster attempt to lift someone else, but his hand gets shot away and the battlemaster takes a few rounds to the shields from Garrus. Wrex pumps a shotgun blast and takes down the rest of the man's shields. I can see Kaidan preparing to lift the son of a bitch again, but before he can Shepard manages to shoot the battlemaster in the face. It doesn't stop Kaidan from doing so anyway, though As I float in the stationary position, I see the battlemaster float up...
And it just so happens that he's floating over to me.
Okay, I have a jump point! As the corpse comes closer to me, I breathe in and out... Right, I've got one chance to do this right.
I look over to the Citadel tower, and then as the corpse comes within reaching distance I reach out and clamp on. We spin in the air briefly, and I look to the side. All right, gotta time this just right, or else I'm fucked. Okay... Back to the rest of the Citadel... back to Sovereign... Back to the tower...
Now!
I push away from the krogan, the force enough to send me down to the group. I look down as I approach the tower and Tali looks up. All right, I got it in the right direction! I slowly float back down... and promptly realize I'm falling on my back. Fortunately, Wrex and Tali are both there to catch me as I float down, and then my feet are back on the ground in a secure position.
Okay... That was an experience I'd rather not live through again. But I'm still there Wrex and Tali were there to help. I nod to the two of them as they help me get oriented, and then we're travelling up the tower again.
Nothing much happens the rest of the way. We take down a couple more geth, and that's about it. We come to a hatch to the interior of the Citadel tower. We look at it, and Shepard nods. I see Wrex approach and open the thing.
All right. If memory serves me right, we're going to see Saren soon. This'll be the first time I see the rogue Spectre in the entire time I'm here... Ironic how I've been here basically since after Eden Prime and I haven't even gotten to see the game's main villain face to face. I can't stop thinking about Benezia's warning. Saren will kill me on sight, eh? I imagine he'll be too busy trying to convince Shepard to drop her cause. And besides, going by what Vigil told me I could be any one of numerous people not of this universe here. How do they know that I'm the one?
Well, we'll see about that. And the whole not seeing Saren thing will be fixed soon.
As I stand there musing about this, Wrex manages to open the hatch. Shepard gives it a brief look before turning to us. We nod in agreemen, and then we jump into the hatch and step back into the Citadel tower.
Okay... here we are, in the Citadel towers... And we're blasting geth away. I grab my pistol and shoot at some more things. Yeah, not having my assault rifle sucks right now. Oh, well. In a year or so it'll clamber dow onto the Citadel. And stuff will happen. Either way...
I blast some more geth. All right, there are trees everywhere... we're in the room that Saren uses to try to give control of the Citadel to Sovereign. Fun times abound. We fight our way through several geth, and... well, they're not so tough after the zero G battle. Honestly, it's kind of refreshing to hear bullets whizzing by your head. My armor is all bloody with orange blood, but hey, what can I do, you know?
We rush up the stairs after eliminating almost all of the geth in the room. Shepard does so, being careful about her hand as we rush up and raise our guns.
Okay, there's the platform Saren was working on before we got here. But, he dropped out of view just before we held our guns to him. Wow... we're all holding our guns out in front of us... And now we're expecting Saren to do something.
I know what that something is, though. And as I see Tali adjust her shotgun, we hear the whirr of something rising up. And before I know what else is new, I see the man himself rise up.
So this is Saren Arterius... Shit, he looks creepy as fuck. He was bad enough in the game, but seeing him in real life... Brrr! I feel goosebumps form on my arms as I behold him, in all his barefaced, mechanical glory. He seems indifferent to everything, his fringe especially highlighting that. And the eyes... Oh, god, the eyes... They're just so blank. Not soulful like Garrus. But just so... mechanical. I suppose with Sovereign's implants that makes sense, but holy shit does this guy creep me the fuck out! Gah! I'm already fearing facing him in combat.
But all that is in the span of a split second as I see the grenade get tossed. Shit!
I jump out of the way, as does the rest of the squad. We're all sent flying, and then I hear a boom go off beside me. My shields take a hit, and suddenly, I find myself disoriented. Shit... That was a close one.
When I pay attention to my surroundings, I see that the squad is all over the place. Shepard is in her usual spot, the rest of the squad has either taken cover behind the staircase (like Garrus) or has found themselves in the trees (like Liara). I myself find myself on the opposite end of the walkway that Shepard is currently taking cover behind. I glance to the woman as she winces, her hand obviously in pain. But she doesn't show it, instead shifting her injured hand slightly as she shifts where she is.
"I was beginning to think you wouldn't make it in time, Shepard," begins Saren.
Oh, God, his voice... The raspy quality is bad enough, but jeez, the subharmonics are crazy! And now, there's a whole new mechanical aspect of his voice in there as well, like there's a gear whirring in his vocal chords... Okay, thats seriously creepy. Wow, I didn't think meeting Saren in real life would be this intimidating for me...
"In time for what?" asks the commander.
"The final confrontation," replies Saren. "I think we both expected it would end like this. You've lost. You know that, don't you?" Oh, dear, here we go... "In a few minutes, Sovereign will have full control of the Citadel's systems. The relay will open. The Reapers will return."
Shit... I hate that speech so much because it's so typical. But now, it just sounds creepy... Shit, best if I let Shepard handle this.
"I've still got a few tricks up my sleeve!" she replies.
I peer out behind cover and see Saren hovering on that fucking platform he's always on. "You survived our encounter on Virmire," he continues. "But I've changed since then. Improved. Sovereign has... upgraded me."
Oh, yes, the implants. I've been wondering about that myself. I guess the implants are some of what I'm seeing right now.
I see Shepard shift agitatedly, her face already scrunching up as she listens to that. "You let Sovereign implant you?" she asks. "Are you insane?"
I turn my attention back to the rogue Spectre as his platform floats around the area he was working on. "I suppose I should thank you, Shepard," he says. "After Virmire, I couldn't stop thinking about what you said. About Sovereign manipulating me. About indoctrination. The doubts began to eat away at me. Sovereign sensed my hesitation. I was implanted to strengthen my resolve." I see him lift his fist at this. Yeah, well, we'll see about that. "Now my doubts are gone. I believe in Sovereign completely. I understand that the Reapers need organics. Join us and Sovereign will find a place for you, too."
All right, this is enough. I think we all know how indoctrination works well enough, but I'm just sick and tired of the commander having that lone conversation with Saren! Besides, I hate bullshit 'you have failed' speeches like this. Really, what is the point? Is this an ego trip for Sovereign? Fuck this!
"Sovereign's controlling you!" I reply loudly. "I don't think your destiny is to be controlled!"
Shepard shoots me a glare that tells me I should have kept my mouth shut. And almost as soon asI say it, I feel Saren turn to me... Shit... I look at Saren as he gives me the most direct look he will... Shit... he's scary when he glares at you... fuck...
"Ah, so this is that scamp you were going to on Virmire," says the turian spitefully. "I though you knew better than to bring little boys into your battles, Shepard."
I gulp, looking at the the turian Spectre... Shit... Just look him in the eye and pretend that noghing is wrong. That'll do the trick. I hope...
I look at him, and almost glance away as soon as I do. I tighten my left hand into a fist to hide the fact that I'm scared as hell... Shit...
"I'm nineteen years old!" I reply. "I can also vote on Earth and drink on the Citadel. And if I recall, I would be in the military if I were a turian. So don't you go telling me who's a boy here!"
"Yes, but how are you as a soldier?" asks Saren, crossing his arms. "No doubt you are inexperienced..."
I bite my lower lip before continuing. "I was before," I reply, taking a deep breath. Okay, just look into his eyes, and whatever you do, don't even blink. I feel myself frown to keep my concentration on the tuian. "What the fuck does it matter? I don't know much, but I know when someone's doing something under someone else's control! You can't see what that ship is doing to you?"
I feel Shepard's gaze lessen on me as I look at Saren. Just look all defiant and everything will be all right. "You would not understand," he replies cooly. "The relationship is symbiotic. Organic and machine intertwined, a union of flesh and steel. The strengths of both, the weaknesses of neither. I am a vision of the future, the evolution of all organic life. This is our destiny. Join Sovereign and experience a true rebirth!"
Oh, no you don't. I shift slightly where I am. I open my mouth to tell him to fuck off... Wait, that's a bad idea. We can get Saren to shoot himself and avoid this battle directly. Might as well do that. I close my mouth, and look Saren directly in the eye. Shit... I've got one chance to not fuck this up... What if...?
Oh, snap out of it. You managed to save Wrex. If you managed to do that while unarmed, you can have a verbal face-off with Saren Arterius. Just remember; look him in the eye, and don't back down.
All right, now that we have that out of the way... Here goes.
"You're pretty fucking insane if you think the future of organic life is to get hypnotized by machines that spew out more pretentious holier-than-thou speeches than Armond White!" I reply. Obviously, Saren doesn't get it, because he simply floats there as I squint at him. "But that's not you!" I continue. "You said earlier that Sovereign would have control of the Citadel in a few minutes. Well, a few minutes can change a lot! We can still stop Sovereign!"
Shepard gives me a look before chiming in. "I have a way to stop him," she added. "Step aside and I can stop Sovereign!"
"You do not understand!" he replies. "We cannot stop the invasion! Not forever! You saw all those Prothean ruins! An entire civilization, brought to nothing by the hands of the Reapers! They are too powerful! Your mind would not comprehend their power!"
"It doesn't matter how much power they have!" I shout back at him. Okay, I'm getting my ammo. And somehow his eyes are becoming less creepy. Okay... I can do this! I can do this! "Even great powers can be stopped! Our own history tells of great men standing up for what's right and succeeding! If there was a way to bring down Nazi Germany, there's a way to stop the Reapers! There's gotta be some part of you that knows that what you're doing is wrong! You can fight it, Saren Arterius! You can fight it!"
I breathe in and out heavily as I look to the turian Spectre. I glance to Shepard for the briefest second to see her nodding in approval at this. I bite my lower lip before turning my attention back to Saren. I sense the hesitation in his gestures as he begins to hold his head. I sense Shepard's gaze lightening up.
"Perhaps you are right..." he says. "Perhaps there is a way to... to..."
And then I hear him growl in pain. Oh, dear, Sovereign is hurting him with his implants. That's not good. My eyes widen involuntarily as his platform hovers a little.
"The implants..." he says. "Sovereign is too strong. Stronger than you can understand, young man. I'm sorry. It's too late for me."
Oh, for the love of three oranges! I shake my head, and roll out to present myself to the Spectre. I hear a few gasps of shock behind me. But Saren doesn't scare me anymore. He's still in there somewhere... And I think I can get him to redeem himself! All right, Art, you can do this!
"It's never too late!" I reply. Wow, I could play inspirational music to this.
"You can still redeem yourself, Saren!" adds Shepard as she slowly stands up. She walks over to Saren. "I can stop Sovereign! You can stop Sovereign!"
"We've still got time, Saren!" I say. "You can do this!"
He gives me a pensive look, and slowly, I see his pistol hand fidget. Oh, dear...
"You are right..." he says, slowly bringing the hand with the pistol to his own head. "Goodbye... Thank you both."
The pistol is then directly under his chin, and he shakes. I can briefly see his eyes get some form of life. Regret, maybe? I dunno.
And then, a loud bang resounds throughout the chamber as I see Saren shoot himself in the head. I cringe upon seeing blue blood rush straight out, and I balk a little at seeing the blood flow uninhibited from Saren's head. He stands there for a split second, his eyes closed as he topples over to the side. I see him fall off the side of his platform, and then watch as he falls off. The shattering of glass is heard next, and then a small thud sounds in the area. That's all the clue I get that Saren is dead.
I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. Wow... Am I ever glad I played all those JRPG's in high school. Lloyd Irving would have been proud. As would Vyse. I literally just gave an awesome motivational speech, and I feel so awesome about it it's ridiculous. Except... wow, I didn't think I could do it. And yet... here I am.
I feel the others come forward, and then I see them all gather around me. Shepard holsters her pistol briefly, and nods.
Before I know what happens next, I feel a fist connect with my head. Ow, fuck! In the exact place that Wrex head-butted me, too!
"That was an incredibly dumb move on your part," she says. "Do you know how easily the situation could have gone out of control?"
I'm in no mood to argue with Shepard as I bow my head weakly. "I'm sorry, Commander," I replied. "It's just... you know. With the insanity and all that, I couldn't stop myself. I mean, I-"
She raises her good hand up, thus interrupting what I'm saying. "It didn't spiral out of control," she continues. "I'll give you a lot of credit; being able to stand up to a rogue Spectre is no easy feat for anyone, much less to a Spectre with Saren's standing. The situation could have gone out of control extremely easily. The fact that you kept yourself under control and kept the situation from going out of hand is extremely commendable."
Oh, so Shepard likes that! Wow... "It wasn't easy, you know," I reply, shaking my head sheepishly. "I was actually kind of scared, and really creeped out..."
"I sure couldn't tell," replies Garrus. "You handled that really well, Art."
"I said it once, and I'll say it again," comments Wrex. "You've got a quad on you, kid."
"Right," I nod, looking to the walkway as I chuckle nervously. Wow... I still can't believe I actually convinced Saren to shoot himself. Wow, I guess I really have come a long way since I first came here. "Uh... Thanks. I don't think we have all the time in the world for congratulations, though. There's still a sentient ship to stop and a galaxy to save."
Shepard nods at this, and she approaches the holographic panel Saren was just at. She brings up her hand slowly and keys up her omni tool. I can see her wince slightly as she does so, and she turns her attention briefly to me. "Thank you for reminding me," she says.
And with this, she walks in front of the control panel, and keys a few things on her omni tool. A few seconds later and a beep sounds. I see her shoulders relax slightly as she turns back to us.
"All right, Vigil's data file worked," she said. Ah, yes, the VI must have given her that file while I was distracted. "I've got control of all systems."
"Quick!" says Kaidan. "Open up the Citadel's arms! Maybe the fleet can take Sovereign down before he gains control of the systems!"
"See if you can open a communications channel," adds Garrus.
The commander nods, keeping her injured hand low as she keys something on her omni tool. A few beeps later, and we hear static come onto the comm channel.
"...the Destiny Ascension!" shouts someone. Oh, dear, here we go. "Main drives offline, kinetic barriers down 40 percent! The Council is on board, I repeat, the Council is on board!" The transmission comes in and out of static distortion, but the message is the same. I cast a glance to the others as Shepard steps forward. Shit... this is not good at all...
A second transmission comes up. "Normandy to the Citadel." All right, there's Joker's voice! "Normandy to the Citadel. Please tell me that's you, Commander."
She seems to regard her helmsman with some respect. "I hear you, Joker," she replies.
"We caught that distress call, Commander," says Joker. "I'm sitting here in the Andura sector with the entire Arcturus fleet. We can save the Ascension. Just unlock the relays around the Citadel and we'll send the cavalry in."
We look to each other as Joker cuts out briefly. I shrug at this, and I see Tali gaze over at me. Yeah, here's the moment of truth... do we save the Council or not?
"Are you really willing to sacrifice human lives to save the Council, Shepard?" asks Garrus, shifting slightly where he stands.
I cross my arms. "Garrus, this isn't something that concerns just humanity," I reply. "This concerns everyone in the galaxy."
"The Council didn't help us at all," says Wrex, waving his arm dismissively. "They deserve what's coming to them."
"The Council is too important..." counters Liara, shaking her head softly. "To let them die would be a great blow to the galaxy, as much as Sovereign activating the Citadel relay. They must be saved."
We look at each other, thinking of our differing opinions. Tali and Kaidan have no opinions, which leaves me to glance at the quarian. She seems a little nervous. Can't say I blame her. I'll bet she's wishing Shepard to save the Council. Trust me, Tali'Zorah, so am I.
"What's the order, Commander?" asks Joker again. "Come in now and save the Ascension, or hold back?"
Shepard, for her money, seems to be taking serious considerations at this. I don't really know what she's thinking, but I imagine it's pretty complicated stuff. But it seems her mind was made up, as she shifts on one of her feet and looks at the panel in front of her.
"Opening the relays now, Joker," she says. "We need to save the Ascension, no matter what the cost!"
All right, she's saving the Council! Probably not the best idea given how blind they are, but hey, as I said earlier everyone else is just as negligent. I just hope that fucking turian will be voted out of office by the time ME2 rolls around. There are enough air quotes to go around for me to want to punch him.
I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. Wow... Shepard is a paragon all the way. Somehow, I can't help but think the Council is going to forget who saved their asses in a few years' time...
"I hope you know what you're doing, Shepard," says Garrus.
I see the Commander key in a sequence, and we suddenly hear a sound. Okay, is that the sound of the mass relays opening? I guess... Something changes on the holographic panel, and then we nod at this. All right! Without missing a beat, Shepard taps some more commands on her omni tool. We suddenly hear a station-wide groan, and then we look out the window into the sky...
We hear the comm units pick up in activity.
"Destiny Ascension, you are all clear," says Joker's voice. "I repeat, you are all clear."
All right! Fun times are had!
We see the arms of the Citadel open up before us. And from the window, we can see... Yes, it's the Alliance! Yes! Things are going splendidly right now! They rush in, and they attack Sovereign with a lot of fire. The Reaper is still holding on, though, and we can feel the force of the explosions impacting against its shields where we are. How it does that, I don't know. But hey, this is cool at best and unsettling at worst. So it's the best of both worlds.
And I am kind of glad Shepard saved the Council, honestly. It'll really help interracial relationships from this point forward. Maybe give Terra Firma a run for its money.
But... there is one last order of business. Shepard steps forward on the platform, and then the rest of us follow suit. There, the body of Saren lies motionless. The Commander crosses her arms, and I can sense a slight bit of pity in her gestures as she looks down. She then turns to us and nods.
"Make sure Saren is dead," she commands.
I look over. Wait... it only takes two squad members to do that. So who...
I see Wrex and Kaidan nod. Oh, they're going to go down and see about it. Okay. That'll make it easier when Saren comes back to life soon. I inch ever closer to Tali as Wrex and Kaidan walk around to the back of the platform we're on. We both look down as the human and the krogan both fall to the ground. Tali comes close enough that we can whisper to ourselves as we watch Kaidan and Wrex approach the partly synthetic turian.
"Is it over?" she asks me softly, looking down at Saren.
I shake my head. "We have one more boss battle to go," I reply. "Just... watch."
I come away from her as Wrex pulls out his pistol. I look down at the quarian I trust so much, and see her wringing her hands in nervous anticipation. Honestly, I'm sort of anticipating things too. The gunshot will be... mostly decisive. Anyway, it won't stop Sovereign. Not completely.
But it makes the krogan bringing the pistol up to Saren's head that much more tense... All right... here we go...
A lone gunshot sounds out as Wrex puts another bullet in Saren's head. The downed turian doesn't flinch, all of us watching from the walkway above. After a few seconds of silence, Kaidan goes to his radio and nods gravely.
"He's dead," he says.
I see Tali look to me as we all let out a collective sigh of relief. She takes a bit of a gesture when I raise my finger up in warning.
"Not yet," I whisper, leaning closer for a second. "Watch."
And with this, I pull away from Tali, watching everybody slowly relax. Okay, cue the freak event in three... two... one...
The earth begins to shake a little beneath our feet. All right, this is more like it! I feel read to take on things.
As soon as we realize what is going on, I see flashes of red behind me. Red lightning, got it. The lighting flashes all over the place, and suddenly we see a very heavy concentration of them in the chamber below us. We see several flashes of the unnaturally colored lightning before we see a blood red aura cover Saren. And before we know what to make of it, he's screaming in pain.
Yes, a dead person is screaming in pain. The pain must have been so bad it brought him back to life...
And... Ugh, God... it's even more disturbing seeing this in real life! Oh, my god... his skin is melting... And it's resembling the effects from one of the Invasion of the Body Snatchers remakes that James Rolfe mentioned on ! The skin sloughing off... Oh, god, it just slips off his body! Yech! And the blood! It's not even falling off with the rest of the flesh; it's just boiling straight off of Saren's skeleton...
Holy shit, this is disturbing!
"Oh, keelah!" I hear next to me.
I don't get to add my own comment to this as I behold... Shit, this is graphic... It's worse than the game, and it's definitely worse than the creepers. I'm afraid of seeing what the actual human milkshakes will look like in the near future...
And before I can muse on this more, there is an explosion of energy from there. The force of the explosion sends Wrex and Kaidan flying away from the turian, and I hear distinct thuds as we hear them collide against something. We don't get much further, though...
Ah, Christ, the platform has just shifted beneath us. Oh, dear... I feel it lurch forward, and then Shepard, Garrus, Tali, Liara, and I are left suddenly sliding forward just a little bit. Shit... I slide down a little bit just as the platform jolts again. This knocks me off my feet, and then I'm sliding down the platform on my back. Oh, God, this is gonna hurt...
My ass collides with the ground of the chamber below me just as the platform lurches completely. I tumble over, and I see the world go spinning around me as I twirl away from the platform. A couple of seconds later, I land on the ground, letting out a small 'oof' as I roll on the ground. I come to a stop soon afterwards, laying on my stomach as I groan.
Ow, that hurt! Yeah, doctor's advisory warning. Oh, God... I'm going to be feeling that for a week.
I hear some kind of high-tech slashy sound, and then a squish. I look up weakly, and see Saren's skeletal form. Oh, God... it looks creepy as fuck. I can see all the circuits. The metal... Oh, god, it's disgusting! And Saren's face is still on it! Oh, Christ... And it moves! Now I know how Sarah Connor must have felt seeing the Terminator walk out of the flames completely unscathed. Shit... I never thoguht I'd see a robotic skeleton walk towards me like this. But shit... seeing it in person is just fucking scary...
Shit... I see it take a very short glance at all of us, its eyes scanning the room. Those eyes! They're so fucking creepy! I see it move its head around for a bit before I suddenly notice that its eyes are transfixed on me, and then I... is that a growl? But wait... why is it looking at me...?
Or... wait... it's not looking directly at me... But more to my...
I look down in the direction Saren's staring at. And I see a light orange glow there, the mysterious paperweight still in one piece. It's still in my pocket... wait... I look up at Saren, and then see the cyborg's eyes staring at it with the lightest trace of hunger.
...
Oh, shit!
I see Saren leap up to the ceiling, and my eyes widen. Shit shit shit shit shit! I scramble to my feet as quickly as I can, and I break out into a run. I decide it's best not to grab my weapon out as Saren lands where I was a few seconds ago.
I start running away from Saren... Right, first rule of chase sequences: never look behind you. Second rule, run as fast as you can. Not like Paris Hilton in that shitty House of Wax remake. Third rule... hope he's not catching up to you. Fourth rule... don't trip.
I dash around the perimeter of the room as quickly as I can... Shit, my sprint doesn't hold out for long... Motherfucker, I think he's going to catch me! Or... wait, there's the corner! I feel Saren jump around the room, and... yes, I can push off of that piece of debris to change direction! Okay... Rushing towards it... now. I hear Saren soar through the air, and I look to the object I plan to bounce off. My hand moves first, grasping the debris lightly so that my feet can springboard off of it. I then look to the side, my feet flying onto the object and then launching me off at an angle. But by this time, I've turned in midair and land, resuming my sprint. I make a quick turn as I hear Saren land beside me.
Just keep running and hope that doesn't happen, Art... Just think that and everything will be fine!
I hear him scramble along the plates... No, damn it Art, just keep dashing forward!
Before long, I see the others slowly get up. Okay... maybe they can help him do-
And before I know what's going on, I feel myself get tackled to the ground. Ow, my ribs... Ooh, I'm gonna be feeling that in the morning. I also feel a heavy weight on top of me, and then I look behind to see Saren on top of me.
Shit! He got me! I panick, grabbing his arm as it dives for the paperweight. Shit... keep it safe at all costs...
Ow... arms burning from the stress... Keep it away... Press X repeatedly to not die... Shit... I attempt to roll to the side, the attempt mostly working. Of course, I'm on the side that doesn't have the paperweight, making it easier for him to grab it. Oh, well. Not like there's much I can do about it unless I want to shatter it under our combined weight... Of course, he manages to correct himself, slinking up so that he's still over me, the evil sneer in his eyes... Shit...
Wow, he's persistent. I feel claws on my left hand as he pins it behind me. Oh, no you don't! I pull harder against Saren's arm, gritting my teeth as I try not to let it take a hold of the orange paperweight.
I suddenly notice that my legs are still free... My other hand is pinned behind my head, but my legs are free. And last I remembered, I had pretty strong legs...
I bring my legs out and place them against the husk's chest. With all my strength, I push away from Saren as strongly as I can. My legs come out, forcing the husk off of me. Without wasting another second (and ignoring the dull throb in my hip bone) I quickly get back up on my feet, and dash away. I glance behind me as I do this to see a blue aura surrounding him. I stop, turning around and seeing Kaidan use a biotic attack. It's successful; the husk stops where he is in the room, distracted.
"Thanks!" I shout. Okay, this is a good time to draw my weapon... I grab out my pistol, aiming it at the husk.
"Don't mention it!" shouts the lieutenant.
Okay... I bring up my gun and fire a few shots at the now disoriented Saren. I see Wrex rush forward and plant a shotgun blast straight in its belly before running off. I decide hiding behind a piece of something will get it to stop. And so, I dive beneath the ramp that I was hiding behind.
Right... don't make any more blunders like that again... I hide behind cover, and then I see Saren come back to his senses. The husk then growls frustratedly. I stay down behind cover, keeping my firearm poised as I keep an eye on the turian husk. Just stay calm. Stay focused. And don't let him see you for too long.
I glance around the battlefield as I see Garrus rush forward. Shepard is of course wincing in pain with her bad hand underneath as she holds up her pistol. Liara is holding her gun, and I see her glow blue all of a sudden as Saren leaps onto the wall and dashes off of it. Liara lets out a singularity, but the singularity misses Saren as he touches the ground nimbly and crawls away from it almost like an agile spider. Most of our shots miss, too, and I hear Saren scurry along. Okay... scope it out...
I quickly roll behind cover, being sure to keep one surface visibly obstructing my view. Wow... this fight is a lot harder than it was in the game. Then again, I didn't have Saren trying to kill me specifically, so I guess I was luckier.
Speaking of luck... Tali just happened to get really close to Saren there. Seeing this, she takes a very close potshot with her shotgun. We see the husk writhe a little bit before growling at Tali. Shit... it might hurt her...
Fuck you!
I take a few shots at the husk from behind my cover, my aim a little wild as I forget about the recoil briefly. My weapon comes back, sending me falling over. Fortunately, this helps a little bit, as I fade back just as Saren grunts in anger.
I hear assault rifle fire come out then, and I look to the side to see Garrus firing his assault rifle at the husk. Damn, that red aura is still around him... his shields are still down! Wow, this thing doesn't go down easily...
I move around my cover as Saren slinks off, and I see Wrex bum rush Saren again. Another shotgun blast is fired at Saren, followed by a biotic throw from Kaidan. The throw disorients Saren enough that I can see him fly off to the side. I take this time to fire another couple of shots, his shields still stopping the bullets as I watch. And then I see a blue burst hit Saren. I look to the side to see Liara has fired off a biotic blast, and this one has hit.
It hasn't just hit red, either. I see that it hits Saren himself as the husk stumbles back slighty. We all look on it in realization as Shepard grins wickedly in reply.
Okay! Its shields are down!
Now it's time to unleash the kraken!
Apparently, everybody else has the same idea. I see Kaidan launch a singularity, and then I see the miniature... black hole thing cause Saren to levitate around. The husk seems to move about frantically, but it's too late. I come straight out of cover while Saren goes floating around. I pull out my gun then, and just like everybody else, we begin to pepper Saren's robotic skeleton with a hell of a lot of gunfire.
We're all pitching in... Shepard with her pistol, Kaidan with his assault rifle, Tali with her shotgun, Wrex with his shotgun, Garrus with his assault rifle, Liara with her assault rifle, even I with my pistol. Of course, this will only last for a few seconds, but we'll get in what damage we can. Sure enough, we begin to do some visible damage to the husk, as one of Wrex's shotgun blasts manages to shoot off the thing's foot. And we riddle it with bullets, such that when it finally manages to get back to earth it sort of just sits there disoriented.
But it's quick to get back on its feet, and then I see it look straight at me...
Wait... his hand seems to be getting off his arm... Hm...
If I can time this just right...
Saren leaps up at me, the jump not being nearly as high as it was thanks to the bullets we've riddled him with. Okay, wait for it...
Now!
As the husk is about to leap on me, I grab a hold of the hand that's aiming for the paperweight. As I do so, I duck underneath Saren, sending him falling onto the floor with his back on. Okay, that's good timing. The rest is up to me. I place my foot on the skeleton's ribcage, still holding the hand. Thinking fast, I pull on the hand, my feet keeping the skeleton in place as it seems to keen in pain. Okay... just keep pulling...
After some very harsh effort on my part, I manage to rip off Saren's hand, the sound of stuff coming undone reaching my ears as I step back briefly. I bite my bottom lip to keep myself from making some bad hand-related quip, instead preferring to throw the hand to the side.
Saren gets up as I rush back, and I see assault rifle fire pepper its body as it stands. But instead of leaping about like he was earlier, he suddenly gives us a very malevolent look as he jumps onto what remains of the platform above us.
Oh, Christ... not this attack!
I quickly rush behind cover as suddenly Saren lets out several red bolts of energy. The bolts travel around the room impacting against everything. I see one impact against Liara, sending her flying away before I turn my attention to everything else. Wait... these bolts are flying all over the place, blowing up against whatever they touch... I crouch down, looking at the husk as it fires its energy. Shepard and Kaidan are both making good efforts to dodge it, but I see Wrex rush over without a single care towards the blasts. He pumps his shotgun once and comes in right under as the rest of us scramble to dodge these projectiles. I see him aim his shotgun up, and before I know it I hear the harsh report of it as it cracks underneath Saren.
This interrupts the attack long enough for Saren to look over. I glance briefly to Shepard, who is staring at the husk as it falls. She brings her pistol up, wincing at her injured hand as she fires a few pistol shots into Saren.
The first bullet lodges itself in one of the eyes. The second, on the chest. The third... somewhere I don't want to think about.
And the last one causes Saren to crumple down in a completely lifeless state. We see the red lightning leave his body, and then all is silent in the chamber for a few seconds.
I slowly come out of cover, eyeing the husk as it lays there... Shit... I think this is it! Yes...
We then see red take over Saren's body, and then the husk glows brightly for a few seconds. The metal skeleton melts away after a brief period of time, and we see black-ish smoke rise up from where the implants used to be. And when it's gone... there's nothing left. It literally evaporated into the air... It's silent as we regard the spot where Sovereign's implants used to be, and I find myself breathing in and out just a little easier.
And then, we hear a slight groan as we feel a light shaking all around us. Huh, so this is what it felt like for Sovereign to let go of the Citadel tower... We suddenly hear comm chatter about how Sovereign's shields are down...
Holy shit... We actually did it! Yes! We kicked Sovereign's ass! We did it, we did it, we did it did it did it! We hear more comm chatter, and then Joker's voice comes in on the comms.
"Hard on my flank, we're going in!"
All right, Joker is going in with the torpedo that takes down a Reaper! And Sovereign is going to get blown up soon, and Shepard saved the Council, and-
Wait. Sovereign is going to get blown up soon... And since... Oh...
Shit! The debris!
I look out the window, shock overtaking my features as Tali approaches me. She looks on with concern as I grab her arm.
"Shit, I think we need to get out of here!" I mutter under my breath. I grab her forearm roughly, and slowly head back.
"Art?" she asks.
But she doesn't need any more confirmation, for then we see a huge-ass piece of Reaper heading towards us. Shit! I knew it! Good thing I didn't start my victory dance!
"Go!" shouts Shepard loudly.
I don't need to be told twice. In fact, I don't need to be told at all. I break into a run even before the word leaves her mouth. My hold on Tali tightens, and then the both of us are dashing away from the chunk of debris flying towards us. Tali looks back as I pull her along, the two of us sprinting as quickly as we can.
And then, we hear the collision of the debris with the Citadel tower. The floor shakes violently beneath my feet, and then I'm thrown off, falling forward and down a flight of stairs as the building shakes violently. I see Tali fall in much the same way, and I roll upon landing. I look up, feeling the vibrations of the building shaking in my body as I take in a deep, shocked breath.
I promptly cough from the dust that's risen from the collision, and I shake my head as I look up.
Wow... the damage to this area of the tower is worse than I thought. there are the flaming trees and the broken floor and the debris and glass lying everywhere... but still... Wow, just wow.
I shift slightly where I lay as Tali does the same. Shit... the paperweight!
My hand darts into the pocket, and I sigh in relief when I find the thing is still in one peace. Okay, good, we won't get royally screwed by the Reapers later. I take another deep breath and turn to the quarian.
"That's it..." I say. "It's over..."
I can scarcely believe it myself. We've stopped Sovereign and Saren at the Citadel. We killed Saren. We blew up Sovereign. We stopped the Reaper invasion. Everything happened more or less exactly how it was supposed to.
I smile at this, chuckling briefly. I look to Tali as I raise an arm in the air, the gesture victorious.
"We did it!" I say, sitting up and smiling. "We did it!"
I repeat it one more time as I look up to the sky and start laughing. The quarian gives me one look before she herself starts to look there in disbelief at all we've done. I hear her chuckle slightly, and then I sit there, looking at the debris. I see Tali's vision go over there, and then back to me. She offers me a questioning gesture, her hand pointing there.
"Don't worry, they'll live," I reply, patting her shoulder with a smile.
I stand up, however, and then offer my hand to her as she gives me what I guess is a bewildered look.
"So, you wanna help sift through debris right now?"
Tali gives me a small look before looking to my hand. She gives it a brief glance, and I can swear she's looking a little more than flustered as she takes my hand. I help her into a standing position, and... oh, wait... We're really close, aren't we...?
Uh... Oh dear... Her suit is right up against my armor... And... Oh dear...
My cheeks feel kind of hot right now. I glance down nervously, directing my gaze away. I swear I'm blushing... And I hear Tali giggle nervously close by as she realizes the distance between us is much shorter than is comfortable for me. Yes, I'm definitely blushing right about now... I look to the debris then, and gesture to it.
"Of course, Art," she says. "Let's go."
And so we walk back up the stairs, looking on the debris left behind by Sovereign and figuring out where we should start with moving the debris to get the rest of the crew out of there...
After nearly a half-hour of moving debris out of the way, we've only managed to find Liara and Wrex. The two of them seem shaken, but they're both okay. Wrex and Liara wind up helping us to move some debris out of the way, but the going is so slow it's ridiculous. Jeez... this must be what it was like to be on the ground crew of the WTC after September 11...
It's certainly unsettling work, that's for sure. And it's also extremely tense, given that I don't know where everything is going to be...
Wrex manages to pull a piece of debris aside when we hear footsteps behind us. I turn my head and look behind me as I work. I see two men there. One of them is just a generic person. The other...
"Anderson?"
He nods to me as the other crew members turn to face him.
"Yes, that is me," replies the Alliance member. "Thank goodness you are all right. Where is Shepard?"
Yes, that's him all right. "She's somewhere under this debris," I say. "As well as some other people on her team..."
"Right..." says Anderson's assistant. He activates a light on his omni tool. "We should probably dig a little faster."
Yeah, that's what I was thinking too. I nod to the others, who mostly nod back. Wrex shoves away a piece of debris that he was working on before we went back to work, digging Shepard and the crew out of there.
After what felt like hours, we finally hit gold.
"Hey, I found someone!" I hear the assistant say as Tali and I move a piece to help him move about. "It's a turian..."
"Garrus..." I whisper under my breath as I look to the hole the Marine is talking from. Tali and I quickly finish rolling the debris out of the way before Liara and Wrex both step in. Anderson comes in after them, and then I look to Tali and nod. We both step into the hole after that, and sure enough we see Garrus just kind of sitting there in his armor. He's a little disoriented and seems to have picked up a couple of cuts and bruises, but otherwise he looks fine. The others gather around as we notice that somehow the rest of the debris is a little more open.
Tali seems to notice this, and then... wait...
"Where's Kaidan?" I ask.
Garrus shifts slightly as the Alliance personel look him over for any possible cuts and bruises. "He went to go find Shepard," replies Garrus. "She should be here somewhere..."
I nod at this, looking to Shepard's superior officer. I see the worry on his face as he looks around at all of us uncertainly. Well... his concern is certainly more noticeable in the real world than it is in the game.
I offer him a smile and a small hand gesture. "She'll be all right," I tell him. "She's pretty hard to kill."
"I only hope you are right," replies Anderson as Liara and Wrex help Garrus to his feet. The turian stumbles a little as he regains his footing, and then nods to me.
"Well... we did it," began the turian. "We defeated Saren..."
I nod at this, looking over to where we had our fight with Saren. "Yeah..." I add. "And we stopped the Reaper invasion while we're at it..."
We're silent at this. Wow... the idea is still hard to believe. Wow... I feel surreal about everything here. It's just... We defeated Saren. I'm still having a hard time believing we actually saved the galaxy. I guess it just feels so much better since I had a more active role than being some voice of god for Shepard. I guess that feeling is more spectacular than having beat the game.
... Which I just lost. Jesus Christ on a pikestaff!
We then hear shuffling footsteps come from within. All eyes turn to behold this, hoping for the best.
And sure enough, Kaidan walks into view, with Shepard's good arm slung over his shoulder. They both look pretty badly beaten up, but they're fine. I see Shepard offer a smile at us as she walks with Kaidan. She looks up and nods to the rest of us.
And that's when it finally drills itself into my head.
We've beaten Mass Effect. We stopped Saren! And we saved the galaxy!
I think there's cause to celebrate!
My smile grows ever wider, and in response to the great feeling I pump my fist in the air, jumping up as I do so.
"Yes!"