Mother Dearest
"Liara...we're going to go after your mother. Is there anything you want to say before we go?" Emily asked the Asari warily.
"I haven't seen my mother in years, Shepard. She wasn't too thrilled about my career choices." Liara said nervously, her hands rubbing together.
Emily smiled and grabbed her hands.
"It's okay, I trust you. I just want to make sure you're okay." Emily said while patting the Asari's hand.
"I...I want to go with you." Liara looked down at her hands clasped tightly in Emily's hands.
Blue eyes, fierce and determined stared into curious brown eyes.
"I have to talk to her. To find out why she would betray...betray us...me, the Council." She continued passionately.
"I'm a biotic, and I'm a pretty good shot with the pistol. I...I can hold my own." She continued as she bit her lip to prevent herself from crying.
"Okay, I understand. Why don't you grab Garrus and tell him to suit up. I wanna see how that turian handles the cold." Emily said teasingly.
Liara smiled, which lit up her face beautifully.
"Okay, Shepard." She nodded while gently squeezing Emily's hand.
"Why can't you take Alenko with you! I don't do so good in the cold! C'mon Shepard, is this revenge for teasing you about your driving? I was kidding!" Garrus yelled out from his locker as Emily walked into the Crew deck.
Emily showed him her hand, a universal gesture of "Fuck You' as she flipped him the bird.
"Suit up bird brain, with two biotics we need your sniper rifle to keep em off us. Three biotics is not going to work out and you know it. Besides, you promised to be my six." She said pouting up at him.
Kaidan let out a laugh as he patted Garrus on the shoulder.
"She's got a point there 'bird brain', just suck it up." Kaidan responded as he watched Emily finish suiting up.
"Oh fine! I'll go but if I die from exposure to cold, I'm going to haunt your ass." Garrus rumbled out as he strapped his sniper rifle to his back.
"We'll hold down the fort, Shepard." Wrex called out from the weapons bench where he and Ashley were going over weapon mods.
'Who would have thought, that the one of the humans with a alien sized chip on their shoulder would become great friends with a Krogan and bond over weapons and mods.' She thought to herself as she watched the two pour over the bench.
"ETA fifteen minutes to Noveria Commander." Joker's voice said from the speakers.
"I'm ready Commander." Liara's voice drifted towards her from her right.
Emily turned to look at Liara, seeing the nervous energy and tear stained eyes looking back at her with determination.
She closed her eyes when the first wave of cold hit her. Her mind quickly tunneling into the deep dark corners of where she stashed the memories she didn't want to remember.
"Leave the kid outside, I don't like how it stares at me when I'm taking my hits." A man's voice whispered as she felt arms pick her up and throw her outside to land on a pile of snow.
She turned to look at the door as it slammed in her face, leaving her in the bitter cold night without a jacket or blanket. She looked around the porch to see if there was anything to help her stay warm but not finding anything, she curled herself up into a ball against the door and closed her eyes.
She blinked the memory away as she lowered the visor over her face to hide the sudden sharp pain that glittered in her eyes.
"Hey...it'll be okay." Kaidan's voice murmured to her as he handed her her favorite shotgun.
"You can do this, Emi." He whispered as he lightly brushed his fingers along her jaw before turning away to help Liara with her weapons.
"There is even a Mako for you to destroy." He added teasingly as he watched her bite her bottom lip.
Her eyes brightened at that and she smiled brightly at him.
"Well when you put it that way..." She grinned and finished clipping her shotgun behind her.
"Let's get this show on the road!" She called out as she made her way to the shuttle bay.
"I hate the cold." She grumbled seamingly to herself.
"If you hate it so much why are we both here?" Garrus murmured into the private channel in her helmet.
"Damnit Vakarian you and your hearing." She grumbled as she glared back at him.
He snickered softly and patted her on the top of her head.
"Hey, its not like you can shoot the cold with your shotgun or my sniper rifle you know. Although that would be pretty hilarious." He continued to tease her.
Liara smiled at their antics as she followed behind them. Her eyes straying ahead to the group of armed guards blocking the entrance.
"Not one step farther. Who are you and why are you here."
"I'm a Council Spectre. My name is E.R. Shepard." Emily said, her voice back to strict business.
"Ha. A human spectre? I'll believe that when Hanar learns to talk better." One of the guards whispered to the other.
"You can't go in armed here. So I suggest you relinquish your weapons." The guard continued.
A cold half smile flickered on Emily's lips that never reached her eyes.
"No, I don't think so."
"STAND DOWN! We've confirmed her identity. As a Spectre, she and her crew are allowed to bring their weapons." A voice confirmed over comm.
"Don't cause any trouble, and I won't have to shoot you." The first guard sneered at Shepard.
"You know, I'd actually like to see you try. Then of course, the Council is going to come sniffing around here digging into things they shouldn't. We're only here to look and speak to Matriarch Benezia. I don't give a rat's ass about what corporate bullshit this place is trying to bury."
Steel laced her soft voice as her finger delicately traced intricate patterns on the butt of her pistol.
The woman swallowed as she noted the sudden chill the Spectre's voice brought to the back of her throat.
"She passed through here a few days ago. She...she went to Peak 15 with her entourage and commandos." She continued as she gestured up the mountain.
"Then we'll need to get to Peak 15 now don't we?" Emily said with a colder smile on her face.
"You...You need a pass to get to Peak 15, you'll need to get one from Administrator Anoleis." The woman continued as she took a careful step back.
"Let's go Shepard." Liara's soft voice interrupted as she placed a gentle hand on Emily's arm.
"We should probably get inside before Garrus turns into a giant Turian popsicle." Liara continued while a small chuckle escaped her lips.
Emily turned to the turian behind her, noting the way he was shifting from one foot to the other and nodded.
Getting the pass turned to be another unneeded hassle and she wondered once again why she just couldn't shoot her way through the compound. It's not like they'll be strong enough to stop her. But she was able to help out a woman named Parasini out with a internal affairs investigation, and had Qui'in replace the corrupt Anoleis' position on Noveria, with very little bloodshed.
The nervous energy was building up in the mako, for their own various reasons. Liara was too
wrapped up in her panic about the confrontation with her mother, Garrus was groaning and mumbling about Emily's driving and Emily herself was thinking about a certain Biotic and wondering what and why was he having an effect on her.
She knew well enough to know the risks of fraternizing in the military can be severe. Especially when rank is involved.
'I'm his commanding officer for christ sakes.' She mentally chided herself.
Her thoughts drifted to the past few months of being in each other's company and how they, well mainly he was able to open up about his past. While she still kept hers buried deep in the recesses of her mind. The nights they talked in the mess hall sharing meals with their legs touching gently under the table. The soft looks that passed between them while they would pass each other during their shifts. And the random nights where they shared nothing but the comforting light of the medbay during the peaks of his migraines, where she would gently massage his hand and read to him from one of their favorite books.
She sighed, it wasn't like she ignored everyone on her crew, she's spent plenty of time with Liara, Tali, Ashley and even Wrex. But mainly she's spent more time with either Kaidan or chilling with Garrus while he fixed one or more of her multiple driving accidents.
"Shepard. You just ran over a bunch of Geth." Garrus interrupted her mental rambling.
"Oh, well do you want me to stop so you can get out of the Mako and see if they're okay?" She asked with a snicker in her voice.
"Uhm, No. No thank you, I'll just stay in here." He said while he watched Shepard run over more Geth.
"Thank god I don't have to fix this one, although I'm pretty sure they'll bill you for the damage." He continued while his hand tightened around the strap by his head.
"Yeah, yeah." She commented snarkily as her mood shifted back to her thoughts.
She felt him lightly nudge her with his shoulder as if offering his own version of comfort.
"Hey, it'll be alright Shepard. Just don't kill yourself with your thoughts." He whispered quietly into the private comm.
"You don't know that." She whispered back, answering his nudge with one of her own.
"Hey, if its meant to be it'll happen. Just don't overthink it. Besides we're at Peak 15 so lets get out of here quickly." He said quietly while he nodded towards the garage in front of them.
She never bothered to question how Garrus knew, she just nodded and accepted his words of comfort silently.
Her eyes focused on Matriarch Benezia's form while she could feel the biotic energy washing off Liara in anguish.
"Hey, its going to be okay." She whispered soothingly to Liara.
"You're not going to change my mind at all Commander. No matter who you bring into this confrontation." Benezia said as she stood in front of a huge test tube containing the Rachni queen.
"That isn't why she's here and we both know it." Shepard said coolly as she moved slightly in front of Liara.
"I came here for my own reasons Mother." Liara said with tears silently coursing down her cheeks.
"Oh? What have you said about me?" Benezia said calmly as she stared at her daughter over Shepard's shoulder.
"What could I say mother? That you're evil? Insane? I didn't know what to say. That's why I'm here." Liara responded as she tried to move from in front of Emily.
"I don't believe you." Benezia said softly, her voice going cold.
"So have you ever faced asari commandos before? A few humans have." She said while staring at Emily.
"You would kill your own daughter?" Shepard said as she shifted again to cover Liara. Her voice going cold with rage. She allowed her biotics to slowly cover every inch of her body as she built up a barrier.
"I realize, I should have been more stricter with her." She lashed out coldly as asari commando's filled the room.
Emily shared a look with Garrus and quickly tossed a few asari commandos into the air while Garrus brought out his sniper rifle and quickly dispatched them. She panted softly as her back slammed into the wall.
"There are geth here too. They make the best...pets don't you think?" Benezia taunted.
She bit her lip hard and tossed a Singularity and watched as Garrus quickly dispatched of them.
Benezia leaned heavily against the glass, staring up at Shepard.
"This is not over. Saren is unstoppable. My mind...my mind is clear and filled with his light. Everything is clear." She said with an awe stained voice.
"I will not betray him...you, you must listen. Saren still whispers in my mind. I can fight his compulsions...Briefly. But...but the indoctrination is strong." She implored pain etched across her face as her eyes cleared up slightly.
Indoctrination?" Shepard asked as she cautiously took a step closer to Benezia.
"People...people are never the same around Saren. You end up sitting at his feet and worshiping him like a god. And when he fills you with his beautiful light..." She continued.
"We needed the information from the Rachni. I was not gentle when I took it. You see, queens carry the memories of the previous queens. Thus we hatched the egg and used its knowledge to get the information we needed." She continued looking down at her hands.
"You can still make it right, give me that information that you shared with Saren." Emily implored softly as she continued to move closer to Benezia.
"I...I put the information on this OSD. Take it. Stop him. You have to stop him - me. I can't-His teeth are at my ear. Fingers on my spine...You should-Uh, you should-" She doubled over, clutching her head in pain.
"Mother! Don't leave! Fight him! Please mother I need you!" Liara cried out as tears streamed down her face.
"You've always...you've always made me proud Liara." She groaned out as she faded into darkness.
"You must. Die." Benezia was now gone. Emily closed her eyes and put a bullet in Benezia's chest as Liara's anguished cry filled the room.
"Good night, Little Wing. I will see you again with the dawn." Benezia moaned out as she took her last breath.
"MOTHER NO!" Liara shouted out as she caught her mother's falling body.
Shepard stood frozen. This was something she knew in the back of her mind that she had to do. But prayed to the gods that she didn't have to. But in the end, her prayers were never answered as Liara's anguished cry filled her heart with its sad song.
Distracted with her own thoughts she did not see the body of the asari commando get up off the ground and walk its way to the giant test tube.
"This one serves as our voice. we cannot sing, not in these low spaces. Your music is colorless." The commando spoke, voice disjointed.
"I don't understand." Shepard said softly as she stared in shock at the previously dead commando standing in front of her.
"Your way of communication is strange. Flat, it does not color the air. We, the mother. We sing for those left behind. The children you thought silenced. We are rachni." The voice continued.
"Are you controlling the asari?" Emily asked as shock coursed through her body taking a quick step back and looking at the Rachni queen in the tank.
"Our kind sings through touchings of thought. We pluck the strings, and the other understands. She is weak to urging. She has colors we have no names for. But...she is ending. Her music is bittersweet. It is beautiful. You are not in harmony with those who hoped to control us. What will you sing? Will you release us? Or are we to fade away once more?" The voice continued.
Shepard blanked her face and gripped the console tightly with her hands. She bowed her head and took a few deep breaths.
"Shepard, there is acid in those tanks. If she gets out of hand they will dissolve her." Garrus' rumbled softly.
She nodded and looked blankly at him.
"They made a mistake. They let the krogan go too far. This is a chance for us to atone. She has done nothing to us." Liara said from the ground with her mother's body still cradled in her arms.
"There has already been to much death." She continued softly.
"They speak the truth. You have the power to free us or return our people to the silence of a memory. What will you do?" The Rachni Queen asked quietly.
Emily closed her eyes as she gripped the console tighter, hearing it crack slightly.
I won't destroy your entire race. You'll go free." She said quietly with her eyes still closed, her head bowed tucked against her chest.
"You will give us the chance to compose anew? We will remember. We will sing of your forgiveness to our children." The Rachni queen said softly as Emily pushed the button to release the Rachni Queen.
"I have no right to play a god." She said softly as she watched the queen walk away.
A/N: Someone sorta asked to see what I'd do with the Rachni queen so here it is. I hope you enjoy it. ^^ Feel free to review, or send messages or w/e.