Chapter Twenty One: Rise from Illium
She felt the ship hum beneath her. She felt the vibrations rattling up through the structure and through her seat. Had they always this rough, or did something happen during repairs that she didn't know about?
Commander Shepard sat in one of the chairs in the briefing room. Her left arm was stretched out on the table in front of her. She clenched and relaxed her hand on the table. The limb felt strange, like something warm was inside it.
Her officer's sleeve was rolled up, baring the flesh of her forearm. She noticed the scars that were beginning to form. A bullet fragment had gouged out a significant portion of her flesh there. She looked at it in fascination. The damage that had been done to it had been almost entirely repaired. There was something disturbing though about the too-regular, grid square-like repairs of skin and flesh. It almost looked like some form of perverse organic scaffolding.
She'd informed Chakwas and the other scientists about this, but they had said that was fine. The new nanties were just repairing her underlying cybernetic support structure.
She wasn't sure what to make of it. On the one hand, she had recovered from an injury in days what would have taken months, if ever, normally. On the other, it felt strange to her that all that held her bashed and bruised body together now was a cybernetic structure designed by Cerberus working alongside repurposed Collector nanites.
I wonder what my own cells think of all this intrusion? She mused. Captivated by the tiny red glow showing through her open skin, similar to the scars on her face. She'd asked about them too, why they hadn't healed when everything else had. Chakwas was at a loss. Maybe the nanites were just prioritizing other things first?
The door slid open. Liara stood in the open threshold to the briefing room..
Shepard rolled down her sleeve to cover the lattice scars. "Liara." she said, a smile coming to her face. "You wanted to talk?"
"Shepard." she replied and moved slowly into the room. "I trust you're feeling better?"
Shepard shrugged, "Better than I've any right to. Doc says she's never seen anyone recover this fast."
Liara smiled. "That's good to hear. We were all so worried."
"You all managed to pull through ok." Shepard said. Liara meekly nodded. There was something off about her, Shepard thought. Her pose and her gestures were too stiff. Something's not right, she suspected, "Liara? Are you ok?" she asked.
Without speaking the asari sat down in a seat next to Shepard. Her poise was tense, both hands clasped to her knees in front of her.
She looked down, "Shepard...I just want to say… I'm so sorry."
Shepard was at a loss, "Sorry for what?"
"When you entered my office, before, that… I never truly believed that…" she straightened up. "Did Cerberus ever tell you how they retrieved your body?"
Shepard shook her head. "No. I don't know. I never thought to ask."
"They had it because I gave it to them. I gave you to Cerberus, they said they could bring you back, and I thought, if it's even remotely true, then…." she trailed off.
Shepard leaned in, "Hang on, you had my body before Cerberus did? You were the one that found me dead?"
Liara shook her head, her lips were pressed together. "I stole your body from the Shadow Broker. He was going to sell you to the collectors."
Shepard sat back in her chair. "So, why didn't you tell me this before? You're the one I have to thank for me being alive!"
The asari stumbled, "I... I was afraid you'd hate me. I knew what your views on Cerberus were, before you… before. And still I gave you to them. I knew about them. Their methods. Their aims, priorities. I knew that if I gave you up, even if they did what they promised..."
She looked at the commander, "I knew I probably wasn't going to get you back. Not the version I knew, but one twisted and reprogrammed by Cerberus to further their agenda. I thought you'd be angry but I... I couldn't bear to let you go."
Shepard was silent for a long moment.
"So am I?" she managed.
"What?..." Liara breathed, her expression confused.
"You knew me well, Liara. You're my friend, so you of all people could tell if I'm any different." Shepard held out her arm to her and pulled up the sleeve. The grid like criss-cross of baleful, red scars glowed up at the two women.
"Cerberus did rebuild me, here's the proof. I'm told there wasn't much of me left to do it with. I'm different than before, I can't deny that. A lot more metal and silicon where blood and flesh used to be." she looked at Liara. "But am I still me? Do I sound like me? That's the thing I can't resolve. I wouldn't know if I'm different. Am I still the Shepard you knew?"
"Nothing since you arrived back tells me otherwise." Liara conceded eventually. A small smile began to creep onto her blue features.
Shepard breathed out, she hadn't known until now how much that answer relieved her. She covered up her arm again, "Now if I'm the same Shepard you knew two years ago. The same Shepard that with your help defeated Sovereign and the geth. Why would I be angry that you helped save my life."
"Thank you, thank you Shepard. You don't know how much this means to me."
The two sat in silence for a moment, each unsure of what to say.
Shepard glanced across and saw a quick succession of expressions briefly dance across Liara's face. Her mouth opened and closed several times in uncertainty before the words finally formed,
"This makes what I'm about to say even more painful." Liara said. "Shepard. I need your help..."
A warning siren sounded. Steam issued from grates on the floor. Lights flashed along the sides of the space, alerting anyone nearby to a ship departure.
Violent, sharp noises of exhaust sounded as maneuvering thrusters flared all along the ship's hull. The main drive spooled up, humming a deep pitch of tortured physics. The ship acquired all the necessary permissions from the port computers and to either side of the ship the great docking clamps, that had held it fixed for weeks, fizzed and deactivated.
The ship dropped slightly, but the thrusters immediately took up the slack. Slowly, purposefully, the ship backed out of the Nos Astra hangar into the sunlight. The blazing rays of Illium's star shimmered across the new repairs and fixed sections of the hull. They bounced off the new layers of paint and protective coating.
The ship swivelled mid air and ascended. Its maneuvering thrusters took it up into the skylanes of the city. It changed and rose through the layers of traffic and zones of air control. Once free of the Nos Astra airspace, it unshackled its main engines and blasted up into the sky.
For the first time in nearly a month, the Normandy shot into space
She was in the same room. Only this time is was much more crowded. The entire assembled team was here. After a terse, nervous performance in the upper atmosphere where EDI and Joker managed to align the newly installed and untempered orbital thrusters, she had called the whole active team together to discuss the mission. It was likely the first time all of them had ever been in one place.
She looked at them all. The last ones to arrive had just sat down. Good. She placed a hand on the table in front of her.
She thought for a moment. Letting the silence hang.
"You have all performed your duties exceptionally." she began, addressing the room at large. "With the Normandy repaired, we can finally get back to our mission."
"Glad to get off that rock!" Garrus rasped from the side of the room, "Oh, no offence Liara, I'm sure it's a lovely place..."
"Depends on your definition of lovely." Samara commented. "High sleek towers and elegant gardens, mixed with organized crime and a black market as large as the rest of asari space combined."
"You and I appear to travel in similar circles," Thane remarked from the seat opposite. "A Justicar and an assassin. An interesting dichotomy. We shared the same world, and the results of our work share similar outcomes."
"GET A ROOM!" yelled Jack from the far end of the room. Arms crossed, feet up on the table in front of her.
Shepard rapped on the table to bring their attention back.
"The Normandy is space worthy again, and several new faces have joined us. Most of you know the broad strokes of our mission. But I think now is a good time to distribute what information we have to all of us."
She turned on the projector in the middle of the briefing table. "You have heard that we face the Collectors. A powerful and alien enemy from deep within the Terminus. Responsible for thousands of kidnappings, murders as well as the capture of entire human colonies..."
She activated the controls on the table in front of her. Video from Horizon played. "To those of you who weren't on Horizon, this is what collectors look like. They're incredibly tough, reflexes like a computer and equipped with technology far beyond ours."
She pointed at the projections, a couple of holo-collectors flew across the room's viewpoint, "This is our enemy. This is the collector threat!" the images flashed before the assembled people. The footage from Shepard's helmet cam showed the fierce firefight around the wearer.
She continued while the video played in front of them. "They appear to be coming through the Omega 4 relay. That is our ultimate objective. To go there and stop them if possible. Unfortunately, no ship that has entered that relay has ever returned.
"First time for everything, is that what we're going for here?" Kasumi asked.
Shepard carried on. "We are not blind however, we have been piecing together scraps of knowledge about the Collectors for some time. We know that they have several ships like the one you see in this footage." she gestured to the projections.
"Okeer has supplied us with information that they have bases this side of the relay. The bases purpose, is unknown."
The large Krogan stirred, "I am pleased to report progress on that front. I have discerned a potential location of a collector base on this side of the relay. It is remote. Isolated. And almost perfectly disguised." he grinned. "Almost…"
Shepard nodded in gratitude. "Which brings me on to our next, immediate move. We are going to infiltrate one of these bases, and gather as much intelligence as we can on these creatures."
She let that sink in for a moment. She heard a whistle from someone.
"Before that, we have one more specialist to pick up. A quarian called Tali'Zorah. Her technical expertise will be invaluable. She's encountered the handiwork of these things before, on a human colony called Freedom's Progress. Another in a long list of worlds these collectors have abducted."
"We'll be heading into geth space," Shepard said, she looked to Miranda close by, "will the stealth drive be online by that time or do we need more time?"
"All the main systems of the Normandy are online. The stealth drive, included." Miranda reported.
"Good." she turned back to the assembled people, "The collectors have also given us opportunities," she continued, she looked to the scientists, "How does the armour look?"
Okeer smiled, "We have suits for almost everyone present. Your coma really gave us time to kick production into high gear."
"Glad to be of help." Shepard replied. "Okeer and Mordin have managed to manufacture armour from scavenged collector carapace. The material is orders of magnitude stronger than our current armour. It could give us the edge we need."
There was a murmur of impressed consent.
"Now. The Collectors are our main priority. But there is another matter to bring to your attention. Liara?" she asked. The asari nodded.
"Several of you already know me, others don't. I'm Liara T'soni. I worked with Shepard to bring down Sovereign two years ago." she hesitated before continuing, "and I was the one that handed the commander's body over to Cerberus to rebuild."
"Huh, seems we have you to thank for bringing her back then" Garrus said.
Liara accepted it silently, "To do this, I had to steal commander Shepard's body from the individual known as the Shadow Broker."
"I heard the Shadow Broker's a consortium. Whole bunch of buggers working together?" Zaeed said.
"She's an information broker, Massani." Kasumi said with a smile, "I think I'll take her word over yours."
The old mercenary grunted, "Point taken."
"I have uncovered a huge network of informants at the shadow broker's disposal. Very, very high profile people are involved with him. Including more than one Spectre."
"A spectre? Working for the Shadow Broker?" Jacob asked.
"This is sounding like a Saren all over again…." Garrus muttered.
"Maybe." Liara said, "but we know that the Shadow Broker has connections to the Collectors. He tried to sell Shepard's body to them. If he has agents that far up the Citadel command chain, then this compromises Citadel Security critically if he has Spectres feeding him information he can sell onto Collectors as well." she leaned forward and drew her clasped hands up on the table, "Shortly after I received this information, I received a remote alert from my office. It had been broken into, my files and terminals hacked. My assistant, Nyxeris, has gone missing. It's not safe for me there anymore."
"Liara's joining our mission. As a result, we now have access to the info sources of one of the most influential information brokers on Illium." said Shepard, picking up Liara's trail. The asari nodded in thanks.
"Now finally, something much more unpleasant…" she looked to the crew. She leaned on the table in front of her, "I have learned from Miranda, that the batarian that tried to blow up the Normandy, Braille, was found dead."
"Yea!" Zaeed said, "Some bastard blew his brains out in his cell. Can't say I'm sorry for the treacherous son of a bitch."
"From what I was told," Shepard said, ignoring Zaeed, "Braille was held in one of the secure rooms at the university where the Normandy crew were stationed after the attack. He wasn't gunned down in the firefight, not shot while trying to escape. But executed in a cell we put him. Under OUR guard."
She held up her hands, "Now. Let us be clear. I am not weeping a tear for the man who tried to kill me. In my eyes, he had it coming." she glared at them. "However... there is something to be said for Citadel custody...we could have got information out of him. We could have proved for certain that this Baron Van Barc that Miranda tells me about was behind the attacks. But now we can't..."
Her glaring eyes did a sweep around the room.
"In the future there is not going to be any more 'incidents' like this." there was a long, taut pause.
"Are we clear?" The words seeped from her mouth as her eyes scanned the room. Daring people to challenge.
She took their silent, nods as approval.
"Good. Now, we'll soon be entering geth space. When that happens all communications off ship will be locked. Dismissed."
Haestrom. That's what they called the world. It was a planet deep in the territory of a hostile AI species. It was ravaged by radiation by its own parent star. Looking out of the shuttle viewport, it seemed thoroughly unremarkable.
But something about was very wrong.
Glaedara had felt it as soon as they had entered the system. There was something, a feeling. A sense of dread. She couldn't place it. She had meditated for hours. It was only when the Normandy moved closer could she pinpoint that it was coming from their destination.
Something down on the planet was suppressing the warp.
She felt as if translucent cloth was slowly being pulled over her senses. Even now, in the shuttle, it was much more pronounced than on the ship far above. She had explained this to Shepard, and requested that she accompany any who went down to the surface. Shepard had agreed to this. Maybe more readily so since she herself was not going.
Glaedara had felt the frustration in the woman. The doctor, the human Chakwas, was forbidding her to go. It was a strange concept to Glaedara that a medical practitioner even had such authority over the ship's leader, but this was a strange time.
The shuttle rocked in the turbulence. She looked across to the other participants. The asari Liara and Garrus. All three were silent for the moment, the noise of violent reentry making conversation impossible.
A large, angry sun hung in the sky as the shuttle zoomed down to the surface of the scorched and scarred planet. The ash and dust swept up by the howling winds whipped around the craft as the thrusters gently maneuvered it down the final few metres onto the flattened rocky surface.
The jets deactivated. There was a gentle equalizing of pressures as the seal broke. As the shuttle hatch opened, Garrus and Liara stepped down onto the dusty ground of Haestrom, Glaedara stepped out behind them.
Garrus looked up at the rust coloured sky, "Is it just me or is it warm out?"
EDI chimed into the team comms, "Solar outpuf...rrttt is overwhelming Hae...zzzt...strom's protective atmosphere...prrrprrpp...Exp...re to dir….t sunlight will ...amage shiel...s." the AI was barely audible over interference from the atmosphere.
Luckily, all three were in the shade, sheltered by one of the gigantic columns of stone that littered the area. Their entire surroundings looked like ruins, or somewhere that hadn't been maintained in a long time.
Garrus stepped away from the other two and straight into the direct sunlight of the malevolent sun. Around him his shields flickered and sparked with the high energy UV light. A warning came up on Liara's hud as the turian's shields failed completely under the onslaught. Garrus made no attempt to move back to the shade.
"Garrus! What are you doing?" she exclaimed, "Get in the shade!"
He chuckled, "Relax, T'soni. Clearly you've never been to Palaven. Good to feel warm sunlight on my plates again."
"Of course!" she said, "Can't believe I forgot that."
Glaedara watched the exchange with interest, "Turians are immune to radiation?" she asked.
Garrus shook his head. His head still high and soaking up the sun, "Not entirely, just a high resilience… Now then, I've sunbathed enough today. Time to find Tali."
"Her team's last known location is just up ahead." Liara already had a map of the surrounding area projected on her omnitool in front of her. "In that large ruin complex." she pointed over in the distance, "The walls are thick. Can't get a scan on the interior."
"Any geth activity?" Garrus asked.
Liara swiped several commands on her omnitool and shook her head. "Nothing on scanner. But the solar output's playing interference with the sensors, we won't see any geth until they're right on top of us."
"Sounds good." he replied. "You hear us alright, Shepard?" he asked, directed at the commander back on the Normandy.
"Acknowledged Garrus. Can bare…. Ear yo... Now get a ….pzzzt on! It's….ad enough I'm stuck on the Nor...dy with ….krrr….ing Chakwas b..eath…. down my ….k."
With a series of ready acknowledgements and location positioning, the trio set out for the large complex. From this distance, it looked like a great, square structure of stone and metal in the centre of a gigantic quarry. Massive, square blocks of stone littered the entire area. Some were still attached to the pulleys and transports that the original inhabitants must have used to ferry them about. Between them and the far complex was a wide open expanse of uneven terrain. Fortunately, there was enough detritus around for them to mostly keep to the shadows and avoid the harsh sunlight.
Everywhere there were signs of the harsh climate of the world. Every bit of paint had been stripped off. There was rock that looked like it had been sandblasted. Columns and structures with edges that had been smoothed by the winds and dust.
As they darted between the shadows of the giant stone blocks, Glaedara felt the pressure behind her eyes increase. The ugly sun hovered overhead, overseeing all. She could almost feel the air get thicker as it pressured in on her. She carried on, determined to find whatever was doing this.
They had traversed about halfway, when they got a message from the EDI. "Meteo….ogical analysis indicates a ...h energy...ather system a...oaching you. Recorded ...eds of over 200 miles per hour. Recommend... y...find shelter a….oon ….possible." the recording was choppy. They were only barely able to make out what the AI was saying. They repeated tried to re-establish connection, but static was their only response.
"So much for the lovely weather…" Garrus mumbled.
"The complex ahead should provide the shelter we need." Liara said.
They hurried to their destination. The winds around them gradually picked up. They became fiercer and fiercer until by the time they reached the entrance, they party fought their way through gales and dust.
Garrus tried the door. "Humph, door's locked. Hey Liara can you open this?" he was half shouting over the noise of the wind.
The asari hurried up to the lock mechanism. "I can try. This equipment's old, not sure if it still works…"
She went to work on the door. He looked round to Glaedara. The bottom part of the eldar's cloak was billowing out in front of her. It looked like she was steadying herself against the exterior of the building. The winds whipped around them all.
A few more moments of Liara fidgeting with her omnitool passed, before the large holo-light over the door turned a welcoming green. "Got it! Stand back."
The door creaked open. It was heavy and thick, suspended on metal rollers at the bottom.
Garrus nodded in appreciation, "Not bad, T'soni. Looks like you've had some practice since I saw you last."
The asari smiled in reply, "There's been a couple of times I've needed a way in. Biotics may be effective, but they're also loud."
The creaking, squealing doors finished opening, permitting them entrance to the interior. Weapons drawn, the trio entered. They hurried in to get in out of the increasing storm.
The interior space was almost completely square, about a twenty metres in all directions. There was wreckage and debris from centuries of vacancy littered all over the floor. The storm still raged outside, powerful enough to make it through the massive door that now rumbled to a close behind them.
Glaedara paused. Even through her clouded senses, she felt other presences close by, "There are people here." she warned the others.
Whether they had heard the farseer or not, six quarians sprung out from behind low walls or pieces of machinery.
The door slammed shut behind the party. They were now trapped.
The one closest yelled across to them. "Hold it! Put your weapons down! Who are you?"
"Warm welcome." Garrus scoffed, his rifle pointed in reply.
Liara ignored him and held out her hands, "Stop! Hold your fire! My name's Liara T'soni. We've come looking for Tali'Zorah."
"What's her to you?" came the harsh reply. His tone was aggressive.
Liara carefully took a step forward. She kept her arms outstretched. "We're here on behalf of Council Spectre Shepard. She couldn't make the trip down here herself."
Even behind the blank faceplate of the quarian soldier, Liara could see he was thinking. "You got any proof of that? How can I trust you?"
"Kal'Reegar!" A loud voice called out from deeper in the building, "Keelah! Put down your weapons! I know these people."
The trio watched Tali'Zorah rush out from one of the far entrances that lead deeper into the megastructure. She hurried up to the front where the newcomers were facing off.
"Reegar! I said put your weapon down! They're not dangerous." Tali glared at the quarian soldier.
There was hesitation on the part of Reegar. After a long pause, "Aye, ma'am." and he lowered his weapon. Following his example, the rest of the quarians followed suit. Garrus finally lowered his. Even with his weapon pointed at the floor, the quarian called Kal'Reegar regarded the newcomers with open distrust.
"But I'd strongly like to know how they'd find us here." he asked.
Liara started, "We… acquired intelligence that this was Tali'Zorah's last location." she did not want to divulge on that this intelligence unfortunately originated from Cerberus.
"You know why we're here, as well?" Tali asked.
Liara shook her head. "No. We only know that we were likely to find you here."
Tali nodded, "I apologize for Kal'Reegar. It is good to see you both again."
"You too Tali. Been hearing good things about you." Garrus said.
Tali laughed, "Pfft. Now I'll have to check for more leaks in security…"
She turned to Glaedara, "I don't know you though. Although I do keep a close eye on the Citadel comm-news so I can take a guess. You're one of the elder, right?"
Glaedara weathered the bastardization of her race name and bowed her head slightly, "I am. It is a pleasure to meet you, Tali'Zorah. I am Glaedara."
The quarian took in the entirety of the farseer's armour. The intricate designs on Tali's shawl paling in comparison to the workmanship of Glaedara's fabrics. "The cameras don't do you justice, do they?" she remarked and turned back to the group at large, "Are the three of you here on your own?"
"No. Shepard and the Normandy are in orbit. She could not make the trip." Liara replied
"How come?"
"She is still recovering after taking a wound to the shoulder. Don't worry. She's perfectly healthy now, she's just barred from doing any more taxing activities until she fully recovers."
Tali nodded, "Good to hear she's alright. Hah, how'd she take to being stuck on the ship?"
"Take a guess." grinned Garrus, "We can't contact the Normandy in here, too much rock. Is there anywhere you can get a signal to orbit?"
"Stand out by the entrance?" Tali ventured with a shrug, "No, I'm afraid not. You got in here just in time. This planet has frequent ion storms. The sun's rays charge the atmosphere and whip up deadly storms. You're stuck here until the storm abates."
"How long's that?" Liara asked.
"Not long. Couple of hours usually for the winds to die down. An upside of the storms is that no scanning equipment can penetrate it, so we're effectively hidden from space."
"Useful on a geth controlled world." Garrus said.
Tali nodded, "You know, I don't even know why the geth bother with this planet, they'd struggle with the ion storms even more than us organics do."
A powerful howl carried through the area from outside. The wind must have picked up to a tremendous force.
Garrus shrugged, "So we're stuck here until the storm abates. You never did tell us what you're doing here."
"Come, I'll show you." Tali waved them on past the squad of Turian soldiers, who had relaxed their posture now that the visitors were friendly. Tali led them on, explaining as she walked, "This used to be a quarian colony. Back before the war with the geth. Quarians used to walk unhelmeted in these rooms."
"That would have been something to see." Liara said, a couple paces behind Tali. The archeologist in her stirring with every step.
The two of them descended into a deep conversation about the history of this place. Glaedara paced behind. It was close. Very close. The aura around her was increasing, changing from a mild pressure on her sense into something more, something darker. These quarians had stumbled on top of something vast and powerful... and they had no idea.
"Yes, it would…" even obscured by the blank mask, the quarian looked wistful, "But we're here for the sun. A couple of centuries ago, Haestrom's star was a normal mid-cycle star. Now it's quickly expanding into a red giant. Billions of years of stellar development in a few centuries. The admiralty board wants to know why."
"That's extremely unusual. But, forgive me, why would your admiralty want that data? It doesn't have any practical military applications that I can think of." Liara ventured.
The quarian shrugged. "I thought about that myself and I still don't have an answer to give. But if they think this data is worth risking an expedition to a geth controlled planet bombarded by radiation and scoured by ion storms. It must be worth something."
She shook her head, "But enough of that. What do you want with me?" she tapped a door control that led into a large room filled with equipment. There was a bank of ancient screens along one wall. Several large boxes of new, temporary equipment had been set up in the centre of the room, wires were snaked across the floor.
"We're building a team." Garrus said, "A team to take on the Collectors. We want you with us."
She stopped and looked at him, "The Collectors… I'd heard about Horizon, I watched the vids. That looked horrible. I saw them before on a colony called Freedom's Progress, on security cameras anyway, but they'd disappeared back by the time we showed up. They'd just taken the whole colony."
"So you understand what they are, what we're up against. What do you say, Tali? You, Liara and me? Just like old times."
The quarian laughed, "Keelah, I hope not. I spent half of those times petrified and running for my life."
The turian grinned, "Can't say the other half wasn't exciting though. So what do you say? You in?"
"Course I'm in, you stubborn bosh'tet! To be honest, Shepard asked me to join her on Freedom's Progress. I regret not joining her then, but I couldn't let anyone else oversee this mission. It was to risky. I had to see it through. You can be sure that once we finish up here, you can count on me."
Liara smiled, "It will be good to work with you again."
"Thank you Liara, It will be good to… where's she going?… "
Liara and Garrus turned, they all saw Glaedara start walking towards an open entranceway to the the left of the group. She entered, leaving the three of them confused.
After a moment of communal hesitation, they followed, curiosity getting the better of them.
The passage was sloped and led down deeper into the facility. They saw the eldar continuing down the path ahead of them, they hurried to catch up to her. Rattling echoes bouncing around the square stone passageway.
Garrus brought himself alongside her, "Glaedara, where are you going?
"There is something here…" the eldar muttered, she didn't look at the others. To them, she seemed distracted, vacant, her attention somewhere else.
"What do you mean?" Liara asked, walking alongside.
"Something's… something's dampening the warp. I can feel it."
Tali was at a loss. Garrus grunted,
"We'll take your word on that." he said, not much else to add to the observation.
They continued for a short time, passing tunnels and rooms that hadn't seen sentient habitation in centuries. Any equipment left was rusted beyond repair. Door after door was battling against the slow march of rust.
Then she stopped. She stopped in front of a large, reinforced steel bulkhead. She looked at the door, studying it.
It was saturated with an energy the antithesis of her own. As she looked at the steel in front of her, her own senses recoiled at its emptiness, it whispered of a gap in creation. Of somewhere where nothing existed, or could ever exist. All her senses told her that this door was evil, hostile. But she had found what she had been looking for.
Trying to ignore the intense waves of foreboding, almost physical, that radiated from the cold steel, she turned to Tali, "What's behind this door?"
Tali shrugged, "I don't know. I don't know the full layout of this place. No-one does."
To Tali's curiosity and Liara and Garrus' slight apprehension, she lifted a hand to the door, her fingers outstretched towards it. A look of concentration flashed across her face before a grimace of frustration.
The hand came back down. "I can't move it. I can 't see behind it. But there is something in there. Is there anyway to open it?"
Liara was already by the lock mechanism. "The lock's fused shut. This was done deliberately, whatever's in here, someone wanted it protected."
Tali looked at the door. "I'll get a couple of my team to blast it." coming onboard with the idea, "We can't go anywhere until the storm recedes anyway." she activated her comm, "Reegar, can you hear me?"
A haze of static blared out from the omnitool, "zzzfrrttt...Tali, fftt .. say again, can bsssssrt…. ear you."
"Agh, the rock's blocking the call. I'll go and get Reegar and get this door open."
Industrial sounds pounded through the level. They reverberated off the largely metal surfaces around him. The lighting flickered overhead and a puddle was pooling on the floor where something was leaking from above.
Yiven strode through the crowded corridors of omega, a large satchel over his shoulder. The air was hot and heavy. The end result of being recycled through a dozen different respiration systems. He shouldered through a couple of salarians talking, they paid him no attention. Just another run down, dirt poor turian on this god awful station.
He strode up a wide flight of stairs, again busy with bodies and people. A couple of vorcha were having a scrap in an alcove to his right. They screeched as they swiped at each other.
As he neared the top of the stairs, a draught of hot air blew into him. He emerged from the top of the flight of stairs into one of the wide trade expanses. The closest Omega had to dedicated markets. It was a huge open circular area, almost half a mile wide
Shops lined the perimeter of the space, their fronts facing inwards. No doubt a warren of back tunnels and service ducts sprawled out behind them. The noise was incredible. The chorus of thousands of people rose above it all. Station dwellers from all over congregated here. Much of the trading floor was busy with bodies, stalls and people selling their stock. Nearer the centre, the floor ascended in a roughly concentric series of stepped levels. Each step a few metres higher than the last culminating in a large structure at the top, the security garrison. Its armoured structure had a commanding view over the entire market.
Yiven was on the outermost, and lowest area of the market. He continued on, making his way clockwise along the outer edge. He passed hundreds of buyers and sellers. A couple of aircars slowly moved overhead. Their bulk blocked out the great ceiling lights far above.
He arrived at his deal location. A diner built into the circumference of the market. A large seating area was splayed out in front of the building. Above the store sign was a large animated projection of an asari dancer. The large projection cast a soft, blue tint on much of the surrounding space. He spotted his contact immediately, sitting in a chair out front of the establishment. He snorted, off station buyers… they stuck out like sore thumbs.
There was something off about this trade, he couldn't place it...This buyer wasn't one of his usual customers, he had practically come out of nowhere. But the money this guy was offering… it was mouthwatering. If this deal turned out alright then Yiven could practically retire. Pay off his debts and buy himself a nice apartment somewhere that didn't smell of chemical fluids.
He approached his prospective buyer. The man at the table spotted him.
"You looking to purchase something?" Yiven asked.
The man looked at him for a long second, Yiven got the impression he was being evaluated. "Good. You're here." the human said. He looked old with a silver beard, but Yiven couldn't tell with humans. He was dressed in a large black coat. A large pendant hung around his neck.
"I trust you have what we asked?" he inquired.
"Yea I got it." Yiven replied and retrieved the satchel from his shoulder. He sat it down on the table and removed the contents from the satchel. His prospective buyer leaned in closer in his chair.
The artifact he brought to the human was roughly cuboidal. About forty centimetres high by twenty centimetres deep. He moved it to the centre of the table between them, allowing the man to get a good look at it. It was very solidly made. Motifs at the top and bottom depicted some kind of bird with two heads. A large, silver rounded skull sat emblazoned in the centre of each vertical face.
The man leaned in and studied it. Then, to Yiven's curiosity, clutched the pendant he kept around his neck and pressed it against one of the sides of the device.
Small horizontal, green lights lit up on the device at the top and bottom. The man across the table smiled and withdrew his pendant. The lights on Yiven's artefact dimmed again.
"Good." the human said calmly. He turned back to Yiven. "Our payment, as promised." No emotion to the words, merely a series of statements. The human flicked a button on his omnitool.
Yiven's own omnitool flashed, he looked down and saw more money than he had ever known in his account.
"The pleasure's all mine!" he replied, overjoyed at his newfound wealth.
"We're concluded here, I think." the man said, retrieving Yiven's satchel from the table and began to carefully wrap the item in it.
A noise sounded overhead. A harsh, wailing noise. Some kind of alarm, Yiven thought. Was it him? Were they after him? Panic grew in Yiven, was this a trap? He knew the money was too good to be true...
"What's happening?" the man snapped. His voice tinged with suspicion. Yiven looked at him. No, he thought to himself, it can't be a trap. The human was as surprised as he was. A metal screeching sound added to the alarm overhead. Yiven saw the metal compartment bulkheads at the entrances to the marketplace begin to slide shut.
"I don't know." Yiven said, as lost as the other man was. They were both shortly answered as booming announcement blared across the market.
A deep voice annouced, "CITIZENS OF OMEGA. PLEASE REMAIN CALM. NEW CASES OF THE PLAGUE HAVE BEEN DISCOVERED IN THIS AREA. THIS DISTRICT IS NOW UNDER QUARANTINE UNTIL THIS SITUATION IS RESOLVED."
"Oh Shit!" Yiven swore. He already saw bulkheads and shutters rise up over the garrison building in the centre of the space, sealing it off from the surrounding market. The entire area was locking down. He was trapped here!
"A plague?" the other man asked. He was still grasping the artifact.
"Yes! A plague!" Yiven replied, people were already panicking, trying to get to the doors before they shut completely. Both of them at the diner, though, it was too far! There was no way they were making it out.
Yiven looked across to the human, then let out a short manic laugh at his companion's sheer good fortune, "Oh don't worry, human, you won't get it." Yiven said, looking for a way out, "doesn't affect your species, the same can't be said for the rest of us trapped in here..."
The human considered this a long moment. He tilted his head, the turian then realised he was listening to something from his earpiece. Yiven was paralyzed with indecision, both hands went up on his head. The sounds of rising civil panic erupted around him. They both saw the doors slam shut with a grim finality. Hundreds of people were now trapped in the market district. He heard what had happened in the other districts. Security had just left those infected areas to rot while the desperate victims inside turned on each other.
"Shit, Shit, Shit, Shit!" Yiven whispered under his breath.
The human across the table suddenly rose from his seat, turned and headed for the interior of the diner. Yiven looked.
"Wait, what're you doing?" Yiven called, out of desperation.
"Finding a way out!" the human replied. The artifact's satchel was slung across his back. The man disappeared into the back of the eatery.
Yiven stood there, motionless for a moment.
"Hey! Wait up!"
Tali arrived back a short time later, a pair of quarians in tow. One was Kal'Reegar, their less than enthusiastic welcomer. Another they didn't know, but she carried a substantial satchel charge.
"We all better clear the area while Drita sets up for breaching." Kal'Reegar said to the group.
They agreed and retreated around a nearby corner, protected from the explosive blast by metres of comforting, solid rock. The quarian sapper joined them and clicked her omnitool.
The blast rocked the tunnel. They didn't hear it, more felt it. The entire pressure wave was forced through the very small tunnel area. A layer of dust was thrown into the air from the floor, coating their legs in a dirty fog. The pitter-patter of falling debris chimed through the enclosed space. After waiting for the worst of the debris to fall, the team emerged from their shelter and waded through the fog clouds towards their target.
The door was thoroughly breached. The frame still held, its construction solid, but there was a tremendous hole in the door. Metal had been twisted and bent inwards. The new threshold was large enough for them to only duck through.
Cautiously, with Kal'Reegar in front, they entered the area beyond.
It was pitch black. That was strange. The quarians had restored backup lighting to the rest of the facility but the lights in this corridor remained dark.
And it went down.
They activated the lights on their weapons. A trio of tight, piercing beams scanned the darkness. All they saw was more slope travelling deeper and deeper into the earth. They stalled at the top of the descent.
"What's down there?" Liara asked, she turned to Glaedara. Her voice wary.
"I do not know for certain…" the farseer replied, "but it is powerful."
"Is this on our map Reegar?" Tali asked him.
"Don't believe so Ma'am." came the reply, his helmet still faced the deep abyss, "That level back there should be the deepest of the colony."
Tali looked down into the gulf. "Very unusual." apprehension crept into her voice, "Drita, stay here and keep watch, The rest of you, follow me."
"Don't worry, we've got your back." Garrus loaded a thermal clip into his rifle with enthusiasm. More for show than anything else.
She rolled her eyes, glad they couldn't see her face behind her mask. She nodded to the Turian in thanks anyway. She looked over to Glaedara, "How did you know something strange was behind the door?"
Glaedara was silent for a moment, trying to frame an answer in the right words, "Something down there is blocking my psychic abilities. Blocking off from the warp."
"We'll explain later," Garrus offered to a confused looking Tali. The turian's attention returned to Glaedara. "Are you alright?" He asked her. Ever since stepping into the tunnel there had been something off with the eldar. She had been pre-occupied , almost distressed.
She waved a hand in dismissal, "I am fine. I've come across things like this before. They always disturb those of psychic sensitivity."
"Is it likely to get any worse?" Liara asked.
"We shall see." Glaedara answered solemnly.
The party slowly made their way down into the dark. Their progress was slow. The passage was old and the surface of the floor uneven. It was a long way to roll if you tripped.
Glaedara struggled. Every step an increasing weight on her spirit. Like the life being sucked from her. A blank emptiness encroaching on the walls of her existence. This was worse than holding an entire ship in her hands. Her head crushed. She could barely see. She stumbled to her knees, she could barely see through the dulling miasma of oblivion.
She felt others come to her. She heard sounds and voices, no doubt trying to offer help when there was nothing they could do.
"I can't… so painful. I must go!" was all she could manage. She could feel a warm trickle of blood began to drip from her nose.
"That's it!" Kal'reegar called out from the front of their party, "This whole expedition was spooky from the get go. Something's not right down here! We're heading back up!"
"No!" Glaedara cried out. The force of speaking almost crippled her, "You stay.. You are safe. Not psychic. Show me what you find. Show me on the omnitools. I will be at a… at a longer distance.
Tali shot a look at the marine. "Reegar, go with her. Keep her safe."
The marine turned, The small illuminated dots of light behind his mask taking offence at the suggestion, "But ma'am…" he began.
"She said it's safe for us here." Tali interjected, "We feel fine. She looks like she needs more help than us. I'll send what we see to your omnitool. Show it to her and stay on the line. She might know what this is.
He glared at Tali for a long moment, "...Yes Ma'am." came the soldier's reply.
Kal'Reegar draped his arm around Glaedara and helped her to her feet. He steadied his rifle in this other hand and started to make for the higher levels of the complex. Liara, Garrus and Tali watched them ascend for a short time.
"We all feel fine, right?" Garrus asked the pair with him.
"Nothing out of the ordinary." Liara replied.
"Nothing." Tali replied, "My suit's showing all my vitals are normal."
Garrus sighed, "Alright. Guess we're going on then, I swear if this is another Feros job…"
They three of them continued on for another ten minutes. Miles of rock hung above their heads. The passageway continued, perfectly straight, continuing deep into the crust of the planet.
Eventually, they arrived at the end. They encountered a threshold.
And it was old. It didn't look like anything quarians had built. They couldn't see what lay beyond, only a sense of a much larger area. Their torches glimpsed only blackness. The silence down here in the depths was maddening. It was as if the sound was being purposefully deadened. There were only their footsteps and the rustle of armor. There were no draughts of air, no dripping of water.
Nothing.
They passed under the two carved jagged pillars that formed the entrance to the space beyond.
They were hewn out of the very bedrock of the planet. Unlike the square structures of the surface, this carving was very angular. Hard angles of dark crystalline shapes jutted out from the rock surrounding them.
Their progress slowed to a halt, their torches returning only pure darkness all in front of them.
"Let's get some light, shall we?" Tali said, aware her own voice sounding deafening against the pure silence of the place. It should have echoed, but it seemed to seep into the surrounding walls. She released a drone. It bleeped and flickered as it hovered slightly in front of her. It ascended, its body brightening as Tali commanded its luminosity increased.
"By the goddess…" Liara gasped as the remainder of the cavern was illuminated in pale, white light.
Yiven dropped onto the grated floor. It clanged and vibrated beneath him. The human was ahead of him. They both crouched through the service way. Pipes surrounded them. It was hot and humid. Sweat trickled down David's brow.
The human stopped up ahead. He ran a gloved hand along the left wall of the tunnel. He rapped on it once or twice, then without warning kicked it with all his force. The rust permeated wall gave way and light shone into their narrow service tunnel. Without looking back to Yiven he strode on through. Yiven followed.
He dropped a couple of feet into a new corridor. A populated corridor. This was good, Yiven thought, they were out of the service ducts. The human stood in front of him, trying to get his bearings. David looked up at a large projected map on the wall. He groaned, it told him they were still in the market district. An ugly red holo-stain displayed the area currently under quarantine. They were still in it.
He took stock of the map, and found the nearest way to the edge of the district. In a moment of choice, he called to the human.
"Hey!" he called. The man turned, Yiven walked up to him. "Listen man, we're still in the quarantined district. Quickest way to the edge is along this hallway." he gestured down a hallway.
The man's eyes narrowed slightly, but after a second the man nodded, accepting the direction. "Lead the way." he said, tone devoid of any emotion.
How was he managing to keep this calm? Yiven thought. He nodded and began hurriedly half walking, half jogging in the direction of the district's perimeter. They passed anxious, worried people. Families and groups of people just caught up in the turmoil lined the edges of the district, probably cut off from their homes elsewhere in the station.
He turned a final corner and stopped in his tracks. The district exit was just ahead, across a wide plaza. His hopes plummeted. Flanking the entrance were several blue suns mercenaries. It looked like a human and a couple of turians. They were all in full gear, they weren't taking any chances with the plague. In a wide radius in front of them was a carpet of a dozen or so bodies, everyone within a good twenty metres or so of the mercs. The was so much blood...
One of the mercs spotted him,
"GET BACK!" he yelled across the plaza. "DISTRICT'S UNDER QUARANTINE. NOBODY LEAVES!" David got the message quick and retreated around the corner. The human was waiting for him there.
"Mercs guarding the entrance. That way's a no go."
"Is there another way?" he asked.
Yiven nodded, "Topway. Leads up to the lower apartment areas above.
"My guess they'll be mercs guarding that way as well?" the human asked.
"Almost certainly."
The man had a quick look around the corner, he returned.
"Three mercs, you armed?"
"Yea I'm armed! But we can't stand up to them. They've got shields and armour!"
The man looked like he was thinking. Yiven was trying to think too.
"Alright..." he heard the human breathe out. Then, without warning, the man disappeared around the corner.
"What do you.. Hey! Get back behind…" Yiven called out to him.
It was too late, the man had left safety and was walking towards the mercs. Yiven watched nervously from around the corner.
He grasped the corner of the wall with one of his hands. It felt cold. He noticed a mist form when he breathed out. He felt the temperature drop suddenly.
He felt a sickening feeling engulf him. Like vertigo, but much worse. He grasped at the corner of the wall with one of his hands. It felt freezing. He looked at it, frost had begun to form on the wall next to him. He saw mist on his breath in front of him as he exhaled.
He had looked out across the atrium. He looked to where he remembered the human had been. He wasn't there anymore. Something else was. Something wrong. Something very wrong.
An emptiness, a void of deepest darkest black. Darker than space. It repelled him. It twisted and roiled, an unholy mass of energy that moved.
It was behind him. He could feel it. He knew. He could feel tendrils of absolute discord crawl into his mind. It roiled and moved. The blackness. The emptiness. An abyss that sucked in everything that gazed it. He closed his eyes to shut it out. And it welcomed him to the dark. He was trapped, couldn't move. It was around him. He tried to scream, couldn't. Falling, falling, falling. Something waited for him at the bottom. He scrambled up, trying to get away,.
It saw him! It watched him and drifted closer. There were noises, like gunshots, far far away. Yiven's mind was grasped by talons. He felt himself being dragged down. Coils trapped him and he descended as the thing below reached up to him. Yiven struggled. Things took his sight…he couldn't see! Things close by … things...
Then it was gone. He screamed and jerked his head around in a panic. It was only him lying on the floor of the a corridor. He remembered where he was. He remembered what he was doing. Slowly, with great reluctance, he peeked his head around the corner.
He peered into the atrium beyond. A thin layer of white frost covered the ground. The bodies had large, extensive ice crystals protruding from them. The blood had frozen to a red sheen.
He saw the human, his buyer, near the middle of it all. He stood, bent over, hands on his knees. It looked like he was breathing heavily. Yiven saw the guards on the floor. They weren't moving.
He quickly rushed out. Whatever had happened here, it was gone now. He stepped around the bodies on the floor and drew up next to the human, it was a miracle that he was untouched.
"Hey, you ok?"
The man looked up at him. There was a covering of frost on his face. His beard and hair were sprinkled with ice. He waved the turian off and drew himself up with one last deep breath.
He walked over to the door ahead of them. It was sealed. He grunted. Yiven swore.
Yiven had a flash of inspiration, "The guards might have a code! I'll check them!". He quickly rushed over to one of the guards and activated his omnitool. He navigated the menus.
"Aha!" he cried out, "This one, over here! His omnitool has a key to the door. Quick, get over here and help me lift him to the door!"
Yiven turned, he saw the human standing behind him. He was holding one of the mercenaries' rifles. It was pointed at him.
Yiven sprung up, "Woah! Woah! Hey, look I…" Yivan backed up and threw his hands in the air. The frost covering the man's face made him look like a pale cadaver from the morgue.
Just as Yiven had backed up enough. The human lowered the gun at the merc on the floor. Yiven flinched as a long burst of gunfire cracked across the atrium. Yiven heard someone scream far off on the other side of the atrium.
The shooting stopped, Yiven reopened his eyes. The human knelt down and picked up the newly severed arm, complete with omnitool. He tossed it to Yiven, who barely caught it.
"Open... the door." he plainly demanded, in between breaths.
"Yes. Good, the door!" Yiven stuttered and scurried to the door. He held up the severed limb to the lock and clicked on the mercs omnitool. To Yiven's utter relief, the door obediently slid open.
The pair of them staggered out of the market district into the wider Omega city. Yiven threw his head back in deliverance. They'd made it out, Yiven remembered the money on his omnitool. He laughed, a frenzied laugh. They'd made it! Yiven looked to his companion, he was talking into his omnitool. Yiven heard one half of the conversation while the human's associates talked to him through his ear.
"I hear you."
"I have it."
"Good. On my way back now." he looked up to the turian.
"Do you know the quickest way to hangar bays 11-19?" he asked.
"Uhh. Yes, yes I know the way."
"Take me there." he commanded. Yiven was about to refuse, when he saw the man still carried the rifle he stole from the mercenaries. This time, it was definitely pointed at him.
Yiven was quick on the uptake "Uh, sure, of course. This way." he began to lead his companion-captor there.
They began to travel, when after a short while the human started in conversation, "You live here do you? What's the situation with this plague?"
"Yea," Yiven replied, glad to be back on more familiar ground, "Some plague swept the city recently, killed hundreds. They developed a cure, but sometimes it breaks out again in other districts. Really hard to get rid of completely."
"You mentioned it didn't affect humans?"
"That's right, far as anyone can tell, humans are the only species immune to it."
The man was very silent after that. Under the dim, flickering lights of Omega, the pair continued their walk to the hangars.