Chapter 24: The Battle for Paradise
As the shuttle flew towards the Citadel, I couldn't help but think "It's happening again."
Three years ago, Saren, Sovereign and a fleet of renegade geth attacked the Citadel. Nothing like this had ever happened before. Certain illusions about safety and security were shattered that day. And now it was happening again.
But it was even worse now. Back then, at least I knew about it. At least I was able to try and warn people what was going on, even if no one would listen—or, rather, not enough people listened until it was too late. This time, I didn't know. Someone else had to gather the intelligence. But no one was able to put all the pieces together. Until it was too late.
Using my Spectre access codes, I was able to open a waste exhaust port and enter the Citadel—not my first choice, but it was the closest access point to C-Sec Headquarters that was big enough to let a shuttle through. And it wasn't like we were wading through all that crap.
Soon enough, we reached the Presidium. At first glance, it looked nice and peaceful. Bright and white and clean and peaceful. If you ignored the frequent gunfire. The Atlas flipping a skycar onto a patrol car and almost squashing a pair of C-Sec officers. The occasional explosion. That sort of thing.
We were forced to ignore all of that, though. Because we had to prioritize and all those helpless C-Sec officers and civvies just weren't important enough. (1)
Cortez left the painful sight of paradise being torn apart and took us through a side alley to one of C-Sec HQ's docking bays. I opened the shuttle hatch and we looked upon the warzone that it had become. Bullet holes marred the walls. Dead bodies covered the floors. C-Sec officers were spread out, scattered and isolated. Trying desperately to stand their ground and survive another minute, having given up any hope of mounting any semblance of a counter-offensive.
Because Cerberus had gotten the jump on them. They had overwhelming numbers. And they had superior firepower.
How Cerberus had managed to sneak past the Citadel Fleet and launch such a devastating assault on the heart of Citadel space would have to wait—though I had at least one disturbing theory. Right now, we had to turn the odds. "Okay, people!" I shouted. "We're coming in hot! Split into your teams, get to cover and engage. Weapons are free!"
There were three corridors running through this area of C-Sec HQ. I led Team One up the centre while Teams Two and Three went up the left and right, respectively. As we ducked behind a bulkhead, the C-Sec VI calmly reported the situation. "Civil unrest has been reported in the Presidium, Zakera Ward, Tayseri Ward, Bachjret Ward, Kithoi Ward and Aroch Ward."
So, basically, everywhere. Spotting a weapons turret, I quickly hacked it before blasting a hole through the shields of the combat engineer who'd set it down. EDI and Liara did the rest. Two more shots dropped another engineer.
"For your own safety, please avoid these areas."
EDI vaulted over the bulkhead and advanced, expertly firing her submachine gun with perfect accuracy. The assault trooper she was targeting tried to follow her, but that left him exposed to yours truly. As I lowered my sniper rifle, Miranda was frying a Centurion's shields so James could hit him with a concussive round. On the other side, Javik carving a hole through one assault trooper after another with his particle rifle while Garrus was making heads explode.
On the far end of the hall, I could see more hostiles. I began making their heads pop like balloons filled with meat sauce. The last one was a trooper that was descending from above, judging by the flare of his boot thrusters. After I reloaded, I scanned above. Sure enough, there was a broken window up there and Cerberus troops were funnelling in one by one. Until I began taking them out, that is. After the third kill, the remaining troopers began backing up. By that point, though, Liara had spotted them and captured them in a singularity. A few fireballs and bullets did the rest.
Without any further reinforcements, the other teams were able to get the upper hand and clear the room. The last turret had just exploded when a gravelly voice called out "Shepard!" I made my way to the voice, stopping by to restock on thermal clips and medi-gel.
It was Commander Bailey. He was slumped against the wall, hand tightly pressed to his side. A smear of blood showed where he'd leaned against the wall before sliding down. "Shepard," he panted, "I saw those Cerberus troops on you. I thought you were done for."
"I could say the same for you," I replied, thinking back to the frantic scene we'd observed when we first arrived. "Thought I saw one of them nail you."
"You thought right," he shook his head. "Got my ass shot off trying to retake headquarters. Cerberus took it in the first push. He looked behind him at the doors, which were sealed shut. "We gotta kick them out of there. Everyone in C-Sec's flying blind without the network."
"All right, all right," I nodded, scanning him with my omni-tool. "Well, looks like the bullet was a through-and-through. Lemme patch you up."
"How bad's the situation," Garrus asked as I administered some medi-gel. "Do you know if the Councillors are alive?"
"They split up," Bailey said, wincing as I slowly helped him to his feet. "I'll know more if I can access a terminal inside."
"Can you get us in?" I asked.
Bailey gingerly shuffled towards a door console. "I'll get the door. If no one interrupts me with a bullet this time."
While Bailey got us in, the rest of us made sure we had fresh thermal clips loaded and raised our weapons. The doors hissed open and we braced ourselves for an onslaught.
But nothing happened. We slowly entered and looked around. It hadn't changed a bit. Same blue-grey walls. Same blue-grey floors. Same blue-white lighting. The only things that were different were the dozens of bullet holes that riddled the walls and the fact that it was eerily empty.
Bailey quickly made his way to a desk with a terminal and slowly sat down while we watched for any surprise ambushes. "Here we go," he said, pulling himself towards the computer. "C-Sec network access, courtesy of Cerberus."
"What do you propose to do?" Miranda asked. "Standard Cerberus protocol would require them to monitor the network in order to keep track of any potential opposition. In an operation such as this, they would also lock out any users who might try to use it."
"Yeah, you're right," he replied. "Cerberus has control of the main channels, but I can set up a new network. Hopefully I can keep them out. Even if I can't, it doesn't matter: without a network, my people have no plan and no chance." His fingers were flying over the keyboard at first before gradually slowing down. "Hello…"
"What've you got?" I walked around the desk to look at the monitor for myself.
"A warning from Councillor Valern," Bailey replied. "He's supposed to be here, meeting with the Executor. 'Be on guard—the likelihood of betrayal from within is high.' Not a lot else, but if he's inside…"
"Do you know why the Councillor would be meeting with the Executor?" I asked.
"I can count on one hand the number of times a member of the Citadel Council did that," Garrus said.
"Usually it means someone big's about to be prosecuted," Bailey agreed. "I guess that someone had Cerberus friends."
"The Councillor mentioned Udina," Miranda frowned. "I suppose a few of his political views might have been compatible with Cerberus…"
"But that's insane," Garrus protested. "Does he even have this kind of pull?"
"Well, Udina is on the Council," James pointed out.
"You know who'd have the answer to that?" Bailey asked.
"Councillor Valern," I agreed. "Well, it's a start. One Councillor's better than none. Any idea where he'd be?"
"He could be in the Executor's office," Garrus suggested. "It's a fairly defensible position."
"I'm on it," I nodded. "Team Three—come with me. I'll need you to point me in the right direction, Garrus. Miranda, James: keep Bailey safe and help him organize a counter-offensive from here."
"Just a sec." Bailey accessed the comm frequencies on the new network he'd set up and sent them to our omni-tools. "There. Now we can talk by omni-tool or comm. Go!"
As I led Teams One and Three through C-Sec HQ, I opened a channel to Thane and brought him up to speed. "Are you still okay?" I asked.
"Yes. I'm nearing the building, but running is difficult. I'll try to get to you."
I exchanged concerned looks with Garrus. Thane's breathing was definitely laboured, but he was still fighting despite his Kepral's Syndrome. Could we really do any less?
Following Garrus's direction, I took a left and went through a few doors into a lobby. I spotted the quartet of assault troopers and set one of them on fire before they could react. Garrus froze him and shattered him with super-cooled concussive round. Liara and EDI tag-teamed another guy.
Javik was ignoring the remaining two hostiles, so I quickly joined him to see what was going on. Turned out to be a Guardian, who was letting his massive shield take the brunt of Javik's particle beams. While he was occupied, I raised my sniper rifle and landed a headshot right through the slot in his shield. Spotting some movement, I dashed forward and up some stairs. Another Guardian. Another shield. Another slit.
My HUD picked up one more hostile. It was a combat engineer. He'd heard the commotion and had deployed his turret. So I hacked it and let them dance with each other. Then I dropped the engineer and blew up the turret with a fireball or two.
The coast was clear, so I popped out my thermal clip and searched for replacements. I had time to scrounge up some more clips, grab some medi-gel and scan a weapon mod before an explosion shook the room. Hurrying back, I found Teams One and Three already firing. Apparently Cerberus had just breached the room from the upper level.
Though I don't think they were expecting any trouble. A fireball blowing up a freshly frozen trooper-sicle quickly dispelled that bit of wishful thinking. As did the bullet that took another trooper's head right off his shoulders. Not to be outdone, Garrus sniped the third one.
"Troops in the lobby," I said to Bailey, waving at the bodies around us. "They were dug in."
"I can see more through the cameras," he replied. "They're all over the station."
"Shepard," Garrus called out. "Over here."
He was crouched over one of the C-Sec officers. "Entry wounds in the back of the head," he reported, getting to his feet. "Judging by the entry wounds and the blood splatter, it looks like a surprise, not an execution." His face was grim. "We've got hardcore traitors here."
"Same as Mars," I recalled. "Cerberus sure likes sleeper agents." (2)
Without any more revelations, we tried to leave the lobby. "Security doors have been sealed for your protection," we were told. So I had to bypass the locking mechanism. Once the doors were opened, we took a left, then a right—ignoring the fire that was sizzling away.
Turned out Cerberus was holding another party in the next room. So we crashed it. We took out a couple Guardians—with plasma and biotics instead of sniper rounds—before a Centurion threw down a smoke grenade. I thought I saw some movement, so I slowly moved my sniper rifle in the general direction and waited for the smoke to begin dissipating. Sure enough, I soon saw two Centurions crouched by the wall. Getting the squad's attention, I highlighted target with my HUD. A snapshot from my sniper rifle told them they'd been made. Before they could react, EDI zapped them with an EMP. Liara quickly followed up with a biotic blast. I threw in some plasma for good measure. The explosions that followed quickly ripped them apart.
Garrus suddenly raised his sniper rifle and fired. A groan met our ears before a trooper collapsed. Javik made a contemptuous sound before extending his hand out and suddenly yanking it back. Another assault trooper floated into view, caught in a green glow and kicking for dear life.
While the others put him out of his misery, I was busy checking out something that I'd noticed when I pulled up my HUD earlier. It was a combat engineer, trying to flank us. Until I drilled a hole through his head, that is.
When I returned to the other teams, I noticed the sprinklers had been set off. Probably from all that plasma flying around. I waded through the shallow pools that were already forming and went to the washroom—no, I didn't need to go. I just needed to make sure no one was hiding. I scanned an M-76 Revenant—because someone had to take their rifle to the washroom and swiped some credits—because someone had the need to take over 6000 credits in to wash their hands…
…and then stopped and stared at the C-Sec officers that were lying next to the urinals. Garrus came in, saw their bodies and cursed. "Cerberus," he spat. "Didn't even drag them out into the hall."
I led them out of the room, scanning a hardsuit mod and swiping some medi-gel along the way. We were walking towards an elevator when we heard someone announce "Elevator secure. Starting scramble in ten, nine, eight…"
Creeping forward, I saw a combat engineer fiddling with what looked like an access panel. Narrowing my eyes, I charged forward. EDI's EMP zapped him just before I slammed his head against the wall and threw him to the ground. His eyes were just widening in shock when my omni-blade plunged into his heart.
While Garrus scanned a sniper rifle mod, I looked at the panel. Apparently the engineer had been trying to sabotage it to keep C-Sec and the civvies cooped up in one spot. Thankfully, it was fairly simple for me to fix. "Reset complete," the VI told me. "Access enabled."
We entered the elevator and headed for the Executor's office. "Shepard," Bailey said over the comm "I've been tracking you as best as I could, but a lot of the vid-cams are out. Any survivors in there?"
"None yet."
"Damn it. Keep looking."
When we reached the next level, we were greeted by the blank, unseeing eyes of another dead C-Sec officer. The walls around him were riddled with bullets and covered in blood. One of the overhead lights was flickering fitfully. That pattern repeated itself as we walked down the corridor. Dead bodies. Walls with bullet holes. Flickering lights.
"Ridgefield?" Garrus suddenly called out. "Lamont? You alive?"
"What the hell?" I hissed, whirling back.
"You are hindering our ability to surprise the enemy," EDI calmly admonished.
"The walls and floor aren't exactly soundproof," Garrus replied. "If gunfire doesn't put them on notice, I sure won't." (3)
"If there are survivors, we'll find them," Liara said gently. "In the meantime, let's stay quiet."
Javik picked up a weapon mod, looked at me, shook his head and reluctantly passed it to Garrus to scan. Meanwhile, I spotted an open computer console. Maybe it had some information on what was going on?
Personal Log: Armando-Owen Bailey
Entry 1
Warn Herk that if he doesn't fill out his reports properly, I'm kicking his ass from one end of the Citadel to the other.
Entry 2
Reschedule meeting with customs analyst about cargo weight discrepancies over the last year. Don't let him wriggle out of that again, damn it.
Entry 3
Reports of undesirables getting on station illegally. Have biometrics systems calibrated. Again.
Entry 4
Kick Herk's sorry ass from one end of the Citadel to the other.
Okay. Never mind.
We slowly and methodically worked our way down the hall, clearing each room. Easy to do: everyone was wearing C-Sec uniforms and had been dead for a while. We finally reached an armoury, judging by the sheer number of guns, weapon mods and other gear. Most of it I already had, but I did manage to scan some new stuff.
I found a datapad lying on the ground in one of the rooms I searched. It wound up being quite an informative read:
From: Sgt. Uriah Shaw
To: Captain Ianna Mao
I brought up #177504 from Evidence so you can see for yourself. We caught the slag who was assembling it in one of Tower 110's bathrooms. He got it past the detectors in pieces—metal barrel in a hollowed-out omni-tool, eezo in one of those Cision toothbrushes. The rest was plastic or ceramic. No gang ink on him, he was in a sport coat like most of the male employees of Tower 110. His ID was manufactured—he's got a record that dates back to when his medcard was issued, and before that, nothing.
This is way beyond coincidence. This is a pro assassin, and he's not alone. We've got people smuggling Talons all over the station. Patrol knows it, Organized Crime knows it. But when you try to talk to the Major, you hit a steel wall. Where's Internal Affairs when you need them? Why can't we get them to open an investigation on Customs? You would NOT get away with this blind-eye business if this were L.A. or Hong Kong.
The Major says he's not going to screw over good police because of one nut with a pistol. But it isn't just one. Ask the Executor this—if this is the stuff we're catching, what's slipping by?
—Shaw
Worse and worse. I'd just scanned an M-358 Talon a minute ago. They were definitely not standard C-Sec weaponry. In fact, it was a high-tech equivalent of a twentieth–century revolver that fired heavy-gauge shotgun pellets. And the only guys I'd seen carrying them before sported Cerberus colours.
The Councillor's agents weren't the only ones who thought something was going on. This sergeant had picked up on this from a weapons smuggling angle, only to get stonewalled by this major. Was he—or she—just too hidebound by rules and procedures? Lazy? Dirty? Or another Cerberus sleeper agent? All I knew was that all of this could have been avoided.
Downloading the e-mail to my omni-tool, and with no other rooms to search, I put the datapad back down and met the teams at the end of the corridor. I was about to reach for the door control when shots rang out. Tightening my grip on my sniper rifle, I led the teams in. There were three assault troopers gathered around a C-Sec officer on the floor. "You sure we had to do that?" one of them asked. "We spent months getting him in. Without him, we'd never have gotten in."
Hmm… eliminating assets as soon as they were no longer useful. Where had I seen that before? Rather than answering that question, I launched a fireball at the guy on the left while Javik hurled his biotics at the other guy. Liara and Garrus were ready to follow up. The twin explosions sent the last guy staggering back. Before he could do anything, EDI froze him solid. A single shot finished him off.
I checked the C-Sec officer out, just in case he wasn't dead. Unfortunately, he was. "We've gotta be close now," I said as I got up.
"Yeah, there's a stairwell further on," Garrus nodded. "Executor's office is right above it. Let's hope we're not too late."
As we headed towards that stairwell, we passed through another corridor. I hopped into a lunchroom of some kind—easy to do when all the windows were blown out. No hostiles. No C-Sec officers. No civvies. Just a lot of papers strewn around on the floor, some credits and some omni-gel. An automated recording was playing as I cleared the room. "—on the Presidium, uploading out of the back of a Westerlund News van."
With a start, I realized it was Khalisah al-Jilani. The same pain-in-my-ass reporter who'd accosted me when I was hunting Saren and again when I was trying to stop the Collectors. She'd done the same once more after my failed attempt to get official support from the Council, but at least we'd left on better terms. I was strangely relieved to hear she was okay. Despite the urgency of the situation, I paused to listen: "The gunfire behind me is C-Sec trying to retake the central communication hub. Without it, they can't get a signal for help off the station. There's no word why C-Sec reinforcements have not shown. We're looping this transmission in the hope it gets through. C-Sec forces are urgently needed at the comm towers. This is Khalisah Bint Sinan al-Jilani. I am on the Presidium, uploading out of the back of a—" (4)
I opened a comm channel to Bailey. "This is Shepard," I said. "Status report."
"Good call leaving one of your teams behind," Bailey replied. "Cerberus just paid us a visit. Only a half dozen troopers, but it could've gotten ugly if I was the only one here. How 'bout you? Have you found the Councillor?"
"Not yet. We've been running into a lot of Cerberus troops. Garrus thinks we're close to a stairwell that leads to the Executor's office. I'm actually calling about a news loop we're getting from Khalisah al-Jilani. Apparently C-Sec is trying to retake the central communication hub on the Presidium, but could use some backup. I wasn't sure if you'd heard."
"I haven't, but I'm not surprised. Everyone could use some backup. I'm still trying to contact my officers and organize a plan, but I'll send the next patrol I contact over there."
The dulcet sounds of a window being smashed to itty-bitty pieces—and a mug of cold coffee shattering to equally small shards shattered the tranquil calm. "Right, well, I think we have company. Talk to you later, Bailey."
At the far end of the lunchroom, some now-broken windows looked out onto a large courtyard. On the other side, more hostiles were heading our way. "Garrus and I will tag anyone coming down from the second floor," I ordered. "Everyone else pick targets of opportunity. Let's do this!"
I quickly dropped two assault troopers, missed a third one, then ducked down to reload. Popping back up, I shot a third trooper, had EDI zap a Guardian's shields, then fired a shot right through his helmet. Meanwhile, Liara and Javik were doing a good job keeping the other hostiles off-balance with singularities and other biotic bad-assery. They didn't need much help from the rest of us to finish things off. We quickly cleared the area, scooped up any thermal clips we needed and loot that might come in handy later on—assuming there was a later—and headed up the stairs Garrus had mentioned earlier. A small sign marked 'Executor' told us we were on the right track.
When we reached the top of the stairs, Garrus and I switched to our other weapons—sniper rifles weren't exactly suited for close-range combat. I counted down from three. On cue, EDI hit the door controls and we stormed the Executor's office.
No one put up any resistance. No one could. "Bailey," I reported, "looks like they got the Executor and two salarian bodyguards."
"Damn," Bailey cursed, his frustration clearly evident in his voice. "All right, keep searching. If you don't see the Councillor's body, don't count him out yet."
Good advice, all things considered. "Spread out and start searching," I said. "Maybe Councillor Valern left a clue or something."
I was about to follow my own orders when I noticed Garrus staring intently through the window. Joining him, I did the same. We looked down at some sort of café. It was empty. Just lots of tables and lots of chairs.
Which made the lone chair spontaneously pushing itself back from the table edge very suspicious. If I looked carefully, I could swear I saw the air around that chair… flicker.
With a sudden flare of light, a figure decloaked. It was Councillor Valern. Figured he'd have a cloaking system—but seriously, since when did every Tom, Dick and Harry get one? (5) "Bailey," I said. "Found him. He looks unharmed."
"Get him somewhere safe."
"Agreed." I turned away from the window to get everyone's attention, only to catch some movement out of the corner of my eye. Whirling back, I saw a man rising from a crouching position. He must have just dropped down from the rafters or something. The way Councillor Valern was stumbling back told me he wasn't friendly.
Covering my eyes, I fired a single shot at the windows. I leapt through before the glass shards had finished falling. Some part of me grumbled that volunteering to jump in harm's way was exactly the kind of crap I deplored once upon a time. The rest of me was too busy making sure I wouldn't twist or break my ankle when landing on the floor.
Apparently the mysterious man was part grasshopper, because he—I'm not making this up—jumped up and over the Councillor's head, landing such that Valern was now blocking my line of sight. A deliberate and tactically sound move on his part. He had a matte-black under-suit with a set of dark gunmetal grey armour on top. A small yellow hexagonal logo confirmed who he worked for, with a subtlety that was somewhat surprising. I couldn't really see his eyes, as they were covered by a rather large set of goggles. He had shoulder-length black hair and a ponytail—both of which were definitely not Alliance-standard.
The man in black raised his right hand. The palm was glowing with a blue sphere of crackling energy. Judging by the unusually focused concentration of biotic energy, I guessed it was some kind of artificial projection system. Either way, it was probably safe to assume it was some kind of weapon. "Don't even think about it," I warned.
I circled around Valern, hoping to get a clear shot. MIB did the same, making sure to keep the Councillor between us. (6) Valern, for his part, was understandably tense. "Shepard, he's going to kill us all," he hissed.
"That remains to be seen," I replied, wishing I could feel as calm as I sounded.
"I mean Udina," Valern said. "He's staging a coup! He's got the other Councillors now—to hand over to Cerberus."
Before I could reply, I saw—and heard—someone arriving. It was EDI and Liara. Garrus and Javik had undoubtedly stayed behind to keep the high ground. "Five on one, pal," I told the man in black. "It's over."
"No," the man in black said, breaking his silence for the first time. A cold smile spread over his face. "Now it's fun." The energy in his right palm intensified…
…
…the audible click of a gun's safety mechanism disengaging echoed through the café. It was Thane. Somehow he had found a weapon, found his way here and snuck up right behind the man in black without anyone noticing.
MIB swept his left hand back with incredible speed, knocking the gun from Thane's hand. His right hand moved to strike him. Thane blocked it. They exchanged a flurry of blows, blocks and strikes. It was almost mesmerizing to see, really. MIB landed the first hit, but Thane just shrugged it off and kept on going. At times, it seemed like they were boxing; at others, more like dancing. Belatedly, I reached out, grabbed Councillor Valern and hauled him back. "Get him out of here," I told Liara and EDI, shoving the Councillor their way.
I turned back in time to see MIB grab Thane and throw him over his shoulder. Thane gracefully rolled to his feet, scooping up the gun that had been knocked down earlier. Realizing MIB was now in the clear, I raised my weapon…
…only to see MIB vanish in thin air—seriously, why was everybody getting a cloaking device? Thane fired two shots, but none of them hit. Liara and EDI hadn't had a chance to get Valern to safety. "Get him against the wall and cover him," I ordered.
While they did so, Thane and I kept searching. I couldn't believe that MIB would let this go. Sure enough, he decloaked with a… a… sword. Seriously, he was wielding a sword in his right hand. Who does that? He advanced without a single word or cry, a silent harbinger of death ready to go all medieval on our collective asses. (7) Thane charged without a moment's hesitation. MIB swung the sword, so fast it seemed impossible for him to miss…
Thane swung his gun up, using the butt to deflect the sword. He landed a firm kick to MIB's midriff, then a roundhouse kick to knock him off balance. Concentrating, he generated a biotic field in his left fist, channeling it into a blazing sphere of energy, before throwing it forward. The energy sent MIB flying halfway along the café. Everyone gawked at Thane. Well, everyone except EDI—who simply said "Impressive"—and MIB—who was sprawled on the floor.
Checking his gun, Thane ejected the thermal clip and loaded a fresh one. MIB flipped himself from a prone to a crouching position and scooped up his sword. Before I could do anything, Thane was charging again, firing his gun with every other step. Somehow, MIB managed to dodge or deflect every shot. Thane leapt into the air, biotics charging up again. MIB sidestepped the biotic blast, lunged forward…
…
…and ran Thane through with his sword.
Oh God.
"Thane!" I yelled as he crumpled to the ground. MIB sheathed his sword as a pool of dark blood spread out from Thane's body. Everyone raised their weapons and opened fire. No one managed to land a shot as he vaulted over the balcony and down to the level below. I raced down the stairs—I wouldn't be able to avenge Thane if my legs were broken—after him. My weapon was trained for him, but I quickly realized that I didn't stand a chance of hitting him and running down all those steps. So I concentrated on sprinting.
My efforts were to no avail. Before I could catch up to him, MIB jumped off another balcony. This time, the descent would plunge all the way down to the ground floor of the Presidium. We were talking dozens of floors here. No way he could survive the drop…
…unless there was a skycar waiting just below for him to land on. As the skycar slowly flew away, MIB stood up and gave me a mocking grin. Glaring at him furiously, I emptied an entire clip at him. None of my shots landed.
As I lowered my gun, two more shots rang out. It was Thane! Somehow he'd managed to pick himself up, stagger after us and still muster the strength to keep fighting. It wasn't until the skycar flew out of range and I hurried back that he allowed himself to drop his gun, slump against the wall and slide down. He left a long bloody trail behind him. "How bad is it?" I asked.
"I have time," Thane said after a pause. "Catch him."
"Shepard?" Bailey said over the comm. "What's going on up there?"
"Councillor Valern's safe. He was seeing the Executor about Udina—he's working with Cerberus. That's how they got in. Thane needs medical help fast." I broke off as another skycar pulled up. Garrus and Liara waved at me. At some point, they'd gotten a ride. "I need to take care of an assassin."
"He must be going after the rest of the Council."
"Get the word out," I ordered. "Udina's trying to seize power. I've got to get to the other councillors." I motioned to EDI and Javik. "Get Councillor Valern to safety and Thane to a hospital," I told them.
Ordinarily, I wouldn't have split up the teams like that. But we didn't have time to correct that. Besides, Garrus and Liara had worked with me enough times to know how I did things. As for the others… well, I wasn't worried about EDI so much as Javik. Black-or-white, AIs are evil, out of his element and twice as cranky Javik. Again, no time to correct that. Just cross your fingers and hope for the best.
"Protocol would have the Council taken to a shuttle pad on the Presidium for evac. I just sent you the NavPoint. Start driving—I'll try to raise them on the comm."
"Understood. We're borrowing a C-Sec patrol car." Garrus pulled up the vehicle ID number and I read it out to him so he could track us.
"You're lucky I'm up to my eyeballs in work or I'd charge you with stealing C-Sec property."
Heh. Like that was the worst thing we had to deal with.
Bailey contacted us a few minutes later. "I've got a fix on the Council's position. I'm sending it to your car."
"Good work, Bailey," I replied. "We're almost there."
That's when someone landed on the hood of our skycar. While it was flying in midair, I might add. Startled, I stabilized our flight path and looked through the window. Well, the feeds from the external cameras transmitted on the virtual windows, but you get the idea. Our unwanted guest raised his head.
It was MIB. The one who'd shot Thane. He rose to a standing position and lifted his sword. Grabbing Liara's pistol, I fired a few shots. Unfortunately, those windows really were virtual. Behind them, the metal alloy was tough enough to withstand bullets fired at close range. MIB simply strode over the top of the skycar. I opened the hatch, ignoring the alarms that suddenly blared out. As Garrus lunged over to assume control of the steering, I leaned out and opened fire.
MIB simply raised the palm of his right hand and a blue kinetic barrier shimmered to life. Every shot I fired was harmlessly absorbed by the shield. He sneered at me before reversing his grip on his sword and plunging it down into the engine compartment.
A whole new set of alarms sounded as the skycar began leaning precariously to one side. I had to give up any thought of shooting him in lieu of keeping myself from falling out. As I glared helplessly, another skycar came up and matched our speed. The hatch opened, revealing another Cerberus soldier—one of the ladies we'd codenamed as Nemesis snipers. MIB gave me another sneer before casually walking across the roof of my skycar and hopping into the other one.
Speaking of my skycar, it was now in free fall, a trail of fire streaming behind it like a comet. With an effort, I got back inside and shut the hatch. "What the hell happened?" Garrus demanded as he struggled with the controls.
"Our friend stabbed the engine with a sword."
It's a testament to how screwed up our lives had been that he took that statement without even blinking an eye. He tried tapping another command into the console, shook his head and then tried something new. I almost hit my head as the skycar abruptly turned hard to port. (8) "What're you doing?"
"We're crashing," Garrus replied matter-of-factly. "There's nothing I can do to stop it. At this point, it's better to crash sooner rather than later."
Right. Because gravity's a bitch, along with momentum and other pesky bits of physics. "Liara, I don't suppose you can—" I broke off as we clipped the side of the wall and continued careening towards one of the upper levels. "—slow us down?" I finished.
"I'll try." Liara managed to summon a weak biotic field around the skycar just before it belly flopped through a garden bed. Someone would have a lot of plants to replace if we ever got through this. "Any landing you can walk away from?" Liara tried.
"Yeah," I groaned. "Something like that. Come on. Let's go."
As we sidestepped a couple civvies running for their lives, Bailey contacted us again. "Shepard? My instruments say your car's stopped."
"Our car was disabled. We're on foot now," I said briefly. "Any luck contacting the Council?"
"Negative—their guards are dead. But we've still got vital signs on their transponders."
"Where are they going?" Spotting some movement up ahead, I motioned the team to find cover. A shuttle paused. Gunshots rang out. A woman screamed before collapsing to the ground. Some windows shattered.
"The shuttle pad above Shalmar Plaza. Udina's with them. If he can get them in range of that assassin, this is all over."
"On my way." Garrus and Liara took out a hostile while I sniped a trooper dropping down from the broken windows. I spotted another hostile running towards us. She was sporting some biotic barriers and… she was also carrying a sword. Two hostiles in one day trying to go all medieval on me. What were the odds? Rather than running through the math, I blew through her barriers with another sniper round. Garrus finished her off while Liara dispatched yet another trooper.
But the fun wasn't over yet: a pair of Nemesis snipers were heading our way. I tried to line up a shot but they were ridiculously mobile. Being snipers themselves, I guess they knew the best way to avoid getting shot was to do a lot of weaving and ducking and dodging. I squeezed the trigger anyway, but missed. Thankfully, Garrus managed to hit them with an EMP and Liara swept them up in a singularity. After that, a single shot from my submachine gun—with the cryo mod activated—froze each of them solid… before another shot shattered them to smithereens.
Another set of windows shattered overhead, heralding the arrival of more Cerberus hostiles. The troopers were easy. All we had to do was let them hop down and wait until they engaged their boot thrusters to cushion their landing—which effectively turned them into nice, vulnerable, stationary targets. The Nemesis snipers, on the other hand, were much less cooperative. "They don't like to hold still, do they?" Garrus observed.
"Not really," I agreed. "What do you think, Liara?"
Liara was too busy fighting for her life to respond. While we were worrying about the various hostiles who could deal death from a distance, another hostile had flanked us. Protected by biotic barriers and wielding a sword—clearly TIMmy had watched too many ninja vids while I was being court-martialed—she clearly favoured the up-close-and-personal approach.
We did our best to help Liara, but the ninja was just as agile as the sniper. Constantly dodging back and forth, rolling and back flipping and leaping all over the place. Garrus and I had to hold most of our shots for fear of hitting Liara. Which gave the ninja free reign to shoot or slash her, gradually wearing down Liara's barrier little by little.
Just when things couldn't get any worse, the ninja disappeared. Into thin air. I really missed the days when I was the only one with a personal cloaking device. (9)
A second was all the ninja needed to get behind Liara and lunge forward, piercing her weakened barriers and stabbing her in the back. My heart stopped as Liara fell. Then my arm rose up and I launched a fireball. Garrus's concussive round turned that blaze into a thundering explosion. The ninja staggered back, electricity writhing from her hardsuit. That bought me enough time to bring my sniper rifle into play and blow her brains out.
I had just enough time to see that Liara's wound wasn't as serious as I thought and administer some medi-gel before I spotted another pair of Nemesis snipers. Activating my cloak, I snuck up on them and landed a perfect head shot. My attempt to take out the other sniper was interrupted by a blur of movement—another one of those ninjas was charging towards me. Damn, was she fast! The only reason I had time to react was that her attention was focused solely on me—which meant that Garrus managed to get the drop on her. His concussive round slowed her down and seriously weakened her barriers.
Raising my sniper rifle, I landed a direct hit. She leapt to the side and cloaked before my following burst of plasma could finish the job, no doubt thinking that she could sneak up and surprise me. Little did she know that my ocular implants could pierce her cloak. My bullet burrowed through her heart before she had the chance to cut me to bloody ribbons.
That left two more hostiles—the sniper I'd had to leave behind and an assault trooper that was late to the party. I dropped the trooper, reloaded and engaged my cloak. Time for me to flank the enemy instead of the other way around. One shot collapsed the sniper's shields. One fireball turned him into a burning corpse.
"Liara!" I shouted out, sweeping the area for any more hostiles. "You all right?"
"I am now," she replied. "Thank you."
"Any time." I patted down the closest Cerberus trooper and helped myself to his thermal clips. "Come on! We gotta move!"
We were this close to Shalmar Plaza when the door suddenly closed in front of us. "Damn it!" Garrus cursed. "They sealed it behind them to slow us down."
"Then we'll have to take a detour," I replied. "This way."
Garrus and Liara would later ask me if I knew my 'detour' would lead us out a window, along a garden bed that many unidentified animals had used to… well… mark their territory, through a very dusty maintenance corridor and along a narrow balcony with a gaping hole in the middle. For some reason, they didn't believe me when I said no. (10)
"We're at Shalmar Plaza," I reported. "And we've got company." I decided not to elaborate that said company included a pesky combat engineer and a lumbering Atlas mech. "Where's the Council?" I asked as a quick burst from my submachine gun, a fireball from yours truly and Garrus's EMP blew up the engineer.
"In an elevator," Bailey replied. "They're trying to get to the shuttle dock. Someone's following them. Someone with a… sword?"
"Great," I groaned as I emptied the rest of my clip into the Atlas. Liara did the same, pausing midway to hurl biotic energy at it. Garrus drained the last dredges of its shields with his particle rifle. Then we began pummelling the mech with plasma, more biotics, concussive rounds and bullets. Realizing his sudden peril, the Atlas pilot dropped a smokescreen. Might've worked, if it wasn't for the enhanced scope that I'd attached to my sniper rifle. "I see you," I whispered as I landed three direct hits—and a fireball.
"Got a ride for you, Shepard," Bailey called in as the Atlas blew up. "Head to the nearest elevator."
It wasn't quite that easy, of course. First we had to take out a trio of assault troopers that a Cerberus shuttle was dropping off. Then we had to restock on ammo. But with a lot of sprinting and Garrus's directions, we made it there within thirty seconds.
Unfortunately, MIB and a trio of ninjas beat us to it. I got another cold smile from the man who'd run Thane through before the doors closed. Undeterred, we quickly went to the next one and forced the doors open. I flicked on the sniper rifle's flashlight and swept the shaft. To my relief, there was an elevator car just below us. "Bailey, it's Shepard," I said, hopping onto the roof of the car. "I'm in the shafts, on top of one of the elevator cars."
"Hang on. This'll be a fast climb."
Garrus and Liara barely made it to my side before the car abruptly skyrocketed. "Tell me that assassin hasn't reached the Council," I shouted as the car leapt up the shaft.
"He's trying," Bailey chuckled, "but I'm making his elevator stop on every floor."
A sharp bark of laughter escaped my lips. "Nice."
"Shepard!" Liara suddenly said. I followed her gaze upwards. "I found our friend," I reported.
"Kill his elevator!" Bailey urged. "There's a power conduit beneath it!"
Actually, there were two. A fireball and an EMP took out one. A dozen shots from my submachine gun took out the other. We overtook the car so quickly it was gone before we knew it. "Good riddance," Garrus declared.
"You're approaching another elevator car," Bailey warned. "More of those guys with swords on top."
At the time, I didn't have the luxury of asking him how he knew that. I later found out he'd managed to access some of the vid-cams by that point—with Miranda's help. "Hold them off," I told Garrus and Liara.
Sure enough, there were more ninjas. This time, we didn't bother trying to kill them. We just had to keep them off-balance long enough for me to find and disable the car's power conduits—thankfully they had a pair on top of the car as well as underneath. "There we go!" Liara said happily as the other skycar shuddered to a halt and we blew right by them.
"Shepard! Bad news."
"Is there any other kind?" I sighed.
"That hit man jumped to another elevator and he's overridden my controls. He's on his way up. I can't stop him."
"I'll handle it," I told him. "Meanwhile, get reinforcements to the shuttle dock ASAP."
"Here they come!" Garrus warned.
This would be the third car we'd encountered in the last two minutes. By now, we had things down cold. Fire, biotics and bullets were our friend. Then came the fourth car.
"Shepard? You're gonna overtake the Council in three.. two…"
Good thing he said that. It sure would be embarrassing if I'd shot the Council's ride. "I see them," I interrupted. "Jump!"
Garrus and Liara obeyed without a moment's hesitation, which only goes to prove that all that time around me had removed whatever common sense they might've had. (11) We had just regained our footing when a bullet punched through the ceiling and nearly took my foot off. Then there was another. And another. "What the—" Garrus cried out as a fourth bullet came this close to hitting him.
"Goddamn it, Kaidan!" I yelled, realizing what was happening. "Stop shooting at us!"
Because that was precisely what was going on. He must've thought that we were the Cerberus goons trying to get to the Council. Little did he know that one of the Councillors—the same one who pushed him to become the second human Spectre—was trying to deliver the Council to Cerberus.
We felt the elevator car slow down. Soon, it had stopped entirely. Chances were that the elevator car had stopped on one of the floors, which meant Kaidan and the Council would soon be running. Hopefully that meant they wouldn't be shooting at us.
Just to make sure, I waited a few seconds before popping the roof hatch and lowering myself into the elevator car. Sure enough, it opened onto one of the floors. A short hallway led through a door into a wide open space.
"Cerberus took out the shuttle," I heard Kaidan cry out. "Everyone back to the elevator! Move!"
By that point, though, we had arrived. Liara hit the door controls with her fist and downloaded something from her omni-tool. Whatever it was, it locked the doors. No one would be getting through any time soon. Garrus and I lifted our guns and pointed them at Udina. Beyond him, I could see a shuttle doing its best to immolate itself. Kaidan promptly stepped in front of him and raised his pistol in return. "Shepard? What's going on?" he yelled, clearly still pumped up on adrenaline.
"Shepard's blocking our escape!" Udina said. "He's with Cerberus!"
Figures. The one time someone says I'm with Cerberus instead and it still makes me look like the bad guy.
"Just… hang on," Kaidan insisted, his voice deliberately measured and soothing. "I got this. Everyone calm down."
Well he wasn't shooting at me or levelling baseless accusations. That was a start. "I can explain this, Kaidan."
He looked uncertain. Uneasy. "Come on, Shepard. Gun drawn on a Councillor… kinda looks bad."
Okay. Maybe he had a point. For once. More importantly, he seemed to be receptive to the idea that I wasn't Evil Incarnate the last time we met. Maybe he'd be more open-minded if I threw him a bone. Lowering my weapon, I motioned for Garrus and Liara to do the same. "We don't have time for chit-chat," I said bluntly. "You've been fooled—all of you. Udina's behind this attack. He's been funnelling tons of credits for who knows how long. Councillor Valern confirmed it."
"Please," Udina sneered. "You have no proof. You never do."
Actually, this time I did. "You want proof?" I asked. Slowly, I activated my omni-tool, making sure it was pointed away from everyone. "Here you go."
"I have concerns about humanity's representative," Valern's voice came out from the omni-tool's speakers.
"Ambassador Osoba?"
"No. Humanity's representative to the Citadel Council."
"What sort of concerns?"
"My agents have discovered that Councillor Udina is using his authority to move vast sums of money. For what purpose, we're not sure."
"So you don't know where he's getting the money from, who he's transferring it to or what's being bought with all those credits?"
"Precisely."
"If Udina's dirty, we need to find out. If he's innocent, then we need to know before we waste more manpower and resources. Either way, it's best we get to the bottom of it. Fast."
"Agreed. Come to the Citadel. We will review the evidence and discuss this in private. Valern out."
I stopped the recording and glared at Udina. "Councillor Valern personally requested my presence. When I arrived, Cerberus had already launched their attack." Turning around, I stabbed a finger at the locked door. "There are Cerberus soldiers in the elevator shaft behind us. If you open that door, they'll kill you all."
"All you have are empty claims and a recording that could have been fabricated," Udina tried.
The other Councillors exchanged a look. Maybe they were remembering that a similarly empty claim and a recording from a certain quarian was enough to convince them that Saren had gone rogue. I looked at them and waited.
"We've mistrusted Shepard before," Councillor Tevos finally said, "and it did not help us."
Will wonders never cease? I had to resist the urge to pinch myself.
"We don't have time to debate this!" Udina snapped. "We're dead if we stay out here. I'm overriding the lock." He headed over to a nearby computer console. I started to lift my weapon…
…only for Kaidan to do the same. Here we go again. "Kaidan," I said quietly. "Remember when we last talked? When you said you would try harder? That you would listen harder? I'm asking you to listen. Right now."
He looked me in the eye. I looked right back.
…
…
"I better not regret this," he said.
"You won't," I promised.
"Udina," he said, turning around and raising his pistol. "Step away from the console."
Far from doing so, Udina simply shook his head and accessed the locking protocols. "To hell with this!" he spat. Whatever he was doing was working, as the door controls began to respond. Liara quickly activated her own omni-tool and began to counter his movements. Garrus and I tried to get a clear shot on Udina, only to realize that Tevos was in the way. She put a hand on Udina's arm, as if the simple contact could gently restrain him.
If so, it had the opposite effect. Udina slapped her hand away and shoved her to the ground. Then he reached to his waist—
"Gun!" Kaidan yelled.
I didn't stop to think for an instant. Just lifted my gun and fired. It wasn't a headshot, but it did the job: Udina flinched, swayed back and forth, then collapsed to the ground. Councillor Sparatus helped Tevos to her feet and escorted her away from the blood that was slowly spreading from Udina's body. Then he froze and pointed a talon. "The door!"
While we were distracted, there was a new development: someone had given up on bypassing the locks and had settled on cutting their way through. "Get the Council back and cover that door!" I ordered.
Kaidan quickly hustled the Councillors to hide behind the shuttle. By that point, the fire had gone out and it was mostly smoke. Garrus, Liara and I found what little cover there was and prepared for the attack. The welding torch finished cutting through the locks and the doors hissed open.
"Put that gun down before you hurt someone! Well, someone who doesn't deserve it."
"Bailey?" I said in surprise.
Commander Bailey himself, along with a C-Sec officer, stepped out. "Made it as fast as we could, Shepard," he said. "Looks like you, uh…" he trailed off when he saw Udina. "…took care of things."
"Something's not right," Tevos frowned. "Commander Shepard, you said Cerberus was targeting us—where did their soldiers go?"
Oh for crying out loud. Were they doubting me again?
Bailey caught his officer's eye and tilted his head towards the elevator. "Cerberus was right here," he said as the officer walked back, "but they beat feet in to the keeper tunnels when they figured out we were coming. Anyone who didn't make it… well, see for yourself."
The C-Sec officer opened the door. There was at least half a dozen men in Cerberus colours—all missing most of their face. "Goddess!" Tevos gasped. "What—"
"Ocular nerve flash bangs," I explained. "More high-tech—and graphic—than a suicide pill."
"Sorry, Councillors." Bailey didn't sound sorry at all and I, for one, didn't care. "I ain't gonna sugar-coat it: Shepard just saved your asses."
"Indeed." Sparatus stepped forward and bowed his head towards me in gratitude. "You have saved my life twice now, Shepard. (12) I owe you both a personal debt and one on behalf of Palaven."
Again, I resisted the urge to pinch myself. Barely. Kaidan finally did something that showed he believed me. I wouldn't have to hear Udina's nasal whining ever again. And both of the Councillors had just declared their belief and appreciation of my efforts. Granted, none of this was being recorded for public viewing but still. For a moment, I was tempted to rub it in their faces.
Okay. Maybe a long moment.
"You don't owe me anything, Councillor," I said at last. "Times like this, we all stand together."
"Commander," Sparatus said. "Do you have any idea why the Illusive Man would do this?"
"Power and control, maybe," I shrugged. "I don't know, exactly. But I plan to find out."
"Find out later," Bailey urged. "We've got principals who need escorting to safety. Not to mention a tunnel and a million more place to secure. Let's move it!"
There was definitely a lot of work left. Re-establishing communications. Clearing rooms and hallways and tunnels. Organizing personnel and resources. Caring for the wounded. Dealing with the dead. The list went on and on and on.
Bailey asked to meet with me several hours later. By then, C-Sec was almost back to normal—if you ignored the bullet holes, scorch marks and the rooms that had been converted into makeshift morgues. "We looked over every centimetre of those tunnels, Shepard," he said without preamble. "Your Cerberus pal is made of smoke and mirrors."
Somehow, I was not surprised. "He likes to fight," I said darkly. "He'll show up again."
"Pardon me if I'm not reassured by that," Bailey frowned. "We can't even get an ID on him. He released a VI into the Citadel's system that erased footage of him wherever he went. I guess he didn't trust that Udina's plan would work."
"Or he was smart enough to have a contingency plan in place," I added.
"Yeah, I guess," he sighed. "There's another reason I wanted to see you: we got your friend Thane to Huerta Memorial. The docs rushed him into surgery. Apparently, uh… there's complications."
"What kind of complications?" I asked immediately. "Do you think he'll make it?"
The uneasy look of hesitation on Bailey's face made my stomach sink. "Working the beat as long as I have, you get to know the hospitals pretty well. As big as the Citadel is, there isn't exactly a lot of drell blood on hand. I notified Kolyat as soon as I could. Would've had to anyway, as he's the only next of kin listed. Turns out he was the right blood type, but I don't know if he made it in time. We're pretty sure the route to the hospital is safe from Cerberus. If you want to see him… you'd better go now."
"I'll do that," I nodded, heading for the door.
"Oh, one more thing," Bailey called out.
"Yeah?"
"Tell him Councillor Valern says he's a hero. Just to… I don't know, make things easier for him."
There was only one reason I could think of for why Bailey would suggest that. I hoped he was wrong. Some part of me insisted otherwise, though. That part knew the truth.
But I ignored it. I embraced denial and ran.
I raced over to Huerta Memorial, ignoring all the bullet holes I saw. The fires. The smoke. The wounded. The dead. The examples of people selflessly offering assistance. The examples of people grieving loved ones they had lost. The asari frantically searching for any data to help her people's fleets against the Reapers.
Inside, the hospital was packed. There were stretchers everywhere, lining every hallway. In the main foyer, they even had wounded lying on blankets stretched over the floor. More blankets were pulled over the heads of other people lying on the floor. I weaved my way around the patients, the dead, the techs and nurses and doctors. The asari trying to look for some doohickey that would motivate more people to help. Because I had a more pressing concern on my mind.
Eventually, someone noticed the dumb grunt barging through the hall and into the inpatient wing. A bald human doctor stopped me. "Can I help you?"
"Yeah," I nodded. "I'm looking for a drell named Thane Krios."
He frowned and checked his datapad. "Well, we have a drell, but not under that name."
Oh for crying out loud. I can appreciate patient confidentiality as much as the next guy but Thane might be—I didn't have time for this. "He was injured. Stab wound. He's a regular patient here."
"It's all right, it's all right," he quickly said soothingly. "I see. The doctors were able to repair most of the trauma. However, Mister… um, 'Krios' is in the final stages of Kepral's Syndrome."
"I know. He told me about it."
"Then you know that, at its worst, Kepral's Syndrome interferes with his blood's ability to carry oxygen. And he lost a lot of blood. Now they've given him transfusions but, frankly, there was a very limited supply of drell blood on the Citadel."
Oh God. "I'll find more," I insisted.
"That's not going to work," he shook his head. "Only one other drell on the station is a match, and that drell is in with him now. We did all we could to help him through surgery, but his body can't replace lost blood with new cells. Not quickly enough, anyway. Too much shock."
This couldn't be happening. Not after everything we'd been through.
"His son, Kolyat… he's in there saying his goodbyes. You might want to say yours." He gently put a hand on my shoulder. "I'm sorry."
Somehow, my feet managed to move towards the door. It hissed open obligingly. Thane was lying on a bed. A respirator mask dangled nearby. Monitors beeped slowly around him. Like Kaidan's room, there were a set of floor-to-ceiling windows that looked out onto the Presidium. It was so bright. So beautiful. So peaceful.
It just wasn't fair.
Kolyat was standing by his side, head lowered. He turned around when he heard me enter. "Commander Shepard. My father mentioned you were no longer incarcerated."
"Kolyat," I greeted him. "Thane said you were still here. I heard you donated your blood." I reached for the mask, but stopped when Kolyat held out a hand. "He asked me to take off his oxygen mask so he could be comfortable."
No. No, no, no, no, no, no, no…
"I… I don't think it will be very long."
"Your father helped me save a lot of lives," I told him. "I'd like to be here."
"Of course."
I slowly moved to Thane's side. His eyes flickered open. "Commander," he whispered. "I'm afraid I won't be joining you again."
"You've done more than enough, Thane," I said. Bailey asked me to pass on a message from Councillor Valern—the salarian you saved from that assassin. He says you're a hero. Not that there was any doubt in my mind."
He couldn't help but smile at that. "That 'assassin' should be embarrassed. A terminally ill drell managed to stop him from reaching his target."
Ah, professional pride. It had a way of popping up at the oddest times. "I'll pass the word along the next time I see him."
Thane's eyes seemed to dim before suddenly flared to a fervent, even panicked, life. "There is something I must do before it gets worse. I must—" He broke off and began coughing. Kolyat bowed his head and clasped his hands together.
With an effort, Thane stopped coughing. "Kalahira," he whispered, "mistress of inscrutable depths, I ask forgiveness. Kalahira, whose waves wear down stone and sand—"
He had to stop again and cough.
"Kalahira, wash the sins from this one and set him on the distant shore of the infinite spirit."
Thane turned and stared at his son in astonishment. "Kolyat… you speak as the priests do. You have been spending time with them."
Whoa. This was huge. Thane was amongst the few drell who still clung to their old gods and their old beliefs. He had been estranged from his son due to his past life as a professional assassin—first for the hanar and then for whoever would hire him. When he heard that Kolyat might be trying to become an assassin like him, he was heartbroken.
But now… Kolyat knew these lines by heart. That could only be possible if he had, to some degree, accepted his father's religion as his own. To follow in his footsteps in a more spiritual manner. This one revelation might be better than anything Valern or I or anyone could say.
Kolyat simply gave a shy smile and nodded before walking around the bed to join me. "I brought a prayer book. Commander, would you care to join me?"
I slowly nodded. Kolyat pulled the prayer book from his pocket and opened it to a page. Thankfully, it was in English. "Kalahira, this one's heart is pure, but beset by wickedness and contention," he began.
"Guide this one to where the traveler never tires," I continued, "the lover never leaves, the hungry never starve." I paused to look at Thane. He had a smile of contentment and peace on his face. "Guide this one, Kalahira, and he will be a companion to you as he was to me."
Thane's smile widened. Then he turned over so the last thing he saw was the brightness of the Presidium. The tension in his body slowly dissipated. I wordlessly stepped over and closed his eyelids. (13)
"Kolyat?" I said quietly. "There's something I don't understand. His last moments were those of a hero. I said as much to him. Why pray for salvation? Hasn't he already done enough?"
"The prayer was not for him, Commander. He has already asked forgiveness for the lives he has taken."
"I… I don't understand."
"His wish—his prayer of redemption—was for you."
Unbelievable. Even in his dying moments, he was worried about me. About my need for redemption. Thane was in a unique position to appreciate how the lives I had taken, the lives that had been lost because I wasn't fast enough or strong enough or persuasive enough, would weigh on me. How I was fighting to redeem myself for so many deaths, just as much as I was fighting for the sake of the galaxy itself.
I guess I shouldn't be surprised.
"Goodbye, Thane," I said at last, feeling a tear trickle down my cheek. "You won't be alone long."
(1): Shepard was being too harsh. The simple, albeit cruel, fact was that the best way to help the greatest number of people in the long term was to pass by so many of those people in the short term.
(2): Not surprising, on the surface. Before changing their tactics to favour more direct assaults, Cerberus had made a concerted effort to infiltrate as many organizations as they could.
(3): Garrus later admitted that was a foolish move on his part, but he was worried about some former C-Sec colleagues that he hadn't completely alienated during his departure. Unfortunately, Ridgefield and Lamont were both dead.
(4): Khalisah Bint Sinan al-Jilani would later get a great deal of critical acclaim from viewers and colleagues in the media for upholding the highest and most honoured values of journalism. She met these accolades with a certain bemusement, explaining that, at the time, all she could think of was that she was ill-equipped to fight off armed Cerberus soldiers and that getting some much-needed help was a much better use of her talents.
(5): A human figure of speech for multiple unspecified people or everyone. The origin remains unknown, though the earliest citation comes from English theologian John Owen, who used the phrase when addressing the governing body at Oxford University in 1657.
(6): A common human acronym for 'Man/Men in Black. In popular culture and conspiracy theories, the term is given to people dressed in black suits who claim to be government agents, work for mysterious organizations or government agencies supposedly designed to protect secrets or perform unusual activities, or are secretly nonhumans. In this case, Shepard is using the term more literally.
(7): To physically torture or injure someone by means of archaic methods or tools. The term was first coined by the fictional character Marcellus Wallace in the 1994 human vid 'Pulp Fiction.'
(8): A human nautical term for left, from the perspective of someone facing the front—or bow. While a skycar is hardly a ship, I suppose old habits die hard.
(9): Not surprisingly, these new hostiles would subsequently be classified as Phantoms.
(10): Our skepticism was due mostly to the credits Shepard found and salvaged at the end of this detour.
(11): Hey!
(12): The first time was when Shepard urged the First, Third and Fifth Fleets to hold Sovereign and the rogue geth at bay until the Destiny Ascension, which was carrying the Council, could escape.
(13): A human custom of respect for the dead.