Chapter 51 – Servants Of The Leviathan
Year 2203 CE
SSV Normandy, Sigurd's Cradle
"So, Shepard," Joker began as Liara and Morgan walked up to join him on the bridge, following a successful relay jump from the Parnitha System to Sigurd's Cradle. "What do you think of the new… ah, crew?"
"Hmm, well… they're certainly different from what I'm used to working with," Morgan chuckled in reply. Aria had put together a makeshift crew combined from some colorful individuals that were at her disposal on Omega. While they were obviously good at what they did, none of them had previous experience of working together. However, since ground action was not expected, Morgan did not believe that it would pose a problem.
"They seem fine, except for the medbay staff," Liara scowled. The chief medic was an experienced volus doctor who had all too cheerfully announced that he possessed extensive knowledge of alien physiology, with the exception of humans. At which point a rather scantily clad asari 'nurse' had emerged and rather coquettishly pronounced that she was perfectly qualified to attend to Shepard's every need, medical or otherwise, unwisely ignoring the threatening glares that Liara was sending her way. Liara was still seething about this incident, knowing that it probably was Aria's idea of a joke, the Pirate Queen enjoying her mildly annoying teasing.
Of course, Aria had managed to irritate Shepard as well, this time by putting a female batarian chef in charge of the kitchen and the mess hall. While there was nothing wrong with the batarian woman herself, and she did not act in a hostile manner towards Shepard, Morgan still wondered whether she should have brought a food taster with her on the ship.
Cortez still kept control of the armory and the shuttle bay, but he had stepped down from his role of procurement specialist, a large elcor now assuming this position instead of Steve. Morgan hadn't immediately recognized the elcor, considering it looked like any other space elephant, but when he had cheerfully introduced himself as Harrot, Shepard had groaned inwardly, remembering the annoying, greedy merchant from Omega, wondering whether Aria was making yet another joke at her expense.
The engineering floor was occupied by two constantly arguing quarians, male and female, and their supervisor, a middle-aged blonde human lady who appeared deeply suffering and frustrated from the way the female quarian kept cracking horrible jokes, heavily laden with sexual innuendo. Morgan and Liara did not waste much time observing this inverted version of Tali, Ken and Gabby, and fled the engineering bay, sighing at Aria's twisted sense of humor.
Finally, the position of comm specialist was occupied by a shifty salarian named Ahz Jr. He was simply the latest of many salarians named Ahz and serving under Aria's command. Most of them weren't actually even called 'Ahz', especially the latter ones, but Aria couldn't be bothered to learn their real names and she just kept calling her chief comm specialist and tech 'Ahz' regardless of what their real name was.
"They're all good guys, trust me," Joker grinned. "Especially Ahz. Man, that guy has one hell of a poker face. At least I can always get my credits back from Steve, he's still hopeless at it."
"It's just… a bit odd," Morgan confessed. "Kinda used to seeing a mostly human crew on the Normandy, so this feels… strange. And you know that I don't have problems with aliens!"
"I know exactly what you mean," Liara nodded. "But… I do not believe that we will be forging deep bonds of friendship with these new crewmates. They are simply a temporary crew while the Normandy remains with Aria on Omega. I do not think we are planning to take Harrot with us on a ground mission…"
"I bet we could use him as a Mako," Morgan chuckled. "Anyway… Joker, what's the ETA to Psi Tophet?"
"Eighteen hours, Shepard," came the prompt reply.
"And where are the geth? Has there been any contact?" Shepard asked.
"They will reach the system in six hours and then wait for us to catch up before approaching the target."
"Alright," Morgan nodded. "So, we actually have a lot of time to kill," she said, turning towards Liara. "Want to check out the loft, make sure Aria hasn't made some unwelcome modifications to it?" she asked innocently.
"That sounds like a worthwhile suggestion, Shepard," Liara replied with a promising smile, and then both turning to glare at Joker after the pilot had allowed a chortle of laughter escape his lips.
"What are you giggling about, Joker?" Morgan tried to sound stern, almost succeeding. "And no, I don't want to hear any Vaenia related jokes."
"Fair enough, fair enough," Joker chuckled, still looking greatly amused about something. "Say, Shepard, you've seen the 53rd edition of Vaenia that came out a month ago? There's this amazing threesome involving a busty human chick and two hot asari… watch it, I think it will blow your mind," he added with a wink.
"Uh… sure, whatever," Morgan shrugged, leading Liara away from the bridge. "Wonder what that was all about," she whispered to her bondmate as they passed by Ahz, waving at the salarian before getting into the elevator.
"Ignore him," Liara whispered in a sultry voice as they stepped into the elevator, pressing more tightly against Shepard. "We barely had any time to stop at the captain's quarters during the mission to rescue Kasumi… I look forward to spending some more time in my favorite place on the Normandy. Who knows… maybe we can create a few more… memories…"
"Sounds very promising," Morgan grinned, pulling Liara into her arms as the pair began to kiss deeply, stumbling out of the elevator and towards the loft cabin, still locked in a passionate embrace, beginning to fumble with each other's clothing, the clasps and buttons suddenly feeling irritatingly tiny and slippery. Somehow, they made it over the doorstep and into the cabin, Morgan pressing Liara with her back against the aquarium, nibbling on the asari's neck with her teeth and tongue, hands on Liara's hips as the asari wrapped her legs around Morgan's waist… until they both jumped in surprise at a pronounced, amused cough coming from inside the cabin.
"Oh, do go on, you two… I'll just stay here and watch quietly," a very familiar voice spoke up, belonging to none other than Aria T'Loak, wearing her tight black leather pants and a matching leather jacket, the asari lounging on the bed and giving them a lascivious stare.
"Aria?" Morgan blinked, in surprise almost dropping Liara, her bondmate giving Morgan a slightly annoyed poke in the ribs for releasing her from the tight embrace without any warning. "What the hell? Oh, damn that Joker… I'm going to kill him for not warning me in advance that you were on board!"
"I doubt Joker is the one to blame, Morgan. He was most likely under direct orders from Aria not to say anything," Liara shook her head.
"Well… it certainly looked like he enjoyed this practical… joke," Morgan hissed through clenched teeth, then turning back to the smug looking Aria, stretching like a lazy panther on the wide bed. "Anyway… what are you doing here on my ship, Aria?"
"Your ship?" Aria chuckled, looking highly amused. "I don't think so. You gave this ship to me, at least for the time being, so I'm the one in charge here. And you're trespassing in my private quarters."
"This is my mission! That means I'm in charge!" Morgan fought back, undeterred.
"Now, now, Shepard, watch your temper," Aria waved a warning finger. "I'm willing to play nice, here. This bed is way too large for me alone… I'm willing to share it with you both," she added with a broad grin, patting the empty side of the bed next to her.
Oh god, that's why Joker made that mention of Vaenia, Morgan groaned inwardly in realization. This is like a ship of silly references! "Uh huh, I don't think so, Aria. It's time for you to grab your stuff and move back to the Starboard Observation."
"Somehow, I don't think so," Aria shook her head. "I actually had my people prepare quarters for you in Liara's old lair on the off chance that you will not be reasonable. So, seeing as you don't intend to be nice and keep me company here, that's where you are headed."
"Well, I'm not leaving my quarters," Shepard glared.
"You're going to have to, because I certainly am not leaving either," Aria easily held her defiant stare.
"I should also kick your ass for this silly Normandy recolor!" Morgan continued to rant, hands on her hips as she assumed a challenging posture. "What the hell were you thinking? I specifically said not to do anything like that!"
"My ship, I'll do with it as I want to," Aria mock-yawned. "Besides, it looks much better now. I'm not to blame if you completely lack taste like any other human."
"Now you're just trying to make me even more angry," Morgan snapped. "When we get back from this mission, you're going to restore the original paint job, and I'm completely serious about this."
"Oooh, I'm shaking in my boots," Aria rolled her eyes, looking bored. "While the ship stays with me on Omega, it's going to look the way I like it, and that is final."
"Oh yeah?" Morgan challenged, suddenly finding a very exasperated looking Liara stepping in between her and Aria.
"Obviously, you two have some sort of control issues," the younger asari spoke in a loud voice, her annoyance plain to hear. "If you won't start behaving like normal, reasonable people, I'm going to lock down these quarters until you two work out these issues!"
"Hmm… an interesting suggestion!" Aria immediately perked up, activating her omni-tool. "Here, let me just quickly get a permission from Tevos…"
"Hold on just a moment!" Morgan exclaimed looking a little stunned as she regarded her bondmate. "You were… just joking, right?"
Liara sighed and rolled her eyes. "Of course I was joking. I simply wanted you to realize how foolishly you are acting! Just let Aria have the quarters if she wants it so badly. And as for the Normandy recolor, is it really that big of a deal? Let's just go down to the crew deck, I can't wait to see what they have done with my old cabin."
"Wait… you were not serious about it?" Aria appeared to be feigning disappointment as she mock-glared at Liara. "You're lucky I didn't manage to send the message to Tevos yet!"
"Uh… perhaps another time," Liara replied evasively.
"Bah, empty promises," the Queen of Omega sighed despondently. "You ruin everything, T'Soni. Why must you be so damned reasonable about this? I had so much fun butting heads with Shepard, and you bring your annoying logic and rationality into this."
"Sorry about that," Liara grinned, not looking all that apologetic.
"So, you wouldn't stay up here to keep me company even if told you that I have several bottles of the most expensive elassa to be found on Thessia?" Aria drawled, looking hopeful.
"Drinking before an important mission… not a good idea, Aria," Morgan shook her head, despite feeling tempted.
"After the mission, however…" Liara continued to smile. "I do believe that we will pay you a visit, Aria. Yes, I believe we will."
"Looking forward to it," Aria looked on as the pair withdrew from the loft cabin, returning to the elevator and selecting the crew deck as their destination.
"Well, that was… interesting," Morgan remarked as they stepped out of the elevator and then spent a brief moment in front of the plaque honoring their fallen comrades before continuing towards Liara's old quarters. "Oh yes, and Aria's presence probably means that we should not engage in any… intimate activities while aboard the ship…"
"What… oh, yes," Liara realized quickly, blushing a little. "I agree… Aria does like her surveillance feeds a little too much…"
"Entering Psi Tophet System. Stealth drive engaged," Joker reported, Shepard, Liara and Aria having gathered on the bridge, standing just behind the pilot's seat.
"Any news from the geth?" Morgan asked, trying not to sound nervous.
"The geth exploration flotilla has spread throughout the system for more effective scanning," Joker explained, pulling up another display, showing a group of blue dots moving across the grid, another larger blue dot pursuing them. "We are currently following one of the five squadrons of geth fighters and interceptors."
"This could take a while, right?" Morgan spoke, already knowing the answer, speaking mostly for the sake of conversation having a calming effect on her nerves.
"It could take days," Joker shrugged. "The good news is that none of the probes sent to this system lasted very long. So, our prey will probably find the geth before we find them."
"How is that good news?" Liara asked. She, too, was sounding a little worried.
"Well, they're going to wipe out those creepy flashlight-headed buggers instead of us, obviously," Aria remarked cheerfully. "I'm more concerned about having to vent the drive core every few hours."
"Yeah…" Joker nodded, not sounding too happy. "Hope we find something until it becomes an issue. In the meantime…" he switched on another display, this one showing the entire system and the geth ship movement. "Let's see how our shiny metallic pals are doing…"
"It would appear that one of the geth fighter squadrons is about to reach the first planet," Liara remarked, pointing at the display.
"Yeah. Arion. Not much is known, icy rock with barely any atmosphere," Joker shrugged. "Can't imagine a Reaper hanging out there. But we're supposed to check out every nook and cranny, right?"
"Got it in one, Joker," Morgan nodded, spending the next quarter of an hour quietly waiting and looking for the cluster of blue dots representing the geth to move past the planet. The blue dots first came to a long standstill before resuming their movement, slowly circling around Arion, making three passes and then moving along on the previously charted course.
"No activity detected," Joker reported.
"Mhm," Morgan grumbled. "The Reaper doesn't have to be on a planet, of course."
"Another squadron is about to reach the second planet," Liara again pointed at the screens.
"Eubolos. Again, nothing much is known. Gas giant with a lot of moons, so one thing is certain… it's a good place to hide," Joker muttered. The geth circled around Eubolos and its satellites for a long time, peppering the gas giant with countless probes, but after more than an hour of extensive search their synthetic allies reported no activity and moved on. "We've been drifting in stealth for three hours now," Joker said. "Going to vent the core now while things are still more or less peaceful."
"Good idea," Aria nodded before Morgan could say anything, the asari always attempting to act as if she was the one running the show, just to try and irritate Shepard. "Meanwhile, I'm going to get something from the mess. Liara, you want anything?" she asked, deliberately omitting Morgan.
"Something to drink would be nice if you have some imported juice from Thessia," the younger asari nodded gratefully.
"And I guess I'll just go get something for myself," Shepard groused, reluctantly moving after Aria, having to break into a run or risk the Pirate Queen shutting the elevator door in front of her nose. "Geez, Aria, high on the bitch-meter lately?" Morgan could not resist making another barb.
"Who, me?" Aria asked, looking unimpressed. "You've got a lot of nerve to tell me that, Shepard, considering how many favors you have cajoled out of me lately for very little in return."
"It's not as if I have asked you for something unreasonable," Shepard said defensively.
"That's what you think," Aria snapped, stepping out of the elevator and proceeding towards the mess hall. "You know, Shepard… Liara might have been joking, but you should seriously consider what she said. Maybe it's about time we worked out some tensions between us, hmm?" her voice became more of a purr as she spoke.
"Uh huh," Morgan rolled her eyes in reply. "How about you ask me that again in twenty years, Aria?" Of course, Morgan was unable to deny to herself or to Aria that she felt certain attraction between them, but right now, even after twenty years together with Liara, she was still too much in love with her bondmate, too happy in their monogamous phase to even seriously consider bringing up the subject of such 'experiments' with Liara. Still, that wasn't going to stop Aria and her shameless, flirty teasing.
"In twenty years the offer might not be on the table anymore," Aria clicked her tongue and glided away to select something for herself from the mess hall dispensers, Shepard doing the same and walking to another dispenser to first find a drink for herself before trying to snatch the juice that Liara had requested. There was nothing that would appeal to Liara's tastes in the selection of the dispensers, however, and as Shepard turned to see whether Aria had better luck in her search, she noticed the familiar cardboard of asurio juice standing on the kitchen counter. Morgan quickly reached out with her hand to grab it… at the same time that Aria did exactly the same, the two beginning to struggle over the packaged drink.
"Let go!" Morgan snarled. "She's my bondmate, and I'm getting Liara her drink!"
"Like hell I'm letting go!" Aria snapped back. "She asked me to bring something for her, she did not ask you." They continued to struggle for a while, trying to pull the cardboard from each other's hands… until the predictable outcome happened, the package burst, splashing them both with sweet, sticky juice. "Ugh… fuck, Shepard, why did you have to be so stubborn?" Aria ranted.
"You're calling me stubborn?" Shepard blinked, trying to clean the worst of the juice from her clothes. "Oh, for the love of god… is there any more of this stuff to bring for Liara?"
"That was the last one, Shepard," Aria growled. "Well, we have some human stuff, though." She picked up a bottle of orange juice.
"Yeah… that'll do," Morgan nodded, trying to grab the bottle from Aria, but the Pirate Queen was wiser this time, snatching the drink away. Morgan sighed, taking another bottle from the dispenser and then racing back to the elevator to catch Aria, the asari obviously having no intentions to wait on her.
"We got you some orange juice," Shepard said, both her and Aria giving Liara the drinks at the same time, her bondmate looking a little surprised as she accepted the two bottles. "They didn't have any of that asari stuff."
"I see… but…" Liara gave both Morgan and Aria another curious glance, then sniffing the air a little and noticing their slightly wet clothes. "Why are you both covered in asurio juice?"
"Err…" Morgan began to speak, but no obvious and dignified explanation appeared forthcoming. Instead, she turned towards Joker, hoping to create a distraction. "Uh, anything interesting, Joker? Any activity?"
"Hmm… might have something, actually. One of the geth squadrons is approaching Despoina, the last planet in this system," Joker said, staring at the screens intently. "Nothing but vast oceans covering the entire planet... still, the geth report some kind of energy fluctuations..."
"Shall we change course and head over to investigate?" Liara asked.
"Yeah, this could be it," Morgan nodded, continuing to watch the displays, in particular the cluster of blue dots approaching Despoina... until suddenly, in a matter of less than a few seconds, the whole cluster of blue dots simply evaporated from the grid. "What the fuck... your displays are glitchy, Joker."
"Glitchy, nothing... the geth report of being under attack," Joker said hastily, punching in the change of Normandy's course, setting the ship to follow the geth squadron, all four remaining groups of the synthetics now beginning to converge towards Despoina. "It happened so quickly that the consensus is not even certain of who attacked them. But they claim that it was not a single entity, the destructive weapons fire was coming from multiple sources... implying a large fleet of warships."
"I didn't think that the Leviathan would have wiped out Victus' fleet all on its own, yeah," Morgan nodded. "What's the situation with the drive core, when can we go silent again?"
"Twenty five minutes, Shepard," Joker replied. "Making it perfect timing, since we'll reach the planet in forty five minutes. The geth are coordinating to arrive there several minutes prior to us, with all four of their surviving squadrons appearing simultaneously."
"Clever buggers," Aria nodded, looking impressed. "They're counting that the enemy will not engage them all at once, and they'll be able to transmit crucial data before getting wiped out. Good thinking."
"Or good processing," Morgan chuckled. "Anyway, let's continue to tail the geth and go silent when we can."
"Aye, aye, Shepard," Joker nodded. "Anyway, we've got some time to kill before anything exciting happens, so... hey, how about comparing our top ten scenes from Vaenia series over the years? I already told Shepard and Liara about the one scene in the latest film, I think that's going to be my favorite for many months to come."
"Oh yes," Aria nodded, licking her lips seductively and looking at both Shepard and Liara. "If you haven't seen it yet, I heartily recommend it... and afterwards, I'd be curious to hear what you thought about the scene..."
"Sorry, haven't seen it yet," Morgan shrugged, trying to appear nonchalant. "Still, it was a fair question... Liara, what is your favorite Vaenia scene?"
"Hmm…" her bondmate tapped an elegant finger against her chin, musing thoughtfully. "I think the ending of the original movie. We watched it together when we had just started... dating, for the lack of better word."
"Yeah, I'll have to go with that too," Morgan grinned, slipping back a little into happy reminiscence of those days that now felt like a lifetime ago. "That was one hell of an icebreaker..."
"At least they no longer blush and deny watching the movies," Joker chuckled.
"Are you kidding? We've got the entire collection from the first episode to the... 47th or 48th," Shepard replied smugly. "We just haven't got around to picking up the new ones."
"I must remember to do that," Liara nodded approvingly. "And I am so very glad that the director who seemed to have an unhealthy fetish for hanar has been replaced. The latest movies have been very good again."
After more silly and distracting banter, Joker was finally able to switch the stealth drive back on, making them all feel just a tiny bit more secure, especially with this invisible and mysterious foe lurking around. Another fifteen minutes later, the geth squadrons reported having reached the proximity of 2181 Despoina, waiting a little for the Normandy to catch up, then proceeding on their approach.
"Okay... going to be entering the active scan range in a moment... the geth are already reporting activity... should be getting a lot of data this time, Shepard," Joker quickly informed them.
"Just make sure to get us out of here safely so we can make use of it," Aria muttered, also looking a little unsettled.
"One geth squadron down," Joker rattled off quickly. "Getting a lot of intel from the others, though... reports indicate a fleet of... what the hell, has to be a mistake? A fleet almost thousand ships strong? How could the Reapers... oh, shit!" The display with the Normandy scans also came to life now, showing a sea of red dots, quickly moving in to intercept the geth squadrons.
"Get us closer," Shepard ordered, despite knowing the potential dangers of such order. "I want to get as much data on these guys as possible."
"Sure... just remember, we're still susceptible to visual identification. I don't want to fly through this sea of hostile ships, Shepard," Joker warned. "And I doubt they are of the windowless geth fighter kind, either. Those are definitely not geth energy signatures. In fact..."
"Yes, Joker?" Morgan urged, watching the pilot go through another log, the cyber warfare programs compiling a report based on the latest intel.
"Can you see that big lumpy red dot in the middle of all the smaller ones?" Joker pointed at the screens, Morgan quickly nodding acknowledgment. "Definitely matches the physical parameters of a Reaper capital ship. But..."
"But what?" Aria hissed impatiently.
"Energy emissions are all wrong," Joker shrugged. "It's not a Reaper. At least, it's not like any Reaper we've fought before."
"Well... we always knew that the Leviathan was special," Liara said quietly. "We just did not know special in what way... we still don't know that..."
"Yeah, I don't think we can get close enough for a visual on that thing," Morgan nodded, knowing that such an attempt would be suicidal.
"No way in hell, Shepard..." Joker replied confidently. "Damn, another geth squadron gone... two left, so it might soon be getting too hot in here. But we're getting good intel, even if it is at the expense of our flashlight-headed pals."
"Keep pushing closer for now, Joker," Morgan ordered. "We'll bug out as soon as the last of the geth go down. But I'd really want to get close enough for a visual."
"And I'd really prefer it if you didn't get us all killed," Aria muttered.
"Well, nobody asked you to come along, anyway," Morgan snapped.
"Perhaps Aria is right and some... caution should be exercised," Liara offered, trying her best to reconcile the other two and preventing them from starting another ill timed argument.
"Shit!" Joker's sudden exclamation startled them all, the pilot pointing at the display screen. Morgan's first instinct was to check whether the geth were still holding on, and it seemed that the last two squadrons were still intact, Shepard then checking whether something was converging on the Normandy's location, breathing out a sigh of relief when she saw nothing but empty screen surrounding their ship. "Looks like we're safe here, right?" Joker asked nervously. "Now... look at the actual view outside..."
"Holy... fuck..." Morgan gasped, taking in the frightening sight. Before them, easily in the range of their weapons, drifted a massive ship of clearly dreadnaught size, but not like any dreadnaught she had ever seen before. "Why isn't it showing up on the sensors?"
"They must be using the stealth technology employed by salarian dreadnaughts," Liara replied thoughtfully, instinctively pressing tighter against Shepard. "But this is not a salarian ship, that I know for certain."
"Yeah... and here is where it gets interesting..." Joker continued, nervously eyeing the dreadnaught, the massive ship for now just drifting lazily and taking no action in eliminating the geth squadrons. "The heat signatures don't match any known ship in our databases."
"It looks a little like the Alliance dreadnaughts, Shepard," Aria spoke up. "Though not quite... there are significant differences. Those weapons systems... what the hell is up with those?" she pointed at the strangely shaped extensions, almost like organic appendages, stretching alongside the hull of the ship.
"Not sure... could be some kind of Reaper tech…" Morgan mused uncertainly.
"I got it!" Joker exclaimed. "I just asked the VI to run those energy signatures against the database including historical ships, as well as prototypes... and the signature matches perfectly with the new Warlock class dreadnaughts of the Alliance... that supposedly are not yet in the production!"
"Ah, damn it... then it is as Miranda and I feared," Morgan sighed, shaking her head sadly. "The Leviathan doesn't just have Hock under its control... it has its tentacles firmly wrapped around the Alliance Command, and probably into everyone important back in the Sol System..."
"A Reaper with the entire Alliance fleet at its disposal?" Aria clicked her tongue, not looking particularly happy. "This could get complicated fast, Shepard. Damn it, Tevos will just love these news when you report back to her..."
"But at least we now have all the evidence we need," Liara said. "And we also know how the turian fleet was destroyed so thoroughly. I... imagine that once we present these facts... humanity might very well lose its Council seat. I'm sorry, Morgan."
"What, sorry, why?" Morgan shrugged. "While we can't be sure who amongst my people is under the Leviathan's control and who isn't, having humans anywhere near the Council Chambers is a massive security and sensitive intel leakage risk. We need to get rid of that Reaper... then, and only then, can we discuss humans being allowed on the Council again."
"Uh... I hate to interrupt, but..." Joker spoke up. "The geth are pretty much out of it and we've got plenty of data for the Council to agonize about, so... how about we get the hell out of here?"
"No need to panic, Joker, that dreadnaught hasn't spotted us sitting here for a few minutes now," Morgan chuckled with fake confidence.
"Except that the dreadnaught is now beginning to launch fighters," Liara said nervously.
"And it is beginning to change its position to face us," Aria remarked.
"Oh, and I'm detecting an energy spike from its weapons systems," Joker finished cheerfully. "Orders, Shepard?"
"Well... I suppose this might be a good time to start panicking, huh?" Morgan gulped, seeing the familiar red glow enveloping the upgraded Reaper weapons systems along the dreadnaught's hull, readying to unleash that horrible red particle beam that she had hoped to never see again in her life. "JOKER!" she shouted aloud. "FTL JUMP! NOW!"
