Chapter 53: Confessions Part 1
Normandy Communications Room, 20:08 pm
Leaving Noveria
Zach sat in his chair quietly as he saw Tali and Ashley join them in the communications room. Once they had made it onto the Normandy, Doctor Chakwas performed an examination on Tali. Thankfully, the wound was treated fast enough to avoid infection, but Tali had still gained a fever from the event. Chakwas was able to provide medicine for the young quarian, and Zach held off the meeting in the comm room for until she was awake. Her movements were a bit slow, and she was slightly limping from her healing wound. Zach smiled a bit as she sat down, and her expression showed that she caught that.
"What's our next move, Commander?" Ashley spoke up, sitting down in her chair. "Hit the Mu Relay?"
Zach shook his head. "The Mu Relay could link to dozens of systems. Without knowing which one to go to, heading there would be a waste of time."
"The Commander is right." Liara agreed. "We need to learn more about what Saren intends before we can act."
"Who put you in charge?" Ashley complained, crossing a leg. "Did the Commander give you his job when I wasn't looking?"
Zach straightened up and looked at Ashley. "We're all on the same team here, Williams. She's just trying to help."
"Sorry, Commander." Ashley hesitated, sitting back up.
Zach stood up from his chair, wanting to end the meeting short. "Dismissed."
The crew stood up from their chairs and began to walk out of the room. Wrex was still in a grumpy mood after he figured out that Zach had spared the Rachni Queen. When he had heard about how she was let go, he nearly crushed Zach into the hull of the Normandy. Had Wrex not learned and understood his reasons for doing so, Ashley might have pulled a gun on the old warrior. Wrex still didn't agree with his decision, but there was nothing that could be done about it now.
"Noveria report is away, Commander." Joker's voice spoke over the intercom. "Want me to patch you through to the Council?"
"Patch them through, Joker."
"Setting up the link now, Commander."
Zach turned and faced the Councillors, who had appeared in their holographic forms. Their faces were filled with displeased looks.
"Is this report accurate, Commander?" The asari councillor asked. "You found rachni on Noveria?"
"And then released the queen?!" The turian councillor chipped in. "Do you have any idea what you've done?! How many generations before they overrun the galaxy?!"
"Three?" Zach said, both as a joke and as a 'I'm not in the mood for a lecture' statement. "No, four."
"This is no joke, Commander! The rachni were one of the most dangerous enemies the galaxy has ever faced."
"This queen is different. She understood why her kind had to be wiped out the last time around."
"I hope you're right, Shepard. Our children's children will pay the price if you're not."
Surprisingly, the salarian councillor was the only one who didn't speak about the situation. Zach figured that the man would argue about the decision due to their past actions. The asari councillor bid farewell and closed the connection, giving him some breathing room from the day's events.
The door opened behind him and Tali walked back in, rubbing her hands nervously. Zach turned around and gave her a small smile, walking up close to her. The door closed as Tali stopped moving, thinking of what to say. Had Zach not acted, she would have died in that facility. Her fever was still running through her system, but she had managed with it long before. She really wanted to repay him for his selfless and heroic action, though. A kiss on the cheek would have sufficed if her fever wasn't running. An action like that is always a risk, but it would be even riskier with a fever.
Instead, she resorted to hugging him.
"Thank you, Shepard." She whispered. "If not for you, I would have died on Noveria."
"I couldn't let that happen." Zach replied, whispering to her ear. "You're the only friend I've ever truly expressed myself towards on this crew. And..." He knew what he was about to say next would haunt him, and gain questions from Tali. But he promised her the truth; the one he couldn't confess to Father Callahan or Captain Anderson. The one he wouldn't go into full detail with Jake and Admiral Hackett. "I didn't want to repeat the past like it had in my mind during those one-hundred and twenty seconds."
Tali broke the hug, looking at him with curious eyes. "What do you mean?"
Zach summoned his omni-tool and sealed the door, wanting privacy for everything he was about to say. Tali looked back for a second before Zach opened up all of his files on Akuze on the terminal screen.
When Tali turned around, she finally came face to face with the tragedy of Commander Zach Shepard.
Meanwhile, Garrus had gone to the medical bay to check up on Liara. He heard from Zach about how she put down her mother, and since they were considered an exclusive pair on the Normandy he figured he needed to be the supportive partner and visit her. Doctor Chakwas was typing away on her terminal near the door, only stopping when she realized that he had walked through the door.
"Garrus." Dr. Chakwas spoke, causing the turian to stop moving. "Do you need something? Is your back still in pain?"
"No, my back is fine. Thanks for asking. I actually just came to check up on Liara. How is she?"
"Physically, she has some bruises from using Tali's shotgun. She wasn't trained to use a weapon as clumsy and random as that. Most days, I'm surprised even Tali is able to use it. But emotionally, she is still grieving. It has been a long day for her, and she's pretty much locked herself in her office. I would advise against bothering her at the moment, but I think you'll ignore my recommendation."
"I like to live dangerously, Chakwas." Garrus joked, raising his arms in the air like he was a bird as he walked over to Liara's door. Once it had opened, one look upon Liara said it all: her head was buried in her limbs, all pulled together as she rocked on her chair. Her sobs were loud, and Garrus could already feel her pain echoing on his heart. She lifted her head up to look at him, and her eyes had become red from her crying. She was a mess, and Garrus was here to make it all better.
"Garrus..." She cried.
"Shhh. It's okay." Garrus closed the door and kneeled right next to her. "Are you all right?"
"I killed her." Liara spoke plainly. "I killed my mother. Shepard wanted to spare me from the pain, but I fired upon my mother first. And the things she said to me, about how she was proud of me? I feel guilty for doing it, and I'm certain she's scorning at me in the afterlife now."
"No mother would ever scorn their daughters if they were proud of them, even if they are responsible for their demise. Your mother wanted you to stop her."
"How would you know?! You weren't even there!" Liara yelled, lifting up a few crates unintentionally. "You've never had to suffer what I'm going through! You've never had to shoot a loved one through the chest and hear her final words as she dies!"
Garrus remained calm and squeezed her shoulder. "Liara, look at me. No matter how it played out for you, no matter what really happened, it was your mother's way of becoming a martyr so we could stop Saren. She wouldn't want you to crumble like this over her death."
The floating crates dropped and Liara continued crying. Garrus pulled her in for a hug, holding her close for what felt like an eternity. She had gone through quite a lot in such a short amount of time, and he was going to stand by her to support her no matter what. In the moments he had spent with her, he had grown close enough to picture a future with them together for the rest of his life. It was probably a mistake thinking that way, but he was certain that if they established something permanent, they would live their lives without regrets.
"Garrus, what do you feel about me?" Liara whispered behind his ear. "Do you think of me as a monster for what I did?"
"Never." He whispered. "You are a charming, beautiful young woman that I really care about. You deserve to be happy."
"How?"
Garrus kissed her cheek and locked eyes with her, admiring her dark blue irises. "You're a smart girl. You'll find a way."
Liara suddenly lunged towards Garrus, locking her lips in a passionate kiss. It was something most humans liked to do to show affection to their partners, and many other species were adapting it to their cultures. At that moment, Liara wanted to show Garrus how much she cared about him, although the kiss felt a little awkward for her. It was her first time performing something like that, and she didn't think she was going to be any good at it.
Garrus had been caught off guard by her move, but he enjoyed it very much. Her lips felt like silk against his, but he could tell it was her first experience. Truthfully, this was also a first for him, as well. Turians don't have much reason to kiss. But he enjoyed how Liara was the person he was kissing.
She broke the kiss after a full minute and tried to breathe. Her tears had ended and she looked at Garrus, wondering what they should do next.
"That was... An experience." Garrus spoke.
"Was it all right?" Liara asked.
"It was good. We might need to practice that a little more, though. We don't have much experience with that."
"Garrus, should we keep going with this?"
"We don't we need to go too far just yet. Doing what the humans call 'making out' is just fine by me."
Liara chuckled. "Okay. We can do that." She brought her lips to his and continued their practices.
Tali looked at the pictures that showed the moment on Akuze. The times and dates were scattered between hours and days after the event. There were photos of large holes in the earth, destroyed homes of the colony, stains of blood and severed limbs left behind by the beasts that killed fifty men. The one picture that caught her eye was that of a woman, lying dead in the grass. The only wound she had sustained was a severe burn through her abdomen. The light Phoenix armor had been melted through and the wound shown was gruesome. Blood and venom seeped from her side through cracked, melted, and blistered skin. The woman's arms were crossed over her chest, holding a few flowers in her hands.
"That's Jessica, isn't it?" Tali pointed.
"Yes. She saved my life, even after we tore at each other with our words."
"What do you mean by that?"
Zach sighed and sat in his chair, thinking of what to say next. "Do you ever regret some things you did or things you said?"
"Not too often. I usually get lost in my work."
"Well, that whole mission was like a powder keg waiting to explode between us. First, we were constantly at each other's throats the entire mission. Throw in a bunch of thresher maws and the scenario gets worse. Jess and I had been friends for a long time during my childhood years, but our friendship became broken because she did something she knew I would not approve of. And I got back at her for it in the worst possible way. Once we got partnered up on Akuze again, I wanted to avoid her at all costs. I didn't want our past to be mentioned at all because I knew I would've said things you'd never think I'd say. But the night before the maws attacked, I reached my breaking point."
Bellator Outskirts, 21:35 pm
1.2 miles away from Bellator
Zach finished his portable rations before throwing the wrapper into the fire pit. The night sky was filled with numerous stars, but none of the southern patrol team payed attention as the four of them sat quietly around their makeshift fire pit outside an abandoned hut. There was no sign of a body within the hut itself, but many of the items and furniture had been tossed around. Jessica had decided to radio Ericson about their findings from the day (including what she had considered bullshit) in case any of the other patrols or even the main unit had found similar clues. It turns out that the entire colony had been untouched, with the exception of the people disappearing.
Zach still refused to even look at her. It was childish and stupid for him to be acting this way, but the initial decisions she had made when she was seventeen still lingered in his mind. Jess had betrayed his trust, and he doesn't give it back so easily. He didn't know if she realized he knew or not, but he didn't care. He was better off not paying attention to her, lest he end up exploding in her face with every thought he's had about her since that night.
Jessica turned her head and caught his staring, and for a second they locked eyes. Her majestic green eyes still held that look of innocence for at least one second, but Zach broke eye contact. He didn't want a reminder of his past to try and make him warm up to her again. She made her choice and she wasn't going to take it back or make him take his choice back. Whatever they had back then was over.
Jessica scolded as she saw his face break away in disgust, making her frustrated at his behavior. There was no doubt in her mind now that he knew exactly what she had done, and he was going to refuse the whole truth no matter what. Ericson made a mistake pairing the two of them together, much less throwing Red on the team.
Feeling her emotions catching up to her, she got up from her seat and walked behind the building. Toombs caught sight of this and decided to follow her, much to the surprise of Red. With that note, the red-armored infiltrator nudged at Zach.
"Do you think Toombs is stalking the Sergeant?" Red asked out loud.
"That's not like Toombs. He doesn't 'stalk' like you do." Zach had intended it to be a light-hearted joke, but in the end it sounded ruder than he wanted.
"Ha-ha, but she's not really my type. You know, aside from the fact she hates me anyways. But you never know, maybe they're getting rather friendly."
"If they were, Red, that would be fraternization. Neither of them are stupid enough to do something like that."
"Who knows. Some people go to great heights to hide something like that. Maybe you should go investigate-"
"Red, they are not fraternizing!" Zach almost yelled. "And if you're so worried about it, why don't you investigate!"
Red clicked his tongue a few times. "That sounds more like you actually are worried that's what they're doing."
With that final sentence, Zach shot up and marched off to follow his friends. Red simply chuckled to himself before lifting his arms up. "Dance, puppets!"
Jessica stopped as she was behind the building, leaning her arm and her forehead on the wall. She was undecided on what she should do with Zach. She had already convinced herself that he knew the truth about her biggest mistake she had ever made, and he had no plans to confront her or talk it out. But did she really want to leave him in such an angry state this whole time? Should she just confess everything to him and get it off her chest?
Jessica noticed Toombs join her behind the wall.
"You should probably tell him about what happened." Was all he spoke.
"Yeah, I should. But I don't know if I can or if I will even convince him to cool off."
"I've known Shep for a long while. He'll come around."
"I'm not so sure; not with the way he's been acting."
"Well, Red thinks he felt betrayed by whatever happened between the two of you. I don't really know the details so it's not my place to judge."
"If he actually knows the truth, I wouldn't be surprised if he knew I slept with another guy. He was always territorial at moments when he never fully established he wanted to be with me."
The sound of thunder and a slow clap caught their attention as Zach popped up from the shadows; the look on his face a mix of anger and amusement. "And so you finally admit it."
Jessica left her spot on the wall, turning to face him. "You still don't know the whole story, though."
"I know enough." Zach summoned his omni-tool, bringing up a holographic picture taken six years ago. It showed Jessica kissing another guy, wrapping her arms around his waist as he groped her breast. Jessica's eyes widened and her cheeks reddened at the fact that he had photographic evidence of the event. "You know, I figured that you might have actually liked someone else, but you tried playing me for a fool and toyed with my emotions."
"I didn't toy with you when I said those things. I meant every word."
"Really? Because your friend there seems to disagree with you. If you had meant anything you had said, then you wouldn't be making out with this guy here!"
"And if you had meant anything you had said, you wouldn't have been a pussy and decided to take action!" Jessica's voice raised. "You never said that you had loved me once, or that you wanted to be with me! No, you just slumped away with the other filth of the city and run off on your own pointless crusades!"
"Pointless crusades?! I was helping those I truly considered my friends to survive in a city where the rich took everything and left so little for the poor! And what about you?! Hiding in the dirt from your father just because of your biotic potential."
"Don't pull that crap on me about my father! The man can go to hell for all I care. And so can you." Jessica began to walk away.
"He didn't like hearing about how his daughter ended up having sex in his own bedroom." Zach's words were cold and emotionless, but they froze Jessica back in place. "And when I told him about it combined with how you did have biotic potential like he thought, he was ready to send you away for the rest of his life. So I told him where you would go to train yourself to use your biotics, and he took care of the rest. And the thing he told me was that he was happy your mother didn't live to see you grow up to be a whore."
Jessica's fists balled at that last phrase, and without thinking she overloaded his shields, catching him off guard before she used a biotic field to throw him far. Zach was disoriented as he collided to the ground, and Jessica took advantage of that, jumping on top of him and attacking him with her fists. He threw his arms up to shield his face, and she relentlessly continued her barrage on him. Red came up next to Toombs, who was just watching the fight in shock.
"Should I have brought popcorn?" Red asked.
"Shut it, Red!" Toombs yelled. "Help me pull her off Shepard before she does some real damage!" Toombs and Red walked forward and grabbed her arms, pulling her off of Zach.
"You fucking son of a bitch!" Jessica yelled. "You don't know what I went through after all of that bullshit! The look of disapproval on my father's face, the months of vigorous training I underwent, and the one guy you caught me with ended up dead! He died fighting off a batarian raid in the traverse shortly after you left me to be sent to hell!"
Zach tried raising himself up. "Don't try saying that all of that justifies what you-"
Jessica threw another biotic field at him strong enough to cause blood to trickle down his nose. His head slammed against the ground and he was disoriented again. Red tried to keep his hold on her arm, but Jessica broke free, taking her pistol off of her belt as she ran straight for Zach. Toombs and Red only looked in shock as she pointed her gun straight at Zach's face.
"But you know the worst thing about what happened? My mistake as you refer to it as got me knocked up. And since you were gone, I didn't care. I would have gladly delivered the child and probably give her up for adoption if I wasn't allowed to keep her. But guess what, Zach? Your decision cost me that little girl! She died because I was pushed too hard, and four months before she could draw breath she died! I was angry at my father about it before, but now that I know it was your fault that I ended up in that biotic hell camp, I realized that little Emmy Lynn's blood is on your hands!"
Zach only looked at her with an expression filled with shock and anger. He thought that she would have at least been smart enough to play it safe, but she ended up pregnant. And then she was sent to that camp where she would have been trained to be the best biotic in the Alliance. But he was still filled with anger over everything she had done, and the fact that she was blaming him for it just wasn't right at all. He didn't send her to training, but he did rat her out. He'd accept her fury for that, but not for the death of a kid he never knew or even had to care about.
The lightning flashed and rain began to pour down upon them.
"The galaxy would be better off if I just end your life right now, you bastard." Jessica spoke, her eyes cold as she readied to pull the trigger on her old friend.
Red pulled out his sniper rifle and had the barrel right next to her head. "You leave my friend alone, you bitch!"
"Stand down, Armsby, or you fate will be the same as his." Jess looked back, snarling at him.
Zach immediately took the opportunity and jumped up, grabbing her gun arm and tackling her to the ground. Jessica couldn't react fast enough as his more muscled physique quickly overpowered her. She attempted to struggle as she was forced down on her back, but Zach kept her arm locked firmly on the ground as he used his knee to pin her other arm. A few drops of blood that had leaked from his nose landed on her cheek, and the lightning flashed right above them.
The look in her eyes made Zach think she saw Death, the Destroyer of Worlds, standing above her.
"YOU DID THIS!" Zach shouted straight at her. "YOU ARE THE ONLY REASON I NO LONGER KNOW WHAT LOVE IS! I WAS GOING TO SAY THOSE THREE BROKEN WORDS ON THE NIGHT YOU BETRAYED ME, AND NOW THEY HAVE NO MEANING TO ME ANYMORE! SO IF ANYONE IS TO BLAME FOR WHAT YOU WENT THROUGH, IT'S YOURSELF! YOU SELFISH, LYING BITCH!"
Zach raised his fist up like he was ready to strike her with the full force of the heavens, but then he saw her start to cry. Tears began to flow uncontrollably, and he would have passed them off as fake had he noticed the one sign she always possessed when she cried. Her eyelids were closed, but they were relaxed rather than forced. It was the tell he noticed whenever he knew he needed to comfort her. Sometimes she fake cried just to get attention, but her eyelids were always forced when she did it.
His fist lowered and collided with the ground.
The rain trickled down harder on both of them as they all stayed there for countless minutes. Nobody moved or spoke, and other than the rain there was only the sound of breathing and Jessica's crying. Zach was just motionless as his head remained bowed down, letting the water slide from his golden hair to Jessica's chest piece.
Finally, Zach gave in and stood up, releasing his hold on Jessica.
Jessica thought for a moment he'd help her back up from her spot on the ground, but instead, he walked into the hut. Toombs, however, walked over and gave her a hand, pulling her back up so that she stood up again. Red had put away his rifle, but his cold stare remained locked on her.
Zach reappeared a minute later with his helmet on and his assault rifle in his hands. "I'm going patrolling. Don't expect me to be back until morning."
"Wait," Jessica spoke and grabbed his shoulder, but he angrily shook her hand off.
"I'm not in the mood to deal with any more bullshit from you." He snarled. His visor had been changed to a golden tint, but Jessica could feel the devilish eyes burning through her soul. "Leave me alone before I do something we'll both regret."
Jessica stepped back at that, and he walked away from his friends, still feeling his anger boil in his veins. Red turned and faced Jessica.
"I'm going to join him, boss lady, regardless of whatever protests you attempt to make. Now I don't really care whatever shit you pulled in the past that affected him, but if you guys were ever really friends you wouldn't think about shooting him even if he was responsible for your unborn child's death. So you better figure out the difference between your friends and your enemies, Sergeant. I've known many people that couldn't tell the difference between them just like you can't tell the difference between my sanity and insanity, and they all ended up killing each other in the end. Don't you dare make that same mistake with Shepard. He's someone that could change the galaxy one day, just like you. And God knows we need people to cooperate with everyone, even those we've come to hate or love."
Red walked towards the direction Zach had gone, and Toombs looked at Jessica, wondering about something.
"You say you cared about Shepard, but you slept with another guy. What does that even mean? Do you even like him at all?"
Jessica faced Toombs, showing her full green eyes and smudged eye-liner. "That's the thing: I honestly don't know anymore."
Tali just looked at him silently as he finished that speech. After hearing that, she wasn't sure what to think. Never before has she ever seen him being so harsh, and the way he described that moment made it look like he was a completely different person back then. How could a man so kind, caring, and sad be so harsh, vicious, and uncaring?
"I... Don't know what to say, Zach." His real name rolled off her tongue for the first time in... ever, and it somehow sounded natural for this.
Zach looked up, tears seeming to form in his eyes. "If there was anything I regret most about my life, it was never taking back those harsh words. You don't know what it's like, Tali; to let your anger and pride take over and just tear you apart from the inside as you tear a close friend down for a past event that should have remained irrelevant. And when you try to take it back at the last minute it becomes impossible. Fate says it's too late to change history and seals the end of it. Her death, as well as the death of forty-eight Alliance marines, destroyed any chance to ask forgiveness. And that moment is burnt into my mind for all eternity."
The following morning
The sun was finally rising on Akuze as Zach, Jessica, Toombs, and Red made it to the view of Bellator as they saw giant, ferocious worms with claws shoot up from the ground, destroying buildings and pulling some of Ericson's forces underground.
"Ericson, this is Shepard!" Zach spoke on the intercom. "You've gotta get the hell out of there!"
"These hostiles already have my men boxed in!" Ericson responded. "No way we can get out. You need to warn the other teams and tell them to head to Invictus Hill southwest of here! The SSV Hastings will be there to evacuate the troops."
"Ericson..."
"Shepard, get my men the hell out of here!" Ericson yelled. Already the small group of soldiers he had led in the remains of the colony was being effectively wiped out. Zach was finding the commander's suicide attempt futile; there was no way his small company would survive the onslaught.
"Commander, what you're doing is suicide!"
"We need to save as many as we can. Get the rest of my men out of here, Shepard! That's a goddamn order!"
"Shepard, we have to go!" Toombs tried to drag him away, but he shook him off.
"I'll get them out of here, sir! I promise!"
"It's not a promise you can easily keep, Shep-" The commander's voice was silenced as the venom burned through his helmet and melted his face.
"Ericson!"
The corpse of the old commander fell to the floor, and his men attempted to flee, only to get caught by spews of venom or large yellow claws.
"Damn it!" Zach yelled, turning to face his team. "We need to contact the other scouting teams."
Jessica didn't acknowledge any agreement, but she immediately put a finger on her helmet's communicator. "All scouting teams, report in! Base camp has been eliminated by unknown hostiles. Does anybody read? Anybody on this frequency at all?!"
"Loud and clear, ma'am." Sergeant Johnson's voice spoke. "We encountered enemy hostiles just five minutes ago. Half of my team has been eliminated, but we took down one of these bastards for it."
"Heard anything from Wesker or Lennon?"
"Negative. Just static. Maybe they got wiped out or are trying to fight these things off. Either way, they might not be coming."
"We'll try sending a message to them as we head to the rally point. We need to get to Invictus Hill southwest of here. I'm sending you a navpoint for our squads to link up so we can make a push to the hill." Jessica summoned her omni-tool and sent the coordinates for the hut they had made camp at.
"Understood. Pattinson and I will get there ASAP. In the meantime, I'll try contacting Wesker. You try getting in touch with Lennon."
"Roger that. Weaver out." Jessica disconnected and tried hailing Lennon manually. "Lennon, this is Weaver. What's your status?"
Static could be picked up on her radio.
"Lennon, do you read?"
More static played.
"He must be gone, too." Red spoke.
"Damn it." Jessica mumbled. "All right, haul your asses back to the hut. If we're lucky, these SOBs haven't tried taking over that region."
Twenty minutes of running later and the four of them were out of breath, but they had made it to the hut in one piece. They his inside and were panting constantly, feeling the burn in all of their muscles and tendons. Toombs was the first one to speak.
"What... In Oblivion... Are those things?!" He breathed.
"Titans..." Zach breathed. "They're titans of destruction. It doesn't matter what they are. All we know is they're out for game."
"And we're the game." Jessica sighed.
"They can bleed, though." Red spoke. "If Ericson's men had kept formation, they might have succeeded in taking a few of them down. Johnson also said they killed one. If it bleeds, we can kill it."
"Speaking of Johnson." Jessica spoke. "Johnson, we're at Rally Point Alpha. Are you still with us?"
"Another minute out." Johnson spoke. "Give us some cover from the east. We feel tremors coming from that direction."
"Roger that. We'll be ready." Jessica pulled off her Avenger assault rifle and walked back outside, followed by Zach, Toombs, and Red. Their rifles were pointed in the direction Johnson spoke of, and sure enough, they saw him and Pattinson approaching. A giant worm shot out of the earth and attempted to slam its massive body on top of the fleeing marines, but the four of them instantly fired their rifles at the creature, confusing it for a moment as it looked around for whoever was shooting.
Johnson took this opportunity to remove his own sniper rifle, taking aim right below and firing his Harpoon X straight for its mouth. The round made a high impact and the creature's jaw exploded, falling back into its hole with lots of blood gushing out of its head.
Johnson smiled behind his helmet. "If you didn't want your ass kicked, you shouldn't have stuck it out so far!" He put his rifle away and joined back up with the other five survivors. "Thanks for the assist, Weaver. Pattinson and I wouldn't have had a snowball's chance if you hadn't intervened in time."
"Any word from Wesker?"
"None. Just static."
"Just like Lennon." Jessica sighed. "I guess that makes us the only ones left."
They thought they heard more rumbling nearby, so Jessica waved at them all to go back inside. The other survivors immediately followed, and they all huddled into the small hut.
"So what's the plan?" Toombs asked.
"We need to make a break for it." Jessica spoke.
"On foot? We'll be slaughtered! Isn't there any vehicles we could try taking?"
"Afraid not, son." Johnson spoke. "All ground vehicles were disabled when we investigated the transport station. Mako, Grizzly, Rhino, and even a small trading vessel were all sabotaged. Were we not under attack, we'd probably would have had time to repair at least a Mako had Ericson not asked us to continue investigating."
"So that leaves going on foot as our only option." Jessica stated.
Pattinson immediately stood up and stumbled back. "That's it, man. Game over, man! Game over! What the fuck are we gonna do now?! What are we going to do?!"
Johnson immediately stood up and punched Pattinson in the face. "Cakehole. Shut it!"
Pattinson nodded slightly, but he still fidgeted.
"You heard the lady. Running to the extraction zone is our only option. So get in touch with your masculine side now! I don't need you turning into a sparkling vampire or something!"
"Sir-"
"Take that to the bank. Cash it. And then take it back out. And then put it in quarters and park your car." The room went silent as he finished that statement. "Work with me here, marines! Work with me."
Zach rubbed his neck before he felt a tremor from under his feet. Within a second, he was fully aware what was about to happen. "Everyone out!"
"What?" Jessica asked before he almost forcefully threw her out the door. As Pattinson stumbled out of the hut with the rest of the group, a giant thresher maw had popped from the earth, destroying the small home.
"Okay, everyone. Panic!" Johnson yelled as he got back on his feet. His Harpoon X was out again and he took another shot through the jaw of the new maw, grinning as he successfully made a large impact on the large creature.
His grin stopped as he realized Pattinson was running away from the group.
"Get your ass back here, Private!" He roared as Pattinson ran farther away from the group. Kicking his legs into gear, he chased after his underling, followed by Zach and the others. "If you're gonna run, at least run in the right direction, jackass!"
Pattinson suddenly disappeared as a large thresher maw popped out from underneath the Private's feet.
Suddenly, the last five survivors stopped moving and readied their rifles as the large creature finished swallowing Private Pattinson. When its claws began moving closer to them, Jessica immediately let loose with a powerful biotic warp before continuing with a quick throw. The combined power of the biotics knocked the maw back, and it left a very exposed hole gaping on its hide. Zach and Johnson immediately took advantage of that as they fired at the easily targeted weak point, making the creature scream before sinking back into the earth.
"I guess we pulled it off." Johnson spoke. "I use 'we' loosely."
Red shook his head. "Let's head to the evac point fast. There's going to be more of those things soon enough."
The five remaining soldiers immediately started running southwest, feeling the tremors but taking no time to look back. Their burning muscles begged for them to stop, but all that would do is get them killed. Even as the earth trembled and acid rained down to try and kill them, the five left standing were persevering, ignoring the challenges that tried to slow them down.
That is until Johnson screamed in pain.
Zach and Red looked back for only a second before realizing that Johnson had been hit in the back by the maw's acidic spit. He had fallen flat on the ground and was in range of a fast approaching maw. Without a second thought, Zach went to try and help Johnson, ignoring Jessica's yells of his suicidal behavior. Zach turned Johnson so that the man could face him.
"I'm getting you out of here."
Johnson coughed. "No... No, you're not. You're already exhausted, and all I'll do is slow you down." Johnson immediately pulled off his grenade belt. "Send me off... With a bang."
Johnson was immediately pulled away by a thresher maw, and Zach saw that as he was swallowed whole the grenade belt exploded, taking the head of the creature with him.
Zach stood back up, holding a sorrowful look on his face. Everybody else was dead except his group, and there was still some ground to cover. Sighing, he turned back around and kept running with his team. They made it to a cliffed region and were almost ready to head in when Red stopped, looking back at the area they had escaped from.
Zach turned around to see his friend reach for his sniper rifle.
"Armsby, what are you doing?" Jess spoke.
"Go." The Scotsman retorted. "I will hold them off so you may escape."
"But-" Zach began to argue.
"Shepard," Red spoke calmly. "It's the only way." He turned and faced his friend. "For what it's worth, Zach, I'm glad I made a friend like you before my final days of life. Now go. I'll keep as many off of your back as I possibly can."
Zach was about to speak again, but only nodded in reply, choking back a sob.
"This doesn't change shit, Armsby." Jessica spoke. "But thanks."
"Move your ass, lassie. Otherwise I'll haunt your ass first." Red joked, turning to face an oncoming maw and use his sniper rifle to scope it down. Jess flipped him off before running, and Zach and Toombs followed along. Ten minutes had passed before they stopped, completely out of breath but close to the evac zone.
"We've got about another few hundred meters until we're there." Zach panted. "Think we can make it there in time?"
"My hope's dwindled since we lost Johnson." Toombs panted. "I don't think we're gonna make it."
"We'll make it, Toombs. Just have a little faith."
"Yeah, I'm trying. But I'm ready to collapse, Shepard."
"We all are, but we can make it. Once we're safely onboard, we'll collapse and sleep for days." Zach immediately stood straight up and slowly picked up his legs to head for Invictus Hill. Jessica immediately followed after and Toombs kept up as much as he could. All Zach focused on was getting out of this hell. Back to civilization.
But hell pulled him back in as Toombs cried out.
Zach immediately turned to see his friend being dragged by his leg underground. By instinct he leapt out to grab his friend's hand, but missed by a millimeter as Toombs was dragged into darkness.
"TOOMBS!" Zach cried out, hearing nothing but the echo of his own voice. He slammed his fists into the ground in rage at how he had failed to rescue his friend from the giant beast. Why was this happening? What sick twist of fate decided that everybody on this planet was to die?
"This is all your fault." Jessica's voice spoke, sending him back to reality and made him stand up face her.
"This is no one's fault. These beasts just came out of nowhere. No one here knew-"
"This is all your fault!" Jessica yelled. "Everything bad that has happened to me is because of you!"
Zach frowned, feeling his anger kick in. "Me? Seriously, you have to stop putting the blame on me for everything that has happened! If anything, I'd say Karma was biting you in the ass!"
"Oh, so when a baby dies prematurely because the mother is pushed too hard, you call that 'karma'? You fucking bastard! Do you have any idea how my life has been for the past six years because of you?!"
"You deserved everything you got, Jessica! You toyed with my emotions like I was a thing, not a human being! Do you honestly think breaking my heart like that is justifiable in any way?!"
"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realize you had a fragile heart and couldn't move on with your life! God, I wish I never met you, you fucking asshole!"
"I can say the same for you, bitch!"
Suddenly, Jessica pushed Zach out of the way as her entire side got hit by a stream of acid, knocking her to the ground in pain.
Zach looked towards the direction of where the acid stream came from. Jutting out about twenty feet away was a large yellow thresher maw with blue eyes. It eyed hungrily at its prey as it was about to come devour the two humans whole.
Forcing his tired body to get up, Zach pulled his assault rifle off of his back and began to rapidly fire at the thresher maw's hide, not releasing his hold on the trigger. Running around a claw that missed him, he kept firing at the same spot until the hide cracked open. When the maw roared at the wound, Zach immediately stuck a grenade inside the hole, jumping out of harm's way as the high explosive caused massive internal damage to the maw. It screamed in agony as it sunk back into the earth to never return.
Zach smiled and panted for only a short second before remembering Jessica's current state. Turning back around and rushing to her side, he noticed how extensive the damage was. Blood and pus began seeping out of cracked and burned skin, and Jessica was looking rather pale. Her helmet had either fallen off or had been removed, showing her anguished face.
"Hold on, Jessica. I've got medigel. The Hastings will be here soon. You're going to be fine." He moved his omni-tool over her wound to apply the medigel when Jessica hand grabbed his arm.
"No." She spoke. "Forget it. The damage is too severe for me to recover."
"Don't say that!" Zach yelled.
"You know it's true, Zach. I wish we could have had a second chance to start anew. No bullshit, no betrayal, no lies. I honestly don't know how I've ever felt about you at all."
Zach felt tears slide down his face, and he was glad his helmet was still on. Jessica herself began crying as well.
"I know we've said and done some terrible things, but I just want you to know that I- I love-" Her words became more faint before she finally sighed, drawing out her last breath.
Zach looked at her lifeless body, trying to process her final words. Was she trying to say that she did love him before? That she even loved him now? "No," He cried. "No, Jess. Why?! Why did you leave me?!" He hugged her head close. "I know that I did those terrible things, but I'm sorry! Please, Jess! Come back!" Now his tears started falling down his face nearly uncontrollably, and his sobs were soon overpowered by the sound of engines approaching.
He turned to see that the Hastings had made it to the evacuation zone. No doubt they would search for survivors if he didn't get going. He stood up but stopped when he saw some flowers nearby. He quickly picked them and set them into Jessica's hands, placing them on her chest so she could rest peacefully.
Then he caught a line of silver around her neck.
Zach grabbed the chain and found it to be her mother's wedding band hanging on a silver chain. It was the only thing of her mother's that she had to remember her by. While he knew he could get in trouble for this if caught, he reached behind her neck and unhooked it, stuffing it into a pocket for him to carry. Zach wanted a memento to remember her by, and so that he could remind himself of what had happened between them. It may remind him in the future about how deep down he somehow still thought he loved her, even though she broke his heart of any kind of emotional attachment like that after he caught her with that Bradford guy she knew.
With a large weight on his shoulders, he walked over to the Hastings; the last survivor of Akuze.
"Keelah." Tali responded, shocked at what she heard.
"You wanna know the worst part?" Zach asked.
"What's the worst part?"
"Whenever I think about her now, all I get is those moments where she wanted to kill me. My dreams are almost about her succeeding in that. It wasn't just her, either. Toombs, Robert, Henry; they all wanted me dead. Other ghosts from my past, like Ericson or my friend Tinker back on Earth, actually started coming to help me not long after this mission started, but they always die in front of my eyes again. Every night when I sleep, I am reminded by my past that I am a failure, and no amount of redemption could change that."
"You know that's not true, Shepard. You risked your own life to save the colonists on Feros. Nobody else could have saved them. I saw you make the choice to let Balak go even though you knew that meant he might try to destroy another colony. I've watched you enough to know that you would be forgiven tenfold for anything you will ever do that's considered evil. And I'm pretty sure your friend Jessica forgave you for your actions. I know I would have."
Zach stood up from his chair, facing away from Tali. "I don't deserve it."
"What?"
"Your kindness. I don't deserve to be praised as a hero or showered with affection or even a tiny bit of kindness from a young woman as wonderful as you. I don't deserve..." He stopped. "I don't deserve this life that I still possess!"
Tali immediately jumped up from her chair. "How can you say that?! How can you believe that you of all people don't deserve life?! You deserve more than this galaxy could ever offer you, Zach!"
Zach finally turned and faced Tali. "After everything I've told you, you still believe that? You don't consider me to be a murderer or a traitor or even an asshole?! I've suffered for six years, Tali, and all that suffering says I don't deserve to live! It might have been better if that Geth had killed me when I saved your life back on Solcrum. At least my pain would have ended then."
Tali immediately punched him across the jaw, making him look shocked at her actions. She then proceeded to just hit him on the chest repeatedly with her arms, eventually just stooping and looking down at her feet. A few silent moments later and she immediately hugged Zach, catching him off guard as she rested her head on his chest.
"Don't you dare..." She cried. "Don't you dare ever say something like that again! This galaxy, this whole crew for that matter needs you, damn it!"
Zach felt his eyes begin to mist over Tali's reaction. He brought his arms around her and hugged her back, resting his head next to hers as tears flowed from his eyes. "I'm sorry, Tali. I'm so sorry."
"Please, Zach. Promise me you won't die. Promise me you'll keep living and save this galaxy! Please, do it for me!"
Zach nodded. "I'll do it. I'll stay alive and I'll save this galaxy... For you." And at that moment, he thought he felt a part of his heart become whole again. What was it about Tali that could silence his inner demons and make him find such peace? Was she an angel sent by God (or perhaps by Jessica) to forgive him for his rash actions in the past? The thought of her being an angel instantly made him think of a song he knew too well, and he quickly summoned his omni-tool, playing the track as it appeared.
"Shepard?" Tali asked as she began to hear a violin playing alongside a piano.
"Shh." He whispered. "Just hold me and let the music play." And as he finished saying that, the first verse came on.
"Woke today. Another memory passes of you.
Shades of gray from those three broken words that unfold the truth, but
I'll never forget those eyes; that beautiful smile. I still remember
The way you said goodbye. No matter how hard I try, I still remember
Beautiful Girl (beautiful girl)
On top of the world
(Don't fall) Don't fall down because an angel should never touch ground
Last embrace, forcing you away before it's too late
I end this day in a most bitter way; a regretful state, but
I'll never forget those eyes; that beautiful smile. I still remember
The way you said goodbye. No matter how hard I try, I can't forget about
Beautiful Girl (beautiful girl)
On top of the world
(Don't fall) Don't fall down because an angel should never touch
(Ground!) And here I lay. I drift away. You come in and lay beside me.
(Ground!) It's gotta be a memory. (Gro-ound!) It feels so real and just beyond me.
(Ground!) Mesmerized (you should never touch GRO-O-OUND!) In you I'd find all that I had was unrealized but emptiness settles in as I awake.
Beautiful Girl
On top of the world
Don't fall down because an angel should never...
Beautiful Girl (beautiful girl)
On top of the world
(Don't fall) Don't fall down because an angel should never touch ground
Beautiful Girl (beautiful girl)(I'll never forget those eyes; that beautiful smile. I still remember)
On top of the world
(Don't fall) (The way you said goodbye. No matter how hard I try, I can't forget about you)
Don't fall down because an angel should never touch ground"
Zach and Tali stayed in that embrace long after the song finished playing its dramatic melody.
SAVE REVIEWS FOR AFTER PART 2 OF CONFESSIONS
SONG: Broken Iris - Beautiful Girl
