Chapter 53
Newly anointed Admiral Chellick beat his fists against the terminal, as his ships continued to fall, one by one. The salarian attack had been too sudden, crippling the defense force immediately. He shook his head, now he understood why the salarians had offered to provide the lion's share of the defense fleets.
It also meant that this was more than just a splinter group, members of the leadership were responsible. But that knowledge would do him little good. As the alarms on the bridge continued, Chellick snarled, shutting off the noise from his console. He knew his ship was dying; he didn't need the last things he heard in life to be those damn sirens.
"Admiral!" issued the yeoman, "more contacts…Spirits…!"
Chellick's eyes widened, as an entire fleet of ships jumped in system.
"Citadel Security?" issued a husky, feminine voice, "asari fleet Alpha, reporting in, courtesy of the Shadow Broker."
A raspy voice followed, "fleet Omega reporting, the Pirate Queen sends her regards…"
Chellick hammered his fist through the air, sighing with relief, "it took you long enough! Welcome to the party!"
A third call issued from the intercom, a familiar voice...
"We wouldn't miss this. Normandy reporting in…"
The Admiral sank into his chair, allowing hope to return, bolstering his thoughts, "let's fry these bastards!"
On the Citadel…
Vega was still enamored with his final thoughts when shots rang out. Blood red puffs of smoke exploded from the helmets of the Paladin operatives, their bodies falling to the ground.
Linron's eyes widened, glancing up to see several figures rushing towards them.
Captain Armando Bailey had been preparing for this day. Something in his gut had told him to be ready. The Citadel had been attacked, and nearly taken, on more than one occasion. This was the seat of Galactic Civilization, and it had been helpless against the might of the Reapers. Never again, he had sworn. So the standing militia had been bolstered, the volunteer army created by Shepard kept on retainer. It had seemed like ages ago, and no longer necessary. Yet Bailey had remained vigilant.
That steadfastness had yielded dividends. The signal had hit, knocking out most of the biotics on the Citadel, and destroying all communications. But it had been crippling, rather than blinding. Thanks to careful planning, they had systematically secured the checkpoints, accomplishing in hours what could have taken days. However, it hadn't helped C-Sec establish who the traitors were.
'None of this will be worth a damn if Linron kills us!' thought Escheel. The salarian Councilor tried in vain to speak, warn Bailey somehow. How could she have been such a fool, allowing the Dalatrass to play on her xenophobia?
Linron glanced down at the salarian Councilor, and leered, priming her omnitool once more. Escheel couldn't believe it, despite all this, they were still going to die…
Dalatrass Linron raised her good arm, "Captain Bailey…thank goodness-"
Bailey seemed not to hear her, turning to two figures on either side of him.
"Councilor Koris," he grunted.
"Together," said the quarian.
"Affirmative," answered the geth, Proxy.
Councilor Zaal'Koris and the geth ambassador, Proxy, both raised their omnitools. The first Overload tore through Dalatrass Linron's shields, the second stunned her. The salarian traitor shook her head, unable to understand how they had known. As Bailey brought his pistol to bear, Linron saw another figure beside him…a familiar asari.
'The rachni representative,' hissed a voice in the back of Linron's mind, unable to remember her name, 'how could we have ignored that?'
"Shepard sends his regards," announced Bailey, squeezing the trigger of his pistol.
A dark corner of Linron's mind began to laugh, appreciating the masterful crafting of situation, 'well played…'
Then the round tore through her skull, ceasing all further thoughts forever…
Bailey took a quick glance at the figures strewn about, and caught sight of Jacob Taylor.
"Medigel!" shouted the Captain.
The krogan Councilor, formerly known as Shaman Urdnot, rushed to the fallen soldier's side. He gripped the wounds tight, before sealing them off with medigel. Bailey offered a hand to James Vega, who barely waited to shake off the torpor before rushing to Jacob's side.
"Taylor! Stay with me man…"
Jacob sputtered blood, wincing in pain, "ah…it's too late…the bitch got me good…"
Vega shook his head, noting the bleeding coming from the base of Jacob's neck. He furrowed his eyebrows, Jacob hadn't been shot there. Then he realized…
"That last biotic attack," gasped James, "when you saved me from Linron's gun…"
He had strained his damaged body passed its limits to pull off that feat, despite the Dampening Field. That last act of defiance had caused irreparable damage to his nervous system. Compounded with the pistol rounds, they would never get him to a medbay in time.
Jacob gestured with his left hand, as if shooing away a fly, "it was nothing…"
Vega gripped the man's hand in a vise, "no, it was everything…"
The biotic grunted, turning to the cadets. He could see several C-Sec personnel help Talitha and Archer to their feet.
"The young ones are fine," announced the Councilor Urdnot, "though they'll have headaches for a few days."
Jacob chuckled, turning to Vega again, "Brynn…and my daughter…"
James nodded, "I'll take care of them…they'll know you died a hero…"
"Kasumi…"
"You want me to tell her something?"
"No, just watch out for her," Taylor shook his head, "crazy thief's gonna start stalking YOU now…"
James blinked several times, trying to process the statement. Jacob slowly grinned, despite the pain.
Despite himself, Vega started chuckling. He blinked, fighting the dizziness that assaulted him. When he looked again, the light was already gone from Jacob's eyes.
"A good death," whispered the krogan softly, laying Jacob's body down gently.
Before James could reply, he heard a series of shrieks. Bailey cursed, as he and the C-Sec officers drew into a circle around the Councilors. Vega got to his feet, drawing Jacob's fallen shotgun, as well as his own rifle. He handed the shotgun to the krogan.
Urdnot took the gun, checking the heat sinks before cocking the weapon, "looks like we'll be joining him soon…"
Vega and the rest were already worn and haggard. His vision was blurry, and he couldn't count how many Prothean husks approached.
"Then he'll be in good company," spat Bailey, "but I plan on taking a few of these bastards with us…"
"Well said," replied Zaal'Koris.
"No," said asari beside them, the voice of the Rachni Queen echoing through the air, "today we reap salvation…"
Another pair of shuttles flew by. The first blew past, laying into the Remnant horde with blaster fire, herding them into close quarters. Two blue streaks dropped from the second shuttle, as Shepard and Jack dropped into the contingent of husks. Twin explosions cocooned from their Nova blasts at opposite ends of the horde.
Shepard and Jack followed the onslaught by blazing through the husks from either side, their Biotic Rushes flinging the monstrosities into the air. As the second shuttle descended, two more figures emerged.
Javik peppered the air with biotic force, as his singularity held the husks in the air. Sephora followed the attack with Dark Chanel, a withering attack which tore flesh from limb, before shattering the husks like so much glass.
Shepard turned to the first shuttle, gesturing it to continue onwards, "find the source of that signal and clear the way, we'll catch up!"
"Understood Shepard," answered Ashrai.
"Be careful," Liara said over the intercom, as the shuttle flew off.
Shepard turned to Bailey and Vega. Both men drew their guns as they caught sight of the Collector beside him.
Shepard raised his hands, "it's alright, she's with us."
Vega lowered his weapon, turning to Bailey, "how'd you know the Dalatrass was a traitor?"
Bailey gestured to the asari representative for the Rachni, "Shepard warned us."
"When the Dampening Field blew out Relay communications," said Shepard, "I used Shiala's connection with the Rachni to notify our friend here. I hope it was in time."
Bailey turned to Jacob, "not for everyone, unfortunately."
Shepard kneeled down beside the corpse of his friend, "Jacob…damn…"
He got to his feet, turning to Vega, "we'll get him a proper burial later, for now, we focus on the mission."
A chill went up Shepard's spine as he said those words. They were the same words he'd said before the Reaper War had started, back on Eden Prime. History, as ever, seemed keen to repeat itself.
Shepard turned to Bailey, "can you get them to safety?"
The Captain nodded, "we haven't been sleeping easy these past few years. A secure outpost is a few clicks from here."
"Who the hell is doing this?" demanded Vega.
"If I had to guess," said Bailey, "I'd say Charles Saracino."
Shepard shook his head, "Humanity First? What do they have to do with this?"
"Before this whole thing started, I sent one of my best to investigate a connection between Saracino and local gangs, on the hunch of an Investigator Parasini."
"I remember her," said Shepard, "what happened?"
"You remember Thane's son?" replied Bailey, not mentioning Kolyat's name, "he kicked over a damn hornet's nest, and people died."
"I still don't see the endgame," argued Vega, "how does this tie to Cerberus?"
As she secured the perimeter, Ashley Williams sniffed loudly, "Saracino is part of Humanity First. It's a cause those Cerberus bastards would gladly follow."
"They call themselves 'Paladins' now," said Shepard, "where do we start looking?"
Bailey brought up his omnitool, "here are the coordinates of his hidey-hole in the slums. I'd stake my good eye he's there…"
"Then let's move out…"
