Chapter 52
Disclaimer: I do not own Mass Effect or any of its characters. Those belong to Bioware and EA. All OC's are mine however.
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I stared at the casket as it floated towards the sun. Twenty minutes earlier we had sent Garrus's body into the sun. I watched the casket for a few more minutes as it drifted closer to the sun.
"James, bring the ship about. Tell the fleet that were going after TIM, feed them the coordinates." I said to one of my Lt.'s. I turned and sat down in my chair and let out a sigh.
"Are you alright?" Alicia asked squeezing my hand.
I stared down at my lap. "I really don't know, Garrus was the whole reason that I'm here along with Stacey. There was so much that I still needed to ask him."
Alicia nodded "I understand, But you need to look ahead for now. He died to give us time, we should be thankful for that much."
I nodded "Your right, he wouldn't want me to sit here and cry about it."
I sat up in my chair and stared out the cockpit as the lines of FTL flowed past the ship. I sighed and put my head in my hands. I've been doing this for awhile now, but how long will it last. Eventually my luck will run out.
"How long till we reach our destination?" I asked James. "About 11 hours sir." He replied.
I nodded and got up from my seat. "I'm going to the observation room... care to join me?" I asked Alicia.
She nodded and got up as I turned to head out of the room.
…
I lay stretched out on the bench as I stared at the swirl of colors above us. Alicia lay beside me in my arms. Her finger was busy running across my chest and she seemed to be deep in thought.
"What's on your mind?" I asked. Her finger stopped momentarily as she thought about it.
"If you could go back, would you?" She asked hesitantly. Her eyes met mine and she looked away.
"No, I wouldn't. I have a family here now." I said as I kissed her. I felt her body tense slightly than relax into me.
The door opened and I broke the kiss to see who had entered.
"Sorry for disturbing you." Stacey said as she sat down on a bench across from us. Luckily we were dressed so it wasn't a concern.
"It's ok Stacey, what's up?" I asked. "I was just wondering how you were holding up? I know Garrus probably mattered more to you than me." She said.
She rubbed her palms on her pants and turned to stare outside. I sighed "I honestly really don't know what to think. In a way he guided somewhat on the journey that I've been going through. Now, he's gone. I'm not sure what to do once we take care of TIM and secure the weapon. I have no clue as to where the time device is, or what planet it is located on. I just wish he would have just told me."
She nodded "We all would like for things to be easier. But there not, we have to make due with what we have. And besides, knowing Garrus, he probably left a clue for you to follow."
I nodded. That did sound like Garrus. "Your right sis."
She smiled "Aren't big sisters always right?" "Your my younger sister" I retorted.
She shook her head "Not anymore remember."
I nodded. "Touche, so what else brings you here?" I asked. I was starting to feel a little better now.
Stacey turned to stare out through the window again "I've been talking to a few of the crew. I know we have a good many ships, but were going to need more. I was thinking, it might be good to gather some more allies. Specifically, the Quarians."
I felt Alicia go tense in my arms. I squeezed her hand reassuring her. She was the only one for me now. I had to think about this, seeing Tali again. I really don't know about it.
"Do you think that's a good idea?" I asked Stacey after a moment.
"I've been talking with Legion, we've been trying to come up with ways to build the army faster. When I suggested the Quarians it kind of surprised the machine." Stacey chuckled.
"Surprised?" I asked. "Yeah, Listen, I know your going to be mad at me for what I suggested.. but it might work" Stacey paused as I gave her a puzzled look. "I know you played the games brother, I remembered the second one... so.. I suggested an alliance with the Quarians and the Geth."
My eyes widened "Do you really think that is possible now?" I asked.
"It's possible brother, Legion and I agreed that a mutual alliance between the two races would be possible." Stacey said.
I frowned "You do know that they've been at war for 300 years right? That their fighting over their homeworld."
She nodded "We discussed that also. So Legion began to gather consensus with the other Geth units. After about two hours of just standing there Legion and the other Geth made a decision. They will give the Quarian's Rannoch back in exchange for the alliance, and the promise that they will not try interfere with the Geth's evolution."
I nodded "I originally had a similar plan, but I never got around to it. So much has happened you know."
Stacey nodded "Well, I'm going to leave you two be for now. We should be jumping in about five hours now." She said.
"Stacey... thanks." I said standing. I grabbed her and pulled her into a hug.
I stepped back and stared at her "I think mom and dad would be proud of us, don't you?"
Stacey smiled and nodded "You know it bro." And with that she turned and headed out of the room. I made sat back down next to Alicia. "Want to grab a power nap?" I asked.
Alicia smiled as she pulled me down next to her. As my eyes started to drift close I smiled at the swirl of colors above us.
….
I was sitting on the bridge in my new chair as we prepared for jump. I pressed a button on my com "Attention: We will be jumping in five minutes. Were not quite sure what size of force our enemy has. But know this, we have to stop them at all costs. If we play our cards right, we can prolong the fight with the Reapers, which in turn buys us time to prepare. Alright everyone. JUMP!" I yelled.
The Orion exited the relay at the head of the fleet. What we saw nearly blew my mind.
"How is that possible?" Stacey asked coming to stand next to me. One by one everyone in the room stood up as we stared at the massive structure. It appeared to be a massive gate of some kind. I guess if you really thought about it. It looked similar to the jump gate from Babylon 5.
"How the hell did they build this without anyone noticing?" Tella asked.
"Zoom in on the structure James." I said. The image on screen zoomed in and it was clear the the gate was only partially completed.
"It looks like they only started building this recently." I said. "Why? What's its purpose?" Stacey asked.
"I think its clear. They can't get access to the citadel so their using an alternative means." Tella said.
"We have to stop them." I said. I turned to the com as a channel was opened up to the rest of the fleet. "Attention: We must do whatever it takes to destroy that gate. I'm want the fleet to split into two primary groups. My group will take on the enemy ships while the other focus's on the gate and its guards. Be careful everyone. This is a critical moment people." I said as I sighed off.
I felt a hand squeeze mine and without looking I knew it was Alicia.
In front of us the Cerberus ships and Alliance ships close on us. "Fire!" I yell. The blasts from The Orion tear through one ship and impact another.
"Group two break off and take out the guards." I barked. The 'Eclipse' broke away with several of the Asari warships along with a few Krogan's as well.
"Keep her steady, shove it right down their throats." I bark as The Orion banks sharply to avoid a destroyed frigate. As we clear the debris I see one of the Asari ships go up in flames. It's soon replaced by two more ships that are opening up on turrets that seemed to be attached to the gate.
"Open a channel to the Eclipse" I bark. The lines static at first than clears "This is Erica, what do you need Commander?" The former Cerberus pilot asks.
"Do you need support?" I ask as The Orion fires its cannons again which guts another ship.
"Negative, the last turret should fall soon." Erica says. And sure enough I see the last turret give way as the ships began firing on the gate.
Suddenly The Orion is rocked hard. "What the hell hit us?" I ask as I try to get back into my chair.
The screen changes to show a ship I had never seen before. Wait... My eyes widened suddenly.
"Attention to all Ships, we have a number one priority. The ship that just fired on us is using the advanced weapon left from Tella's people. But that's not all, it's using Reaper tech. We have to destroy it now." I bark.
The Orion swings hard as her cannons launch a volley at the ship. The blasts strikes it mid ships and barely puts a dent in its shields.
"Fuck! Hard to port. I want that bastard gone." I yell as the The Orion swings around. I see other ships opening fire on the ship.
Something occurs to me suddenly. I turn to Tella "I thought you said that your peoples weapon was powerful?"
"It is, they must not have it fully incorporated yet." Tella said frowning slightly.
Suddenly a blast was launched from the underbelly of the large ship. It struck one of the Krogan warships and obliterated it with one shot.
"Holy Shit! Looks like they figured it out. Bring us around again." I said. The Orion swung again and fired onto the large Dreadnaught. The shields flickered brightly for a moment.
"Alicia?" I asked. "The shields are down" She said.
I opened up the com again "This is our chance people. Target the engines and weapons. I want to know where the hell this ship came from." I said.
"Locking on to the engines." Alicia said. Our cannons barked and scored a direct hit on their engines.
"Sir, Their weapon systems are down." James said.
"Excellent, prepare a boarding party." I said getting up. "Will, are you sure you should be going?" Tella asked grabbing my hand.
I smiled "Have no fear, I'll be fine." I turned and headed out through the door.
…..
As my shuttle landed it was joined by two others. I raised an eyebrow as one hatch opened on one of them and to my surprise Wrex stepped out.
I glanced at the other shuttle as Tevos stepped out of it followed by seven Asari commandos.
"Let's move, I don't want to stay more than I have to." I said. Among my party were Legion and Stacey.
We made our way towards the first doors and quickly formed up on either side of it.
Legion hacked the door and we entered. "Stay alert, be ready for anything." I said as I swept back and forth with my Locust.
A blast hit the wall next to me and I quickly dove into cover as gunfire started raining all around.
My group along with the others fired back. Tevos dropped into cover beside me. "Do you take all your friends on these kind of getaways?" She asked smiling as she reloaded her AR. She popped out of cover quickly firing two shots, both headshots.
The gunfire continued for another twenty minutes or so. Two of Tevos's commandos were wounded and wound up be transported back to the shuttle. Eventually we came to a door just outside the bridge.
"Alright, be ready" I said to Stacey and Tevos. I hacked the door and hit the lock. The door opened to an empty bridge.
"This is odd, where the hell is the bridge crew?" Tevos asked. She walked up to a console and began going through different data.
I walked up to the Captains chair and interfaced my omni-tool with the ships computer. "This is odd, they were told to evacuate after the engines were destroyed." I said glancing at Stacey who gave me a puzzled look.
"Something doesn't feel right here. Tevos, tell Wrex to have everyone fall back to the shuttles." I said.
She nodded and left the room. Stacey walked over to me "What's going on bro?" She asked.
"I'm not sure, see if you can find anything else." I said as I continued to scroll through the ships logs.
Several minutes went by and my com crackled to life "Will, This is Tevos, were loading everyone back onto the shuttles. Legion said that the ships power levels are fluctuating. I think Stacey and yourself should head back now."
I turned to Stacey who nodded. I logged my omni-tool off and started for the door when it suddenly closed.
"What the hell?" I asked running up to the door. I brought my omni-tool up and tried to hack it but to no avail.
"Why won't this stupid thing open" Stacey cried as she tried to physically force the doors apart to no avail.
Suddenly the main screen crackled to life and to my surprise TIM was smiling at us.
"I see you fell into my trap nicely." TIM said smiling.
"What was the point of all this? You create this gigantic ship just to lure me here?" I growled.
He smiled "You've been a thorn in my side for quite some time. If I let you continue to be, you'll prevent my masters plans. I can't allow that, so this is a farewell Will." The screen went blank and suddenly a VI started broadcasting a self destruct timer.
"Warning! Warning! This ship will self destruct in five minutes.. please make your way to the nearest escape pods"
"Fuck" I cried as I tried hacking the door again. I looked around quickly and that's when I saw a hatch that led to an escape pod. Stacey hit the button and the hatch slid away to show an escape pod.. but there was a problem, there was only enough room for one person.
"Fuck, what are we going to do now?" Stacey asked. I grabbed her and pushed her into the pod. I hit the switch as she started to turn.
My com crackled to life "What the fuck are you doing?" She yelled. I could see tears flowing down her face. "Stacey, tell Alicia.. that I love her. Tell Tella, that I wish I could have seen our child grow up. And Stacey.. do me a favor, take care of that niece of mine." I hit the switch as she pounded on the glass. The pod shot away towards The Orion.
I turned around. Now what, I really didn't want to die. Suddenly an idea occurred to me.
"I hope this works." I said making my way towards the front of the bridge.
…
Alicia and Tella were standing on the bridge watching as the shuttles left the crippled ship.
The com came to life suddenly "Tella, Alicia, we have to find a way to get Will off that ship. That asshole shoved me into this pod, we've got to find a way to..." Stacey's voice was cut off as the ship exploded.
Alicia's breath caught in her throat. "No... NO... NOOOOO!" She yelled running forward. James and Tella quickly grabbed her as she struggled to get free. "Will!" She yelled crying. Alicia glanced up at Tella through blurred eye s to see that Tella was crying as well. She launched herself into Tella's arms and buried her head into Tella's shoulder.
"He's gone.. He's gone" She whimpered. Tella sighed and closed her eyes as she held the woman.
A/N: Sorry for the cliffhanger.. but what can ya do ya know? Thanks everyone. Till next time.
