WWSD
Liara gripped the handhold at the top of the Alliance shuttle and glanced at the man sitting across from her for perhaps the twentieth time in the last twenty minutes. She was trying to be subtle, though she didn't know why. She was glancing at him because he seemed like he was in a waking coma but because he was like that, he wouldn't have reacted even if she'd baldly stared at him. But Liara had been raised to be polite and it was not polite to stare at someone. Even if they were supposed to be your backup and seemed barely conscious. By the goddess, Shepard, what have you gotten me into now?
That was hardly fair and Liara knew it. She had insisted that she be sent on this mission the moment that strange creature Viral mentioned it. He claimed that near the end of the last cycle, an army of protheans had been placed in suspended animation. It was a long shot but the protheans' suspension technology had been incredible. If even a handful still lived-even one!-how much could they learn from them? It sent Liara's stomach flip-flopping just thinking about it. Of course she had to be the one to go. Liara didn't like to toot her own horn but she doubted anyone in the universe was more prepared to communicate with protheans than she was.
So Shepard had sent her to Eden Prime to see if she could find these protheans. As dangerous as the universe was these days, Shepard had insisted she take an escort. Liara had been expecting Samara and Viral. She got one of the two. Samara was resting with her legs stretched out on one of the seats. Her hands rested lightly on her stomach and her eyes were closed. Liara was jealous of her in some ways. Samara's goals in life were complete and she saw the war against the reapers as a way to find meaning in her last days. Liara suspected she didn't really care if she died so long as she went out in a manner worthy of justicar. The reapers didn't terrify her to her very soul, the way they did Liara. She was barely over a hundred! She wasn't ready to die yet.
And if Samara seemed ready to die, the man in the shuttle with them seemed like he was already there. Kamina. Liara didn't know him well but he'd been full of life every time she'd seen him before now. The loss of Earth seemed to have hit him hard. Or maybe it was something else. He seemed to know the leader of the reapers, somehow. Whatever it was, Kamina hadn't said a word since and his eyes held a vacant look that made Liara feel sick. Why had Shepard sent him along with her? He needed to be in a mental health facility. It had been Viral that suggested Kamina be sent with them but, if anything, that was more evidence that Kamina should not have come. Viral seemed to hate the man.
"Coming in for landing," the shuttle pilot announced over the com. "ETA five minutes."
Samara's bright blue eyes flickered open and she smiled gently at Liara. Liara smiled back but she thought it probably looked queasy. The asari justicar calmly set about checking her weapons. Goddess, what Liara wouldn't give for some of that serenity. She supposed she would get it when she reached the Matron stage. Provided the universe wasn't destroyed at that point, of course.
The shuttle touched down and, after a moment, the doors opened. Samara stood, tucking her shotgun in its holder at her back and headed down the ramp. She didn't even look at Kamina. Liara could understand how a driven woman like Samara wouldn't have patience for Kamina-the woman had dedicated much of her life to hunting down and killing her own daughter-but she would have liked a little help with the catatonic human. This sort of thing was far from Liara's speciality.
She knelt down next to him and said, "We're here, Kamina." He didn't react. Liara sighed and got back to her feet. She took Kamina by the arm and pulled him to his feet. He didn't resist. She tugged him along as she left the shuttle. Goddess, preserve me. Was this common in humans? Every time she began to think she understood them...how could they waste time like this when they lived such short lives?
A group of five humans waited for her a little distance from the landing ramp. Samara stood to the side of them with her arms crossed, completely at ease. The five humans eyed her nervously. "Are...are you Doctor T'Soni?" the man at the head of the group asked. Liara wasn't offended. She had trouble telling humans apart sometimes, after all.
"I am Liara T'Soni," she said. The man glanced at Kamina standing behind her but Liara didn't know how to explain him. So she didn't.
"My name is Edward Judon," the man said. "I've been instructed to provide you with whatever you need, Doctor." He licked his lips nervously. "By Admiral Hackett himself. He said it was vital to the war effort, though I have no idea what you could possibly find on Eden Prime."
Liara smiled. She'd learned on Mars that she could put humans at ease with her smile. "Thank you, Edward. Please call me Liara. I will need to see all of your survey data."
It only took her a few days to locate the most likely spot for a prothean mass freeze. After spending so much of her life studying them and their ruins, she felt like she could think like a prothean. Unfortunately, even chivvying them as much as she could, it took over a week for them to excavate the area she'd directed them to. And she could tell that they didn't believe they would actually find anything. That was alright. She would be proven correct in the end. What wasn't alright was Kamina.
He seemed to be getting worse and worse. He had to be fed and dragged everywhere. The only thing that made her think he hadn't completely given up-and the only thing that made his behavior tolerable-was the fact that still used the bathroom by himself. Kamina was still in there somewhere and apparently not willing to completely humiliate himself yet. Edward had offered to take him to the colony hospital and, while Liara was tempted, she refused. Shepard had left Kamina to her and she would do her best to help him. Though the Goddess only knew how she could do it.
Liara was reading a book on human psychology when Edward came to her and told her, with shock in his eyes, that they had found an underground bunker. Liara closed her book immediately and stood. "Take me to it." Edward nodded. After a moment of dithering, Liara grabbed Kamina and took him with. Samara silently fell in behind them. They took a train across the colony and then a shuttle to the dig site. She peered out at the verdant greenery that had attracted humans to the planet. It would be horrific if it was all destroyed. Would humans leave a bare trace on the planet the way the protheans had? Were there other cycles buried even deeper? Liara felt like she would almost give up on stopping the reapers if she could just understand why they did this.
The shuttle set down and Edward led them down. The entry to the excavation was very small. Liara supposed it was to keep damage to the environment to a minimum but she had a dark suspicion that it was to narrow the dig site and use less resources on a pointless endeavor. Edward took them to an elevator and they went deep, deep into the earth of Eden Prime. Darkness enveloped them other than a small light that Edward held.
Then they emerged into an enormous bunker. Dim red lights had been strung out around the bunker, giving a little light. There were rows upon rows of small, humanoid-sized tanks at the bottom of the bunker. Tens of thousands. Maybe hundreds of thousands. An entire army of protheans! Liara quashed her excitement. She knew from Ilos that to conserve energy, there was a priority ranking among the pods. She would be lucky if a few high-ranking protheans were still alive. Very lucky.
The elevator stopped at the top of the bunker and a long rope ladder descended the rest of the way. Liara spurned that, not trusting it. She gathered up Kamina with her biotics and leapt off the edge, slowing to land gracefully at the bottom of the bunker. After a moment, Samara followed in the same manner. Kamina stepped over to one of the pods and put a hand on it, seeming curious. Liara held her breath and watched him. But then he shook his head and got his now normal faraway look. Liara's mouth tightened in frustration.
She quickly shook it off. She needed to figure out if any of these protheans were alive. She activated her omnitool and took readings of the closet pod. No life signs. Liara checked the next and the next. Nothing. She told herself it was foolish to feel crestfallen but she did. They couldn't all be dead, could they? There had to be a faster way to check. Liara looked around and spotted some humans milling near the back. "You there. Have you found any kind of a central computer or anything?"
The humans all looked at each other, clearly reluctant to talk to her. Then one, a weathered-looking man, stepped forward and said, "We're just construction, ma'am. We don't know nothing about central computers."
Liara held back her annoyance. "Would you look around, please? Just look for things that might be a control center?" They all nodded and began to shuffle around the bunker. Unsurprisingly, though, it was Samara that found it. A bank of computers set into one wall. Liara played around with it for a moment and was delighted to find that it still had power. Then, as prothean technology was prone to do, it beamed something into her mind. Liara stumbled back, putting a hand to her forehead. Images flashed through but they were incoherent. Explosions, a reaper, two protheans arguing. She didn't understand their words, though.
Samara steadied her and asked, "Are you alright?"
Liara nodded, standing straight. "Yes, I think so." She shook her head. "Prothean technology. It was a mistake to come here without Shepard. She can understand protheans like no other because of her experiences with the beacon." Liara frowned at the computers. "I don't believe I will be able to use these."
"So what should we do?" Samara asked.
Liara sighed. "It seems our only choice is to check each pod individually." She glanced at the rows upon rows of pods with dismay.
"I see," Samara said with a nod. "We just need to check for life signs correct?" Liara nodded. "Alright, I will organize the workers down here into a grid to check the pods. It will go faster with them."
"That's a good idea," Liara said. Samara quickly had the workers organized and they hopped for her. Liara watched, hoping she could gain some of that presence soon. She wasn't left out of the grid pattern, of course, and soon she was waving her omnitool over pods and frowning as the same answer came back again and again. Nothing. Not one of these protheans was alive.
The checking took hours. They had to take a break for food, though Liara had no appetite. Particularly for the greasy foods humans seemed to like. She heard grumbling that this was a waste of time from the workers but when the break was over and Samara asked them to return to their work, they scrambled to obey.
Liara was recording her five hundred and forty-fifth 'no' when a cry sounded near the center of the bunker. "I've got one!" a worker shouted. "This son of a bitch is alive!"
Liara turned so fast that she slammed her knee hard to the side of one of the pods. The pain was forgotten however as she sprinted to the worker. Smiling gleefully, he gestured at the pod. Liara double-checked and found that he was correct. The prothean inside was alive. Her excitement was so powerful that her throat started to close and spots danced in front of her eyes. She bent forward, connecting her omnitool to the pod and frantically looking for a way to open it. Before she could think better of it, Liara activated the pod and opened with a hiss of steam.
Desperately waving away the smoke, Liara bent over the pod and saw…not a prothean. She took in the lifeform before her, cataloging it even as a different part of her mind reeled in shock. The figure had pale skin and long dark, red hair. The features were definitely feminine and quite beautiful, with a sharp chin and small nose. The eyes were closed but Liara thought they would be quite large. The clothing was very strange. Thigh-high white boots with red soles and heels, a pair of white hotpants with a red belt, a white bikini top with flames emblazoned on the cups and a dark blue jacket with more flames running up the sleeves. If the face hadn't convinced Liara she was looking at a female, the body put on display by the odd clothing would have.
A human. There was no doubt. Instead of finding a prothean she had found a beautiful young woman. Liara's hands tightened on the lip of the pod. "What is this?" she asked, glancing at the worker who'd found the pod. "Why is there a human down here?"
"I have no earthly idea, ma'am," the man said. His eyes were wide and he was clearly enjoying the sight of the woman. "I've never seen here before and you can believe I'd never forget a little fox like this."
Liara took a slow calming breath and turned back to the woman. There had to be a logical explanation. Her mind flashed to the evidence she'd seen of humans having cycles of their own. Unlike the other sentients of the galaxy, the reapers didn't seem to completely annihilate humanity. Just completely destroy all their technology and leave them so deep in the stone age it took them hundreds of thousands of years to recover. But they had not recovered by the time of the last cycle. Humans had been wandering hunter-gatherers at that point, only just beginning to form lasting settlements. Liara fought down rising frustration. Every time she thought she might be getting a handle on things, something new appeared to dash away her conclusions.
The woman's eyes fluttered open and she sat up with a groan. She touched a hand to her head, brushing a hair ornament in the shape of a skull. She opened one eye and scanned the room. Her gaze was sharp. "So I've made it to another cycle?" she sighed. She peered at the worker next to Liara and her expression was suddenly one of intense sorrow. "And humans are around for this one." She sighed again. "I could wish you hadn't woken me up."
Liara's mind raced, trying to parse all of that. "Who are you?" she asked, "and how do you know about the cycles? What are you doing down here with all these protheans?"
The woman glanced at her. "And just what are you?"
Before Liara could even decide how to answer that, a shout made her jump. All the more so because it came from the man who hadn't spoken in over a week. "No!" Kamina shouted. "You!? You!? Are you a reaper, too?! Yoko!" Liara swiveled her head to see Kamina standing a short distance away. Green biotic energy swirled around him and his face was contorted in rage and, underneath it, desperate sorrow. Kamina swung his fist sideways and cratered one of the pods. Liara winced, even though she knew the prothean inside was long dead.
Liara glanced at the human woman–Yoko?-and saw that she was stunned. She looked like somebody had hit over the head with a club. "Kamina," she whispered, so softly that Liara could barely hear her. "No, not you. Tell me he didn't bring you back."
"Bring him back?" Liara said, out of the corner of her eye she saw Samara positioning herself behind Kamina. She would keep him from attacking Yoko until Liara had gotten some answers. The man had gone from nearly catatonic to a storm of biotic rage in a heartbeat. "What are you talking about?"
Yoko glanced from Liara to Kamina and back again. "Simon didn't send you here?"
Liara shook her head slightly. So she knows Simon. "He did not. We came here looking for prothean survivors, hoping they could help us defeat him and the rest of the reapers."
Yoko turned to Kamina. "Is that right, Kamina? You're fighting Simon?"
Kamina jerked and then all of the fight went out of him again. He sat down heavily on the floor and said, "I don't know. I was but…when I tried to knock some sense into him…" He glanced up at Yoko and there was such pain and confusion in his eyes that it made Liara's heart hurt. "He had such conviction, Yoko. He was unshakeable. He's the man I always wanted him to be…"
Yoko shook her head, looking stunned all over again. "It really is you, isn't it? Really you, not one of Simon's creations."
"What does that mean?" Liara asked. "'Simon's creations?' I've heard similar things from the creature Viral but he has never explained himself."
"Viral," Yoko muttered. "That poor man has been through enough to break the mind of anyone. If he sent you here, he must be in one of his saner moods." Yoko vaulted out of the pod, landing with graceful ease. "It's simple really. Simon can bend reality to his will and on occasion he has willed some of his own friends back into existence to help him with his work. That's what the reapers are. I'm one of them, too, but I've turned on him."
"What!? Wait." Liara lightly touched her head. "Wait. I want to make sure I am understanding you correctly. Did you just say Simon willed you into existence?" Yoko nodded with a bitter smile on her face. "How is that possible?"
Yoko raised an eyebrow. "You really haven't dealt with him that much if you're asking that. Simon is the master of spiral energy, which means he can do anything that he wants. Spiral energy by its very nature is limitless."
Liara stumbled back until she could lean on a pod. She'd begun to accept that what asari knew of biotic energy was flawed and incomplete. They'd thought they were manipulating existing energy and that it obeyed fundamental laws of the universe. But what she'd done in warping while on the Shadow Broker's ship shouldn't have been possible. Whatever had happened with Shepard and Kamina during the battle for Earth also made no sense. She'd known on some level the rules as she understood them were being broken but she'd thought maybe she'd misunderstood. That there was some logical explanation for the things that could happen if she could only wrap her mind around it. But this? Could the reaper leader create living beings from nothing? No. Liara couldn't just accept that. It could not be.
Since Liara was in the middle of a crisis of faith, Yoko turned away from her and stepped toward Kamina. Samara interposed herself between the two of them. "You say that you are a creature of this Simon," Samara said, her voice cool and controlled as always. "Should we believe that, why should we believe you have turned on him? Were you not created specifically to help him with his…work?"
Yoko glanced down and then sighed. She leaned back against her pod and crossed her arms under her breasts. "Honestly, I did help him. For a long time. The way he explained it made sense." She shook her head. "It still makes sense." She looked up. "I didn't turn because I think he is wrong. I want to help him. I want to stop these cycles for his sake…he's taken so much on himself. I like to think he lets me live and lets me fight against him because he understands what I'm trying to do." She shrugged. "He might just not even notice me, though. Nothing I've done has made a difference in any of the cycles."
"You know why he is doing this?" Liara asked, pulling herself together.
Yoko hesitated. "I…don't think you'll understand."
"Same thing we've heard from all the reapers," Liara said. "Don't you think we should at least have the opportunity."
Yoko stared at her for a long moment and then nodded.
Explosions sounded overhead.
Everybody looked up and another explosion sounded. Liara turned to Edward, who was hanging back with the human workers. He nodded, his eyes wide and white. "What is going on up there?" he asked, activating his com.
"We don't know!" an unfamiliar voice screamed back. "An invasion but we don't recognize the make of the ships! They didn't even say anything! They just started blowing things up!"
Liara met Samara's eyes. "The reapers."
The justicar nodded. "I don't believe we will find any living protheans," she said. "I believe that Viral sent us to find this human. We should retreat."
Liara's shoulders slumped but she nodded. "You are right."
"Wait, the reapers?" Edward shouted. "What the hell are you talking about? What is going on? Did you bring them here?"
Liara glanced at him. "I'm sorry. We may have but the reapers will soon be attacking every colony in the galaxy. I suggest you evacuate." Even as she said it, Liara felt a crushing weight on her chest. They could evacuate but where? Earth was in their hands and no place was safe. She hated this but she had to leave them to their fate. They needed to get Yoko to Shepard. She had information on the reapers that they needed. Maybe Shepard could make something out of it.
Yoko reached into her pod and retrieved a long rifle of unfamiliar make. She checked over her gun with a grim expression. "You're going to help us fight?" Liara asked.
"I wasn't lying when I said I turned on Simon. If you're still fighting, I'll fight with you." She swung the rifle so that it hung down her back. "Let's go."
Ignoring Edwards demands for answers she didn't have, Liara grasped Yoko with her biotics and leapt back into the elevator. Samara did the same thing with Kamina. They rode it up and emerged into the dig site. A few workers stood around, staring at the nearby settlement. Smoke clouded the area above. The shuttle was still there so Liara hustled over to it. The human that piloted refused to go back to the settlement so Samara chucked him out of the shuttle and took over herself. They needed to get back and hope that they could find a way off planet. They were supposed to contact Shepard when they needed pickup but unless they were very lucky, the Normandy would not be able to reach them for days.
Samara lifted the shuttle up and sped toward the settlement. She flew over it, giving them all a look at the chaos. Collectors, human husks and some kind of shuffling monstrosities that Liara realized with cold horror were mutated batarians chased and killed humans all across the dig site. Worse yet, two of the smaller reapers–what Kamina and Viral called gunmen–were wreaking havoc, smashing through buildings and stomping down gun emplacements. One of them noticed the shuttle and fired at them. Samara twisted out of the path of the fire but a bullet clipped them and sent the shuttle spinning toward the ground. Samara managed to wrangle it into a controlled crash and the shuttle skipped across the ground on its belly until it slid to a halt.
Liara was tossed violently against her straps during the crash landing but didn't suffer any real damage. The two humans came through with no obvious damage as well. Liara undid her belt and pushed herself to the front to check on Samara. The other asari was bleeding from a gash on her head but her eyes were clear and she nodded to Liara. So they'd all survived and they'd made it to the settlement. Now came the hard part. "We need to get to the port and see if we can find some way off this planet."
Samara pressed a sealing bandage to her forehead and said, "Are you suggesting that we steal a ship?"
Liara hesitated. Justicars held to their code rigidly but Liara only had a passing acquaintance with it. She'd never been that interested in justicar stories when she was a child. She could well imagine that stealing was forbidden under any circumstances. But if it needed to be done…Liara nodded. "Getting Yoko to Shepard supersedes anything. If we don't stop the reapers, everything dies."
Samara seemed to consider for a moment and then she nodded. "Agreed."
"What are you two talking about up there?" Yoko asked. "Shouldn't we be moving?"
"We should," Liara agreed. The four of them exited the shuttle and Liara glanced at the rifle Yoko carried. "Are you proficient with that?" Yoko just smirked. "Alright. And you, Kamina? Will you fight?"
Kamina glanced at the city with anxiety. "Those are Simon's friends…"
"They are not his friends, you dummy," Yoko said. "They're his creatures. Twisted by his warped will. He won't even notice if they die and they don't have any sentience left. We should put them out of their misery."
Kamina squatted down, wrapping his arms around his head. "Why is he doing this? I don't understand."
"Kamina," Yoko said gently, touching him on the top of his head.
"We don't have time for this," Liara said with frustration. "Protect him, Yoko." She didn't know why but she already trusted Yoko and felt no concern about leaving Kamina in her hands. "Samara and I will clear a path." They entered the settlement.
Reaper creatures instantly honed in on them. Liara freed her machine gun, a Tempest that Garrus had tinkered with, and raked the husks running at her, following it up with a biotic wave that threw the corpses into the following rank. The shambling batarian mutants staggered but didn't go down. They started to take cover and fire weapons. Liara cursed. So they had a measure of intelligence, unlike the human husks. A shiver ran through Liara as she considered that every species in the galaxy would be corrupted by the reapers. Turians and salarians and drell. What stomach-turning monstrosity would they transform asari into? And, Goddess, the krogan! Liara really, really didn't want to meet that.
Samara strode forward confidently, deflecting incoming fire with her biotics and mowing down reapers with her assault rifle. Liara was more cautious, ducking between spots of cover and using her biotics to expose an enemy before gunning it down. She noted a host of reapers going down to headshots from that long rifle Yoko carried. She was as proficient a sharpshooter as Shepard. Kamina trailed behind Yoko, his face a mask of agony. Liara wished she could do something for him but it would have to wait.
They had almost reached the port when everything went very wrong. One of the gunmen, a squarish brute with a huge rectangular mouth, either noticed them or was alerted by the port defenders. Either way, it charged back through the settlement, running through the prefab buildings like they weren't even there. Yoko turned her rifle on the gunmen and, shockingly, caused it to stagger. But it didn't stop. It leapt into the air and Liara saw an energy blast building in that massive mouth. "Run!" she screamed and suited action to words.
Liara sprinted away as fast as her legs could carry her. The blast hit a huge area and the force of it picked Liara up and flung her through the wall of a building. She managed to create a biotic shield just in time to keep from ending up a liquid splat against the wall but the impact still knocked her senseless for a moment. When she regained herself, she was at the base of the building, flat on her stomach. She glanced around and didn't see anyone around her. Not even any reapers.
With a groan, she pushed herself up to hands and knees. Her body hurt but there didn't seem to be any serious injuries. Using the wall, she got to her feet and then tested her limbs. She nodded grimly. She would be very sore but at least she was alive. She needed to focus on staying that way. With a sigh, she realized her Tempest was gone. Garrus had gotten it just right. She still had her Predator but it was standard issue. Liara looked around. Still no reapers close. No friends either. What were they going to do? Unless they could take out the gunmen, there was no way they were leaving the planet.
Liara walked to the street corner, limping a little, and peered back toward the port. She saw the square gunmen kicking over buildings. Was it looking? A shot rang out, hitting the mech and making it flinch. So Yoko was still out there. Her rifle seemed to hurt the gunmen but Liara doubted it could take it down. What do we do? What do we do? What would Shepard do? Liara bit her lip. Shepard would do something amazing and get them all out of this.
Movement made Liara glance over her shoulder and her stomach tied itself in a knot. The other mech was charging toward the port now. It was quite different from the other mini-reaper, with a pinched face and close-set eyes, a triangular, protruding mouth, thin legs and incongruously wide shoulders with long, thick arms. Liara stared at it, on the verge of despair. They couldn't even handle one, what were they going to do about two? Think, Liara! The asari scolded herself. How long did you fight with Shepard? She's just a woman, the same as you. She's not a supernatural being. What would she do in this situation?
It hit Liara like a bolt of lightning. She knew what Shepard would do when confronted by a mech while not having one herself. Because the woman just done it. Shepard would steal one of them and use it to destroy the other one. You've gone insane, Liara, if you think you can steal a reaper machine. That was the kind of thing crazy people like Kamina and Shepard did. Except Kamina is suffering a mental breakdown and Shepard isn't here. Samara wasn't here and she might be dead. There was nobody else. Liara's resolve hardened even as she thought she must have lost her mind. Goddess, preserve me!
Liara summoned as much biotic energy as possible and charged straight at the oncoming mech. She leapt in the air with a huge biotic boost but misjudged the jump and smacked stomach first into the top of the mech's face. She clung doggedly to the gunmen, using her biotics to anchor her and scrambled on top of the narrow, pointed head. The gunmen skidded to a halt, nearly throwing Liara off. It tried to grab her but it's massive shoulders kept it from being able to lift its arms high enough. Now, what? She cast her mind back to what she'd seen of the mechs. The entryway seemed to be in the mouth. Liara craned out over the lip of the head so she could see the odd mouth. She reached out with her biotics and seized it. In the back of her mind, she noted how easily and how powerfully her biotics were coming to her now.
The gunmen twisted rapidly, trying to fling her off, but Liara had a hold of it now. She pried the mouth open and then drew her pistol. Liara slid down the face of the mech, upside down and stopped with just her head and shoulders protruding into the open mouth. A strange creature awaited her. It was like a cross between a human and the chickens that were so popular for eating among them. Liara put a bullet between its eyes and then grasped its corpse with her biotics. She tossed it out of the cockpit and then clambered inside. The mouth closed after her.
The interior was lit in dull red. Liara twisted around and dropped into the pilot's seat. She didn't let herself glory in her victory so far. She wasn't done yet and had no idea how to actually command the machine. There were two handles on the arms of the chair so she grasped them. The surface of the mech in front of her, where she thought a viewscreen should be, lit up a large symbol she'd seen in human literature. A question mark? Why was there a question mark? Liara tried to remember what Shepard had said about hijacking her mech. She mentioned that it resisted her at first and she had yelled at it until it obeyed her. Liara trusted Shepard implicitly but she didn't see how that could possibly be. Still, she had no better ideas.
"Mech…reaper machine," Liara said, tightening her hands on the controls. "I am commanding you now. You…you will obey me now." The screen went blank for a moment and then the question mark returned. Liara frowned. "Don't think you can resist me now, machine," she said. "I am your master." Liara blushed. She was glad she was alone. "Come now, gunmen, don't make me raise my voice." Liara wasn't sure she even could. She'd never been good at yelling. "Just do as you're told. Gunmen, please!"
The question mark disappeared and was replaced by three blinking dots. The dots blinked for about ten seconds and then were replaced by several dashed and curved lines that looked remarkably like a smirking shrug. Liara blinked, wondering if the machine was mocking her. Then power flooded into the mech and Liara could feel it vibrating with life under hands. The screen cleared, showing her the road and buildings in front of her. Liara tried a step and cried out in delight when the mech complied. She took another clumsy step. The controls were so intuitive that Liara felt like she already understood how to control the thing. It was only clumsy because she wasn't used to the mech's body yet.
Unfortunately, she didn't have time to get used to it. Her friends could be dying even now. Liara kicked the mech into a run. She listed to the left and crashed into a building. It didn't do much more than shake her up, at least. She hoped nobody had been inside. The gunmen's huge shoulders and narrow waist made it very top heavy and prone to leaning one way or another. Liara pushed herself away from the ruins and sprinted forward again. She didn't have a choice but to keep going. She teetered left and right but kept the mech going relatively straight until the boxy gunmen was just in front of her. It waved at her, obviously expecting an ally. Liara charged forward and smashed one of her shoulders right into the other gunmen's face.
They went down together in a heap. Liara punched the other gunmen a few times but had to roll off when she saw the tell-tale glow of a charging beam. She barely managed to get out of the way of the thick beam and watched it shoot high into the sky. Liara hurriedly, though awkwardly, scrambled the mech up to its feet. She tipped forward and caught herself on her knuckles. Liara almost straightened back up but paused. This position was comfortable. Like an elcor, Liara thought with a bit of mortification.
The square gunmen stood and the two of them circled each other. Liara left her knuckles on the ground, walking on all fours. The boxy mech charged and Liara reared up, catching it flush on the face with both fists. The enemy gunmen stumbled back, clutching at its dented face. Somehow another beam started glowing deep in its mouth. Wasn't there a limit to how many times it could fire it? Liara reached out with her biotics and wrenched its giant mouth closed. The mech frantically tried to use its tiny arms to pull it back open but it was too late. The beam fired and the mech exploded.
Liara paused, leaning forward and staring at the wreckage of the enemy gunmen. Sweat trickled down her forehead and down her ribs. I did it, she thought, in shock. I actually did it. I hijacked a gunmen and took out another. Liara smiled widely. I'm awesome. Liara considered what Shepard or Kamina might do in this situation. A roar? Could she make the mech roar? Liara envisioned it and then shook her head. Too embarrassing.
She coughed and then said, "Samara, Yoko, it's Liara. You're safe to come out now." Somehow she instinctively knew how to make the mech project its voice. After a moment, Yoko appeared with Kamina in tow. He seemed even more miserable than before, if that was possible. "Are you two alright?"
Yoko nodded. "You already know to steal gunmen, huh? That's a good sign. Maybe you'll put up some kind of fight after all."
"To be honest, it was Kamina who stole the first one."
Liara glanced at him, a fond smile on her face. "That sounds like him." The smile melted into a look of concern as she studied him.
Samara appeared a moment later, cradling a burned arm. Liara gasped. "Goddess, Liara. Are you alright?" Liara mentally cursed herself for asking such a stupid question.
"I will survive," Samara said, apparently not taking offense. Liara was relieved to see Samara was stoic as ever but the extent of the burns made her think that they needed to get it attended to soon to avoid permanent damage. The reapers would also be gathering for another attack. The boxy reaper had wiped out plenty of his own kind in his attack but certainly not all of them. Liara frowned. Her plan had been to leave the planet to its fate and she thought that decision was justifiable at the time. But now they had a way to fight back. If they could secure this port they could get medical attention for Samara and send off a message to Shepard. Perhaps they could hold long enough for Shepard to arrive and organize an evacuation.
But would that endanger Yoko? Could they risk losing the potential key to defeating the reapers to save a few thousand humans? Was even a one percent chance of that too high? What would Shepard do? Liara had to smile. As if she had to ask. Shepard would fight. And so would Liara.
Part 2
"I won't forget this, Commander!" the Dalatrass shouted after Shepard. "A bully has few friends when she needs them most!"
Shepard almost went back to yell at the salarian again. A bully? She called Shepard a bully? When all the Council had been doing was ignoring and ridiculing Shepard since she'd saved the goddamn Citadel? And now that she needed them to help her save Earth, they could only give her excuses about why they couldn't help? They'd been the ones to teach Shepard that she had to push as hard as humanly possible for the merest scrap of acknowledgement.
But she didn't. She forced herself to keep walking. If she stopped, Wrex would stop, too, and in the mood he was in, Shepard wouldn't have put it past him to literally eat the salarian woman. They can't put aside their old hatreds and biases even as the world ends. Shepard didn't know what she'd done to deserve to be put in charge of wrangling the species of the galaxy together. Be right all the time, I guess. Fat lot of good it has done me.
The last few days had been among the most frustrating of her entire life. Hackett and Anderson had sent her to appeal to the Council for aid in retaking Earth while they led the resistance against the reapers. Shepard didn't understand why. She had known they would deny her before she even tried. Udina, surprisingly, seemed to understand the urgency of the situation but the asari and salarians had both retreated away from an alliance, thinking to protect themselves. It was beyond bitter that the asari had done so, after all their posturing about galactic unity and plays at being wise sages.
Only the turians had been willing to talk. For a price, of course. Shepard had had to pull their primarch out of the fire that was Palaven. She ended up with a different primarch than the one she had been sent to get but Victus actually seemed like a decent person. Of course, for turian aid, he required that she make an alliance with the krogan, so they could help relieve Palaven. So Shepard had contacted Wrex, who was more than happy to help Palaven and Earth…for a price.
Which was how she ended up trying to convince the Dalatrass to let them recover apparently fertile krogan females held on Sur'Kesh. Shepard could only imagine what the next step would be after that. She was running around, putting smaller fires out while Earth burned. The worst part of it was, she had had victory in her hands and lost and still didn't know why. Kamina had been overflowing with power and they had actually been able to stand up to full-size reapers in Gurren Lagann. Then Simon showed up, stopped one punch from Kamina and everything had gone to hell. Kamina had gone nearly catatonic and nobody knew what was wrong with him. He wouldn't talk to anyone and Lagann wouldn't function for anyone else. Shepard had no idea what to do. She was rallying support for Earth because it had been asked of her but in her heart she knew that conventional forces wouldn't be enough to stop the reapers. They needed the power in that small mech and Kamina was the key to unlocking it. I hope Viral was right about sending him to Eden Prime. She didn't really trust the strange creature but he knew things.
"Damn, Shepard," Wrex rumbled. "You seem more pissed than I am."
She glanced at him. "Sorry, Wrex. I do want to help you get the females back. You know I think the krogan deserve another chance. But I can't help thinking that every moment that passes by, people are dying on Earth."
"I understand, Shepard, but this is the best chance my people have had since the genophage started. You need us again. I would be betraying all krogan if I didn't take advantage."
Shepard smiled. After all the doublespeak from the Council, krogan candor was refreshing. "I get it, Wrex." She clapped him on the shoulder. "We'll get your females back." The krogan nodded his huge head. He'd been more jovial since reclaiming his place as a leader of his people but right now he was as darkly intense as when Shepard had first met him. This exchange on Sur'Kesh needed to work or Wrex was going to go berserk. Maybe I should leave him here. Glancing at him again, though, Shepard thought Wrex might actually attack her if she suggested it.
"Joker," she said, "take us down to Sur'Kesh now. Have Garrus meet us in the shuttle bay." She paused for a moment, thinking. She probably shouldn't take Grunt along. Adding another krogan to the mix was just asking for trouble. "And Viral." Shepard was hesitant about that but Viral was good in a fight and his oddness might rattle the salarians.
"Whatever you say, Commander," Joker said, his voice thick with skepticism.
Later, as they entered Sur'Kesh's atmosphere and sped toward the facility that housed the krogan females, Shepard sighed as she watched Wrex checking over his shotgun. "Wrex, let's keep this simple, alright? There is no reason to agitate the salarians. They've agreed to hand over the females."
Wrex cradled his shotgun. "I don't believe a word they say."
Shepard couldn't blame him there. Salarians were slippery and changeable. "We'll get them, Wrex. Don't scare them unless you have to."
"These females are the best and probably last hope for my species," Wrex fired back. Shepard's mouth tightened. An angry krogan wasn't going to help anything. Before she could think of how to cool his temper, Viral snickered. Wrex rolled one blood-red eye toward him. "What's so funny?"
"Just that you are so worried about getting a few fertile females back. As if that will change a thing when the reapers scorch your planet," Viral said with a toothy grin.
Wrex stared at him for a long moment and then eyed Shepard. "Who and what the hell is that freak?"
"Don't worry about him," Garrus said, moving up. "He's like that with everyone. We'll help you get your females back. Count on it."
Wrex gave Viral another hard stare but then grunted. "Thanks, Garrus. I appreciate you coming along on this."
Garrus's mandibles twitched. "Honestly, I was surprised to hear you were coming with us. Figured you'd gone soft, sitting on that throne of yours."
Wrex laughed. "You don't know much about krogan politics, do you, Garrus?"
Shepard relaxed a little, seeing Wrex laugh. Trust Garrus to manage it. He was a soldier's soldier, able to ease tension in the worst circumstances. Shepard loved that about him.
"Commander," the shuttle pilot commed, "I have the salarian base on sensors."
Shepard took a breath and then said, "Set her down."
The shuttle swooped in toward the hidden base but the pilot suddenly pulled up sharply. Shepard walked to the cockpit. "Commander, they are saying we don't have clearance to land."
Shepard frowned. "Tell them we have authorization from the Dalatrass herself."
"I knew they'd never keep their word!" Wrex snarled. He stalked over to the door and slammed a fist on the exit button. "Let's try to see them stop a krogan airdrop!"
"Wrex!" Shepard shouted, too late. The krogan battlemaster leapt out of the shuttle. Two salarians raced toward him shouting and Wrex's biotics flared as he tossed them aside with a wave of his hand. He pulled out his shotgun as laser sights painted him from salarian snipers.
"C'mon," Shepard growled, "maybe they'll hesitate before firing on a Spectre." Shepard jumped out of the shuttle with Garrus and Viral, intending to put herself between Wrex and the salarians. More of them had poured out of the base, leveling weapons at him.
Before she could reach him, though, a different salarian charged out of the base shouting, "Stand down! Hold your fire!" He reached the salarians and stepped in front of them. "Commander Shepard," he said, glancing at her as she stalked forward. "Restrain your colleague. We only learned of this transfer a few moments ago."
"But you do know of it, then?" Shepard said, sliding in front of Wrex. "So why are we being treated like this?"
"Please understand, this is highly irregular. We needed to verify our orders. We will see this transfer done but I am going to have to insist your colleague remain under guard." He shot a quick glance at Wrex.
Shepard considered that. On one hand, it was insulting that the leader of the krogan needed to remain 'under guard' while his own people were being released to him. On the other, Wrex was too agitated. Even though both the Council salarian and the Dalatrass had denied her aid, she hadn't completely given up on the salarians yet. If she and Wrex had to kill the salarians in this base because Wrex freaked out, that would be the final nail in the coffin. She walked up to him and said softly, "Do you trust me to handle this?"
"Of course, Shepard, but–"
Shepard cut him off. "Then wait here. I promise if something goes wrong, I'll call for you immediately."
Wrex growled, looking displeased. "Fine. But if anything goes wrong, all bets are off." He collapsed his shotgun and holstered it.
Shepard breathed a small sigh of relief and then turned to follow the salarian leader, who was waving her forward. The salarian soldiers swarmed around Wrex as she passed by and she saw him shove one of them. Keep it together, Wrex. "I'm Padok Wiks," the salarian leader said as she reached him, "and I thank you for your understanding, Commander. With war on everyone's minds, our people are on edge."
As they walked into the base, Shepard saw a strange creature being moved in a cage across the top. It hit the containment shield, which caused frantic activity among the salarians. Is that the same kind of creature the Shadow Broker was? Shepard wondered what kind of facility this was but shook her head. It didn't matter right now. "Tell me about the krogan females," she said.
"They were in poor health when we found them on Tuchanka," Wiks said. "We brought them here to stabilize their condition."
Shepard arched an eyebrow, "Really? You wanted to help them?"
Wiks sighed. "Please tell me you do not believe that simplistic nonsense about the genophage being designed to wipe out the krogan. We could have made them entirely sterile if that was the goal. We lifted them up, it is our responsibility to see them thrive within our galactic community."
"And reducing their fertility to make only one in a thousand births viable is going to achieve that?"
Wiks's eyes narrowed. "It was considered to be the best decision at the time, Commander. It may no longer be the case. We consider all angles, which is why we saved the fertile females."
"Something tells me you don't necessarily believe the genophage was the right choice in the first place," Shepard said carefully.
Wiks stopped in front of an elevator. "I think that it was arrogant to change the evolutionary destiny of the krogan not once but twice. We had no right. The best thing we can do now is to cure the genophage and let evolution take its course."
Shepard gave him a considering look. "An interesting attitude for a salarian."
He smiled briefly. "We are not all blinded by science, Commander. Now, take this elevator down and the team tending to the krogan females will meet you."
Shepard opened her mouth to thank him and alarms started blaring through the complex. A voice over a loudspeaker cut through the alarm. "Alert! Threat condition two has been declared. Scramble readiness teams."
Shepard glanced at Wiks, a sinking feeling in her stomach. Could it be reapers? Already? "What's happening?" she asked.
Wiks glanced up from his omnitool. "Sensors have picked up activity on the perimeter." He gestured toward the elevator. "Hopefully it is nothing but I suggest you hurry, Commander."
Shepard nodded and hopped into the elevator with Garrus and Viral. Garrus seemed unsurprised and resigned. Viral had a grin on his face that made Shepard shiver. It was as if he knew the universe was laughing at him and he no longer cared.
The elevator smoothly moved down and chimed as it opened into a dim room. Shepard stepped out and took in the room. There were several salarians but three of them clustered around one who gave off an air of authority. Shepard moved toward him and realized she recognized the salarian. He was the doctor from Omega. The one who had cured the plague there. "Moridin?" she asked.
The salarian grinned and pushed through his assistants. "Excellent. Good to see you, Shepard. Was pleased when I learned you would be facilitating hand off."
Shepard took his proffered hand and shook it. "I never imagined you would be the one to be in charge of these females."
"Surprise understandable," Moridin said. "Have no knowledge of previous work. I am the best candidate. No others living with similar understanding of genophage." He sucked in a breath and nodded, adding, almost to himself, "Had to be me. Others might have gotten it wrong."
"I'm glad it's you, Moridin," Shepard said, being truthful. The salarian was a little scattered but he seemed like the type able to cut right through the bullshit to what was important.
Moridin nodded and then glanced upward as another alert came over the intercom. He waved for Shepard to follow, saying "Need to hurry. Security warnings not normal. Must get krogan offworld." Shepard fell into step beside him. "Females had weakened immune systems. Side effect of cure developed by colleague, Maelon. Subjected them to brutal experiments." Moridin took in a deep breath. "Brutal. Had to put an end to them. And him." They passed by a few large corpses covered in shrouds. "These didn't survive," Moridin said, stopping in front of them.
"Damn it," Shepard muttered.
Moridin shook his head. "Arrived too late. Cannot delay now." He looked at Shepard. "One survivor. Immune to genophage. Can synthesize cure from her tissue."
"She's still here?"
"Yes," Moridin said, walking forward again. "Last hope for krogan. If she dies, genophage cure…problematic." He stopped in front of a krogan being held in a steel pod. Is that to keep her alive or to keep her prisoner? "Please be careful," Moridin said softly. "Krogan slow to trust."
Shepard stepped up to the glass separating her from the krogan. "I'm Commander Shepard, Council Spectre."
"Are you here to kill me?" The krogan female's voice was deep and resonant, completely lacking fear.
Shepard kept consternation from her face. What must she have been through to instantly assume that? "No, I came here with Urdnot Wrex. We're here to take you home."
"Why? What am I to you?" the krogan female asked, a great deal of suspicion in her voice.
"You're the future of the krogan race," Shepard said simply. "You might not know me but you know Wrex. We've been through hell together and I'll do anything I can to help his people." Sirens started wailing though the base, much louder than they had been before. Shepard glanced back at the female. She met her eyes and nodded, a silent promise to get her out. The female nodded back, though there was still wariness in her eyes.
Shepard turned listening to the announcements over the com about unidentified ships breaching the perimeter. Unidentified. Has to be reapers. Her omnitool lit up with an incoming call. Shepard activated it and Wrex's face popped up. "Shepard," he growled. "I don't know who these guys are but they are attacking this base. Get the females out of there now!"
Shepard frowned. "Only one survived, Wrex. It may be safer down here until we can secure the base."
Wrex snarled, showing his teeth. "What, so the salarians can kill her like the others? No. We need to get her out of there now!"
Shepard nodded. She could see where he was coming from even if she didn't think the salarians had deliberately let the others die. She glanced at the tech standing at the console controlling the female's cell. "Let her out of there. We're leaving."
"I can't," the salarian said plaintively. "Protocol states during lockdown no specimen–" He cut off as an electric current ran through him. Moridin stood just behind, omnitool raised. Shepard eyed it with a bit of envy. It would be handy to have a tasing function like that.
"Objection noted," Moridin said, once the technician stopped thrashing. "Now, please release krogan." The tech piteously tapped a few buttons. The door to the cell hissed open and Moridin strode inside. "Need to monitor pod as it clears quarantine procedures." He turned to a console inside the pod and the door closed. "Meet us at next checkpoint, Shepard."
Shepard glanced at the female krogan. "We'll get you out of here. I promise." There was no discernible reaction. Shepard sighed as the pod slowly rose up. Couldn't anything ever be easy? She glanced at her companions. "Let's go. Weapons hot. Whoever we're facing, they're enemies." Garrus nodded, freeing his Vindicator. Viral merely cracked his knuckles. Shepard drew her Viper and headed toward the elevator that had brought them down.
"Hang on," a salarian muttered as she approached. "There is something wrong." He fiddled with his omnitool for a moment. "Okay, here it comes." The doors slid open, revealing a bomb.
"Get back!" Shepard shouted, leaping away herself. The bomb went off. It wasn't powerful but in such close proximity, it was enough to knock her off her feet. Shepard rolled with the blast and pushed herself back up immediately. She glanced at a salarian, who was sitting down, staring at the blazing elevator in shock. "Is there another way out of here?" she asked.
He glanced at her and blinked slowly. "Emergency exit. Other side."
Shepard raced away, spotting the exit quickly. As she ran, Moridin commed her. "Shepard, quarantine checkpoint under attack. Hurry!"
Shepard growled and threw herself at the ladder leading up to the next floor. Wrex buzzed in her ear. "Shepard! I have the shuttle. Do whatever it takes to get her up to the landing pad!"
Shepard scrambled over the top and emerged into a scene even worse than she expected. Fires were everywhere and so were enemy soldiers. She snapped her rifle up without hesitation and put three shots into the head of the closest soldier, then snapped it around to catch another with three to the chest. Garrus pulped the head of a third with some impressively precise shooting. Viral surged ahead, disappearing into some smoke. Shepard heard a scream and the stomach-churning sounds of flesh tearing. That took care of the immediate threat.
Keeping her rifle up, Shepard moved forward and examined the corpse of the first soldier she'd killed. A part of her mind had cataloged what she'd been seeing even as the greater part focused on killing. Now that she was close and out of danger, she confirmed her suspicions. This was an Ouroboros soldier. The snake eating its own tail was plain on the soldier's shoulder patch. A burst of fury so intense it almost made Shepard start shaking ran through her. What the hell was this? She hadn't heard from Ouroboros since the mission to destroy the Collector base. Why were they here and what the hell were they after? Shepard's hands tightened on her gun until they hurt. Another new complication. The last thing she needed.
"Ouroboros," Garrus said, stepping up beside her. "Any idea…?" Shepard glared at him and he said, "Ah."
Shepard resisted the urge to kick the corpse in the face and hurried forward. Why would have to wait until the krogan female was safe. They moved across the empty lab until a shuttle swooped down and fired a smoke canister in. Several soldiers followed. Shepard dived behind cover with Garrus. When she poked her head up, Viral was among the soldiers, driving his clawed fingers through armor and ignoring the bullets that hit him. She shook her head, wondering for the thousandth time what he was. She and Garrus easily picked off the rest of the soldiers.
"Shepard!" Moridin shouted. "Pod under attack at checkpoint. Need assistance!" Growling under her breath, Shepard ran on, searching for a staircase. She found it and sprinted up the stairs into a chaotic firefight. Outnumbered salarians were trying to hold off a large force of Ouroboros soldiers and smoke canisters fogged the entire room. She supposed they had built-in sights in their helmets to see through the smoke. Luckily both she and Garrus had eye-pieces that let them do the same. And Viral didn't give a damn, charging in regardless of whether he could see.
Attacking from behind, they annihilated the soldiers quickly but not soon enough to save the salarian defenders. "Shepard," Moridin called. "Technician is dead. Need to clear us through the checkpoint." Shepard hurried to the console and inspected it. It seemed straightforward enough. Her training as an infiltrator had taught her the basics of how to use all known species' technology.
As she typed, Shepard asked. "Are you both alright?"
"Containment shield is holding," Moridin replied. He glanced at the krogan and added, "Can't speak for krogan's health, however."
"I'm fine," the female said, a little testily.
Moridin shook his head. "Females kept secret. Possibly a mole in STG. Could be indoctrinated." The subject change was so abrupt it took a moment for Shepard to understand what he was talking about.
"You think they're working for the reapers?" Shepard shook her head. It didn't make any sense. Why bring her back? Why pour so much effort into destroying the Collector base only to side with the reapers? But why else would Ouroboros be attacking? Could the Illusive Man have been indoctrinated? Damn it! This is the last thing I need right now. Shepard sighed and hit the last key to clear the checkpoint. "I'll meet you up there. Stay safe." Moridin nodded as the pod started to creep upward.
Before it could enter into a shaft an Ouroboros shuttle swooped in with two soldiers firing. The glass blew out of the pod. Shepard cursed violently and rained fire at the soldiers along with Garrus. They both died quickly and the shuttle spun off, trailing smoke. "Are you alright?" Shepard shouted.
"Alive. Will need to compensate," Moridin said, determination still strong in his voice.
Shepard sprinted off. I need to try and beat them to the next checkpoint. She rounded a corner to a terraced area and a horde of Ouroboros soldiers. The three of them cut through them with authority. Blood pounding in her ears, Shepard was in a zone she could occasionally reach when everything seemed to be moving a half-step slower and her gun was alive in her hands, hitting vital points with every shot. Garrus was hardly less proficient and Viral was an element of chaos, drawing most of the enemy fire.
They raced up the next set of stairs and encountered a salarian soldier kneeling, peeking around a corner. Shepard blinked. She knew that soldier. Kirrahe! The leader of the salarians on Virmire. He'd been a tough son of a bitch, especially for a salarian. She knelt down next to him. "Captain Kirrahe," she said with a nod.
The salarian grinned. "It's Major now, actually, thanks in large part to you."
Shepard shook her head. "You earned it. What have we got?"
"Hostiles just down the hall." Shepard hefted her rifle, her face going grim but Kirrahe held up a hand. "Allow me." He vented the clip of an unfamiliar pistol and then whipped out around cover. He fired three shots, one sticking to a soldier and two others on the floor near them. They blinked for a moment and then exploded in what looked like biotic waves. The three soldiers nearby were thrown back violently.
"How do I not have one of those?" Garrus said softly.
Just as she was about to congratulate the salarian, another Ouroboros ran up, throwing down a stationary heavy machine gun. "Go!" Kirrahe shouted. "I'll cover you!"
Shepard didn't need to be told twice. She raced to flank the machine gun before it was up and still had her shields shredded before she ducked into cover. Luckily nothing made it through her armor. She popped out of cover and tagged the gun with a sticky grenade. Using the resulting explosion for cover, the four of them cleaned up the remaining Ouroboros soldiers.
Shepard glanced around and found a security door. As the light played over her to verify her bonafides, Kirrahe came up to her. "There are more coming up from below. I'll hold them here. Good luck, Commander."
"Thank you, Major. You're a good man."
Kirrahe stepped closer and lowered his voice. "And just so you know, no matter what the politicians decide, you'll have STG support when you move to retake Earth. We don't forget our debts, Commander."
Shepard watched him walk away in shock. She'd known Kirrahe was a good soldier but she pegged him as by the book. That he was willing to defy the Dalatrass for her…Shepard's flagging spirits felt buoyed. There were still people in this galaxy she could count on. If she could find enough of them…no, she would find them and she would retake Earth. No matter what.
But first things first. Shepard charged forward and into a bombed out lab. They tore through it and found the pod under assault at the second checkpoint. Bellowing in rage, Shepard switched from her Viper to her Locust and threw herself at them. She used her omnitool's blade as well, ripping into the unit from behind. With Viral next to her and Garrus popping heads, the soldiers were down in short order.
Shepard stepped up to the next console and began the process of clearing them. "How are you holding up?" she asked.
"Containment shield is weakening," Moridin replied. "Can't take much more of this."
"How many more checkpoints?"
"Just the landing zone."
"Good, Wrex will be there." She glanced at the female. "Are you alright?"
"I will live," the female said. Then more strongly, "I will live."
"You will," Shepard promised her. She sent the pod moving up. As it began to move, an Ouroboros squad landed and began firing. Shepard dove for cover but not before the shots tore through her shields and a bullet found a gap in her armor at the knee. Shepard grit her teeth at the pain and applied medigel. The anesthetic went to work instantly and she managed to return fire from one knee. The soldiers went down quickly.
Garrus squatted down next to her. "Can you walk?"
Shepard glanced at him and felt a surge of love. She'd had trouble reading his features at first because they were so, well, alien. But now she could see, in the way his mandibles moved and the way his eyes wavered that he was deeply concerned. Yet here, in a battlezone, where they were fellow soldiers, he treated her as such and asked the pertinent question. There weren't many males that would have done so.
She tested her knee by standing up. It was weak and awkward now that it was numb but she could move. "Let's go." Shepard ran, limping only slightly and found a ladder to the landing zone. She climbed it and found the pod under assault once again. Damn it! Just how many soldiers did they send here. Why the hell do they want the female dead this badly?
After taking care of the soldiers, she approached the pod once again. "Shepard," Moridin said, relief evident in his voice. She could see that the containment shield was flickering with all the damage it had taken. "You must authorize release. Pod then transfers to the loading area." Shepard stopped at the console and began to type.
"Let's get you out of there," she said tiredly. At least this is done with. The pod started to slide into place.
"Heads up!" Wrex shouted over the com. "You've got incoming!"
Shepard spun. More?! she thought incredulously. Then a gunmen slammed through the roof. Shepard gaped. So Ouroboros really is working with the reapers! Then she got a better look and wondered if she was mistaken. The mech didn't have a face and was plainly colored. It lacked the personality of a gunmen. It lifted one arm, which ended in a barrel, and Shepard didn't have time to think about what it was any longer. It fired a particle beam directly at her. Shepard tried to leap into cover but her knee folded and, though she dodged the actual beam, she was caught in the resulting explosion. It tossed her head over heels and she slammed into the metal floor. Her instincts let her roll into the crash and lessen the damage but it still left her dazed for a moment.
Her body just wanted black out but the voices in her ear wouldn't let her. Wrex and Moridin were both pleading with her to protect the female. She could hear the steady thump of Garrus's assault rifle firing from just above her. He must have been standing over her. Fool. That's not the proper soldierly response. With a groan and a cough, she pushed herself up and forced her eyes open to take in the situation. Too late. The mech had its arm pointed directly at the pod and there was no way the damaged shield would hold up to a blast.
Shepard held out her hand, heart seizing as the beam emerged. When it hit, the krogan race's best chance at salvation would be gone. Wrex would lose his hope for the future again and the krogan would fall apart. Without krogan support, Victus wouldn't be able to muster the turians to help her on Earth. Humanity would be alone. Shepard would fail again.
No.
I can't let this happen.
I will not.
The beam shot toward the pod and Shepard reached for it. Something shifted and the budding, feeble biotic power she'd begun to feel burst forth in a torrent. The beam bent, turning just before it hit the pod and shot back at the mech, drilling through its cockpit. It tottered and then fell over. Shepard fell forward onto her elbows and stared at the downed mech in utter astonishment.
She stayed that way until Garrus knelt down next to her and touched her back lightly. "Shepard, are you alright?"
She glanced at him, reading the mixed shock and worry on his face. "Yeah," she said, the word coming out mangled due to her dry throat. She swallowed and tried again, "Yeah. My knee will need some attention but I feel fine otherwise." She did. She felt…energetic in a way she hadn't just moments before. A side effect of the biotics? Shepard realized she needed to do some research. She gathered herself and gingerly pushed herself to one knee, holding the injured one away from the floor awkwardly. "Is that it?" she asked. "Wrex? Do we have any more incoming?"
"I don't think so. I did a circuit and I'm not picking anything up. I think we got them all, Shepard!" He sounded jubilant. For him, at least.
Garrus helped her to her feet and Shepard tested her leg. She could still stand and walk as long as she didn't try anything strenuous. Viral watched her from across the room, consideration in his yellow eyes. She stared right back at him, wondering what he was thinking. What she wouldn't give for him to just cooperate and tell her what he knew.
The shuttle came down and hovered in the landing zone. Wrex jumped out of it, shotgun in hand, and stomped over to her. "You had me worried there for a minute," he rumbled, sticking out his hand. Shepard took it and he nearly ripped off her arm shaking it.
Shepard glanced out into the night, feeling anxious. Ouroboros had committed so much more to this assault than made sense to her so she wasn't willing to believe that another wave might not be coming. "Let's make this quick," she muttered. Wrex nodded in agreement and trundled over to join Moridin and the female. Moridin was out of the pod and had lowered the containment shield so that the female could leave it. He extended a hand to help her down but Wrex shoved him out of the way and extended his own hand. The female stepped down herself, ignoring him. Shepard grinned.
Then she jumped in surprise as the female seized the shotgun from Wrex's hand. Before anyone could do anything, she turned and shot an Ourobors soldier who had been crawling along the floor and aiming his weapon at her. She shoved the shotgun back into Wrex's chest and stalked away from him, snapping, "I can handle myself, Wrex."
Wrex shook his head and muttered, "Women." He glanced at Shepard with a grin, which went away when she returned it with a wry look. He grunted sourly and followed the female to the shuttle.
Shepard was about to go with him when she heard the Ouroboros soldier cough wetly. He was thrashing around. Shepard drew her Locust and limped up to him. He seemed to be trying to say something. Shepard carefully knelt down and asked, "Why is Ouroboros here? What could you want?" He tried to say something again but Shepard couldn't understand. There seemed to be something wrong with his voice beyond just the fact that his lungs were filled with blood. He coughed again, a death rattle, and then collapsed.
Shepard scowled. Then, her instincts telling her something was off about the soldier, she reached down and pried the helmet off his head. The face underneath made her gasp. It was human but not. It had bestial features. The nose and mouth were more like a dog's. It reminded her of…Viral. She heard footsteps and saw that the man himself had come to inspect the dead soldier. "Anything to say about this?" she asked. Viral didn't speak and his face was utterly expressionless. Shepard surged to her feet, her leg nearly folding. "Damn it, Viral! Speak to me! If you know anything! Anything at all!" He glanced at her, his face a mask, cat eyes glowing. His mouth didn't crack. Shepard bounced the helmet off the floor so she didn't smash his face with it and stalked to the shuttle.
A short time later, Shepard was in the Normandy's infirmary with Doctor Chakwas examining her knee. "This isn't too bad," Chakwas murmured. "Thanks to the heavy bone and muscle weaves Ouroboros used when rebuilding you." Shepard frowned at the mention of Ourobors. What do they want, damn it? "I should be able to get your knee back to a hundred percent within a couple of days."
Shepard nodded, "Thanks, Doctor."
Garrus had come with her, half carrying her. "Shepard," he said, speaking softly while Chakwas left for supplies. "Have you discussed your new biotics with the Doctor?"
Shepard shook her head and glanced at him curiously. "Why?"
"I don't know too much about biotics but I've heard that they are unstable in humans without implants. I've also never heard of somebody developing the talent so late in life." Garrus seemed uncomfortable. "And, Shepard, the way you bent that particle beam…I don't even think an asari could have done that. The speed and control needed…" He shook his head. "It's not normal."
Shepard nodded thoughtfully. He was right on all counts but Shepard found it hard to care. If she had biotics, it was just a new tool in her bag. And if it is killing me? Well, she had died once already. If she lived long enough to destroy the reapers, that was really all that mattered. "I'll look into it." Garrus seemed unsatisfied but he let it go, since Chakwas was coming back.
Before the Doctor could get to work, though, Joker spoke through the com. "Commander, you may want to get up here." He sounded beleaguered. "Wrex and Victus are getting into it."
Shepard cursed. She spun around and tugged her pant leg down while reaching for her boot. "Commander," Chakwas protested. "We need to see to that knee. The anesthetic will be wearing off soon."
"I'll be back as soon as I can," Shepard said, pulling on her boot. This alliance cannot fall apart now. She let Garrus help her until they were close to the two leaders and then she limped the rest of the way on her own.
"You have the female, Wrex," Victus was saying with clearly fraying patience. "A cure for the rest of your people can come later."
"That wasn't the deal," Wrex snarled.
"But Palaven needs your reinforcements now," Victus countered. "We can't delay."
"Unless every krogan gets the cure, there's no alliance," Wrex said. Shepard could hear the absolute finality in that statement. Wrex finally had leverage and he was going to use it. Shepard held back a sigh.
She looked at Moridin, who was standing quietly to the side. "Moridin, how long will it take to finish a cure."
"Need to synthesize base antigen from female. Also requires healthy male krogan tissue. Will need a sample."
"You're looking at it," Wrex grunted.
"Acceptable."
"Try to make this as quick as you can, Moridin," Shepard said.
"Always do. Will need use of med bay. Eve requires tests."
"Eve?" Shepard asked.
"Female's real name unknown. Normandy a human vessel. Human mythology seemed appropriate under circumstances."
"Ah," Shepard nodded, barely managing to avoid rolling her eyes. She turned back to Wrex and Victus as Moridin left. "Now, is there anything else?"
"There is a small matter concerning a ship we lost contact with," Victus said.
"What happened?"
"I'd rather discuss it…in private," Victus said, with a glance at Wrex. Shepard closed her eyes. Normally she appreciated that Victus wasn't a politician but she wished he could be just a tad more circumspect.
Wrex noticed, of course, and gave Victus a glare. Then he turned to Shepard and said, "Turian problems can't even come close to what I've got."
"What is it?"
"Some of my men went missing. The rest of it we can discuss…" He gave a very exaggerated glance at Victus and then finished, "...somewhere else."
Glad to see our alliance is so trusting. "I'll find you both in the war room." She shook her head and stalked off, her anger masking the creeping pain from her knee. Before she could even reach the elevator, Joker called her. "Commander, I hate to make your day even worse but we've just received an emergency communication from Eden Prime. The reapers have attacked it."
A thrill of panic shot through Shepard. She'd sent Kamina and Liara there on Viral's recommendation. Why had she trusted that bastard? Or were the reapers attacking because there really was something valuable there. "Get us there, Joker!" she shouted, running for the elevator, all pain forgotten. "Now!"
Author's Note
Hmm. A little faster this time. Sorry and thanks for sticking with me. I have a very good idea of what I want the next two chapters to be so hopefully they come a little sooner. Thank you to everyone who has given me feedback. I really appreciate it. Happy New Year!
