Shepard Noveria
Some time passed as we weaved around the ice-covered roads, the snow pouring down clouding the outside visual. We were completely relying on the Mako's sonar equipment; evolved from its earlier predecessor, it was much more refined and accurate. I hadn't spoken a word since the silence fell, and only Wrex and Garrus spoke in fleeting sentences about the direction we were heading, or whether they should avoid certain groups of enemies. And of course, the occasional joke at my driving's expense. "Hey Shepard, I bet everyone's happy i'm doing the driving considering we're driving blind. If we would've let you drive, we'd have been over the cliff a few clicks after we left the garage." I huffed at his comment and Wrex let out a hearty laugh. For a moment, I felt a tingling sensation at the front of my mind that was gone as quick as it appeared. I looked over to Liara, who's mental anguish had been playing on her face for the duration of the ride.
She glanced at me slightly before casting her gaze down, too embarrassed to voice anything to me. I grabbed her hand, wrapping it into mine discreetly to let her know it was okay. I felt the familiar tingling once again and I let down my wall to allow her in. Immediately I was flooded with the inner turmoil she struggled with. Panic washed over her and I tried to keep it from washing over me.
Liara calm down for me, everything is alright, you're safe.
Shepard I... I do not know if I can do this. I can not face her.
You don't have to if you think you can't Liara. We're all ready to step up and do this for you. I'm here for you.
I... are you sure? You have been avoiding me for the last few days, I am sorry if I made you angry.
I felt like shit to say the least. Ever since that night it was true. I had avoided her, letting my own anger and pain at the rejection get the best of me. I poured in as much care as I could, hoping to wrap it around her mind like a security blanket. The tension and panic relieved itself somewhat and I could tell that it was working.
How do you do it Shepard?
How do I do what?
How do you make things feel so much better with just a few words?
I blushed internally, and through the space between my face and helmet which I opted to leave on for once.
Ahh I don't know, and I think it only works on you Liara. You have some kind of effect on me, or maybe its the weird mind thing we have going on with the beacon. I haven't really pieced it all together. My emotions are real though Liara, I really do care about you, and i'll do whatever it takes to make things easier on you.
I could feel her appreciation through the meld as it slowly faded, leaving our hands intertwined the rest of the way there.
Once we finally made it to Peak 15, we realized just how hard the mission was actually going to be. We fought our way through first, krogan and geth, and then some kind of bug like creature. After repairing the broken systems and finding out the bug-like creature were rachni from Wrex's observation, we finally got a tram to rift station, where we were met by armed guards standing post.
"Stand down!" The guard standing point who seemed to be in charge, dropped his weapons first and the others followed suit. I nodded to my team to lower their weapons and they did. "Sorry we couldn't be sure of what was on the tram. I'm Captain Ventralis."
"Commander Shepard, i'm a spectre. Have you all encountered the rachni as well?"
" So that's what those things are. Yea a group comes through the tunnels every couple of hours. This whole mess started in the hot labs though. Damned scientist. The only one who made it out was Han Olar. You'd have to talk to him or the asari matriarch the board sent after the incident to clean things up to learn more."
"What was her name?" I asked the question but was fairly sure I already knew the answer. "Uhh, Matriarch Benezia I believe."
"She is here." Liara stated, as if her own personal nightmare was playing out in front of her. Tali slid to her side, encasing a hand in hers. "I need to speak to her."
"She's still in the hot labs from what I know. Here. You can use this key card to get into the main labs, but you'll have to go through this way and find your way own through the hot labs, we jammed the other door up to keep those things from over running this area in the event we had a chance to escape. There's also a doctor named Cohen. He can help you if you need any medical treatment or medigel." He handed me a small key card as I focused on my helmets HUD, realizing I was down to two medi gels for myself and the rest of the crew were equally low. I nodded to the man as I lead my crew through the winding corridors, which opened up to a main room.
I took my helmet off, surveying the area. My eyes went buck once I caught sight of a completely unexpected character. "Alestia?" She looked up from the questioning comment and rolled her eyes when she realized who I was. "Unbelievable. Of course if they were to send anybody it'd have to be you. Just my luck. What are you doing here Shepard, the Alliance doesn't come out this far?" The woman folded her arms and leaned back in a movement similar to the one my crew was used to seeing me do. Speaking of my crew, they looked between each other completely confused and amazed that anyone had the audacity to speak to me in such a way. Liara tensed up as the woman bore into me, watching the interaction with cold calculated precision.
"Actually i'm a spectre now. I'm looking for Matriarch Benezia. What are you doing here?" She gave me a once over that sent a small chill down my spine. "I see, i'm afraid i'm a bit out of the loops these days. I suppose congratulations are in order. I'm on the science team. I got transferred from the last post I was at when we first met."
"What do you do here?" She rolled her eyes again, tapping her foot to the floor. "The same thing I was doing before Shepard, not that you ever listened anyways. Molecular genetics." I let out a small gut laugh that seemed to annoy the woman even more. "You know, you seem really calm considering your current situation Alestia."
"Yes well that was one of the virtues of my meditation that you always seemed to interrupt with your presence."
"Whoa hey now, no need to get so snappy. It's not like it's the end of the world to have a conversation with me."
"Yea well, that's what happens when you completely disappear on someone, effectively ghosting them. You expect me to be all sunshine when you pop back up at the worst and most inconvenient time in my life. Actually that's pretty logical for you. This wouldn't be your first or second time doing it."
"Okay okay i'll let you be, but do you know anything about Lady Benezia that could help us?" The woman gave me a puzzled but searching look. "Why ask me and not your friend here? You sure do love to keep some blue in your view huh Shep?" I started to say something out of line at the visible jump of Liara who recovered herself quicker than my words could escape me.
"Because I do not know anything about the Matriarch." Liara stiffened as Alestia scoffed. "Then why would I?" After having enough of the chewing out, I decided that the conversation was going nowhere and I had a mission to do, no matter how blindsided I was. "Well, I would to stay and chat, but I have a mission to carry out. You take care of yourself." She scoffed again at my words as the crew walked behind me towards the doctor's office, Garrus being the one to break the silence. "You sure know how to pick them Shepard." He coughed the words and I shot him a glare that only made his mandibles twitch in amusement.
Walking us further into one of the areas, I caught a glimpse of turrets as they trailed my every movement. "Hmm, maintenance area. Looks like this door leads to the hot labs but its defended. I'm assuming we can't just walk through those doors and expect a warm reception when we make it back." After wondering for a moment more, we found our way down to the clinic. I was greeted by a very frantic man who I assumed was doctor Cohen. "What? What do you want?" He ran the words together as if he didn't understand the concept of a period. "Seems like no one is a fan of you today commander." Garrus leaned over closer to me, not quite whispering.
"That's what it's starting to feel like. Look, calm down, I came to get some medigel for my team."
"Medigel? Oh, right yes of course. I can give you as much medigel as you want if you can help me."
"If I help you? Just once would I love it if someone would just be like yep, here you go. No strings attached." The doctor waved my words off getting to the root of his fidgety demeanor. "These people are suffering from a toxin, there was an accident. I have a non-disclosure agreement. I shouldn't discuss it with non company personnel." He faltered for a moment, considering for a long while his next move. "Look pal, I really don't care what kind of experiments you all are doing down here. I need medigel so that I can go into MY mission without worrying about me and my squad. If you want my help you're going to have to tell me what's going on."
"You are right and i'd like to think that the company considers our lives more valuable than their secrets." He paused for a moment, rubbing his hands together nervously before speaking again. "We were creating a bio-weapon... based on an exotic life form. They wanted something that could kill the creature. But there's no profit in a weapon that can only kill one thing...so we kept working on it; adapting it. We called it Thoros B. It's highly infectious, but can't pass from one person to another; a perfect weapon without the capabilities of a pandemic spread." Liara cut in, quite clearly disgusted by her fellow scientist. "Do you imagine that distinction makes it ethical? This is not good Shepard. I would give any amount of money that Thoros B was targeted for the Thorian. That's what cause it to act the way it did on Feros. Any weapon based on that creature could prove very problematic." The doctor cut back in, more defensive than before. "Governments and militaries will get this one way or another. We were trying to limit the damage!" It was my turn to comment, after releasing the pinch I had on my nose from the realization.
"You made this, but can't cure it? Don't you idiots take notes?"
"Our first priority was to get it to work. We were in the midst of synthesizing an antidote when Mira shut down and quarantined the lab. All of our notes and equipment are still in the there. Captain Ventralis didn't want to risk any more infections."
"So you want me and my people to go down there and expose ourselves to the toxin? You do realize that's worth wayyy more than medigel right? Get me into the maintenance area, and I might consider it worth it."
"I suppose I can do that even though it's not allowed. You have a deal." I was glad to be able to work an angle and secure a way into the hot labs. I lead my team further and further down in uneasy silence. "Uhm Shepard, I don't know if you know but quarians get sick really, really easy. Just putting it out there." Tali had been the first to voice her discomfort much to the agreement of everyone else. "Look, you all don't have to get as close as me, but I need you at least inside, guarding my perimeter while I figure it out." The ground team agreed as the corridor opened into a space similar to the main room but smaller. I was greeted by a traumatized volus who spoke before I could get out a forced smile.
"You came to find out about them, didn't you?" The short, chunky figured breathing ticked away as he stood there nervously. "You're talking about the rachni?"
"Yes, I'm the only survivor from the hot lab. They found it in a derelict ship. A rachni egg. Waiting since the last rachni battles and they brought it here." A person from far behind shouted out to the volus to shut up but he only turned unfazed. "Well how did you make it out of the hot labs?" He looked out into the distance, somewhere pass my legs before letting his head fall. I heard the alarms on the way to lunch with one of my colleagues. I ran for the tram and closed it before anyone else could get on. The rachni were right behind them. They would've gotten me too if I hadn't. Now... I just want to get off of this frozen, forsaken world." I sympathized with him, knowing my hardest battle hadn't even came yet. 'At least Liara's a little more calm now.' I thought inwardly, giving the volus a nod before heading further into the area. We made our way back out from the main room over to where the quarantine labs and barracks were. Standing in front of the door was a turian guard. "I'm sorry but this area is off limits."
"I have authorization from Dr. Cohen. I'm going in to synthesize a cure."
"That's great but I still need Captain Ventralis' permission to let you through." I looked in the turian's face as he twitched. Something didn't feel right but I couldn't place it. "Well call him then." He sighed and stepped off slightly out of earshot, coming back quickly. "I've been told to let you in, but you'll be locked in and only let out once I scan you to make sure you aren't carrying the toxin." I nodded as I put my helmet on and he opened the door. "Alright, take point around my perimeter, i'm expecting some kind of trouble, I just don't from who yet." After a few, more than unsuccessful tries, I managed to get it fully synthesized.
"Eureka!" I shouted out the old Earth phrase that went completely over my alien squads head. I just shrugged my shoulders, motioning them to the door as it opened. "Shepard, you just can't seem to stay out of trouble. It's like your calling." Alestia swayed over, stopping just short of a few feet in front of me. I caught a glimpse outside the door of the turian guard slumped against the wall as a couple geth and asari commandos filed in before it closed. "I should've known you were up to something Alestia. You aren't exactly the trouble-free type yourself." I immediately began mapping out strategic points over the room and different items that could become cover if it came down to it. My team already had their weapons trained on the small squad behind, Liara standing closer towards me now, her weapon pointed directly at the woman. I took a step into the last few feet between us, closing the gap. I would try to subdue her if it came down to it. "I can't let you leave with that serum or let you go down to the hot labs. Benezia's orders."
A part of me was crushed. Not because, she was more than likely going to be trying to kill me within those next few moments, but because she had been taken fully by the same indoctrination I was hoping Benezia was having more luck skirting around. And although it had seemed like a lifetime ago that we had last been intimate, I still felt a small core of care for the woman. So I tried one last option to wake her out of the undeniable influence she was under. "Ales come on. I know you've never been a model citizen or whatever, but how did you end up this far gone? The woman I knew wouldn't let this happen." I caught a gleam in her eyes as they shifted, almost like she was silently trying to call out for me. "Hmm, perhaps the woman you 'knew' wouldn't let this happen, but people change Sheppy. That's what happens when you have a lot of time to think to yourself. You made me this way." I felt a pang of hurt in my gut that I wasn't expecting from the pet name she used to call me, dropping my defensive position. She must have sensed it as she grabbed for her pistol she kept concealed until that moment. I threw her to the wall with biotic force as a hail of firepower rained down around me,. I focused in on the asari, now picking herself off the ground, her eyes turning an encompassing black. I tried to throw her again, but before I knew it, she was scratching at the fortified layer of my mind. The sounds of gunfire and tech/biotic powers started to fade and I went back to that terrible nightmare.
The only reason she even knew was from one too many drinks before a meld; I had let everything go to her in my drunken stupor. And other than Liara and Chakwas, she was the only other person I had told. The tendrils of black that had tried to cloud my mind were pushed out with a force foreign to my own mind, and the whispering from the beacon had came back after a distance of quietness. Alestia had flew back once again from the sheer force at which I flung her out of my mind. In my peripheral, I caught the deep blue hue of Liara's biotics shimmering to life, grabbing the woman and sending her flying helplessly in the air before slamming into another wall. The rest of the team focused their efforts on the enemies scattered about the room. I had never seen Liara so powerful though. Granted, we had only been in a couple of firefights together, the power flowing off of her felt different.
It felt primal, instinctual even. She was caught off guard by a well timed shot from the asari geneticist which served to throw me out of my awe. I got up, pulling the combat knife from its sheathe on my boot. Once I managed to get fully up and into my senses, I propelled myself forward in a biotic charge that sent the asari maiden back into the wall, completely weakened by the amount of times she had been flung around. All of my sentiment for her gone when I caught sight of a dazed Liara just shaking off the shot. I took the knife, plunging it deep into the woman's chest; twisting it before pulling it out. I leaned in, easing her to the ground as if the sentiment came back to me. "Find peace in the embrace of the Goddess." I let her go as she sighed her last breath. Liara put a hand on my shoulder for support with an inquisitive look on her face. "What was the last part?"
"Just something I heard in a different life."