Chapter XXI: It Ends Here Tonight
"Holding my last breath.
Safe inside myself,
Are all my thoughts of you.
Sweet raptured light,
It ends here, tonight."
-My Last Breath, Evanescence
Shepard
"I think I may know him a little better than you do." Rahna said coolly.
Shepard bit back her "doubt it" and shook her head. "For one thing, you seem to be under the impression he'll want to help the same person that has been responsible for the murder of dozens of quarians. Let alone the attempt on our lives."
Rahna smiled. "You really have no idea what I'm working on, do you?"
"Cosmetic self improvement?" Shepard shot before she could reconsider, distracted by Rahna's white hair as it clashed so harshly with her dark skin.
Rahna's smile slipped only slightly, and she was quick to recover. "The hair is a side effect to scientific discovery. Those who wish for improvement in the world often sacrifice something of themselves. I was hoping that as a commander of the Alliance, you might understand that-"
"Look, are you going to tell me what I want to know or are we gonna piss around all day?" Shepard interjected impatiently.
Rahna smiled, then slowly nodded. She raised her arms and gestured around the room. "Welcome to my private lab. And 'home' for the last five years." Rahna curled a single finger in inclination. "This way please."
Shepard kept her face stoic, but her mental face scowled. Rahna too easily adjusted to a level playing ground. No longer exercising control but acting as hostess and colleague. It made Shepard nervous. She followed the woman, unsettled that Rahna had turned her back on her and walked further into the room without any sign of feeling unsafe.
Rahna walked to the back where, held in what could only be called a display stand was the most ornately decorated object Shepard had seen. It was different than anything she'd seen before, human or otherwise. It was… well, from a distance it looked like a plate, half of a broken one anyway. It was a two inch thick disc, metallic and heavy from the looks of it. The unrounded edge of the semi circle was jagged and anything by straight, like a puzzle piece. Indigo lines criss-crossed across the smooth surface in a seemingly random pattern. But there, toward the bottom of the rounded edge, was another circle, cut and carved into the unrecognizable metal, the blue lines swirling in a spiral at it's center.
Shepard found herself leaning in, squinting at this strange obviously alien piece of... something. She forgot she was in enemy territory, instead memorized by this bizarre thing.
"What is it?" She asked curiously.
"An artifact." Rahna replied as if it were the most complicated answer she could muster. She turned to it and leaned back on the counter to watch Shepard's reaction. "All we know is that it's ancient, maybe even dates back to the time of the protheans."
Shepard cocked a head to the side and raised her hands to it, stopping before reaching out. "May I?"
Rahna nodded. "As far as we can tell, it doesn't activate unless it makes contact with biological tissue, namely DNA. And there's only been one human to actually initiate it."
Shepard weighed the artifact in her gloved hand, measuring its density, of which seemed pretty high. Rahna looked tentative while Shepard handled it, like she might have to reach out and save it at a second's notice.
"And how is he or she?" Shepard asked absently.
She didn't get an answer right away. "She's fine." Rahna finally said slowly. Shepard's eyes automatically shot to the woman, glancing over her white hair and settling to her electric eyes.
"Yes." Rahna said, confirming her suspicions. "So far we only know that it will interact with humans, but we haven't tested it on another subject yet. My exposure was accidental. Due to the effects, we will only test again on a volunteer."
Shepard turned her attention from Rahna's contemplative face back to the artifact. "Effects?"
"Longer lasting and more potent biotic capability. I can fight with my biotics without ever tiring, and without..." Rahna added slowly, "the use of implants".
"Amazing". Shepard placed the broken disk back into it's holder.
"There's more. It bestowed another power on me, of which I have learned to use. But I have no reference to whether I'm doing right. It gets it's purpose done, as far-"
"Yeah, as far as you can tell." Shepard finished for her. She tore her eyes away from the counter and rounded on Rahna once more. "What does this have to do with Kaidan?"
Rahna breathed and spoke again, as if she were disussing payment plan options for a new sports rover. "We need another volunteer, a very powerful biotic to test its potential. And I'm pretty sure you cannot name a more powerful biotic than one you would take on your own ship to fight beside you. He was powerful enough at seventeen. Besides, I think this is something he'll want to be a part of. This technology could put an end to the use of implants."
"Why not get someone else." Shepard challenged gesturing with one hand. "The Asari? Or the Krogan? They are more durable and have had biotic potential a lot longer than humans."
"Because this is a voluntary process." Rahan shook her head. "And they will not want to be a part of it unless they can also be a part of the claim. This needs to stay with humans."
"So Vyrnnus did rub off on you." Shepard allowed herself a smirk. "You think its best to exclude the aliens."
"This has nothing to do with Vyrnnus." Rahna sain defensively. Shepard watched her breathe to collect herself, and then sit in a nearby chair. "This is about something bigger. Humans have always been one step behind the others in the biotic race. This will maximize their performance, make them unstoppable. Think about it, Commander. No more implants, no more crippling side effects..."
Shepard was reminded painfully of how much Kaidan suffered because of his headaches.
"And it will make humans a force to be reckoned with..." Rahna added as an afterthought.
Shepard met Rahna's gaze with a dead stare of realization. "You'll turn it into a weapon."
The scientist shrugged, her hair falling around her. "It was often a discovery of something destructive in our history what pushed our evolution as a civilization forward. Gunpowder. Atom splitting. Well of course the military would like to get their paws on this piece too. But more importantly, we'd be helping biotics. Biotics have lived in shame and distrust from their fellow humans because people do not understand them. We are on the brink of making biotics people to be admired! It's only an addition to what the goverment will pay for us to make the next generation of soldiers an elite force unlike any this galaxy has ever seen before. Everybody wins."
"Unless one of your little 'experiments' goes wrong."
Rahna nodded fairly. "That's why we're on a strictly volunteer basis. And why I need Alenko. If we can make it happen again without fault we can begin trying it on others. The lesser powerful biotics, the younger soldiers, maybe even someday... the unexposed normal people. Someday, we may find a way to make anyone a powerful biotic."
Shepard tried her defense again. "That's why you need a biotic, not why you need Alenko."
Rahna stood again, sighing as if trying to explain something incredibly simple. "There are few human biotics, Commander. And even less that haven't become unstable because of the brutal side effects. And those that do turn out okay aren't scientists. They're trained for military, you know that."
"He won't go for it." Shepard insisted.
"He owes me."
"You think he'll do this for you because of something that happened fifteen years ago?"
"No. I'll think he'll do it because if he doesn't... I'll kill you."
Shepard involuntarily froze. She knew that was something that would make Kaidan do anything, as much as she wished it weren't true.
"I don't think you'll kill me." She bluffed.
"Oh no? Weren't you just counting off how many people have already died by my actions? And you think I'm worried about hurting my ex boyfriend's girlfriend!? Think again. I'm may be a scientist, but I'm still a woman." Rahna spoke thickly, irritation edging its way back into her tone.
"You've forgotten that Kaidan isn't here like you anticipated. You have nothing." Shepard said, trying to sound strong.
Rahna's eyes turned hard. "Well then I had better make sure he's on his way."
Rahna turned on her heel and began to storm to the front of the room again. Shepard had a sinking feeling she knew exactly what Rahna was going to attempt.
"No!" Shepard shouted automatically. She lunged at the scientist in a dangerously untactful way, unable to stop herself.
Rahna's laughter filled her ears, as if relieved that she'd finally managed to crack the commander's calm exterior.
Shepard barely got a grip on the woman before her feet left the floor, and she felt herself being hurled through the air. Her back slammed painfully into the steel wall behind her and she grunted in pain. Her armored head knocked against the metal with enough force to cloud her vision. But even through the hurt she saw Rahna prepare another throw.
Shepard's body was ripped from its place slumped against the wall and thrown sideways into some kind of metal closet, the edges of which battered and beat her body. Her armor protected her from hard edges and corners, but the strength at which she collided with various objects in the room left stars behind her eyes.
Shepard watched helplessly as Rahna whipped back for another move and closed her eyes, focusing instead on not groaning as she was slammed against the ceiling and then fell to the floor.
Shepard lay there for a moment. Her limbs felt tired and heavy, disjointed from her body. She waited for another attack.
But nothing happened. She tilted her head up, ignoring the painful protest of her neck, and saw Rahna standing at the front counter, leaning over a pager.
"Edwards! Thompson!" She shouted, surely making her crewmen jump in their suits. "Report!"
"There's nothing out here, ma'am." Thompson's voice replied. "We even walked out to the rim and checked the rover. There's nothing but empty equipment cases."
"Open them." Rhana ordered at the transmitter. Slowly, behind her, Shepard began getting to her feet. Her body ached, but she made herself ignore it.
"Nothing, ma'am, they're empty."
Shepard was standing now, and she drew herself to full height. "I told you. I came alone. Just as you asked."
Rahna snapped back her gaze to Shepard in furious anger and frustration. "And it worked, didn't it!? You're not here with a miniature army. I have you in my control! My only mistake was believing that Alenko would follow you anyway! I expected he would, meaning I would have both of you, and only you two. But since you seem to have chosen not to enlighten him, I'll have to take it upon myself!"
Shepard faltered for a second. Rahna didn't even look tired. In fact, she hadn't even broken a sweat. The biotic power she'd used didn't seem to have had any effect on her.
Shepard didn't have time to come up with a new plan, because Rahna was advancing on her again, icy eyes blazing blue in hatred.
On reflex, Shepard pulled out her only weapon, and pointed her pistol at Rahna.
The woman laughed in a small amused sort of way, her white mane shimmering in delight. "Try it."
Shepard thought for a moment about her options, knowing she still didn't want to kill Rahna. On a quick thought, she changed her aim and fired at the woman's thigh.
In that second, it was almost as if nothing happened. There was movement, and then Shepard's brain had to catch up with her sight.
When the image registered, Rahna's arm was extended, surrounded in dark blue energy. A barrier separated her from Shepard, the bullet caught in the cloud between and then simply gone.
Shepard's eyes widened at the speed and power. That's why Rahna had allowed her to keep her gun.
She saw the loathing flare in Rahna's eyes again and the woman retracted her arm for another attack. Shepard lunged out of the way as the globe of energy came at her. It slammed into the shelf behind where she had been standing. Then another blue orb of force crashed into the desk Shepard had dove behind and she was forced to move again. Rahna was playing with her, forcing her into a game of cat and mouse.
Shepard darted behind another counter, wishing she had paid more attention to the room earlier.
"Come on, Commander." Rahna said thinly. The heels of her boots clicked slowly, searching. "We can be civil about this."
"You didn't honestly think I'd just subect to your will, did you?" Shepard snarled, waiting for Rahna to attack again at the direction of her voice.
"I don't really see where you have a choice. But if you really want to do it this way, that's fine. I can improvise." The footsteps stopped.
An audible click filled the air.
"Elaine, connect me to the Normandy."
Shit. She thought furiously. There was a grinding sound of armor on cement as she pulled herself up.
But Rahna was on the other side of the room standing in front of a comm console like the one that had been on Syba, arms crossed in thought as her respondent said something about 'trying to connect'.
"Rahna, let's talk." Shepard said louder, not yet willling to give up her cover. What could she do to distract her from talking to Joker?
But Rahna was already a step ahead of her. "I just want to chat with your lieutenant. I want to know how comfortable he'll feel after he discovers who I am."
More like 'discovers that I'm gone'. Shepard thought bitterly. She couldn't say anything without alerting Rahna that there was more Alenko didn't know. She couldn't say anything, but…
Frantically Shepard popped out from behind her shield and pointed her pistol at the console with full intentions to reduce it into blasted plastic.
Almost instantly Shepard found herself paralyzed in screaming pain. Her muscles locked and she felt a very solid and thorough lashing sing through her body. Even more unexplainable was the flash of vibrant color of pink before her eyes.
Through the pain she could feel herself fall and she couldn't focus on keeping her feet underneath her. Her brain went numb and fuzzy. She could feel her throat shouting in agony, but couldn't hear it through the haze.
Eventually she began losing feeling in her limbs, a brief relief to the pain, but she was honestly frightened at the notion of being so helpless.
Finally, the light receded, and she could breath again. She craned her neck to see Rahna crouching over her.
"Stand up." Rahna said venomously, fire in her eyes.
Shepard tried to make her arms work, lazily and clumsily she got her arms beneath her and tried to push against the ground.
"I didn't do a good enough job." Rahna scoffed at herself, seeming only half angry with herself. Shepard barely saw Rahna flare up in a fuchsia corona again before she was engulfed in pink fire and writhing on the floor again.
She didn't know how long she was down this time, only that it hurt. The effect bled from pain into a numbing fog of near consciousness. She was so close to passing out by the time Rahna retracted she wasn't even aware it had stopped.
She tried to focus, but her vision only consisted of shades and shapes. She couldn't feel anything.
"I'll say this slow so you can understand me." Rahna said loudly. Shepard didn't move.
"You can't beat me." Rahna sounded every word out. "So you can start behaving now. The more you fight, the harder you make this little transition on the man you claim to love. Understand?"
Shepard tried to call Rahna a whole string of nasty names, but her lips barely moved, and all she managed were a series of coos that made her head hurt. Her throat felt raw and torn from screaming, and she winced in effort. She was overwhelmed with drowsiness. There was a shuffle of movement, and she was relieved of her helmet, unable to fight Rahna as it was removed and her head dropped back to the floor. The cool cement felt good on her face.
"We want them to see your face." Rahna said smoothly, and again Shepard tried to argue, only to gurgle in a deadened mumbles.
"Elaine, have you got the Normandy?"
"Connecting now, ma'am."
Shepard lay helplessly on the floor, fighting relentlessly with the sleepiness that tried to overcome her. She tried to focus on voices, anything to keep her connected to the conscious world.
It wasn't so tricky, after she recognized a distinctly familiar voice fill the room. Shepard tried to turn on her side to see his face in the holo, but her muscles lay utterly useless.
"Commander, please tell me this isn't going to get any messier."
"Wrong guess."
"Oh. Hello, Rahna. Call to apologize?" The voice quipped.
"Joker, right?" The white haired wench replied coldly. "How are you today?"
"Doing pretty good. The boss is kicking some serious ass today. Some self righteous bitch in the Sentry Omega cluster." The pilot replied easily, as if talking to an old friend.
Shepard could almost picture Rahna's lips spread in a smile. "Oh, you mean Shepard? Oh yeah, she's here. And indeed is kicking. But not for too long now. I'm afraid she can't come to the comm right now."
Shepard angrily tried to kick at the scientist's knee caps, but she might as well been trying to play footsies with her.
Rahna sighed as if she were a teen babysitter being interrupted during a phone call. "Well, hold on, I think she wants to say hello."
Shepard growled as she felt herself being lifted up. She knew the woman was small and should've been unable to support her, but she found herself in camera view anyway, trying to focus on the orange glow that must've been Joker's face. It wasn't until a few moments of trying to clear the fuzz in her head that she realized she was being held in a cloud of blue energy, being easily controlled by Rahna, who didn't even seem to be concentrating too hard.
"Commander?" Shepard was relieved to hear Joker kept himself from sounding too shocked and concerned. She tried to say something, but her lips weren't working right.
Rahna cooed. "Hmmm, yes. But I'm afraid she's not doing so well." Rahna tilted her hand and Shepard was lifted a little farther up. "And she won't, unless you do as I say."
" Joker." Shepard forced with as much volume as she could muster. Even now the words sounded weak, but she slowly began gaining back the use of her voice. "Don't listen to her."
There was a blinding pain in her face and she hit the floor again. Without her helmet to protect her, her forehead hit the metal painfully, and red began to ooze from over her right brow. In addition, the spilt lip the krogan had given her on Vebinok reopened with Rahna's hit. She touched a gloved hand to her face, only to pull it back and see her own fingertips glistening with blood.
"Shut up." Rahna said.
Shepard slowly tested her limbs, measuring the strength she could get from them. Rahna left her on the floor.
"So, Asshole." Rahna said returning to Joker. She no longer emulated a sarcastically kind woman, but a spiteful demon, and Shepard hated the woman's demeaning tone and the way she talked to Shepard's friend and pilot. "Is my boy-toy around? I'd like to have a word with him."
And how she talked about Kaidan.
Shepard got her legs underneath her and leapt with as much force as she could. It was weak and unpowerful, but it pushed Rahna out of the way for a moment. "Joker!" Shepard shouted, adrenaline allowing her fight. "Do not let him come here!"
There was a grunt and Shepard was flung from the console again, but she came back fighting the petite scientist. She had easily had more physical strength than Rahna when they first met, but Shepard was still feeling spent and drained for the woman's not-quite-biotic attack.
"Drive away if you have to!" Shepard grinded out as she was hit again, and she was forced to focus herself into the full on shuffle she was having with Rahna. "That's an order!"
"Uh, Commander... I tried-"
"Do it!"
"But you don't get it, the LT-"
"Joker now!"
"Commander-!"
"Dr. Greene!" A new voice entered the shouting, and the struggle between the women stopped as they looked for its source. On the counter, out of the pager was flying Thompson's voice, proud and triumphant. "He's arrived."
Shepard looked at Rahna and her blood ran ice cold. Rahna's face however, split into a smile that reached her blue eyes. "Good work. Disarm him, and then bring him here. Quickly."
"Yes, ma'am."
"That's what I was trying to say." Joker said.
Rahna turned to the holo. "Thank you, Joker. That will be all." And she turned off the console before Joker could rebuke.
Shepard hadn't moved. Her brain wasn't working, and as it was she was hardly standing. She was scared and running out of options. And time. She didn't just have to worry about getting herself out now. She had to get Alenko out. And Shepard, despite that her head usually worked against this logic, knew that getting him out was her priority.
Kaidan would do anything if Rahna played the right card, and Shepard knew she did not want him subjecting himself to this. There was so little that could go right. And the fact was, as promising as it sounded, that artifact was too dangerous, and they knew too little about it. And Kaidan would live the rest of his life under a microscope, if he even survived the experiment. If it didn't go horribly wrong.
But if Rahna was going to use Shepard's life as leaverage...
But Kaidan wouldn't help her. Not if Shepard was already dead. In fact, he would find a way to put an end to this whole thing. Shepard weighed the two things she would miss most if they were lost.
Kaidan's life.
And her life with him, their future together.
She'd miss them both if they were taken, but there was just one that would leave her crippled forever.
"I didn't come here to kill you, Rahna. But if you're going to insist on this, I'm going to have to fight you. I want you to understand that this was your fault." Shepard challenged her, already fearing that Rahna's advantages way outranked her own hours of practice with marine hand to hand. But she had to try. She lunged at the woman again, using as much energy as was available to stay on her feet. But as suspected, Rahna's biotic abilities left Shepard as easy prey.
Shepard barely got out a "fuck you", before her world was lit in pink fire again.