Shepard was walking briskly back to the Mako. Tali and the others had to hurry to keep pace with him. Whatever he had just learned it seemed he had a new destination. This time, he took the driver's seat, so Tali went to her usual place at the co-driver's seat. She did not like how battered the vehicle looked. She had managed to get its shield generators working again, but after the disastrous battle with the geth at the entrance to the bunker she did not put much trust in its structural integrity anymore.
"Tali, keep searching for geth energy sources," Shepard ordered.
She looked at him oddly, but then set the senors to focus on known geth signatures. So far they had picked up no geth signals inside the bunker, so she wondered what Shepard intended. He accelerated the Mako as if he knew where he wanted to go. Tali was immensely curious just what he had seen in his vision. It was clear he had seen one; the pattern had been the same as when he had found the beacon on Virmire or, as she had been told, the beacon on Eden Prime. For now, though, she was content to follow orders. Apparently Shepard thought there still was a way to stop Saren, and that was good enough for now.
They passed some more forks and crossings of the bunker's tunnel network, but Shepard seemed to know where to go. He drove the Mako onwards without hesitation. And after some time, he explained what he had seen: The original purpose of the Citadel, the Reapers' plans, the Prothean's foil to them and how Saren was now trying to undo all this. And most importantly what they could do to stop Saren. Liara became quite excited by all these revelations, so much that Tali already nearly feared for her health.
After a while, they reached a hole in the bunker wall, leading to the outside city again. "Oh what the hell," Ashley cursed, "Why did we have a big battle with the geth at that damn door if we could just have... oh you know what? Nevermind. I've come to accept it. The universe hates us."
An apt description. However, Tali had no time to comment on it, as there was something more urgent: "Geth signals ahead of us. Bipedal and tank-level units."
"Well, we're on the right way it seems," Shepard commented. "But still..."
"If they try to power up the Conduit with a geth energy source I will pick it up," Tali reassured him, correctly guessing what he meant.
It appeared that the ceiling of part of the bunker network had collapsed, laying its tunnels open. Filled with rain water, they now resembled small brooks. The one they used seemed rather like a water slide, as it went straight down. At the bottom of it, they met the geth.
"Ah, finally. I already felt lonely without them," Tali joked.
"At least they're a hint we're on the right path," Shepard remarked. He then proceeded to demolish his signposts.
Earlier, when it seemed likely that they would come too late to stop Saren, Shepard's negative mood had further depressed everybody. Now the effect seemed to be reversed: It was clear Shepard trusted what he had seen, what that strange Prothean VI had told and shown him. He believed there was a chance again, and the rest of the team picked up on this. It reinvigorated the team: Everybody was now eager again to do their part. Tali certainly knew she was ready to do hers. Saren would be stopped. Now that this was a possibility again, she simply knew so. And even if not, she would fight to the last for that.
After some time, she was not quite sure anymore if they were driving through collapsed tunnels, or maybe former water canals or whatever. It were simply open corridors with water at the ground. Shepard still seemed to know where to go, though, and as long as they now and then still encountered geth, they probably were on the right track indeed.
Saren better be careful... She noticed something on the sensors that cut her out of her self-congratulatory thoughts: "Energy spike detected! It's geth." And after a short while: "A second energy spike, unknown configuration... they've opened the Conduit!"
"We gotta hurry!" Ashely stated needlessly.
"More geth ahead!" announced Tali.
The Mako entered combat with some bipedal units approaching them. They were not a threat, but time was of the essence. Tali knew what the opening of the Conduit meant: A time window had started. They had to follow Saren through to the Citadel, and now was the time to do so. However, the Conduit still seemed to be in some distance. The Mako drove through tunnels and canals, around corners and down slopes, passed rubble and roots. As long as the Conduit is still open that's not a problem, Tali tried to calm herself. Though it is problematic how much of a head start Saren will retain...
Finally, Shepard drove around a corner and came to a further slope downwards. And beyond it something grand reached towards the sky - a mass relay, but a thousand times smaller than any mass relay Tali had ever seen. The Conduit. She found it beautiful. Her people had always appreciated the beauty of the mass relays - funny to think about how we never appreciated Prothean designbut Reaper design- and this heavenward built structure surrounded by timeless Prothean ruins made for quite a scenery. However, Tali's primary focus remained on checking the sensors.
"Energy signatures diminishing," she reported. "It's closing again!"
"Fuck!" Shepard cursed. Tali could only agree: He already was driving at the highest speed the tank offered, and the path downwards had Armatures standing on both sides. He started a wild dash...
"Missile... Missile..." Ashley warned "Fuck!"
...rushed downward towards the Conduit...
"Shields down!" Tali reported
...faced half a dozen Armatures on the final metres...
"We're hit!" Liara said, while Tali observed: "Energy is fading, it's closing"
….and started the Mako's jets. In a final jump they reached the Conduit. Dark Energy enveloped them - and then everything went blinding white. Tali felt light and free. Almost like those heavenly ascension legends from human mythology...
However, only a moment she felt like she had been hit everywhere at once. She realized that it had been herself - her own regained mass. A flash of blue hit her otherwise still blinded eyes. And then the world around her began to tumble. She was thrown around in the Mako, which seemed to have hit something and flipped over several times. Finally, it came to a rest.
When her visual senses had fully returned, Tali saw Liara lying across her. In fact, she was kind of jammed between the asari and the the Mako's electronic console, which was emitting sparks. It seemed Shepard already had managed to orientate himself: He crawled out of the single still operable door and waved the others to follow him. It was an arduous task, but finally they all stood outside. Tali was glad Wrex had not fallen on anybody.
What she saw outside the vehicle was the Citadel; the Presidium to be exact, but not like any previous time she had seen it. It was dark, lit only by widespread fires. She could make out the shadows of geth units running towards them. And as she turned around she could also see where they had come from - the Relay monument! No monument but the counterpart of the Conduit!
The sudden arrival of the team went too far beyond the capacities of the neural network present to quickly calculate and analyze it; the geth were sluggish and even more predictable than usual. But Tali only needed to look around to see ever more of them. What happened here? Saren did not bring such a large army with him. And she also saw something else. She grabbed Shepard's arm and said: "Look"
"What... what is it, Tali?" Shepard asked.
Above their heads was the other side of the Presidium. That was how it had always been. But there was still something missing. No starlight came through, even though with the all lights having failed the stars should have been very easy to see. And after a while Shepard, too, realized that. There was no grand overview over the Wards out to the Serpent Nebula. Rather, there was an array of electronic lights filling the sky - the Wards. "They have closed the arms," Shepard realized.
"What happened here?" Tali wondered again. "Has Saren already won control of the station?"
"Seems so," Shepard answered. "But regardless, we'll fight. If he wins, everything is lost anyway. Come on, to the Council Chamber."
"Oh geez," Ashley muttered. "We'll use that elevator? The one that takes half an eternity to the Council Chamber? Wonderful!"
The elevator ride indeed turned out to be as slow as always. So Tali and the rest were forced to just stand around and do nothing while the elevator went up in a mind-numbing snail's pace. Tali did not even want to think about just what Saren could do in the meantime. If he were successful, than this would be the end. Palaven, Earth, Thessia would get destroyed. So would the Migrant Fleet. Do I get to see home again?
She had not even noticed how her fingers had begun dancing around each other, as they often did when she was nervous. That was an old habit of hers. What was a rather new habit was the reaction that these days followed: Her hand was taken and lightly squeezed. She looked up and saw Shepard now at her side. They remained so for a while - until the elevator slammed to a halt. The sudden stop of motion had everybody staggering. When they had found their composure again Tali realized they had come to a stand still at not even half the Citadel Tower's height.
"I told you this thing is bad luck," Ashley complained.
"It's Saren," Tali said. "Has to be. He probably has locked the elevator down. So, what now?"
Shepard looked from one member of the squad to the next and then finally announced: "We're equipped to deal with this. Magnetize your boots and adjust your suit's mass effect field; we'll walk up the tower."
Walking up the tower? The idea made sense, thinking about it, but it certainly was nothing that would have occurred to Tali. She made the necessary adjustments to her suit, as did everybody else. Shepard fired the glass front of the elevator open. Single shards slowly whirled away against the backdrop of the closed Citadel arms. A moment later she took the jump forward and landed in a 90° angle on her feet, standing horizontally.
While she was firmly affixed to the Citadel Tower's wall, it was not like she could not feel the Presidium's gravity (partly mass effect field generated, partly centrifugal force) anymore. That still drew her downwards. She could lessen the effect somewhat by using her suits own mass effect generator. The same held true for the others. In fact that was the only thing that would allow them to walk up straight against the downward pull. However, they all could invest only so much energy in that, as most of the mass effect generator's energy would still be needed to create their kinetic barriers. So it would still be an arduous way up.
It was a somewhat strange sensation, since it could still clearly be felt that they all stood in the horizontal. However, Tali had done enough work in zero g that 3d orientation was no problem for her. The Alliance had probably trained Shepard and Ashley in it, and Wrex had centuries of experience to draw on from. Only Liara looked like she had some trouble.
The ascent began. Tali had never paid attention to the details of the Citadel Tower's walls, but now that she was walking on them she noticed that they had an architecture of their own. It were not just straight walls; left and right of their 'way' various structures 'rose above' their heads, and at other points they even had a 'ceiling' above their heads, too. It was almost like walking in a vertical city. A vertical city with the Citadel arms as sky. Which they had entered to fight a traitor possessed by an evil spirit, or else he would summon demons from dark space. Tali wondered just when exactly she had entered a clan grandfather's mythical legend. At least I got the Warrior Prince.
They had kept close to the elevator shaft so far. Suddenly, the elevator darted beyond them, and came to a stop some metres in front of them. Tali grabbed her gun. Glass splintered, and geth emerged from the elevator. Of course, only light bipedal units could fit into the elevator, but combat was still problematic: It was as much an uphill battle as physically possible. Also, the geth used the elevator to bring in ever more reinforcements. The squad had to fight their way upward.
"Too many..." Liara muttered.
"No such thing," Shepard answered. "We can't retreat anyway. If Saren opens the Citadel relay it won't matter if we die here or will die later." He sounded inappropriately aggressive, but then he, too, had to crawl up a tower while fighting ever more geth. Showing nerves was excusable under these circumstances.
"Could be worse," Wrex remarked. "What if they had a proper elevator here? Still want to condemn the one we got, Williams?"
Tali could not quite hear the marine's response, but she could guess what it was about. Human languages seemed to have such a fascination with curses of either religious, sexual or scatological nature. She supposed it was a good thing that at least Wrex nearly always remained calm. Then again, knowing our luck, maybe Saren has some rachni here, too.
As the battle continued Shepard gradually led the team away from the elevator shaft. There was no way they would be able to win against an ever continuing stream of enemy reinforcements. After a time, they managed to disentangle from the geth and to find another 'path' leading upward. However, after a while on it, they encountered geth barriers there.
"So they are here, too?" Liara said. "Goddamn!"
Everybody's head whirled around. Liara realized what she had said, and her cheeks tended a little bit towards a darker blue. I guess you pick up such language on a military ship. Especially with Ashley and Jon around. In any case, the asari was right: How can it be there arealready geth here, too? For long enough to set up the barriers, too. They can't have arrived here by the elevator.
The synthetics had placed the barriers at a tactial choke point. Strange as it is to think of a feature in a wall as such. It took a frustrating amount of time to root out their resistance. They seemed to get reinforcements from somewhere, even though the elevator was in the back of the squad. The squad finally could break through, towards a large open space, a comparatively even part of the wall. Just as they reached it even more geth were arriving.
"A dropship!" Liara pointed out. She was right. A geth dropship was in the air, transporting geth to the 'frontline'. This explains it, but... a geth dropship? Here? It seemed there had been a greater invasion than just Saren's troops pouring through the Relay 'Monument'. And Tali had to admit that actually made her scared. Not only were there geth everywhere, not only did Saren have a head start, not only was he apparently in control of the station - but it seemed there also had been a 'conventional' geth invasion alongside it. Can we still salvage this?
Storming around a corner, the next big shock hit them. A humongous, strange looking machine of sorts loomed at the top of the Tower. At first it seemed like a giant mechanical tentacle, but then Tali realized what it was. Liara had been quicker, though. "Sovereign", she whispered.
Sovereign is here. Sovereign, a geth invasion, and Saren in control of the Citadel. Tali began to doubt if she would come out of this alive. But maybe we can at least thwart their plans. And it seemed Ashley had similar ideas: "I still owe that bastard for Eden Prime," she said. "Let's go kill his turian puppet."
Tali was not sure if saying that about a kilometres long mechanical monstrosity was bravado, desperation or plain madness, but she appreciated the combat morale. Shepard, meanwhile, seemed to think a bit more pragmatically. "The tower's defence turrets are ahead," he said while pressing himself against a wall for cover. "We should use them against that dropship."
"Those turrets have not been used in centuries!" Liara exclaimed. "I'm not even sure we can get them to work."
"That'll be Tali's job then," Shepard said. "Let's run for it!"
Thank you so much, Tali thought sarcastically, but of course he was right. With Garrus absent, she was the only tech expert in the team. She had not even known the Citadel Tower had defence guns, and wondered what for exactly. Liara's exclamation had implied they once had been fired at all, but usually the Citadel's enemies never actually reached the station. At least not these days. Could those 'centuries ago' have been the rachni wars? I wonder what the electronics are like then.
The space ahead of them was uncomfortably open. The squad made a wild dash through it. Bullets were darting all around them, geth units came charging towards them, and the dropship provided additional fire support. The squad's shields took a heavy beating until they could find cover behind one of the turrets again. Tali immediately set to work. The software was indeed like nothing she had ever worked with, but thankfully somebody had slapped a relatively modern user interface onto it. Besides, quarians were used to working with ancient technology.
She knew the battle around her of course went on, but she remained only very partially aware of that. She was fully focused on the arcane, ancient electronics in front of her. She trusted that the other four would be able to keep her safe long enough for her to do her work. Normally, the guns were supposed to be fired from some central command post. However, it appeared that was a later addition to the programs; the gun's electronics were perfectly capable of taking manually entered orders. Tali wondered just how many layers of additional changes they had undergone over time.
Beating the shackles on the console was relatively easy. Probably everybody in the squad could have done it. Well, maybe except for Jon... She managed to activate the guns auto-targeting system and let it fire. "Let's move on," she told the squad, and went to the next gun. From there things went surprisingly fast. When she activated the third gun, the dropship, already hammered by two of them, tried to start and retreat. However, it did not come far.
A well placed shot ripped apart the ship's underside. Explosions spread throughout its structure, covering it in an aura of blue fire. It veered off course right and left. Finally it went totally out of control and fell towards the closed Wards. Tali watched it getting smaller and smaller in her vision - and then saw a blaze at the Wards. It was only a small illuminated dot to her, but she knew how big the ship had been, and how big the explosion hence must have been. And she also knew how densely populated the wards were.
"Oh keelah..." she muttered, terrified. Shepard had seen it, too. Just as terrified he whispered: "Good god!"
There was no time for mourning or for considering what they might have caused. There were still geth all around them. But while Tali fought them, part of her mind could not let go of the question of just how many people she might just have seen perish. At least we're nearly there. Nearly at the top. She hoped she would not have to witness anything like that again.
It took passing more open 'space', more geth barriers and even a geth turret, but finally they found what they had come for - a hatch into the Council chambers. Let's hope this was worth it.
Just like the outside, on the Presidium, the Council Chamber was only dimly lit by several fires. Most trees in its small park areas were burning, as were several electronic panels. It stood to reason that as always the geth must have used overwhelming force to secure the place, with no regard to collateral damage. Just as back in the war. Just as they've destroyed every ship entering the Veil since then. Murderous monsters. In fact if it had not been for them, there would have been no casualties in the Wards, either. Or at least, so she tried to rationalize what had happened.
There were some geth among the burning trees, and on the stairs upward to the 'bridge' of sorts where petitioners to the Council normally spoke. However, it seemed Saren had left only a small guard of his synthetic worshippers behind. Tali could see him - the aforementioned bridge had somehow been extended all the way to the Council's usual place, and that was where he was standing. He seemed fully concentrated on working on a large holographic interface screen. He's opening the Citadel relay! she assumed, shocked. She was ready to storm toward him, but Shepard raised a hand and gestured everybody to wait. Instead of starting an open assault, he led the team from cover to cover. Saren had not once looked away from his screen even during the fight; apparently Shepard's hope was that he would be too focused on it to notice their approach.
The squad assembled in cover only some metres away from Saren, at the bottom of the stairs to the bridge. Tali watched Shepard intensely, waiting for his signal. Saren had already beaten them once on Virmire. Now was the time for payback. She just hoped they did not come too late.
Shepard gave the signal. The squad stood up and charged forward - only to find that Saren apparently had vanished. His holographic screen was still in the air, but he was nowhere to be seen. Confused and a bit desperate Tali looked around. What in ancestors' name is going on? Suddenly, she caught a motion at the periphery of her vision. She turned around and saw Saren on his anti-grav board - Ancestors damn that thing! - emerging from below the bridge. Before she could raise her gun, the turian threw a grenade, right into the squad. All that Tali could do was jump away from it, fast.
000000
Shepard had never thought it very likely that Saren could be surprised like he had planned, but it had been a worth a try. He had anticipated being expected by him. What he had absolutely not anticipated was him first 'vanishing' for all practical purposes and then turning up on that thrice damned hover board.
Whatever Shepard had in fact thought disappeared when he saw Saren threw the grenade. Pure instincts took over, and he dove for cover. As did everybody else. However, while Ashley, Tali and him had military training, Liara did not. And her experience so far was also far shorter than Wrex'. So her instincts were just not as drilled yet. She jumped last - and was thrown away mid-air by the explosion's shockwave.
"Liara!" Tali cried out. The asari was in great pain. She moaned and tried to drag herself to safety, but was unable to move her legs and her arms seemed to be too weak. Shepard was desperately looking for an opportunity to get her to safety, but with Saren still controlling the scene there currently was no way to do it. He remained in cover behind a planter.
"I was afraid you wouldn't make it in time, Shepard," Saren's said from above in the air.
"I'd hate to disappoint," Shepard answered through clenched teeth. "Your worshippers delayed me, so I had to wipe them out first. A couple hundreds of them."
"You've lost. You know that, don't you?" Saren boasted. "In a few moments Sovereign will have full control of all the Citadel systems. The relay will open. The Reapers will return."
Whatever. Shepard had no intention to trade words with the turian. Normally he just shot his opponents instead of listening to them. He looked for a way to get Liara to safety, and to head for that master control panel Saren had opened. However, unfortunately the rogue ex-Spectre still had 'air superiority'. And he just won't shut up! Indeed he went on: "You survived our encounter on Virmire. But I've changed since then. Improved. Sovereign has... upgraded me."
What? This did get Shepard to speak up again: "You let Sovereign implant you? Are you insane?"
"The implants make me a stronger person," Saren claimed. "They heighten my willpower and resolve. That's why Sovereign implanted me. I believe in it completely. I understand the Reapers need organics. Join us and Sovereign will find a place for you."
"You believe in it after the implantation?" Shepard repeated. "How convenient. Don't you see Sovereign uses the implants to control you?"
"The relationship is symbiotic," Saren said. "Organic and machine, intertwined, a union of flesh and steel. The strengths of both, the weaknesses of neither. I am a vision of the future, Shepard. The evolution of all organic life. This is our destiny. Join Sovereign and experience a true rebirth."
"Like the Prothean Reaper servants?" Shepard shot back "You talked to Vigil. You know the Reapers had servants among the Protheans, too. Where are they now? The Reapers just finished their invasion and left their indoctrinated slaves too die. They use and discard organics. That's your future!"
"I have no choice!" Saren exclaimed. "We both know what there is to know. You saw the visions. You know what happened to the Protheans. The Reapers are too powerful. Surrender or die, there is no other choice!" He sounded wild and desperate. He probably is. Shepard wondered how much of his old self there still was.
Time to risk something. He rolled sidewards from his cover and stood straight in full view of Saren. Tali tried to stop him, but he shrugged her of. Instead, he looked right into the rogue ex-Spectre's face and spoke: "If we surrender, if the Reapers win, then none of us will survive." And indeed, Saren did not shoot, but seemed to listen. He's still hoping there might be a chance, any chance. He hopes I can present it to him. "Our only chance is resisting them. It doesn't matter how small our chances are, it's all we have if we want to survive!"
"The Protheans tried!" Saren shot back aggressively. "We can't stop the Reapers forever! Nobody can! The Cycle just goes on and on." Behind Shepard, Ashley and Wrex took the cue, left their cover and dragged Liara away. Saren did not react. It sounded like he very much wanted Shepard to find a fault in his logic.
And Shepard did: "The Prothean leaders and most of their fleet were wiped out in a surprise attack. When the Reapers came through the Citadel relay. We can prevent that. It's not too late yet. We could be the first people in the Cycle with a fair fighting chance!"
"Yes..." Saren whispered. "We could be... Urgh!" He emitted an animal sound of massive pain. "The implants" he managed to say, pressed. "Sovereign is too strong. I'm sorry, it's too late for me... It..." It was obvious how much he struggled.
Now is the chance. Shepard raised his gun and began to fire. It was good that Saren finally saw reason, but he could not gamble the fate of the entire galaxy on him winning his inner fight with Sovereign. Besides, it was not like he had any respect for Saren even in his un-indoctrinated state. He had read his Spectre reports, and knew the turian was a monster. Most importantly, though, was eliminating him as Sovereign's most important servant.
Saren staggered as the bullets hit him. It seemed even now his inner struggle went on. Shepard could see him actively suppressing any resistance. After a short while, the rest of the squad joined in. Finally, Saren's hoverboard jerked upwards. It seemed Sovereign was in full control now. Saren even managed to hit Ashley's shields a few times. Eventually, though, Shepard managed to land the final shot: Saren staggered one last time, and then fell from his board. It and his body fell below the bridge.
Immediately, Shepard switched his focus. Paying no mind to Saren anymore, he ran towards the the holographic interface Saren had used: The Citadel's master control panel. He used his omni-tool to upload Vigil's file onto it and waited. Fortunately, it seemed to work. He was no technical expert by far, but he could understand the schematic diagram on the screen that showed how bit by bit Saren's and Sovereign's infestation of the Citadel systems was beaten back.
Tali reached him. "You've got control of all Citadel systems," she commented. "I'm not sure whether I should be relieved or worried." She attempted to sound humorous, but instead sheer relief was the primary emotion carried by her voice. "Open the Citadel arms!"
"Yes, ma'am," Shepard answered with a grin, typed in the order on the interface - and pumped by adrenaline from the fight and emotionally charged by the triumph then turned around to hug the surprised quarian. We've made it! Not fully, of course. But they had done everything they could. Sovereign was still there, but he hoped the Citadel fleets, if they still existed, could take care of it.
His moment of triumph was interrupted by his communicator catching an emergency signal: "...the Destiny Ascension... main drives offline... kinetic barriers down 40%... the Council is on board, I repeat the Council is on board!"
"Shit," Ashley cursed, who was just approaching Shepard and Tali. Apparently, Wrex was staying behind with Liara.
"The Destiny Acension and some turian cruisers are all that's left of the of the Citadel fleet," Tali said after a look on her omni-tool. "This... looks bad. They keep the geth fleet occupied for now, but there's nobody left to deal with Sovereign."
Damn. "I..." Shepard began, but then was cut off by the communicator. It was Joker's voice. "Normandy to the Citadel. Normandy to the Citadel. Please tell me that's you, Shepard."
"I'm here," Shepard confirmed. "Have you heard..."
"Yeah, we got the signal," Joker interrupted him. "I'm sitting here in the Andura Sector with the entire Arcturan fleet." Shepard was really curious how the Normandy crew had managed that, but there was no time to ask. "We can save the Ascension! Just unlock the relays around the Citadel and we'll send the cavalry in!"
Shepard was relieved to no end. So there is somebody to take care of Sovereign. Funny how the Alliance is our saviour now. There was some rather dark irony to that. If in fact they can take on Sovereign. After all, nobody knew what its combat capacities were like, and that made Shepard worried. Still, they had to try and... - his thoughts were interrupted by Ashley: "Casualties will be through the roof. Human casualties. I... before our journey started I'd have said the Council isn't worth it. Now... I'm still not sure. You might want to consider it."
Shepard whirled around, shocked. What? He was glad that on some level he seemed to have gotten through to her. She was right: Before the Normandy's journey she would simply have sent the Council to hell. Still, even so what she said was unacceptable to him. "You can't be serious. I don't like them very much, either, but this is bigger than my problems with them. Bigger than humanity's squabbles with them. Sovereign is a threat to the entire galaxy."
"Put like that..." Ashley conceded "Sorry. Call it Alliance influence."
"What you said is true, Jon," Tali chimed in. She sounded calm and collected. "This is bigger than any squabbles. But also bigger than the Council. So you can't waste reinforcements on them. The Destiny Ascension is still keeping the geth busy. Use that to concentrate all forces on Sovereign."
Shepard was still a bit shocked about Ashley's attitude, despite her concession, but he had to admit, Tali made a good point. It was maybe a callous thought, but the Council could be replaced. It was true that the extinction of the Prothean had been started by the extermination of their leaders. However, as long as the organic races held the Citadel they could assemble a new Council. Holding the Citadel, and keeping its relay shut, was really the only thing that mattered. In fact, the fate of the entire galaxy depended on it.
"Admiral Hackett said he'll trust our expertise," Joker reported. "Whatever you say will be the order. So what is it, Shepard?"
Unlike him not to make a joke about that, but then the situation is indeed too serious for it. Damn. Thousands of lives on the Ascension... and yet... If he knew for sure that the Alliance Fleet could defeat both geth and Sovereign, he would have sent them in to save the asari flagship, human casualties be damned. However, there was no way of knowing that. He did not even if Sovereign alone could be defeated. And saving the Council but losing the Citadel would make everything pointless.
And thus I have to sacrifice more lives than Cerberus has ever killed. Of course, the difference was that those people would be dead anyway if the Citadel relay was to be activated. He did not act out of some vague (and thoroughly unworthy) notion of 'human strength', but to ward off a clear and present danger. "Concentrate all fire on Sovereign," he told Joker. "We have to destroy it, no matter the cost. The entire galaxy is at stake."
"Uh, roger that," Joker confirmed. "Holding off attacks until we can get a clear shot on Sovereign. Initiating the jump in twenty seconds starting from... now."
"Goddamnit," Shepard whispered. Condemning the Destiny Ascension to die was an emotional low after the rush of triumph. Tali tried to offer comfort, but Shepard felt the pressing need to go on, to do something to make the sacrifice worthwhile. "Let's make sure Saren really is dead," he said with a croaked voice.
Below the 'Council bridge' there was a small garden facility. It was to there that Saren and his hover board had fallen, and so it was to there Shepard went, followed by Ashley and Tali. Saren's body lay on the edge of it. Shepard walked up to him and gave him a final shot to the head. Blue blood sprayed everywhere. It is done. Shepard breathed in and out and tried to collect his thoughts. He hoped Hackett's Fifth Fleet could defeat Sovereign. If not, none of this would matter and if they could... Then things will get really interesting. With the Council dead and the Alliance - the Alliance! Of all governments! - in control of the station...
Something caught Shepard's attention and he whirled around with his gun drawn. He looked around, and there it was again: A red spark. It grew, and soon more sparks began to fly around in the room, growing into red lightning ways. Shepard did not even have time to ask what the hell was going on before the sparks and lights concentrated on Saren's body. It began to glow red, and miniature fractures seemed to rip his exoskeleton apart. The body jerked up and down - and then exoskeleton and skin got blown off in an explosion.
Shepard, Tali and Ashley were thrown back by it. When Shepard could look again, only Saren's endoskeleton remained- adorned by small blue lights very familiar to the Spectre. A husk! Beneath his exterior Saren had been nothing else anymore but a husk. However, the inside of Saren's skull and ribcage were filled with a vibrant red light. He got down on all fours and began to crawl like an animal. A very creepy and dangerous animal.
His first red fireball came as a surprise, emitted from ribcage and skull. It hit Ashley at too close a distance for her shields to trigger. The marine fell to her knees, holding her left arm. And then Saren, or what was left of it jumped. Shepard had never seen such high or fast jumps, not even by Geth Hoppers. But just like them Saren could now apparently crawl on walls and ceilings. Hanging from a wall he announced: "I am Sovereign and this station is mine."
Well, shit. Shepard and Tali began to fire, but the Saren-husk's rapid jumps made it impossible to get a proper aim at him. Both he and she walked around in the garden uncoordinated, trying their best to land at least some hits. They heard a battle cry from the other end of the garden: Wrex had jumped into it and now joined the fight. However, everybody was in this battle on themselves: There was no strategy, no plan, only desperate attempts to hit what was left of Saren.
Red energy and flying bullets everywhere filled the room. It was difficult if not plain impossible for Shepard to retain any oversight at all over this chaos. He was only focused to get an aim on Saren. Even Ashley, who had crawled behind a stone and drawn a pistol she could use with her remaining good arm joined in. And yet, Shepard did not know if this was enough. Even the use of grenades did not seem to slow the enemy down.
Not that it mattered: They simply had to try. Shepard was hit, Tali was hit, Wrex was hit, but they all kept up combat. "Picking up a huge power loss..." Tali shouted over the combat. How she was still able to read her sensors in all that chaos Shepard did not know, but he admired her for that. "It's Sovereign! It's losing its shields!"
Sovereign's energy is tied to Saren! Shepard realized. "Keep firing!" he shouted. "We're hurting that AI bastard!"
He stopped firing and concentrated. Guns only help so much. He had to concentrate on his strengths. Even, he realized, if he did not particularly like those strengths anymore. He was averse to his biotic powers after he had learned just what the Alliance had done to get to know how to train them. However, for now he had no chance but to hope they would help. Like a predator, he waited for his opportunity. And when it came, he finally caught Saren in a biotic attack. He lifted him above the ground and held him there. Immediately, a hail of bullets riddled him.
Got you, you bastard. Hope Hackett shreds you to pieces outside. Sovereign's Saren puppet was not yet beaten, though. He managed to free himself of Shepard's dark energy. Several of his red fireballs hit the Spectre, whose shields faltered. Shepard was thrown back by the strange enemy fire and shouted in agony: His entire chest felt like it was burning.
When he looked up again, Saren was lying on the ground, only slightly moving. Suddenly, the red energy that so far had been held inside him engulfed him. He seemed to burn in an unnaturally red fire. And moments later, only ashes remained of him.
Shepared tried to laugh, but ended up panting. His chest hurt like hell. He realized that by chance he lay not far from Ashley. "Hell of a fight, eh?" he commented to her, exhausted.
"Something we can still tell our grandchildren about, skipper," the marine answered proudly. "Or at least, hopefully."
Tali came running towards him, while Wrex was walking calmly behind her. "Are you all right?" the quarian asked Shepard and knelt down beside him.
"I'm... ugh." A wave of pain hit him. "I've been better, truthfully."
"Take it easy you two," Wrex recommended, looking at Shepard and Ashley. "The Alliance is tearing apart Sovereign at the moment. We won."
We won. Relief flew through Shepard, easing the pain for a moment. After months of chasing Saren, after several painful revelations and hard battles, after too painful sacrifices and many disappointments, things were at an end. They had won.
A bright flash of light at his visual periphery drew his attention to it. Behind the vast window of the Council Chambers there was a huge explosion. Sovereign! It seems they had won indeed - but then Shepard saw the window darken. Something was coming their way, and fast.
"Shit! Run!" he ordered. He tried his best to stand up again with Tali's help, while Wrex grabbed Ashley. The window burst, and a huge fragment of Sovereign's chassis came darting through it. Something hit Shepard at the head. And then everything went dark.
The darkness retreated only slightly when he came to his senses again. Both his head and his chest hurt, but less so than before. He tried to orientate himself, but it was difficult to discern any features around him. There was only a very small source of light surrounded by darkness. It seemed to illuminate a helmet... Tali! He wanted to get up, but a hand took his shoulder and pushed him back softly. He wanted to say something, but soon sleep had him in his grip again.
He drifted in and out of sleep a few more times, before finally fully awakening with a loud gap. Last vestiges of an unpleasant nightmare retreated from him.
"Careful," Tali said. She sat besides him, and a very dim flashlight of sorts was running on her helmet. "How are you feeling now?"
"Somewhat better," Shepard replied, "Or would be if somebody could get the construction brigade working in my head to leave it. Where are we? And for how long?"
"The painkillers must still be working then," Tali stated. "I think I used too strong a dose. You already asked me that two hours ago, but then fell asleep again. We're still where you fell down. We're trapped in here by part of Sovereign's wreckage. That was five hours ago."
"I... can't remember any earlier questions" Shepard said "How... disconcerting. But I do remember Sovereign's destruction... The window crashing... So, you've applied painkillers to me?
"And medigel, yes," Tali confirmed. "Your wounds are too deep for it to take care of everything, so try to remain calm and take it easy for once."
Shepard smiled lopsidedly. "Well, it still hurts, but I think I couldn't have hoped for a better nurse." He paused. "So, now all we can do is wait for somebody to find us?"
"Pretty much, yes," Tali answered.
"Well, we've won. Pretty funny, actually," Shepard mused. "That we're trapped here by Sovereign's wreckage is actually the best proof for it." His thoughts became grim again. "I hope Ashley and Wrex made it. And that Liara is safe. And the Normandy..."
"We have to wait and see," Tali answered. She did not sound entirely comfortable about that prospect, either, though. They had seen what state the Presidium was in, and they could only imagine what formidable enemy Sovereign must have been in battle. They had survived, but it was not entirely sure they would see their friends again.
Tali laid herself down besides Shepard. Cuddled together, they awaited whether help would find them.
…...
The light suddenly pouring through the rubble made Shepard's eyes hurt. Many unfamiliar voices were speaking at once. Human hands gently helped him and Tali up. It took some time to get adjusted to the light, but it was clear they had finally been found. Shepard did not know just how much longer they had waited. Any concerns he had he were soothed by seeing some familiar faces among the crowd, though. Chakwas took over from the people who had freed him (Alliance marines, as Shepard realized) and Liara watched from some distance. The Normandy's doctor led Shepard to a medical tent nearby, where she unceremoniously tore off his upper armour to have a look at his chest.
"Ashley told me what happened to you," she explained. And before Shepard could speak up: "Don't worry, she's fine. Better than you even. Liara is recovering, too. And the ship didn't even get so much as a scratch."
She fitted some device on his chest. Already normal technology was sometimes mysterious to Shepard; medical technology was downright arcane to him, so he had no idea what it was. It seemed to sooth the remaining pain a bit, though, so he figured it did whatever it was designed to do. She handed him a wide shirt to wear over the apparatus and then told him: "There are people who want to see you. You should probably rest, but I don't think you want to miss it. It will be about important stuff. All the big shakers here are already talking what will happen next, now that the Council is dead."
Shepard raised his eyebrow, but did not say anything. The Council of course was dead due to him, and since the Citadel seemed to be swarmed by Alliance soldiers he guessed the 'big shakers' would be Alliance, too. He wondered if he would end up as a sort of scapegoat. After Chakwas was done with him, he was escorted by a very straight laced looking, young Lieutenant, who led him to a place at the Presidium lake. Rubble and burnt trees were still visible everywhere, but at least the illumination had been restored. The lights gave the scenery an inappropriately peaceful look.
Shepard could see four people standing at the lake. Ashley, who had her left arm in a similar machine as the one on his chest, Udina, Anderson and a fourth individual Shepard had never seen in person, but recognized from pictures: Admiral Hackett. His view was concentrated on Udina as he approached the group. And after the ambassador had also recognized him, he had the feeling the surrounding temperature dropped with every step he came nearer. He also noted how agitated Ashley looked. Something was clearly bothering her.
"Shepard," the ambassador greeted him curtly.
"Udina," Shepard replied.
"It seems your fears were well founded after all," Udina admitted. "So your actions can be forgiven, and..."
Shepard interrupted him icily: "You have neither the authority nor the standing to forgive me anything. If things had happened your way, we'd all be dead by now."
"I understand you did what you had to do," Udina said cooly.
"Yes. And it seems in doing so I handed the Citadel to the Alliance on a silver plate," Shepard said darkly. This was indeed grating on him. There was a terribly irony in all of this. After all the fights he had with the Alliance, now they were in control of the central hub of the relay network thanks to him.
"Your action opened up new opportunities for us," Udina confirmed. "And we fully intend to grasp them. The Citadel fleets were decimated in the attack. Their losses have made the Alliance stronger."
"And that's of course your first thought," Shepard commented. He noticed how Ashley shot dark glances to the Ambassador. She did not seem all too pleased with this, either. That was only understandable: She had risked life and limb to save the galaxy, just to see this now being exploited by politicians, a breed she hated anyway. "The galaxy just escaped total extinction, and your first though is have to cheer about the losses of sapient life suffered."
"I know you don't like to hear this, Shepard, but the galaxy needs leadership," Udina stated. "Especially because of the threats we face now. So do you really think we'll let an opportunity like this slide?"
"And so what do you want now?" Shepard asked. "Human control over the galaxy?" He turned to Anderson. "Is that it? Do you want to support him in that?"
"The other species are scared, Shepard," Anderson said, "They have never faced anything like this before. They don't know what to do. They'll accept human leadership. Maybe even welcome it."
Has something hit his head? "You can't seriously believe that!" Shepard exclaimed.
"If we step forward now, nobody will be able to stop us, Shepard," Udina said, "that's just how it is. Sacrificing the Council ensured our victory over Sovereign. The end justifies the means. We humans understand that - most of us, anyway. That's what makes us stronger than others."
"I don't want a humanity like that." Shepard turned. To his surprise it was not him who had said so, it was Ashley. She spoke with grave, serious voice. "I've always fought for the Alliance. Even after everything Shepard uncovered. Hell, I even argued with him about that. And I don't want an Alliance like that." She sneered. "But maybe the skipper has been right all along and it has always been like that." She turned to Admiral Hackett: "Admiral, with all due respect: Does the Navy support these schemes, sir?"
Hackett remained perfectly calm, and in an absolutely neutral voice replied: "The Navy does not get involved in political decision making. We merely execute the government's policies."
"Yes. Just like on Gagarin Station. A military-corporate cooperation. Or like the Alliance military scientists working on a project on Akuze that ended up in Alliance military databanks," Ashley reminded him. Shepard was surprised, shocked even. When she had said she would think about everything he had said and uncovered it seemed she had not lied. She had pondered all this for a while now. And now she was incensed. She turned to Udina again. "And you'd do all this shit all over again, wouldn't you? I foolishly thought it were just mistakes in the past, nevermind how you kept the survivors down and isolated for fifteen years, continuing your crimes - but more to the point, if it served your ambitions you'd abuse children again and again, wouldn't you? You'd commit the same atrocities again without so much as a second thought. Even now you're walking over corpses to get what you want!"
"Chief Williams," Udina said sharply, "You're out of line!"
Ashley narrowed her eyes and took a step towards him. "Shepard was right: It's not about whether I'm good enough for the Alliance. The Alliance isn't good enough for me. Not the way it presents itself here. Hell, I don't even know anymore what I wanted to prove by joining up. You can consider this my resignation."
Hah! Now Shepard truly was shocked. He did not even know what to think about it, not yet. Technically of course enlisted personel could not just 'resign'. But if they'll try to get Ash for this there'll be hell to pay. She's under my protection.
"With all due respect, Ambassador," Anderson spoke up before Udina could regain his composure "But I think you'll get that reaction a lot if you really want to go through with your plans. Given the current political troubles back home, I don't think you could get a stable majority for it even inside the Alliance." Shepard's eyes widened. Clever! He's using the opportunity Ash created. Maybe his thought processes are in fact still working just fine.
"We have to be careful not to overstep our bounds," Hackett agreed. "The Alliance Navy could not defend a claim to the Citadel against both the other species and political detractors on the inside."
"I suppose this is true," Udina admitted after a pause of consideration, though it was clear he did not like it. "Shepard's irresponsible actions have made the Alliance far too divided to fully grasp this opportunity. So we'll have to retain some formalities. Like the Council. We'll have to build up a new one, under human leadership."
Ashley sneered again at that and then just walked off. Shepard looked at her leaving and made a mental note to check up on her as soon as possible, but then turned his attention to the meeting again. After all, nothing less than the fate of the galaxy was decided here.
"And by that, you mean under yours, of course," he mocked the Ambassador.
"I'm confident the Alliance government will see the value of my diplomatic experience here," Udina answered.
"The government is divided, Ambassador," Anderson reminded him. "I don't think we can make secure political predictions."
"Given the situation, the Alliance will try to gain as much legitimacy for that new Council as possible," Hackett pondered, "So I think the voice of the Saviour of the Citadel will have a great weight in their selection."
"Hackett..." Udina pressed forth between clenched teeth. He was furious at the Admiral.
Shepard smiled. Yes, the Navy will not get involved in political decision making. Yes, you're just a completely neutral observer, Hackett. Sure. The Admiral and the Captain were quite skillfully playing the scene, he had to admit. Anderson spoke up: "He's right, ambassador. So Shepard, who do you think should lead this new Council?"
The Spectre's smile widened into a predatory grin. "You want experience, Udina?" he asked. "Unfortunately for you, you're not the only one with Citadel diplomatic experience. My choice would be... Anita Goyle."
"What? You cannot seriously mean to put that old, treacherous..." Udina cut himself. "Seriously, Shepard. We... had our differences." Udina clearly had trouble suppressing his anger, but he tried to sound friendly now. "Still, we have common interests. Do you really think Goyle would serve the interests of humanity?"
"If you think I'd make you chairman of the new Council, Udina, then you're clearly deluded," Shepard spelt out clearly what Udina had meant. "Even if I didn't hate you. Even if you didn't stand for everything that's wrong with the Alliance. The Reapers are out there. We cannot waste our time on petty power squabbles between the races. You'd have every race at each other's throats. Goyle will make sure we'll all work together." He stretched himself to full height, ignoring the remaining pain in his chest, and looked at the three other people in the meeting. "The Reapers are coming. If they win, it will be the end of all life as we know it. Those who still want to play their petty games of power can do so. But I won't. I know that this galaxy can win the coming war, if it stands together, if it asks how to survive and not who will come out on top. And I swear to you, I'll find a way to beat the Reapers back to darkspace once and for all!"
And with that he turned around and left. He felt a certain satisfaction how Hackett, Anderson, Ashley and he had prevented Udina's human supremacist schemes, with Ashley's outburst, Anderson's clever use of that, and Hackett's reminder of Shepard's importance. But now that this was done, he had a war to plan.