A/N - Ah, finally the end of the Suicide Mission... This chapter features my favorite line from all of ME2 - and its a renegade one, go figure XD! I think it fits here... Hope you enjoy! As always, all thanks and credit go to Bioware for creating this incredible universe!
AirForceBrat and Magnus, thanks for your reviews! I appreciate the feedback, even if I didn't quite live up to your expectations, Magnus :-/ Hopefully this chapter does better!
As always, thanks to my beta and fellow fangirl, StoneburntHeart for her constant love, support, and encouragement!
Kaidan felt Shepard wave Jack and Samara to the door on the opposite side of the room but she continued to hold him in a tight grip, as if she would never let him go. He pushed against her to get enough leverage to sit then placed gloved fingers under her chin and lifted it til their eyes met.
"I'm ok," he told her quietly.
She nodded and calmed. She stood and offered him a hand and they joined the rest of the squad in front of the other door. Jack jammed her fist against the stubborn control panel and to everyone's surprise, it worked. The doors swooshed open and the rest of the crew came streaming through. Kaidan, Shepard, Jack and Samara took up positions on the walls beside the door and leaned around to help Miranda provide her team with covering fire.
Miranda walked backwards, holding up the rear guard, her smg spitting a rain of hot bullets into the enemies behind them. Just as she reached the doorway, a lucky shot grazed her abdomen and she bent over and hissed in pain. The doors snapped shut and closed the enemy out.
Kaidan rushed to Miranda. He placed hands on both her arms to steady her. "Miranda?" he questioned.
"I'm alright," she replied as she stood straight. "Just a graze," she tried to wave Kaidan off, but he already had his omni-tool employed for first-aid scans and the medi-gel tube in his hand to patch her up. She stood quietly and submitted to the attention until he nodded in satisfaction and stood back.
The crew gathered around Shepard in a loose circle as she opened a com channel.
"Joker, are you at the rendezvous point?" she asked.
"I'm here, Commander," he replied, "and Mordin and Chakwas and the rest of the crew just showed up."
Kaidan was distracted from the conversation by sounds from the other side of the door Shepard's team had passed through. He walked closer to the portal with his omni-tool employed again.
"Everyone is safe, Shepard," EDI reported, "no casualties. There should be some platforms nearby that will take you to the main control console. From there you can overload the system and destroy the base."
"Outstanding," Shepard replied with satisfaction coloring her voice. She glanced up and saw Kaidan at the door. "Stand by, Normandy," she said as she closed the com. She walked over to Kaidan and met his eyes with a question in hers.
"We've got a problem, Commander," he told her quietly. "Hostiles massing outside this door, trying to break through. It's holding for now, but that won't last."
"Ok," she acknowledged him in an equally low tone. She turned and walked slowly back to the remaining crew and Kaidan joined her. "I'm going to take a small team forward from here," she addressed the crew in a firm voice, "and I need the rest of you to hold this position. Kaidan, Grunt, you're with me. Garrus and Miranda, I need you to lead the rear guard, keep the bugs off our asses." She paused and watched as everyone nodded and shuffled into the groups she had designated. She walked a slow circle around them before she came to a stop at the top of the loose circle again. She stepped up on the first platform EDI had mentioned and stood slightly above them and began to speak.
"The Collectors, Cerberus, the Reapers... they aren't a threat to us. They're a threat to everything - everyone. Those are the lives we're fighting for. That's the scale," she paused and her voice softened a bit before she went on, "It's been a long journey. And no one's coming out without scars." Again she paused and when she continued, her voice rang with authority. "But it all comes down to this. We win or lose it all in the next few minutes." She turned her head to the right and met Kaidan's eyes before she went on, "We all have a reason to get out of this. Someone to go home to. Make them proud. Make me proud. Make yourselves proud."
As cheers of approval and murmurs of assent rang out around them, Kaidan and Shepard held each others eyes. They both knew the stakes and heard her message loud and clear. They had a son waiting for them. They'd finish this in his honor and return to his side safely.
Shepard drew the mantle of command around her and her face changed to a blank mask. She moved to the edge of the platform and took point as a similar platform bearing Collectors flew in to the right. She barely heard Harbinger's taunts ring out – she was so accustomed to hearing them now, it was just another buzz of white noise in her head as she drew her rifle and poised for attack. The battle began.
They pressed forward slowly, jumping from platform to platform, until they reached one with a raised pedestal. They cleared the enemies around it and approached it warily.
"All the tubes lead to this spot," Kaidan said as he craned his neck to search the structures around them.
Shepard reached a hand out and tentatively pressed the button on the panel. The platform lifted beneath them and took off with a swoop. Shepard gripped the pedestal to brace herself and looked around warily.
She opened a channel to the Normandy and asked, "What can you tell us, EDI?"
"The tubes are feeding into some kind of super-structure," the AI reported. "It is emitting both organic and non-organic energy signatures. Given these readings, it must be massive," her voice was hushed with emphasis. There was a pause as the platform began to slow, perhaps anticipation of arrival at its unknown destination. EDI's voice went on, and clear emotion colored the AI's tone now, "Shepard, if my calculations are correct, the super-structure is... a Reaper."
"Not just any Reaper," Shepard confirmed grimly as the platform they were on glided to a stop and she studied the creature that lurked in apparently slumber before them. It was massive – hundreds of meters tall and its outline was made all the more threatening because of its familiar lines. Although metal and wires took the place of bone and muscle, the shape was easy to identify and Shepard breathed its description to EDI, "A human Reaper."
"Precisely," EDI confirmed superfluously. "It appears the Collectors have processed tens of thousands of humans," EDI continued to report. "Significantly more would be required to complete the Reaper. This Reaper appears to be in the very early stage of development. An embryo, in human terms."
"This thing is an abomination - not a baby," Shepard growled. "And its not taking any more lives. EDI, how do we destroy it?"
"The large tubes injecting the fluid are a weak structural link," EDI reported, "destroying them should cause the entire structure to fall."
Shepard studied the conduits that flowed into the creature like a cruel parody of medical intravenous tubes and smiled grimly. There were four – two to each side. "That'll do, thank you, EDI," she replied to the AI and cut the com. She drew her Collector particle beam and readied the heavy weapon but Kaidan's voice broke in before she could fire at the first tube.
"Commander!" he cried to draw her attention to the new wave of Collectors flying in from the north.
"Guess we have to take care of a few old friends first," Shepard grunted as she switched weapons again and drew her assault rifle to attack. Again, Harbinger's taunts rang out around them as the squad worked together to eliminate the new threat. Again, all enemies fell to their synchronous attack. This time, there was no break in the action as new waves of Collectors flew in on platforms to surround them. Shepard quickly saw the futility of their efforts and motioned Kaidan and Grunt behind cover with her.
"Kaidan, I need you guys to keep them off me while I take down the Reaper," she told him. She drew her heavy weapon again and waited for Kaidan and Grunt to distract the closest group of enemies. She fired the beam directly into the top left tube and heard it break with a satisfying crack of glass and a nauseating splash of fluid. Her success drew Harbinger's attention to her location and she had to quickly duck back into cover as it turned its beam weapon to her and shot a burst of pale energy into the location her head had been moments before.
She waited until Kaidan and Grunt engaged Harbinger's new body and fired at the second tube on the left side. It too fell under her fire and she grunted in satisfaction. A wave of husks headed in her direction and she charged them. She finished them with a nova blast and took cover in her new location. She brought the particle beam up again and aimed for the tubes on the right side, but had to duck a Scion's laser before she could get a shot off. She growled in frustration but waited for an opening and took it. Three down, one to go. She glanced to her right and saw Kaidan and Grunt working furiously to thin out a swarm off husks with guns and biotics. She switched weapons quickly and fired at a Collector that had managed to flank Kaidan. She nodded in satisfaction when she saw he was safe and turned back to her objective, drawing the Collector particle beam once again. One more well-placed stream of the beam's laser and the Reaper began to shudder and rock off its perch. It fell, in nearly slow-motion, to the chasm below.
Shepard used her assault rifle and biotics to help Kaidan and Grunt finish off the last wave of Collectors, then she walked to the edge and peered down. The yawning black yielded no sight of the Reaper corpse – nor would it, the chasm was simply too deep - so she shrugged. She opened coms and called, "Shepard to ground team, report!"
"It's Thane," came a raspy reply, "We are holding, but they keep coming."
"Head back to the Normandy," she ordered.
"Acknowledged," he replied.
Shepard opened a channel to the Normandy and called, "Joker, prep the engines. The rest of the crew is headed your way and Kaidan's about to blow this place sky high."
Kaidan nodded in confirmation from his position crouched beneath the control panel at the apex of the structure.
"Roger that, Commander," Joker replied. Shepard watched in silence as Kaidan opened the panel and began to set the charges inside for a few moments until Joker's voice floated back over the com. "Uh, Commander, I've got an incoming signal from the Illusive Man..."
Kaidan looked up at met her eyes, then went back to work. "The other shoe drops, finally," Shepard muttered then raised her voice and replied to Joker, "Put him through." She opened her omni-tool and the pale holo of the Illusive Man floated above her wrist a moment later.
"Shepard," he said in greeting, "You've done the impossible!"
"Yeah, yeah," she mocked with tired sarcasm. "Why don't we skip the empty pleasantries and cut to the chase? I know you've worked for over two years to get me here. Tell me why."
He actually appeared speechless for a long moment before the sound of a resigned sigh escaped him. "Very well," he finally replied. "I want the technology the Collectors have gathered from the Reapers. I want the Reaper embryo – intact. I want you to use an em pulse to disable the base, and leave it intact."
"You're insane!" Shepard cried, astounded now that the full extent of his plan was revealed. "The Reapers want to destroy us and you want to – what? Make friends?"
"Not make friends," he countered in a steady tone. "I want to study them, harness them, learn to control them. Don't you see, Shepard? They could be the greatest tool humanity has ever known. With that, we could be the greatest power in the galaxy. All would bow before us!"
"I'm sorry," Shepard replied with acidic sarcasm dripping from every word, "I'm having a hard time hearing you. There's a lot of bullshit on this line."
"It doesn't matter if you believe me, Shepard," the Illusive Man replied in a still-even tone, "or whether you agree. I think you've forgotten – I hold all the cards." She watched as he pressed a button on the control panel beside him and called, "Miranda!"
Shepard heard Miranda's voice answer in acknowledgment from both sides of the com.
"Why don't you give Shepard a demonstration of why it's in her best interests to comply?" the Illusive Man said with his voice now dripping with acid too.
"Do you want to take this one or shall I, Shepard?" Miranda replied over the dual connection.
"All yours," Shepard replied and sat back to watch the fireworks.
"Miranda!" the Illusive Man cut in over them, "I gave you an order."
"I don't follow your orders any more, Illusive Man," Miranda replied coldly. "Consider this my resignation. And for the record, the leash no longer exists."
"You can't do this, Miranda," the Illusive Man was nearly howling in frustration now, "I made you!"
"No," she replied coldly. "My father made me. You tried to use me like any other pawn on a chess board. But I answer to only one person now – myself."
Before he could reply, Shepard cut in. "We're done here. We're blowing this base and that's final."
"You'll regret-" the Illusive Man began but Shepard interrupted again before he could finish.
"Joker! Lose this channel," she called.
"Aye, aye, Commander," Joker replied and the Illusive Man's holo blinked out.
Shepard turned her attention back to Kaidan and Grunt and found they were both staring at her with huge grins. Apparently, they had listened in on the entire exchange and it had entertained them.
"What?" she said with a shrug, "He pissed me off."
"Remind me never to make you mad... again," Kaidan replied dryly.
"Heh heh heh," Grunt rumbled behind them.
They shared a grin again until Shepard sobered and asked, "How are those explosives coming, Lieutenant?"
"Gets easier with practice," Kaidan replied deadpan. Then he, too, sobered and answered, "Ready, ma'am," in correct form.
"Timer?" she asked in military shorthand she knew he would follow.
"Ten," he replied, answering in the same fashion that they had ten minutes to escape once the explosives were engaged.
"Deploy," she ordered and he pressed the control to start the timer.
"Let's move," she called to the squad at large now, "we have ten minutes before this place is blown to hell."
Kaidan and Grunt stepped in to formation behind her and they were halfway across the platform when they heard a massive groan behind them. They turned and saw the Reaper carcass climbing out of the pit – still very much active.
"Well, shit," Shepard growled as she dropped into cover.
"I believe that covers it, ma'am," Kaidan shot back as he too ducked beside her.
Shepard raised her beam weapon once again and aimed it at the Reaper's glowing eyes. She paused and didn't fire and Kaidan thought he heard her mutter, "Chocolate-covered strawberries."
"What?" he asked in utter confusion, sure he couldn't have heard her right.
"Chocolate-covered strawberries," she repeated. "It's what I want for dessert after the dinner you're buying me when I kill this BITCH," she screamed the last word and fired a stream of red hot energy directly into its eye.
Kaidan couldn't prevent a small chuckle as he raised his rifle and joined the fight. Only Shepard...
As the fight went on, Kaidan tried to ignore the timer in his head that kept counting inexorably down to the time that would make their defeat of the Reaper moot. He tried not to dwell on the distance between their location and the Normandy and calculate the time they'd need to get there. When Harbinger reared its ugly head, Kaidan was almost glad to it for the first time ever. Its taunts and the new distraction gave him another focus other than the alarms screaming in his head. He and Grunt concentrated on Harbinger's vessels as Shepard continued to relentlessly pound the Reaper with heavy weapon fire.
Eventually time stopped – or lost its meaning – as the Reaper finally fell under Shepard's relentless assault and began to crumble in violent explosions. Its clawed hands reached for any purchase and grasped the edge of the platform holding them. The floor groaned under the added weight and the platform began to tilt forward under the pressure. Kaidan watched in mute horror as Shepard lost her balance and began to slide to the edge. The yawning chasm waited to embrace her below. Kaidan threw himself down on his belly and stretched his arms out full length. He grasped her wrists just before she would have slid out of reach and began to pull her back to the center of the platform. The Reaper lost its fight with gravity and slid into the chasm; its dead hands released the edge it had gripped. The platform tilted again as it overbalanced in the opposite direction. Kaidan was thrown back against the hard edge of an enclosure and blackness swallowed him.
When he regained consciousness, his first thought wasn't of time or to question their victory. Rather, all could think was 'Shepard.' He shifted the debris that had landed on him and pushed himself up on his knees. His eyes searched the wreckage around them frantically until he finally spotted her, lying inert under another piece of debris, near the edge of the platform. He crawled to her carefully and refused to allow the panic that wanted to rise any purchase. When he touched her back, he felt her chest rise and fall with breath and let his out in relief. He pulled the heavy beam off her back and helped her roll over. She moaned and shook her head a bit but her eyes met his and they were clear. He pulled her up into a sitting position and saw her eyes darting around them as his had when he searched for her. Only then did he remember Grunt, but now the panic was back. His heart pounded in his chest until they located the krogan by following his moans. They unpinned him and helped him stand.
"Do you copy?" Joker's sharp voice over the com broke the silence. "Come on, Shepard, don't leave me hanging, do you copy?"
"I'm here, Joker," Shepard replied. "Did everyone else make it?"
"All survivors on board," he confirmed, "We're just waiting for you."
"Let's go," Shepard called to Grunt and Kaidan and took off at a run.
Harbinger's echoing voice dogged their heels the entire short trip.
"Human, you've changed nothing. Your species has the attention of those infinitely your greater. That which you know as Reapers are your salvation through destruction."
Kaidan shivered a bit at the menace in the both the words and the tone but kept running. The Normandy loomed just over the next rise, and he pushed himself to run faster, faster. He saw Grunt leap for the open bay door and land on the floor with a roll. Joker appeared in the doorway, assault rifle in arms, and began to fire at the Collectors pursuing them. Unfortunately, a stray bullet from their return fire struck the platform right in front of the Normandy and knocked it off into the chasm. There was now a wide gap between the last platform and the safe haven of the Normandy. Kaidan gathered himself and sprang off the very edge of the last platform and rolled onto the frigate's floor. He scrambled up and looked back for Shepard. She was just beginning her own leap, and while he knew she had the strength, he saw that the slight difference in their heights was enough to make the distance too far for her. Without even thinking, he threw a pull and caught her, then tugged her onto the Normandy and safely into his arms.