Bold indicates Shepard Reaper speech
Bold Italics indicate Reaper internal speech
Please comment and review
This is my first attempt at a story, so I am open to constructive criticism. Also If anyone has suggestions for the story feel free to give them.
Revelations on Eden Prime part 2
Location: The Subjugator
Time: 1600 CST
date: 19th March 2184
The assembled treacherous government leaders could only stare as the body of their co-conspirator hit the floor.
[BGM start: 'Riot' by Three Days Grace]
After recovering from their shock, they immediately aimed their weapons at him, but John didn't give them a chance. He locked his gaze onto Balak and prepared a biotic charge, intending to sever the head of the snake. Unfortunately, the Batarian noticed the aura surrounding him, and rolled to the side, causing Shepard to slam into a group of guards. Shepard glared at the retreating Batarian, growling at the lost opportunity to deal with the slaver once and for all. Deciding to focus on the enemies directly in front of him, he elbowed a Turian in the face, knocking him into the ground, then fired a burst of high velocity slugs into the chest of another killing him. He then slammed his heel on the throat of the downed Turian, and with a quick twist, snapped his neck. During this time a Salarian guard had been able to aim his weapon at him, but before he could fire, he was knocked to the ground by a flying kick courtesy of Liz Shepard. She landed gracefully on the ground; both her pistols drawn. She fired a quick burst into the head of the Salarian she had knocked down, then taking advantage of the fact that the guards were still shocked by her sudden appearance, continued to fire, taking down another Salarian and a Turian. She sent a quick glare in her brother's direction, still wrapping her head around how he had just announced himself to all of them. An Asari commando made to engage the human woman, but before she could take a step, she found herself enveloped in a biotic aura and pulled backwards. Kaidan delivered a right haymaker to the flying Asari, sending her to the ground, then before she could recover, he put several rounds into her. Another Turian was knocked to the ground, as Ashley slammed the butt of her rifle into his face, a Turian standing next to him began to aim his assault rifle at her, but he was quickly gunned down as Garrus entered the fray.
The meeting exploded into pandemonium.
An Asari tried to deliver a biotic charged fist to John's face, but he caught it, with his own hand covered in biotic energy. The commando gritted her teeth and tried to draw her Acolyte pistol, but John used his assault rifle to knock it out of her hands. Taking advantage of her surprise, John kneed her in the stomach, then as she keeled over, he delivered a hammer fist to the back of her head, sending her face into the ground, then finishing her off with a headshot. He glanced around, hoping to find Balak, but to his frustration, the Batarian had slipped away already.
As his gaze wandered over the various alien leaders, his head exploded in pain again, he didn't show any outward reaction, but internally images of all the colonies that had been devastated during the slaver raids, flashed through his mind. Even the colonies they had saved had not escaped unscathed, 'these are the ones responsible John….all that death…..all that loss…they are the ones responsible. You have a chance to make them pay, hehehe,' the entity began to chuckle darkly, 'they even gave you 'permission' to eliminate them….. take advantage John.'
John growled under his breath, under his helmet, his irises glowed red. He locked his gaze on Dalatrass Vezika, her guards seemed to be in the process of trying to escort her away from the fight. His rage increased as the images of the Klurikon facility flashed through his mind, this was the woman who had authorised that den of horrors. He charged towards her, the STG guards quickly noticing him, raised their weapons and fired. John quickly created a biotic barrier, protecting himself from the storm of high velocity slugs. He tried to return fire, but the kinetic barriers of these STG agents was more advanced than those of the average soldier. Seeing that, John continued to charge forward. One of the Salarians launched a flying kick towards John, the speed of which would have knocked any lesser soldier to the ground. Unfortunately for the amphibian, John wasn't lesser, he leaned to his right slightly, causing the Salarian to pass him. Then he reached out and hooked his arm around the still airborne Salarian's thigh and brutally slammed it to the ground, breaking his leg in the process. John fired a round into the downed Salarian's head, unfortunately another Salarian knocked his assault rifle out of his hands with a judo chop, John retorted with a punch directly to the Salarian's face, knocking him back. A third STG immediately came up behind him and tried to fire at Shepard with his pistol, but John was too fast and swiftly knocked the Salarian's arm away, and the gun into the air. He then delivered a jab to his throat, while he stumbled back struggling for breath, John skilfully caught the falling gun and fired several rounds into him. The Salarian John had punched previously tried to deliver another punch, but John blocked it. He fired the pistol at the Salarian's head, only for it to hiss, indicating its heatsink was full. Giving a groan of frustration, John used to pistols to knock the Salarian back again, then he grabbed him by the head and broke his neck. John turned his gaze back towards Vezika, who looked around desperately, trying to call for some of the other STG operatives to help her. But before she could cry out John grabbed her by the throat, "this…this wasn't supposed to happen," she choked, "your calculations were incorrect Dalatrass," John responded coldly before snapping her neck.
Liz took cover as a group of Black Talon soldiers opened fire on her, being directed by General Horadus, someone she recognised from her time at Decurion. He had been a nasty piece of work, taking any opportunity to discipline a human cadet, but she hadn't thought he was capable of this. "She's just a girl," he roared. Liz sneered; she would show him what this 'girl' was capable of. She activated a biotic charge, and launched herself into their mists. One of the Turians was sent flying backwards and slammed into the wall. Another to her right, realising her close proximity, tried to use the butt of his rifle to club her. But she blocked his blow with her right arm, then she used the pistol in her left hand to fire several rounds into his side. While he choked, she finished him off with a headshot. Another Turian lunged at her, this time with a combat knife, but she skilfully ducked underneath it. He stepped back and tried to lunge again, but she stepped to the side, elbowed him in the face with her right arm, and while he was dazed placed her pistol under his chin and fired. A third Turian charged at her, trying to slice her with his talons, but she dropped to her knees, and fired several rounds into his thigh, as he fell to the ground screaming Liz fired another round through his head. Suddenly Liz rolled to her right, narrowly dodging getting sliced by Horadus' talons, reacting quickly, Liz stood back up and used her right pistol to club him round the face. While he was stunned, Liz kicked him in the back sending him into a wall. "You know back at Decurion, you said it would be centuries before humanity achieved the same level of morality as Turian's. I'm not so close minded to classify all Turian the same, but I agree it would take a few centuries for us to become as bad as you," she said as she raised her pistols to finish him off. Suddenly Horadus, spun onto his back and kicked Liz in the chest, the blow knocked her backwards and caused her to drop her weapons. The Turian General jumped back to his feet and charged at the young woman, turning it into a fistfight. Horadus tried to drive his talons into her chest, but she grabbed his wrist, pushed it to the side and delivered a punch to his chest. He then tried to deliver a front kick to her midsection, but she caught his foot, and scored a right hook across his face, sending back again. Liz quickly tried to retrieve one of her weapons, but she quickly had to jump to the side as Horadus' talons came down again. She grabbed his arm, the Turian proceeded to elbow her in the face, but she refused to let go. She used her position to swing him around and pinned him against the wall, but he head-butted her causing her to stagger backwards. As he lunged again Liz delivered a left hook to his face. She ducked under another slash, then parried a swipe from her right. He tried to stab her again but she caught his right hand with her left, then she hooked her left arm around his neck, and used her position to throw him to the ground. She straddled him and then gripped his hand with both of hers, he tried to fight her, but his wild fighting had left him more exhausted than her, and soon she drove his talons into his throat. She took several minutes to catch her breath, but she quickly realised the fight was far from over, so she picked up her weapons and re-joined the fray.
Kaidan cast stasis on a Turian that had just stepped out of cover, then proceed to gun the traitorous guard down. Unfortunately, there was no time for a reprieve as he narrowly jumped out of the path of a biotic shockwave, curtesy of one of the commandos. He looked to see Matriarch T'snaya, stood among several commandos. "Kill him!" she yelled. The three Asari began to glow with biotic energy, before they began to advance on him. Kaidan raised his assault rifle and fired, but the slugs were absorbed by the commandos' biotic barrier, he then decided to holster his weapon and take the fight directly to them as he activated his own biotics. The first tried to deliver a biotic right hook to his face. The speed of the blow would have overwhelmed most combatants, but these commandos didn't know that Kaidan had received similar training to them, as he successfully blocked it with his left arm, also covered in biotic energy. The commando tried to deliver a strike with her left fist, but Kaidan grabbed her arm and twisted it, forcing her to bend over. The commander could only look at him in surprise, as he raised his leg and delivered an axe kick to her neck, breaking it. A second commando tried to launch a sidekick at him, but he grabbed her leg with his right hand, then he drove his left elbow into her knee, breaking her leg. She screamed in pain, before he grabbed her by the throat and broke her neck. He ducked under a jump kick from another commando, and turned to face her, she unleashed a fury of blows against him, but he was successfully able to block them all, he then sweep kicked her off her feet, and once she was on the ground, delivered a crushing punch to her windpipe. T'snaya looked at him in sheer fury, "I will not be bested by a mere human," she growled and took a fighting stance. Kaidan smirked, T'snaya may be a Matriarch but she wasn't a front-line fighter, she expected to fight in that dress. Such ideas were quickly knocked out of his head, quite literally, as the Matriarch performed a spinning kick to the side of his face knocking him to the ground. Kaidan spat out of glob of blood and pushed himself back to his feet. He turned to see the sides of T'snaya's dress ripped to reveal the commando uniform and combat boots underneath, "weren't expecting that?" She asked with a sly smile. She proved that her skill actually exceeded those of her commandos as she delivered a kick to Kaidan's gut, too quick for him to block, and then a left hook to his face. T'snaya used the opportunity to grasp him by the throat and began to strangle him. Desperate to get out of her grip, he head-butted her, knocking her back. Kaidan regained his bearings and when she threw another punch at him, in a skilful manoeuvre he grabbed her wrist, pushed it away, and twisted it causing her elbow to fracture, all in a single motion. T'snaya grunted in pain as Kaidan twisted her arm, forcing her down. That move he used, she recognised it, "where did someone like you learn that?" she asked, while seething in pain, "someone you know, her name is Sha'ira," he responded. T'snaya's eyes widened in realisation and horror, "she also taught me this," Kaidan said as he delivered a palm strike to her nose, breaking it and driving the bone into her brain, killing her.
Ashley opened fired on an STG operative, but the Salarian's advanced shielding protected him. He immediately raised his venom shotgun and aimed at her chest. Ash held her assault rifle in her right hand, and used her left to grab his weapon and push it away from her, then she smashed him across the face with her right elbow, while blood poured down the Salarian's face, she delivered a powerful kick to the side of his leg, breaking it. The Salarian screamed in pain and fell to his knees, while Ashley switched to disruptor ammo, and aiming her assault rifle with one hand, fired off a burst, bypassing his shield and finishing him off. Two more came at her at once, hoping to overwhelm her. She stepped back to avoid a reverse heel kick from one, but her weapon was knocked out of the hands. She raised her arms and assumed a combat stance, a Salarian tried to deliver a right hook to her face, which she blocked, she kicked him in the gut knocking him back. The second also tried to swing at her, but she caught his fist with her left hand, then delivered several sharp jabs to his throat and face. While he gasped for breath, she drew her combat knife and drove it into his chest. The other Salarian tried to attack again with an axe kick, but Ashley raised both arms above her head and blocked it, then drove the knife into his thigh. As he screamed, she pulled it out, lunged forward and slit his throat. Ashley turned her attention to the last Salarian in front of her, General Jizal. He looked at the bodies of his fallen comrade in surprise, "how were you, a mere human able to defeat highly trained STG operatives?" he asked with gritted teeth. Ashley chuckled, "you Salarians are at your best when the enemy doesn't know you're there, you're not the best when it comes to direct combat. But if you really want to know, do you have any idea what it's like for a human in the Turian military?" she asked rhetorically. "You have to run faster, hit harder, and kill more enemies just to get a fraction of the recognition, so you have to become better," she stated. Jizal sneered. Ash attempted a downward lunge with her knife, but the General easily batted it away. She tried again, but this time he twisted around and grabbed her wrist, he then slammed it against the wall until she dropped her knife, but she retorted by bringing up her left arm and punching him across the face, knocking him back. He quickly recovered, and advanced on her delivering a kick to her chest, sending her staggering back a bit. He swung with a left punch, which Ashley was able to block, but he followed up by elbowing her across the forehead with his right arm, he then kneed her in the chest. Ashley didn't relent, and delivered a right hook, sending him staggering, she quickly locked her arms around his head and attempted to choke him, but Jizal elbowed her several times in the face until she released him. He tried to follow this up with a punch, Ashley caught his arm, but the Salarian quickly twisted out of her grip, manoeuvred behind her and slammed her into the wall. Ashley quickly recomposed herself, and with a burst of speed tackled the General to the ground, they tussled for a few moments, before he was able to kick her off. They both faced each other, "your outmatched human," Jizal boasted, Ashley grinned, "and there's only one thing to do when your outmatched," she flashed up her omni-tool and activated something. Jizal look down in horror to see that she's planted a grenade on his belt during the tussle, "cheat," Ashley finished, and jumped back as she detonated the grenade.
Garrus slammed the butt of his rifle into a Turian's side, before cutting him down with a burst from his weapon. While on the outside, he was calm, inwardly Garrus was seething in rage, like all Turians, he had been brought up believing that the Hierarchy prevailed through the high value it placed on loyalty and honour, but here they were, the leaders of their own government betraying their people. Garrus' anger increased as he locked eyes with General Adanius. He let out a bestial roar and charged. Two guards made to block Garrus' path, but before they could raise their weapons, he was already upon them. He slammed the butt of his rifle, across the face of the guard on his left, without wasting a second, he kicked the one on his right in the gut. Garrus tried to aim his weapon, but the first Guard had already recovered, and charged at him, he grabbed Garrus' assault rifle and they began to play tug-of-war with the weapon. Unfortunately for the guard Garrus was fuelled by his anger, and with a powerful tug, was able to move the weapon, so the barrel was aiming at his opponent's face. The Turian could only stare in shock as Garrus opened fire. The second guard tried to attack Garrus from behind, but he quickly ducked out of the way, as the Turian went past him. Not wasting the opportunity Garrus came up behind the guard, and began to use his assault to grab the other Turian in a chokehold, and with a quick twist he snapped his neck. Garrus turned to his attention back to Adanius, but the General was already advancing on him. Adanius quickly knocked the rifle out of Garrus' already loose grip, he then grabbed Garrus by the collar of his armour, slammed him against the wall, and started to choke him. Garrus desperately tried to break free, and made several weak attempts at kneeing the General the chest, eventually he head-butted him, causing his opponent to stagger back. Garrus tried to deliver a right hook but Adanius blocked it, "all those people, fellow Turians, so many died, for what?! Your delusions of grandeur?!" Garrus yelled. "You're too naive to see it Vakarian, the Hierarchy is weak, it needs true leadership to make it strong. We are going to give it that leadership, the lives of all those Turians are a necessary sacrifice" Adanius responded. Garrus' scowl intensified, but Adanius threw a right hook, which Garrus ducked to his left to dodge. Adanius then threw a left hook, which Garrus also dodged. Garrus and delivered a powerful punch to the General's gut, he then grabbed Adanius by his shoulders and proceeded to pummel his face. His last punch knocked the General to the ground, as he desperately tried to crawl away, Garrus retrieved his assault rifle, "stand down Vakarian….that's an order," Adanius said in a pleading tone, Garrus looked to him with cold eyes, "I don't take orders from traitors," and he fired.
John slammed a biotically charged fist onto a Turian, breaking their neck. On instinct he activated his biotics again and spun to his left, just in time to block an attack from Matriarch T'hayra. The blue aura around both of them intensified, as the mass effect fields clashed against each other. "Years of preparation and sacrifices, you've destroyed all of it!" she yelled, "who are you to oppose us!" Shepard simply looked at her, his expression hidden by his helmet, "just a farm boy from Mindoir," he said jokingly. With a final push, he sent her staggering back, while she was recovering, he ran behind her, and with their backs facing, reached his arm back, grabbed her chin, and with a sickening crack that echoed across the room, broke her neck over his shoulder.
Liz couldn't help but be impressed at the ease in which her brother had killed an Asari Matriarch, however her mind quickly focused on other things as she felt the barrel of a pistol press against the back of her head. "Drop your weapon now," said General Mayina, Liz did so, cursing herself for letting an enemy get the drop on her. "Good girl," the Matriarch said mockingly, "now you tell your little friends to-," the General's attention was drawn to a biotic shockwave heading in her direction, she quickly raised her own barrier in response, and as the attack dissipated, she saw that the perpetrator of the attack was Kaiden. While the Asari's attention was elsewhere, Liz took advantage. She carefully drew her combat knife and spun round, hoping to slash Mayina. The Matriarch was unfortunately able to leap back, but Liz's blade was still able to catch her pistol, knocking it out of her hand. Mayina didn't look at all alarmed, in fact she smiled and pulled out her own pair of knives, "try to make this interesting little one," she said playfully. Mayina attacked with a downwards stab from her left knife, but Liz brought up her knife, locking the blades together. The General then attempted to stab her right knife into Liz's gut, but the human grabbed her wrist with her free hand. They quickly began to wrestle for control, Liz putting all of her effort into trying to keep the knife back, but the smile on the Matriarch's face made it clear she was only toying with her. Mayina manoeuvred their locked blades lower, pulled her right hand free of Liz's grip and slashed the human's left side. Liz took several steps back as she clutched her side with a left hand. The wound wasn't very deep but the Matriarch had aimed her slash perfectly, getting between the plates and cutting the thinner mesh. The Matriarch continued to grin at her, as she flipped her left knife in her hand several times, then she threw it. Liz leaned to her right and was just able to dodge it, but it still left a gash across her left shoulder. The General attempted another low lunge at Liz, but using her impressive agility, she ran up the nearby wall and flipped over the Asari. Mayina quickly spun around and attempted another swipe at Liz, which she successfully parried with her knife. The General then attempted another downward stab, but Liz blocked it and their blades locked again. Liz used her free hand to deliver a punch to the Matriarch's nose. Mayina took several steps back and wiped her lip, seeing her own blood. The General growled at her and began to attack again, soon their blades began to dance with such fury and speed that it was almost impossible to keep track. Liz parried a swipe from her right, then another from her left, then blocked a downward swipe, Liz was panting heavily now, the fight had taken a toll on her. Seeing this Mayina pressed her advantage and deliver a biotic punch to Liz's face, knocking her into a wall. Liz had quickly been able to raise her biotic barrier, preventing the punch from separating her head from her shoulders, but it still hurt like hell. She quickly jumped to her feet and their blades clashed again. Liz blocked a swipe, but she was too slow to block the next attack, and Mayina left a small cut on her midsection. Mayina gave a dark laugh, which caused Liz to grit her teeth and push the pain down before resuming her attack. She started with a right lunge which the matriarch blocked, and quickly spun around her, Liz quickly turned around as well, to keep her opponent in her sights. Liz blocked a downward strike, then an upwards lunge, then strike from her right. She was a prodigy when it came to knife combat but just keeping up with the Matriarch was taking every ounce of her skill. Liz attempted another lunge at Mayina, but the Matriarch ducked and threw Liz over her in judo fashion. Liz hit the ground face first, and saw that right next to her was the knife Mayina had thrown at her earlier. Mayina slowly walked towards her downed opponent, confident in her victory, "I have centuries of fighting experience child, I can read your every move," she declared. As the Matriarch brought her knife down, Liz spun around and blocked it with her own knife, then with her free hand she grabbed the Matriarch's discarded knife, and in one swift movement drove it into the Asari's heart. "Read that bitch," Liz said, Mayina could only stare at the knife in shock, before she fell to the ground.
Liz took several deep breaths, and winced as the pain of her injuries finally registered, unfortunately any hope she held for a reprieve was mistaken. She heard a yell from her right and quickly saw General Salvitus about to bring a knife down on her. She didn't have time to dodge, and her injuries were acting up too much for her to properly defend herself, all she could do was watch her incoming demise. Suddenly she felt something ram into her, knocking her to the side, followed by the sickening sound of the knife imbedding itself in flesh. Liz pushed herself back up, and gasped in shock at the sight, having knocked her out of the way, her brother had taken the knife for her, now embedded in the back of his right shoulder. "John!" she yelled, however before her brother could respond, Salvitus pushed her injured brother out of the way and descended on her, she felt his talons wrap around her throat and begin to choke her, "you think you can destroy everything we've built!" Salvitus roared, "you stinking human thought you could come here and face us!"
Meanwhile John pushed himself up to knees, he knew he would heal from the injury but it still hurt a lot, but his mind wasn't on that, it was on the bastard currently choking his sister, with a pained grunt he reached over and grabbed the hilt of the knife embedded in his shoulder. With one painful tug he yanked it out, "face this asshole!" he yelled as he threw the knife, the Turian looked up just in time for the knife to embed itself in his face. John stood back up as Liz pushed the limp body off her, looking around he saw that they had eliminated all of the conspirators, except one. John growled and activated his biotic charge slamming Primarch Tactus against the wall, he pressed his left elbow against the Primarch's throat, pinning him. "All the suffering, all those colonies razed, all those people killed, all those lives destroyed!" he yelled while biotic energy built up in his right hand. The Primarch tried to plead for his life, but John wasn't listening. He rammed three of his biotically charged fingers into the Primarch's open mouth and his head exploded in a mass of gore. John didn't react to the blood covering his face.
[BGM End]
The others could only stare in shock at John's brutal method of execution, "by the spirits, what did you just do?" Garrus exclaimed, John looked to him with a cold stare, "I eliminated a traitor, I believe I am owed thanks from your government." John retrieved his weapon and headed for the door, "John what are you doing? You're injured, you need to get those treated," Ash tried to say, "Balak is still alive," he said simply, "I'll deal with him, you make sure the ship is clear of other hostiles," and he ran off before they could argue. Kaidan then noticed that the screens were still displaying the broadcast from Shepard's helmet cam, "did….did the entire Galaxy just see what we did?" he asked with partial dread.
000
John ran through the hallways of the dreadnought, following the tracker which was somehow still active. He into the room and had enough time to recognise it as an observation lounge, before something lunged from his right and delivered a biotic punch to his midsection, sending him to his knees. He felt the barrel of a pistol press against his head and looked up to see Balak glaring at him. "You've caused me enough trouble Shepard, but now your interference ends," the Batarian said, John glared back at him "the entire Galaxy knows what you done Balak, all your benefactors are dead, you're finished," he declared. Balak gave a chuckle, "I told you on Torfon, you can't begin to understand the scope of my plans. They weren't my benefactor Shepard, they were just more pawns, pawns you got rid of for me." John's eyes widened, "you knew you were tracking you," Balak's grin intensified, "Finished? Now I can truly begin," as he said this John saw that his free hand was clenched around something. "I got a look at your sister, as well as at the other woman," he said with a lecherous expression, "they look pretty fine, think I'll come back for them one day," he pressed the barrel harder against Shepard's head, "but you're too much trouble, any last words?" Shephard's hatred had reached boiling point after what Balak said, "go to hell," and shot forward.
He reacted fast enough that he was able to grab Balak's gun arm and force it away from him, unfortunately the Batarian was able to get a shot off that went clean through his midsection, but he ignored it. He grabbed Balak by the waist and continued to charge towards the window. He pulled out his own pistol and fired off several rounds, none of the slugs shattered the window but they caused some damage, Shepard activated his biotics and launched both of them through the damaged window with a biotic charge. At the last second Balak activated his own barrier to prevent himself being crushed against it, but that was little help when they both began falling.
As they began to fall, both of them used their biotics to slow their descent, but it became difficult for either of them to maintain it when they engage each other in an airborne brawl. John grabbed Balak by the collar of his armour and delivered a punch to his face, Balak retorted by head-butting the human. As they fought they began to fall faster. John saw them rapidly approaching the spaceport support ramps, he manoeuvred himself above Balak, then delivered a double kick to his chest launching him towards the ramp. Balak was able to slow his descent enough, but he still hit the platform with considerable force, while Shepard landed on his feet.
000
Liz and the others made their way through the hallways of Subjugator, she couldn't stop worrying about her brother. He hadn't received any medical attention or rest since Akuze, and now she had seen him get stabbed shoulder and he was still going. They reached a large door and Kaidan quickly kneeled down to the terminal to hack into it, "this door's got a lot of cyber security, has be something important here," he said. A few moments later he got the door open and the five of them stepped in, only for all five of them to stare in horror.
000
Balak knew he'd likely broken a leg during the fall, he gritted his teeth in pain, but that was the least of his worries. To his horror he realised that during the fall he lost it, lost what he'd spent all these years trying to acquire, he needed to find it immediately. Unfortunately for him, he heard footsteps behind him and turned around to see Shepard aiming a pistol at him, not unlike the situation he had had a human in just a moment ago. Shepard looked at him coldly "I'd made the mistake of letting you live once, I won't do that again," he said. To his surprise Balak continued a grin at him, "I wouldn't be so sure." As if on cue John received a message from Liz over the comms, "John, bad news. Balak's rigged the entire dreadnought to blow, we found one charge, we've detected two others on board," she said. John looked at the Batarian, "I take it, your sister found my little gifts, those charges are synced to my heartbeat, kill me and…" he didn't need to finish that sentence. John was determined not to let Balak slip away, "Liz get off the ship, tell me when your safe distance so I can give this scum what he deserves," John replied. "That's…. I don't think that's possible John," she said, struggling to get the words out.
000
Liz and others could see hundreds and hundreds of cells, all holding people of various races, Asari, Turians and Salarians.
000
After his sister explain what they found, John turned to look at Balak again, "the people kidnapped from the Citadel colonies," he said quietly, "just a few hundred of the several tens of thousands taken, thought it would be a good idea to have some insurance, in case a situation like this came up," he spoke with extreme confidence. 'The fool thinks the lives of those vermin will prevent you from enacting justice,' the entity voiced in his head, 'those people….you think they have ever given concern for the plight humanity suffers, you think any one of those filth have ever cared about what happens to humans who have gone through the exact same thing they now have!' The entity's voice increased in volume, 'let them die John,' John paused for a second, he gritted his teeth, what he had learned about the governments of the Citadel races, the sheer hypocrisy of it, the countless people who had suffered because of it, 'maybe they should learn, learn what it's like for your loved ones to be torn from you, to feel the despair when you realise they're never coming back,' he voiced internally, 'yes John, after all none of this is your fault, it was their leaders who betrayed them to the slavers, and it is he, who will kill them,' the entity said, almost seductively, 'and even if for some reason you did decide to save them, they would only die in the hell you would unleash,' John looked down, he couldn't argue that point. He activated his comms "Liz, lea-," he was cut off as he had another voice coming from the comms, it took him a second to realise his sister had put the comms on loudspeaker, as he heard the second voice, he realise it was a voice he recognised. 'Impossible….why is she here…'
000
Liz looked around at some of the cells, while Kaidan and Garrus were frantically trying to disarm the nearby bomb, during the conflict against the slavers, she had seen similar sights to what she was witnessing now, but those cells were all filled with humans. Suddenly a weak voice called out to her, "Liz…Liz is that you?" Liz turned in the direction of the voice, and saw inside one of the cells a familiar looking Quarian. "Tali!" she yelled and ran up to the cell door, she saw that Tali's Enviro suit was damaged in several places and her visor had a large crack, she was probably suffering from multiple infections, and she wasn't alone. Next to her lay a Turian, from all the bruises Liz could assume she'd suffered serious beatings, "Solana!" she yelled, Garrus had introduced her to his family during her time at Decurion, the two girls had gotten on rather well. Upon hearing the name of his sister, Garrus ran over, his eyes widened in shock at the shape his sister was in, he quickly hacked the door open and ran to her side and began to cradle her in his arms. "Garrus..." she said weakly. "It's okay…. it's okay, your safe," he replied. Liz meanwhile went to Tali's side, "how did you get here Tali?" Liz asked, "me and Liara, we were on vacation on Kininra, when it was attacked," she said weakly. "Liara, is she here? Is she okay?" Tali fell silent for a moment, "Balak…. he…. he recognised her."
000
John looked back at the Batarian, "what did you do with Liara!" he roared. Balak gave a mock thoughtful expression, "oh the Asari bitch, I remembered her from those years ago, thought it would be nice to catch up," he said with a demented grin, "she tried to act strong at first, but her sobs were music to my ears. Hahaha and the way she screamed as I forced it inside her, beautiful." John roared in anger and smashed his pistol across Balak's face "you sick bastard!" he yelled. Balak just continued to laugh at him, "why are you really angry Shepard? Is it because I hurt your little Asari pet? Or is it because I hurt her before you get the chance to hurt her first?" "Don't compare us! Where nothing alike!" he roared. "Oh, but that's where you're wrong Shepard," Balak responded, "we've both lived at the bottom of this wretched society, we've both been hurt by it," his malicious grin returned, "and we both know how good it feels to hurt it back." John was trembling with rage now, he wanted to drop the pistol and beat Balak's brains out, but if he did that….
"Oh shit, contacts," he heard Liz's voice through the coms, quickly followed by the sound of high velocity slugs. "Keelah, those can't be…" he heard Tali's panicked voice. "John," this time it was Ashley talking him, "we've got hostiles, we need you to handle one of the other charges, we ne-" she was cut off suddenly. Balak grinned at him, "come on Shepard, we both know you're going to go and save them. People like to portray you as an unfeeling thug, but truthfully, you still care to much, hahaha." Shepard continued to glare at the Batarian, one way or another he was going to make him pay. Balak continued laughing until he realised Shepard was still stood in front of him, but he had lowered his pistol. In one rapid motion, John raised his right foot, coated it in biotic energy, and brought it down. Crushing the Batarians pelvis….and his testicles.
Balak began to scream in absolute agony, "don't go anywhere," John said as he headed back towards the ship.
000
John ran up the dreadnoughts boarding ramp, Liz had sent him the co-ordinates of the charge nearest him, which was located in the main loading bay. And once he got eyes on the explosive, he understood why Tali was so shocked, for there guarding it, were several figures. They were the height of an average human, with bent back legs similar to Quarrians, but their limbs were made from polymer fibres and they were covered in metallic plates, with a single shining light in place of their faces. John had spoken with Tali enough to recognise the Geth. 'The Geth, they haven't been seen outside the Perseus Veil for three centuries, how the hell did Balak convince them to help him?' John wondered. He had little time to ponder the answer as upon seeing him, the synthetics raised their weapons and opened fire, at which point Shepard remembered that he was only armed with a pistol. Undeterred, he activated a biotic charge, nailing one in the chest and sending it flying into the wall, John quickly fired several shots into its chest. He then ducked under an attack from another Geth, reloading his pistol with a new heatsink as he did so, then without even looking, he aimed his pistol and fired three shots at point-blank range into its head, destroying it. A Third Geth was about to open fire on him, but a biotic punch removed its head from shoulders. John quickly had to raise a biotic barrier as the final Geth opened fire on him. Getting a good look at it, John realised this Geth was almost two meters tall, and more heavily armoured. The Geth continue to 'stare' at him with its optic, before suddenly turning around and running down the ramp. In any other situation John would have gone after it, but he quickly turned his attention back to the demolition charge and after a quick hack, deactivated it. John activated his comms and learned that Liz and the others had successfully deactivated the other two charges, much to his relief. They also informed him that his helmet cam was still broadcasting, he had honestly forgotten it was still transmitting, deciding the galaxy had seen enough for now, he shut off the transmission. He briefly considered returning to finish off Balak, but pushed it to the side as he realised, he had other priorities.
000
John soon came to what he believed to be Balak's personal quarters, he stood frozen at the door, dreading what he'd find inside. After taking a second to compose himself, he opened the door, and his face paled at the site.
She was completely naked, her wrist shackled to the wall above her head, to the point she had to stand on her tiptoes, her back was covered in lacerations from a whip, some still fresh. Overcoming his horror, he made his way over to her. He broke the shackles and gently held her in his arms, he thanked whatever deity that existed, when he saw she was still breathing. "Liara can you hear me?" he pleaded. Her eyes fluttered, "John….is that…?" she muttered weakly, "yes, it's me," he held her slightly tighter, unintentionally causing her to whimper in pain as he accidentally pressed against her wounds, "you're gonna be okay Liara, just bear it a little longer and I'll get you to the med bay," he said, still trying to process what he was seeing, he cautiously picked her up and made his way out as fast as he could.
000
Shepard's shock had only worsened when he reached the med-bay and saw the equally bad state that Tali was in. Garrus had also brought his sister, Solana there, and while none of the five were trained doctors, they knew enough combat first-aid, to ensure the three women were stable. Unfortunately, they still had hundreds of malnourished, and abused prisoners aboard the ship, definitely not a number the ships med-bay was equipped to handle, they soon came to the decision that they would need to pilot this ship, and all of its passengers back to the Citadel, so they could receive appropriate medical care. After ensuring that Liara and Tali were okay, he returned to Balak's quarters, partially because he still had his mission objective and partially because he couldn't bear to see them in such a state. 'I should have killed him back in the pit, so may have suffered just because I wanted to make him suffer, haven't I caused those two enough pain,' he self-berated. He was able to download all of the information from the Batarian's computer. Balak kept details of every deal he had made, obviously as blackmail in case any of his co-conspirators decided to double-cross him.
Shepard then made his way outside the ship, he knew the chances were slim, but he still clenched his fist in anger as he found no trace of the Batarian. The slaver had slipped through his grasp again. John knew that he had likely escaped off world by now, but he still decided to look around the area, in the hopes he would find some clue to Balak's location. He soon found himself on the ground directly underneath the spaceport platform they had landed on. He was just about to give up and return back to the ship, when a glint caught his eye. He cautiously stepped over to it, crouching down he saw a strange object. It was a pentagonal ring, about two and a half inches in diameter, made from a material Shepard didn't recognise. It took John a second to realise that this was what Balak been holding in his hand, this object was apparently the sole reason he had brought together the slaver groups. "What's so special about you?" Shepard muttered to himself, "what makes you worth all the death and loss inflicted-" Shepard picked up the object.
Then for some reason his powers activated, and red energy surged around the ring causing it to light up. Then his head exploded in pain as images flashed through his mind.
He couldn't make out any details, everything was out of focus and cover by shadows, but from what he could understand he was looking at some sort of civilisation. The people only appeared to him as silhouettes, but their actions weren't. He saw incredible cities constructed, devices that all of a sudden changed into some manner of liquid, before reforming into a different shape. Ships that made even the great Destiny Ascension look like a cargo freighter, he couldn't deny it looked incredible. But then everything was suddenly surrounded by a red haze, the silhouettes were now firing on each other with strange weapons, he saw clashes between Titanic creatures, some mechanical, some organic. He saw the cities he had just seen constructed reduced to rubble.
Then everything else seemed to vanish, until one thing came into focus.
A dark orb. Shepard felt an ominous feeling as he observed it, suddenly a red light seemed to shine from its centre, before a blinding flash enveloped his vision, and his ears were flooded by the sound of millions of screams. Through it all he heard a single voice speak.
"Do not let our mistakes doom your people as well."