CHAPTER 38

The team stood from the cover despite the carnage that is going on outside, they quickly approached the edge and looked down below the Presidium floor. They gaze at the shattered glass broken by the body of the former Spectre as his body now lies lifelessly inside the Presidium garden. Saren's death was inevitable, because Shepard convinced him to take his own life in order to redeem his honor. Only to have it taken away by Smith, a rogue computer agent from the Matrix, who for some reason has possession of a geth's unit. Shepard knew this was a question he had to ask the Oracle if he sees her again.

Now was not that time, he had to focus on other things such as Saren's body. It is likely that he is dead, but the implants that were mentioned before could still be active especially when they can look outside the Presidium window and see Sovereign still trying to maintain control of the Citadel.

Shepard looks at the body lying on the Presidium garden. "Make sure he's dead."

Wrex, Kaiden, and Ashley climb down through the broken glass and as they touchdown on the garden floor, Wrex mutters. "I'll pull the trigger, no sense letting that geth have all the fun." He pulls out his pistol and puts two bullets in Saren's body. It was clear that he was dead because there was no jerk reaction which would normally do if somebody had still been alive up until that moment. "He's dead."

Shepard, Neo, Liara, Tali, and Garrus climbed down from the Presidium platform and searched for any surviving geth in the area. Shepard remains on the platform watching Sovereign's literal grip on the Citadel's Presidium obelisk. While trying to figure out what the next move should be been while quietly praying to himself that the Alliance and Migrant fleets are doing well against this Reaper, the air suddenly becomes charged with electricity. The electric charges are giving off a tint of red while the Presidium begins to shake.

The platform where Shepard was standing lost its support structure and Shepard fell through the broken glass and into the garden below. He stood up and found electrical charges are coming from Saren's body. Ashley and Kaiden were knocked off their feet while Wrex simply slumped backwards.

Saren's body was taking on a life of its own through the implants created by Sovereign. His body was glowing red as the chunks of his flesh was coming apart as layers of his own skin was separating from itself to reveal the circuitry and the bioelectric patterns coming from Saren's body. The talons on his hands and feet grew larger, his flesh had burned off, his inner skeletal structure was now exposed, and the neck & head have become elongated. He looked like a husk, but the husks they had encountered before were former humans. Saren was no longer Saren, but a turian version of a husk that was being personally controlled by Sovereign's will. The body looked more like a monstrosity of twisted scientific research that could only be dreamed up by the most sadistic imaginations in the galaxy.

Then Saren's body spoke and spoke in his own voice, but it sound more unnatural than anything anyone has ever heard before. "I am Sovereign! And this station is mine!" Then the husk that was once Saren leaps into the air and clutches on two sides of the wall.

Neo was still on the floor above along with everyone else and they were watching the whole metamorphosis of Saren turning into this creature. He gathered the others and showed them what had happened. "We have to get down there and help somehow!"

Garrus intervenes. "If we all go down there, Saren will just pick us off one by one and having so many people crammed into one area will just make it easier for him to kill us all!"

Neo pulls out his assault rifle while Garrus pulled out his sniper rifle. Neo looks at Tali and Liara and gestures them to do the same thing through visual command. "I guess we should give them some uphill support!"

"Right!" Garrus agrees. "Neo, you cover the lower portion! Tali, you cover the right position! Liara, cover the left! I'll take the upper portion since I have the sniper rifle! Only shoot when you have a clear shot, don't hit the Commander or anyone else who is down there that isn't Saren!"

Both Tali and Liara said. "Right!"

Shepard, Wrex, Ashley, and Kaiden were struggling to pinpoint Saren's location, but he was moving at incredible speeds. The husk was not moving on its hind legs like a normal bipedal creature, it was moving on the ground on all fours and slithering along like a lizard. Once they think they can zero in on the target, the husk moves to the side and clings onto the wall. While doing so, the eyes are emitting a red laser tag that would potentially overheat their weapons and firing off red balls of electro pulse at the four warriors on the ground. It was like trying to fight a gecko with the speed of a cheetah possessing the strength of a bear that had the ability to jump like a frog. Fighting Saren's husk is like fighting a geth straight out of the quarians collective nightmares.

Shepard and Ashley both manage to get a clean shot while Saren was clinging onto the eastern side of the wall; however the shields were rather strong and then penetrate through. Both Kaiden and Wrex managed to get a few hits off the moving nightmare, but they were less successful and they attempted to use biotics to subdue the creature. The shields did weaken a bit, but this only agitated the husk. The husk slithers its way towards Ashley and kicks her backwards while Wrex attempts to plow the husk down with his massive krogan strength, Saren manages to grab a hold of his arm and throw him to the side. Now Saren was exposed for a moment and the entire group from the floor below to the ground above open fire on his lifeless moving body. The shields flickered and disappeared and Saren's body took on heavy damage. Small sparks of red electricity emitted out of his body, but didn't stop him entirely. He leaps to the ceiling again and most likely trying to lick his own wounds.

Shepard searched for Saren's possessed body with Wrex, Kaiden, and Ashley. Neo, Garrus, Tali, and Liara continue to give the four below cover. For a split second Shepard figures that destroying the body of Saren would release the control over the Presidium, because Sovereign will still need an organic body to activate the controls to bring the other Reapers from Dark Space. Now his N7 training is kicking in and he must focus on killing his enemy and depend on his squad mates to watch his back.

CITADEL ORBIT

Rael'Zorah was maintaining his determination to destroy as many of his people's hated enemy, the geth. Despite his determination he was very pleased that the new weapons the Alliance had retrofitted into their ships. He was also pleased knowing that these weapons were actually working effectively against the geth ships; however he doesn't know how effective it will be going up against that massive dreadnought which the human say looks like a giant squid, this ship called Sovereign.

As geth ships kept going down, there were many impromptu shouts of cheer from inside the bridge of his ship the Aleri. This was not just a celebration of destroying the many ships of the beings that was responsible for their exile, but this was also to show how far the Migrant Fleet has come along since their alliance with the human race.

One of the crewmen said. "Admiral! We had already brought down several geth ships! So far our ships and the Alliance vessels have suffered minimum losses!"

Rael knew that the celebration was too soon. "That may be so, but we still have that dreadnought called Sovereign to deal with! We can deal with the geth, but keep up the support for Hackett's fleet!" That he quietly tells himself. "I certainly hope the Council appreciates what these humans are doing for them."

Saying that to himself, he also knew this was a testing of their newest weapons on their hated enemy, but he really hopes the Admiralty Board and the Conclave appreciates his actions when deep inside he knew this was all for his daughter, Tali.

Another crewman calls attention to his Admiral. "Sir! We have a call coming in from Admiral Hackett!"

Rael patched the call through. "This is Admiral Zorah!"

"Admiral!" Hackett said. "The geth fleet has been routed for now, but now we have to take care that dreadnought Sovereign! Is your fleet ready to make the final push?"

"We are, Admiral!" Rael said. "Where shall we position ourselves?"

"Follow our fleet behind the rear!" Hackett said. "Your fleet must cover us in case the geth attack us from behind!"

"Very well, Admiral!" Rael responded and finished by saying. "Keelah se'lai!"

"Very well, Admiral!" The quarian Admiral said to Hackett. "Keelah se'lai!"

Admiral Hackett stood behind the controls of his bridge and watches the action unfold before him. The Alliance and Migrant fleet ships approached the dreadnought strongly attaching itself to the Presidium in a volley of fire from both ships in the armor of the massive black ship. Unfortunately, the shots that were fired whether it was missiles or the NI cannons, the shots seem to only be absorbed by the armor. It was as if the shots were made and the ship was suffering the blows, but it kept moving as if it didn't know it was being slowly destroyed.

The massive ship was managing to cut through the skin of the starships with laser red beams. This caused for alarm to many of the ships that were in the area when Hackett received a distress call from one of the ships that was trying to withstand the firepower of the massive black dreadnought, known as Sovereign.

The distress from the comm channel almost screamed at his Admiral. "Sovereign's too strong! We have to pull back!"

Hackett's response to the request only shows his defiance in the face of defeat. "Negative! This is our only chance! Take that monster down, no matter what the cost!"

Neo was keeping his eyes peeled for Saren, and then he sees him. The possessed turian body slithers its way towards the squad below. To his shock, Saren is approaching Ashley. He opens fire on the stalking creature and yells to her. "Ash, behind you!"

Ashley turns her head and draws her weapon, but it was too slow when a talon shaped fist struck her head and she slumped over.

This put Neo in a frenzy and he leaps down to the garden below. Garrus calls to the agent. "Neo, what are you doing!"

Neo ignored his turian comrade and ran straight to Ashley when Saren pulled away and made an attempt to attack Wrex. Neo rushed over and checked see if she was seriously injured. He pulled her helmet off her head and cradled her face and begged her to wake up.

Then her eyes fluttered open and she looks at his face. "Thomas. What happened?"

"You got hit in the head." Neo quickly explained. "Good thing you were wearing that helmet." He quickly turns to side to see Saren fighting with Shepard and he pulls her behind a rock.

Then Ashley grabs Neo's attention. "Thomas. Your Arc rifle."

"I can't use it here." Neo quickly says to her.

"I studied it, remember?" Ashley reminded him as she raised herself up, but squatted behind the rock. "I learned that if you fire it, the rifle will attack not just to target the target next to it. But if you can get the rifle inside Saren's body and set it for meltdown…"

"It will cause a small electrical pulse which will kill him and anything in a small radius." Neo finished her sentence. "Just a shot at the core will cause the meltdown."

"How will you get close enough?" Ashley asked.

Neo gave it a moment of thought. Then he takes a quick deep breath and say. "Leave that to me, I got an idea." Then Neo gets on the comm with everyone. "Liara, use levitation on Saren when I give the word, I got a plan! Kaiden you help her too! Shepard, I need help on this one as well!"

"Whatever you have planned, don't get yourself killed!" Shepard replied.

Neo ran to the center of the garden and he pulls out his Arc rifle He charges the rifle and rests it next to him. He looks at Saren taking a moment to regenerate its body. "Garrus, shoot a few rounds right in front of Saren before he approaches me! Tali, use shock to make sure he stands up! Wrex, shoot where Shepard aims!"

"Do what he says, everyone!" Shepard added.

Neo pulls out his pistol, aims it at Saren, and pulls the trigger. This gets the husk's attention and quickly slithers towards Neo. "Garrus! Tali! Now!"

Shots ring out and the bullets make their target on the ground, right in front of Saren forcing his husk body to stop and stood up. Then a jolt of electricity coming from an Omni-tool force the attacker to lower its shields momentarily. Neo quickly grabs the charged rifle and inserts it into the hollow structure of Saren's possessed mechanical body and wedges it in tightly.

Then Neo jumps back and yells. "Liara! Kaiden! Now!" Saren was consumed by a blue mist of biotics and was levitated off the ground. Neo yelled again. "Shepard! Wrex! Now, aim next to the trigger!"

Shepard pulled out his rifle while Wrex pulled out his shotgun. Both shoot at the glowing blue orb which is the core of the Arc rifle. The bullets make their mark and the rifle begins to charge out of control as blue electrical charges come out of the core. An electrical charge consumes the rifle and then eventually consumes the body.

Neo gave the final order. "Liara! Kaiden! Toss this bastard out of here!"

The biotic levitation being used was now thrusting Saren's husk out of the garden and through the thick glass of the Presidium. Then the husk being possessed by Sovereign was now being hurtled toward Sovereign itself. The Arc rifle's meltdown was completed when a bright blue ball of electrical pulse consumed what was left of Saren. Saren was nothing more than ashes floating in space.

When a blue ball of electrical pulses appeared near the base of where Sovereign had its grip on the Presidium, the squid-like ship lost its grip and dangled backwards into the vacuum of space. It was similar to seeing a bug on its back dangling its legs while trying to get back up.

Joker was piloting through the battle and when he saw the arachnid shaped dreadnought lose its control, he said over the comm. "It's shields are down! Now's our chance!"

Then he heard a voice coming from the comm link, it was Admiral Hackett's voice giving the attack command. "Hit it with everything we got!"

Both the Alliance fleet and Migrant fleet open fire on the dreadnought with everything they had available and Sovereign's hull was coming apart.

The Normandy flies away from the ship, then banks a hard left and charges towards Sovereign. Joker announces to the crew and the fleets. "Hard on my flank! We're going in!" He charges the ship at full speed towards the soft belly of Sovereign and fires the Normandy's NI cannons. The cannons pierce through sovereign's body and the ship was finally dead, when Sovereign's explosion followed afterwards.

There was nothing left of the ship except debris, unfortunately what was once considered Sovereign's leg was floating dangerously close to the Presidium. The leg crashed through the window and to Shepard's horror he and the rest of his crew was in danger.

Shepard turned to the side and yelled everyone. "Go!"

The debris crashed into the Presidium through its windows and then the room went dark.